Good morning, peeps! ☕️
I found this in one of my grandpa’s old scrap books. (He used to keep newspaper clippings of inspirational quotes and stories he liked) 👇👇👇
What a timeless and cool quote!!! (I wonder what other sayings are hiding down in the benevolent well of truth 🤔)
Anyway, just a reminder for y’all… Although we talk a lot about money tactics and stuffing your purse with as much moolah as possible, the true end goal is gaining more freedom and options in life.
Prioritize accordingly! 😉
TO DO
Clean out 1 messy drawer! 📦
Did you know that 87% of millionaires say that decluttering is the most underrated helpful habit that lead to their success in life?
Just kidding. I totally made that up. But for reals… decluttering your house or workstation has a TON of psychological, environmental and financial benefits. 🧘♀️🌱💸
Everyone’s got a messy drawer somewhere. Clean 1 out this week. (and if you agree it makes you feel better, tackle 1 more next week, and 1 the week after, etc.)
MONEY 101
Back to Basics: 7 Money Gears 🚴
“What do I do next with my money?” is one of the most common questions we hear in personal finance. That’s why we created the 7 money gears a couple years ago.
(and shout out to Derek von Schulz who created this lil graphic of the gears 👇👇👇)
If you’re feeling a little lost, not sure what stage you’re at or which financial milestone to tackle next, we encourage you to go back and review the basics.
Just like riding a bike and upshifting from gear to gear… A solid financial profile is built step by step, covering the most impactful things first.
More details:
- 🎙 Podcast Ep 302: The 7 Money Gears
- 📖 HTM Start Here: Blog post detailing the 7 gears
EMPLOYMENT
Where are all these jobs, anyway?…
New job data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was released last week. Here are the highlights:
- New jobs added to workforce in July: +528,000
- Current unemployment rate: 3.5%
Overall, it appears we are back to pre-pandemic levels. But, that’s not quite the full story because some industries are booming and others haven’t recovered yet. (The private sector is up +630k jobs, yet government is down -600k from pre-pandemic levels)
Anyway, here’s an under the covers look at which industries showed the growth in July…
**If you want to play around with the data and drill down into this graph, you can do that here. Just click into each industry to see the breakdown of job types**
Additional reads and cool resources:
- LinkedIn Trends: Most in-demand jobs right now (engineers, nurses, developers and sales).
- Pew Jobs Survey: Super interesting data around wage increases, why people change jobs, also breakdowns by gender, age & education level.
- Podcast Ep 403: Ditching a job you hate and landing a job you want, with Ashley Stahl.
- For all you younger folks still in school: This NYT post explains why having an after-school job (even if you don’t need one) teaches you concrete life lessons and is the best extracurricular activity you can do.
Oh and for all you candy lovers, here’s a job opening for “Chief Candy Officer” that’ll pay you up to $100,000k per year to taste candy!
If you’ve been thinking about switching jobs, careers, industries, cities… NOW is still a great time to pursue that curiosity. 💪
ICYMI
Headlines & conversation starters…
Biking Routes 🚴
Google Maps has enhanced it’s biking route features (and has a bunch more granular updates coming soon!). Cycling has increased 40%+ worldwide the past few months due to warmer weather and high gas prices. Biking = exercise + saving $$ 🤑
Camping ⛺️
Also a free outside activity — here are the best free campsites in all 50 states! Public lands, beaches, forests and hot springs… No reservation needed 🙌
Tipping 💁♂️
An annual poll from creditcards.com shows that American’s are worse tippers now than before the pandemic. Apparently younger folks are the biggest culprits, even those making great incomes.
Utilities 💡
According to the dept. of energy, you can save money on electricity up to $400 annually by setting your hot water heater to this exact temperature: 120℉, (or about 49℃). Water heaters can account for 14-16% of your electric bill — so turn them down a bit, people! 🚿. (Here’s some water saving tips too to cut down your bills!
Crypto 💸
BlackRock (the largest asset manager in the world) just announced a partnership with Coinbase (largest crypto exchange in the world) to make it easier for massive hedge funds and clients to start buying, trading and managing crypto assets. Seems there’s a huge amount of interest in digital assets even though they’re getting clobbered YTD.
Junk Mail 📫
Equifax screwed up big time, sending incorrect credit details for millions of people to various banks and credit unions… Then those banks sent incorrect credit offers for auto loans, mortgages, and credit cards to people based on the bad info, resulting in rejected applications and higher than promised rates. What a mess! (a good reminder to do yourself a favor and remove yourself from financial junk mail altogether!)
Dust Buster
Don’t forget those pesky little annual money tasks… It might be time for some financial spring cleaning 😉
HOW *YOU* MONEY
Andy, 42y/o from Salt Lake City, UT 🏔
Occupation: Engineer
Salary: $126,000/year
Paycheck deductions: -$3,850/m (Taxes, health ins, 11% towards TSP and maxing out HSA)
Mortgage: -$1,150/m
Living expenses: -$1,500/m
Other debts: $0
Leftover savings each month: ~$4,000!!
How are you investing your excess savings each month?
We invest $1,000 in FZROX each month, $450 into 529’s, and the rest is saved for other miscellaneous items like quarterly HOA dues, extra charitable giving, car insurance, travel, and other items that may or may not happen in any given month.
Biggest “craft beer equivalent” splurge:
As a family of 6, we love snow skiing and will spend good money on passes that get us the best deals to mountain access. Personally, I love Lego and will typically get 5-6 large sets each year, primarily the modular buildings and Winter Village sets.
Best savings hack/advice:
Having a budget has been crucial to making sure our money goes where our priorities are and is a great platform for my wife and I to talk about those priorities. Auto saving through payroll deductions is also a game changer. When you never see that money, you never think to spend it and it adds up quick.
Anything else you want to share?
Our financial journey has been a process of establishing baselines and refining them on a regular basis based on changes in life. That’s why I continue to listen to How To Money because there is always something I haven’t explored or figured out yet. And I get some really good beer recommendations! Thanks Matt and Joel!
**why are we sharing this profile? Because sometimes it’s fun to look at other people’s numbers and we can all learn little things from each other by sharing our stories. We’re thinking of making this a semi-regular newsletter segment, profiling someone different each time. Would you find this fun/helpful? Better yet, tell us How YOU Money!**
Wishing you a lovely week ahead, doing what you do best.
Best friends out 🍻
*****
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* User Generated Content Disclosure: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
