Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt
Speaker 1: and today we're discussing why you need a new hobby. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we are going to talk all about hobbies, which is
Speaker 1: a fun little topic. This is almost more of like
Speaker 1: a lifestyle of thing. But but I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: how we're gonna sort of tie money into this and
Speaker 1: really why we feel that having hobbies is so important
Speaker 1: for our personal growth as well as our long term
Speaker 1: sort of outlook towards retirement, financial independence. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of implications that that hobbies have, so yeah, that that
Speaker 1: should be a lot of fun. But real quick, I
Speaker 1: wanted to share a story with you, you you like we
Speaker 1: always do every week. Oh tell me a story, Matthew. So,
Speaker 1: Kate and I we we received a letter in the
Speaker 1: mail from It said Capital one, and it was a
Speaker 1: different looking letter. It's not the standard envelope that you get.
Speaker 1: So we cracked it open to look and it was
Speaker 1: from Cap one three sixty, which we used to have
Speaker 1: one of those accounts, and so I thought it was
Speaker 1: kind of bizarre. So I actually read it. Wait, let
Speaker 1: me guess the end of the story. It was a
Speaker 1: check for a lot of money and you're retiring early
Speaker 1: two dollars. No, but similar to that, they actually said
Speaker 1: that there was an abandoned accounts or it was actually
Speaker 1: getting ready to be abandoned within like another month or two,
Speaker 1: and that it was going to be turned over to
Speaker 1: the state because there had been zero activity on it
Speaker 1: I want to say, maybe for three years. Oh and
Speaker 1: by the way, it was only for fifty six bucks,
Speaker 1: so that's a lot of money, but still enough for
Speaker 1: me to want to make that call and look into
Speaker 1: it a little bit something. Yeah, But after I thought
Speaker 1: about it for a second, we remembered why we had
Speaker 1: opened that accounts, and it was because there was a
Speaker 1: sign up bonus way back in the day that they
Speaker 1: were offering, and my wife opened that account under her
Speaker 1: name deposited the right amount of money in there to
Speaker 1: meet the requirements to to get that bonus. But then
Speaker 1: I guess we pulled some of it out, but then
Speaker 1: we forgot about it. And you know what, we talked
Speaker 1: about the benefits of finding a nice sign up bonus
Speaker 1: for a new checking new saving is a count but
Speaker 1: one downside is that if you are not super organized
Speaker 1: and I'm pretty organized, right, You've talked about the spreads
Speaker 1: c you have many times, but somehow that one kind
Speaker 1: of slipped under the radar. And that's the downside is
Speaker 1: that you know, you don't want to leave these accounts abandoned,
Speaker 1: otherwise it will be turned over to the States and
Speaker 1: you may not actually find that money. Well, how suite
Speaker 1: of capital one three sixty to notify you be the
Speaker 1: mail and you're gonna get your fifty six bucks back
Speaker 1: before this account was closed and wind torment right and
Speaker 1: take that to the bank. Yeah, but I think it's
Speaker 1: important for people to know that there's a chance that
Speaker 1: there's an account like that out there that you've forgotten about.
Speaker 1: Maybe you also opened up a separate bank account to
Speaker 1: grab that bonus. And the easiest way to track down
Speaker 1: that money that you might have completely forgotten about, well,
Speaker 1: there's a site that really helps folks do that, and
Speaker 1: it's called missing money dot com. Missing money helps people
Speaker 1: find the rifle owners of unclaimed money that states received
Speaker 1: like your state Matt was about to receive exactly. You
Speaker 1: can conduct a free search for bank accounts, safe deposit
Speaker 1: box contents, uncash checks, insurance policy CDs, trust funds, utility deposits,
Speaker 1: stocks and bonds escrow accounts and more. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: kind of cool that it's a lot it is. They're
Speaker 1: all these potential accounts that maybe you've forgotten about, and
Speaker 1: you know what, maybe search for a parent or a relative,
Speaker 1: a loved one too. But Missing Money is just this
Speaker 1: cool site where you can for free check and see
Speaker 1: if you are somebody that you know and love is
Speaker 1: potentially missing some money that they should have in their lives.
Speaker 1: So obviously I searched our name to see if you know,
Speaker 1: there's anything else since that kind of came up on
Speaker 1: a radar. Are there more accounts I've forgotten about? I
Speaker 1: also searched your name and saw that there was not,
Speaker 1: so I'd searched my name to what you While I
Speaker 1: was thinking about this, I was just surprised at the
Speaker 1: different people named large Guard out there because it's a
Speaker 1: really uncommon last name, and just kind of see where
Speaker 1: they're scattered on the country, which, yeah, which which ones
Speaker 1: are missing money? And uh and yeah. So it's just
Speaker 1: kind of interesting to see that, But sadly, I'm not
Speaker 1: currently missing any money. It's also gonna note that most
Speaker 1: states do participate in that website Missing money dot com,
Speaker 1: but if they don't. They'll say that they don't participate,
Speaker 1: and they'll have a link a lot of times to
Speaker 1: this specific state website where you can typically go and
Speaker 1: search for free so make sure to check that out
Speaker 1: missing money dot com. Yep, all right, Matt, let's mention
Speaker 1: the beer and I put beer in quotation marks because
Speaker 1: so on Monday's episode, we had a cold brew coffee
Speaker 1: and today we're taking another right turn. We're having a
Speaker 1: cider on the show, the second sider we've ever had.
Speaker 1: On this episode, we're having a bourbon barrel peach cider
Speaker 1: by tie it On Cider Works out of Washington State,
Speaker 1: and Jenna, who works with this sidery, sent this br away.
Speaker 1: So thanks to Jennifer sending this one out, I'm really
Speaker 1: intrigued and ready to try this one. And it's not
Speaker 1: that we don't like beer anymore. We're just taking a
Speaker 1: little late summer beer break, and next episode we're getting
Speaker 1: back to the beer. We promise it's it's all beer
Speaker 1: from here on out for the most part. But but
Speaker 1: since Jenna was kind enough to send us this sider,
Speaker 1: we're ready to try it. So we'll let you know
Speaker 1: what we think about it at the end. Of the show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: looking forward to it all right, att onto the subject
Speaker 1: at hand. Today we're discussing why you need a new hobby,
Speaker 1: and last week we discussed why we're saving for retirement.
