Friday Flight - College Cost Cutting, Predictive Credit Scores, & Work Perk Pruning #1134

Summary

Podcast Summary: How to Money – Friday Flight - College Cost Cutting, Predictive Credit Scores, & Work Perk Pruning (#1134)

Date: May 1, 2026
Hosts: Joel & Matt

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Episode Overview

This episode of "How to Money" explores practical ways people can navigate a rapidly changing financial landscape, with an upbeat, conversational focus on three central issues: cutting college costs, evolving credit scoring (and its impact on insurance and mortgages), and the reduction of workplace benefits ("work perk pruning"). Joel and Matt interweave real-life examples, recent headlines, and actionable tips, all in their signature friendly, relatable tone.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. World Cup Costs, Travel, and Uncertainty

• Event price inflation: World Cup match tickets are so expensive that attendees are cutting corners elsewhere, including skipping on pricey accommodations (Airbnbs underperforming expectations).
• Discussion on broader consumer uncertainty: High travel costs, fuel prices, and global instability factor heavily into people’s spending choices.
  • Memorable Quote:
    “I just wish that these events were not such a money grab and that people could go watch some great soccer and not, you know, have to fork over their retirement savings to make it happen.” — Joel (04:07)

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2. College Cost Cutting and ‘Three-Year Degrees’ (05:07–08:12)

• Questioning degree value: With tuition increasing, the hosts question if a college degree is always worth the investment.
• Emergence of accelerated programs: Some schools (e.g., University of Maine’s YourPace) now offer three-year bachelor’s, or even faster, with unlimited online classes—raising both cost-saving opportunities and concerns about educational depth.
  • Memorable Quote:
    “A degree is not the same thing as an education…what we’re looking for here is competence.” — Matt (06:30)
• Credential vs. competence: Acknowledgment that some people are just after credentials (e.g., teachers needing a master’s for pay raises), while others want deep learning.
  • Notable Caution:
    “I'm not totally sure if it's sinking in... To me, it feels a lot like cramming for a test and just being able to regurgitate the information as opposed to being able to engage with the ideas.” — Matt (06:31)
• Private loan refinancing: With some private student loans now advertized at sub-3% (though only for highly-qualified borrowers), refi could make sense if you have little left on your balance and strong finances. But beware: federal borrower protections are lost in the switch.

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3. Predictive Credit Scores & Insurance Premiums (10:28–16:51)

• Insurance and credit scores:
  • Several states may ban using credit scores to set insurance rates, joining CA, MA, and HI.
  • Current system creates a 69% premium difference between good/bad credit (per cited report).
  • Removing credit data may force insurers to use other metrics—potentially more invasive methods (drones, claims history).
  • Notable Quote:
    “How do you want your insurance premium formula to come about?... Of course the insurance company wants to be able to use credit scores, but I understand why they do.” — Joel (12:54)
• Predictive credit scoring for mortgages:
  • Fannie and Freddie now use broader credit models, including rent and utility payment history.
  • Thoughtful embrace of more data (Buy Now, Pay Later, etc.)—not for “making unqualified buyers look better,” but to create a more complete risk picture.
  • Warning about privacy and increasing complexity—comparing to “precogs” from Minority Report (14:23).
  • Memorable Quote:
    “We should be incorporating more information that indicates whether individuals tend to pay bills and debts on time. So yeah, I think the use of these predictive credit scores is actually going to be a good thing.” — Joel (14:33)

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4. Credit Card and Rewards Scams (17:08–20:42)

• Warning against scam calls:
  • “If you get a call from a helpful person who wants to lower the interest rate on your credit card, just hang up on them. It's a scammer.” — Joel (17:19)
  • The real way: proactively call your own issuer if you want a lower APR—sometimes you can get it.
• Text/phishing scams:
  • Beware of expiring rewards/points texts with suspicious links—phishing for passwords and info.
  • Younger folks more likely to slip while multitasking.
  • Strong advice: always enter secure site URLs directly, don’t click unknown links.

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5. Ludicrous Headline of the Week: Work Perk Pruning (22:56–24:53)

• Headline: “PTO, parental leave, pensions—even the most prized benefits are on the chopping block.”
• Workplace trend: While layoffs are not rampant, many employers are reducing benefits (401k match, parental leave, etc.), leading to reduced total compensation.
  • Advice: Time to be alert—maybe update your resume and gently network, just in case.
  • Memorable Quote:
    “This is just a reminder to factor [benefits] into your total compensation. If your employer is out there reducing perks, this might be a sign of...bigger issues.” — Matt (24:53)

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6. Tech, Phones, and Free Ice Cream (24:53–28:27)

• Phone-free incentives:
  • Chick-fil-A “Ice Dream” promotion: Some locations give free ice cream to families who lock up their phones during meals.
  • Broader cultural trends: growing movement to reclaim phone-free family time at dinner (citing Jonathan Haidt, Cal Newport).
  • Memorable Quote:
    “We can all use some incentives to do the right thing… have better boundaries when we're having meals.” — Joel (26:55)

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7. Food Waste & Grocery Spending (28:27–32:02)

• AI tackling grocery food waste:
  • Afresh AI system helps retailers smartly order inventory, considering factors like weather and food stamps, reducing waste by 20–25%.
• Personal food waste:
  • Planning/purchasing tips, eating leftovers, and grocery pickup noted as smart ways to save.
• Confession: Even the hosts struggle at times with over-buying perishables (fruit especially).
  • Notable Quote:
    “On a personal level, the best ways that we can save are to plan our purchases, get better about meal planning, and of course, to eat your leftovers.” — Matt (29:11)

