[00:00:00] Bob Wheeler: College can be a scary prospect, especially when it comes to budgeting for it. How much is tuition? How much should I save up each month? What can I live without? What other options do I have? These are all valid questions that require careful consideration. Have you ever considered living and studying abroad?

Our next guest, Liza Jean Miezejeski, is an international student currently living in Brussels, Belgium, and grew up 4,000 miles away in a small town in Connecticut, u s. Liza has traveled to 60 cities, give or take in 23 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America, and did it all while studying abroad and on a student budget.

Unfortunately, for Liza, Google didn’t have all the answers for navigating life as a student in a different country. And now Liza has become a go-to resource for many young adults wanting to learn more about the ins and outs of studying and living. In this episode, Liza and I discussed the path less traveled when it comes to going to college.

She explains how [00:01:00] she was able to attend an international college in a foreign country, obtain a degree for much less than it would cost in her home country, and at the same time, immerse yourself in a different culture. Start thinking outside the border and awaken your inner spirit for adventure. For more tips, tools, and hacks on living and studying abroad on a budget, visit Liza’s website and follow her on TikTok and I.

Links are in the show notes. I’m Bob Wheeler and this is Money You Should Ask, where we explore why we do what we do when it comes to money.

Liza Jean Miezejeski is a content creator who graduated with a humanities degree from Anglo-American University in [00:02:00] Prague and officially moved to Brussels to get her master’s degree in New Media and Society in Europe from Rye University, Brussels. After a video she created went viral, she’s now become a valuable resource for young adults looking to live and study abroad.

Liza believes you shouldn’t have to commit to a life of student debt in order to get a college. Education is a right, not a privilege. It’s so nice to meet you and have you on the show, Liza.

[00:02:25] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Thank you. Thank you for

[00:02:26] Bob Wheeler: having me. So content creators come in all shapes and sizes with a focus on different niches.

What’s your niche? Mainly

[00:02:34] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: it’s about getting your university education in Europe. And

[00:02:38] Bob Wheeler: I love that you are passionate about it. So America’s gonna be empty cuz everybody’s gonna be in Europe by the time you’re done with them. So , how did moving to Europe change your college experience and ultimately your life?

Well, okay,

[00:02:50] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: so I don’t know exactly what it’s like in the US because I didn’t go to college in the us, but I can imagine, and I saw all my friends go to school there. In some ways, I think that [00:03:00] there’s a lot of similarities. You know, we’re all growing up at the same time, but it’s entirely different. You know, you go through the whole culture shock thing and it’s entirely different place.

And plus the main thing that I got, which a lot of my friends back in the US don’t have is I am debt free after graduating, which was the big motivator for me to go. That

[00:03:20] Bob Wheeler: is so cool. Yeah, debt free is a great place to be. Now, you started saving early for college. Your dad owned a small business. He stressed the importance of savings.

So you did all that. And when you made that decision to go to Europe because you wanted to be debt free, can you tell me a little bit more of how that came about? Like, oh my God, my 5 29 is not gonna do anything, or I’m gonna owe millions of dollars. To get my basket weaving, degree or what? Whatever it might be.

[00:03:48] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: early on in high school, I think I was probably a sophomore in high school, and it’s just when everyone’s starting to think about college, I was talking to my mom saying like, I wanna go to California. Like I wanna go really far away. I don’t [00:04:00] wanna stay in Connecticut. Connecticut’s a small state, there’s not a lot of places where you can get in-state tuition.

So I was like, I wanna go far. I wanna travel, I wanna see the world. And my mom was like, good luck. You don’t have a lot of money. So with that, we were kind of trying to think of solutions. I basically just was starting to be like, well, I’m gonna have to take out student. And one day I was on my way to gymnastics practice with my mom.

We were listening to NPR and a story comes up about how Americans were going to Germany to avoid student debt. And we were like, oh my God, that sounds fantastic. Because I loved traveling. It was like a huge hobby. Mine. I had done some small trips with my family, been to Europe maybe once. But we were like, why isn’t everyone doing this?

