Biking is a Money & Life Hack #578

on our mind. It's something that we enjoy so much. We feel like it's like the secret sauce maybe too too. Why it is you and I are so happy, why we're so wealthy. It's because we bike so much, all right, like the Benjamin Franklin to bikes. It's not quite it's one of the secret secret sauces in our arsenal. We felt that this was so crucial. This is literally the first episode we ever recorded within this personal finance podcast.

We decided it was going to be about bikes. When you think about it from a logical perspective, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. To launch a personal finance podcast and then make the first episode about biking, but like but rather investing right or say anything whatever

it is. But I guess when you think about it from our perspective, like it shows one how much we value biking and how important we think it is, but how it really is an integral habit that you can incorporate into your life that's gonna save you a ton of money as well. And so that's you know, we're gonna kind of maybe you know, update our thoughts on biking and give some explainers on why it's so important, and then talk about how you can effectively make biking

more part of your regular routine. And we'll talk about how it can save you money. But there are a lot of other additional benefits to There are a lot of reasons before we get to that, Joel, before we get to a beer, I wanted to here a quick, uh, like a bone headed move that I made. Normally we talked about our wins when it comes to our money, but I'm gonna share a loss, not a large loss, a small loss, thankfully. So we took a listener question. I think this is about two years ago or a

little over two years ago. It was towards the beginning of the pandemic. It was when the FED was dropping rates and we were seeing what the banks were paying and savings accounts dwindling. Right, I mean basically was taking a nose dive and a listener people understand now the mechanics behind that based on last week. So that's right. We talked about this last week. And what's crazy is that us thinking about and preparing for that episode last week.

That's not what caused me. Well maybe it did in a in a sort of roundabout way, caused me to realize that I was making this mistake in my own life. But a listener was asking about locking up some of his money in a CD in order to earn some sort of interest within the money that he had set aside. We're not normally huge fans of this, but there are some penalty free there are like these no penalty eleven months CDs. In particular, one that I signed, you know,

put sunk some money in. After that question, was this one that ally offers and when there's not gonna be a penalty, when there's no fee associated with canceling that, you know, canceling that account pulling that money out early. There's no harm in locking that money up, and so that's something that we did recommend. We're like, well, maybe shy away from the regular CD, but if there is

a no penalty option, maybe take that path. I figured I would do that as well, because I thought this, yeah, yeah, this is a good way to keep your savings at least in the one plus percent range, rather than seeing it kind of dip all the way down. And as like the writing was on the walling five range, breaks were coming down hit hard. And so that was an environment where CD has made a little more sense, whereas

typically we're like, we're not very finest. You might want to stay away, and that's all fine and dandy unless you forget that you've got money in that account. And like we talked about last week, the banks have been raising their interest rates and are paying in the mid to upper twos even at this point, and that is exactly what I've been doing by defaults over the past

few months. It took me last week. I was looking at the end of the week, I was cleaning up the budget a little bit, and I realized, holy crap, I've got a serious junk of money. Sitting there earning one point something when I could be earning easily double that, and I feel like a little bit of a gut punch. Well, I mean, luckily again, because it was a no penaltd CD, I was able to easily remedy that. It was super

easy to do. Just canceled that account, move that money over to the savings account, was immediately earning a higher rate. But I wanted to share this because even though I mean, we talk about this all the time, I'll say, at least for myself, it can be easy to kind of

fall into this set it and forget it mindset. And while in some instances that is a great approach to take, right in particular when you're talking about your investments with something like this that's a little more active, it's good to revisit some of these different decisions that we've made in the past, because it's funny. I mean, it was just right there in front of me, and I had just been looking right over it, just like as I go in there, make sure certain checks have been deposited,

make sure everything's matching up within my spreadsheets. But it took me taking a step back and realizing, oh man, this is a suboptimal move for me right now to how of all this money, all this money tied up. And so I think that can be a natural tendency for us, right to make things easy, to simplify things, to not think about things once we've made that decision. But I think it can be beneficial to our bank account,

specifically for us to revisit some of these things. It's hard to remember, Okay, I putt put money in a CD, but I did it because we were in a folly great environment and now that the environment is completely shifted, and there are much better places for me to stick my cash, whether it's I bonds or even just stocking

that money in a regular savings account. But for yeah, for anybody out there who does have money in the CD, the chances are once it matures, or if it's a no penalty CD, it's time to get the money out because there are better places to stick that money. And um, yeah, so I'm glad you realize see your ways able to fix that problem. Yeah, and again the one I had signed up for you those through ally super easy to do.

It does make me wonder, though, how many folks are out there who have signed up for did something similar and are realizing wait a minute, oh shoot, this is something I need to take care of. You time to address it exactly, Move on, carry on with life, Joel. Let's introduce the beer you and I are enjoying this episode again. This is another one by a Bosky brewing company. Thanks to Bob for donating this one and the others

to the show. Looking forward to enjoying this one, Joel, And of course we'll share our thoughts at the end of the episode, no doubt. All right, well, let's get onto it, Matt. Let's talk about one of our favorite subjects that we've been talking about obviously for a long time now, which is biking. And and it's still something that we we address from time to time on the show because, especially during the pandemic bikes we were so hot.

They were all the rage bike sales through the roof, and and we would say that spending less than you make it's it's like the most basic element of personal finance, right. You can get as complex as you want, and you'll probably need to get more complex if you want to make progress more quickly. You'll need to figure out the dynamics of investing in frugality and and you know, to be able to grow the gap so that you can

invest more. But if you can get that that simple basic habit right of spending less than you make right, it's going to have massive ramifications on every area of your life, allowing you to pay off debt, to save and but if you if you fail to heed the most basic tenant, if you aren't able to do the simplest thing right, well then you won't be saving or investing in. Your debt's going to continue to accumulate. And that's an awful place to be in your personal finances.

And man, I don't just thinking about biking. It made me think, it's just this, it's this really simple thing that can radiate and have a major impact on your finances.

