Friday Flight - Executive Order Confusion & Traveling Again #240

they are affecting our money, our personal finances. And so we're gonna talk about the two that you mentioned, plus a few others, you know, medium size story as well as some small ones. You know, they're not all these big dramatic stories, but we like to talk about all the stuff out there. Yeah, a lot of interesting stuff out there this week, And we talked about the stuff that we care about, right, because there are some some

even bigger stories, right, in particular, bigger political stories. There's a much right Yeah, vice presidential pick for Joe Biden, But we don't talk about that stuff on the show. Yeah, less about politics, I mean less about health as well. I feel like even when we do talk about COVID, it's specific to you know, our money, because that's what

we talked about here. Man. We are how some money, and actually, man on that note, you know, last week we were just talking about new cell phones and I was kind of bragging a little bit about how great my old school iPhone SC is doing. And then of course three days later, I was out for a run and my phone slipped out of my arm band and cracked. Uh the screen like shattered even more, had a little crack on it. But now it's it's terrible. You told me you had this old school arm arm band and

you put tape on it to try to keep your phone. Okay, Yeah, so this is actually a pretty good frugal or cheap cheap move because this arm band, it's from like eight nine years ago, like when Kate and I first got into running, and it's slowly kind of falling apart a little bit, and you know, I was looking at it and I put the tape on there a couple of weeks ago, but I was like, you know, the phone could probably like slide out of there, out of that little slot, out of that hole, and so I stuck

some packing tape on the arm band so that a I could still see the screen, but be it would hold it together. But you know, you go running and you sweat, and the sweat and makes tape not sticky anymore. And that's what happened, man. It was I was actually not even running. It was after the run, and I was walking with it and it slipped out of that that spot and cracked. Well I hate that for you. I'm sorry that such a sick feeling, you know when you yeah, busted screen sucks. And but I saw what

you did, dude. You pulled out an even older version of an iPhone that you currently have hanging around your house. Yeah. I was gonna go into all these details, but I had an older iPhone sc uh that was not as good because the battery isn't as good on it. And I just backed up my my iPhone to eye cloud and then just pulled off the new one. And and by knowing you mean the really old one. Yeah, yeah, they're really old one, and just restored that back up.

And so now instead of you know, cutting my finger on pieces of glass, now I just had these nice aged cracks that are dulled a little bit where they don't cut my finger. But yeah, going back to what you said, though you mentioned the arm band, it was a completely cheap move by you know, throwing the table on there. She just bought a new arm being for like five bucks to save your phone from like lots of dama exactly. But at the same time, I'm not

necessarily going to get a brand new iPhone right now. Uh. And that is not me being cheap. That's just I think that's me being a little more frugal because I don't really care that much about cell phones. Uh, that is, maybe until you get a new one and I see how nice and shiny it is and it's got that new electronic smell. Well, I'm still holding off on mine, even though my current one likes to turn itself off like two or three times today. I don't know what's

going on there. And I gotta think at this point in time, listeners are probably not taking our recommendation on upgrade cycles for phones because we tend to go a little bit longer, especially Gilish things a little bit. Yeah, but I like your ingenuity. I like your willingness to work with the old phone. I'm trying to see how much longer I can slog it out to. All right, Matt, let's get onto the Friday flight. The headlines we found interesting this week and what those four executive orders that

were released on Saturday actually mean for you. But first let's get to a couple of others. Matt, we talked about bikes, maybe way too much, but not enough. Okay, not enough. I agree with you. Bikes are integral man bikes and beer, their hugs. They're important. But bike sales are actually way up, and we talked about that earlier in the pandemic. But bike sales continue to just shoot

through the roof. And when we're talking about bikes along with accessories including helmets and stuff, a billion dollars of bike goods were sold in April, which is up sev from the previous year. Yeah. Yeah, you and I we were certainly part of that spike in demand. You bought a bike for yourself. I bought a bike for my four year old. Now she's riding on the bikes for our kids as well. Yeah, all of this, it's hard to believe that this is all recent, but this was

all this past spring, right. Yeah, everybody's like it's time, like let's get out there on the bikes, and more and more people are doing it, and it's just kind of crazy to see the bike boom that's happening. And I feel like I'm seeing all my neighbors around bikes more often too. Yeah, it's I'm just happy to see so many more people joining us in our favorite money saving pastime. Man. You know. And there was a really interesting article about the major bike company Trek in Medium.

