Good morning, HTM Family!

Quick thought exercise based on the Charles Shultz Philosophy…

• Can you name the last 3 people who won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize?

• What about the current 3 fastest marathon runners in the world? Do you know their names?

• How about the last 3 winners of the Miss America Pageant?

(me neither 🤷‍♂️)

OK, now try this….

• Name 3 school teachers who taught you invaluable life lessons.

• List 5 close friends who helped you through extremely rough times in life.

• Name 3 bosses or co-workers who have made you feel appreciated and special at work.

Much easier, right?

The point is: The people that make an unforgettable difference in your world aren’t the people with the most credentials, money, or awards.

It’s the regular people who spend time with you and care about you—the ones in the trenches with you, making you feel loved and building you up daily.

Same goes with you making a difference in other people’s lives… You don’t need to win awards or be rich and famous. You just need to show up for people, care, and make them feel good.

Something to keep in mind this week. Personal connections > accolades.

OK, now let’s talk about money stuff! 👇👇👇

TO DO

Use those old gift cards! 💳

This is your reminder to USE those old gift cards sitting in your misc drawer!

The longer they sit unused, the more they diminish in buying value. Make a plan to spend the money NOW before inflation erodes more of its value.

Plan a date night, buy a friend a gift, give them away, sell them online, or redeem them for cash (some state laws allow you to do this for low balances!)

The same goes for credit card points. Spend/redeem them sooner rather than later. 😉

SAVING

Birthday Freebies 🥳

I just learned that Target gives you a 5% off coupon on your birthday, which you can use within 30 days. Have any of you ever taken advantage of this?

You just need to be a Target Circle member (it’s free), and make sure to add your birthday to your profile! Easy!

Here are some other places that offer birthday perks, most of which you don’t even have to spend a dime to get… 

1. IHOP 🥞 - starting off strong with breakfast, you can get a free stack of buttermilk pancakes at IHOP. Just make sure you’re signed up for their rewards program. 

2. Sephora💄- Sephora has one of the most flexible birthday freebies out there. When you sign up for their free Sephora Insider program, you get a free birthday gift that you can pick up at any time during your birthday month. If you pick it up in-store, there is no purchase necessary! 

3. Starbucks ☕️ - Members can get a free “handcrafted” beverage on their birthday. A great chance to go crazy with drink modifications, and remember to always get the largest size you can! You can always save it if you don’t finish it.

4. Edible Arrangements 🍓- If you’re part of their Edible Rewards program, you can pick up a sweet box of chocolate-dipped fruit for free on your special day! 

5. AMC Theaters 🍿 - AMC Stubs members get a free large popcorn anytime during their birthday month! No need to sneak in snacks ;)

6. Chick-Fil-A 🍟 - Get a free birthday reward, which depends on your membership tier. Could be like a free cookie, brownie, nuggets, or an entree. 

7. P.F. Chang’s 😋 - If you sign up for Chang’s Rewards, you’ll not only earn 15% back on all of your meals from this restaurant but you’ll also be gifted a complimentary dessert or appetizer anytime during your birthday month. Kind of cool if you’re going there anyway.

There’s a TON more… Here’s a massive list from The Penny Hoarder — 114 Places That Will Give You Free Stuff on Your Birthday

Bonus Idea: Try asking for a Birthday discount even if the place doesn’t offer one. Just casually drop at the register… “Hey, it’s my birthday and it would absolutely make my day if I could get a li’l discount on this purchase”. See what happens!

Relates stuff:

• 🤑 HTM Blog: Treating yourself, without breaking the bank

• 🤷‍♂️ Discounts: The art of asking for a discount, anywhere.

TOGETHER WITH BETTERMENT*

Start earning today

Turn out the lights on traditional savings accounts. With Betterment’s high-yield cash account, your money is earning nearly 11x the national average**. Get started.

CARS

Drive your car as long as possible 🚗

Good news and bad news…

Good news: Cars are lasting longer these days! Tech advances, smarter designs, better durability, etc. all mean we can get more value from our metal transportation boxes.

Here’s the increasing average age of cars on the road in the US… 👇👇👇

And older cars cost folks less money. Time to celebrate, right!?

Not necessarily. 😓

The bad news is: Although cars are mechanically lasting longer, many Americans still feel the need to “upgrade” regularly. And it hurts them financially ☹️ 

While the average auto age has increased, many families own more cars. They’ve amassed a personal fleet, increasing their overall automobile expenses. Over 20% of households have 3+ vehicles in their driveway, which means their car ownership costs haven’t actually declined, despite the seemingly inspirational graph above.

Auto debt is at all-time highs, and climbing. The average cost of car ownership has almost doubled over the last 25 years.

A general rule of thumb: The longer you keep your current car, the lower your overall auto costs will be. As Consumer Reports details, repair costs are far less costly, on average, than the costs you’ll face if you upgrade to a new ride.

Don’t fall into the trap of upgrading early. 200k miles is the new 100k miles 😂

Related posts:

• 🙅‍♂️ Save More: Buy This, Not That: Car Ownership Edition

• 💸 HTM Blog: 12 Ways to Lower Your Monthly Auto Expenses

ICYMI

In other news…

Toll Scams ⚠️
If you get a text message about an unpaid road toll, it’s likely part of the latest money scam. Fraudsters act like a local toll authority, directing you to a fake site to make payment. Watch out!

Mind Tricks 🤷‍♂️
Speaking of scams, here’s a fascinating read about how survivorship bias can be used against us. “Each week, 10,000 emails are sent out about a particular stock going up or down on a given date. Half the emails say the stock will go up while the other half say it will go down. Eventually, at least 5,000 people will receive the correct prediction simply by chance“

The Journey 🔥
The FIRE community can be a bit overwhelming when you first stumble across it. But reading and learning about other people’s journeys quickly helps you realize it’s less about numbers and money, and more about how you want to spend your time in life. Here’s an inspiring guest post via Can I Retire Yet that you’ll like.

RE Commissions 🏡
Remember like 6 months ago when the rules changed on real estate agent commissions? Well, even though more people are negotiating, the average commission price hasn’t really changed much.

Zelle Crackdown 🏦
Effective March 24th, Chase will begin blocking Zelle payments to social media contacts in an effort to minimize fraud. “According to Chase, if the receiving party of a Zelle transfer is “identified as originating from contact through social media,” the bank may choose to decline or block that payment from going through.“

COMMUNITY

Cheap Flight Hack 🤑

@thattravelingmom

BIG SAVINGS #moneysaver #atlantaairport #atlanta #atlantageorgia #spiritairlines #thankyoutiktok #thankyoutiktokfamily #40thbirthday #fyp ... See more

Apparently buying tickets AT the airport ticket counter with the airline directly can get you killer deals vs buying flights online (avoiding agency fees, etc).

Any of you live close to the airport and want to try this out!?!? Let us know how it goes!

Cheers for reading! Have an awesome week ahead, creating unforgettable, strong, personal connections 🤗

Best friends out 🍻