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8. “Pregaming” Against High Drink Prices & Premium Movie Experiences (32:40–36:33)

• Pregaming revival:
  • Adults are now “pregaming” (drinking at home before events) to avoid sky-high prices ($22–25 for a beer!) at venues.
  • Compare with paring down frequency vs. enjoying a few “premium” experiences.
  • Notable Quote:
    “If you're not shocked at the price of a booze… you're not paying attention. You're forking over way too much money.” — Joel (33:06)
• Movie tickets & premium pricing:
  • $50 tickets at high-end movie theaters are now a (rare) reality alongside plush seating and IMAX screens—positioned as an “experience” rather than a routine outing.
  • Hosts discuss MoviePass, concessions, and how rare movies out justify higher spend, but acknowledge rising costs can be prohibitive.

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9. Airfare Myths & Booking Tips (37:12–38:42)

• Expedia’s findings:
  • “Tuesday is cheapest” myth: it’s now often Friday with about a 3% savings, and Sunday is the priciest.
  • Most important: flight prices change 135+ times/year—set alerts, check often, and consider rebooking if fares drop.
  • Pro Tip: Flying on Tuesday (not just booking then) is still the best deal—consider Tuesday-to-Tuesday trips for added savings.
  • Memorable Quote:
    “The big thing I took away… airfare is changing all the time…the fare is probably different than the last time you looked.” — Joel (37:49)

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Notable Quotes & Highlights (with Timestamps)

• “A degree is not the same thing as an education…what we’re looking for here is competence.” – Matt (06:30)
• “If you get a call from a helpful person who wants to lower the interest rate on your credit card, just hang up on them.” – Joel (17:19)
• “We can all use some incentives to do the right thing…have better boundaries when we're having meals.” – Joel (26:55)
• “If you're not shocked at the price of a booze…you're not paying attention. You're forking over way too much money.” — Joel (33:06)
• “The big thing I took away…airfare is changing all the time…the fare is probably different than the last time you looked.” – Joel (37:49)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• World Cup/Travel Costs: 02:47–05:07
• College Cost Cutting & Degree Acceleration: 05:07–08:12
• Student Loan Refinancing Advice: 08:12–10:28
• Insurance & Credit Scores: 10:28–14:08
• Predictive Credit Scoring (Mortgages): 14:08–16:51
• Credit Card & Rewards Scams: 17:08–20:42
• Workplace Benefit Reductions: 22:56–24:53
• Phone Addiction & Chick-fil-A Ice Cream: 24:53–28:27
• Food Waste & Grocery Spending: 28:27–32:02
• 'Pregaming' for Events & Movie Ticket Inflation: 32:40–36:33
• Flight-Booking Myths: 37:12–38:42

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Language & Tone

The episode retains Joel and Matt's approachable, quippy, best-friends-having-coffee vibe, with lots of gentle ribbing, self-deprecating admissions, and direct calls to action for listeners (“Don’t click those links,” “Call your credit card issuer directly”). They balance lighthearted stories (free ice cream, phone boxes at Chick-fil-A) with actionable personal finance guidance—always emphasizing practicality, skepticism of hype, and the value of being thoughtful with your money and your habits.

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Final Takeaway

“Best friends out, and best friends out.”
— Joel & Matt (38:42)

Bottom line: Protect your time, money, and focus—cut costs where you can, question received financial wisdom, beware of scams, and don’t underestimate the long-term impact of small, habitual choices on both your wallet and your well-being.

Transcript

[Matt]

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[Joel]

Learn [e-mail] welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.

[Matt]

I'm Matt.

[Joel]

Today we're talking college cost cutting, predictive credit scores, and work perk pruning.

[Matt]

Yeah, Joel, the thing pruning is I don't think a lot of people. Nobody likes pruning, right? But oftentimes it does lead to healthier long term results.

[Joel]

If you prune at the right time.

[Matt]

Yes, if you prune at the right time. If you don't over prune.

[Joel]

Seen some yard guys.

[Matt]

If you do it methodically, pruning too

[Joel]

late in the season, you're like, no,

[Matt]

no man, you just.

[Joel]

The blooms are already on the flower on the bush. Like don't, don't trim now. But yeah, it's. I've always been amazed too at how far you can prune certain things back and then how beastly they'll grow the next season. Still, I'm just like, oh my God, you took it down to the nubs and it still got huge. You're thinking of my hydrangeas are like that.

[Matt]

Yeah, they're made to be pruned back. Hydrangeas, crape, myrtles, in a similar way where you're just like, that's not going to live.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And then next year you're like, oh my gosh. Wish I would have pruned them back even more.

[Joel]

Thought you tuned into the lawn and garden show, didn't you?

[Matt]

Look at everybody before you know, yeah, we'll start talking about this old house territory. No, you want to talk about soccer, dude. I just, I just.

[Joel]

Well, it's been fascinating to see. I just saw there was. There are US tickets to the next US match in. I forget what city they're going to be in, but there's still tickets available. Do you want to know why there's still tickets available even though everyone's rabid about this World cup being in North America? Because they're too dang expensive, super high prices. And the World cup, man, like FIFA just. They're trying to see how much money they can make on this. The other fascinating thing, people are spending so much money on World cup tickets that they're reticent to spend big money on lodging when they're going to a town to watch some soccer. And so what I thought, like locally, where we live, we're gonna have some matches. I was like, man, this is gonna be, this is gonna be awesome. For anybody who wants. Is in the short term rental game.

