RPF0266-Martin_Dasko_Interview
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00:00:15.360 | Today's the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday in the United States anyway.
00:00:20.640 | And what that means is let's have a fun show.
00:00:23.040 | I'm going to release an interview today and we're going to talk about how you can build
00:00:27.680 | financial independence in your twenties without missing a party.
00:00:31.920 | No heavy lifting here.
00:00:32.960 | No really intellectual stuff that you got to dig deep in.
00:00:35.920 | Rather, we're going to talk about how do you save money at the bar and how do you not go
00:00:39.280 | broke when you're trying to party.
00:00:42.080 | Sit back, relax, and let's have some fun today.
00:00:44.400 | Welcome to the Radical Personal Finance Podcast.
00:01:02.720 | My name is Joshua Sheets and I'm your host.
00:01:04.720 | Thank you for being with me today.
00:01:06.240 | I'm going to try to give you a fun one today.
00:01:08.000 | My guest is a man named Martin Dasko.
00:01:10.880 | Martin's a really great guy.
00:01:11.840 | He writes a website called studenomics.com.
00:01:15.200 | You'll hear his story in just a few minutes.
00:01:16.960 | But how's this for fun?
00:01:18.400 | Not only is he talking about finance, but he's used his financial independence to become
00:01:25.280 | an aspiring professional wrestler.
00:01:28.080 | I was trying to think.
00:01:33.520 | My brain just blanked.
00:01:34.400 | Martin, I think your stage name is The Latin Lover, something like that.
00:01:37.600 | I just blanked all of a sudden.
00:01:40.000 | But Martin's a really fun guy.
00:01:41.200 | I first met him a year ago at FinCon 2014.
00:01:44.400 | I met him and started connecting with his stuff.
00:01:47.120 | I hadn't previously been aware of his work.
00:01:49.040 | And then this year when we were at FinCon 2015, I decided to invite him on the show.
00:01:54.400 | And I thought it'd be really fun because he started his financial blog when he was in
00:01:58.160 | his 20s, in college.
00:02:00.080 | And he's got some insights into helping people to set their lives up well in college.
00:02:05.520 | And I'm hoping this show can be something that'll be fun, something that you can share
00:02:08.560 | with other people who are in college or who are going into college because your young
00:02:13.440 | adult years are years in which you can either set yourself up for a lifetime of success
00:02:19.040 | or they are years in which you can set yourself up for many years, perhaps even decades of
00:02:25.760 | drudgery.
00:02:26.720 | And yet it's not that difficult to go with option A and set yourself up for success.
00:02:32.320 | All it takes is making a few simple decisions well.
00:02:36.160 | So before we get to the interview though, let's talk about sponsors for today.
00:02:38.480 | Sponsor number one is Paladin Registry.
00:02:41.520 | Paladin Registry is my solution to the most requested – the most often – the thing
00:02:48.640 | that people ask me more than anything else, which is, "Joshua, how do I find a financial
00:02:52.720 | advisor?"
00:02:53.440 | My hope is that Radical Personal Finance can help open up the curtains a little bit on
00:02:57.760 | the financial planning business.
00:02:59.200 | So I talk to financial advisors.
00:03:00.640 | I try to share some of my experiences and hope I can help you to see where a financial
00:03:05.280 | advisor can be useful and where a financial advisor cannot be useful.
00:03:08.720 | Originally, I was going to try to create my own financial advisory firm and serve some
00:03:13.200 | of you guys in that capacity.
00:03:14.400 | But I realized that's not the best use of my time.
00:03:17.120 | So I was trying to figure out how can I bring someone else on the show that I could send
00:03:21.280 | you guys to.
00:03:21.920 | Paladin Registry is my best effort to be able to do that.
00:03:25.200 | Paladin Registry is a financial advisor referral service.
00:03:30.480 | It's not like a pay-to-play thing where every advisor just comes and gets in.
00:03:35.360 | Rather, it's a registry and you have to meet certain strict criteria in order to gain
00:03:39.680 | entrance to the registry.
00:03:41.600 | So the founder, Jack Wehmeyer, built these tests and criteria to keep people basically
00:03:50.880 | transparent, accountable, to try to bring to you the best options for you.
00:03:54.960 | If you're interested in all the details of that, go back and listen to episode 248 of
00:03:59.280 | the show.
00:03:59.600 | It's an in-depth interview with Jack where we talk in detail, completely transparent
00:04:03.520 | about every aspect of the registry.
00:04:05.840 | Then if you're looking for a financial advisor, if you don't have one or you'd like to
00:04:08.480 | check and see if there's a better option available for you, go to radicalpersonalfinance.com/paladin.
00:04:20.080 | That link will pass you through to a page where you'll put in your information.
00:04:22.960 | You'll put in a name, your zip code, your phone number, email address, and you'll put
00:04:27.840 | in the amount of assets that you have potentially to manage.
00:04:31.040 | That's important so that they can filter.
00:04:32.640 | For example, if you've got a million dollars, they'll filter out some of the ones who
00:04:36.480 | only accept minimums of $3 million.
00:04:38.480 | Or if you've got $300,000, they'll filter out people appropriately.
00:04:41.680 | So go ahead and put that information in there as well.
00:04:43.280 | It's important.
00:04:44.320 | Then what they will do is they'll take that and they'll send you the information of
00:04:47.360 | several advisors.
00:04:48.240 | Those advisors will contact you.
00:04:49.600 | They'll try to connect with you.
00:04:50.880 | They'll meet with you and you can interview them to see if any of them can serve you.
00:04:54.480 | So please check that out.
00:04:56.400 | Go to RadicalPersonalFinance.com/paladin.
00:04:58.800 | The feedback so far has been excellent.
00:05:00.720 | Those of you listeners who have used that have told me it's really good.
00:05:04.080 | Most of you have met with two or three advisors and that way you had a range of options.
00:05:08.240 | Then the people who have given me feedback so far have usually found one that they started
00:05:12.240 | to have a good feeling about.
00:05:13.440 | So check that out at RadicalPersonalFinance.com/paladin.
00:05:16.800 | Sponsor number two is Patrick Snow.
00:05:20.720 | Patrick Snow is a publishing coach.
00:05:22.160 | He is my publishing coach.
00:05:23.840 | He's the guy that I hired to help me as I've been working on this book that I'm working
00:05:27.200 | on.
00:05:27.700 | He's been a great guy and many of you guys in the audience, many of you guys and gals
00:05:33.440 | or listeners are entrepreneurs and I think you would be well served by considering writing
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00:05:38.800 | Patrick is a world class expert at that.
00:05:40.640 | Listen to episode 252 of the show which was the interview with him and then if you are
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00:05:53.760 | That's it.
00:05:54.160 | Let's get right to it and have a little fun.
00:05:56.800 | Martin, welcome to Radical Personal Finance.
00:06:00.240 | I appreciate you being with me.
00:06:01.280 | Thanks for finally having me on.
00:06:02.720 | I'm glad we could make this happen.
00:06:04.560 | So you've been in the finance blogging world for, wow, about forever, huh?
00:06:09.360 | Well, about seven years which in blogging years is forever because many blogs come and
00:06:15.200 | go or they give up when they're not a millionaire after six months.
00:06:18.960 | I'm happy to have made it this long.
00:06:21.840 | Your site is called studentonomics.com and so you primarily focus on student economics,
00:06:29.520 | right?
00:06:30.000 | That was how it started at least?
00:06:31.120 | Well, that's how it started.
