Speaker 1: Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black like the Oscars
Speaker 1: and brown.
Speaker 2: Oscar's so brown?
Speaker 1: I know?
Speaker 2: Is that a hashtag? Yet?
Speaker 1: No? No, I did see someone right like Oscars so black,
Speaker 1: but I say brown, well yeah, brown because oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: so many amazing awards. First of all, Regina King, okay,
Speaker 1: come through Brenda two to seven? What you know about it?
Speaker 2: She has owned the red carpet and the awards season
Speaker 2: for like like the past two three seasons. Like she's
Speaker 2: having a moment like capital.
Speaker 1: M Yeah, I love her and a long time coming.
Speaker 1: Do you know two two seven, Mandy? Because you didn't
Speaker 1: say anything, I'm like, let me seef your A brown
Speaker 1: card is gonna be revoked.
Speaker 2: It's revoked. I don't know what that is, ah my heart.
Speaker 1: Okay, isn't we.
Speaker 2: Vokes because I'm young? Or evoked because I'm that's like
Speaker 2: the white part of me who watched Save by the
Speaker 2: Bell instead of whatever that show is.
Speaker 1: Actually, I know, I want to say, so to be fair,
Speaker 1: it is like it's it's not. I mean, it definitely
Speaker 1: it's you know, Brian and black. But to be fair,
Speaker 1: you were like, I don't even know you might have
Speaker 1: been like two so to be fair, I'm gonna allow
Speaker 1: you to keep your cards there. Yeah. So, but because
Speaker 1: it was I definitely watched it as like a super
Speaker 1: little kid. So when you get a chance, so do
Speaker 1: your googles on two two seven, because that's when I
Speaker 1: was introduced to to Regina King. She was Brenda, a
Speaker 1: teenager on this on the show I believe two two
Speaker 1: seven was a spin off of Amen. I know some
Speaker 1: of you guys are gagging, those of you and your
Speaker 1: people of a certain age, so yeah, they're're googles. It
Speaker 1: was just a great little show.
Speaker 2: Mollie Molly wants to be on the podcast. Oh well,
Speaker 2: our third co host is Molly's.
Speaker 1: Do tell who's got a dog? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I got a dog. We just got a brand new
Speaker 2: dog this past weekend. Sorry, I had to meet myself
Speaker 2: for a second so I could calm her down. She's
Speaker 2: a little kiddish. She's a rescue dog and she's been
Speaker 2: through it. Okay, it was the fight of the century,
Speaker 2: I have to say to get this dog. But I
Speaker 2: wanted it. I've been asking for her for years and
Speaker 2: I won.
Speaker 1: Oh well, she looks so cy I saw it on
Speaker 1: IG I was like, oh, look at Mollie. Do you
Speaker 1: know what kind of mix she is?
Speaker 2: Or yeah, she's It was such a funny story because
Speaker 2: my friend she's a lab mixed with probably a Boston Terrier.
Speaker 2: We think she's like a miniature Labrador. She's small, she's perfect,
Speaker 2: I say it. She's like snuggling up and wanting food. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, I grew up with dogs, so I always
Speaker 2: wanted a dog. My husband did not and didn't understand
Speaker 2: why I was so obsessed with it. But I'm like,
Speaker 2: you get a house, I get a dog.
Speaker 1: You are super suburban.
Speaker 2: Now, well, my friend Laura was fostering the dog in
Speaker 2: Manhattan through this rescue in Brooklyn called Muddy Pause, and
Speaker 2: she just posted a picture on Instagram and I just
Speaker 2: looked at her and I said, I want that dog.
Speaker 2: That's my dog. But then the universe said, no, no,
Speaker 2: it's not, because there was like ten people in line
Speaker 2: in front of me with appointments to meet this dog.
Speaker 2: Because in Manhattan, of course, it's like any great real
Speaker 2: estate dog. Real estate's also really hard to come by. Really, yes,
Speaker 2: So you're like to find a dog who has a
Speaker 2: good temperament, you know, good with kids, good with people,
Speaker 2: really sweet you know, it's hard because you know a
Speaker 2: lot of what's in shelters, are you know, the less
Speaker 2: desirable dogs, you know, sad sad to say, but senior dogs,
Speaker 2: dogs who have bad reputations, you know, whether they're earned
Speaker 2: or not. So when I saw you know, the dog anyway,
Speaker 2: I got my hopes up, and then they were dashed
Speaker 2: because I had all these people in front of me.
Speaker 2: And then they even told me to come out to
Speaker 2: like Union Square where they have that they roll out
Speaker 2: this truck with the dogs in it and you can
Speaker 2: come and see the dogs and maybe take one. And
Speaker 2: I went out in a limb and I showed up
Speaker 2: at that event and I waited, like in the freezing
Speaker 2: cold for an hour and a half for her. And
Speaker 2: this little volunteer said, oh, I'm so sorry, she was
Speaker 2: just adopted. And yeah, and I have my husband drive
Speaker 2: all the way down to come meet her, and he has,
Speaker 2: you know, finally, you know, agreed to get a dog.
Speaker 2: And he came down and we had to turn right
Speaker 2: back around and go home. But twenty minutes into the ride,
Speaker 2: I got a call from my friend and she said,
Speaker 2: the people who just adopted her changed their minds. Can
Speaker 2: you come back and yes, I know, it's like it's
Speaker 2: a really good rom com except for except for it's
Speaker 2: a dog.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I went back and then I it was a
Speaker 2: lot of these adoption agencies, man, they really like they're
Speaker 2: just I don't know, I guess it's all in good intent,
Speaker 2: how you know, weirdly rigid they are. But I filled
Speaker 2: out the application, got my little interview done, and she
Speaker 2: was mine went home with her like that night.
Speaker 1: Oh Molly, Yeah I didn't. I didn't grow I had
Speaker 1: a cat, but I didn't grow up with dogs. You know.
Speaker 1: Immigrant families typically are not big on pets, even my cat.
Speaker 1: My dad's like, so she's gonna sleep in the garage, right,
Speaker 1: I'm like in the winter in New Jersey. I'm like no,
Speaker 1: He's like, yes, she is what my dad would go
Speaker 1: in the house and I'm like, come on inside, Cinder,
Speaker 1: you're sleeping with me, buddy. So yeah, like animals, I mean,
Speaker 1: I always wanted a dog, but it's like, you can
Speaker 1: barely clean your room. You're not walking this dog. So
Speaker 1: you can get a cat or fish.
Speaker 2: She'll get a dog. She's the best. She's so sweet
Speaker 2: and she's so comforting and cute, and it just distracts
Speaker 2: you from everything that's going It might have gone wrong
Speaker 2: on your day, you just can't think about it because
Speaker 2: you have to come home and walk the dog and
Speaker 2: cuddle the dog and fill her toy with peanut butter.
Speaker 2: And you know, is she what does her poop look like?
Speaker 2: That's what I concerned myself with.
Speaker 1: A yeah, well, moll, we hope to meet you one day.
Speaker 2: Well, well, you know, she'll be an Instagram celebrity soon.
Speaker 2: Check her out on the gram. Back to the Oscars, though,
Speaker 2: because there were some moments that happened, so Spike Lee
Speaker 2: finally wedding, Spike Lee winning, jumping into Samuel L. Jackson's arms,
Speaker 2: which was like really adorable and beautiful, but then apparently
Speaker 2: he like threatened to he almost walked out of the
Speaker 2: theater when Green Book won Best Picture. I don't think
Speaker 2: it was televised, butther than I read about it, So
Speaker 2: I haven't seen the movie almost because I'm just already
Speaker 2: annoyed at all the controversy, Like every movie is like,
Speaker 2: you know, whatever it handles race isn't handling it the
Speaker 2: right way according to everybody.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess the problem with Green Book is that
Speaker 1: so so for those who don't know that literally, like
Speaker 1: aside from the movie, the Green Book was literally this
Speaker 1: book that worked that was for black motorists that were
Speaker 1: traveling around the United States of safe places that you
Speaker 1: could go and eat and sleep and go because it
Speaker 1: was really dangerous to travel. I mean it's dangerous now,
Speaker 1: but even more so in like the fifties and sixties,
Speaker 1: and so they created this book to say it's safe
Speaker 1: to eat here, it's safe to park here, it's safe
Speaker 1: to sleep here. So that's what the Green Book was.
