November 29, 2024 • 32 mins
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them 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 explain some relevant and helpful stories like: Joel’s price match win, egregious store card rates, brick & mortar shopping, physical catalog resurgence, generous happy people, Robinhood x Daffy, thermostat tug of war, too many toys, toilet scrubbing over bank account peeking, student loan servicer mess, Amazon Music audiobooks, & unassuming entrepreneurship hubs.
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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.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Joel, I'm Matt, and.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today we're talking about in store shopping, the thermostat, Tug
of War and too many toys.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
That's right, Happy belated thanks Giving to everybody. Happy Black Friday. Specifically, Joel,
are you are you scouring the interwebs for any specific deals?
Are you looking for anything in particular?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm not gonna lie. I've done most of my Christmas
shopping at this point because we look at you get
or done. While the deals are good, I've tried to
like stick to a budget, not go overboard. There's one thing, Matt,
Can I tell you about my best Black Friday deal?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So it also reveals how old I am and crotchety.
But so I have to get a sea pat machine
because my sleeping sleep at me right, And I took
one of those new fangled at home sleep tests this
company called Lafta does. There's actually multiple companies that do this,
and it's.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
The Casper Mattress of sleep apnea tests, which is actually amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
When you think about how far technology has come and
you used to have to go in and I've done
in person sleep study. How much it costs and how
annoying it is, and the fact that you can do
it at home now for like way less money is
Incredible's pretty sweet. So word of the wise, for those
people who are like I think I might have it, well,
you can get us at home sleep totch. Like on
hundred fifty buslus you.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Shared the experience of you going in when you were younger,
like as a kid or something like that. I cannot
imagine going into somewhere that you've never been sleeping in
this room that feels very foreign to you. And they
also kept like talking to you when you would yeah
over the intercom, over the intercome, they're telling you how
to sleep, like you're doing something wrong, and of course
it's going to have a negative impact on your ability
to get some good rest.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It sounds terrible, it's horrendous and so not that I
think maybe it's probably necessarily required in some cases for
some people, but for a whole lot of people who
are like, eh, I don't feel like i'd wake up
refresh or I don't sleep well, maybe I should do this. Well,
It's pretty easy and not terribly expensive to do the
at home sleep test. But so that was a win
for me. Recently like doing that, and it wasn't terribly expensive,
(02:10):
but I had to order a seapap machine right based on.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Those are expensive.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, they're expensive like that, like typically in a thousand
dollars range. I caught a sale at Lofta after I
did the sleep test. It was like seven hundred and
twenty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I thought you were gonna say you got one off
Facebook marketplace, you drove down to your neighbor's house, and
I considered it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I didn't do it because I was like, that might
be cheap, not prouval.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You just have to like spread the lysol in their ass,
the machines running just to that disinfect it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It one percent cross my mind for sure. And Emily
looked at me when I mentioned it. She was like,
are You're a psycho. But so I bought a new one.
And then I was on one of my favorite websites,
slick Deals, and there was a different seapap company, a
company that sells seatpap machines directly to consumers, that was
selling the same one for four hundred bucks, the exact
(02:54):
same one, the exact same one.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Very nice.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I was like, Okay, that's incredible. So I go back
to Lofta's website. Turns out they have a price match
guarantee where they beat the price by ten percent. So
instead of paying seven hundred and twenty dollars, I paid
three hundred and sixty dollars, so basically amazing half price
of the sale price. And that was my big Black
Friday win this year.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
That's a massive win. Man, Look at you. Jumping on
the self care bandwagon. Might inspire me to get a
continuous glucose monitoring machine.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I literally had a friend who had this massive clot
that he almost died from. It caused a heart attack,
and his doctor.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Said, taking it a bit more seriously.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I think the sleep apnea, which he didn't even know
he had, might have caused this. And it was having
coffee with him and in telling me about that, where
I was like, all right, I don't want to die,
so I'm gonna jump on.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Start getting a little bit older, you start taking a
bit more seriously. It's not just like health trends. It's
like literal this is for our ability to live a
long and meaningful life.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, And I'm doing all the other things right, like
I'm trying to stay healthy in other ways, and I
know For some people, it is literally just being able
to take some weight off can can help you sleep better.
For me, that's not the case. Like it's it's like
more obstructive in my facial.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Facial more mechanical. Yeah yeah, but uh yeah, just a
word to the wise out there.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Check out loftay, get that at home sleep study and
then look for a deal on that.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And who knew that you could get a SEPAP medical
devices like this on a site like slick Deals.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We have a prescription. You have to upload your prescription.
Oh do you really, which I have because I did
the at home sleep test. But yes, But then you
can get the device online and save a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I bet you do. You have slick Deals said as
like your default page that loads when you open the browser.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And no, but I do like that, especially the time
of year.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I like to see what's going on in the shopping
spaces on the interwebs.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
All right, as we continue this sort of retail section
of our episode. Last week we mentioned store cards why
we're not the biggest fans of the different discs. Well,
I'm a fan of the discounts that they offer, but
not a fan of the terms that are offered with
these store cards. Well, the New York Posts they reported
that Macy's, Gap, TJ Max, they have all increased interest
(04:56):
rates on their store brand credit cards going into the
holiday see and so, Man, this is especially red flagworthy
because as the FED is cutting rates, they are doing
the opposite. They are raising rates, and some store cards
are charging thirty six percent on their credit cards, which
is a big financial Wayami. On one hand, I don't
(05:18):
want this to be news because I think interest rates
that cards are charging shouldn't be something that even enters
into your lexicon, because of course you're using credit cards properly.
But the fact is, I do know that fifty percent
of folks out there are financing the rewards that we're receiving.
If you are using your credit cards like a pro
and for you, Man, I would say, let's just avoid
these cards altogether if you have any sort of proclivity
(05:41):
to fall into some of those interest payments.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You know, we talked about the many problems with store
cards last week on the show, and yeah, there are.
I can't believe it, Matt, that they're jacking up interest
rates as interest rates on everything else are going down
it's just another reason to avoid them. They're not great
financial tools. Regular credit cards are, and we just released
a list of our favorite credit cards for holiday spending.
Molding to that in the show notes. And by the way, Matt,
(06:03):
do people actually go to stores in person? Are you
doing any of your holiday shopping like in physical stores
or are you.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Just doing I'm very very little.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, so you're you're sticking online when you're buying stuff,
or or I'm guessing you're making like handmade Macrome gifts
maybe for exactly your style. Well, I kind of had
this question. I was like, does anyone even really brick
and mortar anymore?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Apparently people do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
You and I are maybe the outliers in this regard.
For someone like me who prefers to do the vast
majority of his shopping online, pretty much all my Christmas
presents are coming in that way, I don't I guess
I don't identify with the average American shopper. Going into
the store just sounds like too much of a hassle
and it also just takes more time. But new statistics
reveal that only sixteen percent of retail sales are done
(06:49):
online these days. That feels incredibly load to me, don'
would you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I would have expected it to be a lot more
than that.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, especially like you used to be forced to to
get the best deals go into the store, and now
the best deals are available online shows up to your doorstep,
Like I would just rather go in that direction. But
brick and mortar still matters in the United States of
America and some of the chains that are kind of
built around in store bargain hunting. Matt, you mentioned TJ
Max jacking up rates on store cards. Well, the TJ
(07:16):
Max and Marshals of this world, they're thriving. People love
going into the stores, and I think it's kind of
the bargain hunt mentality that people go into that store
with same thing with Costco Costco actually, or the center
isle at Aldi. People love the way those things constantly
get changed up and the deals they can find when
they're shopping there. And so yeah, maybe you and me,
maybe our online shopping habits are more rare than I thought.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I think so. I think it's unfortunately turned into an
American pastime. The folks going in store looking for a deal.