00:06:32.160 | It was 2008 and I was one of those guys that read about entrepreneurship, talked about
00:06:39.200 | it but never really did anything.
00:06:40.720 | So I figured I had to do something.
00:06:43.760 | So me and a buddy would meet up every day and we would talk about some business plan
00:06:48.080 | where we help people with their money.
00:06:50.480 | It was essentially a personal finance blog on paper which probably wouldn't work because
00:06:56.320 | who reads on paper?
00:06:57.200 | So every day we talked about it but this guy was even worse than me when it came to launch
00:07:03.280 | anxiety.
00:07:03.840 | So nothing ever happened.
00:07:05.920 | So finally I wanted to start a blog.
00:07:07.840 | I just started writing articles.
00:07:09.360 | I started reading personal finance sites and some of the people are here actually.
00:07:13.200 | So I reached out to these guys and one of the first people that responded was PT Money.
00:07:18.320 | I said, "Hey, I sent like a generic template.
00:07:21.760 | Don't do that.
00:07:22.880 | I sent every single blogger the same template.
00:07:25.360 | Like I like your site.
00:07:27.040 | It is a good site.
00:07:28.000 | Can I start a site?"
00:07:29.600 | Not even like, "Hello, Phil."
00:07:31.840 | Just like, "Hello, dear sir."
00:07:33.120 | So finally Phil told me you can make money blogging and people actually do this.
00:07:39.280 | So then I said, like I said, I was writing, I was writing and then finally I read the
00:07:43.280 | dough roller.
00:07:43.920 | He's actually here.
00:07:44.800 | Yep.
00:07:45.300 | And he had a post on how to start a blog.
00:07:47.920 | So I said, "I'm going to do this."
00:07:49.600 | So it was a Friday night.
00:07:50.560 | It was November 7, 2008.
00:07:52.560 | I was at home.
00:07:53.200 | I had nothing to do.
00:07:54.000 | I said, "I got to do something about this."
00:07:56.240 | So I followed his easy steps and then apparently you needed a domain name.
00:08:01.840 | So I said, "Well, I'm a student.
00:08:04.640 | I help most people and why not student economics, Studonomics?"
00:08:10.000 | I thought it was the most clever thing in the world.
00:08:11.680 | I never even thought about Studonomics.
00:08:16.080 | Sorry, not to spoil your branding, but I just always assumed it was student economics.
00:08:20.240 | I never even thought of the play on words.
00:08:21.840 | No.
00:08:22.160 | So now I kind of go with it.
00:08:23.440 | You know, I guess this won't help listeners, but my business card is a picture of me with
00:08:29.040 | my shirt open and I play with it.
00:08:30.720 | It's Studonomics or it's Studentomics.
00:08:34.080 | Depends who you are, you know?
00:08:35.280 | I like it.
00:08:36.960 | You look like quite the...
00:08:38.800 | Who's the guy with the long hair that's really famous?
00:08:42.800 | Fazio or something?
00:08:43.920 | Fabio.
00:08:44.560 | Fabio.
00:08:45.280 | Yeah.
00:08:45.760 | He's a poor imitation.
00:08:47.120 | So let's talk about student economics.
00:08:51.520 | And what I'm interested in is you have an ability to write in a voice that is able to
00:08:57.440 | help a lot of people.
00:08:59.520 | And that's a voice that I just don't have.
00:09:01.520 | You know, I'm the Mr. Stuffy financial planner and you've got the ability to connect with
00:09:05.440 | the people that are in that phase of life.
00:09:08.560 | What do you focus on for people who are students in that, "Hey, we're in school.
00:09:14.640 | We're trying to have a good time, but we're also trying to do smart stuff with our money."
00:09:17.200 | Where do you start?
00:09:17.920 | Well, so like, as I was saying earlier, the site started with me as a student and a stud,
00:09:22.640 | I guess.
00:09:22.960 | No, just kidding.
00:09:23.840 | So the site grew with me.
00:09:25.920 | So now I cover financial freedom in your 20s without missing a party.
00:09:29.600 | But so originally I started off with students.
00:09:32.400 | So the one thing I wrote about that I really wanted to stress is that you don't have to
00:09:38.320 | go into debt to get your degree.
00:09:41.280 | And I think that's the biggest issue for most students right now is that they feel that,
00:09:44.880 | "Oh, you know, I'm in school.
00:09:46.960 | Nothing really matters right now.
00:09:48.160 | Like I'll just rack up debt.
00:09:49.360 | I shouldn't really work."
00:09:50.320 | I show people that if you don't get on top of your finances at an early age, it will
00:09:56.000 | ruin your life.
00:09:56.560 | There's no other way to put it, right?
00:09:58.720 | Like you don't want to be in your 30s and stuck paying off debt or worrying about student
00:10:03.280 | loans or forced, even worse, you're forced to work a job that you hate just because you
00:10:07.760 | financed an unrealistic lifestyle as a student.
00:10:10.320 | So I started off by talking about, you know, paying off student loans while in school.
00:10:14.400 | And I show you like, I'm not a boring guy.
00:10:16.880 | You don't have to be some nerd who sits around all day and misses out on life to be
00:10:20.480 | financially free.
00:10:21.280 | Not at all.
00:10:22.640 | So I show people like, "Sure, you party on Friday night, but what did you do to earn
00:10:27.760 | that party?
00:10:28.240 | What did you do Monday to Friday?
00:10:29.920 | Do you have any student loans?
00:10:30.960 | Do you have any debt?
00:10:31.680 | Are you making money?
00:10:32.640 | Are you using your skills to make some more money?"
00:10:34.880 | Because college is the best time to start making money.
00:10:37.520 | Right.
00:10:38.000 | You have nothing else to do all day, right?
00:10:40.560 | You can only party so much in the evening and classes only take what, 15 hours a week.
00:10:45.360 | Exactly.
00:10:45.600 | You've got plenty more time.
00:10:47.040 | Did you go through school without debt?
00:10:49.280 | Yes, I finished with no debt.
00:10:50.880 | So that...
00:10:51.440 | How'd you do that?
00:10:52.080 | Do you want the long story or the short story?
00:10:55.520 | Yeah, let's go with the medium story.
00:10:56.960 | The medium story.
00:10:57.680 | Oh, wow.
00:10:58.240 | Go with the long story.
00:10:59.440 | That's fine.
00:11:00.160 | No, I mean, my one tip for anyone that wants to graduate debt-free is that you have to
00:11:05.840 | make one huge sacrifice at some point.
00:11:08.640 | So my one huge sacrifice as a student was that I lived at home.
00:11:12.400 | Okay.
00:11:13.040 | I mean, it kind of killed my love life, as you can imagine, and my social life.
00:11:17.280 | But on the plus side, I graduated debt-free.
00:11:21.520 | So I was able to travel the world and do whatever I wanted.
00:11:24.400 | Like, my friends are rushing to get jobs and I'm just, you know, blogging about personal
00:11:27.920 | finance.
00:11:28.560 | Right.
00:11:29.280 | So you have to start by making a huge sacrifice.
00:11:31.760 | If you have to move away for school, that's cool.
00:11:34.400 | Can you work?
00:11:36.560 | What I did was I lived at home and I worked crazy hours.
00:11:40.080 | I took the bus to school.
00:11:41.760 | I took the bus everywhere.
00:11:42.800 | It wasn't sexy.
00:11:44.400 | It wasn't cool.
00:11:44.960 | You know, like I had my bus pass on me.
