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Friday Flight - Richer Refunds, Best Costco Buys, & $3 Dinners (don’t have to be this sad!) #1095
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This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human Friday, February 6th kick off the Winter Olympics in style with the opening ceremony from Italy featuring a special performance by Mariah Carey. Celebrate the greatest athletes from around the globe as they come together to go for gold. The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
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Ilia Malinin redefining this sport.
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Friday, February 6th NBC and Peacock your.
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C
Of your Business welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.
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A
I am Matt.
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C
Today we're talking richer refunds, $3 dinners, and best Costco.
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A
Oh, that's right. We are going to talk about your absolute favorite store. Do you. Is there any other store that you go in and you get excited? Because I think that's how you are when you go into Cosmos. That's how I am when I go into Home Depot.
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C
I just don't really go into other stores very much so. Yeah, like where else, where else do I physically shop?
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A
When you go into Target, you don't get pumped like you do when you go into Costco.
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C
I guess there's like, like when I go into. There's this one like it's an hour and a half away. So I rarely go in, but it's like a folk art place in a little downtown. Small Georgia. Small Georgia town. And when I go in there I get really excited.
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A
Okay, but is because you know you're going to walk out with a cool.
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C
Affordable or just look.
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A
Groovy piece of art.
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C
Just looking, man. It like makes me happy. So just walking around there is awesome and I just can't. I feel like I do so much of my shopping online that I'm not going into a ton of physical retailers. Costco is one that I make an exception for.
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A
Yeah. Groceries in particular. Okay, this is our Friday flight though. We're going to talk about the headlines from this past week and how they are going to impact your wallet. And specifically, Joel, I wanted to talk about US Mobile because. And I don't.
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C
Not sponsored, by the way. Just.
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A
We are not sponsored. Although we do. We've got an affiliate relationship with them. That's true. But we don't make any money from them. We may like. I actually checked all of last year. Guess how much money we made from our US mobile affiliate relationship?
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C
120 bucks.
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A
275.
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C
Okay. Nicely done.
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A
So it's not like we make any money from them. Hardly at all. But you are still with US Mobile, correct?
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B
Yes.
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C
Okay.
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A
Did you see the email that they sent out prior to Winter Storm Fern last week? The five gigabyte top off?
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C
Oh, no, I don't. I don't think I saw that.
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A
You didn't see that?
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C
No. Dude, everybody got more, more data. Yes.
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A
For free ahead of the storm. Because essentially what they were doing, they were looking down, looking at the forecast and they're like, man, people are going to be in a pinch. People are going to lose power, they're going to lose their home Internet. And so why not preemptively make sure that folks are topped off that they've got enough data to weather this storm. I absolutely love the kind of customer service and the thought process that went, that went into making sure that their customers were taken care of ahead of that storm. I think it's so cool, man. And you know what, there's a lot of times that we call businesses out for behaving poorly and this is a. But when they do something great and obviously we like US Mobile regardless, they're low rates, it's so affordable. But when they go above and beyond like this, it just makes me so happy that we are with a company like US Mobile when it comes to our cell provider, man.
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C
Same. Yeah, I agree. And just something else worth mentioning is that they do have a ridiculous sale going on right now to Matt. I don't know if you saw that. Yeah, no, I didn't. So like the, the middle tier plan that they offer, the unlimited starter or maybe it's their most Basic plan. Even still, it's an incredible, incredible plan with unlimited talk and text and high speed data. $10 a month for the whole year.
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A
For your first year.
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C
Oh, I see it.
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A
Okay.
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C
For your first year. So if you are not yet a customer, we will. If you want to support how to money, we'll put our affiliate link in the show notes.
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A
We might double our earnings from last year. Joel from 270.
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C
And we'll put up. There's a promo code that you have to insert when you click through, but think about that. $120 for a year of cell phone coverage with unlimited everything.
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A
That's A lot of people pay that per month.
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C
What I was just thinking, if you're a Verizon customer, you're like, that's my monthly bill, man.
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A
Such a disparity between the big name brands that market and have massive advertising campaigns and the MVNOs that don't do any marketing. Yeah, but they're able to provide something on the cheap.
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C
I love that.
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A
So I wanted to mention that because I didn't even know the sale was going on. I was just happy that they did that last week. And I thought, man, here's a company that knows what's up. So I love that. Something that a lot of folks don't love, Joel, is tipping. And specifically, let's talk about New York City because they've got this new tipping prompt that went into effect this week requiring a minimum suggested tip amount of 10% on all DoorDash orders and rideshare Uber rides as well. And so as a consumer, you will be able to reduce the tip amount if you'd like to. But many I think are going to accept the prompt and they're going to just do the standard 10% because it's suggested. And so I do think, like the silver lining here. On the plus side, I think this might cause sticker shock for a lot of folks, leading to many folks to rethink the sort of knee jerk habit of ordering food via apps and whatnot.
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C
Because they're like, oh, maybe it's worth it at $19 for my favorite dish from the local eatery. But wait, with this tip now it's like $25. I didn't realize it was going to be that much.
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A
Yeah, I think you and I might disagree.
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C
Although I think my math didn't work.
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A
Just there, but that felt more like a 25% difference.
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C
Go with it.
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A
Either way, you kind of cross into that $20 plus threshold. It starts feeling a bit more expensive. I was going to Say, I think you and I might have differing opinions on this, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. First of all, 10%, not a massively ridiculous, absurd amount of money.
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C
Right.
