September 29, 2023 • 30 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: negotiating a FAT raise, student loan payment panic, retailers nervous about declining consumer confidence, holiday hiring, jobs poised for the most growth, elusive medallion status, more mediocre media, inertia bias costing you monthly, drug discounts, & the best affordable new and used cars.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Out of Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're talking student loan payment panics, hottest job prospects,
and drug discounts. That's right, man, We're gonna talk about
(00:30):
those stories and more. The hottest jobs, the jobs that
are going to experience the most growth in the coming years.
We're gonna talk about a forecast, and we're going to
cover some of the career paths that are going to
see outsized growth when it comes to them. Now those
hooks are getting paid, and plus we've got other stories
that we're gonna get to during this episode. I thought,
I saw you just upload your resume on LinkedIn match.
(00:50):
Should be worrying, be a ups driver. We'll talk about
how later on. Oh so, actually, speaking of doing well
at work, I want to share a little well just
a quick little listener. Actually it's not even a little
listener when this is a massively large listener. Win. So
someone reached out to actually to Alex Carter and she
shared this with us. We had her on the show
(01:12):
back on episode six forty nine. She's the negotiation expert.
Get I think that one was getting paid what you're worth. Yeah,
that's what we called that up is you don't trust
anybody on that. She's she's somebody listened to. Yeah, so
we uh, there's a listener. And she was doing some
good work for her job. The time came to where
she needed to talk to her boss. I guess, I
guess it was the annual review. And so she went
back and re listened to Alex's interview, our conversation with
(01:36):
Alex Carter, and so she listened to it twice and
then took that information and went to her boss and
was able to negotiate a twenty five percent pay increase,
which is awesome, man, Like, that's way more than the
flipping adjustment, right, that's that three or four percent that
the employer always says, our cat that maybe she was
making something like eighty k. Now she's making six figures
(01:56):
like these are the kind of big wins that are
important to focus on because a lot of time we
talk about cutting your bills and subscriptions, a little small
things here and there to focus on, but don't forget
about some of these big rocks, some of these things
that if you get right, have an outsized impact impact
on your ability to reach your financial goals. To retire early,
just whatever it is that you've set ahead of yourself
(02:18):
that you're striving after. Yeah, if you're able to get
a fantastic sized raise like that, the world's your oyster.
There's so many things you can do. And oftentimes you're right,
Like the cost of living, Like the cost of living
adjustment keeps up with the pace of inflation. Right, You're
spending more at the grocery store, you're spending more on gasoline,
that kind of stuff, and so you need a more
substantial pay jump. We talk about how moving to another
(02:38):
employer can sometimes be the way to get that, but
you can also, Yeah, if you are prepared, go back
and listen to that episode six forty nine, with the data,
with the proper way to approach that conversation, you can
find a way to get paid more and not have
to leave too. But let's go ahead and get to
our Friday flight. And I didn't explain it at the
very beginning of the episode, but this is a small
little sampling of the different story that we think that
(03:00):
you need to know about that we've come across from
this past week. But let's first talk about student loans,
because if that's you, if you've got student loans, it's
been quite a long time since you've had to make
a payment, But don't panic. Certainly there's a decent contingent
of how to money listeners who have been able to
make some progress during these forty plus months, I think
(03:22):
forty two months. We've heard stories like we've heard feedback,
We've seen people post the Facebook group, We've got emails.
People have been able to make hay while the sunshine.
But even still, it is probably going to be hard
to bring a payment that was dormant for so long
back into your life. But that is what's happening. That's
the way the cookie crumbles, as they say, right, and
so we want to just put this out there as
(03:42):
a reminder most folks can and likely should enroll in
the Save plan. It's going to overtime save tens of
millions of borrowers significant amounts of money lowing payments, reducing
the amount of interest that is going to be able
to accrue. But some of the elements of Save won't
be fully implemented un till next July. Specifically, I'm thinking
(04:02):
about the reduction of payments down from ten percent down
to five percent of your income and then the forgiveness
of loans with original balances of twelve thousand dollars or less,
assuming ten years of payments on time payments. Yeah, and so, yeah,
this is just kind of a PSA because if you
can make your payments, you definitely should. But it is
(04:23):
also important to note that if you're struggling to do so,
if you happen to miss payments between now and then
between now and September of next year, you're not going
to be considered delinquent. Yeah, it's a good idea to
get started on those payments on in October when that
first bill hits, But just know that you have that
buffer two which is helpful. And I know this is
going to feel like a financial bumber for lots of
(04:45):
folks right who are making more progress on other financial goals.
It felt like with that kind of pushed to the side,
people were able to save invest paid on debt to
a whole lot of stuff that we talk about here
on the show, because one of their big debts was
just kind of on the sideline for a while. Yeah. Yeah,
well you said financial, I feel like it's it's I
feel like a lot of folks will be able to
find room and their budgets right, whether it's from making
(05:06):
a little bit more more money or just cutting an
expense as opposed to I feel like it's going to
be the biggest number. Is like an emotional mental armor,
right because it's something that you just like, yeah, like
it's something you have not really thought about for like,
basically it feels like the finish line got moved slightly,
like your cheese got moved, and that's a term that
folks talk about, but especially with all the forgiveness stuff
(05:27):
that was down there and they got clawed back and
stuff like that. So I think, yeah, you're right, it's
it's disappointing from an emotional standpoint too, But we also
want to offer encouragement that you can do it right
even though there's that kind of emotional reluctance and you
know financial reluctance too. You got this, You got this,
you can do it. Yeah, and you've got the tools.
And if you need more tools or if you've got
questions about how you can figure out how to put
(05:48):
it back in your budget, like, shoot us a list
of voicemail. We'd love to talk about it on an
upcoming Ass Kind of Money episode. If you're like, how
do I reincorporate this payment back into my life? And again,
like you said, Matt, safe plan, it's going to help
cushion because it's going to reduce the payment amount for
a whole bunch of people. But it's not just you
who's nervous about student loan payments resuming. Retailers are nervous too.
(06:10):
Many are expecting sales to fall as student loan payments resume,
and some of those dollars that were flowing into businesses, yeah,
they're going to be heading back towards paying off this debt. Right,
it makes sense that this is going to lead to
some individual belt tightening, which could lead to the economy
slowing off a bit. For instance, people might cut back
a little bit on travel, or I don't know, some
of those other places maybe where they were funneling some
(06:33):
of the money that would have otherwise gone to student
loans that they can't push money in that direction anymore.
But here's the thing. You can't worry about the macro reality.
You got to take care of the micro and so
look at what's in front of you and readjust your
budget accordingly. It's probably going to take some getting used to,
but I do think the safe plan is going to
make this jarring reality a little bit less jarring. That's right.
(06:54):
Let's talk about holiday hiring, because we get used to
the holidays starting around this every single year. Was it
it was like last month that we started seeing like
Christmas decoration was like early August at Costcos so early.
But holiday jobs are back, and some like at Amazon,
they're offering sign up bonuses to attract workers and what
(07:15):
is still a fairly tight labor market. They literally need
a quarter of a million new hires to pull off
a Christmas miracle. And in order to get all of
those deliveries showing up on time, so many boxes, yeah,
so many prime trucks. So depending on where it is
that you live, Amazon is paying up to twenty eight
dollars an hour. That's much higher than minimum way just amazing,
(07:36):
and you can even score an additional bonus like somewhere
in the range of one thousand to three thousand dollars.