Will will link to that in our show notes. But they mentioned how it really has been a perfect storm for bike sales in so many ways, you know, like fear folks want to take public transfer station right, so there, that's one thing. Gyms are closed, and so folks are looking for a way to kind of get the workout on. And then on top of that, like you and I, you know, there's parents out there wanting to get their

kids off of screens and getting them outside. Treks bike sales are through the roof, and their CEO even said that their their sales could have even been twice what they were if they had been able to ramp up production in a bigger way. Because the you know, supply chains were disrupted in a lot of different components come from all different parts of the world. It makes it

difficult to keep up with this massive spike in demand. Yeah, it was kind of crazy to read about the supply chain and how there's all these different components that they're getting from all over the world, you know, mostly in China, but then they have to be put together. It can take a hundred twenty days to actually build a bike.

It certainly makes me appreciate the bike manufacturing process a little bit more y versus me getting it at home and it's ninety put together and just like, oh, I gotta get the petals and the handlebars on well too. It's just kind of crazy. Apparently their warehouse is completely empty, which it must be an eerie feeling because it's this enormous space that's typically full of packages of bikes, but

they've sold through them. Also, good luck to people out there who are looking to buy a bike, because it's harder to do right now. Speaking of new bikes, Matt, actually, when I purchased my bike for the four year old, we got it from ari e I, And I actually just saw an article in the Wall Street Journal and saying that ari I is going to sell their sweet new corporate headquarters, which they never even got to use

due to COVID. They built this beautiful, gorgeous office space new headquarters in Washington State and because of shelter in place, because of more working from home. Are I realized that it didn't make much sense to kind of hold onto this new headquarters and that collaboration for their employees doesn't require this single location. No matter how beautiful it is. The renderings look incredible. I didn't actually see a picture of it completed, but it's almost built as a like

a summer camp for adults. Like they've got like giant glass lighting doors, and you know, like rooftop terraces, native plants they're incorporated into the design as well. You know, I totally understand that things have completely changed, you know in companies that they're going to start upending plans to build or even get rid of current office space. But even still, if I were an ARII corporate employee, I

would totally be bummed. But this is just another example of companies of employers moving to less centralized, you know, corporate offices, as we've learned that so much collaboration and so much of the work that we do today can be done from our individual homes. Yeah, and it sounds like ari I is gonna put some of those resources instead of into that fancy building that's now on the market.

They're going to use it to you know, speed up other improvements in how they do business, and in particular, you know the customer facing stuff with touchless pickup. So yeah, I still love our I I love the return policy, man, I love just everything about that company. But on that note of working from home, Matt, it's no surprise that a lot of people's electricity bills are on the rise.

It's getting super hot out there, and especially here where we are in Atlanta, and because a lot of us are now in our homes twenty four hours a day, our A C units are working overtime, and I know, like typically when when we leave the house during the day, you know, we set the temperature up a little bit, and people probably aren't doing that as much because they're in their homes more. The AC units are probably on a good bit of the time. And that means our

electricity bills are going up. And there's not much that we can do except for to tell you to bump it up a degree or two in order to help save you from an outrageous electricity bill. But one thing that is important is to change your filters, because it's actually the number one reason that a c units breakdown, and it's the number one reason that they're inefficient or

working too hard. So set a reminder or get a thermostat that reminds you to change your filters, because if you forget, it's totally not good for the bill you might receive from an HVACT technician. That's true. Man, Hey, I've got a deal of the week. That's what I'm gonna call it deal of the week for you bring it. That's all. The movie theaters are going to be opening next Thursday, specifically, AMC man. They are selling tickets for

fifteen cents what a ticket? Yeah, to celebrate their you know, their hundredth anniversary, that's what they're saying. At least, I'm sure it's also to try to like get people back into the movie theaters. But they're saying that they're going to sell them at nine prices, you knowwy, It's like, all right, back in tickets cost fifteen cents, let's sell them for a fifteen cents to lessen in inflation right there,

because movie movie tickets cost a whole lot more than that. Now. Yeah, seriously, I appreciate that they're not trying to sell still tickets at twenty prices would be like fours, I guess exactly. But yeah, they're trying to entice us through the doors, hoping that we can't turn down that deal. I feel like that's something that you would do, Joel, You're like fifteen cent tickets. I gotta be there. If I actually went to movies, it would be hard to resist. But