Speaker 1: Just kind of felt like there's this need to address
Speaker 1: why we're doing that. But interestingly enough, many people that
Speaker 1: retire they have no idea what to do with themselves.
Speaker 1: They get bored and end up going back to work.
Speaker 1: My uncle is this perfect example of this, where he
Speaker 1: retired and sat on his hands. He didn't know what
Speaker 1: to do with his life after retirement, and he ended
Speaker 1: up getting a job down the street, part time, twenty
Speaker 1: something hours a week. And I see this all the
Speaker 1: time in my dad's friend group, when they start to
Speaker 1: retire and they go back to work because they don't
Speaker 1: know what to do with themselves. And sometimes it's okay,
Speaker 1: right to to find a more meaningful job, but yeah,
Speaker 1: exactly finding something that you know, you feel that satisfies
Speaker 1: you more on a personal level, even if it's not
Speaker 1: paying nearly what you were making in your in your
Speaker 1: regular job. Right. Yeah, my cousin he told me recently
Speaker 1: that his dad went back to work after retirement to
Speaker 1: work at home depot but it's because he's obsessed with
Speaker 1: home depot and he was like, he'd be there every
Speaker 1: day of the week. Anyway, I give them so much
Speaker 1: of my money. Anyway, I feel like I could work there,
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, So I just thought it was really
Speaker 1: funny that for him going back to work wasn't throwing
Speaker 1: in the towel. It wasn't like admitting defeat an interception
Speaker 1: of last resort. Yeah, it was literally this fun new
Speaker 1: option that he could partake in. That's just how be
Speaker 1: and he's putting it to work. But it's important for
Speaker 1: us to choose and develop, in particular budget friendly hobbies. Now,
Speaker 1: my friend Wes Moss, who wrote a book about happier retirees,
Speaker 1: he calls him core pursuits, and he mentioned that, Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: I think it's a good way more pursuits the way
Speaker 1: of describing it. Based on his studies, he says that
Speaker 1: the happiest retirees have roughly three and a half core
Speaker 1: pursuits that are meaningful to them, and the unhappiest retirees
Speaker 1: have fewer than two and and so, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of a good springboard for this conversation that
Speaker 1: whether you're in your twenties or whether you're in your sixties,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of good reasons to find these
Speaker 1: core pursuits, these hobbies that are meaningful, that are inexpensive,
Speaker 1: and so yeah, that's what this episode is gonna be
Speaker 1: about today. Yeah, so this episode really is all about
Speaker 1: getting more fulfillment out of your leisure time. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Jill speaking, you know, to the fulfillment, right, finding your
Speaker 1: interests so that when you retired, you retire to something.
Speaker 1: Getting folks to to think long term about fun stuff, right,
Speaker 1: that's what we're doing. We talk about that all the
Speaker 1: time with our money specifically, but what we're talking about
Speaker 1: on this episode is that we should also be doing
Speaker 1: that with our interests as well. You know, we have
Speaker 1: a like it's such a performance or like work based
Speaker 1: culture in the United States. It's good to kind of
Speaker 1: step outside of that. We're essentially we're trying to find
Speaker 1: again balance in our life, and that's what we always
Speaker 1: strive to do on the show is try to find
Speaker 1: a balance between being smart with our money so that
Speaker 1: we can afford to live like at all, you know,
Speaker 1: in the future, but at the same time making sure
Speaker 1: that we are pursuing things that we find personal fulfillment
Speaker 1: in because guess what if that's something that we neglect
Speaker 1: now early on, Yeah, we're we are going to get
Speaker 1: towards the maybe the middle or end of our lives,
Speaker 1: and we might find that we just don't know what
Speaker 1: to do with ourselves, and we might find that we
Speaker 1: are restless and that we turn to to work to
Speaker 1: kind of find that fulfillment. Yeah. I think work can
Speaker 1: be a safety blanket for you if you don't have
Speaker 1: really good hobbies, meaningful hobbies, those core pursuits, right that
Speaker 1: you're tackling in your life. Well, I think another really
Speaker 1: important part of this. I mean, our show is called
Speaker 1: How the Money, so we have to talk about the
Speaker 1: money aspect of course, right, Well, hobbies can be expensive,
Speaker 1: and I don't know, I guess when I think about
Speaker 1: the quintessential retiree, I'm thinking of someone who plays golf
Speaker 1: two or three times a week, and which is solely
Speaker 1: fine though. I mean, if you are really into golf
Speaker 1: and if that's something that you want to do, you know,
Speaker 1: spend your time doing that once you retired, then that's great.
Speaker 1: But as long as you're kind of doing that because
Speaker 1: you really love it, not just because well, I can
Speaker 1: go play golf, I guess right. Yeah. I was thinking
Speaker 1: today about another hobby that one of my friends recently
Speaker 1: picked up, and that is flying airplanes. That is another
Speaker 1: really expensive hobby. Pretty baller though. It's just so cool though, right,
Speaker 1: I totally understand the desire to fly airplanes despite the cost.
Speaker 1: I think it can be worthwhile, right, But expensive hobbies
Speaker 1: and spending too much on your hobbies can also be
Speaker 1: a negative, right if we're not doing it inside the
Speaker 1: bounds of a good budget. So I think it's important
Speaker 1: to mention that there are some awesome hobbies out there
Speaker 1: that are free and cheap. And we think that by
Speaker 1: intentionally choosing hobbies and pursuing interests that are affordable, what
Speaker 1: keeps you from the temptation of diving down that spending
Speaker 1: rabbit hole. So obviously, if you're making a specific choice
Speaker 1: based on something that you really love that does cost
Speaker 1: money and if fits into your budget, then that's great.
