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Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am

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Speaker 1: that Today we're talking crappy credit unions, contractor scams, and

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Speaker 1: aldi everywhere.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, buddy, this is our Friday flight. I'm excited to

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Speaker 2: talk about the most important personal finance story from this

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Speaker 2: past week. And I know you've got a little note

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Speaker 2: here about maybe buying a tesla. I don't'm not totally

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Speaker 2: sure what this note means, but we First, Oh, I

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Speaker 2: wanted to give a quick shout out to Todd R

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Speaker 2: because he was out there referring our newsletter out to friends.

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Speaker 2: So not only does he donate beer to the show,

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Speaker 2: he's also spreading the good HTM word out there to

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Speaker 2: all of his friends. Appreciate you, Todd, Yeah, thank you, Todd.

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Speaker 2: And of course, the ultimate prizes, How Money, socks and

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Speaker 2: a beer hang with us. So hopefully more folks will

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Speaker 2: get after some of those higher referral numbers.

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Speaker 1: So sign up for the newsletter if you haven't, and

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Speaker 1: then tell your friends about it through the referral link

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Speaker 1: inside of the newsletter when you get it. That's the

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Speaker 1: way you kind of earn earned the shout out and

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Speaker 1: then eventually earned the socks. Matt just a couple of

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Speaker 1: things I wanted to discuss real quick before we get

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Speaker 1: to the Friday flight and all the stories. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I guess it is kind of newsworthy. Rivian announced they're

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Speaker 1: two different less expensive vehicles.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they did.

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Speaker 1: If anybody listens to the show, they know I'm kind

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Speaker 1: of obsessed with Rivian that that. I think their vehicles

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Speaker 1: are the best looking basically ever made.

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Speaker 2: Easily.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they've got that kind of classic style but also modernized.

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Speaker 1: But man, the first two vehicles they put out, they're

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Speaker 1: only for rich people, right, Let's be honest.

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Speaker 2: They're really expensive. And so the news like seventy eighty

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars for the R one and the T one.

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Speaker 1: Oh, well, the R one's gone down in price, but

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Speaker 1: it was, I mean it was it was like basically

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Speaker 1: six figures if you wanted it at the very beginning.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was.

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Speaker 1: I think it was like ninety five plus. So, oh,

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Speaker 1: I think it's gone down in price a little bit.

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Speaker 1: But the RW is going to be more like forty five,

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Speaker 1: which is a heck of a lot less expensive, and

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Speaker 1: the R three is going to be like thirty eight,

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Speaker 1: I think is where it's going to start. And that's

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Speaker 1: before the tax credit. So I put down because I've

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Speaker 1: been talking about this for years and I do. I

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Speaker 1: hate spending money on cars, but the one car consider

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Speaker 1: spending more money on is like a Ribbean suv if

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Speaker 1: the price is right. And so I was like forty

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Speaker 1: five grand with the federal tax credit after on top

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Speaker 1: of that, I don't know, man, I could see myself

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Speaker 1: doing it. So I put one hundred dollars refundable deposit down.

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Speaker 2: So that's what's so great. I'm like I might even

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Speaker 2: do it too. The fact that it's refundable, like there's

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Speaker 2: nothing to lose. Yeah, I mean literally, until I was

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Speaker 2: reading the fine printks, I'm like, all right, what is

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Speaker 2: because you mentioned it and I kind of dug into

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Speaker 2: it a little bit more, and yeah, like until you

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Speaker 2: place the order for your car, you can get your

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Speaker 2: hundred bucks back and with the credit thirty seven to

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Speaker 2: five after the federal rebate to potentially get your hands

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Speaker 2: on dude. Like I've been talking big about the Toyota,

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Speaker 2: Toyota RAV four and some of those, and they're like

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Speaker 2: three four years old. They're like thirty thirty, two thousand dollars,

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Speaker 2: so like a few more thousand dollars and all of

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Speaker 2: a sudden, you've got a brand new full like full

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Speaker 2: EV that can go with three hundred plus miles. We

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Speaker 2: might be uh Rivian twinsies.

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Speaker 1: We'll see they're super cool. I'm really excited to see

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Speaker 1: with the future holds, because there's the electric car market

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Speaker 1: seems to have seized up a little bit of slowing down.

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Speaker 1: I know, Ford to stopping production of the of the

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Speaker 1: electric f one point fifty demand. It's just not quite

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Speaker 1: quite there. And part of it just because pricing is

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Speaker 1: still so high, especially on some of the bigger electric

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Speaker 1: electric cars. And so I'm glad to see Rivian hitting

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Speaker 1: this price point that's gonna be a little more accessible

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Speaker 1: to a lot of people. There just aren't that many

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Speaker 1: cheap EV's out there, and this still still not cheap.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if I'm actually gonna go through

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Speaker 1: with it or not, but at least I have reserved

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Speaker 1: the right to get one if I want to. Something

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Speaker 1: else on the EV front, there was an article in

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Speaker 1: the Wall Street Journal about this guy who said he

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Speaker 1: paid for a Tesla with subscriptions he canceled. We talk

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Speaker 1: about subscription stuff so much.

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Speaker 2: I don't really want to dial into that.

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Speaker 1: But it was just really really cool to see he

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Speaker 1: like fleshed out all the subscriptions he cut and it

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Speaker 1: really did come pretty close to equaling his.

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Speaker 2: Monthly car payment.

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Speaker 1: Which yeah, first off, that means he had a lot

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Speaker 1: of subscriptions.

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Speaker 2: But basically it's a way for him to offset that.

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Speaker 2: I mean sounds like he's financed it unfortunately. Yeah, but

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Speaker 2: to minimize some of the expenses that you don't care

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Speaker 2: about as much to get get us a sweet ride. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm all for that, man.