And and it actually made me think of our conversation a couple of years ago with Charles do Higg, who wrote a book about habits and and he talked about habit formation with us in January a couple of years ago, and one of my main takeaways from that conversation was when he talked about keystone habits, and he said that keystone habits impact all of our other habits, that if you get just a couple of these keystone habits right,

that it will be much easier to develop. Other healthy habits are kind of like the big domino that knocks down all the other dominoes. They create this ripple effect. And I think you and I maybe we might describe biking as a keystone habit that can have wide ranging impacts on our lives, on our finances, And that's why we're dedicating an entire episode to it today. Just like spending less than you make is a keystone habit, right, it's gonna lead to better results in every other part

of your finances. Well, Biking similarly is that for I think our money and for our lives. Absolutely. Yeah. The fact is we believe that biking can have maybe as much of an impact on your data to life as spending less than you make. Uh, it can be that foundational. There are just so many different potential problems that biking

more and driving less is able to solve. And another common thread or narrative that we often hear is that riding a bike might seem like this activity that's just a bit out of reach for every single person out

there to try. Uh, you might be you know, someone might say, like, oh, cycling, it's just for the the bike messenger types, you know, riding around on their hip single speeds, flipping off of cars as they driving on the slidewalks, or or it's just for the like the weekend warrior mountain bikers, or for the that the cluster of bikers that are you know, riding on the road wearing spandex. But like we all right, look, I'm fine with it if if you want to do that, more

power to you. But we're trying to convince you otherwise, right, Like this is more approachable than you think. We want this to be something that you incorporate more in your day to day as opposed to it being this thing

that is more of an activity. We wanted to be less of an activity and more sort of like the like the underpinning of how it is that you know, you think about transporting yourself around um and you know, plus, even if you haven't ridden a bike since you're a kid, Like there's a reason that you hear the phrase it's like riding a bike. It's because it's something that you never forget how to do. That's one of the reasons that we're not really gonna get to today to Joel,

but just I mean writing a bike. I think was it the first episode when we talked about Stranger Things and just how much fun it can be when you're just you know how, the freedom of being on a bike, the wind blowing through your hair that was half the your helmets into your hair. Of course you always need

to wear helmet. That was half the fun of the first season of Stranger Things was those kids on their bikes and the eighties and just like the nostalgia brought me back to my childhood and doing the very same thing in the streets of the neighborhood where I grew up.

And I think it's also important to mention, Matt you mentioned Biketober here in Atlanta, this is like the perfect time of year to get started riding a bike, because like, if you start picking up in in the middle of July or the middle of January, you're less likely to stick with it because it might be really hot, really cold wherever you are, and you might be like, yeah, no, not for me. So we would say the fall is just the right time to begin biking. It's absolute best weather.

There's just something delightful about getting around on two wheels when the leaves are changing colors too. Like the sound of those leaves as they dry, crackling under your tires. It's pretty great. And uh, you know, by the way, back when we started the podcast, we were living in the middle of a big city, in the city of Atlanta, and because of that, a lot of folks, maybe, I don't know, they might have dismissed our enthusiasm for biking as like, that's what the urban dwellers, that's what the

city folk do. And you know, I live jell. They don't understand what it's like out here in the burbs. Well, guess what now we do. We've joined you, and so yeah, I don't know. They might have thought, well, it's it's um, it's particularly a matter of where they live. I can't do the same thing, and I'm not gonna lie, Matt. You and I we were a bit nervous when we opted to move out to the Birds that maybe it would mean biking less, driving more. That's not what we wanted.

But yeah, we're happy to report that we have been biking just as much, if not more than we used to when we were living in town. And you know, there might be less bike infrastructure around these parts, but that doesn't mean we've got to relegate our bikes to

the garage. I was like, literally just chatting with a new friend here, Matt on Sunday, and she was talking about an eight mile bike ride that she makes every single week, and the bike infrastructure not great for a section of that ride, but she makes it happen anyway, And I was like, more power to you, man, this is congratulations. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, well, I think I mean you and I were both proud to say that we have not succumbed to the desire to get a

second vehicle living out in the burbs. We have found a way to prioritize biking in her life. Um. And

that's truly what it comes down to. It's about making it a priority because you might not have it as easy, but especially if you're a renter right or if you're in the market to buy a home right now, thinking about where you live in terms of bike ability and even walkability, that that's a smart thing to do because even if that apartment, if it costs more because it's centrally located, if it means that you can ditch a car and avoid the car payment, which would be the

worst case scenario. But even still, insurance costs, the costs, cost of maintenance, the cost of gas, it's gonna mean meaningful savings. Last week in the Hotwo Money newsletter Wonderful, Magnanimous, it's a fantastic one featured a listener and she did this very things. It's it's not like she had the super fancy car or anything. It was nice and it was a used ride, but she sold it. And she credits that one move as having the biggest impact on

her ability to get ahead. So maybe she's also influenced our desire to revisit bike me because we're like, man, she is doing things right. And she had a picture of her like even in the cold New York. Yeah, she's in New York. Yeah and so, and she makes seventeen an hour, she's got a six figure net worth. But she credits all of this to the one big decision that she made which has had ripple effects in all other areas of her life. But she's able to get around town no problem. And of course being up

there close to the Canadian border. She didn't say specifically where she was. It's a lot colder up there, so it's it's not even a requirement to live in the the wonderful balmy state of Georgia like we are. We think it's great down here, but it is still possible when no matter where it is that you live. Right side note, My favorite thing about the How To Money newsletter, by the way, is the how You Money segments. What

we're doing. It's a nice feature. It's so fun because we profile a different How to Money listener or reader every other week in the newsletter, and so you get kind of like an insight, like a voyeuristic look into their personal finances. You can see, well, how much money do they make, and what are their debts, how much are they saving, how much are they investing, where do they live. Joe likes peeping in on you and your money.