It's not for everyone, but if you are looking to
make some extra money this time of year, it could
be worth considering. We came across a resource the warehouse Ninja,
where I don't know who runs that, but they break
down some of the different details associated with like some
of those different bonuses. For instance, they're not paid out,
(07:58):
so like we talked about last week with the with
the phone cell phone disisi, Yeah, yeah, we have to
like stick around, same thing with not surprisingly with some
of these bonuses, you got to stick around as it
slowly makes its way into your account as opposed to
like a giant lump sum. They don't give it to
you on day one because then you're probably not showing
up on day two, right exactly. And I sort of
teased of this at the very beginning. Driving for UPS
(08:20):
is getting much more lucrative after negotiations were finalized. I
think searches for UPS jobs skyrocketed on many of the
different job sites because drivers are getting paid something like
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus these days, and
the different pay and benefits that they're receiving. So we're
kind of joking about people are seeing the headline number
of one hundred and seventy k for UPS drivers and
(08:41):
they're like, uh, what what am I doing with my life?
It is kind of crazy to think. It makes me
think about that. You see, like the different memes too,
of folks doing screenshots of like at BUCkies, like how
much they're paying. Oh yeah to work, you know, like
granted their management jobs, but to work at a gas station. Yeah, unreal,
it really is. I mean you can BUCkies pays and
pays pretty well, has great vacation and retirement benefits to Yes, yeah,
(09:05):
is BUCkies nationwide? I think there's Texas, but I think
they're mostly Southeast. Okay, BUCkies. It's this. It's like the
Walmart supercenter of gas stations. They've got barbecue that they
smoke there on premise. Yes, so you literally you think
like it. I've literally never been there a twenty four
pump gas station. You think that's big, But BUCkies is
like one hundred pumps? Is it really that? It's I mean, honestly,
(09:25):
it's still overwhelming. We must still have not yet stopped
in out of BUCkies, and maybe one of these days
people people who love it love it, and people go
there for the swag, like like literally they're buying BUCkies
moch The folks are obsessed, Yes they are. Well, maybe
I'll get you something next time my stop in there? Right, well,
you know, while driving for ups when we're talking about
pay like that, it might make for a multi decade career. Well,
(09:49):
but if you yeah, I mean you're like one hundred seventy,
I can stick around for that depends on how quickly
those Tesla self driving autonomous semi right come on. The
interesting one, I think UPS agreed to put airic wishing
in those the new UPS fans too, which was another
big one. But if you're looking for something else that
pays decently well, solid salary and likely will for years
to come. Insider Business at formerly Business Insider, they took
(10:11):
a look at the jobs that are likely to see
outside pay increases in the coming years. Software developers, financial managers.
Those took the top two spots, but electricians, mental health counselors,
physical therapists, registered nurses all of those made the top
thirty of the list. We'll link to that in the
show notes. But Matt, you and I we talked recently
about how your major matters more than the college you
(10:32):
go to, and this list of jobs that will continue
to be in high demand for years to come and
how much they typically pay, it really should be helpful
for young folks trying to decide what career path to
embark on. Right. And for folks who want to start
to pivot, maybe they're in their thirties or forties and
they're saying, you don't like what you do. Maybe you've
always loved electricity, right, Or maybe you're like, I could
(10:52):
become a nurse. There's a two year program here nearby
where it doesn't cost too much. I could increase my
pay by thirty k year or something like that. Maybe
it's worth pivoting in that direction. But it's really helpful
to know which jobs are paying well and which jobs
are likely to continue to be in high demand moving forward,
so that you don't make that pivot and then you're like,
wait a second, AI took took over my job. Yeah,
(11:13):
now it's not quite as necessary. So I think this
is a good list, and it can be helpful to
inform people about what kind of education they should get
when it comes to the kind of career they want
to pursue. Yeah, it's just a good way to set
expectations too, right. I mean, it's a good metric. It's
a good piece of information to look at. It shouldn't
be the only driving factor. Certainly, we take jobs for
multiple reasons, not just the pay, but that forecast can
(11:35):
be incredibly helpful as you are trying to figure out
what it is that you might want to pursue. Yeah, like,
don't go back and try to be a nurse if
you fainted the side of blood, right, Like, that's probably
not for you. Maybe stick to something else. All right,
let's talk about travel rewards, because we're going to recommend
for folks to use your miles before you lose them,
or at least before they become worth less. Delta specifically,
they announced new changes to its Skyle miles program recently.
(12:00):
They try to they try to do like a classic
pr spin to make it sound like that this is
a good thing, when in reality it's not. The valuing
has begun. Yeah, these basically they're making it more difficult
to reach certain status tiers, right like you got to
reach higher thresholds in order they've got the what is
it medallion qualified dollars that you spend with them. They
(12:21):
have drastically increased the amount of money that you have
to spend with that airline in order to achieve some
of those different statuses. But then on top of that,
they're planning to curb sky club lounge access from many
credit card holders as well, And we have always said
that you shouldn't be loyal to a specific airline. And
this is a perfect example of why the rules can
change in an instant. And this isn't to say that
(12:42):
Delta isn't a solid company. We think that they're great.
But let price. Let that be the ultimate deciding factor
when you are booking a trip, not necessarily the miles
that you can earn, or because you've got a you know,
an account you're chasing after some sort of some status
level with a particular airline, because those miles might not
be worth nearly as much when you try to redeem them,
(13:03):
which is another reason not to hoard those miles either.
We would recommend for you to go ahead and use
them up sooner rather than later before they get inflated away.
Yeah exactly. There, that's like a helium balloon that's just
seeing inflated and pretty soon it just floats. I mean,
I was picturing what's the mylar is it mylar balloons?
The cheap ones that you buy from like a dollar
sto okay, yeah huh and then like by day three, oh,
(13:25):
it's just yeah, it's like hovering at eyge level, like
and pretty soon it's it's a best day from the
ground because they just like bat them around and yeah
like it. Yeah, when it's like floating through the air
like a ghost. Yes, no, you're right, and so it's
better to look, go, go assess how many miles do
I have, how many points do I have, and start
using them because they are going to be more and
more devalued. And you're right, Matt, like, the more loyal
(13:45):
we are to one particular company, to a particular airline,
the less likely we are to save money. I've had
conversations with people who said, listen, I want to travel
on these specific dates on this specific airline. How can
I save money? And like, you've already shot yourself in
the foot, like you're doing it wrong. You you you've
become too specific in your request, basically, and you've got
to go back to the drawing board. You have to
(14:05):
have more flexible dates, and you have to be willing
to fly another airline. And if it's all about acquiring
those miles, acquiring that status, well that's harder to get
anyway these days. And so maybe it becomes, you know,
less desirable to even sort of work towards that because
it's going to be harder to get. And speaking of
reduced rewards, Kiplinger reports that credit card offers are becoming
(14:26):
more stingy right now. You know, sign up bonuses are
being slashed, and so are low rate introductory periods for interest.
Right this Wells Fargo card for instance, which boo, Wells Fargo.
We don't like them. Yeah, they suck anyway. Yeah, so
we'll just we'll trash their card, it says. It's often
touted though, is a great balance transfer card, and it
used to be decent, but now they just increase their
transfer fee from three percent to three percent, kind of
(14:49):
standard for the best cards, and then you get fifteen
or eighteen months typically of of zero interest and so
but five percent that's tough the stomach. So remember, if
you use credit cards wisely, a slightly signing bonus, it's
not all that big of a deal. You can still
earn solid ongoing rewards, you can get pretty sick secondary benefits,
and you can enjoy better consumer protections. Those are the reasons.