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Speaker 1: So they're called to look and see what you're spending.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, Well, speaking of cars, we talked a

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Speaker 2: while back about the some of the different privacy policies

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Speaker 2: of the car manufacturers. They're pretty crazy. And the Mozilla

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Speaker 2: Foundation they found this out. This is some research that

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Speaker 2: they did. It was like follow last year, right, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: sometime last year. But buying that new car, it gives

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Speaker 2: the manufacturer the right to gather information on you, and

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Speaker 2: not just information about how it is that you drive,

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Speaker 2: Like there are very personal pieces of information that they're collecting.

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Speaker 2: Like I don't know how they do this, but like

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Speaker 2: your genetics, your sexual.

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Speaker 1: Activity as well, if you're the kind of person to

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Speaker 1: you know, procreate in the back of the back of

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Speaker 1: your car.

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Speaker 2: I guess, which I've Joel's been known to do.

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Speaker 1: I guess, I guess don't.

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Speaker 2: Give out my personal infodog. Enough of that. But now

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Speaker 2: we know, and this is thanks to reporting from the

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Speaker 2: New York Times, that they're not just actually collecting the data,

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Speaker 2: but no surprise, they're also selling that information to the

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Speaker 2: different insurance companies out there without your knowledge. And that's

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Speaker 2: the crux of the reporting here, which means that rate

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Speaker 2: increases could be coming, and not just because the insurance

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Speaker 2: market isn't turnoil, but because your insurance company now has

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Speaker 2: knowledge to the tune of something like one hundred plus

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Speaker 2: pages of documentation of your potentially subpar driving habits and

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Speaker 2: other activities. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's freaky stuff, right when you dig in

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Speaker 1: the fact that one the car companies know when they're

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Speaker 1: collecting intentionally all this data on you, they're selling stuff.

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Speaker 1: And then not only are they just selling this like

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Speaker 1: anonymized data, they're also selling your personalized data to these

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Speaker 1: insurance companies and people are finding out about it the

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Speaker 1: hard way when they get one of those rate increases. Basically,

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Speaker 1: it's like if you break hard, or you speed regularly,

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Speaker 1: you know you're going over eighty miles an hour, or

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Speaker 1: you accelerate quickly. Those are the kind of things they're

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Speaker 1: looking for. And then they're telling the insurance companies they're

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Speaker 1: tatling on you behind your back, like your brother or

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Speaker 1: sister did when you were a kid, and like the

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Speaker 1: for instance they mentioned in the Chevy Bolt, which is

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Speaker 1: actually speaking of vv's the cheapest v out there on

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Speaker 1: the market, one of the ones we've said take a

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Speaker 1: look at well, GM seems to be at the forefront

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Speaker 1: of this trend. So your insurance company is going to

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Speaker 1: hear about how you're using that Chevy Bolt via the

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Speaker 1: third party website lexus Nexus. So Chevy sells the data

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Speaker 1: to lexis Nexus and they sell it to whoever wants it.

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Speaker 1: It's a crime system. And so we've talked Matt about

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Speaker 1: before saving money on your insurance by allowing your insurance

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Speaker 1: company to monitor you. I'm doing that on purpose right now,

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Speaker 1: but it's a direct relationship with my insurance company where

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Speaker 1: I stand the benefit where my rates could potentially go

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Speaker 1: down if they see that my driving habits are decent.

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Speaker 2: Could they potentially go up?

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Speaker 1: No, they can't. That's specifically along the they outline that.

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Speaker 1: They outline that specifically. What if they do go up?

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Speaker 1: I mean, and they're like, oh no, no, it's not

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Speaker 1: because you're driving. It's because that's just what's going on.

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Speaker 1: That's when I sue, all right, I've done the same thing.

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Speaker 1: I mean, let me say that your rates will drop

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Speaker 1: somewhere between zero and thirty percent based on your driving.

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Speaker 2: Okay, how you drive, and you can.

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Speaker 1: Follow along and they've got like a little score and

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Speaker 1: trophies and stuff.

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Speaker 2: So you can it.

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Speaker 1: Can they kind of incentivize you to be a good

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Speaker 1: driver too, dude?

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Speaker 2: No, totally. Like a couple of years when I allowed this.

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Speaker 2: Yeah that you like, download the app on your phone.

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Speaker 2: It knows when you're driving, and it changes the way

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Speaker 2: that you drive. Like when you have incentives like that,

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Speaker 2: when you stand to benefit to financially gain from driving safer,

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Speaker 2: well not only do you end up winning from an

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Speaker 2: insurance standpoint, but like, Okay, this is kind of great

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Speaker 2: because I'm also less likely to get into an accident

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Speaker 2: because I'm driving like a granny. I am less likely

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Speaker 2: to have to pay a speeding ticket because I ain't speed. No, more.

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Speaker 2: That's right, I kind of dig it. Yep, all the above,

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Speaker 2: I agree, But again I'm we're willing consent exactly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we're doing it proactively on purpose, with a tangible

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Speaker 1: reward at the end. But the fact that this is

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Speaker 1: happening without our knowledge because of something very deep in

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Speaker 1: the terms and services, because you basically said they're doing

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Speaker 1: it without your knowledge, and that's essentially true because nobody

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Speaker 1: reads and maybe we should, but we wouldn't ever get

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Speaker 1: to do anything fun with our lives the terms and services, right,

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Speaker 1: and so in our mind, I would say, it's another

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Speaker 1: reason not.

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Speaker 2: To get a new car. Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I need to check the terms and

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Speaker 1: services of Rivian before in twenty twenty six when that

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Speaker 1: comes out.

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Speaker 2: They send you like a blood sample kit and they

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Speaker 2: like pick your thumb and then that's how they get

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Speaker 2: the DNA genetics. Maybe maybe it really does make me

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Speaker 2: think twice about like it does make me think back

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Speaker 2: to getting like an eighties land cruiser or something like that,

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Speaker 2: to where you don't have to worry about any of

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Speaker 2: that stuff and.

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Speaker 1: Then you just have to worry about it breaking down

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Speaker 1: all the time.

