Good morning, money friends! 😎

One day, a boy and a girl were playing in the park…

The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had a big bag of candy.

The boy offered a trade… All his marbles in exchange for the girl’s entire bag of candy. The girl agreed and they shook hands.

The girl handed over her bag of candy as promised. But when the boy gave his marbles, he secretly kept 1 back in his pocket for himself. It was the biggest and most beautiful marble of the pack.

That night, the girl slept peacefully, believing it was a good trade.

But the boy couldn’t sleep. He was up all night wondering if the girl had hidden some of her treats just like he had hidden his marble.

*****

Just sharing this story as a quick reminder: When you’re dishonest (cheat, cut corners, white lies to get ahead) usually the person that suffers most afterwards is yourself. It taints your expectations of others.

On the flip side, when you do everything to the best of your knowledge, act fair, and stay true to your character, you sleep like a baby. You set the best example for others and expect the best from them.

Just something to think about this week!

OK, now onto the money stuff 👇👇👇

TO DO

Like It? —> Share It! 💌

Be honest… How many cat videos or silly memes have you forwarded to your bestie this week? 50?

OK, now how many pieces of actual good financial advice or content that will truly improve their life have you shared with them!?!? 🤷‍♀️

This week: When you stumble across something super helpful in the finance realm, share it! Help your friends make/save/invest better, because growing rich is better when it’s done together.

**here’s our full list of resources we’ve mentioned on the podcast over the years that might be worth sharing**

MINDSET

Dear Stressed Out Millennials… 💆

Bank of America just released their annual Workplace Benefits Report and one of the standout insights was that 80% of older millennials are stressed out about their financial situation.

(it’s not just millennials actually — only 42% of all workers feel “financially well” right now. Most people are stressed.)

We get it! There are a ton of factors that induce financial stress in our lives, both internal and external. Housing costs, rapid inflation, weird economic landscape, yo-yo investment markets, etc. We’re not gonna pretend these things don’t exist. But just like you can’t eradicate every stress from your life, financial stress tends to ebb and flow in our lives too.

But, we don’t have to allow that stress to overshadow too much of our joy… In fact, sometimes there are ways you can use financial stress to your advantage!

Here are a few ideas to help manage financial stress:

• Identify your weak spots: When you’re stressed over a particular money problem, it’s probably a sign that this area of your finances could use some work. Identifying those weak spots is half the battle, because it exposes a path to fix things moving forward.

• Make a budget (like, actually DO IT): Most people think budgets restrict their life. But it’s actually the opposite! Proper budgeting helps you gain freedom. Sure, the first time looking at your cold hard numbers might scare you a bit, but it eliminates the looming anxious feelings because you know exactly where you stand on things.

• Tackle one thing at a time: Stress builds when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew (or been hit with additional troubles you never forecasted!). So, try dropping some of those less important items and get hyper-focused on the ones that are actually urgent. If you’re spread too thin, it’s hard to complete anything.

• Boost your emergency fund. Some stress is just “fear of the unknown.” And one of the best ways to prepare for unknown financial disasters is to have a fat cash pile set aside. If you don’t have an e-fund, build one asap. If you do have one, consider fully funding it with 3-6 months of living expenses.

• Focus on others: Financial stress has a way of drawing us inward, causing us to think a bit too much about ourselves. The antidote is to remember there’s a whole world outside of our little bubble! Being generous with your money or time can give you a sense of purpose. And purpose helps carry you through worrisome times. The truth is that we’re often doing better than our idiot brain leads us to believe.

Related stuff:

• 💻 Full HTM Blog: Using Financial Stress to your advantage

• 📲 Debt Counseling: MMI and NFCC are great free resources!

• 📊 Full Workplace Survey: BofA Workplace Report 2023 pdf

TOGETHER WITH RAD POWER BIKES**

Early Black Friday Sales 🚲

We're huge fans of electric bikes. (Joel raves about his RadWagon 4!)

And Rad Power Bikes just put out a big sale on 2 of their bike models this week. Their offering $350 off the RadExpand and $250 off the RadRunner Plus through Thursday, 10/18.

We don't want to encourage overconsumption and buying crap you won't use... BUT, these are great bikes + biking saves you $$$ + there's a sale + tax incentives could apply in your state for e-bikes! So if you're already in the market to buy, check ‘em out!

