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Cents and the City is a new scripted podcast that follows a "broke bestie" living in New York City.The creators say our habits have more of an impact on our finances than the money in our bank account.Good habits aren't built overnight, and there's no shame in making mistakes. 

Every week, JoJo faces a financial challenge — and you can follow along as she resolves it.

Cents and the City, a new podcast from Spotify, follows the dreams, hopes and financial misadventures of fictional JoJo, a self-described "broke bestie living and working in New York City, trying to figure out her finances while staying fabulous and without becoming an incredible bore."

Each week a financial expert appears on the show and dispenses innovative how-tos by having a conversation with JoJo about where she is with her money at that moment.

In episodes that present like scripted television instead of staid advice, JoJo tackles a different financial issue: overspending, paying rent, unexpected dental expenses, saving, and even being a broke bridesmaid.

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Creator and host Olayinka Sarayi, 30, and supervising creative producer and writer Fredia Lucas, 30, have worked to make the podcast easy to listen to and to make sure that the tone isn't based in finding fault. Successful management of your personal finances is learned behavior, they explain, and is very much based in your financial habits and awareness.

Many people think that their issue with money is that they don't have enough of it. Sarayi disagrees. "You could have a million dollars, but if you don't know how to handle it or you do not have good financial habits in place, you will still live paycheck to paycheck," she told Insider during an interview at Soho Works in Brooklyn.

Every financial challenge JoJo experiences is a result of her habits. Lucas tells Insider, "we wanted to show the consequences of JoJo not having an emergency fund, not having a full understanding of her dental insurance, overspending and not saving, and not planning financially."

She continues: "Each financial expert we selected focused on her choices and how she was handling her finances without necessarily blaming her. She is definitely responsible for her actions, but our habits define us and it takes work to change them."

Our financial habits are the standards, routines, and practices that we rely on to navigate our day-to-day financial lives. But these habits are not developed overnight. "Each week JoJo has a money challenge, learns the lesson, and takes the steps to change her financial behavior so she is not in that situation again. That is the important part, that she takes the steps to change her financial habits," Lucas says.

"It was important that we positioned JoJo as new to New York and newly working and that she is learning these financial lessons bit by bit, just like most people do," Sarayi says. "We also didn't make it seem like she had all of this financial knowledge already, even though she is well-educated, because most people don't. And we wanted to show that she didn't have the financial knowledge and that she built her financial habits around that — and that is what has gotten her into trouble."

Sarayi and Lucas agree that the intent of their personal finance podcast is to show that money is a journey and you should be unapologetic about where you are in yours. "Building good financial habits takes time," says Sarayi, "and for many of us, it does not happen overnight."

Lucas wants the podcast to encourage its audience. "Hopefully the podcast does double duty by giving great financial advice, but also showing people that we all have financial challenges and that's ok as long as you work to do better."

The season finale is October 18 and can be listened to here.

Jennifer Streaks

Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson




Jennifer is a Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson for the Personal Finance vertical at Business Insider.
She started her career covering personal finance at Black Enterprise Magazine, went on to CNBC where she covered personal finance, women and money and tech and then Forbes, where she reported on personal finance, business, tech and money matters related to the economy, investing, credit and entrepreneurship.
Jennifer is also the author of Thrive!...Affordably: Your Month to Month Guide to living your Best Life without breaking the bank. The book offers advice, tips and financial management lessons geared towards helping the reader highlight strengths, identify missteps and take control of their finances.
In addition, she has extensive experience as an on-air financial commentator and has been a featured expert discussing credit and savings, investing and retirement, mortgages and all things money and personal finance. She has an ability to discuss and simplify complex financial issues and make them easier to understand.

Follow her on Twitter . 







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