It's almost like a third space I think for a
lot of folks. But it's like, what are we going
to do on Saturday, Let's go shopping, And like you
have the ability to potentially spend less on something as
opposed to just if you are maybe not great at
ordering online. But for me, I could see it sort
of going in like a polarizing direction because like if
(08:00):
I'm looking for the absolute best deal, I don't care
with you know, like the sort of personal, personalized experience
that I'm gonna get by going into a store. I'm
just gonna as long as I can, you know, make
an order online from a reputable website and get the
absolute lowest deal. I'm gonna do that. But like at
the other end of the spectrum, I am willing to
pay maybe not the cheapest prices for like a I'm
thinking of like a hardware store where we used to live,
(08:21):
used to do this amazing Christmas village and you get
you get this entire experience by going to something like that,
And in that case, I'm gonna be willing to like
spend some money to hang out. It makes it like
there's a coffee shop near us and they do an
awesome job like decorating the gingerbread houses. Yes, yes, and
so there's something intangible that you're gaining by going to
(08:42):
a store like that, And so for me personally, I
see it going in one of two directions, either like
the absolute cheapest online just have it shipped in a
cardboard box to my doorstep, or someplace where I'm gonna
go and hang out. I'm also gonna buy some hot clip. Yes, yeah, absolutely,
I do see myself spending less time in the middle,
like in kind of a big warehouses like electronics stores,
where it's not walking into a Best Buy. Yes, I
(09:05):
know some people probably are just from best Buy, but
I'm not going to go there in person. Well, not
only are brick and mortar stores doing just fine things
to in person shoppers, but another throwback physical catalogs. They
are back in a meaningful way as well, because like
the way folks shop today, it's a it's an endless
world of scrolling. Retailers are finding that something physical, an
(09:27):
immersive catalog landing on your doorstep is just the way
to get you interested in them again. Jay Crew, they
have brought back their catalog. Amazon They they've been doing
physical catalogs as well. Honestly, I think J Crew jumping
on the catalog Bandwagon and a lot of other even
publishers kind of going back to the physical print copies
had to do with Amazon, Like they're looking at Amazon,
(09:49):
this behemoth, and they're saying, wait a minute, which is funny.
They are they are like the kings of online retail
and if they are the ones who are bringing back
the catalog, maybe that's something we should do as well.
And it makes sense, right because like I think about
like even like literally this morning, my daughter, one of
the kids, asked for the Harry Potter we've got the
illustrated versions we've talked about on the show. Before she
can reach Harry Potter four, the Goblet of Fire, and
(10:11):
she was like, hey, can you get that down for me?
I was like yeah, handed it to her. Dude. She
was like immersed in that thing for the next hour.
Like none of us heard a peep from her because
there's no distractions, there's no pop ups, there's no videos playing,
there's no messages that you were receiving on your device
for you to do online shopping. And I think that's
what retailers are realizing and learning when it comes to
these catalogs. If you want to have someone's full attention,
(10:32):
someone's full retail attention. Getting a catalog in front of
them is a good way to go places like that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Nostalgia Play talks about my hetstrings when I see through it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, it's fun. It's the Christmas village pop up version
of online shopping essentially, right. It is sort of like
this throwback. And it's also the reason we're highlighting it though,
is just to make sure that you are being careful,
that you are aware of how you might be swayed
to spend your dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
The messaging it works. There's a reason they're sending the
catalog to your doorstep because you might flip through it
and be like, oh yeah, yeah, let me go get
some of that stuff, right, So, yeah, just watch yourself.
Let's talk about charity for a second. I mean, something
people want to buy but it's hard to come by
is happiness. And it's easy to think that spending more
this time of year is going to bring more joy
(11:16):
into your life or into the life of your loved ones.
That's not true though, right Like the more physical gifts,
cooler electronics, they make you maybe happy for an instant,
but they don't provide lasting happiness. You can't buy that
stuff on the store shelf, and the Wall Street Journal
had an article about how generosity can help boost your happiness,
and that means in a sense that you can use
(11:38):
your money to create greater levels of happiness in your life,
which I think is actually kind of cool. But really,
this is one of the only ways I think by
giving that money away, by treating other people, or by
supporting one of your favorite nonprofits, right giving proactively to
causes that you care about, and then following the impact
of those dollars, I think it's a crucial part of
It is a surefire away, according to research, to boost
(11:59):
your mood and to reduce stress. So we actually talked
about this with Phil on last Wednesday's episode for a
little bit. We talked about the psychological benefits of giving.
And so while you know we're all out there shopping
for friends and loved ones this time of year, and
in particular right now when the deals are hot, don't
forget about the power that giving out of your excess
(12:21):
can have. And I think setting aside some of that
money instead of just like consuming and consuming more and more,
setting aside more money for causes that you care about,
to give to some of those nonprofits can have a
really meaningful impact on your happiness levels, on your psyche.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Heck yeah yeah, and not even just giving like completely
out of your excess, but even like giving sacrificially as well.
And this isn't to say that if you are struggling
to keep like the lights on, that you need to
give like the last ten dollars in your savings account
to some nonprofit. But I don't know considering giving in
a way.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
That hurts a little bit that where otherwise.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
You might spend some dollars on yourself to maybe even
give out of that account as well. But one way
to give is to donate appreciated securities to your favorite nonprofit.
This can help you to reduce your tax burden while
being able to give generously. You get the best of
both worlds, and we believe that the best way to
do that is through a donor advised fund a daff
(13:15):
because not every nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Is equipped to take stock or crypto directly.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And going this route just got easier thanks to a
new partnership between the folks over at daffy, which is
our favorite donor advised fund, as well as Robinhood. So
you can now donate cryptocurrency holdings directly to your Daffy account.
You're voting tax on the game so that you can
funnel those dollars directly to your favorite charities, which is awesome.
This is so great. I'm a huge fan because I've
(13:42):
been a fan of robin It for a while and
I feel like they continue to expand what it is
that they're offering. Initially, it just seems ugged up quite
a bit, very much. So Basically as soon as they
started offering retirement accounts, I was like, Okay, now, to me,
you're just like any other brokerage out there. But now
these additional partnerships, especially with somebody like Daffy, as the
warming more heart, even more agil especially this time of year.
And if you don't know much about donor advised funds,
(14:04):
will link to an article that kind of explains how
they work. But technology has improved dramatically and prices have
come down substantially when it comes to dafts, and because
of that, they can be a great addition to your
personal fin It's arsenal if you value generosity and if
you value joy and happiness in your life's ry little.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Case in your life donate your bitcoin from your Robinhood
account to to Daffy, to your daft donor vice fund.
And yeah, this is a great move from a tax perspective,
from a generosity perspective, from a personal happiness perspective. And Matt,
think about the people who are listening. If they have
a small amount of their portfolio in cryptocurrency and bitcoin,
if they've kept it small but it's grown a lot. Hey,
(14:45):
this is a way to kind of trim some of
your holdings while bitcoin is rocking and to give some
money in like the most tax advantaged way. It's it's
better than writing a check from a tax perspective, and
yet you're still able to give the amount of money
that you want to give. So I think this is
great and it's become so much easier now thanks to
this new partnership. All Right, Matt, The perpetual question this
time of year the people ask is what temperature should
(15:09):
we put the thermostat on. I don't know what that
fight looks like in your family. I don't know if
we've actually really talked about this. No fight, no fight.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I role with an iron fist. This I believe.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I do believe this for many families. Okay, I think
there is a back and forth, or even there's like
the behind the back switching up by three degrees or
something like that when the dad comes by and he's
like put a jacket on, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And I mean it makes it sound like I'm some
sort of dictator, but We've agreed to it. As a family.
We keep what do y'all keep it at?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
We keep it at overnight sixty five during the day,
somewhere between sixty five and sixty seven, but maybe sixty
eight at the very most, especially if my mom's coming over.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Oh yeah, yeah, family's over. I'm willing to bump it up.
But due that night we take it down as like
sixty two sixty two. Oh yeah, we like gang. We
like it cold at night. Yeah, and well, I guess
the science proves it too, Like the dropping body temperature,
it's it's necessary to keep you asleep.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Okay, Well I like a nice and cold so no,
if I'll be able to convince my wife to that extent.
