WEBVTT - Biking is a Money & Life Hack #578 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.000 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.840 and today we're discussing how biking is a money and 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:27.920 a life hack that's right, and whether it's the cooler 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.240 weather Joel, that we are experiencing or specifically I saw 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.920 recently that Atlanta, there's this month long initiative that's called 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.240 Biketober that's all about getting folks to ride their bikes 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:43.680 more often. I can't wait till spike member. Bikecember definitely 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:49.440 doesn't work bike you wary March. But regardless, biking it's 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:51.960 on our mind. It's something that we enjoy so much. 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:54.520 We feel like it's like the secret sauce maybe too too. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.240 Why it is you and I are so happy, why 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.520 we're so wealthy. It's because we bike so much, all right, 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.440 like the Benjamin Franklin to bikes. It's not quite it's 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.920 one of the secret secret sauces in our arsenal. We 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.080 felt that this was so crucial. This is literally the 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.720 first episode we ever recorded within this personal finance podcast. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:14.920 We decided it was going to be about bikes. When 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.399 you think about it from a logical perspective, it doesn't 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:18.959 make a whole lot of sense. To launch a personal 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.559 finance podcast and then make the first episode about biking, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.520 but like but rather investing right or say anything whatever 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.720 it is. But I guess when you think about it 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.120 from our perspective, like it shows one how much we 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.520 value biking and how important we think it is, but 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.200 how it really is an integral habit that you can 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.200 incorporate into your life that's gonna save you a ton 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.399 of money as well. And so that's you know, we're 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.600 gonna kind of maybe you know, update our thoughts on 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:46.040 biking and give some explainers on why it's so important, 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:49.000 and then talk about how you can effectively make biking 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.720 more part of your regular routine. And we'll talk about 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.240 how it can save you money. But there are a 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.320 lot of other additional benefits to There are a lot 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.000 of reasons before we get to that, Joel, before we 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.600 get to a beer, I wanted to here a quick, uh, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.520 like a bone headed move that I made. Normally we 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:05.360 talked about our wins when it comes to our money, 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.480 but I'm gonna share a loss, not a large loss, 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.560 a small loss, thankfully. So we took a listener question. 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:13.960 I think this is about two years ago or a 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.120 little over two years ago. It was towards the beginning 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.800 of the pandemic. It was when the FED was dropping 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.600 rates and we were seeing what the banks were paying 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.640 and savings accounts dwindling. Right, I mean basically was taking 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.440 a nose dive and a listener people understand now the 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:29.560 mechanics behind that based on last week. So that's right. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:31.720 We talked about this last week. And what's crazy is 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:35.359 that us thinking about and preparing for that episode last week. 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.960 That's not what caused me. Well maybe it did in 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.520 a in a sort of roundabout way, caused me to 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.040 realize that I was making this mistake in my own life. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:45.280 But a listener was asking about locking up some of 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.920 his money in a CD in order to earn some 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.680 sort of interest within the money that he had set aside. 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.639 We're not normally huge fans of this, but there are 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.640 some penalty free there are like these no penalty eleven 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:00.360 months CDs. In particular, one that I signed, you know, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.120 put sunk some money in. After that question, was this 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:05.959 one that ally offers and when there's not gonna be 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.920 a penalty, when there's no fee associated with canceling that, 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:10.960 you know, canceling that account pulling that money out early. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.519 There's no harm in locking that money up, and so 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:15.680 that's something that we did recommend. We're like, well, maybe 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:17.880 shy away from the regular CD, but if there is 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.320 a no penalty option, maybe take that path. I figured 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:23.679 I would do that as well, because I thought this, yeah, yeah, 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:25.880 this is a good way to keep your savings at 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.799 least in the one plus percent range, rather than seeing 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:30.160 it kind of dip all the way down. And as 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.440 like the writing was on the walling five range, breaks 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.240 were coming down hit hard. And so that was an 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.520 environment where CD has made a little more sense, whereas 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:39.880 typically we're like, we're not very finest. You might want 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.840 to stay away, and that's all fine and dandy unless 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.240 you forget that you've got money in that account. And 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.280 like we talked about last week, the banks have been 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.400 raising their interest rates and are paying in the mid 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.960 to upper twos even at this point, and that is 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:56.680 exactly what I've been doing by defaults over the past 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.600 few months. It took me last week. I was looking 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.680 at the end of the week, I was cleaning up 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.720 the budget a little bit, and I realized, holy crap, 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.120 I've got a serious junk of money. Sitting there earning 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.320 one point something when I could be earning easily double that, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:11.800 and I feel like a little bit of a gut punch. Well, 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.720 I mean, luckily again, because it was a no penaltd CD, 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.360 I was able to easily remedy that. It was super 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.440 easy to do. Just canceled that account, move that money 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.360 over to the savings account, was immediately earning a higher rate. 