WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Dumpster Diving, Housing Hellscape, & Tech Company Transgressions #600 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.880 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt, and 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:07.040 today we're discussing dumpster diving, the housing hellscape, and tech 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:29.520 company transgressions. That's right, buddy, this is our Friday flight, 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:31.720 and we are going to talk about the best stories 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.519 that we came across this week before we get to that. 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.519 Today is a big day, dude. This is our episode. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.440 As you will know, that's a lot of welcome to 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.760 How Do a lot of a lot of I'm mats 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.760 as well, but really perfective the art. I am Matt. 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.000 We've got those intros down. Actually, folks would be surprised 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.720 at how sometimes we do re record the entry us 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.800 hit record and sometimes we'll start recording an episode before 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.360 we're like completely settled. Still get my drink, clear my throat, 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.200 that kind of thing. But seriously, we we really do 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.360 appreciate all of you wonderful listeners out there. You know, 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.160 we've actually been at this now for nearly five years, 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:11.600 but they were two weeks shy of our fifth years, 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.399 so we wanted to celebrate this milestone episode though, this 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.160 six episode, and to do that, we're going to give 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.720 away a total of six hundred dollars to six different 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.880 listeners right out of Maths pocket and I'm keeping my 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.520 money and Joel's on top for the next giveaway. Uh. 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:29.480 And so all that you have to do to be 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:31.959 entered to win is to just make sure that you 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.039 are subscribed to our free weekly newsletter. You can just 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.600 head over to the site where you can subscribe. You 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.840 can either they're on the home page towards the bottom 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.039 there's a spot where you can enter in your email 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:45.800 or just go to how the Money dot com forward 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.040 slash newsletter. Either one of those spots will work. Uh, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.560 fill in your information, your name, and your email and 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.320 you will be set. So yeah, just just make sure 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.880 to do that before Monday this next Monday at midnight 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.040 in order to be entered to win one of those 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.040 six prizes. And yeah, that's all there is to it. 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.480 We will announce the winners on next Friday's episode and 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.400 we'll be reaching on the folks getting your Venmo, your 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.800 cash app handle. But literally, it's it's gonna be that simple. 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.160 We're gonna center Bucks in your in your hands, Bucks 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.799 over to you. Yeah, absolutely so, well, we can't we 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.359 look forward to giving money away. I think last year 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.600 we did a giveaway man of our own money, and 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.520 we were asked listeners to give that money away in 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.880 their communities and they reported back. You called it the giveaway, giveaway, giveaway, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:31.920 give away, which is super fun. This year, We're like, no, 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:33.440 we're gonna put money in your hand because I don't know. 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:35.480 Maybe you've got some debt to pay off. Maybe you've 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:36.840 got a credit card bill you haven't been able to 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.160 get under control. Maybe you just need a little cash 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.120 in your hand to to not go into debt in 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:43.840 order to pay for some of those holiday gifts that 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:45.400 you want to buy. And we want to help you 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.840 out with that. So I gotta do is be subscribe 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.000 to the newsletter and like you said, Monday at midnight 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.079 is the deadline. Yeah. And by the way, this is uh. 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:57.560 This is a giveaway that's available to old and new subscribers. 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.280 So obviously, if you have not subscribed yet, make sure 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:01.799 to do that. But if you have been a faithful 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:03.760 subscriber for six months, if you've been with us for 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.239 a minute, here already entered. You are automatically entered to. 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.320 But tell your mom, tell your grandma so they they 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.000 can get entered into. But I want to mention one 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.120 more thing. Mat before you get the Friday flight. I'm 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.600 not sure how you feel about Christmas decorations. We got ourselves. 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.600 We started going early, like November fift inside, at least 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.680 we did. We did too actually, just like I was 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:25.880 like ready for some some of that Christmas joy. I 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.840 wonder why that is my wife in particular, was ready 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:29.680 for him. But one of so one of the things 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.760 that we couldn't do until recently though, because the live 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.800 Christmas trees had not started hitting like the home depots 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:37.960 and the lows yet, was we couldn't go get the 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.880 free trimmings like they have to get to cut off 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:42.880 the bottoms of the trees, and there's all these sorts 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.880 of little cut off the bottom three branches, threw saplings 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.800 hanging around half inch off the bottom that fresh cut. 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.520 But we did, like Emily was just like, okay, this Saturday, No, 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:53.600 there's there's gonna be something this Saturday, right, And so 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:55.920 we've gotten Now this past weekend we went. We got 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.360 a bunch of free trimmings to put up across our mantle. 