Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt.
Speaker 1: Today we're asking the question, is inflation making us crazy? Inflation? Man,
Speaker 1: it has been in the headlines, and so we felt
Speaker 1: that it was time for us to devote an entire
Speaker 1: episode to talking about inflation a little bit more. We're
Speaker 1: gonna do that during this episode. Inflation has us living
Speaker 1: la vida loca, I would say, Matt. Uh, So, here's
Speaker 1: the thing. Speaking of inflation, I wanted to tell you
Speaker 1: a little story about where do you go get gash nearby?
Speaker 1: So I don't know, it just depends on Usually it's
Speaker 1: when I'm just at Costco. I try to fill up
Speaker 1: at costcocause it's always cheaper than But there are a
Speaker 1: couple of places. It turns out. I used to think
Speaker 1: that the Kroger. The Kroger has got to be the
Speaker 1: most expensive place. So that's what I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: is we used to always go to the local Kroger.
Speaker 1: It's really close to our house. Um, and because occasionally
Speaker 1: we go to Kroger for some groceries and we always
Speaker 1: have some points where we get the discounted price per
Speaker 1: gallon on gas. But recently I noticed that just a
Speaker 1: gas station a BP just a mile down the road.
Speaker 1: It was something like twenty cents cheaper per gallon. Uh.
Speaker 1: And here's the thing, this isn't a gas station that
Speaker 1: I have to go out of my way to reach.
Speaker 1: This is on the way to Aldie. We've always said
Speaker 1: it's cheap if you're gonna drive across town of the same,
Speaker 1: but if it's easy to save, go save the money, exactly.
Speaker 1: And so initially I noticed this a couple of months ago,
Speaker 1: And initially I thought that maybe they had just not
Speaker 1: raised their prices, because this is when price we were
Speaker 1: seeing prices take up pretty significantly, pretty dramatically. Uh. But dude,
Speaker 1: it has consistently stayed twenty cents at least twenty cents
Speaker 1: cheaper than Kroger, uh than the shell further up the
Speaker 1: road as well. And so I have changed. I mean,
Speaker 1: this isn't a big deal, right, Like, you're only talking
Speaker 1: twenty cents per gallon, and we don't even drive all
Speaker 1: that much. The bottom line doesn't impact us all that much. No,
Speaker 1: But I wanted to share the story because it takes
Speaker 1: breaking out of the habits and the mindset that we
Speaker 1: typically do think sometimes in order to save us money. Right,
Speaker 1: So I think like when it comes to groceries, sometimes
Speaker 1: we might think, oh, well, we always have to get
Speaker 1: this product or or this cut of meat. This is
Speaker 1: we always eat ribbies, you know, we always eat boneless,
Speaker 1: skinless chicken, yes exactly, but instead to consider some of
Speaker 1: the other options. Ever, we're more flexible. That can save
Speaker 1: us in a big way. It also makes me think
Speaker 1: about like cell phone service. I was just talking to
Speaker 1: a buddy recently and he was like, yeah, I'm still
Speaker 1: paying a lot of money for my Verizon service. And
Speaker 1: I spent a good five minutes and he was interested,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't just like brading it down the throat,
Speaker 1: and I was explaining to him h M v n
Speaker 1: o s, which are the mobile virtual network operators which
Speaker 1: operate on the backbones on the networks of the major
Speaker 1: you know, big names, but they charge you a fraction
Speaker 1: of the cost. And so, for instance, you and I
Speaker 1: were on Mint Mobile, right, and they operate off of
Speaker 1: T Mobiles networks, and you get all the great speed
Speaker 1: that comes with a T mobile, uh service, but at
Speaker 1: a fraction of the cost exactly. But so many people
Speaker 1: are just stuck in their ways paying the same phone
Speaker 1: company the same amount of money every single month. And
Speaker 1: and yeah, actually right now, like Mint has that three
Speaker 1: by three months, get three months, three get three so
Speaker 1: it like takes that super cheap phone service down to
Speaker 1: an even lower price for those new customers. So yeah,
Speaker 1: well we'll link that in the show notes. By the way,
Speaker 1: people want to know about it. But Matt, let's move on.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the beer that we're having on this show.
Speaker 1: This one is called Chocolate Pecan Porter. Do you say pecan? Pecan? Uh? Pecan? Okay? Wecan?
Speaker 1: I think I did like a blending of it too,
Speaker 1: like a hybrid. I had it in my mind. So
Speaker 1: I grew up saying pecan because I was raised in
Speaker 1: the South. Yes, but now I say pecan because I
Speaker 1: live in the city. Now you're you're very refined. But yeah,
Speaker 1: this one is by Tim Blore Brewing, and this one
Speaker 1: was sent to us by listener Ryan, who works for
Speaker 1: the brewery. So we're always always down for delicious craft beers. Ryan,
Speaker 1: thanks for sending these ones to us. But Matt, let's
Speaker 1: get onto the subject at hand. Let's talk about inflation.
Speaker 1: Let's do it. And you know, it just kind of
Speaker 1: made me think the other today, how how nutty the
Speaker 1: conversation around inflation has gotten. Uh it, I don't know why.
Speaker 1: It kind of made me reflect on one of my
Speaker 1: friends who like a decade ago, ended up getting diagnosed
Speaker 1: with prostate cancer. And yeah, tough diagnosis to receive, and
Speaker 1: it was like obviously just an emotionally difficult time for him,
Speaker 1: for his friends and family, everybody who was close to
Speaker 1: him and who loved him. Um, but there's this belief,
Speaker 1: I think when it comes to cancer that you gotta
Speaker 1: go like harden fast in order to eradicate it, right,
Speaker 1: that it's the fight against cancer exactly exactly, And so
Speaker 1: there's this, Yeah, there's this belief that you gotta treat it,
Speaker 1: you know, treaty quickly, and you gotta throw like all
Speaker 1: the ammunition at it at once, exactly. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: for unfortunately, my friend, he's doing really really well these days.
Speaker 1: But that's actually largely because he took the opposite approach.
Speaker 1: He decided not to throw the kitchen snake at this cancer.
