8/8/25 The 10 Most Expensive Habits with Michael George of Safe 1 Credit Union

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Friday, August 8th BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Guys" podcast call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management LinkedIn: Moneywise_Wealth_Management Guest: Michael George, Safe 1 Credit Union website: www.safe1.org/

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From the Garo Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway, here is Money Wise. Call or text into the show 24/7 at 396-1000.

• 0:39Speaker 00

  Here is Money Wise. Money, money, money, money.

• 0:44Speaker 01

  Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Weekend Eve.

• 0:50Speaker 02

  Weekend Eve?

• 0:51Speaker 01

  The Weekend Eve, the Friday edition of the Money Wise Show.

• 0:57Speaker 01

  We're live from the Garo Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway, ESPN Radio, Bakersfield, 1230 AM, 101.1 FM. You can always join us streaming live on the old interwebs.

• 1:13Speaker 01

  Anywhere you get your podcasts, we're there as well. Join us at MoneyWiseGuys.com. You can always text or call into the show, please do. We love the banter. You might actually get some good ones today because we got a great show for you today. We'll tell you a little bit about it in here in just a second, but 661-396-1000, call into the show, text into the show. We love the banter. In fact, we got two great questions we'll go to, we're here real quick in just a moment. Today, we're your hosts. I'm Justin Leland here with?

• 1:46Speaker 02

  Dustin Weaver.

• 1:47Speaker 01

  The Dustin Show.

• 1:48Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 1:49Speaker 01

  Taking you into the weekend.

• 1:53Speaker 01

  It was, it was a weird day on the market, a good day on the market. The uh

• 2:00Speaker 01

  NASDAQ hit a fresh record high. S and P Dow is up, everything's up today. It's actually a pretty decent day on the market. Would you say Dustin?

• 2:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, the S and P was up point seven eight percent. So just shy of one percent there. Same with the NASDAQ up point nine eight. The dumb Dow, a point four seven and the Russell two thousand up point one seven as well. So.

• 2:25Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it's an interesting kind of, uh, I'm looking a little deeper into the, the numbers here. I mean, the green on the screen, right? And tariffs are taking hold, right? This is part of the picture is tariffs are kind of taking hold. But if we look deeper, the VIX, which is known as the fear index.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Is down nine percent today.

• 2:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's a volatility index.

• 2:52Speaker 01

  The volatility index. Yeah.

• 2:55Speaker 02

  Yeah. So it's a measure of how volatile are things? And when that's trending downward, that means.

• 3:02Speaker 01

  Less fear on the market.

• 3:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, right.

• 3:04Speaker 01

  And less fear on the market.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Tends to mean more stability, right? So.

• 3:11Speaker 02

  Yep. Less variability.

• 3:12Speaker 01

  Less variability, less, less up and down in the market. So we're probably going to be a little bit stable for a minute. Anytime the VIX is under 20 is usually relatively stable, right? We're at 15 right now. It's down about nine percent just today. So interesting to see that kind of happening with, uh, some of the headwinds in the markets that we're seeing. The jobs numbers from last week weren't that great. Uh, saw some volatility from that. We're also seeing volatility as always from the tariffs. But I think that's all being kind of digested pretty well by Wall Street at this point. And that's kind of what you're seeing is that the, that volatility index is, uh,

• 3:52Speaker 01

  staying pat. So interesting how that's working. We've got a great show for you today. We actually have Mike George here in house. We're going to be going over the top 10 expensive habits.

• 4:05Speaker 02

  All right.

• 4:05Speaker 01

  I'm pretty sure you could guess.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  Probably five or seven of the top 10. If you really look at your own pocketbook.

• 4:15Speaker 02

  Definitely.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  But we're going to talk about those when we get to the the second half of the show. Or maybe even before that, but we're going to get to that. We had a couple of questions that came in that I definitely want to talk about because these are some very kind of in-depth questions. And Dustin, when you want to read that first one there?

• 4:36Speaker 02

  Absolutely. So it says, my daughter and I live in Shafter and my husband recently passed away. Last year, I'm 58 and currently receiving survivor benefits. But I'm also eligible for spousal benefits when I turn 62. With California's high cost of living, especially housing, I need to maximize my social security income. Can you break down some best strategies for positioning between these different types of benefit options? I love the show. Thank you for posting each episode. Have a great Friday.

• 5:06Speaker 01

  That is a great question. First off, very sorry to hear about your loss. That's that's tough.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  But great question. Survivor benefits, spousal benefits.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  There's a lot of different ways you can maximize your benefits. So we're going to, I want to talk about a couple of different options. The first option I want to say is to potentially stay with the survivor benefits. And I'm going to preface this by definitely go to your local social security office and play these numbers. But generally speaking, this is kind of, you know, your, your strategy. Stay on the survivor benefits.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  And delay your own retirement benefit. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to assume that our 58-year-old widow has a work history of her own and has some benefit of her own. Right? I'm going to assume that.

• 6:12Speaker 02

  So all the working that she did, all the paychecks, a little bit of money set aside towards social security.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  She has a benefit. Right. She has her own benefit.

• 6:20Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  So stay on that survivor benefit. You're receiving your spouse's benefit, full benefit as survivor benefits. And you're now delaying your personal benefit until the age of 70.

• 6:38Speaker 01

  This can make your own benefit grow by about 8% per year, meaning that your benefit that you would be getting, and we'll go through an example here in a second, your benefit grows by 8% per year while you're still receiving your late husband's benefits as a spousal survivor benefit. Okay? At the age of 70, then you can then switch and no longer receive the survivor benefits, and now you file for your own, hopefully, higher benefit at that point for the rest of your life.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:14Speaker 01

  Does that sound like a plan?

• 7:15Speaker 02

  It sounds like a good strategy. It really is case by case.

• 7:18Speaker 01

  Right.

• 7:18Speaker 02

  Because everybody's benefit is different. When I hear the term spousal benefit, what comes to mind is the fact that that's typically a reduced benefit.

• 7:28Speaker 01

  Typically comes in.

• 7:29Speaker 02

  For example, if somebody has a $2,500 a month benefit, and they have a spouse that, let's say, never worked outside of the home, right?

• 7:36Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 7:37Speaker 02

  Because working at home is a full-time job and difficult. Shout out to all of you that have done that.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  Or are currently doing that.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:44Speaker 02

  But even as a spouse.

• 7:46Speaker 01

  You're entitled to $1,250.

• 7:49Speaker 02

  Right.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  Not the full $2,500.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  Yep, if you wait till your full retirement age, which is currently 67 for most of us. But that's a reduced benefit, right? It's half of a full benefit.

• 8:01Speaker 01

  Correct.

• 8:02Speaker 02

  Whereas a survivor benefit, just as the term implies.

