Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm joeld I am Matt
Speaker 1: and today we're discussing money challenges that can jump start progress.
Speaker 1: That's right, buddy, we are talking about money challenges. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you just need a good old fashioned challenge to get
Speaker 1: you to do something that you want to do but
Speaker 1: you kind of don't want to do, sort of like
Speaker 1: a like a duel, like I challenge you to a
Speaker 1: duels or back in the day when we were like
Speaker 1: I double dog dare you and it's like, oh, no,
Speaker 1: you didn't. I'm definitely doing it now he's is he
Speaker 1: calling me a chicken? Is he's you know, is he
Speaker 1: calling me out as a coward. There are certain things
Speaker 1: that like trigger us to actually do things. But that
Speaker 1: is exactly what we're talking about today, man, these money
Speaker 1: challenges that are going to help us to gain some
Speaker 1: traction with our money. First, I wanted to give you
Speaker 1: a quick little update. We've talked about this on the
Speaker 1: show before, or at least I think we've talked about
Speaker 1: how I like, I've been working to teach Evy, So
Speaker 1: our eight year old Kate and I have been working
Speaker 1: to teach her let's be honest, specifically to me the
Speaker 1: you know, the money nerd. I've been working to teach
Speaker 1: her about investing. So basically, money that she keeps in
Speaker 1: her account that she doesn't spend is quote unquote invested,
Speaker 1: and I pay her two percent. But here's the catch.
Speaker 1: I pay her two percent weekly. And so every Saturday,
Speaker 1: we you know, I calculate how much money she gets,
Speaker 1: and we use this app called go Henry. I transfer
Speaker 1: that money over to her account. Sometimes she remembers on
Speaker 1: the day of and gets all excited about it, but
Speaker 1: sometimes it's a few days later and she's like, oh,
Speaker 1: and she will go to her phone and, you know,
Speaker 1: check how much interest she's earned that week. And she
Speaker 1: also spends out of that account. And recently we're having
Speaker 1: a conversation and she was wanting like this really fancy
Speaker 1: bouncy ball, Like this was the bouncy ball that was
Speaker 1: like I think it was like in the twenties. What, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was like extra large, like
Speaker 1: what was this like the size of a bowling ball
Speaker 1: or something. Don't know, but we were talking about it,
Speaker 1: and we're totally going to be willing to let her
Speaker 1: make her own decision. But then she asked this question
Speaker 1: she asked, Oh, if I buy this, how much interest
Speaker 1: will I then get on Saturday? Like, basically she knew
Speaker 1: that she was going to have less money in her account,
Speaker 1: which meant that she was going to earn less money
Speaker 1: and interest. And dude, that was a massive win for
Speaker 1: her to ask that question because not only was she
Speaker 1: weighing the cost of the actual object, she was weighing
Speaker 1: like opportunity costs of that money in the markets, and
Speaker 1: so she was weighing all the different aspects associated with
Speaker 1: this purchase and the effects that it would have on
Speaker 1: her money. I was such a proud dad, like in
Speaker 1: that moment. I was just like, oh my gosh, Like
Speaker 1: it totally clicked for her. Uh, And so I wanted
Speaker 1: to share this because you know, if you have kids
Speaker 1: out there and you're trying to find different ways to
Speaker 1: teach your kids about money, I think you can start
Speaker 1: earlier than you realize. You know, I think you and
Speaker 1: I mean we both started with our oldest girls, like
Speaker 1: maybe around five or six years old, starting them kind
Speaker 1: of down the path of doing chores or different jobs
Speaker 1: where they would earn money and maybe like another level deeper,
Speaker 1: the next level up. And that sounds like a light
Speaker 1: bulb moment for her where she's gonna remember that a
Speaker 1: long time. And when you click those things together, that
Speaker 1: like leaving your money b is actually going to lead
Speaker 1: to that money increasing is really is really crucial. And
Speaker 1: obviously right now in savings accounts, that's kind of not
Speaker 1: the CAZy, but it is the case. Right You're you're
Speaker 1: giving your you're helping her to learn the principle, even
Speaker 1: though in actuality, like saving these accounts right now kind
Speaker 1: of sucks. It's why I call it investing as opposed
Speaker 1: to this is money that you're you know, you've got
Speaker 1: saved in your account, because I'm treating it like it
Speaker 1: was an investment. Uh, even though there's no risk of
Speaker 1: that money going down. I'm not going to be like, oh, hey,
Speaker 1: there's a bear market and you're actually losing money. Now.
Speaker 1: I think I think that's uh, that'll be the level
Speaker 1: three thousand class. Uh. I think another thing worth noting
Speaker 1: here is is that like we are responsible and no
Speaker 1: one else is going to teach our kids how to
Speaker 1: handle money appropriately. And you and I we even recently
Speaker 1: talked about how in Georgia they're going to start teaching
Speaker 1: personal finance to a hired agree in high school classrooms,
Speaker 1: and we applaud that. We think that's great. But one
Speaker 1: you gotta start young. It's just like learning a language,
Speaker 1: I think. Right, when you start learning a language from infancy,
Speaker 1: you're you're going to become fluent so much easier. But
Speaker 1: when you start learning language in ninth grade, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit harder to get good at it. It takes
Speaker 1: a little more intentionality, and so the sooner the better.
Speaker 1: Sure when it comes to money, the different lessons that
Speaker 1: we can all learn, because that all translates to then
Speaker 1: these larger, more sophisticated lessons for them to learn, like
Speaker 1: a bear market when things aren't looking so good, But
Speaker 1: that's all a part of it. You should you should
Speaker 1: swipe all her money out of her account and be
Speaker 1: like bull market baby, And she's like, what, Dad, you
Speaker 1: didn't tell me about that banking fraud. This account was
Speaker 1: not f D. I c ensured exactly, Sorry, honey, you
Speaker 1: had the wrong joint account holder listed and it was
Speaker 1: me and I swiped it. Uh, don't do that. That'd
Speaker 1: be a hard lesson to the stomach. Don't break it hard,
Speaker 1: Like alright, well, let's move on, Matt. Let's mention the
Speaker 1: beer that we're having on this episode, and this one
Speaker 1: is called double Barrel Wild Sinister Kid, which it's just
Speaker 1: we're we're came to not raise wilds for kids, maybe wild,
Speaker 1: but not Okay, yeah, the sinister. I don't want an
Speaker 1: evil kid, Yeah you know what that But this beer
Speaker 1: looks deliciously evil. This is by Trillium Brewing Company and
Speaker 1: listener Ali sending our way, and we will give our
Speaker 1: thoughts on it at the end of the episode, because
Speaker 1: of course, you and I we drink a beer every
Speaker 1: episode to uh, to enjoy something that we love while
Speaker 1: we're saving and investing well for the future. But let's
Speaker 1: get onto money challenges, Matt, and we do it. We specifically,
Speaker 1: we're gonna outline a few money challenges you can choose.