(15:10):
Those are the main reasons we like credit cards as
a way of making purchases in your life. But we
thought it was worth mentioning because lots of folks considering
a new credit card, they might be a bit bummed
at maybe some of the weaker sauce that the credit
card companies are bringing these just diminished sign up bonuses,
and they're like, ah, that sucks sixty instead of eighty
thousand upon sign up. Yeah, I know it's not great,
(15:32):
rights it'd be ideal to have bigger sign up bonuses,
but this is kind of the reality hitting credit card companies,
and so you just have to kind of be aware
of it. Although credit card rewards in this country overall
still are pretty pretty robust for the people who use them, well, yeah,
I think it means that we just need to be
more selective as well as opposed to Like, if you're
the kind of person that might see a pre approved
(15:53):
mailer show up in your mailbox and think, oh, I
want to Yeah, that sounds like a decent offering, we
would say, no, just take the one that comes to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, obviously they're trying to make it easy for you,
and there are tools out there that help you to
distinguish the best best cards. Head to have the money
dot Com slash credit card tool, but we just want
you to be intentional with the different credit cards that
(16:13):
you're signing up for, with the different specific offers that
that are out there, because some of them are still
worth it, like the chasetuff I preferred, though not as
great as it used to be, and it's heyday still
really staking solid. Yeah, so much capital one venture acts amazing,
Like those are the best ones that are that are
out there, So you just need to make sure that
you're targeting specific cards and avoiding the crappier ones like
(16:34):
the hotel specific It's kind of like going back to
the the travel airline rewards. Don't get a card that's
where you're beholden to a specific hotel chain, and instead
get the ones that have much more flexibility and much
better offerings as well, make it easy to book a
wide variety of things with the points you've accumulated. And
you're right, man, And so much does come down to
the way you spend as well. Right If you if
(16:56):
you're like I spend a lot of money every year
at Costco, you got to get the Costco car, Like,
that's at least one card you should have in your arsenal.
But if you're like I travel three times a year,
the Capitol One venture X or the Chase Affire prefer
Those are two of the best most flexible cards too that, yeah,
make it easy to use the points that you're, yeah,
that you're spending on travel. But we've got more to
get to on this episode where were specifically we want
(17:17):
to talk about saving money on prescription drugs. There's a
new promotion going on that could help you save a bundle.
We'll talk about that and more right after this. All right,
we're back. Let's continue on with a Friday flight where
we're discussing the stories that we think you need to
(17:39):
be paying attention to this week. And like you said, Jill,
we're gonna get to the prescription drug discounts. We're going
to talk about the best new cars, the best twenty
twenty three models out there that are also the cheapest,
the most affordable. But before we get to those stories,
we've got the ludacrous headline of the week, and this
week's actually comes from PC magazine and the headline reads,
(18:01):
nothing to watch video streaming options have exploded in the
past two years, which is it almost sounds like a
self defeating headline because it's like, wait, how do you
have nothing to watch when the options are more than
they have ever than we've ever seen before. Isn't that
exactly what it feels like though, There's this overwhelming choice,
and so we just sit there and we're like, I
can't I don't even know what Yes, So, like, the
(18:23):
TLDR is that the amount of content on the different
streaming services out there has increased by almost forty percent
over the past two years, which is a massive increase.
And there's nothing wrong with having more options, but does
having too many options actually prevent us from enjoying life
to the fullest? The old paradox of choice? Yeah? Yeah,
(18:44):
Like it reminds me of the phrase like there's water everywhere,
but not a drop to drink. Like, I feel like
that that is the situation that we are finding ourselves in,
speaking of TV content. It's like a throwback to the
lost days. Yeah, but this is the exact state that
we're in with streaming because with the vast array of options.
Nielsen they report that the average person that it takes
(19:04):
them at least ten minutes to figure out what to
even watch. And so we're putting this out there because
we want you to remember that time is going to
be a little more important than money here. We think
that watching a good TV show. We're big fans of
The Bear. That was a great series, one of the
best in recent memory. It can be super enjoyable, but
just be careful how much time that you spend zoning out.
(19:28):
It's weird because I'm sure folks are like, wait a minute,
I thought you you talk about how great TV is,
but then you talk about how terrible it is. What
I hate is the ability of time to just disappear.
When you just continue to watch the next episode. You
get sucked in and you're doing something that you don't
even like at the end of it. It's like junk food.
I mean, gosh, man, I sound like such a parent
right now, but like at the end of eating a
(19:49):
bunch of dessert, you're just like, man, I really regret that,
really overdid it. That's how I feel about streaming half
the time. And I'm saying this to myself as much
as to others out there. But we just got to
be careful. We have to moderate the amount of TV
and the amount of entertainment that we're consuming. Yeah, you know,
you're one hundred percent right, And I think it's telling
that it takes ten minutes just to figure out what
to watch, and I think it is just like overwhelming.
(20:09):
And as the number of streaming services as proliferated, we're
bouncing around to like three or four or five different
apps to figure out what we're going to watch, and
even on there, we're not really sure what's there. We're
digging around, and so that to me just is one
of the worst parts of the proliferation of streaming. And
if you're looking to cut down on that and you're
looking for better recommendations, there is a website and app
(20:31):
that can be helpful. It's called just Watch, And so
this is a way to kind of allow the algorithm
to help you figure out what's in your wheelhouse, maybe
recommend the things based on the things that you like
and enjoy that you're likely to enjoy in the future,
just so that you're at least not wasting the time
digging through the apps to trying to figure out what
to watch next. So you're like, you're singing the praises
of the algorithm, which is like, again, I've got a
(20:53):
love hate relationship with the algorithm, right, Like it makes
me think of there's a recent story too about on TikTok,
folks are watching like full length shows and on TikTok
when they're like split up into small little little pieces,
which is like a copyright violation, but they shut down.
Yeah no, yeah, but but basically what's gone on here
is that folks are relying on the algorithm and they're
(21:13):
just sitting there passively to receive to be told what
it is that they should consume. And man, I hate
that as opposed to like being a grown up and
an adult and actively choosing what it is that you
want to consume, that you want to watch, and then
you just get sucked into this. It's like a doom
scrolling version of entertainment. That's exactly what it is. That's
that's what bothers me so much about it. No, it's same,
(21:34):
and I think, yeah, we just we end up having
that TV coma afterwards oftentimes, or it's like what did
I even watch? And why did I do it for
so long? It's not healthy. Yeah, although I will sing,
I mean the algorithm I it does allow you to
discover new things that maybe you wouldn't found otherwise. It's
like my favorite pair of shorts I would never have
purchased if it wouldn't if it wasn't because it was
(21:55):
advertised to me, big vi it because of the algorithm
on social media. And that's where something like just watch
can be helpful, right, because then maybe you're spending less
time looking for stuff and settling on subpar things. It's
helping you find the things that are actually going to
be more enjoyable for you based on your viewing history,
based on what you like. But something else, Matt, that
we do passively is allow subscriptions to remain in our lives.
And there's this new study found that the main thing
(22:18):
that causes folks to eliminate a subscription is when their
credit or debit card expires and they are forced to
update their information with the streaming services like Hulu, Disney,
Paramount Plus whatever, and so are in attention to where
our money is going. Results in dollars flowing out of
our lives that could have been better spent elsewhere. Right,
And we've talked about this quite a bit, so I
don't want to be labor the point here, but do
(22:38):
a subscription audit, cancel the stuff you're not using. You
might find a decent chunk of change flowing out of
your accounts every month that you can claw back and
you can funnel into more useful causes because you might
be paying for that subscription. You're like, I never use
that thing. I never watch anything on that service anyway.
