I Try to Be Transparent About My Level of Privilege

Summary

Podcast Summary: "What We Spend" - Episode: "I Try to Be Transparent About My Level of Privilege"

Introduction

In the July 30, 2025 episode of What We Spend, hosted by Courtney Harrell, the conversation centers around Morgan, a 41-year-old consultant who openly discusses her financial life, privilege, and the impact of generational wealth on her current lifestyle. This episode delves deep into Morgan's transparent approach to sharing her financial status, the reactions it elicited, and her philosophy on money and privilege.

Morgan’s Background and Current Lifestyle

Morgan describes herself as a full-time traveler residing temporarily in various locations, currently spending the ski season in Bend, Oregon. She operates as a consultant—a role encompassing business coaching, life coaching, marketing consulting—as well as a yoga teacher, writer, and influencer. Unlike many guests on the show, Morgan's financial stability is largely supported by generational wealth, allowing her to focus more on the life she desires rather than strictly on income generation.

Social Media Transparency Post

A pivotal moment in the episode is Morgan's decision to post a candid admission of her financial privileges on social media. Courtney asks Morgan to share the original post:

"I try to be transparent about my level of privilege. My parents paid for my college and rent. They gave me $100,000 for my first house purchase and $150,000 for my second. I regularly get five-figure checks from other family members. The moment I walked into my grandma's house, she handed me $1,000 cash. I don't post this to brag. I post this to remind you that the system is rigged for generational wealth and that my success stems directly from that privilege." ([04:13])

Morgan explains that the post was a response to another individual who falsely marketed their success as self-made without acknowledging their generational wealth. Her aim was to counteract misleading narratives and highlight the often-overlooked advantages afforded by her family's financial support.

Reactions and Impact

The transparency post quickly amassed 2.8 million views and sparked a mix of supportive and hostile reactions. Morgan recounts:

"The vast majority of people were very supportive of me sharing this information. I've blocked a lot of the hater comments at this point, but it did attract several hundred, if not thousand, comments worth of people telling me what a piece of shit I am." ([06:06])

Despite the backlash, Morgan maintained her stance by offering free business coaching to those reaching out, emphasizing her commitment to using her privilege to assist others.

Morgan's Financial Strategy and Investment

Morgan's financial independence is primarily sustained through her investments and inherited wealth. She details her investment approach:

"I have multiple investment accounts, so I check them all every day, and I'm looking for upswings and downswings. Typically, if I've made a 10% gain, I'll sell a certain percentage of it. I'm still maintaining my core investment, but I'm skimming off the top to fund my life so that my investment portfolio doesn't stagnate." ([07:45])

Her investment portfolio includes money received from her grandparents, amounting to around $300,000, with additional funds expected later. This inheritance grants her the flexibility to live without the immediate pressure of earning a traditional income.

Reflection on Privilege and Generational Wealth

Morgan candidly addresses the role of privilege in her life:

"I try to be very clear like, no, I'm not a self-made woman. I had a lot of privilege. You do. I've attracted a lot of wealth." ([27:57])

She acknowledges that her ability to live a non-traditional lifestyle—such as traveling full-time and living minimally—is heavily influenced by her financial background. Morgan emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's privilege and using it responsibly to foster transparency and support others.

Week's Overview and Spending Diary

Morgan shares an audio diary detailing her spending over a week, highlighting minimal expenses despite an active and fulfilling lifestyle. Key points include:

• Day 1: Spent $442.56 on car insurance and business subscriptions while driving from Reno to Twin Falls, Idaho.
• Day 2: Encountered a minor incident at a gas station but incurred no significant costs, totaling $81.97.
• Day 3: Achieved a zero-dollar spend day by skiing and utilizing her existing resources.
• Day 4: Generated income through app licensing and received small payments from Facebook, maintaining a spend of $0.
• Day 5: Spent $20.99 on groceries while enjoying a day of skiing with friends who generously shared expenses.
• Day 6: Paid $460.33 for group expenses at a lodge, benefiting everyone involved.
• Day 7: Transferred $5,000 from investments to her checking account in preparation for upcoming travel, totaling $1,210 for the week.

Morgan's Philosophy on Money and Abundance

Morgan explores the mindset of abundance versus mere accumulation of wealth:

"True security comes from the confidence that if you needed to make a thousand dollars tomorrow, you could make it. Not from I've hoarded all this wealth and now I don't have to worry about it anymore." ([41:19])

She advocates for leveraging existing resources to live a fulfilling life without constantly chasing financial gains. Morgan highlights her ability to gamify financial strategies, such as travel hacking, to enhance her lifestyle without excessive spending.

