WEBVTT - Valuable ATLien Money Lessons #404 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.079 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:25.400 Today we're discussing a t l en money lessons. Joel, 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:27.560 So the four oh four, I feel like that might 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.920 just be a Georgia thing, but everybody in Georgia, definitely, 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:33.919 everybody in Atlanta knows at the four or four that's Atlanta. 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.320 It's our area code, but it's I mean it's specific 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.400 to like in town Atlanta, Like that's that's an area 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:41.360 code that you can't get outside of the perimeter. And 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.640 I feel like it's kind of like this badge of honor. Uh, 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:45.680 if you have a four or four phone number, you've 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.000 kind of got the bragging rights that you live in town. 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:51.400 Sadly mine that what I was gonna ask, because I 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.640 actually don't know your phone number because it's just saved 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:55.880 on my phone, but I liked out scored a four 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.520 or four number. I don't know, maybe like fourteen years 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.080 ago something like that. But because this is episode four 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.760 or four, we decided to have a little fun with 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:06.520 us one have an Atlanta themed episode, and we're gonna 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.279 kind of take a tour throughout Atlanta's history and our present, 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.960 and we're gonna glean some different money lessons that we 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.480 think we can take from those historical events things we're 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.919 gonna talk about and apply them to our lives, apply 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.600 them to your lives. You're gonna learn some cool stuff 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.520 about Atlanta in this episode hopefully that you're into, but 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.280 also with that, you're gonna learn some cool stuff about 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.080 money based on some of those Atlanta trivia, the nuggets 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.560 that we're gonna throw out there. So absolutely, before we 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:36.880 get to that, man, I wanted to clearly mention that, 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:38.520 you know, we talked not too long ago, we had 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:40.959 an episode about credit cards and just like some of 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:42.920 the perks that you might be missing, and one of 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.000 the things that we mentioned in that episode is that 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.400 sometimes the way people spend on a credit card, it's 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.240 a little there's a little bit less friction and um 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.600 spending with cash, you you feel like you're parting with 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.760 something valuable and so you put a little more meaning 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:00.000 behind it. Well, we had a listener that reached out 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.040 listener Josh, and he said, it's actually interesting that might 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:07.200 be a generational divide that younger folks actually think of 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.639 spending dollar bills as being free money, Like they think 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:12.520 of that in a different way than to think of 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.800 putting money on their credit card or paying with like 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.120 Google pay or something like well, specifically because they've grown 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.040 up not really interacting with physical cash. And I totally 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.960 get that. He shared, like some TikTok videos that we're 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.480 lightening of, just like some of the younger folks being like, 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.360 all right, this doesn't cost me any money because I'm 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.440 paying with green bags. Well, it also depends on how 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:32.560 nerdy you are with it, right, because, like I totally 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.120 I understand the sentiment. I understand that feeling of if 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:36.960 you have, like I don't know, a five dollar bill 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.320 or a twenty something laying around in a in a drawer, Uh, 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.680 if you haven't accounted for that money, well I canna 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.000 stick that my pocket, go out later on and buy 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:46.600 some drinks. In that way, it kind of feels like 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.280 a gift card. It's it was just sitting there. I 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.920 wasn't using it for anything else. However, I think it 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.240 does come down to how well you track your money, 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.840 because in my household, there is no money just laying 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.880 around because every dollar that has entered our house has 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.520 come from somewhere and we've accounted for that. And so 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:03.919 if we had taken some cash out for some odd reason, 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.359 which we never do, but if we had, I mean, 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.760 there's a record of that. And so like in the moment, 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.840 I totally understand that sentiment that it feels like it's free. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:13.720 And I guess if you're not keeping up with your 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:18.119 money very closely, maybe yeah, it feels even more free 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:19.840 because you haven't accounted for that. Well, I can say 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:21.600 in my mind, it's like, no, that's just money that 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.560 I've withdrawn at some prior point in time, or that's 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.079 money that we've received as a gift that you know, 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.839 I've accounted for with you know, on our spreadsheets. It's 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.040 all been tracked, and so in my mind it doesn't 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:33.600 feel free at all. Yeah. I mean I can see 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.640 where he's coming from, though, because, like, you know, the 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.600 other day, we sold something on Facebook yard sale and 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.640 it was for a few hundred dollars, and we're like, well, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:43.440 what do we do with this money? Um, because that 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.360 is kind of found money to a certain degree. You know. Granted, 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.040 we're saving up to buy some new things to put 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:50.880 