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The Side Hustle, Worth It?

We all could use some extra income now and then. There’s many ways to achieve this, but is it worth it and what or how should we go about creating this useful tool? I’ve grown a lot in this area and can talk about it in great length. For this article, I just want to highlight the reasons for it and what our goals should be.

The Reasons: Maybe you’re planning for a vacation or a down payment on a car. Maybe you want a new tv or just a small remodel on the house. Maybe you have student loans or other debt. If you just need an extra amount of money temporarily, I think getting a temporary job or one of these gig jobs is ok. Get to the amount of money you plan on spending and get out. The problem becomes when we make that temporary job or gig our never ending job. Turning it into our second, third, fourth or even fifth job in a week. If you’re like me, you might want a different direction for your career. I’m working on this blog as a side hustle. Eventually, I want it to become a thriving business helping others. If you want to grow a side hustle into a business, that’s a good reason to start. When you make money from it, the big difference is you don’t spend the money! Everything should be going back into what you are doing. At that point you are an entrepreneur. We won’t go deep into that but it’s important to know the difference. You want extra income or to leave your job?

I did this myself in my late teens to early twenties. I was operating off the popular phrase that the rich have multiple streams of income. I didn’t realize that they didn’t actually labor or even needed to be there to make it an income. So if you find yourself always needing more money we need to focus on a long term income source that can be made without always being there to get an hourly or per-task job.

Now what I’m about to mention may be a controversial topic, but it’s my experience and opinion. If you want to work one of these gig jobs or part time fast food joints, don’t be upset that it feels like you are not making progress, like it’s your main job, on achieving your goal. These are entry level positions, meaning no experience or expertise is required. Meaning they will pay the bare minimum the law will allow. These are great for students and someone trying to get on there feet from incarceration or another life set back. It helps someone that needs work history gain experience to get through there situation. If you are just looking for extra work, look closer to your field of expertise or talent. My best example is a teacher. Teachers have many days off that they can utilize their skill and passion for helping others learn. The salary for a teacher yearly may not be what they would love to make, but adding a side gig of tutoring can greatly propel their potential into six figures and beyond! Think of how many kids need extra tutoring. You can charge a daily, weekly or quarterly charge per kid. I would say you can make as little as $20 an hour every day of the work week or multi hour sessions on the weekend for an upcharge. Depending on the area you are and the population, skies the limit. Another example is in the field oh HVAC ( heating ventilation and cooling ). People in this industry make a lot of money on their normal jobs, but may need some extra work sometimes, especially when it’s slow season. They can advertise there service to people who normally can’t afford the big company upcharges. Yes that means charge less, but it’s more for you because you don’t have to split the money with the boss! You also get to help your community and that’s always a big plus.

The Goal: Lets talk about the people who want extra income that are living paycheck-to-paycheck or just don’t have the income they want from their job. In my opinion we need to think differently about a side hustle. Yes we can go add multiple jobs to get more money, but I think we have better long term options. We need to find a skill or trade that we can be very good in. Instead of working for mediocre income at entry level positions that will never give us the income or freedom of time we want! Think about this. Instead of working for minimum wage and giving yourself a few extra dollars a month, what if we find a skill or trade that we could learn and possibly double, triple or more our income! There is a trade off. You may have to volunteer or intern or find something you would have never thought you would do. My best example is a septic tank technician (sorry I don’t know the proper term). These people can make six figures or more driving around sucking peoples septic tanks and disposing of them. A guy I follow on YouTube Shortz literally states “The reason I pay my guys so well, is because it’s a shitty job”. I wouldn’t have looked for a job like that, but I’m open to it if I ever was in a bad position financially. You make good money and servicing peoples needs. What a noble thing!

In conclusion, we can tackle the side hustle by evaluating our personal situation and goals. Don’t make the side hustle a permanent one unless you just love what you are doing. We must think long term and keep these to achieve a short term goal( A year or less ). Any longer and we need to find something sustainable or what we are passionate about.

