🟢 10 Million Points

Hello Thursday. I went to book an end of summer 2-night trip to The Homestead in Virginia and at checkout the room total was $3,435 👀.

Traveling with a family of 5 is expensive! To save money, I ended up booking just one room for all of us. Squeezing in.

I’m still trying to develop a POV on family travel. Is this where we want to spend money? Reply back with your opinion, trip ideas, and travel money hacks. Anyways.

💼 Hot Job: Accounting & Finance Lead at SouthernEEZ Landscaping ($90K – $130K). Work with CEO Nate Negrin, who left a cushy Bank of America exec job in 2015 to buy this business (it's booming).

🤯 Number: $110K. Salary for a single adult to "live comfortably" in Charlotte according to new research from SmartAsset. $244K for a family of 4.

👨 Shout-out: Bryant Cohen, owner of Pink's Window Service, for leaving the lucrative PE world and buying this franchise now hitting $20K/mo within months.

MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE

GROWTH MODE

Podcast production agency in Elizabeth experiences 400% year-over-year growth

EVRYBDY Studios has generated $135K in revenue so far this year.

How it started: Robbie launched a podcast named Champagne Problems to destigmatize issues surrounding mental health and alcohol. He needed expert-level skills and space, but couldn't find it. So he invested $300K of his own money to build it.

Growth: Business really started to explode 6 months ago when Robbie focused on B2B podcasts for CEOs and other leaders to engage employees, stakeholders, and communities.

Pro tip: "Leaders underestimate the amount of time it takes to create, develop, plan, schedule, record, produce, edit, distribute, and promote. Don't quit."

Price check: Rates range from one hour of recording at $300 to white glove audio, video, and distribution services at $2K per episode.

PRESENTED BY MOOD HOUSE

Dads like massages too! Buy him a 50 minute massage for $148

Awards: Congrats to Mood House for making it on Yelp's 2025 Top Local Businesses List 🏆!! Only 3 North Carolina businesses made the list.

Father's Day gift: Use code “TINY20” at checkout for 20% off gift cards or services (valid only for 24 hours). Go buy or book a massage.

SIDE HUSTLE DIARIES

Digital executive hits 10 million credit card points, says it's "genuinely fun"

I recently learned my marketing friend, Robbie Hodge, goes hard in the credit card points game. I had to learn more.

How it started: "For our honeymoon, I booked two round-trip business class tickets using about 80,000 points each. We had champagne before takeoff and slept flat across the Atlantic — roughly a $16,000 value. After that, I was hooked."

Card count: Robbie, 39 years old, has over 40 open credit cards at a given time.

Pro tip: The bulk of Robbie's points have come from sign-up bonuses, not everyday spending.

Leverage: The real value comes when you transfer your points to airline or hotel partners, according to Robbie whose strategic transfers yield 2 to 10 cents per point in value.

Winning: Some of Robbie's best wins have come from premium cabin flights, upgraded hotel stays, and benefits he would never have paid for directly.

TINY MONEY JOB BOARD

Who’s hiring in Charlotte? 5 Trending jobs

Hiring? Post a job

Hunting? View all 78 job postings on the Tiny Money Job Board 🚀

MONEY TALKS

34 year old non-profit exec making $82K with $4K dog sitting and $7K eBay side hustles

Money Talks is a weekly series showcasing how real people in Charlotte approach money. Participate.

Living situation: “Purchased current house in 2020 at a 2.875% interest rate for 30 years. Never going to sell! My partner moved in 3.5 years ago, and we split everything 50/50.”

Side hustles: “10 dog sitting clients which yields about $350 per month. Also run an eBay shop with $7,000 per year in sales, which helped pay for a trip through 8 countries in Europe last year.”

Best recurring expense: “$44 per month Peloton All Access Membership. I have the Peloton Bike+, but love their other variety of classes as well (walking/running, strength, meditation, stretching, etc).”

Net worth: “About $450K. In 10 years working, I have barely made a total of $500K – the biggest key to growing net worth has been real estate appreciation and investments.”

Financial goals: “Save $300K with my partner by the time I’m 40 to buy/build a dream house and find a way to match at least 50% of my W2 income through side hustles.”

Rich in Charlotte: “I manifest living in Dilworth every day. All hours of the day I see folks out walking their dogs, running down the sidewalks, and strolling through Latta park.”

Full story: 34 year old making $82K shares exact investment strategy and next side hustle

MONEY SNACKS

5 other financial headlines I’m snacking on

HOUSEKEEPING

Salted Melon opens new $500K SouthPark location near The Palm

“We are incredibly excited," said owner Thomas Coker, who also runs Reid's with his dad, Tom. “We hope to become a go-to destination for SouthPark to grab a quick meal, coffee, or smoothie — any time of day.”

Best seller: Super Caesar Wrap ($13.50). Between the two existing locations they've sold 9,147 YTD totaling $132,975.

Programming note: No newsletter next week! Because even bloggers need vacation too 😎

– Ted

MONEY POLL

Last week’s poll results: How would you describe the dating scene in Charlotte? (9,561 subscribers)