But the fact that like, we don't cancel until we're
kind of forced to update our credit card information is telling. Yeah, honestly,
(23:01):
it makes me think that there is only going to
be a limited amount of time remaining in the future
before credit card companies say, you know what, we're going
to do away with expiration dates, Like why do expiration
dates exist on credit card? Or they're at least going
to make them like a decade instead of three, Yeah,
because they like, why would they want to discount the
ability for you to continue to put charges on that
(23:22):
particular bigger loser is the company who you've got a
relationship with. It's not necessarily credit card company. It's because
they're missing on those services. Yeah, they're missing on the
recurring charges. All I'm saying is I think they're going
to get together and pretty soon time stamping. I think
they're going to eliminate expiration dates on credit cards moving forward,
especially as we've moved towards digital payments. It's making me
think of like Conan O'Brien's in the year three thousand,
(23:43):
this is your similar prediction. Let's talk about prescription drugs.
Good RX they've been one of the biggest game changers
when it comes to what consumers pay for their prescription drugs. Well, Walgreens,
they just announced that a whole slew of medications is
going to be discounted even further for folks who are
filling out their prescriptions at their local Walgreens. When they
(24:03):
flash the good Rx app, the language doesn't say how
long this is going to last. Like the language, the
words that they use were that it's going to be
a limited time offer. Yeah, so I don't know how limited, guys,
what that exactly means, but it's going to reduce drug
prices for a decent chunk of folks for at least
a hot minute. And here's the deal. At least a
third of Americans have opted to not fill a prescription
(24:26):
because of the cost of those drugs, And of course
that makes sense, as prescription drug prices have more than
outpaced the rate of inflation. But fortunately there are actually
more ways to save on prescriptions than ever before, not
just good RX. Sure good Rx is definitely definitely one
of them. They're one of the best actually places to turn,
but there are other places too, right would I would
(24:47):
definitely pull up the good Rx app or website before
I went to get a prescription filled, just kind of
shopping from my browser for my phone before I went
into a pharmacy to get it filled and costco. They've
often got the lowest price and you don't have to
be a member to fillip prescription there. That's worth noting.
That's where I go to get my my pseudo fedron.
That's when I take for my real stuff. Yeah, I'm
dealing with my allergies because the counter stuff is worthless.
(25:11):
The pseudo was it? What suit of Phenildrin's something like
something like that? The fake stuff. Man, I was so
mad when I saw that selling it for like a
decade that I've the companies that I have been selling
that stuff. I know that I've gave them so much
of my money thinking why don't because you don't want
to own up to having to get the stuff behind
the counter, Like I don't need to go that hardcore
(25:31):
or I don't need to get the real sudo fedrin
uh finil effering. That's what it's called. Okay, Instead, I'm
going to get the leg a little pink pill. And
turns out the FDA was like, it has no better
effect than a place ebo or on your sinus congestion placebo.
The placebo effects is real, So maybe it was mentally
helping you out a little. Wouldn't you rather just take
a tiny little sugar pill pay for a back at
twelve of them? Yes? I would? Well, Okay, so let's
(25:53):
keep talking about saving money on prescriptions. Mark Cuban Sight
that launched a couple years ago costs plus drugs. That's
changing the game on prescription drug pricing too. And a
lot of folks actually think that using their insurance is
going to result to the lowest possible price for that drug.
But that is often not the case, right, And you
know what you pay for that drug, it's not going
to count towards you're deductible if you pay with cash
(26:14):
or if you go through like good RX, Right, but
you might actually get such a better price that it
doesn't even matter. And one other way to save is
asking your doctor to write you a longer prescription, because
buying something like three or six months worth of meds
at a time that can result in a substantial per
dose discount as well. And so if you're still struggling
by the way to get the prescription drugs you need
(26:34):
at a reasonable cost, check out the nonprofit site needymeds
dot org. You can find helpful resources there. But there
are lots of ways to even as you see the
headline price of prescription drugs go up and up and up,
and it's true, it's kind of frightening to see that
there are more consumer friendly ways to save on a
lot of those prescription drugs than ever before too. That's right,
(26:55):
Let's get to our last story about cheat cars, Joel,
So it wasn't was it? Was it? A few weeks
ago we talked about how it's getting harder and harder
to find a new car for under twenty thousand dollars
like Mitsubishi. They announced that the Mirage is going to
be discontinued in twenty twenty five. I had forgotten rest
in that car existed before they announced this. Consumer Reports
(27:16):
they just released a list of the best cheap cars
of twenty twenty three, and it turns out they're really
dang close actually to that twenty thousand dollars mark. Some
of our favorites are up there that we're glad to see, right,
the Toyota Corolla, the Mazda three. They had a couple
subarus that were close to that mark, that twenty thousand
dollars price point as well, that rate really really well.
(27:38):
We're certainly glad to see that there are some affordable
options out there for folks. But don't forget that the
best way to pay less for a new car is
to actually get a new to you car. Let someone
else take that depreciation hit and look to used models
that are slightly older but potentially honestly even better for you, right,
(27:58):
like better for your needs, better for your lifestyle. So
we'll actually link to Consumer Reports list of best used
cars because so here's a little example. For nearly the
same price as a twenty twenty three Nissan Kicks. Is
that a real car? Which I don't even know what
that is. That's a weird name, But for the same
price you could snag at twenty eighteen tell you to Siena,
(28:19):
which is like, I mean, who doesn't want to s Ena? Right?
You can put the whole neighborhood in there. Yeah, I
mean maybe a van for everyone to pile into. Maybe
that's what you actually need. And so I guess what
I'm pointing to is, don't get lured into the fact
that like, oh, I can afford to bring new car,
and you've got in your mind this benchmark of like, oh,
you've always got to get the latest and greatest, as
opposed to actually stopping and thinking about what it is
(28:40):
that you need and to realize you might even be
able to get a better car, not only from a
lifestyle standpoint, but just from a consumer reports ratings standpoint
as well. But it just might be a few years old,
that's right. Yeah, And don't be ashamed to drive an
old car. No where does the badge of Bonner. But
I think if you want twenty twelve hand the Odyssey baby, yeah,
I think if you're gonna buy one of these cheaper,
you know, less expensive new cars, keep in mind a
(29:03):
couple of things. The reasons we think it's okay when
it's okay to buy a new car is when you
have a longer ownership timeline. If you're saying I'd like
to buy new, but I plan on owning it for
at least a decade, then it makes you have more
of an argument for buying a new car. Same thing
if you're buying an EV, especially when we're talking about
the federal tax rebates. If you're buying a less expensive EV, well,
(29:24):
there's a big difference between an EV that's six years
old and a brand new one in addition to the
fact that you can score a bigger discount on your taxes. Plus,
I know, Matt, some people are obsessed with the latest
safety features and that really does help keep your family safe,
and so that I think is another reason to consider
a newer car. But I think a lot of people
will talk themselves into it when they would be well
well served with a slightly older ride. Sure, yeah, Ben,
(29:46):
don't even let the safety argument be your excuse for
over spinning on a car too, because we kind of
talked about was it last week or a couple weeks
ago when we talked about the new iPhones, how it's
the incremental improvements. That's the same thing with cars when
it comes to the different crumple zone and airbags, Like,
they've all pretty much got airbags now, as long as
you're not buying a van from the early nineties or
or whatever it was. That though, started to get implemented,
(30:08):
and so just keep that in mind and certainly turn
to consumer reports for their ratings as well. And we'll
link to some of those lists in the show notes.
And we have a brand new, really long form car
buying guide that we just posted up on how to
money dot com. We'll link to that in the show
notes too, But right, very very helpful article. If you're
trying to, like from scratch, how do I think about
where a car fits into my life and into my budget?
