September 9, 2022 • 33 mins
Time for our Friday Flight! These episodes are a sampling of the week’s financial news and the impact on your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we distill it down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we cover some relevant and helpful stories like: getting a 3% mortgage via a loan assumption, some new competition for home internet providers, leg room lunacy, free lodging because of flight delays, donate now pay later, influencers in the wild, active insurance trackers to save, & secondhand steals from buying used.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're discussing three percent mortgages, second hand steels,
and leg room lunacy. You know what, buddy, this is
(00:28):
our Friday Flights. Well, we're gonna talk about some of
the different stories we came across this week, the most
important headlines that we think you need to pay attention
to real quick. I wanted to share a quick personal
anecdote though, So back in the spring when we listened
our house, back when the housing market was quite hot,
in particular for the sellers out there, we had a
(00:49):
number of offers, a number of competitive offers on our
Place two in particular, we were trying to decide between
but one of the buyers they had included within their
offer the ability to stay in mountain cabin. Have we
talked about this on the show? I can't remember, so
if we if we have, it's always have to know
what we've talked about only in real life with you
and me sitting here in the office, versus what we've
talked about on the show. And granted, this wouldn't have
(01:10):
tipped the scales if the other offer was super strong.
If they had come in with a really high price.
At that point, it just kind of comes down to
the numbers. You kind of have to do the math.
You don't want to overvalue this mountain cabin stay. It's yeah,
what can I book this formally night let's say exactly
it's value if maybe an extra thousand bucks, but it
was still enough to put them on our radar, maybe
(01:30):
a little bit more than otherwise. Right. But simultaneously I
was a little bit curious to see if we were
actually going to take advantage of that, because it's one
of those things were on paper. It seems like this
nice perk's offer literally a tent and you're like, dang it,
no they failed again. They did include pictures and it
looked really nice, and we thought, oh, this is this
is actually something we should consider as we're making a decision. Well,
(01:51):
the good news is that we actually just booked it.
We we've kind of been in touch with them, and
we weren't sure if we're going to reach out to
them and they're gonna say, oh, by the way, it's
book for the next two years. That was a joke,
but we know it's in the contract man. No, yeah,
it was, And that is something that we just books.
I'm actually, yeah, we're looking forward to doing that this
this fall for a few days. But the reason I
(02:12):
wanted to share that is because it was a way
that these buyers that they got creative in order to
get the house that they wanted. Uh. And we're actually
seeing that in other ways, not necessarily from the buyer's standpoint,
but from the seller standpoint. So our first story, we're
gonna talk about mortgage loan assumptions because obviously mortgage rates,
you know, like they're still low if you if you
take kind of like if you zoom out and take
(02:34):
a long term look. I kinda want to make a
joke about assumptions here, by the way, because I don't know,
you know what they say about people who make assumptions,
right man, But I think this type of assumptions, though,
are a good thing. Exactly. Yeah, So let's just like
spell that out real quick. This assumption is literally you
taking over somebody else's mortgage, right, So not going out
and getting your own mortgage, but when someone is selling
(02:54):
that house, you are saying, not only am I taking
your house, when I'm taking your mortgage at the same time, exactly,
And and The interesting thing is that almost nobody did
this for a whole lot of years. But as mortgage
rates have risen just astronomically recently, we've we've seen a
lot more mortgage assumptions taking place now that rates are
in the six percent range. It's pricing some folks out
(03:16):
of the out of the housing market. Well, if you
get that same house, same price, but with a three
percent mortgage, you might be able to afford it, right,
And there are what will point out a big chunk
of loans that are not assumable based on the way
the contract is written from that mortgage lender, like they
can't transfer it into your name. These are specifically government
backboard like that like v A loans, loans, U s
(03:39):
d A loans, some of these loans that are directly
backed by the US government exactly. So. The interesting thing though,
is as you're out there searching for homes to buy,
you're going to likely see people touting this inside of
the listing, right because if they have this two point
seven five percent mortgage or three and a half percent
mortgage that they're willing to let you assume that's an
(04:03):
that's a huge check mark for them and for their property.
They're gonna get a lot more potential buyers if those
buyers know that they can take on that much lower mortgage.
Right at the same time, I will say it's a
tricky process though, even if you even if the house
does come with an assumable loan, for instance, it maybe
that loan might only cover the purchase price and you've
(04:25):
got to either bring cash or get another. Loans are
so much higher likely than when they actually purchase that home.
So yeah, it may not only it may only cover
a small portion of the overall purchase price of that property. Yeah,
but that Wall Street Journal article about assumable mortgages was
something I was like, I I know it's more common
actually in other countries, I believe in Great Britain. It's
(04:45):
one of those things. It's kind of hard for the course,
and it would it would seem like this should be
more normal here where you don't have to but the
bank's benefit right from every time somebody does takes out
a fresh new loan, when if we just had more
assumable loans, it would cut down on some of those
transaction fees that were always railing against matt when it
comes to buying and selling real estate. I would love
(05:07):
to see more mortgage loans become assumable, more people transferring
mortgages to each other as they buy or sell a house.
But I don't know. It's good to see at least
a little bit of uptick in this regard, that's right. Yeah,
so there is a way for you to get that
two and three quarters mortgage radees, but they're they're just
you and far between. Not not terribly easy, but it's possible,
(05:29):
all right. So we talked recently about the duopoly and
the monopoly reality that most folks face when it comes
to paying for internet at home. There are really just
a few companies around the country who are out there
competing with each other. So the options they remain pretty crappy,
and the prices because of that, they stay pretty high.
Speeds are low, and your mostly bill is exorbit But
(05:50):
one thing that we failed to mission is that technology
is helping to bring more competition to the space, helping
this to hopefully become more of a problem of the past.
Some of the major cell phone companies out there, like
Verizon and T Mobile, they are selling their five G
cell service, but it's not just cell phone service, it's
actually gonna be able to replace your current WiFi set
(06:13):
up that you have at home. And the price, it's
it's not all that bad either. It's like it's a
fifty bucks from T Mobile. Uh and plans start at
fifty dollars as well with Verizon, although folks who currently
have Verizon for cell phone service they can get an
even lower rate by bundling. I haven't tested these out personally,
but from what we've read, the reviews look really good
(06:33):
and the price is good as well. Uh And so
it's it's good to see that there these are some
kind of like realistic options that would allow you to
take a completely different approach to getting internet at home
as opposed to going the more traditional path, which always
feels so cumbersome as well. Right, like you, So you
have to be there in person because the guy is
going to show up. I think he's gonna drill a
random hole in your house. Who knows where exactly, He's
(06:55):
just gonna drill over everyone. When we moved in the
A T and T guy came out, we we had
to talk a long time about where he's gonna put
this whole and it was just kind of I don't know, it.
It took a long time. These five five G service
at it seems like it's it's going to be the future.
And the speeds or something like in the in the
average range of a hundred megs up to like a
hundred and eighty megs with a couple of these plans,
(07:16):
So it's worth looking into. Let's say, if you're currently
paying for internet service every single month, but that speed
is going to serve you just fine, or maybe you
just found that like yeah, you've called the customer retention
department again, like we've suggested, and they have finally got
onto your game, and then they're not lowering your rate anymore.