Speaker 1: Later on in the episode, we're gonna talk about how
Speaker 1: we're gonna partner with you in this money challenge. But
Speaker 1: when we were thinking about this episode and what we
Speaker 1: wanted it to look like and how we wanted to
Speaker 1: help listeners challenge themselves when it came to making money
Speaker 1: progress in two well, I don't know why, Matt, but
Speaker 1: it made me think about pregnancy, and uh, do you
Speaker 1: remember the time when speaking of evy yr oldest, like
Speaker 1: you guys found out you were pregnant with her, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it sticks out in your mind. It's totally.
Speaker 1: It's one of those moments that you never forget. You're
Speaker 1: like completely exuberant. It's the most joyful you feel like
Speaker 1: you've ever been in your life up until that point,
Speaker 1: it's true, until they're actually born, and then, I mean
Speaker 1: that's the most intensely joyful moment. I mean, like for
Speaker 1: all for my kids. Definitely cried for every single of them.
Speaker 1: It's just like unbridled tears of joy. I could not
Speaker 1: stop the waterworks. Totally, totally, totally. It's a it's a
Speaker 1: special moment. But I think when you find out that
Speaker 1: you're going to have a kid, especially for the first time,
Speaker 1: and that time in between, uh, that excitement, and then
Speaker 1: eight or nine months later, whenever your your baby is born,
Speaker 1: you realize there's this clock ticking and there's it's like
Speaker 1: there's so much to do, so little time. You gotta
Speaker 1: get with it, and there's a lot to learn, like
Speaker 1: how am in the world and everything gonna let me
Speaker 1: take a human home from the hospital and take care
Speaker 1: of it. Who who's in charge here? Like, are you
Speaker 1: just gonna let me have the kid at home? And
Speaker 1: then you look in the mirror and you're like, I
Speaker 1: am that person in charge. Yeah, that's scary. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: there's like books to read, there's a nursery to outfit,
Speaker 1: there's ones east to buy, there's a birthing class to
Speaker 1: sign up for. Right, you and I we attended on
Speaker 1: back in the day, that's right. Well, so yeah, with
Speaker 1: our oldest kids, we didn't know what to expect, and
Speaker 1: so we went. Yeah, it was a couple's birthday. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just you and me, and like, like you and
Speaker 1: I would, all four of us went to the same
Speaker 1: birthing class and it was a cool experience to kind
Speaker 1: of learn and mentally and physically prepare a little bit
Speaker 1: for the birth of those girls. Yeah. Yeah, And really
Speaker 1: what it was was you're like, I have to figure
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff out in a short amount of time,
Speaker 1: and it lights a fire and uh. And I think
Speaker 1: similarly to that period between finding out that you're having
Speaker 1: a baby and the actual birth of your child, how
Speaker 1: there's this like time span that's really crucial and important
Speaker 1: where you gotta get a lot of stuff done well,
Speaker 1: I think the same. There's a similar analogy to the
Speaker 1: way a money challenge can be have this jump start
Speaker 1: effect in our lives, and so like, for our listeners,
Speaker 1: if if you're still attempting to amass your emergency fund,
Speaker 1: or you're trying to eliminate credit card debt maybe once
Speaker 1: and for all, or you realize that you were out
Speaker 1: and how you're back in it after the holidays. Well,
Speaker 1: Matt and I were going to talk about the benefits
Speaker 1: that a money challenge can have in your life, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna give you some suggestions today for how to proceed,
Speaker 1: and we want to partner together with you when it
Speaker 1: comes to these money challenges. Want to give your ideas
Speaker 1: and then also be a part of the progress that
Speaker 1: you're making. That's right. I totally agree with you getting pregnant.
Speaker 1: It really is like signing up for a challenge, because
Speaker 1: you know, being pregnant and giving birth to a kid,
Speaker 1: those are really hard things to do. But similarly, yeah,
Speaker 1: when it comes to our money, everyone is trying to
Speaker 1: make smart decisions, and certainly if you're listening to this podcast,
Speaker 1: you're probably hoping to make wiser money moves. Um. But
Speaker 1: if the clock isn't ticking and you haven't officially accepted
Speaker 1: the challenge. Uh, you're most likely going to continue down
Speaker 1: the same path that you've always gone down. And this
Speaker 1: is uh, you know, it's a it's a well worn
Speaker 1: path that's comfortable, it's familiar, and you know what to expect,
Speaker 1: and if your inputs continue to be the same, you
Speaker 1: know that you're likely going to see the same outputs.
Speaker 1: But by placing yourself in a situation that's maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit for and maybe it's slightly stressful, you're gonna
Speaker 1: see some incredible changes in a very short period of time.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're hoping for you to see in
Speaker 1: your life exactly. Yeah, And I think sometimes the reason
Speaker 1: that we're not able to see bigger results is because
Speaker 1: we don't have the actionable steps that we can take
Speaker 1: to immediately start working towards the financial goals that we have.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's analysis paralysis, right, you can call it whatever
Speaker 1: you want, but but we're trying to avoid that phase
Speaker 1: when you have the correct information, you've performed your due
Speaker 1: diligence and you know what you should be doing, but
Speaker 1: you're just carrying on with what you've always done. Right,
Speaker 1: We're we're fixing that today, because sometimes you need to
Speaker 1: be jarred out of those typical habits, those typical routines
Speaker 1: because and sometimes what you need is a program or
Speaker 1: a challenge that can serve as a wake up call
Speaker 1: to get you on your way. That's right. Sometimes that's
Speaker 1: a pregnancy or sometimes it's just me and Jul talking
Speaker 1: to you in my podcast. Uh. And I like that
Speaker 1: you said program too, you know, because it's what we need.
Speaker 1: It can often feel like we're just kind of out
Speaker 1: in space, like floating on our own, when what we're
Speaker 1: needing is some structure to help give shape to what
Speaker 1: we're doing with our money. And so, for example, I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about like signing up for a race. If you've
Speaker 1: got a half marathon on the calendar, uh, and you've
Speaker 1: paid to do that race, the chances are much higher
Speaker 1: that you'll actually get out there and run because you're like,
Speaker 1: they're staying it. I spent the fifty bucks, yes exactly, Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm in now exactly. You've got money on the line,
Speaker 1: and there is a certain amount of accountability as well. Uh.
Speaker 1: And both of those can be extremely helpful forms of motivation.
Speaker 1: And like Joel mentioned we're gonna talk more about accountability
Speaker 1: later in the show. We believe that it is an
Speaker 1: important part of making these money challenges stick. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the fact that you that you're signing up for a
Speaker 1: program like it makes me think about I mean again,
Speaker 1: with a race, like if you say you sign up
Speaker 1: for a tin k, Well, you know that there's a
Speaker 1: certain distance that you're training for, and so that gives
Speaker 1: you direction. You're not just out there running because you
Speaker 1: are like, well, I just generally need to stay in shape,
Speaker 1: I need to move my body. For some that might work,
Speaker 1: but for a lot of people, it is incredibly helpful
Speaker 1: if you know that you're training for six point two miles,
Speaker 1: or it's incredibly helpful to know, oh, this time, I
Speaker 1: want to set a new personal record for myself. I
Speaker 1: want to try to get it underneath forty five minutes.
Speaker 1: But whatever it is that you know, whether it's a
Speaker 1: race that you sign up for or a money challenge
Speaker 1: that you're going to go after, entering that frame of
Speaker 1: mind is going to help you to see outsize results. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's difference between training for a ten k and I
Speaker 1: should probably get out there and go for a jog.
