March 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Is a monthly car wash membership frugal or cheap during pollen season? Also, will abolishing the Education Department have negative downstream effects on your finances?
Ask HTM: Eric from OH wants to be well prepared for his home purchase. How much does he need to save when he has a lot of renovations planned.
Frontier did a clapback at Southwest, instituting free checked bags for its customers. Also, Grubhub BNPL has Matt and Joel exasperated.
Ask HTM: A listener wants to know if he should use AI to help him find the best rates on savings accounts.
Ask HTM: Eric from OH wants to be well prepared for his home purchase. How much does he need to save when he has a lot of renovations planned.
Frontier did a clapback at Southwest, instituting free checked bags for its customers. Also, Grubhub BNPL has Matt and Joel exasperated.
Ask HTM: A listener wants to know if he should use AI to help him find the best rates on savings accounts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to how to
Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Do you want to live well without drowning in debt?
Joel and Matt have you covered? This is how to
Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt Altmes.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmes.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And I'm Joe Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for
the how to Money newsletter. You can find that up
at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I wanted to say happy spring in a happy pollen
season because where we are it is insane right now.
We both went for friends this morning. Does it impact you,
like when you're running in the pollen? Does it just
get funneled into your eyes and you come home and
you just your struggle.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I don't I deal a lot more with pollen.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Which hey a quick, frugal or cheap. I splurged and
paid for a month membership at a car washh so
you know.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
The cars get super yellow. What does that cost? Fifteen
twenty bucks? Twenty two dollars?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Okay for the one that is literally I basically drive
through this parking lot anyway sometimes to skip this light.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Through.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, I'm like, you're going like five times a week?
Why not?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
But thoughts, what do you think frugal or cheap? So
normally that location they charge eleven or twelve bucks per wash,
so I figure you go through that thing twice and
it pays for itself.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Man, especially this time of year. I dig it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I think this time of year, but cancel the membership,
says I think most months you don't need it, but
in pollen season, like you.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Need it more.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I I'm more than happy because it builds up and
it gets in the crevices and then that pollen it
turns into like dirt and then it's caked on, like around.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
With the door seals talking about Yeah, yeah, that's where
you get super nice. For my family, it's like an
adventure too. Everybody fun, everybody loves going and it's the
only time my kids are excited about cleaning. If we
go to the car wash brainwashed one they love it
and then they're like, yeah, let's let's like spray it
down and clean it out and vacuum it and stuff.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
So they enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It's a fun family activity, so I think for that reason,
we're more willing to go to the car wash. I
will say though, the one that we typically go to.
It used to be five bucks for a wash, and
they bumped up to nine yeah, and I was like,
that's a big steep price increase, So I'm going a
lot less. But now we're getting in the season where
maybe I have to be able foruly membership paying too.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think it was strategic.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I know exactly which one you're talking about, because if
you bump the price up pretty close to the cost.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Of the membership, they're more likely to do it.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And then folks are thinking, well, I'm not going to
pay for it. I'm not going to pay nine dollars
for a single wash. But you're like, but I will
maybe go ahead and join, and then they've got you
on that subscribational model. That's what they are after. Put
it on the calendar. Of course, it's on mine. I'm
going to make sure to cancel that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Jont always put the cancelation date on your calendar so
you don't forget two days before it's supposed to renew.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Actually, yeah, I got it three days because it specifically
in the fine prints something about three days, and so
I was like, all right, yeah, shoot, maybe I'll just
bump it up to four, you know, just to play
it safe, man, just in case. All right, right after
we got done recording the Friday flight last week, the
President issued an executive order announcing the shutdown of the
Department of Education. And maybe actually that's not correct because
(03:21):
he can't shut it down. He can't eliminate a federal agency,
but he can essentially gut it make it far less effective.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I feel like you and I were having to like
monitor political realities were used to like can the president
do this or not? And is there going to be
a legal battle ensuing because of this?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Exactly?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So Congress would actually have to join him if you
wanted to eliminate that department completely. So for at least
for now, the Education Department retains oversight of student loans
and some of the other essential programs. But the ultimate
goal is to transfer student loans to the Small Business
Administration and to eliminate the strings attached to states over
how it is that they run education. It's basically the
(04:00):
funding would be offered in block grants directly to the
states instead of making it conditional. Is this a good thing, though,
that's the big question. It's hard to say at this point.
One concern is that special education it could lose out
on meaningful, necessary funds. But one thing is for sure,
education results in a country like ours, it should not
(04:21):
be deteriorating the way that we have seen it's in
the recent years.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Recent decades. Those test scores not good, Matt.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And I'm not sure that the Department of Education that
it's you know, that's improved education in our country since
it's founding over the past several decades.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, I mean, the folks over at Reason magazine had
a headline that said invest in education, not the Department
of Education. It's a good headline, and I think that's
kind of the heart of what the Trump administration is
trying to get at here, although again in a legally
dubious way. Their argument though at Reason magazine, was basically
that more federal control hasn't produced better result. It's kind
(04:57):
of like you're insinuating, right, And in fact, we spend
a lot more at the state and federal level than
we do and did in decades past. So something like
seventeen thousand dollars is spent per student annually and then
at the same time, test scores are just getting worse
and worse. We're like sixteenth in science, we're thirty fourth
in math, like globally globally like it's not great when
(05:18):
you think about the richest nation on Earth. That should
not be the case. And so we were just so
much more internationally competitive in nineteen seventies. And then you know,
the lower performing students suffer the most in this sort
of environment, which is tough to watch. And so there's
just a lot of details that haven't been fleshed out
about this transition, including the lawsuits against the Trump administration
for attempting to shut down the Education Department via an
(05:41):
executive order. I think as far as how to money,
the how to money audiences concern map. If student loans
do get transferred to the SBA, there could be service
issues there have already just I mean, the student loan
issues are mouthing. We're going to bring someone on soon
to talk about what's going on with student loans, because
it is it is a curf, to say the least,
And if you have student loans right now, I'm sure
(06:04):
you're worried. In many peace and many people have gotten
massive payment hikes recently too, that they don't know what
to do, they're notorth to do with that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Well, there's been a lot of anst about the inability
to recertify family income and family size on the Department
of Education website. So some folks have gone past their
deadline through no fault with their own So this is
some good news here. Late last week the Education Department
issued in order to pause recertification until February of next year.
So this is good news for a whole lot of folks,
(06:33):
and it will keep many from experiencing a shock in
the required monthly payment as they regarding the data that
goes into the formula that decides what it is that
you owe.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, that's one hundred percent spot on. All right, we've
got actually more to get to on today's show.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
You're listening to how To Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
By the way, you can always find more money saving
information over at howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Matt, let's take a question specifically about preparing for the
incredible costs of owning a home.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Hey, Matt and Joel, this is Eric from Columbus, Ohio.
Wanted to ask a quick question as my wife and
I are set to close on a house in the
next few weeks. I know that the good rule thumb
for home maintenance each year is about one to two
percent of the purchase price, but wanted to ask you
(07:29):
if you had a different tip or trick for budgeting
for the first year of home ownership. We know it's
going to be pretty different because we're making some changes
to the kitchen, installing a radon reduction system, and those
are all pretty easy to budget for. But didn't know
if you had any tips, since you've both been homeowners
(07:51):
for a while about a different percentage budget for the
first year of home ownership.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Eric mentioned a raid on capture system or whatever. That's
one of the things that new home buyers are thinking.
Wait what this sounds completely made up. There's no way
that this thing is something.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I actually have to work so much about that because
that's something I don't know a lot about it. Actually
I don't, okay, I like, I know if it's a
house that's on rock something like it, it's a gas, right,
and sometimes that if you are near a mountain or
on rock, this is a gas that comes up under
your house perhaps, and so you have to find I
don't know, you have to like vent it or something.
