Stop Spending Your Spring Rush Profits! (How to Avoid Lifestyle Creep)

Summary

---

Green Industry Podcast

Episode: Stop Spending Your Spring Rush Profits! (How to Avoid Lifestyle Creep)
Host: Paul Jamison | Guest: “Mr. Producer”
Date: April 22, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Paul Jamison and Mr. Producer address "lifestyle creep"—the tendency for spending to rise in tandem with income, especially during profitable seasons like the spring rush in the lawn care and landscaping business. They discuss practical strategies to avoid falling into the trap of outsized, unsustainable expenses during good times, emphasizing tracking, discipline, and financial planning. The episode draws from personal stories, biblical principles, and examples from the green industry to guide business owners toward greater long-term stability.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Danger of Lifestyle Creep

• Definition: Lifestyle creep occurs when increased profits or seasonal income leads to a proportional—or higher—increase in personal and business expenses.
• Symptoms:
  • Subscriptions multiply quietly (pet food delivery, streaming, etc.)
  • Travel, dining out, and treating oneself become frequent and more luxurious
  • Purchases expand to match (or exceed) income growth
• The Warning:
  • “You start acting like this big baller. And then the next thing you do, you wake up in the middle of winter and... I'm broke.” – Paul Jamison (01:33)
  • Many green industry pros email with this same problem when the offseason hits.

---

Personal Stories of Lifestyle Creep

• Mr. Producer’s Golf Trip Example:
  • Spontaneous decision to join a more affluent friend on a Dominican Republic golf trip led to:
    • Accidental five-star hotel booking
    • Fine dining with $140+ bill for a mediocre meal
    • Large tip confusion at a foreign ATM
    • Realization that travel costs spiral fast when imitating others' lifestyles
  • “This propina means tip. So she's like, por favor, propina cash. And I was like, why? I don't have any cash on me.... So I end up tipping her 40 bucks. So, so dinner was 180 bucks... [and] it wasn't even good.” – Mr. Producer (06:32)

---

The Cycle of Income and Expenses

• Success Can Be a Double-Edged Sword:
  • “If you're continuing to increase your expenses while your income’s increasing, you might just continue to stay at that level or even go beyond your new income.” – Mr. Producer (08:13)
  • Common trap: Going into debt not just for wants, but even for depreciating assets (cars, vacations, etc.)
• On Real Estate:
  • Even smart investments can become lifestyle creep: new home means furnishings, higher property taxes, ongoing expenses (09:04)
  • “You can buy too much home...and then have to furnish [it]...and then, of course, the depreciating assets of cars...” – Mr. Producer

---

Example of Living Below Your Means

• Andy Mulder as “Millionaire Next Door”:
  • Drives an ordinary car, lives simply despite his millionaire status
  • Saved $1 million cash, invested wisely, built his business headquarters debt-free
  • Not showy, but a model of financial prudence for green industry professionals
  • “He doesn’t really care what you think. He’s just going out there, working hard, making smart financial decisions.” – Mr. Producer (11:13)

---

Philosophy on Debt and Leverage

• Guidance from the Bible:
  • “The rich rules over the poor. The borrower is slave to the lender and I don't want to be a slave to the lender...” – Mr. Producer (12:58)
  • Also recalled: “Owe no one anything except to love one another.”
• Personal Peace of Mind:
  • Both Mr. Producer and Paul paid off debts, now sleep better and feel liberated
  • Mortgage is the only debt some would cautiously consider, but with intent to pay off early
  • “I don’t owe anybody anything...and to me it’s freeing.” – Mr. Producer (14:27)

---

Keys to Avoiding Lifestyle Creep

Expense Tracking & Accountability

• Track everything:
  • Unchecked subscriptions, eating out, incidental purchases are major creepers
• Accountability partners:
  • Even informal check-ins with family or friends can curb overspending
• Quote:
  • “Tracking, you can actually recognize...why did I pay that? And then I think accountability is huge.” – Mr. Producer (02:42)

Saving for the Off-Season

• Build a “Winter Fund”:
  • Set aside profits from busy seasons specifically for lean months
  • Dave Ramsey’s advice: 6 months emergency fund for small business owners (17:03)
• Practice:
  • Save consistently, even during good times; don’t assume cash flow will last

Specific, Consistent Savings Habits

• Automatic, percentage-based saving:
  • On every inflow, transfer a percentage to a separate tax or savings account
  • Quote: “I just take the calculator and...multiply [revenue] by the percentage...and then I transfer it into a whole different bank and it goes into a high yield savings account.” – Mr. Producer (25:18)
  • Do this daily for discipline and clarity
• Buckets/Nicknamed Accounts for Each Purpose:
  • Separate accounts for quarterly taxes, emergency fund, rainy day, etc. (30:53)

