WEBVTT - Friday Flight - FREE cell service, Phantom Debt, & Politicized Investing #828 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.560 and today we're talking about free cell service for real, 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.640 free phantom debt, and politicized investing. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.720 Yeah, not just politicized investing, partisan investing, which is like 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:34.680 the worst kind of politics. 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:38.279 But the Libertarians they're like two percent. They don't really 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:39.360 have any options. It's true. 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.720 This is our Friday flight where we're going to cover 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.040 the best stories that we came across this week and 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.360 how they pertain to your personal finances. Okay, Joel, I've 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:49.120 got a question for you. I've got a frugal or 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.760 cheap So this time of year it's spring, obviously, and 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.080 around where we live, mulberry trees are. I was going 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:58.880 to say they're in full bloom. They're not in full boom. 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.560 The berries all are at like peak ripeness right now, 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.480 which means that a lot of sidewalks, a lot of paths, 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.480 or like the little road path thing that I take 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.520 to work, it's littered. 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.080 With these berries. You're stepping all over them. 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.120 It's kind of a mess. Honestly, I wear white tennis. 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:14.680 Shoes these days. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.280 It gets on the shoe and messes it up. A 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.080 little purple But my question, my frugal or cheap for you, 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.600 is what are your thoughts of eating berries that don't 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.760 belong to you specifically, like this is public property, or 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:28.680 even if it's not public, I guess like it's it's 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.000 very clear that these are berries that aren't that aren't 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:32.160 being taken advantage of. 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:33.960 Dude just coming into my backyard. I've got plenty. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:35.600 Yeah, you've got one over there too, back there with 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:36.320 the chickens. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.479 Right yeah, they're eating them where my kids are eating them. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.279 I got some healthy, antioxidant chickens right now. They're feeling 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.200 real good, exactly. I was feeling really good. So I 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.160 did this yesterday morning walking to work. It had just rained, 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.640 so there's like this nice natural bath, like the rain 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:53.520 water was kind of dripping off the berries a little bit, 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:55.840 and so I stopped actually rinsed. Yeah, I stopped, and 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.160 I started chowing down, and I figured this is totally fine. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.280 But somebody drove past and honked at me, and I 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.160 thought it maybe it was a friend, but I didn't 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.200 recognize the car. So I'm like, no, it's surely somebody 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.839 didn't at me for gettinger for picking berries off the tree. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.000 Like it's kind of weird to do that, I guess, 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:13.120 but I want to know your thoughts. 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:14.919 Frugal or cheap. I think it's I think it's proble. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:16.480 I think it's fine good. I mean, most of those 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.760 mulberries are going to waste. The birds are getting some, 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:20.280 but a lot of them. Like you said, you're all 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:24.160 over the sidewalks. The sidewalk, so eat some, maybe pick 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:25.919 a bunch and make a pie or something like that. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.320 Well, I guess theoretically the problem that poses is the 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.680 tragedy of the commons, right, Like, you've got this common 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.079 shared resource enough, more more people descend upon it than 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.240 it's capable of supporting. You got a problem on your hand. 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:41.119 You're the only person I know but nobody does that. 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:42.880 We've been picking them in our backyard a little bit, 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.040 but we still have more than we need. So I 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:46.720 think if that becomes a problem, we can rethink it. 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:48.320 But I think for the time being, I'm glad you're 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:49.720 for it. Feel freey crambl what you need. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.360 There's a do you know outside of the library that 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:53.960 we go to as well. We're huge fans of the 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.359 local library. Ever had service berries? So you've got mulberries 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.440 in your backyard. You've got a big sweet tree serveerries. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.800 It's kind of like a bush tree looking thing, and 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.680 they're these little round berries as well. They're also at 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.440 peak berry season. I don't know what you go it, 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:09.760 but if you go to the library, you look for 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:11.360 him on the side there, right near the entrance, and 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.120 you can like literally last we were there a few 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.160 days ago, and uh, I mean me and the kids. 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.359 We chow chowed down for like two or three minutes 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:19.320 just eating them, and. 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:20.360 Only can you get free books. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.440 You a certain point, I said, let's let's move on. 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.160 Let's in case somebody else wants to stop and snack 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:26.840 on them as well. But I don't know, I'm off 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:27.160 for it. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.320 The one case in which it would be I think 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.920 cheap instead of rugal is if you don't know what 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:33.919 kind of berries are good and which ones aren't. Oh yeah, 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:35.560 you don't want to be like Peta in the Hunger 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.760 Games eating the night lock when you're not supposed to that. 