• 8:05Speaker 01

  You're receiving that full benefit.

• 8:07Speaker 02

  You're surviving the spouse and getting the full benefit.

• 8:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, so, let's, I have an example here somewhere, let me look at this. So, let's take the example. Let's say you currently are receiving, say, $1,600 a month in survivor benefits from your late spouse.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  Let's say your own social security benefit is, let's say, at 62, you'd get $1,100, but at 67, you'd get $1,600, and at 70, you'd get just under $2,000. That's how the benefit in 1980.

• 8:40Speaker 01

  So you stay on the survivor benefit at that $1,600 a month, all the way to the age of 70.

• 8:49Speaker 01

  Then you switch to your own benefit, which would be $1,980 a month at the age of 70. You give yourself a $380 a month raise.

• 8:58Speaker 02

  By waiting.

• 8:59Speaker 01

  By waiting.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  That's how you maximize your benefit. Now, again, like I said, preface this, go to your social security office, talk to them. They will be able to help you do exactly that. But that's a, that's a typical strategy that you would see for somebody that is getting survivor benefits prior to them receiving their own benefit.

• 9:21Speaker 02

  And Justin, you and I both have talked about this before. We've seen it where our clients will go down, talk to social security office. Not all agents are equal in their experience.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  And it depends on what side of the bed they woke up at that morning.

• 9:33Speaker 02

  That's true. So definitely recommend if you're not getting clear answers.

• 9:38Speaker 01

  Call again.

• 9:38Speaker 02

  Feel free to call again, talk to somebody else.

• 9:42Speaker 02

  But most of them are pretty schooled up on this and can help you make the right decision.

• 9:46Speaker 01

  But it's a, sorry, you're going through that. It is a difficult situation, but it's not as dire, you know, from the social security standpoint, there are a couple of different scenarios that you can do. What's the other question we had there?

• 10:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, here it is. So, hey, guys, I keep hearing that the bigger tax credit would primarily go to middle and upper income families. So what's your honest take? If you're a working family here in Bakersfield making $60,000 a year, are you actually going to see a meaningful difference? Or is this more helpful for families who are already doing, quote, okay?

• 10:24Speaker 01

  Wow, that's a loaded question.

• 10:27Speaker 01

  So the, the big beautiful bill increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,200.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  Didn't fully go up to the, what it was in, what, 2021? They bumped it up, what, 3,600? That was a, that was a huge bump. And then they took, they, they got rid of that. Now.

• 10:47Speaker 02

  COVID special.

• 10:47Speaker 01

  The COVID special, right?

• 10:50Speaker 01

  Now.

• 10:52Speaker 01

  Is it gonna light the world on fire in your life if you have two kids to get an extra $400 a year in tax credits? Maybe, maybe not, you know?

• 11:04Speaker 02

  Thirty something dollars a month.

• 11:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:06Speaker 02

  It's phenomenal.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  It's, yeah, you're gonna get, you're gonna feel a little something, but it's not. Where it kind of becomes an issue, though, is the, if you're lower on the socioeconomic ladder, let's say you're making like 30 or 40,000 dollars a year. The tax credit's not refundable, meaning that you don't get the full 2,200, you might only get 1,700, right? Because of the way that the taxes work.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's not necessarily a credit that's going to pay you back above or beyond. It's gonna just offset.

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Right. Where it used to.

• 11:42Speaker 02

  Existing tax.

• 11:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, where the child tax credit used to be fully refundable, regardless of your tax situation.

• 11:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:49Speaker 01

  Right? Now, the second part of his question, this listener's question was about the higher earners. If you are single, making 200,000 a year, or married filing jointly, making 400,000 dollars a year, the child tax credit starts to phase out. So it doesn't help you. If you're making 500,000 dollars a year, you don't need the child tax credit anyways. It phases out. You're, you don't get that. So it doesn't really help those making a high, high salary. But if you're in middle income, you'll feel it, you'll get a little bit, but it's not gonna be a, not gonna be as much as it was like in 2021.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, so hopefully that clarifies what people were asking there.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  So with that, that's great questions. Keep them coming in, but we're gonna take a break right now. We're gonna come right back with Mike George. We're gonna talk about the 10 most expensive habits that we as Americans have. I'm sure you probably know half of them. We'll be right back.

• 12:52Speaker 00

  Money Wise Wealth Management is the only locally owned, independent firm that uses a comprehensive wealth, tax, and estate approach, working closely with a highly trusted CPA and attorney. For information on how Money Wise can help you invest and plan for your future, call 661-847-1000. That's 661-847-1000.

• 13:29Speaker 00

  All right, what album's this one from?

• 13:31Speaker 03

  That is, that's an old school one. Um, boy, that might stomp me. I'm gonna, Hotter Than Hell. No. Oh, Dressed to Kill. Okay, I was off by one album.

• 13:43Speaker 00

  Love Gun?

• 13:45Speaker 03

  Oh, it's Love Gun. Oh, you're right. You're right. So I was off by several albums.

• 13:49Speaker 00

  I did go with the deep tracks.

• 13:51Speaker 03

  That is, that is a deep track, yeah.

• 13:52Speaker 00

  One of my favorites, though.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  Well, when Gene Simmons starts playing that bass, we know it's Mike George time.

• 13:58Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:00Speaker 00

  Or Stevens off the rails.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  Or Stevens off the rails.

• 14:02Speaker 00

  Or both.

• 14:03Speaker 01

  Or both. Well, Michael George, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Safe One Credit Union, joins us again, back by popular demand.

• 14:16Speaker 03

  It's been a while. It's great to be here. It's been a while. Yeah, it's great to be back.

• 14:20Speaker 01

  It's, uh, yeah. Good to have you on the, on the show again, man.

• 14:23Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 14:24Speaker 01

  So, uh, what's Safe One been up to, man?

• 14:27Speaker 03

  Busy year. It's been a good year.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  It's been a good, it's half over, more than half over now.

• 14:31Speaker 03

  Uh, we've had a great year, um, in terms of membership growth, asset growth, return on assets, all the metrics that we go by, that we look at.

• 14:41Speaker 01

  At the credit union level, you're just, you're killing it.

• 14:43Speaker 03

  Oh, it's, it's, yeah, it's phenomenal.

• 14:45Speaker 01

  You opened a new branch, right?

• 14:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:47Speaker 01

  Uh, out on, uh, north.

• 14:48Speaker 03

  Mount Vernon.

• 14:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, Mount Vernon. How's it going?

• 14:51Speaker 03

  Gangbusters. It's going great. And if you get a chance to see it, it's beautiful.

• 14:54Speaker 00

  Yeah, where is it on Mount Vernon?

• 14:55Speaker 03

  Mount Vernon, Columbus.