But when you actually ask the experts, there was an
article published recently then and interview some experts, and they
basically said the answer sixty eight degrees if you're not sure,
but I've talked to people who say in the winter
months that they're they're pumping thermost out for like seventy
or seventy two, which seems.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Pile the hog.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, that ain't frugal in my book.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I ain't got that kind of money.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And also I don't need to be that toasty. Put
it truly put a jacket on, right, But yeah, I
think the other thing, the other question that always comes
up this time of year is well, what about when
I'm at work or I'm away from the house for
an extended period of time? Should I turn the temperature
down while I'm away? And I think yes, if you're
going to be gone for many hours, it's true, yeah,
that you're gonna have to kick back on the heat
(16:43):
when you get home, and it might make the system
work a little bit harder, But it's better from an
energy savings and a cost savings perspective to turn the
temperature down while you're away. And just another thing like
having a learning thermostat or a smart thermostat can be
helpful in this regard, so you don't have to like
run burd it turned it down all the time, and
a lot of power companies matt will offer people these
(17:04):
learning thermostats for free or close to free, so look
that up with your local power provider. You might find like,
wait a second, I need one of these sweet thermostats
and it's gonna look cool, it's gonna help me save money.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
They're great.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I think they say to the average person somewhere between
ten and fifteen percent on their bill. So even if
you've got to outlay fifty sixty one hundred bucks for
one of these thermostats, it'll probably pay off in short order.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I think one of the arguments for folks who would
say no, no, no, we have to keep the heat running
while we're away is if your home isn't insulated as well.
Because you cut the heat and it stays pretty dang
warm in there, and then once you start warming the
space back up again, I feel like it's able to hold.
But if you are a homeowner and you feel like
that your HVAC is constantly running or it takes a
while to get back up to temp insulation, I think
(17:46):
that's going to be key. And there are tax credits
there as well. They pay like a meaningful chunk of
money that allows you to save money for years to
come and you're going to be more comfortable in your home.
But maybe this is a frugal or cheap I think
back to the early years of our my marriage with Kate,
and I remember when we used to set it to
fifty nine jeel and like that was even when we
would have friends come over. Again soft, dude, I have
gutten soft, But we were just we were looking to
(18:09):
save every you know, in every way that we could.
And like when our friends would come over, they would
just keep your jackets on and their nit hats, which
is fine because we were doing the same thing and
we're sitting around one of the great thing games.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
So many people were so annoyed that they stopped being
your friend, and then fewer people coming over to get
annoyed by your.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It's a win win, ridiculous thumstats setting. But here's the thing.
I literally have fond memories of it because they were
in the same boat. Like we would go to their
house and also freeze over there. But one of the tricks,
like like I'm thinking about playing games, and we would
literally put an electric heater under the table, like when
you're sitting there playing Puerto Rico or Settlers, of settlers
of Catan, and it warms the table and then you
got the heat kind of pouring like onto your legs.
(18:47):
It kind of rises up. I don't know. I like
it sounds like a total cheap move, but it depends
on the context, right, And so the context at that
point in time was that we were all looking to
save a ton of money. And I'm sure some of
the early days when we met you and Emily like,
we were still doing some of those cheaper, quote unquote
cheaper moves.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
In order to say, yeah, and if you're dropping your
temp by like ten degrees, you could really save like
fifty percent.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
On your bill. Energy bills were so low. I'm not
necessarily recommending this for everyone out there, but I guess
I'm pointing out that the context matters, and who you
are surrounding yourself with and the different goals that you're
all trying to achieve, it matters.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
That has been this has been an episode of this
Old House. Thank you for listening. Just kidding, but hopefully
you can save some money on your heating bills. And
don't I think Matt. People might assume that it's a
faux pas to leave it at sixty six or sixty
seven or degrees or something like that, it's not And
if it didn't have like a family meeting about it too,
where you're like, listen, this is kind of what we're
(19:44):
gonna do because we think we can save fifty bucks
a month or something like that, and that really does
it does add up. It's not meaningless.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
All right, Matt.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
We've got more to get to, including a new freebie
for people who love Amazon that's actually a really good one.
We'll talk about that and more right after this. All right, man,
we are back from the break.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Friday flight continues, and it is now time for
the ludicrous headline of the week, which is from Vox.
This week, the headline reads why so many families are
drowning in toys, which, Joel, I'm sure you've got young
kids as well. I'm sure you can relate. I think
a lot of our listeners could relate. We live in
a country of abundance, and that doesn't necessarily mean that,
(20:31):
you know, everyone's home is overflowing with stuff, but it's
also a real problem when a culture like ours is
so tethered to consumption. It's almost as if every occasion
in life is an excuse to go out and buy something. Yeah,
and this article it highlighted the unintentional accumulation of toys,
and dude, sometimes it just feels like our homes get
swamped and overloaded with stuff without even trying.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
I literally blame the neighborhood boy. He lives two doors down,
and when my five year old gets stuff like he
bring it over, just blame it on and he just
gives it to him and I'm like, no, no, no, take
it back.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I wanted to talk about this because I think this
is a good thing, a good topic to discuss, like
right after Thanksgiving and you know, before we roll headlong
into Christmas. It sounds like maybe it's too late for you,
you've already done all of your shopping. But I think
some of these proactive conversations, especially with our kids, where
you're setting expectations, we're setting expectations with extended family as well.
I think that that can be so stink and important
(21:23):
when it comes to not feeling just overwhelmed with just
all the stuff that we tend to accumulate this time
of year.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
And it is amazing how what would they say, the
more stuff you own, more of that stuff owns you
and we totally we have literally used this week to
do a lot of perching. Matt, come over and check
out the kids' rooms. Oh yeah, it looks super minimalist
to it, and they were cluttered before truly, and I
think it just it led to grad levels of anxiety,
graded levels of unease for the kids. And so now
(21:49):
they live in these rooms that are easier to keep tidy,
and some of those toys are now down in kind
of our little sunroom area that's kind of partly a
playroom for them, and some of them literally are just
getting donated. Others that were trash are being thrown into trash,
so not donating the trash toys. But so, yeah, you're right,
I think this now is a good time to have
(22:10):
this talk. And aside from saving money by deprioritizing toy accumulation,
that's a beautiful thing, but it just really does, I think,
help the overall dynamic in your house. It makes me
think of a conversation that you and I had with
Jillian Johnsrud a few years ago, and she was saying, like, hey,
pack up some of the toys. Maybe the kids love
them and they don't want to get rid of them.
But it's just too many toys to have out pack
(22:31):
them up, swap those toys out every three four months
or something like that, and then it feels like the
toys they have are brand new, but you've got fewer
toys kind of in the mix, like they're in the attic,
or they're in the garage or somewhere. They're kind of
stowed away so you can pull them out at a
later date and make the swave.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
It's a good tacto.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It makes sense. Well, there's research that they cided where
kids that had four toys, that were getting four toys
versus sixteen, that they were less stressed because they knew
exactly what to do with as four toys as opposed
to when you have sixteen you're just kind of like, oh,
there's literally too much to handle. And I think the
same thing. I mean, the same is true when it
comes to what it is that we're buying for our kids,
Like we should be thinking about this as valueists, right,
(23:10):
Like we're trying to get the most bang from our buck.
And if you have too much stuff and it's literally
not getting played with, well guess what, it doesn't matter
what kind of deal you got on that item, it
is infinitely more expensive because of the fact that it's
not being touched. Yeah, Like it makes me think about
even like we're kind of harping on kids and toys
and stuff, but the same is true when it comes
to us adults in our clothes, right, Like I'm thinking
(23:30):
of like our wardrobes, and let's say someone's got I
don't This kind of sounds ridiculous, but let's like if
you had one hundred shirts, but like ninety of them
you don't really ever wear. What doesn't matter, like how
you acquired those articles of clothing, because really the tin
that you wear, Like maybe what you should do is
focus on spending a little bit more on the tin
(23:51):
that you love, and then you've got quality over quantity, right,
And so I don't know, it's intentional purchasing and intentional buying.