[Matt]

Yeah, the Airbnb game.

[Joel]

And apparently it's not panning out as well as they hoped. There was an article that I saw about hosts feeling the pain. They've put a lot of money into upgrading their place listing, making a great listing and thinking, oh man, I'm going to cash in during the World cup and then I'll just keep, keep this, this place around for the long term afterwards. But the. They're crickets in terms of booking their place because people are just reticent to spend that much money on especially when the tickets cost so much. So I don't know if they're going to like pitch their tent in downtown, like near the arena or something like

[Matt]

that, but for those last minute deals, maybe.

[Joel]

Yeah, it'll be. I'll be curious to see what happens. And I just wish that these events were not such a money grab and that people could go watch some great soccer and not, you know, have to fork over their retirement savings to make it happen.

[Matt]

I get it. Do you think any of this has to do with just the uncertainty in the world as far as like the war maybe Straight of Hormuz which to be honest, I feel like we haven't heard much about folks. Folks have kind of moved on from that and they're like, okay, what's the next big story?

[Joel]

It's not dominating the headlines like it was. But yeah, you know, there's still, it still leads to a lot to be watching over there.

[Matt]

Business uncertainty, which I think does trickle down to Main Street.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Where folks feel that uncertainty, aren't totally sure what's going to be going on.

[Joel]

So maybe I should keep my money, you know, in my bank account and watch soccer on TV perhaps, just in case.

[Matt]

I mean, with travel costs, the cost of gasoline, you know, back at all time. Highs. Jet fuel. Yeah. I don't know.

[Joel]

Which we talked about on Wednesday with Kyle Potter and that's right. Yeah, man. So much good information. If you're like, I'm trying to travel this summer and I want to do so cheaply. Kyle's pretty sober in his assessment.

[Matt]

Thrifty traveler. They know what's up over there. All right, let's talk about higher education because we've been, I feel like we've been questioning the value of a college degree more in recent years for sure, here on the show. When costs rise significantly, I think it's smart to question whether it's still worth the price. And in many cases it still is, but it's just not nearly as clear cut a decision as it used to be. And one way to steer the choice in your favor, specifically when you're looking at your personal finance, is to reduce the cost as well as the time that it takes to get your degree.

[Joel]

Time is money, Matt.

[Matt]

That's what they say. Some schools are offering a three year bachelor's degree now, which is going to appeal to many folks. But a lot of folks are calling this degree hacking.

[Joel]

Most overused word in the English language.

[Matt]

Yes, but still, we've been using it to describe anything I feel like for the past eight years in particular. But this is apparently a thing. Some online universities are now allowing people to take unlimited classes, leading to some folks who enter the program to finish their coursework in months, not years. So the University of Maine is one of the leaders who is offering this. It's this. They're calling it a your PACE program. And they reported that some folks are even finishing it in eight weeks, which makes me think that I'm not totally sure if it's sinking in.

[Joel]

How much did you really learn?

[Matt]

Yeah. Yeah. How much did you actually use chat to do all of your coursework for. For you, this is an Argument for the hey, a degree is not the same thing as an education, right? Like, you are on one hand, you're getting credentials, but what we're looking for here is competence. And I think there's a whole lot of folks who may be entering the workforce or feeling like they're, they're certainly are investing in their careers, but are they more competent? I don't know. To me, it feels a lot like cramming for a test and just being able to regurgitate the information as opposed to being able to engage with the ideas, right? Like, like where you're grappling with some of the concept that. Concepts that you've learned and thinking through. How can I apply these principles to better myself, better my company, better the world?

[Joel]

I think when most folks go back to get a higher education, they are looking for competence. They're not just looking for the credential, they're not just looking for the degree and more of the letters after their name. But I do think some people just want the credential. And yeah, that makes sense. Like, I kind of understand that. So you have to just understand what it is that you're looking for. You. You know, we've talked about how teachers can make more money, let's say if they have a master's degree to their name versus just an undergrad. And hey, if I can get that done in eight weeks, just like going hard, I care more about the credential potentially in that case, I don't know, I'm just like, not everyone is looking for the same thing. And so I think it's kind of cool this exists, that you can save a lot of time and money and still get that degree, but it's certainly not for everyone. And, and I am curious to see if maybe some of these universities look into. Maybe they were not expecting people to finish that that fast and they're like, maybe throw some more guardrails.

[Matt]

This is not what we intended, but congrats on setting a course record.

[Joel]

I guess the Guinness World Record. Congratulations. Well, and if you graduated a while back and you have student loan debt, you're obviously not alone, right? This is a regular feature of modern American life. And refinancing into a private student loan has always come with big potential pitfalls. It's something we don't talk about a lot because for most people, especially during the pandemic and the years of not needing to make a payment, it didn't make any sense.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

It was like just completely. It wasn't worth discussing. But the benefits for some might outweigh the downsides. Right now some lenders are advertising rates as low as 3%. Actually some even a touch below 3% on private student loans. The twos, which is crazy.

[Matt]

It's impressive.

[Joel]

Who thought you were going to see a rate like that, right? It feels like, it feels so 2018. But federal rates are close to 6.5% so it just shows what a disparity there is. That's like somewhat misleading though because most people don't qualify for the best rates.

[Matt]

Many, often there's like one guy that qualifies. Yeah, it's like for the rates as low as 2.65, there's this one guy. There's this one guy.