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Speaker 2: Well, you gotta take care of it. But do you

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Speaker 2: ever think about that, the fact that all of our

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Speaker 2: cars today it's nothing but computers and electronics.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, And you know this is making me think

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Speaker 1: about that even more. It's just, hey, maybe I'm even

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Speaker 1: more worried about upgrading to a newer ride because there

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Speaker 1: are all these other downside potentials Like.

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Speaker 2: What if there's a nuclear attack on our country and

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Speaker 2: there's an EMP that's the electromagnetic pulse, Yeah, fries all

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Speaker 2: of our cars and then we can't high tail it

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Speaker 2: for the hills. Well everything about it.

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Speaker 1: Dude, That to all cars, because even not just modern ones.

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Speaker 2: I think, like the older cars, they don't have actual likes.

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Speaker 2: It's all physical, like a carburetor that's a mechanical device

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Speaker 2: as opposed to a computer that I don't know. I'm like,

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Speaker 2: I'm not a car guy, then that's smart enough to

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Speaker 2: know that me neither.

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Speaker 1: But I am smart enough to know that this is

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Speaker 1: ridiculous and car manufacturers need to change their tune on

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Speaker 1: this cause it makes everybody uncomfortable. And if we find

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Speaker 1: out as consumers that hey, this the brain in particular

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Speaker 1: is the one selling our information behind our backs, causing

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Speaker 1: us costing us money and down the line within our

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Speaker 1: insurance companies. Then we're not going to buy your herds.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it is as simple as that.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully that is not the case with Rivian, Yeah, our

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Speaker 2: beloved Rivian. But okay, So there's actually a website where

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Speaker 2: you can input your your vin and you can see

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Speaker 2: what you're making models security risks are and so the

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Speaker 2: website is Vehicle Privacy Report dot com. We'll make sure

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Speaker 2: to link to that in the show notes. So in

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Speaker 2: news that bums two best buds out Joel, the average

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Speaker 2: personal savings rate continues to go down. It's now shy

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Speaker 2: of four percent. That is certainly worse than the historical

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Speaker 2: savings rate, which is around six ish percent. It's not

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Speaker 2: all that great either, to be honest, but it's gotten worse,

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Speaker 2: far short of some of the Asian countries like Japan,

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Speaker 2: right or yeah or yeah, Sweden. I think it's like

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Speaker 2: in the twenties or something there. Okay, I feel like

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Speaker 2: they do everything right over there. The consumers are spending,

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Speaker 2: they're propping up the economy, but it also harms individuals'

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Speaker 2: ability to then deal with potential money emergencies that might arise.

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Speaker 2: It prioritizes buying stuff today unfortunately over the freedom that

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Speaker 2: they could be purchasing for themselves tomorrow. And it's our

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Speaker 2: belief that the minimum savings rate for most folks should

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Speaker 2: be around fifteen percent. That's our gold standard. And it's

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Speaker 2: no wonder that Americans are they're living on the financial edge.

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Speaker 2: They're on the precipice when they dedicate so few of

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Speaker 2: their money to future planning, allows them that luxury to

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Speaker 2: not have to worry about living on the edge.

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Speaker 1: Sorry, three point six percent, it's not going to cut

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Speaker 1: it right. It's you're not going to gain much ground

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Speaker 1: that way. And obviously that's the average matt some people

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Speaker 1: are living. They're spending more than they make, and that's

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Speaker 1: where credit card Deck gives it. But having a three

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Speaker 1: percent to four percent savings rate, you're gonna get nowhere quick.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna be spending your tires. Those money goals that

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Speaker 1: you have for your future, you're not gonna be reaching them.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not saying it's it's easy, especially in an

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Speaker 1: era of high inflation that we're coming off of.

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Speaker 2: Literally, saving threety four percent is just keeping you above

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Speaker 2: above water. That's just keeping you afloat.

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Speaker 1: That's right, So we got to do more, and this

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Speaker 1: show is dedicated to helping you do that. And by

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Speaker 1: the way, if you've been listening to How To Money

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Speaker 1: for a while, hopefully hopefully you're not in that boat.

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Speaker 1: And we also believe that basically every American can tighten

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Speaker 1: their belt to increase that all important financial breathing room.

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Speaker 1: And Matt, on that note, we talk regularly about earning

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Speaker 1: more on your savings, so hopefully you have enough in

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Speaker 1: your savings to make it worthwhile. But we consistently mentioned

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Speaker 1: some of our favorite online banks that pay competitive rates.

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Speaker 1: But and I've just noticed this recently, small banks and

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Speaker 1: credit unions are offering solid rates that are incredibly competitive

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Speaker 1: with some of these online products. And I saw one

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Speaker 1: of my local credit unions paying five point twenty five

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Speaker 1: percent on a CD, which is essentially that's better than

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Speaker 1: anything I'm seeing from any of the online banks, which

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Speaker 1: are now in the upper fours. So it's worth of

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Speaker 1: at least looking into community banks and credit unions to

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Speaker 1: see what they're paying. So yeah, like, do a quick

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Speaker 1: search for a few credit unions in your area, hop

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Speaker 1: onto their website. Typically they post their rates publicly and

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Speaker 1: that way you don't have to go driving around talking

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Speaker 1: to people in person or anything like that, because who

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Speaker 1: wants to do that?

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Speaker 2: But like, what wants to do that? Yeah, so hop

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Speaker 2: online check it out.

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Speaker 1: You might find that actually, wait a second, the local

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Speaker 1: small bank or credit union is actually offering better perks

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Speaker 1: maybe than just some of the national players.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but all the note of credit unions, some really

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Speaker 2: discouraging information came out recently about the high cost of

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Speaker 2: junk fees at many local credit unions. We're shocked to

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Speaker 2: see this, to say the least. Yeah. So typically, I mean,

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Speaker 2: credit unions are nonprofits and they're supposed to be a

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Speaker 2: respite for customers to avoid fee laden tactics of the

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Speaker 2: biggest banks that we rail on pretty regularly. But unfortunately

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Speaker 2: it's not as much as we had hoped the benefits

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Speaker 2: of the credit unions. So there's data, and this comes

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Speaker 2: from the state of California, which is actually the only

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Speaker 2: state that requires credit unions to disclose how much revenue

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Speaker 2: that they generate from fees, and it's actually quite a lot.