Speaker 1: But it's also important to mention that there are a
Speaker 1: lot of killer hobbies out there that are really fun
Speaker 1: that are free and cheap. Jell. Another way to say
Speaker 1: that is essentially we're curating our tastes, right, Like there
Speaker 1: are certain hobbies, certain things that we could pick up
Speaker 1: that are really expensive, like you said golf or flying
Speaker 1: airplanes that that could be really expensive. But if that's
Speaker 1: your passion and that gives you an incredible fulfillment, then
Speaker 1: that's awesome. But just don't fall into something like that
Speaker 1: almost without even thinking about it, because you could spend
Speaker 1: a lot of money towards those pursuits. And so part
Speaker 1: of the reason why we're saying hobbies as well and
Speaker 1: and less entertainment is for me at least, entertainment has
Speaker 1: sort of this connotation of like passive consumption, where without
Speaker 1: even really thinking about it, we're just being fed fun stuff,
Speaker 1: right Versus a hobby is typically something that you pursue,
Speaker 1: and when you pursue something, there's engagement there. And I
Speaker 1: know that anytime I'm more engaged in something that I'm doing,
Speaker 1: I literally feel more personal fulfillments and I end up
Speaker 1: being a better person. And there's just lots of other
Speaker 1: benefits that come with these hot bays that we can
Speaker 1: pursue versus just lumping this all into maybe what we'd
Speaker 1: call entertainment. Yeah, I mean, you and I we like
Speaker 1: to go to soccer games and I would say that
Speaker 1: soccer games are not a hobby. Those are entertainment and
Speaker 1: it's cool. I enjoy spending my money in that way.
Speaker 1: I like one of soccer games. It's super fun. But
Speaker 1: but it's not a hobby. And so yeah, like we're
Speaker 1: talking about hobbies slash core pursuits in general, and I
Speaker 1: don't think following a sports team or anything like that
Speaker 1: would necessarily make that cut. Yeah, well, let me jump
Speaker 1: on that example. Let's say you're part of a supporters
Speaker 1: group though, and every week you're part of the design
Speaker 1: team that put together the t pos, like the giant
Speaker 1: banners that they raised up at the beginning of the match.
Speaker 1: That's more of a hobby, Like, that's that's you're kind
Speaker 1: of providing value to the team. There, there's something else
Speaker 1: going on there versus just sort of passively sitting back
Speaker 1: and kind of consuming the match. Right. Yeah, there's a
Speaker 1: community aspect of that as well, exactly, And we're gonna
Speaker 1: get to some of those benefits later on in the show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And while we're talking about the price disparity in hobbies
Speaker 1: in particular, if you're hearing this right now and you're like,
Speaker 1: I do need to find a new hobby. Why, I
Speaker 1: would suggest looking at the costs of that hobby and
Speaker 1: trying to find something that is inexpensive. If you're already
Speaker 1: locked into a hobby that is pretty expensive but you
Speaker 1: love it, that's cool. But this is also a chance,
Speaker 1: I think for some people who have been doing a
Speaker 1: hobby but don't necessarily find it terribly fulfilling, to ditch
Speaker 1: the expensive hobby and find something new. Yeah, Joel, and
Speaker 1: we're talking about money the cost of hobbies, right, but
Speaker 1: there are other factors that are worth considering. I'm thinking
Speaker 1: of certain hobbies that just might take up a massive
Speaker 1: amount of time, and that's fine. I'm thinking of maybe
Speaker 1: if you like to go voting or something like that,
Speaker 1: probably especially good, by the way, if it takes up
Speaker 1: a lot of time if you are retired, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: you've got lots of time then. But either way, you
Speaker 1: just need to make sure that you are intentionally doing
Speaker 1: that because you love it. Brings you an incredible amount
Speaker 1: of fulfillment, because not only will something like that take
Speaker 1: up a lot of your money your funds, but also
Speaker 1: a lot of your time as well. And if it's
Speaker 1: something that you're only kind of halfway excited about. Well,
Speaker 1: it may not be a hobby worth pursuing. Right, There's
Speaker 1: also a lot of other factors to consider, Right, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of other areas in our life where our
Speaker 1: hobbies can come into play. And we're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: those right after the break. All right, Matt, we're back.
Speaker 1: We're talking about hobbies, which is a fun little topic here.
Speaker 1: Did you ever go to a HobbyTown USA? Did you
Speaker 1: have one of those when you're growing up? But we
Speaker 1: totally did. Yeah, And you know what, I always go
Speaker 1: in there and by like the twenty one side of dice.
Speaker 1: I never got those, but I always wanted. No, I wasn't.
Speaker 1: I truly wasn't, But I did want the car kits
Speaker 1: where you could like glue all these pieces of a
Speaker 1: car together, and and I but I honestly I never
Speaker 1: did one successfully. I just don't think I had the
Speaker 1: attention to detail. Yeah, with those, I always just wanted
Speaker 1: to kind of drive it after the facts. It's like, okay, cool,
Speaker 1: does it run? Where's the remote? It's like, no, it
Speaker 1: kind of just sits there on the shelf. No. I
Speaker 1: was so much better with the remote control cars. It's
Speaker 1: so much more fun, Like let's actually skip the building.
Speaker 1: It looks cool the finished product, but I don't have
Speaker 1: the concentration actually keep going on it. So yeah, remote
Speaker 1: control cars definitely more of my alley, more fun, for sure.
Speaker 1: But we want to talk about the additional, potentially secret
Speaker 1: benefits of hobbies that most people don't really think about.
Speaker 1: Usually it's something that you're naturally attracted to, or something
Speaker 1: that a friend maybe got you into, but we don't
Speaker 1: think about the power that hobbies have in our lives.
Speaker 1: And so, of course Money Show, we gotta talk about
Speaker 1: the money factor that goes along with hobbies. Hobbies can
Speaker 1: end up earning you extra money. It can turn into
Speaker 1: a side hustle or potentially even a full time gig sometimes,
Speaker 1: So in my mind, that's not usually the purpose of
Speaker 1: a hobby, but sometimes you find that you're so into
Speaker 1: it and you become so good at something exactly even
Speaker 1: that it turns into more and you can actually make
Speaker 1: sign income or a full time living based on a
Speaker 1: hobby that you pursued, which is which is cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I completely agree. You can't underestimate the power. You said
Speaker 1: the power of hobbies a second ago, right, But you
Speaker 1: can't underestimate the power that a hobby might have down
Speaker 1: the road when it comes to generating money. However, I
Speaker 1: think what you said is true. I think we need
Speaker 1: to be careful when it comes to hobbies because really
Speaker 1: they should be I think something different than ways that
Speaker 1: we're able to make money, because it's something that we
Speaker 1: should be pursuing because we love it, well, you know,
Speaker 1: we kind of have a passion for it. And if
Speaker 1: we start immediately looking to ways that maybe we can
Speaker 1: monetize that hobby, then you know, maybe it's not truly
Speaker 1: a hobby that you're trying to build a side. Probably, Yeah, exactly. Again,
Speaker 1: it's another fine thing we've talked about on the show before.