• 14:56Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 14:57Speaker 03

  Years ago, it was, um, well, originally, it was a gas station, but most recently, it was a mechanics bank.

• 15:03Speaker 00

  Oh, there you go.

• 15:03Speaker 03

  And people don't recognize it from the old building because we put a drive up in front. And it really, it, it's bang up. It did really, it's really good.

• 15:11Speaker 01

  Yeah. It's good to see, uh, local banks and credit unions doing well. It's, it really is nice to see that. So, good to have you on the show. Haven't seen you in a minute. Um, but we're gonna get into some, uh... Some vices.

• 15:27Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:27Speaker 01

  We.

• 15:28Speaker 02

  Well, not here right now.

• 15:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:30Speaker 02

  We'll talk about.

• 15:31Speaker 01

  We're gonna talk about. We're gonna talk about all of our personal vices.

• 15:36Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 15:36Speaker 01

  What we spend money on. And let's, let's, let's go through this list.

• 15:42Speaker 03

  Yeah. What, what you got? How expensive it can be and whether it's bad or not. Of course, if it, if it gets into our pocketbook too deep, then of course it's always bad.

• 15:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:49Speaker 03

  Uh, but yeah, like you said, we all have vices.

• 15:52Speaker 01

  Right.

• 15:52Speaker 03

  Uh, whether it's morning coffee, eating out, um.

• 15:55Speaker 01

  Our hobbies.

• 15:57Speaker 03

  Both, yeah.

• 15:58Speaker 01

  Right.

• 15:58Speaker 03

  Everybody has it and they're generally harmless, but again, if it can get deep into your pocketbook, then you'll have a problem. What you said earlier, Justin, is totally true. Some we're gonna know right off the bat.

• 16:06Speaker 01

  Right.

• 16:06Speaker 03

  So we're going through 10 of them here and we're gonna start with one of the most obvious ones, and that's drinking alcohol.

• 16:12Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 16:12Speaker 03

  Now, what, this is funny. As I was putting this together and I looked at available data, so the average American spent approximately $580 on alcohol in 2024. I don't know what group, I was gonna say, I don't know what group was part of this.

• 16:25Speaker 01

  Like lightweights.

• 16:26Speaker 03

  I would say the circle of group that I know, and I'm not saying.

• 16:30Speaker 01

  That's a Saturday night for some people.

• 16:31Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly. And I'm not saying that alcoholics or anything like that, but I will say that 500 bucks could be in a month.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  Right.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  And I'm breaking down like what you buy for your home, when you go out to dinner.

• 16:43Speaker 01

  Right.

• 16:43Speaker 03

  All that. So I, I think it's probably more in the five to six thousand.

• 16:46Speaker 01

  Grab a couple of margaritas at dinner.

• 16:48Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly.

• 16:49Speaker 01

  16 bucks a pop.

• 16:51Speaker 03

  It's happy hour? Oh, I'll have three, you know?

• 16:53Speaker 02

  I'd be curious to know which kind of average they mean, because if they're looking at the average of everything, it's like some families don't drink at all.

• 17:00Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 17:01Speaker 02

  Others that spend a lot more money.

• 17:02Speaker 03

  That's exactly it.

• 17:03Speaker 01

  That's probably what they have in it.

• 17:05Speaker 02

  Looks low?

• 17:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:06Speaker 03

  Totally. I would, I would agree. I, I think that's totally true. And, and so not only is cost associated with, associated with one's use, but also where do you frequent? Like if you go to an upscale trendy bar, uh, you're gonna be more than if you're just the regular local at the dive bar.

• 17:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, a $50 cocktail versus a $3 beer.

• 17:24Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 17:24Speaker 01

  Right?

• 17:25Speaker 03

  So you, you go to the trendy bar, you figure an average drinks 10 bucks. Let's say you just have two drinks every weekend for the whole year. You're gonna spend over 1,100 bucks for the year. But again, who? Who goes to a trendy bar even at ten bucks and only has two drinks?

• 17:39Speaker 01

  Who has a ten dollar cocktail?

• 17:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  They're like seventeen.

• 17:42Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly. That's totally true as well.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Right.

• 17:45Speaker 03

  Even if you just bought a twelve pack a week, that's gonna be eleven hundred bucks a year. So, again, I think the number that they gave.

• 17:52Speaker 01

  I think they're underestimating that number.

• 17:53Speaker 03

  I completely agree. I think they put the low scale on this. It depends on your consumption habits, but the fact of the matter is that, you know, the average person, at least again in the circle I work with, because I've kind of think about this, is probably five to six thousand dollars a year. And, but, you know, alcohol drinking can become a problem, not just from your pocketbook, but if you're abusing it.

• 18:13Speaker 01

  If you're doing it, abusing it becomes an issue, more so, yeah, that's a bigger issue.

• 18:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 18:17Speaker 01

  That's a different radio show.

• 18:18Speaker 02

  And speaking of that, I mean, the next expensive one here is smoking.

• 18:23Speaker 03

  Smoking, yeah. So, smoking, another expensive, a bad one.

• 18:28Speaker 01

  I'm glad to see that this is no longer really a big thing.

• 18:30Speaker 03

  It's much less.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  Right.

• 18:31Speaker 03

  In fact, it's funny, I was talking to my dad and we were saying that, no, I was born in the seventies, so.

• 18:36Speaker 01

  Everybody smoked.

• 18:37Speaker 03

  You went to a party and the guys, the adults, it would be weird if one of them didn't smoke.

• 18:43Speaker 01

  Right.

• 18:43Speaker 03

  Now you go to a party, if one of them does smoke, that's kind of the offshoot.

• 18:47Speaker 01

  They're the pariah.

• 18:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 18:49Speaker 01

  Right, they're outside in the garage and everybody's like, where's Jim?

• 18:51Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 18:52Speaker 01

  Oh, he's out smoking. Oh, that's, yeah, okay.

• 18:53Speaker 02

  Well, Jim's habit is ten bucks a pack now, is that right?

• 18:57Speaker 03

  Ten bucks a pack now, yeah. In California, it's about ten bucks. It varies depending upon what brand you smoke. But using this average, if someone were to smoke just one pack a week, it costs about five hundred and sixty dollars a year. If you're a pack a day individual, that's about a little over three hundred dollars a month, and you're paying about thirty six hundred dollars a year on your cigarettes. Now, think about that.

• 19:19Speaker 01

  And I know my dad at one point was, he was about a two pack a day smoker.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  Wow. So, in today's dollars, that'd be seventy five hundred bucks.

• 19:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, given all we know, that's.

• 19:30Speaker 01

  That's bad.

• 19:31Speaker 03

  That's bad.

• 19:31Speaker 01

  Bad news.