Typically they will, but not always. Well, it might be
(07:38):
it might be time to try out one of these
five G plans, and if you do, let us know,
let us know how it goes. And that one thing
you you mentioned was that if you are currently a
Verizon customer, you can get an even better deal on
this five G service. Sadly that means that you're paying
so much extra though for cell phone service that's probably
not worth it. If you mean, if you just leave,
sit down and do the math, like take the whole
(07:59):
picture into account, right, because if maybe you are with
Mint Mobile, uh, and you've got that price down and
you are able to pay maybe more than you want
to because you are with Comcast. But if your overall
net cost is going to be lower, of course, stick
with what you've got going on. But if you do
the math and you realize that, you know what, paying
more for a Verizon cellfone service, uh, that would allow
me to pay a lot less for my home internet,
(08:19):
you could totally come out ahead. Yeah, because I think
comes down to the numbers. Baby. I saw if you're
actually a Verizon cell customer, you can get the internet
for as low as twenty five dollars a month. It
was like, that's pretty good, pretty sweet. Yeah. Alright, let's
talk about travel for a second, because we had travel
expert Scott Kais on the show a while back. Matt
and we we talked a little bit about leg room
on airplanes or the lack thereof, and airlines are, of course,
they're doing their best to charge us more for tiny
(08:43):
slivers of extra space as they've shrunk the distance between
seats by a meaningful number of inches over the past
couple of decades. Matt, I'm six ft six and so
every inch of leg room they take away. I feel
it like in my knees, in my back, all over,
and so I don't love feel it in a pinky.
It hurts there too, exactly exactly. My left ear lobe
(09:06):
particularly throbs Matt on these long flights. But I've actually
seen some drawings recently for potential cabin configurations where you're
more in like an upright seat where they're packing a
whole lot more people in and you're in this like
semi standing positions, like an adjustable bike seat basically strattle,
and you're yeah, it's almost like the steading roller coasters
that you like, get It's almost exactly like that. That's
the best. Yeah, that's one only lasts uh forty five seconds,
(09:30):
whereas the other last for four and a half out
right right, Well, I mean no, no carriers have actually
tried to implement anything like this yet. But the interesting
thing is they might not have the chance because apparently
the Department of Transportation is considering imposing a minimum seat
requirements for how much legroom people have, and it's currently
open for public comment on their site. Now, I, Matt,
(09:52):
like I told you, I don't like being crammed into
a seat. I don't like feeling like a sardine where
my knees are literally buffled up against the seat and
front of me. But I will say I also like
saving money, and I am more than willing to endure
some discomfort to save an extra couple hundred dollars on
a three or four hour flight. So I'm not the
kind of person who wants to fly first class, who
(10:14):
wants even the premium economy. Stick me in the back
with all the regular folks who also have their knees
cram begins to seat in front of them. Um, if
it means I get to save money, I'm totally cool
with it. So we're stuck hearing you complaining about it,
like Jill does not want to be forced to pay that,
But you always shall have the option to pay for that,
all right. Like that's the thing that we love so
much about the way things I guess currently are is
(10:34):
that you have the choice. Like imagine if you wanted
to fly somewhere you didn't have a ton of money,
but you gotta fly, Well, you're probably gonna consider going
with Spirit or you know, somebody like that where you
can basically sneer at you the whole time. You know,
like they're going to charge you for every little thing,
But it is most likely absolutely be the best way
to save and to be able to fly there for
the least amount of money possible. But if these regulations pass, uh,
(10:57):
guess what, that more affordable fare isn't going to exist
because essentially you're you're you're forcing the airlines to pass
some of those costs onto you. One of the other
most beautiful things about the major discounters like Spirit Matt
is the number show. When Spirit comes into a market,
the amount of money that the major airlines are charging
for seats goes down to So it's not just the
(11:18):
fact that they're tramping people into cheap seats on on
the Spirit airlines and that you could save money that way.
It just because of the competition. Just because there are
cheaper seats on Spirit means that their competitors, the even
the ones that are are fullfair airlines, are gonna they're
gonna be cheaper too, exactly because if they're forced to
have fewer seats on these planes, that's going to lead
to higher prices. Uh. But you know, so in the end,
(11:40):
we'll we'll see what happens. We don't know, um fingers
across those of the airlines that they keep doing their
thing and that customers they are able to choose the
airline that they want to do business with accordingly, because
that's the thing. Over time, it depends on It's not
even just you and what you're gradually getting used to,
but like it depends maybe from trip to trip or
even year to year. You might have like a really
good year and you're thinking, you know it, you know,
(12:00):
if I'm flying anywhere this year, I'm gonna do first class. Baby, like,
no longer shall my knees be crammed. But like let's
say three years from now, in fact, growth three more
inches and it becomes just untenable. Likely you're done growing.
But but you have the option. And that's what I
love the most is that folks have the option to
do that. Although that being said, some of these, uh,
the extra leg room seats out there, they come with
extra perks, like free drinks, which is kind of cool,
(12:22):
and you know, flying so that your knees so that
they don't ram into the seat in front of you,
like that might be your craft beer equivalent, or you
might feel that that's just a basic human need from
your your point of view, But I think what's important
to keep in mind is that do you want to
have the choice to make this purchase on your own
or do you want to be forced? Do you want
to be coerced into paying more? Because everybody is having
(12:44):
to provide, you know, fewer seats on a plane, they're
having to provide more leg room for everybody. Like, I
want people to have the choice, that's all. I can't
imagine getting behind the wheel of Masa Miyata. Those things
seem tiny, and I think they should be wiped off
the face of the earth. Accordingly, like people who are
six six probably shouldn't be dry in those cars. So
there's a lot of Masa Miata fans. There's like, there's
a lot of people who are five four who taking
circuit and all they do is raise hota. Really do
(13:07):
you know that? Yeah? You remember Corey, our our old buddy.
He used to be part of this uh Miata group
and they all got their mia have like a cult
following take him to the track. I would imagine the
cult following is mostly involved short people. But ironically enough,
Core was at least six, he was decent, and he
drove a Miata. Maybe they've got more legroom than I'm
giving them credit for him. Maybe so well, speaking of
(13:29):
the airlines, last week the U. S Department of Transportation,
they published a really helpful chart that's gonna allow you
to know what you're entitled to if you're affected by
what's known as a controllable flight cancelation or delay. And
this includes things like maintenance problems or let's say they
don't have the right crew members for your flight, baggage
(13:49):
loading or fueling problems. Will actually link to this in
the show notes. But for example, if there's an overnight delay,
virtually all of the airline carriers they've admitted to providing
passengers with a complimentary hotel stay, all of them except
for one matt Uh not Spirit actually, but Frontier. But yeah,
just because an airline hasn't committed to certain amenities across
(14:12):
the board, just because they're not listed on this website
as offering that benefit, that doesn't mean that they won't
hook you up if you ask. So it's important to
know that it's often up to the discretion of the
individual carrier and even the actual employee who you're speaking with, right,
So it depends if if what what seats they sat
in in order to Is Jan having a good day?
(14:33):
We don't know, but maybe Margaret over here is feeling
a little little happier and she's willing to make sure
you're taking care of right, But she got to set
in that extra first class seat. She didn't have to.
What's the jump? Is that the jump seat that the
uh the airline doesn't Is that the best seat in
the in the house. No, not the bet They're just
like a little fold out like a piece of wood
or something like that. They do not look super comfortable.
(14:56):
Let's well, well, yeah, I just it's just is important
to mention one that this exists and that you can
kind of see what you're entitled to, but also that
even if you're not publicly entitled to some sort of
compensation for one of these, you know, for a cancelation
or for a delay, you can still advocate for yourself
often again Matt via Twitter. Twitter is one of the
best ways to get ahold of airline customer service and
(15:18):
and lots of times they'll take care of you when
legally they're not even required to. That's right, dude, All right,
we have several other stories we're gonna get to including
sacrificing a little bit of your privacy in order to
save more on insurance. We've got that story plus a
few others right after this. All right, we're going to
(15:44):
continue here on the Friday flight. We're gonna talk continue
to cover some stories that we found interesting this week,
how they pertain to your personal finances. And of course
we always get to the ludicrous headline of the week
that's right now, and this one comes from Axios. The
headline reads new company encourages donate now, pay later charitable giving,
(16:04):
and the headline Matt just gave me the willies. I
was like, I know where this is going. It cannot
be good. It's basically by now, pay later. But instead
of spending your money on an item you want, it's
for giving money away to a cause that you care about.
Let's just say we were not surprised to see that.
