1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: and today we're discussing how to escape living paycheck to paycheck. 3 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: All right, Joel, I am excited to talk about living 4 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck. You know, we've gotten a lot of 5 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: emails recently of folks writing in talking about how that's 6 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: something they struggle with. And oftentimes the topics we cover 7 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: start from the assumption that you do have a little 8 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: bit of cash, you know, to start investing, to start 9 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: putting towards those goals that you have set. And so today, yeah, 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: I'm excited that we're gonna be able to step back 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: a little bit more to talk through how to take 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: those steps to get a little bit of financial margin 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: in your life. Yeah, Matt, I know there are a 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: lot of people living in a scenario where they're living 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck. It hurts my heart to hear about that, 16 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to hopefully providing some from those 17 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: practical solutions. Real quick, though, I wanted to mention there 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: was an article posted in our Facebook group by Heather 19 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: and the article she posted was called is it an 20 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: expensive bike or inexpensive Transportation? And I thought it was 21 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: super helpful in kind of reframing the conversation around riding bikes. 22 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: And we've talked about this before on the show, but 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: that article in particularly was just a really good example 24 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: of how cheap riding a bike can be, even an 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: expensive bike, when you're comparing it to normal car transportation 26 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: and how expensive that gets. Yeah, it's just a great 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: example of how just thinking about something from a different 28 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: perspective can completely change how you view the value of 29 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: that thing. And you mentioned expensive bike, and it's true, 30 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: the guy that wrote that article has like an eight 31 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: thousand dollar bike, which is crazy expensive. That's crazy expensive, 32 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: way more expensive than anything that we would even dream 33 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: of owning. But again, when you put it in the 34 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: context of transportation, and he had the numbers up for 35 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: how much it would cost him to operate a basic 36 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: Honda Civic and the fact is it's almost impossible to 37 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: operate a vehicle like that as a small reasonable vehicle 38 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: for less than six thousand dollars every year. And so 39 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:09,839 Speaker 1: you know, by no means are we advocating and saying, yeah, 40 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: you should go out and buy an eight thousand dollar bike. 41 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: There are lots of affordable alternatives to that where you 42 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: can get an electric bike for much cheaper that would 43 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: allow you to replace the vehicle. But just that sort 44 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: of paradigm shift by thinking about the bike not as 45 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: just a nice bike or even as an affordable bike, 46 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: but viewing it as a replacement to transportation. We recently 47 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: talked about secondary costs, and the secondary costs associated with 48 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: owning a vehicle are huge. Yeah, there's an article that's 49 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: on our site that I wrote about insurance and if 50 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: you can even just reduce the amount of miles that 51 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: you drive every year to less than most insurance companies 52 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: will give you a pretty big discount for being a 53 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: low mileage driver. Other insurance companies are starting to charge 54 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: by the mile, which means if you drive very, very little, 55 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: you could save a lot of money on your insurance costs. 56 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: And so if you can step up your bike usage 57 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: and lower how much you're driving, yeah, it can be 58 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: an alternative form of transportation to you and then save 59 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: you money on your car costs every month. And be 60 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: sure to check out electric bike review dot com as 61 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: well if you're looking at electric bikes. The guy that 62 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: runs that site has got tons of reviews on there. 63 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: And be sure to check out his top rated section 64 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: where he reviews different styles of bikes, and that's where 65 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: you'll be able to find, you know, like a roadbike 66 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,119 Speaker 1: versus a hybrid or a city commuter. And in most 67 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: of those options, he has a nicer expensive option, but 68 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: then a really affordable one. And dude, a lot of 69 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: the ones that come in that are really affordable that 70 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: he loves our rat bikes and that's what you own, 71 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: the rat Wagon. Yeah. Rad has this awesome direct to 72 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: consumer business model and they've made electric bikes so much 73 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: less cost prohibitive. I've seen so many people riding RAD 74 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: bikes more recently around town just because they've lowered the 75 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: price and the barrier to entry into hopping on a bike. 76 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: And so I'm just seeing people ride around town more 77 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: frequently on bikes, and a lot of that is electric bikes, 78 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: which is super cool. It's fun to see. Well. In 79 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: quick shout out to to Heather because she works for 80 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, which is an awesome Atlanta nonprofit 81 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: and they promote bike safety, bike awareness, basically just trying 82 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: to make biking in Atlanta better. Yeah. So, if you're 83 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: into biking and you're wanting it to be safer in 84 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: your city. Be sure to look up your organization and 85 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: seriously consider supporting them most definitely, my friend. All right, 86 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: let's mention the beer that we're gonna have on the 87 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: show today. We're drinking Roast Beast by Modern Methods Brewing Company. 