---

Additional Strategies and Mindsets

• Advice from Other Experts:

  • Brandon Gray: Save 2 months’ business expenses in a business account for stability (28:36)
  • General rule for households: 3-month buffer of personal expenses

• Personal Savings Journey:

  • Mr. Producer wasn’t taught savings habits—learned through hardship and necessity
  • “As soon as I made money when I was a kid, I would spend it on golf. That’s just how I grew up. Whatever I made, I spent.” (19:13)

• Tax Preparedness:

  • Move set percentages for taxes to a separate bank immediately upon receipt
  • Use a team (bookkeeper, accountant, CFP) to determine right savings percentages (24:49)

• The Joseph Principle:

  • Save during periods of plenty to survive during inevitable famine/offseason (32:46)
  • “We need to get prepared for the future, because you don’t know when that famine is going to hit. You don’t know when those tough times are coming.” (34:06)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Paul Jamison:
  • “You start acting like this big baller. And then the next thing you do, you wake up in the middle of winter and...I’m broke.” (01:33)
  • "I used to be a chuck in the truck...completely disorganized and constantly chasing payments. But then I started using Jobber back in 2019, and it was a complete game changer." (15:52)
• Mr. Producer:
  • “Dinner was 180 bucks...and you want to talk about a depreciating asset—it wasn’t even good.” (07:01)
  • “So my lifestyle creep is... travel. That can really creep up on you. And the subscriptions, eating out, there’s a whole bunch of them.” (07:36)
  • “The borrower is slave to the lender and I don't want to be a slave to the lender...I don't have any student loan debt, I don't have any credit card debt. I don't have any, I don't owe anybody anything. And to me it's freeing.” (14:27)
  • “[Andy Mulder]...he’s kind of like the poster child of the Millionaire Next Door. He's not super flashy...he's just trying to be a good example that if you work hard and invest and save your money, you can become a multimillionaire.” (12:05)
• Advice for Listeners:
  • “Don’t just willy nilly guess, but have somebody who’s a tax preparer [or] planner help you make sure you’re saving enough for your taxes.” (27:50)
  • “This is my account for the three months emergency expenses, and then this is my account for my quarterly taxes. And I like to keep those buckets separate.” (31:21)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:10: Introduction to “lifestyle creep” and its risks during the spring rush
• 02:22: Real-life examples: subscriptions, travel, eating out—where lifestyle creep shows up
• 03:23: Mr. Producer’s candid story: Golf trip gone (expensively) sideways
• 09:04: Lifestyle creep via upgrading homes, cars, and unintended consequences
• 10:39: The "Millionaire Next Door" philosophy; Andy Mulder as a model
• 12:40: Biblical guidance on debt and practical debt-free testimony
• 17:03: Dave Ramsey’s emergency fund strategy for small business owners
• 19:08: The struggle to cultivate a habit of saving money; personal anecdotes
• 23:06: How a $5,000 IRS tax bill became a wake-up call and spurred financial discipline
• 24:49: The mechanics of daily, percentage-based savings for taxes
• 28:36: Expert advice: 2 months savings for business, 3 months for household
• 30:53: Advantages of using multiple, purpose-driven savings “buckets”
• 32:46: The story of Joseph and saving in good years for lean years—applied to lawn care
• 34:06: Mindset: Always be prepared for the future; you can't know when hard times will come

---

Actionable Takeaways

1. Track All Expenses: Regularly review for unnoticed subscriptions and lifestyle inflation.
2. Establish Accountability: Talk through purchases and budget decisions with a trusted partner or friend.
3. Save Automatically: Move a fixed percentage of all income into separate accounts for taxes and emergencies—do it daily.
4. Create Multiple Savings Buckets: Distinguish funds for taxes, emergency, business buffer, and big periodic bills.
5. Prioritize Debt-Free Living: Recognize and avoid the long-term stress and risk of consumer debt.
6. Use Successful Models: Emulate those who’ve achieved wealth without showiness (e.g., Andy Mulder), focusing on consistency and modesty.
7. Anticipate the Off-Season: Prepare now for the inevitable downturns; don’t assume spring rush profits will last all year.

---

This episode provides a wealth of relatable stories and practical frameworks for green industry pros and small business owners, encouraging proactive financial discipline to maintain security and thrive long-term—no matter how big the spring rush feels.

---

Transcript

[Commercial Narrator]

She does a lot for your family. Mother's Day is your chance to show her. You see it with a gift from a brand trusted for generations to help people get the moment right. 1-800-flowers with double blooms from 1-800-flowers buy one dozen roses and get another dozen for free. It's a bigger Gesture backed by 50 years of experience delivering fresh flowers so you can feel confident sending something that lands. Show up for her with double blooms at 1-800-FLowers.com podcast. That's 1-800-FLowers.COM podcast.