00:11:47.120 | I rode the bus for one hour every single day just to get to class.
00:11:51.120 | But it wasn't so bad.
00:11:52.560 | That's what I did all my studying.
00:11:53.680 | So I rode the bus, took public transportation.
00:11:57.280 | And you have to cut costs any way possible as a student.
00:12:01.680 | The best part about being a student is that it's cool to be broke.
00:12:05.120 | Like, everyone expects you to be broke.
00:12:06.720 | So take advantage of it.
00:12:08.400 | Everywhere I went, I asked for a student discount.
00:12:11.520 | No shame, you know.
00:12:12.400 | And then the other thing is textbooks.
00:12:15.520 | I did whatever it took to save money on textbooks.
00:12:19.520 | If you buy every textbook new, I don't know what to tell you.
00:12:23.440 | That's foolish.
00:12:24.000 | I would say the best way is to go to the first couple of classes and see if you need,
00:12:31.760 | even if you need the textbook, because you don't really need a textbook for every
00:12:34.800 | single class.
00:12:35.440 | And then if you do need it, you can buy used.
00:12:38.400 | You can buy, you can share with friends.
00:12:40.960 | You can buy the online version.
00:12:42.240 | You can find like an exchange program.
00:12:44.560 | Most schools have an exchange program where like older students will sell it to younger
00:12:48.160 | students.
00:12:48.640 | Really?
00:12:49.200 | You know, someone took the course, they'll sell it to you.
00:12:50.960 | Do that because saving money on textbooks alone could be thousands of dollars.
00:12:55.120 | So live at home, save money on textbooks and work.
00:12:58.320 | I meet so many students that tell me, oh, I don't have time to work.
00:13:04.400 | Come on, seriously.
00:13:05.600 | Like who do you think you're talking to?
00:13:07.040 | I was there.
00:13:08.480 | I was that guy.
00:13:09.200 | There's time.
00:13:10.160 | Unless, you know, unless you're becoming a doctor or an engineer, then I understand.
00:13:15.120 | Because then, you know, you don't really have time for much.
00:13:17.520 | Right.
00:13:17.920 | But if you're just studying anything else but doctoring or engineering, get a job.
00:13:22.800 | Right.
00:13:23.200 | Work.
00:13:23.520 | That's what I did.
00:13:24.160 | I worked.
00:13:24.660 | I worked part time hours.
00:13:26.320 | I even worked on campus.
00:13:27.680 | I was the guy that, I was an exam invigilator.
00:13:30.880 | So what I did was I made sure you weren't cheating because you shouldn't be cheating.
00:13:34.640 | So I worked on campus and I worked all the time.
00:13:38.880 | And then during the summers, I got, I would get another job.
00:13:41.760 | I would do construction.
00:13:42.640 | I would be a soccer referee.
00:13:44.400 | Eventually, I started blogging.
00:13:45.600 | I did.
00:13:47.200 | I just worked, worked, worked because you're full of energy.
00:13:51.120 | You have time and every dollar counts.
00:13:54.480 | If you can, you know, get a job, make an extra hundred bucks a week.
00:13:58.960 | Think about what that's going to do to your tuition and your debt that helps you.
00:14:02.240 | And finally, apply for free money.
00:14:06.240 | It's unbelievable how much free money exists out there and we just don't apply for it.
00:14:11.600 | For example, I ran into a buddy, you know, I was new on campus.
00:14:15.440 | I'm like, where are you going?
00:14:16.800 | He goes, come for a walk.
00:14:17.920 | I'm going to go apply for some bursaries.
00:14:19.760 | So I had a four hour spare and I applied for bursaries.
00:14:23.360 | All you have to do to apply for free money is write an essay.
00:14:26.560 | What's a bursary?
00:14:27.920 | Oh, do you have like scholarships here?
00:14:29.440 | Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:14:30.560 | Okay, so that's the Canadian term?
00:14:32.000 | Well, we have bursaries, like it's like a grant, a scholarship.
00:14:34.720 | Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:14:35.680 | Right, grants and scholarships.
00:14:36.720 | Got it.
00:14:37.120 | Yeah, so grants and scholarships are amazing.
00:14:39.520 | There's like funds out there that exist to give people money.
00:14:43.360 | Nobody applies for it.
00:14:45.280 | And I'm guilty of this too because sometimes I would see like, oh,
00:14:48.240 | write an essay telling us why you deserve the scholarship.
00:14:51.200 | I'd be like, eh, I don't know.
00:14:53.600 | But if you think about it, writing an essay takes about like an hour.
00:14:55.680 | It's like, nobody fights for the word essay.
00:14:57.360 | Sure.
00:14:57.920 | What is your job pay?
00:14:58.720 | $11 an hour.
00:14:59.840 | Right.
00:15:00.000 | Imagine you fill out this bursary and you get $200.
00:15:03.040 | It's 200 bucks an hour.
00:15:04.000 | That's not bad.
00:15:04.720 | Right.
00:15:05.360 | So that's what I did.
00:15:06.160 | I filled out a bursary with this buddy.
00:15:08.640 | I'm like, this seems like a scam.
00:15:10.320 | He goes, no, nobody applies.
00:15:12.240 | Just the grant exists.
00:15:14.960 | They want to give money.
00:15:16.240 | These are like, there's government funds, there's private funds.
00:15:18.560 | So I filled out this form.
00:15:20.560 | I told them, hey, I'm poor.
00:15:21.760 | Here's the proof.
00:15:23.040 | I told them, you know, you guys are taking all my money.
00:15:26.640 | I have no money.
00:15:28.080 | I get an email.
00:15:28.800 | I thought, oh my God, I'm going to get arrested.
00:15:30.480 | They're going to, I'm going to get in trouble for fraud.
00:15:32.320 | And they're like, your check is ready, sir.
00:15:35.040 | I'm like, my check is ready.
00:15:36.880 | So I went to the student office and there's a check for $200.
00:15:40.880 | I'm like, okay, I can do whatever I want with this.
00:15:44.720 | So I had $200.
00:15:46.720 | Nice.
00:15:47.840 | A girlfriend of mine, we're not dating anymore by the time,
00:15:50.320 | she would fill out scholarships religiously.
00:15:53.440 | And she was a minority.
00:15:55.360 | So there was a fund for minorities and nobody applied for it.
00:15:59.440 | They just figured out, I won't get it.
00:16:00.800 | She applied.
00:16:01.440 | I forget the number, but it was like $4,000 that she got.
00:16:05.760 | She redecorated her living room, but that's another story.
00:16:10.160 | But still free money.
00:16:11.520 | So if I can graduate debt free, anybody can.
00:16:15.680 | I was out every Friday night.
00:16:17.120 | I was always having fun.
00:16:19.040 | I never missed out on anything.
00:16:20.560 | I just, I worked, I lived at home.
00:16:23.280 | I saved money on textbooks and I applied for scholarships.
00:16:26.400 | And there's no greater feeling than being debt free in your early twenties.
00:16:30.320 | Did you have financial goals at that time that went beyond simply graduating debt free?
00:16:35.280 | Yes.
00:16:35.600 | I told a buddy when I was 16, I said, I'm going to buy a condo before I buy a car.
00:16:41.600 | I have no emotional story, no epiphany.
00:16:45.840 | I was just a greedy kid.
00:16:46.800 | And I was always kind of like a party guy.
00:16:49.200 | So I always wanted to party.
00:16:50.400 | I just wanted to have money for it.