I mean, it's as as you see that, you're like, well,
of course, yeah, about of course it went there, that
this is where it went. Yeah, it's it's kind of
(16:26):
it's inevitable, right, It's it's a domino effect. We start
with BNPL, we get to g mp L and now yeah,
you don't even have to have the money in your
possession to give two causes you care about. They're just
so many problems with this though that it's it's hard
to know really where to start. Like one, you're giving
away money you don't have to give to there's now
a middleman taking a cut of your donation somewhere between
(16:48):
eight and fifteen percent. So the charity that you couldn't
wait to support until you actually had the money, well
now they're not getting anywhere near the full benefit they
would have if you gave to them directly. Although I
will say that one of the things that the company
behind this that like one of their stats was that
something will give twice as much if they're presented with
(17:10):
this option. Whether or not that that is a good
thing is like, that's another debate, right, But the fact
that certain nonprofits out there are able to potentially receive
even even more money, that's what the BNP is a
good argument have said the whole the whole time, folks
will spend more, Yeah, hey, put us on your website Amazon,
and because people are gonna have bigger shopping carts because
they're gonna buy more than they can actually afford and
(17:31):
this is going to be good all the way around
for everyone. It's going to increase your bottom line. But
when you're giving away more money, I get why that
sounds nice to the charitable organizations. Hey, people are gonna
give more money to you, but they're giving money that
they don't have. And so we would say this, this
major league sucks. And we are all about supporting nonprofits
that are doing good work. We would say it's a
(17:53):
great thing to budget for monthly or annual giving. But
this feels shady and almost predatory, and it's definitely not
the best way to make those donations happen. So if
you see a gift now, pay later button, avoid it.
Don't do it. Because it's another modern iteration of a
stupid fintech offering that is bad for bad for individuals,
(18:14):
it's bad for consumers. I will say, I'm willing to
play Devil's advocate a little bright here because so like
in this way, like simultaneously, I feel like it could
be a good thing if it allows somebody to commit
to a behavior that they might want to do but
that they find themselves not doing over time, right like
like I will see it almost like a tool, not
inherently a bad or an evil thing, but as a
(18:35):
tool that someone could potentially utilize. You're just sitting over
there staring at me that you can potentially utilize as
like a commitment device, right and so like in that way,
I almost feel also do the same with a recurring
credit card donation to my friend. You totally could. Yeah,
absolutely so I get what you're saying. And we've said
the same thing about bnpls, that they're not inherently wrong
(18:56):
or inherently bad. It's just that most people use them
slow us the typically yes they buy or give money that, yeah,
they use importantly. And so that's why the the end
matters so much so much, right, and so the means
to the end here in this case, the end is
to give that money away when you're using it to
buy more junk, like more crap. I think that to
me that feels more pernicious, right, Like that's when you're
(19:17):
you're not really thinking through like do you really need
all this stuff? Now? Do you really need that fancy
pair of running shorts or something. I'm just picking on
myself because that's like the last thing I bought but
not via pay now. But forgiving is not much better
than right, And it's not about going into debt. Obviously,
if you're doing that, then then that's something that we
would discourage and a lot of people are well in
(19:37):
that case, I absolutely would discourage it. But yeah, the
ability for somebody, I do see there being benefits, sort
of like with by not pay later, there are some
benefits if say, it does allow somebody to turn their
credit around a little bit because those payments get counted
towards their credit. In the same way, I do see
there being some slight benefits potentially to having give now,
pay later be an option, and especially considering the f
(20:00):
are willing to give a little bit more of their
money away if presented without option. But that's well, And
so whether you're giving it or their future money, they don't.
That is true. Which is the problem, right it is
that is at the crux of the problem is people saying,
I want to do this thing now, but I don't
have the money to do it, But I'm gonna gonna
go ahead and commit to it because this tool exists
(20:20):
for me to be able to do that, and and
that's what we talk like. Credit cards are are similar
in that way, although it's a shorter timeframe, and it
really can be as a method of payment, and it
comes with even better rewards. The only reward for bnp
L most of the time is just the ability to
hold off doing something you would have done otherwise. Whereas
credit cards offer additional benefits, we say, I mean ultimately,
(20:41):
if someone can't afford it, right, if they are like
where it does feel like a loan in order to
give that seems like a very unhealthy, very unhealthy behavior,
as opposed to seeing it as a way for some
folks I think are just entering into that mindset of
like they are seeing themselves months a month, and even
though discourage that, we want people to look ahead, We
want folks to plan and to budget and to do
(21:04):
things a little more proactively. I think there are a
lot of folks who are entering into this way of
handling their money where they are looking at it more
as just a kind of like a monthly amount, like
a subscription. This is how much I pay every month
that goes towards my you know, Netflix, or this is
how much I end up paying every month towards my groceries.
I think I would say a c H though, or
setting up a monthly put it on autopilot shore but
(21:27):
by now give later to me could set you up
to be in a position, a financial position you don't
want to find yourself in. Exactly. Yeah, I mean, ultimately
we don't like it, but I guess I do see
this as being a slight way that there someone is
using this technology for good. Obviously, if folks are using
it for consumables, then I think that's a very bad thing.
And unfortunately that is how a lot of folks are
(21:48):
are using it. That's that's why it's wrecking the personal
finances of a lot of a lot of young folks. Actually,
The Times had an article this past weekend about how
more individuals are turning to buy now, pay later for
just like basic purchases like gross trees. And then, of
course what ends up happening. Folks start spending more while
they're at the grocery store because they can pay for
multiple installments. And so why not get the the gourmet
(22:10):
cheese where I'm gonna go ahead and get the the
name brand cereal because it's a little bit nicer than
the off brand stuff. I'll just pay for it over time.
And so when you use it in this way, these
products are basically loans, and so taking out a loan
to buy groceries, we feel as a as a recipe
for disaster. We want you to be planning ahead in advance.
And while at the moment it does kind of seem
like you're a gray area, I think ultimately it feels
(22:32):
like that this is going to go. It's gonna start
leaning more in the direction of it being a massive
negative as opposed to being something that you can use
to your advantage. I agreed, And we've talked about how
some buy now, pay later companies are starting to report
to the credit bureaus, and so if you're a really
savvy consumer who doesn't have a great credit score, it's
you know, buying thoughtfully occasionally an item through BNPL when
(22:57):
you have the money, I'm ensuring that you pay it off.
As agreed, well, that can help boost your credit score.
But for the most part, especially seeing that story about groceries,
it's just it's a bar to see people getting into
financial situations they wouldn't otherwise because these products exist and
they're using them thinking that they're better than they actually are.
Um when for the most part people use them poorly.
(23:19):
It's a tool, but it's it's mostly a crappy tool
for for most people. Let's let's move on the map.
There's a new survey from a company called Higher Visibility,
and they found that of gen z ears want to
become social media influencers. And when I read that, I
was like, you know what, that's that's not necessarily a
bad thing. I think it's okay to want to influence
(23:40):
the people around you. And it is true that some
social media content creators are able to make real money. Uh,
but it's also true that there are only a select
few who make legitimate income doing so, who make a
meaningful amount, right, who make enough to I don't know,
pay the bills. And I guess, you know, influencers maybe
are kind of the new pro athletes. That's like the
(24:01):
new hot job that people want. But we all know
by now that the percentage of folks who make it
to the pros in that field is infantessimally small too.
You know. We had linebacker Brain and Copeland on recently,
and he talked about how difficult difficult it was to
make in the NFL, especially as an undrafted player. Uh,
not trying to crush the dreams of the youngsters out there,
(24:22):
But it's wise to not put that profession on such
a pedestal and to put all your eggs in that basket.
It's okay to dabble and to see what happens, but
putting all of your efforts there, it's just it's not
a good idea because again, so few people are actually
gonna make money, and I know a lot of people
in that space. I don't have any hate for the
influencer crowd out there. I think it's I think it's
(24:44):
totally fine. I don't really participate much, um, but I'm
totally cool that people make money online in that way.
