Something On My Mind

This episode reviews the College Admissions Scandal documentary on Netflix. Rick Singer the mastermind behind the "side door" method created a system to get students into prestigious schools through a "dummy" charitable orgninization.  With this set up, rich and well-known parents paid Rick Singer to where he took the money and bribed coaches, school administration officials and an SAT a ACT test taker.  In the end the students where being admitted to as walk-on candidates to under the radar sports programs that received little attention to that of the larger profile sports. Their portfolios where doctored up with photos that were manipulated in Photoshop meaning they were not athletes.  David and Cindy also review their current experience with COVID.

The budget tip of the week, explains the value of knowing the break even point with budgeting.  At what point after buying a new product or service does it pay for itself over your current choice?  Once this is determined, then you will begin to see increased disposable income in the budget.

Kyle (32) and Ashley (31) recently were married and have bought their first home. I discuss their choices around how much they decided to spend on their house and the wedding. They differ from many of the Millennial credos which are around passive income streams, side hustles (gigs) and the F.I.R.E movement. They are building their wealth and lifestyle around the standard corporate job structure.  At this point, they are ready to take the next steps in their personal finance journey.  They have saved well and have paid off student loan debt. We review their current housing situation as their next step is to relocate and further plan out their retirement nest egg.

The budget tip of the week explains the value of having organization with store purchase receipts.  What is the importance of understanding a retailer's return policy in order to get full credit, a store credit or if you may be outside of the return window where no money is received. Knowing this information can be beneficial to the budget.  You can help the environment by using less paper. One way is to take pictures or use apps such as Genius Scan which has security and storage features. They also give a portion of revenues to help the environment.  Grizzly Labs - Genius Scan  https://thegrizzlylabs.com/

Part One: Millennial money around passive income streams, side hustles (gigs) and the F.I.R.E movement. Part two: Millennial budgeting and overall personal finance. There are many stereotypes and myths with this demographic; however, all us have a lot in common.  Millennials also stand to inherit the largest amount of wealth - over $68 trillion from their Baby Boomer parents by the year 2030. For the stories of the week: The future shift from meat to plant based products. The story of Mz. Biz who pointed a getting a gun at one client and assaulted another. Funny stories about cheapskates. Mz. Biz. https://www.goingconcern.com/your-naughty-tax-preparer-of-the-day-3-29-2021/ Plant-based Meat  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/23/europe-and-us-could-reach-peak-meat-in-2025-report?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1 Cheapskates: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ajanibazile/best-moments-from-extreme-cheapteaks

The budget tip of the week explains the value of watching the unit pricing when buying products in the grocery store. If you are willing to purchase similar items that have better values and with more product to consume, it can create more disposable income in the monthly budget. By reducing cost and without additional consumption, that is a winning formula to save more money to control debt.

The third round of the stimulus checks are being issued. What it the best way to use the money with your budget. Some people are in dire straits and may use these funds differently than those that have managed the pay the bills.  The key goal is to pay down debt especially when it comes to credit cards and if that is in check then this money can be invested. In the roundtable, a bank employee was busted for load apps on customer's phones while reviewing their personal pictures. For the stories of the week, the topic is about a man who received his last paycheck of $950 in oiled pennies from his employer. The next story is about personal trainer who sued her employer because her work duties made her sweat and caused anxiety.  In the last story it is time to celebrate the "Ken Doll's" 60th birthday and talk about the milestones in his life.  Ken doll's birthday https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/ken-and-barbie-facts Woman sues employer for sweating https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9387475/Personal-trainer-fear-sweat-won-disability-claim-refusing-pick-towels.html $950 in the last paycheck https://people.com/human-interest/man-waiting-for-last-paycheck-from-old-job-gets-915-dollars-in-oiled-pennies/

The budget tip of the week explains why it is crucial to review your credit report and the impact it has on your monthly budget. Performing this exercise ensures that you can monitor hard inquiries, late payments, bankruptcy, collections and any references that may impact your credit score. This ultimately impacts what it will cost you to borrow money when an interest rate is offered from lenders.

The review of the hit Netflix show Marriage or Mortgage. They break down the format of the show where the couples are given options for their big decision by from a real estate agent or a wedding planner. Next are budget tips that you can use in the event you are in this life situation. For the stories of the week, they stick to things that have been lost and then found again. One lady lost a ring and found it later at a pawn shop. A man lost his wallet in Antartica in the 1960's and it was later returned to him and a man found an iPhone that was submerged in a lake for six months that still was operational and returned it to the owner.

The budget tip of the week explains why it is crucial to reconcile the monthly budget each month. Performing this exercise ensures that the products and services that you cancelled don't show up the next month. If they aren't removed, you keep paying.