(30:29):
Check that one out. But Matt, that's going to do
it for this episode. Yeah, We hope everyone has an
awesome weekend. Yeah, and we'll see you back here on
Monday with another new listener Questions episode. Until next time,
best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,
Welcome to Out of Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're talking student loan payment panics, hottest job prospects,
and drug discounts. That's right, man, We're gonna talk about
(00:30):
those stories and more. The hottest jobs, the jobs that
are going to experience the most growth in the coming years.
We're gonna talk about a forecast, and we're going to
cover some of the career paths that are going to
see outsized growth when it comes to them. Now those
hooks are getting paid, and plus we've got other stories
that we're gonna get to during this episode. I thought,
I saw you just upload your resume on LinkedIn match.
(00:50):
Should be worrying, be a ups driver. We'll talk about
how later on. Oh so, actually, speaking of doing well
at work, I want to share a little well just
a quick little listener. Actually it's not even a little
listener when this is a massively large listener. Win. So
someone reached out to actually to Alex Carter and she
shared this with us. We had her on the show
(01:12):
back on episode six forty nine. She's the negotiation expert.
Get I think that one was getting paid what you're worth. Yeah,
that's what we called that up is you don't trust
anybody on that. She's she's somebody listened to. Yeah, so
we uh, there's a listener. And she was doing some
good work for her job. The time came to where
she needed to talk to her boss. I guess, I
guess it was the annual review. And so she went
back and re listened to Alex's interview, our conversation with
(01:36):
Alex Carter, and so she listened to it twice and
then took that information and went to her boss and
was able to negotiate a twenty five percent pay increase,
which is awesome, man, Like, that's way more than the
flipping adjustment, right, that's that three or four percent that
the employer always says, our cat that maybe she was
making something like eighty k. Now she's making six figures
(01:56):
like these are the kind of big wins that are
important to focus on because a lot of time we
talk about cutting your bills and subscriptions, a little small
things here and there to focus on, but don't forget
about some of these big rocks, some of these things
that if you get right, have an outsized impact impact
on your ability to reach your financial goals. To retire early,
just whatever it is that you've set ahead of yourself
(02:18):
that you're striving after. Yeah, if you're able to get
a fantastic sized raise like that, the world's your oyster.
There's so many things you can do. And oftentimes you're right,
Like the cost of living, Like the cost of living
adjustment keeps up with the pace of inflation. Right, You're
spending more at the grocery store, you're spending more on gasoline,
that kind of stuff, and so you need a more
substantial pay jump. We talk about how moving to another
(02:38):
employer can sometimes be the way to get that, but
you can also, Yeah, if you are prepared, go back
and listen to that episode six forty nine, with the data,
with the proper way to approach that conversation, you can
find a way to get paid more and not have
to leave too. But let's go ahead and get to
our Friday flight. And I didn't explain it at the
very beginning of the episode, but this is a small
little sampling of the different story that we think that
(03:00):
you need to know about that we've come across from
this past week. But let's first talk about student loans,
because if that's you, if you've got student loans, it's
been quite a long time since you've had to make
a payment, But don't panic. Certainly there's a decent contingent
of how to money listeners who have been able to
make some progress during these forty plus months, I think
(03:22):
forty two months. We've heard stories like we've heard feedback,
We've seen people post the Facebook group, We've got emails.
People have been able to make hay while the sunshine.
But even still, it is probably going to be hard
to bring a payment that was dormant for so long
back into your life. But that is what's happening. That's
the way the cookie crumbles, as they say, right, and
so we want to just put this out there as
(03:42):
a reminder most folks can and likely should enroll in
the Save plan. It's going to overtime save tens of
millions of borrowers significant amounts of money lowing payments, reducing
the amount of interest that is going to be able
to accrue. But some of the elements of Save won't
be fully implemented un till next July. Specifically, I'm thinking
(04:02):
about the reduction of payments down from ten percent down
to five percent of your income and then the forgiveness
of loans with original balances of twelve thousand dollars or less,
assuming ten years of payments on time payments. Yeah, and so, yeah,
this is just kind of a PSA because if you
can make your payments, you definitely should. But it is
(04:23):
also important to note that if you're struggling to do so,
if you happen to miss payments between now and then
between now and September of next year, you're not going
to be considered delinquent. Yeah, it's a good idea to
get started on those payments on in October when that
first bill hits, But just know that you have that
buffer two which is helpful. And I know this is
going to feel like a financial bumber for lots of
(04:45):
folks right who are making more progress on other financial goals.
It felt like with that kind of pushed to the side,
people were able to save invest paid on debt to
a whole lot of stuff that we talk about here
on the show, because one of their big debts was
just kind of on the sideline for a while. Yeah. Yeah,
well you said financial, I feel like it's it's I
feel like a lot of folks will be able to
find room and their budgets right, whether it's from making
(05:06):
a little bit more more money or just cutting an
expense as opposed to I feel like it's going to
be the biggest number. Is like an emotional mental armor,
right because it's something that you just like, yeah, like
it's something you have not really thought about for like,
basically it feels like the finish line got moved slightly,
like your cheese got moved, and that's a term that
folks talk about, but especially with all the forgiveness stuff
(05:27):
that was down there and they got clawed back and
stuff like that. So I think, yeah, you're right, it's
it's disappointing from an emotional standpoint too, But we also
want to offer encouragement that you can do it right
even though there's that kind of emotional reluctance and you
know financial reluctance too. You got this, You got this,
you can do it. Yeah, and you've got the tools.
And if you need more tools or if you've got
questions about how you can figure out how to put
(05:48):
it back in your budget, like, shoot us a list
of voicemail. We'd love to talk about it on an
upcoming Ass Kind of Money episode. If you're like, how
do I reincorporate this payment back into my life? And again,
like you said, Matt, safe plan, it's going to help
cushion because it's going to reduce the payment amount for
a whole bunch of people. But it's not just you
who's nervous about student loan payments resuming. Retailers are nervous too.
(06:10):
Many are expecting sales to fall as student loan payments resume,
and some of those dollars that were flowing into businesses, yeah,
they're going to be heading back towards paying off this debt. Right,
it makes sense that this is going to lead to
some individual belt tightening, which could lead to the economy
slowing off a bit. For instance, people might cut back
a little bit on travel, or I don't know, some
of those other places maybe where they were funneling some
(06:33):
of the money that would have otherwise gone to student
loans that they can't push money in that direction anymore.
But here's the thing. You can't worry about the macro reality.
You got to take care of the micro and so
look at what's in front of you and readjust your
budget accordingly. It's probably going to take some getting used to,
but I do think the safe plan is going to
make this jarring reality a little bit less jarring. That's right.
(06:54):
Let's talk about holiday hiring, because we get used to
the holidays starting around this every single year. Was it
it was like last month that we started seeing like
Christmas decoration was like early August at Costcos so early.
But holiday jobs are back, and some like at Amazon,
they're offering sign up bonuses to attract workers and what
(07:15):
is still a fairly tight labor market. They literally need
a quarter of a million new hires to pull off
a Christmas miracle. And in order to get all of
those deliveries showing up on time, so many boxes, yeah,
so many prime trucks. So depending on where it is
that you live, Amazon is paying up to twenty eight
dollars an hour. That's much higher than minimum way just amazing,
(07:36):
and you can even score an additional bonus like somewhere
in the range of one thousand to three thousand dollars.