Speaker 1: Like there's a difference in mindset and then a difference
Speaker 1: in what you're going to accomplish. So let's talk and
Speaker 1: dig into some specific money challenges that we want to
Speaker 1: give on the show today that we want you you
Speaker 1: to consider taking on. And we're going to list out
Speaker 1: a few that fall under different categories. So let's cover
Speaker 1: a few that we think are worth considering. No spend
Speaker 1: challenges are one of the most popular, I would say,
Speaker 1: if forms of money challenges out there. It's also one
Speaker 1: of the easiest to implements. So if you're like, give
Speaker 1: me that easy challenge to start with, then this might
Speaker 1: be for you. And really, when it comes down to it,
Speaker 1: how much stuff do we need, especially now we're in
Speaker 1: the beginning of January, he might just realized I got
Speaker 1: a bunch of new stuff that I don't need and
Speaker 1: maybe it's time to start partying with a few of
Speaker 1: those things. Uh, And so yeah, taking part in one
Speaker 1: of these that can really reset your shopping impulses. It
Speaker 1: can help you curb what might have become habitual behavior
Speaker 1: for for on your part. And it's kind of like
Speaker 1: how Matt A lot of fellas like to grow a
Speaker 1: mustache in November or people don't never done it. No,
Speaker 1: me neither. It's not physically possible. Matt and Joel not
Speaker 1: very good at the mustache game, true. And or in
Speaker 1: January right now, a lot of people are not drinking
Speaker 1: a lick of alcohol for the whole month. They partied
Speaker 1: it up a good bit in December and they're like,
Speaker 1: you know what this is. The challenge for me is
Speaker 1: to not drink anything, no beer, no wine, no spirits
Speaker 1: for all of January. And you know, obviously you and
Speaker 1: I for our job, we have to so there's we
Speaker 1: can't participate, and we tend not to party as much,
Speaker 1: so you know, we take a like the more moderation
Speaker 1: is better exactly if you always do a little bit,
Speaker 1: it's you never have to give it that point. But
Speaker 1: we would say that that set period of time where
Speaker 1: you attempt to buy nothing similar to those other things,
Speaker 1: well it can be a major help to your finances. Matt.
Speaker 1: We of course had Camiko Love on the show on Monday,
Speaker 1: the Budget Mom, and she had a lot of great
Speaker 1: advice and and one of the things I don't think
Speaker 1: we actually talked about with her, but when we were
Speaker 1: like reading up on her story, one of the things
Speaker 1: that kick started her ability to save well was she
Speaker 1: actually spent no money on clothes for a whole year.
Speaker 1: I think she did make an exception for like socks
Speaker 1: and underwear, but that's how intent she was on getting
Speaker 1: her financial act together and saving money for her future
Speaker 1: and for more important stuff like what she really she
Speaker 1: did share a story about h and M and being
Speaker 1: in the checkoutline and she was going to put those
Speaker 1: clothes on a credit card, and that was a wake
Speaker 1: up call for her. And so I think something like that,
Speaker 1: finding a category in your life that is worth putting
Speaker 1: on hold for a period of time and challenging yourself
Speaker 1: not to spend a dollar on that stuff can be
Speaker 1: a really helpful challenge to partake in. Totally yeah, and
Speaker 1: her willingness and intentionality to do this of obviously paid
Speaker 1: off in a big way. We yeah again, We talked
Speaker 1: about her story on Monday. But so how to go
Speaker 1: about doing this? We would suggest that you choose a
Speaker 1: specific category and a specific length of time, and so
Speaker 1: we do want you to try to stretch yourself, but
Speaker 1: try to keep realistic expectations so you know, so that
Speaker 1: you don't fall off the wagon. Because remember you can
Speaker 1: always end up succeeding at that first goal and then
Speaker 1: sort of set another at another one to the list.
Speaker 1: I think that will be a more encouraging way to
Speaker 1: progress rather than goals that you aren't achieving. And so specifically,
Speaker 1: maybe this means, for you know, Amazon shopping for an
Speaker 1: entire month, or maybe you commit to only buying used
Speaker 1: items through February. Uh. And so you can modify it
Speaker 1: spending challenge to fit your specific needs and your specific goals.
Speaker 1: And you might even find that allowing yourself to purchase
Speaker 1: new items, say only on Wednesday, that that might give
Speaker 1: you just the amount of flexibility you need. But whatever
Speaker 1: path you pick, we would suggest that you write it
Speaker 1: down and then find a way to keep it front
Speaker 1: of mind. Maybe that means you just kind of writing
Speaker 1: tracking your progress on a worksheet that you keep taped
Speaker 1: to the bathroom mirror. Maybe this means giving yourself a
Speaker 1: small reward once you crush this challenge, but different things
Speaker 1: that are going to keep you on this path where
Speaker 1: you're able to reinforce this behavior that you want to
Speaker 1: see done. Yeah, that's I feel like that the no
Speaker 1: Spend challenge is so flexible. There's so many different ways
Speaker 1: that people can participate, and we all could probably use
Speaker 1: it this time of year just as a way to
Speaker 1: save more and also prevent ourselves from wasting money in
Speaker 1: a way that maybe we normally see our dollars flow
Speaker 1: down the drain in this general direction. It's like let's
Speaker 1: put a let's put a plug in that hole. Um
Speaker 1: And yeah, so I get hopefully, hopefully this is this
Speaker 1: challenge is helpful for lots of people. And of course
Speaker 1: that modification is helpful because you can kind of make
Speaker 1: it look however you need it to look. But we've
Speaker 1: got more money challenges that we want to pose to
Speaker 1: you than want you to consider. We'll get to those
Speaker 1: right after this break. Alright, we're back. We're talking about
Speaker 1: money challenges, and you know, as we highlight some of
Speaker 1: these different challenges that we're gonna try to cover a
Speaker 1: wide range of examples, um, that could spur change, you know,
Speaker 1: in a few different assets of of how you handle
Speaker 1: handle your money, because many of us are in different
Speaker 1: phases of life and we have different areas where we
Speaker 1: could improve, for instance, like buying too many clothes, Like
Speaker 1: that's not a problem for me, that's not a problem
Speaker 1: I deal with and so for me specifically, that's not
Speaker 1: a challenge I'm gonna subscribe to because that's one you
Speaker 1: would easily crush and you don't even need to take
Speaker 1: it on. Maybe I should take it on just to like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just like adding an it under the top of
Speaker 1: your to do look already done. But as we introduce
Speaker 1: several more of these different challenges, we don't want you
Speaker 1: to get overwhelmed as we discuss these, because first of all,
Speaker 1: you don't need to take them all on, right. If
Speaker 1: you try to do that, they probably mess you up
Speaker 1: if you try a bunch of these at once. Instead,
Speaker 1: we want you to think of it more as sort
Speaker 1: of a choose your own adventurous scenario. Just tackle one
Speaker 1: at a time and then take a breather, and then
Speaker 1: again attempt another one if you feel like that they
Speaker 1: are making a helpful impact. Like it makes me, you know,
Speaker 1: we're talking about like running a race. It makes me
Speaker 1: think that if you decided all of a sudden that
Speaker 1: you're gonna do everything that you possibly can to get healthy,
Speaker 1: and you started dieting and you started training for a
Speaker 1: triathle on and also you're looking to get totally ripped
Speaker 1: like you're getting small, like you can't do all of
Speaker 1: these things at once. I mean you you probably could try,
Speaker 1: but you're either gonna completely burn out or you're gonna
Speaker 1: see some negative effects to your body. Uh. If you're
Speaker 1: pushing yourself too hard, it's a good chance that you're
Speaker 1: gonna get injured. Uh, and that's something that we want
Speaker 1: you to avoid with your finances. That's right. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: can definitely overdo it. And it's possible to say I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do all the challenges and I'm gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: and I want to win big. Was that your dead lift?