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.800 They make for some great decorations. So just a little 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.680 tipped everybody. It also makes your house smell nice. Yeah, 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.400 for for all those folks out there who you get 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.720 the Christmas tree smell without having to pay that fresh 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.960 Chris Christmas tree price. Right, Yeah, you don't have to 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.800 buy the pine saw. I'll get the real stuff. Yeah, exactly. Which, So, 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.000 by the way, did I tell you what we did 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.400 with our Christmas tree. I know we've talked about buying 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.039 artificial trees in the past, and there's like a break 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.120 break even point for us. It was like literally the 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:25.919 second by the second year, because we got it on 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:31.240 sane um. But we'd gotten I guess it was maybe 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:32.800 a nine ft tree at our old house because we 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.159 had ten foot ceilings over there and our new place, 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.720 our ceilings are only eight feet tall, and so we're 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:40.280 just like, oh, dang it, like what are we gonna do? 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:42.800 And well, you know what all we had to do 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.120 was not use the bottom section of the Christmas tree there, 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.120 so it comes in four sections in your brain. Yeah, 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.280 so we we took that nine foot tree down from 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.440 nine ft to seven ft. It fits perfectly in the 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.280 new place. So keep that in mind. If folks out 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.680 there happened to be in the weird circumstance like we were, 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.279 and your ceilings are getting lower you don't have to 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.560 necessarily buy a brain new tree. Yeah all right, I 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.760 like that. Good Another good money saving tips Christmas tree tips? Right? Well, 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.200 why not? I mean this is the season, Like I 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.160 have a feeling a lot of decorating is going to 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.960 take places coming weekend. I read that December one is 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.200 the day that most uh neighbors say, Okay, it's fine 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.040 to put up your Christmas lights. Now we would have 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:22.880 done it sooner. We've been out of town for Thanksgiving 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:24.359 and stuff like that. But we're definitely putting up our 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.880 outdoor lights this weekend. So we're excited about that. But 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:28.600 let's move on, Mat, Let's get to the stories we 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.520 found interesting this week. It is our Friday flight flight 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:36.200 and speaking of curbing consumption, well begin of capitalism. Jeff Bezos, 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.520 the former CEO and and the guy who started Amazon. 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.839 He recently told CNN that Americans should consider postponing the 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.480 purchase of bigger ticket items in their lives. It's kind 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.240 of surprised to hear him say that, because his company 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.920 thrives on people not postponing purchases, just going ahead and 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.919 pulling the trigger. Anyway, Maybe now that he's uh no 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.200 longer holds the title of CEO, he feels a little 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.200 bit of freedom to more honest, be truthful, be honest 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.960 for folks. When being interviewed from his one of his 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.400 massive yachts, this is what he said, But it turns 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:09.920 out the folks didn't really listen to him. At least 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.000 this past Black Friday. A record nine billion dollars was 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.920 spent over that Thanksgiving holiday. But while there are certainly 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.640 deals to be had, as retailers have had too much inventory, 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.760 they've had to discount more. This is an instance where 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.960 this advice from the former CEO of Amazon actually makes 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.000 some sense, right, terrible advice. Yeah, with with an uncertain 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.680 economy ahead of us, we should all keep an eye 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.960 on our spending this holiday season. I'd rather see folks take, like, 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.280 you know, a year end bonus to the bank, then 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.159 to the store, and to just be be prepared. Like 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.599 we talked about on Wednesday, financial flexibility is important. The 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.360 more of it that you can retain, the more solid 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.320 financial footing you're going to be in. Absolutely, and oftentimes 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.160 that does mean having cash in the bank, right Like, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.720 So what's interesting is that one of the reasons all 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.640 these companies are putting on all these sales is because 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.560 they've got well, they've got a lot of inventory, right, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.560 and so they've got too much surplus on hand. But 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.600 companies are also looking to share up their cash positions, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.440 and so companies are looking ahead, they're forecasting, they're realizing that, 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.559 you know what, things may not be looking so great. 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.480 And what's crazy is that what companies are doing and 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.240 what we need to do as individuals, like that's basically 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.320 at odds with each other direct So they're trying to 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:22.000 unload all these goods and we're as consumers standing there 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.920 looking at all these things go on sale, and it 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.560 can be tempting to want to pounce on all of 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.160 these deals, which is totally fine if there's something that 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.920 you were already going to purchase, But we definitely don't 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:35.280 want folks dipping into their their cash reserves, into their 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:37.600 emergency fund just to take advantage of a sale, because 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.680 it's like, oh my gosh, these are killer sales, and 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:41.920 ever seen sales like this before in my life. But 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:43.640 you don't want to end up in a position where 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:46.120 three six months from now, it's like, Okay, I've got 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.840 all these goodies, but I don't have any cash and 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:50.920 it looks like I'm about to get fired from right. 