This is genius. So we just started to research it, look into it more, and eventually I came across the university that I got my bachelor’s at England, American University. It was kind of the best of both worlds. It was an American and Czech University. So I got an American diploma and a Czech diploma. And yeah, from there I was like, why wouldn’t

[00:04:59] Bob Wheeler: I [00:05:00] do?

That’s awesome. And so ultimately you ended up in Prague. Mm-hmm. . You started out thinking you were gonna go to Germany, then Britain didn’t quite work out. So maybe it wasn’t first choice, but it was the most appropriate choice.

[00:05:13] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yeah. Germany was chosen at first because it’s basically free. I think tuition at like a public university, it’s like two to $300.

A semester or a year or something like that, which is Wow. Insanely cheap. Yeah. But I went to a private university in the Czech Republic so I could get the American and Czech diploma in case I decided to go back to the US afterwards, which I ultimately didn’t do, but in case I wanted to. I was like, okay, backup plan.

I do have an American diploma just in case, and it was more expensive. I think my tuition was about 3000 a semester, so yeah, that’s more, but it wasn’t impossible and it didn’t leave me in.

[00:05:52] Bob Wheeler: I don’t know if you speak multiple languages, but moving through Europe, most people speak three and four and five languages.

At least my [00:06:00] friends do. I barely speak English . And so I’m wondering how that impacted you or did people look at you like, oh, the Americans here, .

[00:06:09] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Well, they don’t have very high expectations of Americans, to be honest. So Fair. There’s that. To begin, nobody expected me to speak five language. But in Czech Republic, well now I’m living in Brussels and the language thing is so much bigger here, so I never had to learn check really, except for daily life.

Things like going to the grocery store, going to the post office, visa office, things like that. I could speak enough check to survive basically. And that I just learned going through life. It wasn’t required in school. I studied in English and also my job was in English. Everything was in English. So as much as I tried to learn, I wasn’t really forced.

Right now I’m here in Brussels and I swear like everyone speaks five languages. It is ridiculous. . It makes job hunting a little bit more difficult, only speaking English, but [00:07:00] I do have English with. A basis of Czech. I speak a little bit of French, and I’m taking Dutch classes now, so maybe that’s better than an average American, but compared to everyone over here, it’s nothing.

But I’ll say that being a native English speaker is a huge benefit. Like it’s something that a lot of companies look for, and that was something I was really lucky to have when I was job hunting.

[00:07:21] Bob Wheeler: That’s so cool. And I’m just so aware because I have a lot of friends from other places, how limited we are in the US by not teaching multiple languages and for them it’s just second nature for most of ’em.

Yeah. Especially

[00:07:35] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: cuz media, it’s in English, you can’t avoid English, so. Everyone’s going to speak English and it’s kind of a handicap for us. Kind of frustrating.

[00:07:42] Bob Wheeler: Totally, totally. Now you started a business in Belgium, or you’re getting ready to start one. What’s that process like? Because you were in Prague, you were in the Czech Republic, and now let me go to Belgium, sort of the capital of the European Union.

So how did that happen and

[00:07:59] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: the. [00:08:00] So I’m in Belgium now because I got my master’s here. So I did my master’s in one year. Speaking of money, that was only $4,000 for my entire master’s degree. That was excellent. Wow. Yeah, very happy with that. So I moved here. I wasn’t quite sure if I was gonna stay, go back to Prague, cuz I really loved Prague.

It still feels very much like home to me. But as I was here, I was like, this is somewhere where I feel like I can develop my career grow. Like I love rusting as well. So I decided to stay. I’m the business starting is kind of halfway between being my own business and also just kind of being an influencer and working a job.

So the whole thing with starting my business is that in order to get a visa here after graduation, you have to obviously prove that you’re making enough. And I have a full-time job, but the starting salary isn’t always what the Visa requires for like a typical starting salary. It’s supposed to be for highly qualified people, which means people who aren’t entry level jobs, like [00:09:00] entry level jobs are very hard to get a visa for.