00:16:52.400 | So I told a buddy, I'm going to buy a condo.
00:16:55.440 | So long story short, I bought a condo before I bought a car.
00:16:58.720 | Luckily, I bought it from a developer.
00:17:02.480 | So it was like, it wasn't really ready.
00:17:03.920 | So I had to put down 5% on signing, 5% in a year and 5% on when I actually got the keys.
00:17:11.280 | So 5% was not that much.
00:17:14.880 | So I saved up and then I knew that I had to save up the next 5%.
00:17:17.920 | Between us, I didn't have that money.
00:17:21.920 | So hence why working kind of became a necessity because I had to pay or else I'd lose my other 5%.
00:17:28.160 | So yeah, my goal was to get into real estate and I did.
00:17:30.960 | I at 21, I got the keys to my condo.
00:17:33.440 | Do you still live there?
00:17:34.800 | It was an adventure.
00:17:37.520 | I sold it.
00:17:38.880 | I made a nice profit.
00:17:40.000 | I used it as a, I lived there for a year and I rented a room out to a friend.
00:17:44.720 | It's more of a party mate.
00:17:46.800 | We just went out all the time.
00:17:47.680 | And then when I went to travel, I rented it out too.
00:17:51.280 | I found tenants.
00:17:52.080 | And then finally, I didn't like the building.
00:17:56.000 | Like it was a nice building, but like the unit was, it was a loft.
00:18:01.360 | It was a printing factory that turned into a loft.
00:18:03.840 | And for some reason, somebody wanted it.
00:18:06.000 | They made a great offer.
00:18:06.880 | I said, you know what?
00:18:07.840 | I want to buy more property.
00:18:08.880 | So I sold it for a profit and now I'm buying more real estate.
00:18:12.400 | That's awesome.
00:18:14.400 | You, after college, you just, the blog became your full-time income or what did you do then?
00:18:20.880 | Well, everything in my life has been on the job training.
00:18:24.480 | So when I started the blog, I, you know, like I said, I thought it was so cool.
00:18:28.560 | You know, studentomics.
00:18:29.840 | I'm like, what a clever name, right?
00:18:31.040 | Studenomics, you know, awesome.
00:18:33.200 | My design sucked.
00:18:35.200 | Everything sucked.
00:18:35.920 | So finally, after one month, I got an email.
00:18:39.920 | Someone says, I'll pay you 20 bucks for a link.
00:18:43.520 | I'm like, you're paying me 20 bucks.
00:18:45.040 | I've made it.
00:18:45.680 | I'm on top of the world, right?
00:18:49.280 | So you can't really pay the bills of 20 bucks a month.
00:18:52.320 | You know, you can cover your hosting.
00:18:53.440 | So then from then, I would just write.
00:18:56.400 | I would just, you know, do normal things like talk to other bloggers, join forums, have a good time.
00:19:00.400 | And then people would be like, I'd get emails like, can you write for us?
00:19:04.480 | And I just assumed that they wanted me to write for free.
00:19:06.800 | So I was kind of like, eh, not really.
00:19:09.040 | I didn't realize people wanted to hire me.
00:19:10.720 | So I kind of like created a job, if that makes sense.
00:19:15.440 | I started writing for other sites, like freelance writing, blog management.
00:19:19.840 | I mean, I started in 2008.
00:19:21.760 | So like all these like social media manager jobs that you see everywhere now,
00:19:25.360 | those are new back then because there was no such thing as Twitter.
00:19:28.400 | So you couldn't be a Twitter manager if there was no Twitter.
00:19:30.880 | So I just kind of, it was all in the job training.
00:19:34.240 | I would just start freelance writing.
00:19:35.840 | Then I'd start selling more advertising space.
00:19:39.120 | And then I built a blog and someone bought it from me.
00:19:43.040 | I'm like, you want to buy a bunch of articles?
00:19:45.920 | And because back in like 2010, 2011, people were buying sites.
00:19:51.360 | That was the thing to do.
00:19:52.240 | So I sold the site and it's all kind of been like a series of flukes and just me being in
00:19:58.880 | the right place at the right time.
00:20:00.000 | And fortunately, I've been able just to do that and the real estate helped me.
00:20:04.000 | And then just been writing and I've gone on to launch books and courses and here I am.
00:20:10.320 | So you make all your money online?
00:20:13.360 | Yeah.
00:20:13.600 | Well, you know, I got real estate and do some freelancing.
00:20:17.040 | So it's yeah, it's all over the place.
00:20:18.640 | Tell me about your travels.
00:20:20.240 | So I'm actually the worst traveler out there.
00:20:24.080 | Like most people, they go to like, they go backpacking for like a year.
00:20:29.680 | They do all these cool things.
00:20:30.800 | I don't like to be away from home.
00:20:33.680 | I actually enjoy my life.
00:20:34.800 | I do like, I do jujitsu.
00:20:38.000 | I do pro wrestling.
00:20:38.800 | I'm a member of two gyms.
00:20:40.240 | I actually don't like to leave for long periods of time.
00:20:44.240 | So my travels are actually shorter than most people's.
00:20:46.720 | I'll go away for a couple of weeks.
00:20:48.160 | I'll go away for, I like going away for weekends.
00:20:50.960 | I like going to events, conferences.
00:20:52.880 | I like going away with a purpose, you know?
00:20:54.800 | Right.
00:20:55.360 | Because I'm sure it's fun to go traveling for a year, but I just, I just couldn't do it.
00:20:59.760 | I just haven't, I want to do it one day, but I haven't done it.
00:21:02.240 | So for me, I just go places and have fun.
00:21:05.840 | So for example, like in 2011, I finished college.
00:21:09.360 | I wanted to travel with a buddy because I didn't know he could travel alone.
00:21:14.560 | I thought those people were weirdos, you know, like that guy's traveling alone.
00:21:17.840 | He must have no friends.
00:21:18.880 | So this guy kept on bailing and bailing, giving excuses.
00:21:22.640 | I just booked a flight.
00:21:23.600 | I booked a flight to Poland because I have a Polish background.
00:21:26.480 | So I figured out I'll work on my Polish skills, right?
00:21:30.000 | So I booked a trip and my parents thought I was insane.
00:21:33.200 | They're like, why would you want to go alone?
00:21:35.280 | I said, I have to go.
00:21:37.520 | So I thought, oh man, what am I going to do for three weeks alone?
00:21:40.240 | It's the longest trip I've ever been on.
00:21:42.400 | So finally, I just, I just showed up.
00:21:45.200 | No plan, nothing.
00:21:46.400 | And I didn't realize what an amazing community backpackers are.
00:21:50.240 | Like it's, it's like an underground society.
00:21:53.120 | As soon as you get to one hostel, you meet so many friends.
00:21:59.040 | You find out about all these cool places and I didn't know what I was going to do.
00:22:04.080 | So I ended up in Poland and I went to Budapest and I've traveled around and I love it.
00:22:08.560 | In 2013, I went to Argentina.
00:22:12.240 | That was another adventure.
00:22:14.000 | I went to work on my Spanish because I've been doing Spanish lessons.
00:22:17.200 | But I realized that there's different kinds of Spanish.
00:22:20.960 | And I also learned real fast that people talk fast.
00:22:25.680 | So I thought I was ready to go.
00:22:29.040 | I did these lessons and here I am like, hello, sir.
00:22:31.760 | I walk on the street.
00:22:33.920 | I got these like very complex sentences.
00:22:36.800 | Where is the washroom?
00:22:38.240 | And it didn't go so well.