Speaker 1: But but hobbies, this core pursuit kind of mentality that
Speaker 1: we're getting into it is altogether different. And this is
Speaker 1: something you're pursuing most of the time purely for the
Speaker 1: pleasure of doing this task, of of of partaking in
Speaker 1: this hobby. Sometimes it leads to more though, just for funzies.
Speaker 1: Right exactly makes me think of the old guys you
Speaker 1: see on the beach with the metal detectors, and I
Speaker 1: still totally want one of those, because not because I
Speaker 1: know I'm gonna make a killing, But because I just
Speaker 1: think it's a fun way to spend time at the beach.
Speaker 1: Why not have the little Scooper and you got your
Speaker 1: metal detector with the headphones then so you can kind
Speaker 1: of hear a beep or whatever over the waves, you know,
Speaker 1: like who needs crashing waves and the beautiful sound of
Speaker 1: seagulls When you could hear these beeps to that, you
Speaker 1: were all the changes right, Honestly, I totally see you
Speaker 1: doing that your old age. I've already got the hat.
Speaker 1: You've seen my beach. Have a hat for it. It's massive,
Speaker 1: keeps the son from burning muskin. You're half the way there,
Speaker 1: and now I know what to get cheap for Christmas.
Speaker 1: If you get me one of those, man, I'll totally
Speaker 1: use it proudly. So one of the most unique hobbies
Speaker 1: that I have heard of recently. Matt I heard about
Speaker 1: in an interview with an actor Danny McBride. Do you
Speaker 1: know who he is? I do not, Okay, So he's
Speaker 1: been in a couple of awesome shows and movies. He's
Speaker 1: really funny and pretty out there, but he uh. He's
Speaker 1: telling the story that he recently moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Good place abnormal for actors, but I think that's so
Speaker 1: cool that he did it anyway, Like, that's awesome. And
Speaker 1: he was trying to meet new friends, and so he
Speaker 1: was hanging out with dads of kids that his kids
Speaker 1: were friends with, preschool dads or whatever. Yeah, and this
Speaker 1: one dad took him on this excursion to find sharks teeth,
Speaker 1: but not just like sharks teeth on the beach, prehistoric
Speaker 1: sharks teeth in these sand corries or something that you
Speaker 1: have to break into. And so that's like his new
Speaker 1: hobby is jumping fences finding these like nine inch long
Speaker 1: prehistoric sharks teeth, and he's just super into it. So
Speaker 1: I just thought that was interesting. It's pretty cool. Hobbies
Speaker 1: can run the gamut. Yeah. Absolutely, That's definitely one that
Speaker 1: may not necessarily make you money immediately, but I'm guessing
Speaker 1: those teeth are going to be worth money right in
Speaker 1: the long term, as long as you don't get busted
Speaker 1: and sent to jailing, you know. Yeah, so true. So hobbies,
Speaker 1: they may not always make you money. Oftentimes they probably won't,
Speaker 1: but at the very least hobbies could save you money.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about doing things like gardening, even working in
Speaker 1: the yard, a lot of folks that sounds not like
Speaker 1: a hobby. It just sounds like yard work. But personally,
Speaker 1: I really enjoy working in the yard, whether you know,
Speaker 1: comes to landscaping or literally cutting the grass weed eating.
Speaker 1: I just love that feeling of accomplishment that I have
Speaker 1: when when it's all done and it just looks so
Speaker 1: fresh and nice, and I know that I've done that myself.
Speaker 1: But that's a way that I can save money by
Speaker 1: not having those expenses. You're welcome to bring your passion
Speaker 1: for that hobby to my front yard anytime. See that's
Speaker 1: the problem, though, you own that yard, and therefore I
Speaker 1: don't want to care as much what your yard looks
Speaker 1: may but from my yard, I like it looking nice. Understandable.
Speaker 1: But also I'm thinking of two you and I. We
Speaker 1: both bike, and what if we really got into bike maintenance.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of guys that find a lot of
Speaker 1: fulfillments in that I personally don't as much. I will
Speaker 1: maintain my bike and I'll work on it, maybe only
Speaker 1: to save money, but it's not something that I like doing. Right.
Speaker 1: I don't take my bike, I don't put it up
Speaker 1: on those bikes stand and start cleaning it. And tweaking
Speaker 1: it and you know, tightening things up that need to
Speaker 1: be tightened up. Although I should. Yeah, that's something I
Speaker 1: would like to get into, yes, because I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm not terribly good with my hands. But it's something
Speaker 1: that's not terribly complex. I feel like I could figure
Speaker 1: it out pretty quickly and start to learn the ropes,
Speaker 1: and so it is something that's on my radar. Like,
Speaker 1: that's a good hobby maybe for me in the future
Speaker 1: when I have a little bit more free time, while
Speaker 1: at the same time saving you money exactly, all right.