But it's just important to mention that something like the
one percent or even the point one percent, that's where
most of the money is going. And there's a whole
lot of I want to be influencers out there who
who aren't making to dime. I like how you said
it's okay to influence other people like you just completely
strip the word influencer of it's like negative connotation that
(25:09):
comes with it. Well, I think for some people the
reality is like they have a good heart and they
want to share cool things with the world, and so
there's nothing wrong with being out there and talking to
your friends and sharing with others how you think or
how you feel about something. To be honest, there's a
lot of crappy influencers out there who doing terrible things.
But I think most people the reason they want to
do this is because it sounds like fun and they
(25:29):
want to share something cool with others. And I think
I think that motive that desire is good. Yeah. Absolutely,
All right, let's talk about saving money by being healthy? Uh, Joel,
you know there's that saying that is it like an
ounce of prevention that's worth a pound of cure um.
Though as a country, I feel like like we've not
been great at internalizing that when it comes to medicine
or or honestly a lot of important elements of our
(25:51):
society either. But apparently more insurance companies are starting to
lean in this direction, implementing something called active insurance. Uh.
And so basically insurance companies they will reward you for
good behavior, which will have a direct impact on both
their bottom line and of course yours, which is why
we're talking about it. Maybe your waistline too, if it's
a health insurance Yeah. And so, like one example is, yeah,
(26:13):
wearing like a health insurance company provided device to track
your physical activity. Uh, and if you start exercising and
losing weight, you might see reduced premiums or you know,
some other money saving rewards. Uh. The reality, man, is
that like these sorts of products are going to continue
to proliferate. And we think that that's a that's a
good thing when it comes to our ability to save money,
(26:35):
but honestly for our collective health as well, if we
just jump through a few hoops, I see this as
a as a great way for us to potentially like
we're sacrificing a little bit of privacy, uh, the insurance
companies maybe know a little bit more about us. Ultimately,
this could be kind of like a frugal versus cheap,
where you know, are we being cheap because we're sacrificing
our data here in the short term in order to
(26:55):
save money here in the short term, but in the
long run to all of these companies they know more
about us. I do think that that will be a
good question for future discussions, but definitely something to keep
in mind as well. Before you which we often all do,
just instinctively click the checkbox that I agree with the
whatever that consen Who's got the time to read all
of those, man, But I totally agree, but reports, I guess, so, yeah,
(27:18):
they're digging into those fine print for us. But the
last job I had, the last real job before podcasting
full time, we had this thing called Know your Numbers.
And what they did was once a year, Emily and
I would go into into the into the office. They
would bring some nurses there, they would draw some blood,
they measure your waistline, all that kind of stuff. They
took like five different numbers, checker blood pressure, checker blood pressure.
(27:39):
They want to make sure that you are meeting some
sort of requirements. And if you do that, if you
agree you don't, you didn't have to. You could continue
to pay full freight for health insurance. But if you
agreed to get your numbers measured and you were good
on at least three out of five of those numbers,
you got four hundred bucks back off of your premiums.
And so that was the kind of thing where I'm like,
of course, I'm going to trade them knowing my blood
(28:01):
pressure and waistline's eyes for foreigner bucks, no problem. And
so that those are the kind of things that more
and more insurance companies are participating in trying to make
sure that you're living healthy and that's gonna be good
for you. It's gonna save you money. But there might
even be additional incentives on top of it. Uh. And
so I don't know. I like to see these sorts
(28:22):
of things. But you're right, Matt, there are some of
those privacy concerns intertwined in these programs too. But let's
let's talk about something else. About a new report from
a firm called Global Data, which just made me think
of Global Gym from Dodgeball. The ben Stiller's Gym finds
that of Americans are actively involved in selling and buying
(28:42):
used goods secondhand. So basically sites like eBay, Facebook, Marketplace,
and offer up. They are booming right now. And that's understandable.
Lots of folks are saying that inflation is a major
reason that they're opting to go to the shrout. Hey,
everything costs more, so I'm trying to buy more stuff
used and we hope that trend sticks around. We think
that's great. Yeah, technology has made buying and selling used
(29:03):
goods easier than it's ever been, and we think that
it's it's always a great time to be using those
sites to pay less for consumer goods and to sell
unwanted items, and Matt, it's also just me easier to
get more money for those goods. Think about going back
to garage sales. You could get pennies on the dollar because,
like you're the sphere, the amount of people you could
reach it was really people who were walking or driving
(29:26):
by who would see your stuff and maybe stop specific
beholding geographic audience exactly to look at your stuff. Whereas
now with these with these sites, you can reach a
whole lot more folks, folks who are willing to drive
and pay top dollar for that item. And you have.
Speaking of which, Matt, there are less than four months
now left in the Sell your Stuff Challenge, So just
for stuff, I just need to get my sheet updated
(29:48):
because I haven't done, and I've been doing pretty good
to you, I got I gotta update my sheet as well.
I'm curious to see where I'm at. I think I'm
I think maybe I'm just a little bit behind. But
for how the money listeners out there who are participating,
we all that at the beginning of this year selling
one item a week. I'm curious too, I'm so curious
to see the results, Matt, to see how many items
people actually sold and see maybe who made the most
(30:09):
money this year too. Yeah, and actually there's another story
about all of the different athletic gear that folks bought
during the pandemic. How it's been plumbing in value. So
not only can you use sites like eBay to sell
the stuff that you no longer want, but as a consumer,
you can take advantage of the prices, the plumbering values
that that folks are having to sell their stuff for
because they're no longer worth what they paid for it.
(30:31):
I'm search for a mountain bike because but the problem
is I'm freakishly tall, and nobody has the extra large frames.
So everybody's got those medium sized frames. Gets you the
medium sized frame, but then get you an extra long
ce post. Those are like the monster batas of bikes.
But what about new stuff, because it's actually it's hard
to believe, but the Holidays, they're really around the corner.
(30:51):
And I think there's a chance that we're gonna see
a lot more Black Friday deals this year. A friend
of the show, Ben Carlson, he thinks, so we tend
to agree basic how it works for months on end
supply chain issues they were a serious problem. But now
there's been an over correction, right, Like imagine the pendulum
swinging and it was far off over to one side
where there wasn't enough supply, and now it's swung back
(31:12):
that bull whip effect and there are there's an abundance
of supply. Uh so change like Walmart and Target have
excess inventory. We've got too much stuff. Of course, these
different companies, they're gonna have to reduce prices in a
serious way in order to entice you to remove that inventory,
uh you know, from their warehouses. But keep in mind,
the best way to save the most money is by
(31:34):
not buying any of this stuff you know altogether. Don't
be enticed by the fort off, by the seventy percent
off sales that you know that you might see. Ask
yourself first, is there a way that I could just
do without this item completely? Without thinking that? You know,
you're the smartest consumer out there because you are taking
advantage of the deals. Plus I can pay pay for
it in six installments over time through buy now, pay
(31:55):
later only only if you're giving that money away, this
is the deal of a lifetime. Probably not so. Yeah,
although we are likely to see more deals, the best
deals are going to be buying used still on a
lot of these sites for the most part. Um. But yeah,
I like that you said to Matt, start budgeting now.
Like I think most people aren't thinking about the holidays yet,
but it really is right around the corner, and you
(32:15):
can make the holidays a whole lot less financially painful
if you start thinking now and you start saving now.
Maybe come up with an exact total of what you're
gonna want to spend on gifts and start setting money
aside to every paycheck so that you have the cash
you need to pay for the presidents you want to
buy when it comes to when it comes Christmas time.
That's right, all right, Well, that's gonna do it, Matt.
(32:36):
For this episode, we hope that you guys have a
great weekend, and we hope to see you back here
on Monday. Matt and I are going to publish a
conversation that we just had with Sarah Wilson. She's known
as budget Girl on YouTube and she's pretty rad, Matt,
So I'm looking forward to releasing that episode on Monday.