I've got kids. Man, I haven't been to the movies in at least a year. I got it, I guess, yeah. Well, I mean the other thing is too, is like the health risk, you know, like is it worth it to to go to a movie theater and be surrounded by by a bunch of folks? Like would you do it? What if there was a movie out that you wanted to go see and kids weren't an issue, Like would you're gonna watch my kids for me? Sure? Yeah, I'll get it. So I saw that they're gonna require everyone's

required a wear masks. The capacity within the auditoriums is reduced to like or less, But even still, I'm not sure if I would do it. Yeah, that's a good question. I'm not a hundred percent sure. Everyone's got different comfortability levels, and I think because um, watching a movie is is so much more of like a leisurely fun item. I probably wouldn't do it, Like going to get a haircut. At some point, I gotta get a haircut, right, And I guess I could do it myself, right, But could

you some clippers? Yeah, I mean you do it, but I need to get on that train. But I don't mind. You know, I've only done it once since some pandemic started. But I'd go in there and get my hair cut again. But going to see a movie, even a little superfluous, yeah, even even at the fifteen cents, I probably would have. It's not gonna pull you in. I don't think so. I don't think so. Well. The other thing I was thinking of, too, is what are they gonna do about

buying popcorn and and coke? Like concessions? That's good. I mean probably can't put food in your mouth, you can't drink without taking off your mask. So I'm getting concessions have to be shut down. Well I don't think they are. That's the thing. They say that masks have to stay on except for when you, you know, are drinking, eating or drinking. And I can come on, who's gonna sit there during a movie watch, you know, pull down the mask to throw some popcorn in there and put the

mask back. No, you're watching the movie, You're you're taking the mask off. It's not going back on. It's gonna guarantee it. Yeah, that's another reason probably to have wid it, even those cheap Yeah. Well that's our personal recommendation, because you know, there's a lot of COVID cases here in Atlanta, but I know there's a lot of places where it's really not a concern. It's like a different world. Yeah,

that's true. Completely depends on where you live. Some places it's all there's almost no risk involved, and then where we live there's just a lot more risk involved. All right, man, let's talk about the executive order. And it's been kind of confusing since on Saturday, Trump issued those executive orders as Congress was like basically completely unable to strike any sort of compromise on a stimulus bill, and one I'm a little frustrated with our politicians for their inability to

to work together. But then those executive orders actually created a lot of confusion and people are like, huh, what does this mean? And there's obviously a question of legality at the same time. But I think a huge part of the reason that these executive orders were issued was actually to kind of be a goad to spur on Congress towards renewing some talks to get them going in the right direction so that they can accomplish something meaningful

for the people that are hurting right now. But even after those executive orders were were made, um, we're still hearing nothing from from Congress on a future relief bill. So it feels like there's something in report, but also kind of like nothing to report, right. Yeah, And it's worth mentioning to I guess what was included in those orders, because they might be indicative of what actually comes to pass.

And so in those executive orders, federal student loan payments and interest were suspended through the rest of the year. Federal unemployment benefits they're supposed to continue, but now at a lesser per week instead of the six hundred. There was also it's kind of this confusing peril tax refral thrown in there. And then there was also an eviction

moratorium included as well in those recent executive orders. But again, even though these are orders that he issued, it's a little bit confusing because he doesn't necessarily have the power to implement these things. Right Congress, they hold the power of the purse, and so when it comes to changes

that require funding, that's something that only Congress has authority over. Yes, so we'll certainly keep an eye on on these executive orders and whether implementation actually happens on any of these things, or hopefully hopefully Congress comes to some sort of uh an agreement on the next steps in regards to a relief bill so that we can forget this happened altogether, these executive orders and we can come up with something that's actually gonna deliver money into the right places to

help the people that are struggling the most right now. Yeah, although Joel I just saw too that a lot of policy experts are saying it could easily be until September before an agreement is reached, and so we will, yeah, keep our listeners updated and posted, but I'm not necessarily going to hold my breath in the meantime. At the same time, how do money listeners like as we look to see what the government's going to do in regards

to another stimulus check or more unemployment benefits. At the same time, we have to take control of the things we can take control of, and this is something that will will keep an eye on because we know it impacts all of us, um But at the same time, we have to do our best with our own personal finances in the midst of this craziness exactly. Yeah, these stimulus bills aren't everything, and so Joel, We've got more to get to, including good news about how Americans are