Speaker 1: And another benefit of hobbies that we don't think about
Speaker 1: all that often is the health benefits. About eight percent
Speaker 1: of Americans just aren't active enough. If we can find
Speaker 1: hobbies that are better for our health, it will make
Speaker 1: us happier. Will you're not likelihood live longer, And these
Speaker 1: hobbies will cost us less money in healthcare in the
Speaker 1: long run, yea. And in the long run, as long
Speaker 1: as you don't kind of fall and break your ankle
Speaker 1: when you're running for free, right Like, like, oh, I
Speaker 1: can go running for free, but that's way better than
Speaker 1: what a sedentary lifestyle too, health wise, Like a broken ankle,
Speaker 1: it's totally true. It's a blip on the radar along
Speaker 1: the way. I'll take a broken ankle once or twice
Speaker 1: in my lifetime versus never being able to run my
Speaker 1: entire life and then dealing with the health consequences of
Speaker 1: that long term. Completely agree. Yeah, I've had some mix
Speaker 1: ups in my hobbies, especially in biking, you know, a
Speaker 1: couple of crashes along the way that led to broken
Speaker 1: bones or whatever. And you know what, I'm okay, and
Speaker 1: I wouldn't trade it for anything, and especially the fitness component,
Speaker 1: and I've grown to love it and it's been my
Speaker 1: primary source of fitness through the years. So yeah, have
Speaker 1: we ever talked about how we love biking. I don't
Speaker 1: think we have, which is do an episode should tell
Speaker 1: people that we like biking right now. And so, aside
Speaker 1: from health benefits of your physical body, there's also mental
Speaker 1: benefits that come along with finding hobbies, finding different ways
Speaker 1: that we can engage our brains in a way that
Speaker 1: is different than what we do forty plus hours a week. Man,
Speaker 1: That is so sinking important. Those hobbies that can give
Speaker 1: us breaks and just different interesting activities usually can stimulate
Speaker 1: us mentally. What it does is that it keeps us sharp,
Speaker 1: even just kind of reading a different book than we
Speaker 1: normally would, or even just joining a book club is
Speaker 1: the way that we can engage your minds and make
Speaker 1: us a more rounded person. Yeah, and and break out
Speaker 1: of the ordinary, right that the stuff that we're used
Speaker 1: to doing hobbies can be these bright spots in the
Speaker 1: middle of our week. And Matt, you just mentioned it's
Speaker 1: different than what we do forty hours a week. I
Speaker 1: have to mention too, for the stay at home moms
Speaker 1: out there, I know your brains can turn into mush
Speaker 1: being with children that many hours every single day. And
Speaker 1: I know that's true for my wife at times that
Speaker 1: when I come home, adult conversation is very welcomed. And
Speaker 1: and then too that the hobbies that she pursues on
Speaker 1: the side can be so helpful, even just the adult interactions.
Speaker 1: So for her, she has gotten into a book club recently,
Speaker 1: so she enjoys just the act of reading the book
Speaker 1: and then meeting with adults to discuss what the book
Speaker 1: was about, and oftentimes that's over a glass of wine.
Speaker 1: So I just wanted to mention a little shout out
Speaker 1: to the stay at home moms out there who who
Speaker 1: do an awesome job, and I know it's a very
Speaker 1: difficult task. I think thinking through and pursuing meaningful hobbies
Speaker 1: is so important for them as well. And I know
Speaker 1: it's much harder for for moms that are with their
Speaker 1: kids that much of the time to actually even have
Speaker 1: the bandwidth to think through the obvious they want to pursue.
Speaker 1: So yeah, in that case, it's not about staying sharp,
Speaker 1: but it's almost a matter of staying like sane, right completely.
Speaker 1: So what you're saying is that Emily doesn't like you
Speaker 1: coming home and then she leaves to go like babysit
Speaker 1: or something like that, Like that's like I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: caretake for these other children. Definitely not, she would not
Speaker 1: be into that at all, but she loves the once
Speaker 1: we have though. And you know, another delightful benefit of
Speaker 1: hobbies is just the social aspect of it, Joel. You
Speaker 1: you kind of just touched on this a little bit
Speaker 1: with the book club, Like there's a social aspect to it,
Speaker 1: but just finding your people, having friend groups outside of
Speaker 1: work and family is likely a really healthy thing to do.
Speaker 1: That's another one of those components that we need to
Speaker 1: incorporate in our lives in order to kind of maintain
Speaker 1: a balanced life. So, Matt, now that we talked about
Speaker 1: some of the best benefits of hobbies, I gotta ask you,
Speaker 1: what are your favorite hobbies? And I know the aunt
Speaker 1: farm is gonna be one of them, right well, I
Speaker 1: knew you were in turn, the day was on me
Speaker 1: and asked me this question. So as I've given this
Speaker 1: more thought and I've given it some time, what I've
Speaker 1: realized that I really enjoy doing is building stuff, and
Speaker 1: not building something for money necessarily, but building something just
Speaker 1: because there's pure enjoyment out of being creative and out
Speaker 1: of basically solving a problem and then being able to
Speaker 1: step back and looking at your finished project. Just even
Speaker 1: looking back to college, when I was building my first
Speaker 1: website and dream weaver, it was something digital that I created,
Speaker 1: but it was still something that I had poured myself
Speaker 1: into for several days. And it wasn't even for a
Speaker 1: class project. I wasn't getting paid for it, but it
Speaker 1: was something I was just curious to learn. And I
Speaker 1: can see that in my life even today. We've got
Speaker 1: the playhouse in the backyard for the girls, and it
Speaker 1: was something that was a lot of work, and my
Speaker 1: dad and my father in law. They both helped me.
Speaker 1: But you know what, when I was working on that,
Speaker 1: to the outsider, it might look like work, but to me, man,
Speaker 1: it was so much freaking fun being faced with a
Speaker 1: problem like that and finding ways to solve it. And
Speaker 1: then of course in the end, we've got an awesome
Speaker 1: playhouse that the girls love playing in and having this
Speaker 1: the super cool structure. Man, I just found so much
Speaker 1: joy and satisfaction in that. So what I guess the
Speaker 1: reason I'm saying that is, I think sometimes it's hard
Speaker 1: for us as individuals to pinpoint specific hobbies that we have.
Speaker 1: But I think if we can identify just these themes
Speaker 1: that we find running throughout our life, maybe we can
Speaker 1: identify my uh new hobbies a little bit easier. But
Speaker 1: that being said, of course I like to run, I
Speaker 1: like riding my bike, all the different things that we
Speaker 1: we we often talk about on the show. Well, speaking
Speaker 1: about how we identify hobby, we're gonna talk about that
Speaker 1: in just a minute. I'll quickly mentioned the hobbies that
Speaker 1: I enjoy the most. I like biking, I like disc golf,
Speaker 1: and I love nerdy board games like those are like
Speaker 1: the three hobbies that I see myself pursuing. And part
Speaker 1: of the reason I love in particular board games is
Speaker 1: because they're very very social in nature. They're like unlimited
Speaker 1: nerdy board games that you could partake in, and I
Speaker 1: have so many friends that are into them that I
Speaker 1: can fire up a text chain and get people together
Speaker 1: pretty much any night of the week to play some
Speaker 1: nerdy board games. So yeah, those are the main hobbies
Speaker 1: that I kind of currently pursue. What about a folk
Speaker 1: art that's that's I mean, would you consider that a hobby?