88 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: And that's beast, not beef, right right, So it reminds 89 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: me of Whoville. Uh, the who's carved the roast beast, 90 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: that's what That's what this must be named after. Uh. 91 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: And listener Krista was kind enough to send us this 92 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: beer in crowlor form out of Cleveland, Ohio. And the 93 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,279 Speaker 1: coolest thing about this beer, Matt and Krista sent us 94 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: some info on this is that this brewery is located 95 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: in David Grohl Alley. So Dave Dave Girl, who's a 96 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: famous musician, the frontman for the Foo Fighters, drummer for 97 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: Nirvana as well. Yea originally yeah, so apparently this this 98 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: brewery is located right in this alley that's named after 99 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: world famous Dave Gross that's kind of cool. Yeah, And 100 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: technically they call this a groller, not a crowler, so 101 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: it's it's a groller. And did you ever listen to 102 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: Food Fighters back in the day. Obviously, Nirvana is kind 103 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: of a staple. But Food Fighters, man, you know, not really. 104 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: I know they were super popular, but I wasn't cool enough. 105 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: I don't think did. I was looking back over their 106 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: discography and I forgot how much I love them. The 107 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: Color in the Shape and I'm freaking rocked. It had 108 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: so many great songs on there, Monkey Wrench, I know 109 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: the song man, but I'm sorry, we just can't connect 110 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: on this level right now. I'm not saying I dig 111 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: them like today, but it definitely makes me want to 112 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:34,919 Speaker 1: go back and listen to some of that awesome, you know, 113 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: late nineties rock. Well, I did like some late nineties rock. 114 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: And even if we can't kind of bond over Food Fighters, well, 115 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: we can bond over this beer. So thank you Christa, 116 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: and we'll kind of let you guys know what we 117 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: think about this speer at the end of the show. 118 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: All right, Joel, onto the topic at hand. Today. We're 119 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: talking about how to escape living paycheck to paycheck, and honestly, 120 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: a large swath of Americans wouldn't be able to pay 121 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: their bills if they missed a paycheck. And you know, 122 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: we saw this evidence earlier this year with the government shutdown. 123 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: How there are tons of government employees who are in 124 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: that very situation, you know, when you're living paycheck to paycheck. 125 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: The idea of even setting aside extra money every month 126 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: is honestly laughable, Like, how are you supposed to set 127 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,119 Speaker 1: financial goals? How are they supposed to be attainable when 128 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: every single dollar is going to go towards just staying afloat. Yeah, Matt, 129 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: and I feel like, honestly, some of the advice that 130 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: gets targeted towards people who are living paycheck to paycheck. 131 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: First off, there are a lot of predatory companies that 132 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: like to leach on the people that are the most 133 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: vulnerable in our society, and we're gonna kind of talk 134 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: about that more later in the episode. But so much 135 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: of the advice that that is mentioned for people living 136 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck is is kind of cheap and not 137 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: not very thorough. And so, based on some recent listener emails, 138 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: we felt like this was a subject that we needed 139 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: to tackle. We needed to tackle it well, because, like 140 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: you said, this is a problem for a huge percentage 141 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: of Americans, and we want the people living paycheck to 142 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: paycheck to be able to find some of that margin 143 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: so that some of our other episodes can be really helpful, 144 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: so that they can start gaining ground when it to saving, 145 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: when it comes to investing for the future, and just 146 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: have the confidence that they're going to be able to 147 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 1: meet financial challenges that arise, because it happens for all 148 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: of us. Unexpected expenses pop up, whether it's a car 149 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: breakdown or an HVAC system that goes kaplui, that happens, 150 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: and so you and I'm at we were empathetic to 151 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: the plight that many people in this country face. And 152 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: so many people are in a position like this, often 153 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: through through very little fault of their own. Sometimes it's 154 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: a personal circumstance or a family member having an issue 155 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: where you have to help out. It turns out six 156 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: of bankruptcies happen because of unexpected medical bills, and often 157 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: those medical bills arose out of an issue that kind 158 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: of popped up out of nowhere. But I do think 159 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: at the same time, there are some practical steps that 160 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: we can lay out that can help people who are 161 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: who do find themselves in that situation get a leg 162 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: up and start making changes. And so that's what this 163 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: episode is all about. And the thing is if this 164 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: is your situation, right, this is the boat that you're in, 165 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: keep in mind that this won't change overnight. Getting your 166 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: finances in order is going to take time. It's going 167 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: to take intentionality. And high earners aren't immune to living 168 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: paycheck to pycheck either. Right, It's not just those that 169 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: are living at the poverty line. You can have a 170 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: huge income, but if your expenses are just as huge, 171 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: you are by definition living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah, Matt, 172 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: I feel like there are a lot of stories of 173 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: people that make six figures are close to it, who 174 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: are are living paycheck to paycheck. So you're right, it's 175 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: not just people living below or near you know, the 176 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: poverty line. It's a huge percentage of Americans across the 177 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: income spectrum. Okay, So in order to get out of 178 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: that cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, what needs to 179 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: happen is that you need to create some financial margin. 