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Speaker 2: The worst offenders are earning around ten percent of their

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Speaker 2: overall revenue from overdraft and late fees. Banks, on the

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Speaker 2: other hand, of the average less than half of a percent.

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Speaker 2: This is a massive, stinking gap, and part of it

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Speaker 2: I think is in part due to the fact that

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Speaker 2: big banks they're under the magnifying glass, right, Like, I

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Speaker 2: think there's more scrutiny that's being paid to them and

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Speaker 2: so they've had to kind of straighten up a little bit,

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Speaker 2: whereas I think credit unions are slowly. The article is great.

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Speaker 2: They talk about mission drift and how they're sort of

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Speaker 2: getting away from sort of their original mission and like

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Speaker 2: they're starting to name stadiums after these credit unions. There's

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Speaker 2: like private jets that the different credit unions have purchased,

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Speaker 2: which sounds more like bank behavior to me.

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Speaker 1: Now, no local credit uniting to read about and to

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Speaker 1: see how bad it's gotten and fee You would think

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Speaker 1: fee reduction would be one of the main goals at

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Speaker 1: a credit union would have for their members. And the

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Speaker 1: thing is too, some of the proposed rules from the

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Speaker 1: CFPB wouldn't apply to a lot of these credit unions

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Speaker 1: because they're just so small. Typically it's a like, oh,

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Speaker 1: banks with over one hundred branches or something like that,

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Speaker 1: So most credit unions would skate underneath that and still

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Speaker 1: be charging customers ridiculous fees.

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Speaker 2: Sure well, so obviously credit unions they've got perks right,

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Speaker 2: like lower rates on credit cards. Often you can get

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Speaker 2: a better car loan mortgage rates their helock rates. But now,

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Speaker 2: joining a credit union does come with a warning, and

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Speaker 2: honestly it's always been a good idea. You still need

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Speaker 2: to make sure you are aware of what you're getting into,

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Speaker 2: and I do think it's still a good idea to

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Speaker 2: have a relationship with a local credit union for those

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Speaker 2: different products. But when it comes to the majority of

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Speaker 2: your banking, we have always recommended going with an online

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Speaker 2: bank that's paying a higher rate on your high yield

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Speaker 2: savings accounts, the ability to earn more on your emergency

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Speaker 2: fund while being able to avoid some of these fees

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Speaker 2: that you're going to get hit with were you to

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Speaker 2: overdraw your account. Yeah, that seems like the best path forward.

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Speaker 1: Capital one ally discover CI Those are the the ones

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Speaker 1: we mentioned most consistently as some of the best online

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Speaker 1: online banks to be with. It just goes to show

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Speaker 1: too that not all credit unions are credit equal, Matt.

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Speaker 1: Some of these credit unions are taking advantage of people

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Speaker 1: even though they have this rate.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, like that's the other part of it. I don't

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Speaker 2: want to. I don't. I hate for folks out there

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Speaker 2: who love their local credit union or folks who even

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Speaker 2: work for their local and they're saying, dudes, that's not us.

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Speaker 2: Yeah we know, yeah, we totally understand.

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Speaker 1: But there are some bad players out there, and they're

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Speaker 1: given the whole industry of black eye sadly because of

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Speaker 1: the ridiculous number and amount of fees they're charging to

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Speaker 1: a lot of their customers. So credit unions that are

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Speaker 1: doing that, we call for you to shape up, all right,

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Speaker 1: and Matt if you're if you're trying to up your

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Speaker 1: savings rate, we're just talking about savings rates a second ago,

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Speaker 1: maybe don't take this tactic. There was a there was

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Speaker 1: a couple posted something on TikTok the other day that

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Speaker 1: they split a cup of coffee when they got to breakfast.

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Speaker 2: Did you see this one? I did?

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Speaker 1: Okay it, I don't know it. Just I'm all about

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Speaker 1: increasing your savings rate. What are you going to go

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Speaker 1: from three point six to three point sixty five percent?

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Speaker 1: Like when you're doing that? Come on, that's just that's

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Speaker 1: definitely the definition of cheap, not frugal. Oh, unlimited refills

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Speaker 1: on the one cup and just keep drinking out of

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Speaker 1: the sand.

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Speaker 2: That's just sorry. Guys.

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Speaker 1: If you can't afford two cups of coffee of drip

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Speaker 1: coffee at two dollars and fifty cents, probably better to

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Speaker 1: make your coffee at home.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, here's the question. Though, This is all not all

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Speaker 2: that different than was it last year that I talked

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Speaker 2: about how oh your whitewater thing went six Flags? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: When we took we took the kids to six Flags.

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Speaker 2: We were there all day, the whole family, and we

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Speaker 2: bought one of those refillable plastic cups with a little

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Speaker 2: lanyard like a handle on it and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: Which the reason we got one, and the reason we

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Speaker 2: were willing to pay twenty four dollars for the thing

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Speaker 2: was because the free refills. And so the question is,

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Speaker 2: how is that do you feel? And what about when

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Speaker 2: y'all went to Disney you got the popcorn bucket, and

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Speaker 2: your whole family's split in this popcorn bucket free refills

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Speaker 2: as much as you want.

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Speaker 1: It's not free, you pay for every revell, but it's

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Speaker 1: just cheaper refills.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's right. Yah, Yeah, it's like three dollars as

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Speaker 2: opposed to twenty five. Yeah, So I guess the question

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Speaker 2: is is there a difference between something like that. I

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Speaker 2: think there is, versus is when someone's waiting on you.

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Speaker 2: I like, you're actually different sit down service expectations around that.