[Joel]

So you need to know that hey, those headline rates are not always widely available, right. And so you have to have, you have to be a highly qualified borrower in order to get there. So often you need a highly qualified co signer to get the best rock bottom rate. So maybe, and we would not if, if your mom called us and was like, hey, should I co sign? Like we might tell her to think again. But if you can find someone who's highly qualified to co sign with you could help you get the best rates. And you know, a refi could be a brilliant move if you can qualify for some of those rates. Going to need great credit, right? A low DTI ratio. You're also going to need to choose a shorter loan so you're going to be able to pay back that loan more quickly. But it is, I will say for the first time in a long time worth looking into, especially if you like, don't owe a ton more on your student loans and you're looking to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Reducing the interest rate significantly by opting for a private student loan could make sense. Again, there's borrower protections that you lose. Know the trade offs before you commit. But it's just interesting to see this space come alive for the first time in a long time.

[Matt]

Yeah. Well, you mentioned a great credit score and how important that is. Let's continue that thread. Because more states are considering eliminating the use of credit scores in determining insurance premiums. So a few states, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, they are all weighing bills that would eliminate credit based scores from being allowed to determine how much your premium is. Only a couple states or a few, so California, Massachusetts and Hawaii, only those three states currently ban the practice, not taking credit scores into account. And insurance companies, they use credit scores as part of their modeling, right? They use it as part of their methodology for determining risk across most of the country. But that ends up creating disparity. And folks with low scores, they pay far more in premiums. There's a report and it shows that There is a 69% difference between having a good versus bad credit score in what you're going to pay, which is in your premiums.

[Joel]

That's a lot, man. Just a bad credit score. And you talk about, well, Instead of paying $3,200 every six months or annually for my car insurance, I'm paying $5,100 and that's just a lot more money.

[Matt]

Yeah. So this is one of the reasons we talk about maintaining a healthy high credit score and we'll keep our eyes on whether these bills pass. But no matter what your credit score, it still matters. Even if insurance companies in your state might no longer be allowed to consider that when they're assessing risk. Which then begs the question, right? Like, how are they going to assess risk? Because even though that's it may not be a perfect system, it's still a known way for you to pay attention to some of the factors that, that they're going to take into account when they're trying to, trying to determine whether or not they can stay afloat.

[Joel]

Essentially, when you look at the quotes from people in the insurance space, they're like, this isn't good for us. Like, we need this data.

[Matt]

Would you like us to continue to operate in your state? If so, I mean, that's one of the potential knock on downstream effects of not being able to take credit score into account. I mean, and again, they are, they're going to look at other things. I'm guessing they're probably going to be more likely to look at some of the instances on your clue report.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Like how often do you file a claim when it comes to property homeowners insurance? They're probably going to be sending more drones out, right? And it's like, oh, I hate the drones. I hate that they're telling me what to do. And it's just like, well, they got to find a way to make sure that everyone is paying their fair share, essentially. So yeah, we'll see.

[Joel]

And yeah, the most highly qualified folks in those states are likely to see their premiums go up meaningfully. And so yeah, it really is a pick your poison sort of mentality here. How do you want your insurance premium formula to come about? And I do think the credit score is helpful and it makes sense. And of course, yet you might be like, Joel, you're so naive. Like, of course the, the insurance company wants to be able to use credit scores, but I understand why they do. Like, it is a piece of data that does tell us something about you as a person. We'll see what happens there. Speaking of credit scores, Fannie and Freddie are now using predictive credit scores to determine mortgage loan eligibility. These scores take into account a wider range of activity than kind of the normal old school scores, including stuff like on time rent payments and whether you pay your utility bill. As agreed. I like this. I like having more information shoved into the credit score and still using the credit score. Right. As a helpful barometer, but just having more inputs that have to deal with maybe less archaic stuff like did you pay your rent on time? Like, that is a pretty good indicator

[Matt]

that includes surveys of like your best friend be like, hey, did he pay you back on time? Right. Did he cover drinks last night? Oh man, he's such a generous person. Like he gets a. What if they can start crossing over from like just financial to like social score? Like the black mirror episode? A little bit, yeah.

[Joel]

I mean, I'm even thinking like if they had data about whether or not you used a gambling app, they're not that this is not included, but think about how helpful that would be if you're trying to determine privacy issues but then you're getting into privacy issues.

[Matt]

Yes.

[Joel]

So I mean, we know this, we talk about this regularly. The credit scoring model is not always intuitive and a lot of folks assume that just doing the basics well, like paying the rent on time every month will improved their score. But for the longest time it hasn't. That stuff isn't included. It doesn't impact how their, how, you know, how their credit score goes up or what it looks like. And I think we should be adjusting the scoring models not, not on purpose to make unqualified buyers look better, but we should be incorporating more information that indicates whether individuals tend to pay bills and debts on time. And so yeah, I think the use of these predictive credit scores is actually going to be a good thing. Buy Now, Pay later is going to be more incorporated too. That's not going to help everyone, but it will provide a clearer picture when we're talking about risk assessment. Yeah.

[Matt]

Especially as more folks are using Buy Now, Pay later, even though it's not our, our favorite. It's like, okay, you're going to start considering the data from that. I see now how that might actually end up being able to not only serve individuals, but then some of these companies as well. Who are trying to assess risk. The fact that they're calling this predictive models made me think of the precogs from Minority Report. Did you ever watch that? Yeah, we talked about that before. So that's, you know, and I mentioned that the Black Mirror episode. Right. Like, that's where it actually does start feeling a little dystopian a little bit, where it's just like, oh, we're gonna use this data and project into the future whether or not you're gonna do what you've intended. And where do you draw the line? So, like, I don't know if folks haven't seen the movie. What, like, they end up getting rid of that program because of the ethical moral dilemma of, like, well, they didn't actually do it yet. So even though they were precogging, you know, telling the future that actually, no, you were gonna commit.