180 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: And what that means is there's just some room. There 181 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: are literal dollars between what you make your income and 182 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: the expenses that you have every month or every two weeks. 183 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: And so the first steps in order to transition you 184 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: away from living paycheck to paycheck are. The first thing 185 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: that we're gonna cover is tracking your spending. Knowing where 186 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: your money is going every month is going to be 187 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: the very first step in knowing how to reroute towards savings. Joel, 188 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: I know personally you love using Mint. Yeah, Matt, I 189 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: love using Mint. I hook up all my accounts to it, 190 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: and it helps me track my spending all in one place. 191 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: I love going there in order to get quick overviews 192 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: of my budget. But then also I literally have every 193 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: single transaction spelled out, and I can see every single 194 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: incoming and outgoing financial transaction at the same time, all 195 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: in one place, and and that's what I love about Mint. 196 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: So it's also free, which is really nice. You can 197 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: download the app or go to the website. So at 198 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: least for me, that's the best tool that I use 199 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: to track my finances. It's nice to be able to 200 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: kind of automate some aspects of your life, right, But 201 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: at the same time, it's not necessary. Tracking your expenses 202 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: isn't something that requires hard thinking or decision making, Like 203 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: tracking your expenses is very different than budgeting. It's just 204 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: looking at where your money is going and just keeping 205 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: up with it a little bit. So as long as 206 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: you just keep receipts, you can ease the track you're spending. Uh. 207 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: If you don't have a smartphone, by chance, keep up 208 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: with your receipts, list amount on paper. That is tracking 209 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: your expenses. Yeah. And I think the reason that we 210 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: say tracking your expenses is the first step towards building 211 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: some financial margin in your life is because if you 212 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: don't know where your money is going, it can kind 213 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,559 Speaker 1: of take on wings at at different times in your 214 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: life and you might spend five bucks here, ten bucks there, 215 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: and typically if you're not tracking your spending, you just 216 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: forget about those purchases. You don't remember that they even happened. 217 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: And you want to be able to look the cold, 218 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: hard dead facts right in the face. And that's why 219 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: tracking your spending is the first step that you have 220 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: to take if you want to kind of end that 221 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: vicious cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah, and just 222 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: as you start making progress, it's good to see where 223 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: you've been, because it's fun to track your progress as 224 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: you improve, which leads us to our next step, which 225 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: is setting goals. And so ask yourself, what is it 226 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: that you want aspiring towards specific goals can be incredibly helpful. 227 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: Knowing your why behind money will help you to get 228 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: through those tough times of austerity. Which is a funny 229 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: word to use because, like typically austerity is like a 230 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: political or economic term where a government will either cut 231 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: spending or raise taxes, And when it comes to you, 232 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 1: like on a personal level, those are the exact same 233 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: things essentially that you have to do. You have to 234 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: either increase your income or most likely cut expenses. Those 235 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: are your two largest levels that you can pull in 236 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: order to make change in your personal finances. Yeah, Matt, 237 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: and our whole show is kind of based around living 238 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: or rich life. Now, we're big fans of people prioritizing 239 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: saving and investing, but at the same time not depriving 240 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,199 Speaker 1: themselves of things that are meaningful. But I gotta say, 241 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: if you are in the position of living paycheck to paycheck, 242 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: the idea of austerity is an important one to consider 243 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: for the time being. You might need to make some 244 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: short term sacrifices so that you can achieve the goals 245 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: of achieving margin in your life. I'll tell you what, Matt. 246 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: From everyone that I've heard that's gotten out of the 247 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, They actually have an 248 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: emergency fund, they have the financial means when they encounter 249 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: an unexpected expense. The sort of mental freedom that they 250 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: gain because of that is so much greater than the 251 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: pain of the austerity that they had to endure. I 252 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: think that's important to note and knowing that that is 253 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: your goal, that's your light at the end of the tunnel. 254 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: That's sort of freedom to meet those unexpected situations that 255 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: come up. That is going to help you to actually 256 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: get through those times where you're cutting back ruthlessly. That's right. Gel. So, 257 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: like we said, cutting expenses, uh and earning more like 258 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: those are the main levers that are going to allow 259 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: you to get out of that cycle of living paycheck 260 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: to paycheck, and we're going to dive into the specifics 261 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: on how you can do that. Right after the break, 262 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: our buddy, we're back and let's talk about cutting expenses. 263 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: We already kind of mentioned tracking your spending and how 264 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,719 Speaker 1: that's the first thing you need to do. It's hard 265 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: to know what to cut unless you have been tracking 266 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 1: and you actually know where the money is going. And 267 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: then the idea is to ruthlessly unnecessary expenses. We had 268 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: an episode earlier episode thirteen on cutting your monthly bills, 269 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: and that's particularly powerful when we're talking about recurring expenses. 