I’m excited to welcome our first couple to the show, the amazing Mark & Lauren Greutman, the co-founders of a personal finance website, markandlaureng.com. Having gone through financial hardships, they are now on a mission to spread the word about money and financial health – the things they wish they had known years ago. I love their story – their tenacity and determination is so inspirational!

Their journey, as a married couple, begins in their 20s… when, like many of us, they developed a dream of what their ideal life would be and pursued it with full force. They went on wild shopping sprees and acquired designer clothes, luxury cars, and a 3,200 square foot custom built home, complete with all new furnishings. And even though they both worked full-time and were successful in their careers, their spending outpaced their income and drove them into debt… and LOTS of it. The result? A mortgage underwater, a car towed away, $40,000 in credit card debt and a $1,000 a month deficit in the family budget. Fortunately, they found ways to quickly dig themselves out of that hole and readjust their definition of the American dream along the way.

In terms of takeaways from this interview, there are SO many of them … but honoring the tradition, here are my favorite three:

— Their financial philosophy and their new definition of the American dream

— How they nursed themselves back to financial health

— Why it’s important to enjoy money

If you’d like to learn more about Mark and Lauren, visit their website www.markandlaureng.com or follow them on Twitter @markandlaureng. Also, check out their “Simpler Happier Life” podcast and Lauren’s own website www.IamThatLady.com which is a couponing service with wonderful tips on how to save on your groceries.

Our favorite quote from this interview: “We’re willing to be weird and uncomfortable in order to have a life full of financial independence.” – click to tweet