So I’m basically combining my income from my entry level job, working in communications with my content creation, and that’s my business. I’m basically, Calling myself a consultant or like a social media manager and doing it all.

[00:09:17] Bob Wheeler: No, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. And did you set out to be a content creator?

Was that like when you got over to Europe you said, you know what, I’m gonna take TikTok by storm, that is what I’m gonna do.

[00:09:29] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Absolutely not. I had no idea this was gonna happen to me. . I did not ever consider being an influencer, a content creator, anything. It was genuinely just a first month of covid boredom in lockdown.

That I got really lucky with , like I did not. Basically, I just had a video go viral that people were really interested in and I just started answering questions and I realized that I have like a wealth of knowledge about how to [00:10:00] move abroad, why it’s good, why it benefits people, like every step of how to apply for a visa to how to apply to university, all that.

I just had that all in my head and people wanted to know, so I just started answering questions, making content, and it was working for people, so I kept going with.

[00:10:15] Bob Wheeler: That’s so awesome. Where were you when I was wanting to go to college abroad? Come on.

[00:10:20] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Ah, yeah. So sorry. Not

[00:10:21] Bob Wheeler: fair. Not fair. Yeah. So prior to becoming a content creator, prior to, now that you’ve finished your master’s on that stuff, did you ever feel financially secured?

Did you feel like, oh, great, I don’t need to worry. I know my parents did. My dad struggled as a small business owner, but I’m good.

[00:10:39] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Well, okay. I will say that when I was in high school and working like two jobs plus babysit, I was very happy with the money I was making , so there was that. I accidentally once saved up like a thousand, $2,000 in a mason jar in my bedroom because I was getting a lot of tips.

I was a waitress and I just started putting all my tips into a jar and I [00:11:00] told my mom I wanted to go to Paris with my school, and she was like, you don’t have the money for that. I’ve seen your bank account. I was like, well, I have this jar in my room. She was a little bit angry. I was keeping a few thousand dollars in a jar in my room, but you know, at that point I was like, oh, I’m doing good.

This is. But otherwise, no. Like I never felt like money was something that was like an abundance. I always was very careful around money. I was always trying to save, but it was never something I always felt super secure

[00:11:25] Bob Wheeler: with. And now that you’ve decided to stay in Europe, has the financial situation changed?

Is it the same in Europe? Maybe people stress about money just with an accent or in multiple languages? I don’t know.

[00:11:38] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yeah, like people do stress. Everybody’s gonna stress about money, but I feel like there’s less to stress about here because for example, like healthcare is free or super affordable, and so that’s one less thing people have to worry about.

I was hospitalized this winter. I broke my Pel was. Was put in the hospital for a week, had to get sent back in an ambulance to another [00:12:00] country. I was in France. It was a big mess, but I didn’t pay a dime for it. Wow. I didn’t even have to open up my wallet for any of it. So whereas I was starting to get really anxious because I’m used to in the us, that would cost me possibly tens of thousands of dollars.

Right. I was trying to get really stressed and I finally got on the phone with the right person at my health insurance and. Don’t worry, you’re not gonna pay anything. We’re entirely taking care of this. Like you don’t need to worry at all. So there’s things like that that it’s a lot less stressful and yeah, like because of that, salaries tend to be maybe a little bit lower or whatever, but the cost of living is lower.

It’s all kind of proportionate. And those things that are fake stressors like health insurance or social security or having a pension, that sort of stuff, it’s less stress. So,

[00:12:46] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I guess in my mind I’m thinking if you’re American and you’re in Europe, even if you’re living there and working there, the government’s gonna be, well, you’re American, so you’re gonna have to pay for the health insurance cuz you’re not grandfathered in.

So how

does

[00:12:59] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: that work? Yeah, [00:13:00] and you do have to pay a little bit cuz you don’t get all the benefits of a citizen. For example, like here, I think I pay. 30 euros a month or something like that. It’s not much. You usually pay just all at once, but it’s not entirely free for immigrants or foreigners. Once you’re a citizen, I think you’re okay.