in our house, and so we're kind of allocating it 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.640 towards that, but once it's cash in a drawer, it's right, Like, 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.720 I totally understand that mentality that cashion a drawer can 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.360 take on a different psychological meaning, And I just kind 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.120 of found that inter saying like that was a point 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.280 counterpoint there where like it's not necessarily And one of 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.840 the things that that actually Josh mentioned too was there's 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:08.320 actually a lot of friction when it comes to him 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:10.360 paying with the card because he has like three different 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:12.280 types of alert set up. And so I thought that 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.880 was a good recommendation too for folks who do find 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.560 that they're spending on a credit card feels too easy 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.600 and that they're overspending by doing so, Yeah, maybe set 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:23.880 up multiple different alerts on your phone or like an 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.120 email alert so that you kind of go in your 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:27.680 inbox and you're like, dang it, yeah, that's right, I 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:29.360 gotta log that, um, and so that it feels a 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.480 little more tangible, a little more real. It's another way 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.280 that it registers that you actually made that purchase, as 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.200 opposed to because it's not more friction when you get 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.320 a text, it's just another notification. It's just another voice saying, hey, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.159 you just spend some money. You feel it a little more. Yeah, 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.800 But what I would suggest to you though, regarding you said, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.760 you're selling some stuff and you're saving up to buy 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:48.839 some some things once you'll get done with the home renovation. 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.240 I assume maybe some furniture, some things like that. Maybe 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.760 it like some rugs, rugs, definitely that kind of thing. 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:56.720 But I mean, if that was me, what I would do, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.280 I would take that money. And obviously cash is fungible. 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:01.760 So let's say I got twohundred bucks sitting there, Well, 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.039 I'm gonna take that two hundred bucks, and I'm gonna say, 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.480 withdrawal twounter bucks from our grocery budget for that month, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:08.039 and then use that cash to go to our our 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.520 grocery budget. And that two deduction from our grocery budget 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:16.400 then goes to a two addition to the furniture category 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.240 or the furniture bucket, whatever you want to call it, 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.560 depending on how you do your finances. But but yeah, 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.080 I mean, I guess I want to encourage folks the 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.800 nickel and diming of money in that way. I feel 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:27.400 it can be a way that you could see more 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.440 money leave your possession without you realizing it. Uh. And 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.800 so if you assign names to it, it's like no, no, no, 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.880 that money he has an assignments. You know, it's like, oh, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.400 those dollars over there, those ladies, they're gonna, you know, 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.560 purchase us a new couch here pretty soon. Yeah, you 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.840 want to know where that money is supposed to go, 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:45.640 because if not, it'll leak like a sieve out of 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.560 your life. I like that. All right, let's keep moving 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.600 on that. Let's mention the beer that we're having on 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.400 this episode. This one is called Siberius Maximus. It's the 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.880 tenth anniversary brew by Wrecking Bar brew pub right down 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.320 the street from us. Of course, this is an Atlanta 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:01.359 themed episode. You had to have. Course, we had to 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.960 have a delicious Atlanta beer in Atlanta brew absolutely, and 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.520 this one in particular is a very special beer. I'm 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.280 looking forward to sharing this one with you and we'll 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.120 talk about it at the end of the show. Sounds good, man, 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.960 looking forward to it. But let's get into this, Mat. 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.080 Let's talk about a t L in money lessons um. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.400 By the way, a t aliens. If folks don't know outcast, 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.280 you can look that up later. But that's why we 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.360 named this one ten even if you should know that. Yeah, Well, 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.120 and I think the interesting thing is Matt like we 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.600 can all learn lessons in unintended places, right. I feel 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.720 like there are always things around us, so we can 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.600 learn if we just kind of open our eyes a 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.200 little bit. Yeah, for instance, like going through the depths 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.520 of COVID insanity last year. You know, fall was even 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.520 currently currently like our writing, you know, our third graders 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.000 are home doing virtual learning because of positive delta variant 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.279 cases at school. And I'm just like, we aren't out 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:53.760 of the woods. I mean, we're still dealing with us 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:55.960 even though we're fully vaccinated and we're ready to move 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.920 on with life exactly. It's frustrating. But I remember distinctly 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.480 last fall, when things were tough and pretty much everything 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:04.840 had fallen off of my calendar. I was like, I 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.280 got a lot more free time. And I remember those days, 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.040 and uh, we didn't necessarily realize, or we wouldn't have 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.200 said that we thought we needed more family time together. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.880 But as our normal rhythms kind of eroded away because 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.680 of coronavirus, I think we quickly learned the lesson that 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.120 actually we didn't need more time together, that it was 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.600 a positive thing for our family. Um, But it was 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.520 a lesson that we didn't know that we needed to learn. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.080 And I would say similarly, since we're on episode four 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.080 or four, and since, like you said, that's the area 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.480 code of our home city, today is the perfect time 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:36.360 for us to talk about some money lessons that we 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.160 associate with our hometown, kind of pull out some of 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:43.280 those historical and cultural nuggets from you know, the coolest 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.640 city in the South, let's be honest, Sorry, Birmingham take 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.160 a back seat, or even Miami. Well, Miami is not 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.120 the South, it's Florida. Yeah, that's a completely different beast. 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.400 So Atlanta definitely the coolest city in the South. Different country. 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.400 And there's some helpful stuff we're gonna talk about today 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.640 that are all about the four or four Yeah. Actually, 0:07:57.640 --> 0:07:58.880 I don't even know if you can get four or 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.240 four numbers anymore. I think they ran actually ran out, 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:02.600 I think so. I think that's why I had to 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.000 settle for six, seven, eight years and years ago. Yeah, 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.200 that's crazy. Uh, you know, this kind of actually makes 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:08.720 me think back to when I first went off to 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.480 be a summer camp counselor during my summers off in college. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.320 You kind of mentioned learning lessons and unintended places, and 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.480 so one of the main reasons I went off to, uh, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.160 you know, work as a camp counselor at a boys adventure, 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:21.559 you know, summer camp. First of all, my buddy Jeff 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.040 was like, Hey, you need to go work there because 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:25.400 it'll be a lot of fun. And I was like, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.800 all right, that sounds like I'm down with that. And 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:29.720 also to to make a little bit of money, a 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.920 very small small amount of money. Camp counselors aren't rolling 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.640 in the down absolutely not. But one of the other 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.200 lessons I absolutely learned, and it just stood out to 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.400 me how much of this I was doing was the 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.560 ability to learn how to teach and connect with kids. 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.800 Up until that point, I hadn't really worked much with youth. 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:49.280 I mean, I grant I was in college at that point, 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:51.600 barely even in college as well, so I wasn't all 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.200 that old myself. But even still working with you know, 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.800 six to sixteen year old boys specifically and being outside 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.360 and hiking and teaching them how to survive, if you know, 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.720 when you go camping and different things like that, not 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:04.800 only was I learning a ton about the outdoors, but 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.040 I was learning how to communicate, how to teach children, 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.760 how to work with kids, And that wasn't something that 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.640 I thought I was going to learn. I remember at 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.120 the time writing at one point saying, you know, I 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.360 think I'm ready to have kids. I'm like twenty two 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.599 years old or something like that, and I think I 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.000 remember my dad's less daunting to you after after that, man. Yeah, 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:29.440 And obviously that was a very juvenile statement. It's a state. Uh, 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.640 there's a lot more that goes into raising kids than 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:34.680 just being able to entertain them, you know, for a 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:37.680 couple of weeks over the summer. But this is again 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.400 what we're gonna be doing today, and we're gonna discuss 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.959 some of these different personal finance lessons. Uh. And they're 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.120 gonna come to us in these historical events. They're gonna 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.520 come packaged in history, but they're certainly applicable to our 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.480 personal finances. We definitely do love our city and you'll 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.000 hear why during this episode, but you also learn some 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.880 important financial lessons. Yeah. So all right, let's get to 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.560 one of the most famous historic things it's ever happened 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.760 to our city, and that was in eighteen sixty four 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.400 when General Sherman. Let's start Atlanta to the ground. Let's 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:08.600 start at the beginning. It's it's started like one of 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.679 the most saddest moments in Atlanta history. Right, more than 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.680 like three thousand buildings were destroyed when that happened. And 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.440 this was only General Sherman's first destructive stop as he 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.760 began his famous March to the sea, right, and that 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.720 led him and his troops all the way to Savannah, 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.080 which is like three and a half hour drive from here. 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.960 So that's a long march, right. But this awful event 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:34.319 for anyone living near the destruction really actually kind of 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.880 led to a renaissance of sorts in Atlanta is actually 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.480 like forever kind of tied to the bird, the Phoenix. 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.960 It's kind of like uficial mascot. Yeah, it's like on 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.120 all of the government buildings, like it's on the letter 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.000 head all that kind of Yeah. And and and that's really 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.200 because like our city rose from the ashes after this 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.920 burning to rebuild um and to retain relevance in our country. 