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:52.760 That's not the position. Yeah, that we want to see 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.400 folks highly uncomfortable. Okay. So one of the ways though, 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.720 that you can spend less this holiday season is by 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.360 getting your stuff out of the dumpster. Does sound like 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.560 something you would recommend? Uh? Not only is this something 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:06.240 that I'm interested in, Joe, A lot of folks are 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.559 interested in this. Uh. It's a kind of the latest 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:13.080 TikTok trend. The Times documented the rise and popularity of 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.240 trash enthusiasts out there, and interestingly enough, some of these 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:19.720 folks are finding some some cool stuff out there, man. 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.640 And what's cool too, is that they are raising awareness 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.880 about the fact that many companies they throw out this 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:30.760 old merchandise that is still perfectly good, that's perfectly useful, tired, 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.840 but they are like slashing it to make it unusable 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.280 with the coach. Like when one of like, yeah, so 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.800 somebody had called out one of the premier handbag companies 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.840 out there because they came across a bunch of beautiful 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.679 bags and they were yeah, they were sliced up with 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.280 the razor blade. And I think actually because of folks 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.360 who took to social media. Companies like Coach are no 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.600 longer doing that. They're they're basically have committed themselves to 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.440 a more responsible disposal of goods maybe that are either 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.320 out of season or maybe they were returned, that kind 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.480 of thing. Uh, And so that's definitely a good outcome 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.719 from some of this awareness. But how do you get 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.520 the best stuff if you are interested in, uh doing 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.439 your own dumpster diving? Well, mass retailers like t J 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:15.960 Max and Home Goods they are apparently some of the 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.840 best places to find items that are still useful. And 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.720 so the question is like, should you actually start doing this? 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.319 Should you start dumpster diving to save money and all 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.360 of this? First of all, I don't. It kind of 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.520 depends on like your ick factor, like what you're willing 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.520 to put up with. But a lot of this depends 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.800 to you and how much you value your time and 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.840 just what kind of stuff you're likely going to be 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.679 able to snag. Obviously, don't go dumpster diving thinking that 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.719 you're gonna find a Apple laptop or something like that 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:43.800 that's brand new in the box. That's not going to happen. 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:45.760 But there are certainly some some goodies out there to 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.640 be found. Yeah, alright, My only dumpster diving experience comes 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.079 from back in the day, my buddy Travis. There was 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.240 a former airline called air Tran and they ran this 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.360 promotion at Wendy's where if you collected I think it 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.040 was thirty two cups you got a free one way 0:09:58.080 --> 0:09:59.920 trip and sixty four you got a free round trip. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:01.560 And I don't know if there was a limit or not, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.960 but I distinctly remember Travis jumping into a dumpster behind 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.200 the Wendy's in order to get these cups, and I 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.360 can't blame him, man. I think that's one of those 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.600 things where that yeah, to be able to get a free, 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.040 great deal, free flight just by getting some cups and 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.320 guarantee there's like stacks of them in the trash. Maybe 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.640 that's why air Trend didn't stick around. They were based 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.000 here in Atlanta, where there were I remember flying with 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.920 them back in the day, back like oh five in 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.360 that period of time, their free flights to fast food lovers. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.680 So maybe yeah, maybe so So Okay, one of the 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.720 few times I remember doing some serious dumpster diving in college, 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:36.960 we would we would go to the dorms and students 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:38.319 who were moving out of the dorms. They had to 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.360 be moved out by a certain date, right, they had 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.600 to be completely moved out. And so these I mean, 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.680 these kids would just take their lofts. These are built 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:47.440 loss made a two by fours and whatnot, but they 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.800 would just take them all. I mean, there's so much timber, 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.400 so much lumber. Uh, not just in the dumpster, but 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.160 just completely surrounding it. And did we would just go 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:57.600 over there, load those things up in the back of 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.040 a friend's pickup shut and then take them back to 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.080 a friend's apartment and we would resell some of those 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.480 loss back to students the follow The following billion also 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.199 set one aside for myself because me and some friends 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:11.839 were moving into an apartment where we were sharing bedrooms. 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:13.960 And so, yeah, I slept in the loft that I 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.600 found next to a dumpster after my freshman year in college. 