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:40.280 Yeah yeah, you don't want to do bodily damage to 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.200 yourself by eating the wrong berries, the ones that you 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:43.200 know might upset your tongue. 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.640 You're such a fan of Susanne Collins. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.280 Yes, you know, the movies were solid. I haven't seen 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.640 the new one though. I think was it a prequel? 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.080 Oh yeah, it was like the backstory. Yeah, I haven't 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.760 seen it. President Snow Yeah yeah, yeah, Well maybe somebody 0:03:58.800 --> 0:03:59.560 else check that out. 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.480 There's a bun, all right. Declared it frugal, not cheap. 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.040 And whenever I say ghosts, Matt as everyone knows. All right. 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:07.720 Let's move on. Let's get to the stories we found 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.680 interesting this week. We call it the Friday Flight Matt. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.480 Let's start off by talking about that free cell service story. 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.240 The cost on cell phone service has been dropping like 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.240 a rock over the years. If you look at a 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.080 one of those charts of inflation, it's like healthcare and 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:24.520 higher education costs skyrocketing. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.680 Yeah, we talked about that this past week, yep, with 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:27.840 Ryan Craig. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.400 That's right. But while those costs have gone up in 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.320 a big way, there are other costs that have gone down. 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.520 Talk about big screen TVs. I want to say those 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.479 have dropped like ninety seven percent in the price. Yeah, 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.159 it's ridiculous. But something else has gone down in price 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.200 has been cell phone service. Think about what you used 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.600 to pay ten twelve years ago. We've been highlighting this 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.720 movement regularly because the savings can be tremendous, right if 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.920 you opt for one of our low cost favorite providers. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.240 I've actually got an article on the best m v 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:56.720 and o's mobile virtual network operators up on our site. 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.320 We'll post that in the show notes for this episode. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.400 But what if you're already low. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.920 Fifteen to twenty five dollars a month bill went away 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.800 completely went all the way to zero? Whoah, that'd be nice, right, 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.880 But is it possible or is that like pie in 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.160 the sky. Well, I'm not going to say that it's 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.320 a perfect solution, but really it might be possible if 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.119 you're willing to jump through a few hoops. Text Now 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.599 is a free, ad supported phone service that used to 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.719 only offer free text and call. So basically, sorry, no data, 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.520 but if all you care about is texting and calling, 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.320 you don't use data anyway. Hey, it was a good solution, 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.920 but now they've announced they're including a little bit of 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.520 data as well to run the most important apps like maps, email, 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.120 and ride share. Basically, you can only use apps that 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:41.679 use very little data, so they're not going to allow 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.280 you to watch YouTube on the go or stream your 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:45.040 favorite podcast. 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.400 You can sit down with text now and play Fortnite 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:48.760 right likely none. 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:51.039 Of that stuff like candy Grass. Sorry not till you 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.480 get home, but heck, I mean, you can download a 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:55.919 lot of things ahead of time right when you do 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.440 have that Wi Fi connection. Text Now runs on t 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.400 mobiles backbones, so it's not like it's on some you know, 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:02.880 janky Provider or anything like. 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:04.800 That, same as Mint Mobile. That's right, I mean, and 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.720 it works great for us. So Joe, you could give 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:07.200 this a shot. 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.320 I really might. The reviews are mixed on Reddit, so 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:11.880 I will say, like I want you to try it out. 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.919 You have to go through a specific text now app. 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.080 You can't use your traditional calling and texting apps most 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.599 of the time, so don't shoot the messenger if you 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.040 try it and you're like, this sucks you guys gave 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:25.119 a terrible recommendation. But I do think for some ultra 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.600 frugal folks, Matt, this might at least be worth a shot. 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:29.880 If you're like, no, I'm totally down to saving extra 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:31.880 two hundred bucks a year, I don't mind making my 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.120 life a little more difficult for that kind of savings. 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:36.320 Text now is totally worth looking. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:37.680 It makes sense that they have to do it within 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:39.560 the app right, like you need something to be able 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:41.760 to you need a medium to be able to deliver 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.640 the ads on per Right. Personally, though, I'm like I can't, 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.240 I can't get behind it. And you know, I spent 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:47.760 some time thinking about this and I was like, what 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.120 about that do I dislike? Because I'm not against advertising. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.920 I literally was an advertising major. I thought I was 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.960 gonna be an ad man, like I worked for an advertising agency. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:58.560 I worked as a designer. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.799 You're like, Don Draper fifth two years later. 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:02.960 Well, it was funny is that that whole series came 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.320 out like after I quit advertising, and it kind of 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.799 made me want to like get back into it because 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.400 they certainly glamorized that that type of life and not 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.440 something not a path I wasna I was gonna go down. 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.680 But it got me thinking again about advertising. And what 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.880 I realized was that something like cell phone service feels 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.880 more like a utility to me, So it would be 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.640 the equivalent in my mind almost of like your electricity 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.400 company or your water company being like, oh yeah, you can, 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.080 you can pay a reduced fee when it comes to 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.080 how much you pay for your utility. But we're gonna 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:34.600 spam you with that. I don't know how they would 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:36.760 do that, like as they're delivering the electricity or the 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.400 water or something like that. But you compare that to 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.320 something that feels more consumption based, like a TV show 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:44.400 or a magazine, right like the glass you know that 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.040 all that, Like magazines are chock full of ads. Nobody 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:51.120 bats and eyelash at that sports even like on the sidelines, 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.480 or even like the naming rights to different stadiums. You 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.480 are trading off the entertainment with the ability to all right, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.560 I'm consumer for free exactly as opposed to something like 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.640 cell phone service, which to me and more and more, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:04.960 I think for a lot of folks it does feel 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:06.960 a little bit more like utility. Like that's the part 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.880 of it that I have a hard time getting behind. 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.000 I think it's going to make its treaty the prices. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:13.880 The price is already pretty low. So if we're talking 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:15.800 about going from like eighty bucks a month to zero 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.400 dollars a month, I might be willing to jump through 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:19.920 the hoops because that's a that's a substantial savings. But 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.440 when I'm talking about one hundred and fifty to one 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:23.960 hundred and eighty bucks a year. I guess based on 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.800 what I currently pay. Yeah, I'm probably not going to jump. 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:27.960 Through those I'm not going to hate on somebody if 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:29.920 they want to do that. If they're looking to like 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.040 one hundred percent fully optimized from a financial standpoint, hey man, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:33.720 more power to you. 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:35.520 I think one of the things that this might actually 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.560 work for is for parents who have a kid, And 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.400 part of the appeal isn't necessarily just it being free, 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:44.959 but it's them not having access to data on the go. 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.120 And so you might say, listen, I was hoping that 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.600 my thirteen year old would would be able to get 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.719 their first cell phone. Gosh, I don't necessarily want to 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:53.840 pay two hundred bucks a year for them to have access, 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:55.880 But I also don't want them to have unlimited access 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.640 to data either, So maybe this is the perfect solution. 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:00.520 They can text you, they can call you, and you're 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.480 not going to pay a dollar for it either. Or 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:03.920 I guess you pay one dollar for the SIM card. 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:04.440 That's okay. 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.000 So it's almost if you want to run a little 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:08.800 test experiment on your kids, go for it. 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.920 Turn your kids into guinea pigs. I'm in favor of it, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.160 all right, let's talk about debt for a second, Matt. 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:16.600 You know, we're back to doing what we do best 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.320 here as Americans spending money. We don't have that debt. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.680 And unfortunately, I know, debt and delinquencies are on the 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.800 rise in the good old US of a. The overall 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.920 debt load, it's not going up at like an incredibly 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.120 rapid clip or anything like that, but new stats reveal 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.360 that more folks are missing bill payments, with more than 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.320 three percent of bills being overdue this past quarter. So 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.480 people are behind on their payments Matt, that they would 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.520 normally be making on time. And it's not some cause 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:50.079 for macroeconomic alarm or anything like that. But credit card delinquencies, 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:52.760 for instance, they haven't been this high since like twenty twelve, 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:54.800 so it's been more than a decade since we've seen 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.199 them rising at the pace they are and getting to 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.719 the levels that they're currently at. It sure seems like 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.760 we're having a tough time coming down from basically a 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.960 post stimmy spendings pretty high, Like people got a lot 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.040 of money thrust to their bankinghouse, they start spending, they 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.920 spend that money down and they're like, I want to 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.480 keep spending like that, and because of that, they're going 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.240 into debt trying to keep that pace up. And student 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.520 loan servicers, by the way, they're not even reporting late 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.760 payments right now until the fall, so it's not even 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.320 like that's factoring in. If people haven't been paying, they're 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.040 not current on their student loans. Well, guess what, that's 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:27.640 not impacting you in this way. 