Oh okay, Yeah, that's why I've kind of heard like
(08:33):
the basic exploiting in different parts of the country. It's
more or less prevalent. Yeah, And I don't know how
much it costs to basically I.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Don't think about I don't think yeah no, because it's
like a whole whole system. But Eric, bottom line, congrats
on the new home. Super stoked for you, and I
love that you're asking this question because so many folks
they of course they budget for the down payment, they
budget for the closing costs, they've been saving four years
towards this goal, but then they neglect to consider how
much money they're gonna want to pour into that home
in order to make it feel like home, in order
(09:01):
to make it their own.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
And sometimes it can just be a few pieces.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Of furniture, maybe just a little bit of paint, And
some of these modifications can be easy, and there's ways
to achieve this, like a reasonably priced.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Version of this.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I'm thinking about if you're buying something used on Facebook Marketplace,
for instance, if you're like me, going to.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
The habitat restore.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Well, oh yeah, man, they even have like the windows
and stuff in there. I just I just unloaded an
electric stove. I think I talked about how actually upgrading
to gas was saving us money because I meant that
we didn't have to get a new service to the house.
And you know what I said to myself, I don't
want to fool around. I don't want to have a
part time job this weekend, because the worst part about
(09:40):
selling something on Facebook is just constantly being on your
phone and like messaging folks and trying to like arrange
for a time and the.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Question is this still available? Well it makes me want
to punch myself in the face. And well, luckily there's
also automatic responses. But even still, if it's I don't
know all, I'd just say I took some good pictures
to the video because they recommend that, and I I
priced it competitively because I just.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Wanted that thing out of there. I didn't want to
be constantly inundated. And if you have time on your
hand to be able to shop around and to look
for a deal like that, you can find some excellent
appliances out there at a great price.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
You can know Matt's old stove.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Somebody what's I forget her name that came by and
got at her and her husband. But literally it was
less than one hour after I got back to the
first person that replied to me that that thing was gone.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I think you're right though, like it doesn't have to
cost an arm and a leg to make those updates,
but so much depends on what you're trying to achieve,
and the truth is those cost can spiral out of
control quickly, large largely because turning a house into a
home is very emotionally appealing, right yeah, but it can
also be financially draining. It can put a strain on
your money if you're not careful. And the first year
(10:45):
of home ownership it's often less about maintenance, although there
is going to be some of that. There's like always
that when you decide to own a home, and for
a lot of people, sounds like this is the case
for Eric, maybe it's more about cosmetic changes that you
want to make to the home too, And I guess
we just don't want you to spend more than you
planned and because that can derail other financial goals that
(11:06):
you have. I think it's really easy, Matt for people
to find themselves in a did a rose robe.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This is something we've talked about on in prior episodes
where this French.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Philosopher his dressing gown, yes, and he got.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
A new one, right, a friend gave him a new gown,
and then he kind of lived a life of poverty
and then he gets this new dressing gown and then
he basically says, well, now everything else around me looks shabby,
and he ruins himself financially in an attempt to update
everything in his life. And the truth is, man, hey
you update some paint, it's fairly inexpensive. Then you kind
(11:43):
of the dominoes drop. You find yourself ripping out and
replacing countertops, calling contractors, maybe about adding on a stream porch,
and I think, like, just the next domino to drop,
because hey, we updated this, and now this other thing
kind of just doesn't. It's not as visually appealing. Now
we got to drop more money on that. I think
that's ultimately what we want Eric to avoid here and
everyone else out there to avoid, which means instituting some guardrails,
(12:06):
having some kind of rules in place for how and
when you're willing to make updates totally.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Of course, don't dismiss the maintenance costs even though it
is a it sounds like it's a newer home or
I don't know. Oftentimes when someone is listing a property,
like they have addressed, I guess a lot of the issues.
And so still, though that being said, set aside that
one percent. If you've got a system, like a major
system that is older, like let's say an h fact
that's eighteen years old, that would be an instance where
(12:33):
I would lean towards the two percent. But what Eric
is getting to, though, is what you we're addressing, Joel,
which is the fact that how do you account for
some of these these splurges, some of these elective upgrades
that you want to make, and so just start socking
away money for these improvements that you want to make
for fun, and honestly, it's going to be up to
you as to how much you actually spend.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Like there might be a lot of folks who.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Would see you make some upgrades and they're like, okay,
Like you mentioned the countertops, jowl, and they're thinking, well,
those are per find.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Great, like build a grade graded countertops, but maybe nothing
wrong with them, nothing wrong with them?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
But maybe you hate them, and so for you, it's
going to be important in order to get them from
personal experience. And this is something that is something we did,
and I think a lot of folks would have been like,
I can't believe you're doing that, But I'm like, you
know what, this is a priority for us. We do
a ton of cooking at home, and somebody else is
going to think that that's a ridiculous move. For us,
it was as it was kind of almost like our
craft beer equivalent. Of course, you can't have too many
(13:27):
craft beer equivalents, but as long as you're not going
into debts, and I think this is one of the
most important factors, as long as you are not paying
interest in order to afford these upgrades, and as long
as you are not neglecting your retirement account contributions in
order to pull this off. I think Eric might be
looking for like a percentage, like give me a rule.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Of thumb, guys, like how much should we be?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
You know, like we need a guide, like some sort
of bumpers on the side of the bowling alley that
to help keep us in check. And I'm not quite
comfortable doing that because it depends on how much you
value making.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
The place your own. If you love to travel, and
you're just like, well, we just.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Got a house because it kind of made sense, and
we found a good deal and my uncle's a realtor.
It all kind of came together that we're gonna buy
a house. But you don't really care about it and
instead you want to continue to travel and prioritize other things.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Well, I would say you probably don't.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Want to spend a ton on some of these upgrades.
But if you are a homebody and in fact you
work out of your home, you've got a little home office,
so maybe both of you work out of your home.
You also love hosting friends over. Okay, I could see
there's definitely a case to be made here that this
is going to be a little bit more important.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
If that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Yeah, and you just you just said I'm a little
hesitant to give guardrails, But I feel like you did
just give a couple of good guardrails, which are like
not going into debt and not neglecting your financial future
if you're if.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You're left in the right bumper.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, on the exactly, I think beyond that, like I
don't have other capin it no more than five hundred
bucks a month, Like no, Like, we're not going to
do a dollar amount percentage amount, Yeah, on your income
and your other financial goals. And as long as you're
able to not do those two things that would actively
harm your finances now and later, then I think you could.
You've got a lot of free rein right, you got it.
(15:03):
There's a lot of wiggle room here. And that's that's
what we're kind of getting here too, is trade offs,
which are the ultimate reality and personal finance and really
the ultimate reality in life. And you know, new home
owners they often dial back on other spending kind of
naturally as they enter this nesting phase, but they do
it with their eyes wide open. And so it probably
will mean saying no to the next big concert when
(15:25):
Beyonce brings her what is it Cowboy Carter Tour Matt
through the country and say I'm not going to drop
nine hundred bucks on those tickets because I instead want
to prioritize doing some house stuff or taking one less vacation. Right,
Is it worth it to get those house projects done
in less time to say no to other things?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Maybe not.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
That depends on you. That's a personal decision. I would
start making a list of like the most important items
I want to address, the updates I want to make
at the house, and then I'd come up with a
ballpark figure of what each one of those would cost.
After that, I'd probably, like I don't know, make a
priority list from ye one to them all. Yeah, you
can do them all at the same time, unless you're
(16:07):
a total baller. If so, Eric, congratulations, Yeah, yeah, if
you got that much money saved up after buying the home,
that's amazing. But then you know, list them in priority
and then create a timeline of when based on your
current income and your current current expenses and keeping everything
else essentially the same at least from a you know,
a retirement standpoint, maybe dial back on other spendings so
(16:27):
you can ramp up the timeline of getting those things done.
