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You're listening to the Travis Makes Money
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Just go to gohighlevel.com travis.
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What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's a mission to help you make more money today on the show on this episode anyway, because we released a couple other ones today. It's my producer's in studio. Eric, what's up, man?
D
Hey, man, I'm doing pretty good. I'm a little hurt.
B
I didn't ask, but you just said, what's going on?
C
Did I say that?
D
You just said that.
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I'm pretty sure it's been a long day.
D
I don't know. Join a rewind replay.
B
It's been a long day.
D
Enhance.
B
This is episode, like nine for me today.
D
Yeah, this is episode one for me today. Oh, you're fine. I feel like I'm on nine because I've been talking to you for so long before you record, hey, man, I'm doing pretty good. I am a little hurt because I said, hey, you know, I want to, you know, I got some fitness things I want to get figured out. I want to, you know, got some new pants from Old Navy, which you haven't commented on, but they're a little snug in the waist space. I was like, I'm gonna shed a few pounds. And I got some, you know, I got to do some media stuff coming up soon. I want to look good and sharp. And so I was like, hey, Travis, you want to go hit the gym with me? Just for like maybe a week or two, Just like, teach me a couple things. And immediately I was like, hey, want to go to the gym?
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No, none of this happened.
D
That's literally what happened.
B
You didn't say any, that you didn't give me any context.
D
You're just like, wait. My exact question was, would you want to go to the gym with me?
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No.
D
No, no. You said no.
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You said something like, you, you want to go to the Gym. And I was like, okay, for what? I said, for what?
D
He literally said, no.
B
And then I said, for what? Because you've never asked me to go work out. The only time you come to the gym with me is to film me working out at the gym.
D
Okay. So anyway, so. Yeah. So hopefully I think we got it figured out, though. I think. I think we'll make it happen in the next couple days.
B
Okay.
D
Or something.
E
Sure.
D
And. But, you know, a key part of losing weight is not just, you know, activity. Right?
B
That's true.
D
It's also thinking about what you're eating.
B
It's actually mostly about what you're eating. Yeah.
D
Which is kind of a bummer.
B
It is a bummer. It is a big bummer. Because I would much prefer to just eat whatever I want if I could just work it off in the gym. But I tried that path for quite some time, and it was never worked out very well for me.
D
Well, I was looking for advice on what I should do as I start my fitness journey. And since you won't personally tell me, I had to go to your podcast for insights. And so I watched your episode with Michael Smoke. Yeah. Specifically this section. And you shout out, travis makes money and give some takeaways here. I do. I want to play this clip and get your reaction. I'll pause. Play whatever you want. Just tell me. Give me a shout. Say, hey. Pause that.
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Okay.
D
I want to talk about it.
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It's up to you. We'll do.
D
Here we go. You ready?
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Work. So my. My, like, first thing I tell people is just like. And I'm not. I'm no nutritionist. I'm not a health coach. I'm not a fitness coach. But everybody asks.
D
I think anybody looking at you knows that.
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Let's keep going, Sonic, because I saw, like, the results that I got. It's like, do that first. Just be. Be willing to be brutally honest with yourself for 30 days, and then you'll see. You'll see where. Where. Like, where you're going wrong. And by the way, you can eliminate the things first that you don't really care about. Yeah. That was the thing that I realized was, like, I don't even really care about drinking that drink.
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Right.
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I can eliminate fruit juice from my life tomorrow and not really give two shits. But that. That cup of juice was 350 inbound.
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Joke.
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Do you find you give more shits when you're drinking regular amounts of juice?
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Yes.
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Particularly prune juice?
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Yes.
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Does that make you give two shits? You give less shits. When you're not drinking juice.
B
As soon as I saw myself say that, I knew you were going to say something about prune juice. Calories. That's insane. That's like chicken breast. That's like a whole chicken breast. You know what I mean? That's like 45 calories of protein that I. Or grams of protein that I could have consumed, but I drank it in 17 seconds. You know what I mean?
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Do you know what? I think I attribute my weight gain over the past, like, three months to.
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I don't know.
D
Yes.
B
Well, I figured it was something like juice or something should bring it up right now. But I feel like I never see you drink anything that has calories in it.