[00:13:18] Bob Wheeler: And when do you become an immigrant? Or when do you become an expat? Or maybe they’re the same or you must know more when people identify you. Like over here we’re just like, they went to Europe, so they’re maybe an ex. That

[00:13:32] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: kind of, I mean, to be honest, it’s super subjective. No matter what I call myself on the internet, somebody’s got something to say about it.

If I call myself an immigrant, they’re like, you’re not an immigrant, you’re an American. I’m like, what does that have to do with anything ? Or they’re like, but you’re a student. You can’t be an immigrant. I’m like, what? Okay. I don’t intend on leaving. Like, uh, so if I call myself an immigrant, someone’s got a problem with it.

I don’t like the word expat. I think that it’s just, Kind of a wealthy way of saying immigrant. You know, people tend to [00:14:00] only label like British and American people expats, so I don’t usually use the word expat, but I think that generally how it goes is if you intend to stay for either a really, really long time, like over a decade or the rest of your life, then you’re pretty much an immigrant.

I guess a migrant, if you’re coming seasonally, whatever, or a nomad, if you wanna be a hipster about it or something. But yeah, there’s a lot of terms. I just tend to say either I’m international or a foreigner, or if anything, an immigrant.

[00:14:31] Bob Wheeler: So as I’m listening to this, I’m thinking. People out there might be wondering, how do you just pick up, leave your family, leave all your friends, leave the comfort and security, go to another country that’s across the ocean so you can’t just take the train back.

That’s a lot. Was it scary? Was it just because you were adventurous or you knew the end goal was no debt? Like that’s a lot for a lot of people to go, wait a minute, I’m gonna give up all my

[00:14:59] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: [00:15:00] security. Yeah. I think one thing that actually made it pretty easy for me was that I was moving abroad at the same time that all my friends were going to university.

So just like all my friends going to other states or having some other transitional period of their life, this was a transitional period of my life, right? And so I didn’t feel like I was leaving something behind so much as had I gone like halfway through the university or at some point where my community back home was really.

Like, of course my family was there and I missed them deeply, but it was different when I didn’t have to watch all my friends at home having fun. They were all going off and doing their own thing. So I think that made it a whole lot easier for me, and it’s one reason I’m really thankful that I did it at the time that I did.

[00:15:46] Bob Wheeler: That’s awesome. Now, you were also a little naive. Yes. Around money ? Yes. Was that just because your parents always took care of things? Because you know, I’m alluding to a story and so I’m curious like [00:16:00] what was your money experience up until. Moving to Europe and finding everything wasn’t just handled

[00:16:08] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yeah. Well, so at first of course, I always knew savings were the goal Growing up. I never got like a first paycheck or even a paycheck that didn’t go directly into my 5 29 college savings account. Savings was always the plan, but when I moved I didn’t get a job right away, which was a huge mistake. Like I really should have started working immediately.

My friends weren’t getting jobs, and I should have gotten a job right away, but instead I lived off my savings and I also just had no idea how paying bills worked. Nobody ever explained that to me. Or how to just make a real budget. I was always like, budgeting just means trying to save money wherever you can.

I never like sat down and written a budget. So my first assessor, I thought that Bills came automatically outta your bank account because my mom always had autopay setups. . I just assumed that Bills came outta your bank account, so I [00:17:00] didn’t pay rent for three. My phone got shut off at least like twice because I wasn’t paying my phone bill.

Like I just did not have that. Plus I have h ADHD and I forget these things and my calendar was never up to date. So the first semester was a little bit rough, especially with money and

[00:17:15] Bob Wheeler: bills and rent and all that. . Did you tell your parents, did they feel bad or were they like, oh my, like how did that go?

Hey mom, you forgot to mention that you have to set up the auto.

[00:17:25] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: I think they just slapped at me because to be honest, what happened is I was moving out and I was living in a dorm. I don’t know how they didn’t come after me for not paying rent For a whole semester. Yeah, exactly. Which that was kind of confusing.

