"I Quit Gambling... Now What?" (Listener Intervention)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin

Episode: "I Quit Gambling... Now What?" (Listener Intervention)

Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Nicole Lapin
Guest: Brandon

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Main Theme

Nicole Lapin sits down with listener Brandon, who recounts his decades-long struggle with gambling, his journey toward financial recovery, and his effort to reinvent his relationship with money. The episode explores the deep personal and financial impacts of gambling, the process of hitting "rock bottom," and practical steps to rebuild after quitting.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brandon’s Money Story: Early Roots and Triggers

• First exposure to credit and gambling:
  Brandon shares that, as a teenager, promotional credit card offers at Mets and Yankees games quickly led to early credit card debt ([03:48]).
• Growing up with scarcity and the lure of gambling:
  Despite a scarcity mindset from growing up with a single mom, Brandon was drawn to gambling as a solution:

  "Because there’s never enough money at the house. I always wanted to make more money... I wanted to have nice clothes. For some reason, for some reason, that mattered to me, and it should have mattered." — Brandon [07:34]

2. Gambling Highs, Lows, and Financial Downfall

• Types of gambling:
  From sports betting to the racetrack; recalls his first major win at 15:

  "My first big win at the horse track was a trifecta... It paid a total of 15, 28. I'll never forget it." — Brandon [05:45]

• The cycle of wins and losses:
  Winning streaks led to bigger bets and mounting losses (sometimes as high as $3,287 on a single tennis match) ([09:25]).
• Funding the habit:
  Relied heavily on personal loans (up to 7 or 8) and numerous credit cards, never borrowing from friends but manipulating bank systems to access more funds ([10:30]).

3. Personal Impact: Relationships, Secrets, and Denial

• Isolation and acting:
  Successfully hid the depth of his gambling from friends and most partners:

  "I'm not an actor, but for this, I was the best actor for the last 25 years of my life." — Brandon [13:33]

• Credit damage and stress:
  Credit score dropped from above 700 to as low as 460, impacting nearly every aspect of adult financial life ([15:03]).
• Turning point:
  A confluence of COVID-19, job loss, mounting debts, and the loss of his mother pushed Brandon to "rock bottom":

  "After your mom passed and you left your job and it was Covid, was that rock bottom?" — Nicole [20:01]
  "Yes." — Brandon [20:01]

4. Recovery and New Mindset

• Quitting gambling:
  Brandon hasn't gambled in three years and describes the transformation into a new, healthier mindset over the last 12 weeks ([21:19], [21:29]).
• Life after gambling:
  Rebuilding financial health means revisiting credit reports, restructuring debt, and crafting a new approach to money ([21:39]).

5. Building a Financial Plan (with Practical Steps)

• Income and expenses:
  Brandon currently works three jobs, earning roughly $3,300/month. His largest expenses are rent ($1,150), car payment ($607), and debt repayment ($200/month, no interest) ([24:01], [24:09], [25:10]).
• Nicole's Rule of Thumb:
  Suggests a 70/15/15 budget split:
  • 70% ($2,310) for essentials (housing, food, transportation, etc.)
  • 15% ($500) for savings (focused on retirement)
  • 15% ($500) for 'extras'/vacation ([26:15], [28:56])
• Negotiating with creditors:
  Nicole highlights the importance of honesty and direct communication:

  "It is important to actually speak with creditors and not just ignore them... Tell them your story, talk with them, negotiate with them." — Nicole [25:10]

6. The Investing Pivot: Channeling Energy Into Positive Habits

• Transition from gambling to investing:
  Nicole draws a parallel between the thrill of gambling and the potential excitement in responsible investing:

  "Investing and gambling do have a lot of crossover. You know, I'm gonna give you two quotes. First, risk comes from not knowing what you're doing... You should make rational decisions that are backed by real information when it comes to your money." — Nicole [34:10]

• Practical recommendation:
  Encourages Brandon to open a brokerage account and automate $500/month into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund ([35:01]).
• Reinvention and self-acceptance:

  "But the person you are now, right, is not the person you used to be... Maybe today [brokerages and investing] are [for you] and that's also okay. In fact, it's more than okay." — Nicole [35:46]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On self-awareness and acting:
  "I'm not an actor, but for this, I was the best actor for the last 25 years of my life, to be honest with you." — Brandon [13:33]
• On honesty with creditors:
  "All I had to do, Nicole, was just be honest, be vulnerable." — Brandon [24:33]
• On transformation:
  "I work hard for my money. I'm saving it, I'm doing things with it. I'm enjoying my life. I like going out, having fun again. When you are gambling and losing, you don't want to be around anybody. You have to be introverted. I am an extroverted person." — Brandon [20:38]
• On the overlap between gambling and investing:
  "Investing in gambling do have a lot of crossover... You should make rational decisions that are backed by real information when it comes to your money." — Nicole [34:10]

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Important Timestamps

• Brandon's intro and background: [03:28]–[07:34]
• First experience with gambling, early wins and losses: [05:45]–[09:25]
• Funding gambling through loans, details of debt buildup: [10:30]–[13:33]
• Personal low point/"rock bottom": [15:03], [20:01]
• Period of change and recovery: [21:29], [22:25]
• Budgeting and financial planning advice: [26:15]–[29:01]
• Investing discussion and parallel with gambling: [34:10]–[36:07]

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Final Notes & Tone

Nicole maintains a supportive, nonjudgmental, and pragmatic tone throughout, guiding Brandon through self-reflection and offering actionable financial advice. Brandon's willingness to be vulnerable and his proactive steps toward change provide hope and motivation for listeners facing similar challenges with compulsive behaviors.

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Resources Mentioned

• Gambling help: National Gambling Hotline: 1-800-GAMBLER
• Recommendation: Open a brokerage account (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, E*TRADE)
• Budgeting framework: 70/15/15 rule (Essentials/Savings/Extras)

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This episode is a candid, humanizing look at behavioral finance, emphasizing both recovery and the practicalities of starting over—with doable strategies for anyone looking to rebuild after compulsive spending or addiction.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Thank you very much for having me on today.

[A]

I would love to chat about your money goals, but first I want to hear about your money story. You've had a complicated, is that fair relationship sometimes difficult, it sounds like with money sometimes. But have come out on the other side and are now better for it. Can we go back to where your money story begins?

[B]

Yeah, sure, absolutely. So it all happened. I've been involved in sports my entire life, love watching them, love playing them. And it all happened going to New York Mets games and New York Yankee games. And what I mean by that is you would go to the games and they would have a promo offer for a credit card. So I would go there, apply for a credit card, get a limit of fifteen hundred dollars on two credit cards. And I believe I was eighteen at the time because I was going into my freshman year in college and I would just go, I would go to Chili's, got my friends and it's charge, charge, charge everything, as much as I could, out to dinner. That's where it all started. I come from a single mom who raised me and with that said, we had a hustle our lives in terms of making money and saving money. And I should have known better. What I mean by that is there was no safety net. I didn't have anywhere to go. I should have hustled more and more responsible with my money choices. And again, at 18, you don't know these things. Back then, social media was not there 100% at all. We were still using beepers at the time. Cell phone.

[A]

I remember I had a blue one with sparkles.

[B]

Yes, yes, we do. Yeah. So that's how it all started. I've been gambling since I was 15 years old. That's my action. And what I. What do I define that as? My action. I drink socially. I don't do any drugs. I don't smoke cigarettes. I never had a cigarette in my life. It just doesn't do it for me. But gambling was the one thing, advice that I just wanted to do. I wanted action all the time. There was nothing more exciting for me to be calling in at bet. Nicole, back in the day, you would call up a bookie on the phone. Hey, what's your name? Hey, my name is pineapple for 10. I won $1,000 on this game. $1,000, Nicole. I was 18, 19 years old.

[A]

What kind of gambling were you doing then? So only sports gambling.

[B]

Sports gambling. But my favorite thing to do, One of my favorite things to do is gamble at the horse track. My first big win at the horse track was a trifecta. A trifecta is you hit three horses. Win, place and show. I hit five, seven, one. Those are the exact numbers. It paid a total of 15, 28. I'll never forget it. And this guy got me going. And also at the same time, 15.

[A]

28, like 1, 500.