Speaker 1: And from what I understand from the clips that I've
Speaker 1: seen about The Green Book the movie, it is very
Speaker 1: much the white Savior syndrome. Remember remember the Last Samurai.
Speaker 1: Did you ever see that with Tom Cruise Cruise? Yeah,
Speaker 1: sot great movie. I was like, Oh, this is great
Speaker 1: until you realize, like, oh, so Tom Cruise, the white
Speaker 1: guy is the last Samurai that saves all these poor
Speaker 1: Japanese people who cannot possibly defend themselves. I get it.
Speaker 1: And so Green Book feels very much like that that.
Speaker 1: Instead of making it about this historic book that really
Speaker 1: helped motorists of color to be able to experience travel
Speaker 1: in the United States, it was more so about Vigo
Speaker 1: Morgansen I think his name is being the white Savior.
Speaker 1: Tomherschela Ali and it's like here we go, you know that, go ahead.
Speaker 2: It's just funny you bring that up, because like in
Speaker 2: the acceptance speech, all it was all white guys speaking,
Speaker 2: and they even like made Vigo the white savior of
Speaker 2: the movie. Like without Vigo, this movie wouldn't have gotten made, like,
Speaker 2: and I hadn't seen it, so I just don't know
Speaker 2: how to feel. But the optics of like the white director,
Speaker 2: the white whoever they were, you know, being the ones
Speaker 2: accepting the award and speaking on it did make me
Speaker 2: feel a certain kind of way because.
Speaker 1: You're writing about a historic black experience without anyone on
Speaker 1: stage being from that culture to be able to say, well, actually, you.
Speaker 2: Know what I mean. Octavia Maherschel has seemed to stand
Speaker 2: by it, though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I'm not, like I said
Speaker 1: to be all, I have not watched the movie, so
Speaker 1: I can't even say it's terrible. This is just from
Speaker 1: like the feedback that I've seen from people who have
Speaker 1: watched it, especially there's a lot of feedback for people
Speaker 1: who are in the travel industry, where you know, like
Speaker 1: this is what they do, this is what they study,
Speaker 1: and their disappointment with the way Green Book was portrayed
Speaker 1: and written.
Speaker 2: I see, well, at least this year you can at
Speaker 2: least at least this year. It wasn't like Green Book
Speaker 2: was the only film with the cast with people of color,
Speaker 2: like there was so there was so much to comfort
Speaker 2: ourselves with, like Black Panther, Ruth E. Carter, the Cost
Speaker 2: of Fire winning, Oh my god, I know I'm blinking
Speaker 2: on everything else that happened. Mahrscha Ali, Okay, he did
Speaker 2: win for for a green Book. I know, black Pantsina King, yep,
Speaker 2: of course, Regina King, Black Panther. But even like the presenters,
Speaker 2: it felt like the Oscars freshened, even just who was
Speaker 2: Like they had Queen Latifa what if she introduced now
Speaker 2: I forget that part. I think she introduced the favorite,
Speaker 2: But Queen Latifa was there as a presenter. She had
Speaker 2: Jennifer Lopez as a presenter, Constance Wu who was big
Speaker 2: with like crazy Rita.
Speaker 1: I love that movie. And then Who's Who's a young man?
Speaker 1: I always forget his name? The one who who played
Speaker 1: Freddie Mercury and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Speaker 2: Oh, mister big eyes Robby Aleck, he's creepy look and
Speaker 2: come on, yeh.
Speaker 1: But honestly, but like I was, I was on a
Speaker 1: flight it's back in California, and I Watchedhomian Rhapsody. It
Speaker 1: was really I mean, I get it. A lot of
Speaker 1: people were like, they really glossed over the the queer
Speaker 1: part of of Freddie Mercury and made it very, very PG.
Speaker 1: I mean, all that set aside, like you know, I
Speaker 1: guess it's the same thing. How I could see how
Speaker 1: the queer audience would feel about that, the way you know,
Speaker 1: black audiences would feel about Green Book. But to me,
Speaker 1: his portrayal of Freddy mrcury was so amazing. Like they
Speaker 1: actually have these videos where they have side by side,
Speaker 1: like you know of Live Aid, where you see Ronnie
Speaker 1: performing and you see Freddie Mercury and you're like, wow,
Speaker 1: it's uncanny how he mimicked his his movements and the
Speaker 1: way he just showed up on saying he was Honestly,
Speaker 1: he was really good. Even if people have an issue
Speaker 1: with the movie.
Speaker 2: I liked. I mean, the movie was fine. I fell
Speaker 2: asleep pathway through, like I did with all the mopiics.
Speaker 2: But that's just because the fun stuffs at the beginning
Speaker 2: and at the end. But no, I mean I thought
Speaker 2: he was really good, but I just wouldn't want to
Speaker 2: run into him. And then the alley that's dark with
Speaker 2: those big guys.
Speaker 1: You know, it's so crazy. Freddie Mercury was like my
Speaker 1: introduction into LGBT because I remember I was like in
Speaker 1: high school. Maybe I was in middle school when you know.
Speaker 1: I think when he Freddie Murcury died and it was
Speaker 1: of age and I knew, you know, I knew where
Speaker 1: age was. And then then making this big I think
Speaker 1: it was like an MTV news then making the big
Speaker 1: thing that he was gay. But I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, I knew gay what gay man that it's like,
Speaker 1: oh a man and man and a woman and a woman,
Speaker 1: but I didn't really understand. I remember watching his video
Speaker 1: because they were playing you know, Bohemian Rhapssey is one
Speaker 1: of their most famous songs, and I remember staring at
Speaker 1: the TV looking at Freddie Mercury to see if I
Speaker 1: could see the game because I didn't get like, I'm like,
Speaker 1: what is a big deal? You know, as a kid,
Speaker 1: I remember thinking like, okay, so how does gay look
Speaker 1: because he's just like a guy. You know. I just
Speaker 1: remember being so fascinated with like, why is this thing
Speaker 1: called gay? So that's a big deal and this guy
Speaker 1: just looks like a regular guy. Why why can't I
Speaker 1: see what everyone else sees?
Speaker 2: And I just children the world?
Speaker 1: But yeah, so that was I mean, after so brown Black,
Speaker 1: we loved it. You know, we'll take it. We'll take it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it was a you know, it was a
Speaker 1: I didn't watch the whole show, but definitely some of it.
Speaker 1: And I love the fact that shallow shallows one in
Speaker 1: a shallow Yes, I love that song.
Speaker 2: With movies, I watched the movie three times. I don't care.
Speaker 2: It's like my new favorite rom com, even though it's
Speaker 2: not a comedy, I know, but I love that you
Speaker 2: haven't WoT it's good next plane ride and you gotta
Speaker 2: watch it next.
Speaker 1: That's why I watched my favorite movie, like, you know,
Speaker 1: like get all I get caught up on my movie.
Speaker 1: I'm like, ooh plan my movie. Oh so something special
Speaker 1: happened yesterday for me.
Speaker 2: I have to you know what, I'll do it as
Speaker 2: a wink, okay, as your brown boost Oh yeah, my
Speaker 2: brown boots.
Speaker 1: Yes, I forgot we'll.
Speaker 2: Do it killed the winds is happening in life.
Speaker 1: Then honestly, the house is finally like the house.
Speaker 2: We haven't heard about the house in a minute.
Speaker 1: I know. I've just been like, whatever, girl, if you know,
Speaker 1: everything that could go wrong goes wrong. I ordered some
Speaker 1: top from home Depot. First Bank of America canceled the
Speaker 1: order because they were like, this looks like fun. I'm like,
Speaker 1: but I called you, I remember the day, yes, and
Speaker 1: then I ordered it. Finally thought I was gonna come
Speaker 1: on Friday. Home Depot mixed up my billing and my
Speaker 1: mailing address. I'm like, I don't live there, so I
Speaker 1: had to read order it today so to be in
Speaker 1: another week. And it's just like little thing. Honestly, it's
Speaker 1: not the biggest thing in the world. I mean, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I'm going to have a
Speaker 1: beautiful home. But it's just those things that because you
Speaker 1: if you don't put the town in the kitchen, you
Speaker 1: can't put the cabinets. If you can't put the cabinets,
Speaker 1: you can't put the countertop. So you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It's just like one thing holds up another thing. But
Speaker 1: we're at least talking about paint standing floors, meaning that
Speaker 1: we're on like the the last layer. So I think really,
Speaker 1: by the end of March will be inside the house.