But you know, creating that timeline can help you understand
when you might reasonably be able to address each one
of those upgrades, you know, within the financial constraints that
you have. And so I think this could span a
few years, right, So maybe maybe that's a good thing
to realize ahead of time. Man, we want to do
all these things, but if we do one one of
(16:49):
these things at quarter maybe then we're going to get
there over the course of three years. Get comfortable with
the timeline. I think it will help mentally, and it'll
also ensure that you're gonna be able to pay cash
as you save up for each one of those upgrades.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, you're listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Don't forget to sign up for the how to Money
newsletter over at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Matt Frontier did a little clap back to Southwest. Did
you see that clapback? I hate that term.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Oh sorry, I'm using it. No, I did see the
I saw. I think this is awesome.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Do you think do you think it's silly, silly in
fun or is it stupid and dumb?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I think it's I think it's silly and fun and
potentially a boon for consumers because basically what they said,
you know, we talked about this, it's a told on
the show. It's a total Frontier troll move. Yes, it's
a troll move. That's exactly what it is. And so
Southwest basically says, hey, we're gonna we're gonna start charging
for check bags. And then Frontier says, hey, we're gonna
go to the South the former southwester Oute, and we're not
(17:49):
gonna charge people to check bags when they fly for
a Frontier, at least in the coming months. And what
they put in the pressure release, I don't know if
you read that far, but they said, hey, this might
stay permanent if you guys like it, let us know.
And so I think this is brilliant because this was
Southwest calling card. That was the one thing that made
them stand out. And if Frontier front takes that mantle,
(18:10):
they're there to.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Scoop up the scoop up. Yeah, what's crazy?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
In the press relief, did you notice the number of
times they use the word love so many?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
It's just a Southwest model.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
That's they're like literally the Southwest heart right, and they
literally included amazing the I guess the CEO of Frontiers
even said the line, We've always had heart. So it's
a total troll movie, but you got to capitalize, like
when your competitor makes a misstep, which Southwest really might
have done here. Yeah, that's true, that is what Frontier
is doing, and they could I think they could really
draw customers from from Southwest to say, yeah, well, actually
(18:46):
that was something I prioritize. I'm going to jump over
to Frontier and check out their check out their airline
because I have to pay for my bags for the
time being in maybe just maybe forever.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
We'll see if it sticks around.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Let's talk about food delivery, because door dash announced last
week you can split payments for your twelve dollars fast
food order into bite sized amounts via Klarna like the
bite size.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
So not only can you pay in four which means
you can you know, you can pay like three dollars
a month over the course of four months, but you
can also opt to pay later when you're kicking the
can down the road, when it's gonna be more.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Convenient for you. Joel, you don't have to pay for
this now, pay for it later.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You also said twelve dollars burger, which I think if
you go to a restaurant, you get a burger for
twelve dollars, but if you're gonna get delivered, think about
the extra fees and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Eighteen dollars. Yeah, be honest. A lot of folks take this.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Option though, and then they pay the Klarna fees for
the pleasure of waiting even longer to pay. We don't
use these apps, but evidently this was already possible on
grub Hub. I did not realize that. And the corporate
line is total trash man. They say that we're we're
making convenience even more accessible for millions, and it sounds
like they're being so kind. This is garbage man, And
(19:55):
it's honestly ridiculous that anyone would need to pay for
a meal via installments Because if I feel like such
a traditionalist here, but if you can't afford the full
price of the meal, you should be paying for it
in cash.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
You can't afford to pay later either.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Typically you're ordering from a smartphone or a computer, which means.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
That in and of itself tells you something about right,
but what you should be.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Able to do You have the money to afford something
unless you paid for that and installments, to which which
possibly But to me, yeah, this feels perpetual cycle. Yeah,
it feels like the culmination, but it might not be
like what else can you buy now pay later? We
will find out, I guess in the coming months. But yeah,
I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but cook it home
(20:34):
or don't. Don't order something if you if you really
can't afford to pay the price for it. And every
time we make the reality of paying for something more opaque,
or we reduce the friction involved were we're more likely
to use that service because we like to not feel
the pain of the purchase. But ultimately the pain comes
later down the road. If you're paying for convenience with
(20:56):
money you actually have in your bank account, do your thing.
But if you're paying more for convenience with money you
don't have, that is another thing. And yeah, it feels dystopian.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Man.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
I love a good dystopian TV show or book, and
when it starts becoming real life again, it feels so.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Fundamentalist for us to be like cook more at home,
like we're I feel like we're becoming the ultimate like
trad dads, which I'm not even sure if that's the term,
but if it's not, it should be.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
There's no way it's not a term. Though, I'm gonna
mention this.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Did you see the article about folks opting to throw
their leftovers away or they're not even taking their.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
To go boxes home, your doggy bags and I imagined
your tears as you.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Read that article, especially, I mean the picture in the
article too. It's like, you get the takeout or not
the takeout, you get the to go a bag, and
then it's like, oh, folks just kind of leave it
there because I.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Don't know, maybe it doesn't seem cool to take the
leftover food. I totally hate that. Americans.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yes, they're used to these giant portions, which means eating
an entire restaurant meal is ill advised. But don't toss
out what you can't eat, take that junk home, e
those extras for lunch instead, monopolize those leftovers. We're collectively
eating up more. We're ordering food. You know that we
don't cook on the rag, but normalizing that is causing
a financial pinch for many. But then on top of that,
(22:13):
it's like coals on top of you know, keeping coals
on someone's head here tossing out the extras, and then look,
you go to work and then you end up going
out again. It's just again, it feels like this perpetual
cycle of ill conceived, poor financial decisions that more Americans
are making. It's funny how much we highlight the reality
of inflation at the grocery store, and deservedly so.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I mean it's it's been a problem.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And egg prices, for instance, Like I get frustrated to
paying you ten dollars essentially for eighteen eggs at Costco.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Now the prices are coming down, yeah, I don't know
if you've noticed they are.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
They're starting to come down with all those is it
pults or pullets pullets, yeah, yeah, I know, arriving to
egg laying age.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Yeah, which is just like we talked about a couple
of months ago, hanging their foots.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
It doesn't last forever. But what we never highlight, it seems, are.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
The ways which were like our own worst enemy when
it comes to food inflation. And part of that we
talk about buying store brands stuff like that, but we
never talk about or rarely talk about food waste. And like,
when you look at the bottom line, that's one of
the number one contributors to our food budget is essentially
we're buying so much stuff that actually gets tossed in
the trash. And if we were just hate food waste, yeah,
(23:23):
if we were a little more thoughtful about eating our leftovers,
and if we were a little more a little better
at meal planning, so that we bought the appropriate stuff
that we weren't just like buying stuff randomly and then
trying to create a meal. In the back end, we
would find that I think there would be less food
waste and our food budgets would remain a little more intact.
So part of it's the grub hub orders and the
(23:44):
buy now pay laters and all that kind of stuff.
Part of it's literally just buying more than we need
and then that stuff getting thrown away and not even
your leftovers is part of that.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I hate it. Man.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
You're listening to How to Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from afi AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
We're glad to have you along for the show today.
By the way, if you're looking for the right credit
card for your wallet, well you want to be able
to use it responsibly. But if you do that, if
you pay your credit card on time and in full
every single month, well check out our credit card tool.