[Joel]

And there's.

[Matt]

Commit murder.

[Joel]

There's. Yeah, there's one thing about precogging someone like you were gonna commit that crime. It's like, yeah, but I haven't committed it yet. But it's another thing to say, well, let me look in at some of

[Matt]

your past you've actually done.

[Joel]

So I can determine whether or not I should loan you lots of money for this house you're looking to buy

[Matt]

or the car you're looking to buy. It's called due diligence.

[Joel]

It's due diligence. Like, you just. You have to have a system like that, or ultimately, what's gonna. People aren't going to be able to access some of the modes of debt that they've gotten accustomed to using. And I don't know, in some ways, that would be somebody better for a lot of people who have too much rope to hang themselves. Right.

[Matt]

But that's a matter. Yeah, that's when you're like, well, this is why we can't have nice things. And I'll also say there's a big difference between committing murder and paying your utility bill. One of these is much more frowned upon in our society than the other. You don't get a. You don't go to jail for not paying your rent.

[Joel]

No. No, you don't. Okay, let's talk about scams. The FTC had a few helpful press releases recently. That one about credit cards. One was to warn people against, like, completely ridiculous offers to lower your credit card interest rate. Basically, if you get a call from a helpful person who wants to lower the interest rate on your credit card, just hang up on them. It's a scammer. You might think it might sound like it's someone from your credit card company, but it's not. Basically, they're after personal information or they're trying to get you to pay them money with promises to help reduce your debt or your interest rate. It's. It's totally fake. The. The flip side of this, Matt, is that you actually might be able to get your interest rate lowered on your credit card. I'll tell folks if you call your credit card company.

[Matt]

Yep.

[Joel]

So you're just speaking to the wrong person. When the scammer calls you, call your credit card company.

[Matt]

Don't wait for them to come to you, because that's the wrong person.

[Joel]

Yes.

[Matt]

You need to be the proactive party here.

[Joel]

And I love the idea. We've talked about just credit card interest rates going up like clockwork, which has definitely been the case over the past five or six years. But you really might be able to legitimately get an APR reduction just by asking. Just by calling up. We want you to pay off your debt quickly, but asking for a real lower rate directly from your credit card company, that could help you make more progress faster.

[Matt]

Yeah. The problem is that I think the type of behaviors that would cause someone to do that. Right. Being proactive, like coming up with a plan, finding the number to call the bank or the credit card company and advocate for yourself. Those same behaviors, I feel like, would tend to steer folks away from getting into credit card debt in the first place. So it's unfortunate that the folks who probably need it the most or who would be best served, unfortunately, aren't the folks who are naturally doing that to begin with most likely to fall prey? Unless you've been asleep at the wheel of your personal finances. And we would say, oh, welcome to the party. This is called how to Money. This is how you do it. And we would encourage you to make sure that you don't steer your car into this oncoming cliff.

[Joel]

Yes.

[Matt]

That you've been barreling towards without even realizing it. While we're talking about scams.

[Joel]

Not that we hate credit cards, but just like, if you.

[Matt]

If you have a way that you've been. Put it down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like we need, like a David Goggins sort of, like, wake up

[Joel]

call for these people. Like, what are you doing?

[Matt]

You're just sitting there in your comfy soft chair and these banks are out working you, man. They're out there. They're taking your money.

[Joel]

Gosh, they are.

[Matt]

And they are. I mean, that's what. That's what's what's going on and you need to stop being a slave to plastic. I was going to say we're talking about scams, but the ftc, they also had a warning about expiring rewards or the different points that folks are earning. More and more folks are getting texts about their rewards expiring. Soon you're sent a link to quote unquote, save your points. But of course it's a phishing scam. It looks like a real site, but it's not. They're attempting to get your personal information from you. And you know, like we talk about scammers, they are winning the battle against young folks in particular largely because, and I will consider us in this category, Joel. We're on our phones a lot more and we're a bit more prone to mistakes and we are less attentive when we're out on our phones. We're, you know, got our kids pulling out. Oh we get, we got to go over here and you see a text and you're thinking oh no, my whatever it is like my bitcoins at risk. Oh my credit cards been hacked or you know, whatever the thing might be for you.

[Joel]

Maybe split second decisions.

[Matt]

Exactly. Don't click those links. If you are concerned about that. Make sure you are going to the URL yourself. Log into the actual app that you have used in the past that's on your phone. Don't fall prey to these phishing scams.

[Joel]

All right, we got more to get to Matt, including free ice cream. Talk about that right after this.

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[Joel]

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[Matt]

I love that free ice cream story. But first, Joel, you know it has

[Joel]

to do with phone addiction too, so we'll cross the stream.

[Matt]

I love that. That's right. Of course, we've got our ludicrous headline of the week to get to. First this week is from Business Insider, who writes pto, parental leave, pensions, even the most prized benefits are on the chopping block. And context here is that the job market has been a bit more resilient than many had predicted over the past year. But even still, if you look closely, there are signs of things not being as good as they once were. I feel like we're past the. What felt like, I don't know, the golden age. I don't want to say golden age, but a clear indicator is when companies start reducing the benefits that they offer workers. Right. So they're not. No one's getting fired. Folks aren't getting laid off.

[Joel]

I mean, they are in tech companies.