Speaker 1: Woo woo woop. I cannot wait because it's been a
Speaker 1: long time coming.
Speaker 2: It's so funny how like I know the agony that
Speaker 2: you're feeling just waiting but online and like, what's she
Speaker 2: talking about? It's been like that hasn't been that Long's
Speaker 2: like when you're the one whose house it is. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it seems like years. I mean those were the long
Speaker 2: I look back now and like it's only a few months.
Speaker 2: It's the longest freaking months of my life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and everything seems like such a Like my contractor
Speaker 1: was like, Tiffany, you know you have to order the
Speaker 1: Washington dryer because we built like a special closet for it,
Speaker 1: and like, oh me and super Mario were like almost
Speaker 1: coming to blows. I mean really obviously, you know, but
Speaker 1: you know because you're like, well, I don't. Because he's like,
Speaker 1: I think we should get the gray one. I'm like, babe,
Speaker 1: the gray one is three hundred dollars more and he's
Speaker 1: like yeah, but oh so okay, so you don't want style.
Speaker 1: I'm like, are you kidding me. I was like, oh, like,
Speaker 1: what's happening to us? I was like, babe, We're not
Speaker 1: getting the gray washer and dryer just because it looks
Speaker 1: more stylist. It's going to be in the closet that
Speaker 1: no one's going to see except for during the walkthrough,
Speaker 1: during our one and only when we have our you know,
Speaker 1: our householding party. Other than that, it's just us that's
Speaker 1: going to see this white washer and dryer. Can you imagine,
Speaker 1: like this is the talk that we have now about
Speaker 1: like so I gave him so.
Speaker 2: We can't imagine? In fact, yes, very very deeply. Now
Speaker 2: we have the gray washer and dryer. That was a
Speaker 2: fight that I lost. So good luck to you because
Speaker 2: I know the white ones white appliances are cheaper. But yes,
Speaker 2: and yet yeah, it's be nice to look on the
Speaker 2: other side and hear you talk about that stuff.
Speaker 1: Well, he has one veto car, so we had a rule.
Speaker 1: He was like, as long as you let me do
Speaker 1: whatever I want in the man cave in the basement,
Speaker 1: you could do the rest of the house. But he
Speaker 1: does get one like veto, like one major Veto card.
Speaker 1: So I was like, you know, we were talking about
Speaker 1: like what bed we wanted, and I was like, well,
Speaker 1: I don't want that. I was like, is this your
Speaker 1: Vito card? He's like, no, I have a feeling that
Speaker 1: he's going to use his Veto card to break my heart.
Speaker 1: It's going to be something that I really want.
Speaker 2: Oh man, don't mess around with tile and backsplash. That's
Speaker 2: very you need to win on those.
Speaker 1: No, that one thing for so oddly enough we are
Speaker 1: on the same page with tile. I cannot believe like
Speaker 1: we brought all the tile for the house and we
Speaker 1: have not. It's not been any pushback. It's like, oh
Speaker 1: I love that me too. So you know, he's really
Speaker 1: modern his aesthetic and I'm more traditional. But there are
Speaker 1: places that we kind of meet in the middle. So
Speaker 1: it hasn't been too too bad. But some stuff I'm
Speaker 1: just like getting and not saying anything. It'll just show up.
Speaker 2: Are you saying on budget though, let's get let's talk
Speaker 2: about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, you know, you're just like, you know what,
Speaker 1: at this point, as long as we stay I'm not
Speaker 1: as a stickler as I was where I mean, we're
Speaker 1: not as bad, you know, I will say that as
Speaker 1: far as the actual renovation itself, that is staying fairly
Speaker 1: on budget. I mean, like, we're definitely gonna use our
Speaker 1: what is that thing called like when you have like
Speaker 1: the over edge or whatever, yeah's contingency. We're definitely gonna
Speaker 1: use our contingency because there were just some things and
Speaker 1: it's not because of like style things. It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, like we didn't know that pipe burst that
Speaker 1: kind of thing, so we'll be under we'll be in
Speaker 1: budget with the contingency. But now it's more so like
Speaker 1: the stuff that we want that I'm like, oh, I
Speaker 1: don't know, We're gonna stay on budget with the stuff
Speaker 1: that we want, so, yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 2: The furnishings is where we got because everything's so pretty. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and once you see the way that your curtainslick when
Speaker 2: you buy curtain rings, I cannot tell you. I'm like
Speaker 2: curtain rings for every window. If those things are like
Speaker 2: twenty five bucks a box, but they make everything look
Speaker 2: so much better and the good quality stuff. I mean,
Speaker 2: I just the justification in my head was it's not
Speaker 2: about putting money into the house to get return on
Speaker 2: investment anymore, because that's not something that makes sense or
Speaker 2: is logical. You can't bank on making money back on
Speaker 2: your house. For me, it was about investing in personal
Speaker 2: happiness so that when I came home it was a
Speaker 2: good place, a nice place to be. So that is
Speaker 2: and then that that was how I wound up going
Speaker 2: over budget for the furnishings were not too too over budget,
Speaker 2: And looking back now, I don't know you should do
Speaker 2: the same thing. But looking back now, if there is
Speaker 2: one thing I think I regret spending money on, I
Speaker 2: would say, what can I even say? Can I say
Speaker 2: the hvac? Really? My husband would be like, you're an idiot,
Speaker 2: because that was a really good investment, But I haven't.
Speaker 2: It hasn't been long enough to reap the rewards of
Speaker 2: that yet. Right now. It's just like we swapped out
Speaker 2: the oil for pro pain and I get a five
Speaker 2: hundred dollars pro pain bill once a month now, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, what in the holy hell? So maybe a
Speaker 2: better way to do this is like regret. I do
Speaker 2: regret how expensive the propane bill has been. But what
Speaker 2: maybe what I regret regret is that we did not
Speaker 2: spend the money to have our living room properly insulated. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: because what's happening is that we're having to crank the
Speaker 2: heat to keep the living room warm when our bedroom
Speaker 2: is roasting because it was properly insulated. Because everything that
Speaker 2: like knew that we got done, the contractor did insulate properly.
Speaker 2: But the existing living room we didn't think and he
Speaker 2: didn't think to bring it up and no one else did.
Speaker 2: And so it's going to cost us like a couple
Speaker 2: thousand dollars to get blow in insulation.
Speaker 1: Yeah we did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's smart because my husband we did buy
Speaker 2: like extra insulation from home depot and then my husband
Speaker 2: installed it under the like in the crawl space in
Speaker 2: the kitchen, but he couldn't do what he couldn't do,
Speaker 2: So where he put insulation, it's already made a difference.
Speaker 2: But unfortunately our living room is still like an ice box.
Speaker 2: And that's a very roundabout way of saying. Insulation is
Speaker 2: where the real money, say starts, So spend the money
Speaker 2: on insulation if you can.
Speaker 1: And so that's one of the things that it took us.
Speaker 1: So because the house was built in nineteen twenty, they
Speaker 1: were like, what's installation?
Speaker 2: So hold, yeah, like what did they do? My god,
Speaker 2: freezing my ass off over here?
Speaker 1: And so thank for you for reminding about the crows
Speaker 1: because we do have a cross space. Oh, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say cross space. I'm actually like texting my contractor right
Speaker 1: now because I'm like, ah, I forgot, Like.
Speaker 2: When he based the attic, he did, Yeah, that's how
Speaker 2: I found those sexy books that are former house owners
Speaker 2: left in the left under the house. Oh my god,
Speaker 2: yeah he was. He went under. It's like it's the
Speaker 2: cross space under the kitchen and he just stuck the yep.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And so that's one of the things that like
Speaker 1: our contractor Justin told us. He was like, you know,
Speaker 1: like the house because there's some things that he's doing,
Speaker 1: like you know, we're doing the bathroom, so of course
Speaker 1: he's putting installation, like you said, in those places. But
Speaker 1: he was like, I really suggest because you could feel
Speaker 1: that the house was drafty because you know, it's an
Speaker 1: older house and there's a lot of the original features.