That's right, man, So that's gonna be for this one though.
Until next time, best Friends Out, Best Friends Out, m
Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're discussing three percent mortgages, second hand steels,
and leg room lunacy. You know what, buddy, this is
(00:28):
our Friday Flights. Well, we're gonna talk about some of
the different stories we came across this week, the most
important headlines that we think you need to pay attention
to real quick. I wanted to share a quick personal
anecdote though, So back in the spring when we listened
our house, back when the housing market was quite hot,
in particular for the sellers out there, we had a
(00:49):
number of offers, a number of competitive offers on our
Place two in particular, we were trying to decide between
but one of the buyers they had included within their
offer the ability to stay in mountain cabin. Have we
talked about this on the show? I can't remember, so
if we if we have, it's always have to know
what we've talked about only in real life with you
and me sitting here in the office, versus what we've
talked about on the show. And granted, this wouldn't have
(01:10):
tipped the scales if the other offer was super strong.
If they had come in with a really high price.
At that point, it just kind of comes down to
the numbers. You kind of have to do the math.
You don't want to overvalue this mountain cabin stay. It's yeah,
what can I book this formally night let's say exactly
it's value if maybe an extra thousand bucks, but it
was still enough to put them on our radar, maybe
(01:30):
a little bit more than otherwise. Right. But simultaneously I
was a little bit curious to see if we were
actually going to take advantage of that, because it's one
of those things were on paper. It seems like this
nice perk's offer literally a tent and you're like, dang it,
no they failed again. They did include pictures and it
looked really nice, and we thought, oh, this is this
is actually something we should consider as we're making a decision. Well,
(01:51):
the good news is that we actually just booked it.
We we've kind of been in touch with them, and
we weren't sure if we're going to reach out to
them and they're gonna say, oh, by the way, it's
book for the next two years. That was a joke,
but we know it's in the contract man. No, yeah,
it was, And that is something that we just books.
I'm actually, yeah, we're looking forward to doing that this
this fall for a few days. But the reason I
(02:12):
wanted to share that is because it was a way
that these buyers that they got creative in order to
get the house that they wanted. Uh. And we're actually
seeing that in other ways, not necessarily from the buyer's standpoint,
but from the seller standpoint. So our first story, we're
gonna talk about mortgage loan assumptions because obviously mortgage rates,
you know, like they're still low if you if you
take kind of like if you zoom out and take
(02:34):
a long term look. I kinda want to make a
joke about assumptions here, by the way, because I don't know,
you know what they say about people who make assumptions,
right man, But I think this type of assumptions, though,
are a good thing. Exactly. Yeah, So let's just like
spell that out real quick. This assumption is literally you
taking over somebody else's mortgage, right, So not going out
and getting your own mortgage, but when someone is selling
(02:54):
that house, you are saying, not only am I taking
your house, when I'm taking your mortgage at the same time, exactly,
And and The interesting thing is that almost nobody did
this for a whole lot of years. But as mortgage
rates have risen just astronomically recently, we've we've seen a
lot more mortgage assumptions taking place now that rates are
in the six percent range. It's pricing some folks out
(03:16):
of the out of the housing market. Well, if you
get that same house, same price, but with a three
percent mortgage, you might be able to afford it, right,
And there are what will point out a big chunk
of loans that are not assumable based on the way
the contract is written from that mortgage lender, like they
can't transfer it into your name. These are specifically government
backboard like that like v A loans, loans, U s
(03:39):
d A loans, some of these loans that are directly
backed by the US government exactly. So. The interesting thing though,
is as you're out there searching for homes to buy,
you're going to likely see people touting this inside of
the listing, right because if they have this two point
seven five percent mortgage or three and a half percent
mortgage that they're willing to let you assume that's an
(04:03):
that's a huge check mark for them and for their property.
They're gonna get a lot more potential buyers if those
buyers know that they can take on that much lower mortgage.
Right at the same time, I will say it's a
tricky process though, even if you even if the house
does come with an assumable loan, for instance, it maybe
that loan might only cover the purchase price and you've
(04:25):
got to either bring cash or get another. Loans are
so much higher likely than when they actually purchase that home.
So yeah, it may not only it may only cover
a small portion of the overall purchase price of that property. Yeah,
but that Wall Street Journal article about assumable mortgages was
something I was like, I I know it's more common
actually in other countries, I believe in Great Britain. It's
(04:45):
one of those things. It's kind of hard for the course,
and it would it would seem like this should be
more normal here where you don't have to but the
bank's benefit right from every time somebody does takes out
a fresh new loan, when if we just had more
assumable loans, it would cut down on some of those
transaction fees that were always railing against matt when it
comes to buying and selling real estate. I would love
(05:07):
to see more mortgage loans become assumable, more people transferring
mortgages to each other as they buy or sell a house.
But I don't know. It's good to see at least
a little bit of uptick in this regard, that's right. Yeah,
so there is a way for you to get that
two and three quarters mortgage radees, but they're they're just
you and far between. Not not terribly easy, but it's possible,
(05:29):
all right. So we talked recently about the duopoly and
the monopoly reality that most folks face when it comes
to paying for internet at home. There are really just
a few companies around the country who are out there
competing with each other. So the options they remain pretty crappy,
and the prices because of that, they stay pretty high.
Speeds are low, and your mostly bill is exorbit But
(05:50):
one thing that we failed to mission is that technology
is helping to bring more competition to the space, helping
this to hopefully become more of a problem of the past.
Some of the major cell phone companies out there, like
Verizon and T Mobile, they are selling their five G
cell service, but it's not just cell phone service, it's
actually gonna be able to replace your current WiFi set
(06:13):
up that you have at home. And the price, it's
it's not all that bad either. It's like it's a
fifty bucks from T Mobile. Uh and plans start at
fifty dollars as well with Verizon, although folks who currently
have Verizon for cell phone service they can get an
even lower rate by bundling. I haven't tested these out personally,
but from what we've read, the reviews look really good
(06:33):
and the price is good as well. Uh And so
it's it's good to see that there these are some
kind of like realistic options that would allow you to
take a completely different approach to getting internet at home
as opposed to going the more traditional path, which always
feels so cumbersome as well. Right, like you, So you
have to be there in person because the guy is
going to show up. I think he's gonna drill a
random hole in your house. Who knows where exactly, He's
(06:55):
just gonna drill over everyone. When we moved in the
A T and T guy came out, we we had
to talk a long time about where he's gonna put
this whole and it was just kind of I don't know, it.
It took a long time. These five five G service
at it seems like it's it's going to be the future.
And the speeds or something like in the in the
average range of a hundred megs up to like a
hundred and eighty megs with a couple of these plans,
(07:16):
So it's worth looking into. Let's say, if you're currently
paying for internet service every single month, but that speed
is going to serve you just fine, or maybe you
just found that like yeah, you've called the customer retention
department again, like we've suggested, and they have finally got
onto your game, and then they're not lowering your rate anymore.
Typically they will, but not always. Well, it might be
(07:38):
it might be time to try out one of these
five G plans, and if you do, let us know,
let us know how it goes. And that one thing
you you mentioned was that if you are currently a
Verizon customer, you can get an even better deal on
this five G service. Sadly that means that you're paying
so much extra though for cell phone service that's probably
not worth it. If you mean, if you just leave,
sit down and do the math, like take the whole
(07:59):
picture into account, right, because if maybe you are with
Mint Mobile, uh, and you've got that price down and
you are able to pay maybe more than you want
to because you are with Comcast. But if your overall
net cost is going to be lower, of course, stick
with what you've got going on. But if you do
the math and you realize that, you know what, paying
more for a Verizon cellfone service, uh, that would allow
me to pay a lot less for my home internet,
(08:19):
you could totally come out ahead. Yeah, because I think
comes down to the numbers. Baby. I saw if you're
actually a Verizon cell customer, you can get the internet
for as low as twenty five dollars a month. It
was like, that's pretty good, pretty sweet. Yeah. Alright, let's
talk about travel for a second, because we had travel
expert Scott Kais on the show a while back. Matt
and we we talked a little bit about leg room
on airplanes or the lack thereof, and airlines are, of course,
they're doing their best to charge us more for tiny
(08:43):
slivers of extra space as they've shrunk the distance between
seats by a meaningful number of inches over the past
couple of decades. Matt, I'm six ft six and so
every inch of leg room they take away. I feel
it like in my knees, in my back, all over,
and so I don't love feel it in a pinky.