[Matt]

Yeah, well, they are Facebook.

[Joel]

And, and what's, what's the other app that. With the, with the ghost with the yellow and the ghost.

[Matt]

Tick tock.

[Joel]

No, Snapchat. Snapchat.

[Matt]

Snapchat.

[Joel]

They're laying people.

[Matt]

Well, people aren't. People aren't snapping.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Chatting. I don't know. I never did Snapchat.

[Joel]

I never, never used that.

[Matt]

That was not one that I was into, yes, there are some of those prominent examples. But for everyone else you're thinking, oh, I feel like we're maybe we kind of made it through that storm. They're looking around at all their co workers and everyone's here, everyone's intact. But what's happening is that your company is reducing the 401k match or they're scaling back on the parental leave dates or number of dates or weeks that you're allowed to take. So this is just a reminder to factor those into your total compensation. If your employer is out there reducing perks, this might be a sign of a, you know, bigger issues potentially on the horizon. So it's just worth, I think maybe even prepping your resume, maybe starting to gently tap your network a little bit, maybe starting your search. This is an instance where if you start to see some of those signs, right, oh, payroll came in late this month for the first. Never had that happen before. This is like one of those instances of just being a little alert to what's going on there at your company.

[Joel]

Yeah, yeah. I've worked at companies where this has happened and it's demoralizing to the workforce even just to be like, hey, we're taking away the 401 match right now. And people like, oh my God, really? And so, yeah. And it also might be a sign of things to come. So it's worth at least preparing, making sure, you know, if things get worse and it's not just the chopping of benefits and it's the chopping of your position that you are in a good position to like move forward. Let's get to that free ice cream story. Matt, favorite story all week and you were just talking about kind of phone addiction. Well, like Jonathan Haidt, Cal Newport other tech minimalist evangelist. They've gotten through, I think to a lot of people, especially when it comes to how we treat phones with our kids, with young people and school aged, we're just making big changes. There are states who are at the state level, not just even at the school district level, attempting to ban phones in schools, which I think is probably good for everyone. Right. The young people are happier too when nobody has phones out at school. And some chick fil a locations are trying to promote more phone free family time by offering free ice cream. I believe they actually call it the ice dream. Matt, if you're a chick fil a

[Matt]

aficionado or if you are an ice cream aficionado because it technically does not have the proper amount of fat to be considered ice cream I'm more custard

[Joel]

fan than ice cream anything.

[Matt]

Is that like extra fat? Is that like whole note for ice cream lovers? It's so good.

[Joel]

It's so good. You usually get it from the chains that are based out of Wisconsin because that's where custard is originally from.

[Matt]

Culver's.

[Joel]

Culver's is one. There's one called Freddy's that has good custard too. So, yeah, it's just. It's just more delicious than ice cream. But I still like ice cream.

[Matt]

I feel like when I hear custard, it just makes me think it's got more egg in it for some reason. I think it does. Is that accurate?

[Joel]

That sounds right.

[Matt]

Okay.

[Joel]

I don't know about delicious.

[Matt]

I personally like ice cream because it's so icy and refreshing.

[Joel]

It is good.

[Matt]

Especially down here in the South.

[Joel]

It kind of tastes like homemade vanilla ice cream if you've had it like hand churned or whatever at home.

[Matt]

I think that's why I like it.

[Joel]

Also delicious.

[Matt]

I think that's the appeal.

[Joel]

So you can go get some. At least at some Chick fil a locations if you stick your phone in a box the whole time while you're having your meal. And I like this, man, because I think we get all. We can all use some incentives to do the right thing. Right. Maybe this is like the kick in the butt. We need to have better boundaries when we're having meals. And then you take it home and you have a box there and you don't get free ice cream for it. Maybe. But at least it just incentivizes you. Yeah, I think that's.

[Matt]

I love. Overall, I didn't realize this was as widespread of a practice. I thought this was more of like a local thing here in Georgia. But I mean, a lot of. It's not called a lot of locations. You can't call it a chain because it's not. It's different than the. The franchise McDonald's model. Right?

[Joel]

Sure.

[Matt]

But a lot of the locations, there are a lot of folks who are participating in this. And I think from a culture setting standpoint, and that's one of the things with Chick fil A is they're trying to promote, you know, whether or not you agree with this or not, like according to their definition, wholesome family values. And this is a way to do it. And I am 100% on board with this promoting conversation. Right. As opposed to folks just on their phone scrolling, not talking to each other. Like, that's not the. That's a Sad world, you know? And that's not the kind of world I want to live in.

[Joel]

Well, I think culturally, the kind of family meal has been degraded, and it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to. And I do think that is one of the places families used to come together predominantly to talk about their days, to talk about their. To talk about all sorts of things. And it is. It's a shame that we do that less and less as a culture and something we care about a whole lot in our family. I know you guys do, too. So chick fil a trying to bring that back, man. Give free ice cream as a reward.

[Matt]

I'm all about it, man. While we're talking about food, not surprising. It seems like AI might be helping when it comes to food waste. Of course, food waste remains a problem for us, not only on an individual level, but just when it comes to the. I don't know, what do you call it, the grocery industry or whatever, but there's a new AI tool that's targeting the supply chains and the sort of macro problem by helping grocery stores to dial in their ordering. So there's a tool now called Afresh, and it's helping to solve the complicated and expensive problem through data and learning. It's taking, like, we were talking about credit scores and how, like, more data is better, but it's just, how do you sort through all that data? How do you weigh that data?

[Joel]

How.