And oftentimes we are so in dated with the readily
available stuff that we can have delivered by the end
of the day tomorrow, Like that is.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Our default sort of reaction because it's easy, as.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Opposed to thinking a little bit longer and a little
bit harder about the things that are going to actually
move the needle. For us.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I think you're spot on, and I think these are
the right conversations, the right way to be thinking about
what we're buying, how much we're buying, and whether or
not we need to buy that thing at all. Do
we need to bring it into our lives, even if
it's a sick deal? Right?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Totally?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
All right.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
We talked with Dan Egan Matt on Wednesday about how
our financial decisions are influenced by our psychology. One of
the things we touched on was something known as the
Meerkat effect or the Ostrich effect, and Dan actually helped,
I think, write the paper on the Meerkat effect, or
at least he cited it somewhere. And sometimes, you know,
what that reflects is the fact that we hide our
(24:48):
heads in the sand to avoid facing the facts. Well,
there's this new article I saw on a psyche called
the Conversation. It was about how people would rather clean
their toilets than check their bank account balance. And you
like cleaning toilets anyway, Matt, so you probably do both
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You know, I keep it clean house, Yeah, I know
you do.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
People would rather though, roll up their sleeves and put
on those rubber yellow gloves and start scrubbing.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I also love wearing those. I've seen you wear them,
especially the sum of year.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
You're like mister clean, but with hair on your head.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
See. Yeah, when the heat kicks on and then the
air gets dryer and the temperature drops, you wash your
hands too much and your skin gets all cracks.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Gotta wear the rubber gloves.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, And I guess I get how a bathroom deep
clean can kind of feel satisfying in some ways, to
take something from nasty to nice. But I think more
than a love of cleaning, this reveals an aversion to
facing the facts, like when it comes to your savings
or what's going on with your banking accounts and what's
going on with your money. The only way to move
forward is to put the cleaning supplies down and to
log into that account and to see what's going on,
(25:45):
and to check your transaction history. And once you know
what's happening with your money, you can come up with
a plan. But if you're having trouble, I think if
you're maybe a newer listener to the podcast, check out
the money Gears. We'll link to it in the show notes.
But the money gears are something we came up, but
it's essentially an order of operations for your finances, and
it's important to put your finger on the pulse of
what's going on with your money, identify where you're at
(26:08):
kind of in the process of the money gears, so
you can know the next step to take. And if
you're in a tough spot or you have questions about that,
send us a question like we'd love to take it
on an ask HTM episode. I feel like, yeah, I
think I'm here, I don't know what to do next.
If you feel stuck, we'd love to help you. Well.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Another reason to pay attention to what's going on with
your accounts, and that is institutional errors that negatively affect
you happen all the time. Specifically, the student loans space
right now is a complete mess and the save plan
that's been put on pause in courts. There are a
lot of unknowns about how the next administration is going
to proceed with student loans in general, although forgiveness prospects,
(26:45):
I think we're looking pretty bleak for almost all borrowers
who aren't on a PSLF plan. I hate that it's
turned into this political football and student loan borrowers in
particular or feel in the brunt of it.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yo, yo to the max.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah, there was a new report from the CEA that
finds that student loan servicers are pulling incorrect payments out
of people's accounts, and to make matters worse, getting a
refund for the overage. It's like pulling teeth. You can
often get a slight interest rate break by having your
payments automatically deducted, which is why there's more folks doing that.
(27:19):
That's nice, but.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
You usually get that quarter point off and you're like,
all right, yeah, at least I'm not paying as much
in absolutely, but make sure that your student loan company
is taking out what they're supposed to. This is when
logging into your accounts is actually going to pay off
and reach out immediately if they aren't doing that, stop
those auto drafts if they can't get it right, maybe
even file a complaint with the CFPB if they don't
(27:41):
fix the issue.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
The more complaints that come into some of these different
student loan servicers will put them on the radar, that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, Consumer Finance Dog Gov is where you go to
do that, and they they've got kind of their laser
eyes locked in on some of these student loan service
providers that just aren't doing what they're supposed to do,
and they're harming consumers, harming student loan borrowers in the process. Matt,
we're big fans of audiobooks. I don't know who listens
to more, you or me, but it's pretty close. I
(28:09):
would say, yeah, I'm guessing you're probably in the lead.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Maybe if we're keeping I'm still well, I'm still listening
to Bono's.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Oh really yeah, taking you a While. It's great.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It's like a forty hour audiobook.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Really like that.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
It's crazy long.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's like War and Peace.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's really long, and you can't speed it up or
I've chosen not to because he plays so good, and
like they intermixed songs into the reading, and so I'm
just like, all right, I'm just going to commit to
doing this at one X.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It's not all audiobooks are better than just reading the book,
but there are some that are spectacularly superior. And that
is one of them where if you're going to read
the Bono book because you get his voice listening to
the audio so good. Yes, Well, and we've always said
that Libby with a Library card has been the best
app and pretty much the best way for folks to
get the audio books they want without spending a time Hoopla.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I'm a big fan of Hoopla for whatever reason, I don't.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Different books that they offered like through Hoopla. Okay, off
to check that out. I'm not, I'm really just one Libby.
But yeah, then depending on the library system that you're
a part of, well you might not be able to
get the book you want, or the book you want
might be on a massive weight list and you're like, well,
I don't want to wait nine months for that book.
And we've mentioned that Spotify now offers fifteen hours of
(29:15):
audiobook listening, which massively increases the value proposition of a
Spotify membership, and maybe it's at least just at least
like a supplement right to your Libby or Hoopla library membership.
But then Amazon matt shots across the bow from Spotify.
They've taken notice and they're trying to compete with Spotify
by offering Amazon Music Unlimited customers three free months of
(29:38):
Audible and then after that, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers apparently
now are getting one audiobook a month for free. I
was just looking digging in the app today and it's
pretty incredible. Like, if you're a subscriber to Amazon Music,
there's a ton of added value that just got thrown
in there, thrust into your hands of free audio books.
(29:58):
But now to me, Spotify and Amazon Music have taken
the cake as offering the best value for your money.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Beck. Yeah, another benefit of libraries, by the way, is
help for budding entrepreneurs. Libraries are proliferating in what they're
offering local residents. Everyone of course knows about free books.
Kate was there with the kids literally yesterday doing some
sort of like book scavenger hunt. Ran into some friends.
I freaking love that is becoming like a focal point
of our community. But there's an initiative that launched years
(30:26):
ago to turn libraries into a resource for local entrepreneurs,
and it seems like it's working out. Some offer free
meeting spaces and computers for folks to work on, But
on top of that, there are also classes on bookkeeping,
grant writing, and business plan development, which.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Is totally cool. This is all for free.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I love that the libraries are starting to turn into
like entrepreneurship hubs and so if you're keen on starting
your business, I would say check with your local library
to see what's available. It's not just for audiobook access
or you know, being able to not have to buy
a book. I think it's in twelve different library systems
across the country right now. But even if even if
you're not looking to start your own business, still go
(31:08):
and check out what your local library is offering, because
there's a lot more that they're putting out there in
the community than just a bit.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, libraries do a whole lot more than they did
like twenty five years ago. Today's library ate your grandma's
library exactly, And I like how they've kind of gotten
with the times in a lot of ways, and they're
helping people in various ways, not just hey, grab a
book off the shelf, but.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Especially when there's that too, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship,
Like we're such huge proponents of that, and I think
the more resources that are out there to encourage folks
to consider that, the better.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I mean, I think sometimes there's even like tax help
come March or April right that people can get from
a local library. There are all sorts of fantastic initiatives
from a lot of local libraries. Check and see what
yours has to offer. All right, Matt, that's going to
do it for this episode. We'll catch people back here
on Monday with a fresh listener questions episode. I hope
(31:58):
you have an awesome week in more time with family
and friends and turkey leftovers. That's where it's out. Thank you,
our buddy. That's gonna do it for this one. Until
next time, best friends Out and best Friends Out.