Speaker 1: He decided to do something called watchful waiting or it's
Speaker 1: also known as active surveillance in the prostate cancer community,
Speaker 1: basically keeping an eye on the growth rate of the
Speaker 1: cancer and the potential symptoms, so that action can be
Speaker 1: taken if need be, But the point the hope is
Speaker 1: to not take action too soon because that could actually
Speaker 1: greatly diminish the quality of life for the patient. That
Speaker 1: surgery is obviously invasive, and you and I were obviously
Speaker 1: we're not doctors, were not cancer experts. Recently, we did
Speaker 1: an episode where we talked about I feel like we
Speaker 1: talked a lot about dieting recently, and so what we're
Speaker 1: definitely not nutritionists, we're not doctors either. It's just anecdotal
Speaker 1: evidence to support something that we're gonna talk about this
Speaker 1: outside like we'd like to dabble, right, But it's just
Speaker 1: interesting to see how overreacting can actually create more problems
Speaker 1: depending on the circumstance that you're going through, right, And
Speaker 1: so in this case, reacting too quickly and having that
Speaker 1: invasive surgery could have had other more consequential side effects,
Speaker 1: and so waiting made the most sense. And you know what,
Speaker 1: in over a decade, he hasn't had to have any
Speaker 1: surgery and he's living a great life. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: could the same be true when it comes to inflation
Speaker 1: that maybe we're overreacting a little bit. That's kind of
Speaker 1: what we want to talk about today. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: You know, it's understandable that many folks are starting to
Speaker 1: worry about inflation. For the most part, it's been minimally impactful,
Speaker 1: you know, for so long that most of us hardly
Speaker 1: even remember that it exists. But that's all changed over
Speaker 1: the past year due to a variety of factors. Right.
Speaker 1: First of all, many of us have more cash in
Speaker 1: our bank accounts due to stimulus payments, due to the
Speaker 1: inability to spend our money like we normally would due
Speaker 1: to COVID, so there's a ton of pent up demand.
Speaker 1: And then on the supply side of the equation that
Speaker 1: has also been massively disrupted and companies are having a
Speaker 1: tough time catching up. Pandemic related shutdowns are still impacting
Speaker 1: companies across the world. And so you combine all these
Speaker 1: different factors, UH and inflation. It hasn't been as high
Speaker 1: as it is currently for over thirty years. But the
Speaker 1: question that we want to ask, though, is that should
Speaker 1: we be concerned about it? Because you know, we we
Speaker 1: don't want to read the headlines or watch the news
Speaker 1: and then just react in drastic ways that are gonna
Speaker 1: undermine our finances. Um And it turns out in a
Speaker 1: recent poll we saw that of few well said that
Speaker 1: they are very worried about inflation. And you know, all
Speaker 1: these substantial levels of concern about inflation, they're actually starting
Speaker 1: to concern us, concern you and me. Yeah, we're like, no,
Speaker 1: there's just maybe too much talk about it. It's it's
Speaker 1: gotten overblown, and it just seems like it's one of
Speaker 1: those narratives that's spun out of control where we're all
Speaker 1: talking about inflation and we're all like looking at it constantly.
Speaker 1: We're looking for signs of relief or we're looking to
Speaker 1: numbers to prove how bad it's gotten. Yeah, for political reasons. Yes,
Speaker 1: sometimes it gets hyped up because folks have a different
Speaker 1: agenda exactly. Yeah, And it feels like there's like some
Speaker 1: sort of a psychological shift taking place in our brains collectively,
Speaker 1: because in that same survey, forty percent of folks said
Speaker 1: they plan to reduce their spending on restaurant meals and
Speaker 1: on takeout, said they plan to skip upgrading their personal
Speaker 1: technology devices. Folks said they're going to purchase less clothing
Speaker 1: or delaying or canceling travel plans, and of folks said
Speaker 1: they plan to drive less, a lot of changes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of changes that people are making their
Speaker 1: lives because of inflation. But yeah, holding off on purchases,
Speaker 1: buying fewer things overall, that's a natural reaction to rising prices.
Speaker 1: I get it, and those can be wise financial moves
Speaker 1: no matter what's happening with the inflationary numbers, you know, anecdotally, Matt,
Speaker 1: there was a post in the how to Money Facebook
Speaker 1: group that I think it kind of echoes how a
Speaker 1: lot of people are are feeling right now. A listener said,
Speaker 1: should I be buying more stuff now because of the
Speaker 1: fear that prices are gonna rise in the future. It's like,
Speaker 1: should I should I frontload those things that they're on
Speaker 1: my wish list? I was planning on holding off until
Speaker 1: next year or till like, yeah, like fall of next year.
Speaker 1: But I'm just worried it's gonna cost more now, so
Speaker 1: should I jump in on that thing? I think that
Speaker 1: question reflects another place that this inflationary environment can push
Speaker 1: us towards. It can push us towards spending more money now,
Speaker 1: even if maybe we don't have that money exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So but before that we talk about how to ensure
Speaker 1: that rising costs inflation prognostications don't make you crazy. I
Speaker 1: think it's really important to remind everyone at inflation is
Speaker 1: just something that is always taking place in the background
Speaker 1: of our economy. You know, most of the time, it's
Speaker 1: it's something that we just don't even notice, you now,
Speaker 1: even though it's still kind of humming along. It's sort
Speaker 1: of like the sound of the like the compressor fan
Speaker 1: on your fridge. Like, just because you get used to
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that it's not consistently chugging along, or
Speaker 1: at least that it you know, it should be. That's
Speaker 1: how your fridge days cold. And so just because inflation
Speaker 1: isn't typically in the headlines, that doesn't mean that it's
Speaker 1: you know, been sitting at zero up until now. If
Speaker 1: if you look back at the data actually over the
Speaker 1: last thirty years, the average consumer price index is two
Speaker 1: point four percent. Like that is a real rate of inflation.
Speaker 1: And so it's it's just important to keep that in
Speaker 1: mind because they can often get discounted when inflation is
Speaker 1: discussed today. Um, when when you see it in the headlines.
Speaker 1: And I wanted to mention this too, because we're talking
Speaker 1: about inflation right now, so aren't we a part of
Speaker 1: the problem. But I just want to make it clear
Speaker 1: that we've been talking about inflation way before it was cool.
