Good Morning, HTM fam!

Here’s a quick quote to start your Tuesday:

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

- Mark Twain

Planning out new goals can be overwhelming. Thinking about how much time and effort is between where you are now and where you want to be… it often seems a lot easier to stick with what’s comfortable. But by doing that, you’re limiting your own potential.

New goals, new adventures, new responsibilities… these come with new fears. But it’s important to remember that they’ll always come with new fears, and you either do it scared or don’t do it at all.

Even if you’re scared, give it a shot. You’re stronger than you think. 💪

LIFESTYLE

Living the Frugal Rich Life 🤔

Living frugally rich isn’t about cutting back on everything in order to get rich; it’s about downsizing your spending in particular areas so you can feel rich in your everyday life. We’re all about spending more on what you love, and less on what you don’t. It seems more and more people are prioritizing their craft beer equivalents!

Middle and upper-middle-class Americans have begun to find ways to pare back and still stick to their budgets, even with rising costs. If you’re keen to free up more cash for more joyful priorities, a great place to start digging in is your grocery budget. There are plenty of budget stores with high-quality goods that are often almost identical to name brands at a fraction of the price.

In fact, nearly 30% of high-income shoppers now frequent discount retailers. And they’re saving real money. They may not need to cut back on their grocery bill, but they purposefully do, so they can spend more on what they deeply care about. Ex. once you realize the Aldi-brand Greek Yogurt tastes the same as Chobani, you won’t miss the extra $4 you’ve been paying per tub!

Living frugally rich can show up in a lot of different ways, such as:

• Buying store-brand groceries or shopping at discount stores for the basics.

• Waiting for sales on things you need or buying secondhand instead of new.

• Cutting back on subscriptions you barely use.

• Keeping your tech until ☠️, and putting off upgrades an additional year or two.

Then, you can go all out on the things you truly care about, whether that be:

• Traveling more often or upgrading your trips (hello, business class!).

• Saying yes to more experiences, like concerts, classes, or adventures.

• Spending more on your hobbies, wellness, or the people you love without guilt or regret.

The goal is never to deprive yourself. The goal is to redirect your money toward a life that feels fuller. No matter how much you make or how much you can afford, by intentionally choosing where to scale back and where to go all in, you set yourself up to enjoy your life more while still staying on track with your larger financial goals.

No matter how many people preach that “all the coffee” isn’t allowing younger generations to get rich, if a specialty latte is your craft beer equivalent, treat yourself! ☕️

RETIREMENT

The High Cost of Hardship Withdrawals 📉

Rising costs of housing, groceries, childcare, and other essentials are squeezing budgets and leaving people looking for a quick influx of cash to stay afloat. That means more Americans are dipping into their 401(k)s early, which ain’t good.

In 2025, about 6% of retirement plan participants took hardship withdrawals, which is almost double the rate of those who did the same in 2023. Unfortunately for those who make an early withdrawal, it’s rarely a one-time thing.

Once you tap into your retirement savings, it becomes a lot easier to do so again. The stigma is gone. So is the mental barrier. Your 401(k) may start feeling less like a long-term investment and more like a backup checking account.

Many people who take one withdrawal end up taking multiple over the course of their working life, reducing their future retirement balance significantly. The quick fix ends up creating long-term issues.

And the true cost goes beyond the withdrawal itself:

• You could end up owing taxes + a 10% penalty.

• The money you withdraw misses out on years of compounding growth.

• Rebuilding your balance later in life can be much more difficult than expected.

Even smaller withdrawals, the average being around $1,900, can snowball into a much larger loss over time because you’re interrupting the compounding returns process. However, there are ways to prevent a withdrawal from causing too much damage, and if you do absolutely need to make a hardship withdrawal, make sure you understand how to do so without paying a 10% penalty.

The best way to avoid making an early withdrawal is to keep debt under control, keep your budget intact, and maintain a healthy level of emergency savings. If you need help tackling debt, a debt payoff plan is a great first step.

And if budgeting isn’t really your thing… our friends at YNAB can help! 👇

TOGETHER WITH YNAB*

Give Your Money a Purpose 💸

If your money’s been feeling a little all over the place lately, it might be time to give every dollar a job. That’s exactly what You Need a Budget (YNAB) helps you do: plan ahead, stay on top of your spending, and feel in control of where your money is going.

Unlike traditional budgeting tools that track the past, YNAB is all about looking forward and helping you break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, build savings, and spend guilt-free on the things that matter most. 💪 

TRAVEL

The Rise of “Capsule Hotels” 😴

It seems there are always new ways to pack more and more people together, and one of those new ways that has become popular in recent years is capsule hotels. These compact sleeping pods offer a budget-friendly way to sleep when traveling, and provide just the basics: a bed, blanket, charging port, and light.

The trade-off is easy to spot. Yes, these hotels are cheap, but you also don’t get much in terms of comfort or privacy. There’s no room to spread out, endless neighbors, shared bathrooms, and you may or may not be sleeping with your luggage depending on the storage situation.

But in the right situation, capsule hotels can be a solid win:

• 🎤 Crashing for a night after a concert or event.

• ✈️ Needing a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport at 4am.

• 🛌 Traveling solo and only using your hotel for sleep.

• 🏙️ Wanting to stay in a prime location without a hefty price tag.

However, they’re probably not ideal if you:

• 👶 Are traveling as a family or with young kids.

• 🎧 Struggle to sleep with outside noise (or ever get claustrophobic!).

• 🛀 Want space to unwind and relax in your room.

This is the frugal rich thinking in put into action. If where you sleep isn’t a priority, save on the pod and put the extra money toward better meals, activities, and experiences. But if you like to be treated like royalty on your vacations, maybe you travel less, but go all-out on a fancy suite.

The best part about living frugally rich is that only you get to decide what matters most to you!

ICYMI!

Your Weekly Update…

Financing JBiebs 🎫
Nearly 60% of Coachella ticket holders used a buy now, pay later service to purchase tickets. It just goes to show how common it’s become to finance experiences instead of paying up front!

Get Paid to Move 🚚
Some cities across the U.S. are offering up to $15,000 (and even free land) to get people to move there, as remote work reshapes where we live. If you’re looking to move, you may want to check out these places offering incentives!

Great Value Glows Up 💄
Walmart is giving its Great Value brand a modern makeover, swapping in brighter, more stylish packaging, while keeping prices the same. Stylish or not, opting for Great Value over name-brand products is a solid way to keep your grocery budget in check.

If you have anything you’re putting off right now, whether it’s work-related, a personal goal, or just a skill you’ve been saying you’re going to work on… get started!

Once you take the initial step, it will feel so much easier. 😮‍💨

Best friends out! 🍻