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Speaker 2: I think I think it's different. I do.

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Speaker 1: I think it's different. So and maybe I'm not. Maybe

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Speaker 1: someone will write in and say, no, you gots, they're both,

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Speaker 1: they're both terrible, or actually they're both Okay. Everyone's probably

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Speaker 1: gonna come down in a different place on this. But

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Speaker 1: I just don't think that's a saving hack. I just

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Speaker 1: think that's being that's being cheap.

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Speaker 2: You're definitely saving money, like by definition, you are saving money.

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Speaker 2: But I agree though, because I think there is something

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Speaker 2: different about walking around, like it's a more communal kind

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Speaker 2: of activity. I guess, like if you're at a theme

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Speaker 2: park doing doing something like that, as opposed to sitting

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Speaker 2: down at a restaurant, like at a breakfast place, and

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Speaker 2: it's expected that, oh, you get a meal, I get

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Speaker 2: a meal, you get a drink, I get a drink.

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Speaker 2: It's not like it's I mean one of the thing that,

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Speaker 2: yeah that if you.

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Speaker 1: Were sitting down to eat and you ordered waters for

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Speaker 1: all your kids, but you pour the waters out in

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Speaker 1: the plants or whatever, and then I order a soft

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Speaker 1: drink and I fill up all their cups with my

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Speaker 1: soft drink.

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Speaker 2: That that's cheap.

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Speaker 1: That's exactly what this is, right, And so I think

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Speaker 1: it's I just think it's different.

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Speaker 2: I guess I'm thinking about I don't know for somebody,

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Speaker 2: because it just depends on the situation. Because like I picture, like,

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Speaker 2: obviously a nice coffee shop like the one we go to,

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Speaker 2: they don't offer free refills on the coffee because you know,

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Speaker 2: it's like nice coffees. But I think the kind of

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Speaker 2: place that offers a free refill, it's not a huge deal.

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Speaker 2: It's like, you know, like even waffle House, a lot

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Speaker 2: of times they'll top you. They'll come by, they'll top

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Speaker 2: you off, of course, and it's not like it's a

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Speaker 2: huge infringement upon their overall profit. They're at the waffle House,

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Speaker 2: don't know. So you're with this TikTok couple. I think

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00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,000
Speaker 2: if they want to do that, that's it's up to

436
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,760
Speaker 2: them to decide whether or not that that's gonna fly,

437
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,359
Speaker 2: because I think all situations are a little bit different. Personally,

438
00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:33,560
Speaker 2: I'm not doing that, Yeah, I will split the thermost

439
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,360
Speaker 2: thing at the at the six Flags that will fill

440
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:37,560
Speaker 2: up with lemonade and let all the kids.

441
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think those are different because nobody cares how

442
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:40,520
Speaker 1: you're consuming that.

443
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,159
Speaker 2: But when you're at a restaurant, they often do. They're different.

444
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,280
Speaker 2: More's different expectations around sit down't service, skip the coffee,

445
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:47,320
Speaker 2: make it at home.

446
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,520
Speaker 1: All right, we got more to get to, including we're

447
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:51,400
Speaker 1: talking about kind of food a little bit. We'll talk

448
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,679
Speaker 1: about groceries and some good news that could lead to

449
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:55,959
Speaker 1: you saving a lot of money on groceries. We'll get

450
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,359
Speaker 1: to that and more right after this.

451
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 2: All right, Joel got more personal finance stories to get

452
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,440
Speaker 2: to today. But first we have our ludicrous headline of

453
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,440
Speaker 2: the week and Gary, Yes, what are you angry about

454
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,439
Speaker 2: this week? Matt? I'm not that angry ever about anything,

455
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,919
Speaker 2: but listener, Gary, he emailed this one to us. This

456
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:25,040
Speaker 2: was from a local TV station WTC. That's I assume

457
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,159
Speaker 2: how they say their their handle or announcement. But the

458
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,199
Speaker 2: title reads, or the headline reads, a couple's home dreams

459
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 2: crushed after losing four hundred thousand dollars in alleged contractors

460
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,439
Speaker 2: scam and to summon up. This was a honestly it

461
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,199
Speaker 2: was a sad story of a couple who wanted to

462
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,119
Speaker 2: build their dream home, but then they ended up with

463
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,760
Speaker 2: a project that was barely started. It was basically installed

464
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:50,439
Speaker 2: out in like the framing part of construction. But this

465
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,480
Speaker 2: isn't something that just happens locally there in Arizona, I think,

466
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:54,320
Speaker 2: is where this house was.

467
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,600
Speaker 1: And let's say that it was stalled out, but largely

468
00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:01,080
Speaker 1: because not because the contractor was having tough time subcontractors

469
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,120
Speaker 1: or because they were they were stealing the money.

470
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a scam. But the key lesson from

471
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,160
Speaker 2: the story though, is to only do business with trusted contractors,

472
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,240
Speaker 2: and by trusted contractors, how do they become trusted contractors?

473
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,480
Speaker 2: Will you talk to actual clients who have actually used them,

474
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,080
Speaker 2: get to see their actual work in person. This is

475
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,680
Speaker 2: something that Kate and I at the beginning of the

476
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,720
Speaker 2: year do we talk about maybe we're thinking about doing

477
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,879
Speaker 2: something to the house, but we're sort of vetting this

478
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,720
Speaker 2: contractor and guess what he's doing work literally across the streets.

479
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 2: So the ability to we're not only seeing his work,

480
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 2: but we're seeing like the why behind his work, like

481
00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,080
Speaker 2: some of the background stuff and how he's his pace,

482
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 2: his progress. Yeah, yeah, and just having like more casual

483
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:40,680
Speaker 2: conversations when he's when he's stopping by as well. I

484
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 2: feel like that's a massive benefit for us to get

485
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,320
Speaker 2: to know that one in particular. But on top of

486
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,280
Speaker 2: getting to know a contractor and making sure that you're

487
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,520
Speaker 2: vetting them properly, the other piece of advice here is

488
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,800
Speaker 2: to not pay contractors exorbitant sums of money up front.