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever done a dead lift.
Speaker 1: I'll probably try to refrain forever. But I think you didn't.
Speaker 1: I used to lift in high school, so it shows.
Speaker 1: So Yes, as we continue to roll roll out some
Speaker 1: of these challenges, don't feel the need to do all
Speaker 1: the above, and in fact, it's best not to go
Speaker 1: in that direction. But Matt, let's let's offer up another
Speaker 1: challenge here. We talked about no spend challenges, but food
Speaker 1: challenges can be helpful, helpful way to save more money
Speaker 1: in a hurry too. And that's because when you look
Speaker 1: the numbers, the average American family spends a lot of
Speaker 1: money every month on groceries and not to mention eating
Speaker 1: out as well. And the average cost of a meal
Speaker 1: that you eat out is twelve dollars and seventy five cents.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, I guess that includes like like fast food, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: so like five seems kind of affordable if you're looking
Speaker 1: at like a I don't know, like you're like if
Speaker 1: you're going to like out on a date, Kate and
Speaker 1: I aren't walking out of there, you know, for more
Speaker 1: than that. But there's a whole lot of people who
Speaker 1: eat way too much fast food, and they're eating in
Speaker 1: seven dollar meals every right, And so yeah, you can
Speaker 1: eat really well, we would say at home for a
Speaker 1: whole lot less than that, of course. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: The average person, not only are they paying twelve dollars
Speaker 1: and seventy five cents on average per meal that they
Speaker 1: eat out, the average person eats out between four and
Speaker 1: five times a week. That's crazy. Yeah, And so that's
Speaker 1: a lot of money that you're spending on food that
Speaker 1: you could easily avoid if you want to. And in fact,
Speaker 1: the average American would save almost forty dollars per person
Speaker 1: per week by eating all of our meals at home
Speaker 1: and avoiding restaurants. And when it when it's his forty
Speaker 1: dollars per person per week, I was just thinking, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, Matt, that you have a family of six,
Speaker 1: I have a family of five. Like, that's a lot
Speaker 1: of money when you add it up. And so eating
Speaker 1: out is definitely one of those areas where if we
Speaker 1: don't pay attention to it, if we don't challenge ourselves
Speaker 1: in this specific way, we will find ourselves just bleeding money.
Speaker 1: That's right. Yeah, And you know we're talking like before
Speaker 1: the break we talked about no spend challenges, we're kind
Speaker 1: of talking about some of these different food challenges here.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons we're starting with these specific challenges
Speaker 1: is because it does not require any additional resources from you.
Speaker 1: In fact, all it requires is just discipline and you
Speaker 1: removing things from your life, which is something that most
Speaker 1: people can do. And then there's that immediate reward, right
Speaker 1: Like like when it comes to earning more money, there's
Speaker 1: like a slow build up and it takes additional time
Speaker 1: from you. But we're not necessarily wanting you to fill
Speaker 1: all of your hours of the day with trying to
Speaker 1: earn a little bit more money. But as we're talking
Speaker 1: about food, like, it's important to know that we don't
Speaker 1: hate restaurants, you know, like we love supporting and eating
Speaker 1: out at our our favorite local joints, although we don't
Speaker 1: hit them up five times a week. But this is
Speaker 1: one of those instances where we need need to focus
Speaker 1: on the health of our own finances before we're looking
Speaker 1: to support local restaurants. And since we're talking about money challenges,
Speaker 1: a short term commitment to homemade meals, home prepared meals
Speaker 1: can be a big win for you. So, for instance,
Speaker 1: if lunch is one of your problem meals where you're constantly,
Speaker 1: you know, finding yourself eating out, going out with the
Speaker 1: co workers, that kind of thing, just opt to pack
Speaker 1: your lunch every day for an entire month. It's as
Speaker 1: simple as that, and in one month alone, the savings
Speaker 1: will be significant. Not only will you find that you
Speaker 1: have a lot more money at the end of the month,
Speaker 1: but there's a good chance that you are probably going
Speaker 1: to feel more healthy since you're avoiding just a bunch
Speaker 1: of processed food. Uh, chances are you're gonna be eating
Speaker 1: much more health especially if you're eating leftovers. I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, you don't even need to buy special bread
Speaker 1: and special lunch meats. Just take those leftovers to work,
Speaker 1: heat him up in the microwave, and you've got a
Speaker 1: great meal ready to go. Are the leftover? I've not
Speaker 1: met anybody that loves him as much as you. It
Speaker 1: baffles me, Like who doesn't love a delicious leftover? Especially
Speaker 1: to oh. I mean, granted, this is a little bit
Speaker 1: different because I'm at home and I can fry up
Speaker 1: at an egg real quick, but any leftover, it's always
Speaker 1: better with a frieda egg on top. Yes, and you
Speaker 1: know what leftovers are great, But you can also, you know,
Speaker 1: make your lunch from other things the carrots, almonds, ruth
Speaker 1: that I typically do throw a banana in as well.
Speaker 1: But that is that is one challenge to not eat
Speaker 1: out for a whole month, and I think that is
Speaker 1: a challenge worth accepting for a lot of people because
Speaker 1: you're going to see a huge boost your savings really quickly.
Speaker 1: Another food challenge that you can consider is the pantry challenge.
Speaker 1: And this means, yeah, this is like basically pushing you
Speaker 1: to eat whatever is left in your pantry and in
Speaker 1: your freezer before you go back to the grocery store.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like the like a leftover challenge, which
Speaker 1: is what I just made up, right, like forcing yourself
Speaker 1: to eat everything that you have already prepared, exactly like
Speaker 1: forcing yourself to eat all the food that you've already purchased.
Speaker 1: You've already spent money on these items of food, and
Speaker 1: they're sitting in your cabinet, your cupboard if you call it,
Speaker 1: or your fridge, uh, and making sure that it just
Speaker 1: doesn't go to waste. And the things that you don't
Speaker 1: want to you've pushed the sides, you pushed typically to
Speaker 1: the back. And so I guarantee you there are things
Speaker 1: in there that are edible, can don't do anything that's
Speaker 1: like nasty and expired and just like completely non edible
Speaker 1: at this point. But there are I'm sure a lot
Speaker 1: of things in all of our collective pantries and freezers
Speaker 1: that are edible, that are worth eating, that you can
Speaker 1: make taste decent at a minimum, And so I think
Speaker 1: it's worth that challenge to be like, you know what, no,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna eat it all. I'm gonna I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: to the point until there's nothing left in there, and
Speaker 1: that One of the websites we've mentioned on the show
Speaker 1: before is super cook dot com. It's a site that
Speaker 1: can help you make whatever you've got on hand edible.