• 19:32Speaker 03

  Now, think about that. If it's, say it's thirty six hundred dollars, you're a pack a day person, that'd be over five years, about twenty thousand bucks. That'd be a nice down payment on a house or on a vehicle.

• 19:43Speaker 01

  Right.

• 19:44Speaker 03

  Because people are putting, you know. Cars are getting kind of crazy in price too, so, but think about it, that's the way, I knew a guy, he, uh, he was a smoker and he wanted to get a, at the time it was like a Chrysler truck with the Hemi engine and all that.

• 19:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, the Dodge Dodge truck or whatever.

• 19:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, and he ended up, exactly what it is, he quit smoking in order to make his payment.

• 20:05Speaker 02

  Anyways, they want to make the payment from what he's saving on.

• 20:07Speaker 03

  And he, and he, he quit, I was shocked, but he, he quit.

• 20:10Speaker 01

  Cold turkey so he could afford the truck.

• 20:11Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly, exactly.

• 20:14Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 20:14Speaker 03

  Probably added a few years to his life too.

• 20:16Speaker 01

  Oh, wow, it probably did, probably did. Now, the third one, definitely, I'm definitely guilty of.

• 20:23Speaker 03

  Are you guilty? You're guilty?

• 20:25Speaker 01

  Yep. Massively guilty.

• 20:26Speaker 03

  This one's, yeah, this one's probably not as sinister as the alcohol or the smoking, but, uh.

• 20:32Speaker 01

  Well, the alcohol does come into it.

• 20:33Speaker 03

  It does come into it, I would agree, uh, and that's, that's eating out, eating away from home, whether it's done for convenience or the the joy of hanging out with family and friends, or just, some people just like to go try new restaurants. Uh, it's a common pastime in our country and on average, Americans spend over seventy-six hundred, seventy-six hundred dollars a year on food away from home, so even fast food, like, I recently went to a fast food restaurant and I was, as I was reading on this, the average fast food price for a single person, you, you used to think it was a couple of bucks, four or five, it's twelve fifty now.

• 21:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:06Speaker 02

  Well, and that's talking national averages, you know, I don't know if it's California, I don't know if it's our region, I mean, this is often hired that.

• 21:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, it is, when I take my son, I'll treat him to like a McDonald's cheeseburger.

• 21:18Speaker 01

  Right.

• 21:19Speaker 03

  And I'll treat myself to the, the Big Mac meal.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Right.

• 21:22Speaker 03

  It's about twelve fifty, you think it's like six or seven bucks and she rings it up and I'm like, what the heck is going on here?

• 21:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't, I don't typically frequent fast food, but sometimes I, I have to because it's like I'm starving and it's on my way to the next meeting I gotta go to. You, you drive through a Carl's Jr. and it's like for one of the meals, fifteen bucks.

• 21:40Speaker 03

  Oh, exactly, exactly.

• 21:42Speaker 01

  It's like, I didn't order anything really off the wall.

• 21:45Speaker 03

  No, if, if you're an individual, and it varies, obviously, you know, given what we've talked about with health, a lot of people try to avoid it, but if you're an individual that's in the habit of eating fast food, say during the work week, like five times a week, you know, you're gonna spend over three hundred bucks a month, uh, in doing that.

• 22:00Speaker 01

  Easy, and it's, you're probably gonna spend a heck of a lot more than that. Later on in your life, in, in health issues.

• 22:07Speaker 03

  Oh, no doubt, no doubt about it. But you know, whether it's, you know, thirty five hundred dollars a, a year in, in fast food, or if it's the seventy six hundred dollars that we talked about of eating out.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  Right.

• 22:18Speaker 03

  Um, you gotta, you gotta weigh that. What are some of the other things? I'm not saying eating out is bad. We do it as a family as well. But, uh, you know, what are some other things I could do with that money?

• 22:27Speaker 02

  Well, and you know, we have Duffield on here often, the tax guy, and where my brand, brain goes is that's seventy six hundred of after-tax dollars.

• 22:34Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 22:34Speaker 02

  You gotta earn, you know, ten, eleven, maybe twelve thousand, depending on your tax bracket.

• 22:38Speaker 03

  Exactly, totally true.

• 22:39Speaker 02

  To bring that home.

• 22:40Speaker 03

  Totally true. I know we gotta have fun, but you know, you gotta balance that out too, no doubt, no doubt.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, and the, the, the next one is, uh, is basically eating out, but on steroids, and I'm also guilty of this.

• 22:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:57Speaker 01

  Especially here in the office. I know that, uh, uh, Michelle here in the office is, frequently has to walk down to my office and hand me a little bag.

• 23:07Speaker 03

  Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is, this is eating out at home or in your office. Yeah. And it's gotten popular.

• 23:12Speaker 02

  Food delivery.

• 23:13Speaker 03

  Yep. The food delivery service. So, you know, there's Uber Eats, there's Instacart, Grubhub, Dash, uh, DoorDash.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 23:20Speaker 03

  Postmates, all those. Uh, and it's, it's convenient, you know, the food's delivered to your doorstep. Alls you do is push a button on your,

• 23:26Speaker 01

  On your phone.

• 23:27Speaker 03

  On your app and you're, you're good to go. But it does come at a cost. Uh, people who use such services such as this. Now, check this, it's generally thirty six dollars per order. Now, that's per order, per person, not per delivery.

• 23:39Speaker 01

  Right.

• 23:39Speaker 03

  So you got a family of four, times that by four.

• 23:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, hundred and fifty bucks, yeah.

• 23:45Speaker 03

  And, and you'll probably think, well, that, you know, if, if, if I'm a, if one person did this once a week, they're spending about a hundred and seventy dollars a month, and you'll think, well, does that sound expensive? And the answer is yes, because it includes service fee, delivery fee.

• 23:56Speaker 01

  Tip.

• 23:56Speaker 03

  Gratuity. Exactly, all of that. So if you think you're, you're an individual who does this, you do it weekly, you're paying a hundred and seventy a month, that's over two thousand a year. That's just for one person. So if you're a family of four, times that by four, you're spending eight thousand dollars a year on it.

• 24:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, it really adds up.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  It does. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to start diving into some of the other monetary vices that we have as Americans when we come back.

• 24:24Speaker 00

  Are you curious to learn more about how you can be money wise? Check out the Money Wise website at MoneyWiseGuys.com to get more info about what we do and how we can help you.

• 24:51Speaker 01

  Welcome back.

• 24:55Speaker 01

  So.

• 24:57Speaker 01

  Why doesn't Steven ever play the Kiss where they don't wear the makeup?

• 25:01Speaker 00

  Because it's horrible?

• 25:02Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's not the same. Okay, I gotta redeem myself. I know this is off the first album. Colton, he did a deep track. I'm very disappointed in myself because now I've got to go home and start like breaking out those old albums because, you know, the those first six studio albums are they're classics.