It hurts there too, exactly exactly. My left ear lobe
(09:06):
particularly throbs Matt on these long flights. But I've actually
seen some drawings recently for potential cabin configurations where you're
more in like an upright seat where they're packing a
whole lot more people in and you're in this like
semi standing positions, like an adjustable bike seat basically strattle,
and you're yeah, it's almost like the steading roller coasters
that you like, get It's almost exactly like that. That's
the best. Yeah, that's one only lasts uh forty five seconds,
(09:30):
whereas the other last for four and a half out
right right, Well, I mean no, no carriers have actually
tried to implement anything like this yet. But the interesting
thing is they might not have the chance because apparently
the Department of Transportation is considering imposing a minimum seat
requirements for how much legroom people have, and it's currently
open for public comment on their site. Now, I, Matt,
(09:52):
like I told you, I don't like being crammed into
a seat. I don't like feeling like a sardine where
my knees are literally buffled up against the seat and
front of me. But I will say I also like
saving money, and I am more than willing to endure
some discomfort to save an extra couple hundred dollars on
a three or four hour flight. So I'm not the
kind of person who wants to fly first class, who
(10:14):
wants even the premium economy. Stick me in the back
with all the regular folks who also have their knees
cram begins to seat in front of them. Um, if
it means I get to save money, I'm totally cool
with it. So we're stuck hearing you complaining about it,
like Jill does not want to be forced to pay that,
But you always shall have the option to pay for that,
all right. Like that's the thing that we love so
much about the way things I guess currently are is
(10:34):
that you have the choice. Like imagine if you wanted
to fly somewhere you didn't have a ton of money,
but you gotta fly, Well, you're probably gonna consider going
with Spirit or you know, somebody like that where you
can basically sneer at you the whole time. You know,
like they're going to charge you for every little thing,
But it is most likely absolutely be the best way
to save and to be able to fly there for
the least amount of money possible. But if these regulations pass, uh,
(10:57):
guess what, that more affordable fare isn't going to exist
because essentially you're you're you're forcing the airlines to pass
some of those costs onto you. One of the other
most beautiful things about the major discounters like Spirit Matt
is the number show. When Spirit comes into a market,
the amount of money that the major airlines are charging
for seats goes down to So it's not just the
(11:18):
fact that they're tramping people into cheap seats on on
the Spirit airlines and that you could save money that way.
It just because of the competition. Just because there are
cheaper seats on Spirit means that their competitors, the even
the ones that are are fullfair airlines, are gonna they're
gonna be cheaper too, exactly because if they're forced to
have fewer seats on these planes, that's going to lead
to higher prices. Uh. But you know, so in the end,
(11:40):
we'll we'll see what happens. We don't know, um fingers
across those of the airlines that they keep doing their
thing and that customers they are able to choose the
airline that they want to do business with accordingly, because
that's the thing. Over time, it depends on It's not
even just you and what you're gradually getting used to,
but like it depends maybe from trip to trip or
even year to year. You might have like a really
good year and you're thinking, you know it, you know,
(12:00):
if I'm flying anywhere this year, I'm gonna do first class. Baby, like,
no longer shall my knees be crammed. But like let's
say three years from now, in fact, growth three more
inches and it becomes just untenable. Likely you're done growing.
But but you have the option. And that's what I
love the most is that folks have the option to
do that. Although that being said, some of these, uh,
the extra leg room seats out there, they come with
extra perks, like free drinks, which is kind of cool,
(12:22):
and you know, flying so that your knees so that
they don't ram into the seat in front of you,
like that might be your craft beer equivalent, or you
might feel that that's just a basic human need from
your your point of view, But I think what's important
to keep in mind is that do you want to
have the choice to make this purchase on your own
or do you want to be forced? Do you want
to be coerced into paying more? Because everybody is having
(12:44):
to provide, you know, fewer seats on a plane, they're
having to provide more leg room for everybody. Like, I
want people to have the choice, that's all. I can't
imagine getting behind the wheel of Masa Miyata. Those things
seem tiny, and I think they should be wiped off
the face of the earth. Accordingly, like people who are
six six probably shouldn't be dry in those cars. So
there's a lot of Masa Miata fans. There's like, there's
a lot of people who are five four who taking
circuit and all they do is raise hota. Really do
(13:07):
you know that? Yeah? You remember Corey, our our old buddy.
He used to be part of this uh Miata group
and they all got their mia have like a cult
following take him to the track. I would imagine the
cult following is mostly involved short people. But ironically enough,
Core was at least six, he was decent, and he
drove a Miata. Maybe they've got more legroom than I'm
giving them credit for him. Maybe so well, speaking of
(13:29):
the airlines, last week the U. S Department of Transportation,
they published a really helpful chart that's gonna allow you
to know what you're entitled to if you're affected by
what's known as a controllable flight cancelation or delay. And
this includes things like maintenance problems or let's say they
don't have the right crew members for your flight, baggage
(13:49):
loading or fueling problems. Will actually link to this in
the show notes. But for example, if there's an overnight delay,
virtually all of the airline carriers they've admitted to providing
passengers with a complimentary hotel stay, all of them except
for one matt Uh not Spirit actually, but Frontier. But yeah,
just because an airline hasn't committed to certain amenities across
(14:12):
the board, just because they're not listed on this website
as offering that benefit, that doesn't mean that they won't
hook you up if you ask. So it's important to
know that it's often up to the discretion of the
individual carrier and even the actual employee who you're speaking with, right,
So it depends if if what what seats they sat
in in order to Is Jan having a good day?
(14:33):
We don't know, but maybe Margaret over here is feeling
a little little happier and she's willing to make sure
you're taking care of right, But she got to set
in that extra first class seat. She didn't have to.
What's the jump? Is that the jump seat that the
uh the airline doesn't Is that the best seat in
the in the house. No, not the bet They're just
like a little fold out like a piece of wood
or something like that. They do not look super comfortable.
(14:56):
Let's well, well, yeah, I just it's just is important
to mention one that this exists and that you can
kind of see what you're entitled to, but also that
even if you're not publicly entitled to some sort of
compensation for one of these, you know, for a cancelation
or for a delay, you can still advocate for yourself
often again Matt via Twitter. Twitter is one of the
best ways to get ahold of airline customer service and
(15:18):
and lots of times they'll take care of you when
legally they're not even required to. That's right, dude, All right,
we have several other stories we're gonna get to including
sacrificing a little bit of your privacy in order to
save more on insurance. We've got that story plus a
few others right after this. All right, we're going to
(15:44):
continue here on the Friday flight. We're gonna talk continue
to cover some stories that we found interesting this week,
how they pertain to your personal finances. And of course
we always get to the ludicrous headline of the week
that's right now, and this one comes from Axios. The
headline reads new company encourages donate now, pay later charitable giving,
(16:04):
and the headline Matt just gave me the willies. I
was like, I know where this is going. It cannot
be good. It's basically by now, pay later. But instead
of spending your money on an item you want, it's
for giving money away to a cause that you care about.
Let's just say we were not surprised to see that.