Speaker 1: You kind of put in the ingredients and then it
Speaker 1: spits out an idea for a recipe for you, which
Speaker 1: can be majorly helpful too, super cool because you're like,
Speaker 1: how do I combine these three ingredients? And it's like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe go to this website and they'll help you out. Yep,
Speaker 1: there you go. No spend challenges can be just a
Speaker 1: great way to to spend less while also wasting less um.
Speaker 1: But how do you make sure that you don't daily
Speaker 1: reabsorb that money that you saved into other areas of
Speaker 1: your life, Like, well, who I spent less on clothes,
Speaker 1: I spent less on food, but I just bought a
Speaker 1: PS five or or now I'm going out more because
Speaker 1: I've got all this extra money in my budget. Well,
Speaker 1: spending less in some specific categories will only get you
Speaker 1: so far unless you're immediately channeling those funds towards a
Speaker 1: specific purpose. Uh, And that is where savings challenges step in.
Speaker 1: They can be the perfect way to build that all
Speaker 1: important emergency fund, or they can help you to more quickly,
Speaker 1: say for a bigger purchase that you might want to
Speaker 1: make in cash. Uh. We want you to have more
Speaker 1: financial margin, more money in the bank. Uh. And there
Speaker 1: are a couple of great money savings challenges that are
Speaker 1: going to help you get there. So let's let's go
Speaker 1: with our first savings challenge that you can consider. This
Speaker 1: one goes the entire year, and so you want to
Speaker 1: start now, and by the time you get to you know, Christmas,
Speaker 1: you're going to have a lot of extra cash in
Speaker 1: the bank that you didn't realize you're you're going to
Speaker 1: have going into it. And so this one is the
Speaker 1: fifty two weeks saving challenge. It's uh, it's where you
Speaker 1: ramp your savings up slowly by saving one dollar in
Speaker 1: the first week, two dollars in the second week, three
Speaker 1: dollars in the third week, and so on until the
Speaker 1: final week of the year, where you are saving fifty
Speaker 1: two dollars. And how much money Matt has someone saved
Speaker 1: if they are doing this fifty two weeks savings challenge?
Speaker 1: Like crunch the numbers, I know what, what is it?
Speaker 1: One thousand, seventy So it seems like you're starting small
Speaker 1: it's like one dollar in the first week, not a
Speaker 1: big deal. Two bucks next week. I can handle that.
Speaker 1: And as you ramp up, you slowly feel the impact
Speaker 1: of that increased savings, which makes it a little bit
Speaker 1: easier to accept because each week it's just getting incrementally harder.
Speaker 1: It's not getting way more difficult. When more quick you're
Speaker 1: not jumping off the savings cliff. And so yeah, I
Speaker 1: think this challenge shines because it also does allow you
Speaker 1: to save a big chunk of cash for an awesome
Speaker 1: goal that you've got, like maybe taking a family vacation
Speaker 1: or Christmas gifts at the end of the year. And
Speaker 1: and like you said, one thousand, three hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: eight dollars is what you're gonna save this year if
Speaker 1: you choose to go with this challenge. Um, and yeah,
Speaker 1: you can go even harder if you want. You can
Speaker 1: double the numbers. If you're like that's too easy, then
Speaker 1: good for you, like double it up and and save
Speaker 1: twice that amount. But this is a good one I
Speaker 1: think for a lot of people who are like, I
Speaker 1: just gotta get some savings in the bank, totally. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So that's the savings challenge Investing challenges are basically just
Speaker 1: like savings challenges, except that you funnel that money into
Speaker 1: the market, hopefully into a roth ira. And so there
Speaker 1: are a lot of individuals out there who have a
Speaker 1: large enough income, but they just lacked the organization to
Speaker 1: have enough at the end of the year to to
Speaker 1: sink six thousand dollars into the market. And so you know,
Speaker 1: you could easily parlay thats from savings to an investment.
Speaker 1: That is definitely a great start. But if you want
Speaker 1: to be a part of the weekly Rath challenge so
Speaker 1: that you've maxed out your roth ira a by the
Speaker 1: end of the year, that's gonna take you setting aside
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifteen dollars every single week. You just
Speaker 1: stepped up the challenge here. It's it's like it's not
Speaker 1: gonna be easy, Like it's it's not meant to be
Speaker 1: something that's overly easy, but it is much more doable
Speaker 1: than I think what people you know, the situation that
Speaker 1: folks find themselves in at the end of the year
Speaker 1: when they're like, well, where am I gonna come up
Speaker 1: with six thousand dollars? Like that's just not possible. It's
Speaker 1: like joining this challenge and sticking that money into your wrath,
Speaker 1: say with Vanguard, with Fidelity or with m one Finance.
Speaker 1: That's a great way for you to finally get your
Speaker 1: money growing for your future in a big way. If
Speaker 1: you're someone who hasn't yet taken that first step towards investing,
Speaker 1: maybe you are, you're a decent saver, but you haven't
Speaker 1: yet started investing. This is a great way for you
Speaker 1: to get that roth ira a ball rolling. Yes, we've
Speaker 1: talked about no spend challenges, you know, not not eating
Speaker 1: out as one of those. We've talked about savings challenges, Matt.
Speaker 1: You just you just dished out the weekly wrath challenge,
Speaker 1: which I think for a lot of how the money
Speaker 1: listeners is probably in their wheelhouse right now. They're like, listen,
Speaker 1: I've got the fund built up, but the thing I
Speaker 1: haven't done is maxed out my wrath yet, Like I've
Speaker 1: put in a few hundred here and there, like maybe
Speaker 1: by the end of the year they've maybe let's say
Speaker 1: they've got like two thousand dollars in there. That's great
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that folks are doing that, but there
Speaker 1: is four thousand more dollars that folks can slide into
Speaker 1: that account. Yeah, and we want to encourage them to
Speaker 1: make like, let's let this be the year where you
Speaker 1: make about your wrath for the first time. And yeah, Matt,
Speaker 1: when we were hearing our listener Money Wins, so many
Speaker 1: people was like I saved a ton this past year,
Speaker 1: or was like I invested majorly for the first time.
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of how the Money listeners share
Speaker 1: that sentiment where it's like, because of listening to the
Speaker 1: show and the how the Money community, the Facebook group,
Speaker 1: it's like I was motivated for the first time ever
Speaker 1: to go to the max with this and that's what
Speaker 1: a challenge can do, and that that's what a community
Speaker 1: can do too. I'm hoping by the end of this
Speaker 1: year we'll have somebody who sends in a voicemail and says, hey,
Speaker 1: this is the first year ever actually maxed my wrath.