D
So that's the thing. So I. I drink everything sugar free because I'm a soda head. I always have an energy drink guy.
B
Yeah.
D
And it won't go away, but you
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always have the zero sugar, zero calories.
D
And so. Great. So in like January, after we moved back, I was working at Starbucks and you were.
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You were working on things at Starbucks. I was like, wait a second.
D
Travis does not pay me. I have to work. This is just for the love of
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the game Supplement as a barista.
D
No. So I was working in a Starbucks cafe on the customer side of the counter.
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Yes, I see.
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And I love chai tea. And I was drinking their chai tea latte. And like, every time I'd go in, I would drink a chai tea, and I didn't realize how much sugar was in them.
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Yeah.
D
Until. Because, like, regular chai is, like, not that crazy.
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Right.
D
And then let me pull it up actually really quick. But the way I found out and I. Because I gained. I've gained about 15 pounds in the last, like, probably four months. You're like, yep, yep. That checks. That check. And I was like, what's going on? Because I was like, I'm not drinking sugar. I'm like, basically I was like, I don't consume sugar.
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Yeah.
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Like really? At all. And then Starbucks changed their chai tea latte recipe so it's not as sweet. And I was like, this tastes weird. Can you guys add some stuff to make it taste the same? And then I looked up what they did. It was like 96 grams of sugar. Like, they're like, we did. We did six pumps of something. I was like, wait. I took a sip and I was like, this. This tastes, like, not good. So I searched all the ingredients from the label. It was like 96 grams of sugar.
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Oh, my.
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And I was like, man, this Tastes good.
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Yeah. I wonder why.
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But then I was, like, looking up their regular one at Starbucks, and I was quite concerned. So here's what the chai tea latte at Starbucks has as far as sugar, 53 to 54 grams of sugar. Hot. And I get it iced, so 61 grams of sugar for a venti chai.
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That's.
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And I was like, well, there's my weight gain over the last, like.
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Yeah, well, because you. You fact. Like, all the calories that come from that.
D
Yeah.
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You know what I mean? Is. Is pretty wild.
D
You're sitting there writing and you're just like slurping down a chai. So I.
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Especially if you go get another one, if you there for two, three hours, it's like, well, there's like 900 calories in BE.
F
Yeah.
D
So I haven't drank a drink at Starbucks in, like, probably three weeks now.
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You understand why I always order black coffee.
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Yeah. So. But anyway.
B
Yeah, because it's not necessarily about the sugar itself. It's just that it's very calorically dense.
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And it's syrup. It's not like it's raw sugar. It's like, it's just. But even that weird blends of things and chemicals to make it taste. And that's just the chai. It's like if you get other shots.
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But if you get the chai tea latte, it also is more problematic because milk is calorically dense and has sugar in it as well.
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That makes me toot. All right, let's watch.
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We both know that, unfortunately, you'll find some pieces that you're like, I don't really care about that. Why am I, like, I'm. I'm. I'm making myself be overweight because I'm, like, doing this thing. That's not even something that I like to do. So I just adjusted the things that I was having, like taking calories from Washington.
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Like, you know what, that doesn't matter to me. But like I would like to every once in a while have an ice cream cone. You know, it's like I would rather have my bad calories from that Ice cream cone than drink this cup of fruit juice or whatever, whatever that is for you. But like, you will not get the answer unless you're willing to first be like brutally honest with where you are and what you're currently doing.
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I think that's before Michael smoke drops. Some wisdom. If you're listening, you're going, I don't care about diet. I'm here to listen about money. Think about how this could be applicable in terms of your finances. I'll say that now to keep you listening.
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I was going to say, didn't I? I feel like I said something about it.
D
You do, but this next part is actually a really good practical way of looking at a lot of arenas in life from Michael. And then I'll you drop a little finance connection here.
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Sweet, incredible.