Final Reflections and Conclusion

In concluding the episode, Morgan addresses the notion that financial strategies and lifestyle choices are deeply intertwined with privilege. She asserts:

"It is a responsibility as someone with privilege to be transparent about it. I feel very strongly about that and also to help people as I can, whether that's sharing knowledge or whether that's sharing money." ([27:57])

Morgan emphasizes that while her financial freedom enables her to live unconventionally, it is her privilege that allows her to make such choices. She underscores the importance of using one's advantages to foster transparency and support within the community.

Conclusion

This episode of What We Spend provides a profound exploration of how privilege and generational wealth shape one's financial decisions and lifestyle. Morgan's candidness about her advantages and her commitment to using them responsibly offers listeners valuable insights into the complexities of financial transparency and the ethical considerations of sharing wealth.

Transcript

[Morgan]

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[Courtney Harrell]

To $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra.

[Morgan]

See mintmobile.com, a heads up before you this podcast is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. You should always do your own research and consult your own financial advisor before spending or investing your money. Please note that all income, financial information and expenses in what we spend are self reported.

[Courtney Harrell]

Before our interview I asked you to fill out a form with like all of your numbers and some basic questions about your life. And one of the things that you said in that form that I thought was so real was I hope I don't get haters from this interview. Why did you say that?

[Morgan]

Because I get haters all the time. I'm a woman who exists on the Internet and especially when I talk about money and privilege from the context of this is kind of bullshit that I have this privilege. It's pure luck of the draw. It has a lot to do with the color of my skin and the privilege that my parents were grown into. And people are really upset to hear about that on both ends of the spectrum, whether they've been benefit from privilege or whether they are knocked down by other people's privilege.

[Courtney Harrell]

This is Morgan and she's 41 years.

[Morgan]

Old and I'm spending this ski season in Bend, Oregon, but I travel full time And I don't really live anywhere or I live everywhere.

[Courtney Harrell]

What made you decide to do that originally?

[Morgan]

Well, I had owned property before. I kind of hated everything about it, including the fact that I would have made way more money if I'd invested in bitcoin at the same time that I'd invested in my property. And it felt very tied down. And so I sold those properties and decided I wanted to find a place where I felt less tied down. And it turns out there's no one place that feels that way.

[Courtney Harrell]

Morgan has also sought out work that makes her feel less tied down. She often calls herself a consultant, which is kind of a catch all term for all the work she does. Some business coaching, some life coaching, some marketing consulting. She's also a yoga teacher, a writer, and a bit of an influencer. But Morgan's job is not the only thing making her life possible. Normally, on this show, we talk about someone's income and how that determines what they spend. But Morgan has access to generational wealth that allows her to at least kind of opt out of that model. Because of the money and resources she's been given, she can focus less on what she makes and more on living the kind of life she wants. And she's the first to say that that makes her extremely privileged. This week, we'll follow Morgan through a week of her life on the road and hear how she talks about her wealth with people in her life, with people online, and with us in her week of audio diaries. I'm Courtney Harrell, and this is what we spend. Can we talk about the social media post?

[Morgan]

Yes.

[Courtney Harrell]

So a few months ago, you posted this on social media. Will you just read the original post for me?

[Morgan]

Yeah. Oh, we're up to 2.8 million views. I try to be transparent about my level of privilege. My parents paid for my college and rent. They gave me 100,000 for my first house purchase and 150,000 for my second. I regularly get five figure checks from other family members. The moment I walked into my grandma's house, she handed me $1,000 cash. I don't post this to brag. I post this to remind you that the system is rigged for generational wealth and that my success stems directly from that privilege. Ooh.

[Courtney Harrell]

Why did you post that?

[Morgan]

I posted that in response to someone else's post who I know also has generational wealth, who was posting about how successful she was without acknowledging their generational wealth. And it pissed me off because it was false marketing. It was false advertising. It was a lie.

[Courtney Harrell]

Can you Just bring me into the moment. Like, where are you when you push post?

[Morgan]

I was visiting my grandmother. I was in Illinois, and she had just handed me a thousand bucks cash. And I was like, most people don't get to experience this. Yeah, this is crazy, truly, because not only is she handing me this cash, but now we're going to go to the day spa and she's going to pay probably another 500 bucks for us to have or just for me, for us to have a day together. Yeah. And then we're going to go out to dinner and she's going to pay for everything, you know? And I was like, most people don't get to experience this. And I knew it was a conversation that people that would get people talking, but it was also just like, this is the sort of thing that I want to be transparent around. Money just comes to me often. It's from my family, but that's not always true. But it felt like an obligation to be really transparent about that in that post. And obviously it took off.