• 25:19Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 25:20Speaker 03

  They really are. Those are the best.

• 25:21Speaker 00

  Yes, they definitely the first one.

• 25:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, and the best, to me, the best live album of all time is still Kiss Alive.

• 25:29Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 25:29Speaker 03

  And I've got a bunch of live albums, but that is still, yes, the first one. That is the best.

• 25:33Speaker 00

  The first one. Not Alive Two or Three.

• 25:35Speaker 03

  Nah.

• 25:36Speaker 00

  Alive Two was cool.

• 25:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was cool, but One is the best.

• 25:39Speaker 00

  Yes, for sure.

• 25:40Speaker 02

  So that's the full title, Kiss Alive?

• 25:42Speaker 03

  Alive.

• 25:43Speaker 00

  Oh, Alive. It was one of the first bands to do a full live album.

• 25:48Speaker 03

  Double album.

• 25:50Speaker 01

  Double LP. Yeah.

• 25:52Speaker 00

  Yeah, and Two is up there. It's close.

• 25:54Speaker 03

  It's close. Yeah, it's close.

• 25:57Speaker 01

  That's another expense is going out and buying vinyl.

• 26:00Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 26:00Speaker 01

  That's what Mike George does. He spends way too much of his money on vinyl.

• 26:03Speaker 03

  Hey, man, vinyl used to be what, eight, eight dollars growing up? Now it's about

• 26:08Speaker 01

  Eighty?

• 26:08Speaker 03

  Forty bucks, forty to sixty bucks. Yeah, depending what you get.

• 26:11Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 26:13Speaker 03

  Oh, man.

• 26:14Speaker 00

  Is that, is that a collection you have?

• 26:16Speaker 03

  I'm, I don't have a huge collection. I've, I've got about four, four, five hundred records.

• 26:21Speaker 00

  Yeah. Not many, four or five.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  Five thousand.

• 26:24Speaker 03

  Well, you know, there's some guys that have like thousands and ten thousand and they spend a couple thousand dollars on the needle and all that. I, I, whether it's a two dollar needle or a two hundred dollar, I can't.

• 26:34Speaker 01

  You can't tell the difference.

• 26:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm good.

• 26:35Speaker 00

  I had five hundred when I was eight.

• 26:37Speaker 03

  Yeah. Oh, yeah. Him and his, him and his dad had a ton of albums at one time.

• 26:41Speaker 01

  Yeah. No, it's a, it's a little bit of a, for this guy over here, a little bit of a collection.

• 26:47Speaker 00

  It's out of control, but I don't pay a lot of money for them. I, I like to go to like the flea markets and.

• 26:53Speaker 03

  I, I do.

• 26:53Speaker 00

  You know what? I'll give you twenty bucks for that two hundred and I'll find something in there.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:57Speaker 03

  Yeah. The, the used records are the best. That's mostly what I do.

• 27:00Speaker 01

  Yeah. So, uh, how many Ricky Ricardo, uh, albums do you have?

• 27:06Speaker 00

  I, I'm sure I do.

• 27:07Speaker 01

  You probably have a few.

• 27:08Speaker 00

  Lucy, Lucy, I'm home.

• 27:11Speaker 01

  Uh, let's get back to it. So, uh, we've done the first four, right? So.

• 27:16Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Drinking, smoking, eating out and using online food delivery services.

• 27:21Speaker 03

  Correct.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, those are all big expenses.

• 27:24Speaker 03

  Huge.

• 27:24Speaker 01

  Uh, and I think, uh, other than the smoking.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  Uh, that's.

• 27:30Speaker 03

  Smoking, drinking and eating.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, the, the, the, the eating is, uh, the eating and the, and the drinking is probably up there in, in, in my category.

• 27:40Speaker 03

  You're three for four right now.

• 27:41Speaker 01

  I'm three for four.

• 27:42Speaker 03

  All right.

• 27:42Speaker 00

  So we're talking about expensive habits, right?

• 27:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:45Speaker 00

  What's the next one? What are we looking at?

• 27:47Speaker 03

  All right. This one is, is, is pretty common in our world. When I was growing up, not so much among teenagers and young adults, but huge now. And that's, uh, you know, buying the coffee.

• 27:57Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 27:57Speaker 03

  Starbucks, Dutch Brothers, Pete's Coffee, Dunkin' Donuts. Um, it's, you know, coffee drink is at all time high. When it's a hundred and five in Bakersfield and there is a line around the corner as I drive by Dutch Brothers. You know, there's some type of money and, and addiction going on.

• 28:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:13Speaker 03

  Um, uh, now for some people, the daily caffeine is just a fix that they need. Others, it's kind of a social event.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:19Speaker 03

  Where they're visiting with people. Um, but whatever the cost, it can. Certainly add up. So take for example, if you just did a single 16 ounce cup of coffee from Starbucks a day, just black coffee. It's about $2.53 and that seems pretty harmless.

• 28:33Speaker 01

  I think it's like 3.54 at this point.

• 28:35Speaker 03

  Is it that high now?

• 28:36Speaker 02

  Well, that's gotta be their entry level, right? That's the cheapest.

• 28:40Speaker 02

  No doctored up at all.

• 28:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's how they get you, get you, uh, get you in the door, so to speak. I mean, that's gonna be over a thousand dollars a year if you do that. And again, to Justin's, uh, Justin's point, that, that's not that six dollar exotic coffee. That's just the, the basic coffee. But if you did just one of those expensive coffees twice a week, that's still gonna be well over 600 dollars a year.

• 29:01Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:02Speaker 03

  But the, if you think about it, there's a reason why these global companies are killing it. They're making record profits every year.

• 29:12Speaker 03

  Cause there's plenty of people contributing to it, not just in the examples we gave, but you know, there are people that do get the five and six dollar every day.

• 29:18Speaker 01

  Or eight or nine dollar because of the amount of stuff they put in it. Triple whip.

• 29:25Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, and they've gotten smart. They're offering all kinds of stuff. I guess the energy drink's a big deal too with that Dutch Brothers.

• 29:33Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, it sounds like Red, Red Bull. They call it a rebel.

• 29:37Speaker 01

  Rebel, yeah.

• 29:40Speaker 02

  Play on words at all.

• 29:43Speaker 01

  This is why I make my own coffee at home. I buy, I buy the beans and I grind the beans myself. And I just make a black cup of coffee.

• 29:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:52Speaker 01

  I do my own drip and that's it.

• 29:54Speaker 03

  I treat myself. I, I can't, I'm a, I can't do the caffeine, so I, I do decaf on the weekends. People say, why do you do that? That's defeats the purpose of coffee. Well, if you ever saw me bouncing off the walls, you'd know. It's better for this guy to be on decaf.