[Paul Jamison]

Hello and welcome to the Green Industry Podcast, your go to guide for building a more profitable and thriving lawn care and landscaping business. Your host, Paul Jamison is the author of five bestselling books including Cut that Grass and make that Cash and his latest, Level up youp Money, all available on Amazon and Audible. Now get ready for more expert insights and practical strategies to boost your business and level up your life. Here's Paul Jameson.

Welcome back to the show. I'm Paul Jameson down here in beautiful sunny Florida. I hope business is booming for you. We are in the middle of the spring rush at the recording of this episode. And I wanted to talk today about what we call lifestyle creep. And that is when, thankfully, money is flowing into our bank accounts. If we're not careful, we'll start increasing our lifestyle too fast because we think, well, you know, business is booming. I can afford A, B, C, D, E. I mean, just go down the list and you start acting like this big baller. And then the next thing you do, you wake up in the middle of winter and I get emails. You email me, paul, I'm broke.

[Mr. Producer]

What do you do in the winter?

[Paul Jamison]

I'm broke. Well, let's, we'll talk about it. You don't have to be broke next winter, but if you spend all the money you're making right now, you're falling back in the, you know, possible old tendencies there. So we're going to talk about it. Actually talked with Mr. Producer about this. We put out a new book, level up your money and we, we had a fun chat about lifestyle creep. So, so here's Mr. Producer to talk about it.

Not a single one of us is immune to lifestyle creep. Subscriptions just keep showing up there on the bank statement. Subscriptions keep going up. Now we're paying for our pets to have food delivered to the house. Where, where does it stop? How do we make it stop, Paul?

[Mr. Producer]

Well, first of all, by tracking your expenses when you. Because a lot of people don't track their expenses, so they don't even see that $19.99 subscription. And so I think by tracking, you can actually recognize who you know, why did I pay that? And then I think accountability is huge. My little brother, we talk on the phone and he gets, he gets hard on me for lifestyle creep.

[Paul Jamison]

So, so where, where. Be honest with us here. Where in your budget do you experience lifestyle creep? What, what expenses do you need to do a better job with? Yeah, be honest. Be honest.

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, travel. Traveling is more expensive than you think. So I, I went on a golf trip, and it was so expensive, my buddy's like, hey, you want to go, you want to go golfing in the Dominican Republic? And I was like, yeah, let's go. And this was on a Saturday. We're golfing in Tampa. He's like, hey, you want to go play Tuesday with me down in the doctor? And I was like, sure. This guy makes big money. And I, I'm, I'm not, not quite at his level, but so I was like, okay. So I, I had some airline credits from a, from an airline. I think I had like three or four hundred dollars just from previous trips that got rescheduled or whatnot. So I was like, okay, well, my flight shouldn't be too bad. And they're just like, yeah, it's dangerous down there. You're gonna get heckled when you get out of the airport. Yada, yada, yada. So just make sure you stay at the resort on the golf course, because there's a gate when you approach the golf course, and the hotel and the golf course are in a gated, secured area. So they're just like, don't go outside that gate, you know, because I like to walk. They're like, we know you like to walk, so don't, don't, don't go venturing across, you know, walk.

[Paul Jamison]

So you weren't tempted to stay at the Red Roof Inn outside the gate?

[Mr. Producer]

Right. So I didn't ask. And again, my friends are in a different financial situation than me, but they, they said, you know, just stay at the course. So. Okay. So I, so I booked a hotel or whatnot and sticker shock, and it's a five star hotel. So I, I didn't realize it was, you know, I didn't realize it was five stars. So I, so I get there and Mr. Jameson, we've been waiting on you all day. And there's like, you know, the butler. I don't know what a butler is, but, you know, I got, I got these people waiting on me. And my point in all this Is I go, I'm hungry. So I was like, hey, where's the restaurante? You know, they speak Spanish. Restaurante. And they're like, oh, sixth floor, sixth floor. So I go up there and it's a fine dining restaurant.

[Paul Jamison]

No prices on the menu, right?