If you're curious about how other people live and handle their money, and maybe they're Dirk freak their craft, you're equivalent how they live in life. I think it's a really fun element of the newsletter, and you can I'm learning a lot from its super car readers, which is which is fun. So yeah, you should sign up for that at how the Money dot com slash newsletter. But

let's keep talking about biking. And I think infrastructure is definitely you can you can cite a lack of infrastructure as a reason why you're not biking more, and I can get the argument behind that. And I do think it's important that we fight for more bike infrastructure where we live. But I would say it's it's more of a possibility to bike than you realize, even if you lack some of the infrastructure that would be nice to have. Although you know, we talked about there was a resurgence

of biking during the pandemic. Bike sales were through the roof, and we even saw more and more cities and municipalities like prioritized bike infrastructure, which was cool. But the reality is we still kind of have woefully inadequate bike lanes

around most of the country. And and this this might be like a no DA thing to say, but I saw this study in the National Academy of Science has found that cycling increased up to forty eight percent more in cities that added bike lanes versus cities that added none. And it makes a difference. Yeah, it does. Like if if you build the infrastructure, people people want this, Like people get out when But we've kind of prioritized cars

in so many of our cities around the country. We've given them full rain of all the roads, and bikers are relegated to what's left, and that is that's just not good. And so we as just a society, as a culture, have to prioritize biking um And you know, Oakland is, for instance, one of those towns that seems to really have prioritized making it easier and safer to bike in recent years. And I don't know, I hope

we see more of that. And I hope the reality that COVID created more bike riders is going to create maybe like a ground swell uh in a lot more cities for more bike infrastructure, because it's going to make it easier for all of us to get around on our bikes exactly. Yeah, I mean, and hopefully we can end up like a like a city like Copenhagen, right like something like sixty two percent of folks things they

commute via bike. There's like large swaths of the city that you cannot access via car, and so we want to see more of this, you know, but we only see something like point six percent of us commuters riding their bikes to work. That's like what a thousand times fractions the you know, the fact is is that the more infrastructure we see pop up to encourage biking, the more biking we're gonna see. Uh. And it doesn't happen in a vacuum either, you know, like it takes organizations,

it takes individuals to help fight for it. It reminds me of our friend Chad Carson. He spends a lot of time and energy getting more bike trails up and

running in his hometown of Clemson, South Carolina. And so we would recommend for folks find, you know, find your local bike abvacy organization, donate some time, donate some money at send some of these meetings and some of these these group rides often which are there to help raise awareness because we believe that they can be a major catalyst to this becoming something that you can actually see in your hometown, not just something that Matt and Joel

liked to talk about from from time to time on the show. Well, we've talked about Streets Alive in Atlanta and how that happens typically four times, three or four times a year, and they shut down like five or six miles of street that are typically our cars have full rain of and how that just has an impact on the public consciousness about how many people want to

get out on their bikes in that town. And then there's pictures, there's documentation that I think we can we can point to our politicians and say, look, there's like a desire for this. Let's put more of our dollars are public dollars to use funding bike lanes that are going to make our city more better to get around it and just kind of a healthier place to exist

as well. But Matt, let's keep talking about bikes. Let's talk about specifically this get to how much money you can save if you choose to ride a bike more. But there are environmental impacts that actually there was a stat that shocked me. We'll talk about that and more right after this. All right, dude, we go back from the right. We're talking biking, and you know, we just touched on bike infrastructure specifically, how it is that you can work to make things better wherever it is that

you live. But we're gonna now cover some of the reasons that we feel that biking is a total game changer. And the first one it's gonna seem super sort of broad, but it's also it gets very specific as well. Uh, the first reason that we think biking is such a clutch move is that bikes are efficient, as I'll get out there somewhere between like fifty and eighty times more

efficient energy wise than taking your car. And then on top of that, more than half of the trips that we make are four miles or fewer, right, And so what's important to keep mind here is a trip of that length, it's gonna be a lot easier to stomach for most folks, especially if you're just starting out right, It's it's unlikely that you're going to start biking on your twenty mile commute to work. Um, actually, I think that would actually lead to more folks throwing in the towel,

maybe before they even started. You try to commute on on day one, Day one, it was probably not gonna work out. Literally tomorrow Thursday morning, you're like, oh yeah, I'm gonna give it a shot, and then you know you're gonna pet her out too quick because you're gonna be like, that was rough. I'm not into it exactly.

And so whether you know it's just dropping the kids off at school or just running and you know, picking up some groceries, running an errand these are the sorts of trips that makes sense for us to use our bikes for. We've talked before how vehicles like cars are these really interesting devices because we use the same device to drive two miles that we could hop into right now, fill it up with gas, and drive straight across the

country for hours and hours. Whereas there's a big gap, there's a lot of room for vehicles like bikes in particular when it comes to these the shorter trips. Yeah, and sometimes you like to take your segway out on the on the open road every once in a while. I'm not true those those things that I don't feel like they they're great for like city tours, maybe on sidewalks around town, but they're kind of worthless. You know. I've never actually been on a segway. I don't think

I've been on one either. I've seen them around, but they just look so goofy, seem neat No, hey, I just have to do look goofy though, I mean you look goof you wearing your helmet on a segway that's going three miles an hour. Uh, it's true. All right, Well, let's let's talk to you about the environment, because there's an argument to be made by folks who are trying to use fewer fossil fuels that biking is a perfect

way to do this. Right, then we could all stand a less in our carbon footprint, and and riding a bike is really like one of the easiest ways to immediately begin making that happen. If if that's something you care about, if that's something that matters to you, we would say biking is kind of one of those slam down choices to make in order to be better about that. And according man, this is the stat that I talked

about before the break that just completely floored me. According to research out of the University of Oxford, which has some pedigree, right, they kind of know what they're talking about. Apparently fairly academic. Yea, even choosing a bike over a car one time a day reduces the average person's carbon emissions by sixty seven percent. I still don't understand how that's possible, but I'm just gonna trust the science here, and I'm gonna believe the University of Oxford that this