00:22:40.560 | Tell me the story of this wrestling thing that you're doing.
00:22:46.640 | So I spoke at an event last night, Ignite.
00:22:50.880 | And when I first came to FinCon, you know, it was 2011.
00:22:54.800 | FinCon is the conference we're at right now that we're talking about this in case you don't know.
00:22:59.840 | So I met people that paid off debt.
00:23:02.880 | They're living by the river.
00:23:04.320 | You know, they're living in an RV.
00:23:06.000 | They're like traveling the world, doing all these things.
00:23:08.000 | The only conference in the world where you're cool if you're living in an RV by the river
00:23:11.840 | and you spend no money.
00:23:12.800 | It's like you measure it is one of the strange places in the world where in some ways it's
00:23:19.200 | all we're sitting around breakfast this morning and, you know, there's multiple millionaires at
00:23:24.800 | the table and they're like, yeah, you know, my house has been one hundred thousand dollars,
00:23:28.400 | one hundred fifty thousand dollars on my house.
00:23:30.640 | And it's the only place in the world where it's your badge of honor is how little you
00:23:35.440 | spend on your on your house and on your expenses.
00:23:39.040 | Yeah, it's amazing.
00:23:40.080 | So the one thing that kind of struck a chord with me was that sure, you're following your
00:23:46.240 | dreams by helping people.
00:23:47.360 | But did anybody really dream as a child that they wanted to write about personal finance?
00:23:51.680 | Not me.
00:23:53.440 | Like for me, I grew up watching pro wrestling.
00:23:56.000 | That's all I watched as a kid.
00:23:58.240 | I didn't watch any sports.
00:23:59.360 | I didn't I didn't follow any cartoons or anything.
00:24:02.320 | I just watched wrestling.
00:24:03.680 | So it was it was like a childhood dream.
00:24:05.440 | So I told myself I need to do something about this.
00:24:09.120 | I was twenty five years old.
00:24:10.400 | I was one hundred seventy pounds.
00:24:12.240 | I did everything I was supposed to do.
00:24:14.640 | I went to school, graduated, blah, blah, blah, bought a condo.
00:24:17.360 | I was doing what I was doing, I think I said I had to try this.
00:24:19.760 | So just by some fluke, this is a sign from somebody.
00:24:24.480 | A pro wrestling gym opens up five minutes away from me.
00:24:28.240 | Wow.
00:24:28.740 | I had to do it.
00:24:30.560 | I'm not big enough.
00:24:31.840 | I got everything going against me.
00:24:33.120 | I had short hair.
00:24:33.920 | It was not feasible.
00:24:35.040 | It makes no sense.
00:24:35.920 | Why would I do this?
00:24:36.800 | And I signed up and then I found out I was going to be on a show.
00:24:42.320 | I'm like, I'm actually I have to be on a show.
00:24:44.480 | I was just here having fun, you know, living out a dream, you know, being a being a villain.
00:24:49.280 | And then it turns out that I actually made it onto the show.
00:24:53.200 | So the first show I showed up like just regular gym shorts.
00:24:57.280 | I just it was I was nervous.
00:24:59.680 | I didn't know what I was doing.
00:25:00.720 | I didn't even promote it and tell anybody about it.
00:25:02.960 | It kind of happened.
00:25:03.680 | Then I realized I love being a bad guy.
00:25:06.560 | It's so much fun pissing people off.
00:25:08.160 | So then over the years now, it's been two years.
00:25:11.280 | I've just gone on like it's like I've made an event in shows.
00:25:14.080 | I've just gone around and I'm having so much fun because this really is a childhood dream
00:25:18.560 | to be a villain.
00:25:19.760 | Like I love writing about personal finance.
00:25:21.680 | I love helping people, but I didn't grow up wanting to be a writer.
00:25:25.840 | You know, I grew up wanting to be a wrestler.
00:25:27.520 | So I'm just living the dream, having fun.
00:25:30.160 | I mean, whether I make it or not, who knows who cares?
00:25:33.440 | I'm going to give it all that I have and just having fun.
00:25:37.360 | In a business like that, from a business perspective, what's it like?
00:25:42.720 | Do you make money on the shows?
00:25:44.160 | Yeah, it's wrestling is you're a true entrepreneur.
00:25:48.480 | You're a true freelancer because when you're an independent pro wrestler, you are your
00:25:53.440 | business.
00:25:53.840 | So you are your brand.
00:25:55.680 | So you have to get on shows.
00:25:57.200 | You have to promote yourself.
00:25:58.880 | Like right now, I'm wearing one of my own shirts, you know, self-promotion.
00:26:02.160 | So you get paid based on your worth.
00:26:06.000 | So let's say nobody knows you.
00:26:07.600 | Nobody pays you.
00:26:08.320 | It's like being a freelance writer.
00:26:09.920 | You build your name up.
00:26:10.800 | You work some shows for free.
00:26:12.240 | I'm at the stage now where I'm getting paid a little bit, but now I have to build the
00:26:16.320 | brand.
00:26:16.720 | I have to build up the persona.
00:26:18.400 | So you make money through getting on shows.
00:26:21.200 | You do seminars, you do T-shirt sales, and you truly are an independent contractor, an
00:26:27.840 | entrepreneur.
00:26:28.480 | You have to get your name out there, travel, find a way to get on shows, record clips,
00:26:34.000 | send clips to people because nobody knows you.
00:26:36.880 | Nobody cares about you.
00:26:37.760 | So you have to prove that you're worth being on a show.
00:26:40.560 | So that's what I'm doing now.
00:26:41.440 | I've made my videos, my highlight reels.
00:26:43.600 | I'm sending them around.
00:26:45.040 | I'm selling shirts.
00:26:46.640 | And you just keep on doing that until you hit it.
00:26:50.080 | You make it big.
00:26:50.800 | How do the fights actually work?
00:26:53.120 | Are they choreographed move for move?
00:26:55.440 | That's a bit of a trade secret, but you can find the results online if you look that up.
00:26:59.920 | You're not allowed to spill the secret.
00:27:04.080 | I don't want to say publicly.
00:27:05.280 | You'll find the results online.
00:27:06.480 | A quick Google search will help you with that.
00:27:09.360 | Okay.
00:27:09.680 | It's an interesting perspective, some of those show business type of things.
00:27:16.160 | I can't even imagine trying to make it as a primary career.
00:27:19.440 | But hey, as a secondary career, how cool that you can do something that's flexible enough
00:27:24.400 | to be able to do that.
00:27:25.520 | And it gives you a purpose for your travel.
00:27:27.200 | And it forces you to work out because you have to be like, right?
00:27:29.440 | You're underwear.
00:27:30.160 | You gotta look good in your underwear.
00:27:31.120 | In front of people, in front of a lot of people.
00:27:32.800 | And people are kind of rude, kind of mean, you know, especially when you're a bad guy.
00:27:36.480 | Right.
00:27:37.200 | But I mean, if you think about it, except seven, eight years ago, who would have thought
00:27:40.800 | you could be doing a personal finance podcast?
00:27:42.640 | You know, the world is just changing.
00:27:45.040 | And now it's like weird when you meet someone that has a nine to five.
00:27:48.320 | Right.
00:27:49.520 | Well, especially if you go into different circles, that's what is amazing to me.
00:27:53.040 | And the thing I love about creating digital content is in many ways, our lives often reflect
00:27:58.560 | the lives of those who are around us.
00:28:00.720 | So when you come to a conference like this, everyone's got digital stuff going on.