Speaker 1: We've been basically ever since we started talking about investing
Speaker 1: on this show four years ago. Inflation was one of
Speaker 1: the reasons that you should be investing. I will say,
Speaker 1: we are always a part of the problem. Just that's
Speaker 1: just generally how we roll. It's true we we like
Speaker 1: to make trouble. But yes, I agree we we have
Speaker 1: been talking about inflation every time we have to talk
Speaker 1: about risk when it comes to investing, Inflation is the
Speaker 1: thing that pops up, because that is the thing in
Speaker 1: the background continually eating at your money if you don't
Speaker 1: take the necessary risk of investing. There's a known quantity
Speaker 1: of risk, and that is inflation. So it's important, the
Speaker 1: sure and steady risk exactly. It comes up in every
Speaker 1: conversation that we have about investing. It seems like in appropriately.
Speaker 1: So so yeah, we're not trying to be fearmongers here
Speaker 1: when it comes to inflation. I think, in fact, we're
Speaker 1: trying to do the opposite with this conversation, and maybe
Speaker 1: trying to tamp down the fears the people that people
Speaker 1: have and and hopefully we'll all become a little less
Speaker 1: crazy when it comes to how we think about inflation
Speaker 1: and how we react to it. I think it's also
Speaker 1: important to note that age likely plays a factor in
Speaker 1: how you perceive inflation, because, yeah, even though inflation has
Speaker 1: been like you said, Matt Humming in the background, it's
Speaker 1: still significantly higher than what our generation has ever experience. Right,
Speaker 1: Let's say you graduated from high school or college ten
Speaker 1: years ago, and only then did you start paying attention
Speaker 1: to prices, really, uh, except for maybe prices right with
Speaker 1: your grandma on like a Tuesday afternoon when you were
Speaker 1: out of school, Well, you only experienced inflation that was
Speaker 1: an average of one point seven percent. So those prices
Speaker 1: were taking up just incredibly slowly. And so many of
Speaker 1: us have never experienced inflation like we're currently seeing it,
Speaker 1: but our parents have. Right back in the seventies and eighties,
Speaker 1: the average inflation rate was over six percent, kind of
Speaker 1: similar to where we're at now. And so yeah, if
Speaker 1: you wanted a mortgage back then, you were looking at
Speaker 1: a thirty year fixed rates that were bumping up close
Speaker 1: to eight per cent. So we just like live in
Speaker 1: different financial times, and I do think age provides some
Speaker 1: proper perspective, or at least knowing your history can provide
Speaker 1: some proper perspective into that reality that inflation is always
Speaker 1: at play in some form or fashion. Uh and that
Speaker 1: rate of inflation just changes over time depending on other
Speaker 1: circumstances happening in the economy and in the world. That's true, man,
Speaker 1: I think it's in what you said to just what
Speaker 1: we've experienced over the past decade is something that we
Speaker 1: can't underestimate. Right. For a lot of us, we've never
Speaker 1: experienced a bear market, We've never experienced rates of inflation
Speaker 1: that have been this high. Like a lot of folks
Speaker 1: came into their professional careers seeing a negative inflation rate.
Speaker 1: And so it's really important to keep in mind our
Speaker 1: own lived experiences and how that impacts how we interpret
Speaker 1: the news and the headlines in our world. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: Like I became an investor in two thousand seven, and
Speaker 1: uh so, you know kind of I certainly was an
Speaker 1: investor while the market was having a moment, was having
Speaker 1: you know, while we were going through a recession. But
Speaker 1: I didn't have like a lump sum that took a
Speaker 1: big hit, and so it didn't impact me in the
Speaker 1: same way, uh that as it would have someone who
Speaker 1: was twenty years older than me and had been investing
Speaker 1: a whole lot longer. And speaking of just kind of
Speaker 1: like your personal situation and how that impacts things, Matt,
Speaker 1: there's actually a way too personally calculate eight the inflation
Speaker 1: that you as an individual or seeing. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk about that and getting to more about how you
Speaker 1: should be reacting to what's happening when it comes to inflation.
Speaker 1: Right after this, all right, we are back from the break.
Speaker 1: We're talking about inflation, and it's true, prices are actually rising.
Speaker 1: You know, we're seeing prices go up at the grocery store.
Speaker 1: We're seeing at the gas pump at Kroger specifically, their
Speaker 1: prices are really high, at least at the gas pump. Yeah. Uh,
Speaker 1: Like houses and cars, like they are way more expensive
Speaker 1: than they were just a year ago. And so across
Speaker 1: the board we're seeing higher prices. But keep in mind
Speaker 1: that that's just simply how inflation works, right, Like, this
Speaker 1: is a part of progress and innovation, This is a
Speaker 1: part of the growth of our economy. Uh, it would
Speaker 1: actually be a bad sign if we saw prices dropping
Speaker 1: and we were entering into a deflationary environment. That's actually
Speaker 1: what we saw back in two thousand nine, Jewel, you
Speaker 1: mentioned that right before the break, how we saw the
Speaker 1: market tank than but we saw a deflationary environment. In
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine, inflation was actually at negative point
Speaker 1: four percent. Uh. And you probably don't need a reminder
Speaker 1: how difficult it was to land a good job back then.
Speaker 1: But the big question right now, though, is is inflation
Speaker 1: something that you should be paying attention to? You know,
Speaker 1: how concerned should you be? Uh? And like you said,
Speaker 1: so much of this comes down to what exactly you
Speaker 1: are buying, what you're spending your money on. That's right,
Speaker 1: that's right. And yeah, we're seeing the headline number, the
Speaker 1: actual percentage rate that is getting up in the high
Speaker 1: single digits of where inflation is at right now, but
Speaker 1: the overall rate of inflation. While it's it's good to know,
Speaker 1: drilling down to see how inflation is actually impacting you
Speaker 1: and your family is even more helpful, like seeing what
Speaker 1: inflation is doing at a personal level. And obviously, if
Speaker 1: you're a good budger, if you track your expense as well.