You can find that up on the website at howtomoney
dot com.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Let's now hear from a listener who is looking to
use chat GBT in order to find the best rates
on his savings.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Hi Joel, I'd love to get your thoughts on these
two high yield saving options open Bank at four point
seven percent or Genius at four point five percent any
recommendations just received forty K and I want to make
the best choice. Also, do you ever use AI to
find answers to your questions? And your research is so
which one check? GBT doesn't seem to really provide the
most up to date or actually truthful infro enjoy the show.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Okay, so technically Rob didn't say he was using AI
to find the best savings account, but basically that's what
he's asking me.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yeah. Yeah, we kind of combined two questions.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I'm also curious by the way Robert said he had
forty thousand dollars drop in his lap. I wonder how
it came about. Did he, like Jesse James rob a
bank I started to do these days.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
So I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Honestly, if he asked me, it sounds like he's in sales.
He's kind of like a guy on the move. Okay,
maybe I want to be surprised if he got himself
a nice little bonus after last year.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You're probably right, that's my thought. I not trying to
cast his versions on you, Robin. I'm sorry about that.
And before we get to your specific bank account question,
we should at least mention I think Matt that Rob
he might want to invest a portion of this lump
sum that's fallen into his lap. That depends on his
goals how much money he currently has in liquid savings.
If he doesn't have much in liquid savings, right, he
(25:39):
might be soon money gear he's in, yeah, exactly, or
if he's buying a home soon or something like that
needs it for the down payment. Opting for the high
yield savings account is a fantastic choice, but just know,
we would say it so much depends whether forty thousand
bucks is a lot to put in liquid savings, especially
if you already have a decent cash pile. So just
make sure you're not being risk averse with this money totally.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
And he also mentioned so He mentioned two accounts specifically,
both of which are offers from neo banks. These aren't
full fledged online banks, and man our bias is to
steer folks towards legit banks because of the issues that
have popped up with neo banks over the years, including
folks having a hard time transferring their money out of them.
(26:24):
You put a transfer in a transfer request, and it's
supposed to show up on You're like, okay, it's Monday.
That money is going to show up in my traditional
bank on Thursday. And then literally there have been complaints
where folks are like, on Thursday, they get a notification
that the transfer was declined. You have to actually reach
out to the non customer service in order to get
an explanation, and then all of a sudden, you're kind
of in this never ending cycle of trying to reach
(26:46):
out to somebody who is actually not gonna be able
to support you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And then you end up pulling all your hair out
and then you've got other problems to deal with because it's.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Just so darn frustrating.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Yeah, so neo banks like that is the term that
has come to describe some of these newer tech like
fintech sort of startups that are backed by a bank.
There are a dime a dozen now many who are
offering a twist on traditional banking services in order to
appeal to younger folks, which is cool, but despite the
higher rates, there are real trade offs, including I will say,
to the ambiguity of the FDIC of protection, so they
(27:17):
claim that they have this. Yeah, it's not quite like
what you would see with a traditional bank.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You're right, man, And like the FDIC, they actually issued
a neo bank warning this past summer, right after we
saw what happened with YadA and some other similar fintech
banks last year. We kind of liked the YadA because
of what they were trying to do create like a
lottery like environment there for people who saved, essentially incentivizing
people to save more money for the potential to win
(27:44):
really cool prizes. And I just remember when YadA came online.
I was like, that's a great idea, Like you're getting
people hopefully incentivized to do the right thing, the best
thing for their future. But it turns out the neo
banks and the banks that back them, they don't always
play well together, and they don't always play well with
the FDIC. So we've just been reluctant to recommend that
folks go in that direction, even if, like you said,
(28:05):
the rates on savings are higher. And that's also because
it's not like there's this massive disparity, right that with
the additional risk you take on, you're getting some sort
of insanely superior reward. Legit online banks like CIIT they
pay upper echelon rates. They're paying rates that are just
as good, if not better than the vast majority of
these neo banks. So in my mind, having savings with
(28:28):
a bank like CIT doesn't come with any ambiguity. They
are that is, the bank that is backed by the
FDIC and the banks that Rob mentioned are paying what
four point seven percent and four and a half percent
I believe on savings, but CIT is paying four point
three percent on its platinum savings account.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Pretty solid.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
We're just talking about a difference of especially with his
sum of money eighty bucks or one hundred and sixty
bucks depending not very much in a year. By taking
on that additional risk, I would just stick with a
fully fledged online bank like CIIT. I don't think it's
worth the added risk of going with the neobank to
try to eke.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Out that little bit extra totally.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And then on top of that, these neo banks might
not last very long either. And so if you want
to avoid bank hopping, which is a total pain, you know,
if there's a way that you could use AI to
handle all of the actual bank transfer like that sounds
like a good use case because like that's like the
worst part is the legwork involved with setting up a
new bank. But instead pick an online bank that's been
(29:26):
around for a while, a bank who has consistently offered
really good rates sogil. You mentioned Ciit, but some other
great options are ally Capital One Discover. These are banks
literally that we all are patrons of ci They certainly
have the best rates out there out of the four
that we mentioned, but you might appreciate some of the
other perks from some of these other big guys, like
(29:50):
free checks, free ATM access, things like that. And then
on top of that customer service dependability. These factor into
the where we say equation as well, not just the
ease of use, but just what kind of service am
I getting at the.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
End of the day. Can I get a helpful human
when I need that? Yeah? I was mentioning too, Neil.
Four humans get replaced by air.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Yeah, these makes possibly folding. But as the CFPB dissolves,
it's I think it's even more important to do business
with banks who have a good reputation on that front,
their ability to serve their customers. And I'm not typically
someone who likes to change their behavior based on politics
and what policy is going through the current administration. But
I think this is a real concern, the fact that
(30:30):
there might be some uncouth, some bad behavior, some sketchy
behavior with some different fintech pop ups. This is this
is not guaranteed, but I could see it being a
potential of there being more of those in the next
four years versus the last four years, which means that
we need to be even more on guard. We need
to be even more careful ourselves, especially when we see
(30:52):
an offer that looks like it's potentially too good to
be true. Yeah, if there's not a cop on the beat,
you're saying yes. With fewer cops on the beat, when
the cat's away, mice will play. And so that might
be the case in the banking sector. So sticking with
banks that have a good reputation for customer service makes sense.
It's not negligible, it's not completely unimportant. I think it's
probably more important, like you're saying, Matt, and the banks
(31:13):
that we list out, the banks that we talk about consistently,
that factors into the reason we recommend those banks. And
so that's that's why the same four that we mentioned
and have been mentioning for years continue to remain the
same four we recommend and highlight today. And on the
topic of AI that the rob broached, I don't know about.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
You, Matt.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I don't know if you're using artificial intelligence on the RAG.
I'm not using artificial intelligence.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
We all kind of are like, because it's so ubiquitous,
like in Google, like you get the little summary and
so I mean personally, I just I think it's overblown. Yeah, Like,
at least on a consumer end user point of view.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I will say, talking to a friend who runs a business,
like the way he uses it and infuses it into
everything he does, it's impressive to see how big of
a help it's become for his business. And he's just like,
I was like, dude, you need to be like an
AI influencer because you know how all this stuff works.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
I'm an idiot top live the benefits. Yeah, I'm an
idiot on this stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Actually, in a recent Home of Money newsletter that we
did document how people can use AI to come up
with certain specific financial questions right, and how maybe AI
might be able to help in some ways, which you
have to be careful because Robbi even mentioned, Hey, some
of the information is inaccurate. And yes, if you ask
AI for investing advice, it could be shoddy because where's
(32:25):
it getting the information from? What sources? Is it culling?
You might find that the advice is great for someone
else that's not you. It might be better for someone
in a different financial situation. But like, let's say you
need help planning a meal with the food you have
on hand, AI can help, right, can help you save
money on that front. Do you need help with your
resume or asking for a raise? Try asking AI those questions.