Speaker 1: So we paid it was four thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Well that's what I'm paying in eight months of the
Speaker 2: dam program bill.
Speaker 1: So and honestly that's why I said, I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, Tiffany, You'll make this back in the year.
Speaker 1: Like because when we first got in the house and
Speaker 1: the heat was on, like we were like, you know,
Speaker 1: because you know, of course we do walk through whatever
Speaker 1: and it would be chilly. And now when I go in, Mandy,
Speaker 1: it's like and we don't even have all of the
Speaker 1: all of the radiators like plugged up. It's only two
Speaker 1: of them in the house right now that are that
Speaker 1: are on, and the house feels warm, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know what, that's if there's anything, it's the best
Speaker 1: four thousand dollars I've ever spent. Now, I am because
Speaker 1: my husband did not want the HVAC system. I'm just
Speaker 1: pray because it was not it was not cheap. I'm
Speaker 1: just praying that it worked, like it's worth it because
Speaker 1: it was really expensive, and I'm like, yikes, I hope
Speaker 1: that we didn't spend all this money and we don't
Speaker 1: really need h back like that, so we'll see.
Speaker 2: Well, it'll be worth it if your insulation's right, because
Speaker 2: then you won't have to use it. But then I'm like,
Speaker 2: then why did we get it? Like yeah, anyway, live
Speaker 2: and learn. We're gonna get that blow in insulation, which
Speaker 2: is what you can do if you you don't want
Speaker 2: to take all your walls down. You can just they
Speaker 2: poke little holes in the outside of the house and
Speaker 2: blow it in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you put it like on the exterior walls, and
Speaker 1: so it's like it's weird to see like all the
Speaker 1: holes like popo po po po. But yeah, it's it
Speaker 1: makes a huge difference, just to make sure that whoever
Speaker 1: does it for you that you really like pack it in,
Speaker 1: pack it in, you.
Speaker 2: Know, because this has been a really cold It hasn't
Speaker 2: been a snowy winter, but it's been pretty cold the
Speaker 2: past couple of months. Yeah. Man, those bills are no joke.
Speaker 2: And that's why, you know. And at this point, I'm
Speaker 2: just like fatigued from spending money on the house that
Speaker 2: I'm just like, can we go on vacation. I don't
Speaker 2: care about an installation right now, just can we go
Speaker 2: on a vacation. I'm tired of spending money and you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know, just on house stuff. So it's a constant,
Speaker 2: constant battle, but overall happy and you'll be You'll be
Speaker 2: there soon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't wait. And now it's time to take
Speaker 1: questions from all our family b r o wn and this.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, every once a while, you I get the
Speaker 1: little town you know, Okay Whitney, you know Whitney from Newark,
Speaker 1: so you know there's a little something there happening. There's
Speaker 1: a little synergy. So it is time for question owns,
Speaker 1: Question Owned. We have some really great questions. Super excited
Speaker 1: before we start questions next week is it's our tax
Speaker 1: episode and it's going to be awesome, Like just because
Speaker 1: we have this awesome guest. Her name is Terry's can
Speaker 1: tell she is amazing. She's an expert inside my literature academy.
Speaker 1: But honestly I met her because her tax videos were
Speaker 1: going viral, not just in my DreamCatcher group on Facebook,
Speaker 1: but just on online. Because she is smart, she is savvy,
Speaker 1: and she is brilliant when it comes to taxes. So
Speaker 1: we're excited to have her on. So if you have
Speaker 1: cool questions about your taxes, and you know you do
Speaker 1: because you hit me with them and I'm like, Who'll
Speaker 1: see who's the CBA not I. I'm the budget lista,
Speaker 1: not the tax anista. So you can send them in
Speaker 1: so Terry can answer them at.
Speaker 2: Brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: Dot com, or you can go to brannibisionpodcast dot com
Speaker 1: and click ask us anything is it? Ask us anything.
Speaker 2: It is ask us anything? Yep, I mean know what?
Speaker 3: Thanks?
Speaker 1: Okay, so let this get these questions pop? And what
Speaker 1: we have in the question box?
Speaker 2: Cool? So we gotta ooh, we got a quest We
Speaker 2: gotta have a little question from a fellow Uga grad. So, hello, Deja.
Speaker 2: I love that name. Danger reminds me of the actress
Speaker 2: from This is Us.
Speaker 1: Oh I like that name too.
Speaker 2: Okay, Desa, So fellow Georgia Bulldog says, my name is
Speaker 2: Desa and I'm emailing to ask for help finding a
Speaker 2: new bank. I'm recently engaged in my fiance and I
Speaker 2: are looking for a bank to start our joint checking
Speaker 2: and savings accounts. Brave women, we'd like to bank. We'd
Speaker 2: like a bank with no fees, has modern technology like
Speaker 2: online banking, online deposits, and many ATM locations, and could
Speaker 2: become a borrowing resource when we look to purchase a home.
Speaker 2: I love the podcast and go dogs yay Desa ew
Speaker 2: so must be a new listener, because I.
Speaker 1: Was gonna say, first of all, Desa got her list.
Speaker 1: You know, like when you're like this is the kind
Speaker 1: of man on one to date, You're like, girl, good luck.
Speaker 2: These banks exist luckily. Well, here's the thing. So online
Speaker 2: if you want like modern technology and no fees, online
Speaker 2: banks are the way to go. When you get an
Speaker 2: online bank, you're banking with the institution that doesn't need
Speaker 2: to spend a lot of money on people and like
Speaker 2: locations like light bills and electricity for brick and mortar locations,
Speaker 2: so they're able to actually pass all that savings onto customers,
Speaker 2: and they typically have, typically not always have higher rates
Speaker 2: on their savings accounts, which is great if you're looking
Speaker 2: to save with your fiance for your wedding or for
Speaker 2: your future house. They also offer higher rates a lot
Speaker 2: time a lot of times on CDs, and because they're
Speaker 2: online only, they kind of have to have an awesome
Speaker 2: website and an awesome app, otherwise people wouldn't bank with them.
Speaker 2: What they don't always have is a lot of ATM locations,
Speaker 2: but some banks make up for in a couple of ways.
Speaker 2: Either they tap into all Point like these all Point
Speaker 2: is one of the ATM networks that's like thirty thousand ATMs.
Speaker 2: They're like the ones you see at drug stores and
Speaker 2: sometimes bodegas or convenience stores, and they'll tap into that
Speaker 2: network and say as long as you use one of
Speaker 2: these all point ATMs, then there's no fee. And otherwise
Speaker 2: they may offer to reimburse you. If you do use
Speaker 2: an ATM and you get charged that like two dollars
Speaker 2: three dollars fee, they may offer to reimburse you, you know,
Speaker 2: fifteen dollars a month or ten dollars a month to
Speaker 2: take that staying out of it. So I'd recommend an
Speaker 2: online bank. And there's actually, you know, I used to
Speaker 2: have a favorite. I mean I still do. I bank
Speaker 2: with Ally Personally me too, both we're both fans of
Speaker 2: Ally and I got my mortgage through them, So they're awesome,
Speaker 2: and they're not a sponsored you know, not just as
Speaker 2: free advertising for Ally. However, they have some competition. There
Speaker 2: are a lot of new online banks out there, so
Speaker 2: I'll drop a link to our We update our monthly
Speaker 2: roundup of best online bank accounts, best online savings accounts
Speaker 2: every month, so it's always popping with like new accounts.
Speaker 2: And there's a new account now called Varo Bank, which
Speaker 2: is brand new and they're offering really competitive rates. They're simple,
Speaker 2: that's been around for a while. They're a new bank.
Speaker 2: Marcus we have Marcus by goldmuth Sachs. They offer personal
Speaker 2: loans and also I will leave a deposit account product,
Speaker 2: so FI even has a checking account. Now there's there's
Speaker 2: tons out there, so.
