WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Reverse Cord-Cutting, Living Paycheck to Paycheck on 100k, & Putting Rent on a Credit Card #375 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.759 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt. 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.640 Today we're discussing reverse cord cutting, living paycheck to paycheck 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.480 on a hundred thousand dollar salary, and putting rent on 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:30.520 a credit card. That's right, Joel. This is our Friday 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:33.200 Flight episode, wherever week we look at some different headlines 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.880 that we've come across and how they pertain to our money, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.640 our personal finances. But before we get to those stories, dude, 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:42.640 I have a massive confession to make. Um, I have 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:47.280 resistant nervous Now you know what's coming up or you 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:48.920 know the story here, you don't know what I'm gonna say. 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:52.639 I have resisted you. I've resisted the call of Costco 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.200 long enough, and I have finally become a member of Costco. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.639 I am a gold Star member. Baby. I can't tell 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:01.960 you how happy this makes a heart. Yep, I've finally 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.200 lost the war, you know, like I feel like we 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.160 we've we constantly go back and forth. And here's the thing. 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.200 We both love Aldi. It's not like we've just constantly 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.200 been pitting Audi against Costco. They're both good in their 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:15.360 own right. But guess what Aldi doesn't offer Mortgage refinancing 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:17.759 and That's what did it for me. So before folks 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:20.000 think that, um, I was wanting to jump on the 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.560 hot dog combos like so much. I was interested in 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.039 refinancing one of my rental properties. And you happen to 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.920 see that they hit teen with a lender and they 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:33.160 were offering investment mortgages refinances an incredibly low rates. And 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.039 then on top of that better than I've seen anywhere else, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.080 anywhere else. Yeah, and then on top of that, they 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.720 were offering a lender credits if you were to join Costco. Right, 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.959 and it's worth pointing out too that you didn't necessarily 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.119 have to be a Costco member in order to take 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.600 advantage of that refinancing. It's just that you wouldn't have 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:53.160 gotten the absolute best product, right Yeah. Yeah, by spending 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.360 sixty bucks, you saved, Yes, exactly. I mean it was 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.080 a no brainer from a mathematical standpoint. And so now 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.080 we've got that goldst membership as part of our arsenal, 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.640 and uh, we haven't honestly utilized it. We haven't used 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.960 it yet. But when I told Kay, she was excited 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:11.359 about the giant packs of Kirkland sig seaweed that we 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.640 often get you guys to pick up for us, so 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:15.480 I'm sure we will use it. Well. I'm glad to 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.640 have you on the good side, you know, here no 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.680 longer the Darth Vader of the heat Amony podcast, your 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:25.280 Jedi now Matthews. Congratulations, And that's interesting that we're both 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.079 kind of refinancing, you know, an investment mortgage through costco, 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:34.280 because I saw this stat that people are going other places, um, 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.800 places other than the big banks for refinancing now in 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.000 big numbers. I think there are just so many places 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.239 to check rates on the internet now. It's kind of 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:43.720 like the cats out of the bag. And so if 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.000 you're just going to the big bank you've been using 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.440 to refinance, expect to pay a whole lot more than 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.720 if you're shopping around, you know, on a site like 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.600 costcos where you can shop multiple lenders and see what 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.679 they're offering. Or you know, there are other sites too 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.600 that we like, we like better, we like Credible, we 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.520 like going to your credit union. There are all sorts 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.600 of places you go check the rates at all those places, 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.560 finds offering the best deal, and then do you rEFInd there. Yeah, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.840 there have been a lot more of those non bank options. 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.520 I saw that seven out of the ten largest lenders 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:11.880 at the end of last year, they were all non 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.160 bank lenders like Rocket Mortgage. You know, all these different 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.160 companies who specialized specifically in mortgages, and they often don't 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.560 offer any of the traditional banking services. But yeah, if 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.120 you've never known that, Costco offers mortgage refinance, and will 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:23.600 make sure to link to that in our show notes 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:25.799 for this episode, no doubts. Check that and a bunch 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.079 of other places. Rates are still super low and if 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.919 you can save, then go ahead and do it. You should, Matt. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.079 Let's move on to the Friday flight um and get 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.280 to a bunch of stories we found interesting real quick. 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.160 One other thing we wanted to mention is that we're 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.120 going to give away some books today, so it's time 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.280 to rate How the Money bookshelf. We're giving away a 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.120 bunch of books. Just head over to Apple Podcasts or 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.920 wherever you listen to podcasts, leave the How the Money 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.320 Podcast a solid rating and review, then shoot us an 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.160 email How the Money pod at gmail dot com. Do 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:57.120 that before Wednesday, June at noon this coming Wednesday, and 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:00.000 you'll be entered into this book giveaway. We're giving away 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.120 a bunch of books to three lucky listeners from people 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.520 we've just had on the podcast, including some of Michelle 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:06.920 Singletary's books. She was just on the show on Monday, 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:09.760 right what to Do with your money when crisis hits. 