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:29.680 Yeah, it seems like things are going to get. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.600 Worse later this year. It's a warning sign on the horizon, 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.200 I think, showing that we are seeing increasing signs of 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.920 financial distress and we just don't want our listeners to 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.440 be a statistic in kind of that rising tide of 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.920 people who find themselves behind on their payments. Totally. 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.280 Yeah, and this is particularly a problem for gen Z. 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.360 This is according to new data from trains Union. But 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.400 not only are more young folks graduating with higher levels 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.280 of student loan debt, they're also relying on credit card 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.880 debt more as well. And even after adjusting for inflation, 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.320 the average twenty two to twenty four year old today 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.360 has six hundred dollars more in credit card debt than 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.760 that same age group did a decade ago. And it's 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.000 certainly true that rising costs for everything from groceries to 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.280 rent to gas. They have had large impacts. Inflation is 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.160 still well over three percent, but it's also true that 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.040 it is easier to spend than ever before. And in 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.240 this case, the problem isn't just inflation. 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:26.120 It's us. 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.640 It's the folks who are making the decision to purchase 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.520 all the stuff, and those simultaneous trends are making it 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.800 harder for gen Z specifically to get ahead financially. 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.080 It's not like inflation's not still a headwind. It is, 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.880 but it's also true that we are our own headwind, Like, yes, doubling. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.120 Our own worst enemy. Like both of these things are 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.040 working against us, but only one of them do we 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:46.880 personally have the ability to control. 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.400 Yeah, only one of them is self imposed. Yeah, and 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.240 so yeah, it's really important to pay attention to that. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.960 And again, yeah, you can blame circumstances, and it's not 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.440 that there isn't some truth to that, but we're also 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.600 responsible for those actions of getting into debt at a 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.559 higher rate, especially when we're talking about where interest rates 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.080 stand right now, Matt, We're harming our own financial future 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:07.960 and future US is going to have to pay down 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.440 these debts and when we're talking about credit cards, we're 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.199 talking about high interest rates too, and that's not even including, 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.280 by the way, what's known as phantom debts from buy now, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.120 Pay Later companies, specifically that doesn't get reported to the 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:22.000 credit bureaus and it's hard to account for. There were 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.320 new statistics on that front this week too, and they 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.480 found that twenty eight percent of folks find themselves delinquent 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.199 on other debts because they overdid it on buy now, 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.800 Pay Later purchases. So basically, they got a little trigger 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.960 happy on the website, on their favorite retailer site, and 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.079 they opted to buy stuff, buy more than they could 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:42.280 actually afford, and so it's causing them to fall behind 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.560 on other bills. And then forty three percent of folks 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.079 who owe money to one of the buy now, Pay 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.920 Later companies like a Firm or Klarna, they're behind on 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:54.400 their payments to those companies too. Pulling from Harris also 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.840 found that more than half of respondents who use by 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.200 Now Pay Later said it allowed them to purchase more 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.480 than they could afford. Well, nearly a quarter agreed with 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.720 the statement that they're by Now Pay Later spending was 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.760 out of control. So by Now pay later is something 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.839 we have warned against because the behavioral impacts and the 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.160 downstream money impacts that can have on your life. We 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.400 just think that by now pay Later has so many 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:20.320 serious downsides that it's not worth even considering. We think, 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.120 though credit cards can be a tool, right, they can 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.719 be useful, or they can bring misery, by now pay 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:27.920 Later only seems to be causing folks to buy more 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.160 than they otherwise would, and it leads to meaningful money problems, 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:32.440 like they're starting to keep up. 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.199 With Like that's the thing because with by now pay Later, 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.760 it's like each transaction is in a sense, its own 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:39.040 credit card, it's its own lane of credit, and you've 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:40.800 got those payments and I feel like they can they 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.120 don't compound, but they just they build up really quickly. Yeah, 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.200 and it's just difficult to manage and to keep up 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:46.640 with all of that. 