[Courtney Harrell]

How long did it take for you to start seeing comments roll in?

[Morgan]

Immediately, immediately, immediately. And I would say the vast majority of people were very supportive of me sharing this information. I've blocked a lot of the hater comments at this point, but it did attract several hundred, if not thousand, comments worth of people telling me what a piece of shit I am.

[Courtney Harrell]

There are 1700 comments on the post with a range of reactions. One person says, are you embarrassed to ask for handouts? Another, I'm not sure how this makes the system rigged. And another, I don't think this post will help build authority as a business coach. They go on and on and on like this.

[Morgan]

People started DMing me, asking me to pay their rent. Oh, wow. Yeah, that was like, no, I'll coach you for free on how you can pay your rent. But I'm not just going to give an Internet stranger $2,000. I'm not going to do that.

[Courtney Harrell]

But you said, I'll coach you for free.

[Morgan]

Yeah, yeah, I offered that to anyone who DM'd me and even people in the comments. Like, if you want some help, you can DM me. I'll coach you for free. And I still coach some of those people for free. Yeah, I don't post about that, but maybe I should.

[Courtney Harrell]

The coaching Morgan is talking about is her business coaching. She works with entrepreneurs who do healing kind of stuff. So yoga teachers, massage therapists, various wellness professionals. Her coaching is all about growing their business and helping them make more money through sales and marketing. But Also by creating the kind of passive income streams that she relies on. You said the bulk of your money is from investments. What does the bulk mean?

[Morgan]

Like, are you looking for a dollar amount or a percentage?

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah, whatever is easier.

[Morgan]

Yeah, it really depends on the month. So early, like ski season. I don't take on that many clients in my consulting business, so that would be like 90% of my income is coming from my investments.

[Courtney Harrell]

Can you explain to me just like, how that works?

[Morgan]

Yeah, I have multiple investment accounts, so I check them all every day, and I'm looking for upswings and downswings. And typically if I've made a 10% gain, I'll sell a certain percentage of it. So I'm still maintaining my core investment, but I'm just kind of skimming off the top to fund my life so that my investment portfolio doesn't. It kind of stays a stagnant amount, and then I'm investing those gains in a variety of different ways, whether it's in experiences and my own livelihood, or whether it's like, oh, no, I have a friend who's started this great business and needs some seed money.

[Courtney Harrell]

Morgan's investment accounts have money that she's been growing since she was 18. At that time, her mom gave her about 100 bucks a month so she could learn how to invest. But most of the money in her portfolio is from an inheritance that she just received last year when her grandma passed away.

[Morgan]

So divided between my brother and I ended up being around $300,000, although they're still working out the ends of the estate, so they'll prob be another 30 to 50 grand coming my way later this year.

[Courtney Harrell]

Could you theoretically make the choice not to work and just live off of that? Or do you really need to work to have income to survive?

[Morgan]

Not sustainably. Unless I got really lucky with a couple of investments, I could probably last maybe four to five years if I just did no work whatsoever besides checking my portfolio.

[Courtney Harrell]

Let's dig into Morgan's numbers, because her income is from freelance work, and she decides how much to pull out of her investments based on her needs. What she makes varies from year to year. Last year she made about $350,000, but she says most of that goes into her business. Marketing expenses, liability insurance, all the subscription costs to keep a business running online.

[Morgan]

Pretty much everything I do is related to my business, so it just doesn't count as income because most of my life is a tax write off. So on paper, I make around $60,000 a year.

[Courtney Harrell]

Okay, so she's got all those tax write offs. But also she tends to live pretty cheap on the road. She pays her brother 600amonth for a room at his place where she stores her things and occasionally stays.

[Morgan]

And then when I'm traveling, I'm usually house sitting, but if I have a day or two in between where I need a hotel, then I'm usually spending less than $500 a month on that.

[Courtney Harrell]

She doesn't have utilities on the road, and her phone bill is about 100amonth.

[Morgan]

And then for groceries, depending on where I am, between like 300 and 1,000 bucks a month. So. And that would include, like, eating out. So I'm vegan, so I travel to some places where there just aren't restaurants where I can buy food. So in that case, I buy just the groceries I need, and I get them from, like, grocery outlet because I have great deals.

[Courtney Harrell]

Car insurance is 250Amonth, and because she's sometimes driving 1,000 miles a week, she can spend up to $800 a month on gas and car maintenance for pet care.

[Morgan]

My little dog Spike, my rescue chihuahua, it's well, less than 50 bucks a month. He's on a budget, but he also just doesn't need that much. Besides a lot of love, she doesn't.

