WEBVTT - Matt's $ Origin Story #461 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.040 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.000 Yes he is. And this episode today, all we're talking 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:28.120 about is Matt. We're covering Matt's money origin story. Okay, 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.319 So my desire to do this episode or not, is 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:34.000 that a reflection of my own vanity, whether I'm willing 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:37.960 to talk about myself for anywhere between thirty and forty 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.080 five minutes. Yeah, we'll see, We'll see how long this goes. 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.600 But now I am looking forward to this though, because 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:44.560 like I'm in the hot seat a little bit. Actually, 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:46.880 I started to perspire a little bit. I feel like 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.080 you've turned the tables, You've turned the microphone on me. 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.360 Even though I do talk into the microphone every week, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:56.000 it does feel a little bit different here Spotlight specifically. Yeah, well, 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:57.320 I think it's I think it's gonna be fun. We're 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.360 gonna we're gonna dive into my money origin story next week, 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.080 and so the tables will be turned. I will feel 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.959 the heat then, But but I think this is this 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:06.720 is gonna be good at It's, you know, still the 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:09.399 beginning of a new year, and there are a lot 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:11.840 of How the Money listeners who know quite a lot 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:14.120 about you and I at this point, we divulge a 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.720 fair amount of information about how we live our own 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.080 lives and how we handle our personal finances on the show, 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.960 but we've never really done a deep dive into either 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.920 of our money origin stories. And anybody's been listening, some 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.520 people from back in the day episode, you know, the 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:33.160 single digit episodes, they they will find some of these 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.720 things familiar, but they will also unearthed new territory about 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.880 the man, the myth, the legend, how the money. Matt. Yeah, 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:43.040 we're gonna weave it all together because I do think that, Yeah, 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.880 if you've been listening for years now, you probably have 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.960 maybe a loose understanding of my past of your past 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:50.640 as well, because we you know, we sprinkle in a 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.840 little bits of our history into every single episode. We 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.840 try to find ways where it relates to our listeners. 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:57.760 But this will be fun to kind of play it 0:01:57.760 --> 0:01:59.800 all together and for folks to have a clear understating. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.280 Will be a kind of a more conversational episode as 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.880 opposed to one world word diving into specific topics are 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.000 teaching something, Yeah, this is maybe truly what it's actually 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.839 like if you're having a beer with us and kicked back, 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:12.840 but dude. Okay, before we launched into this, though, I 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.400 wanted to share with you Kate got me an amazing 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.639 Christmas gift to spend a couple of weeks now since Christmas, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.080 and uh, you might remember back we had Marshall Allen on. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.680 We talked about healthcare, crazy high costs of still one 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.240 of my favorite interview episodes that we've done. Fantastic episode, 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:32.520 and his splurge was coffee, specifically, he roasts his own coffee. Uh, 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.400 and I kind of nerded out. I started to ask 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.680 him a bunch of questions, realized that we couldn't include 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.480 all that in the episode, dialed it back. Um, but 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.160 I was really interested in his ability to roast his 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.160 own coffee really nice, like world class, high end coffee 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:48.080 for a fraction of the price, and to get it, 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.200 you know, for super cheap, super fresh at home. Yeah. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:52.720 That's the thing. Is like the best of both worlds, right, 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.640 it costs less money and it's better the best stuff exactly. 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.760 So I meant, you know, after that interview I mentioned 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.480 that the Kate didn't think much of it. Well, sure enough, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.720 Kate got me basically a coffee roasting kit for Christmas, 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.880 and uh, the best part is one of the easiest 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.120 and cheapest methods of like an easy bake oven for adults. Yes, seriously, 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.000 the one of the easiest and cheapest ways to actually 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.720 roast the coffee are is to use a popcorn air popper. 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.519 You know. It's it's like this little appliance and you 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.920 kind of got the spoon of corns, kernels or whatever. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:25.680 You you drop down in there. You flip the thing 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:27.560 on it and it starts popping popcorn. Well, you do 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.120 basically you do that exact same thing with the coffee beans. 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.200 You do it outside because it creates a big mess 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.080 in the you know, and it's still there's a decent 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.600 amount of smoke um. But you do that, you keep 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:37.880 an eye on it. You get it to the color 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.160 the roast you know that you want, whether you're looking 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.640 for like a lighter medium, darker medium, or darker roast. 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:49.000 And dude, it was phenomenal. I was surprised at how 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.240 easy it was to make really good coffee at home. 