(32:46):
Same with like the basic budgeting or debt payoff questions.
Those can be helpful too. But I would just say
tread lightly because yeah, AI comes back with airon infos
sometimes and even the recommendations that it's making on savings accounts. Sure,
those might be the highest pain accounts out there, but
does that mean that they're the absolute best places for
you to stash your cash?
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I don't think so. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
You've been listening to How to Money with Joel Larsgard.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty twelve pm to two pm on Sunday and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to how to
Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Do you want to live well without drowning in debt?
Joel and Matt have you covered? This is how to
Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt Altmes.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmes.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And I'm Joe Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for
the how to Money newsletter. You can find that up
at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I wanted to say happy spring in a happy pollen
season because where we are it is insane right now.
We both went for friends this morning. Does it impact you,
like when you're running in the pollen? Does it just
get funneled into your eyes and you come home and
you just your struggle.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I don't I deal a lot more with pollen.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Which hey a quick, frugal or cheap. I splurged and
paid for a month membership at a car washh so
you know.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
The cars get super yellow. What does that cost? Fifteen
twenty bucks? Twenty two dollars?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Okay for the one that is literally I basically drive
through this parking lot anyway sometimes to skip this light.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Through.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, I'm like, you're going like five times a week?
Why not?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
But thoughts, what do you think frugal or cheap? So
normally that location they charge eleven or twelve bucks per wash,
so I figure you go through that thing twice and
it pays for itself.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Man, especially this time of year. I dig it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I think this time of year, but cancel the membership,
says I think most months you don't need it, but
in pollen season, like you.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Need it more.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I I'm more than happy because it builds up and
it gets in the crevices and then that pollen it
turns into like dirt and then it's caked on, like around.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
With the door seals talking about Yeah, yeah, that's where
you get super nice. For my family, it's like an
adventure too. Everybody fun, everybody loves going and it's the
only time my kids are excited about cleaning. If we
go to the car wash brainwashed one they love it
and then they're like, yeah, let's let's like spray it
down and clean it out and vacuum it and stuff.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
So they enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It's a fun family activity, so I think for that reason,
we're more willing to go to the car wash. I
will say though, the one that we typically go to.
It used to be five bucks for a wash, and
they bumped up to nine yeah, and I was like,
that's a big steep price increase, So I'm going a
lot less. But now we're getting in the season where
maybe I have to be able foruly membership paying too.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think it was strategic.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I know exactly which one you're talking about, because if
you bump the price up pretty close to the cost.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Of the membership, they're more likely to do it.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And then folks are thinking, well, I'm not going to
pay for it. I'm not going to pay nine dollars
for a single wash. But you're like, but I will
maybe go ahead and join, and then they've got you
on that subscribational model. That's what they are after. Put
it on the calendar. Of course, it's on mine. I'm
going to make sure to cancel that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Jont always put the cancelation date on your calendar so
you don't forget two days before it's supposed to renew.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Actually, yeah, I got it three days because it specifically
in the fine prints something about three days, and so
I was like, all right, yeah, shoot, maybe I'll just
bump it up to four, you know, just to play
it safe, man, just in case. All right, right after
we got done recording the Friday flight last week, the
President issued an executive order announcing the shutdown of the
Department of Education. And maybe actually that's not correct because
(03:21):
he can't shut it down. He can't eliminate a federal agency,
but he can essentially gut it make it far less effective.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I feel like you and I were having to like
monitor political realities were used to like can the president
do this or not? And is there going to be
a legal battle ensuing because of this?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Exactly?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So Congress would actually have to join him if you
wanted to eliminate that department completely. So for at least
for now, the Education Department retains oversight of student loans
and some of the other essential programs. But the ultimate
goal is to transfer student loans to the Small Business
Administration and to eliminate the strings attached to states over
how it is that they run education. It's basically the
(04:00):
funding would be offered in block grants directly to the
states instead of making it conditional. Is this a good thing, though,
that's the big question. It's hard to say at this point.
One concern is that special education it could lose out
on meaningful, necessary funds. But one thing is for sure,
education results in a country like ours, it should not
(04:21):
be deteriorating the way that we have seen it's in
the recent years.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Recent decades. Those test scores not good, Matt.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And I'm not sure that the Department of Education that
it's you know, that's improved education in our country since
it's founding over the past several decades.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, I mean, the folks over at Reason magazine had
a headline that said invest in education, not the Department
of Education. It's a good headline, and I think that's
kind of the heart of what the Trump administration is
trying to get at here, although again in a legally
dubious way. Their argument though at Reason magazine, was basically
that more federal control hasn't produced better result. It's kind
(04:57):
of like you're insinuating, right, And in fact, we spend
a lot more at the state and federal level than
we do and did in decades past. So something like
seventeen thousand dollars is spent per student annually and then
at the same time, test scores are just getting worse
and worse. We're like sixteenth in science, we're thirty fourth
in math, like globally globally like it's not great when
(05:18):
you think about the richest nation on Earth. That should
not be the case. And so we were just so
much more internationally competitive in nineteen seventies. And then you know,
the lower performing students suffer the most in this sort
of environment, which is tough to watch. And so there's
just a lot of details that haven't been fleshed out
about this transition, including the lawsuits against the Trump administration
for attempting to shut down the Education Department via an
(05:41):
executive order. I think as far as how to money,
the how to money audiences concern map. If student loans
do get transferred to the SBA, there could be service
issues there have already just I mean, the student loan
issues are mouthing. We're going to bring someone on soon
to talk about what's going on with student loans, because
it is it is a curf, to say the least,
And if you have student loans right now, I'm sure
(06:04):
you're worried. In many peace and many people have gotten
massive payment hikes recently too, that they don't know what
to do, they're notorth to do with that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Well, there's been a lot of anst about the inability
to recertify family income and family size on the Department
of Education website. So some folks have gone past their
deadline through no fault with their own So this is
some good news here. Late last week the Education Department
issued in order to pause recertification until February of next year.
So this is good news for a whole lot of folks,
(06:33):
and it will keep many from experiencing a shock in
the required monthly payment as they regarding the data that
goes into the formula that decides what it is that
you owe.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, that's one hundred percent spot on. All right, we've
got actually more to get to on today's show.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
You're listening to how To Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
By the way, you can always find more money saving
information over at howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Matt, let's take a question specifically about preparing for the
incredible costs of owning a home.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Hey, Matt and Joel, this is Eric from Columbus, Ohio.
Wanted to ask a quick question as my wife and
I are set to close on a house in the
next few weeks. I know that the good rule thumb
for home maintenance each year is about one to two
percent of the purchase price, but wanted to ask you
(07:29):
if you had a different tip or trick for budgeting
for the first year of home ownership. We know it's
going to be pretty different because we're making some changes
to the kitchen, installing a radon reduction system, and those
are all pretty easy to budget for. But didn't know
if you had any tips, since you've both been homeowners
(07:51):
for a while about a different percentage budget for the
first year of home ownership.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Eric mentioned a raid on capture system or whatever. That's
one of the things that new home buyers are thinking.
Wait what this sounds completely made up. There's no way
that this thing is something.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I actually have to work so much about that because
that's something I don't know a lot about it. Actually
I don't, okay, I like, I know if it's a
house that's on rock something like it, it's a gas, right,
and sometimes that if you are near a mountain or
on rock, this is a gas that comes up under
your house perhaps, and so you have to find I
don't know, you have to like vent it or something.