Speaker 1: I right, And it's because y'all talked about it at
Speaker 1: the beginning of this year. You gave me enough of
Speaker 1: the head start. Exactly. You need that runway, you know,
Speaker 1: any time, because it's like, yeah, if you gotta stop
Speaker 1: an airplane on a dime, it doesn't happen. You need
Speaker 1: you need the runaway to stop. But let's le's let's
Speaker 1: talk about an earning challenge here too, because that that's
Speaker 1: another thing I think is worth is worth pursuing, because
Speaker 1: there are different ways to save or to spend less,
Speaker 1: but it can also be helpful to have a challenge
Speaker 1: that's going to help you make more money and to
Speaker 1: do so quickly. And so, yeah, you can ask her raise,
Speaker 1: you can get a hustle in order to to boost
Speaker 1: your earnings. Those are things that you know, for different
Speaker 1: people at different places in their life, we would potentially suggest.
Speaker 1: But the earning challenge we want to present is something
Speaker 1: truly that anybody can do, and it's doubly helpful because
Speaker 1: it's also a decluttering challenge. Yeah, you can flex some
Speaker 1: of your minimalist muscles. And so the way you do this, uh,
Speaker 1: first of all, spring right, like this is the perfect
Speaker 1: time to do this, and it's right around the corner.
Speaker 1: Like it doesn't feel like it in early January, but
Speaker 1: it's coming. That's true. It'll be here faster the folks realized.
Speaker 1: But put a date on the calendar now where you'll
Speaker 1: have say a family yard sale, if you've got neighbors
Speaker 1: that you're close with. This is something that you could
Speaker 1: share with them, because you know, it's better than just
Speaker 1: having a family yard sale, a multi family yard sale.
Speaker 1: And that's what you know. Anytime you see any time
Speaker 1: to folks see the science where it says multi family
Speaker 1: yard sale, there's a lot more bang for your buck,
Speaker 1: and folks are willing to turn off onto that side
Speaker 1: street see what you've got laid out on blankets around
Speaker 1: the tables in your front yard. But personally, I'm a
Speaker 1: fan of listing things on eBay. This is something that
Speaker 1: I literally started doing this back while I was in college.
Speaker 1: Um but literally a few months ago I started listing
Speaker 1: some items on eBay. Fired back up, Yeah, fired back up.
Speaker 1: And what's great about it though, is that you are
Speaker 1: able to I mean literally you're getting top dollar for it,
Speaker 1: right whereas with uh, like a yard sale, it's just
Speaker 1: kind of like, Okay, you've got thirty minutes left everything
Speaker 1: like everything is you know, twenty five cents and you
Speaker 1: can move a lot of items that way, but you're
Speaker 1: also not getting the most money that you possibly could.
Speaker 1: Granted with eBay there's shipping involved, but I love the
Speaker 1: sustainable practice of listing something regularly. Having that being kind
Speaker 1: of like woven into the daily patterns of your life.
Speaker 1: Maybe not daily, but like this can be something that's
Speaker 1: more weekly. And obviously, even aside from eBay, there's other
Speaker 1: places where you can sell stuff like Facebook, Marketplace. But
Speaker 1: challenge yourself to get rid of and profit from one
Speaker 1: item every single week in the same way that we're
Speaker 1: talking about sitting aside a hundred and fifteen dollars every
Speaker 1: single week in order to max out your roth ira A.
Speaker 1: This is something that's totally doable. Just picking one item
Speaker 1: that's been in your closet that you haven't warned, that
Speaker 1: you haven't plugged in, something that you haven't used in
Speaker 1: the past year or two. Go open your attict. There's
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff up there. I promise you that
Speaker 1: that you could list on eBay uh and get some
Speaker 1: decent money for and then by the end of the
Speaker 1: year you can easily have made over three thousand dollars
Speaker 1: by sticking to this plan. Assuming you're you know, you're
Speaker 1: selling an item every single week for like sixty bucks.
Speaker 1: Can't sell like a hairclip that second yeah, Thatt said,
Speaker 1: I could sell sell us for sixty bucks three u staplers,
Speaker 1: But again, put all of that money into savings, uh
Speaker 1: if you don't have an emergency fund yet, or you
Speaker 1: can let it jump start your investing. But having less
Speaker 1: stuff cluttering your place uh and more money on hand
Speaker 1: is going to be for sure a great thing. And
Speaker 1: this is one of my favorites. And we haven't mentioned
Speaker 1: this but on in the show notes for this episode,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have PDFs for many of these money challenges
Speaker 1: that can help you kind of document your progress. And
Speaker 1: then I like the PDF for this one, Matt, that
Speaker 1: you've created because it makes it super easy to be
Speaker 1: like check mark what was the kind of item that
Speaker 1: you you're writing the kind of item in that in
Speaker 1: that blank, and then how much money did I sell
Speaker 1: it for? And you can track and you can see
Speaker 1: how much money you've made over the year just by
Speaker 1: selling stuff that was, you know, lying aroun in your house.
Speaker 1: And so this is one of my favorite challenges because
Speaker 1: it does have that double whammy effect and you can,
Speaker 1: like Marie Condo, say thank you for your service to
Speaker 1: that item, and then you can sell it to somebody
Speaker 1: who are retiring in your neighborhood, who who wants who
Speaker 1: wants it and is gonna give it a second life.
Speaker 1: So all right, Well, we've got a little more that
Speaker 1: we want to discuss, including how Matt and I are
Speaker 1: going to help keep you accountable when it comes to
Speaker 1: the money challenge that you decide to undertake this year.
Speaker 1: We'll get to that right after this break. Money challenges,
Speaker 1: that's what we're talking about today, and how they're gonna
Speaker 1: jump start your finances. They're gonna put a dent in
Speaker 1: a good way in your money. Uh. And so you know,
Speaker 1: we've introduced several different challenges really accept but how is
Speaker 1: this money challenge going to make a difference? Um, Well,
Speaker 1: we're all about sustained change. I kind of talked about
Speaker 1: this a little bit when we were talking about eBay,
Speaker 1: But we're all about this change over time, and we
Speaker 1: believe that the winds can extend beyond this initial period
Speaker 1: of time during the challenge, and we wanted to become
Speaker 1: a part of who you are. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: just about this one win. It's about starting a pattern
Speaker 1: of winning with your finances. And you know, like quickly
Speaker 1: making a few bucks this week selling an item, that
Speaker 1: first item, that's cool, but we're less interested in the
Speaker 1: short term success. Uh. And we're more about looking towards
Speaker 1: those longer term wins. Uh, and it's snowballs as well.
Speaker 1: You know, success it builds upon success. And in one
Speaker 1: way I just said that, like that first cell, it's
Speaker 1: not about that twenty dollars that you get for that
Speaker 1: first item that you sell, except that that makes you
Speaker 1: somebody who sells stuff on eBay. That makes you somebody
Speaker 1: who lists something within Facebook marketplace. You did the porch
Speaker 1: pick up thing. Uh, they paid you. You know, the
Speaker 1: item was out there. You didn't have to talk to
Speaker 1: him or interact with him. If get your gears starting
Speaker 1: and be like, well what else can I sell them? Exactly,
Speaker 1: it starts you down that path and that is the
Speaker 1: mindset shift that we're trying to get you in. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I think there's something about these challenges that
Speaker 1: that is, like said in the title, that it jump starts, uh,
Speaker 1: something that is hopefully what we would say, is going
Speaker 1: to become a habit. And so yeah, short term actions.