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:24.359 But I wanted to share this because even though I mean, 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.680 we talk about this all the time, I'll say, at 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:28.960 least for myself, it can be easy to kind of 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.680 fall into this set it and forget it mindset. And 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.800 while in some instances that is a great approach to take, 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.279 right in particular when you're talking about your investments with 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:41.040 something like this that's a little more active, it's good 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.480 to revisit some of these different decisions that we've made 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.400 in the past, because it's funny. I mean, it was 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:46.880 just right there in front of me, and I had 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:48.839 just been looking right over it, just like as I 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.720 go in there, make sure certain checks have been deposited, 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.599 make sure everything's matching up within my spreadsheets. But it 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.520 took me taking a step back and realizing, oh man, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.839 this is a suboptimal move for me right now to 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:01.600 how of all this money, all this money tied up. 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:03.560 And so I think that can be a natural tendency 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.320 for us, right to make things easy, to simplify things, 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.400 to not think about things once we've made that decision. 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.000 But I think it can be beneficial to our bank account, 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.440 specifically for us to revisit some of these things. It's 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.880 hard to remember, Okay, I putt put money in a CD, 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.280 but I did it because we were in a folly 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.719 great environment and now that the environment is completely shifted, 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.200 and there are much better places for me to stick 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.480 my cash, whether it's I bonds or even just stocking 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.680 that money in a regular savings account. But for yeah, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.719 for anybody out there who does have money in the CD, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.039 the chances are once it matures, or if it's a 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.040 no penalty CD, it's time to get the money out 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:40.120 because there are better places to stick that money. And um, yeah, 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.719 so I'm glad you realize see your ways able to 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.359 fix that problem. Yeah, and again the one I had 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.839 signed up for you those through ally super easy to do. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:49.960 It does make me wonder, though, how many folks are 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:52.200 out there who have signed up for did something similar 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.359 and are realizing wait a minute, oh shoot, this is 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:55.800 something I need to take care of. You time to 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.799 address it exactly, Move on, carry on with life, Joel. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.360 Let's introduce the beer you and I are enjoying this 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.280 episode again. This is another one by a Bosky brewing company. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.000 Thanks to Bob for donating this one and the others 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.200 to the show. Looking forward to enjoying this one, Joel, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:11.720 And of course we'll share our thoughts at the end 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:13.720 of the episode, no doubt. All right, well, let's get 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.760 onto it, Matt. Let's talk about one of our favorite 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.400 subjects that we've been talking about obviously for a long 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.640 time now, which is biking. And and it's still something 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.320 that we we address from time to time on the 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.880 show because, especially during the pandemic bikes we were so hot. 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:27.920 They were all the rage bike sales through the roof, 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.080 and and we would say that spending less than you 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.080 make it's it's like the most basic element of personal finance, right. 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.800 You can get as complex as you want, and you'll 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.839 probably need to get more complex if you want to 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.159 make progress more quickly. You'll need to figure out the 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.919 dynamics of investing in frugality and and you know, to 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:46.840 be able to grow the gap so that you can 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.760 invest more. But if you can get that that simple 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.400 basic habit right of spending less than you make right, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.719 it's going to have massive ramifications on every area of 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.640 your life, allowing you to pay off debt, to save 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.000 and but if you if you fail to heed the 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.159 most basic tenant, if you aren't able to do the 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.320 simplest thing right, well then you won't be saving or 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.960 investing in. Your debt's going to continue to accumulate. And 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.160 that's an awful place to be in your personal finances. 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.640 And man, I don't just thinking about biking. It made 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.600 me think, it's just this, it's this really simple thing 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.880 that can radiate and have a major impact on your finances. 