[B]

That was the total amount paid. 528. Yeah. So it's always been sports gambling. Not much in the casinos, only roulette, blackjack, poker. I'll get eaten alive. Craps, I'll get eaten alive. I know I'll lose my money. But for some reason, I think that I could win every sports bet. I don't know why. When I was 18 to my 30s, yes, I did action for me. I would win at times. A lot. I would win. I would go on hot streaks. I would win 15, 20, 30 in a row. I would lose a lot of money as well. I got into trouble where I owed $3,000. I couldn't pay it. It's not an easy lifestyle, especially if you're dating someone. What are you doing? You're committed to that person. Yes. You're 22, but you're still in a relationship. You still made that choice to date that person. And what am I doing? I'm on my phone checking scores left and right. It's uncomfortable.

[A]

Yeah, I. Listen, I have. I've dated people who are very, very into gambling. And it definitely can take over. It Never really clicked with me. Like, I never really got it. It was not my vice or my action, as you call it. Maybe because I came from, like a scarcity mindset around money growing up. So it's really surprising to me that you say you had a similar upbringing with the scarcity mindset. Never had enough money, single mom. Then what was the draw for gambling? Like, why did you feel like you needed to gamble when you were 15? And then how did that evolve when you got older?

[B]

Because there's never enough money at the house. I always wanted to make more money. So I had stuff, I wanted to buy stuff. I want to have nice clothes. For some reason, for some reason, that mattered to me, and it should have mattered. And again, you're 15, 16 year in high school. You're watching so many people. And I've had good friends my whole life. I don't have any sisters and brothers, but I've had good friends, the same friends I've had since I was 6 years old in kindergarten. And they're still my friends today. Some of them are better off at times. Their parents are more successful. My mom was very sick in her life. She couldn't do things that my other friend's parents could do. And I said to myself, I have to make more money. I don't want to be poor. I want to succeed. I always have that drive to work harder than anybody else. My mentality is Kobe Bryant. My mentality is Tom Brady. My two favorite athletes. I gave it all. I didn't have them in tie at all times like I should have had. I was careless, irresponsible. At the time, I didn't own up to it, but I knew it was going on. I just wanted to keep doing because it was the fun in my life. That was my action in my life. Nothing fulfilled me more than doing that. With that said, what happened was as I got older, I made more money, really good money at times. However, there was a time making that money through gambling, no, for my work, my career. So I would never use my rent money towards it, ever. That was the rule. My rent comes first, gambling second. I have to be fair to the person I'm renting from, and it's just doing the right thing for somebody. I still had a good mindset. I never changed the person that I was. I had a good background. I was always grounded with my mom, my friends again, always there for me at all times. But they couldn't see it. They know I have to gamble, but I was the only gambler of my Friends that used to bet a lot of money. I'm not talking about small P&$100 bets.

[A]

What's the biggest bet you've ever placed?

[B]

$3,287. Why? No, that number. Is that very specific. And the reason why is that's how much money I had in my account. And I put that much money on a tennis bet because I knew it was going to win and it won. And it was a guarantee. I knew it was going to win 100. So I won that money. I think it was six grand. I think it was. And the guy goes through. He's like, what are you doing? How are you winning all this money? Are you cheating? I go, no, I'm not cheating. I'm like, are you kidding me? As quick as I can win is that much I'm gonna lose. So what happens?

[A]

Yeah, it's kind of hard to, like, count cards in a sports game. Like, how are you cheating? Unless you're like, Tanya Harding, get or something. God forbid. But how did you end up funding all this gambling? Was it through your main hustle? Your regular job, like rent was first, but then was everything else toward gambling? You had a great relationship, it sounds like, with your family and friends. Did you ever ask them for money? Did you take out more credit cards? Did you take out loans? How did you fuel this addiction?