[Courtney Harrell]

Pay for health insurance. For most of her health needs, she relies on traditional Chinese medicine and pays up to about 200 bucks a month for things like acupuncture. And then finally, she has a monthly charitable budget.

[Morgan]

Yeah, so I have an annual budget, and sometimes I kind of split it equally each month. And some months a cause feels really important. So I'll kind of dump a lot more money in that month, but it's about a thousand bucks a month.

[Courtney Harrell]

One thing you'll hear from Morgan is that there's a real ease in the way she talks about money, but that's today. There were times in her life when money was stressful or just confusing. Growing up, her parents told her they were middle class, but she could see even as a kid that that probably wasn't quite right.

[Morgan]

We had two homes. We had a ski home. We were a ski family. We got new ski stuff every single year. Growing up, no hand me downs. And that to me, when I would go, like, skiing with other friends and they were wearing, like, their older siblings hand me downs or they had never been skiing before. And there was some part of me that realized, like, that's because this is a really expensive hobby. Most people cannot afford to do it.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah.

[Morgan]

And then just the people that I would befriend in school, I would go to their house, and it would be in a different kind neighborhood than what I grew up in.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah.

[Morgan]

So I started to understand, oh, people live differently, and it's because of the money their parents make.

[Courtney Harrell]

This was the 80s. Morgan's parents were both attorneys, and her dad was making about 250,000 a year, which would be at least twice that much in today's dollars. Then they fell on hard times. Morgan's dad got sick and had to quit his job, so they were suddenly relying on her mom's income. Her parents eventually got divorced and found themselves in debt. Suddenly, money felt stressful. And then when Morgan was 12, she saw a whole other level of wealth. When she went to boarding school, she was there on a merit scholarship.

[Morgan]

People would literally, like, fly their horses in from, like, Saudi Arabia to compete with them while they were there. I mean, for me, like, the most exciting thing was like, oh, we get to go to CVS this weekend. We get to get off the all girls campus and go fight tampons. But for the other girls, it was like, I'm taking all my besties out to a VIP experience at a concert. And I was like, it would never even occur to me to offer that not only to, like, have my 13th birthday party at a concert, but to have my parents pay for everyone's tickets and to go backstage and for a limo to the concert and. And for dinner after. You know, it's just like, no, we're just. We're not going to Chuck E. Cheese anymore. Okay?

[Courtney Harrell]

Morgan didn't have that level of wealth, but she says she did have help from her family. While she was in college. Her parents paid her tuition and helped with her rent. But she wouldn't describe her relationship with money at that time as easy. In college, she got into about $18,000 of credit card debt, partly, she says, as a result of a difficult relationship. So by the time she graduated, she was working hard to pay that off, sometimes working four jobs at a time.

[Morgan]

So money for me was something you had to work really hard for. Money was something that's like, okay, I'm constantly calculating every single day, how much money am I going to make today? How much can I pay off today? And I was obsessed with it. And every day I was making credit card payments to try to pay down this debt so that the money wouldn't just, like, fall through my fingers. So it's. It was super stressful. I was going to the office at 10am and then working until 4am at the bar and having, you know, like maybe an hour off to figure out how to feed myself in the meantime. So it was definitely like, okay, if I work hard, I will succeed. I will make my goals happen. And that was 100% true. It just took a really long time. It was really exhausting and I pretty much hated every minute of it.

[Courtney Harrell]

Why didn't you ask for help from your parents?

[Morgan]

Because my parents had been very clear at this point that I had gotten myself into this situation and I needed to get myself out of it. I wasn't in school anymore. I did ask them for help. There was one month I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. And my mom said, honey, I don't want to do this to you. This is so hard. She was crying and she was like, I can't give it to you. You got to figure this one out. I have to be a parent right now. And so I figured it out.

[Courtney Harrell]

A few years later, though, her mom did help her out. Her mom had been working as a probate court judge and just saw too many cases of people fighting over money after a loved one died.

[Morgan]

And so she was like, I want to give it to you while you're still alive and watch you enjoy it. So when you are ready to buy property, I will help you with your down pay.

[Courtney Harrell]

And what did you say?

[Morgan]

Thanks very much. I'm going to open houses this weekend.

[Courtney Harrell]

At that time, Morgan didn't know that any other money would be coming to her. And then in her early 30s, her mom told her that she'd eventually inherit a share of her grandparents wealth. A $300,000 nest egg that would contribute to the ease with money she feels today.