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.160 And and it actually made me think of our conversation 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.440 a couple of years ago with Charles do Higg, who 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.760 wrote a book about habits and and he talked about 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.760 habit formation with us in January a couple of years ago, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.960 and one of my main takeaways from that conversation was 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.360 when he talked about keystone habits, and he said that 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.760 keystone habits impact all of our other habits, that if 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.080 you get just a couple of these keystone habits right, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.240 that it will be much easier to develop. Other healthy 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.520 habits are kind of like the big domino that knocks 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.000 down all the other dominoes. They create this ripple effect. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.360 And I think you and I maybe we might describe 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.280 biking as a keystone habit that can have wide ranging 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.400 impacts on our lives, on our finances, And that's why 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.440 we're dedicating an entire episode to it today. Just like 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:07.160 spending less than you make is a keystone habit, right, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.280 it's gonna lead to better results in every other part 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.880 of your finances. Well, Biking similarly is that for I 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.200 think our money and for our lives. Absolutely. Yeah. The 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:18.640 fact is we believe that biking can have maybe as 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.280 much of an impact on your data to life as 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.200 spending less than you make. Uh, it can be that foundational. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.800 There are just so many different potential problems that biking 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.600 more and driving less is able to solve. And another 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.000 common thread or narrative that we often hear is that 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.560 riding a bike might seem like this activity that's just 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.800 a bit out of reach for every single person out 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.880 there to try. Uh, you might be you know, someone 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.200 might say, like, oh, cycling, it's just for the the 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.640 bike messenger types, you know, riding around on their hip 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.520 single speeds, flipping off of cars as they driving on 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:50.280 the slidewalks, or or it's just for the like the 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.440 weekend warrior mountain bikers, or for the that the cluster 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.400 of bikers that are you know, riding on the road 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.760 wearing spandex. But like we all right, look, I'm fine 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.079 with it if if you want to do that, more 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.120 power to you. But we're trying to convince you otherwise, right, 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.520 Like this is more approachable than you think. We want 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.800 this to be something that you incorporate more in your 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.920 day to day as opposed to it being this thing 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.360 that is more of an activity. We wanted to be 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.640 less of an activity and more sort of like the 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:19.880 like the underpinning of how it is that you know, 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.520 you think about transporting yourself around um and you know, plus, 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:25.360 even if you haven't ridden a bike since you're a kid, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.360 Like there's a reason that you hear the phrase it's 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.320 like riding a bike. It's because it's something that you 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.400 never forget how to do. That's one of the reasons 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:35.000 that we're not really gonna get to today to Joel, 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:36.520 but just I mean writing a bike. I think was 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.160 it the first episode when we talked about Stranger Things 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.559 and just how much fun it can be when you're 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:43.840 just you know how, the freedom of being on a bike, 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.000 the wind blowing through your hair that was half the 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:48.440 your helmets into your hair. Of course you always need 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:49.600 to wear helmet. That was half the fun of the 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.760 first season of Stranger Things was those kids on their 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.400 bikes and the eighties and just like the nostalgia brought 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.760 me back to my childhood and doing the very same 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.000 thing in the streets of the neighborhood where I grew up. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.520 And I think it's also important to mention, Matt you 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.400 mentioned Biketober here in Atlanta, this is like the perfect 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.839 time of year to get started riding a bike, because like, 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:10.800 if you start picking up in in the middle of 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.360 July or the middle of January, you're less likely to 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.800 stick with it because it might be really hot, really 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.160 cold wherever you are, and you might be like, yeah, no, 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.720 not for me. So we would say the fall is 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.720 just the right time to begin biking. It's absolute best weather. 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.960 There's just something delightful about getting around on two wheels 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.160 when the leaves are changing colors too. Like the sound 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:34.600 of those leaves as they dry, crackling under your tires. 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.480 It's pretty great. And uh, you know, by the way, 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.600 back when we started the podcast, we were living in 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.199 the middle of a big city, in the city of Atlanta, 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:43.760 and because of that, a lot of folks, maybe, I 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.480 don't know, they might have dismissed our enthusiasm for biking 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.160 as like, that's what the urban dwellers, that's what the 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.600 city folk do. And you know, I live jell. They 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.280 don't understand what it's like out here in the burbs. Well, 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.120 guess what now we do. We've joined you, and so yeah, 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.040 I don't know. They might have thought, well, it's it's um, 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.280 it's particularly a matter of where they live. I can't 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.280 do the same thing, and I'm not gonna lie, Matt. 