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.120 I've got to get you some. Yes, I would love 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.320 to try it. It's just like, like like we said, the 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:59.040 ability to buy a pound of raw coffee. I guess 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:00.720 that's what you call it raw. I'm still working on 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.880 the kit beans that Kate Kake got me, four different samples. Basically, 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:05.760 we're kind of cycling through them right now. But it 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.880 is definitely more affordable than buying the really nice stuff 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.440 at the store. How much more affordable, I'm not totally sure. 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.880 I will report back as I kind of dial in 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.960 my coffee roasting escapades there we go. But but yeah, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.040 I'll definitely rist them up for you. I look forward 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:21.400 to trying it, and yeah, I think it's cool. I 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.880 was kind of fascinated by the fact that Marshall Allen 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.560 revealed that he roasted his own beans. I didn't know 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:28.760 that was a thing. As soon as he said that, 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.360 I was like, Okay, this is gonna be a problem 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.680 for me. All Right, we gotta reach back out to him. Dude, 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.600 we're doing it. You're doing it. But anyway, maybe i'll 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.200 link to the air popper. It's just a standard like 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.200 popcorn air popper that kid got me. But that plus 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.359 this book she got me in, plus some sample coffees, 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:45.320 that's all you need. But yeah, I'll keep you posted. 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.120 Sounds good. Looking forward to hearing more about your coffee roasting. 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.280 It's so good actually once I'm right now, even though 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.880 we're drinking beer, we should like instagram live you roasting 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:56.080 your own coffee beans. It's it's really boring, but in 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.120 there turn it on and watch it turned around. We 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.960 could like turn the camera around and you're smiling like 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.120 a giddy schoolboy. It's that great. Well, let's move on. Matt. 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.240 Let's mentioned quickly the beer that we're having on this episode. 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.560 This is Athena Paradiso with BlackBerry, black current and ambrosia. 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:12.839 This is my Creature Comforts, which is just an awesome 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.400 brewery out of Athens, Georgia. Will give our thoughts on 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.320 this beer at the end of this episode, but uh, 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.600 for now, Matt, let's get onto the subject matter at hand. 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.440 And the subject matter is is you, Like we're talking 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:26.720 about your money orgin story. It is all about you today, 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.160 and so yeah, I've kind of um come up with 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.719 some questions like kind of the things I want to 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.080 ask you about your money history so that our listeners 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:36.800 can learn more about you, but then also just learn 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.760 more about kind of how you've grown with money, how 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:42.359 you've handled it. Hopefully there are not not just human 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:46.080 interests here, but also actual money tips and takes takeaways totally, 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:47.919 but like we said, it is I think helpful for 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:49.840 you to get to know us better as people early 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:51.960 on in the new year year And and Matt, January 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.120 tends to be a month where how the Money gets 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.040 more downloads than usual because people are like, I'm kind 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:58.520 of new Year's resolution, I want to do better with 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.080 my money, and so they're seeking out a podcast, uh, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:05.000 some similar to ours or ours in particular, and they're 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.320 hoping that it will help and hopefully hearing Matt's story 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.880 will provide some inspiration along with yeah, some of those tactical, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.480 practical takeaways. But yeah, let's let's get to it. Matt, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.440 I want to kind of like start start young, and 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.040 not like baby young, like when you came home from 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.280 the hospital or anything like that. But I do want 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.440 to hear about my first dollar. Is it your parents 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:29.200 started that allowance really early? But yeah, let's talk about maybe, um, 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.839 when you the first conversations you remember about money in 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.640 your household, And what always sticks out to me is 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.320 and we'll get into this next week, but coming from 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.040 a house where money either just wasn't talked about, or 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:45.520 when it was, it was always in like a frustrated 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.680 way or uh, there just wasn't a whole lot of 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.440 like practical helpful talk when it came to the subject 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.479 of money. You come from a household that has a 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.640 pretty healthy relationship with it, it seems like totally man. Yeah, 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.120 I I so I credit a lot of that to 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.680 my dad. He grew up in the Midwest, and I 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.120 feel like he brought over, you know, from the Midwest 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.400 to the South, like a lot of that Midwestern like 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.279 work ethic, and I think he sort of translated a 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.720 lot of that towards handling your money. Uh well. Also, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.840 but as early as I remember, always had an allowance. 