Speaker 1: Even Acorns, I think it's getting in the game. And
Speaker 1: you know, Acorns was typically like an investment like kind
Speaker 1: of like online product, but I heard that they're getting
Speaker 1: like a regular bank account too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tons of options, so there's no excuse to to
Speaker 2: not have a good a good bank with great rates
Speaker 2: and low fees. So good luck de Asia.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I honestly I like a bank mix. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie. I like the big bank for like
Speaker 1: you know, because I do travel a lot, so meaning
Speaker 1: like you know, the traditional big old banks those who
Speaker 1: will not name because they're mostly terrible, but still I
Speaker 1: mean I need to be able to have access, and
Speaker 1: I also like to have my online bank ally who
Speaker 1: I love, hey with your purple self. And then I
Speaker 1: do have a relationship with a credit union where I
Speaker 1: might just have a little bit of like savings there
Speaker 1: so that way I can potentially look into competitive borring rates.
Speaker 1: So I like a three bank mix, credit union, traditional
Speaker 1: big bank where I have my checking and then I
Speaker 1: keep my savings at my online only bank. So don't
Speaker 1: be afraid to have a little bit of a mix
Speaker 1: of if you know, if you're open to that as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point. I haven't used your credit
Speaker 2: union in a while. Ever since Georgetelcode credit Union screwed
Speaker 2: me over and hold my fifty dollars hostage. I want
Speaker 2: it back, to get it back when I remember my
Speaker 2: damn code for the phone. Okay, it's been eleven years,
Speaker 2: but I have hope.
Speaker 1: I bet you that fifty dollars is now fifty five. Girl,
Speaker 1: get your money.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you Dasah for your question. Here's another question
Speaker 2: from listener who wants to go by the name Gertrude.
Speaker 2: Very bold of you, Gertrude. We'll go with that. So
Speaker 2: Gertrude says, I got to meet Tiffany once at a
Speaker 2: mass women's conference. Not sure if she remembers, but I
Speaker 2: took some photos of her while she was presenting and
Speaker 2: sent them to her. Hatis, Hey, I do remember, Gertrude.
Speaker 2: You remember Gertrude?
Speaker 1: Well, I don't. Well, I remember, like you know, the conference,
Speaker 1: and I remember that there was someone who like I
Speaker 1: always picked, like my one buddy in the audience. I'm like, ooh,
Speaker 1: can you take pictures of me on stage and send
Speaker 1: it to me so I remember that. Yeah, pay Gertrude.
Speaker 2: Very clever outsourcing photography. So here's Gertrude's question. Let's get
Speaker 2: to get to the business here. Gertrude says, my boyfriend
Speaker 2: and I are paying off a large amount of debt
Speaker 2: in the next two years. The episode where you had
Speaker 2: the couple on that paid a ton of debt really
Speaker 2: inspired us to get our butts into gear this year.
Speaker 2: Oh that's a good one. Faith in Leo. I think
Speaker 2: we aired that last June. Go check it out. It's
Speaker 2: a great show. She says. We are planning on getting
Speaker 2: married and we want to get our finances together before
Speaker 2: we do. Here's what we need help deciding. His credit
Speaker 2: history is not that long. He opened a credit card
Speaker 2: three years ago and his credit history in total is
Speaker 2: six years old. My boyfriend only has two credit cards
Speaker 2: in total, and his current utilization rate is eighty eight percent.
Speaker 2: We know, yikes, we are paying on all that credit card.
Speaker 2: We are paying on that credit card with all that
Speaker 2: debt as we speak, though, the problem is that his
Speaker 2: first credit card, which he doesn't use charges him eight
Speaker 2: dollars a month, and it's a crappy card, not like
Speaker 2: a card where you get rewards. I know it doesn't
Speaker 2: seem like a lot, but that's ninety six dollars a
Speaker 2: year for a credit card. Do you think he should
Speaker 2: close that card or will it hurt his credit credit
Speaker 2: score too much? I know you said not to worry
Speaker 2: too much about credit scores unless you're buying a home soon,
Speaker 2: but we found ourselves in situations recently, like leasing a
Speaker 2: car where a credit score does matter.
Speaker 1: Gertrude Girl. First of all, yay, getting getting boo together.
Speaker 1: That's what I did. You know, me and manager both
Speaker 1: did that with our booths ahead of time. You know
Speaker 1: some such you know, build that husband. But so for Superman,
Speaker 1: he too didn't have a long credit history. He too
Speaker 1: had a utilization that was like I think his was
Speaker 1: like ninety percent. And so sometimes you have to decide
Speaker 1: when are you going to take the l You want
Speaker 1: to take it now, you want to take it later.
Speaker 1: It's typically better to take it now, meaning pay off
Speaker 1: that card and get rid of it, because you know,
Speaker 1: you the thing is your credit score. You have to
Speaker 1: think about it as your GPA. It is an average
Speaker 1: of your financial financial choices as it relates to credit.
Speaker 1: But really they really take into consideration really the last
Speaker 1: two years, you know. So if you're thinking you're gonna
Speaker 1: get married in like two years, that means you have
Speaker 1: two years to rebuild whatever that dropping credit might be
Speaker 1: by losing that card, and then that's ninety six dollars
Speaker 1: times two years that you can pocket. So I would
Speaker 1: get rid of that card. It's not worth it to
Speaker 1: keep it because you're worried about length of credit history.
Speaker 1: It's just not because you know ten years from now
Speaker 1: you don't want to. You know, that's like a thousand
Speaker 1: dollars for what you know versus like take the dip
Speaker 1: and you know, do right by his credit and he
Speaker 1: will he will bring those points back pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it sounds eighty eight percent utilization is
Speaker 2: what I'm like bugging my eyes out about here. No,
Speaker 2: I mean eighty eight percent. I mean that is that'll
Speaker 2: really drag a score down. And if you're looking at like,
Speaker 2: like you said, leasing a car, when you're doing things
Speaker 2: together as a couple, that's when you're his you're you know,
Speaker 2: you're only as strong as your weakest link. Credit wise
Speaker 2: when you're looking at doing things together. So it's good
Speaker 2: that you're working on improving your credit together and definitely
Speaker 2: help him pay that down, like Tiff said, yeah, it's
Speaker 2: a good tip.
Speaker 1: May me know, it's sometimes it's hard, like you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like it's so crazy now that so many
Speaker 1: like I get so many more relationship questions now, whereas
Speaker 1: before I used to be like I don't know, like so,
Speaker 1: but it's just great because now, I mean I would
Speaker 1: give advice before from a space of like I think
Speaker 1: this is the best, you know, way to go about it,
Speaker 1: and now I'm like, oh, I tried it, that does
Speaker 1: not work, and this is what's working currently. But Superman
Speaker 1: and I are still navigating you know, money and marriage
Speaker 1: and money and relationships, and there's something that we're doing
Speaker 1: that's totally working well or if they were, and then
Speaker 1: a year later it's like, yeah, not so much. So
Speaker 1: we still you know, it's a work in progress. And
Speaker 1: I just feel like you have to find the right
Speaker 1: mix for you about what works for you and your relationship.
Speaker 2: The hardest thing for us is when talking when to
Speaker 2: talk about things, I mean I want to talk about
Speaker 2: I can talk about it anytime, in bed, in the car,
Speaker 2: eating dinner, whatever, and he's like, I you know, you know,
Speaker 2: he's just more particular about when we talk about money.
Speaker 2: And it's really hard when like you have you feel
Speaker 2: like what you're saying, what you have to say is
Speaker 2: the most important thing ever, and the fact that they
Speaker 2: don't want to talk about it right now is like
Speaker 2: the rudest thing ever. But we've had to work on
Speaker 2: like scheduling certain times to have the discussion because he doesn't.
Speaker 2: He tends to feel ambushed, and you know, I have
Speaker 2: a strong personality, so me he's like, He's like, I
Speaker 2: literally just got home and you just pounced on me.
Speaker 2: And you're like, but this isn't that what.
Speaker 1: Are we gonna do?
Speaker 2: And we retire? Blah blah blah. Now today I was
Speaker 2: hounding him about a state planning with his parents and he's like,
Speaker 2: can you just relax?