I mean, it's as as you see that, you're like, well,
of course, yeah, about of course it went there, that
this is where it went. Yeah, it's it's kind of
(16:26):
it's inevitable, right, It's it's a domino effect. We start
with BNPL, we get to g mp L and now yeah,
you don't even have to have the money in your
possession to give two causes you care about. They're just
so many problems with this though that it's it's hard
to know really where to start. Like one, you're giving
away money you don't have to give to there's now
a middleman taking a cut of your donation somewhere between
(16:48):
eight and fifteen percent. So the charity that you couldn't
wait to support until you actually had the money, well
now they're not getting anywhere near the full benefit they
would have if you gave to them directly. Although I
will say that one of the things that the company
behind this that like one of their stats was that
something will give twice as much if they're presented with
(17:10):
this option. Whether or not that that is a good
thing is like, that's another debate, right, But the fact
that certain nonprofits out there are able to potentially receive
even even more money, that's what the BNP is a
good argument have said the whole the whole time, folks
will spend more, Yeah, hey, put us on your website Amazon,
and because people are gonna have bigger shopping carts because
they're gonna buy more than they can actually afford and
(17:31):
this is going to be good all the way around
for everyone. It's going to increase your bottom line. But
when you're giving away more money, I get why that
sounds nice to the charitable organizations. Hey, people are gonna
give more money to you, but they're giving money that
they don't have. And so we would say this, this
major league sucks. And we are all about supporting nonprofits
that are doing good work. We would say it's a
(17:53):
great thing to budget for monthly or annual giving. But
this feels shady and almost predatory, and it's definitely not
the best way to make those donations happen. So if
you see a gift now, pay later button, avoid it.
Don't do it. Because it's another modern iteration of a
stupid fintech offering that is bad for bad for individuals,
(18:14):
it's bad for consumers. I will say, I'm willing to
play Devil's advocate a little bright here because so like
in this way, like simultaneously, I feel like it could
be a good thing if it allows somebody to commit
to a behavior that they might want to do but
that they find themselves not doing over time, right like
like I will see it almost like a tool, not
inherently a bad or an evil thing, but as a
(18:35):
tool that someone could potentially utilize. You're just sitting over
there staring at me that you can potentially utilize as
like a commitment device, right and so like in that way,
I almost feel also do the same with a recurring
credit card donation to my friend. You totally could. Yeah,
absolutely so I get what you're saying. And we've said
the same thing about bnpls, that they're not inherently wrong
(18:56):
or inherently bad. It's just that most people use them
slow us the typically yes they buy or give money that, yeah,
they use importantly. And so that's why the the end
matters so much so much, right, and so the means
to the end here in this case, the end is
to give that money away when you're using it to
buy more junk, like more crap. I think that to
me that feels more pernicious, right, Like that's when you're
(19:17):
you're not really thinking through like do you really need
all this stuff? Now? Do you really need that fancy
pair of running shorts or something. I'm just picking on
myself because that's like the last thing I bought but
not via pay now. But forgiving is not much better
than right, And it's not about going into debt. Obviously,
if you're doing that, then then that's something that we
would discourage and a lot of people are well in
(19:37):
that case, I absolutely would discourage it. But yeah, the
ability for somebody, I do see there being benefits, sort
of like with by not pay later, there are some
benefits if say, it does allow somebody to turn their
credit around a little bit because those payments get counted
towards their credit. In the same way, I do see
there being some slight benefits potentially to having give now,
pay later be an option, and especially considering the f
(20:00):
are willing to give a little bit more of their
money away if presented without option. But that's well, And
so whether you're giving it or their future money, they don't.
That is true. Which is the problem, right it is
that is at the crux of the problem is people saying,
I want to do this thing now, but I don't
have the money to do it, But I'm gonna gonna
go ahead and commit to it because this tool exists
(20:20):
for me to be able to do that, and and
that's what we talk like. Credit cards are are similar
in that way, although it's a shorter timeframe, and it
really can be as a method of payment, and it
comes with even better rewards. The only reward for bnp
L most of the time is just the ability to
hold off doing something you would have done otherwise. Whereas
credit cards offer additional benefits, we say, I mean ultimately,
(20:41):
if someone can't afford it, right, if they are like
where it does feel like a loan in order to
give that seems like a very unhealthy, very unhealthy behavior,
as opposed to seeing it as a way for some
folks I think are just entering into that mindset of
like they are seeing themselves months a month, and even
though discourage that, we want people to look ahead, We
want folks to plan and to budget and to do
(21:04):
things a little more proactively. I think there are a
lot of folks who are entering into this way of
handling their money where they are looking at it more
as just a kind of like a monthly amount, like
a subscription. This is how much I pay every month
that goes towards my you know, Netflix, or this is
how much I end up paying every month towards my groceries.
I think I would say a c H though, or
setting up a monthly put it on autopilot shore but
(21:27):
by now give later to me could set you up
to be in a position, a financial position you don't
want to find yourself in. Exactly. Yeah, I mean, ultimately
we don't like it, but I guess I do see
this as being a slight way that there someone is
using this technology for good. Obviously, if folks are using
it for consumables, then I think that's a very bad thing.
And unfortunately that is how a lot of folks are
(21:48):
are using it. That's that's why it's wrecking the personal
finances of a lot of a lot of young folks. Actually,
The Times had an article this past weekend about how
more individuals are turning to buy now, pay later for
just like basic purchases like gross trees. And then, of
course what ends up happening. Folks start spending more while
they're at the grocery store because they can pay for
multiple installments. And so why not get the the gourmet
(22:10):
cheese where I'm gonna go ahead and get the the
name brand cereal because it's a little bit nicer than
the off brand stuff. I'll just pay for it over time.
And so when you use it in this way, these
products are basically loans, and so taking out a loan
to buy groceries, we feel as a as a recipe
for disaster. We want you to be planning ahead in advance.
And while at the moment it does kind of seem
like you're a gray area, I think ultimately it feels
(22:32):
like that this is going to go. It's gonna start
leaning more in the direction of it being a massive
negative as opposed to being something that you can use
to your advantage. I agreed, And we've talked about how
some buy now, pay later companies are starting to report
to the credit bureaus, and so if you're a really
savvy consumer who doesn't have a great credit score, it's
you know, buying thoughtfully occasionally an item through BNPL when
(22:57):
you have the money, I'm ensuring that you pay it off.
As agreed, well, that can help boost your credit score.
But for the most part, especially seeing that story about groceries,
it's just it's a bar to see people getting into
financial situations they wouldn't otherwise because these products exist and
they're using them thinking that they're better than they actually are.
Um when for the most part people use them poorly.
(23:19):
It's a tool, but it's it's mostly a crappy tool
for for most people. Let's let's move on the map.
There's a new survey from a company called Higher Visibility,
and they found that of gen z ears want to
become social media influencers. And when I read that, I
was like, you know what, that's that's not necessarily a
bad thing. I think it's okay to want to influence
(23:40):
the people around you. And it is true that some
social media content creators are able to make real money. Uh,
but it's also true that there are only a select
few who make legitimate income doing so, who make a
meaningful amount, right, who make enough to I don't know,
pay the bills. And I guess, you know, influencers maybe
are kind of the new pro athletes. That's like the
(24:01):
new hot job that people want. But we all know
by now that the percentage of folks who make it
to the pros in that field is infantessimally small too.
You know. We had linebacker Brain and Copeland on recently,
and he talked about how difficult difficult it was to
make in the NFL, especially as an undrafted player. Uh,
not trying to crush the dreams of the youngsters out there,
(24:22):
But it's wise to not put that profession on such
a pedestal and to put all your eggs in that basket.
It's okay to dabble and to see what happens, but
putting all of your efforts there, it's just it's not
a good idea because again, so few people are actually
gonna make money, and I know a lot of people
in that space. I don't have any hate for the
influencer crowd out there. I think it's I think it's
(24:44):
totally fine. I don't really participate much, um, but I'm
totally cool that people make money online in that way.