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.000 You and I we were a bit nervous when we 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.800 opted to move out to the Birds that maybe it 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.080 would mean biking less, driving more. That's not what we wanted. 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.920 But yeah, we're happy to report that we have been 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.480 biking just as much, if not more than we used 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:21.640 to when we were living in town. And you know, 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.640 there might be less bike infrastructure around these parts, but 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.079 that doesn't mean we've got to relegate our bikes to 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.920 the garage. I was like, literally just chatting with a 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.000 new friend here, Matt on Sunday, and she was talking 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.880 about an eight mile bike ride that she makes every 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.400 single week, and the bike infrastructure not great for a 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.440 section of that ride, but she makes it happen anyway, 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:42.839 And I was like, more power to you, man, this 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.080 is congratulations. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, well, I think I 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:47.679 mean you and I were both proud to say that 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.640 we have not succumbed to the desire to get a 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.160 second vehicle living out in the burbs. We have found 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.679 a way to prioritize biking in her life. Um. And 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:58.920 that's truly what it comes down to. It's about making 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.720 it a priority because you might not have it as easy, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.320 but especially if you're a renter right or if you're 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:05.920 in the market to buy a home right now, thinking 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.280 about where you live in terms of bike ability and 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.200 even walkability, that that's a smart thing to do because 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.680 even if that apartment, if it costs more because it's 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.520 centrally located, if it means that you can ditch a 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.559 car and avoid the car payment, which would be the 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:23.200 worst case scenario. But even still, insurance costs, the costs, 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:25.679 cost of maintenance, the cost of gas, it's gonna mean 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:31.719 meaningful savings. Last week in the Hotwo Money newsletter Wonderful, Magnanimous, 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.280 it's a fantastic one featured a listener and she did 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:36.959 this very things. It's it's not like she had the 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.400 super fancy car or anything. It was nice and it 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.920 was a used ride, but she sold it. And she 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.000 credits that one move as having the biggest impact on 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.080 her ability to get ahead. So maybe she's also influenced 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.640 our desire to revisit bike me because we're like, man, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.920 she is doing things right. And she had a picture 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:56.840 of her like even in the cold New York. Yeah, 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:58.559 she's in New York. Yeah and so, and she makes 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.679 seventeen an hour, she's got a six figure net worth. 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.120 But she credits all of this to the one big 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.360 decision that she made which has had ripple effects in 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.520 all other areas of her life. But she's able to 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:11.880 get around town no problem. And of course being up 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.960 there close to the Canadian border. She didn't say specifically 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.320 where she was. It's a lot colder up there, so 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.040 it's it's not even a requirement to live in the 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.720 the wonderful balmy state of Georgia like we are. We 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:24.920 think it's great down here, but it is still possible 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.280 when no matter where it is that you live. Right 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.040 side note, My favorite thing about the How To Money newsletter, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.160 by the way, is the how You Money segments. What 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.480 we're doing. It's a nice feature. It's so fun because 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:37.560 we profile a different How to Money listener or reader 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:39.959 every other week in the newsletter, and so you get 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.320 kind of like an insight, like a voyeuristic look into 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.200 their personal finances. You can see, well, how much money 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:46.959 do they make, and what are their debts, how much 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:48.720 are they saving, how much are they investing, where do 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.280 they live. Joe likes peeping in on you and your money. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.720 If you're curious about how other people live and handle 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:59.439 their money, and maybe they're Dirk freak their craft, you're 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:01.600 equivalent how they live in life. I think it's a 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.360 really fun element of the newsletter, and you can I'm 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.280 learning a lot from its super car readers, which is 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.439 which is fun. So yeah, you should sign up for 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.280 that at how the Money dot com slash newsletter. But 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.480 let's keep talking about biking. And I think infrastructure is 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:19.560 definitely you can you can cite a lack of infrastructure 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.320 as a reason why you're not biking more, and I 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.640 can get the argument behind that. And I do think 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.080 it's important that we fight for more bike infrastructure where 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.720 we live. But I would say it's it's more of 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.400 a possibility to bike than you realize, even if you 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.720 lack some of the infrastructure that would be nice to have. 