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A
But then on top of that, again, the fact that you can change it tells me that, all right, you just go in there, just like there's always like the prompts and you can select other type in your own amount. I think we just. It would be different. I would feel differently about it if this was some sort of nationwide implementation. Right. If this was done at the federal level, would not like that. But the fact that New York City is experimenting with this. All right, I love it. The ability for an individual, not even a state, but an individual city, to experiment in this way, I am all for that. But also we have to be able to advocate for ourselves. Right? Like all throughout life, there are going to be times when we're prompt or something is going to be asked of us and we just have to be our own best advocate, not our own best enemy or our worst enemy. And like, I was just at Goodwill recently and they're like, would you like to round up? I don't know what they do to.
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C
Give to charity, Something like that.
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A
Yeah, it's the support or maybe it's like the job training thing, programs that they do. But I was like, oh, yeah, sure, you know, it's like 50 cents or something like that. But I don't know if I was in a situation where the budget was a little bit tighter and I'm like, I don't know if I want to round up. Like, it's up to me to say, no, thank you. Yeah, I'm going to find some other time, another opportunity to give.
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C
So it's like buyer beware a little bit. But it also makes me. It makes me think that just, just think Back to like 10 years ago, these services didn't exist. We used to just like get off our bums and go pick up the food we wanted.
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A
We're spoiled, man.
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C
Yeah. And I guess, like, we just become. We've become more and more desensitized to the price we're paying. And I think this is only going to further cause that. Although I hope it creates the opposite reaction where people start to question how much they're spending on food because the price to value ratio just isn't lining up in an even bigger way. I'm not even saying that those drivers don't deserve to get tipped. They certainly do. They deserve probably a minimum of a 10% tip. It's just that consumers should probably be avoiding these services more because it's so, it's just so unaffordable with the fees and the tip and all. And not to mention just the fact that eating out costs more than eating in, which we will talk about later on in the episode as well. I think most Americans are glad to tip for good service. It just feels like we're being asked for more tips in more places these days at higher amounts. And I think we're just all experiencing a level of tipping fatigue. There was, there was a New York Times analysis, Matt. It showed that the number of retailers accepting tips has doubled since 2019. So it's like everybody and their mom is holding out their hand for a tip and you're just like, I don't even know when I'm supposed to tip anymore and how much is appropriate. It just feels like the lines have gotten, gotten blurred significantly. And the no tax on tips thing, which has gone into effect now, it's going to incentivize, I think, more tip requests because hey, like, if I don't have to pay tax on this form of income, then that's the way I'd prefer to get my money. And so I think it's just really important for had money listeners for everyone out there to know ahead of time what you feel comfortable tipping in every situation. Maybe like think through it and have like an order of operations. Like, well, when I'm asked to the cash register, do I give? In this situation, yes. And in this situation no. Or all right, when I'm ordering at a sit down restaurant, here's how much I feel comfortable tipping based on service. What if I'm ordering at the counter and it gets, the screen gets flipped around, it says do you Want to tip 20, 25 or 30? Am I comfortable tipping 20% or do I feel like it's actually deserving of a little bit less or even just like getting a cocktail or coffee? How much? Or a beer.
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A
Right.
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C
How much do you feel comfortable tipping on that stuff? It's just, it's best for, I think us to factor that out on the front end before feeling guilted into it at the point of sale.
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A
Sure, yeah. So that being said, what do you tip for a beer if you're going out and you're getting a beer?
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C
Yeah.
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A
What do you, what do you, what do you do?
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C
Usually it's a dollar per beer. Like especially if we order at the counter. Ordering at the counter at our local place, a dollar per beer.
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A
Someone's Actually, you hit other. And we'll go mark $1.
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C
Yeah, most of the time.
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A
Because a lot of time I'm thinking of our local spot. It's like, I think it's percentage, so it's like 10, 15, 20, or whatever.
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C
So which 10 feels low for a beer? But, like. So if it's that, I'll get somewhere in the neighborhood. Right in the ballpark.
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A
Yeah. The.
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C
Man, the. The weird place that I feel like tipping has gone a little haywire. I get my haircut at Great Clips. I don't do it at home like you do. And Great Clips is affordable. I usually have a Coupon, so it's $10 when I get my hair cut. And then they flip the tip screen around and it's 5, 7, or $9 for the tip. And. And I'm always like, that's like. It's interesting that, like, the $9, that's almost as much as the haircut cost.
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A
90% tip.
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C
So I'm. I'm down to do that sometimes, man. Especially if the service is great. I'm like, I'll tip seven or nine dollars. I'm getting out of here for not.
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A
Much money to go above and beyond.
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C
Yeah. So I think don't be cheap with your tipping either.
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A
Like. Oh, yeah. So you're speaking out of both sides.
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C
Of your mouth here a little bit.
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A
Like, you're telling everyone to be cheap, but then you're like, well, I'm not.
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C
Going to be cheap. You be cheap. I. Ahead of time. What? You feel comfortable tipping and don't be guilted into it. But, like, I know that most of the time I'm sitting down, I'm talking with the person who's cutting my hair for 20 or 30 minutes, and it's usually a nice experience. And so I feel more comfortable tipping more there, especially because I'm paying 10 bucks for the haircut anyway.
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A
I guess if you're looking to save, just put your earbuds in, don't talk to anybody. Then I'm guessing you're probably gonna feel less inclined to because you don't have that personal connection. Man, this makes me think of. Do you tip? Y' all do yard service in the summer months, right? As far as, like, having somebody come by to catch your grass, I don't think I've ever tipped. We started, like, a new service. Like some high school guys that come by and they didn't ask. Well, I don't know what's the common practice as far as tipping for longsters.