[Morgan]

And so because I knew that was coming and I knew kind of how much it was, I didn't know when it would come. It made it less stressful to think about saving for the future because suddenly I just didn't have to anymore. And so that's what had kind of been so stressful. Coming up to that is like everything was for the future. Buying this house, I get to enjoy living in it now. But really it's about the investment for the future. Putting money away for, you know, staying out of debt. That's so my future self doesn't have to suffer. So once I didn't have to think so much about the future, it became easier to think, okay, well what do I really want to do right now to make an impact more than what do I need to do to make money?

[Courtney Harrell]

After the break, we'll dive into Morgan's week. Not all meals are created equal.

[Morgan]

For instance, breakfast has a spicy egg.

[Courtney Harrell]

McMuffin for a limited time and lunch does it McDonald's breakfast first.

[Morgan]

Hey, what's up flies? This is David Spade. Dana Carvey. Look at. I know we never actually left, but I'll just say it. We are back with another season of Fly on the Wall. Every episode, including ones with guests, will now be on video. Every Thursday, you'll hear us and see us chatting with big name celebrities. And every Monday, you're stuck with just me and Dana. We react to news, what's trending, viral clips follow and listen to Fly on the Wall.

[Courtney Harrell]

Everywhere. You get your podcasts.

[Morgan]

Race the rudders, Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply. Audio Diary Day 1 I am currently in Twin Falls, Idaho. I just drove here from Reno, Nevada and along the way I had to get my car washed. It had been months. It cost me $7. I had to get some gas, I stopped halfway and I only had to fill up half a tank. It was 56.61. I booked my hotel this morning not not being sure exactly where I might stop on this drive that I'm on. I'm trying to get to Jackson by tomorrow. I just finished up a house sitting gig in Reno and I'm heading to a house sitting gig in Jackson. So I booked my hotel this morning. I'm staying at a Best western. I paid 74.13 for my dog and I to be here for tonight. I don't always eat when I travel or eat out I should say when I travel. But I looked on an app called Happy Cow which is how I as a vegan find food when I travel. And in Twin Falls, Idaho there was one place that was reviewed well by vegans and they had broccoli tacos. Can you imagine? I spent 2308 on a beer and some vegan broccoli tacos and let me tell you, they were delicious. They were so so good. Let's see the income I had today. I'm not checking my portfolio cuz it's not realized gains didn't sell anything today but I did have a client payment come through for 962.80 and that's it. That's all I have for day one.

[Courtney Harrell]

On day one, Morgan also paid for her car insurance, bringing her total for the day to $442.56.

[Morgan]

Audio diary day two. I have just landed in Jackson, Wyoming, and I had to. Well, I didn't have to, but I did go to Starbucks this morning. I got myself a venti oat milk chai latte. It was 6.99, but it didn't actually cost me any cash because I trade my data for gift cards.

[Courtney Harrell]

She's talking about Google's online insight study, which lets Google collect more data about the ads you see and the websites you go to.

[Morgan]

Every week I send them some extra data and then they say, great, here's some money. You can spend it on a gift card. And while I don't love supporting Starbucks with my hard earned cash, I don't mind supporting it with my easy earned cash because it doesn't really cost me anything. I also had to stop again for gas. 74 and 98. I had about 100 miles to go in my car and I decided to stop for one last break before I got to my house sitting gig here in Jackson. And I did the stupidest thing. I put the gas in the car, I went to walk my dog, I went to use the bathroom and to see if there were any snacks that I wanted at the gas station. There were not. I exited the convenience store, I got into my car, I drove off, and I heard a thump. And that thump was the gas nozzle detaching itself from the gas station. I guess that's what you would call it. Fortunately, this incident is not going to cost me anything. They were like, I, I hung around, I was like, do you need any information from me? And they were like, no, no, you're fine. This happens all the time. I drove off, I got to my house sitting gig. I am now settled in my house sitting gig. I am not expecting to spend any more money today because I did a good grocery shop before I left. On this current journey, I have landed at this house sitting gig. It's not costing me anything. I'm not getting paid for it because of the arrangement that I have with this house sitting organization. Trusted House Sitters.

[Courtney Harrell]

Trusted House Sitters is a website, kind of like Airbnb, but instead of paying to stay in someone's house, you take care of a homeowner's pet. So while Morgan is sometimes house sitting for friends, this is how she often finds lodging on the road.

[Morgan]

I am staying in Such a nice place so close to the mountain. This is one of those, like, pinch me in my dreaming moments. Do I really get to stay here and I don't have to pay for it? And I get to hang out with an awesome dog. I'm dog sitting and the dog's name is Rufio, named after the character in Hook. So I get to spend the next few days screaming Rufio as my payment for being able to stay in this glorious mansion.

[Courtney Harrell]

Total for day two, $81.97.