Speaker 1: You can probably run the numbers like Matt, with how
Speaker 1: much data you have about your own household spending. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you could figure out that compared to last year,
Speaker 1: exactly how much inflation is impact your finances. You can
Speaker 1: probase you in like twenty minutes, right, that's true. Literally, well,
Speaker 1: we were talking about something the other day and it
Speaker 1: was something from like two thousand and eight, and I
Speaker 1: was able to literally tell you how much I spent
Speaker 1: on something because I was just like, well, let me
Speaker 1: pull up the eight budget dot xls excel file and
Speaker 1: I was able to nerd out and let you know
Speaker 1: my numbers. It's quite impressive. Also, um, yeah, there's also
Speaker 1: my dedication. Also, I need help just beyond the professional help. Yes,
Speaker 1: but yeah. Interestingly enough, the Wall Street Journal has this
Speaker 1: like inflation calculator that will link to, which can be
Speaker 1: helpful if you don't have the numbers, the raw data
Speaker 1: that Matt has, but you want to see how much
Speaker 1: inflation is actually impacting you based on how you spend.
Speaker 1: You can kind of plug some numbers in there. We'll
Speaker 1: put that in our show notes. For instance, like if
Speaker 1: you only have one car in that car is an
Speaker 1: electric vehicle. Right. The fact that the massive run up
Speaker 1: in fuel prices is a huge component in the overall
Speaker 1: rate of inflation, well, that's not affecting you, So your
Speaker 1: personal rate of inflation is going to be far lower. Also,
Speaker 1: you know the run up in car prices, We've talked
Speaker 1: about that on the show, Well, it's made up a
Speaker 1: huge aspect of the increased inflation exactly. And if you
Speaker 1: are like content with the one eight year old car
Speaker 1: that you have or whatever, like you're not looking to
Speaker 1: buy a new car, well, inflation is impacting you in
Speaker 1: a much more minimal way. And so yeah, if you
Speaker 1: really want to nerd out, you can check out the
Speaker 1: Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI report, which will link to
Speaker 1: in the show notes, which goes into a great deal,
Speaker 1: almost as much detail as Matt's two thousand eight budget.
Speaker 1: But I look at those reports and not totally heard out.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's it's it's interesting stuff. But it's also
Speaker 1: important to note that those overall headline numbers are not
Speaker 1: the necessarily the rate of inflation you are paying, and
Speaker 1: your rate of inflation could be half of what you're
Speaker 1: seeing as a headline number, or or maybe less, and
Speaker 1: so kind of figuring out what it's looking like and
Speaker 1: where it's actually impacting you is helpful. Yes, we share
Speaker 1: all that to help you to realize how big or
Speaker 1: how little of a deal this is going to have
Speaker 1: on your finances. Uh. And dude, that's another whole side
Speaker 1: of this too, is the fact that this is uh
Speaker 1: an increase in prices, right, And so that means if
Speaker 1: you are spending your money, like, there's a whole side
Speaker 1: of our finances that don't have to do with spending.
Speaker 1: And hopefully we see that decrease over time as we
Speaker 1: tend to earn more money over our lifetimes, we'll see
Speaker 1: the percentage of money that is going towards expenses. We'll
Speaker 1: see that decrease as we increase our savings rate. Right,
Speaker 1: But okay, let's talk about what to do. How you
Speaker 1: can go about not freaking out about inflation because you
Speaker 1: know the headlines they're not going to stop. And inflation
Speaker 1: itself could be a more meaningful part of our lives,
Speaker 1: and it's been over the past couple of decades. But
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that we have to yo yo back
Speaker 1: and forth with every piece of inflation information that comes
Speaker 1: our way. And so some of it starts with how
Speaker 1: we consume news. This is uh one of these areas
Speaker 1: where we feel that less can be more, especially if
Speaker 1: your tendency is to freat more based on your news consumption,
Speaker 1: and you know, along those lines, I think it can
Speaker 1: be helpful if you are aware of some definitions, because yes,
Speaker 1: we are dealing with higher inflation, but we're not talking
Speaker 1: about hyper inflation, which means a rise in prices to
Speaker 1: the tune of one thousand percent annually every single year here.
Speaker 1: You know, we talked about that after Jack Dorsey tweet
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago, the former CEO of Twitter,
Speaker 1: And maybe that's why he stepped down, because I realized
Speaker 1: he's like, I was a fool. I shouldn't have said that.
Speaker 1: I can believe that tweet. Um. And you know, we're
Speaker 1: also not dealing with stagflation. I feel like that's the
Speaker 1: term we here thrown around occasionally because that's when you
Speaker 1: see inflation coupled with slow economic growth and high unemployment,
Speaker 1: both of which we've seen rebound significantly since the coronavirus
Speaker 1: hit last spring. UH. So it's helpful to push back
Speaker 1: against the fear of inflation just by knowing you know
Speaker 1: what it is that we're actually living through, just by
Speaker 1: having some definitions and to realize that we're not working
Speaker 1: our way through regular inflation to these more exotic forms
Speaker 1: of inflation or just I don't know, do you just
Speaker 1: say inflation generally speaking as like the the broader concept
Speaker 1: that is not what we're dealing with right now, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. And so yeah, knowing those definitions, knowing what
Speaker 1: exactly we're do link with this is helpful. But there
Speaker 1: are also some practical steps that we can take to
Speaker 1: to fight back against inflation in our own lives and
Speaker 1: and to make sure that it isn't, like we said,
Speaker 1: slowly eroding the value of our money or as is
Speaker 1: happening right now a little more quickly than it has
Speaker 1: in the in the best in the previous a few years.
Speaker 1: But we think it's important to fight fire with fire.