is accurate. So I think the thing. When I read that one, I was just kind of flabbergasted. But it also made me think that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach. Right, you can gradually start adding a bike into the mix of your transportation, of the modes that you take, confident that even just a minor shift just biking that hopping under bike one time a day to make a run instead of let's say you take five car trips a day, make it four car trips in a bike ride, and that is going

to have a major impact. You might think, I'm just I'm starting out small, I'm dipping my toes in the water. It's not gonna make that much of a difference. But I don't know. At least what this stat is showing

us is that it will. Yeah, and honestly, even aside from the environmental impacts, which you know that's definitely a great argument, but there's just something beautiful about efficiency, right, Like, if you're listening to this podcast, it makes me think of all the money nerds out there, Like we're all money nerds on like on the spectrum, like it depends

on how into what you are. But regardless, well, if you might like I don't know, start bawling if you had done what Matt did with that CD, you know, like that inefficiency might have Uh, it's gonna cause you to crack. Yeah, But regardless, what we like seeing though, is our dollars going to the right places and to not see waste. And that's what we're fighting here like that,

Like that's what's I mean. This is sort of like beautiful design, I guess is what I'm what I'm getting at is the fact that you're able to harness your physical energy, your physical calories into moving your body across the earth. There's just something really cool about that, aside from the positive impact that is having on the environment

as well. Yeah, and it's an even bigger environmental positive if you are able to in a family that would normally have two cars, if you if you cut back to having one car, it's like that car didn't even have to be created in the first place, much less being driven. And so I think that makes it even

more powerful from an environmental perspective. I don't I don't have any numbers or flabbergasting statistics on that, but you got to think, Matt, the fact that a family of five and a family of six each have one car. When that is traditionally those familings we have two or three. That makes a big impact to exactly. Yeah, And so obviously, like bikes, they're not just efficient from a from an energy standpoint, but they allow you to use your money

more efficiently as well. Bikes are are cheaper than cars. Like obviously, um, I mean, you could buy a ten thousand dollar bike if you wanted to, I guess, But the truth is that you can get an awesome bike for less than one thousand dollars, and great used bikes can be had for just a few hundred bucks. Not only do you save money on the that upfront cost, but just the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining a bike

versus a car are pretty significant as well. There's a New York City biker who actually did the math, and you found out that a fifteen hundred dollar bike should cost you somewhere in the three and fifty dollar range in maintenance costs throughout the year. And you know, that sounds pretty close, but it's actually higher than than what we're typically showing out here. Maybe down in the warmer

state of Georgia. I don't know if there's less salt or whatever on the road that's corroding our parts as much, but even still a few hundred bucks a year and maintenance is pretty reasonable. Uh. It also makes me think about I was looking at some of the different reasons that folks were participating in Biketober here in Atlanta. Why it is that they bike, and there is he's either a student or a t A or a professor at

Georgia Tech. And it's because for him, it was going to cost him the same amount of money to buy a parking pass on campus that would allow him to drive to school and park parker's car their own campus as it would for him to buy an electric bike.

So he just bought up the electric bike because he thought, well, what's the point of Like, that's not even including all the additional maintenance costs, um the cost of gas, the insurance, all the other costs associated with owning a vehicle, but just in parking alone, that one expense allowed him to make the slam dunk decision to go ahead and get that e bike rather than buying that parking And that's

a really good point. In Atlanta, parking costs aren't as expensive as they are in other cities like Washington, d C. For example. And so if you live in a place that has higher parking costs, you might find that that's another reason. Like even my little sister in midtown Atlanta, for every additional space you get as a as a tenant, you have to pay. I forget how much I think, I want to say it was like a hundred fifty bucks a month for yeah, for an additional parking space.

And they they are a one car family with a tiny little scooter, and they were able to get their their scooter basically they're able to park that for free. So yeah, the if parking parking cost factor in, that's a big cost. So you can act out of your

life if you start riding your bike more. And and Matt, you were just talking about the difference in the upfront cost of a bike versus a car and then the ongoing maintenance costs, which are a fraction, right, And and there's just like a massive difference compared to the average cost of a vehicle, which when you run the numbers, and this this also sounds a little shocking, it costs

the average person ten thousand dollars a year. I think it was like seven hundred dollars a year in the most recent Triple A survey to own a car, because when you're factoring in maintenance costs, you take into account depreciation, which is the thing that most of us we don't really think about. But your car is being devalued every single year in a typical environment, and and that will cost you thousands of dollars a year just owning that car.

And basically, when you think about the numbers like that, that one year of car to p station, well, that is going to cost you more than what the bike would have cost you, which is which is kind of crazy to think about. But we often don't run the math, right, We don't run the full numbers, and so we we assume that our cars are costing us less than they actually are. But the truth is that your car is way more of a drain on your finances than you think it is. And if you actually run the numbers,

you'll find that out. And then if you can ditch a car like we talked about, from your life and your budget, you're gonna be in this vastly superior financial position that most people aren't in, allowing you to funnel your dollars two more productive areas, right, you know, having one less car. Also, by the way, selling a car and being like, I'm going to become a biker now

is inevitably going to lead you to biking more. It makes me think, Matt, like, I wasn't fully committed to basically biking full time until we sold my niece on Leaf and I was like, well, I guess that's my only option now. It kind of left me up the creek without a paddle, and so I had to find my way as a biker, full time biker, and I

think that was helpful. I don't know that you know, you should necess sairly start from square ones, sell your car tomorrow, and then like you might find that your specific situation doesn't lend to becoming a full time biker, but it's it's worth Your literal mileage might vary yeah on this one, Yeah, but it is. But it is important to note that sometimes like that can help you uh fully commit to the thing that you're like, you're

trying to achieve. Finally ditching that car, not having that safety blanket when it's forty degrees and you're like, I'd rather eat up the car and take my five mile trek to work inside inside that little cocoon. I get it, Like, I would probably opt for that too sometimes, but now I don't have the option, and that kind of forces me to do the right thing. Yeah, it's an incredible commitment device where you to go ahead and sell that

vehicle and stick with driving full time. And it's also worth addressing potential argument that biking how it might actually cost you more money, uh, and that that argument goes something like this, if time is money, and it takes me longer to get somewhere, well, then it's gonna cost me more to to ride a bike than it is for me to drive a car. But here's something interesting, because if you're a city dweller, biking can often help you to get wherever you're going more quickly than you

could in your car. That's actually what the study over at m I T found last year because in fact is bikes can maneuver around cities a little more nimbly than cars can, especially when traffic is awful. Uh, something we deal with here again in Atlanta. And additionally, when you factor in how much easier it's going to be to find a parking spot for your bike than it is to actually find a spot to park your car in the city, it's gonna make biking look even smarter.