Welcome to How the Money.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Joel, I'm Matt, and.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today we're talking about in store shopping, the thermostat, Tug
of War and too many toys.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
That's right, Happy belated thanks Giving to everybody. Happy Black Friday. Specifically, Joel,
are you are you scouring the interwebs for any specific deals?
Are you looking for anything in particular?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm not gonna lie. I've done most of my Christmas
shopping at this point because we look at you get
or done. While the deals are good, I've tried to
like stick to a budget, not go overboard. There's one thing, Matt,
Can I tell you about my best Black Friday deal?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So it also reveals how old I am and crotchety.
But so I have to get a sea pat machine
because my sleeping sleep at me right, And I took
one of those new fangled at home sleep tests this
company called Lafta does. There's actually multiple companies that do this,
and it's.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
The Casper Mattress of sleep apnea tests, which is actually amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
When you think about how far technology has come and
you used to have to go in and I've done
in person sleep study. How much it costs and how
annoying it is, and the fact that you can do
it at home now for like way less money is
Incredible's pretty sweet. So word of the wise, for those
people who are like I think I might have it, well,
you can get us at home sleep totch. Like on
hundred fifty buslus you.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Shared the experience of you going in when you were younger,
like as a kid or something like that. I cannot
imagine going into somewhere that you've never been sleeping in
this room that feels very foreign to you. And they
also kept like talking to you when you would yeah
over the intercom, over the intercome, they're telling you how
to sleep, like you're doing something wrong, and of course
it's going to have a negative impact on your ability
to get some good rest.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It sounds terrible, it's horrendous and so not that I
think maybe it's probably necessarily required in some cases for
some people, but for a whole lot of people who
are like, eh, I don't feel like i'd wake up
refresh or I don't sleep well, maybe I should do this. Well,
It's pretty easy and not terribly expensive to do the
at home sleep test. But so that was a win
for me. Recently like doing that, and it wasn't terribly expensive,
(02:10):
but I had to order a seapap machine right based on.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Those are expensive.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, they're expensive like that, like typically in a thousand
dollars range. I caught a sale at Lofta after I
did the sleep test. It was like seven hundred and
twenty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I thought you were gonna say you got one off
Facebook marketplace, you drove down to your neighbor's house, and
I considered it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I didn't do it because I was like, that might
be cheap, not prouval.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You just have to like spread the lysol in their ass,
the machines running just to that disinfect it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It one percent cross my mind for sure. And Emily
looked at me when I mentioned it. She was like,
are You're a psycho. But so I bought a new one.
And then I was on one of my favorite websites,
slick Deals, and there was a different seapap company, a
company that sells seatpap machines directly to consumers, that was
selling the same one for four hundred bucks, the exact
(02:54):
same one, the exact same one.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Very nice.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I was like, Okay, that's incredible. So I go back
to Lofta's website. Turns out they have a price match
guarantee where they beat the price by ten percent. So
instead of paying seven hundred and twenty dollars, I paid
three hundred and sixty dollars, so basically amazing half price
of the sale price. And that was my big Black
Friday win this year.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
That's a massive win. Man, Look at you. Jumping on
the self care bandwagon. Might inspire me to get a
continuous glucose monitoring machine.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I literally had a friend who had this massive clot
that he almost died from. It caused a heart attack,
and his doctor.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Said, taking it a bit more seriously.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I think the sleep apnea, which he didn't even know
he had, might have caused this. And it was having
coffee with him and in telling me about that, where
I was like, all right, I don't want to die,
so I'm gonna jump on.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Start getting a little bit older, you start taking a
bit more seriously. It's not just like health trends. It's
like literal this is for our ability to live a
long and meaningful life.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, And I'm doing all the other things right, like
I'm trying to stay healthy in other ways, and I
know For some people, it is literally just being able
to take some weight off can can help you sleep better.
For me, that's not the case. Like it's it's like
more obstructive in my facial.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Facial more mechanical. Yeah yeah, but uh yeah, just a
word to the wise out there.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Check out loftay, get that at home sleep study and
then look for a deal on that.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And who knew that you could get a SEPAP medical
devices like this on a site like slick Deals.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We have a prescription. You have to upload your prescription.
Oh do you really, which I have because I did
the at home sleep test. But yes, But then you
can get the device online and save a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I bet you do. You have slick Deals said as
like your default page that loads when you open the browser.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And no, but I do like that, especially the time
of year.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I like to see what's going on in the shopping
spaces on the interwebs.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
All right, as we continue this sort of retail section
of our episode. Last week we mentioned store cards why
we're not the biggest fans of the different discs. Well,
I'm a fan of the discounts that they offer, but
not a fan of the terms that are offered with
these store cards. Well, the New York Posts they reported
that Macy's, Gap, TJ Max, they have all increased interest
(04:56):
rates on their store brand credit cards going into the
holiday see and so, Man, this is especially red flagworthy
because as the FED is cutting rates, they are doing
the opposite. They are raising rates, and some store cards
are charging thirty six percent on their credit cards, which
is a big financial Wayami. On one hand, I don't
(05:18):
want this to be news because I think interest rates
that cards are charging shouldn't be something that even enters
into your lexicon, because of course you're using credit cards properly.
But the fact is, I do know that fifty percent
of folks out there are financing the rewards that we're receiving.
If you are using your credit cards like a pro
and for you, Man, I would say, let's just avoid
these cards altogether if you have any sort of proclivity
(05:41):
to fall into some of those interest payments.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You know, we talked about the many problems with store
cards last week on the show, and yeah, there are.
I can't believe it, Matt, that they're jacking up interest
rates as interest rates on everything else are going down
it's just another reason to avoid them. They're not great
financial tools. Regular credit cards are, and we just released
a list of our favorite credit cards for holiday spending.
Molding to that in the show notes. And by the way, Matt,
(06:03):
do people actually go to stores in person? Are you
doing any of your holiday shopping like in physical stores
or are you.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Just doing I'm very very little.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, so you're you're sticking online when you're buying stuff,
or or I'm guessing you're making like handmade Macrome gifts
maybe for exactly your style. Well, I kind of had
this question. I was like, does anyone even really brick
and mortar anymore?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Apparently people do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
You and I are maybe the outliers in this regard.
For someone like me who prefers to do the vast
majority of his shopping online, pretty much all my Christmas
presents are coming in that way, I don't I guess
I don't identify with the average American shopper. Going into
the store just sounds like too much of a hassle
and it also just takes more time. But new statistics
reveal that only sixteen percent of retail sales are done
(06:49):
online these days. That feels incredibly load to me, don'
would you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I would have expected it to be a lot more
than that.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, especially like you used to be forced to to
get the best deals go into the store, and now
the best deals are available online shows up to your doorstep,
Like I would just rather go in that direction. But
brick and mortar still matters in the United States of
America and some of the chains that are kind of
built around in store bargain hunting. Matt, you mentioned TJ
Max jacking up rates on store cards. Well, the TJ
(07:16):
Max and Marshals of this world, they're thriving. People love
going into the stores, and I think it's kind of
the bargain hunt mentality that people go into that store
with same thing with Costco Costco actually, or the center
isle at Aldi. People love the way those things constantly
get changed up and the deals they can find when
they're shopping there. And so yeah, maybe you and me,
maybe our online shopping habits are more rare than I thought.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I think so. I think it's unfortunately turned into an
American pastime. The folks going in store looking for a deal.