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:58.920 And so yeah, the first a T L Financial leson 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.320 that we're gonna cover today is that no matter how 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.960 bad the devastation is, you can always recover, just like 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.839 it landed did in the d That's true. Yes, it's 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.000 never so bad that you can't find a way to rebuild. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.520 Another takeaway from this defining historic moment is that being 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.400 properly insured it's crucial. We talked in depth about insurance 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.280 products that folks should really consider getting back an episode 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.960 two thirty three will link to that in our show notes. 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:26.760 But not having the right kind of insurance when terrible 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.840 things happen, when the disastrous strikes, can turn a hardship 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.800 into tragedy. And so whether that's having just the proper 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.520 health coverage and getting life insurance or making sure that 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.080 you've got renters insurance if you don't own the place 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.400 where you're living. So again, we want to encourage folks 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.680 that you can always rebuild. And sometimes, man, I think 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.120 when you find yourself in a massive hole of debt 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.360 and it only seems like you're digging yourself deeper and 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.080 deeper sometimes, and we don't talk about this often, but 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.320 sometimes bankruptcy could be the best path moving forward. Sometimes 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.280 it takes essentially burning your financial world down to the 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.760 ground in order to to kind of start fresh and 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.040 move forward. And so again that's that's something we often 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.760 talk about. But given your circumstances, that might be the 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:08.720 right option for you. Again, before you just pull the 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:10.240 trigger on that you're gonna want to talk to a 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.240 not for profit debt counselor you know, we we've talked 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.560 to people that work for like the National Foundation for 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:20.439 Credit Counseling or Money Management International on on the show before. 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:22.480 We'll link to those in the show notes. But yeah, 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.800 like get some counseling. And in fact, Matt, like, my 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.120 parents declared bankruptcy when I was a kid, and their 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.720 financial situation is great now, and like that was an 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.040 almost traumatizing experience, Like that was a really difficult time 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.520 in our family's life. But it just goes to show 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.040 that no matter you know, how bad things are, you 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.280 can rebuild. Um. So I think that is an important lesson. 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:45.040 Let's get to another just exactly and now we're kicking butt, 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:47.840 uh and so let's get to you. Yeah, just another 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:50.840 another money lesson from the A t. L is And 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.800 this one is time is valuable. Right. The commute times 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.000 here in Atlanta are notoriously terrible. There some of the 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.240 worst in the country. We actually rank sixth in the 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.800 worst commutes around the country, and the average commute time 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.240 is about thirty two minutes. You know, most people don't 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.520 factor that god awful commute into their decision making, or 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.160 at least not nearly as much as they should. Right, 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.400 And we're not just talking about the cost of commuting. 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.079 The car, the gas, the insurance, like, those are all 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.800 factors that you need to take into account, especially if 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.160 you're like, yeah, I'll take that higher paying job that 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.840 is going to involve an extra thirty minute commute. It's 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.240 gonna involve you know, more aware and tear on my car, 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:28.199 more gas. Uh. Well, we'd obviously love for you to 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:30.920 find cheaper ways to commute, but the biggest thing actually 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.840 worth considering is how much time that commuting rips out 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.840 of your life. So yeah, that's the one lesson we 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:40.120 can learn from looking around at our city. So many 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.640 people stuck in their cars, and it turns out that 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.920 many of them are wasting the most precious resource. It's 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.560 not money, it's their their time that they're spending stuck 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.680 in the car more than they should be. Let's right. Yeah, 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.320 Oftentimes folks will say time is money, and in some 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.240 cases that's true, but actually time is more valuable than 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.959 money because you can always earn more money down the road, 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.760 but time in once those minutes, once those hours are gone, 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.920 you cannot get those back, And so we want folks 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.040 to consider more than just how much house they can afford, right, 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.040 and so like we're talking about like picturing somebody who's 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.320 thinking about purchasing a home out in the burbs, because 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.600 you know, the further you move out of the major city, 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.720 oftentimes the more prices will drop per square foot on average. 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:21.960 So you can get a really big house in the 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.360 excerpts of Atlanta, for you know, the price of a 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.200 much smaller home that would keep you closer to your job. 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.160 But do this first, consider the amount of time that 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.920 you spend in a vehicle getting to and front work 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.320 and jump man not just work too, but to and 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.240 from friends, uh, like the store, you'd go to other 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.760 places that you like to visit. You might find that 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.880 there is a serious amount of time that's gonna come 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:45.640 out of your life that you're gonna spend in the car. 