Short story: I worked at a pizza place as a delivery driver for about a year and a half. At that time I was making around $46k a year working 60+ hours a week at my transportation job. I thought adding this would propel my income to at least be the average American income. I made a little more than $5K that first year. I was excited because, on paper at least, I achieved a new bracket in my income. I was upset, however, that it didn’t change my life in some dramatic way. In fact I blew a head gasket in one car, over heated another and had so many repairs, that I was feeling like this was pointless trying to achieve that goal. On top of that, it put me in a tax bracket that made the tax credit I received on my return, I usually got back go away, equaling the $5k I earned! So, try not to find a hustle that can cause you to lose money trying to keeping the hustle, if you can. My current side hustle is selling supplements ( you can join me here! or support me by trying one of the awesome supplements here! ). I also deliver and help move people part-time with my truck. No right or wrong way, just have a plan in mind why you are working. We want to escape the rat race, not add races!

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Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees, But You can Lay It like Bricks!

You Visualized It Already

Do you or have you watched a hip-hop music video? Chances are you have, and what’s the common theme other than the sexy dancers? Yea, MONEY! Maybe drugs, but we can discuss that in another topic. My favorite long time rapper, since I am from New Orleans, is Weezy F or Little Wayne or Carter or I don’t even know anymore. Now a days I follow christian rappers like Lecrae, Dee1 and Trip Lee. Go check them out if you don’t know who they are. Just the Wayne titles alone let you know what the songs are about; Duffle Bag, A Milli, Money On My Mind, Rich As F&%*, need I go on? These songs and videos have us imagining what we can have. You may say I know that’s not real, but you subconsciously dwell on those images. Otherwise they would not have put it in their videos. It’s rapertising (new word of the day).

I never believed I was wanting to have a rapper lifestyle until I was mad at the world. I was in a dark place. while I was looking at some of Lecrae’s music, he mentioned the life style they sell us in the videos and how it could change your perception of reality. They boost how the money and fame is from the gangster lifestyle of selling drugs and robbing to get by. None of which impacts our inner-cities in a positive light to the rest of the world. Now, I’m not saying you have to be a christian to have this perspective. However, I am saying you will need a better motive than that money brick imagination. What your really after is wealth and security. Both are obtainable whether you make 20 grand or 100 grand+ a year.

First things first…

Everyone is different! What works for a college student isn’t going to work for middle aged person with three kids. They have different responsibilities. I here you saying, duh whats new? Well I’m just surprised at how many think a living wage is a certain number for everyone. No, math doesn’t work like that. Also the spending habits of the individual and the area they live in will greatly effect those factors. Lets be practical, that is why Los Angeles has a homeless problem greater than most American cities. Its multiple reasons not just, ‘Oh my gosh, like whats a man gotta do to get 50 an hour? Suck cucumbers? Let me get high first.’ Bad humor, egh get over it. They have the same problems as every other major city(drugs, mental illness, poor money management etc), the thing that sets them over the top is very high cost of living. If you took someone with a relatively low income and placed them in Monroe, LA. You’ll think they were middle class by how much of a raise they thought they were given!

Next…

Very important, is for anyone who is maturing in their financial lives, is to know thy selves weaknesses. Keep it real for a moment, at least be honest with yourself. What do know you spend money on that you really don’t need? Where do you go that you need to cut back on? I had so many when I was younger, honestly when I cut them off I think that is what depressed me. I wanted to see movies AT the movie theater when they first came out. My budget didn’t allow for that! My justification was, well I worked hard for this, I should enjoy it. Those same movies will be at a dollar or budget movie theater in a few weeks. Same movie, same screen, same actors, same sticky floors with just slight amenity differences. That’s right you could’ve had a projector in your home for the difference and pocketed the rest! But everyone yelling and booing at a non-live picture is fun. I also over spent on fast food, restaurants and trying to impress other people that I don’t even know anymore! Yeah, honesty, honestly sucks! When you realy take a look at your spending only than can you realize, ‘money doesn’t grow on a tree, but I’ve been giving my bricks of money away to everyone!’ Whats your bad money habit?