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C
Do you tip? I know I haven't. Am I supposed to. Is that another area that I'm supposed to be tipping?
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A
It's a service. Typically it's services. Right. And I think the more personal a service is, so for in your case, you feel more quote, unquote pressure, but also you're happy to tip more because someone's, you know, they're touching your face.
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C
Yeah.
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A
Your head, your ears. Feels same thing with like a massage. Like if you go to get a massage or get your nails done. I think those are more personal sort of intimate interactions which I think call for a larger tip amount or at least tipping at all. But yeah, I don't know about a home service because I wouldn't tip my plumber.
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C
No.
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A
But if the. These guys are this high school, you know, if they're coming by, especially when it's hot once a week, once every two weeks, that's. I don't know, that's more of like a service. So maybe I'll proactively just shoot him over some money and just be like, hey, looking forward to starting service back up in the spring once the grass actually starts growing.
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C
Yeah. For real. Right? I mean, let's, let's talk about tax taxes. Everybody's favorite topic. And if you're listening out there, you can file your taxes now as of this week. Hooray. Like, especially for those go getters. Like, is anyone actually doing it? Like this week you are. You've done, you filed your tax.
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A
I just raised my hand.
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C
There's no way I sent. Well, yeah, I'm still waiting for forums to come in.
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A
Man, I've gotten. Well, I was waiting for the. I got the ball rolling. I got. Last week I shot them an email. Well in corporate taxes that those are due sooner. So I always like to get that information over to them a bit sooner. Yeah, but. And I got them the basic personal, personal stuff. But I was still waiting for some like the Vanguard consolidated the big all in one PDF that they need as well.
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C
Okay.
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A
I'm weird like that.
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C
Yeah. If for those who especially have just a few items coming in, whether it's like your 1099 Int from your bank and your W2, I mean, you might be ready. Right? And especially if you do a tax refund, you might want to get on it sooner rather than later. And the truth is the average American is due a tax refund. And tax refunds are likely to be bigger for a bunch of Americans this year, even if your personal circumstances have changed very little. And the average refund last year was in the neighborhood of like $3,000 for the Americans who got one. And then that number is going to increase largely because of the so called big beautiful bill. We're talking about new rules on taxation, right? Taxation of tips, overtime pay, car loan interest, if you bought a new car loan, if you bought a new car with a loan, right. This past year, a larger standard deduction, expanded salt, state and local tax deduction. A lot of older Americans in particular, Matt, if you're 65 or over, are going to see an even bigger refund or tax reduction because of those targeted deductions that they're allowed. And so, you know, a massive tax refund, like people will say it's an interest free loan to the government. There is obviously some truth to that. You could have been getting that money back in every single paycheck. I think it behaviorally, in some ways it might be helpful for some people though to get a bigger tax refund. And it really does give. It's a jumpstart for a lot of folks because most people don't get three or four grand in one lump sum except for April of every year when they get their tax refund. That's true. And so yeah, maybe you want to change your withholding for the future to reduce a large tax refund, have more money in every paycheck, but at least let this bigger tax refund, if you're one of those people, jumpstart something, whether it's paying off debt, getting that Roth IRA funded, stuff like that.
- [16:34]
A
That's right. Yeah. So that's the good. The bad is that we are seeing more ads for tax refund advanced loans. And if you can't wait the, you know, let's say you file like most folks in March or whatever and you're like, oh, I can't, I don't want to wait the three weeks from filing to actually getting that tax refund direct deposited. Well, some tax services out there, like H and R Block, they're going to float you a loan to get it more quickly, but not only do you have to use a more expensive preparation service in order to get that perk, but you might also be paying fees that are harder to spot. Essentially, it's like almost like a tax on your tax refund just to get it more quickly. So some of the services out there are going to, essentially it's like, hey, you can get it now, but you're going to take your refund on a preloaded debit card. Other services out there are going to have you open up a new Checking account. Some of them might come with fees, so keep an eye out for that as well. So yeah, all these ads for quote unquote, free money, like get your money now, they're not quite what they seem to be. And if you are trying to figure out where to file your taxes, use a professional. If there is a lot more complexity, if you aren't just going to take the standard deduction, you can also check out Cash App taxes. If you're down to DIY it. I think it actually might be the only one we know of that's free not only for federal, but also for state returns. And that's where a lot of the prep services will get you. They're like free tax filing Asterix federal only. And then the state ends up costing you the price of everything that they're wanting to collect from you, right?
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C
Yeah. Yeah. And so Cash APP taxes rocks. We're actually going to have a section in the newsletter this coming week specifically about different free tax filing options. But yeah, Cash APP Taxes TLDR is a really good one. Matt, I don't know how we haven't talked about this. The story I've been meaning for us to bring up, but there was a test that was done on price differences between Uber and Lyft, how dramatically they can vary.
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A
I believe it though.
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C
It is like you would think they would actually be more similar because it's kind of a duopoly. It's not like there's a ton of options out there. There was another story I actually saw about Waymo prices declining, which the third entrance into the space would hopefully bring down rideshare prices more for the average consumer.
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A
Is Waymo a separate app or. Because I thought it was like Uber with Waymo, like when I've seen them on the road.
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C
That's a good question. I use rideshare so little. I thought Waymo was a separ serve, a separate app.
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A
Yeah. Either way, I don't evidently ride share enough to even know that. But I am so looking forward to the first time I get one of them. Get in one of the waymos.