270 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: We also did an episode about monthly cell phone bills. 271 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: Matt I just talked to a friend that took action 272 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: on that and he signed up for Sprints one year 273 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: free service plan. Oh is that that deal? Like if 274 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: you transferred over specifically from Verizon, right, yeah, but and 275 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: it's from other cell phone providers as well, you can 276 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: get the deal. So so it's worth noting that there 277 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: are major savings to be had if you will only 278 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: take the steps and cutting your monthly bills. The recurring 279 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,679 Speaker 1: bills that show up every single month are going to 280 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: be huge in upping that margin in your life. Let's 281 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: first now talk about some big steps that you can take, 282 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: drastic steps. It is more effective to focus on these 283 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: bigger winds when it comes to cutting your expenses sometimes 284 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 1: than focusing on just like all the tiny little things 285 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: that you think might make a difference, right like the 286 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: latte every day. You hear that mentioned all the time. 287 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: If you can tackle the biggest expenses in your life, 288 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to take much bigger steps towards 289 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: creating margin in your life. You know, if your leases up, 290 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: consider moving into a smaller and cheaper place, or maybe 291 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: even consider moving in with family. If you have a 292 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: car payment that's killing you, consider selling that car. Go 293 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: ahead and take that loss. You know, drive a beater instead. 294 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: We're focusing on these bigger things because housing, transportation, and 295 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: food for the average American takes up seventy of your budget. 296 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: So if you can focus on those three things, you know, 297 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: like we already covered housing, we did transportation, food, you know, 298 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: stop eating out like that is the most expensive way 299 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: to feed yourself is if you go out to a 300 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: restaurant every day, but focus on the bulk of where 301 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: you're spending your money first in order to see the 302 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: largest gains. Yeah, Matt, those are huge. Often times for 303 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: people those feel like fixed immovable costs, but they're not. 304 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: And especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck and you 305 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: want to change that cycle, that are often ways that 306 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: you can change the makeup of those bigger monthly bills 307 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: in your life. At minimum, it's something that you should 308 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: start thinking about and creating an action plan for. Maybe 309 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: taking on a roommate is an ideal, but you know what, 310 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: maybe that's the step you have to take for the 311 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: time being. Yeah, for a short period of time. You're 312 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: not saying that you have to always do this, but 313 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: if if you know that, like man, if I do 314 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: this for six months or a year, like, think about 315 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: the kind of margin like that that would give you. Yeah. Completely, 316 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: And Matt, you did kind of mention getting a latte 317 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: every day, and that is something that I feel like 318 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: a lot of financial experts quote unquote say stop drinking 319 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: the latte and you'll be able to save this and 320 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: such more for a retirement. And I understand where they're 321 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: coming from. I feel like for a lot of people 322 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: that's not necessarily helpful. But if you are living paycheck 323 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: to paycheck, a lot of people living in that vicious cycle, 324 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: they feel like when they do something positive, they owe 325 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: themselves kind of like a little reward, and those rewards 326 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: can be costly over time, whether it is a latte 327 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: or eating out. We mentioned the word austerity earlier. I 328 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: think it is important if you are living a life 329 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: that is paycheck to paycheck, you have to forego some 330 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: of those even sort of rewards for the time being 331 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: because they can kind of mess you up on your 332 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: way towards gaining that bit of margin in your life, 333 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: which is so important. Yeah, sometimes it's key just to 334 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: kind of go cold turkey, Like it requires you to 335 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: completely jar yourself off the normal patterns and the habits 336 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: that you have in order to completely reframe the way 337 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: that you are thinking about your expenses. It's like a 338 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: prize fighter doing some training, right. Oh, I know all 339 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: about that, do you? Okay, Yeah, of course you do. No, 340 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: don't really, but they're not eating donuts ever, Like one 341 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: donut throws them off their game if they've got a 342 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: fight coming up in two weeks. And so the same way, 343 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: you need to kind of take on the focus of 344 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: a prize fighter where those things are completely anathema to 345 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: what you're trying to achieve. And Joel, like you mentioned, 346 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: those small things do add up, and so now is 347 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: the time to kind of feel like that last of 348 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: your expenses. Uh, there are ways to just reduce those expenses, 349 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: like with your insurance shop it around, if you're making 350 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: purchases that are non necessity items. We've talked about this recently, 351 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: but consider putting a period of time where you're gonna 352 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: make yourself weight, Like consider waiting thirty days if you 353 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: know that you are prone to making purchases on a 354 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: whim and receiving it in two days or less. Cut 355 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: that Amazon Prime membership if you know that that's causing 356 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: you to stumble again. The whole idea is to kind 357 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: of jar your habits and to kind of get you 358 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: off that path that got you to where you didn't 359 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: have any financial margin in your life to begin with. 360 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: Another major step you need to take is to keep 361 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: tracking those expenses. And it sounds weird, right We just 362 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: talked about tracking expenses, but being able to note your 363 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: progress is helpful, and the only way that you can 364 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: do that is by continued tracking. And so even if 365 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: you kind of came up with a list of what 366 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 1: you've been spending in order to kind of get get 367 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: a handle on your situation, continued tracking helps provide you 368 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: the encouragement to see that changes are being made. It 369 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: makes things tangible. And another way to kind of help 370 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: make that tangible is by creating charts and graphs that 371 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: helped track that progress. And so Katie and our Facebook 372 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 1: group posted a picture of a bar graph that she'd 373 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: kind of created to track her own progress on paying 374 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: off debts and saving up an emergency fund and I thought, man, 375 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: that is so helpful. It's his visual that she gets 376 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: to look at every day and at the same time 377 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: kind of physically color in those bars to track her progress. 378 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: What a cool way to make your progress tangible. It's 379 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: so much better than just looking at numbers on a screen. Yeah, 380 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: like you said, she's doing it by hand. This isn't 381 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: you know, some fancy graph or chart like that you're 382 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: gonna do on your computer, but just written out on 383 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: a piece of paper. Like it does not have to 384 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: be complicated or fancy at all in order to feel 385 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: the results of what you're accomplishing. And that's the reward, right. 386 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: I feel like people are tempted to spend money in 387 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: little ways here and there to reward themselves. The real 388 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: reward is that tangible feeling that you get by tracking 389 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: your progress. And another step in going down the path 390 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: of cutting your expenses joal is to make sure you 391 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: engage your support system, and by that I mean friends. 392 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: You and I we love talking about money. We've done 393 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: an episode on why you need to talk about money 394 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: with your friends and family. But the fact is it 395 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,959 Speaker 1: is it's not easy. It can be really hard. To 396 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: be vulnerable when it comes to your finances, when it 397 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: comes to talking about scaling back your expenses, but it 398 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: is so incredibly important to get your friends on board 399 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: when you have that support system around you, and to 400 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: know also that you have friends that are working towards 401 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: similar goals that you are. You know, we've also mentioned 402 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: this in that same episode where we talked about talking 403 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: about money with your friends and family, but creating a 404 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,880 Speaker 1: friend group or a tribe who in essence are keeping 405 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: you accountable and who also want to see you succeed. Yeah, 406 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: and if you need online encouragement, join our how to 407 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: Money Facebook group. Really, the idea of cutting back spending less, 408 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: it's a it's a really simple idea, and so that's 409 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: why we tried to kind of go through some of 410 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: the nuances of it. So oftentimes, when people struggling who 411 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: are living paycheck to paycheck are told just to spend less, 412 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 1: it feels like a very simplistic solution, and so that's why, 413 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,719 Speaker 1: you know, Matt and I tried to go through kind 414 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,159 Speaker 1: of some of the specifics here. The idea of spending 415 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: less is simple, but it's not always easy in reality, 416 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: and so taking some of the steps that we mentioned 417 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 1: can create some better habits in your life, leading to change, 418 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: and it can also help take some of the emotion 419 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 1: out of those decisions that cause you to spend money 420 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: on a whim. Yeah, Joe, and I like that you 421 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: mentioned emotions, you know, and habits, right, because when you're 422 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: used to doing something, just being told the knowledge and 423 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: how to do something doesn't make it easy. Even though 424 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 1: the ideas are simple, it does not make it easy 425 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: because you're used to doing something like emotionally, it's really 426 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: hard to do and it's really difficult to break habits 427 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: that are long standing. So now that we've talked about 428 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: expenses that we can cut, let's talk now about different 429 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: ways that you can earn more money. Yeah, Matt, So, 430 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,479 Speaker 1: if you are gainfully employed, earning more money where you 431 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: already work is going to be the most effective way 432 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: to increase your income. Sometimes it just means asking for 433 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:31,479 Speaker 1: a raise if you've been there for a while, if 434 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: you've been a good employee. Other Times it means asking 435 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: for and taking non more responsibility, maybe a managerial role, 436 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: maybe working a different shift, but anything you can do 437 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: to prove your worth to your current employer and to 438 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: seek increased pay where you currently are, that's gonna be 439 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: your quickest route to earning more. However, if you can't 440 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: earn more money in your current job, look to side hustles. 441 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: In episode thirt or four, we talked about just great 442 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: side hustles that you can scale and turn into legit businesses. 