Speaker 1: And then and then that evolves pushing for to make
Speaker 1: more money, uh, pushing for a wage increase. Because of
Speaker 1: the whack of doodle inflation that we're seeing these days,
Speaker 1: it hasn't been easier in a long time to negotiate
Speaker 1: a higher salary or extra perks, Like if you haven't
Speaker 1: gotten a raise in quite some time, it's time for
Speaker 1: you to ask your boss to see, like how much
Speaker 1: more you can make. And if your employer is offering
Speaker 1: a normal raise in that two to three percent range
Speaker 1: that you're used to getting that cost of living adjustment,
Speaker 1: you gotta push for more. That's just not going to
Speaker 1: do it right now. And it's it's important to bring
Speaker 1: your knowledge about inflation and what's happening right now to
Speaker 1: these conversations and to push back and say, do you
Speaker 1: realize that's actually that's not even a raise like that
Speaker 1: you're not even allowing me to keep up with the
Speaker 1: increasing costs of goods and services. And so, yeah, if
Speaker 1: your employer isn't willing to budge on your pay, it's
Speaker 1: time to do some digging in the job market to
Speaker 1: see what sort of pay you can command elsewhere, and
Speaker 1: you can use that as leverage in the negotiation process
Speaker 1: or mosey on down the road to a new job
Speaker 1: where you can get paid a decent chunk more. But yeah,
Speaker 1: finding to make more money is a huge part of
Speaker 1: how you actually push back against the way inflation is
Speaker 1: impacting you and your own personal finances. That's rights another
Speaker 1: way we can combat inflation is just simply by consuming less,
Speaker 1: you know, remember the stats that we gave back at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the episode. We'll purchasing fewer things overall,
Speaker 1: and finding ways, you know, just to get the items
Speaker 1: that you do need, either for free or for you know,
Speaker 1: or for cheaper is something that we can always get behind,
Speaker 1: but especially now, um, you know, and so that can
Speaker 1: be as simple as just making dinner at home, brewing
Speaker 1: your own coffee. Those are legitimate helpful ways to make
Speaker 1: inflation hurt your bottom line in a smaller way. By
Speaker 1: nothing groups. They are in an excellent place to find
Speaker 1: things that you want that don't cost a time. Uh Facebook, Marketplace, eBay.
Speaker 1: These are all great for buying used. Depending on the item,
Speaker 1: we may not see inflation having as large of an
Speaker 1: impact on the used marketplace, and so that's just an
Speaker 1: effective way to stretch your dollar even more. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: market for local goods in your community via sites like
Speaker 1: Craigslist or Facebook, marketplace, you're going to in all likelihood, well, one,
Speaker 1: you're just gonna save money buying used, right, Like, that's
Speaker 1: one way to save money. But then on top of that,
Speaker 1: you might see uh more imperfections in that market, and
Speaker 1: so you might see someone selling an old couch or
Speaker 1: something that depending on the age and the wear and
Speaker 1: tear in the location and how you pick it up,
Speaker 1: they're they're not charging as much as they potentially could be.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I think there there's just there are
Speaker 1: more ways for you to save and to combat inflation
Speaker 1: by buying used and by sticking to some of those
Speaker 1: sites to buy more of the things that you might
Speaker 1: have opted to buy new totally on your favorite internet
Speaker 1: web site swap a offer up, like, there's all these
Speaker 1: other apps as well that I mean, honestly, like you
Speaker 1: and I, we don't use all that often because we're
Speaker 1: trying to minimize what we're purchasing all together. But there
Speaker 1: are a lot of different options out there for folks, yes, exactly,
Speaker 1: And so yeah, another question Matt that comes up for
Speaker 1: people is about stockpiling, like buying and consuming less stuff.
Speaker 1: That's one way to decrease the impact of inflation, But
Speaker 1: what about the opposite, what about what's known as kind
Speaker 1: of pulling demand forward and so buying things that you
Speaker 1: were attempting to hold off on, uh and saying you
Speaker 1: know what, because of the fear I have about inflation,
Speaker 1: because of the fact that this item is in all
Speaker 1: likelihood going to cost more next month, or at least
Speaker 1: that's my brain's assumption because I'm seeing all these headlines
Speaker 1: about inflation. Should I buy that item now? And that's actually,
Speaker 1: you know, when I refer to that listener on Facebook,
Speaker 1: that's that's really what she was asking about. Does it
Speaker 1: make sense to purchase something now assuming that the price
Speaker 1: is going to go up? And I think the answer
Speaker 1: to that depends on you know, what the item is,
Speaker 1: whether or not you can afford it is a huge
Speaker 1: is a huge piece of that. You know, don't go
Speaker 1: into debt in order to secure a small purchase or
Speaker 1: a medium sized purchase, because then you're paying interest on
Speaker 1: that item, and that defeats the purpose of saving money
Speaker 1: on the item. We can pretty much guarantee that the
Speaker 1: interest that you're gonna pay on an item paying for
Speaker 1: it with credit is going to be much higher than
Speaker 1: the rate of inflation over the next year. Yeah. But
Speaker 1: but if you have the cash and you're just accelerating
Speaker 1: a bigger purchase because you want to ensure that you
Speaker 1: lock in the price that it's at and you don't
Speaker 1: want to pay more down the road, that's not a
Speaker 1: terrible idea. We would just say, just don't let the
Speaker 1: current inflation reality and then you know, future inflation concerns
Speaker 1: get you too jumpy because that kind of leads to
Speaker 1: a cycle for for all of us. If we're buying more,
Speaker 1: consuming more, Uh, prices are going to go up at
Speaker 1: a faster rate, and that leads to a more inflationary
Speaker 1: environment in general. And it's just not good for your
Speaker 1: personal financial situation to continue to push forward spending to
Speaker 1: buy things sooner than you otherwise would just because of
Speaker 1: inflationary fears. Yeah, it's kind of like options trading. I
Speaker 1: feel like folks who like to stockpile and hoard might
Speaker 1: all to overlap with those who might be interested in that.