• 30:10Speaker 02

  I figured you'd be wanting to get that fancy coffee that the monkeys.

• 30:16Speaker 01

  Cafe Luwak.

• 30:18Speaker 03

  But no, you know, again, an expensive habit.

• 30:20Speaker 01

  Right.

• 30:21Speaker 03

  Um, and the popularity is just crazy nowadays. We didn't, when I was in high school, we didn't do it, but

• 30:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:26Speaker 03

  It's a big deal now.

• 30:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think, you know, uh, once, once in a while, once a week, maybe once every two weeks or something. So to treat yourself as a

• 30:35Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't see a problem with that. But if you're, if you're going through the Starbucks line twice a day or once a day, every day, you got a problem.

• 30:45Speaker 03

  There's an issue.

• 30:45Speaker 01

  There's an issue. You wanna, woo hoo.

• 30:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:49Speaker 01

  Dial that one back. All right. Let's move on. So the next one here.

• 30:53Speaker 03

  Okay, the next one, this reminds me when I was growing up and your mom would say, you be sure to finish everything on your plate. You know, there's

• 30:59Speaker 01

  There's starving children in India or whatever.

• 31:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah. So you better eat up. And there's some truth to it because, uh, the average US household wastes about a third of the food that it buys every year. So when you've gotten that, if you haven't eaten all of your Uber Eats delivery,

• 31:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:12Speaker 03

  It's probably gonna go in the fridge and be there till it grows mold and you throw it away. Uh, but, uh, nationally, there's about $300 billion worth of food wasted every year. So that's about 2,300 per household.

• 31:23Speaker 01

  300 billion with a B, not million.

• 31:25Speaker 03

  Billion.

• 31:26Speaker 01

  Billion with a

• 31:27Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 31:28Speaker 02

  $300 billion, right?

• 31:29Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 31:30Speaker 02

  It's a lot.

• 31:31Speaker 03

  And so, uh, you know, wasting food is one of the worst habits to fall into since you're literally throwing your hard earned cash as well as the food into the garbage can. And most people don't even think of it, but there's a reason, remember growing up that you're, you'd go to your grandparents' house and they gave you something fresh and they might eat the leftovers.

• 31:47Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 31:48Speaker 03

  Um, they did it to save money.

• 31:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:50Speaker 03

  And it was a good idea then. It's a good idea now. When I was growing up, I never ate leftovers.

• 31:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:55Speaker 03

  Wasn't on my dime.

• 31:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:56Speaker 03

  But as an adult, you better believe I ate all those leftovers.

• 31:59Speaker 01

  So, yeah, in our house, it's like, well, we usually will do, uh, Saturday or Sunday, we'll do like the meal prepping.

• 32:06Speaker 03

  Oh, that's smart.

• 32:07Speaker 01

  The rest of the week is very, very difficult with Taekwondo and this and like, it's, it's tough, uh, to, to get everything. So we'll, we'll do a couple of large meals that we'll cook on either Saturday or Sunday and we'll have leftovers for the rest of the week.

• 32:24Speaker 03

  That's smart.

• 32:24Speaker 01

  Right? And so it's, it's a thing.

• 32:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, meal prep for the week is a, is a

• 32:30Speaker 01

  And we don't

• 32:30Speaker 03

  Huge way to save money.

• 32:31Speaker 01

  And we don't waste as much.

• 32:32Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 32:33Speaker 01

  We don't waste as much.

• 32:34Speaker 02

  Well, on that topic of wasting, and I feel like foods come up several times here. I'll tell you something else that we've been doing is sharing more often.

• 32:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:42Speaker 02

  I mean, we talk about the cost of things coming up and how expensive it is to go out. Really, we get so much on our plates at these restaurants.

• 32:48Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 32:49Speaker 02

  Really, we could split this.

• 32:51Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 32:51Speaker 02

  And be good.

• 32:52Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 32:52Speaker 02

  We're doing that more and more, and I'll tell you, it's, uh, it's been great.

• 32:56Speaker 01

  I've done that a couple of times where you order an entree and you immediately ask for a, a box or a bag. Cause you can cut that entree in half and take the other half home.

• 33:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, uh, we're doing the same thing. We go out, split, split in an entree. The kids don't, but me and my wife do.

• 33:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:11Speaker 03

  Definitely. The, the, the, the older, my older son takes care of it, saving any money, cause he'll order like the most expensive steak or something on it.

• 33:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, we're going out for a little bite to eat and.

• 33:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, just wait till he's paying the bill then.

• 33:22Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 33:22Speaker 02

  Right?

• 33:23Speaker 01

  Oh, the surf and turf, thanks.

• 33:25Speaker 03

  Yeah. I'm gonna order the steak and I'm also going to, um, make sure that there's no toilet paper on the roll. Yeah, I go in the restroom, so.

• 33:35Speaker 01

  Good grief. All right, so the next one.

• 33:38Speaker 03

  Next, okay, this affects some people more than others and it has to do with, you know, beauty or personal care purchases. Um, spending money on skincare products and trips to the nail salon, it might be a staple in your beauty maintenance routine, but it's certainly not cheap. Like now, according to advanced dermatology, the average American spends around $500 per year on skin products. With women spending more than a minute approximately $600. I can tell you where we talked about the alcohol number being low. For me personally, this number's way too high. I buy razors, I buy cheap shaving cream and cheap aftershave. And I'm good. And I, you know, I don't go to the salon, but if you go to a, a salon to get your, your mani and your pedi.

• 34:19Speaker 03

  The average costs about 115 bucks. So if you're doing the average of skincare and then also, uh, going to the salon. You spend about $2,000 a year.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  And I think though that there's some of those skincare products, depending upon what you're getting. You know, there's these eye creams and, you know. All these things, I mean, there's some of these, like $300 for a little tube.

• 34:40Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 34:41Speaker 01

  You know, an ounce.

• 34:42Speaker 03

  Mm hmm.

• 34:43Speaker 01

  That maybe lasts you a month.

• 34:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, I hear that five and 600. I think maybe that's a little expensive for a lot.

• 34:50Speaker 03

  Lot of people, huh?

• 34:51Speaker 02

  Lot of men, and then maybe.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  Maybe a little lighter. Yeah, right.

• 34:56Speaker 03

  Uh, you know, looking goods, it's hard work and it's expensive and, and it's a necessity, but if it's eaten into your pocketbook, then you need to kind of reconsider what brands you're using and what you're doing.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  It's okay to have a blemish or two.

• 35:08Speaker 03

  Hey, I live with them and I'm, I'm doing pretty good. I'm okay.

• 35:12Speaker 02

  You mentioned the cheap cologne. I wonder what that smell was.