It's almost like a third space I think for a
lot of folks. But it's like, what are we going
to do on Saturday, Let's go shopping, And like you
have the ability to potentially spend less on something as
opposed to just if you are maybe not great at
ordering online. But for me, I could see it sort
of going in like a polarizing direction because like if
(08:00):
I'm looking for the absolute best deal, I don't care
with you know, like the sort of personal, personalized experience
that I'm gonna get by going into a store. I'm
just gonna as long as I can, you know, make
an order online from a reputable website and get the
absolute lowest deal. I'm gonna do that. But like at
the other end of the spectrum, I am willing to
pay maybe not the cheapest prices for like a I'm
thinking of like a hardware store where we used to live,
(08:21):
used to do this amazing Christmas village and you get
you get this entire experience by going to something like that,
And in that case, I'm gonna be willing to like
spend some money to hang out. It makes it like
there's a coffee shop near us and they do an
awesome job like decorating the gingerbread houses. Yes, yes, and
so there's something intangible that you're gaining by going to
(08:42):
a store like that, And so for me personally, I
see it going in one of two directions, either like
the absolute cheapest online just have it shipped in a
cardboard box to my doorstep, or someplace where I'm gonna
go and hang out. I'm also gonna buy some hot clip. Yes, yeah, absolutely,
I do see myself spending less time in the middle,
like in kind of a big warehouses like electronics stores,
where it's not walking into a Best Buy. Yes, I
(09:05):
know some people probably are just from best Buy, but
I'm not going to go there in person. Well, not
only are brick and mortar stores doing just fine things
to in person shoppers, but another throwback physical catalogs. They
are back in a meaningful way as well, because like
the way folks shop today, it's a it's an endless
world of scrolling. Retailers are finding that something physical, an
(09:27):
immersive catalog landing on your doorstep is just the way
to get you interested in them again. Jay Crew, they
have brought back their catalog. Amazon They they've been doing
physical catalogs as well. Honestly, I think J Crew jumping
on the catalog Bandwagon and a lot of other even
publishers kind of going back to the physical print copies
had to do with Amazon, Like they're looking at Amazon,
(09:49):
this behemoth, and they're saying, wait a minute, which is funny.
They are they are like the kings of online retail
and if they are the ones who are bringing back
the catalog, maybe that's something we should do as well.
And it makes sense, right because like I think about
like even like literally this morning, my daughter, one of
the kids, asked for the Harry Potter we've got the
illustrated versions we've talked about on the show. Before she
can reach Harry Potter four, the Goblet of Fire, and
(10:11):
she was like, hey, can you get that down for me?
I was like yeah, handed it to her. Dude. She
was like immersed in that thing for the next hour.
Like none of us heard a peep from her because
there's no distractions, there's no pop ups, there's no videos playing,
there's no messages that you were receiving on your device
for you to do online shopping. And I think that's
what retailers are realizing and learning when it comes to
these catalogs. If you want to have someone's full attention,
(10:32):
someone's full retail attention. Getting a catalog in front of
them is a good way to go places like that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Nostalgia Play talks about my hetstrings when I see through it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, it's fun. It's the Christmas village pop up version
of online shopping essentially, right. It is sort of like
this throwback. And it's also the reason we're highlighting it though,
is just to make sure that you are being careful,
that you are aware of how you might be swayed
to spend your dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
The messaging it works. There's a reason they're sending the
catalog to your doorstep because you might flip through it
and be like, oh yeah, yeah, let me go get
some of that stuff, right, So, yeah, just watch yourself.
Let's talk about charity for a second. I mean, something
people want to buy but it's hard to come by
is happiness. And it's easy to think that spending more
this time of year is going to bring more joy
(11:16):
into your life or into the life of your loved ones.
That's not true though, right Like the more physical gifts,
cooler electronics, they make you maybe happy for an instant,
but they don't provide lasting happiness. You can't buy that
stuff on the store shelf, and the Wall Street Journal
had an article about how generosity can help boost your happiness,
and that means in a sense that you can use
(11:38):
your money to create greater levels of happiness in your life,
which I think is actually kind of cool. But really,
this is one of the only ways I think by
giving that money away, by treating other people, or by
supporting one of your favorite nonprofits, right giving proactively to
causes that you care about, and then following the impact
of those dollars, I think it's a crucial part of
It is a surefire away, according to research, to boost
(11:59):
your mood and to reduce stress. So we actually talked
about this with Phil on last Wednesday's episode for a
little bit. We talked about the psychological benefits of giving.
And so while you know we're all out there shopping
for friends and loved ones this time of year, and
in particular right now when the deals are hot, don't
forget about the power that giving out of your excess
(12:21):
can have. And I think setting aside some of that
money instead of just like consuming and consuming more and more,
setting aside more money for causes that you care about,
to give to some of those nonprofits can have a
really meaningful impact on your happiness levels, on your psyche.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Heck yeah yeah, and not even just giving like completely
out of your excess, but even like giving sacrificially as well.
And this isn't to say that if you are struggling
to keep like the lights on, that you need to
give like the last ten dollars in your savings account
to some nonprofit. But I don't know considering giving in
a way.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
That hurts a little bit that where otherwise.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
You might spend some dollars on yourself to maybe even
give out of that account as well. But one way
to give is to donate appreciated securities to your favorite nonprofit.
This can help you to reduce your tax burden while
being able to give generously. You get the best of
both worlds, and we believe that the best way to
do that is through a donor advised fund a daff
(13:15):
because not every nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Is equipped to take stock or crypto directly.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And going this route just got easier thanks to a
new partnership between the folks over at daffy, which is
our favorite donor advised fund, as well as Robinhood. So
you can now donate cryptocurrency holdings directly to your Daffy account.
You're voting tax on the game so that you can
funnel those dollars directly to your favorite charities, which is awesome.
This is so great. I'm a huge fan because I've
(13:42):
been a fan of robin It for a while and
I feel like they continue to expand what it is
that they're offering. Initially, it just seems ugged up quite
a bit, very much. So Basically as soon as they
started offering retirement accounts, I was like, Okay, now, to me,
you're just like any other brokerage out there. But now
these additional partnerships, especially with somebody like Daffy, as the
warming more heart, even more agil especially this time of year.
And if you don't know much about donor advised funds,
(14:04):
will link to an article that kind of explains how
they work. But technology has improved dramatically and prices have
come down substantially when it comes to dafts, and because
of that, they can be a great addition to your
personal fin It's arsenal if you value generosity and if
you value joy and happiness in your life's ry little.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Case in your life donate your bitcoin from your Robinhood
account to to Daffy, to your daft donor vice fund.
And yeah, this is a great move from a tax perspective,
from a generosity perspective, from a personal happiness perspective. And Matt,
think about the people who are listening. If they have
a small amount of their portfolio in cryptocurrency and bitcoin,
if they've kept it small but it's grown a lot. Hey,
(14:45):
this is a way to kind of trim some of
your holdings while bitcoin is rocking and to give some
money in like the most tax advantaged way. It's it's
better than writing a check from a tax perspective, and
yet you're still able to give the amount of money
that you want to give. So I think this is
great and it's become so much easier now thanks to
this new partnership. All Right, Matt, The perpetual question this
time of year the people ask is what temperature should
(15:09):
we put the thermostat on. I don't know what that
fight looks like in your family. I don't know if
we've actually really talked about this. No fight, no fight.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I role with an iron fist. This I believe.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I do believe this for many families. Okay, I think
there is a back and forth, or even there's like
the behind the back switching up by three degrees or
something like that when the dad comes by and he's
like put a jacket on, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And I mean it makes it sound like I'm some
sort of dictator, but We've agreed to it. As a family.
We keep what do y'all keep it at?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
We keep it at overnight sixty five during the day,
somewhere between sixty five and sixty seven, but maybe sixty
eight at the very most, especially if my mom's coming over.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Oh yeah, yeah, family's over. I'm willing to bump it up.
But due that night we take it down as like
sixty two sixty two. Oh yeah, we like gang. We
like it cold at night. Yeah, and well, I guess
the science proves it too, Like the dropping body temperature,
it's it's necessary to keep you asleep.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Okay, Well I like a nice and cold so no,
if I'll be able to convince my wife to that extent.