443 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: But right now, when you're in this position of living 444 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck, even a side gig can help you 445 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: to overcome that cycle, and you want to take all 446 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,159 Speaker 1: that money and bank it. Yeah, man, I feel like 447 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: a side gig, as opposed to a side hustle, can 448 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: actually be more beneficial for someone living paycheck to paycheck, 449 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: And we kind of clarified this in that episode, right, 450 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: But sometimes you just need more income in your life 451 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: right now, and that's the case if you're living paycheck 452 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: to paycheck. But the key is if you do take 453 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: on a side gig and make some more money to 454 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: begin to fund your emergency fund, to begin to bank 455 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: that money. The easier thing is to let that money 456 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: come into your account and let it flow right back out, 457 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: but that's not going to help you get out of 458 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: the vicious cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah, Joel 459 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: and some examples of this is you can take online 460 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: surveys which are pretty quick and painless. Donating plasma a 461 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 1: little less quick, a little less painless. We joked about 462 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: doing this on a previous episode. You've done this before. Yeah, 463 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: I donated plasma in college. Yeah, and it pays pretty well. Yeah. 464 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: I think I made about seventy or eighty bucks a 465 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: week when I would do it twice in a week. 466 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 1: We had a listener reach out. I forget exactly how 467 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: much they were making in a year, but somewhere near 468 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,679 Speaker 1: like thirty dollars a year to donate plasma. Basically it 469 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: was covering their annual vacations that that he was taking 470 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: with his family, which is totally admirable. But then other 471 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: options you can lift. You can uber selling extra stuff 472 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: on eBay. Again, these are things that you're doing right 473 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: now just to stop the bleeding. You're trying to find 474 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: ways to give yourself a little bit of margins so 475 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 1: that you can essentially resume your normal life and find 476 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: ways to maintain some financial standing that is more sustainable 477 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: in something that you can do more on a regular basis, Like, 478 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,480 Speaker 1: these aren't things that most folks will be able to 479 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: continue to do long term. But again that's okay. Just 480 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: like with Joel mentioned as far as like having a roommate, 481 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: you probably don't want to have a roommate for the 482 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: rest of your life. It's not sustainable necessarily. Maybe it 483 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: is for you, but for the time being having a roommate, 484 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: you know what, that's a great way to reduce expenses. 485 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: Having these side gigs that are bringing in extra money 486 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: is an awesome way to get an income boost. So 487 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 1: we've talked a bunch about practical stuff, Matt, but you 488 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: know what, so much of money is psychological, and it's 489 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: no different if you're living paycheck to paycheck. It's really 490 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: helpful to find little tricks that can motivate you psychologically. 491 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: And so some people have found that having two separate accounts. 492 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: Let's say you have direct deposit through your employer, depositing 493 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: most of it into one account that you spend money 494 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: out of, and the other one into an account that 495 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 1: is used just for savings. I know our friend Grant, 496 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: when he was first starting to get his money act together, 497 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 1: he took this route, and you know what he did. 498 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: He actually asked a trusted friend to change the password 499 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 1: of his savings account so that he couldn't get into 500 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: it no matter what if you wanted to, he couldn't. 501 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: And I thought that was kind of an interesting tactic. Obviously, 502 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: make sure you give that to an incredibly trusted friend, 503 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: exactly right. Yeah, but I love that idea of setting 504 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: up kind of a separate account. It's like a forced 505 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: method of savings where you don't even see it, you 506 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: don't even think about it. If not even seeing a 507 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,719 Speaker 1: portion of your paycheck is what it takes to kind 508 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,199 Speaker 1: of get the ball rolling. Do that, and it all 509 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: comes down to you as an individual, like and then 510 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: there's acorns. A lot of people love that it automatically 511 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: rounds up and pushes that portion towards a savings account. 512 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: If you think that would work for you when it 513 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: comes to saving, that that would resonate with you, Like 514 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: give that a shot. And on the other end of 515 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: the spectrum, when it comes to expenses, if you know 516 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: that you're a spender, try switching over to cash, you know, 517 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: like going from apps on one end to to cash 518 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: on the other end. Like having something tangible, like we 519 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: said earlier, when it comes to graphs, like you really 520 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: feel it. And so when you're spending money and you're 521 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: actually handing over those cash bills the green stuff. Yeah, 522 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,400 Speaker 1: like you can really feel that and you don't want 523 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: to part with that. So if you're gonna go out 524 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: for a beer with some friends, like paying in cash, 525 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: that might very well be a way that can keep 526 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: you at only having a beer versus buying several beers. 527 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: So just know yourself, no, you're spending patterns in your habits, 528 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,199 Speaker 1: and try to use the different tactics and tools that 529 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: would work for you. Good stuff, Matt, And it turns 530 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: out there are a lot of free resources to help 531 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: people that are in cashtrap situations. Let's talk about those 532 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: right after the break alright, So we are talking about 533 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: escaping living paycheck to paycheck. You know, the goal is 534 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: to end that cycle, and even saving up one thousand 535 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: dollars and paying off high interest debt will allow you 536 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: to stop the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. You want to 537 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: have some financial margin in your life. Uh, you can 538 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: even call it an emergency fund, it doesn't really matter. 