• 35:14Speaker 03

  Yeah. It's, it's, um, it's, it's an acquired smell.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:21Speaker 01

  Oh, day, old man.

• 35:22Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:26Speaker 01

  All right. So, uh, personal care products. Okay. This next one is, uh, I like this one. This one here, this one definitely hits.

• 35:35Speaker 03

  If you're a victim of this, uh, it's, it's a big deal. Uh, my mom's a perfect example. And it, because we all respond to stress and adversity differently. You know, some people go to the gym, some take a ride in the car, some head to, you know, a place of solitude. Others go to the closest store to go shop and that's, that's more along the lines of what my mom, my mom's made this an art form. Um, and I'm not talking about the shopping that's needed for like daily necessities. This is impulse shopping.

• 36:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, the retail therapy.

• 36:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, you're sad, you're stressed, you're bored. Retail therapy, exactly. Impulse buying.

• 36:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:11Speaker 03

  Um, uh, basically what the recent data shows is that typical American spends about $150 a month on impulse purchases. Now, that's going to vary depending on how you personally respond adversity and what you do. I would probably be a little at the lower end of this. Uh, my mom could be higher if she had more money, but it's definitely a substantial part of, of her paycheck. So she, you know, the average American spends about $1,800 a year for something that they really could do without. So the main thing is that, you know, it's okay to go shopping. It's okay to buy things for your interest, but it goes back to that message. If it's affecting your pocketbook, you need to kind of reel it in a little bit.

• 36:50Speaker 01

  Well, and I think on this one, the retail therapy, I would also lump in to this one, um, expensive hobbies.

• 36:59Speaker 03

  I would, absolutely.

• 37:00Speaker 01

  So, we all have, like, we all have different stressors, right? So, I have a couple of hobbies that I have that can be considered, uh, maybe a little bit on the expensive side. I have an aquarium at home that is a saltwater aquarium. That takes some doing.

• 37:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, it does.

• 37:14Speaker 01

  Right? And, uh...

• 37:15Speaker 02

  Work and money both, right?

• 37:16Speaker 01

  Work and, uh, a little bit of cash. Uh, yeah, so that kind of floats into the whole retail therapy thing, but I also have to keep the fish alive. So, there's...

• 37:26Speaker 03

  There's a humanitarian mission here.

• 37:28Speaker 01

  Yes, there's a mission there. Um, so, yeah, and then, so there's, yeah, that, that, that kind of dives into the retail therapy as well. So, I would say, uh, anything that's a stress relief, uh, for mental health purposes, I see as, as potentially good, but be careful that it doesn't drive you to, uh, maybe number 10, and we'll get to that when we come back.

• 37:55Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, exactly.

• 37:56Speaker 01

  We'll take a break.

• 37:57Speaker 00

  Are you an employee with a company-sponsored retirement plan? Do you fully understand how you're invested and whether or not you are maximizing your retirement plan's options? For more information on a free assessment, contact MoneyWise's 401(k) Specialist, Justin Leland, at 661-847-1000. That's 661-847-1000.

• 38:33Speaker 01

  We are the MoneyWise Guys, taking you into the weekend. You've got a whole 10 minutes until we get to the weekend.

• 38:40Speaker 02

  All right. So, name that song.

• 38:43Speaker 03

  Okay, so, he, he, he, earlier here, I mentioned, uh, Hotter Than Hell album? That's Hotter Than Hell album. Parasite.

• 38:51Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 38:52Speaker 03

  I've redeemed myself.

• 38:53Speaker 01

  There you go.

• 38:54Speaker 03

  I feel worthy.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  You feel better?

• 38:55Speaker 03

  That's an all-time great song right there. Yeah. Little bit.

• 39:00Speaker 01

  Wow, so we got a message came in, uh, during the break. Starbucks and Smith's Smiley, uh, Smith's Cookies, uh, the Smiley Face Cookies are my addiction, but it could be worse.

• 39:08Speaker 02

  I think that's my wife.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's definitely my wife.

• 39:11Speaker 03

  Is it really?

• 39:14Speaker 01

  Hey, you know what? Those Smith's cookies, man. I, I concur.

• 39:18Speaker 03

  Something special.

• 39:18Speaker 00

  She loves those cookies, man.

• 39:20Speaker 01

  Man.

• 39:21Speaker 00

  If I know she's having a bad day, I'd stop by Smith's on the way home.

• 39:24Speaker 01

  Oh, you're a good husband.

• 39:25Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 39:26Speaker 01

  I can, I can deal, I can, uh, de- deal without the Starbucks, but I'll, I'll take the smiley cookies.

• 39:31Speaker 00

  Yeah, I don't do coffee.

• 39:32Speaker 02

  What a guy. So we're talking about 10 expensive habits.

• 39:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:36Speaker 02

  Number nine.

• 39:37Speaker 03

  Right, nine. So we just talked about, you know, retail therapy, impulse buying. This other one is not retail therapy, but it's gas and guzzling gas. And, but we know gas is a necessity. Gas prices vary. Uh, on average, Americans spend about $200 per month on gas. We spend more in California, our gas prices are. So it's about 250 per individual. But again, a lot of that depends upon, you know, how much you're driving, um, what's your distance to commute to work, uh, your leisure activities. Uh, but it equates to about $2,500 to $3,000 a year, uh, for individuals. Um, but what's important here is that you have to strategically think about, uh, how you're using your vehicle and important steps to kind of measure your distance. So mapping the shortest routes to your destinations.

• 40:21Speaker 01

  Right.

• 40:22Speaker 03

  Uh, to running multiple errands at once, to carpooling, all these are all things to consider, uh, cause it's definitely ways to control your, your gas intake.

• 40:30Speaker 01

  Yeah. And, you know, uh, let's also maybe slow down on the highways.

• 40:36Speaker 03

  There's another one, absolutely.

• 40:37Speaker 01

  Speed is one of those things.

• 40:39Speaker 03

  Or even slow down on Ming Avenue would be nice.

• 40:41Speaker 01

  Ming Avenue, uh, you know, Stockdale Highway does not, is not a 70 mile an hour road. Uh, you know, speed limits, you know, 50.

• 40:48Speaker 00

  Slower traffic to the right.

• 40:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, and also slower traffic to the right.

• 40:52Speaker 00

  Please.

• 40:53Speaker 01

  Right? Uh, but yes, uh, you actually get better fuel economy if you stay at the speed limit.

• 41:02Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  Or near it at least.

• 41:03Speaker 03

  One thing that helps me in my car, if, if I'm on the freeway is I use the, um,

• 41:06Speaker 01

  The old cruise control?

• 41:07Speaker 03

  The cruise control.

• 41:08Speaker 01

  There you go.