[Morgan]

Audio Diary Day 3 I spent $0 today. I just checked all of my accounts and no charges came through. This is a rare day. I had a client this morning and after I was done with that meeting, I went skiing. Skiing can be an expensive day. However, I purchased my ski gear 10 years ago, still works great, and technology hasn't changed that much. And I don't generally eat at the lodge where you're gonna pay, you know, 30 bucks for chicken tenders and fries. But I'm vegan, so usually if they have anything that I can eat, I don't want it. You know, it's like a bad chili. So I always bring my own snacks, carry them around in my pockets. And the people I was skiing with, they all brought drinks and snacks as well. So we all just had picnics in the forest, on the mountain, in between runs. It was a great day. And I was just kind of noticing how doing this really expensive hobby, I mean, if you're paying for everything up front, it can easily be an over a thousand dollar day. But like, it doesn't have to be. You can live a luxurious life without spending that much money, as it turns out. And that's one of the things I'm grateful I realized at a young age is learning tricks, you know, obvious tricks like, well, don't buy it at the beginning of the season, buy it at the end of the season when there's a big sale that allow me to live a really luxurious life without having to spend a lot of money or any money. And I can still go have a great day. It doesn't take money to live well in this world. You just need to be a little clever about things sometimes. You need to plan ahead and you need to know what your priorities and values are. And it makes it a lot easier to figure out how to afford the things that you want. All that said, I will be skiing all weekends. We'll see how long I can go without spending money. Eventually I'll have to go to the grocery store. I bet Maybe, maybe not. Is that all I have to say today? Zero dollar spend day. What a gift.

[Courtney Harrell]

You said it doesn't take money to live well in the world.

[Morgan]

Yeah.

[Courtney Harrell]

And I'm gonna be really honest. My like very first like gut reaction to hearing that was like, oh, well that's easy for you to say.

[Morgan]

Yeah, super fair. Okay, here's the example I'm gonna give. I love to travel. I love to travel first class. I would never spend cash money on a first class ticket. So I figured out when I was young, oh, travel hacking. I can sign up for a credit card, spend 3,000 bucks in a month and get a first class flight to Europe. So that's what I mean when I say it doesn't necessarily take money to live in this world or like what I'm doing now. I pay very little in rent and that's one of the reasons that I don't have to spend that much money is I choose a different lifestyle than most people choose. So I find places to stay where either I get paid to stay there or it's free to stay there. That's why you get to stay in incredible homes, you know, ski in, ski out homes, huge mansions where I don't have to pay for anything. So it's like you just have to know who to ask and you have to be a little bit clever about it and curious about it and make it a game. I have ADHD as well, so it's like if I can gamify something, my life is just glorious. But I think it's also fair to your point. That is easy for me to say. I had perfect credit when I was 18, I didn't have to build my credit. And the reason for that is because my mother opened a credit card for me under her account. So I inherited not just her wealth, but her credit. And that means that I was eligible for these travel rewards credit cards. That not everyone is. So it is. It's from a place of privilege that I get to experience this. And it's true that not everyone will get to experience that and that sucks. But I can't change that for everyone, but I can change it for some people.

[Courtney Harrell]

Morgan thinks of her consulting as one way she can help other people with their money situation. She says even if she can't give everyone the kind of inheritance that she was given, she can try to teach people what she was taught.

[Morgan]

And I make it very clear like, no, I'm not a self made woman. I had a lot of privilege. You do. I've attracted a lot of wealth. Yeah. And when I started realizing the reason I can do what I do is because I have so much money, I was working with a lot of clients who had extreme money trauma and I was trying to put myself in their shoes using my own experience with debt. But I realized it was very different because I didn't grow up hungry like they did. I didn't grow up wondering if I would have to sleep in a shelter that night as they did. We're not starting from the same place, and it is my responsibility as someone with privilege to be transparent about it. I feel very strongly about that and also to help people as I can, whether that's sharing knowledge or whether that's sharing money.

[Courtney Harrell]

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[Morgan]

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[Courtney Harrell]

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[Morgan]

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[Morgan]

Audio diary Day 4 I did not spend any money today. In fact, I made some money today. The money that came in is from licensing my meditations to an app called Insight Timer. These are things I set up years and years ago. I get a little bit of money each month. It's basically lunch money. But the more useful part of Insight Timer is that it's a great place for me to connect with people who are interested in hiring me for a lot of my spiritual life coaching and yoga stuff. So insight timer paid me 41.12 into my PayPal account and then Facebook also paid me. Facebook and Instagram typically don't pay very much. I don't know, I probably got over a million views on my stuff on Facebook this month. It's stupid how little they pay. So they're sending me $5.44. So today was another ski day. I once again did not spend any money. I brought my own snackies to the mountain. And then I met up with a ski crew and we went to the bar afterwards and I had an aperol spritz and one of the guys I was skiing with offered to buy it for me, and I happily and gratefully accepted.