539 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: But again, like the goal is to just end that cycle. 540 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: And we just covered some of those direct steps that 541 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 1: you can take in order to cut your expenses. Or 542 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: to find ways to earn some more money. But Matt, 543 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: there are some massive pitfalls that people living paycheck to 544 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: paycheck often stumble into. There are a lot of nefarious 545 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,160 Speaker 1: businesses that claim to offer help, but they're actually hurting. 546 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: I'm specifically talking about companies that offer title loans and 547 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: payday loans. And it sounds like a solution to someone 548 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: who is living paycheck to paycheck, that getting that quick 549 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: money is going to be the solution to their problems. 550 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: But ultimately, the way that these predatory loans work they 551 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:07,040 Speaker 1: charge interest rates of often close to three repayment terms 552 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: are often incredibly quick, and if you are unable to 553 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: pay that money back in short order, you're rolled into 554 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: another loan and you owe even more money. And so 555 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: anyone that's living paycheck to paycheck out there listening to 556 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: this episode, I just plead with you to completely avoid 557 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: those guys. There are a lot of bad situations to 558 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,320 Speaker 1: be found in, but there's not much worse than being 559 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:32,119 Speaker 1: subject to the terms of a payday loan Eduel, And 560 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: you know there's alternatives as well, earning like earning without 561 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: the g just earning. They allow you to get your 562 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: paycheck early without fees and without interests as well. And 563 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 1: so you know, that's a decent stop gap, right, Like, 564 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: if you're in a position where you need that cash, 565 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: it's certainly better than the alternatives of going to a 566 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: payday lender or getting a title loan. However, know that 567 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: this isn't a long term solution, right, It's not sustainable. However, 568 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 1: if you are in a situation like this, though, yeah, 569 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 1: it can be a decent stop gap. Yeah, normally, Matt, 570 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: I don't think you and I would say, access your 571 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: paycheck early, take your funds now, and spend away. But 572 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: if you are in a position where you're living paycheck 573 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: to paycheck, so many people they take out a payday 574 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: loan or a tidle loan, and they find their financial 575 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: situation to be much much worse on the back end. 576 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: And so a company like Earning providing free access to 577 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: your pay today as opposed to going to a paida 578 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: lender and getting charged in outrageous interest rate, Man, that's 579 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: just so much better. And let's talk about, Matt, some 580 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: of the other free resources that people have access to, 581 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 1: and also once to kind of clear up some some 582 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: of the stigmas that surround some of these, in particular 583 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: government resources that people have. I think there can often 584 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: be shame surrounding taking those, but the ones we're gonna 585 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: cover here are completely open to you to use for 586 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: your benefit and and don't feel any shame in that. 587 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: The great thing is someday, once you have that margin 588 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,959 Speaker 1: in your life, once your finances are back on solid footing, 589 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: you can pay it forward in other ways to other people. 590 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: So if you're in a tough spot, consider some of 591 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 1: these free resources you want to get started. Yeah, I mean, 592 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: let's talk about student loans and so in particular, if 593 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: you have a federal student loan, get into an income 594 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 1: based repayment plan or apply for forbearance. So if you're 595 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: living paycheck to paycheck, if you're underwater when it comes 596 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: to your finances, these different plans and terms will allow 597 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: you to get, you know, get a little more breathing 598 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 1: room when it comes to your finances. So, if you're 599 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: student loan payment is weighing you down and you feel 600 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: like you're barely above water, looked to an income based 601 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 1: for payment plan. And if it's other kinds of debt 602 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,439 Speaker 1: that make you feel like you can barely keep your 603 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,159 Speaker 1: head above water, you're just treading water right now. Well, 604 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: another free resource that you should take advantage of is 605 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: to visit a local chapter of the n f c C. 606 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: The NFCC is the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They 607 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: have local chapters all over the country, and the great 608 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: thing about the n f c C is that they 609 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: are one of the few above board places that you 610 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: can turn to get free debt counseling. Counselors of the 611 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: NFCC can also help you create a debt management plan. 612 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: There are a lot of people out there who will 613 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: promise that they can work with the with your lenders, 614 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: with the people that you owe money to in order 615 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: to negotiate you lower interest rates or even partial forgiveness 616 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: of your debt. Most of those people are lying. But 617 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 1: the NFCC, well that's legit. They offer real help. And 618 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: so if you suffer from overwhelming debt, visiting your local 619 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: NFCC affiliate. That's one of the free resources that you 620 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: need to hit up right away. Yeah, man, And you know, 621 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: if you are just in a really tough position, look 622 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: to your local community and just different nonprofits. There are 623 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: temporary shelters and food banks for those who have immediate needs. 