PETS

Cutting Down On Pet Costs 🐾

Halloween is around the corner and Americans are planning to spend about $700 million on pet costumes alone! 🤯

Pet costs are sneaky. Most owners grossly underestimate the total amount of money they spend on Fido and Fluffy over the years. (we’re NOT saying pets aren’t worth it! - we’re just looking at expenses and how to reduce them 😉)

Since COVID there’s been a massive pet boom, and inflation on pet-related services runs higher than regular inflation. Here’s a quick glance of average costs to own a pooch this year 👇👇👇

And here are a few thoughts on how to decrease some of the common costs…

1. Consider delaying the initial purchase: If you’re young and don’t have a pet yet, delaying getting one by just a few years can have a HUGE financial benefit. (For example: instead of getting a dog and spending ~$1,500 each year, delay for just 4 years and stick that $6k into a Roth. It’ll grow to just over $700k in 50 years!)

2. DIY grooming, dental, etc: The more maintenance you can take on yourself, the less you have to pay for. Here’s a video on DIY teeth cleaning — do it regularly so teeth problems don’t get worse in older years. Grooming your dog at home isn’t hard, and it gives you the opportunity to routinely examine their coat, nails, eyes, ears for early problem signs.

3. Shop around for meds: Yes, there is a GoodRx for pets! Other good places could be 1800PetMeds and Costco PetRX. Shop around and don’t just blindly accept buying medications from the vet.

4. Do you really need insurance? Financially speaking, pet insurance can be a racket. But, if you are going to get insurance, shop around! Here’s a tool that compares some of the major providers. Also local vets sometimes have insurance options if you bundle regular visits/check-ups with them, so be sure to ask.

5. Overestimate your pet sinking fund: Hopefully you’ve got an e-fund or sinking fund for pet emergencies… If you estimate everything on the high end, you won’t be caught off guard by surprise inflated vet bills should a disaster happen. You don’t want to go into debt or rob from your investments should a bill pop up.

6. Cut back on sitters/walkers/daycare: Getting up earlier, socializing at the dog park, trading pet-sitting with friends or family, traveling more locally to bring your pet along… There are a handful of ways to pare back on expensive services.

7. Buy second-hand accessories/gear: Thrift stores, FB marketplace, Craigslist, etc. are great places to pick up cheap (or free) accessories or toys for your pet. Not to mention you can DIY dog beds pretty easily. Pets don’t care if things are new!

8. Shop around for cheaper food: Don’t go too cheap here. But buy in bulk, store properly, and check out new places every now and then for cheaper deals. Food is one of the biggest ongoing expenses so shaving a little bit off that recurring monthly bill can save a lot!

Pets are priceless. You can’t place a dollar figure value on having one. That being said, being a bit more mindful on pet expenses will put you on the lower end of cost ownership vs. the higher end.

More Resources:

• 🐕‍🦺 Average Costs: More breakdowns via dog type/size/location

• 🦜 Other pets: LendEU survey with other pet types & costs

• 📋 MintLife Blog: 23 ways to save on pet costs

ICYMI

Newsy news news…

Bad Tax Advice 🙈
As the end of year rolls around, beware of bad tax advice on social media. Much of what is said only applies to very specific circumstances, so verify everything you hear with a tax professional or with extensive research!

Tuition Transparency 👩‍🎓
It can be really hard for college applicants to make apples-apples comparisons between schools because of the multiple grants, loan options, aid, etc... But a solution may be coming soon, as over 400 colleges have signed up for the College Cost Transparency Initiative!

RTO Raises 💸
Would you accept a pay raise to return to the office? A new report shows that 9 out of 10 CEOs say they would offer raises, promotions or better assignments for employees who can commute back to the office.

Beliefs 📉
Ben Carlson over at A Wealth of Common Sense dropped this gem: 24 Things I Believe About Investing. Cool reminders to keep it simple, think long term, and grow rich slowly.

Happiness ROI 🌴
Based on findings from the longest study on happiness (Harvard Study of Adult Development) here is a summary and bullet points on how to invest more in your own happiness.

Global Retirement 🌍
Here’s an interesting chart via Visual Capitalist that compares different retirement ages by country around the world.

FRIENDS OF HTM

Doug Nordman @ The Military Wallet 🪪

We’ve met Doug a few times in person, and he’s always wearing flip-flops and an aloha shirt! He’s a really chill and humble dude, but super knowledgeable when it comes to personal finance and achieving financial freedom!

Specifically, Doug‘s expertise is helping military families navigate and maximize all the benefits (and challenges) associated with their careers.

Doug writes over at The Military Wallet — check it out if you’re part of the military community. We also interviewed Doug back on episode 166 if you missed it.

That’s it for now... Wishing you a great week ahead and remember to stay true to yourself and your character!! 💪

Best friends out 🍻

***PS. Reminder for all you money nerds headed to FinCon in New Orleans next week… Let’s enjoy some beers at the HTM listener hang! - Thursday October 19th, 7:30pm at Courtyard Brewery. See you there! 🍻🎉***