What’s behind the housing affordability crisis in America?

Real estate prices are off the charts, and unless you happen to be a high-net-worth individual, it’s nearly impossible to buy a home right now.

So, WTF is going on? Is there anything we can do about it?

Angela Rozmyn is the cocreator of Women’s Personal Finance, a platform that provides empowering financial education for women and nonbinary people.

She is also a passionate advocate for affordable, sustainable housing, working a day job for a company that builds LEED Platinum real estate projects.

On this episode of Queer Money, Angela joins us to discuss the myriad reasons for the housing affordability crisis in America.

Angela explains why the supply of homes has not kept up with demand, how interest rates impact housing costs, and what’s behind the NIMBY attitudes that drive real estate prices up.

Listen in to understand how it impacts a community when its service workers can’t afford to live where they work and find out what you can do to advocate for affordable housing in your city.

Topics Covered

• What makes Angela an expert in the realm of affordable housing issues
• Why it’s important to consider transportation costs as part of your housing expenses
• How it impacts our communities when service workers can’t afford to live where they work
• Who benefits from increasing home prices and who does not
• 6 reasons for the housing affordability crisis in America
• Why the supply of homes has not kept up with demand in the US
• How interest rates, permitting issues, labor costs and zoning affect real estate prices
• Why developers aren’t building starter homes anymore
• What’s behind NIMBY attitudes in the US and how they impact housing costs
• The advantages of adaptive reuse, i.e.: turning vacant commercial buildings into affordable housing
• Angela’s take on investors who bought up SFHs during the Great Recession
• Why people are migrating to high-density cities in the Sunbelt (and what to consider before you join them)
• Providing affordable housing for the growing number of single occupants
• What you can do to advocate for affordable housing in your community

For the resources and to connect with our guests, get the show notes at: https://queermoneypodcast.com/subscribe

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• "Ewwww, I'd never live there"
• "WTF, that's a horrible place to live"
• "No way in hell!"

These are just a few of the comments we've gotten when we've highlighted blue cities in red states that are both affordable and LGBTQ+ friendly.

So, why would someone choose to stay in or move to a red state?

This is Queer Money episode 523, and today we're breaking down seven reasons that many LGBTQ+ folks and our allies have decided to either stay in or move to red states. With this episode, we hope to respond to the "gayla gays," gay-listers," and elitist folks in our community who deem many of these places as "unworthy" without considering some very real and very valid reasons queer folks live in these states.

• Get the dynamic list of Affordable LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities in the U.S. here.
• Watch this week's episode on Youtube
• Watch last week's episode on YouTube
• Don't miss the other states we've covered in this Gay Cities series

Past episodes mentioned in this episode:

• 381: The Series Kick Off
• 433: Top 10 Cities Part 1
• 485: Top 10 Cities Part 2
• 487: Top Surprises
• 497: Blue States
• 499: Purple States
• 501: Red States

Follow us:

• Queer Money YouTube
• Queer Money Instagram
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Regular listeners of Queer Money are familiar with the way Kingdom Advisors uses donor-advised funds to finance the anti-LGBTQ industrial complex.

But right-wing extremists haven’t stopped there.

Today, radical conservative influencers and organizations are working with the Heritage Foundation to design Project 2025, a blueprint that seeks to eliminate the rights of LGBTQ+ people, women and immigrants, effectively creating a church state in the US.

David Roth is a Democrat running for the US House of Representatives and the first openly gay candidate for the state of Idaho. He also happens to be an expert on Project 2025.

On this episode of Queer Money, David joins us to explain how Project 2025 will impact the country as a whole and the queer community specifically.

David discusses why it’s crucial for the LGBTQ+ community to get involved in the political process, describing what Democrats are doing to fight Project 2025—and why it’s not enough.

Listen in to understand the financial implications for our community should Project 2025 succeed and learn what we can do as individuals and collectively to maintain the rights we’ve won.

Topics Covered

• How Project 2025 aims to reform our democracy into an authoritarian state
• Why Project 2025 will be difficult to stop with a far-right Republican president
• How Project 2025 will impact the country as a whole and the queer community specifically
• Why we need to be financially prepared for challenging times should Project 2025 succeed
• Why it’s crucial for the LGBTQ+ community to get involved in the political process
• The danger in opting out of voting in this year’s presidential election
• What Democrats are doing to fight against Project 2025 (and why it’s not enough)
• How the queer community might take collective action to maintain the rights we’ve won
• The importance of normalizing LGBTQ+ individuals running for office
• What we can do as individuals to pushback against the aims of Project 2025

For the resources and to connect with our guests, get the show notes at: https://queermoneypodcast.com/subscribe

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Download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence

Are you postponing your personal goals and dreams until you turn 65?