• 41:09Speaker 03

  Man, use it. You know, you're, if you use cruise control and that you can tell the people that don't, because they pass you

• 41:15Speaker 01

  And then they slow down.

• 41:16Speaker 03

  About a dozen times on your trip. Like, what's this guy doing?

• 41:19Speaker 01

  Yeah. No.

• 41:22Speaker 02

  I deal with that every day.

• 41:23Speaker 01

  Yeah. So the last one here, though, is we were talking about the impulse buying and the retail therapy and hobbies, expensive hobbies. And number 10 is probably the one thing that beats people up more than anything else. And that is what?

• 41:42Speaker 03

  I would agree. It's not paying off your credit card. You know, having access to your credit card and credit through your credit card is a good thing. But not paying off your monthly credit card balance or making late payments, that can have a dramatic impact upon your money. So if you have your balance and you're not paying it off every month, it results in, as we know, annual percentage rate charges. And those grow monthly, thanks to compound interest. So let's say you have a credit card with a balance of $6,200, which, believe it or not, is the latest data shows.

• 42:11Speaker 01

  I think that's a little bit less than average. I think, yeah, that's pretty close.

• 42:15Speaker 03

  Yeah. So we'll say 6,200 and the average rate according to the Federal Reserve is 16.61%. So if you pay that off at the end of the month, you've paid zero in accumulated interest.

• 42:25Speaker 01

  Right.

• 42:25Speaker 03

  If you make minimum payments on that $6,200 for five years, you've paid almost $2,300 in accumulated interest. Minimum payment for 10 years, that's $6,500 of accumulated interest. So now you have doubled. Your original balance was 62, you've now paid 65 and.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  You still haven't paid off the balance.

• 42:45Speaker 03

  Still haven't paid it off. Yeah. And that minimum payments for 15 years, you're going to pay $10,600 in accumulated interest. So again, it's important, it's great that you have access to credit. But if you're not making, if you're just making minimum payments, and what makes it even worse is if you make a late payment, then you're just paying an exorbitant amount of money. The best thing to do is pay it off monthly. Yes.

• 43:07Speaker 02

  Well, that's at the, at the 16% average, right? We actually had a workshop the other day. Seth here did a great job. Group of teens talking about just basic budgeting and credit and finance in general. He said a $1,000 credit card with a $20 minimum payment. You can, if you just paid the minimum, you're paying back over three times as much. You're paying $3,700 on, on 1,000.

• 43:31Speaker 03

  Isn't that crazy?

• 43:32Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah. No minimum payments, folks.

• 43:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:35Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 43:36Speaker 02

  Have to in the short run, but. Long term, we gotta, gotta pay more than the middle.

• 43:40Speaker 03

  Pay it off, man.

• 43:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, get, get rid of it as quickly as possible. Anything, like, I've always kinda used this rule of thumb is if, if there's anything in your life that is a, an interest rate that's higher than eight percent, pay it off as quick as you can possibly pay it off.

• 43:55Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 43:56Speaker 01

  Get it done. Get it out of your life because it's just, it's just sucking the wind out of your sails is what it's doing. Mike George, man, thank you so much, man. That's really good. That's great, uh, information. Uh, it's good to talk to, about some of these things and, you know, I think I was eight for 10. Uh, I think I probably have to look at my budget a little bit. Uh, you know, it's, it's, it's tough, you know, you, you see those things and, man, that, uh, that restaurant looks good and maybe, that, maybe that margarita does taste really nice this evening and, you know, when you do the math.

• 44:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think the one that got me looking at this, I told you guys in the, in the break, you know, you go to Costco and you're there for that $4.99 chicken in the back, but you pass by all kinds of good stuff on both directions from there and up to the register.

• 44:43Speaker 03

  And don't go to Costco hungry.

• 44:44Speaker 01

  No, no, no, no. I, I mean, that's the, that's the, that's the trick is really what it comes down to when I look at this list. What it really comes down to is discipline.

• 44:58Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 44:58Speaker 01

  What I see in this list is, uh, you know, really comes down to is, is really a lack of discipline. All of those things.

• 45:05Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 45:06Speaker 01

  Is if you look at those things and say, not today, or I can do without, or, you know, maybe for a treat next week or, or something to that effect.

• 45:18Speaker 02

  Well, speaking of treats, uh, we talked about food so much. We got a question about it. Hey, hey guys, is the Woolworth's diner open or is it closed? Seeing a lot of traffic in the last few days. What's going on?

• 45:29Speaker 01

  Great question. It is still closed, however, not for long.

• 45:35Speaker 01

  Not for long. Uh, can't tell, we can't, we can't divulge the actual date yet.

• 45:43Speaker 02

  Probably because it could change.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  Because it can't, we're still, we're within a matter of, like, we know within a matter of days, like, which way, a few days, plus or minus. But it is coming, it is close, it is around the corner.

• 46:00Speaker 03

  Very cool.

• 46:01Speaker 01

  Really, very, very close.

• 46:03Speaker 03

  You know, and all these people that have inquired about it, go there.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:07Speaker 03

  Don't just talk about it and say how great it used to be. Go there.

• 46:10Speaker 01

  When it's actually open.

• 46:12Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 46:12Speaker 01

  Don't go now, because it's still closed.

• 46:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 46:14Speaker 01

  But when it's actually open.

• 46:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, go hungry.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, go hungry. Grab yourself a burger, because I'm telling you right now, Richard is gonna, Chef Richard's making a fantastic burger.

• 46:23Speaker 03

  Nice.

• 46:24Speaker 02

  So, so it's safe to say, we'll let you know.

• 46:26Speaker 01

  We'll let you know. You're gonna know, the, the, the social medias are gonna let you know, the interwebs gonna let you know. Uh, everybody's gonna know when the Woolworth's Diner is gonna be open. It is, it is coming,

• 46:41Speaker 01

  to K and 19th Street before you know it, very, very soon. So, yeah, very excited for that project. The, the building looks fantastic. The, uh, our offices look fantastic. I was just there, kind of, like, last Thursday, kind of walking through and...

• 46:57Speaker 02

  And then there's the event center.

• 46:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, the basement. The basement's gonna have a, a venue with a event center and we'll be able to do all so many things in that building. Can't wait.

• 47:07Speaker 02

  A lot of good stuff coming.

• 47:08Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  So, I'm already, I'm packing up my office, you know, I'm that excited. The office is getting packed up already. Hey, you know what? The, uh, the weekend is coming, uh, gonna have a wonderful time. We actually have, uh, best ofs, Stephen, the first, uh, three days of next week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all week is, uh, is best ofs next week. So, you know, be smart, be safe, be money wise, but we'll see you here in about another week, 10 days.

• 47:46Speaker 04

  Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial. LPL Financial and Money Wise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.