[Mr. Producer]

That overlooks the ocean. So I'm like, when I got there, they're like, Mr. Hymason, because they say my name wrong. Because. And I got like four people waiting on me. And I was like, oh, this is going to be expensive because I can see the Caribbean Sea. And his place is fancy. It's like, what'd you want for dinner? I was like, hamburger. Hamburger. I think I tried to say it in Spanish, but like, I want a cheeseburger. And she was looking at me. She's like, fine dining, you know. And we don't, you know, wagyu steak or whatever. So I got, I got a piece of steak that wasn't even that good. And then a potato thing that I, I don't. The Dominican Republic to pay, you know, isn't, isn't the same as my, you know, the potatoes we have here in America. So, so anyway, the bill comes and. Is 140 bucks for, for dinner. And then, and then Dominican Republic money was like 8,000. So I was like, oh man. So, so this propina means tip. So she's like, por favor perpena cash. And I was like, why? I don't have any cash on me. I intended to get cash at the ATM at the airport in Tampa, but the, the machine broke. It was. I put my card in and it comes back and says out of service. It's like, oh man. So now I'm going down out of the country with no cash on me. And I was like, I don't have any cash. Like, no problemo. No, no problema. She's like, third floor atm. I'll go with you. So, so walked me down the hotel to the atm. She's standing behind me. Wow. And I'm all flustered because the, the ATM is in Dominican Republic money. So I don't. It's like, do you want 6,000, 7,000, 8,000? And I'm thinking, I don't even know if I have this much.

[Paul Jamison]

What's the foreign currency exchange rate?

[Mr. Producer]

Right? And she's just standing there watching. And then, and then there's another guy behind her watching her. And I'm, I'm like, this is like, this is just crazy. So I ended up pulling out $40, but it's in Dominican Republic money. But I, when I asked Grok, I was like, how much was this in US dollars? Like 40. So I end up tipping her 40 bucks. So, so dinner was 180 bucks. And you want to talk about a depreciating asset, it wasn't, it wasn't even good. It wasn't like, it was this juicy ribeye. It was like this, they cooked it like, well done. And I don't even know what the beef was, but it was nasty. And so, yeah, 180 dinner. So my lifestyle creep is. And then we golf there and it, you know, I, I got the final bill and I was just like, oh my gosh. And it was, it was embarrassing how much money I spent on that, that little golf trip. So, yeah, so lifestyle creep for me is travel. That, that can really creep up on you. And the subscriptions, eating out, there's, there's a whole bunch of them. So the problem with lifestyle creep is if you're doing a good job in business, you're probably getting new customers because you're, you know, you got a good reputation that you're good in business. So naturally, if you're good serving your customers, your income is going to continually be increasing. And the problem with lifestyle creep is if you're continuing to increase your expenses while your income's increasing, you might just continue to stay at that level or even go beyond your new income now. And it's just, it's a very, very dangerous trap. So it's, it's good that your income is increasing. Well done. That you're serving your customers well. But we can't keep our expenses creeping up like that.

[Paul Jamison]

And unfortunately, a lot of people go into debt to fund this lifestyle creep. So now you've just been hit by a double barrel shot of not only increasing expenses, but you're financing the depreciating assets that we spoke of earlier.

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, and even the appreciating assets, you got to be careful because I golf with these guys that complained. So we have talked about in previous chapter that real estate is a good, can be a great investment. But these guys, I'm not gonna name any names, but they, they buy these houses and then their wife wants new furniture. And then the property tax, I had no idea how much the property tax was going to be. And so, so it's like you can, you can buy too much home, if you will, and then have to furnish the home and then the property taxes for the home. And then, and then of course, we talked about the depreciating assets of cars and things of that nature. But, yeah, you just. You have to be very, very careful of lifestyle creep.

[Paul Jamison]

Someone who was very careful and is very careful is a mutual friend of ours, Andy Mulder. You've mentioned him in the chapter. And we do have a little treat coming up here shortly, if you're enjoying the audiobook, where we're going to actually hear the entire message that he brought at the Lawn Care Life conference. Why did you choose to highlight Andy's testimony about running his business and avoiding lifestyle creep?

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, he's. He's very unassuming. And in the book that was written by Thomas Stanley in 1996 called the Millionaire Next Door, he. He talked about what the millionaires of. Of the mid-1990s were like, and they were very unassuming. Like, you wouldn't have known the guy next door is a millionaire because he didn't have the flashy lifestyle. He just lived a simple life.

[Paul Jamison]

He's in a Toyota Camry, not a Hummer H3.