It's not for everyone, but if you are looking to
make some extra money this time of year, it could
be worth considering. We came across a resource the warehouse Ninja,
where I don't know who runs that, but they break
down some of the different details associated with like some
of those different bonuses. For instance, they're not paid out,
(07:58):
so like we talked about last week with the with
the phone cell phone disisi, Yeah, yeah, we have to
like stick around, same thing with not surprisingly with some
of these bonuses, you got to stick around as it
slowly makes its way into your account as opposed to
like a giant lump sum. They don't give it to
you on day one because then you're probably not showing
up on day two, right exactly. And I sort of
teased of this at the very beginning. Driving for UPS
(08:20):
is getting much more lucrative after negotiations were finalized. I
think searches for UPS jobs skyrocketed on many of the
different job sites because drivers are getting paid something like
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus these days, and
the different pay and benefits that they're receiving. So we're
kind of joking about people are seeing the headline number
of one hundred and seventy k for UPS drivers and
(08:41):
they're like, uh, what what am I doing with my life?
It is kind of crazy to think. It makes me
think about that. You see, like the different memes too,
of folks doing screenshots of like at BUCkies, like how
much they're paying. Oh yeah to work, you know, like
granted their management jobs, but to work at a gas station. Yeah, unreal,
it really is. I mean you can BUCkies pays and
pays pretty well, has great vacation and retirement benefits to Yes, yeah,
(09:05):
is BUCkies nationwide? I think there's Texas, but I think
they're mostly Southeast. Okay, BUCkies. It's this. It's like the
Walmart supercenter of gas stations. They've got barbecue that they
smoke there on premise. Yes, so you literally you think
like it. I've literally never been there a twenty four
pump gas station. You think that's big, But BUCkies is
like one hundred pumps? Is it really that? It's I mean, honestly,
(09:25):
it's still overwhelming. We must still have not yet stopped
in out of BUCkies, and maybe one of these days
people people who love it love it, and people go
there for the swag, like like literally they're buying BUCkies
moch The folks are obsessed, Yes they are. Well, maybe
I'll get you something next time my stop in there? Right, well,
you know, while driving for ups when we're talking about
pay like that, it might make for a multi decade career. Well,
(09:49):
but if you yeah, I mean you're like one hundred seventy,
I can stick around for that depends on how quickly
those Tesla self driving autonomous semi right come on. The
interesting one, I think UPS agreed to put airic wishing
in those the new UPS fans too, which was another
big one. But if you're looking for something else that
pays decently well, solid salary and likely will for years
to come. Insider Business at formerly Business Insider, they took
(10:11):
a look at the jobs that are likely to see
outside pay increases in the coming years. Software developers, financial managers.
Those took the top two spots, but electricians, mental health counselors,
physical therapists, registered nurses all of those made the top
thirty of the list. We'll link to that in the
show notes. But Matt, you and I we talked recently
about how your major matters more than the college you
(10:32):
go to, and this list of jobs that will continue
to be in high demand for years to come and
how much they typically pay, it really should be helpful
for young folks trying to decide what career path to
embark on. Right. And for folks who want to start
to pivot, maybe they're in their thirties or forties and
they're saying, you don't like what you do. Maybe you've
always loved electricity, right, Or maybe you're like, I could
(10:52):
become a nurse. There's a two year program here nearby
where it doesn't cost too much. I could increase my
pay by thirty k year or something like that. Maybe
it's worth pivoting in that direction. But it's really helpful
to know which jobs are paying well and which jobs
are likely to continue to be in high demand moving forward,
so that you don't make that pivot and then you're like,
wait a second, AI took took over my job. Yeah,
(11:13):
now it's not quite as necessary. So I think this
is a good list, and it can be helpful to
inform people about what kind of education they should get
when it comes to the kind of career they want
to pursue. Yeah, it's just a good way to set
expectations too, right. I mean, it's a good metric. It's
a good piece of information to look at. It shouldn't
be the only driving factor. Certainly, we take jobs for
multiple reasons, not just the pay, but that forecast can
(11:35):
be incredibly helpful as you are trying to figure out
what it is that you might want to pursue. Yeah, like,
don't go back and try to be a nurse if
you fainted the side of blood, right, Like, that's probably
not for you. Maybe stick to something else. All right,
let's talk about travel rewards, because we're going to recommend
for folks to use your miles before you lose them,
or at least before they become worth less. Delta specifically,
they announced new changes to its Skyle miles program recently.
(12:00):
They try to they try to do like a classic
pr spin to make it sound like that this is
a good thing, when in reality it's not. The valuing
has begun. Yeah, these basically they're making it more difficult
to reach certain status tiers, right like you got to
reach higher thresholds in order they've got the what is
it medallion qualified dollars that you spend with them. They
(12:21):
have drastically increased the amount of money that you have
to spend with that airline in order to achieve some
of those different statuses. But then on top of that,
they're planning to curb sky club lounge access from many
credit card holders as well, And we have always said
that you shouldn't be loyal to a specific airline. And
this is a perfect example of why the rules can
change in an instant. And this isn't to say that
(12:42):
Delta isn't a solid company. We think that they're great.
But let price. Let that be the ultimate deciding factor
when you are booking a trip, not necessarily the miles
that you can earn, or because you've got a you know,
an account you're chasing after some sort of some status
level with a particular airline, because those miles might not
be worth nearly as much when you try to redeem them,
(13:03):
which is another reason not to hoard those miles either.
We would recommend for you to go ahead and use
them up sooner rather than later before they get inflated away.
Yeah exactly. There, that's like a helium balloon that's just
seeing inflated and pretty soon it just floats. I mean,
I was picturing what's the mylar is it mylar balloons?
The cheap ones that you buy from like a dollar
sto okay, yeah huh and then like by day three, oh,
(13:25):
it's just yeah, it's like hovering at eyge level, like
and pretty soon it's it's a best day from the
ground because they just like bat them around and yeah
like it. Yeah, when it's like floating through the air
like a ghost. Yes, no, you're right, and so it's
better to look, go, go assess how many miles do
I have, how many points do I have, and start
using them because they are going to be more and
more devalued. And you're right, Matt, like, the more loyal
(13:45):
we are to one particular company, to a particular airline,
the less likely we are to save money. I've had
conversations with people who said, listen, I want to travel
on these specific dates on this specific airline. How can
I save money? And like, you've already shot yourself in
the foot, like you're doing it wrong. You you you've
become too specific in your request, basically, and you've got
to go back to the drawing board. You have to
(14:05):
have more flexible dates, and you have to be willing
to fly another airline. And if it's all about acquiring
those miles, acquiring that status, well that's harder to get
anyway these days. And so maybe it becomes, you know,
less desirable to even sort of work towards that because
it's going to be harder to get. And speaking of
reduced rewards, Kiplinger reports that credit card offers are becoming
(14:26):
more stingy right now. You know, sign up bonuses are
being slashed, and so are low rate introductory periods for interest.
Right this Wells Fargo card for instance, which boo, Wells Fargo.
We don't like them. Yeah, they suck anyway. Yeah, so
we'll just we'll trash their card, it says. It's often
touted though, is a great balance transfer card, and it
used to be decent, but now they just increase their
transfer fee from three percent to three percent, kind of
(14:49):
standard for the best cards, and then you get fifteen
or eighteen months typically of of zero interest and so
but five percent that's tough the stomach. So remember, if
you use credit cards wisely, a slightly signing bonus, it's
not all that big of a deal. You can still
earn solid ongoing rewards, you can get pretty sick secondary benefits,
and you can enjoy better consumer protections. Those are the reasons.