00:28:04.720 | It's almost just normal.
00:28:06.000 | Yeah.
00:28:06.400 | And you see people creating their videos, making their podcasts, writing their articles.
00:28:11.200 | It's people have very flexible lifestyles.
00:28:13.920 | You go into a nine to five environment and it's nothing like that.
00:28:17.360 | But it's all based upon your reference group, who you're with and what their lives are like.
00:28:22.720 | And I find that it's remarkable how many people think that they need a blueprint.
00:28:28.160 | Sometimes readers will come up to me and they want an exact plan on how to start freelancing
00:28:32.800 | and how to start doing this.
00:28:34.880 | But a lot of life is on the job training.
00:28:38.480 | I mean, you didn't think you could be a podcast host and maybe, you know, many years ago.
00:28:43.440 | Now, here you are.
00:28:44.000 | And who knows?
00:28:46.080 | Who knows what the future holds?
00:28:47.200 | Right?
00:28:47.600 | Right.
00:28:47.840 | So this stage in looking at your career, you didn't need a college degree in order to be
00:28:54.960 | a freelance writer.
00:28:55.760 | You don't need a college degree to be a professional wrestler.
00:28:58.080 | Do you regret the money that you spent on college?
00:29:00.720 | No, no.
00:29:02.400 | A lot of one thing that I hate is when people say that college is a waste of time, because
00:29:07.360 | I mean, I don't think it's a waste of time.
00:29:08.720 | I think college is a great experience.
00:29:10.400 | It's like it's a great thing to go through if you can avoid the debt.
00:29:15.360 | The problem with college has become that it's like a debt, a debt sentence.
00:29:19.760 | Now, you know, it's like you get stuck with a student mortgage and you're and you're stuck
00:29:23.760 | with it for your life.
00:29:25.120 | Like I meet people that are in their 40s, 50s, still paying off their student loans.
00:29:29.040 | And I mean, that's not the way it should be.
00:29:31.680 | I think that everybody should do their best to graduate debt free or with as little debt
00:29:36.960 | as possible, because life's too short to be in your 30s and stuck paying off debt.
00:29:42.320 | Because then you're then of course, you're going to hate your college, because if you're
00:29:45.680 | stuck at a job that you don't want to be at only because you went to college to get a
00:29:50.480 | degree you don't want.
00:29:51.680 | That's a vicious cycle.
00:29:52.720 | And that's that's the cycle that you need to get out of or avoid at all costs.
00:29:57.920 | But no, I don't regret college at all.
00:29:59.440 | I recommend going to college.
00:30:01.280 | I mean, it's not for everybody.
00:30:02.800 | You don't have to go to college.
00:30:04.720 | But you know, if you could manage your costs and you know what you want to study, then
00:30:08.240 | go for it.
00:30:08.740 | Tell us about your websites, books, courses, anything you want people to be aware of, of
00:30:14.080 | yours that they can consume or buy from you.
00:30:15.760 | So I launched a book this year called Next Rounds on Me.
00:30:19.200 | Yeah, it's a I talk about financial freedom in your 20s without missing a party.
00:30:24.000 | I take you from a broken, pissed off college student.
00:30:27.600 | And I show you how to build wealth, how to buy real estate, how to pay off your credit
00:30:31.680 | card debt, how to build your credit score, because college doesn't really teach you these
00:30:36.000 | things.
00:30:36.240 | You know, I noticed that many of my friends, they'll just tell me like, oh, I didn't learn
00:30:40.880 | that.
00:30:41.120 | I'm like, I know nobody learned that.
00:30:43.600 | Right.
00:30:44.640 | It's nobody's job to teach you anything.
00:30:46.800 | You have to go out there and pick up that experience and learn.
00:30:49.760 | So that's why I wanted to put together a book that talks about like your credit score.
00:30:54.240 | And then we talk about drinking, because if you tell a 20 something not to go out, they're
00:30:59.040 | just going to close your book.
00:31:00.960 | Why would you read a book that tells you not to go out like this guy sucks.
00:31:03.760 | So I talk about FOMO, the fear of missing out, which is huge right now because I get
00:31:11.920 | hit with FOMO the worst.
00:31:13.040 | I was up to four in the morning last night because I didn't want to miss out.
00:31:15.760 | So this is the only personal finance book that talks about FOMO, pre drinking, partying,
00:31:22.080 | traveling and paying off your debt and building wealth.
00:31:25.760 | And I recommend it to anybody in their 20s that's broke or pissed off or wants more money
00:31:29.920 | or is just sick of their current situation.
00:31:31.600 | Pre drinking, that's the strategy where you drink your cheap booze at home before you
00:31:35.360 | go out to the bar.
00:31:36.080 | Is that?
00:31:36.720 | Oh, yeah.
00:31:37.440 | Pre drinking is an art in itself.
00:31:39.760 | It's a...
00:31:40.480 | Tell us about pre drinking.
00:31:41.680 | What are the secrets of success and pre drinking?
00:31:43.840 | You've never pre drank?
00:31:44.880 | No, I'm not a big drinker.
00:31:46.080 | Ah, smart man, smart man.
00:31:47.840 | Yes.
00:31:49.040 | I'll have a glass or two of wine, but nothing more than one or two.
00:31:51.600 | That's still considered a pre drink if you have it at home.
00:31:54.240 | That's a good point.
00:31:57.520 | So, but no, I'm not schooled in the arts of in the fine art of pre drinking.
00:32:01.440 | Well, going out is the best part of your 20s, right?
00:32:05.680 | That's how you meet people.
00:32:06.560 | That's how you have fun.
00:32:07.520 | That's what you do.
00:32:08.080 | So the problem is it kind of sucks if you spend all your money on going out because then you're broke.
00:32:13.280 | It's nuts how much you can spend in a night.
00:32:15.440 | Yeah.
00:32:15.840 | Some people are telling me it was eight dollars a drink last night by some people.
00:32:19.120 | I mean me.
00:32:20.080 | I went to buy someone a drink last night.
00:32:23.760 | It was ten dollars.
00:32:24.640 | So, you know, I'm not buying that person a drink again.
00:32:27.520 | So, yeah, pre drinking is the art of having some drinks and having fun with your friends
00:32:32.240 | before you go out because once you get to the bar, it's loud, it's noisy.
00:32:35.920 | You can't really hear anybody and it's so expensive and there's long lines
00:32:39.280 | and it's kind of watered down.
00:32:42.320 | So pre drinking, you find a location and you I say you alternate places.
00:32:47.600 | So you go to someone's house, a different person's house every time.
00:32:50.640 | Somebody's in charge of location.
00:32:53.040 | Someone's in charge of the food and someone's in charge of the drinks.
00:32:56.560 | Or someone could do all three or you can split it.
00:32:58.960 | You get together.
00:32:59.680 | I recommend karaoke.
00:33:01.760 | Karaoke is the best way to pre drink because that sets the tone for the night.
00:33:06.400 | OK.
00:33:06.640 | Get some karaoke, do some corny love songs, have some drinks, order some pizza, laugh,
00:33:11.680 | have a good time.
00:33:12.480 | And then when it's time to go out, you go out and then you spend less money at the bar
00:33:16.000 | because you already drank and you already ate and you already took care of everything
00:33:19.440 | because why spend eight dollars a drink when you can spend eight dollars for a bottle?
00:33:24.000 | But the trick is not to get too wasted.
00:33:26.640 | So you have to really watch out with the pre drink.