Then we have those…

‘I wish we could afford a budget movie Joe! I have food stamps and trying to make ends meet with no car’. This is truly an impoverished circumstance that makes me sad. It’s so easy to spiral down to this with some bad choices and even bad luck. However, you are still among the grateful because you are not homeless. As long as you are healthy( I will address unfortunate health issues in a later blog) there’s nothing to stop you from reaching your dreams. That’s one of those things that makes America great is the programs that we have to help you. “There not easy to get or keep Joe”. Silence, I know, I wouldn’t want them to be when my taxes are paying for them. You may feel the same way when, not if, you get on the other side. If not either way I agree with Cardie B. I don’t trust the government to take more money from me and claim your going to get it. Solutions Joe, what are they! I’ll be honest, you need to really evaluate the reason your here NOW. You will have to take everyone else you think got you here out of the picture. ‘THATS ALL YOU GOT, YOU DON’T KNOW WHO DID WHAT TO ME!’ Damn straight I don’t, and I know there is not a M%^$#@ F%^&*$% thing you can do about them! We have to work on you moving forward. Your all I care about! The brick we need in America to succeed! Now that that’s out the way. If you are not getting assistance of any kind, please seek out any in your are(especially if theirs children involved). If you can not find any government assistance next would be close family and relatives to help you out with the next task. We have to get your income up short term, long term (with a trade, schooling of some kind or my preference your own business) or preferably both. Unfortunately, this juggling act is very hard, BUT IT CAN BE DONE. I’ve seen stories and know a few people personally (men and women) that have done so. It amazes me and lets me know, when we get our stuff straight, life gets straighter. Once we get the income up, help where we need it, patience, determination and a budget is key no matter who you are!

I hope some of this inspired anyone in a position of helplessness or just someone who needs encouragement. My favorite financial person, Dave Ramsey says, ‘No matter how big, small, bright or dim, it’s light at the end of the tunnel not an oncoming train‘(paraphrased). In the comments section, let us know what issues you face and if anything said helped you to be better positioned to be an American Brick!

Does Tipping Mean Anything Anymore?

I don’t care where you are. We’ve all seen the push for tips increase over the years. Before, it was a gesture of doing a good job or going above and beyond what was expected. You go into a restaurant or hotel and someone greeted you with a smile. Asked to take your coat or luggage. Wanted to know how was the ride, what were your preferences did you have any concerns that they may address. These places still exist, but there’re not the places we have a problem graciously giving a tip.

When I was younger, I traveled often with my parents. I remember one day, something my mother did as we checked out of the hotel. She put on the dresser, inside the room we stayed, a few five dollar bills. I never noticed that before. So, i asked her ‘why did you leave money on the dresser?’ She said it was for the maid. I asked has she always been doing that. She explained, yes and the doorman and the bellman and the baggage porter and the shuttle driver that brought us to the hotel. I was in shock! I asked how could we afford to pay for a room and them too? I never forgot what she told me. ‘If you can’t afford to tip the people that made your trip pleasant, you shouldn’t go on the trip.’ That’s part of the budget. I viewed service workers in a different light ever since.

Not today though! Now we have request for tips before any service is rendered! Tip jars at the counter for my payment. I didn’t get my stuff yet! Went to a fast food chain and they have an option to tip before you get your food delivered. Many times I tipped and then wondered where was my food, why the order was wrong, why are they rude, why am I tipping! One of the worst services I ever received was at a buffet style restaurant. It was around lunch time and this place only had one other guest at the time. Me and a co-worker seated ourselves. The one waitress that was there was on her phone the whole time. She even came to take our drink order with the phone in hand. It was slow, and may usually be that way. I don’t think, however, that was appropriate or at least the way you would expect to be served. To make matters worse, she brought me a coke, when I asked for a sweet tea! After not taking the dishes that had piled up, I had enough. I decided to go against something I was proud of doing. I usually tip at least 15% no matter what, 20% for good and about 50% for anything that keeps me smiling most of my experience. What did this waitress deserve to me? Nothing at all. I didn’t want the person to think I don’t like to tip. I was like, they won’t question themselves if nothing is left behind. So I deliberately left $.10 on the receipt for the meal and totaled it up to be sure they understood. No rounding up, this is what you deserve! I remember looking at them in the eye as we left and they were still on the phone. I would like to think I’ve grown from that today. I might leave them a decent tip, but write a message on the receipt. What’s the worst service you ever received? Leave me a comment, and let me know!