Oh okay, Yeah, that's why I've kind of heard like
(08:33):
the basic exploiting in different parts of the country. It's
more or less prevalent. Yeah, And I don't know how
much it costs to basically I.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Don't think about I don't think yeah no, because it's
like a whole whole system. But Eric, bottom line, congrats
on the new home. Super stoked for you, and I
love that you're asking this question because so many folks
they of course they budget for the down payment, they
budget for the closing costs, they've been saving four years
towards this goal, but then they neglect to consider how
much money they're gonna want to pour into that home
in order to make it feel like home, in order
(09:01):
to make it their own.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
And sometimes it can just be a few pieces.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Of furniture, maybe just a little bit of paint, And
some of these modifications can be easy, and there's ways
to achieve this, like a reasonably priced.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Version of this.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I'm thinking about if you're buying something used on Facebook Marketplace,
for instance, if you're like me, going to.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
The habitat restore.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Well, oh yeah, man, they even have like the windows
and stuff in there. I just I just unloaded an
electric stove. I think I talked about how actually upgrading
to gas was saving us money because I meant that
we didn't have to get a new service to the house.
And you know what I said to myself, I don't
want to fool around. I don't want to have a
part time job this weekend, because the worst part about
(09:40):
selling something on Facebook is just constantly being on your
phone and like messaging folks and trying to like arrange
for a time and the.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Question is this still available? Well it makes me want
to punch myself in the face. And well, luckily there's
also automatic responses. But even still, if it's I don't
know all, I'd just say I took some good pictures
to the video because they recommend that, and I I
priced it competitively because I just.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Wanted that thing out of there. I didn't want to
be constantly inundated. And if you have time on your
hand to be able to shop around and to look
for a deal like that, you can find some excellent
appliances out there at a great price.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
You can know Matt's old stove.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Somebody what's I forget her name that came by and
got at her and her husband. But literally it was
less than one hour after I got back to the
first person that replied to me that that thing was gone.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I think you're right though, like it doesn't have to
cost an arm and a leg to make those updates,
but so much depends on what you're trying to achieve,
and the truth is those cost can spiral out of
control quickly, large largely because turning a house into a
home is very emotionally appealing, right yeah, but it can
also be financially draining. It can put a strain on
your money if you're not careful. And the first year
(10:45):
of home ownership it's often less about maintenance, although there
is going to be some of that. There's like always
that when you decide to own a home, and for
a lot of people, sounds like this is the case
for Eric, maybe it's more about cosmetic changes that you
want to make to the home too, And I guess
we just don't want you to spend more than you
planned and because that can derail other financial goals that
(11:06):
you have. I think it's really easy, Matt for people
to find themselves in a did a rose robe.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This is something we've talked about on in prior episodes
where this French.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Philosopher his dressing gown, yes, and he got.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
A new one, right, a friend gave him a new gown,
and then he kind of lived a life of poverty
and then he gets this new dressing gown and then
he basically says, well, now everything else around me looks shabby,
and he ruins himself financially in an attempt to update
everything in his life. And the truth is, man, hey
you update some paint, it's fairly inexpensive. Then you kind
(11:43):
of the dominoes drop. You find yourself ripping out and
replacing countertops, calling contractors, maybe about adding on a stream porch,
and I think, like, just the next domino to drop,
because hey, we updated this, and now this other thing
kind of just doesn't. It's not as visually appealing. Now
we got to drop more money on that. I think
that's ultimately what we want Eric to avoid here and
everyone else out there to avoid, which means instituting some guardrails,
(12:06):
having some kind of rules in place for how and
when you're willing to make updates totally.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Of course, don't dismiss the maintenance costs even though it
is a it sounds like it's a newer home or
I don't know. Oftentimes when someone is listing a property,
like they have addressed, I guess a lot of the issues.
And so still, though that being said, set aside that
one percent. If you've got a system, like a major
system that is older, like let's say an h fact
that's eighteen years old, that would be an instance where
(12:33):
I would lean towards the two percent. But what Eric
is getting to, though, is what you we're addressing, Joel,
which is the fact that how do you account for
some of these these splurges, some of these elective upgrades
that you want to make, and so just start socking
away money for these improvements that you want to make
for fun, and honestly, it's going to be up to
you as to how much you actually spend.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Like there might be a lot of folks who.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Would see you make some upgrades and they're like, okay,
Like you mentioned the countertops, jowl, and they're thinking, well,
those are per find.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Great, like build a grade graded countertops, but maybe nothing
wrong with them, nothing wrong with them?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
But maybe you hate them, and so for you, it's
going to be important in order to get them from
personal experience. And this is something that is something we did,
and I think a lot of folks would have been like,
I can't believe you're doing that, But I'm like, you
know what, this is a priority for us. We do
a ton of cooking at home, and somebody else is
going to think that that's a ridiculous move. For us,
it was as it was kind of almost like our
craft beer equivalent. Of course, you can't have too many
(13:27):
craft beer equivalents, but as long as you're not going
into debts, and I think this is one of the
most important factors, as long as you are not paying
interest in order to afford these upgrades, and as long
as you are not neglecting your retirement account contributions in
order to pull this off. I think Eric might be
looking for like a percentage, like give me a rule.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Of thumb, guys, like how much should we be?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
You know, like we need a guide, like some sort
of bumpers on the side of the bowling alley that
to help keep us in check. And I'm not quite
comfortable doing that because it depends on how much you
value making.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
The place your own. If you love to travel, and
you're just like, well, we just.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Got a house because it kind of made sense, and
we found a good deal and my uncle's a realtor.
It all kind of came together that we're gonna buy
a house. But you don't really care about it and
instead you want to continue to travel and prioritize other things.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Well, I would say you probably don't.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Want to spend a ton on some of these upgrades.
But if you are a homebody and in fact you
work out of your home, you've got a little home office,
so maybe both of you work out of your home.
You also love hosting friends over. Okay, I could see
there's definitely a case to be made here that this
is going to be a little bit more important.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
If that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Yeah, and you just you just said I'm a little
hesitant to give guardrails, But I feel like you did
just give a couple of good guardrails, which are like
not going into debt and not neglecting your financial future
if you're if.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You're left in the right bumper.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, on the exactly, I think beyond that, like I
don't have other capin it no more than five hundred
bucks a month, Like no, Like, we're not going to
do a dollar amount percentage amount, Yeah, on your income
and your other financial goals. And as long as you're
able to not do those two things that would actively
harm your finances now and later, then I think you could.
You've got a lot of free rein right, you got it.
(15:03):
There's a lot of wiggle room here. And that's that's
what we're kind of getting here too, is trade offs,
which are the ultimate reality and personal finance and really
the ultimate reality in life. And you know, new home
owners they often dial back on other spending kind of
naturally as they enter this nesting phase, but they do
it with their eyes wide open. And so it probably
will mean saying no to the next big concert when
(15:25):
Beyonce brings her what is it Cowboy Carter Tour Matt
through the country and say I'm not going to drop
nine hundred bucks on those tickets because I instead want
to prioritize doing some house stuff or taking one less vacation. Right,
Is it worth it to get those house projects done
in less time to say no to other things?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Maybe not.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
That depends on you. That's a personal decision. I would
start making a list of like the most important items
I want to address, the updates I want to make
at the house, and then I'd come up with a
ballpark figure of what each one of those would cost.
After that, I'd probably, like I don't know, make a
priority list from ye one to them all. Yeah, you
can do them all at the same time, unless you're
(16:07):
a total baller. If so, Eric, congratulations, Yeah, yeah, if
you got that much money saved up after buying the home,
that's amazing. But then you know, list them in priority
and then create a timeline of when based on your
current income and your current current expenses and keeping everything
else essentially the same at least from a you know,
a retirement standpoint, maybe dial back on other spendings so
(16:27):
you can ramp up the timeline of getting those things done.