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C
But for listeners out there who do use Rideshare regularly, like this shines a light on the fact that depending on which app you pull up in the moment, you could be paying a significant amount more. If you're not checking the other app as well. I believe it. There's like a 14 and a half percent difference on average in price. Roughly $5 per. Per trip. Okay. Right. But if it's. It can be much more in terms of pure dollar amount, if it's a longer trip or if it's time of high demand. And so it's, it takes so little time to open up both apps, plug in your destination and just see what they're charging. And, and so yeah, that's, that's what we recommend. If you're taking rideshare every single time, check both apps to make sure you're at a low, lowest price. Don't be loyal to one or the other.
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A
There's and like why somebody would be loyal to one.
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C
Most drivers aren't loyal.
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A
I know they're hopping between all the time, man.
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C
They're toggling back. So yeah, don't be like the drivers and don't be super loyal either.
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A
Yeah. Okay. Speaking of travel, did you see that American Airlines, they're announcing that they're going to no longer award any miles to their economy flyers. What do you, what do you think about that?
- [20:14]
C
Makes me feel like a second class citizen because I'm, I'm the perpetual economy flyer. Matthew.
- [20:20]
A
Well, when you look at what the alternative might be, does that make you any happier? Like would you rather not earn miles on those flights or would you rather say, oh, you can earn miles, but also your tickets going to cost more?
- [20:31]
C
I would rather not earn miles. I want the lowest possible price.
- [20:34]
A
Yeah, okay. That's how I feel.
- [20:35]
C
But I think some people will be like, what? I'm not going to earn miles on this. I guarantee when you're trying to get that airfare, it's going to say all these things to make it seem like that's a terrible choice for you. Including like no frequent flyer miles headed your way. As a consumer though, you need to know it's probably still worth it to get the lowest price.
- [20:52]
A
I mean, that's what I think. Was it last week that we were talking about Ryanair and EasyJet over in Europe? The fact that we don't have a low cost airline, I want that to be an option for folks.
- [21:01]
C
And I mean we do, we have Spirit and Frontier. Right.
- [21:04]
A
But that's. What, are, are they that much more affordable than Delta? Like, I never fly Delta. I'm not.
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C
No, they totally are.
- [21:11]
A
Really?
- [21:11]
C
Yeah.
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A
Oh my God.
- [21:12]
C
Oh, yeah. Well, I guess there's a big price gap.
- [21:14]
A
I mean, in Europe, it's just so much more affordable. But it's also been a long time since I've been on one of those super afford airlines flying over there. So maybe the prices up there have arrived to Spirit or Frontier prices here in the States. I Don't know. But I would rather see certain amenities get taken away. Like even the fact that, shoot Southwest, they ended the cattle call. I know everyone rushed to your seat. How do you feel about that?
- [21:41]
C
I'm sad.
- [21:41]
B
Yeah.
- [21:42]
A
Because it allowed people to be able to pay the same price. And if you get there early, if you got a little more time on your hands, like you can somehow quote, unquote, afford the amenities just with your time as opposed to paying the money. Right. I just like when there are more options, including, oh, you don't get all the bells and whistles. Oh, you don't get the free check bag. Okay, fine. Maybe I'll just be able to pack everything I need for my weekend trip on my backpack. I just want their. I like it when there's more options. And actually we're talking about Europe. Makes me think about like hostels over in Europe. Like we don't have that cheap travel culture here in the US And I kind of wish we did. Like, I know there are some hostels and some in some cities, but the general push in the States is like, everything's got to be so nice. And just think about if you're a broke college student and you want to go see a friend across the country, like, how nice would it be to be able to do that for like 40 bucks, 50 bucks? Because of the fact that, oh, I'm packing it all in my backpack. Oh, because you've got the worst seat right in front of the bathroom at the back of the plane. Whatever it is that you're willing to sacrifice in order to get where you want to go. Oh, and by the way, I don't want entertainment or drink or anything else that they might include.
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C
I said it would make me feel like a second class citizen, but I didn't say that I wasn't okay with that. I'm okay feeling like a second class citizen, feeling somewhat maltreated in order to save money. And not everyone feels like that. I had Morgan Housel on recently and he's like talking about his splurge is, oh, when I'm the nicest hotel rooms and the nicest, it's always an elite class. I'm like, well done. I'm. I'm just not interested. Like I have other priorities. And so that just doesn't move the needle for me. And I'm totally willing, even as someone who's like essentially 6 foot 6 to have my knees jammed up into the seat in front of me for three hours if it just means I get there and I paid less money to get there.
- [23:26]
A
What if.
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C
And that doesn't mean I'm not will splurge on some things but just yeah here and there flights, I'm like it's temporary pain.
- [23:31]
A
And if like you get a notification right before the flight and they're like upgrade for $20 and you get an exit row. Okay, that sounds like I guess depending on how long the flight is, I'll.
- [23:40]
C
Just imagine that's when AirTran which was pre Southwest like I think wait, Southwest buy AirTrain? AirTrain had these class seats and it was worth like 40 bucks because then you were like, oh, I get the nicer seats, get the leg room and you get like the free drinks. That that's worth the money. Very nice. But yeah, for the extra price they want to charge me to sit in slightly nicer seats. Not interested.