489
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,160
Speaker 2: This is certainly what they did where they were requiring

490
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,200
Speaker 2: like hundreds of thousands of dollars. And then it's like, oh,

491
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 2: you want to you want to build a guest house

492
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 2: as well, Well, you know what if you just go

493
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,800
Speaker 2: ahead and pay for that upfront as well, we'll give

494
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 2: you a.

495
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,640
Speaker 1: Discount, yes, And that feels so you're like, oh great, great, Yeah,

496
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,480
Speaker 1: this is we'll pay them up front and that way

497
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,160
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to pay less overall. But in the end,

498
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,320
Speaker 1: you've lost a ton of money, yes, and you've got

499
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:18,879
Speaker 1: like almost no progress to show for it. On a

500
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,880
Speaker 1: major project like that, like, you'll likely want to pay

501
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 1: as you see progress. You pay in installments. What do

502
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,720
Speaker 1: they call it, like a release schedue, not a release

503
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,320
Speaker 1: I forget what they call it, but basically this person whatever, Yeah,

504
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,719
Speaker 1: different dispersiments as the work is being performed in percentages

505
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,000
Speaker 1: along the way. Typically you pay something, yes, upfront when

506
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: you sign the contract, but hopefully then, like like you said, Matt,

507
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: you've seen their work, you've actually like talked to people

508
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 1: who have worked with that contractor you feel very comfortable

509
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,480
Speaker 1: now because you've seen the work in person. Also, and

510
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,160
Speaker 1: you don't mind paying them ten percent at the signing.

511
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 2: And ten percent's fine, but not like half of it

512
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,400
Speaker 2: or a ton of money upfront before any work gets done, right,

513
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,440
Speaker 2: And that's what was happening in this case.

514
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 1: Yep, And that should be written out in the contract

515
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: when those dispersements happen at different periodic processes along the way,

516
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,160
Speaker 1: So make sure you're doing that. Don't pay with cash either.

517
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,240
Speaker 1: That's something else it's important to mention. It's it's pretty hard,

518
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,520
Speaker 1: if not impossible, to get money back after a scam

519
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: like this occurs, which is why you need to do

520
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 1: your due diligence on the front end.

521
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,560
Speaker 2: Paying cash is a bad move. Well, it's not that

522
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,280
Speaker 2: like paying using a credit card is going to allow

523
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,200
Speaker 2: you to flag it as a fraudulent charge because likely,

524
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,680
Speaker 2: just like the time windows that it takes for work

525
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,840
Speaker 2: to get done out of property, you're oftentimes you're out

526
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 2: of that window to be able to flag, like, you know,

527
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 2: a charge or let's see an expense that wasn't delivered upon.

528
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,800
Speaker 2: But it's the fact of what that's more indicative of,

529
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 2: which is like shady business. Right.

530
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 1: There's no paper trail either, which is just nice to

531
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: have a paper trail, especially for legal matter.

532
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you've got to pick care of that, who

533
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 2: comes by and they're like, oh, yeah, you know, we're

534
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 2: gonna unclog the drain and do some toilet work or

535
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,680
Speaker 2: something like that, four hundred bucks, great, Okay, if you

536
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 2: want to ven mail them, that's fine. But when we're

537
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 2: talking about large sums of money like this, this isn't

538
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,160
Speaker 2: something that you should be It should be like wiring

539
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 2: money over as opposed to, like you said, something that's

540
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 2: really that's spelled out. That's where the terms are made

541
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:04,959
Speaker 2: clear in a legit contract agreed all right.

542
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,520
Speaker 1: On the housing note, new data finds that houses are

543
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,080
Speaker 1: being built smaller these days, which is something I cheer.

544
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 1: They're being built by smaller by about three hundred square feet.

545
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 1: So town homes are being built in larger numbers as well,

546
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 1: and we're even seeing matt I think this is in

547
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 1: San Antonio, tiny home subdivisions popping up.

548
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:23,320
Speaker 2: I love like.

549
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 1: They get more like six to seven hundred square feet

550
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 1: sorts of homes, but like a whole subdivision of those things.

551
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you've ever seen like that.

552
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,120
Speaker 1: There's some YouTube channel tiny Houses. This guy takes tours

553
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: of tiny houses and they're all just so cool, so unique.

554
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,760
Speaker 1: I love the way that people use space. It's so creative.

555
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,040
Speaker 2: Guessing they utilize the white angle a whole lot. I'm

556
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 2: sure they do.

557
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 1: I think the host is from New Zealand, so he

558
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: just seems genial and cool. But yeah, this really is

559
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: changing a decades long trend of bigger is better. That

560
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,200
Speaker 1: felt like kind of the American new home builders Mantra.

561
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 1: Smaller homes we think are great for a lot of reasons.

562
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 1: They bring down the price point obviously because not as

563
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,360
Speaker 1: many materials, they're just smaller footprint, but they're also more

564
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: affordable to maintain, right to heat, to cool, to furnish.

565
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: And then, of course, when homes are smaller and they

566
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: aren't massive, mansions right on giant tracks of land. You

567
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,719
Speaker 1: can build even more houses, increasing supply to meet the demand.

568
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: Isn't that what we need in this country right now?

569
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: So the housing market, it obviously doesn't change on a dime,

570
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 1: it doesn't change super quickly. But these shifts are a

571
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 1: good sign for the American housing market in the future.

572
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,920
Speaker 1: I love I love to see this trend and hope

573
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: it continues.

574
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you're kind of touching on density there as well.

575
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 2: And so add to that zoning changes that are happening

576
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,199
Speaker 2: in many cities across the country, and I think we

577
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 2: have a more of a recipe for success and more

578
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: affordable homes in the future. N PR they highlighted that recently,

579
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 2: and we've been talking about that for years, the fact

580
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,720
Speaker 2: that zoning changes are in our future. If we're looking

581
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 2: to increase density.