But you know, creating that timeline can help you understand
when you might reasonably be able to address each one
of those upgrades, you know, within the financial constraints that
you have. And so I think this could span a
few years, right, So maybe maybe that's a good thing
to realize ahead of time. Man, we want to do
all these things, but if we do one one of
(16:49):
these things at quarter maybe then we're going to get
there over the course of three years. Get comfortable with
the timeline. I think it will help mentally, and it'll
also ensure that you're gonna be able to pay cash
as you save up for each one of those upgrades.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, you're listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Don't forget to sign up for the how to Money
newsletter over at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Matt Frontier did a little clap back to Southwest. Did
you see that clapback? I hate that term.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Oh sorry, I'm using it. No, I did see the
I saw. I think this is awesome.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Do you think do you think it's silly, silly in
fun or is it stupid and dumb?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I think it's I think it's silly and fun and
potentially a boon for consumers because basically what they said,
you know, we talked about this, it's a told on
the show. It's a total Frontier troll move. Yes, it's
a troll move. That's exactly what it is. And so
Southwest basically says, hey, we're gonna we're gonna start charging
for check bags. And then Frontier says, hey, we're gonna
go to the South the former southwester Oute, and we're not
(17:49):
gonna charge people to check bags when they fly for
a Frontier, at least in the coming months. And what
they put in the pressure release, I don't know if
you read that far, but they said, hey, this might
stay permanent if you guys like it, let us know.
And so I think this is brilliant because this was
Southwest calling card. That was the one thing that made
them stand out. And if Frontier front takes that mantle,
(18:10):
they're there to.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Scoop up the scoop up. Yeah, what's crazy?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
In the press relief, did you notice the number of
times they use the word love so many?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
It's just a Southwest model.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
That's they're like literally the Southwest heart right, and they
literally included amazing the I guess the CEO of Frontiers
even said the line, We've always had heart. So it's
a total troll movie, but you got to capitalize, like
when your competitor makes a misstep, which Southwest really might
have done here. Yeah, that's true, that is what Frontier
is doing, and they could I think they could really
draw customers from from Southwest to say, yeah, well, actually
(18:46):
that was something I prioritize. I'm going to jump over
to Frontier and check out their check out their airline
because I have to pay for my bags for the
time being in maybe just maybe forever.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
We'll see if it sticks around.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Let's talk about food delivery, because door dash announced last
week you can split payments for your twelve dollars fast
food order into bite sized amounts via Klarna like the
bite size.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
So not only can you pay in four which means
you can you know, you can pay like three dollars
a month over the course of four months, but you
can also opt to pay later when you're kicking the
can down the road, when it's gonna be more.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Convenient for you. Joel, you don't have to pay for
this now, pay for it later.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You also said twelve dollars burger, which I think if
you go to a restaurant, you get a burger for
twelve dollars, but if you're gonna get delivered, think about
the extra fees and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Eighteen dollars. Yeah, be honest. A lot of folks take this.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Option though, and then they pay the Klarna fees for
the pleasure of waiting even longer to pay. We don't
use these apps, but evidently this was already possible on
grub Hub. I did not realize that. And the corporate
line is total trash man. They say that we're we're
making convenience even more accessible for millions, and it sounds
like they're being so kind. This is garbage man, And
(19:55):
it's honestly ridiculous that anyone would need to pay for
a meal via installments Because if I feel like such
a traditionalist here, but if you can't afford the full
price of the meal, you should be paying for it
in cash.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
You can't afford to pay later either.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Typically you're ordering from a smartphone or a computer, which means.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
That in and of itself tells you something about right,
but what you should be.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Able to do You have the money to afford something
unless you paid for that and installments, to which which
possibly But to me, yeah, this feels perpetual cycle. Yeah,
it feels like the culmination, but it might not be
like what else can you buy now pay later? We
will find out, I guess in the coming months. But yeah,
I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but cook it home
(20:34):
or don't. Don't order something if you if you really
can't afford to pay the price for it. And every
time we make the reality of paying for something more opaque,
or we reduce the friction involved were we're more likely
to use that service because we like to not feel
the pain of the purchase. But ultimately the pain comes
later down the road. If you're paying for convenience with
(20:56):
money you actually have in your bank account, do your thing.
But if you're paying more for convenience with money you
don't have, that is another thing. And yeah, it feels dystopian.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Man.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
I love a good dystopian TV show or book, and
when it starts becoming real life again, it feels so.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Fundamentalist for us to be like cook more at home,
like we're I feel like we're becoming the ultimate like
trad dads, which I'm not even sure if that's the term,
but if it's not, it should be.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
There's no way it's not a term. Though, I'm gonna
mention this.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Did you see the article about folks opting to throw
their leftovers away or they're not even taking their.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
To go boxes home, your doggy bags and I imagined
your tears as you.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Read that article, especially, I mean the picture in the
article too. It's like, you get the takeout or not
the takeout, you get the to go a bag, and
then it's like, oh, folks just kind of leave it
there because I.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Don't know, maybe it doesn't seem cool to take the
leftover food. I totally hate that. Americans.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yes, they're used to these giant portions, which means eating
an entire restaurant meal is ill advised. But don't toss
out what you can't eat, take that junk home, e
those extras for lunch instead, monopolize those leftovers. We're collectively
eating up more. We're ordering food. You know that we
don't cook on the rag, but normalizing that is causing
a financial pinch for many. But then on top of that,
(22:13):
it's like coals on top of you know, keeping coals
on someone's head here tossing out the extras, and then look,
you go to work and then you end up going
out again. It's just again, it feels like this perpetual
cycle of ill conceived, poor financial decisions that more Americans
are making. It's funny how much we highlight the reality
of inflation at the grocery store, and deservedly so.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I mean it's it's been a problem.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And egg prices, for instance, Like I get frustrated to
paying you ten dollars essentially for eighteen eggs at Costco.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Now the prices are coming down, yeah, I don't know
if you've noticed they are.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
They're starting to come down with all those is it
pults or pullets pullets, yeah, yeah, I know, arriving to
egg laying age.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Yeah, which is just like we talked about a couple
of months ago, hanging their foots.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
It doesn't last forever. But what we never highlight, it seems, are.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
The ways which were like our own worst enemy when
it comes to food inflation. And part of that we
talk about buying store brands stuff like that, but we
never talk about or rarely talk about food waste. And like,
when you look at the bottom line, that's one of
the number one contributors to our food budget is essentially
we're buying so much stuff that actually gets tossed in
the trash. And if we were just hate food waste, yeah,
(23:23):
if we were a little more thoughtful about eating our leftovers,
and if we were a little more a little better
at meal planning, so that we bought the appropriate stuff
that we weren't just like buying stuff randomly and then
trying to create a meal. In the back end, we
would find that I think there would be less food
waste and our food budgets would remain a little more intact.
So part of it's the grub hub orders and the
(23:44):
buy now pay laters and all that kind of stuff.
Part of it's literally just buying more than we need
and then that stuff getting thrown away and not even
your leftovers is part of that.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I hate it. Man.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
You're listening to How to Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from afi AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
We're glad to have you along for the show today.
By the way, if you're looking for the right credit
card for your wallet, well you want to be able
to use it responsibly. But if you do that, if
you pay your credit card on time and in full
every single month, well check out our credit card tool.
You can find that up on the website at howtomoney
dot com.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Let's now hear from a listener who is looking to
use chat GBT in order to find the best rates
on his savings.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Hi Joel, I'd love to get your thoughts on these
two high yield saving options open Bank at four point
seven percent or Genius at four point five percent any
recommendations just received forty K and I want to make
the best choice. Also, do you ever use AI to
find answers to your questions? And your research is so
which one check? GBT doesn't seem to really provide the
most up to date or actually truthful infro enjoy the show.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Okay, so technically Rob didn't say he was using AI
to find the best savings account, but basically that's what
he's asking me.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yeah. Yeah, we kind of combined two questions.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I'm also curious by the way Robert said he had
forty thousand dollars drop in his lap. I wonder how
it came about. Did he, like Jesse James rob a
bank I started to do these days.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
So I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Honestly, if he asked me, it sounds like he's in sales.