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.080 That's right, that was a great interview. That was so fun. 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.640 She's awesome And um, yeah, so it can even be 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:16.880 an old review. You don't have to be leave a 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:18.680 new review if if you haven't left one, then you 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.880 have to leave review review to get in entered. But 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.159 if you've left a previous one, well you can send 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.920 us an email to just mentioning that review. Screenshots helpful. 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.040 But we'll announce winners on next Friday's episode. And Matt, 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.520 the last time we gave away books, we we got 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.200 an email from a listener and she said that she 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.320 used the book. It was Mindy Jensen's book. It was 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.240 a former guest. We're giving away another one of hers 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.599 this time. She used the information in that book to 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.159 sell her house for top dollar, more than she would 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.160 have been able to, more than her realtor recommended. Exactly. 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.440 She had read the book, she had studied the market, 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:51.800 she was confident. She pushed back, and she pushed back 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.360 and she's like, we're going in this direction and got 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.000 way more months of thousands of dollars over what the 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.839 realtor was recommending. Yeah, so these books are great books 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.960 and they can really help you on your personal finance 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.480 journey when it comes to giving you information that's necessary 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:05.560 and some of the motivation that's really helpful too. That's right, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.440 And they're not all real estate books. We've got Grit 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.080 by Angela Duckworth. We did an episode on that as 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.640 well as Soundtracks, which was John Acos book as well. 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.000 So again, leave that review and send us an email 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.480 over at how to Money Pod at gmail dot com. So, Joel, next, 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.679 let's get to a quick update on the Advanced Child 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.640 Tax Credit. A lot of families know that the Advanced 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.840 Child Tax Credit payments are on their way that they're 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.200 set to go out the middle of July. So yeah, 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.159 only a couple more weeks away from that. But now 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:32.880 the I r S is actually set up a couple 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.320 new tools online. One is the Advanced Child Tax Credit 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.400 Eligibility Assistant, which will walk you through some questions, uh, 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.880 and they will confirm your eligibility and so if you're 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:45.640 curious or you're not sure, if you're eligible. You can 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.160 check that out. It's like, do I have a kid 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.240 or don't not? Digress will let me know well, and 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:50.920 they'll let you know as far as the income limits 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.520 and kind of as that phases out, they'll definitely be 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.840 able to clear things up for you. But the other 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.840 and possibly confusing tool is the Child Tax Credit up 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.560 ate portal. Uh So you might be thinking, great, this 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.159 is what I've been waiting for, right I can update 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:05.800 the I R S and let them know that we 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:07.920 had our baby earlier this year so we can get 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:12.479 additional money. But you actually can't do that, at least 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.080 not yet. You can't do that on the update portal. 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:16.640 So I feel like it's a little bit of a 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.400 misnumber right now. And hopefully they said they weren't going 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.800 to launch until July one, they launched a little bit earlier, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.840 so hopefully they're still tweaking it and that will be 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.680 something that listeners who had a baby can do sometime 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.400 in the next week. We'll let you know next week 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:30.960 if it has been update, but right now I'm not. 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.560 I wouldn't hold your bread out that's gonna happen even 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.640 next week, but we definitely will let folks know what 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.800 it does happen because I mean, right now, all you 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.840 can do on the update portal is just un enrolled 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.320 from those advanced payments. And you might be thinking, well, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.159 why would I wanna unenroll from money that I would 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.680 be getting from the government. Well, you're just delaying that essentially. 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:50.679 You can see you can think of these child tax credits, 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.320 I mean their advances right like they are just paid 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.840 ahead of time where you receive half of those payments 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:57.359 and the rest of it you would receive when you 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.720 fire taxes next year. Some of some of those new 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.479 banks that are like trying to pay you days in 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:03.480 advance of you getting your check, you know, and you're 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.720 like okay, cool, Like you're like, great, it's still my money. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:07.400 I guess I'm just getting it a little bit ahead 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.920 of unhelpful, but if you need it. But the thing is, 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:12.760 if you know that your your income is going to 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.280 be higher this year and that's gonna disqualify you from 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.560 being able to take advantage of those additional child tax credits, 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.640 that might be an instance where you unenrolled. That way 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.320 you don't end up on wing back that money to 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.040 the I R S. Yeah, Well, let's hope that portal 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.960 gets updated to provide more features for other people who 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:30.440 need to be able to go in there and update 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.240 their information. Um but Matt, let's let's keep moving. Let's 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.679 talk about rental car prices, because then we talked about 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.239 that a while back, where people in Hawaii were paying 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.480 just insane prices for rental cars, and people all over 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.560 the country are like, rental car prices have spiked in 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:46.680 a big way, and a lot of that is due 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.880 to car shortages in general, and some of the rental 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:53.200 car companies that sold off some of their fleets entirely 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:57.600 or entirely, but literally their entire fleet because they're like, well, 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.840 we're going bankrupts exactly exactly. And yeah, I my parents 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.720 actually just went to Jackson Hole and anecdotally they told 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.520 me that it was five thousand dollars to run a 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.560 Toyota cameray for a week. That is so crazy. I mean, Okay, 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.720 in a normal world, you would see that and then 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.840 you would say, Okay, I'm just gonna buy a car 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.360 exactly once. We land gonna drive it all week and 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.960 then before we leave, uh, we'll we'll sell it. At 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.360 least from a financial standpoint, right, like that would make 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.680 sense in a normal world. But yeah, exactly, it's not 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:27.600 really practical, but you know, if you're just looking at 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.640 the numbers, that kind of makes sense. But again in 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.800 a normal world, because these elevated used car prices have 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:35.120 made it not only difficult to rent a car, but yeah, 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.600 buy a used car even on the private market. That's right, 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.840 So just your word of the lies out there for 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.160 anybody who is trying to rent a car, be careful, 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.280 look around and think about other options because it might 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.240 be prohibably expensive to rent that car. And also who 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.680 is taking advantage of the stratospheric prices Criminals? Of course, 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.559 where there's money, there's gonna be scammers, that's right. Yeah, 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.319 the FTC just issued a warning about rental car scams 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.560 proliferating right now. So these scam artists are setting up 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.280 fake websites with fake customer service numbers to entice you 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.720 to rent a car from them, And sometimes they'll actually 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.439 try to impersonate an actual car rental company that you've 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.360 heard of too, um of sense, Yeah right. They're like, yeah, 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.120 I'm Jim from Budget and you're like, I'm Almo. I've 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.280 heard a Budget but it's supposedly this cheaper way to 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.439 rent a car than what you're seeing elsewhere online, and 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:23.120 so you're just like thankful. You're like, oh my goodness, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:24.400 I didn't think I was gonna be able to get 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:28.760 anything because the prices are in the stratosphere. But yeah, 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.640 what these people are doing, they're praying on your need 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.240 to get around during vacation, and they're promising to not 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:34.679 charge you an arm in a leg to do so. 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.560 But yeah, here's how the scam begins, usually with just 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.640 us a Google search and then clicking on an ad 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.240 that's featured at the top. So you've got to be 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:45.440 careful to search at reputable websites and be skeptical if 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.640 the price is way less than you've seen anywhere else online, 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:50.400 that's right. Yeah, So the takeaway from folks, if it's 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:52.880 too good to be true, it probably is. We want 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.240 folks to, yeah, be very skeptical and also make sure 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.560 that you pay with a credit card whenever you book 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.679 a rental car. That's for for ultiple reasons, but the 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:02.880 biggest reason in this case is so that you have 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.599 chargeback abilities with your credit card company. You want to 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.480 make sure that you're using those credit card benefits to 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.240 protect your money. And if a company wants to rent 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.440 you a car, but they will only do so if 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.600 you pay with a gift card or a prepaid debit card, 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.640 you hang up the phone. That is not normal business behavior, 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:21.640 and that is actually that's one of the biggest ways 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.679 that they're actually able to scam folks, because you know, 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:25.400 you're probably thinking, well, how would they actually do it 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:27.240 if they're using a credit card, Well, they're not using 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.400 credit cards instead, they're using prepaid debit cards. Yeah, they're 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.240 just sending you down to your local grocery shore or 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.559 Walmart and saying, yeah, grab one of those prepaid debit 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:38.760 cards off off the shelf and pay us with that, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:40.360 and that way you'll be good to go. And that's 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.760 definitely how you get the deal, buddy, exactly. But then 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.719 that's actually your money zero way that you can get 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:46.439 the money back, right, that's right. Yeah. And you know, 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.320 if you're looking to get a rental car, and of 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:50.880 course you're looking to pay as little as possible, check 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.360 out auto Slash. That's one of the best sites to 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.040 do that because they continually shop as the prices changed, 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.240 So if the prices go down, on a car which 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.280 I'm not gonna again. Wouldn't hold my breath that's what 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.680 happened anytime soon. But if the prices were to come down, 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.560 you would automatically get that booking at the new lower rate. Yeah. 