Speaker 1: You kind of collect folk art a little bit. I
Speaker 1: don't think of that as much of a hobby as
Speaker 1: something that's just like an interest, yeah, hobby less of
Speaker 1: an activity, you know, Like there's some people who actively
Speaker 1: pursue art. I think you have to have a lot
Speaker 1: of money if you're gonna do that. Yeah, yeah, And
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, maybe someday I'll get more into the
Speaker 1: art and it will become more of an actual like
Speaker 1: hobby or something, But for now, it's like a side
Speaker 1: interest that I enjoy. And so on that note of
Speaker 1: how to pick a hobby, We've got some ideas to
Speaker 1: help you get started finding the right one for you,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to that right after the break. All right, Joel,
Speaker 1: we are back, and now we're going to get to
Speaker 1: the application stage of of the episode, where hopefully, you know,
Speaker 1: with these steps, we can help folks to kind of
Speaker 1: narrow in on some different hobbies that they might find
Speaker 1: fulfilling for them. And the first thing I want to
Speaker 1: suggest is that this might kind of sound a little
Speaker 1: old school, but looking at magazines, you know, when was
Speaker 1: the last time you went to a bookstore and you
Speaker 1: went down the magazine section and you saw just all
Speaker 1: the different covers of all these awesome different things that
Speaker 1: folks could do or honestly even better yet, like your
Speaker 1: local library, Like, don't go to the bookstore. You can
Speaker 1: go to the library, but there's something about going into
Speaker 1: a physical space. You can see what images and what
Speaker 1: covers are you are you drawn to? Right? Like oftentimes
Speaker 1: magazines they're just based around hobbies. And again this is
Speaker 1: kind of a pretty broad but I think it can
Speaker 1: be a helpful start if you really have no idea
Speaker 1: you know what you're looking to pursue at all. Oh,
Speaker 1: that yarn on the magazine cover looks pretty I guess
Speaker 1: I'm into knitting. Some folks are in a knitting dogar.
Speaker 1: I know I'm not, but maybe that's because I've never
Speaker 1: tried it all right, So maybe I gotta give it
Speaker 1: a shot. Yeah. Another helpful exercise to help you get
Speaker 1: started in thinking about what hobbies might be right for
Speaker 1: you is to consider where your mind drifts to at
Speaker 1: the end of a long vacation, when you're out of
Speaker 1: your usual schedule and rhythm of life, what do you
Speaker 1: start to think about what excites you? Where does your
Speaker 1: mind that's free of daily labors take you? And I
Speaker 1: think that can be an insight into what hobbies you
Speaker 1: might want to pursue. So don't shut down your vacation brain,
Speaker 1: kind of look into it a little bit and and
Speaker 1: see if there's something there. Another good exercise is to
Speaker 1: look to your past, and what I mean by that
Speaker 1: is to ask yourself and trying to think back figure
Speaker 1: out what it was it that you did as a
Speaker 1: kid that you enjoy doing, and you can translate that
Speaker 1: into a hobby as an adult. If as a kid
Speaker 1: you loved running through the woods and you know, setting
Speaker 1: up booby tra apps, which is one of the things
Speaker 1: I enjoy doing, of course, maybe as an adult you
Speaker 1: can still run through the woods, but maybe you're not
Speaker 1: setting booby traps trail running. No booby exactly, trail running,
Speaker 1: Like I love hiking. It's just one of the things that,
Speaker 1: aside from muscle fatigue, I feel like I could really
Speaker 1: just do without stopping, Like I can just kind of
Speaker 1: continually explore, you know, see the wilderness, hike up different mountains,
Speaker 1: you know, like get to the top, all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. I feel like that ties into maybe me
Speaker 1: as a kid, where man, I just I love spending
Speaker 1: tons of time outside and playing in the woods. All right,
Speaker 1: So this makes me think. There's a comedian, Kevin Nelon
Speaker 1: who's got a YouTube channel and it's called Hiking with
Speaker 1: Kevin Nelon, and he goes on a different hike every
Speaker 1: week and brings along a friend and he literally holds
Speaker 1: a camera facing him and he has a conversation with
Speaker 1: a new, interesting, different friend every week. And I gues's
Speaker 1: just a cool idea. So if you're into like comedians
Speaker 1: with cars basically except for it's like hiking pretty much
Speaker 1: took you to a different setting whatever. Yeah, but I
Speaker 1: love that. You can tell there's just a marriage of
Speaker 1: two things. He loves having an interesting conversation and going
Speaker 1: for a hike. So that's really cool. I appreciate that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's super cool. And what is it with you? And
Speaker 1: you're watching and listening to a lot of the comedians
Speaker 1: these days, I guess I like comedy podcasts. I guess
Speaker 1: it's good stuff. Not the traditional ones, but but intelligent
Speaker 1: comedians having interesting conversations. I would say so much of
Speaker 1: the time, comedians have the most interesting insights about daily life.
Speaker 1: And another thing to to think about when you're looking
Speaker 1: to choose a hobby for yourself is to see what
Speaker 1: your friends are doing. What are they doing that you're
Speaker 1: not doing, and maybe you get the invite and you
Speaker 1: say yes next time. As opposed to know, sometimes trying
Speaker 1: things out that you've never tried before is the perfect
Speaker 1: way to get into something you kind of have no
Speaker 1: idea whether you're into it unless you give it a shot.
Speaker 1: Like knitting. We just talked about that, Matt, who knows, like, seriously,
Speaker 1: I could potentially get into knitting if I gave it
Speaker 1: a shot. And now I feel like, after saying that
Speaker 1: out loud, I have to give it a shot. So
Speaker 1: if anybody out there wants to teach me how to knit,
Speaker 1: I'm in Plus it's just a nice skill to have, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: will you make me an Atlanta United scarf? I certainly will.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be. That's like the default adding item, right
Speaker 1: is a scarf. But you can make some pretty dope
Speaker 1: Atlanta United soccer scarves with that. Yeah. One of our friends,
Speaker 1: actually she knits Christmas stockings and she gives them to friends.