Speaker 1: But like, essentially this is kind of like the costco effect, right,
Speaker 1: That is how a lot of folks are able to
Speaker 1: get such a good deal at costco. Oftentimes it is
Speaker 1: the price, but it's because of the quantity. Uh. And if,
Speaker 1: of course, if you have a place to store all
Speaker 1: of those items and you're not going to be tempted
Speaker 1: to over consume those items, then it could be a
Speaker 1: good deal for you. Because I think that's another way
Speaker 1: that we have to be honest with ourselves, is are
Speaker 1: you gonna be wasteful? Right? Like, just because you have
Speaker 1: more of a certain product on hand, you need to
Speaker 1: be honest with yourself. And uh like, are you going
Speaker 1: to be more likely to burn through a bunch of
Speaker 1: paper towels because you've got six rolls of paper towels
Speaker 1: in your cabinet and it's kind of taken up a
Speaker 1: bunch of space. Like it makes me think back to
Speaker 1: I mean even now to a certain extent. I was
Speaker 1: talking about gas at the beginning of the episode. But
Speaker 1: when I'm getting close to the e you know, on
Speaker 1: the on the gas cage, I tend to drive a
Speaker 1: bit more gingerly, Like I I coast more. I I
Speaker 1: don't floor it as often. But Dude, after I fill
Speaker 1: that tank up, I'm like get in places quickly. It's like,
Speaker 1: I think I am not wasting time because I know
Speaker 1: that I've got a full tank. There's something like instinctually
Speaker 1: human and about that when you have more resources, you're
Speaker 1: just you're more wasteful. Exactly, when there's more money in
Speaker 1: your bank account and it's not earmarked for something, you're
Speaker 1: more likely to like say, screw it, I'm gonna buy
Speaker 1: that thing now on a whim, even though you haven't
Speaker 1: planned on it. Yeah, I I completely there's that psychological
Speaker 1: component of having I don't know, excess resources, either in
Speaker 1: your bank account or in your cabinet just depends if
Speaker 1: you're talking about dry goods from costco or just money
Speaker 1: in the bank. But we've got a few other ways
Speaker 1: that we can combat and fight against inflation and its
Speaker 1: impact on our finances. We'll touch on how investing can
Speaker 1: help us to fight inflation. We'll get to all that
Speaker 1: right after this break. All right, we'll back matt Let's
Speaker 1: keep talking about inflation and how it's making us a
Speaker 1: bit uh cuckoo for coco puffs? A bit crazy? Was that?
Speaker 1: Did you uh eat cocoa pus As a kid, my
Speaker 1: parents would rarely buy the name brand cereal? Matthew sentiment
Speaker 1: to crunch for me, man all the way, Give me
Speaker 1: like that one, a sugar cinnamon, like puffed rice whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm still nostalgic for all those cereals like if are
Speaker 1: we we never have them in our house. We never,
Speaker 1: But if someone gave me a box, I would eat
Speaker 1: the mess out of it, that's for sure. Like I
Speaker 1: remember cinnamon to a scrunch back when they were still
Speaker 1: serving it up, not in the plastic bag inside, but
Speaker 1: when it was still like the foil bag. Remember the
Speaker 1: foil bag. It was kind of like sticky around the top. Nice,
Speaker 1: I'm getting old. It's a good throwback, all right. Well,
Speaker 1: let's let's keep talking about inflation and how how to
Speaker 1: come about it. And one of the main ways that
Speaker 1: you can come about inflation in your life is to
Speaker 1: plan and budget better. So yet, not only should you
Speaker 1: consume less like we talked about to reduce the impact
Speaker 1: of inflation, looking to buy used stuff like that, but
Speaker 1: we also want you to pay special attention to your
Speaker 1: budget and make changes accordingly. Like in a normal inflationary cycle, Uh,
Speaker 1: you don't normally have to think as much about changes
Speaker 1: to your budget. There there are small little tweaks you
Speaker 1: can make in order to make sure that you kind
Speaker 1: of make the numbers work. But as the numbers change,
Speaker 1: as your grocery store run, or the amount you spend
Speaker 1: on us every month doesn't stay the same as those
Speaker 1: prices increase, there are some changes that we have to
Speaker 1: make to our habits and to our behaviors in order
Speaker 1: to kind of continue to live within our means. Uh,
Speaker 1: But there's also a truth to there's only so much
Speaker 1: that you can cut back, right, So you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to adjust your budget to reflect the changing reality on
Speaker 1: the ground. Because if you don't make any changes to
Speaker 1: what you're buying and to the amount that you've budget
Speaker 1: every month, if you're not changing things around and reallocating
Speaker 1: your resources, chances that you're gonna go over budget just
Speaker 1: are going up dramatically. That's right, And I mean and obviously,
Speaker 1: like the most important thing about budgeting and tracking or
Speaker 1: spending is to just to be able to have accurate information. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so it's okay if that amount changes, right, Like,
Speaker 1: that's that's not like throwing in the towel and admitting
Speaker 1: defeat or anything like that. But the more accurate those
Speaker 1: numbers are, the more helpful it will be when it
Speaker 1: comes to you achieving some of the different financial goals
Speaker 1: that you set for yourself. And it touches on, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the different strategies that I have when it
Speaker 1: comes to my spending when like we try not to
Speaker 1: adjust how much we spend towards different categories from your
Speaker 1: a year, because, like we said earlier, inflation does take place.
Speaker 1: It is happening in the background, even when it's not
Speaker 1: in the headlines, and if you are able to maintain
Speaker 1: a certain level of spending, you are effectively spending less
Speaker 1: every single year. Uh. And so that's kind of like
Speaker 1: one of those little tricks where it's like, oh, my
Speaker 1: gut's getting bigger, but I'm gonna keep the belts, you know,
Speaker 1: on the same notch. It feels a little bit tight.
Speaker 1: Eventually you get to a point to where you're like,
Speaker 1: all right, this isn't it's either not accurate anymore, or
Speaker 1: it's actually just impossible to actually contain the growth or
Speaker 1: the money that you do want to spend. But again,
Speaker 1: it's often about having accurate information, and when it comes
Speaker 1: to your investment portfolio, you want to make sure that
Speaker 1: you've you know, that you're aware of the impact that
Speaker 1: higher prices uh will have on your nest egg, not
Speaker 1: only on your expenses every month, like we just talked about,
Speaker 1: but also on your retirements. You know, this is an
Speaker 1: instance where it might make sense to be a little
Speaker 1: bit more conservative. You know, this is especially true for retirees.
Speaker 1: There's been the commonly dispensed four percent rule, which basically
Speaker 1: states that retiree they should be able to draw down
Speaker 1: four percent of their portfolio assets every single year. Uh.
Speaker 1: And if they do that, they'll never outlive their money.
Speaker 1: But the smart folks over at morning Star, they actually
Speaker 1: just reassessed and say that it should be more like
Speaker 1: a three point three percent draw down rate. Uh. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: it changed that from point zero four to point zero
Speaker 1: at three three. And that's based on an assumption that
Speaker 1: equities are overvalued right now. Uh, and that bond rates
Speaker 1: will remain low, And so being more conservative is going
Speaker 1: to make sense in an environment like this. Yes, true, Matt.
Speaker 1: But but while we're talking about investing, we would also
Speaker 1: tell folks, tell our listeners, especially the younger ones who
Speaker 1: have decades to grow their wealth, to not make massive
Speaker 1: changes to their investment portfolio because they're worried about inflation.