[B]

Okay, great questions. Never borrowed money from my friends for gambling, ever. What I did, though, was credit cards, personal loans. Personal loans, Personal loans times seven. I think it was total, or maybe eight. First one I was at the bank I did business with, so I knew I was gonna get approved because why? My direct deposits coming out of that account. So I knew I was gonna be able to pay it back. That was. I think the first one I got was for $3,000. I think I was 24 at the time, because it wasn't easy. I had to prove my income, so I had to show my W2, my pay stubs. So I got that. Then it just kept rolling. 3,000, 5,000. But then once I understood the system and how it worked and how the underrater is the one that makes the final decision, how I can challenge the underrater. I'm like, let's go. Game on. I'll do this. Trust me. Now I know the facts. I did my research. Now I have to do. And you're saying, what do you mean by that? I would ask for $10,000 purposely, like a sales call. I want to go ask for more money and then let them talk me down and that's what happened. The 10,000. Hey, you know what's on? You know what, Brandon? We can't approve the 10,000. We're going to give you 7,500. Sure. How quick can I sign that paper? As quick as I sign that paper is when I sign on to a company and I sign my direct deposit form. And that's how it was for my loan. Let me sign that, get into my account right away. So let's just say, example, $5,000. Boom, that 5,000. 2,000 on that. I'll go home and bet right away. It was so sick at times, I would bet. I would bet on what color car was coming up next if I wanted to. I would bet on anything. It did not matter. I just wanted action for some reason. And again, I guess you can say maybe it's out of boredom, but I have a good life, I have good friends, I have good family. I just wanted the action at all times. It was so much fun for me to come home. And what I mean by that. I'll give an example. Let's just say you're having a losing day on a Saturday. It's a big college football day. You would wait until Pacific Time to be a Pac 12 games.

[A]

Oh, I remember this. I dated somebody that was into this type of stuff. It wasn't only the west coast, it was like Hawaii after that.

[B]

Yes, yes. Because all you're doing in the worst you could do in sports gambling is chase your bets.

[A]

Use the word addiction, Brandon. But I guess I should ask you, would you say that you were addicted to gambling?

[B]

I, I, you know, to this day, I'm still gonna say no. And everyone else that you probably, if you talk to my friends, they probably say yes. He definitely was. To me. It was, it was my actions and entertainment in my life. There are things that my friends do that's entertaining to them. To me, this is what I want to do with my life. I wanted to be a professional sports gambler my whole life. That's, that's what my career, what I wanted to do. And honestly, of all the vices I should have done this. There's, I should have had better outlets. I should have worked three jobs.

[A]

It sounds like you got in some financial trouble here. I mean, between all these credit cards and loans, were you getting into debt and then what was going on with your credit score?

[B]

So the highest I had was, I think, a 717 or 715, one of those. And again, I had to take out more loans. I couldn't Pay them sometimes. Because I would have three loans, seven credit cards, I think, at one time. And I'm talking about good credit cards. And that was not even the pay for gambling. That was the pay for other things like my everyday expenses. They're saying, well, you have a $20,000 limit. Yeah. What are you doing with your money? I had no idea. I was careless. I don't even know what I was buying. I know I was buying a lot of clothes. I was buying a lot of DVDs back in the day. It was just out of control, my spending. But the worst thing was when you're in relationships or just. Just casually dating, your partner knows what's going on at a point. But to be honest, my friends never knew I'm not an actor, but for this, I was the best actor for the last 25 years of my life, to be honest with you.

[A]

Did you ever go through a breakup because of gambling?

[B]

No.

[A]

Nobody ever dumped you because of it?

[B]

No. I ended a relationship because my opinion. The relationship ran its course. I couldn't give the other person exactly what they wanted. It was unfair to them. I cut it off. Good or bad, I had to do it. I had to make that decision. It wasn't right. There are some good people in my life, but it's not fair to them. They should have someone that'll be there for them 100 of the time and give it all. And I cannot do that. It's not fair to them. So again, there are a lot of lonely nights too.

[A]

You had a whole other relationship, it sounds like with gambling. Do you know how much money, all in all, you lost?

[B]