But it's just important to mention that something like the
one percent or even the point one percent, that's where
most of the money is going. And there's a whole
lot of I want to be influencers out there who
who aren't making to dime. I like how you said
it's okay to influence other people like you just completely
strip the word influencer of it's like negative connotation that
(25:09):
comes with it. Well, I think for some people the
reality is like they have a good heart and they
want to share cool things with the world, and so
there's nothing wrong with being out there and talking to
your friends and sharing with others how you think or
how you feel about something. To be honest, there's a
lot of crappy influencers out there who doing terrible things.
But I think most people the reason they want to
do this is because it sounds like fun and they
(25:29):
want to share something cool with others. And I think
I think that motive that desire is good. Yeah. Absolutely,
All right, let's talk about saving money by being healthy? Uh, Joel,
you know there's that saying that is it like an
ounce of prevention that's worth a pound of cure um.
Though as a country, I feel like like we've not
been great at internalizing that when it comes to medicine
or or honestly a lot of important elements of our
(25:51):
society either. But apparently more insurance companies are starting to
lean in this direction, implementing something called active insurance. Uh.
And so basically insurance companies they will reward you for
good behavior, which will have a direct impact on both
their bottom line and of course yours, which is why
we're talking about it. Maybe your waistline too, if it's
a health insurance Yeah. And so, like one example is, yeah,
(26:13):
wearing like a health insurance company provided device to track
your physical activity. Uh, and if you start exercising and
losing weight, you might see reduced premiums or you know,
some other money saving rewards. Uh. The reality, man, is
that like these sorts of products are going to continue
to proliferate. And we think that that's a that's a
good thing when it comes to our ability to save money,
(26:35):
but honestly for our collective health as well, if we
just jump through a few hoops, I see this as
a as a great way for us to potentially like
we're sacrificing a little bit of privacy, uh, the insurance
companies maybe know a little bit more about us. Ultimately,
this could be kind of like a frugal versus cheap,
where you know, are we being cheap because we're sacrificing
our data here in the short term in order to
(26:55):
save money here in the short term, but in the
long run to all of these companies they know more
about us. I do think that that will be a
good question for future discussions, but definitely something to keep
in mind as well. Before you which we often all do,
just instinctively click the checkbox that I agree with the
whatever that consen Who's got the time to read all
of those, man, But I totally agree, but reports, I guess, so, yeah,
(27:18):
they're digging into those fine print for us. But the
last job I had, the last real job before podcasting
full time, we had this thing called Know your Numbers.
And what they did was once a year, Emily and
I would go into into the into the office. They
would bring some nurses there, they would draw some blood,
they measure your waistline, all that kind of stuff. They
took like five different numbers, checker blood pressure, checker blood pressure.
(27:39):
They want to make sure that you are meeting some
sort of requirements. And if you do that, if you
agree you don't, you didn't have to. You could continue
to pay full freight for health insurance. But if you
agreed to get your numbers measured and you were good
on at least three out of five of those numbers,
you got four hundred bucks back off of your premiums.
And so that was the kind of thing where I'm like,
of course, I'm going to trade them knowing my blood
(28:01):
pressure and waistline's eyes for foreigner bucks, no problem. And
so that those are the kind of things that more
and more insurance companies are participating in trying to make
sure that you're living healthy and that's gonna be good
for you. It's gonna save you money. But there might
even be additional incentives on top of it. Uh. And
so I don't know. I like to see these sorts
(28:22):
of things. But you're right, Matt, there are some of
those privacy concerns intertwined in these programs too. But let's
let's talk about something else. About a new report from
a firm called Global Data, which just made me think
of Global Gym from Dodgeball. The ben Stiller's Gym finds
that of Americans are actively involved in selling and buying
(28:42):
used goods secondhand. So basically sites like eBay, Facebook, Marketplace,
and offer up. They are booming right now. And that's understandable.
Lots of folks are saying that inflation is a major
reason that they're opting to go to the shrout. Hey,
everything costs more, so I'm trying to buy more stuff
used and we hope that trend sticks around. We think
that's great. Yeah, technology has made buying and selling used
(29:03):
goods easier than it's ever been, and we think that
it's it's always a great time to be using those
sites to pay less for consumer goods and to sell
unwanted items, and Matt, it's also just me easier to
get more money for those goods. Think about going back
to garage sales. You could get pennies on the dollar because,
like you're the sphere, the amount of people you could
reach it was really people who were walking or driving
(29:26):
by who would see your stuff and maybe stop specific
beholding geographic audience exactly to look at your stuff. Whereas
now with these with these sites, you can reach a
whole lot more folks, folks who are willing to drive
and pay top dollar for that item. And you have.
Speaking of which, Matt, there are less than four months
now left in the Sell your Stuff Challenge, So just
for stuff, I just need to get my sheet updated
(29:48):
because I haven't done, and I've been doing pretty good
to you, I got I gotta update my sheet as well.
I'm curious to see where I'm at. I think I'm
I think maybe I'm just a little bit behind. But
for how the money listeners out there who are participating,
we all that at the beginning of this year selling
one item a week. I'm curious too, I'm so curious
to see the results, Matt, to see how many items
people actually sold and see maybe who made the most
(30:09):
money this year too. Yeah, and actually there's another story
about all of the different athletic gear that folks bought
during the pandemic. How it's been plumbing in value. So
not only can you use sites like eBay to sell
the stuff that you no longer want, but as a consumer,
you can take advantage of the prices, the plumbering values
that that folks are having to sell their stuff for
because they're no longer worth what they paid for it.
(30:31):
I'm search for a mountain bike because but the problem
is I'm freakishly tall, and nobody has the extra large frames.
So everybody's got those medium sized frames. Gets you the
medium sized frame, but then get you an extra long
ce post. Those are like the monster batas of bikes.
But what about new stuff, because it's actually it's hard
to believe, but the Holidays, they're really around the corner.
(30:51):
And I think there's a chance that we're gonna see
a lot more Black Friday deals this year. A friend
of the show, Ben Carlson, he thinks, so we tend
to agree basic how it works for months on end
supply chain issues they were a serious problem. But now
there's been an over correction, right, Like imagine the pendulum
swinging and it was far off over to one side
where there wasn't enough supply, and now it's swung back
(31:12):
that bull whip effect and there are there's an abundance
of supply. Uh so change like Walmart and Target have
excess inventory. We've got too much stuff. Of course, these
different companies, they're gonna have to reduce prices in a
serious way in order to entice you to remove that inventory,
uh you know, from their warehouses. But keep in mind,
the best way to save the most money is by
(31:34):
not buying any of this stuff you know altogether. Don't
be enticed by the fort off, by the seventy percent
off sales that you know that you might see. Ask
yourself first, is there a way that I could just
do without this item completely? Without thinking that? You know,
you're the smartest consumer out there because you are taking
advantage of the deals. Plus I can pay pay for
it in six installments over time through buy now, pay
(31:55):
later only only if you're giving that money away, this
is the deal of a lifetime. Probably not so. Yeah,
although we are likely to see more deals, the best
deals are going to be buying used still on a
lot of these sites for the most part. Um. But yeah,
I like that you said to Matt, start budgeting now.
Like I think most people aren't thinking about the holidays yet,
but it really is right around the corner, and you
(32:15):
can make the holidays a whole lot less financially painful
if you start thinking now and you start saving now.
Maybe come up with an exact total of what you're
gonna want to spend on gifts and start setting money
aside to every paycheck so that you have the cash
you need to pay for the presidents you want to
buy when it comes to when it comes Christmas time.
That's right, all right, Well, that's gonna do it, Matt.
(32:36):
For this episode, we hope that you guys have a
great weekend, and we hope to see you back here
on Monday. Matt and I are going to publish a
conversation that we just had with Sarah Wilson. She's known
as budget Girl on YouTube and she's pretty rad, Matt,
So I'm looking forward to releasing that episode on Monday.
That's right, man, So that's gonna be for this one though.
Until next time, best Friends Out, Best Friends Out, m
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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