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.559 I always like to book a fully refundable car rental 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.679 uh directly through you know, one of the big players, 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.679 and then also put my info into Auto Slash so 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.200 they can continually shop. I definitely have this you know, 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.719 reservation uh with a car company, even if it's more 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.319 than I want to pay. But then Onto Slashes continually 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:27.360 shopping for me and hopefully I'm getting a way better 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:29.360 deal at the end of the day. But let's get 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.440 to the next story, Matt. This one we saw on 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.520 Business Inside or sixtent of millennials who make over a 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.240 hundred thousand dollars are living paycheck to paycheck. And yeah, 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:40.920 that was feel bad for those facts, not all that bad. 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.720 This was a new study from Payments and Lending Club 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.400 and uh, it's almost mind bottling that anyone living in 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.360 this country that makes that much money, that makes a 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.080 hundred thousand dollars or more, is going to be living 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.120 without any sort of savings. It's going to be, you know, 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.400 essentially reliant on their next paycheck to be able to 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.560 you know, not have to move out of their house 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.640 and living in tents. Right, But yeah, some some of 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.319 these millennials would rather spend every And I don't want 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.440 to hate on millennials because I feel like that's you know, 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.840 that's what the media does constantly think kind of like 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.320 we're spending money, yeah yet again, And I think that's uh, 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.800 definitely something that's been overblown. And I don't think it's 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.360 true that millennials have by far worth spending habits. But 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:21.600 then something like this, You see something like this, and 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.360 then they're trying to like make fun or tear down 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.760 some of the folks that are in the millennial generation. Really, 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.080 it doesn't matter what age you are, but if you're 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:30.959 making over a hundred thousand dollars a year and you're 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.080 living the paycheck to paycheck, something's wrong, right. And at 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:35.560 the same time too, I mean, we're not sharing this 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.240 information to make you feel that it's okay if you're 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.520 making a ton of money and living paycheck to paycheck, right, Like, 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.000 we're not trying to normalize that behavior, but we do 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:44.880 want to challenge you to try to live your life 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.800 differently in a way that maybe can still align with 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:49.800 your values, but at the same time making sure that 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.240 you're not uh, you know, going into debt and living 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.760 paycheck to page. They can offer you more financial security 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.720 even while you are able to spend money on the 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.640 things that you care about exactly. Yeah, And granted a 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.320 salary of a hundred thousand let doesn't go as far 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:05.440 in high costs of living areas, right live in expensive cities. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:08.720 that's probably just almost like a sort of average to 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.559 to kind of base income in order to live there. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.240 I saw the something recently about a brand new quarterback 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.360 drafted by the San Francisco forty Niners, and he was 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.160 like talking about how difficult is to afford housings and 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.120 like even when a professional athlete, that's crazy. He's calling 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.000 that out and saying it's really tough to afford to 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:26.920 live there. It's like, of course, people, even living on 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.719 a hundred thousand dollars salar, you're gonna have a tough 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.840 time place like San France. He's like the Bay Area, man, 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.520 that's pretty tough. But you know, lifestyle creep like this 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:36.280 is a big part of the problem here. You know, 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.920 we talked about this on our Wednesday episode. But there 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:43.440 are ways to uh wisely inflate your lifestyle, to do 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.760 that appropriately so that you're able to enjoy some of 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.680 the fruits of your labor now while still investing and 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.040 still saving, still increasing your financial security along the way. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.160 But it is going to have to take you saying no, 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.400 uh from time to time in order to get there. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:00.800 no is a good word, right, And especially when it 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:02.680 comes to to spending, like we have to be able 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.439 to say no so that we can get ourselves to 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:06.679 a place of more financial security. If you have a 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.199 really high income, that this just shouldn't be a problem 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:10.840 you're dealing with. And I think, yeah, part of the 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.880 problem is a lack of financial literacy. Is is that 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:15.880 no one's being taught about how to handle their money 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:17.360 and school, how to save their money, how to invest 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.240 for the future. But then the other part is self control, right, 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:21.440 and we have to be able to say no no 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.560 to our friends, not to purchases that we want, no 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:25.600 to things that are thrust in front of our face 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.480 on social media. There's no easy button. I don't think 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:30.280 we all have to deal with that. But Yeah, even 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.200 folks who make a decent bit of money, who are 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.560 higher earners, they have to learn the same things. Yeah. Now, 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.560 sometimes it's because we don't know where we are on 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.560 our own money journeys, right. Uh. And so actually this 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.480 is a great time to refer folks to our website 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.440 how to money dot com. Go to the start here link, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.880 and that's where we quickly break down our seven money gears. 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.400 You can quickly look at that no exactly where you 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:51.760 are on those steps, which will then allow you to 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.920 quickly start working towards your next money geared to make 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.440 sure that you're moving forward with your money. Uh, Joel. 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.920 Sometimes folks talk about cutting cable and how they think 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.080 that's one of the it's like a no brainer thing, right, Well, 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:03.720 I mean, were the easiest way to say, maybe even 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.400 talked about it here on the show. But after the break, 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.200 we're actually going to get to a story we're cutting 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.280 the chord is actually going to end up costing this 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:11.360 person more money. So we'll get to that story and 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:22.640 plenty of others right after the break. All right, we're back, 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:24.720 and of course what we do in the second half 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.480 of every Friday segment is to tackle the ludicrous headline 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.000 of the week. Week here we go. It's so bad 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.120 every time we do it, but I like it. Yeah, 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.960 we just haven't found anything that's like really like rung true, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:38.520 all right, we need to work on this. That's why 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.560 we change it every week. That's true. I will say. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:44.720 I like when you whispered into the microphone, the SMR sound. Yeah, okay, alright, 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.960 So this week's Lucas headline is why I'm Never Cutting 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.160 the Chord. That was the title of this one. It's 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.400 from Ben Carlson's website, A Wealth of Common Sense, and 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:55.960 Matt we've had been on the show before, back in 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.120 episode thirty five. He's one of our favorite personal finance writers. 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.920 We pretty much read everything he puts out. He's stud Yeah, 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.440 he's a smart dude. And uh yeah, a few years ago, 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.240 this title I think would have been personal finance heresy, 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.200 that cutting the chord? Why I'm never cutting the chord? 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.200 It's like, who are you, Like, don't you get it? 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.240 Streaming services are invoking and they're gonna save you lots 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.840 of money? Uh, And I'm just trying to be antagonistic 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:20.280 exactly exactly. Yeah, that's clickbait, Ben, But at this point. 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.480 I actually like, I think he makes a point, and 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.680 he does a really good job explaining why that's the 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.440 case for him, and Ben talks about the trend we've 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.080 been seeing a lot, like the proliferation of streaming services 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.200 and how much more expensive they're getting, so not only 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.040 are there more to choose from, but they cost more 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.200 at the same time. And Matt, I think you and 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.960 I were literally talking about this yesterday. It's like it 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.240 doesn't cable. But even before Ben's post came out, it 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.280 was like, doesn't cable seem to be like a better 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.600 value than it seemed to be before, Like I never 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:48.120 ever ever would have thought about it, and I still 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.360 I am never going to think about it. But because 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:51.880 I just don't watch as much TV as been that 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:53.440 was one of the reasons he gave. He was like, 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:54.960 I love TV. I watch a lot of TV. And 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:56.680 I was like, okay, I get it. Then yeah, we 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.240 were talking about how much YouTube TV costs. It's like, 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.720 I mean, like sick five dollars at this point, but 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:03.840 but yeah, I mean the reason that this works for 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:05.800 Ben is because he just loves TV. I mean he 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.679 and he confesses he's just like I love TV. I 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:09.879 love all the shows, all the sports, all the movies. 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.560 He's like, I want true TV, internal classic movies, and 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:14.439 he's on all the chance, what's it all? And he's 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.240 willing to pay for it, right, And so that's the difference. 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.280 But I think it's worth pointing out that having traditional 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:20.719 cable isn't as ridiculous as it used to be. Like 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:22.560 you said, Joel, there are a lot more streaming services 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.120 than there used to be just a few years ago, 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.040 and for quite a while now people have seen their 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:31.320 monthly spending on streaming increase consistently. But there's also some 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.719 good news here. People are finally starting to cut some 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.000