Speaker 1: It might sound silly, but the goal isn't for you
Speaker 1: to constantly be part of some challenge that you've heard
Speaker 1: about on a stupid money podcast like ours. You shouldn't
Speaker 1: want or really need a challenge every single month, right,
Speaker 1: that the goal is for these habits to become second nature,
Speaker 1: where you're doing financially sound, financially smart things without even
Speaker 1: realizing it on the rag and and I think you're right, Mad,
Speaker 1: it's like that paradigm shift and how you handle money,
Speaker 1: it's it's key. And then creating an environment where positive
Speaker 1: action is consistent and then where it also gets rewarded.
Speaker 1: That's the hope here, that's what we want to see. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then there's that element of healthy stress that we
Speaker 1: want to expose ourselves to write because we humans, we
Speaker 1: like seventy two degree weather, we like our warm beds,
Speaker 1: we like our netflix, like some of us. But by
Speaker 1: self imposing some different stressors in our lives that we
Speaker 1: think can be helpful, we're able to allow our selves
Speaker 1: to grow. It spurs us on and if we don't
Speaker 1: do the hard work ourselves, life will impose hardship upon us.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't usually happen on the timeline that we
Speaker 1: wanted to A tweet I saw recently was if you
Speaker 1: don't make time for exercise, you would probably have to
Speaker 1: make time for illness. Snap. Yeah, And you know, so
Speaker 1: it really is up to you as to which path
Speaker 1: you want to take. You can choose a little bit
Speaker 1: of sacrifice now in order to say for your future,
Speaker 1: and if that's the path you take, you'll have plenty
Speaker 1: of options available to you down the road. Or you
Speaker 1: can completely ignore it in the present and you won't
Speaker 1: have any options in the future where you'll be forced
Speaker 1: to sacrifice. Then at that point when you're older, whether
Speaker 1: that be through the work that you'll need to continue
Speaker 1: to perform or through lifestyle sacrifices, it is up to you.
Speaker 1: And we want to make sure that we're not just
Speaker 1: inoculating and shielding and protecting ourselves from every amount of stress,
Speaker 1: because oftentimes and measured amounts that stress will allow us
Speaker 1: to grow. That's right. Yeah, Like when little kids when
Speaker 1: they're playing in the dirt, when they're even licking their
Speaker 1: own toys stuff like that, Like there there's like a
Speaker 1: healthy immune response what's happening in the midst of that disgusting,
Speaker 1: vile act that they were taking in. I know this
Speaker 1: because I've seen my kids do a lot of weird
Speaker 1: stuff through the years. But then there's also the fact map. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's a healthy stress fact but but there's also
Speaker 1: a reality to which some of these money challenges can
Speaker 1: be fun because we we all like playing games, and
Speaker 1: me and I we prefer long form nerdy board games,
Speaker 1: although usually we're too tired to stay up too late
Speaker 1: to play those nerdy board games these days. But money challenges,
Speaker 1: I would say create this gamified atmosphere. It helps you
Speaker 1: push harder than you might normally. It's it's kind of
Speaker 1: like how playing a sport, it doesn't feel as much
Speaker 1: like exercise. If some of your friends are like, hey,
Speaker 1: let's let's get a three on three basketball game together,
Speaker 1: You're like, sure, sounds like fun. Not sure sounds like exercise.
Speaker 1: Like that's not how you respond because it literally it
Speaker 1: sounds like playing a game. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you're you're running, and you're joking and doing all those
Speaker 1: things that are good for your muscles. You dun't con
Speaker 1: Joel h No. People ask me that because I'm six five,
Speaker 1: But the answer is no. He's like, let's just be honest,
Speaker 1: I'm just traveling and breaking a lot of attempted three pointers.
Speaker 1: But basically, yeah, you're you're still getting a workout, you're
Speaker 1: hanging out with friends. But it's just it's so much
Speaker 1: easier to want to do that for most of us
Speaker 1: than it is to want to sign up at our
Speaker 1: local CrossFit gym wake up at six am every morning.
Speaker 1: There's that community vibe that we get from sporting events
Speaker 1: and the gamification of exercise that can be really, really helpful,
Speaker 1: and that makes something that sounds otherwise boring into something
Speaker 1: that's actually fun to do. Okay, I believe you're showing
Speaker 1: throwing some shade up the CrossFit folks. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: so I'm CrossFit curious. Well then, which is why I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna say that basketball is a lot easier that
Speaker 1: than cross fit cross across. It does have that community vibe,
Speaker 1: which is because they tap into those elements and there's
Speaker 1: that competition, there's that camaraderie. A good point. I probably
Speaker 1: shouldn't have singled that CrossFit. I probably should have singled that,
Speaker 1: like l a fitness or like just waking up at
Speaker 1: five in the morning going for a run by yourself,
Speaker 1: no headphone is when you haven't signed up for a race?
Speaker 1: How about that? Because that sounds like in the middle
Speaker 1: of January and you're like, no, this was the bad,
Speaker 1: bad decision. It's so cold outside right now, and one
Speaker 1: of the other ways that money challenges are successful is
Speaker 1: because they up our commitment level. Because if you've only
Speaker 1: been marginally thoughtful with your finances, making less progress than
Speaker 1: you vote for a money challenge can just ratchet things
Speaker 1: up in a big way. It's similar to that. Like
Speaker 1: that half marathon that I mentioned, you've got skin in
Speaker 1: the game now that you signed up for it, And
Speaker 1: the same is true with starting a money challenge. You
Speaker 1: don't want to let yourself down. Uh. And so accountability
Speaker 1: comes into the equation here as well, because when you
Speaker 1: say that you're going to do something, it makes it
Speaker 1: real because you might end up telling your partner, you
Speaker 1: tell a friend, maybe you publicly post about it, you
Speaker 1: post your intentions what you're planning to do. When you
Speaker 1: do that, something important happens. Tell everyone on Facebook that
Speaker 1: you just signed up for a half marathon. People are
Speaker 1: going to ask you about it, well, hopefully they will. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's just this level of accountability that's established. And when
Speaker 1: you know that folks are are probably going to follow
Speaker 1: up and ask you about how things are going, it
Speaker 1: does create the stickiness that is hard to replicate. That's right.
Speaker 1: And so since we're talking about accountability, we want to
Speaker 1: help you out in that regard. We want to see
Speaker 1: the money challenge that you attempt this year. We want
Speaker 1: to see you succeed, And so you don't necessarily need
Speaker 1: matter I to become your accountability partner when it comes to, yeah,
Speaker 1: crushing that money challenge, saving more or spending less. We
Speaker 1: know you've got other friends out there who can help
Speaker 1: you with that, but we are going to offer our
Speaker 1: services anyway. And so yeah, just go to the show
Speaker 1: notes for this episode and you can join an email
Speaker 1: list where you'll receive resources and encouragement from us. We
Speaker 1: promise we're not gonna spam you or try to sell
Speaker 1: you anything. We really just want to help you succeed.