What if you don’t have to wait until retirement to travel, write your memoir, or pursue a hobby you love?

What if you could take several mini-retirements throughout your career and achieve some of those ambitions along the way?

Jillian Johnsrud is the creator of Retire Often, a platform that helps people take a series of successful sabbaticals throughout their careers.

Jillian reached financial independence at age 32 and has since traveled to 27 countries with her family. She is also the author of Fire the Haters and host of the Retire Often podcast.

On this episode of Queer Money®, Jillian joins us to explain why it’s challenging to achieve our personal goals on nights and weekends and explore what you might do on a sabbatical from work. Jillian discusses the pros and cons of taking mini-retirements and describes how to plan for the financial and emotional aspects of taking a break from work.

Listen in for insight on negotiating a month off without leaving your current job and learn how to build a meaningful, fulfilling life by retiring often!

Topics Covered

• What it means to retire often and why Jillian is an advocate for it
• Why it’s challenging to achieve our personal goals on nights and weekends
• How Jillian took a dozen mini-retirements in the last 20 years
• Examples of the things you might do on a sabbatical from work
• How a mini-retirement can help you recover from or prevent burnout
• When taking a sabbatical can be a difficult transition for people
• How to plan for the financial and emotional aspects of taking a break from work
• How to retire often without hiccups in contributing to your 401(k)
• How a mini-retirement can be more affordable than multiple vacations
• Tips for people who want to take a mini-retirement without leaving their job
• How to negotiate a month off in a way that gets your boss on board
• What to do if you feel too important/not important enough to take time off

For the resources and to connect with our guests, get the show notes at: https://queermoneypodcast.com/subscribe

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Download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence

Many of us in the LGBTQ community were bullied as kids for being different. But few of us leverage those experiences as inspiration to launch a cookie company!

Nicholas Naclerio turned to food for comfort when he was bullied for being gay. But when he turned 18, Nick got healthy and decided to use food as a form of self-expression and healing; to transform his pain into something good.

Today, Nick is Founder and CEO at Mmmly, the good-for-you cookie brand that leverages nutrient-dense ingredients to make delicious, indulgent cookies with health benefits.

On this episode of Queer Money, Nick joins us to describe how building Mmmly helped him heal from childhood trauma and share the creative aspects of building a business he loves most.

Nick discusses how he used a combination of bootstrapping and investor money to fund Mmmly, explaining what it means that the ‘entrepreneur eats last’ and how that can become a problem.

Listen in for Nick’s advice to other queer entrepreneurs and learn how to build a successful consumer brand—without losing yourself in the process!

Topics Covered

• How Nick turned to food for comfort when he was bullied for being gay
• How Nick’s love of comfort food inspired his mission to create a healthy indulgence
• What makes Mmmly the good-for-you cookie brand (and why other brands don’t use healthier ingredients)
• How building Mmmly helped Nick heal from his childhood trauma
• What Nick loves most about the creative aspects of building a business
• What the recipe development process is like and how Nick knew when a cookie was ready for production
• How Nick used a combination of bootstrapping and investor money to fund Mmmly
• What it means that the ‘entrepreneur eats last’ and how that can be a problem
• Why Nick is merging Mmmly with another company and what that means for his investors
• How it works when a small consumer brand is on the shelves at a major retailer
• What Nick might have done differently to deal with narrow margins early on
• Nick’s advice for LGBTQ entrepreneurs on creating a network of support and not losing yourself in the process of building a company

For the resources and to connect with our guests, get the show notes at: https://queermoneypodcast.com/subscribe

Follow us:

• Queer Money Instagram
• Queer Money YouTube
• Queer Money on Tiktok

Download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence

Mentioned in this episode:

Click here to find out how to get financial help adopting children

The transgender community has taken the brunt of most of the anti-LGBTQ legislation that is being proposed and passed in the Christian Industrial Complex's attacks on the LGBTQ community recently.

So where are safe places that are also affordable for the trans community in the US?

This is Queer Money episode #517. Today, we’re diving into the top 10 most affordable transgender-friendly cities.

• Get the dynamic list of Affordable LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities in the U.S. here.
• Watch this week's episode on YouTube
• Watch last week's episode on YouTube
• Don't miss the other states we've covered in this Gay Cities series

Past episodes mentioned in this episode:

• 381: The Series Kick Off
• 385: Wisconsin
• 419: New York
• 439: Minnesota
• 445: Maryland
• 459: Illinois
• 433: Top 10 Cities Part 1
• 485: Top 10 Cities Part 2
• 487: Top Surprises
• 497: Blue States
• 499: Purple States
• 501: Red States

Follow us:

• Queer Money YouTube
• Queer Money Instagram
• Queer Money on Tiktok

Mentioned in this episode:

Click here to find out how to get financial help adopting children