Not exact number. Probably between 15 to 17,000. And again, going back to the credit scores, my credit kept the mission. It went from a 717 or 715 to as low as a 460. Now I don't have my own house. I never wanted the house. I don't want it. I always like renting. When you have bad credit, good luck getting a proof of an application. Good luck getting electricity at your house, gas company. Good luck. It's not easy. So again, my cell phone service, I had the same one since college. If I change it, they're going to run a credit report, insurance. Sometimes it goes up because of my credit is not good at all. It is not healthy. But at the same time, no one is going to. And I had a friend who helped me do this through this, to be honest with you, in 2020, I had a friend that we negotiated stuff with the credit card companies in 2020 we had a good payment plan, negotiated Capital One, Chase, Discover, Discover personal loans. And I was doing well in the beginning, but it was 2020, 2021. I started a new career and the career is very challenging because I had a staff locations that I couldn't do and my phone was non stop and I. It was just too much happening at once between like my. The stress with my credit score, gambling becoming too mainstream now it's legalized in more states now. It was just too much for me to process. And you had Covid on top of it was just a lot for me to intake at once. And I could have went to my friends but I didn't because a lot of my friends have families. I didn't want to interrupt them because their one friend is gambling. But at the time that's what I thought. They would have been there for me. I just had too much going on mentally in my head where I just couldn't do it. I stopped paying them. I stopped paying them. I started getting certified mail, certified mail. It was crazy. Like they were going to go to court with me and take me to court. I did not care. It would come in as soon as I saw it. Boom. Rip it off. Garbage. See you later. I'm not going to think about it. And I can't do that because what are they going to do, Nicole? Start garnishing my wages? So what I do? Nope. I quit the job. I'm not going to do. I quit that job and it was a bad decision on my end. A really bad decision. I lied to my friends. I said hey, due to staffing concerns, due to Covid. I used Covid. They had to let go of people. I had a great boss who let me do my thing with my job, my career and I just let him down. I quit. I'll never forget writing that email, typing it up. It's all because of the debt, struggles, paying stuff. Covid stress, not having an outlet source. Oh my. That Nicole. My mom passed away in 2012 so all the. Thank you very much. So I really haven't been the same mentally at all at the same time. But I wouldn't say that was my addiction. I'm not calling an addiction. I wouldn't say that's what made me gamble. I just, you know, I just missed her because she always told me that I'm going to miss her a lot when she's gone. And that's the truth. I did. I do. But here we are now. Okay. I figured it all out. I have. I said I Had to change my ways in my life. I have to figure this out. No one's going to do it for me. No one's going to all people. No one wants excuses.

[A]

So it sounds like that was like a turning point moment for you. Did you feel like after your mom passed and you left your job and it was Covid, was that rock bottom?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

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[B]

Yes. Yes. Because I couldn't get a job right away and I had to work labor jobs and work my butt off. I was doing it overnights. It's not easy. But you know what? After everything, I need that I needed that motivation. And I've changed. And this change has happened within the last 12 weeks. I am different.

[A]

Oh, this is recent.

[B]

Yes, Nicole, definitely recent. I am back at a high level the way I used to be. It took me 12 years to get to my point that I am today. It feels good.

[A]

And you cut gambling cold turkey.

[B]

Not 100%. For now, yes, I still want it, but I don't need it in my life anymore. And the reason why I'm saying that is it's become too mainstream. Where all the states legalize and friends that I would never thought would gamble, gamble, they try to give me advice. I'm like, I don't want to hear it. You don't know what you're talking about. You really don't. It's just not me anymore. That chapter in my life is over. I work hard for my money. I'm saving it, I'm doing things with it. I'm enjoying my life. I like going out, having fun again. When you are gambling and losing, you don't want to be around anybody. You have to be introverted. I am an extroverted person.

[A]

So it sounds like you haven't gambled for three months, is that right?

[B]

No, no, I haven't gambled in three years.

[A]

Oh, okay. So this three month thing is a new mindset or what's the last 12 weeks?

[B]

The last 12 weeks is getting back to. I used to be getting back on track of my life, going through my credit report, calling Experian, TransUnion.

[A]

Yeah, Equifax.

[B]

Equifax, yeah.

[A]

First of all, thank you so much for being so open and honest about your story, Brandon. It's. It's really refreshing to hear how you have no filter around what happened. And I think that's really helpful to a lot of people who might be struggling or know, but somebody who's struggling. So I really appreciate that and I would love to talk more about this next part of your journey and I'd love to help you with it. I'd love to be part of it. I know you wanted to talk about setting up a plan for your money goals. I'd love to know what your money goals are before we can come up with a plan. Look, I can't tell you what they are. Only you can tell hopefully me what they are. But at least tell yourself. Do you know what your money goals are and how you are thinking about those right now?