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First piece of advice that more nutritionists should give the the honesty and accountability. A survey study was done once that found the. The subjects in this study underreported their caloric intake on average by 50%. That is a massive, massive. Now, I'm no mathematician, I went to school for sales, not math. But that means the average person, I think this was a survey of females. The average woman said they ate 2,000 calories a day. They were actually eating 3,000. And they found that when they observed their caloric intake and had them track. And so getting fit is not about suffering, it's about raising your awareness. A lot of people are unaware the nutrition labels on the back of everything that we have and consume. And yet so many people are totally clinically unaware of the impact it has. And so I've seen obese people drop 15 pounds from cutting soda or cutting juice because of the caloric impact of that. And so if we pair that with raising our awareness, we can get to that brutal honesty and that truth and that accountability quicker. And the quicker you can get to the truth, the quicker you can change your life. The truth will set you free, but first it'll piss you off. It's a great quote from one of my best friends, Gabriel Pinto. He's a life coach in Atlanta. And it is a fact that you'll get mad when you're like, I've been eating 4,000 calories for 10 years and been wondering why I'm gaining 50 pounds a year. No shit. Welcome to it. And the cycle of the psychological competence principle of we move from unconscious incompetence, which means we don't know what we don't know, to conscious incompetence. Oh, I now know I'm eating too many calories to conscious competence while I'm having to track and weigh and it's a little uncomfortable, but I'm figuring it out to unconscious competence, which is where the pros are. The pros are in a state of flow, if you will. LeBron James doesn't think about how he has to play basketball or shoot a layup. He just does it right. He's unconsciously competent. And if you stick with a task for six months, you can get to the point where you and I can probably go out to eat all week for every meal and have a general idea of where we are calorically.
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You can eyeball the plate of food and make a pretty good educated guess on where you are.
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That's it. But you have to do that work first. You have to first track every damn bite you put in your mouth. Yeah, it's an, it's just, in my opinion, a non negotiable. Even if it's for a month. Right. Do it and your life will be forever changed.
B
Yeah, it's, it's literally on my other show, it's Travis makes Money and we talk about the same thing. You just, you just, just don't realize where the money's going. That's the problem is you've never taken account, you've never actually looked line item, like buy item on your, on your monthly expenses and been like, I spent how much eating out? I spent how much randomly on Amazon stuff that I didn't need. Like, well, there's the money. It's right there. You know what I mean? It's not just magically vanishing. You're not just magically getting fatter. You know what I mean? Like, it's, it's.
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Some people think they are.
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I was, yeah, I was going to say there's. There's a very, very, very small segment of the population that have a real thyroid problem or something like that where like they're eating well. That's a much smaller group than most people who would identify in that group, you know what I mean? That was me definitely on the weight loss, weight loss side. I didn't, they had a thyroid problem. But I was like, oh, it's genetics, you know what I mean? And just, and of course that plays a role. There's, there's genetics that play a role and hormones play a role. But especially specifically to, to weight loss things. It's usually not those things. It's usually like, I think what Michael said in that episode is you don't, you don't have a thyroid problem. You have an Elbow problem. Every time your elbow bends, you're putting food in your mouth. But yeah, but to equate it to the financial piece of the conversation, it's exactly the same thing if you always have more month at the end of your money than you owe it to yourself to try to figure out where the money's going. And does it mean that maybe you're just not making enough money? It could, but it could also mean that you just straight up lack financial discipline. So there's a few things even in my financial life that I've tried to do to just at least be aware of that. One thing is I check my bank account balance basically every day and for an extended period of time it was every single day. Like I looked at my bank account balance and it is uncomfortable when you are in a bad financial state because it sort of puts you in a negative mindset. So I tell people like, you don't have to check it first thing in the morning if you feel like it's going to make you anxious all day. But you should just constantly be aware of the money that's in the account so that it sort of puts you into that deprivation environment that motivates you to go out and get more money. But it also will make you go, it'll make you some like think twice. If you checked your bank account balance at 4pm and your, your spouse just said something about going out and getting food because, you know, don't, don't feel like cooking type of a thing, but you just checked your bank account balance, you might just go, maybe we'll just do some PB and J. Or like, you know, we don't, we don't, we're not in the, the position financially to just be able to willy nilly decide that we're going to go
D
out and drop 150 calories from the PB&J question.
B
Well, that's a, that's a, that's a whole, whole.