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.240 Like like, and you're worth the time and effort for 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.640 being trash and then you're making money on the stuff 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.560 that you found. I think that's that's smart. Well, and yeah, 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.559 it just goes to show that dumpster diving sounds pretty icky, 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.440 and most of the time it is, but there are 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.280 ways at times to make it worth your while. I 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.320 just like how it's we're they're destigmatizing it a little 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:37.440 bit for sure. Like I think there's a lot of 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.000 folks who might feel that, oh, I would never do that, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.679 or even just seeing a curb alert. But even by 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.400 folks doing something like this, now somebody else who read 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.520 the story might think, well, there's some folks out there 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.480 who are dumpster diving. I should be willing to at 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:50.839 least take a look at some of these items on 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:52.319 the side of the curb, get over at least a 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.360 little bit of your tramaphobus exactly, and to save money. 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:57.640 But all right, let's talk about something else. Let's talk 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.280 about ad results. We just talked about Jeff Bezo a 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.840 second ago. Let's talk about some issues that the company 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.240 he started is having. And uh, Amazon, as it turns out, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.560 has an ad problem that is seemingly out of control. 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.719 The Washington Post had a thorough article showing just how 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.640 many ads you're getting when you do a typical Amazon search. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.000 And by the way, Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.480 but he has no editorial control over this stuff. And 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.520 I'm glad to see that Washington Post writers are still 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.400 holding Amazon's feet to the fire. And what this author 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.719 found was that on the first five screens of a 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.360 search result, you'll see more than fifty of the space 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.760 dedicated to paid results. The sponsored content you have to 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.240 comb through basically at the top of the Amazon search 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.439 results is astounding, and it's not always easy to decipher 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.959 and add from an organic search result. Like they're they're 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.640 getting trickier and trickier, for sure, Like everybody knows the 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.280 ones where it's like written in smaller type and it's 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.240 like italics, it's like sponsored content or whatever, and it's 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.400 got the little information dought or whatever. But I did 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.640 not realize how how they're just embedding some of the 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.520 some of the more of the the paid or recommended 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.400 results further down as well, like it's in a different format. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.040 And sometimes Amazon is like promoting a specific brand that 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.520 pays them a lot of money, right, so they're saying, 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.160 cool tide, you get the top spot when somebody googles 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.800 huntry detergent because you pay us a certain amount of 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.320 hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Other times they're 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.080 promoting their own brands, like the Amazon Basics or Amazon 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.440 specific brands that they own, but it's getting more and 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.160 more difficult to find the top results based on search relevancy, 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.520 which is what Amazon kind of built their business around. 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.920 So who just say this. You know, Amazon is not 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.040 the devil or anything like that, but keep keep that 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.520 in mind next time you're searching for things on the 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.600 Amazon site. It might be best to do your research elsewhere, 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.920 even if you do end up buying on Amazon in 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.760 the end. I just like I think sometimes we think 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.960 of Amazon is a good search engine for finding the 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.040 thing that we want. But when you realize that more 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.680 than fifty of the searches for a lot of searches 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.560 are turning up a bunch of ads, Like I don't know, 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.880 you might want to look elsewhere. It seems like Amazon 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.560 is a little less reliable when it comes to like 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.920 finding a new product or find the brand of a 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.440 product that you should be purchasing, just because of like 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.840 how spammy it's gotten. Yeah. I like the recommendation to 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.199 to do your research elsewhere. Yeah, search whatever it is 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.000 that you're looking to buy and search like wirecutter, or 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.200 head over to consumer reports, but look Reddit, even like 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.199 there's some reviews on Reddit. Those are better places to 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.560 look as opposed to wait, that's going straight to the 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.480 Amazon app on your phone. Four and a half stars, 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.600 but it's got three reviews, and but it's sponsored and 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.720 all that stuff. Exactly. Yeah, Okay, so while we're talking 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:31.760 about shopping, let's talk again about why buy Now, Pay 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.960 Later is still awful. It turns out that buyers paid 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.720 via by Now Pay Later quite a bit over a 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:42.000 Black Friday. It actually jumped by sixty eight percent, according 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.600 to market Watch, which is a significant increase. And you know, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.840 we often talk about mindful spending, and so this is 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.680 just another reminder to continue being careful this holiday season 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.840 when it comes to racking up debts, which is what 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.560 we don't want you to do. Uh, As you are 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.920 looking to give gifts to those who you love and 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.320 care about, don't buy stuff that you can't afford on 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.480 on on a credit card or or via buy now, 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.280 Pay Later. When you're doing that, you're just kicking the 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.880 can down the road. You're creating this debt obligation that's 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.760 going to be tough to to stomach come January or 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:19.960 you know, June July of next year. That yeah, and 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:21.840 you know it's only the beginning of December as well. 