- [24:01]
A
Yeah. All right, we got more to get to. We got the ludicrous headline of the week coming up. We're going to debate whether or not $3 dinners can actually be a thing. We'll get to that more right after this. Joel Single function tools out there, they just don't cut it. In today's fast paced work environment, it's time consuming to context switch between sites, apps and tools just for one project. Well, luckily for our listeners, Grammarly has features that are tailor made for working professionals so you can get all your writing done from start to finish, all in one place. Bring more polish and impact to your emails, your presentations and proposals without switching between tabs and windows, all while amplifying your voice and moving your ideas forward.
- [24:44]
C
Grammarly is designed to help professionals with real time writing support on any project, email and more. And 90% of professionals say Grammarly has saved them time writing and editing their work. Grammarly leads to less hassle and more focused no matter what you're writing.
- [25:00]
A
So sign up for Grammarly free and get your professional writing from draft to done. Visit Grammarly.com that's Grammarly.com Friday, February 6th.
- [25:12]
B
Kick off the Winter Olympics in style with the opening ceremony from Italy featuring a special performance by Mariah Carey. Celebrate the greatest athletes from around the globe as they come together to go for gold. Lipsy Vaughn Sensational. The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
- [25:32]
A
Ilya Malinin redefining the sport.
- [25:35]
B
Friday, February 6th on NBC and Peacock. Most people know American Express for our iconic personal cards. Some know us for our business cards to help entrepreneurs grow. But American Express also offers something built for companies at the scale the American Express Corporate program. With the corporate program, you can Apply for employee cards tailored to their needs. Issue virtual cards to your team and suppliers, and even automate accounts payable with American Express. Oneap. Along the way, your company can earn rewards or cash back as a statement credit to reinvest where it matters most. And because it's all backed by American Express, you get the service, insights and flexibility to help keep your business moving forward. The American Express corporate program designed to help companies grow with confidence. Terms apply, enrollment required and fees may apply, including an auto renewing monthly platform access fee. Suppliers must be enrolled and located in the United States.
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C
All right, we are back from the break. Now time for the ludicrous headline of the week. This one comes from Bloomberg and it reads, can water sommeliers convince us to pay more for premium H2O? They can't convince me, Matt. I'll tell you that. I am an immovable force that they cannot, they can't touch. There's no way I'm going to be buying into this trend. I hate the idea in general of paying for bottled water. And I see more people walking around with like alkaline infused water. I don't even know what that means, but it makes me feel like it's got something to do with the battery.
- [27:16]
A
They're not drinking battery water.
- [27:17]
C
Okay. I was like, that might actually be dangerous for you, sir.
- [27:20]
A
Some people think that it's better for your body. I don't exactly know the science behind okay.
- [27:24]
C
And maybe I'm just an idiot and I should do more research. But then there's mineral water, there's purified water. And apparently water is getting like the wine treatment now. You can get. And I'm of Norwegian descent, so you think I'd be interested in this, but I'm not. You can get Norwegian iceberg water for $150 a bottle.
- [27:42]
A
Glacier water.
- [27:43]
C
Yeah.
- [27:44]
A
That's been blessed by Eskimo. It's like a water boy wouldn't have the little vial of water that was.
- [27:50]
C
Brought to you on dog sled or something like that. I mean, it's getting pretty ridiculous, pretty over the top. I mean, man, a lot of bottled water, by the way, is just tap water. It's literally from the municipal supply. It's just run through a filter, which we have a little picture here at our office. Matt.
- [28:08]
A
Yeah. Remove all the harsh minerals that maybe we don't need. I don't want all the chlorine, just a little bit, just for it to be clean.
- [28:14]
C
Yeah. And if for some reason, I don't know, we're wrong and some Water varieties are gonna blow our taste buds away. I think I'm just okay living in the ignorance is bliss camp.
- [28:23]
A
Oh, I don't know if it's actually gonna blow my taste buds away. I want to know what it's about.
- [28:26]
C
Do you? Yeah, no, I'm okay not knowing.
- [28:29]
A
Oh, if it's truly like earth shaking.
- [28:32]
C
But then what if you feel like, oh, I gotta have that $150 bottle. Well, I gotta have another hit of that.
- [28:36]
A
I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna find a way to do it at home or something like that.
- [28:39]
C
No, you can't get Norwegian iceberg bottle water at home.
- [28:42]
A
Well, I'm not going to go for like the like single, the single sourced glacier water. But as far as like they sell like the things that will charge your water and you can get water with like, is it magnesium tablets or something? But you can like buy these packets where you put a little tab. Oh, it's hydrogen. Where it dissolves the hydrogen into the water and it's supposed to be better for your body. I'm not opposed to seeing what the science points to over time with that, but I'm definitely not interested in hopping on some sort of fad.
- [29:10]
C
My guess is that's reasonably priced, right?
- [29:12]
A
But like, oh yeah, it's like a cent per tab or something like that. So you can, it's literally like a penny, a penny's worth.
- [29:18]
C
If we have like a water sommelier who listens, who's in the audience, please reach out. I would love to know more.
- [29:24]
A
I would like to know more if this is actually a thing. But it.
- [29:27]
C
I think I also question the validity of that job's existence.
- [29:30]
A
I think what you are pointing at is that the fact that this feels more like conspicuous consumption than people are doing it just because they can say, oh, this is Norwegian esque glacier water as opposed to your locally municipally sourced water, that's totally fine. Plus, I mean bottled water generally speaking, like even if it's just like the basic stuff that you're getting and you know the giant squeaky sort of plastic wrapped kind of crate that you get, you're losing when you buy water like that as opposed to just filling up.
- [29:59]
C
Your reusable water bottle and if you get the 40 pack from Costco of Kirkland signature water, it's pretty inexpensive, it's.