But bottom line, I think that that kind of argument, it's it's oftentimes two more of a short term sort of argument, right, Like you're only looking at the here and now. Uh. In fact is there are these other

longer term benefits that you realize by biking more. Oftentimes it doesn't come down to just the dollar and cents, but there are some other factors as well that biking can have a positive impact in your lives completely, Like, for instance, maybe if you're biking more regularly, you don't have to spend as my time in the gym, right because of the health benefits that you get from biking. By the way, I love what you said about finding

a parking spot. It's like, yeah, maybe my car got me there five minutes faster, but then it takes ten minutes to look for the parking spot and a circle the city blocks exactly what we've we've talked about riding to Atlanta ninety games on our bikes and how just getting your car in the parking lot is such an endeavor at one of those matches, and then Valet parking your bike is like the easiest thing in the world.

You're in the stadium faster, even if it took you a little bit longer to get there und your bike. But let's talk about health for a second, because I think it is true that you might be able to go to the gym lest or maybe even to the doctor less too, if you're biking more frequently. I'm not sure if you could maybe fully go with the slogan matt a bike ride a day keeps the doctor away. Could we do that for that? Okay, all right, put

it on a T shirt. This is not medical advice. Uh, and that might actually be taking it just a bit too far, but it's it's kind of a double waymy right. That's getting you where you need to go, it is keeping you fit while doing it. Sedentary lifestyles, of course, are just like a massive problem in our country. They're creating major health problems for individuals and for our society as a whole. The less we move, the worst off our bodies are the worst we are as a civilization,

and so um. The reality is, cycling more allows you to burn calories, strengthens your heart and your lungs, your muscles and improves your mental well being. Plus it's not hard on your joints, Matt, because a lot of folks might be averse to something like running, right, it's hard on my knees, and I've never really been a runner, But I think cycling you don't have the same excuse because it's it's not hard on your joints in the same way. You know, it's it's good for the whole family. Yeah, yeah,

even your kids can do it. So I don't remember, Matt, when we talked about the power of a quick nap. Recently, we talked about how just a twenty minute nap like all of the benefits that can bring to your life, and it made me think, well, we should start napping.

You're more at out of money. Well, I think maybe a little after post ledged right, Yes, I was just thinking, like a bike and nap combo regularly you would kind of change our lives as individuals and then collectively because we might be a little more well rested, we might be a little bit happier and healthier. And it's amazing just the health impact that biking regularly once a day, even short rides, it can start to make you a

more fit person, just a happier, healthier person in general. Yeah, and of course all of this, I mean, with healthcare costs being one of the fastest rising expenses in our lives, this translates into real savings. And honestly, like we're mostly just talking about the physical benefits here, but there's also

the mental side of things. Just think about the stress that's gonna melt away as your biking biking home and you know, rather than just feeling stressed out because you're combating, like you're fighting, you're duking it out for the you know, the spot as you're trying to make that right turn as your crouched over you're standering wheel like letting the your muscles hardened. Instead you translating that like transforming it

into this relaxing bike ride. Because and like the other thing too, Like I was thinking of the fact that often we are working in our cars, Like so many folks carry the work from the office with them into the vehicle into the car, and I think a lot of folks are working pretty much like up until the second that they like walk through their door going inside, bringing with them all of this additional stress and the drama like from the office, and so just from a

quality of life standpoint, I think it's helpful to provide this, this barrier between work and home. It's a way to kind of contain that in a way that allows you to live your life in a way hopefully that you want to be able to live your life. I think it's important to mention too. I think biking more connects us to our communities more. And the more we're riding around, the more we see our neighbors, the more we wave, and the more we maybe stop and have a quick chat.

I know I do. Like when when I'm in my car, though, and I'm hurtling down the road at thirty five, if I see a friend, like we probably don't even catch each other's gaze. You might wave right maybe, and they might not see me. But if I am on my bike, it's guaranteed at minimum some sort of connection wave and typically I'll stop and say hello and chat for a second. Those are some of my favorite things about about biking.

Are these really not super tangible? Not not like it's gonna save you a hunter bucks or not like it's gonna do this right like we've talked about. Those things are some real tangible ways, some real tangible health and it's benefits and monetary benefits, but there's some harder to quantify community benefits. I think that you will get as you get on your bike more. These are quality of

life improvements that we're talking about. Yeah, And and like I think it just allows us to enjoy the scenery a little more too, and enjoy the place where we live. I think that biking more just makes us feel more attached to more a part of our community. And I

think that's a really valuable experience. Yeah, So it totally makes me think of Robert Persig in the art what is then in the art of motorcycle maintenance, But he talks about how being even on a motorcycle, how you're more attached to where it is that you are, as opposed to being in like the steel box hurtling along

the road. Because when you're in a car and you are looking out at the you know, looking out of the scenery that you're driving past, we often treat it in the exact same way that we treat the other images that we see on other sides of glass that we are on too much of the day, namely our computer screens, our phones and our televisions and how oftentimes

when we are in cars. That's why oftentimes it can be so dehumanizing to other people who are on the receiving end of somebody's rage or temper because they don't see them as people. They just see them as sort of like these inanimate objects on the other side of this piece of glass, as opposed to being on a bicycle where you're not observing the scenery passing by like

you are a part of it. You are in it's and it's a lot easier to become, uh and feel attached, like you said, to a community when you're not literally doing a drive by in a vehicle, hopefully not terrorizing those in your in your wake. Right. Well, I think the other thing too, is there's something that that shifts in your mentality, like your perception of the kind of person you are shifts as you become a more regular biker.