(15:10):
Those are the main reasons we like credit cards as
a way of making purchases in your life. But we
thought it was worth mentioning because lots of folks considering
a new credit card, they might be a bit bummed
at maybe some of the weaker sauce that the credit
card companies are bringing these just diminished sign up bonuses,
and they're like, ah, that sucks sixty instead of eighty
thousand upon sign up. Yeah, I know it's not great,
(15:32):
rights it'd be ideal to have bigger sign up bonuses,
but this is kind of the reality hitting credit card companies,
and so you just have to kind of be aware
of it. Although credit card rewards in this country overall
still are pretty pretty robust for the people who use them, well, yeah,
I think it means that we just need to be
more selective as well as opposed to Like, if you're
the kind of person that might see a pre approved
(15:53):
mailer show up in your mailbox and think, oh, I
want to Yeah, that sounds like a decent offering, we
would say, no, just take the one that comes to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, obviously they're trying to make it easy for you,
and there are tools out there that help you to
distinguish the best best cards. Head to have the money
dot Com slash credit card tool, but we just want
you to be intentional with the different credit cards that
(16:13):
you're signing up for, with the different specific offers that
that are out there, because some of them are still
worth it, like the chasetuff I preferred, though not as
great as it used to be, and it's heyday still
really staking solid. Yeah, so much capital one venture acts amazing,
Like those are the best ones that are that are
out there, So you just need to make sure that
you're targeting specific cards and avoiding the crappier ones like
(16:34):
the hotel specific It's kind of like going back to
the the travel airline rewards. Don't get a card that's
where you're beholden to a specific hotel chain, and instead
get the ones that have much more flexibility and much
better offerings as well, make it easy to book a
wide variety of things with the points you've accumulated. And
you're right, man, And so much does come down to
the way you spend as well. Right If you if
(16:56):
you're like I spend a lot of money every year
at Costco, you got to get the Costco car, Like,
that's at least one card you should have in your arsenal.
But if you're like I travel three times a year,
the Capitol One venture X or the Chase Affire prefer
Those are two of the best most flexible cards too that, yeah,
make it easy to use the points that you're, yeah,
that you're spending on travel. But we've got more to
get to on this episode where were specifically we want
(17:17):
to talk about saving money on prescription drugs. There's a
new promotion going on that could help you save a bundle.
We'll talk about that and more right after this. All right,
we're back. Let's continue on with a Friday flight where
we're discussing the stories that we think you need to
(17:39):
be paying attention to this week. And like you said, Jill,
we're gonna get to the prescription drug discounts. We're going
to talk about the best new cars, the best twenty
twenty three models out there that are also the cheapest,
the most affordable. But before we get to those stories,
we've got the ludacrous headline of the week, and this
week's actually comes from PC magazine and the headline reads,
(18:01):
nothing to watch video streaming options have exploded in the
past two years, which is it almost sounds like a
self defeating headline because it's like, wait, how do you
have nothing to watch when the options are more than
they have ever than we've ever seen before. Isn't that
exactly what it feels like though, There's this overwhelming choice,
and so we just sit there and we're like, I
can't I don't even know what Yes, So, like, the
(18:23):
TLDR is that the amount of content on the different
streaming services out there has increased by almost forty percent
over the past two years, which is a massive increase.
And there's nothing wrong with having more options, but does
having too many options actually prevent us from enjoying life
to the fullest? The old paradox of choice? Yeah? Yeah,
(18:44):
Like it reminds me of the phrase like there's water everywhere,
but not a drop to drink. Like, I feel like
that that is the situation that we are finding ourselves in,
speaking of TV content. It's like a throwback to the
lost days. Yeah, but this is the exact state that
we're in with streaming because with the vast array of options.
Nielsen they report that the average person that it takes
(19:04):
them at least ten minutes to figure out what to
even watch. And so we're putting this out there because
we want you to remember that time is going to
be a little more important than money here. We think
that watching a good TV show. We're big fans of
The Bear. That was a great series, one of the
best in recent memory. It can be super enjoyable, but
just be careful how much time that you spend zoning out.
(19:28):
It's weird because I'm sure folks are like, wait a minute,
I thought you you talk about how great TV is,
but then you talk about how terrible it is. What
I hate is the ability of time to just disappear.
When you just continue to watch the next episode. You
get sucked in and you're doing something that you don't
even like at the end of it. It's like junk food.
I mean, gosh, man, I sound like such a parent
right now, but like at the end of eating a
(19:49):
bunch of dessert, you're just like, man, I really regret that,
really overdid it. That's how I feel about streaming half
the time. And I'm saying this to myself as much
as to others out there. But we just got to
be careful. We have to moderate the amount of TV
and the amount of entertainment that we're consuming. Yeah, you know,
you're one hundred percent right, And I think it's telling
that it takes ten minutes just to figure out what
to watch, and I think it is just like overwhelming.
(20:09):
And as the number of streaming services as proliferated, we're
bouncing around to like three or four or five different
apps to figure out what we're going to watch, and
even on there, we're not really sure what's there. We're
digging around, and so that to me just is one
of the worst parts of the proliferation of streaming. And
if you're looking to cut down on that and you're
looking for better recommendations, there is a website and app
(20:31):
that can be helpful. It's called just Watch, And so
this is a way to kind of allow the algorithm
to help you figure out what's in your wheelhouse, maybe
recommend the things based on the things that you like
and enjoy that you're likely to enjoy in the future,
just so that you're at least not wasting the time
digging through the apps to trying to figure out what
to watch next. So you're like, you're singing the praises
of the algorithm, which is like, again, I've got a
(20:53):
love hate relationship with the algorithm, right, Like it makes
me think of there's a recent story too about on TikTok,
folks are watching like full length shows and on TikTok
when they're like split up into small little little pieces,
which is like a copyright violation, but they shut down.
Yeah no, yeah, but but basically what's gone on here
is that folks are relying on the algorithm and they're
(21:13):
just sitting there passively to receive to be told what
it is that they should consume. And man, I hate
that as opposed to like being a grown up and
an adult and actively choosing what it is that you
want to consume, that you want to watch, and then
you just get sucked into this. It's like a doom
scrolling version of entertainment. That's exactly what it is. That's
that's what bothers me so much about it. No, it's same,
(21:34):
and I think, yeah, we just we end up having
that TV coma afterwards oftentimes, or it's like what did
I even watch? And why did I do it for
so long? It's not healthy. Yeah, although I will sing,
I mean the algorithm I it does allow you to
discover new things that maybe you wouldn't found otherwise. It's
like my favorite pair of shorts I would never have
purchased if it wouldn't if it wasn't because it was
(21:55):
advertised to me, big vi it because of the algorithm
on social media. And that's where something like just watch
can be helpful, right, because then maybe you're spending less
time looking for stuff and settling on subpar things. It's
helping you find the things that are actually going to
be more enjoyable for you based on your viewing history,
based on what you like. But something else, Matt, that
we do passively is allow subscriptions to remain in our lives.
And there's this new study found that the main thing
(22:18):
that causes folks to eliminate a subscription is when their
credit or debit card expires and they are forced to
update their information with the streaming services like Hulu, Disney,
Paramount Plus whatever, and so are in attention to where
our money is going. Results in dollars flowing out of
our lives that could have been better spent elsewhere. Right,
And we've talked about this quite a bit, so I
don't want to be labor the point here, but do
(22:38):
a subscription audit, cancel the stuff you're not using. You
might find a decent chunk of change flowing out of
your accounts every month that you can claw back and
you can funnel into more useful causes because you might
be paying for that subscription. You're like, I never use
that thing. I never watch anything on that service anyway.