D
That is, we're, we're talking about that, we were talking about that today while I was taking a shower and then Tara came in and said, groceries are so expensive. And then I was like, yeah, that's the shampoo. No, anyway, it doesn't matter. I was in the shower. Visual, visual depiction of the scene. But no, we're talking because we had ordered like, you know, for the next. Because we go on a trip in like a week and a half. So we're like ordering up until then, like, you know, get little items we need. And she's like, how do People who have like five kids and don't make a lot of money, like, order meat.
B
Yeah.
D
And I was like, they don't?
B
Yeah.
D
It's like, it's just literally. And it's.
B
But, but also, but also I think, I think that because the grocery bill is a big chunk at once, it seems like it's expensive. So people just go do fast food. And then it's like, well, that's objectively more expensive and way worse. You know, it's like, again, I can
A
get a K. Pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Tricks Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.
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It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor. No, really, stop.
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You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side
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and participate in McDonald's while supplies last.
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And get a pound of New York steak from Costco for like 12 to $14 a pound of like good quality beef. And that feeds me and Jack. Like we'll just, we'll, we'll cook up a half a cup of rice in the rice cooker and then. Or a cup of rice in the rice cooker and then have a pound of beef and then we both eat that. And I was like, that's like a $15 meal because the rice is almost free. Essentially they're paying you to take rice, it seems like. So you, you factor that in, it's like, well, it's 15 bucks. That's still cheaper than any fast food meal that we would be able to go get. And like the most expensive version of being able to go to the grocery store minus buying like wagyu filet or something like that that's been most of
D
our meals lately is like steak and then something on the side.
B
Right.
D
You know, it's like if you get a Bag of frozen mixed vegetables. You know, you're, you're set.
B
Yeah. And the, the sneaky ones are like the sauces and stuff like that, you know, cuz like when, when we do the, the steak and rice, we'll do like some teriyaki sauce or something. But I just started using sriracha because it was like, I looked at the teriyaki sauce was like, man, this is so much sugar. There's so much, there's so many additional calories in this. Plus I cook my steak in, in olive oil and butter so I know I'm getting additional calories from the fats that I'm cooking it in. So I was like, oh, let me like, I love sriracha so no reason to pour this teriyaki sauce all over it. That's going to be additional calories. I'll just stick with the sriracha. But, but my point is, is like in your finances there's similar decisions like that where you start, you start realizing like, oh, I didn't really actually matter to me to buy that three pack of T shirts on that Instagram ad that I saw or that TikTok shop affiliate link that I saw. It didn't actually matter to me to do that. It benefit my life to any real degree. I could have just used the same shirts that I have right now. I just bought it on an impulse buy because it's so easy to spend money and buy things anymore. So I just, I just bought it, you know. So like another rule I have for myself is like I give myself an hour. I have a cooling off period essentially of like if I see something that I want online, I send a message. I'll just send it to myself in a message. And then in an hour or a couple of hours when I go back and check my phone again, see that. And then if I really want it, then maybe I'll buy it. But a lot of times it's like, ah, I didn't really need another pair of sunglasses. I, I could, I could pass on that. It's just that those impulse decisions and it's, I do the same thing with food where it's like, especially if I'm like on a fast or something like that and, and I, I don't want to break the fast, but I'm getting really hungry. It's like, can I put this off for one more hour? It can. I just, can I, can I push it off for an hour? And an hour is just it, it's easier to say no to introducing more calories. Into my diet if I'm only looking at it in an hour by hour section versus thinking about, like, man, if I don't, that means I have to wait till dinner, and that's in six hours from now. So, like, let me just go ahead and eat some food. You know what I mean? And sometimes if I really, really want it, then in an hour from then, I'll ask myself that question again, and I'll be like, no, I want to eat some food, or I'm feeling, you know, lightheaded or whatever. I need to get some calories in. But then in an hour when I check in, I'll go, can I. Can I go another hour? You know, it's sort of like what we're talking about with running the other day or jogging, and you, like, pick a landmark in, you know, that's 50 yards ahead of you to be like, I'll just keep running to that light pole. But you get the light pole, you're like, let me just go to that fire hydrant now. You know what I mean? Like, it's. It's more psychologically easy to. To put things off in shorter chunks and shorter time frames and to continue moving the goalpost a little bit than it is to think about, nope, I got to go two more miles. And if you think about, I got to go two more miles, you're just going to stop. You know, if you're.
