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Welcome to the NerdWallet Smart Money podcast, where we answer your personal finance questions

and help you feel a little smarter about what you do with your money. I'm Sean Piles.

And I'm Liz Weston. To have your money questions answered on a future episode, call or text us on

the Nerd Hotline at 901-7306373. That's 901-730 Nerd. Or email us at podcast at nerdwollet.com. And hit that subscribe button

to get new episodes delivered to your devices every Monday. And if you like what you hear,

leave us a review. This episode, Sean and I are sharing the money lessons that you shared with us.

We wanted to hear what this wild tumultuous year has taught you about how to

manage your money. And you answered the call and shared some really thoughtful lessons.

Yeah, I was really impressed by all of the answers that we got and I can't wait to talk about

them. This is kind of our version of an end of year best of list, except it's all of the best money

lessons that you, our dear listeners, share it with us.

This one comes from Ashley. Let's hear it. Hi, Sean. This is Ashley. I'm hailing from Boston

with my three money lessons I've learned over the past year. The first lesson is that debt

payoff is so important. I paid off my car a few weeks before the pandemic hit, and I'm really glad that I

did. The second thing I learned is that emergency savings is a crucial part of personal finance.

The more financial padding that you have, the more protected you are from a crisis. My third

lesson to share is a dark one. I've learned how on our own we are when

it comes to money. We've seen people lose jobs, housing, and businesses over the past few months,

and if folks were lucky, they got a one-time check for $1,200 or additional unemployment that has

...