It's it's kind of like how we talk about investing Matt like that, that there's something that happens once you get started, once you make that first investment, and then maybe you do it two weeks again later, and then the next and then two weeks later you make your third investment, and you're just you start to become an investor, Like you're not just investing your money now, it's kind of part of your identity. And I think the same

thing happens when you start biking regularly. There's some sort of like mind mental shift that and it changes the way you view yourself and and and you're you're a biker now, and that's subtle. Change can be kind of a powerful thing, and that change almost ensures that you're going to keep writing, like because now you voot yourself

a certain way. And and I think even some of the other elements that we talked about with personal finance, like gamification, right, the more you can kind of turn your finances into a game as you're trying to improve and level up, well, gamifying your rides can be helpful to like a hill that maybe was previously like you want to avoid it because you wanted to be as easy as possible, and now you're like, no, no no, no, I'm a biker. I want to be a good biker.

I want to be a strong biker. And you're like, boom, now I'm gonna see like how quickly I can get up that hill And I'm gonna try to beat my previous best time. Those are the kind of things that I think are just a fun part of right now. I'm like, I used to just be point A to point B transportation on biking, and now I think of

biking yes as that. But sometimes I want to take the longer route or want to take the more scenic route just because it gives me more exercise, It gives me a different respective, it gives me a better view. I feel a part of my neighborhood in my community in a different way. And so it's not always just about getting too from one place to the other as fast as I can anymore exactly. Yeah, there is benefit to be received from the activity in and of itself.

Uh So, we talked through some of the different reasons why we love biking so much. But after the break, we're going to discuss how it is that you can go about buying a bike, plus some other tips from us with all of our years of biking experience, and we'll get to all of that jewel right after this. Alright, let's keep talking about biking. It is the ultimate life and money hack, we would say, and we talked about at the beginning. How it is kind of like this

key don't have it. How if you become a biker, if you start biking regularly, it is going to have ripple effects. It's going to have a downstream impact on how much money you're able to save and how much wealth you're able to build, but also just kind of the lifestyle you're leading, how healthy you are, and how

connected do you feel to your community. But you might say, listen, dudes, I don't have a bike, so we we you Obviously we gotta figure that out because you're going to need a bike in order to make biking a regular habit for yourself. You you might already have one and it might just need some air in the tires and maybe

some loom on the chain. I think that's worth considering, Uh, dusting off your bike and giving it a little bit of love, taking out of the shed or the garage or wherever it is and giving it a test dride to kind of see what it needs. And you can, if you want, to look up some YouTube videos and kind of find out how to get your bike back in shape. But you might even want to take it to a bike shop first and get it in proper working order and then maybe try to maintain it from there.

But yeah, you might already find this. You've got what you need on hand. You don't have to go out there and buy something new, which would be awesome, But if you don't have one, we're gonna talk about how to get a good one without breaking the bank here. Yeah, because you don't necessarily have to buy one brand new,

you can buy one used and so like. To that end, we would recommend just like go old school, like check out a site like Craigslist, Uh, look to Facebook, marketplace like you can actually like look at the signs in your neighborhood that start going up on on a Thursday or Friday. You can actually go to a literal yard sale and potentially score a great bike. Check with your local bike shop. They actually they might have some used bikes that they sell. They may not, but it's definitely

worth asking. Uh. They oftentimes know of the bikes that they service and that they work on. They know whether or not folks or wanting to hang onto those or get rid of them. But once you've identified and found a bike, you've got a test ride. At first, you want to make sure that it does what you need it to do, you know, like put it through its paces a little bit so you can make sure that

all the components are are working properly. This is where, specifically, if you're able to buy a bike, even to use one at a bike shop, they'll be able to help you to get fitted properly because you might want to take a friend, by the way with you on that touch drive if you're a complete bike take someone who knows what they're doing and say like, hey, will you ride this for me and tell me if you think it's a good bike for you, you ride to work a decent bit, right, like tell me, like you know

something about bikes, come with me please, and you can, you know, make sure I'm not making a big mistake here. Um. But they can also help you to to know that like, yeah, that one will probably work for you. Who knows how into this thing that you're getting. It's it's close enough in sizing you just basically like you don't want to get a bike that's way to stink it big for you that is almost too difficult to navigate on your streets.

And obviously you don't want to get something that's way too small where you've got the you got the extra long stone like Joel does. I'm like six six I need the XCEL frame and I'm like looking for a used mountain bike right now, Matt, and like all I'm seeing or medium sized frames on Facebook. Difficult to find those excels. It's tough to find the Exile. But that being said, you can also look too if you are going to buy new And we've mentioned this site before,

but bikes direct dot com. I've purchased multiple bikes from the site where the model that they follow basically as you are buying these sort of like white label bikes, they're they're solid bikes, they've got great components, uh, and they are shipped directly to you. You've got to do like a minimal amount of assembly to that bike. But

I've also had multiple friends who have purchased bikes from them. Uh, and you can get a really solid bike that's not going to break the bank over there at bikes direct dot com. Let's talk about e bikes here for a second map because some people, I don't know, that's a

whole other can of worms. E bikes also have been soaring in popularity in recent years, and some hardcore bikers might be like e bikes aren't real bikes, and I don't know we would beg differ because the reality is, yes, of course you get more exercise riding a bike that doesn't have a motor in a battery. But it's also true that the e bikes allow for folks to get on a bike who otherwise wouldn't be able to, and especially for commuters who don't want to arrive super sweaty

matt like that Georgia Tech professor. Uh. They might say, you know what, um, it's either an ebike or it's driving my car, and they is by far the lesser

of those two evils. Not that an e bike is even evil, it's it's not even that, But I'm just saying it is like a vastly superior choice when you're talking about those two against each other, and they can also create I would say this kind of virtuous cycle causing folks to get more excited about biking in general, which leads them to ride their e bike in probably even a traditional bike more in general. So I would say e bikes are mostly a good thing in our book.