[Mr. Producer]

And that's literally in the 1996. They had the list of the cars that the millionaires drove. And the Toyota Camry was actually one of the top cars. Like, that's the car millionaires drive is a Toyota Camry. It's reliable and is used. So as a used Toyota Camry. So when you think millionaire, you think the guy with the Hummer, the Mercedes, or the flashy car. And those people, some of them might be wealthy, but a lot of them are trying to impress you that they're wealthy. But the Andy Molder, and why I used him as an example is he doesn't really care what you think. He's just going out there, working hard, making smart financial decisions. And, you know, he saved up $1 million cash that he called Dave Ramsey and was like, hey, what do I do with this million bucks I got sitting in this account? I know I should be putting it to work for me. And Dave kind of advised him to invest it in some real estate. And so Andy took action on that. Is actually building a shop in cash on his property that he bought. That's kind of like headquarters for his business, which is an appreciating asset. So anyway, I just think he isn't. He's kind of like the poster child of the Millionaire Next Door. He's not super flashy. You know, you don't. You don't see him driving around in a Rolls Royce and, you know, showing off on Instagram that this crazy lifestyle. Although he does take his wife. You know, he lives in Indiana, where It's cold, so I will see what. Every now and again he's down on the tropical beach with his wife but mentioning, hey, I'm debt free and we paid for this trip debt free and we're enjoying it. But he's not doing that because he's insecure and he needs you to know how wealthy he is. He's just trying to be a good example that if you work hard and invest and save your money, you can become a multimillionaire.

[Paul Jamison]

You speak a lot in the chapter about what the Bible says concerning debt. What is your personal philosophy on how to use leverage or avoid debt? How do you approach it?

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, and my story comes from scars and wounds and the stress and anxiety of, of using to have a lot of debt and the pressure that came with that. And so now being on the other side of that and being debt free, it's so much better. Just for me personally, my peace of mind and my emotions of not having any debt. A couple of verses that inspired me to go this lifestyle is the rich rules over the poor. The borrower is slave to the lender and I don't want to be a slave to the lender. I know what that was like. There's another one that says to owe no one anything except to love one another. So I don't want to owe anyone any money. And the problem with debt is there's risk involved. And when people run their calculations on debt, they never calculate the risk. They just think, oh well, I'll just borrow this money and use it on this over here and then this over here is going to make a whole bunch of money and then I'll just pay off the debt, no big deal. And then you talk to people who have student loan debt, like that was the philosophy, oh, just go to college,

[Paul Jamison]

you know, I'm going to get a

great paying job and wipe that $200,000.

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, first couple years I'll just take care of that, move on with my life. Next thing you know, I'm 35 years old and I still have $27,000 student loan. I have a $10,000 student loan. I didn't even use my agree degree.

[Paul Jamison]

The barista salary doesn't cover the payments.

[Mr. Producer]

Right. And so that's the problem with debt. Now I will say with real estate. And my goal is to get real estate cash when I do have real estate. I'm a renter right now. But there might be a scenario where I would take out a 15 year fixed rate mortgage and pay that sucker off as fast as I possibly could. Because if you purchase the right home, the right property, it should be going up in value. So that might, I don't want to say it's not a risk. It is a risk, but it's the only one day, if you call Dave Ramsey is not going to chew you out and yell at you if you get a 15 year fixed rate mortgage with the intention of paying it off early. But personally, at the recording of this audiobook, I don't owe anybody anything. So I don't have any mortgage debt. I don't have any student loan debt, I don't have any credit card debt. I don't have any, I don't owe anybody anything. And to me it's freeing.

[Paul Jamison]

It's, it's, it is. I'm, I'm in the same situation, recently paid off a home mortgage and have no other debts and I sleep really well. Yeah, it makes a difference.

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah, it's so good. But you also, I mean, you're a great example. I mean, you didn't, you didn't bite off more than you can chew. I've been to your home. It's a, it's a modest, it's a nice home. It's a, it's a very, I love that I'm not going to name the street and the address and party at your house, but it's, it's, you know, you, you didn't, you didn't try to go beyond your means. You just, you got a home. It's a house over, you know, shelter and peace of mind.

[Paul Jamison]

Yeah, a lot to be said about that.

[Mr. Producer]

Have you ever felt like you're drowning

[Paul Jamison]

in scattered quotes, schedules and chasing payments

[Mr. Producer]

that never come easy? I've been there with you.

[Paul Jamison]

I used to be a chuck in the truck.

[Mr. Producer]

Completely disorganized and constantly chasing payments. But then I started using jobber back in 2019 and it was a complete game changer for my business.

[Paul Jamison]

Still using it today.

[Mr. Producer]

I love it and recommend it to all my coaching clients.

[Paul Jamison]

Now Jobber is an all in one business app.

[Mr. Producer]

Software where you can store customer information, send quotes and invoices, schedule your appointments, and even collect payments. Best of all, you know, I talk about this a lot on the podcast. You can save a credit card on file for automatic and hassle free payments. No more awkward follow ups or lost money. You ready to simplify your business operations? Check the link in the show notes and use my special Jobber link and try it for free.