[B]

One thing about you, and I was so thankful that you got back to me from one of your reels that you post on Instagram, is you're very good in your sector. You're on point. And in terms of money goals, I guess what I would say to you is, obviously there's no gambling anymore, so that money is not getting allocated for that. But I wanted to ask you is what would you say are the correct steps of saving money where you're paying bills at the same time? Like, how would you calculate that? And what kind of formula would you use? Not you personally. What would you use for someone like myself and everyone else listening?

[A]

Yeah. So to. It's a great question. Do you know what you would be saving for? Like, is it a house, is it a vacation, is it retirement?

[B]

Retirement, vacation. Those two things specifically.

[A]

And what's your source of income right now?

[B]

Working at. Working several jobs right now. You know, one of them, I learned a transportation business, something I did not know before. I'm a CFO of that company. It's a new company. So I look at the books every. I reconcile them every Monday. I've been doing this for over two years now. I'm also doing other jobs as well, just to make money. That's all I'm about is how do I make the most money possible? How do I see. Because a lot of my life is gone and was gone because of all the money I had to pay in debt and everything. Let's bring it back to what? Back to basics. Let's come up with a plan. And that's why I'm here with you today, because I know you. You know that plan. You can give us advice on how to do it.

[A]

Let's make a plan. Okay, so how much are you making now? Between the three jobs?

[B]

I would say total about three, three hundred dollars a month.

[A]

Okay. And how much debt do you still have? You said you pay down half, which is awesome.

[B]

So I only have one credit card company coming after me and 10 of them. Only one of them. One. And that's only. I pay $200 a month, and that's a total of $3200 that I still owe. And that's it.

[A]

Do you know what the interest rate on the debt is?

[B]

There's no interest on it. The money that I owe, there's zero interest on this. Zero.

[A]

Oh, so this is like you owe somebody money, not like a credit card?

[B]

Yes. So what happens is it was charged off capital 1. Use another company to outsource this. So it's the lawyers that I'm paying. They're the ones coming after me. They said, if you don't pay this, we're gonna garnish your wages. And all I had to do, Nicole, was just be honest, be vulnerable. That's all I said. This is what's going on in my life. This is what happened. If you just tell people the truth, if it's just realistic. And you break it down and say, this is what I can do and you own your own life. Because one thing I've learned, life is one thing, is not a dress rehearsal. You're gonna do it over again. And that's so much funny that you said that about the interest. Like, wait, no, there is no interest on it.

[A]

That's so interesting and I'm so glad that you said that because I do know and I do talk about the idea that it is important to actually speak with creditors and not just ignore them. Like they're so scary. It's so scary when they're calling you and hounding you and all that stuff. But yes, absolutely. Tell them your story, talk with them, negotiate with them. All right, so you have three grand, a little bit more than three grand in debt.

[B]

All right. I also have rent and I also have a car that I had to buy. And can you please. You're good at this. I think you're going to get the number. What do you think my interest rate now again, it's not a new car.

[A]

What's your credit score now?

[B]

So if you look at credit karma, it's 480s. But if you look at experience self where it breaks you down every single thing, it's in the fives throughout the three. So I'll go back to this. 28.

[A]

Damn. I was gonna say 20, which is high. Damn.

[B]

28. Insurance. 150amonth. When I was four years ago, my insurance was 96amonth or 90amonth. That's only because I live in New Jersey where the insurance is out of control.

[A]

All right, hold on. Okay, so we, we take in $3,300 a month. My suggestion is to take 70% of that toward essentials. So that's 2310. How much is your rent?

[B]

1150.

[A]

And how much is your car payment?

[B]

So after getting it reduced down to the Original car payment is 607amonth.

[A]

Okay, and how much? You have $200 a month for the lawyer debt thing?

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

So, all right, so we're up to like 2k with all of this stuff. Did you know that?

[B]

I think you know me by now. I do know that you know me by now. Yes.

[A]

Okay. And so my suggestion is like, how much are you spending on food? In my budget right now, you have about 300ish bucks.

[B]

I don't go out to eat, so I, I cook. Yeah. I mean, whatever. I, I don't throw food out. So if I go to store and buy stuff, the food's getting eaten. There's no need to go out to eat when I have all this food in the house. There is no need to.

[A]

So. So you think 300 ish a month for food works? I'm not talking like going out and going to the bar, because that's in a different category.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like what it, what it costs to.