They're causing people to get on their bikes again, and you know, used as a great place to look when you're talking about e bikes. Also, rad Power Bikes makes great, reasonably priced bikes that they sell direct to consumer. I know you can. You can even get e bikes at Costco. I can't vouch for how good they are, but I can vouch for Costco's return policy, and so if it sucks, you can take it back. Uh. And I would also say look at electric bike review dot com to read

and learn about specific models. They've been doing a great job for years at test driving, reviewing and discussing the pros and cons of different models, and even have like a best Affordable ebike section to which is helpful. Yeah. Also,

let's talk about cargo bikes. This is a style of bike that you and I both have, but they have only gotten better in recent years, and while they are going to cost more money, they truly can be a car killer because they allow you to transport not only kids who are riding back there on the long tail, but you can put paint ears on there and transport groceries as well as other goods. I've even transported other

bikes via my cargo bike before. But there's just lots of different solutions and just because you're thinking, well, it's not gonna allow me to do X. Well, there's actually a good chance that somebody has done x um. I'm thinking about like Mr money must that shot in Colorado. He's actually attached a trailer to his bike. Not just like a little surly like kid trailer where you just like stick two kids in there, but like it's like a truck. It's like it's like haulling lumber, lumber from

the hardware store, like loads of lumber. That's not some sticks exactly. So there are lots of creative ways to solve this problem, and it's it can be easy to say that biking more like that's going to be too difficult for you, but it's only become more accessible in recent years. Uh. And the abundance of solid cargo bikes specifically I'm thinking of the ones that you Be an

extracycle that they make are evidence of this. But another companies like rat Power Bikes have made this even easier for folks with the rat Wagon, which is what you've got Jold, which has been a great bike out on my second version of the Radwagon, I had the first gin and I have the fourth chin and it's been, you know, considering it seems like an expensive bike on its surface, but when I think about how much value I've gotten out of the bike, it's been absurd, Like

it's been literally priceless. Yeah, it's it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made to buy this bike. And uh, that might sound weird, but it's like, but it's for real. It's because I get so much. I think I've put more than miles combined on both those two bikes. And so that's a lot of going to and fro and a lot of like fun activities and a lot of just kind of pointed a point be

transportation that it's really provided for me. And that's in addition to the road bike that I ride almost every day. Um So, yeah, I think cargo by bikes for a lot of people can make a whole lot of sense because they can help you haul more stuff if that's what you need, whether it's kids or groceries, It's it's

worth at least looking into that. And and just one other thing, Matt, I think, you know, we're talking about buying bikes, and uh, speaking of rat I saw that they recently launched an ebike rental service in Berlin, and it made me think that renting bikes is not typically in the best in the best long term interest to people, because you know, like I love what rat is up to, but paying eighty bucks a month to them for a

rental it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean, you're you're not talking about spending five bucks on a bike rental service when you're in a as a tourist and city where you're hopping from one one point to the other. You're talking about sort of like this ongoing lifestyle. You provide the bike for me, I pay you money, I don't have to worry about the bike. I'd rather you own your own bike because the goal, the goal is for people to use it regularly for years on end.

And you know, bike's just they're not like gadgets, like tech gadgets where upgrading every couple of years gets you actually improved features or something like that, where if you get this year's model, while it's gonna be outdated by next year and so you might as well just rent it. No, we would say that owning a bike is important and renting is going to cost you more. And so even though this program is only available in Europe. I could see this just because of the subscription models that have

become abundant here in the US. I could just see this kind of happening in more cities across the United States, and I can see a lot more people be like, cool, this is how I'm going to get into biking. I would rather you own your own because I just think you're gonna get enough use out of it where that makes sense. Absolutely, And Joe, so we we talked about our our upstate New York listener earlier. She's biking in inclement weather. Sometimes. We're certainly luckier here down in the South.

Although it does get cold, it's nothing like what folks up in the Northeast typically experience. Although we are again more likely to show up to work um or to the store or to a restaurant a little sweatier than most other folks. But honestly, who cares. I feel like this is one of those things that we can push to fight back on a little bit, because nobody really cares about you sweating with a little bit of sweat

on your brow more than you do. And so what that is, it's sort of like what as I think about it, it's sort of like the ick factor where you're just like like, I don't want I just don't want to show up being slightly damped to wherever it is that I need to go. But I think it's worth pointing out that it's a preference thing. It's not

like I can't do this type of thing. And then like those people by the way view you when you show up a little bit sweaty from your bike ride, less icky and more like wow, respect, yes, And I totally guess the case most people will actually have, Like there's a certain amount of respect that comes with your dedication to that and the fact that you're pushing through even though you might not be like smelling like a

barbed up soape or something like that. But there's also ways that you can get around that by just different

things you keep at the office. But I mean, either way, I feel like the majority of folks are going to be able to show up to to work not looking like they're, you know, ready to go out on a date, especially if you're you know, you're prepared right, and so no matter like where it is that you live, it's important for folks out there to have the proper clothing uh, and wet weather gear in particular at somethinging that's I feel that it's something I've pushed back against because I

don't mind riding in the rain. Like recently, I completely got dumped on and I was like, all right, who cares, I'm just gonna show up, And it's because I've got to change the clothes here at the office. And so literally I came up, changed out all my clothes, laid out my mother clothes so that they could dry by the time the day was over, and then I put those earlier wet clothes back on and I left my clean, dry,

clean pair change the clothes here in the office. But I think there's just if you just think ahead a little bit, there's some creative solutions that that can present themselves that allow you to do these things that at first blush you say, oh, that's not possible, But you think about it for like two seconds longer, and there's oftentimes a really easy solution. Yeah, I gotta rain jacket, and I have some waterproof truck tailors and that combo.