- [30:06]
A
More affordable, but it's still not as affordable as what you can get that's right in the tap at home and put it in your water. Bo. I think the biggest.
- [30:12]
C
We bought some before the winter storm. A big pack of bottled water just in case I filled up our water and even then I wanted to punch myself in the face for getting that water because I know how much more expensive it is than just the tap water.
- [30:24]
A
We filled up the bathtub just in case we lost water and I don't know the water treatment plant, but that required us cleaning the tub, making sure it was extra spic and span, filling it up. And that sat there for a few days before we realized, oh, we're in the clear. No, I was going to point to the. I think the biggest loser as far as diying your own water at home is the fact is the water bottles because of the fact that people. It's the merging of water bottles with fashion that's the worst part of it. Right? Because think back to Tell me more. When did. What are you drinking out of? I'm looking at a water bottle right now on your desk. Nalgene Analgene. The og. And you didn't even pay for that. Bell's sent that to us.
- [31:01]
C
You didn't pay for your water bottle either.
- [31:02]
A
I know, it's great. But we progressed from Nalgenes to Takiyas or Takayas, whatever. Mine's like 10 years old to hydro flasks to Stanley's to Oalas. Like you've got all of. And you gotta have the water bottle.
- [31:17]
C
For the times, baby.
- [31:18]
A
Dude, it's. And it's more about consumption from a. Like, it feels more like fashion to me as opposed to actually consuming the water is a tool that gets the job done. And if that's your thing and you're really into that, it's not that much. Right? 20, 30 bucks or whatever for a water bottle. I'm not going to yuck on someone yuck someone else's yum. But that's something I think to be aware of as well.
- [31:39]
C
By the way, I mentioned Costco bottled water and Business Insider had an article about the best buys at Costco.
- [31:46]
A
Nice segue.
- [31:47]
C
Yeah, right. They were essentially kind of trying to highlight some. Some of the items that Costco sells that will quickly make the price of membership worth it. Which actually makes me think about the first and probably only viral article I ever wrote on my now defunct money saving blog. And that was like picked up by Lifehacker. And it was about items that would single handedly pay for your membership at Costco. And a lot of the items are still the same. Yes. I'm like, I don't even think that post exists anymore. That I wrote. But diapers.
- [32:19]
A
Was that one of them?
- [32:19]
C
Oh, yeah. Diapers is up there for sure.
- [32:21]
A
Well, that was back when we had.
- [32:22]
C
Baby stuff in general. Yeah. Baby formula.
- [32:24]
A
Oh, you got all your baby stuff.
- [32:26]
C
The baby formula at Costco was. Because there's like a cartel almost, I think, on baby formula. There's. There's not a lot of. Oh, is there? I think so, man. I think there's. There's very little choice in that regard.
- [32:36]
A
Getting into conspiracy theory stuff. Who's the secret force behind all the baby formula?
- [32:41]
C
Joel? There are cartels that exist in this world, sure. Particularly in oil. But coffee, cheese, bacon, and toilet paper were on the list of best buys at Costco. Bacon.
- [32:52]
A
I'm a huge fan of the bacon. It's certainly better. There's a lot of things that we like, actually like better at Aldi because of whether it's the portion size or the price a lot of times. But the bacon, because it's so evenly sliced, that is honestly the biggest thing for me, because it needs to be exactly uniform. That way, you can throw it on a pan and do the oven bacon, which, by the way, if you've never done oven bacon, far less cleanup. Oh, my God.
- [33:15]
C
Well, it's.
- [33:16]
A
And it's also the best. Like, it's just perfectly. You can pull it out when it's like, the white part of the fat is, like, perfectly golden brown, and you're gonna have the perfect bacon, man.
- [33:24]
C
It's hard to beat pioneer woman. Yeah.
- [33:27]
A
Matt, 350 for 30 minutes is what we do.
- [33:30]
C
Yeah. I think the thing to note, you're the Aldi guy, I'm the Costco guy. But, like, the. Typically, you're paying more per unit or per ounce at Costco, but you're getting. And not always, but you're often getting something, I would say, that is higher quality. That's. That's kind of why you go to Costco instead. You're going for the value, not because you're getting the lowest possible price. That's true. Whereas there are some things you are potentially getting the lowest possible price. And like Kirkland signature toilet paper, for instance, you might be getting a better price than Aldi. I don't know. I'd have to. Like, that's a lot of numbers you'd have to run to figure that out.
- [34:04]
A
Well, it's the specific items that you can get at Costco that you can't get at Aldi. Right. Like, I'm thinking of the Ho My Rice, which is, like their premium rice that they sell it's so good.
- [34:13]
C
It's a 25 pound bag or whatever.
- [34:15]
A
It's like excellent. Like, you cannot get that at Aldi. And for that, like we go there. It's funny. It's actually a lot of Asian stuff. It's like, I'm half Korean, so we go through a lot of kimchi, Asian, Korean style food. The kimchi is so good. It is really, really good. The big, the big packs of seaweed. That's literally. I'll go to Costco just for those three things, specifically because we can't get those items at Aldi. I'll do that. I'll get those three items. And actually, before I go and grab those, I'll swing by the meat section and see if there's like a big old half or big old side of a cow. Like a slab of ribeye that's uncut, that's marked down $90 per package, which I know we mentioned this on the.
- [34:55]
C
Show, but sell half cows at all of you do that.