[B]

Live just where we're at right now, that's how much it'll cost me to live. The bare minimum.

[A]

Yeah. So, so rent, car, like transportation, you know, utilities, basic food, health. Like you have ideally around 23 ish a month for all of that. And then my suggestion, you have a thousand left. I would say half of that. 500 bucks at least to your savings.

[B]

And Nicole, this is only because I have this going on right now. I literally have my resume. I had someone redo it for me real quick because I don't want to reformat. And I honestly have a. I do the bylaws underneath it, but I just want to reformat it. That's all done now. So I'm applying for high level jobs now. Again, this is only holding me, Tom.

[A]

Okay, Kobe, let's go. That's fine. And this is totally fine. And you know what the great thing about financial plans and goals are, is that they change. They will change. They're not set in stone like life and happens. So we're gonna change them again. But for right now, Ideally, it's like 70% to the essentials, 15 to the end game, which is what you just told me. You want to start saving for retirement and a vacation. I would say, like the other 15 is for extras. I might, I might think about the vacation being in the extras category. But that for you is 15. That for you is 500 bucks.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Can we start to try and save 500 bucks a month?

[B]

I have no choice. Yes, absolutely. You're right, 100%. Yeah, that's a good way of putting up the 70%. I agree with you. Absolutely. And again, like I just told you before, it's just a whole new world for now.

[A]

So because your question is like, how do I save and pay bills? Right? And, and that's an important question. And so I think having this parameter, having these guidelines like, okay, I have 23, 10 to pay rent, to do everything I need to do. I have 500 bucks that I'm going to save. And we can talk about what to do with that 500 bucks and how to maximize that and start making it grow. Right? Because you work really hard for that money. I think it should return the favor. And then the other 500 bucks, which it sounds like right now you're not really into going out and doing fun stuff. Like you want to use that toward a vacation. So you can put that in another interest. What's cool about interest is that you know how it works against you, but it can also work in your favor, which is great. It can make your money work for you. So that other 500 bucks or you know, ideally you could put a little bit more into savings and you know, play with those numbers. But like that's a general guideline that I would suggest for you and then put those into something that will start earning you interest. Right?

[B]

No. And thank you for the advice. I will say I did just come back from vacation. I haven't taken a vacation in four years and one of my favorite places where I want to go is Las Vegas.

[A]

Oh God, no. Can we. I don't know if that's a good one for you.

[B]

Let me tell you why. Please let me get into that. Trust me, it's not what you're thinking. Trust me. I was there on business. They have a pullout. They have a pool out there. They have a survivor football pool contest. Are you familiar with that?

[A]

No, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me about it. I'm scared. I still am not convinced. But continue. They, they have a survivor pool gambling.

[B]

So me and some of my friends, we entered a contest out there because the grand prize is $10 million is the biggest football pool there is around. But yeah, that was my vacation. It was a business trip. And you're saying what do you mean by business? I went there for a purpose and a reason. I always wanted to work at a sports book. My whole life. I wanted to be involved. I wanted to be on the air. They have this network called VCent, Vegas Sports Information Network. I listen to them every morning. My favorite show is Follow the money. It's 4am to 7pm It's 4am to 7am Pacific Time. So I went there to meet the guys in person. At 4am I was at the casino, not betting, singing out the sportsbook, relaxing. That's all I was doing. Met them however, I wanted to meet the top guy there, not the owner, his right hand person who's the VP of three of his casinos. Six o' clock Thursday morning. Hey, Mike, nice to meet you. I want to respect all your time. I know you're going on the air, do two segments. Can you just carve out 10 minutes for me? I mean a couple Minutes. Absolutely. Finishes a segment. He gave me 10 minutes of his own time, had a great conversation. He was going to give me somebody else's email, but instead, what he do. Email me, Brandon. Email me right here at this email address. So I did that when I flew home on Friday. That's why the resume service that I use had it all done for me. Boom. Sent the email to him. That's what I wanted to do. I also met the owner out there who gave me his business card. He gave me two minutes of his time. The thing is, like anything else, you have to do your research. You have to know what they like, the ins and outs. Because in life, what I've learned is if you're good, people will create positions for you no matter what, because I have done it myself.