Plus I've got some waterproof pants too, and that combo gets me, you know, through through most rainstorms without looking like a complete mess, but um, yeah, And I think it's also important to mention just safety, like where you're proper lighting stuff like that is and and and riding on the street. Like we were walking down the sidewalk the other day and there was a cyclist on the sidewalk, and and I understand kind of why people want to ride on the sidewalks, but it's not safe. It's not

safe for pedestrians. And I know that you might not feel safe right in the road. It's something that the more you do it, the more you feel comfortable doing it. So especially like you said, having the proper lighting, I mean I always if I'm when I'm running in the street, like I turn on that back blinker so that it's

that blinkie is just going on a stop. And the same thing with the light up front, like you don't need to turn on your your head light a broad daylight, but flip it, you know, to the fourth push when it switches the flashing as opposed to just the solid beam of light. But it's there to help provide visibility. Because yeah, you have bucks on Amazon, Like it's not it's not expensive, so but it's yeah, it's gonna go a long way. In helping you feel safer on your bike.

Hopefully we've convinced you that biking more is going to improve your life in a meaningful way. Right, incorporating regular rides into your life, we would say, it really is this keystone habit that's gonna have cascading benefits for you. You're gonna be happier, you're gonna be healthier, you're gonna be a little more fit. You'll also bring money back into your life. It's it really is kind of this this way in which you do this one thing, and it has ripple effects into every area of of how

you live. And and even if riding your bike more doesn't mean that you're also ditching one of your cars, that's still okay, right, you don't have to, But we would say maybe at some point you'll get so into your biking that you'll you'll be able to ditch one of them and you're gonna save even more money. And it's also important to mention that you don't have to go from like your couch to a thirty mile bike

commute in one fell swoop. I think that would be we're not laying a guilt trip on people here and saying like, uh, get off your duff and we're not drill sergeants, that's not our jam. But you'll start with a little grocery store run this week and see what happens, and you might find that it's kind of enjoyable and not as difficult as you thought if you bring a backpack or whatever to carry your groceries in. And by the way, Matt, we talked about this, I don't know

a couple of months ago on the show. Google Maps has an update that makes it easier than ever to bike. So if you get a little full holder for your bike too, so you can see where you're going and you can see you know the best route to get there, and Google is leading you turn by turn on how to get like then it's just it's never been easier to be a biker, even with our pitiful lack of

bike infrastructure in this country. Don't let that be an excuse, like get under bike, and the more of us that do it, uh, the more cars are gonna notice, and the more are hopefully our politicians are gonna notice. And then it just becomes this self fulfilling prophecy that bikes are going to rule the world. One of these days. Yeah, and one last step to you, like you're talking about just making a quick grocery store run rather than commuting

for for work. We've talked about this before as well, but before you take that first commute into your office, do that on a Saturday morning, like a nice chill Saturday. I think that can be an awesome way just to get a feel for the route that you need to take to drive on baby, how long it's gonna take you, how sweaty you are by the time you get there.

These are all valuable pieces of information that are helpful to have before you then have to immediately go into a meeting or or sit down and PLoP down and start working. But again, we're just trying trying to find these small, all easy ways for you to get into biking. But hopefully yeah, like Joel said, these are all tips that will help you to get biking more, not only to save more money, but just to live a happier life for sure, all right, because that's what we're all

about here. We want people to be better with their money and but we want people to live better lives. And it's funny. One of our listeners met in the Facebook group. He recently said, Oh, the show could totally be called how to Live a Good Life with like money as an addendum and like that. Yeah, it's it's probably true, like we talk about things that go beyond money. Money is just a tool, and we talk a lot about this one specific tool, but there are other tools

out there as well, like like bicycles. Yeah, and and that tool reaches into a lot of other aspects of our lives. So we touch on those things too, and and this is just one of them, that biking. It's gonna save your money, but it's gonna have a lot of other beneficial impacts for you to Uh, just like drinking good beer, what's to day is probably a good thing, at least for us. It is a beer a day. Yeah, we can. We can't go down that back, No, let's we'll stick with the bike ridit day by keeps the

doctor away? Did I say keeps the doctor at bay? But that also works? Uh? No, this was Bosky Lagger and dude, this is a really good beer. This was I'm going to read the label here inspired by German Pilsener's uh and they're basically talked about how it's got those noble dry hops going on, given that classic Pilsener sort of taste. What your thoughts on this one, dude, This was one of the best Pilsners I've ever had. Yeah, Yeah,

I thought it was great. It was praise, It was like pillowy, It was crisp, but also had like some really nice floral hop notes coming through and and sometimes Pilsener's are light on that, like there's not enough hot presence and so it just kind of tastes like beer, but this one had like, definitely had that like tastes like beer Pilsener thing going on, but it had even more going on than that, And so I thought this was like a really well rounded Pilsener that, yeah, I

was a fan of. Fantastic, real bright, real clean. It kind of reminded me of a lot of the loggers, a lot of the Pilseners that are friends down at Halfway Crooks that they're making, which is very much in the style as well. But yeah, definitely a great beer, the kind of beer that you want to enjoy after a long bike ride as well. Yeah. Um, it kind of makes me feel like, maybe should we have had

a beer by Bicycle Brewing? Is that those cycle and cycle Yeah, down there in uh Tampa or St. Pete, I think yeah, or we could have had a Rattler which Rattler the other Classic Cyclists or New New Belgium Beverage of choice. They love bikes, they get that whole Yeah, that whole series, the whole brand. But this was a fantastic beer. Glad that you and I were able to enjoy one today and things again to Bob Ford donating this one to the show for sure. All right, that's

gonna do it for this episode. We we hope you get out there on your bike. We hope it's enjoyable. If you have any questions about biking, you can always reach out to us. We love listener emails. How to money pot at gmail dot com is our email address. And Matt, that's gonna do it for this episode. Until next time. Best Friends Altum, best Friends Out Bo