If you are unaware, people that usually get tips don’t get paid the minimum wage. They usually get half or even less from the employer. Sometimes they are even required to share the tip! When I worked at a pizza delivery place, you were given the minimum wage while preparing food and cleaning in the store, but when you left for a delivery, you received half the minimum wage. The tips are supposed to make up the remaining amount. Of course, the tips over the day may surpass the minimum wage for the day. I didn’t feel like it was worth it, in my situation. I was looking for extra income to compensate for my main job being unstable at the time. I instead lost two vehicles in two years and decided I had enough. The vehicles were very cheap, but I didn’t want to use my family car or repair cars anymore. If you know how to work on your car or just a student needing very flexible hours, I recommend it. If I could do it over again, I think I would try to be a bartender or server at a high end restaurant. I only have to get there and my tips go to what I need and not my car too! I think the biggest lesson from working at that job is to simply be your best, no matter what. Sometimes I was up for over 24hrs with my main job combined. The customer doesn’t care about that. They want what they ordered and a smile. At that time, you didn’t know if you were getting a tip or not. That made it easy to give the best service possible without question. Now, most places want the tip upfront, placing burden on the customer and not the driver. The customer has to wonder, if I don’t give a tip, will I get my order quickly or correct? The driver or person taking the order already got tipped! Personally I don’t like it, but It’s almost the norm now.

Just a side note. While working for tips, I can say the stereotypes are real to me. Drunks are cool, hard workers understand. Foreigners are straight forward. My people… my people… we need to do better! If you going to order something and you know a tip is expected, make that person feel like you appreciate them! Or go get it yourself! Same with well off wanna be individuals. Could use your helpful tip and financial tip! Almost everyone tips in the rain, so I love/hated when it rained.

In conclusion, I think the tipping industry has changed. I’m not sure what to make of the evolving culture around it. However, I will do my best to show appreciation to the people who serve with passion. At the end of the day, we all should have a serving mind frame. No tip necessary. Think of how much better the world would be. If everybody was treated the way they would want to be treated. Greeted with a smile, a sincere concern for the other person, a helping hand when possible and a feeling of a friend just left! Maybe I’m just old school on that. I think people were much happier when it wasn’t so transactional. What you give me will determine what I give you in return. Maybe that’s why many charities don’t deliver pizza…

Why Entertainment Is Keeping You Broke!

I had to say entertainment. I really want to specifically say movies and tv shows. However, many of us are addicted to all the social media platforms now. You can include other things like partying and concerts as well.

Now before someone gets all in there feelings because they so happen to love a good binge watching marathon, I like entertainment as well. As I’ve gotten older and seen people in different phases of their life, the amount of entertainment someone enjoys seems to indicate how successful they will be. I remember the saying ‘work hard play hard.’ The interesting thing I find is we didn’t realize, that’s not math. You can’t work hard today and play today. It’s a lot of hard work over time that allows us to play hard. We want to clock out at five and go drink an hour or two of our wage to get the stress off. Maybe we go watch our favorite tv shows, or a movie we’ve been waiting to see. Then we wake up upset to do it all over again! Where’s the breakdown? We’ve wasted the rest of the day doing what we want and pushing what we really want that much further away!

Think about it… what are you enjoying on that fancy big screen (or phone)? Maybe the latest Marvel’s movie, comedy show, playing call of duty, football game, etc. What could be more exciting? A short escape of reality! That’s not the way I see it. I see it as paying the people and makers of what your watching. Paying for their reality to be better than yours! Literally watching someone, an actor,actress, athlete working! Unless you have a great career or not one of the millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, you are giving up your potential for a better life to someone else! The actor or actress thanks you, I’m sure. Keeping food on their table and fueling their jet! We spend way too much money in this country on frivolous things. A major one being entertainment and food. I have a blog up on ‘The Restaurant Trap‘ so not going down that path. So many people try to go to Hollywood to ‘make it” and it’s because of the rest of the country trying to escape reality. Even if your not paying the absorbent amount of money to watch a movie, your still paying with your time and attention. The companies are making a ton of money from the advertising. We are getting targeted advertising to appeal to your personality and there for more likely to buy. Meanwhile debt is at an all time high, inflation is at an all time high and your wages look almost exactly the same! Who’s winning? Not you or me! But the people on tv look happy!