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:47.600 So we would encourage folks to strive to live in 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.640 a place where you're not going to be stuck in 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.440 heaps of traffic every day. Give meets a really stressful 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.040 and they can take a toll on your mental health, 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.160 you know. Or here's another alternative. At least consider car pooling. 0:14:57.480 --> 0:14:59.600 That might be a way that you can reclaim some time. 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.280 If you're wapping with somebody taking over the duties of 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:04.480 driving to work every day, oh they're driving, you can 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:06.320 be working or at least, you know, reading a book 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.480 being somewhat productive, popping the headphones, close your eyes and 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.040 listen to a podcast. Uh. I think a lot of 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:13.920 folks do. They might have no commune at the moment, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.960 because if you are working from home, uh. And if so, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.080 then that's great. But to anyone who is starting to 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.240 commute back to their job, look for a way to 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.360 pursue full time working from home or to get closer 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.160 to your job. So I think another takeaway when it 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.240 comes to thinking about traffic here in Atlanta too, is 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.320 just the hidden costs of everything. This is sort of 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.360 a topic we've touched on before, but everything every action 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.880 we take, whether it be an expense or something we 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.840 choose to do, oftentimes they're hidden costs associated with them. 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.520 And not only are there hard monetary costs, but it 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.400 can be a drain on your time as well. Yeah, 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:49.680 no doubt. And yeah, I think one other thing when 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.560 we're talking about traffic. The solution that we've always looked 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.160 to in Atlanta and sadly so is you just pour 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.840 more asphalt right to create more lanes of traffic. And 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.400 it's interesting, like when you look at studies, adding more 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.960 lanes doesn't actually really ever fix the problem. Um and 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.760 at best it's an incredibly short term solution. Well, what 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:10.880 it does it encourages more people to I mean the 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:12.960 study showing that more. Like you put another lane down 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.480 and uh, people like, yeah, all right, I'm gonna drive 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.640 some more. The amount of cars that take that route increases. Yeah, 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:20.880 and so yeah, quickly we're back to the same problem 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.960 that we had before, which is just clogged roadways. But yeah, 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.920 the belt line is actually the hottest word associated with 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.560 Atlanta right now. It's changing the face of our city 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.280 and it's it's really doing so really quickly. It's this 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.280 glorified giant sidewalk that's making basically connecting all of in 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.960 town Atlanta, and it's making it just so much easier 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:41.800 to commute in an alternative way if if you live 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.120 and work in town. So that's one of those things 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.160 where it sometimes it takes a creative solution instead of 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.840 the obvious one. It takes thinking outside of the box. 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.320 And not just doing what we've always done. And I 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.680 think when it comes to our finances, sometimes we just 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.920 keep repeating, we keep making the same mistakes over and 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.280 over again, we keep doing things the way we've always 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.280 done them, and instead maybe it's time to try something different. Um. 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.199 And Yeah, for instance, when it comes to Atlanta at 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.920 the belt Line, I've seen so many more bite commuters 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.800 in our town because of it. Like, it really is 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.720 making a big difference in how people feel about living 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.240 in the city and how people are able to navigate it. 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.240 So I think it's important to note that sometimes it 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.199 takes thinking just a little bit differently in order to 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.280 get the most beneficial results. Yeah, and so like it 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.440 makes me think of expenses, right, and so if you're thinking, 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.400 all right, I gotta cut my expenses, you can. Yeah, 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.320 you can tighten the belt and try to reduce the 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.720 amount that you're spending out at the grocery store every month. 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:37.200 Maybe you've set that budget amount to an unrealistic number, 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.240 because in the end, you still have to go and 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.000 buy groceries because you have to eat in order to survive. Right, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.240 But maybe a more effective creative solution would be to 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.800 get a roommate, Like, that's not something that I think. 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.919 Oftentimes people think, Okay, this is a way I can 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:52.400 cut my expenses, but that is a way to effectively 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.080 reduce the amount of money that you're spending every single month, 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.280 or even like, when it comes to earning more money, 0:17:57.320 --> 0:17:59.200 it makes me think about somebody who's like, Okay, maybe 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.520 I'm gonna work a little bit overtime, I'm on clock 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.119 some more hours, when instead, I think the more creative 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.720 solution that could lead to better results would be entrepreneurship. 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.440 Think through what it is that really gets you excited 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:12.720