- [34:58]
A
You can't get prime ribeye like that. And given the prices of beef, man, like, and I told you the price, right? Like, so you go in, if you see it marked down per package, obviously you go for the smallest package because then you. In order to maximize the discount, maximize percentage discount. And when I think I did the math, dude. And with that, for that prime ribbon, like, yeah, you have to cut your own steak. But that's also kind of cool too, when you go home and do that. And I think I got the price down for prime ribeyes down to like $13 a pound when it hasn't been that low for a decade. Like, truly, I don't think it's been that affordable for 10 years. Like, even five years ago, it was 15 a pound. But to get it sub 15 a pound, like down closer to 13 a pound, you got to put in a little bit of legwork and be willing to take home a big old hunk of meat.
- [35:41]
C
That's pretty sweet. Let's talk about affordability, which is the. It feels like that's the word of 2026. Like at the year. Doesn't like Webster say what the word of the year was? And my guess is affordability is going to be that word already. It's only, it's only like the beginning of the year. We're only in January.
- [35:59]
A
Yeah, you keep hearing it.
- [36:00]
C
But it's going to have just this massive impact on our public discourse and on political outcomes. Well, a new New York Times Siena affordability poll finds that and unsurprisingly that it's a massive concern for most Americans. 58% of people said that education was unaffordable. 54% said that about housing. 47% of Americans say healthcare costs too much. Which I'm like, where are you living if you think healthcare is not expensive? Maybe you're insulated from healthcare costs because you have great insurance through your employer, something like that. That's, that's, that's the only thing I can chop that up to. But as a self insured person working with health sharing, like, nah, you feel every cost but transportation, utilities, food, they posed less concern. But many people still found those problematic as well from an affordability standpoint. And so like all of the areas they listed, Matt, are full of, they're like choppy waters, I guess in the affordability from an affordability standpoint. But I also recognize that like we're our own worst enemies in many of these places too. Not all of them. Right. Like health care. There's only so much you can do about the rising costs of health care. But we talk about every single one of the items that was listed too on this show. And, and there is no like silver bullet in the amount of work that it takes to lower the costs in your budget. And you're like in your spending every month on those items. Well, it's going to, partly it's going to take work and it's going to depend on your specific situation. But that is one of the main goals of the show. Right. Is especially in a time where affordability feels laughable. Right. It feels like a lot of things are like prices are escalating too fast and we can't keep up. It's going to take this creativity and resilience and that's a big part of kind of what we want to be here to help with.
- [37:47]
A
That's right, man. By the way, the, the industries where folks felt that prices were the most out of control. I wanted to highlight this. Joel, you shared education, housing, health care. Is it any surprise that these are all areas in which the government is massively involved? And does the answer lie in more government involvement or does it, or does it mean more open free markets where companies are able to compete in order to deliver a higher quality product or service to individuals? Personally, I think it's the latter, but we are seeing prices up pretty much across the board. But it's also important to highlight that $3 dinners are still possible. Many folks have seen the new food pyramid, so there's been a whole lot of talk when it comes to prices of food these days, the Secretary of Agriculture, the ag secretary. What's her, how do you say her title? I'm not sure. She held a press conference. She highlighted that a dinner of chicken broccoli in a tortilla as being a well rounded, inexpensive dinner, which is true.
- [38:49]
C
Although I think it was like one piece of broccoli. I was like, ah, I'm gonna want more broccoli than that.
- [38:53]
A
Or like a head of broccoli. And it does seem not like a singular, tiny little.
- [38:57]
C
It does seem like a kind of a sad meal though too. I was like, I don't know, could we get like, throw some barbecue sauce on that plate or something?
- [39:05]
A
Well, okay, so what you're criticizing is the. So this was an article in the Journal and I don't like that either because it looks like the kind of meal that like a 22 year old bro who just graduated from college who was on the meal plan is like, oh, I think this is how I'm supposed to start cooking food.
- [39:22]
C
Yeah, there's no creativity.
- [39:23]
A
There's no creativity. It looks so pathetic. And like, yeah, I just don't like that they're trying to present it as like, who would want to eat this meal that evidently can be afforded by most Americans for $3? And it's like, well, no, it takes a little bit of creativity. Yeah. Don't boil the broccoli and throw it on a plate. You roast the broccoli. You char it a little bit. Oh, yeah. You don't get boneless, skinless chicken breast and sprinkle a little bit of Tony Satch on it. You get the bone in. Don't boil your chicken with skin and you grill it. You don't put a plain tortilla on your plate. Like put a little butter on that, throw it on the cast iron, like kind of crisp it up. There's wet. You got to be a little more creative. And it comes down to, I think.
- [40:02]
C
To get some taste out of what others might see as like something bland.
- [40:05]
A
As opposed to like what a robot would have created or like a divorced dad wouldn't serve his kids on the weekend. Yeah, like, it's just my saddest looking plate of food. And I just want folks to get out there and realize that you can have amazing food, but it just takes a little more creativity. It takes a little more thought. And I also don't like the fact that they mentioned, oh, costs, you know, $3 per meal, but it actually cost us 20 something dollars to buy all these Groceries, which it just tells me that I don't have much patience for folks that seem so out of touch. Like, yes, you don't go to the grocery store to buy a singular meal. They are applying restaurant, a restaurant approach to their grocery shopping. No, no. Like the way it works. That's why you have a pantry, it's why you have a fridge to store these additional ingredients that you can then find new ways of creating delicious, wholesome, affordable food.
- [40:53]
C
Well, I'm not gonna lie and say that Our family eats $3 per person, per meal, every meal.
- [40:58]
A
Like, we don't either.