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.640 I mean, like some of my earliest memories regarding money 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.680 were receiving a bunch of dimes and then being taught 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.480 how to save a portion of it, how to give 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.760 a portion of it away, how to you know, have it, 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.080 you know, the rest of it for spending. But that 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.120 plus like a piggy bank made out of like a 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.360 two leader coke modle. That also, I will say, my 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.920 dad like he taped over it so you couldn't see 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.680 the money, which always like even now looking back, I'm like, well, 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.640 isn't the ability to see it kind of like yeah, 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.800 like kind of getting you excited about but he was 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:45.800 just like no, no, no, like you We're gonna not 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.360 We're gonna pretend that doesn't exist. Uh. And So I 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:49.840 don't know, maybe there's a lesson there that he was 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:51.960 trying to teach me, But a lot of my early 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.960 memories around money had to do with just not only 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.480 the responsibility of handling my money well, but also doing 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.400 the chores I needed to do around the house, because 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.160 it wasn't just an allowance that I received, no matter 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.000 what it was, because there were certain jobs that I 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.840 had that I had to perform in order to receive 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.840 that money. Uh. And so in that way, it was 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.200 less I guess, like an allowance that I was entitled 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.400 to and more like something that I did have to earn. 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:17.040 And you've really taken that sort of idea about money 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.600 into how you teach your kids about it. We'll get 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.240 to that later, but you really do you value you think? 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:24.400 And and this is just true in the real world, 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.920 right that when we work, we get money, and those 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.320 two things are just highly correlated exactly. I think that's 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.520 my biggest problem with calling it an allowance, because it 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.040 just feels like it's something that you get no matter what. 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:35.920 It's like a stipend or something. As as as long as 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:37.960 you're breathing, you get some money. It's like, well, I 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.880 don't know. I really do like the idea that you 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.920 receive money when you perform a job or do a job, 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.599 or you know, perform a task. I do think like 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.480 a lot of folks will argue that, well, no, there 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.600 should be certain chores that your kids do no matter what. 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:52.839 And I agree, like, there are certain things that my 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.080 kids will never get paid for because you're not gonna 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.680 get paid for being you know, listening to mom and 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:59.600 I are making your bed, Like yeah, like these are 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:01.240 things that you you should be doing no matter what. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:03.680 But for me, you know, the allowance that was huge 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.439 another sort of lesson. And this is I guess as 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.040 I got a little bit older, but I remember getting 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:10.839 my first credit card, Like I remember showing up in 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.679 the mail. I was still living at home, and this 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.000 is you know, this is years ago, and I swear 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.160 I was like I was either eighteen or even younger, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.280 and I may have been sixteen years old. And it 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.560 was a card and it, I mean, it's a prequalified letter. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.679 I had my name on it, and I remember showing 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:25.200 it to dad and be like, hey, this is my 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.080 credit card now, right, and he's like, yeah, it is. 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.240 And I thought, wait, what it's like, Well, as long 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.160 as you whatever you use it for, as long as 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.040 you pay it off every month, there's no reason that 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.600 you can't use this credit card. Uh. And and so 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:38.640 I think that stands up in my mind as well, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.880 and that might be part of my affinity towards credit 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.680 cards even today, because I mean he was taking advantage 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.640 of cash back bonuses and different things like that starting 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.400 back in the eighties. But I think that that that 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.120 also had a pretty large impact on my ability to 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.040 think about finances, maybe in a different way than other 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.120 kids were. Yeah, well it sounds like to what your 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.840 dad was instilling was a sense of tomomy right where 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.520 we're like your sixteen and your dad's like, sure, it's 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.679 your credit card. Uh. And we've talked about how how 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.200 helping your kids, allowing your kids some of that leash 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:12.480 to make mistakes while they're still under your roof is 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:14.880 actually the best time for them to make mistakes and 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.200 to learn while you're there to protect him while the 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.280 mistakes can be minor, and it seems like your dad 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.080 was kind of setting you up for that that ability 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.880 to Yeah, absolutely, they were all about allowing me to 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:27.240 make the mistakes with like tens and hundreds of dollars 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.160 as opposed to like thousands and ten thousands of dollars 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.920 that oftentimes those are the lessons we learned further down 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:34.960 the road, right. But also I do want to mention 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.080 my mom because even though like more the day to 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.440 day you know, nuts and bolts of handling money, well 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.640 came down to dad and what he taught me. But 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:45.959 I think my one of the things my mom instilled 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.200 in me. I mean, of course, like she's Asian and 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.560 so like all Asian parents, she wanted me to be 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.720 a doctor or a lawyer. But one of the things 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.240 that always stood out to me because I knew what 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:56.679 a doctor was and I knew what a lawyer was. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.280 But she would also always mentioned entrepreneurship, like in your 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.000 own business, and that really does as I think back, 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.720 that stands out to me because at the time you 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.160 didn't really know what that meant, right, Like all you 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:09.960 knew was at there are stores and then I guess 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.040 there's a business owner and so. And specifically mom had 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:14.920 and she still does have a lot of friends who 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.160 own their own businesses, but a lot of them were 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.600 like brick and mortar shops and so. But even then, 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.080 I mean, I didn't necessarily want to be like the 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.240 owner of a Korean food store, like, but the idea time, buddy, 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.640 if you want, hey, I could man uh or your 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:33.120 own coffee roasting company maybe so uh. But the idea 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.400 of being able to do whatever it is that I 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.319 wanted to do with my time, for me to be 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.400 able to set my own rules, I think, even at 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.040 a very young age, that that kind of turned something 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:45.720 onto my head, right, like it flipped the switch. Oh, 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.960 I don't have to go work for somebody else, I 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.679 can create my own product. Yeah. And I think that 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.440 had a lot to do with too. Just how I mean, 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.440 I literally only lasted like a year and a half, 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.480 two years in the corporate world right after college before 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.079 I started my own business, before doing other things is 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.240 that were a little less traditional. And and as I 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.040 think back, I mean, there weren't many influences in my 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:07.880 life to owning your own business except for some of 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.320 those early conversations we had and thinking that I might 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.000 own a food store. Yeah, alright, So, uh so, I 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.640 feel like, you know, we talked about how your your 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.720 dad in particular, was such a great influence your mom 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.880 in regards to pushing you towards entrepreneurship at least opening 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.560 your eyes to the reality that that is a legitimate 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.280 way to move forward in this world, to start your 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.640 own business. But what about like maybe the biggest money 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.560 fail or something like that, like our biggest money struggle 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:35.160 early on, because you know, even today, it's not like 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.720 you're rolling in the dough. But but where where I'm sitting, 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.839 from where I'm sitting, you've been just so incredibly intentional 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:42.960 for a lot of years with your money and and 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:45.560 that's paid off, like you we mentioned in this on 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.040 the show, but you have your budget down to the penny, 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.200 like what you've spent dating back fifteen years. Like so, 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.000 so it's not without like a lot of effort and 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.560 intentionality that you've gotten here. But I'd love to hear 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.880 what my robotic friend Matt like that you're a real 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.000 human being who potentially occasionally also screws up so totally. 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.960 I mean, I don't make the always make the wisest decisions, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.040 and I will say I mean I've become more methodical 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:12.240 and responsible as I've gotten older, but especially dude, I 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.199 mean in high school and college. You know, I wouldn't 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:16.720 say that these were struggles at the time. Like at 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.320 the time, I thought I was just living my life 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.960 and making great decisions. But the amount of money that 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.160 I spent on cars specifically, and we've kind of hinted 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.000 at this before, but early on I had this old Jeep, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.839 this old Jeep Cherokee that actually was pretty great. It 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:32.520 was a pretty great car, was well maintained. We bought 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:35.319 it from some folks we knew. But then I saved 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.040 up some more money, sold that Jeep. Took that money 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:39.760 that I, you know, earned from that sale, and plus 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.080 the additional money, and I bought a nicer Jeep, like 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.280 a newer Grand not just regular Cherokee, a Grand Cherokee, 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:48.520 did the upgrade and fancy and uh. And then in 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.679 college I actually sold sold that, sold that one and 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.640 got an older Range Rover, which was also a very sweet, 0:13:55.679 --> 0:14:00.000 sweet ride that was very expensive to maintain, terrible gas mileage. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.719 Obviously didn't check the Consumer Reports reliability ratings before you 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.200 bought that, But I mean I did this multiple times 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.920 over the course of a number of years, and just 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.480 every time you do that, there's just transaction costs involved, 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.080 not to mention just getting it to a level of running, 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.040 you know, like a level of dependability. Plus I would 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.880 also put a decent stereo, and I wasn't like going 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.240 around blast and music, but I liked having a you know, 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.920 some base. I liked having a sub back there. But 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:26.960 I would do that every single time. And so it 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.520 was just this money that was just essentially hemorrhaging towards 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.440 transportation that just wasn't all that necessary in my life. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.320 Like I look back now in retrospect and I kind 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.400 of cringe at what I could have done with that 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.400 money had I invested it. Say, you know, like we 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.160 give these examples all the time, how if a teenager 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.440 when they are sixteen or eighteen years old, if they 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.000 started investing that money early on, what that money could 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:53.440 turn into. And I couldn't imagine, uh, the fortune, the 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.640 amount of wealth that I would have had I done that. 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:57.800 But those are lessons though, that I learned along the way. 0:14:57.840 --> 0:14:59.680 Because after that period of time I was able to 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:01.200 look back, I can think, oh man, that was kind 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.960 of dumb, Like it was fun but it was it 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:06.440 was very expensive fun, you know. And and again these 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:09.840 weren't really nice, brand new, fancy sports cars or anything 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.160 like that. These were old, old cars relatively not an 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.600 expensive car relatively speaking. But for you, it's still just 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.000 like a misplacement of fund. Absolutely for me, it was 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.200 just the most definitely was the most amount of money 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.080 that was spending on anything. And so yeah, I don't know. 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.960 On one hand, I see that as a massive mistake, 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:27.720 But on the other hand, I see that as just 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.080 a learning opportunity. And it's something that I've kind of 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.840 carried into today. As to you know who I am now? Okay, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:34.720 all right, well who you are now? We're going to 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:36.560 get to that in just a second. But I've got 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.479 some some more questions about as like you enter early adulthood, 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:41.960 and in particular, I want to ask you about a 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:45.040 moment that you point to at your light bulb moment, 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.400 and it it's about the show down to an abbey. 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.320 So we're gonna get some more questions about your origin 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.240 story and what makes you who you are and how 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.280 you are with money. We'll get to some more of 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:06.880 those right after this. All right, we're back from the 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.160 break and now slow down. This is my I can 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:12.600 take it the lead here, I get to bring it back. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.200 I got the reins. You just sit back and handle 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.120 the questions. I'm just gonna kick back and you rob 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.480 my feet. No, we're not doing that. But let's let's 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:24.080 get to you all. Let's get dive more further into 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.480 your origin story, mat because yeah, there's um does it 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.680 feel like that the guests just welcomed the show back 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:30.560 from the best because you're kind of interviewing me. It 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.960 felt wrong, But uh, I want to know too, Like, 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.440 as you're okay, so you're in college, you're spending money 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.360 on cars that you should really shouldn't be because you 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.880 could be saying, you could even start to get into investing, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.320 and because your dad had taught you some important principles 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.160 about how to handle money, giving you actual money as 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.840 a kid to save and invest and so yeah, like 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.720 as you left the nest, like, as you're out on 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.280 your own basically at college, where did you turn for 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.840 help figuring out the bigger money issues that you started 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.320 to face because your your dad had been such help. 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.400 Would you just call him when you have questions or 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:05.120 or yeah, what direction did you start to go in 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.400 um with yeah, your your money beliefs. Yeah, I should 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:10.600 have called my dad. So I mean my personality, I'm 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.960 just prone to do things on my own and to 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:15.040 learn on my own and make my own mistakes. And 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.159 so I'm sure I could have called dad uh and 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.520 ask him some very specific and I'm sure I did. Actually. 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.239 I mean, you know, you talk to your parents all 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:22.800 the time, like when you're when you're younger, and I 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:27.240 can't necessarily remember, like, you know, some important phone call. 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:29.399 But I also know my personality though, and I do 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.120 tend to not ask for help. I tend to try 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:33.440 to figure things out on my own. I make my 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.600 own mistakes, which can be a good thing because once 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:38.440 you learn a lesson, I think you learn it really 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.160 well when when you've learned it the hard way, as 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.439 opposed it being something that somebody else has told you. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.200 And plus at that time, I think Dad was investing 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.159 a lot in single stocks, and so you may have 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.400 pointed me in the wrong direction. It's still a debate 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.239 that him and I have often where it's just like, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.440 so tell me about your portfolio. How much better is 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.439 it doing than the SMP which turned last year? But 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.680