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.760 Although you know, we talked about there was a resurgence 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.240 of biking during the pandemic. Bike sales were through the roof, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.680 and we even saw more and more cities and municipalities 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.480 like prioritized bike infrastructure, which was cool. But the reality 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.480 is we still kind of have woefully inadequate bike lanes 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.960 around most of the country. And and this this might 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:58.640 be like a no DA thing to say, but I 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:00.880 saw this study in the National Academy of Science has 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.160 found that cycling increased up to forty eight percent more 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.000 in cities that added bike lanes versus cities that added none. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.000 And it makes a difference. Yeah, it does. Like if 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.280 if you build the infrastructure, people people want this, Like 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.840 people get out when But we've kind of prioritized cars 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.360 in so many of our cities around the country. We've 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.520 given them full rain of all the roads, and bikers 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.040 are relegated to what's left, and that is that's just 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.280 not good. And so we as just a society, as 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.960 a culture, have to prioritize biking um And you know, 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.160 Oakland is, for instance, one of those towns that seems 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.920 to really have prioritized making it easier and safer to 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.480 bike in recent years. And I don't know, I hope 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.360 we see more of that. And I hope the reality 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.920 that COVID created more bike riders is going to create 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:47.240 maybe like a ground swell uh in a lot more 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:51.040 cities for more bike infrastructure, because it's going to make 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:52.760 it easier for all of us to get around on 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.160 our bikes exactly. Yeah, I mean, and hopefully we can 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.400 end up like a like a city like Copenhagen, right 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.800 like something like sixty two percent of folks things they 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.280 commute via bike. There's like large swaths of the city 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.240 that you cannot access via car, and so we want 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:10.560 to see more of this, you know, but we only 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.840 see something like point six percent of us commuters riding 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.840 their bikes to work. That's like what a thousand times 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.880 fractions the you know, the fact is is that the 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.520 more infrastructure we see pop up to encourage biking, the 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.040 more biking we're gonna see. Uh. And it doesn't happen 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.320 in a vacuum either, you know, like it takes organizations, 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:31.040 it takes individuals to help fight for it. It reminds 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:32.960 me of our friend Chad Carson. He spends a lot 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.640 of time and energy getting more bike trails up and 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.800 running in his hometown of Clemson, South Carolina. And so 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.480 we would recommend for folks find, you know, find your 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.680 local bike abvacy organization, donate some time, donate some money 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.280 at send some of these meetings and some of these 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.080 these group rides often which are there to help raise 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.320 awareness because we believe that they can be a major 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:56.080 catalyst to this becoming something that you can actually see 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.240 in your hometown, not just something that Matt and Joel 0:16:58.320 --> 0:16:59.880 liked to talk about from from time to time on 0:16:59.920 --> 0:17:03.080 the show. Well, we've talked about Streets Alive in Atlanta 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.320 and how that happens typically four times, three or four 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:07.560 times a year, and they shut down like five or 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.560 six miles of street that are typically our cars have 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.280 full rain of and how that just has an impact 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.920 on the public consciousness about how many people want to 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:17.639 get out on their bikes in that town. And then 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.240 there's pictures, there's documentation that I think we can we 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.040 can point to our politicians and say, look, there's like 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.520 a desire for this. Let's put more of our dollars 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:29.480 are public dollars to use funding bike lanes that are 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.280 going to make our city more better to get around 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.040 it and just kind of a healthier place to exist 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.520 as well. But Matt, let's keep talking about bikes. Let's 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.280 talk about specifically this get to how much money you 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.040 can save if you choose to ride a bike more. 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.359 But there are environmental impacts that actually there was a 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.560 stat that shocked me. We'll talk about that and more 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:59.280 right after this. All right, dude, we go back from 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.040 the right. We're talking biking, and you know, we just 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.199 touched on bike infrastructure specifically, how it is that you 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.879 can work to make things better wherever it is that 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.560 you live. But we're gonna now cover some of the 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.199 reasons that we feel that biking is a total game changer. 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:16.119 And the first one it's gonna seem super sort of broad, 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.159 but it's also it gets very specific as well. Uh, 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.520 the first reason that we think biking is such a 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.440 clutch move is that bikes are efficient, as I'll get 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.280 out there somewhere between like fifty and eighty times more 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.080 efficient energy wise than taking your car. And then on 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.359