[Courtney Harrell]

Total for Day 4, $0.

[Morgan]

Audio Diary Day 5 Today was a Saturday, so I wasn't doing much work and no bank transactions really went through. But I did go pick up some more dog food for my dog, and I had just finished a day of skiing. I was so hungry. I had so much food at home. But I walked past their frozen food aisle on my way to the checkout and a vegan frozen pizza was calling my name. So I spent 20.99 at the grocery store here in Jackson. And yeah, I spent the day skiing with some friends and they ended up buying me drinks all day, which was very nice of them, or sharing the drinks they had brought themselves. These are new friends. I. I travel full time and I meet people in a variety of ways. Sometimes just, you know, randomly, like, sit together on a chairlift, end up skiing together. You end up being friends. These people I met through a Facebook group specifically for single skiers and snowboarders. And that may not be single in the relationship sense. It's more a safety thing of, like, it's always safer to ski with somebody else. So when I go to mountains where I don't have any friends, I'll post on this Facebook group and like 60 DMs will pop up of people like, hey, I'm at the mountain. Come hang out. I'm at this chairlift. So I ended up meeting up with one of them a few days ago, and we had a great time. He had a bunch of awesome friends in town, so we've been hanging out all week. So they were very curious how I was able to make my life work while traveling full time, because they work in politics, military journalism, variety of very more traditional things. And they, of course, you know, rented a ski in, ski out, lodge. Like, they make money and they kind of like they're working more than they're traveling, that's for sure, at this stage in their life. So they were very curious how I was able to make my life work while traveling full time. And I explained a lot of what I've explained here. I have a variety of different income streams, but the reality of it is that I chose it. I decided I want to Travel full time. I'm going to figure out how to do it. And you know, I'm not saying everyone should live this way. This is a choice that I'm making and there are things that are hard about it. It can be very lonely. But the, the point I think is, is that I decided on this life, right? I tried life in the traditional American way. I tried working the 40, 50 hour weeks and you know, after 15, 20 years of that, of waking up just like pure anxiety, dreading the day, getting home at the end of the day, too exhausted to do anything that actually would, you know, benefit my body and my brain and just drinking wine to fall asleep and then drinking a pot of coffee to wake up, I realized like, oh, I don't want to do this anymore. I need to figure out a way around this. So that's what I've done. And that's what I explained to them. You know, just diversified income streams, following my passions and refusing to let money be a reason that I don't do something. Because there are always ways to get what you want, even if you don't have the money for it.

[Courtney Harrell]

I hear you, like really, really acknowledging the privilege that you have and the way that that means that you are starting from a totally different place than other people are starting. And I think what I don't completely hear is putting that in conversation with some of the things about your life now. In particular, choosing to be on the road full time or think money as something that you can kind of always get. And I think that those are things that are possible because of the money.

[Morgan]

So it's an, it's an interesting conversation to have. Absolutely. I mean, first of all, it's easier to make money from money, so it's easier to get more of what you already have. So, yeah, 100%, it's, that's a part of it. But there is a mindset shift towards abundance versus money where even someone who has a billion dollars, who wakes up stressed out every day is like, that's not a wealthy life. Right. Just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean that you're, you're living life to its fullest level of joy that you can. But you can choose to experience the abundance that you have in order to attract the money that you need in order to get more of what you need to live in this feeling of abundance. And it doesn't have to take a lot of money to do that. Right.

[Courtney Harrell]

I guess like that, that is partly where my mind goes, is, do you think that that kind of orientation to money is possible if you don't have a certain level of privilege.

[Morgan]