[Matt]

How do you take that data and use that to create informed, driven actions? Right. And so it's taken pieces of information. Like even the weather is taken, like when people are receiving food stamps and demonstrating how that is going to impact shopper behavior. And some stores who have implemented this have seen a 20 to 25% reduction in food waste, which is tremendous, man. And on an individual level, the. You think about how much. I think the American. Each American household ends up losing something like $3,000 a year in food. Just straight to the garbage, just straight to food that was wasted. And so, on a personal level, I think the best ways that we can save are to plan our purchases, get better about meal planning, and of course, to eat your leftovers, which is something you're gonna hear me talk about all the time. And actually, maybe I'll share a way that I've failed recently.

[Joel]

You are.

[Matt]

That's rare.

[Joel]

You're the leftover man.

[Matt]

I am. I am. And just generally avoiding some of those impulse purchases, which I will say I am not good at whenever I go into the grocery store, because I haven't Flexed that muscle. As much like Kate is our primary food purchaser in our home. And whenever I go, man, you buy random stuff. I'm such a sucker. Yes, I really am. I'm real flabby when it comes to avoiding the things that we don't normally buy.

[Joel]

I think that is actually one of the selling points for buying your groceries online, if you can, you know. But, like, doing hard door like that, curb pickup or whatever. Curbside pickup is probably way, way, way better because you're not paying nearly as many fees and they bring it out to you.

[Matt]

But it's like the happy medium.

[Joel]

That's right, Exactly. But that. And it's because we're often our own worst enemy when we go into the grocery store.

[Matt]

It's a decent argument for it.

[Joel]

No.

[Matt]

Okay, so I'll share one of the ways I failed. Kate and I, we have been trying to incorporate more fruits into our diet because we're like, man, we don't.

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[Matt]

We eat great or proper amounts of protein and veggies and, you know, everything else. I was like, we don't eat a ton of fruit. So we've been amping that up. And it's just, man, I'm like, all right, we got all these blueberries and strawberries and pears and whatnot, and you start. You leave them in there for a little bit, and before, you know, they start getting soft. And I'm like, I'm stuck eating all this fruit that I'm just like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to toss it. But there have been a few casualties.

[Joel]

The moldy blueberries, I'm eating them anyway.

[Matt]

I got to do it. No, blueberries never go bad in our household.

[Joel]

Oh, really?

[Matt]

Oh, really? They're my absolute favorite. But it's just. It takes work. And that's why. And because you have to. You have to prep fruit, you gotta wash it. In some cases, if we're putting it in kids lunches, like, you gotta. You gotta chop it up a little bit. And it's so much easier to grab even a thing of nuts, right? You take the cap off, you just dump it in your hand, and you're eating. So there's additional work that's involved, and that's what it takes when it comes to. If you're. If it's an emphasis on nutrition and variety of diet, it takes a little more work. Or if you're being driven from a financial standpoint, if you are looking to cut back on how much money you're wasting because you're not actually eating the food. It takes a little bit more work, but it's worth it.

[Joel]

And produce just goes bad more quickly. Right?

[Matt]

Like, yeah, raspberries, not as shelf stable.

[Joel]

I swear, like three or four days in, we got to eat them quick. And so you just have to also, some. One of the solutions for food food waste might be buying less and making more grocery runs, which sounds frustrating from a time standpoint, but might be better from a food waste standpoint. Depends. But the Wall Street Journal, Matt, detailed how Americans are kind of going the young adult route, taking the college, college, frat boy, I guess, approach to how they imbibe alcoholic beverages. Right now, they're pre gaming. You know, pre gaming was totally a thing. You'd go to a concert or a show.

[Matt]

It's better than binging.

[Joel]

Yeah, better than binging. But you drink a couple beers beforehand.

[Matt]

That's the direction I thought you were going.

[Joel]

Oh, no, not binging, but like you pregame because you want to drink a couple beers beforehand so you don't have to buy the expensive beers at the venue. Just.

[Matt]

I get behind that.

[Joel]

That's just smarts right there. Right? That's just smarts. But. But people in our age now are doing the same thing because they're just realizing how expensive it is to go out and order a beverage.

[Matt]

That's because it's the same frat boys from 20 years ago, I guess.

[Joel]

Well, it's because of inflation. And you're just. I think you're just. If you're not shocked at the price of a booze, booze or a beer. When you go out to see a show or concert or a sporting event now, then you're not paying attention. You're forking over way too much money. You and I would find ourselves drinking less in general, which is saving us money. But enjoying a beer or a cocktail before the event you're attending, it will lead to massive savings. I was just talking to a buddy. He went to see a concert at an outdoor amphitheater locally. I don't remember if he said the beers are $22 or $25. Oh, my gosh. But they were crazy expensive and the cocktails just as much, if not more.

[Matt]

That sounds about right.

[Joel]

And he bought it anyway. I'm the kind of guy who's like, when I go to shows, I talked about on the show about how I'm going to more concerts, and guess what? I'm just not drinking. Like, I'll maybe have a beer before, and if I'm at A restaurant that's close by, or I'm just like abstaining because it's so expensive and I'm just not willing to spend that much on a beer.

[Matt]

Yeah. So the issue here is frequency. And what you're doing is you have recently been increasing the number of shows you've been going to.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

But if you. And so I don't know how many shows you're going to go to this year, but let's just say you're going to one show a month. Like those, you know, all those expensive beers, they start adding up and you're

[Joel]

just like, oh, geez.