approaching debts and more. Right after this break. All right, Matt, we're back from the break. You just asked me whether I was going to go see a movie in a movie theater, and you know, I think it turns out probably not, But I did recently getting an airplane. Oh yeah, you're gonna share that with folks, So yeah, I know if you're gonna like spill the beans. Well, so, you know, my my family and we traveled to Memphis to see some of my wife's family and then they actually hung

out there for a good bit longer. But I had to come home. So I hopped on an airplane, and I will say I felt pretty safe. I was wearing a mask, everybody else was wearing a mask. The plane was maybe full, the airport felt like a ghost town. That. Yeah, so probably not something I'm gonna do to hop across the pond or something like that, or even to go on vacation right now, But I didn't feel terribly unsafe

getting on an airplane to come home. Yeah. And the reason that you mentioned that, man, is that we saw that the U. S. State Department has lifted a global advisory on international travel that was put into place five months ago. And so a question I think a lot of folks might be asking themselves is whether or not it's safe to travel. So a lot of that comes down to, you know, the the individual, but it also kind of comes down to where we are allowed or

able to travel to. Right, most of the countries won't let us in their borders because of our hard number of new COVID cases. You know, the EU, they've lifted travel bands on visitors from fourteen different countries, but the US, of course, isn't one of them. So even if you felt completely comfortable of flying internationally and you wanted to maybe take a little trip take advantage of any deals that you may have come across, you may not even

be able to. Yeah, they won't let you in, So don't even bother right, and yet at the same time, Matt, I think airplanes, you know, they're not the most dangerous place to be. We had a travel expert on a couple of months ago and he shed some light on that. But a recent study shows that fifty of Americans aren't ready to travel on an airplane right now, and even fewer are willing to travel internationally even if they could, and specifically on any flights of six hours or longer.

Is how the question was phrased, and that actually kind of works out. So if people are okay traveling on an airplane hopping to a cool desk nation, well, if they want a short flight domestically, that's actually where the best deals are right now. Anyway, airlines have like drastically cut the amount of flights that they're sending internationally, so there's just more activity going on domestically, and there's more

room to be able to get a deal. So if you're in that half that fifty of people who say, yeah, I don't mind getting on an airplane, especially if I can make the trip for a whole lot less money than usual, then keep your eyes peeled and search sites like Google, dot Com, Slash, flights or sign up for a Sitelight Scotch cheap flights so you can find some

of the cheapest deals. Yeah, man. And something else worth noting is that you used to always find the best domestic flight deals around one to three months in advance, but now, because of the lack of business travelers, there have been last minute deals popping up. You know, like those used to be the flights that last minute business travelers that they would put on their corporate card. They didn't care about the price, or I guess you'd say

that they were priced and sensitive. But because there are fewer of those last minute business travelers, some of those seats are going for pretty cheap. And so actually, back to you, when you were getting that flight from Memphis, did you get a pretty good deal? Yeah, I got a really good deal Bucks one way, But actually it's really good. Yeah. I use some points because I had

some Southwest points hanging around and Southwest. The great thing is too that that's one of the reasons I like booking the Southwest is because they offer you the most flexibility to change a flight when you want to, and they don't charge you outrageous fees to do it, and so I knew if the price goes down, I can

always cancel that flight rebook another one. So you keep that in mind too when you're when you're booking a flight and matt While while Southwest offers a lot of flexibility, other airlines not so much these days, and getting refunds in particular is not going well for lots of people.

Airlines are currently actually holding onto billions of dollars in refunds, and they're making it super difficult for anyone to get their money back due to no fault of their own, as countries have been locked down and flights are being canceled through the spring, and the hoops that they're making passengers jump through in particular, it's like, it's shameful, man, it's terrible, And especially considering that the airlines received just this massive amount of money sixty billion dollars as a

part of the stimulus build this past spring, I feel like it's even more of a slap in the face to us and to everybody out there who is seeking some sort of a refund. And on top of that, because passenger refunds for canceled flights are this legal obligation that airlines have to their customers, and they're not doing it right now. They're just doing everything they can to

avoid giving refunds to people. Yea. And so if we are describing your situation, we'd encourage you not to get pushed around by the airline company and continue to demand your refund. We'd recommend that you keep a log document your efforts as well as you know what the airline says that they'll do, but be prepared to spend some