Speaker 1: That's her hobby. That's something she loves to do. And
Speaker 1: yes she's done that for us. I totally forgot about that.
Speaker 1: But super sweet and a very cool gift. Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: the coolest. Every year when we break those out at
Speaker 1: Christmas time, we're in awe of how cool they are.
Speaker 1: And it shows that that that pursuit for her has
Speaker 1: been something really meaningful. So you know what, maybe I'll
Speaker 1: have her teach me how on it. And the first
Speaker 1: item up for business is your Landing United scarf. Don't worry,
Speaker 1: thanks buddy. Okay, something else to consider. Well, As a photographer,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a little biased, but I want folks
Speaker 1: to ask themselves, what do I take photos of my face?
Speaker 1: A lot of selfies and so your hobby should be makeup.
Speaker 1: I guess your own vanity. But no, seriously ask yourself
Speaker 1: that question, like, look at your Instagram account or look
Speaker 1: on Facebook. What are you posting pictures of? Is it food?
Speaker 1: Maybe it's architecture or landscapes, Maybe it's the different activities
Speaker 1: that you're taking part of. I think that this can
Speaker 1: help you look with intention at what you maybe even
Speaker 1: subconsciously find joy. And we say this a little jokingly,
Speaker 1: but it kind of goes back to the Marie condo,
Speaker 1: like what is it that you're taking photos of? Because
Speaker 1: you know what that might be, something that's sparking enjoying
Speaker 1: you and you don't even realize it, but you've got
Speaker 1: sort of this record of proof of what it is
Speaker 1: that you actually enjoy and maybe what your next hobby
Speaker 1: should be. Yeah, I think if we took the time
Speaker 1: to take a picture of it, typically there was some
Speaker 1: sort of meaning involved. And you know, you might be
Speaker 1: waiting through picks of beers that you've had or I
Speaker 1: was gonna say, there's lots of pictures of beer on
Speaker 1: my on my phone and that's because I love beer,
Speaker 1: and so I think that's totally fine. That's it's kind
Speaker 1: of a hobby of mine. Like we kind of pursue
Speaker 1: beer we traveled to breweries, but yeah, I've got pictures
Speaker 1: of tons of other things that are super meaningful too,
Speaker 1: So so yeah, I think that's a good thought. Another
Speaker 1: question to ask is when was the last time that
Speaker 1: time completely flew by and you forgot to eat? That
Speaker 1: shows that you were passionate about something. Maybe you completely
Speaker 1: skipped a meal like lunch or dinner because you were
Speaker 1: engrossed in a side pursuit. So think about that last
Speaker 1: time where something grabbed your attention at that level, and
Speaker 1: maybe you can find a way to pursue that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: What coders call that is being in flow right or
Speaker 1: like being in the zone is like the I forget
Speaker 1: what it's like positive psychology or something like that. Flow state,
Speaker 1: flow state. Yeah, But for me, when I think back
Speaker 1: to activities where I completely forgot to eat and skip
Speaker 1: not only one, but even two meals in a day,
Speaker 1: we're back to that example that I gave when I
Speaker 1: was building things. When I'm so engrossed in something and
Speaker 1: completely consumed, it's like the outside world just shuts off
Speaker 1: and I find myself just completely just immersed in that
Speaker 1: project to not just complete it, but just because I'm
Speaker 1: finding enjoyment in it, And another way that you can
Speaker 1: identify a cool hobby is to consider volunteering. Not only
Speaker 1: will you have the chance to meet some cool people,
Speaker 1: but you might even get to attend some cool events
Speaker 1: for completely free and that falls squarely on the side
Speaker 1: of frugal hobbies. Yeah, if you volunteer at a local
Speaker 1: music venue, you might get to see some free shows.
Speaker 1: My favorite place to volunteer is neighborhood festivals around town.
Speaker 1: There's always a lot of need and I always get
Speaker 1: so much enjoyment out of that. And part of the
Speaker 1: reason probably is because I'm doing it with other people.
Speaker 1: And I think when you're picking a new hobby, finding
Speaker 1: something that you can do with other people can be helpful,
Speaker 1: even potentially people that you've never met before. So check
Speaker 1: out a site like meetup dot com to see what
Speaker 1: actual people are doing near where you live. Where we
Speaker 1: live in Atlanta, there are so many interesting groups doing
Speaker 1: different things. Some are exploring where they live, Others are
Speaker 1: taking nature walks. There are running clubs that meet up.
Speaker 1: So many of these things are free that are on
Speaker 1: meetup dot com and the options are quite varied. And
Speaker 1: if you don't see the thing you like, well maybe
Speaker 1: start something and you'll attract a group of like minded folks.
Speaker 1: I love that idea and Joel, once you've actually identified
Speaker 1: a hobby, it's time to actually start doing it. You
Speaker 1: need to take action, and we would encourage folks to
Speaker 1: start small. Don't put a significant amount of money into
Speaker 1: something before you know it's something that you're really into.
Speaker 1: Small bites can ensure just a greater chance of success
Speaker 1: and of building up a sustainable hobby. I'm thinking about
Speaker 1: my life Kate. She's really into plants. But when she
Speaker 1: first started out, she started by rooting the leaves of
Speaker 1: plants that we already had. Or in another case, she
Speaker 1: rooted a branch that broke off of a friend's succulent.
Speaker 1: But she was able to take that. She brought it
Speaker 1: home and gave it some attention and love and figured
Speaker 1: out how to get that thing to root. And if
Speaker 1: you look behind you, that succulent is growing on her
Speaker 1: counter right now. To her, she kind of feel like
Speaker 1: that she brought it back from the dead, and only
Speaker 1: recently has she purchased a few indoor plants that cost
Speaker 1: a little bit more money, even though honestly, in the
Speaker 1: long run, she just wants to cover our entire house
Speaker 1: with plants on the inside, because she's getting into house
Speaker 1: plants now, because that's the stage of life that she's in.
Speaker 1: I think like house plants have replaced the like the
Speaker 1: cat lady like for what forever? It used to be like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm a cat lady, but now it's it's all about
Speaker 1: house plants. Did you just throw your wife under the bus?