Speaker 1: Those are other headlines that you and I are seeing.
Speaker 1: It's like how to inflation proof your portfolio. And we've
Speaker 1: talked about this before. We did an episode about inflation.
Speaker 1: I don't know, was it like eight ten months ago,
Speaker 1: and we we talked about how stop are one of
Speaker 1: the best places to put your money no matter the
Speaker 1: inflationary environment, and a widely diversified portfolio made up of
Speaker 1: mostly equities continues to be an excellent way to invest
Speaker 1: your money even in this environment. So we would say
Speaker 1: keep investing in the market each and every month, preferably
Speaker 1: in those diversified index funds. And uh, Yeah, as we've seen,
Speaker 1: this inflationary period has actually created more profitability for a
Speaker 1: whole lot of companies. And so if you own a
Speaker 1: small piece of the hundreds or thousands of companies in
Speaker 1: that index fund, you stand to benefit. You're going to
Speaker 1: see the amount in that retirement accounts continue to go up.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, generally speaking, investing your money is the
Speaker 1: most straightforward way to hedge against inflation. The more you
Speaker 1: have in savings just sitting there in an account that's
Speaker 1: getting eroded away, but the money that you have and
Speaker 1: investments over time is going to healthily combat what's happening
Speaker 1: with inflation. Yeah, you definitely don't want to have too
Speaker 1: much money in your savings. Like obviously we like saving money,
Speaker 1: but hoarding you know, just massive amounts, Uh, within an
Speaker 1: inflationary environment like this means that your dollars are losing
Speaker 1: their spending power more rapidly. You've got to be an
Speaker 1: investor always, but especially now, don't put that emergency fund
Speaker 1: money at risk in the market. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: don't get too conservative and have just massive amounts of
Speaker 1: money in your savings account. You want to put your
Speaker 1: money that you don't need set aside in that emergency
Speaker 1: fund to work, and you know, making small moves like
Speaker 1: opting just to put some of your discretionary savings and
Speaker 1: I bonds that can be a helpful inflation hedge. But
Speaker 1: you don't want to make just these huge, massive overhauls
Speaker 1: to your portfolio in an attempt to correct for those
Speaker 1: higher inflation numbers. Yeah, it's tempting that, I think for
Speaker 1: people to uh see us, to see one thing happening
Speaker 1: and then to instinctively knee jerk make a reaction to
Speaker 1: counterbalance what's happening in one space. And when inflation feels
Speaker 1: out of control, you feel like you need to get
Speaker 1: in control and and make a different move. But really,
Speaker 1: the traditional way we've talked about investing uh it whole. Yes,
Speaker 1: it remains true whether you're in a one and a
Speaker 1: half percent inflationary environment or an eight percent inflationary environment,
Speaker 1: it's still a great way to continue to invest your
Speaker 1: money to continue to dollar cost average every two weeks
Speaker 1: with your paycheck, or or just sticking to your investing
Speaker 1: plan in general, investing as frequently as you like to do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean going back to your you know what you
Speaker 1: said about your friend that had prostate cancer. It kind
Speaker 1: of goes back to that. There's this mentality of feeling
Speaker 1: like we got a mess with stuff. As as soon
Speaker 1: as you hear something new or you hear something scary
Speaker 1: like a cancer diagnosis, you think, okay, let's blast it.
Speaker 1: But in reality that you know in his case that
Speaker 1: wasn't what he needed to do, and in our case
Speaker 1: when it comes to investing, and for a lot of people,
Speaker 1: you don't need to do anything differently. You just keep
Speaker 1: doing what you've been doing and ignore the headlines. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it feels like it's action time, but in reality it's
Speaker 1: time to like, I don't keep on doing what you've
Speaker 1: been doing and take very little action. And let's talk
Speaker 1: about debt to Matt, because that's that's a question that
Speaker 1: comes up when people are hearing what's happening with inflation.
Speaker 1: Should it change the way I'm like tackling or paying
Speaker 1: off my debt? Well, that depends but in some ways.
Speaker 1: Actually yes, with low interest right debt? Right, have you
Speaker 1: been paying off the loan on your house more quickly,
Speaker 1: maybe hoping to pay it off in twenty years instead
Speaker 1: of thirty years. Well, if you're fixed, mortgage rate is
Speaker 1: low in the three percent range. Uh, and it should
Speaker 1: be after the rates we've been experiencing. If you haven't
Speaker 1: really financed in the last three years, you probably should
Speaker 1: that would do it. Yes, but yeah, no, No. Debt obviously,
Speaker 1: according to Matt and I is spectacularly awesome. Some debts
Speaker 1: are better than others. But we don't really love any
Speaker 1: of them. We don't. We just dislike some less, but
Speaker 1: some that it just really is less egregious. Some of
Speaker 1: it even borders on smarts. And your home mortgage is
Speaker 1: one of those debts that we think should be a
Speaker 1: low priority for you to pay off, especially with what's
Speaker 1: currently happening right now. Right, just don't start spending the
Speaker 1: money that you're putting towards the principle in order to
Speaker 1: pay down that mortgage. Quicker we would say invested instead. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: debt paid down is still something that you should prioritize,
Speaker 1: especially if it's credit card debt or if it's high
Speaker 1: interest rate debt, it's still is something we want you
Speaker 1: to get rid of as quickly as possible. But if
Speaker 1: you were, let's say, prioritizing pay down of a debt
Speaker 1: that's got an astronomically low interest rate, well, in this
Speaker 1: current inflationary environment, it makes less and less sense to
Speaker 1: be paying down debt with that money, and it makes
Speaker 1: more and more sense to continue to invest that money
Speaker 1: to protect it more against inflation, because guess what, your
Speaker 1: mortgage interest rate is far below the rate of inflation
Speaker 1: is right now, So it's actually like an inflation hedge
Speaker 1: to to hold on to that. Yeah, yeah, what better
Speaker 1: hedge is there on inflation over the years than the
Speaker 1: ability to you know, lock in a fixed expense, in
Speaker 1: this case, your mortgage, while you can expect to earn
Speaker 1: more with a higher income and with you know, higher
Speaker 1: returns on money that you've got invested. You know, that's
Speaker 1: that's exactly what happens when you buy a home on
Speaker 1: a fixed rate mortgage, because I know that the payments
Speaker 1: I make all my house and all my investment properties
Speaker 1: aren't gonna go up at all over the next thirty years,
Speaker 1: but our rent is going to be higher, like twenty
Speaker 1: years from now, and you can all but guarantee that
Speaker 1: rents are gonna be higher. Uh, and all the while
Speaker 1: my payments that I make to the bank aren't going anywhere.
