Loss Leaders, Goals Check-in, & Radiating Positive Vibes 🐝

Good morning, beautiful people! 🤩

It took me years to learn this:

Whenever I’m thinking positively and looking for good things —> good things usually appear.
But when I’m in a negative mood and my mind is on bad things —> bad things usually appear.

We get what we search for! Something to think about today… What is your general mindset and what are you focusing on?

Change your outlook = change your day. 💪

OK, now onto the money stuff! 👇👇👇

TO DO

Join (or start!) a Money Meet-Up 🤝

We had about ~30 people cycle through our HTM meet-up in ATL a couple weeks ago. A fun time was had by all!

Going to networking events can be awkward and nerve-wracking. But, they are almost always worth it! You meet someone cool, learn something new, or walk away with an opportunity you didn’t have before.

This week: Is there a local meet-up group in your area that is money/investing/travel related? Or can you pioneer an event in your town (we’ll even help you get the word out — just send us your location & date/time)

The more we all talk about money, the wealthier we all grow, together!

***BTW, we’ll see you at the next How To Money listener hang in New Orleans next month- Thursday October 19th, 7:30pm at Courtyard Brewery. Put it on your calendar! 🍻🎉***

SAVING

Shopping for “Loss Leaders” 🧐

Did you know that Costco loses ~$40 million each year selling their rotisserie chickens!? They sell chickens for less than what it costs to make. WHY!?

Well, this is what’s known as a “Loss Leader” marketing strategy…

Costco has worked out that if they sell chickens at a loss (and strategically place them waaaaay at the back of their warehouses) it will attract more customers inside who are likely to purchase many other profitable products during the same shopping trip.

Costco hotdogs are the same. They lose money selling their $1.50 combo, but the food court overall is a HUGE profit center because of the other food items they sell.

Almost all big box stores and grocery chains use the loss leader strategy. Here are a few tips for spotting loss leaders in the wild:

Weekly ads and manager specials: Most loss leaders are advertised with big flashy signs in your face (they can’t attract people if nobody knows about them)! For example, meat specials on the front page of weekly ads are usually sold at a loss to attract shoppers.
Store brand eggs & milk: Target, Walmart, and ALDI usually sell household staples as cheaply as possible to attract folks to do ALL their grocery shopping there.
Subs at Publix: Offering cheap deli sandwiches or lunch is a tactic used by many grocery stores. It brings people into stores and causes them to extend their stay.
Gas stations out front: Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, etc. Any grocery chain that offers cheap gas usually isn’t making a profit on the gas they sell – they are trying to get more people into their parking lots, and then into the physical store.
Beer/wine specials: 24 x Coronas for $19.99 is a great deal! But you’ll notice it’s strategically placed next to expensive limes, chips, and dip. Loss leader items are usually tied to high-margin counterparts!
Seasonal deals: Retailers might use a single item offered at a huge discount, but mark up all the surrounding seasonal items. Eg: cheap turkeys at Thanksgiving, but expensive everything else. Trader Joe’s sells seasonal flowers at or below cost price to bring people in for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.
Game consoles: Consumers pay a discounted upfront price for the game box hardware, but then pay outrageously marked-up prices for software games and subscriptions for many years to come.
Credit card points! Welcome bonuses, cash back, and points are all loss leaders. Credit card companies happily lose money to gain new customers, knowing most will end up paying them interest + fees.

OK, you get the point. Marketing tricks are everywhere. So how can we as consumers not fall into these traps!? Here are a few thoughts to make the most of loss leaders:

1) Buy only if you need it. Just because the store is losing money, it doesn’t mean you’re saving money. Bargains are only worth it if you are going to get those particular items anyway.
2) Buy in bulk! If there’s a loss leader that you can freeze (like ground beef, chicken breast, sliced hams, etc) then load up! Pre-buying at the moment will help you save money in the future.
3) Visit different stores. We’re not saying you should drive across town to save 30 cents on a particular item. But usually splitting your grocery run across 2-3 stores will be best. Get to know which stores near you have regular loss leaders and shop for those.
4) Watch out for ulterior motives. Shopping with a written list prevents you from straying off and buying things you don’t really need. If you don’t meal plan ahead of time, the grocery store will end up doing it for you (at a significant cost to your budget).