time fighting for your rights. A Harvard Business Review article found that the average American consumer that they spend thirteen hours every year stuck on hold trying to resolve problems with individual companies. You know, when you're stuck on hold for an hour, it feels like thirteen hours. But if you're stuck on hold for thirteen hours like dog years, Yeah, yeah, it's like what is that in consumer years, because it

feels like it's already been seventy consumer years or something. Yeah, you know, like getting that run around it's so frustrating. But you know, the airlines are banking on the fact that individual consumers are going to accept less, you know, or even stop fighting for their money altogether. And so we want to encourage you to keep up the good

fight and don't fall for it. Yeah, and it's important to know your rights, know what you're fighting for, know what they're legally obligated to give you, and that can actually help you push through the long hold times or the unhelpful customer service representative. And if you're still not able to get anywhere with the airline, file complaint with the d o T. And there's an easy to fill out online form to make your complaint heard with the authorities.

There's also a really helpful section on the d o T s website that discusses your rights as a flyer. So, for example, if your flight is changed so that you'll arrive at your destination two or more hours after the flight you originally booked, you're entitled to a massive reimbursement on that one way fair and not just in a voucher form, either like in cash or or a check. So know your rights, fight for them. And Matt will link to both of those sections of the d o

T website in our show notes. Nice, I would request mine and two dollar bills. Those are extra special, they're pretty cool. Just don't request it and change right now. Remember we talked about the recently. One other story we wanted to cover man was that we have seen household debt decline for the first time in six years. Over the past several months, consumers are paying off their credit card debt, and we saw a similar pattern to this

during the Great Recession a decade ago. It's uh, it's really encouraging to see people shoring up their finances in the middle of a recession. Of course, economists and financial experts are stating that the stimulus measures right, that they had a lot to do with that twill one time checks, uh, an extra six dollars a week and unemployment for a lot of folks. That will do that for you, right, But we can't ignore the impact that our own spending

has on our personal finances. With lockdown orders and an ability to to go out and spend money like we typically would, Americans had a lot more cash on hand to aid in that debt payoff. And so I just want to encourage folks as well to realize that we have more of an internal locus of control than we think. Right. A lot of times we think that like, oh, this is what the economy is doing. Oh, you know, my employers shut down, But we have way more control over

our money than we realize. That a lot of it has to do with the expenses that we most definitely have control over. And it always feels counterintuitive when I read something like that, when unemployment has skyrocketed and people are going through a hard time, how debt payoff happens

at a more rapid clip. But it is, and that's actually encouraging to me, and it shows me too that as things do start to get better, that we we should maintain that focus towards paying down that debt because we want to be in an even better position when the next times of hardship come around, and then also too, ma out with a lot of that extra money. Lots

of people have continued investing as well. Fidelity actually shared that they had record breaking contributions to retirement accounts like roth iras as Americans have attempted to get their financial lives in order. You know, you and I, we obviously are all about investing for the long term. But for those people that did continue to invest in the downturn, I think it's already had a payoff, as the SMP five hundred has recovered to pre pandemic highs and it's

climbed about fifty from a low back in March. It's just incredible. Yeah, it's one of those things that none of us could have predicted, you know, in in mid till late March or or April, that oh, yeah, the stock market is going to be back exactly where it was. And for the folks that did continue to invest, did continue to dollar cost average during the downturn, they're reaping

the rewards of continuing that discipline. Yeah. In general, you know, I think our country could use a complete mindset shift and the way we handle money, and maybe this is the start, you know, of that shift. Maybe this is the start of maybe more folks out there donning their cracked iPhones and delaying a new electronics purchase. But it is encouraging to see that people are paying off debt and also saving and investing more right now. I hope you're right too. I hope this is a wake up

call for all of America. But I know at least that our listeners are are taking these things into consideration and they're making changes, because we hear about it every day in our Facebook group in particular, So that's super encouraging. But Joel Man that's gonna be it for this episode, dude. Our listeners can find our show notes up on our website at how to money dot com. Yeah, and if you need support in your money journey and maybe feel alone right now, we'll check out our Facebook group that

I just mentioned. If you go to Facebook dot com, just search out of money and you'll find that group with thousands and thousands of other people pursuing the same thing you are, paying off debt, becoming more financially independent. It's just an awesome place to post your money questions or or gain some encouragement during these times. That's right, all right, buddy. Until next time, Best friends Out, Best Friends Out.