[Paul Jamison]

You won't look back. Real quick before we move on, if you're tired of buying equipment blind or running your crew the same way? Hoping something changes? Get yourself to Equip Exposition this October in Louisville. Test drive the best equipment from every major manufacturer in one place. Come see me at the morning show. Check out Equip's education sessions built for guys actually running crews. Use my code Paul at registration to save 50% on your pass. The link is in today's show notes. Well, I hope this conversation with Mr. Producer about lifestyle Creep is helpful to you. I'm thankful for these seasons where typically, if we're willing to put in the effort, put in the diligence, put in the work, serve people, we earn more money. It still takes quite a bit of discipline not to increase our lifestyle at the wrong pace. So with that being said, I want to continue on this vein and actually talk about saving money. Now I mentioned saving money for a winter fund. Dave Ramsey's program recommends once you're out of debt, saving an emergency fund of six months, months of expenses. So if you are a small business owner, I actually messaged their team and told them my situation. I'm like, hey, I own a small business, yada yada yada, like here's all my details. And like, yeah, you definitely need a six month emergency fund in your personal, you know, expenditure. So with that being said, I was like, oh we okay, so I'm personally in this grind mode here where I'm trying to save certain amounts of money from my personal saving accounts and then save money in my business as retained earnings for, for those goals that Joey Coblerly's been pushing me for towards. So anyway, avoiding lifestyle creep is it goes in harmony with saving money as well. So anyway, Mr. Producer and I are going to talk about saving money later.

Paul Certainly all of us would say there's great value and necessity in saving. Why do you feel like it took you such a long time in life to learn some of these principles?

[Mr. Producer]

I think for some people saving money just naturally comes easy to them. Frugality is something that maybe they grew up around or just it's easy for them. But for me, it was never easy for me. As soon as I made money when I was a kid, I would spend it on golf. Typically golf, there were some other things I spent it on, but I was just so used to making money then I'd spend it all and I mean I'd have $60 in my account. And then my buddy like hey, you want to go play golf at this nice country club? I'm like, how much is he's like 60 bucks. So I'd literally, I'd be, I'd spend my whole net worth to go play a nice round of golf at a country club. So that's, that's just how I grew up. I just, whatever I made, I spent. And then as I became a business owner and I would have this pressure that I would owe people money, like yourself or other expenditures I had in the business, there was times where I was like, oh, no, how am I going to, how am I going to make this payment? Because so and so owes me money, but they haven't paid me and I owe this person. And I got so stressed out. And so the only solution I could come up with, well, if I had money saved in an emergency, if somebody didn't pay me or something happened where I didn't have money coming in, then I could, you know, float it through savings. So it's something that I had to personally train myself on to do. And it never, never was natural or easy for me.

[Paul Jamison]

Okay. Not, not something that was taught in the home. And I certainly, we hear all the time that the schools don't really teach financial principles at all anymore.

[Mr. Producer]

Right. Well, I'd hear my parents fighting. Like, my dad would have this line that stuck with me. There's once first needs, you know, like one's first needs. Is that a need or a one, you know, and, and so I kind of, I didn't know what a want or a need was like as a kid, but I just remember the arguments of, you know, my, my mom was Matt or Spender, I think, or. I know. And my dad was more of a practical one. You know, his argument was, was, is that a want or a need? If it's a want, you know, then don't be spending money on it. We, you know, so, but yeah, I, I didn't, There wasn't, like, conversations around the dinner table of, hey, it's very important, you know, I, I remember my first paycheck at best burger was $55, which seemed like millions to me because I was like, $55. It was awesome. And, and, and I, I kind of remember my parents saying something like, save a little bit of it or something. But I, I, I went out and spent it.

[Paul Jamison]

I love the stories of where parents will give their children an allowance, and then they'll turn around and say, give 30% of that right back to me because I want you to understand how it works with the government and begin to realize there's so many things beyond just the value of that dollar and you seem to indicate that it really was the shock of owing the IRS.

[Mr. Producer]

What was it?

[Paul Jamison]

$5,000, I think we read. And that that sort of woke you up to the need to get a strategy.

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah. So when I got out of college, my friends. I won't call them friends because none of them even talk to me to this day. But people I went to college with, you know, back then, they got jobs, and so their employer would handle their taxes. And in some cases, if they put the dependents down the wrong way or whatever, they. They were getting refunds. So I had. I had people around me that. That I just had heard, man, I got 4,000 bucks back. I got 2,000 bucks back. I got 5,000 bucks back from the taxes. So I thought, oh, everybody gets the money back from the taxes. Like, I didn't know how it worked. So I was broke. I mean, broke. You know, when I say broke, I had less than $1,000 in my bank account, and sometimes it was negative. I remember one time my checking account was negative like 2 or 300. And then I had a savings account, and that was negative like 500. And I was on the phone crying. The bank of America. It's like, would you just please get me back to. Or I'll do anything if you can. Just as if.