582
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,520
Speaker 1: They're in necessity, and we've made it too onerous to

583
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 1: build multifamily to build more density in a lot of

584
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: cities across the country, and that is starting to shift.

585
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a reason that housing prices are consistently higher

586
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,200
Speaker 2: in California, while they've fallen by something like seven percent

587
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,160
Speaker 2: year over year in cities like Austin, Texas. And it's

588
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,479
Speaker 2: all about the rules. It's all about the regulations for building,

589
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:10,440
Speaker 2: especially multi family homes, in order to boost that density.

590
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 2: We have seen construction of ADUs accessory dwelling units for instance,

591
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,800
Speaker 2: like those are booming in California, But other construction of

592
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 2: new housing is it's more arduous and it's slow because

593
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,959
Speaker 2: of all the red tape. So what we're saying here

594
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,879
Speaker 2: is that more supply, which is often hampered by zoning

595
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 2: ordinances and regulation, we think that that is the answer

596
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 2: to the expensive housing situation that we found find ourselves in.

597
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is that little first day of high school

598
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 1: econ one oh one, Right, the supply and demand, and

599
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 1: if we are making it incredibly hard to build new

600
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: homes and to create more density, then that supply is

601
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,640
Speaker 1: going to remain low and that's going to keep cost high.

602
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: That's going to keep prices up, which meanwhile.

603
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 2: Domain is reaching all time highs. As there's an entire generation, right,

604
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 2: a massive generation of millennials that want to own a place.

605
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 2: I was gonna say millennial families to raise and kids.

606
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,320
Speaker 1: The older folks in the gen Z, in the gen

607
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 1: Z demographic, they're wanting to buy homes too. It's pretty hard.

608
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 1: And so man, we should all be pushing for changes

609
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:09,880
Speaker 1: where we live to make it possible to build more

610
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: and even just more rental units too. More apartments coming

611
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 1: online too, is going to help solve the crisis that

612
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,440
Speaker 1: we're facing as well. One more story that's worth discussing

613
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: in the housing space is that bans are increasingly happening

614
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: on short term rentals and cities across the country with

615
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: the assumption that it's going to help reduce the high

616
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 1: cost of housing. And so, Matt, you and I were

617
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: talking about a bunch of different ways to reduce the

618
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,639
Speaker 1: high cost of housing. Well, maybe wouldn't we be in

619
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,160
Speaker 1: favor of these things too?

620
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 2: Not quite right.

621
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 1: Research from the Harvard Business Review finds that these bands

622
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 1: on short term rentals aren't really doing anything or they're

623
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 1: doing very very little to change the price that people

624
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,639
Speaker 1: pay in rent. And so here's a line from their

625
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 1: findings from this recent article they published. They said, put simply,

626
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: restricting Airbnb is not going to be an effective tool

627
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: for solving the housing affordability problems in many US cities. Unquote,

628
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 1: and so, yeah, does banning Airbnb's increase the supply of

629
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,639
Speaker 1: single family homes for rent. Yes, it does, and more

630
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,920
Speaker 1: supply drives down costs, but it's such a small percentage

631
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 1: that the impact on long term renters is minimal, and

632
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 1: so the other stuff we just talked about is way

633
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 1: more impactful. I guess that when people focus on the

634
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,680
Speaker 1: one percent problem over the like ten twenty fifty percent problems.

635
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 1: I get why you're you're thinking about that, but let's

636
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: not make the short term rental market be the scapegoat

637
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 1: for the bigger problems that we face, that are actually

638
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: that are leading to the real affordability problems we face.

639
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 2: That's right, all right, jil. Let's get to my favorite

640
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 2: story from this entire Friday flight. Let's talk about Aldi

641
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 2: and the good news is that they are opening eight

642
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 2: hundred stores over the next few years. Many of those

643
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,119
Speaker 2: are going to be brand new locations, but others are

644
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,639
Speaker 2: going to be converted when dixies. Now that they've finalized

645
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 2: that acquisition.

646
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,439
Speaker 1: We talked about that when that happened, we weren't sure

647
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:53,439
Speaker 1: how they were going to proceed with them.

648
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm plutely less optistic about those because I feel

649
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 2: like a big part of the advantage of all days

650
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 2: is how they're constructed, smaller footprint. Yeah, yeah, exactly, they're smaller,

651
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 2: but hopefully there is an Aldi coming to a town

652
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,359
Speaker 2: or to a location near you, and the great news

653
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 2: is that Aldi's expansion. What's fascinating about them is that

654
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,679
Speaker 2: they put downward pressure on pricing at other grocery stores

655
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 2: as well, where it forces them to be more competitive.

656
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: They have to free market harder work matt I love it.

657
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,680
Speaker 2: They have to cater more to customers who are priced sensitive.

658
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 2: Even though you yourself may not want to be visiting

659
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 2: or shopping at an Aldi, you're likely to see lower

660
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 2: prices at your favorite local growth.

661
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: So basically, all the other grocery stores, the publixa is

662
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: the Ralph, the Kroger's whatever, they're shaking in their boots

663
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: when it Aldi comes near and they are forced to

664
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: lower prices pretty quickly.

665
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 2: It's just like when the discoun airline comes to a

666
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,479
Speaker 2: new market like Southwest or Frontier or Spirit. When they

667
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 2: show up the major is United Delta American, they're all like, ugh, okay.