Speaker 1: So, you know, it's it's hard because like I'll look
Speaker 1: like like I was looking at the bills of county
Speaker 1: the other day and I saw like, withdraw twenty dollars,
Speaker 1: with draw twenty dogs, with draw thirty. I was like,
Speaker 1: so I add it up, you know, in petty fashion,
Speaker 1: and I was like, cause, since since January, you've withdrawn
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars, what's happening? And because see, I'm the
Speaker 1: type you know when it comes to my finding, Like
Speaker 1: if I would draw money from like our joint checking
Speaker 1: account for Bill, I put a note. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: for groceries for a gat you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: because like that's what that account is for. But he doesn't,
Speaker 1: and so he's like, oh, I think I was gas
Speaker 1: that day. I think I was. I'm like, you think,
Speaker 1: what are you now? So he definitely he definitely right.
Speaker 1: He definitely did the look and walk away, which is.
Speaker 2: Like yankes my bad because you look like the accountant
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, I was.
Speaker 1: And I was like, I'm sorry, babe, and he's like, no,
Speaker 1: you're right, Like I could see looking at I mean,
Speaker 1: it wasn't like a ton he's I could see looking
Speaker 1: at it, being like, you know, it's small increments, so
Speaker 1: it's not about the amount, but it's like I want
Speaker 1: to know, like what is it for? What is it for?
Speaker 1: And he was like, I'm going to do better by
Speaker 1: putting notes by things. He's like, didn't thing is right
Speaker 1: there when it says transfer amount news, so I'll put
Speaker 1: a note so that way we're all on the same page.
Speaker 1: And I was like, thank you, and I'm sorry for
Speaker 1: being a little pushy about it. He was like, thank you.
Speaker 2: That sounds sounds exactly like what the conversation went like.
Speaker 2: It sounds very accurate.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm learning because I too can be
Speaker 1: a little pushy, especially when it comes to the money part,
Speaker 1: you know. And so yeah, and I'm also very dramatic
Speaker 1: because I'm like, well, this that's gonna be twenty dollars
Speaker 1: can be two hundred and two thousand and two hundred thousand.
Speaker 3: What are we gonna do if you would talk to
Speaker 3: He's like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: And then later I'm like, oh, it was a little
Speaker 1: bit much. So I'm trying to learn how that I
Speaker 1: can bring something up, but we could talk about it
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to be the end of the world,
Speaker 1: because twenty dollars is not the end of the world.
Speaker 1: And likely he brought me lunch.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know. I'm with you, it could
Speaker 2: be the end of the world. I'm not bad. I
Speaker 2: will just instigate you. I'm like, but what if he
Speaker 2: spent two thousand dollars and what if it was what?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I without my knowledge, I'm like, that's not happy.
Speaker 1: So I mean it's hard, Like I said, it's navigating
Speaker 1: that it's you know, you work on the tone, you
Speaker 1: work on timing, you work on approach, and so everyone's
Speaker 1: kind of different of how best it is to talk
Speaker 1: about something. So yeah, good luck to you, Gertrude, and
Speaker 1: thanks for the pictures.
Speaker 2: Thank you. And that was actually a good segue to
Speaker 2: another question that we have from what is this lovely
Speaker 2: listener's name? Oh want to be anonymous. So she has
Speaker 2: a tax question. I'm gonna save that for next week's
Speaker 2: tax episode with our tax expert Terry. But her second
Speaker 2: question is she wants to know how do how does
Speaker 2: each of us track our expenses? She's curious as to
Speaker 2: how we budget. So since we're just talking about that,
Speaker 2: I don't have I probably should do a better job
Speaker 2: tracking my expenses because I feel like, definitely when it
Speaker 2: comes to I haven't updated my Here's here's my frustration
Speaker 2: with those tools like MINT and Personal capital and stuff.
Speaker 2: It's like they don't categorize stuff the right way all
Speaker 2: the time, and I feel like it takes me so
Speaker 2: much work to go in and say, no, that wasn't
Speaker 2: a drug store charge, it was a gift, or no,
Speaker 2: that wasn't a healthcare charge, it was a utility bill.
Speaker 2: And what I want to know is I just want
Speaker 2: someone to tell me how much did we spend on
Speaker 2: food last month? And how much did we spend, you know,
Speaker 2: at the drug store and on gas. And I don't
Speaker 2: feel like these apps, they just take too much work
Speaker 2: to do. But that's kind of me just whining. I
Speaker 2: should still maybe take the time to go and look
Speaker 2: because I know our spending because the house loosened us
Speaker 2: up to spending in a way, we haven't been loose
Speaker 2: in a while, and I have to, like, like recently,
Speaker 2: I've had to check ourselves, like I shouldn't be spending
Speaker 2: my entire paycheck, you know, that's not I should be
Speaker 2: saving part of it. And I feel like we haven't.
Speaker 2: We've gotten out of that habit of reserve because I
Speaker 2: used to live off fifty percent of my paycheck and
Speaker 2: that was enough to pay for everything, you know, and
Speaker 2: then save the rest plus whatever my husband brought home.
Speaker 2: And that's not the case lately. And I'm trying to
Speaker 2: get us back on track in that.
Speaker 1: Way, No, I go, So I'm going to call the listener. Maria. Yes, Maria,
Speaker 1: and I agree Mandy that something about a house, because
Speaker 1: you and I think are very similar and that we're
Speaker 1: like a little bit on the tight side. But there's
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with that, but like that house will have
Speaker 1: you wide open, like drop down and get your ear
Speaker 1: going on. Right, You're like, whoa we been?
Speaker 2: Because we have been resisting so long that we are
Speaker 2: like just a kid in a candy store.
Speaker 1: Like, oh my goodness, you know I'll be I'm making
Speaker 1: decisions and I'm like, oh my god, who are you tiddy?
Speaker 1: Where is my frugal front? So so yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't say I don't use any of those apps.
Speaker 1: So when I when money was tight, like when I
Speaker 1: was teaching preschool and I wasn't making you know, like
Speaker 1: a bunch of money, I was very particular, meaning like
Speaker 1: I had I had an actual spreadsheet that I would
Speaker 1: like look at every two weeks and I would set aside,
Speaker 1: you know, this amount for groceries, this amount for going out,
Speaker 1: this is not for hair. So I was really clear,
Speaker 1: but I used just an Excel spreadsheet. And now that
Speaker 1: I'm doing better, I am less constrained in that I
Speaker 1: don't particularly like I live more by percentages. So I save,
Speaker 1: I would say, probably because we live off of mostly
Speaker 1: Superman's income, and then I give my parents money every month,
Speaker 1: so that doesn't come from our joint income that comes
Speaker 1: from mine. So I venture to say, I say probably
Speaker 1: upwards of eighty to ninety percent of what I make
Speaker 1: because we live off his income and then we save
Speaker 1: and invest mine. But still from that money, I still
Speaker 1: take take out money, you know, to send to my parents.
Speaker 1: And then I have like allowance that I give myself.
Speaker 1: So the percentage that I set aside for myself, I
Speaker 1: live off the percentages versus like, okay, this amount for groceries,
Speaker 1: this amount. It's almost like here's your lump sum, Tiffany.
Speaker 1: Make it work for the month, you know. And so
Speaker 1: that's typically how I live now. I'm not as I'm
Speaker 1: not as detailed because I'm like, okay, this is you know,
Speaker 1: I might give myself like to be all the way transparent,
Speaker 1: I mean, Superman and I like, aside from the renovation,
Speaker 1: we live fairly simply, I want to say, our whole
Speaker 1: like the way we live now, we don't have a car,
Speaker 1: two cars. We don't have any cardinal. Our apartment is
Speaker 1: super cheap because he's a super so we we we
Speaker 1: live where he works. So we paid nine to sixty
Speaker 1: a month in rent for two bed and when I
Speaker 1: have that, and then like I don't know, our other
Speaker 1: bills are really really low. So we we're under I
Speaker 1: want to say, under thirty five hundred bucks a month.