But when you actually ask the experts, there was an
article published recently then and interview some experts, and they
basically said the answer sixty eight degrees if you're not sure,
but I've talked to people who say in the winter
months that they're they're pumping thermost out for like seventy
or seventy two, which seems.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Pile the hog.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, that ain't frugal in my book.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I ain't got that kind of money.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And also I don't need to be that toasty. Put
it truly put a jacket on, right, But yeah, I
think the other thing, the other question that always comes
up this time of year is well, what about when
I'm at work or I'm away from the house for
an extended period of time? Should I turn the temperature
down while I'm away? And I think yes, if you're
going to be gone for many hours, it's true, yeah,
that you're gonna have to kick back on the heat
(16:43):
when you get home, and it might make the system
work a little bit harder, But it's better from an
energy savings and a cost savings perspective to turn the
temperature down while you're away. And just another thing like
having a learning thermostat or a smart thermostat can be
helpful in this regard, so you don't have to like
run burd it turned it down all the time, and
a lot of power companies matt will offer people these
(17:04):
learning thermostats for free or close to free, so look
that up with your local power provider. You might find like,
wait a second, I need one of these sweet thermostats
and it's gonna look cool, it's gonna help me save money.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
They're great.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I think they say to the average person somewhere between
ten and fifteen percent on their bill. So even if
you've got to outlay fifty sixty one hundred bucks for
one of these thermostats, it'll probably pay off in short order.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I think one of the arguments for folks who would
say no, no, no, we have to keep the heat running
while we're away is if your home isn't insulated as well.
Because you cut the heat and it stays pretty dang
warm in there, and then once you start warming the
space back up again, I feel like it's able to hold.
But if you are a homeowner and you feel like
that your HVAC is constantly running or it takes a
while to get back up to temp insulation, I think
(17:46):
that's going to be key. And there are tax credits
there as well. They pay like a meaningful chunk of
money that allows you to save money for years to
come and you're going to be more comfortable in your home.
But maybe this is a frugal or cheap I think
back to the early years of our my marriage with Kate,
and I remember when we used to set it to
fifty nine jeel and like that was even when we
would have friends come over. Again soft, dude, I have
gutten soft, But we were just we were looking to
(18:09):
save every you know, in every way that we could.
And like when our friends would come over, they would
just keep your jackets on and their nit hats, which
is fine because we were doing the same thing and
we're sitting around one of the great thing games.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
So many people were so annoyed that they stopped being
your friend, and then fewer people coming over to get
annoyed by your.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It's a win win, ridiculous thumstats setting. But here's the thing.
I literally have fond memories of it because they were
in the same boat. Like we would go to their
house and also freeze over there. But one of the tricks,
like like I'm thinking about playing games, and we would
literally put an electric heater under the table, like when
you're sitting there playing Puerto Rico or Settlers, of settlers
of Catan, and it warms the table and then you
got the heat kind of pouring like onto your legs.
(18:47):
It kind of rises up. I don't know. I like
it sounds like a total cheap move, but it depends
on the context, right, And so the context at that
point in time was that we were all looking to
save a ton of money. And I'm sure some of
the early days when we met you and Emily like,
we were still doing some of those cheaper, quote unquote
cheaper moves.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
In order to say, yeah, and if you're dropping your
temp by like ten degrees, you could really save like
fifty percent.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
On your bill. Energy bills were so low. I'm not
necessarily recommending this for everyone out there, but I guess
I'm pointing out that the context matters, and who you
are surrounding yourself with and the different goals that you're
all trying to achieve, it matters.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
That has been this has been an episode of this
Old House. Thank you for listening. Just kidding, but hopefully
you can save some money on your heating bills. And
don't I think Matt. People might assume that it's a
faux pas to leave it at sixty six or sixty
seven or degrees or something like that, it's not And
if it didn't have like a family meeting about it too,
where you're like, listen, this is kind of what we're
(19:44):
gonna do because we think we can save fifty bucks
a month or something like that, and that really does
it does add up. It's not meaningless.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
All right, Matt.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
We've got more to get to, including a new freebie
for people who love Amazon that's actually a really good one.
We'll talk about that and more right after this. All right, man,
we are back from the break.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Friday flight continues, and it is now time for
the ludicrous headline of the week, which is from Vox.
This week, the headline reads why so many families are
drowning in toys, which, Joel, I'm sure you've got young
kids as well. I'm sure you can relate. I think
a lot of our listeners could relate. We live in
a country of abundance, and that doesn't necessarily mean that,
(20:31):
you know, everyone's home is overflowing with stuff, but it's
also a real problem when a culture like ours is
so tethered to consumption. It's almost as if every occasion
in life is an excuse to go out and buy something. Yeah,
and this article it highlighted the unintentional accumulation of toys,
and dude, sometimes it just feels like our homes get
swamped and overloaded with stuff without even trying.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
I literally blame the neighborhood boy. He lives two doors down,
and when my five year old gets stuff like he
bring it over, just blame it on and he just
gives it to him and I'm like, no, no, no, take
it back.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I wanted to talk about this because I think this
is a good thing, a good topic to discuss, like
right after Thanksgiving and you know, before we roll headlong
into Christmas. It sounds like maybe it's too late for you,
you've already done all of your shopping. But I think
some of these proactive conversations, especially with our kids, where
you're setting expectations, we're setting expectations with extended family as well.
I think that that can be so stink and important
(21:23):
when it comes to not feeling just overwhelmed with just
all the stuff that we tend to accumulate this time
of year.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
And it is amazing how what would they say, the
more stuff you own, more of that stuff owns you
and we totally we have literally used this week to
do a lot of perching. Matt, come over and check
out the kids' rooms. Oh yeah, it looks super minimalist
to it, and they were cluttered before truly, and I
think it just it led to grad levels of anxiety,
graded levels of unease for the kids. And so now
(21:49):
they live in these rooms that are easier to keep tidy,
and some of those toys are now down in kind
of our little sunroom area that's kind of partly a
playroom for them, and some of them literally are just
getting donated. Others that were trash are being thrown into trash,
so not donating the trash toys. But so, yeah, you're right,
I think this now is a good time to have
(22:10):
this talk. And aside from saving money by deprioritizing toy accumulation,
that's a beautiful thing, but it just really does, I think,
help the overall dynamic in your house. It makes me
think of a conversation that you and I had with
Jillian Johnsrud a few years ago, and she was saying, like, hey,
pack up some of the toys. Maybe the kids love
them and they don't want to get rid of them.
But it's just too many toys to have out pack
(22:31):
them up, swap those toys out every three four months
or something like that, and then it feels like the
toys they have are brand new, but you've got fewer
toys kind of in the mix, like they're in the attic,
or they're in the garage or somewhere. They're kind of
stowed away so you can pull them out at a
later date and make the swave.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
It's a good tacto.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It makes sense. Well, there's research that they cided where
kids that had four toys, that were getting four toys
versus sixteen, that they were less stressed because they knew
exactly what to do with as four toys as opposed
to when you have sixteen you're just kind of like, oh,
there's literally too much to handle. And I think the
same thing. I mean, the same is true when it
comes to what it is that we're buying for our kids,
Like we should be thinking about this as valueists, right,
(23:10):
Like we're trying to get the most bang from our buck.
And if you have too much stuff and it's literally
not getting played with, well guess what, it doesn't matter
what kind of deal you got on that item, it
is infinitely more expensive because of the fact that it's
not being touched. Yeah, Like it makes me think about
even like we're kind of harping on kids and toys
and stuff, but the same is true when it comes
to us adults in our clothes, right, Like I'm thinking
(23:30):
of like our wardrobes, and let's say someone's got I
don't This kind of sounds ridiculous, but let's like if
you had one hundred shirts, but like ninety of them
you don't really ever wear. What doesn't matter, like how
you acquired those articles of clothing, because really the tin
that you wear, Like maybe what you should do is
focus on spending a little bit more on the tin
(23:51):
that you love, and then you've got quality over quantity, right,
And so I don't know, it's intentional purchasing and intentional buying.