But after I was moving out, because I just decided to cancel my lease early, I was like leaving and they’re like, you owe us like a lot of money. I was like, What are you talking about? Like, no, I’m not, and I was so proud of myself cuz my mom took out a certain amount of money, put it into my bank account for my first semester and I was like, I did it.

I stayed within budget. We’ve gotten to the end of the semester. I spent exactly what I was supposed to. I don’t think I had like anything left. I think I [00:18:00] was like, I stayed exact same budget and then they’re moving out. They’re like, you owe us $1,500. I was like, What do you mean? Like, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

So yeah, I was a little bit over budget there. Didn’t really know what

[00:18:11] Bob Wheeler: I was doing. . That’s too funny. Yeah. And how are you now with finances? And even if you’re not a multimillionaire, because you’ve said, look, I’m not rich. Definitely. But from a mindset point of view though, there is a wealth of knowledge maybe, and a wealth of comfort so that even if you don’t have a million dollars in your bank account or at your disposal at any.

There seems to be a comfort level of, you know what, I’ve sort of got it handled. Would that be a fair statement or,

[00:18:39] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: yeah. This year, since I was doing my Master’s, I was basically just trying to keep on top of things. I wasn’t trying to focus on my savings, I was focusing on my studies, so I was working when I really needed to.

But now that I’m actually working full-time, I finished my thesis, just graduating. You know, I’m working full-time. I’m starting to get more of a sense of stability just [00:19:00] cause I know what’s going to happen in the next year. Like this is probably one of the first times that I know that I’m employed for the next 365 days and I feel comfortable with that.

I don’t have to wonder, like even when I was doing my bachelor’s, I taught English, which meant I only worked during the school year and during the summer I kind of had to save or figure it out or find something to do during the. But this is the first year I had, you know, the whole year of planned out.

So I’m definitely feeling more of a sense of security.

[00:19:27] Bob Wheeler: Now. What’s the hardest thing would you say about adulting? Right? , you’re finishing up, you’ve got the masters, everything, and you’re not in a lot of debt, but now you have your whole life ahead of you, and theoretically you’re transitioning into, I’m going to be an adult.

[00:19:45] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yes. I think honestly paying taxes because , and then also like social security is a separate thing, so it’s like I have to pay taxes and social security contributions, and that’s hard for me because most people when they’re, you know, in a [00:20:00] full-time employee position, their job takes care of it. But since I am technically a consultant and I’m paid in full, and then I have to charge V A T, which is value added tax here.

And then make my own Social Security contributions and handle all that myself. It is so frustrating to get my whole paycheck put in my bank account and be like, I can’t spend. Like half of that has to go because Belgian taxes are super high. So I really have to take out, hack my paycheck every month and set it aside.

So that I think is the hardest thing for me.

[00:20:32] Bob Wheeler: That would be hard. Although I would imagine, because you’re in Europe, you’re in Belgium, you can take short trips to other countries on a lot less money than somebody coming from the.

[00:20:44] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Oh yeah, I’ve gotten flights for like 30 bucks. I was looking at, I’m going back to Prague in a few weeks that for me to fly there and back, it’ll probably be about a hundred bucks.

Just round trip. Super easy. So nice. . Wow,

[00:20:58] Bob Wheeler: that is so amazing. [00:21:00] How has expanding your audience changed your financial situation? Like now that you’ve got people reaching out, you’ve got a platform, has that changed? I mean, do you see the differe. Oh

[00:21:11] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: yeah, for sure. I mean, probably the biggest thing is that I get brand deals, and that completely changed my financial situation.

I went from like living paycheck to paycheck, typically, like I would always make enough to survive every month with teaching English, but there was very rarely anything extra. Like I would get lucky if I finished the month and there was still some money in my bank. So when Covid happened, my pay got reduced and that was scary cause I was like, okay, I was barely making it before.

I don’t know how I’m gonna keep making it now, but I got lucky. I started making content and I started making money off it right away as well. So that extra money has made me just to feel a whole lot more secure, a whole lot safer.

[00:21:52] Bob Wheeler: Do you think if you had stayed in the US you would’ve been as successful?