Speaker 1: We're probably we're closer to really three thousand dollars a
Speaker 1: month for our total like life, you know, like including
Speaker 1: groceries and stuff like that. So as a result, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't really have to nickel and diamond. I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, boom, I just know Superman is going to
Speaker 1: transfer his three thousand dollars to fifteen hundred every paycheck,
Speaker 1: and you know we'll give it ourselves, our allowances and
Speaker 1: we'll make that work. And so I say, it depends
Speaker 1: on where you are financially, but for me, an Excel
Speaker 1: spread chief theth and now it's just a percentage that
Speaker 1: I give myself. And it's like, well, when this money
Speaker 1: is done, sifty, so are.
Speaker 2: You I need to see that spreadsheet? Let me let
Speaker 2: me see that spreadsheet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what that's what it separates the real fan fake
Speaker 1: what man it? I used to be what I would
Speaker 1: make any any accountant proud. Before the spreadsheet, I had
Speaker 1: a notebook. I was such my father's daughter because my
Speaker 1: dad is retired now, but he was an accountant and
Speaker 1: he was using He still uses a yellow Ledger notebook
Speaker 1: and like with the lines like I that's how I
Speaker 1: used to do my budget. I was very particular. And
Speaker 1: then my sister was like, so it's the two thousands
Speaker 1: computers that exist. There's something called Excel. I want you
Speaker 1: to try it, And so I did so I switched
Speaker 1: to Excel, and so I still see remnants of it,
Speaker 1: but I have not used. Like I said, it's probably
Speaker 1: been about three years since I've lived on that tight,
Speaker 1: tight kind of like budget like that. I'm just more so,
Speaker 1: here's your alum sum tipany make it work?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm about to get back on it because I
Speaker 2: really do feel like I just don't it just I'm
Speaker 2: it just doesn't make me feel good the way that
Speaker 2: we're spending money sometimes, like I just and it's a
Speaker 2: blessing to like, I just feel like we aren't we worrying,
Speaker 2: We should be worrying more. And he's always like, why
Speaker 2: are you worried. I'm like, because you know, we need
Speaker 2: to be we need to start. I see the I
Speaker 2: see the territory we're in now, and we've spent this
Speaker 2: much on the house, and I'm like, we need to
Speaker 2: be in a rebuilding phase. And in order to rebuild,
Speaker 2: we got to cut back. We can't keep we're living
Speaker 2: as if we're still spending this much money on the
Speaker 2: house and yet we're not. It's just it's just, you know,
Speaker 2: we're spending it on things like groceries and eating out
Speaker 2: and you know, just all kinds of stuff. And maybe
Speaker 2: the house plans that I buy an Amazon. Amazon is
Speaker 2: like killing me. I buy so much stuff on there.
Speaker 2: But anyway, I'm gonna I'm gonna get back on the budget.
Speaker 2: I like the idea of setting up like a percentage
Speaker 2: of how much you're gonna be spending, and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: like take an hour and do the mint dot Com
Speaker 2: thing because I really want the ugly, the ugly truth
Speaker 2: of how much we've been spending in each category lately,
Speaker 2: because I think it's gonna hurt.
Speaker 1: And it's good to see that. I'm not gonna know
Speaker 1: like I have, Like I said, I'm like, oh at
Speaker 1: this point, like honestly, like I'm still when it comes
Speaker 1: to our day to day life, I'm still such a
Speaker 1: tight wad. It's really just a housewife that I'm like, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's like Sasha Fears, you know, is doing the house
Speaker 1: and then Beyonce is doing the like you're evil twin
Speaker 1: yeah what like And it's so crazy because Mandy, like
Speaker 1: I will sweat, like what you over talked about two
Speaker 1: dollars and I drove back to get it. But when
Speaker 1: it comes to the house, it's like, oh, a thousand
Speaker 1: dollars here you go? Yeah, who am I? Now it's
Speaker 1: time to booster a break or booster a break or
Speaker 1: booster a break? Whatchu finn to do? Mandra?
Speaker 2: I mean, like you saw when I had my house,
Speaker 2: everything was tied to my house, and now that I
Speaker 2: have a dog, just get ready for like everything, all dog,
Speaker 2: all the time. I'm already an expert in their bowel
Speaker 2: movements and they're in different breeds and their behavioral patterns.
Speaker 2: But the first thing we did after we got this dog,
Speaker 2: because we were not prepared, and anyone who's thinking of
Speaker 2: getting a dog, listen, do not get do what I
Speaker 2: do and go to the adoption event, get the dog,
Speaker 2: and then like on the way home, we were like,
Speaker 2: oh shit, we don't have anything. So we had to
Speaker 2: go directly to the pet store and they were super
Speaker 2: nice there, and everything seemed reasonably priced, and we somehow
Speaker 2: walked out of there with just the bare essentials and
Speaker 2: we spent three hundred and ninety six dollars three hey
Speaker 2: hundred and ninety six dollars, and I was like, say what,
Speaker 2: Plus the adoption fee was four hundred and fifty dollars,
Speaker 2: So I almost spent one thousand dollars in one day
Speaker 2: on this damn doll I mean.
Speaker 1: I love oh Holley girl, you pridey.
Speaker 2: I know, but she's potty trained, so I think the
Speaker 2: money was worth it. But anyway, here's what I did.
Speaker 2: So the next day I had buyer's remorse and I
Speaker 2: ended up going on Amazon for the things that we purchased,
Speaker 2: like the crate and the bedding for the crate, and
Speaker 2: even the collar that we bought. I found everything, like
Speaker 2: I can't even tell you. The crate was one hundred
Speaker 2: and nineteen dollars in the store and it was like
Speaker 2: fifty dollars max on Amazon. The bed that we bought,
Speaker 2: like the thing that the dog sleeps in and gets
Speaker 2: poop on, and like whatever else was eighty dollars in
Speaker 2: the store, not even kidding you it was. I got
Speaker 2: one on Amazon for twenty five dollars. A lot of
Speaker 2: money difference, Yes, So we returned most of what we got,
Speaker 2: the big stuff that we got back to the store
Speaker 2: and kept, you know, like the little things like toys
Speaker 2: and dog food and stuff. And I was like, never again,
Speaker 2: will they catch me like that? Never again? So I
Speaker 2: probably ended up getting back like, you know, a couple
Speaker 2: hundred dollars just from that. So I learned my lesson.
Speaker 2: Don't do what I did, be prepared and if not Amazon,
Speaker 2: just at least shop around to compare prices before you
Speaker 2: let your emotions take you out of control with your
Speaker 2: with your little puppy.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Molly seems like she's totally worth it. And yeah,
Speaker 1: she's gonna eat all them coins, honey.
Speaker 2: They don't think good practice for a kid when they
Speaker 2: just suck you dry, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. So I had a booth yesterday. Was really awesome.
Speaker 1: It's rare that like something happens and I'm like, uh,
Speaker 1: because you know, I'm a little chatty and a loss
Speaker 1: for word. So so you guys know, I helped to
Speaker 1: write this bill that was then signed into law with
Speaker 1: a friend of mine, Angela Vie McKnight. She's an assembly
Speaker 1: woman in Jersey City. So a few weeks ago she
Speaker 1: was like, hey, what are you doing on the twenty fifth.
Speaker 1: I was like, She's like, I want to you for
Speaker 1: your work as a bunch ofista and as an entrepreneur
Speaker 1: in the state of New Jersey. And I said okay.
Speaker 1: She was like, you know, it's gonna be in Trenton.
Speaker 1: I was like, Trenton, that's like an hour and so
Speaker 1: drive from Newark. And something said this is the kind
Speaker 1: of thing you should invite your parents to. Because I
Speaker 1: really didn't have any intention of like I thought, I
Speaker 1: was just gonna go, you know, get my little paper
Speaker 1: and come home. No, it ended up being this big deal.