- [40:59]
C
We don't. And it's, it's not a goal of ours right now. But I will say some weeks we really do kind of like typically it's like one week a month where we do focus on using super cheap ingredients and using that ingredient over and over to reduce the price.
- [41:16]
A
Oh, yeah. Of our meals, you've been doing that with protein specifically.
- [41:18]
C
Yeah, with like whole chickens. Right. Smoking them so they have a ton of flavor. So good. But it's like nine or ten dollars for two whole chickens. And then they go a long way. They go into every meal that we eat that week, whether in a soup, in a chicken pot pie, or just the protein itself. With some veggies that we've put in the oven. I think people might laugh and be like, $3 per person per meal? That's far fetched. We're in 2026. But I think if you choose the right items, it's very possible. Right. If you choose filling foods like, and you eat out less, you're talking about eggs instead of cereal.
- [41:53]
A
Right?
- [41:53]
C
Which is. That's one of those. Yeah. If you're eating cereal, then of course that's probably going to cost a whole lot more. Especially now that egg prices have come down. I mean, you're talking about.
- [42:02]
A
It's not 2025 anymore.
- [42:03]
C
Two eggs and a piece of toast in the morning. That'sthat's like a 30 cent meal. Something like that. So there's totally ways to skin this cat and to eat well. I think doing it eat decently well. I'm not gonna lie and make it sound like it's easy, but I think it's certainly doable. And you don't have to eat trash to do that.
- [42:23]
A
Totally agree, man. Joel, do you think folks are too blessed to be stressed out there or.
- [42:27]
C
That's what my bumper sticker says, Matt.
- [42:29]
A
Does it really?
- [42:29]
C
No, I don't have a bumper sticker.
- [42:30]
A
Does it also say I'm kind of.
- [42:31]
C
Morally against bumper stickers.
- [42:33]
A
You've got a nice license plate where you've got. Because it's one of our favorite folk artists, designed the plate. You're like, I don't even care about the Humane Society.
- [42:42]
C
I know.
- [42:43]
A
I just like that he designed the plate for it.
- [42:45]
C
I tell my wife, like, hates it when I say that because I'm like, I don't really, really like animals. I just like the art.
- [42:49]
A
That's not true. You've got multiple animals.
- [42:51]
C
We have animals at this point, but I'm. Yeah, I don't know. I threaten my daughter that when she goes off to college, she's gonna have to take the cats with her.
- [42:59]
A
By the way, do you get your cat food at Costco?
- [43:01]
C
Duh.
- [43:01]
A
Okay, yeah, we didn't talk about dog food. That's another one of the major winners as far as getting your Costco membership to pay for itself. No, no, we're talking about stress financial well being. There is a new study that found that subjective financial security, or I'd say the lack thereof, directly impacts stress levels, which this isn't shocking, but I think it's worth discussing because first of all, the first word of that subjectivity, like the subjective financial security, that subjectivity, I think is a part of the problem. Instead having clear.
- [43:33]
C
How do you feel right now in the moment? Well, subjectively, not so great. No.
- [43:37]
A
Well, and it's just, what do you base your decisions on? And I think having objective data and numbers is the best way to assess how you're actually doing with your personal finances. Which means a bit more tracking your spending. Perhaps it means having an emergency fund, paying down debt, being able to actually identify what your specific goals are. The more you are objectively making progress and the more that you are actually on solid financial footing, I think you're going to see your stress decline. And of course, higher levels of stress, it impacts every area of your life, including your, you know, your health, it impacts your. How you perform at your job and impacts your relationships. So money isn't the only thing that creates stress. But I think following some tried and true financial tenants regularly. Right. Like the things we talk about on the show all the time over the course of your working career can help you to not only feel more in control, but it's going to truly give you more options and a solid financial foundation to operate from.
- [44:36]
C
And you just might assume, oh, people who make more money are less stressed out. Right. But that's not true either. And the data bore that out that basically high earners, they don't report less stress. Right. They also experience financial insecurity at similar levels. So this reinforces, I think, that Americans really, across income levels, find it hard to handle money effectively. And stress typically stems from those feelings of financial insecurity. Even if you're doing okay, and I can attest to this in my own life, that those subjective feelings, even if on paper I'm making progress and I'm doing okay, it's feeling that I have that leads to stress. It's not actually like the numbers in my 401k or what I have on hand in my savings. It's a feeling that causes some of that stress at times. And there's just no. There's no silver bullet to eradicate those feelings instantly. But I guess, Matt, you and I would suggest that your feelings, like, you can't always control them, and even facts can't, like, dissuade you from feeling a certain way in the moment, but that our feelings should be more rooted in the facts of our actual financial situation. And even if things are looking grim, right, looking reality in the face can help people, can help you develop a plan, can help you to make changes to alter your trajectory while reducing current and future stress levels. I think it's actually, it causes more stress the more we avert our eyes and look away from the information that we scare us.
- [46:10]
A
Because you can't fool yourself. You know it's there. You know that you might be on unstable financial footing. And so, yeah, actually addressing that thing head on, coming up with a plan, continuing to listen to how to money is what we'd recommend.
- [46:23]
C
Three days a week. That's what. That's what we suggest.
- [46:25]
A
That's what the doctor prescribes recommends. But that's gonna be it for this episode. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. And stay warm, stay dry. We'll see you back here on Monday. And, buddy, that's gonna be it. So until next time, Best friends out. Best friends out.
- [46:53]
B
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [46:56]
C
Guaranteed Human.