Not only are we paying with our wallet and attention to the advertising. We are robbing ourselves with all the distractions of the world today. The time we spend after work or on the weekends could be going towards improving ourselves. So that we don’t have to just escape reality, we can make our own. Wish you were on that island, wish you could have that house, wish you had that body, wish you could live a better life? It’s not going to come by watching someone play it on tv. We need to put the work into ourselves that many of the people we consider successful do. Take Elon Musk for example. When he was trying to get PayPal running, he slept in the office and even told someone that was interested in dating him, that they would be there, at the office, for most of their dates. You think he knew that he would be a multi billionaire at the time? He just knew he had to work on what he wanted to succeed in more than all the distractions the world gives us. Are you willing to sleep at your job to maximize productivity? He is unique in his approach and some might say it’s not worth it to them. I’m probably in that category, but our work shouldn’t be the only thing we are working hard at. I try to work a certain amount of hours at my job, but that was for the company. So, when I get off, I go to the gym to work on myself, then I go home to work on projects that I hope will raise my standard of living. Even when I’m driving I’m listening to podcast or other media about topics I’m trying to learn or get a new prospective on. It has taken me a long time realize that I could be further ahead by learning new skills to enhance my ability to be successful, instead of trying to enjoy the minute I walk off the job!

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have a life, but again unless we have the life we want, we should be doing something everyday to get closer to what we say we want, or change what we say we want! The most successful people in the world are not keeping up with fashion or the latest shows, unless they have a vested interest in it. They are worrying about learning new things, getting new exposure to things and taking action on what they think will give them a better outcome in the future. We should work on doing the same. We can do this by simply changing a few habits.

Instead of listening to the same music on repeat or the latest celebrity news on the way to/from work, listen to podcast about investing, side hustles or just motivational content. Something to give you a perspective you may not have heard before. It’s hard for many of us to find a way to get around people that are doing better than us, but it’s easy to listen to them!
Find a part time job or gig. So many places are looking for workers right now. It doesn’t have to pay much, but it could move the needle for us. I don’t recommend doing them forever. If you’re not in school, this is just to pay down debt, build an emergency fund or save for something relatively expensive you can’t save for easily. Check out my post on ‘The Side Hustle, Worth It?’.
This one, I just want to throw out there for my people struggling with weight. As someone who has struggled with weight most of my life, our success will be parallel with our weight. We are the most inactive after work. Ready to eat and watch tv or get on our phones, most likely while eating. If we can change this habit, to something productive, we will also succeed in losing weight. I’ve taken advice from YouTube to get on almost any cardio machine to exercise while watching my phone. Concentrate on typing this blog. Doing something to keep my mind off of food and moving while being entertained. Honestly, the more weight I’ve lost, I feel more successful over all! Not just weight, but the focus on self development, earning more money and even spending more ‘real’ time with my family came with it. If you want to be better, I suggest trying something similar and see if it doesn’t change your life for the better!

In conclusion, we all have the potential to be successful in anything that we want. My goal is to help inspire average everyday people to be better. We can’t all ‘act’ our way there. Yet we can work on acting like we are serious about improving our lives. We have to stop making excuses for why we don’t have time when we seen all the episodes of shows that didn’t educate, motivate or elevate our lives one bit. Celebrities get paid for attention. It’s time we paid more attention to ourselves than giving it away to someone else. They’ll be just fine, I promise!

Easy way To Create A Budget!

If you feel like you don’t get paid enough, join the team! As someone who’s increased their annual salary over time I can relate to this. Creating a budget seemed impossible and confusing. I feel like when I worked two to three jobs making less than the average American salary, stayed in a apartment, trying to feed three kids, a stay at home wife and struggled to get ahead, I had money issues. Now that I make more than an average American salary with one job, have my own home, multiple cars, feed three kids and a stay at home wife, I don’t feel much better. Why is that? Much can be attributed to budgeting. However, there’s a big difference in where the money is going. I used to struggle saving money. It wasn’t until I decided to get into the niche trade of transportation that my income raised to take care of my families needs from one job. I fell into the trap of thinking I could get multiple streams of income by working multiple jobs. I didn’t realize that this was not a smart way to operate long term. So if you have a family and not enough income regardless of the following I will mention, you need a different career trajectory. Find something your interested in and research the earning potential for that field. If you like what you are doing now, no problem, just work on being the very best at it no matter the wage and let the people in charge know you want to get in a better position to grow with the company. Even if your company requires a degree, for the right worker exceptions can always be made. If you research your field enough and can show you know more than the person above you (without seeming like you want to take their job), who wouldn’t advance them? Help the company make more, they usually help you make more! Get that income up!