Speaker 1: So you know how like you watch like the Senate
Speaker 1: proceedings whatever, like on TV. So the state of New Jersey,
Speaker 1: I guess I don't know if every state has kind
Speaker 1: of like this assembly floor, but it was so beautiful
Speaker 1: and historic and gorgeous, so at the State House. So
Speaker 1: Trenton is the Capital of New Jersey. I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: it is so at the State House because it was
Speaker 1: Black History Month, the the the Black Caucus she had,
Speaker 1: it's the Black Legislative Caucus of New Jersey. She they
Speaker 1: honored me right there on the Assembly floor. And the
Speaker 1: assembly floor looks like when you watch on TV and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, Madam Speaker, and so it looked
Speaker 1: so fancy. And so my parents came. They got to
Speaker 1: come on the floor with me as they talked about
Speaker 1: all the good works I've done as the budgetista and
Speaker 1: as an entrepreneur, and I got to speak to the
Speaker 1: whole assembly. But they were you know during the Assembly,
Speaker 1: you know, they vote on things. This is where laws
Speaker 1: are written and created and shot down. And it was
Speaker 1: just it just felt the magnitude of that day was
Speaker 1: just bigger than I could really just even articulate or
Speaker 1: even just feel. And so they have my parents there
Speaker 1: with me. It was awesome. And so the pictures look
Speaker 1: amazing just because the place it's so beautiful and historic.
Speaker 1: So you can like look at my ig the Budgetnista
Speaker 1: for some of the pictures. And it was just honestly
Speaker 1: a really awesome day, and it was just so nice
Speaker 1: to share with my parents because to me all the way, honest,
Speaker 1: I was a little bit of a handful as a
Speaker 1: kid up until college. So my parents, you know, they
Speaker 1: went through a lot trying to wrangle Tiffany. And so
Speaker 1: this is for all the handfuls and that the things
Speaker 1: that sometimes make you a handfuls are also what makes
Speaker 1: you awesome and that you know, just you know, lean
Speaker 1: into your what makes you different and you know, maximize
Speaker 1: it to make the best life for yourself. And it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, it was crazy because I brought my videographer, Jermaine,
Speaker 1: and I said, you know, something said you know, bring him,
Speaker 1: And I'm so glad because I saw Jermaine asking my
Speaker 1: dad in the corner on video, you know, what do
Speaker 1: you think about today? He's like, you know, I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of Tiffany. And if you have immigrant parents, the
Speaker 1: word proud doesn't come out of their mouth very often.
Speaker 1: And he's like, I'm so proud of Tiffany and all
Speaker 1: he said something that made me want to cry. He
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I have high expectations for all
Speaker 1: my children, Tiffany included. But to be honest, Tiffany has,
Speaker 1: she has, she has exceeded any expectation I could have
Speaker 1: ever even like imagined for her, and my dad has
Speaker 1: It's not one He's not mushy dad. He's not a
Speaker 1: you get a participation a ward dad, He's a oh
Speaker 1: you got a ninety six, where's the other four points?
Speaker 1: Don't get geeked like? That's my dad, you know, Like
Speaker 1: he is never satisfied. He always says you could do better.
Speaker 1: He always says you could be better. He's always pushing
Speaker 1: you to the next level. So for him to say
Speaker 1: that I've exceeded expectations, it's not because it's expectations are low.
Speaker 1: I mean, he has the highest expectations that you know,
Speaker 1: even more so than for myself. And so that was
Speaker 1: just a magical moment. And so that is my brown booze.
Speaker 1: It was just a magical moment. I want to just
Speaker 1: thank Angela. She's such an awesome, amazing woman. This is
Speaker 1: a woman who's had hundreds of laws already passed. She's
Speaker 1: only been in office I think in twenty eleven. There
Speaker 1: are legislators that have not gotten one law pass This
Speaker 1: woman has had hundreds. And she's always bringing me in
Speaker 1: and just highlighting me whenever possible, and you know the
Speaker 1: Black Caucus. It was, like I said, Black History Month,
Speaker 1: so it was not just me that got the resolution.
Speaker 1: So that's what they honored me with. It's called the resolution.
Speaker 1: It's like an official citation that then gets filed away
Speaker 1: and like official document status at the state House and
Speaker 1: all that stuff, and they give you like a in
Speaker 1: a picture frame for you to take home. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I just want to thank the stay in New Jersey.
Speaker 1: This is just an awesome honor and not one that
Speaker 1: I take lightly. You know, I work really hard and
Speaker 1: sometimes too hard if you ask me truthfully, But no,
Speaker 1: it's because whenever I turn around, there's someone who is
Speaker 1: needing help and I'm like, okay, how can I fit
Speaker 1: this into my schedule? So yeah, it just yesterday was
Speaker 1: just really an awesome, awesome, awesome time.
Speaker 2: It's nice to be appreciated. It is, honestly, take a
Speaker 2: step back and appreciate yourself and like all the work
Speaker 2: that you've done. So that's awesome. The pictures, I can't wait.
Speaker 2: I want to see some of the pictures that that
Speaker 2: you remain took or did he just take video?
Speaker 1: Whatever he did a bunch of like so I posted
Speaker 1: some of them, like especially the ones with my parents.
Speaker 1: This is one picture that's my favorite, where like my
Speaker 1: mom is taking a picture of me. I look for
Speaker 1: someone like I'm in third grade because you see like
Speaker 1: the back of my parent's head, my dad is looking
Speaker 1: on and my mom is taking a picture of me
Speaker 1: with her phone and I'm standing in the middle holding
Speaker 1: my award.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they should give out awards to adults because you
Speaker 3: know why, like why should we stop at the college
Speaker 3: diploma or the high school diploma, Like we need to
Speaker 3: just all take a step back and recognize each other.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair and.
Speaker 1: It's so nice, right. I was like, oh, look at
Speaker 1: my pant when I saw that picture. It's such a
Speaker 1: parent picture, like, oh look at my baby. You could
Speaker 1: just tell they were like, look at my baby.
Speaker 2: You know, do your parents still have like my dad's
Speaker 2: literally has a wall like a shrine. And it's like
Speaker 2: Mandy Wood aer a eighth grade algebra on her role,
Speaker 2: Mandy Wood are a fifth grade perfect attendance like you
Speaker 2: They keep all those little awards and things.
Speaker 1: Over there years they do. And I mean, you know
Speaker 1: you don't think, you know, I don't care, how girl
Speaker 1: you are? You know, you tell yourself. I don't care
Speaker 1: because I know I've definitely told myself that when my
Speaker 1: parents weren't particularly proud of what I was doing, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, don care, I'm grown at you. I do
Speaker 1: what I won't, I do what I won't. But there's
Speaker 1: nothing like having parental approval and for them to be
Speaker 1: proud of you. It was just like, like I said,
Speaker 1: like I I, my parents are not touchy feely, Oh
Speaker 1: baby baby. You know that's not them. So for them
Speaker 1: to say I am proud of you, it means everything
Speaker 1: because it's not It's not a word that I have
Speaker 1: heard often in my in my career and even just
Speaker 1: now as an adult. You know, they really reserve that
Speaker 1: from when they really are proud of me.
Speaker 2: When you deserve it. I'm proud of you too, Not
Speaker 2: that it matters as.
Speaker 1: Much, but it do, but I definitely definitely does matter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome, congrats, thank you. I don't call you
Speaker 2: the queen in Jersey for nothing.
Speaker 1: Okay, Jersey queen. Okay, they need.
Speaker 2: A new queen since Whitney's been gone.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I feel like Queen Latifa. Honestly, it's
Speaker 1: a queen.
Speaker 2: I'll be proud okay, sign fair enough.
Speaker 1: But you know, just to close, you know, Queen Latifa,
Speaker 1: it's a seventeen million note fourteen million dollar. She's building
Speaker 1: homes or like a housing complex or something like that apartment.
Speaker 1: I think it's fourteen million dollars and I'm just excited
Speaker 1: to see, like what happens with it, you know.
Speaker 2: I heard that. Yeah, that's amazing. It's nice to see
Speaker 2: people give back to that community.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because we who aren't Mark Zuckerberg exactly dope.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, another show, another week gone. We'll see
Speaker 2: you guys next week with our tax episode. Send us
Speaker 2: your questions brandonbishpodcast at gmail dot com, and really questions
Speaker 2: about your text we'll try and get to on the show.
Speaker 2: And what's our expert tam again?
Speaker 1: But you wish Terry Chantel so you could do your
Speaker 1: googles if you want to. But she's amazing. You're gonna
Speaker 1: love her.
Speaker 2: I have my own list of questions, so get ready
Speaker 1: I sis exactly because I could to get my face
Speaker 1: all the way together with Terry