624 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: Look to Salvation Army and check out United Ways two 625 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: and one like that is just an incredible resource that's 626 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: just set up across the country that can provide you 627 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: with different resources, whether it be counseling or shelter or jobs. 628 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: There are all sorts of programs that you can look 629 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: into that might be provided in your local city. And 630 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: you know what state and federal government resources are available 631 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: for you in really difficult times as well. You can 632 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: apply for SNAP benefits, which are also known as food stamps, Medicaid, 633 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: subsidized housing, low income home energy assistance. If you're having 634 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 1: trouble paying the heating and cooling bills for your home, 635 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: there are lots of low income home energy assistance programs. 636 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 1: There's also a welfare s s I you know, we 637 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: have matt and Georgia. We have something called peach Care 638 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: and I've heard of it. Yeah, yeah, we have a 639 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: friend whose kids are on there. If you are under 640 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: a certain income threshold, your state might offer free healthcare 641 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: for your kids. So if you're worried about doctors bills 642 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: piling up based on having to take your kids to 643 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: the doctor, look into applying for state provided health benefits 644 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: will put links to all of these resources in the 645 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: show notes. Just remember, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, hopefully, 646 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: hopping on one of these programs is just a temporary 647 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: boon to your finances so that you can get things 648 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: under control and eventually you're back on your own two 649 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: feet financially speaking. All right, Joe, let's go ahead and 650 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: take it back now to the beer. We want to 651 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: thank Krista in Ohio for donating most Beast by Modern 652 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: Methods to the show today. And this is an oatmeal stout, 653 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: And because I know that, I feel like it does 654 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: taste like Founders Breakfast stout. It's got that same sort 655 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: of roasty ode flavors going on, maybe a little bit 656 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: lighter in body. I feel like it switches around in 657 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: my mouth a little bit, just a little bit lighter 658 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,479 Speaker 1: than a normal oatmeal stout. Yeah, I feel like this 659 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: reminds me of a dry Irish stout, which is a 660 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 1: specific style, but it's got oats in it, which totally 661 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: kind of combines those flavors of an American stout and 662 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 1: Irish sed out Guinness, isn't that technically a dry Irish doubt? 663 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: It is? Yeah, Yeah, it's probably the most well known. Right, 664 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: this was definitely on another playing field than Guinness. Though 665 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: this was a really good beer. I felt like an 666 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: interesting style. I love the name because who doesn't love 667 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: the grinch Man? Right that Yeah, so carved that roast beast. 668 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: We just had some roast beast tonight. Thank you to 669 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: Christoph for sending this beer over. Yeah, as we finalize Winner, 670 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 1: basically like we're kind of moving into spring, it's a 671 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: nice beer to kind of be done with all that. Yeah, 672 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: nail in the cough and take that Winner, all right, Matt, 673 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: Let's get to our final thoughts on the topic of 674 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: escaping living paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of 675 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: Americans living paycheck to paycheck. It's tough out there, but 676 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: you know what, you can overcome that cycle of living 677 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck by making some of the changes that 678 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: we talked about in this episode. I think tracking your 679 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: expenses and then cutting unnecessary expenses is huge. It can't 680 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: be overstated how effective that can be on the bigger 681 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: level of housing in cars, and on that smaller level 682 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: of eating out and buying those little rewards. Any expenditures 683 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: that you can cut out of your life get you 684 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 1: started on the right track and creating financial margin like 685 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: that is the only way to get out of that 686 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. So you talked about 687 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: expenses and now earning more money like that is the 688 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: only other way to widen that gap. And so look 689 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: for ways that you can increase your your regular income 690 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: by taking on additional responsibilities and asking for a raise 691 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: at work. But at the same time, don't be afraid 692 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: to take on a side gig for the time being 693 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: in order to earn some extra money that you can 694 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: dedicate to these immediate financial goals. Yeah, and don't be 695 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: ashamed or afraid to take advantage of the free resources 696 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: at your disposal. Whether it's student loans or other kinds 697 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: of debt that have you barely able to breathe financially, 698 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: there are free resources at your disposal. Yeah, it certainly 699 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 1: doesn't hurt to see if you qualify, So check those out, So, Joel, 700 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be it. Man. Thanks everyone for 701 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: listening to this episode. All those links that we just 702 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 1: mentioned will have those up in our show notes at 703 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: how some money dot com. Be sure to check those out. Yeah, 704 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: and if you're digging this podcast, you found it helpful. 705 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: We'd appreciate your five star review on Apple Podcasts, and 706 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: don't forget to hit the subscribe button while you're there. 707 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: And if you think we've got room for improvement, drop 708 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: us a line at how to money dot com slash 709 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: do better, all right, Joel, So, until next time, best 710 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: friends Out, Best Friends Out,