00:33:29.840 | Go to the point where you're feeling nice, but not too nice.
00:33:32.960 | And then you go out and you save money.
00:33:35.360 | What are the ethics and practice of taking a flask with you?
00:33:40.400 | Is this an acceptable personal finance?
00:33:42.240 | Oh, wow.
00:33:43.520 | That's that's a touchy subject because if you can get it in, you can get it in.
00:33:48.560 | Right.
00:33:48.800 | But if you get caught with the flask, I don't know.
00:33:50.800 | I don't think they'll let you in.
00:33:52.160 | So you have to check if there's a if they pat you at the door, you have to look into
00:33:55.840 | that.
00:33:56.160 | That takes a bit of research.
00:33:57.440 | But hey, I'm all for that.
00:33:59.440 | If you can bring in a flask, save even more money, then you won't even have to buy anything
00:34:03.040 | at the bar.
00:34:03.440 | You have it on you at all times.
00:34:05.120 | Sounds like you've done this maybe.
00:34:07.680 | I've thought about it.
00:34:09.280 | I'm not a like I said, not a big drinker.
00:34:11.040 | And actually, you and I are probably polar opposites.
00:34:13.920 | The worst thing that I could imagine doing with an evening of my time is going to a loud
00:34:19.040 | bar.
00:34:19.840 | Oh, yeah.
00:34:20.560 | It's like I could see that it's just to me, I'm going to go home and go to bed.
00:34:24.960 | But I'm you know, I'm not many people do enjoy it.
00:34:29.360 | And I think the key is to recognize, hey, here's what's important to me.
00:34:33.600 | Now, how can I get what's important to me without spending a ton of money and without
00:34:39.120 | just destroying my budget?
00:34:40.240 | And that's the thing.
00:34:41.600 | That's why I talk about earning your freedom, because the world doesn't owe you anything.
00:34:47.040 | You don't have to go out every weekend.
00:34:48.880 | Nobody has to do anything for you.
00:34:50.240 | You have to earn the right to party.
00:34:53.360 | So this is why we build wealth.
00:34:55.040 | We pay off debt so that you can do whatever it is you want to do.
00:34:58.400 | Some people like to party, some like to buy new guitars.
00:35:01.040 | My buddy doesn't go out ever, but he buys guitars.
00:35:03.920 | He buys two thousand on guitars.
00:35:05.520 | Who am I to judge?
00:35:06.400 | I'm out and he's he's buying new guitar and he loves it.
00:35:09.600 | So it's about buying the things that you love and cutting back on the things that you don't
00:35:13.600 | need.
00:35:13.840 | You know, like you don't you don't need student loans.
00:35:16.880 | Right.
00:35:17.120 | Right.
00:35:18.960 | And the thing about doing it that way, just doing it carefully, is the problem with student
00:35:23.280 | loans is once they get you, they got you and you can't get rid of them.
00:35:26.880 | If you spend your money and you don't go into debt, well, you may go back to zero, but at
00:35:31.360 | least you can start building again.
00:35:33.280 | And there aren't a bunch of tentacles trying to pull you down.
00:35:36.000 | If you're in debt, the octopus has got its tentacles up, grabbing you and constantly
00:35:40.960 | pulling you down.
00:35:42.000 | And it takes work to get your sword out and chop them all off so you can get up the ladder.
00:35:47.840 | I compare debt to a hangover.
00:35:50.160 | Your credit card bill is like a hangover.
00:35:51.680 | You know, it's the bill.
00:35:53.040 | It's the remainder of the good night's fun that spoils the next day.
00:35:59.280 | It's the price you pay for last night or for what you did.
00:36:02.560 | People tell me, oh, how do I cure a hangover?
00:36:06.160 | It's the same way you get out of debt.
00:36:07.520 | You accept the fact that, A, you messed up.
00:36:09.840 | Right, right.
00:36:10.800 | So you say, how can I change this next time?
00:36:13.680 | Do I maybe not drink?
00:36:15.200 | Do I drink more water?
00:36:16.560 | So what's your spending?
00:36:17.440 | Do you have to bring a credit card to the mall?
00:36:20.160 | Do you have to register your credit card with Amazon and every single online outlet?
00:36:26.480 | No, you don't.
00:36:27.680 | And then you realize you got yourself here.
00:36:30.080 | You got to get yourself out now.
00:36:31.760 | One of my readers just paid off $45,000 worth of debt.
00:36:34.720 | Awesome.
00:36:35.440 | And honestly, she got herself into that debt.
00:36:38.080 | I told her, the world's not out to get you.
00:36:40.480 | You did this to yourself.
00:36:41.760 | It's cool.
00:36:42.640 | I mean, it's not cool, but it happened.
00:36:44.320 | Right.
00:36:44.820 | We have to accept it.
00:36:46.480 | Figure out what it is that happened.
00:36:48.080 | And now let's work on it.
00:36:49.680 | Let's make a plan because nobody plans to be fat.
00:36:52.320 | Nobody plans to be broke.
00:36:53.760 | These are the things that happen to you when you don't plan.
00:36:55.440 | So create a plan.
00:36:58.560 | So I helped this young lady create a plan.
00:37:00.480 | And she had to make some tough decisions in her life.
00:37:03.520 | She had to work a little bit harder.
00:37:05.760 | She had to cut a few subscriptions.
00:37:07.440 | I told her, you can still have fun, but you're going to have to earn it because there's no
00:37:12.640 | need to be going out every day.
00:37:14.320 | And there's also no need to be subscribing to all these different podcasts that charge
00:37:19.040 | you or different things.
00:37:21.520 | And the toughest decision that she had to make in this case, like I mentioned earlier
00:37:26.000 | about the big sacrifice, she bought an engagement ring that she couldn't afford and she had
00:37:32.720 | to sell it.
00:37:33.520 | She bought it for herself?
00:37:34.960 | Or why did she buy the engagement ring?
00:37:37.360 | Oh, she's a lesbian.
00:37:38.560 | So she bought it for her partner.
00:37:40.240 | Got it.
00:37:40.740 | So that was the one tough decision.
00:37:44.160 | So if you take anything away from this, I want you to make one tough decision that will
00:37:47.680 | help you.
00:37:48.180 | In this case, that's the toughest decision.
00:37:50.720 | Imagine taking a ring back.
00:37:51.920 | That's not accepted in society.
00:37:55.920 | Once you give the ring out, everyone wants to talk about it, blah, blah, blah.
00:37:58.800 | But no, sometimes you have to make that tough decision.
00:38:02.000 | It won't be popular.
00:38:02.880 | Your friends won't like it.
00:38:04.960 | Your partner certainly won't like it.
00:38:07.440 | But you got to do what's best for you to help you get ahead.
00:38:10.800 | Because once you get ahead and once you do what's best for you, then you can give back
00:38:13.760 | and help others.
00:38:14.880 | But just like on an airplane, you got to put on your life jacket first before you can help
00:38:20.080 | anybody else.
00:38:20.880 | Right.
00:38:21.680 | Do you recommend people take cash with them when they're going out instead of their card?
00:38:27.120 | Things like that?
00:38:27.760 | Yeah, actually, I recommend doing experiments because I think personal finance is all about
00:38:32.640 | experiments.
00:38:33.280 | On my site, I wrote about how I drove for Uber for a month.
00:38:35.680 | And I also have done the cash experiment.
00:38:38.320 | There's a positive and a negative with cash.
00:38:41.120 | Because I say try for a week or two, track your spending.