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.120 And you're like, when did I buy with that? And 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.280 like how many okay, how many loans do I currently 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.040 have exactly Karna, Yeah, and there's now a few of 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.319 those services that are proliferated to and you're like, I 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.280 think I've got some with a firm also, and it 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.679 just it gets out of control. Real quick, really quickly. 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:02.880 And you know you mentioned using credit cards like a tool. 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.959 The FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, they're actually even telling 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.400 us to pay with credit cards, and that's because of 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.480 the protections that they offer. They put out a consumer 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.439 alert earlier this week about fake ads on social media 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:17.960 with what they called too good to be true pricing, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.800 and their investigation found that a lot of fake companies 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.960 out there are posting pretty compelling ads. You know, you 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:26.920 see that as a consumer, you click it to buy, 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.640 and what happens is you either get nothing or you 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.160 end up with a counterfeit item, and depending on how you. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:33.200 Paid, you might be out of luck. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.080 Jil, I feel like you might have been thinking this 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.120 would happen when you went to like Ralph's Backpacks and 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.880 where you bought that like a sketchy website. 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:42.200 It was al sporting Goods. 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.960 Okay, yeah, close enough, but you're like, I'm not sure 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.000 if this backpack is going to show up. But hey, 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.000 a couple of weeks later, the backpack showed up. You 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:50.520 were good to go. 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.600 Was it was almost a month later? Was it a month? 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.080 It was so long? Oh my god, but it was. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.080 But it turned out it was a legit store, and 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:58.360 I was like, you know what, I can least, hey, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.840 I can feel confident making the just because I'm making 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.400 it with a credit card. With any other form of payment, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:04.920 I would not have felt okay, I would have gone else. 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.880 I have the ability to dispute the charge when you 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.960 are using a credit card like that, paying any other way, Yeah, 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.640 it just leaves you incredibly vulnerable. And so because of that, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.360 we really like credit cards. We love the benefits they offer, 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.840 the secondary benefits, we love the cash back and the points. 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.000 Huge fans of that. We'll link to an article in 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.200 the show notes that talk about how we like to 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.480 use credit cards. But that being said, you didn't make 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.240 sure that you are using them wisely. 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.960 Yeah, and roughly half of people do. Something like fifty 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.120 percent of people pay their balance on time and unfill 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.320 every single month. Other fifty percent do not. And those 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.120 are the people, Matt, who are subsidizing the rewards of 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.120 people like you and me. And it's not because we're 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.480 enamored with the system, but it's the system. That's that's 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.000 how it works right now. And because that's how it works, like, 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.880 play the game, but play it properly and don't let 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.040 yourself get in over your heels with credit card debt, because, yeah, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.640 I'm amazed at the casual reference that people will throw 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:56.960 around sometimes to having credit card debt. And I think 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:58.960 of it as like a pants on fire situation, like 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:00.720 I'm stop dropping and roll. Man, I'm getting rid of 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.040 that thing right away. But some people feel they start 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:05.920 to feel comfortable keeping that credit card dead around. That's 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:07.840 a bad place to be, right, I do not want 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.720 to carry that balance, Yeah, especially with two twenty four 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.760 percent interest. That will mess you up. Let's also talk 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.640 about caps on credit card late fees, right, they were 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.160 supposed to go into effect earlier this week. We talked 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.360 a bit about this not too long ago on the show, 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.280 but not going to happen at least for the time being. 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:29.040 A federal judge in Texas blocked this new CFPB rule 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.960 at least for the time being. Instead of reduced to 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:33.440 eight dollars late fees, I think it was supposed to 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.560 be implemented on Tuesday. Well, they can stay at roughly 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.320 four times that level for the time being. I think 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.080 the max late charge is forty one bucks. That means 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:45.280 that not paying your credit card bill on time, which 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.160 is a massive no. No, of course in our book, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.160 is still going to cost you a lot more. But 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.040 whether the late bee is egregious or not, we never 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:53.440 want you to pay it. I don't care if it's 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:57.240 eight dollars or forty dollars. Don't pay a late fee, please. 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.040 It almost doesn't matter if they charge like one thousand 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:00.920 dollars for the late fee is either way, we don't 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:02.400