And oftentimes we are so in dated with the readily
available stuff that we can have delivered by the end
of the day tomorrow, Like that is.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Our default sort of reaction because it's easy, as.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Opposed to thinking a little bit longer and a little
bit harder about the things that are going to actually
move the needle. For us.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I think you're spot on, and I think these are
the right conversations, the right way to be thinking about
what we're buying, how much we're buying, and whether or
not we need to buy that thing at all. Do
we need to bring it into our lives, even if
it's a sick deal? Right?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Totally?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
All right.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
We talked with Dan Egan Matt on Wednesday about how
our financial decisions are influenced by our psychology. One of
the things we touched on was something known as the
Meerkat effect or the Ostrich effect, and Dan actually helped,
I think, write the paper on the Meerkat effect, or
at least he cited it somewhere. And sometimes, you know,
what that reflects is the fact that we hide our
(24:48):
heads in the sand to avoid facing the facts. Well,
there's this new article I saw on a psyche called
the Conversation. It was about how people would rather clean
their toilets than check their bank account balance. And you
like cleaning toilets anyway, Matt, so you probably do both
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You know, I keep it clean house, Yeah, I know
you do.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
People would rather though, roll up their sleeves and put
on those rubber yellow gloves and start scrubbing.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I also love wearing those. I've seen you wear them,
especially the sum of year.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
You're like mister clean, but with hair on your head.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
See. Yeah, when the heat kicks on and then the
air gets dryer and the temperature drops, you wash your
hands too much and your skin gets all cracks.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Gotta wear the rubber gloves.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, And I guess I get how a bathroom deep
clean can kind of feel satisfying in some ways, to
take something from nasty to nice. But I think more
than a love of cleaning, this reveals an aversion to
facing the facts, like when it comes to your savings
or what's going on with your banking accounts and what's
going on with your money. The only way to move
forward is to put the cleaning supplies down and to
log into that account and to see what's going on,
(25:45):
and to check your transaction history. And once you know
what's happening with your money, you can come up with
a plan. But if you're having trouble, I think if
you're maybe a newer listener to the podcast, check out
the money Gears. We'll link to it in the show notes.
But the money gears are something we came up, but
it's essentially an order of operations for your finances, and
it's important to put your finger on the pulse of
what's going on with your money, identify where you're at
(26:08):
kind of in the process of the money gears, so
you can know the next step to take. And if
you're in a tough spot or you have questions about that,
send us a question like we'd love to take it
on an ask HTM episode. I feel like, yeah, I
think I'm here, I don't know what to do next.
If you feel stuck, we'd love to help you. Well.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Another reason to pay attention to what's going on with
your accounts, and that is institutional errors that negatively affect
you happen all the time. Specifically, the student loans space
right now is a complete mess and the save plan
that's been put on pause in courts. There are a
lot of unknowns about how the next administration is going
to proceed with student loans in general, although forgiveness prospects,
(26:45):
I think we're looking pretty bleak for almost all borrowers
who aren't on a PSLF plan. I hate that it's
turned into this political football and student loan borrowers in
particular or feel in the brunt of it.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yo, yo to the max.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah, there was a new report from the CEA that
finds that student loan servicers are pulling incorrect payments out
of people's accounts, and to make matters worse, getting a
refund for the overage. It's like pulling teeth. You can
often get a slight interest rate break by having your
payments automatically deducted, which is why there's more folks doing that.
(27:19):
That's nice, but.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
You usually get that quarter point off and you're like,
all right, yeah, at least I'm not paying as much
in absolutely, but make sure that your student loan company
is taking out what they're supposed to. This is when
logging into your accounts is actually going to pay off
and reach out immediately if they aren't doing that, stop
those auto drafts if they can't get it right, maybe
even file a complaint with the CFPB if they don't
(27:41):
fix the issue.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
The more complaints that come into some of these different
student loan servicers will put them on the radar, that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, Consumer Finance Dog Gov is where you go to
do that, and they they've got kind of their laser
eyes locked in on some of these student loan service
providers that just aren't doing what they're supposed to do,
and they're harming consumers, harming student loan borrowers in the process. Matt,
we're big fans of audiobooks. I don't know who listens
to more, you or me, but it's pretty close. I
(28:09):
would say, yeah, I'm guessing you're probably in the lead.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Maybe if we're keeping I'm still well, I'm still listening
to Bono's.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Oh really yeah, taking you a While. It's great.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It's like a forty hour audiobook.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Really like that.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
It's crazy long.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's like War and Peace.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's really long, and you can't speed it up or
I've chosen not to because he plays so good, and
like they intermixed songs into the reading, and so I'm
just like, all right, I'm just going to commit to
doing this at one X.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It's not all audiobooks are better than just reading the book,
but there are some that are spectacularly superior. And that
is one of them where if you're going to read
the Bono book because you get his voice listening to
the audio so good. Yes, Well, and we've always said
that Libby with a Library card has been the best
app and pretty much the best way for folks to
get the audio books they want without spending a time Hoopla.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I'm a big fan of Hoopla for whatever reason, I don't.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Different books that they offered like through Hoopla. Okay, off
to check that out. I'm not, I'm really just one Libby.
But yeah, then depending on the library system that you're
a part of, well you might not be able to
get the book you want, or the book you want
might be on a massive weight list and you're like, well,
I don't want to wait nine months for that book.
And we've mentioned that Spotify now offers fifteen hours of
(29:15):
audiobook listening, which massively increases the value proposition of a
Spotify membership, and maybe it's at least just at least
like a supplement right to your Libby or Hoopla library membership.
But then Amazon matt shots across the bow from Spotify.
They've taken notice and they're trying to compete with Spotify
by offering Amazon Music Unlimited customers three free months of
(29:38):
Audible and then after that, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers apparently
now are getting one audiobook a month for free. I
was just looking digging in the app today and it's
pretty incredible. Like, if you're a subscriber to Amazon Music,
there's a ton of added value that just got thrown
in there, thrust into your hands of free audio books.
(29:58):
But now to me, Spotify and Amazon Music have taken
the cake as offering the best value for your money.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Beck. Yeah, another benefit of libraries, by the way, is
help for budding entrepreneurs. Libraries are proliferating in what they're
offering local residents. Everyone of course knows about free books.
Kate was there with the kids literally yesterday doing some
sort of like book scavenger hunt. Ran into some friends.
I freaking love that is becoming like a focal point
of our community. But there's an initiative that launched years
(30:26):
ago to turn libraries into a resource for local entrepreneurs,
and it seems like it's working out. Some offer free
meeting spaces and computers for folks to work on, But
on top of that, there are also classes on bookkeeping,
grant writing, and business plan development, which.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Is totally cool. This is all for free.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I love that the libraries are starting to turn into
like entrepreneurship hubs and so if you're keen on starting
your business, I would say check with your local library
to see what's available. It's not just for audiobook access
or you know, being able to not have to buy
a book. I think it's in twelve different library systems
across the country right now. But even if even if
you're not looking to start your own business, still go
(31:08):
and check out what your local library is offering, because
there's a lot more that they're putting out there in
the community than just a bit.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, libraries do a whole lot more than they did
like twenty five years ago. Today's library ate your grandma's
library exactly, And I like how they've kind of gotten
with the times in a lot of ways, and they're
helping people in various ways, not just hey, grab a
book off the shelf, but.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Especially when there's that too, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship,
Like we're such huge proponents of that, and I think
the more resources that are out there to encourage folks
to consider that, the better.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I mean, I think sometimes there's even like tax help
come March or April right that people can get from
a local library. There are all sorts of fantastic initiatives
from a lot of local libraries. Check and see what
yours has to offer. All right, Matt, that's going to
do it for this episode. We'll catch people back here
on Monday with a fresh listener questions episode. I hope
(31:58):
you have an awesome week in more time with family
and friends and turkey leftovers. That's where it's out. Thank you,
our buddy. That's gonna do it for this one. Until
next time, best friends Out and best Friends Out.
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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