00:38:47.200 | Don't check your spending all the time.
00:38:48.400 | But when you do an experiment, it's worth tracking and see what works better for you.
00:38:52.240 | Because with a credit card, you can at least at the end of the week or with a debit card
00:38:57.280 | at the end of the week, you can see where you spent your money.
00:39:00.560 | You'll be like, oh, no, two in the morning, McDonald's, what was I doing?
00:39:04.080 | Yeah.
00:39:04.400 | And in this case, I just wasn't thinking so much about tracking, but about control.
00:39:07.920 | I mean, there's been many times I've been out with my buddies and all of a sudden, it's 1230
00:39:14.320 | in the morning and they're ready to pick up the bar tab for everyone around and just slap down
00:39:18.640 | the Amex.
00:39:19.280 | That's not so good the next day.
00:39:20.720 | Yeah.
00:39:21.280 | But if you got five $20 bills and that's your limit for the night, then you're able to say,
00:39:26.720 | well, sorry, I got five $20 bills here and they got to get me all night.
00:39:30.160 | Well, sounds like you guys didn't pre-drink, first of all.
00:39:32.240 | Well, yeah, going out is different.
00:39:35.440 | When it comes to going out, actually, my advice is very strict.
00:39:38.080 | It's bring your ID, bring $20 for a cap, you better not drink and drive or else we're going
00:39:44.000 | to have trouble.
00:39:44.640 | Right.
00:39:44.880 | There's a $20,000 decision right there.
00:39:47.440 | Exactly.
00:39:48.320 | Bring your debit, bring your ID, no credit cards at all and bring the cash you plan on spending.
00:39:54.160 | Once you run out, you run out.
00:39:55.840 | Right.
00:39:56.240 | Because once you have a few drinks, like you said, you're going to pick up the tab for
00:40:00.720 | everybody.
00:40:01.600 | I got a friend, if you even look in his direction, he'll buy you a drink.
00:40:05.840 | I don't even want to think about his credit card bill.
00:40:08.400 | So in that case, no, don't bring your credit card to the bar.
00:40:11.120 | But when it comes to everyday spending, I would do it for two weeks and see where your
00:40:16.080 | money goes.
00:40:16.560 | Because the good thing about a credit card and a debit card is you'll see what you did
00:40:20.720 | right and what you did wrong.
00:40:21.840 | For me, my biggest problem area is food.
00:40:23.920 | I tracked it once, I spent $565 a month on food.
00:40:28.080 | I love eating out.
00:40:30.560 | That's what I do for fun.
00:40:31.840 | I go out with friends for food.
00:40:34.240 | And I mean, I tried using cash, but still a lot of money, at least with a credit card,
00:40:39.040 | I saw where the money was going.
00:40:40.320 | But with cash, for me personally, cash works best when it comes to the big purchases, because
00:40:48.720 | I have a tough time handing over cash.
00:40:51.360 | When it comes to swiping, especially Amazon, Amazon is the biggest culprit here.
00:40:58.000 | Those guys will save all your information.
00:41:00.960 | They literally make it so easy to spend money, you feel stupid if you don't buy something.
00:41:05.120 | I checked out my own book and keep on recommending me to buy my own book.
00:41:08.560 | I almost bought it again.
00:41:09.520 | Don't wait a minute, this is my book.
00:41:11.920 | Those guys will send you emails like, do you look at something?
00:41:15.280 | You'll get an email the next day.
00:41:16.320 | Hey, you looked at this, what happened?
00:41:17.920 | And if you save your credit card with those guys, oh my, they will make that you go on
00:41:22.960 | there, the one click purchase.
00:41:24.400 | Then you're like, wait a minute, you might like this.
00:41:27.360 | And I go, yeah, I do like that.
00:41:28.960 | Next thing you know, you're down $100.
00:41:30.480 | What did I do?
00:41:31.120 | So studenomics.com or studenomics.com, what's the name of the book?
00:41:36.480 | Next Round's on Me.
00:41:37.440 | Next Round's on Me.
00:41:38.480 | It's available on Amazon, CreateSpace.
00:41:41.040 | Oh no, that's where I published it, sorry.
00:41:42.320 | It's available on Amazon and Kindle.
00:41:45.120 | The Kindle's cheaper.
00:41:46.160 | Awesome.
00:41:46.480 | Martin, thanks so much for coming on, man.
00:41:47.840 | Thanks for your time.
00:41:48.560 | It's kind of interesting in the college years, there's a lot of concern, or at least I was
00:41:54.560 | pretty concerned about my level of coolness.
00:41:57.120 | But you know what's cool?
00:41:58.080 | Not being a financial train wreck.
00:42:01.280 | You know what's cooler?
00:42:02.160 | Not being broke.
00:42:03.040 | You know what's even cooler?
00:42:04.880 | Being financially independent.
00:42:06.400 | So take this show, share it with somebody, and I hope that they can use the information
00:42:10.880 | and the ideas to have a little fun and also really set up a serious plan for their finances.
00:42:16.640 | Because if you have a plan behind you, it frees you up.
00:42:20.000 | Frees you up to do things like pursue a professional wrestling career.
00:42:23.680 | Or frees you up to pursue things like you fill in the blank with the things that you
00:42:28.400 | want to do.
00:42:28.900 | Really can make a difference.
00:42:30.880 | So that's it for today's show.
00:42:32.320 | Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are in the United States and celebrate Thanksgiving.
00:42:36.160 | I am away.
00:42:38.000 | This show was pre-recorded and released pre-recorded.
00:42:40.240 | I'm away with my family.
00:42:41.280 | I appreciate each and every one of you who's listening.
00:42:44.000 | I hope that you are enjoying your time with your family.
00:42:47.040 | The show will be back on Monday, November 30th.
00:42:49.440 | No show on Thursday.
00:42:50.640 | No show on Friday.
00:42:51.760 | Hey, do yourself a favor.
00:42:53.360 | Sleep in on Friday.
00:42:54.320 | Don't get caught up in this mania of that.
00:42:58.560 | I mean, hey, if you need a deal and you can find a deal on Black Friday, I'm all for deals.
00:43:02.240 | But save yourself some money and just live a simpler life.
00:43:05.200 | My tip for you.
00:43:07.040 | Special thanks to those of you who support the show on Patreon.
00:43:09.840 | If you gain value from the content of the show and you'd like to support it directly,
00:43:14.000 | please go to RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patreon and sign up to support the show.
00:43:17.600 | Your pledges are what gave me the cash to be able to justify things like going and getting
00:43:23.040 | these interviews for you.
00:43:24.240 | Your pledges are what gives me the cash to basically run this operation to try to continue
00:43:28.560 | to give you more invaluable content.
00:43:30.640 | So go to RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patreon.
00:43:33.360 | A bunch of bribes there for you at different levels.
00:43:35.280 | You can contribute as little as you want, as little as a buck a month or as much as
00:43:38.560 | a couple hundred bucks a month.
00:43:39.920 | Take the value that you think I deliver to you.
00:43:42.640 | Take 10% of that and send 10% of that to me.
00:43:44.720 | That's what I ask.
00:43:45.600 | And then if I ever don't deliver the value, just cancel.
00:43:48.480 | No big deal.
00:43:49.040 | That keeps me on my toes, keeps me accountable to y'all, keeps me working hard.
00:43:52.960 | Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
00:43:53.920 | We will talk with you next week.
00:43:56.560 | [music]
00:44:06.560 | (upbeat music)