100% it is possible. It is much harder and I do not deny that. Audio diary Day 6 I was at the ski mountain again today with my new friends. I was so tired, as is what happens when you go skiing for several days in a row, that I went to the lodge to get a Diet Coke for a little caffeine kick. And I was prepared to spend, you know, six or seven bucks for a can of soda at a ski resort. Not thrilled about it, but prepared. And I was delighted to discover that it was only $3, which is not a bargain for a can of soda. But to get anything on the ski Mountain for $3 just feels like you're getting a deal. We had a wonderful day skiing. We all met up at the Moose Lodge or the Mangy Moose afterwards. And the night before, I had watched everyone put their cards down for this poor server. Like six different cards to split the tab. And as a former server, I just know how frustrating and devastating that is. So after we, you know, hung out for a few hours, different people had come and gone and the server came around and asked if we needed anything else and we didn't. We're ready to go. And she brought over the thing to pay and I just paid for everything. It was $460.33, which considering I haven't really spent anything else on this trip. I didn't have to pay for lodging, etc. I don't to pay for, you know, day to day skiing. I don't have to pay for rentals. It was such a bargain, especially because I got to ski with these awesome people who were buying me drinks all weekend and being super generous with me. So it felt like an easy win, win, win. A win for me for doing something nice for everyone. A win for the server who didn't have to deal with 12 different people's cards and a win for the group that I was with. And everyone was very grateful and I have no regrets. I have no regrets. Audio diary Day 7 It is a travel day and we're also getting towards the end of the month. So all of my subscriptions have hit. So today felt like a big spend day. But I didn't actually actively spend that much money. I also had to move some money around. I transferred $5,000 from an investment account to a checking account from some stocks I had sold a few weeks ago that were doing well. I'd made some money off of them. So I just Finished up my trip in Jackson. I drove to Utah to see some friends, some wonderful friends who very kindly like to host me and who I also sometimes house it for. And we're going to be going skiing a little bit. The snow isn't great in Utah right now. I have a little bit of flexibility before my next scheduled house sitting gig. I have to be in LA in a few weeks to house it for a friend who's going to be in the Galapagos. I'm really looking forward to being back in California, not least of which because the vegan restaurant scene in LA is incredible and I finally get to eat, eat out a lot. So that's going to be a high spend week. It's going to be a lot of door dashing. Man. I love the food scene in la and I'm not really sure. It really depends on what the storms do. I might stay in Utah for 10 days up to three weeks. I might go back to Tahoe, I might go to Mammoth and it really depends on what the weather feels like doing. So it's kind of a day to day decision that I'm in right now, which is one of the many privileges of having independent income and not being beholden to a job, especially one that requires my physical presence to be somewhere for a certain amount of time. So I have this freedom to make my decisions really quickly and to change my minds often. And I love that about my life.

[Courtney Harrell]

After filling up her gas tank and paying for business subscriptions on day seven, Morgan's total for the week was $1,210. I wanted to end the conversation with Morgan by going back to that social media post we started with and that $300,000 inheritance. I think there are going to be some people who listen to this and think $300,000 is nothing.

[Morgan]

Yeah.

[Courtney Harrell]

And I wondered why, when in the scheme of things you actually are not even at the like level of wealth that we see so much in our culture, why you are interested in taking on the label and like talking about it.

[Morgan]

Yeah. So first of all I agree. I, I recognize that I make a lot of money compared to a lot of people and I recognize that compared to a lot of people it's nothing. But the reason I'm willing to have this conversation is because it's not so much about the dollar amount that you're making so much as it's about experiencing the reality that financial security is not real. It's not. It's a thing that people seek and it's not a possibility. You will never truly be financial secure. True security comes from the confidence that if you needed to make a thousand dollars tomorrow, you could make it. Not from I've hoarded all this wealth and now I don't have to worry about it anymore, but from the confidence of like, I know that I can get what I need no matter what. If I needed to come up with money to get a plane ticket somewhere tomorrow, I would figure it out. I would do it. And I hear your voice of like easy for you to say.

[Courtney Harrell]

What We Spend is an Odyssey original podcast. It's written and hosted by me, Courtney Harrell. Our producers are Margot Gray and Kristin Torres. Our editor is Jonathan Menhivar. Our executive producers are Maris Brunkheiser and Leah Rhys Dennis. Theme song and original Music by Matt McGinley Additional music from APM Music Mixing by Pedro Alvira. Special thanks to Melissa Akiko Slaughter, Joel Lovell, Jenna W.E. sperman, J.D. crowley, Maura Curran, Josefina Francis, Kurt Courtney, Hilary, Chef Sean Cherry, Laura Berman and Hilary Van Ornam if you want to be on what We Spend, we'd love to hear from you. Write us at whatwe spend podcastmail.com.

[Morgan]

Starting.

[Courtney Harrell]

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[Morgan]

Hey there cats and kittens. It's Brian from the commercial break. The mediocre comedy podcast where my best friend Chrissy and I attempt to make sense of the world. We talk about the absurd, the ridiculous, and the stuff no one asked for, like Internet weirdos, pickup artists, and why everyone is obsessed with crystals and colonics. It's all gotta stop. The show is free, it's frequent, and it's probably not for everyone. You can go to tcbpodcast.com, [e-mail] thecommercial break or check out the show wherever you listen to podcasts. We'll see you on the next commercial break. And best to you.