I mean, since your content is about [00:22:00] moving to Europe, I mean that’s probably a part of it. Maybe you would’ve had different content. Do you feel like though, that having moved from the states has really put you in a better place mentally, financially? If

[00:22:10] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: I was in the US I have no idea if I ever would’ve started making content.

Maybe if I had like something else I felt passionate about and had a whole lot of knowledge about. I don’t think that there’s anything else that I have that I could share with so many people and that so many people would connect to in that way. Yeah, so I think that being here, having that opportunity plus graduating without debt and not having to worry about things like health insurance, that has just made me like a whole lot less stress than had I stayed in the us.

[00:22:39] Bob Wheeler: That’s so cool. I’m a little jealous, I have to say, because I wanted to study abroad for a couple years and I just couldn’t see the path forward. Mm-hmm. . So I love that you’re helping people find out that there are options that are viable because mm-hmm. , I think most of us stop because we think we can’t.

[00:22:59] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yeah. I think that [00:23:00] also when Americans tend to think of studying abroad, you think of studying abroad through a university, which means that you’re paying your home university tuition on top. Trying to fit all your travels in Europe into three. It is expensive. When you do it that way, it really is. So there’s a whole nother way to do it,

There’s

[00:23:18] Bob Wheeler: a whole nother way to do it and Liza will tell you. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Well, Liza, we are at the fast five. Okay, and the Fast five is brought to you by Zu. Preparing Kids for the Financial Jungle, prepaid cards, and a family finance app for kids, teens, and parents. Keep your kids on a budget. Track chores, automate allowances, and encourage savings. If you want your child to learn more money, habits that match your values, sign up for Zu To learn more, check out the link in the show notes.

Automated savings. They probably have automated rent payments too, so maybe I should check it out. . So for the next group of people going over to [00:24:00] Europe, like set up the automated payments. I love it. . All right. Liz, what do you miss the most about home?

[00:24:07] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Probably my mom’s cooking. ? .

[00:24:11] Bob Wheeler: She can’t FedEx it? No. No. Do you think you spend more or less money in Europe than you did in the us?

[00:24:17] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Less because I don’t order things online like I used to in the us.

[00:24:21] Bob Wheeler: Okay. Describe living in Europe in three words. Ooh,

[00:24:27] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: exciting, curious, and educational. Awesome. .

[00:24:34] Bob Wheeler: Awesome. , how long did it take you to get used to Euros versus dollars?

[00:24:39] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Well, I was in Czech Crowns at first, which are entirely different from Euros.

Right, right. There’s about 20 crowns on the dollar. So at first I had the whole Monopoly money effect, but that took me, I’d say probably at least my first semester when I could not figure out how much

[00:24:55] Bob Wheeler: anything cost. I think that’s so interesting, and I know I’m supposed to say on the F five, [00:25:00] but I just wanna talk about this, the money in different countries.

Not everybody is on the Euro. British is not on the Euro and all that stuff, so it’s just interesting that you don’t just get to learn one system. You’ve gotta constantly convert, convert, convert.

[00:25:16] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yeah. I can check Republic. You get pretty used to it pretty quickly, but Euro and dollar are pretty much the same now, so it’s not too difficult when you’re

[00:25:24] Bob Wheeler: on the.

Yeah. What would you say the monopoly effect is? You mentioned

[00:25:28] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: monopoly. It’s basically when you’re holding the money, but it doesn’t feel like money because it looks foreign. The numbers are foreign. I’m holding, instead of like $10, I’m holding 200 crowns, and that just doesn’t feel real. That’s like, right, what is this?

I don’t know what I’m spending right now. So yeah, that’s kind of the, you spend more because the money doesn’t feel.

[00:25:49] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I totally get that. When I do workshops, I bring out different currencies and people that aren’t familiar with the Chinese currency have no connection to it. They’re like, whatever. And other [00:26:00] people aren’t that excited about the US dollar.