He's kind of like a guy on the move. Okay,
maybe I want to be surprised if he got himself
a nice little bonus after last year.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You're probably right, that's my thought. I not trying to
cast his versions on you, Robin. I'm sorry about that.
And before we get to your specific bank account question,
we should at least mention I think Matt that Rob
he might want to invest a portion of this lump
sum that's fallen into his lap. That depends on his
goals how much money he currently has in liquid savings.
If he doesn't have much in liquid savings, right, he
(25:39):
might be soon money gear he's in, yeah, exactly, or
if he's buying a home soon or something like that
needs it for the down payment. Opting for the high
yield savings account is a fantastic choice, but just know,
we would say it so much depends whether forty thousand
bucks is a lot to put in liquid savings, especially
if you already have a decent cash pile. So just
make sure you're not being risk averse with this money totally.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
And he also mentioned so He mentioned two accounts specifically,
both of which are offers from neo banks. These aren't
full fledged online banks, and man our bias is to
steer folks towards legit banks because of the issues that
have popped up with neo banks over the years, including
folks having a hard time transferring their money out of them.
(26:24):
You put a transfer in a transfer request, and it's
supposed to show up on You're like, okay, it's Monday.
That money is going to show up in my traditional
bank on Thursday. And then literally there have been complaints
where folks are like, on Thursday, they get a notification
that the transfer was declined. You have to actually reach
out to the non customer service in order to get
an explanation, and then all of a sudden, you're kind
of in this never ending cycle of trying to reach
(26:46):
out to somebody who is actually not gonna be able
to support you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And then you end up pulling all your hair out
and then you've got other problems to deal with because it's.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Just so darn frustrating.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Yeah, so neo banks like that is the term that
has come to describe some of these newer tech like
fintech sort of startups that are backed by a bank.
There are a dime a dozen now many who are
offering a twist on traditional banking services in order to
appeal to younger folks, which is cool, but despite the
higher rates, there are real trade offs, including I will say,
to the ambiguity of the FDIC of protection, so they
(27:17):
claim that they have this. Yeah, it's not quite like
what you would see with a traditional bank.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You're right, man, And like the FDIC, they actually issued
a neo bank warning this past summer, right after we
saw what happened with YadA and some other similar fintech
banks last year. We kind of liked the YadA because
of what they were trying to do create like a
lottery like environment there for people who saved, essentially incentivizing
people to save more money for the potential to win
(27:44):
really cool prizes. And I just remember when YadA came online.
I was like, that's a great idea, Like you're getting
people hopefully incentivized to do the right thing, the best
thing for their future. But it turns out the neo
banks and the banks that back them, they don't always
play well together, and they don't always play well with
the FDIC. So we've just been reluctant to recommend that
folks go in that direction, even if, like you said,
(28:05):
the rates on savings are higher. And that's also because
it's not like there's this massive disparity, right that with
the additional risk you take on, you're getting some sort
of insanely superior reward. Legit online banks like CIIT they
pay upper echelon rates. They're paying rates that are just
as good, if not better than the vast majority of
these neo banks. So in my mind, having savings with
(28:28):
a bank like CIT doesn't come with any ambiguity. They
are that is, the bank that is backed by the
FDIC and the banks that Rob mentioned are paying what
four point seven percent and four and a half percent
I believe on savings, but CIT is paying four point
three percent on its platinum savings account.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Pretty solid.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
We're just talking about a difference of especially with his
sum of money eighty bucks or one hundred and sixty
bucks depending not very much in a year. By taking
on that additional risk, I would just stick with a
fully fledged online bank like CIIT. I don't think it's
worth the added risk of going with the neobank to
try to eke.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Out that little bit extra totally.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And then on top of that, these neo banks might
not last very long either. And so if you want
to avoid bank hopping, which is a total pain, you know,
if there's a way that you could use AI to
handle all of the actual bank transfer like that sounds
like a good use case because like that's like the
worst part is the legwork involved with setting up a
new bank. But instead pick an online bank that's been
(29:26):
around for a while, a bank who has consistently offered
really good rates sogil. You mentioned Ciit, but some other
great options are ally Capital One Discover. These are banks
literally that we all are patrons of ci They certainly
have the best rates out there out of the four
that we mentioned, but you might appreciate some of the
other perks from some of these other big guys, like
(29:50):
free checks, free ATM access, things like that. And then
on top of that customer service dependability. These factor into
the where we say equation as well, not just the
ease of use, but just what kind of service am
I getting at the.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
End of the day. Can I get a helpful human
when I need that? Yeah? I was mentioning too, Neil.
Four humans get replaced by air.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Yeah, these makes possibly folding. But as the CFPB dissolves,
it's I think it's even more important to do business
with banks who have a good reputation on that front,
their ability to serve their customers. And I'm not typically
someone who likes to change their behavior based on politics
and what policy is going through the current administration. But
I think this is a real concern, the fact that
(30:30):
there might be some uncouth, some bad behavior, some sketchy
behavior with some different fintech pop ups. This is this
is not guaranteed, but I could see it being a
potential of there being more of those in the next
four years versus the last four years, which means that
we need to be even more on guard. We need
to be even more careful ourselves, especially when we see
(30:52):
an offer that looks like it's potentially too good to
be true. Yeah, if there's not a cop on the beat,
you're saying yes. With fewer cops on the beat, when
the cat's away, mice will play. And so that might
be the case in the banking sector. So sticking with
banks that have a good reputation for customer service makes sense.
It's not negligible, it's not completely unimportant. I think it's
probably more important, like you're saying, Matt, and the banks
(31:13):
that we list out, the banks that we talk about consistently,
that factors into the reason we recommend those banks. And
so that's that's why the same four that we mentioned
and have been mentioning for years continue to remain the
same four we recommend and highlight today. And on the
topic of AI that the rob broached, I don't know about.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
You, Matt.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I don't know if you're using artificial intelligence on the RAG.
I'm not using artificial intelligence.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
We all kind of are like, because it's so ubiquitous,
like in Google, like you get the little summary and
so I mean personally, I just I think it's overblown. Yeah, Like,
at least on a consumer end user point of view.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I will say, talking to a friend who runs a business,
like the way he uses it and infuses it into
everything he does, it's impressive to see how big of
a help it's become for his business. And he's just like,
I was like, dude, you need to be like an
AI influencer because you know how all this stuff works.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
I'm an idiot top live the benefits. Yeah, I'm an
idiot on this stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Actually, in a recent Home of Money newsletter that we
did document how people can use AI to come up
with certain specific financial questions right, and how maybe AI
might be able to help in some ways, which you
have to be careful because Robbi even mentioned, Hey, some
of the information is inaccurate. And yes, if you ask
AI for investing advice, it could be shoddy because where's
(32:25):
it getting the information from? What sources? Is it culling?
You might find that the advice is great for someone
else that's not you. It might be better for someone
in a different financial situation. But like, let's say you
need help planning a meal with the food you have
on hand, AI can help, right, can help you save
money on that front. Do you need help with your
resume or asking for a raise? Try asking AI those questions.
(32:46):
Same with like the basic budgeting or debt payoff questions.
Those can be helpful too. But I would just say
tread lightly because yeah, AI comes back with airon infos
sometimes and even the recommendations that it's making on savings accounts. Sure,
those might be the highest pain accounts out there, but
does that mean that they're the absolute best places for
you to stash your cash?
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I don't think so. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
You've been listening to How to Money with Joel Larsgard.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty twelve pm to two pm on Sunday and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
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