But the fact that like, we don't cancel until we're
kind of forced to update our credit card information is telling. Yeah, honestly,
(23:01):
it makes me think that there is only going to
be a limited amount of time remaining in the future
before credit card companies say, you know what, we're going
to do away with expiration dates, Like why do expiration
dates exist on credit card? Or they're at least going
to make them like a decade instead of three, Yeah,
because they like, why would they want to discount the
ability for you to continue to put charges on that
(23:22):
particular bigger loser is the company who you've got a
relationship with. It's not necessarily credit card company. It's because
they're missing on those services. Yeah, they're missing on the
recurring charges. All I'm saying is I think they're going
to get together and pretty soon time stamping. I think
they're going to eliminate expiration dates on credit cards moving forward,
especially as we've moved towards digital payments. It's making me
think of like Conan O'Brien's in the year three thousand,
(23:43):
this is your similar prediction. Let's talk about prescription drugs.
Good RX they've been one of the biggest game changers
when it comes to what consumers pay for their prescription drugs. Well, Walgreens,
they just announced that a whole slew of medications is
going to be discounted even further for folks who are
filling out their prescriptions at their local Walgreens. When they
(24:03):
flash the good Rx app, the language doesn't say how
long this is going to last. Like the language, the
words that they use were that it's going to be
a limited time offer. Yeah, so I don't know how limited, guys,
what that exactly means, but it's going to reduce drug
prices for a decent chunk of folks for at least
a hot minute. And here's the deal. At least a
third of Americans have opted to not fill a prescription
(24:26):
because of the cost of those drugs, And of course
that makes sense, as prescription drug prices have more than
outpaced the rate of inflation. But fortunately there are actually
more ways to save on prescriptions than ever before, not
just good RX. Sure good Rx is definitely definitely one
of them. They're one of the best actually places to turn,
but there are other places too, right would I would
(24:47):
definitely pull up the good Rx app or website before
I went to get a prescription filled, just kind of
shopping from my browser for my phone before I went
into a pharmacy to get it filled and costco. They've
often got the lowest price and you don't have to
be a member to fillip prescription there. That's worth noting.
That's where I go to get my my pseudo fedron.
That's when I take for my real stuff. Yeah, I'm
dealing with my allergies because the counter stuff is worthless.
(25:11):
The pseudo was it? What suit of Phenildrin's something like
something like that? The fake stuff. Man, I was so
mad when I saw that selling it for like a
decade that I've the companies that I have been selling
that stuff. I know that I've gave them so much
of my money thinking why don't because you don't want
to own up to having to get the stuff behind
the counter, Like I don't need to go that hardcore
(25:31):
or I don't need to get the real sudo fedrin
uh finil effering. That's what it's called. Okay, Instead, I'm
going to get the leg a little pink pill. And
turns out the FDA was like, it has no better
effect than a place ebo or on your sinus congestion placebo.
The placebo effects is real, So maybe it was mentally
helping you out a little. Wouldn't you rather just take
a tiny little sugar pill pay for a back at
twelve of them? Yes? I would? Well, Okay, so let's
(25:53):
keep talking about saving money on prescriptions. Mark Cuban Sight
that launched a couple years ago costs plus drugs. That's
changing the game on prescription drug pricing too. And a
lot of folks actually think that using their insurance is
going to result to the lowest possible price for that drug.
But that is often not the case, right, And you
know what you pay for that drug, it's not going
to count towards you're deductible if you pay with cash
(26:14):
or if you go through like good RX, Right, but
you might actually get such a better price that it
doesn't even matter. And one other way to save is
asking your doctor to write you a longer prescription, because
buying something like three or six months worth of meds
at a time that can result in a substantial per
dose discount as well. And so if you're still struggling
by the way to get the prescription drugs you need
(26:34):
at a reasonable cost, check out the nonprofit site needymeds
dot org. You can find helpful resources there. But there
are lots of ways to even as you see the
headline price of prescription drugs go up and up and up,
and it's true, it's kind of frightening to see that
there are more consumer friendly ways to save on a
lot of those prescription drugs than ever before too. That's right,
(26:55):
Let's get to our last story about cheat cars, Joel,
So it wasn't was it? Was it? A few weeks
ago we talked about how it's getting harder and harder
to find a new car for under twenty thousand dollars
like Mitsubishi. They announced that the Mirage is going to
be discontinued in twenty twenty five. I had forgotten rest
in that car existed before they announced this. Consumer Reports
(27:16):
they just released a list of the best cheap cars
of twenty twenty three, and it turns out they're really
dang close actually to that twenty thousand dollars mark. Some
of our favorites are up there that we're glad to see, right,
the Toyota Corolla, the Mazda three. They had a couple
subarus that were close to that mark, that twenty thousand
dollars price point as well, that rate really really well.
(27:38):
We're certainly glad to see that there are some affordable
options out there for folks. But don't forget that the
best way to pay less for a new car is
to actually get a new to you car. Let someone
else take that depreciation hit and look to used models
that are slightly older but potentially honestly even better for you, right,
(27:58):
like better for your needs, better for your lifestyle. So
we'll actually link to Consumer Reports list of best used
cars because so here's a little example. For nearly the
same price as a twenty twenty three Nissan Kicks. Is
that a real car? Which I don't even know what
that is. That's a weird name, But for the same
price you could snag at twenty eighteen tell you to Siena,
(28:19):
which is like, I mean, who doesn't want to s Ena? Right?
You can put the whole neighborhood in there. Yeah, I
mean maybe a van for everyone to pile into. Maybe
that's what you actually need. And so I guess what
I'm pointing to is, don't get lured into the fact
that like, oh, I can afford to bring new car,
and you've got in your mind this benchmark of like, oh,
you've always got to get the latest and greatest, as
opposed to actually stopping and thinking about what it is
(28:40):
that you need and to realize you might even be
able to get a better car, not only from a
lifestyle standpoint, but just from a consumer reports ratings standpoint
as well. But it just might be a few years old,
that's right. Yeah, And don't be ashamed to drive an
old car. No where does the badge of Bonner. But
I think if you want twenty twelve hand the Odyssey baby, yeah,
I think if you're gonna buy one of these cheaper,
you know, less expensive new cars, keep in mind a
(29:03):
couple of things. The reasons we think it's okay when
it's okay to buy a new car is when you
have a longer ownership timeline. If you're saying I'd like
to buy new, but I plan on owning it for
at least a decade, then it makes you have more
of an argument for buying a new car. Same thing
if you're buying an EV, especially when we're talking about
the federal tax rebates. If you're buying a less expensive EV, well,
(29:24):
there's a big difference between an EV that's six years
old and a brand new one in addition to the
fact that you can score a bigger discount on your taxes. Plus,
I know, Matt, some people are obsessed with the latest
safety features and that really does help keep your family safe,
and so that I think is another reason to consider
a newer car. But I think a lot of people
will talk themselves into it when they would be well
well served with a slightly older ride. Sure, yeah, Ben,
(29:46):
don't even let the safety argument be your excuse for
over spinning on a car too, because we kind of
talked about was it last week or a couple weeks
ago when we talked about the new iPhones, how it's
the incremental improvements. That's the same thing with cars when
it comes to the different crumple zone and airbags, Like,
they've all pretty much got airbags now, as long as
you're not buying a van from the early nineties or
or whatever it was. That though, started to get implemented,
(30:08):
and so just keep that in mind and certainly turn
to consumer reports for their ratings as well. And we'll
link to some of those lists in the show notes.
And we have a brand new, really long form car
buying guide that we just posted up on how to
money dot com. We'll link to that in the show
notes too, But right, very very helpful article. If you're
trying to, like from scratch, how do I think about
where a car fits into my life and into my budget?
(30:29):
Check that one out. But Matt, that's going to do
it for this episode. Yeah, We hope everyone has an
awesome weekend. Yeah, and we'll see you back here on
Monday with another new listener Questions episode. Until next time,
best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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