Speaker 1: Did you call her a cat lady? Kinda, no lodery
Speaker 1: cat lady. No, she's she's she's a plant lady now, alright,
Speaker 1: plant ladies are hip, dude, good to know, all right,
Speaker 1: so and hypoallergenic. So just to let you know. The
Speaker 1: next hobby I want to pursue is something I'm really
Speaker 1: interested but haven't given a shot yet. Curling. I totally
Speaker 1: want to join an indoor curling league. Nice, do you
Speaker 1: know what curling is? Yeah? I know what it is,
Speaker 1: but I have no desire at all to do that.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad maybe that you can find your little
Speaker 1: curling group to go curling with. I certainly will. And
Speaker 1: you know what I already know. I love table shuffle board.
Speaker 1: I love Okay, I see the connection, right, I love
Speaker 1: shuffle board. When I'm at the beach, like the floor shuffleboard.
Speaker 1: Beach shuffle board. Yeah. So I have a feeling I'm
Speaker 1: gonna like curling too. It's it's something I want to
Speaker 1: try at some point. Well, here's the deal. I still
Speaker 1: like biking, and if you can find a curling league
Speaker 1: that's biking distance, I'll ride with you. I'll bike with
Speaker 1: you to curling practice, and then I'll just about and
Speaker 1: drink beers with my friends. There we go, right done?
Speaker 1: All right, Joe. So, speaking of beer, let's take it
Speaker 1: now back to our not beer for this episode, which
Speaker 1: was a bourbon barrel peach cider from tight On Cider
Speaker 1: Works out of Washington State. But what were your thoughts
Speaker 1: on the sider? Yeah, siders are often either really dry
Speaker 1: or really sweet, and this one was more of the
Speaker 1: sweeter variety. Definitely sweet. Yeah, and and I think peaches too, Like,
Speaker 1: peaches are incredibly sweet, So the fact that it's a
Speaker 1: cider with peaches manute even sweeter. But the bourbon barrels
Speaker 1: added a little bit of oakness and in my mind
Speaker 1: pulled back on the sweetness just a little bit. So
Speaker 1: it was isn't overwhelmingly sweet to me? I personally love peaches,
Speaker 1: and I love like canned peaches. I love that syrupy sweetness,
Speaker 1: and so this and so this definitely wasn't that sweet,
Speaker 1: But yeah, I really appreciated this cider. Even though ciders
Speaker 1: not typically my jam, I thought this one was a
Speaker 1: good one. Yeah, Joe, I really enjoyed this one as well.
Speaker 1: I just finished my last little sip, and we recently
Speaker 1: talked about my affinity for apple juice back in college,
Speaker 1: and this certainly had some of those apple juice cidery
Speaker 1: characteristics to it, but like you said, with a little
Speaker 1: bit of that peach action mixed in. Yeah, I figured
Speaker 1: after your confession that this was gonna be right if
Speaker 1: your alley, you thought it might actually come up. But
Speaker 1: more than anything, I'm really looking forward to drinking more
Speaker 1: ciders because I just haven't had a lot of siders
Speaker 1: in my life. But I think I found myself drawn
Speaker 1: to some of the drier ones, almost like you find
Speaker 1: with saisons or farmhouse beers, how they kind of have
Speaker 1: that dryer quality to them. But yeah, with this one
Speaker 1: being barrel aged, it kind of has some of those
Speaker 1: oak canings in it to rein in that sweetness. Just
Speaker 1: like you said, I couldn't agree more. All right, Matt,
Speaker 1: let's get into our final thoughts quickly for this episode.
Speaker 1: I think it's important to remember that hobbies or core pursued,
Speaker 1: as my friend West calls them, having three, four or
Speaker 1: five hobbies that are really meaningful to you actually make
Speaker 1: you a happier person. They'll make you sane when you
Speaker 1: finally do in a retirement, because that's one of the
Speaker 1: major problems for retirees. But cultivating these interests now before
Speaker 1: you hit retirement or maybe or even close to retirement
Speaker 1: is really important, and in particular, we would steer you
Speaker 1: towards inexpensive hobbies in pursuits. Yeah, and Jel. You know,
Speaker 1: aside from the direction and focus that a hobby can
Speaker 1: bring you once you do hit retirement, there are also
Speaker 1: these sort of hidden or maybe even not so hidden
Speaker 1: benefits that hobbies can bring you. Aside from making you
Speaker 1: and even saving you money, hobbies can bring you physical
Speaker 1: and mental health. There can also be massive social benefits
Speaker 1: to pursuing these hobbies and these interests that you really
Speaker 1: love with friends in a community who also pursue and
Speaker 1: appreciate the same things that you do. Yeah, I love
Speaker 1: the connection that you can garner through hobbies to two
Speaker 1: people and to the environment around you. I mean, hobbies
Speaker 1: are wonderful and we should consider them more. That's gonna
Speaker 1: do it for this episode. You can always find more
Speaker 1: information on our website out to money dot com, And
Speaker 1: we just published a new article about refinancing student loans,
Speaker 1: when you should do it and how you should do
Speaker 1: it if it is the right thing for you. So
Speaker 1: go check that out. And also, if you've been listening
Speaker 1: to this podcast and you found it helpful, we would
Speaker 1: love it if you left us a review over at
Speaker 1: Apple Podcast. Just head over there and maybe do us
Speaker 1: a solid, oh favor. I don't mind asking for a
Speaker 1: favor every once in a while, do me a solid.
Speaker 1: Do you ever say that? Uh? No, As I said that,
Speaker 1: I almost regretted it because I don't normally say that.
Speaker 1: But I'm just gonna roll with it. What what era
Speaker 1: is that from? When did people say that it don't
Speaker 1: be a solid? Was it? It was the old school Italians?
Speaker 1: Was because that's what it sounds like New York in
Speaker 1: the forties and fifties. Maybe I don't know all right,
Speaker 1: like the West Side story, that's kind of what it
Speaker 1: makes me think. Of like, hey, can you do me
Speaker 1: a solid? All right, let's bring that back. We'll may
Speaker 1: gonna happen. Oh should that be our new sign off? No?
Speaker 1: Definitely not Yeah, definitely Joel. Until next time, Best friends Out,
Speaker 1: Best Friends Out, m m BO