Related stuff:

💻 HTM Blog: 10 Ways to Slash Your Grocery Bill
😎 Mindful Spending: Tips to be a more mindful shopper!
📝 Whitepaper: Razors & Blades Myths (A super nerdy study examining loss leader methods and examples if you’re into marketing research)

TOGETHER WITH DAFFY**

A Better System for Giving 🙏

Daffy has a simple mission: To help people be more generous, more often.

They created a platform & app that helps regular folks like you and me manage giving to the charities we care about more efficiently. (Both Joel and Matt have set up donor-advised funds with Daffy – and Joel wrote a review about it here!)

Daffy is the lowest-cost DAF provider around. Whether you’re giving away $200 or $2 million, they make it possible to give and grow your donations via a simple mobile app.

Donor-advised funds are awesome because they’re:

Convenient 📲: All giving records & donation receipts are organized in a single place.
Tax efficient 💰: With a DAF like Daffy, you can grow your donations tax-free, and also donate assets like appreciated stock, index funds, and crypto to avoid capital gains.
On auto-pilot! 🔁 : Daffy manages automatic contributions so that we hit our annual goal for giving.

If you want to give more regularly (even tiny amounts), or grow an investment account for charitable causes, check out Daffy. They’ll even throw in a $25 bonus to get you started 😉.

GOALS

Are You On Track? 📝

We’re entering the last 3 months of the year — Christmas is in ~90 days!!!

And if you’re a big-time procrastinator (🙋‍♂️) you might be falling behind on some of this year’s financial goals.

At the beginning of 2023, we asked folks what they were hoping to achieve this year. Here were the most common responses… 👇👇👇

What were your financial goals for 2023? How are you progressing?

RE: maxing out retirement accounts… Remember it can take 2-3 paycheck cycles to change your 401k/403b deductions. If you are trying to stuff more money into your workplace plans, give yourself enough time to make those changes!
Sinking funds & holiday spending: If you’re caught off guard every year by holiday spending, start saving NOW to get ahead and build a sinking fund.
Saving for kids/house/big ticket items: Make sure all your cash is being stored in a HYSA! Rates are awesome right now so make sure your cash pile is compounding as much as possible.
FSA money: Most FSA funds don’t automatically roll over to next year — they need to be spent! Be sure to make the most use of your funds before anything expires.
If you’re behind on goals: That’s totally OK! It’s never too late to course correct and re-set your focus. Don’t fall into the trap of “the year is nearly over so why even try”.
If you’ve already crushed your 2023 goals: 14 Common Annual Financial Goals
Congrats! Now start working on next year’s goals 🤣

More Resources:

✅ EOY Checklist: 14 Common Annual Financial Goals

ICYMI

Happenings around the web…

Cell Calculator 📲
WalletHub has a simple wireless carrier comparison tool that helps you decide between 2 carriers offering different upfront and monthly fees. Over a 2-year period, it might surprise you that carriers offering a “free” iPhone 15 actually work out to be more expensive because of their locked-in plan costs.

Home Buyers 🏡
Apparently, the best time to buy a home is next week between October 1-7! Well, that’s according to the number crunchers at Realtor.com. Just a reminder for all you house hunters… the real best time to buy a home *for you* is actually when you are ready (your personal timeline, savings, finances, family situation).

WFH 👨‍💻
The typical remote worker saves up to 80 minutes per day by not going into the office… But ironically, many folks spend that spare time working more!

Money Talk 🎧
Big cheers to Skyler Fleming for hosting us on the Money Talk podcast last week! We chatted about a huge range of topics — marriage, retirement, hobbies, debt, saving strategies… Give it a listen!

Timing Game 📉
Can you beat the stock market? This stock market timing game simulates the market’s ups and downs using historical data. All you do is click the “BUY” or “SELL” buttons and it’ll compare your trading performance vs. the S&P 500 index. (hint: the less you trade, the better you will do — beating the market is extremely hard, both in the game AND in real life 😉)

FRIENDS OF HTM

Sarah Wilson aka Budget Girl ✏️

Sarah lives in a small Texas town, works a 9-5 job, and has a happy and humble lifestyle… About 10 years ago, she began publishing her personal budget online, and since then has encouraged millions of people to live a frugal, fun, and financially fearless life.

Budget Girl is a website and YouTube channel showcasing a plethora of budgeting methods, DIY tips, investing pointers, and general advice to live a full life! Check out her stuff, you’ll like it!

We also interviewed Sarah on episode 565 if you missed it… Great convo about building wealth on a tiny income.

That’s it for now… Wishing you a great week ahead and remember to think and be POSITIVE!! 🌻

Best friends out 🍻