They’re like, I know it has value, but I like my Canadian money, or I like my, so it’s just so interesting because it’s all arbitrary that we agree that these pieces of paper mean something. Yeah, exactly. Is there something that you’d never buy in the States, but you always buy in Europe?

[00:26:17] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Ooh, Well, there’s public transportation here, but in the US I had a car, so probably public transportation passes

[00:26:24] Bob Wheeler: Okay. I thought maybe it was a baguette. . Oh

[00:26:28] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: no. I hate those in the US too. .

[00:26:30] Bob Wheeler: They’re not as European. Yeah, over here. But that’s cool. All right. We are at our m and m spot, our sweet spot. Money and Motivation. Do you have a practical financial tip or a piece of wealth wisdom, something that’s worked for you that you could share with

[00:26:44] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: our listen.

You know what? Honestly, if you’re moving abroad, get a job as soon as possible. Try to stretch those savings that you have when you’re moving abroad as long as possible, because it’s just gonna make your life a whole lot easier as your savings [00:27:00] start to dwindle and you’re rushing to find a job. So that would be my tip.

[00:27:05] Bob Wheeler: That’s awesome. Well, Eliza, this has just been such a fun conversation. I love that you are just out there looking for different ways to do things. Thanks. I think so many of us, we get shut down and we say, oh, that’s not possible. I can’t quite do that. And that if we’re willing to do a little bit of digging, the resources are out there, the information is out.

To do it a different way. And I think also sometimes Americans and maybe everybody, but I think in the US sometimes we can easily get boxed in to the way it’s supposed to be because we’re the US and we can do the right way. Mm-hmm. . But there’s so many ways to do it, and I love that you’re out there, that you looked, that you were very clear, you didn’t want to have.

And you found a way to make that happen even though you were in the habit of saving and even though your parents were in the habit of safe, safe, save that there was this other piece of, in the long run, I don’t want to be in a whole lot of debt. And [00:28:00] there’s a lot of people in the US that struggle with that.

And thinking about what university you need to go to, because maybe if you want to be a basket weaver, Harvard isn’t really the degree you need. And so figuring out what matches, but I just love this piece about, I’m gonna keep figuring it out. I love this adventurous spirit that you have that’s just, I’m gonna go and do it.

I think so many people would be scared to jump on that plane, knowing when I land I’m not gonna have a big a receiving party and I’m just gonna have to figure it out. That’s pretty big, pretty courageous, so. Well thank you. I really love that you did that, so thank you so much. I appreciate you coming on.

I appreciate you sharing your story and I hope people out there listening that haven’t gone to college yet are gonna look you up and figure out how they can get over to Europe and have an amazing college experience and no student debt.

[00:28:52] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

It was so much fun talking to you too. But yeah, I absolutely [00:29:00] encourage if it’s something that you’re into, Wanted to travel, don’t want debt. It is an option that I think is feasible for more people than they realize. So highly recommend.

[00:29:11] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely. Where can people find you online in social media so they can learn more about getting out of the

[00:29:16] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: us.

I’m pretty much Liza Jean on all my socials on TikTok. You can probably look me up if you look up Liza Jean, my username is a little bit weird. It’s SLIs. Like I said, I went viral without realizing what was gonna happen , so I did not have a real username set up and I just left it . But yeah, on Instagram, I’m also Liza Jean, and my website has a lot of resources for looking at university abroad as well.

Pi jean dot. Well,

[00:29:42] Bob Wheeler: I so appreciate it is such a fun conversation and I know that you’ve inspired more people to go out and have their best life. So thank you. Thank you so

[00:29:50] Liza-Jean Miezejeski: much.

[00:29:58] Bob Wheeler: We hope you enjoyed this [00:30:00] episode. Did you learn something new about your relationship to money today? Maybe you have a friend who has some financial blocks or beliefs that are holding them back. Please share this podcast so they too can get off the rollercoaster Ride of Financial Fears and journey towards financial.

To learn how to have a healthy relationship with money, visit the money nerve.com. That’s nerve not nerd. We’ll be back next week with another perspective on money and the emotions that bind us.