D
You. You pee on the fire hydrant, you dirty dog.
C
What?
D
Dogs be on fire. Anyway,
B
good one.
D
So listen, no, I. But I think this where I really like how Michael broke down the kind of competency thing where, you know, you start with unconscious incompetence, which means. I didn't realize this chai tea latte.
B
Yeah.
D
Is adding to my hips.
B
Total lack of awareness. Yeah.
D
I will say I had built up quite a derriere. Cause I had lost it all the way. And it's starting to plump up now. I need to just tighten it up, you know, get it, like, a little firm. And then you get conscious incompetence, which is where you. You see, oh, I realize now that it's this many calories. I'm gonna keep drinking it, you know, or you can get to conscious competence, where you go, okay, I'm gonna go out of my way. I'm gonna think more about what I'm drinking. I'll check some labels. And then it gets to the point where it's just second nature. And I think, like, that applied to the financial world or any aspect of life, like, any skill that you're trying to build anything, like, thinking about in those terms of like, am I just suffering because I'm ignorant? Which is where everyone starts. Am I suffering because I'm ignoring something because I like it too much? Am I suffering because, you know, I have to check this label all the time. It takes forever and it adds time to my day. Yeah, but like, all those things lead you to being able to just go like, okay, I can, you know, go to work, head to a restaurant, do anything without having to second guess, like, am I doing something harmful? You know?
B
Yeah, you can get to the eyeballing phase where it's like, I no longer have to put in the amount of effort that I had to put in to figure this out. But that's also, I think, directly responsible for this period of time now where I've been able to keep the weight off for a couple of years because for a while it was like, I would just be hyper disciplined for six months and then I would lose all the weight and then I'd be like, oh, cool, mission accomplished. And then I'd go right back into what I was doing before and I'd gain it all back, or at least a portion of it back. And the last couple of years has felt so much easier to me, but it's because I was. I've entered like, I entered that phase where it's like I. Yeah, my weight fluctuates and sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down, but it's like, it's, it's very manageable and it's not as. It's not, it's not a problem.
D
I'm 280 and now I'm 190 and now I'm 280 and. Yeah, you're like Christian Bale getting ready for roles.
B
Exactly.
D
Well, listen, one of the key things as we close out, it's great to have accountability when you're beginning a fitness journey. You should ask a friend to maybe help you if they're further ahead, if they're in that unconscious competence stage. And maybe you're just in that conscious incompetence stage. So you want to reach out, get some help. And those friends might laugh at you in your face, but there's probably someone out there that'll care about your fitness journey and they'll help help you achieve those goals. But it's not, it's not going to be Travis.
B
Anyway.
D
Anyway, close out the episode.
B
That's it for this episode of the show. Thanks for tuning in. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let's solve that one first here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Catch you next time. Peace. And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
Episode Title: CO-HOST | Make Money by Treating Your Budget Like Your Diet
Host: Travis Chappell
Co-Host: Eric (Producer)
Date: April 12, 2026
In this episode of Travis Makes Money, host Travis Chappell and his producer Eric dive into the striking parallels between diet/fitness habits and personal finance management. The discussion emphasizes that just as you can't "outrun" a poor diet, you can't "out-save" or budget your way to wealth—you have to earn more while making conscious spending choices. The episode is rich with practical tips, relatable stories, and honest self-reflection on owning your habits, both nutritional and financial. The core theme: brutal honesty and awareness are the starting points for lasting change, whether you’re aiming for financial freedom or better health.
"Be willing to be brutally honest with yourself for 30 days...and then you’ll see where you’re going wrong. You can eliminate the things first that you don’t really care about." (03:24)
“You just, just don’t realize where the money’s going. That’s the problem—You’ve never taken account, you’ve never actually looked line item, like buy item on your monthly expenses and been like, I spent HOW much eating out?” (13:33)
This episode offers relatable, actionable, and at times comedic insight into how you can improve both your health and your wealth by adopting simple habits of honesty and tracking, and resisting quick-fix or restrictive mindsets.