Speaker 1: The emails that we send are just gonna hopefully be
Speaker 1: encouraging and they're gonna spur you on towards success as
Speaker 1: you attempt to challenge yourself when it comes to some
Speaker 1: of the things you want to achieve with your finances
Speaker 1: over the coming months and really out throughout this year.
Speaker 1: That's right when you signed up. You can select a
Speaker 1: different box depending on which money challenge you're looking to
Speaker 1: implement in your lives, and so whether that's a no
Speaker 1: spend challenge, your savings challenge or or one of the
Speaker 1: food challenges will include those options there for you when
Speaker 1: you enter in your email. We're really looking forward to
Speaker 1: this being a part of your journey this year. And
Speaker 1: you know, like there are just so many different approaches
Speaker 1: to getting better with your money. Because I see a
Speaker 1: money challenge, how it could almost be like this on sprint,
Speaker 1: where you're just able to gain some important grounds so quickly.
Speaker 1: Oftentimes making positive traction with our money just feels like
Speaker 1: a slog. But the point of these challenges is for
Speaker 1: you to see a lot of results really quickly. And
Speaker 1: keep in mind, some of the challenges that we mentioned
Speaker 1: today might sound ridiculous to you, and that's fine, you
Speaker 1: can completely ignore those. But I bet there are gonna
Speaker 1: be one or two that we mentioned that sound appealing
Speaker 1: and it might be exactly what you need to incorporate
Speaker 1: into your life. So latch onto one of those and
Speaker 1: put all your focus into knocking that challenge out of
Speaker 1: the park. And if it would be helpful to have
Speaker 1: some accountability from us, we are happy to help. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a lot of fun to see what
Speaker 1: a bunch of different how the money listeners are going
Speaker 1: to be able to achieve because they have sigh up,
Speaker 1: They've gotten all these elements that are good and helpful
Speaker 1: about a money challenge, and they've said, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm going to take that on of my own accord
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna sign up on how the Money dot
Speaker 1: Com and hopefully just that intentional choice, it breeds some
Speaker 1: accountability and it leads to just excellent money action that
Speaker 1: otherwise you might have floundered or you might have continued
Speaker 1: along in the same pattern as like you said that
Speaker 1: you've been taking part in for years now, and especially
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year. This is this is
Speaker 1: a great time to start because we all want to
Speaker 1: accomplish something. You're turning tuning into this podcast. Maybe you've
Speaker 1: been listening for years now, or maybe you're brand new
Speaker 1: and you're like, I don't know where to start. Well,
Speaker 1: this episode is is a great place for you to
Speaker 1: enter in is where you start. Yeah, and even for
Speaker 1: some of our listeners, long time listeners who have been
Speaker 1: listening for years on end, it's like, you know what
Speaker 1: a money challenge can help you achieve a new goal
Speaker 1: or a goal that you've had, and you're like, it's
Speaker 1: gonna take me a long time to get there, and
Speaker 1: this can accelerate your progress towards one of those goals,
Speaker 1: even though you've been handling money well for a number
Speaker 1: of years now. So I think challenges can work well
Speaker 1: for people of all different places in their money journey.
Speaker 1: But Matt, let's get back to the beer that we
Speaker 1: had on this episode. This one is called Wild Sinister Kid.
Speaker 1: It's a double barrel Wild Ale from Trillion Brewing. What
Speaker 1: what were your thoughts on this one? Well, I will
Speaker 1: say that this is a delicious beer. Dude. I am
Speaker 1: so stoked that not only were we able to finish
Speaker 1: last year off with some with a Trillion beer, but
Speaker 1: we're able to kick off two just on such a
Speaker 1: great note. This was a fantastic beer. As soon as
Speaker 1: we cracked it open and poured it, you picked up
Speaker 1: on those barrel notes, like it just had so much
Speaker 1: barrel action going on, and the no is just from
Speaker 1: smelling it, Like, I mean, you mentioned this, but you
Speaker 1: you said you're like, is this a stout? And I
Speaker 1: think that's because oftentimes when we smell bourbon notes in
Speaker 1: a darker beer, you immediately think, oh, it's a bourbon
Speaker 1: barrel aged stout. But this was a sour. This is
Speaker 1: also dark to write like it is dark. It was.
Speaker 1: It was a dark sour. Yeah, exactly, a porred black
Speaker 1: in the glass. And so I think it's because it's
Speaker 1: um in an old ale maybe, is what it said. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Uh and so yeah, certainly aged more having gone through
Speaker 1: the barrel aging process. But dude, it had excellent acidity
Speaker 1: and tartness, and it honestly it kind of made me
Speaker 1: think of like a whole new style of beer, or
Speaker 1: not a new style, but like it made me think
Speaker 1: if I had to call this something else, I'd call
Speaker 1: it an Imperial Flanders red because it had all the
Speaker 1: flavors that you typically associate with the Flanders, right, the
Speaker 1: acidity and the darker notes, some of the vinegar vibes
Speaker 1: from Yes, but it was just punched up to a
Speaker 1: different level. That's where the imperial comes from. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed this beer. A huge things to to
Speaker 1: Ali for sending this one, r A. But yeah, what
Speaker 1: were your thoughts on this? I saw? I just really
Speaker 1: quickly say I agree, this was delicious and it was
Speaker 1: completely unique and there were so many different flavor vibes
Speaker 1: going on in this beer that it's almost hard to
Speaker 1: pinpoint exactly what I was tasting. But it's also I
Speaker 1: thought of it almost like a thousand piece puzzle where
Speaker 1: there are all these things going together, but they fit
Speaker 1: together perfectly. So there's a whole bunch of beers out
Speaker 1: there that are trying to do a lot that don't
Speaker 1: accomplish it where you're like, I do not get what
Speaker 1: the brewer was was trying to go for there, but
Speaker 1: this was not one of them. It was delicious in
Speaker 1: all of its eccentricity. It had just a huge amount
Speaker 1: of drink ability like to it. It was it was
Speaker 1: just it was delicious. And what's so amazing is the
Speaker 1: fact that this is a wild American ale. This is
Speaker 1: a sour and that is another style that I've had
Speaker 1: by Trillion before. Yeah, they're mostly known for brewing delicious
Speaker 1: I PA. There are New England double dry hopped I
Speaker 1: p A s is essentially their flagship style. And for
Speaker 1: them to take on you know what I would call
Speaker 1: not like a style that's not in their wheelhouse and
Speaker 1: to take that and just knock it out of the
Speaker 1: park like that speaks tremendous amounts of their capabilities. They're
Speaker 1: up at Trillium Brewing Company. If you ever see some trillium,
Speaker 1: I would suggest that you order that beer because it
Speaker 1: is likely going to be delicious. You will not be upset,
Speaker 1: And one day we might get some trillium distributed to Georgia.
Speaker 1: That would be a that would be a greatday. Well,
Speaker 1: big thanks to Ali for since we don't get trillium
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, for sending the to be our way. We
Speaker 1: really appreciate it, and that's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this episode again. Sign up for those money challenges on
Speaker 1: our website in the show notes for this episode, which
Speaker 1: are up on how to money dot com. We're excited
Speaker 1: to see what you can make happen this year with
Speaker 1: your money. That's right, buddy, So until next time, Best
Speaker 1: Friends Out, Best Friends Out,