[Matt]

You know, it's not just $500 on concert beer. It's not just the ticket price. It's also everything else that goes into making it a special evening as opposed to someone like me where, like, I'm going to like one, maybe two shows a year. And when I go, guess what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna get even. If it's a $25 beer, Jewel, I'm probably gonna get the $25 beer because it's just a part of what makes it special. In that rare instance that I'm gonna do that, it kind of makes me think about movie theories. Did you see that? We've, we've crossed the threshold now for the $50 movie theater ticket or whatever. And I view it in a similar way. I think more folks are willing to pay these high dollar ticket prices because, and this is in the data, people are not going to the movies as often. Like 10, 20 years ago. We haven't had the bounce back. Yeah, no, yeah, yeah. I mean, it was, it was a

[Joel]

big deal because they need to make better movies.

[Matt]

They didn't make better movies. But. But it's nice to be able to watch a movie at home. Everyone's got big screens. A lot of folks even got the sound system. And you're like, wait a minute, I can make my own coke and rum with my own popcorn, and it's just delicious. And because of that, folks are looking for a more premium experience. And personally, I can actually get behind that because in a similar way, I'm not going to go to see a movie all the time. I might go to one or two movies over the course of the year. And when I do, I do want it to be a better experience than what I'm gonna experience at home. Like, I'm really comfortable at home, so it better be. There needs to be something special about it, which means needs to be a

[Joel]

fancy layback seat oh, it's.

[Matt]

Or this, like the Odyssey, right? Fully shot. Nimax, Christopher Noel. Like, it's, it's, it's that sort of experience.

[Joel]

When does that come out, by the way? This Christmas?

[Matt]

This summer? I think it's over the summer.

[Joel]

Okay.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm actually pretty.

[Joel]

That one I might go see in the theater.

[Matt]

Dude, you wanna go see it?

[Joel]

Let's go.

[Matt]

I'm pumped about that. But that's the sort of thing that I'm willing to shell out for as opposed to the, you know, run of the mill sort of show or I'm sorry, movie. It's like I'm gonna wait until that, that shows up at home on streaming.

[Joel]

So it's just shocking because I think the average price of a ticket is still. I mean, it's still expensive, like $16 maybe for the average admission to a movie. But to think any one ticket to a movie could cost you $50. Well, that was kind of crazy. Yeah, that's like the IMAX for the new release.

[Matt]

It was for best run. Yeah. Opening night. It's, it's that whole. It's, you know, they're going for folks who are looking for that cachet, which

[Joel]

is what made something like MoviePass so appealing to people who love to go to movies. Because you could go see unlimited movies or at least a few a month for a really reduced price. I think MoviePass came back. I don't know if they're still around now though. I'd be curious to know if any how the Money listeners use MoviePass or have a way to save money when they're going to movies. Holler at us. We don't really go to many, but we'll happy to relay that on the show. Just when. Yeah, it's hard to go out for a night. And I get why people would say, ah, man, I'm going to buy five tickets. If we get any concessions now too. We're $100 range for a family to go to the movies. Let's stay at home, get some nice

[Matt]

snacks and just, I'm telling you, hang here. Exactly.

[Joel]

All right, last but not least, let's talk about flights for just a second. Talked about that with Kyle on Wednesday. So much good info there. But it's been like this common wisdom in the travel industry that Tuesday is the cheapest day to buy flights. If you're looking to purchase that plane ticket for your next trip, do it on Tuesdays. And there's a lot more that goes into it than just that. But Expedia found that that's actually not as true as it used to be. They found that Fridays tend to have the best deals nowadays. Sundays are actually the most expensive days to book. But even still, the discrepancy is not enormous between those days. I think it's like a 3% difference on average.

[Matt]

Minimal.

[Joel]

But here's the big thing that I took away from this report, Matt. Airfare is changing all the time. The average fare changes something 135 times a year. So if you checked two days ago, the fare is probably different than the last time you looked. And this is why fare alerts and rebooking like Kyle talked about on that episode, to get airfare credits if you overpaid initially, is a smart way to proceed. And the other thing is not just booking on Tuesday, which is no longer the best advice, but flying on Tuesdays will still, on average, save you money. So if you're trying to leave on a different day of the week, you might spend a little more leaving on Tuesday. If you go Tuesday to Tuesday, it's actually probably the best way to save

[Matt]

money, get you that not only 3%, maybe 6% savings.

[Joel]

So take that vacation instead of like Monday through Friday, be like, I'm gonna go Tuesday to Tuesday, dude.

[Matt]

Nice. All right, well, that's gonna be it for our Friday flight. We hope everyone has a wonderful, beautiful weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday with a fresh Ask how to Money episode. And you can find any, well, all the stories that we mentioned during this episode up on our show notes up on the website, [e-mail] that's going to be it, buddy. So until next time, best friends out and best friends out. Is it just me or is it getting really hard to figure out the best way to save for retirement? Well, Fidelity can help you to find clarity so you can save the best way for you. With a free personalized plan, goal tracking and timely insights, you'll be set to take on retirement your way.

[Joel]

Get [e-mail] future expenses charged by your investments and other costs and fees associated with trading or transacting in your account. Apply Fidelity Brokerage Services member NYSE sipc.

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[Matt]

Struggling to see up close? Make it visible with viz. VIZ is a once daily prescription eye drop to treat blurry near vision for up to 10 hours. The most common side effects that may be experienced while using VIZ include eye irritation, temporary dim or dark vision, headaches and eye redness. Talk to an eye doctor to learn if VIZ is right for you. Learn [e-mail] this is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.