[Paul Jamison]

As if bank of America cares about your tears.

[Mr. Producer]

Well, listen, listen, this is hashtag not sponsored. But I mean, I was on the phone for hours. I remember. I remember exactly where I was. And I kept asking to talk to the supervisor, and I was like, just putting on this sob story. I was like, can you just. I know you have all those buttons on your computer. Can you please. Can you please. I'll. I'll be the happiest man alive if I can look at my bank account on the app, and it says 0, 0, 0, 0. Like, I just want to get back to zero. I'm sick of it being minus so much. And some they did it, and so then they refunded. Some whatever they did, they got me back to zero. So anyway, that I was. When I'm sharing this story is like when I say $2,000 would have changed my life. It would have changed my life. So my first year in the lawn care business, absolutely broke. And I went to the accountant's place expecting to get maybe news I was going to get $5,000 back or whatever. And they're like, hey, Mr. Jameson, how would you like to pay for our, you know, file the feed stuff this, this, that, and the other. And I was like, how Much is it? And they're like, oh, you're the federal government. 5,000. And then you owe us whatever I owed them. How would you like to take care of that? And I was like, they're gonna send me 5,000. She's like, no, no, you owe them 5,000. How would you like to take care of that? And I was like, why? I don't have $5,000. And. And she's like, okay, well, we can set you up on a payment plan with them. And that was like, just so the, you know, the shock of my life and very eye opening.

[Paul Jamison]

And why don't we drill down specifically to your strategy for avoiding that today? I know you've referenced your team that you meet with on a regular basis. How have they set up the structure so that you're never in this situation again?

[Mr. Producer]

Yep. So there, there's multiple influences that, that, that helped me with this, but. But mainly my bookkeeper, Joey Koberly and Megan Koberly, and then my tax preparer Sheila. And they gave me a percentage of revenue that every time I get paid revenue, I transfer that percentage from one bank, literally into a whole nother bank. And I stored in a high yield savings account. So I do this every single morning without fail. I did it this morning. Before we started recording this, I looked at my business checking account. Did I have any revenue come in yesterday? Which I didn't yesterday, but on the days that I do, I just take the calculator and let's say $1,000 came in. I'll multiply it by the percentage that my professionals told me is my number. Because everyone's. How much they should save for taxes. There's so many variables, right?

[Paul Jamison]

Different tax rates for different size businesses and individuals.

[Mr. Producer]

Because people ask me, well, how much should I set aside? And I was like, I don't feel comfortable saying what I set as because I live in Florida and I have no children and I have no employee. Like, my situation is different from others. But anyway, so every morning I check, did money come in yesterday? And then I just take the percentage that the, the certified professionals told me is my percentage. It's going to keep me current with the tax bill, and then I transfer it into a whole different bank and it goes into a high yield savings account. And then the way.

[Paul Jamison]

So you do this, you do this every day based on your gross receipts for the day.

[Mr. Producer]

Well, from. So when I wake up in the morning, I open my business checking account and I look, did any money come in yesterday? And, and, and some days there's multiple you know, people paid me and sometimes it's nothing, but if there's something I go per transaction. So I'll be like, okay, X amount came in multiplied by the percentage and then I put it into my.

[Paul Jamison]

Okay, so you're doing a little bit of math there on every, every bit of money that comes in. You're, you're doing that calculation based on, as you said, each transaction. Rather than just a, a lump sum or doing it once a week, you're doing it daily, every day.

[Mr. Producer]

And that's just what works for me. The, the scripture I shared in the chapter was that the why store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down? So what I used to do was gulp all mine down. If, if I, if I made money, I could spend it all pretty easily. So now I, I, I save up for that tax bill, good old April 15th. But, but I, I send in quarterly payments throughout the year to, to kind of make sure we're, we're ahead. You know, I'm paying the appropriate amounts.

[Paul Jamison]

Are you again, are you, I'm sorry, let me, let you continue.

[Mr. Producer]

I just want to reemphasize. I have a certified financial planner, cfp, like the College Football Playoff cfp. And they, you know, they're, they're overlooking all my things to make sure that I'm, I'm properly saving enough to pay the, the tax bills as they're due. So I would highly recommend you don't just willy nilly guess, but you have somebody who's a, you know, tax prepared planner who can help you make sure you're saving enough for your taxes.

[Paul Jamison]

Have you come across any additional strategies that maybe you've chosen not to employ, but your colleagues do, or just in your own study on this subject, are there other ways that people can make sure they're saving enough money? Any other strategies come to mind?