Speaker 1: It's the exact same. Yeah, that's exactly right, Mad. Even
Speaker 1: some of the rental properties you and I have had
Speaker 1: for just over a decade, for like twelve years, those
Speaker 1: those properties, like we've seen rents go up quite a
Speaker 1: bit in that time period, and yet the monthly note
Speaker 1: on that mortgage hasn't really changed all that much, with
Speaker 1: the exception of tax increases, right right, That's why we
Speaker 1: are huge fans of real estate investing. That's right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's another another check mark in the in the box
Speaker 1: of why real estate investing is great. But when it
Speaker 1: comes down to it, Matt, like the you can't stop
Speaker 1: the perpetual move of inflation, like none of us can
Speaker 1: in the forward march of time. Yeah yeah, yeah, none
Speaker 1: of us can turn back time like like share. But
Speaker 1: the factors like causing inflation, they're just out of our hands,
Speaker 1: like they're they're far beyond us. It's this it's this
Speaker 1: world economic thing that that you and I don't have
Speaker 1: any influence over than none of us do. And yes,
Speaker 1: some periods of time we're gonna experience inflation happening more
Speaker 1: rapidly like we are now. Other times we'll see a
Speaker 1: more gradual increase of inflation. But your specific rate of
Speaker 1: inflation it doesn't have to reflect the overall CPI numbers
Speaker 1: that come out every month and the reports of increased inflation.
Speaker 1: They don't have to change how we react, or we
Speaker 1: don't even have to make any changes based on seeing them.
Speaker 1: There are are certainly some folks who are more at
Speaker 1: risk of inflationary shocks than others, but there are ways
Speaker 1: for all of us to fight back and keep more
Speaker 1: money in our pockets, even as things feel like they've
Speaker 1: gone a bit haywire around us. And so what Matt
Speaker 1: and I really want is is for us to not
Speaker 1: freak out, to actually thrive in this inflationary cycle. And honestly,
Speaker 1: even as the headlines have spelled doom and gloom for
Speaker 1: everybody when it comes to losing more of our money
Speaker 1: to inflation, if you have listened to the show and
Speaker 1: if you have been taking the actions that we have
Speaker 1: talked about for the last four years, and then we
Speaker 1: will continue to talk about you. You should have done you.
Speaker 1: We must have not incredibly well, because if you've been
Speaker 1: investing your money in those widely diversified next one so
Speaker 1: that we've talked about, you've crushed it. You've you have
Speaker 1: far outpaced the rate of inflation. Your money is in
Speaker 1: a good spot. And if you've been playing paying down
Speaker 1: those high interest rate debts, you're in a good spot. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, there there are small tweaks you can
Speaker 1: make around the edges, but when it comes down to it,
Speaker 1: the fundamentals that we talked about on the show all
Speaker 1: the time still apply, and we'll continue to apply in perpetuity, exactly.
Speaker 1: Man couldn't have said it better myself. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: now then and get back to the beer. On this episode,
Speaker 1: you and I shared a chocolate pecan porter. And this
Speaker 1: is my Tim Blore Brewing company out there in California. Joel,
Speaker 1: we're your thoughts on this one, Okay. So I gotta
Speaker 1: say I love pecans or pecans however you want to
Speaker 1: say anything, I was gonna ask you if Okay, So
Speaker 1: we had Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago. Pecome by?
Speaker 1: Was that? Was that on the menu? Definitely had a
Speaker 1: slice of course yes. And some people hate pecan pie,
Speaker 1: like you either love it or hate it. I think
Speaker 1: I like it, all right, I was like my favorite.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't beat a fresh, you know, hot
Speaker 1: out of the oven apple pie. Yeah that's true. That's true.
Speaker 1: Not super hot because you need it to set up
Speaker 1: that way. It doesn't just like out onto your plate.
Speaker 1: But if you wanted to sit up a little bit,
Speaker 1: but like that, if it's like a little bit warmed
Speaker 1: with some ice cream, I mean, you can't beat that,
Speaker 1: all right. If you had to choose pecan or pumpkin,
Speaker 1: what would you choose? Oh? I feel like pumpkin pie
Speaker 1: is one of the divisive pies, like people either hate
Speaker 1: or love that. I'm probably gonna have to give the
Speaker 1: edge to pecan pie. Same here over pumpkin pie. But
Speaker 1: I do love pumpkin pie. Okay, all right, Well you
Speaker 1: like all the pies? I think I do. Well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when it came to this one, you know, I really
Speaker 1: like pecans, and I thought this one had a nice
Speaker 1: pecan presence in there. And I've never had like a
Speaker 1: chocolate cover pecan. Although like all these cells to chocolate
Speaker 1: covered almonds, which are delightful and delicious and should always
Speaker 1: have someone hand to push it over to pecans maybe
Speaker 1: that would be delicious, maybe because this Yeah, I really
Speaker 1: like the vibe going on here. The nutty in the
Speaker 1: chocolate uh inside of a porter was just yeah, really
Speaker 1: well done, and so yeah, this one was really tasty.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. Yeah. Yeah, this is one of those
Speaker 1: reasons why a porter is fantastic because you get all
Speaker 1: that flavor without having to like chew on your beer,
Speaker 1: which is oftentimes what you get with a really big style,
Speaker 1: which can be fun at times, but if you're just
Speaker 1: looking to enjoy a nice dark beverage here in these
Speaker 1: colder months, a quarter like this definitely hits the mark.
Speaker 1: So a big thanks again to Ryan and our friends
Speaker 1: out there at tim Blore Brewing Company uh for sending
Speaker 1: us one our away. And you can actually find a
Speaker 1: picture of this beer, plus any of the other resources
Speaker 1: we may have mentioned during this episode, up on our
Speaker 1: website at how to money dot com. No doubt, all right, Matt,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this episode. So until next time,
Speaker 1: Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,