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:23.960 And so keep in mind you still have time to 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:28.320 have a conversation with friends and relatives about gift giving expectations. 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.880 This doesn't necessarily have to be a trend that continues 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.000 where every year everybody always is like slowly over time 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.200 increasing that maximum spend amount. But having that conversation is 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.920 just a great way to keep that gift giving from 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:42.840 getting out of control. And I think you can be 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.120 honest Matt that, hey, guess what it's things are type 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.000 financially for me right now, I don't think I can 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.720 participate in at least this in this part of the 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.000 gift giving that our family traditionally does. And because I 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.120 think people will understand, they would rather so you be 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:01.080 financially healthy than uh than have you racking up debt 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.840 to buy gifts for them like that. That's not your 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:05.920 loving family does not want that for you, I guarantee it. 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.000 And let's talk about the job market for just a second. 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:09.680 Or they do want that for you, maybe they don't 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.360 love you. You need a new family. It's time to 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.800 find a new family this Christmas. But let's talk about 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.080 the job market, because whether you're looking to find another 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.560 job or you just want some part time holiday work. 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.600 Some employers are offering bonuses still for for joining their 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:25.000 team right now, like the labor market, matt still remains 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.520 fairly hot. Like we haven't seen it cool off as 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:29.440 much as it looked like it would at this point. 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.280 And Amazon it might not be as good for users 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.640 because of the abundance of ads, but they are offering 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.520 a minimum starting salary of eighteen dollars an hour and 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.080 up to a three thousand dollars sign on bonus for 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.520 folks who are applying for their their holiday work. We say, 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:43.840 read the fine print and make sure you know how 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.000 long you've got to stick around, and make sure that 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.320 working in an Amazon warehouse is something you can stomach. Sure, 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.320 I'm not sure if people still left it was the 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.560 truck driver's right that to pee in bottles, But like, 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.120 I'm not sure, I've not heard great things about the 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.640 working conditions there, But I don't know. A hefty bonus 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:00.960 might just push you in that direct action, and you know, 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.119 you might find other employers out there willing to offer 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.320 better benefits or meaningful sign up bonuses because there's just 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.240 more competition out there. There aren't enough workers to fill 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.520 the jobs. That's right, and Of course, most of those 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.480 jobs don't require a degree, and the journal had an 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.280 interesting article about the importance, or actually the lack thereof, 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.760 of a college education. This past week, a bunch of 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.600 major companies out there are lowering the bar when it 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.800 comes to degree requirements for certain positions for certain jobs. 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:36.080 Companies like Delta, Google, and IBM, they are requiring a 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.800 college degree for more positions that they need filled. Uh 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.800 and beyond private companies as well. Some states like Maryland, 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.000 actually they have stopped requiring degrees for more jobs that 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.560 they have available as well. There's a good quote this. 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.879 A VP over at Walmart was quoted as saying, the 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.320 company's goal is to shift the focus from the way 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.040 someone got their skills, which is the degree, to what 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.959 skills they do have. Is awesome, man. I love this 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.359 because we talked about this a decent bit here on 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:06.240 the show College. It still makes sense for a whole 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:09.040 bunch of young folks out there, but it is not 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:13.320 necessarily a slam dunk decision because the cost and the 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:17.960 value proposition are key to determining your choice. Are They're 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.199 so important when it comes to deciding if college is 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:23.560 going to be right for an individual we've actually were 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.760 we've been hiring a few folks lately to to do 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:27.960 some work for us on the back end here on 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.479 the podcast. And honestly, I don't even know if they 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.520 have a college degree or not. We didn't ask, but 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:35.680 we didn't even ask. We we don't care. We've cared 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.520 about the skills they've got. This just like yeah, and 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:41.719 and hopefully this is a trend that continues because we 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.480