[Mr. Producer]

Yeah. So Brandon Gray spoke at the Lawn Care Life conference that you, you were sitting at my table and his suggestion, and he oversees the numbers on a lot of small businesses. And his suggestion from the accounting firm that they work with is that if you own a small business, he suggests calculating what your monthly expenses are in your business and having a Savings account of 2 months of business expenses save for your business. So I, I, and he, he knows more about small business than me. I mean from a, the view that he sees the numbers of all these different small businesses. And so I think that's a really good strategy if you own a small business to set the, you know, set the goal that you want to eventually have two months of savings in the business in case there's ever a hiccup in the business. And then on the personal side, the money experts that I listen to, they kind of unanimously suggest a minimum of a three month buffer. So if your household expenditures per month is $5,000, you'd want your emergency fund, or you could call it a rainy day fund or whatever you want to nickname the savings account. Three months of your monthly personal expenses seems to be what a lot of the pros say. Now, we'll talk in the future chapter here about investing and making that money work for you. But this money is basically just liquid sitting in a savings account for peace of mind. It's not invested because if you need to get it, you know, you want to be able to go get it in the afternoon or whatever if you have to.

[Paul Jamison]

So that raises a very good question. I think initially I was just thinking in terms of saving for your tax, for your taxes, but now you're talking about having a Savings account for 3 months of your regular expenditures. How many different buckets do you have for savings? Or do you just have a catch all account that everything then comes out of when the bills come due?

[Mr. Producer]

Okay, so I personally use separate buckets. So in the, the bank that I have my savings accounts, it's, it's what you would call a high yield savings account. So the, I do get some interest on that money, although with inflation, it's, it's, you know, sure, I don't want to say it's a wash, but that's why we're going to talk in the next chapter about investing or whatnot, making the money work for you. But I personally like different buckets, so I literally, in my bank you can nickname the bucket. So I have one bucket named quarterly taxes, and then my other buckets name, you know, emergency fund. And they're different, they're different buckets. And that just helps me know, okay, this is my account for the three months emergency expenses, and then this is my account for my quarterly taxes. And I like, I like to keep those buckets separate.

[Paul Jamison]

That's good. And as a listener to your podcast, I've taken some of these concepts and created a bucket for contingency funds where unexpected expenses might arise. I've got a fund to use for my car, for my home, and so this whole concept of being able to have these nicknamed accounts that you're consistently funneling money into. When I get that large bill that the home insurance is due, oh, I've already got $10,000 sitting in that account that I've been saving. I don't have to go rob from another account just to pay whatever's the most urgent bill of the moment. So thank you for that. You did mention an Old Testament story of the story of Joseph in the scriptures. What drew you to that story? And what principles are you hoping really connect with people?

[Mr. Producer]

Well, I. I got my start in business in the lawn care industry. And in the lawn care industry, there's what we call the spring rush. And for whatever reason, when the spring weather comes and it's sunny for a few days and the birds are singing their new spring songs and they're out, and the, the temperature is hotter than it's been, and seems like everyone just goes outside and then they, they realize, oh, man, I need my bushes trim. I mean, my yard cut. I need all this lawn care work. So in the lawn care world, in the spring rush, the demand for your services is off the charts. I mean, it's just like you can't keep up with everyone saying, hey, can you come give me a quote for this? So how that relates to the story of Joseph is Joseph was able to foresee ahead, like seven years, I believe it was, that a famine was coming to the land and was like, we need to prepare now. And so in the lawn care world, it might not be seven years, it might be seven months until winter comes. But even in Georgia, where I started my lawn care business, you're very aware of this. It gets chilly in November, December, January, February, and then March, it starts warming up again. But even in Georgia, it gets chilly. And then in Ohio, forget about it. The winter's just frigid, you know, 26 degrees and, and that's a good day. Yeah. And then when it gets to 45, people are wearing t shirts and, oh, it's 45 today. You know, that's like my mentality growing up In Ohio, like, 45 was like, oh, this is a great day. But my point about saving is in the spring, when the money's flowing in, you have to look ahead to the winter to save so that you can financially survive in the winter months. And this is in the lawn care business business. But that principle goes all the way back to Joseph saving up in the seven years of plenty, that when the seven years of famine came, he was prepared. And we need to get prepared for the future, because you don't know when that famine is going to hit. You don't know when those tough times are coming. You. You just want to get a defense and you just want to get prepared.

[Paul Jamison]

Hey, it's Marty, producer of the Green Industry podcast. This episode is over, but check the episode notes for links to products and services that you heard about during the episode. And thanks for listening.

[Kiana]

I'm Kiana, and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like, I can't stop. I'm addicted. Start your free [e-mail].