668
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: Parties over guys, that's right, Yeah exactly. They have to

669
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 1: continue push those fairs downwards to compete, and the grocery

670
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 1: stores have to do the same when it aldi comes

671
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, and so they Yeah, they are a

672
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: massive disruptor. And I think I read somewhere that ninety

673
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: percent of all these offerings are private label, which is

674
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: a huge I mean, there's so many different things they

675
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 1: do to cut costs. We could probably talk about that

676
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: for like fifteen minutes. It's the quarter and the cart

677
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 1: reduced number of workers, and those workers work really hard,

678
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 1: and they pay those workers more than I think the

679
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 1: average grocery store associate make. So all they does all

680
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: these things to make sure that costs are low for

681
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: their customers, and so more, all these across the country

682
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: can only be a good thing. I think Walmart, by

683
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: the way, they might start on the opposite end of

684
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,360
Speaker 1: of the spectrum. They might start charging folks to use

685
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 1: their self checkout lanes, which sounds kind of annoying, right,

686
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 1: It sounds pretty dumb. Yeah, at least in some of

687
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: their stores. Starting at the end of last month, Walmart

688
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 1: Plus customers are the only ones who are going to

689
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: be allowed to use those self checkout lanes at certain stores.

690
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 2: And tart vip self checkout lane, right, Yeah, and so

691
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 2: Target it seems like an oxymoron.

692
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:57,960
Speaker 1: Target's doing something similar. Yeah, you think it's all just

693
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: about speed and helping customers, but I want to help

694
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 1: certain customers. But again, the main reason it seems to

695
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 1: be that a high enough percentage of folks are stealing

696
00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: or ringing up cheap items and putting a more expensive

697
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: item in their cart. And so I guess I understand that,

698
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 1: Like I do think that maybe self checkout hasn't been

699
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 1: as great of an experiment. I know some people love it,

700
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 1: and it's nice when you're only checking out for a

701
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: thing or two so you can blitz out of the

702
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 1: store faster. But I think that era of ubiquitous self

703
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 1: checkout might be coming to an end.

704
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 2: We'll see.

705
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting to see how that shakes out well.

706
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 2: And Plus, if you want to self checkout so you

707
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 2: can get out of their faster, the real solution is

708
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 2: just to go to Aldi. I've talked about this before,

709
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 2: the ability I'm gonna time myself one to these days,

710
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 2: next time we go to the store, we go to Aldi.

711
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 2: You maybe we'll time it. But the ability for me

712
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 2: to go and grab milk and eggs, I feel like

713
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 2: that's always when I'm running out to get milk and eggs.

714
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:48,600
Speaker 2: I swear I can do that in like less than

715
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 2: ninety seven right.

716
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: We'll do like a supermarket sweep style video.

717
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,239
Speaker 2: Gone in sixty seconds style, like if Nick Cage can

718
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,360
Speaker 2: do it, I think I can do it, all right.

719
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 2: I want to see this something else that's happening. When

720
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 2: you check out at the grocery store donation solicitations, you're

721
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 2: often asked if you want to make a one dollar donation, right,

722
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 2: or five dollars donation to the charity of choice that

723
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 2: the store is partnering with, or even just to kind

724
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,280
Speaker 2: of round up your purchase. They kind of are jumping

725
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,200
Speaker 2: on the Acorns model there, And I think there's nothing

726
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: wrong with giving money away in that fashion, in that style,

727
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,720
Speaker 2: if that's your jam. But the story here it highlights

728
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,480
Speaker 2: that the reason, of course that many give at the

729
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,160
Speaker 2: checkout is because of guilt. So we're here to let

730
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,400
Speaker 2: you know that we don't want that to be the

731
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 2: driving force behind why it is that you give. We

732
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,200
Speaker 2: want you to proactively give, make a plan to be

733
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 2: charitable to the different causes that you care about.

734
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:42,720
Speaker 1: We'll link to some different reasons which as something is

735
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,040
Speaker 1: put right in front of your face at that time.

736
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't want you to be reactive as opposed

737
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,080
Speaker 2: to just being a little more thoughtful with your money.

738
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 2: But in the show notes for this episode, we'll link

739
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 2: to some different resources on how does it you can

740
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,720
Speaker 2: vet charities and how you can give more effectively. Yeah,

741
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 2: that'll be in the show notes up on the website

742
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 2: at howtomoney dot com. Yeah.

743
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: I know some people nitpick or say who cares, dude,

744
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 1: give twenty cents the round up to me? And I

745
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 1: know it's not that big of a deal, but I

746
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 1: just want to be incredibly proactive in my giving. I

747
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 1: want to have and I don't feel any guilt when

748
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 1: I say no because I know that I'm giving in

749
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: other ways, in incredibly pre planned ways. And I think

750
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 1: you can alleviate that guilt by having a giving plan.

751
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 1: If you don't have the giving plan, though, you might

752
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,640
Speaker 1: feel guilty and be like, well, I guess this is

753
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 1: my one good deed for today. I'll round up the

754
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 1: purchase price. Ll Yeah, sure, here's five bucks, even if

755
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 1: it's not a charity you care much about or aligned

756
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 1: with your mission.

757
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the other thing, too, is that you

758
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 2: could potentially be a more generous giver if you did

759
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 2: make a plan, because I think there's also like the

760
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,760
Speaker 2: psychological element of okay, I've check that box. Even if

761
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:43,960
Speaker 2: it's just a round up, you think you almost see

762
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 2: yourself as like better than you actually are, perhaps where

763
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,880
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, I'm always so charitable, I'm always rounding up.

764
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 2: But in reality, you're just letting yourself off the hook

765
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 2: as opposed to giving it in a more significant way. If

766
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,600
Speaker 2: you are in a position that you've seen financial success

767
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 2: where you do have the freedom and ability to maybe

768
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,720
Speaker 2: give a little more generously, that's all all right.

769
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 1: Just by the way, quick heads up, Matt and I

770
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: are going to have a giving competition pretty soon that

771
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: you guys can participate in. More to come on that

772
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,360
Speaker 1: next month. All right, thanks as always for listening. We

773
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 1: appreciate it. We hope you have a great weekend. Don't

774
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 1: forget to sign up for the how to Money newsletter

775
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: at how to money dot com slash newsletter of course.

776
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 1: But Matt, that's going to do it for this one

777
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 1: until next time. Best Friends album Best Friends Out