[A]

Okay, so just to be clear, this is not you going there to gamble. This is you getting involved in the business.

[B]

Both. Okay.

[A]

I don't endorse the gambling part, but I endorse, like, actually looking at this and what you've gone through as a potential business opportunity. More from a management side.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

It's your life, Brandon, only you have to wake up in it. So here's what I'd say. If you can take 500 bucks a month and start investing. Do you have a brokerage account?

[B]

I never needed one.

[A]

Okay, but now you do.

[B]

I'm listening. Okay, I'm listening.

[A]

Okay. Do you know what a brokerage account is like, kidding aside?

[B]

Yes, I'm familiar with the. Correct.

[A]

So banks and brokerages are different. Like, brokerages would be the Fidelities and the Schwab's and the Vanguards and the E trades of the world. Right. Banks like bank of America. Cool. So if you start investing, like, over time, the stock market as a whole, not individual stocks, but as a whole, will get you 8% over time. So we're going to want to take that 500 bucks and make it work for us. And honestly, when you get in your investing groove, I think you're really gonna like it, because I know this is a hot take. But investing in gambling do have a lot of crossover. You know, I'm gonna give you two quotes. First, risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. And then the second is hunches cost you more than it will gain. Do you know who said those things?

[B]

No, but I'm aware. I. I'm very aware of being risk adverse. Now. I know who said that.

[A]

The first one, risk comes from not knowing what you're doing is Warren Buffett. You know that is greatest investor of our time. The second one came from Stanford Wong, who's an expert on blackjack. Oh, so they're both basically saying the same thing, Right. You should make rational decisions that are backed by real information when it comes to your money. So you'll see with investing, just like gambling, there are winners and there are losers. And sometimes the difference between the two is honestly pure dumb luck. But getting savvy on investing strategies is like counting cards. I know that wasn't your thing, but legally the purpose of counting cards is to increase your likelihood of winning. Right. Getting educated on investing does the same thing.

[B]

Right? You're correct. Absolutely.

[A]

So what if you take that 500 bucks and open a brokerage account and put that into what Warren Buffett suggests, our low cost S&P 500 index fund. What do you think?

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for recommendation. I never, honestly never even thought about that having brokers or account, to be honest with you. But if I'm going to trust anybody again, someone's a financial guru has made a career out of this. So absolutely, if you recommend. Why would I say no? It makes. Doesn't make sense.

[A]

Thanks, Brandon.

[B]

I wish all the guys it's the truth.

[A]

How do you feel now?

[B]

No, it feels good. And again, thank you so much for the recommendation. I think it is. I never even thought about that to be honest with you. And so you mentioned it. I am familiar with brokerage accounts. I just never thought about doing one. This wasn't me all these years. But maybe that does make sense. Maybe that's an option. I do, I do turn to.

[A]

But the person you are now, right, is not the person you used to be. So the person you used to be, brokerages and investing and traditional savings and non gambling endeavors weren't for you and that's okay. But maybe today they are and that's also okay. In fact, it's more than okay.

[B]

Yeah. Thank you for that, Nicole. Thanks. Seriously, thank you. That means a lot.

[A]

Yeah, of course. And I think there's going to be a lot of crossover. You know, I think you can channel a lot of that gambling energy and like the desire for winning and getting information. Because I know that with sports gambling there's a lot of research that goes into it. Right. You're not just like willy nilly putting money on some game and not knowing what's going on. If you take that same zest and channel it toward, you know, maybe some more like above board things to do with your money and just, you know, as we're moving into this new chapter. It's so exciting. I think you could get really into it. I think you could get really into stocks and funds like index funds or ETFs, which are exchange traded funds, which give you like a whole basket of different stocks in there in the same way that you got really into the research for gambling because you can, like I said, everything also win, but just in a different way.

[B]

Right. And you're right. I mean, I shouldn't.

[A]

Sustainable way, I should say.

[B]

Right? No, you're right. I agree. I can't agree with you. I'm 100% on board with you, everything you're saying.

[A]

Okay. I'm not talking past the close. We're good. Thanks for coming on.

[B]

Yes, we're good. We're good.

[A]

Never talk past the close, right?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lapin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money Rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions money [e-mail] to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one on one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram, MoneyNews and TikTokoneyNewsNetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.