Now, if you need to find somewhere to start to make a budget, this is where we are going: A zero based budget. This means your check is spent, on paper, before you even get it. The reason I recommend and use this budget is because I can quickly see what I know I have spent and then make adjustments with what is left. Most of us all have a housing expense, utilities, grocery, clothing and transportation needs. This is our basic living needs. Everything after this is a want! It is hard to make the basics decrease if needed, so if these are hard to fit within your salary, you need to work on income or possibly moving, because math is just math (if you eat out daily or weekly , check my blog on ‘The Restaurant Trap’. If you have been in the same place for more than a year, you can average these expenses. Add up the total amount you pay each month and divide by twelve. If you feel like some expenses are rising in the future and want to plan for it, add five to ten percent. Examples could include insurance, groceries ( definetly shifted my budget! ), fuel, etc. You may need to revisit the budget at least once a month to keep up with new expenses or adjustments in salary and bills.

Whatever is left over from your needs will tell you what else you can afford. So for easy numbers, lets say you make $2K a month take home pay. That’s after taxes and any deductions your employer may take out of your check. This is low, but hopefully you don’t need to feed a family or you should get another job or perhaps a spouse works. Within that, you’ve taken out $500 for rent (if your single or creative, you can still get rent this low today! Will probably create a blog on this), $400 for groceries, $200 for utilities, and $150 for transportation. This will leave you with $750 at the end of the month. You shouldn’t need clothing every month, so just average a decent amount you want to take out for that. In this example, we will take out $50. That leaves you with $700! What do you want to spend the rest on? I would suggest saving a minimum of 15% of that $2K, which is $300. I used to say use that money to get started on a retirement plan. However, today, I would suggest in this hypothetical scenario that a third ($100) goes to an investment you will never touch and the other two quarters ($200) go to improving yourself. This could be in the form of educational, trade school, online course or personnel development plan. The idea is just to get in a position you really want career wise. Old phrase, invest in yourself! If you make way more, this may not apply to you. You may want to put it on a down payment for a house, a business or something else needed. I just would suggest not to spend it on things like liabilities (check out my blog on ‘Turning Liabilities Into Assets’ for more on that).

Now, I didn’t cover things like debt with cars, medical or anything else that could effect your numbers very much. I will right more articles later about dealing with that. I do want to stress, however, that a budget only works if you stick to it. You get to choose where the money goes after your needs. Just try to include things you know happen every year and divide by twelve what you want to spend on that as well. Our birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, etc. are not unexpected events. You may have a favorite hobby you want to put in there, a club you participate in, extended family you take care of. Whatever it is, when you finished adding it all up, your budget should be zero, not negative! A negative budget always leads to a spiral in debt. You didn’t need those shoes or car that broke your budget! If you can’t fit, you can’t get! Even if you are expecting a bonus, it is better to be on the side of caution and base your budget on your regular salary than something that can change at the last minute (especially in this economy).

In conclusion, creating a budget is easy. This is how I do mine every month. Having a little above average income gives me everything my family needs, but I could always use more, but I know where the money is going, because I planned it! Staying on a budget is what makes it hard. Life happens, urges happen, sales events, you name it. The best part, you can add categories into the budget to cover those things! Literally name it that thing you think will come up and allocate a certain amount to save for it. I have a car repair tag in my budget. Because all my cars are paid for and older, I know they will require repair at some point. So, I put it in the budget. Cool part is, If it gets big enough and I still have no repairs needed, I have the money to buy another car if I choose to do so! I hope you found value in this article. If so let me know. If someone you think can benefit from this please share! I’m happy to help anyone I can that has issues around this topic of budgeting, so please let me know what you want to talk about! Have a great day!

If I Won The Lottery… I Mean When I Win! The Lottery Trap

I’ll start by saying, I probably don’t play enough to win. I don’t keep up with how much the jackpot is. That is until I drive through Dallas or another major city. Then it becomes hard not to see that big billboard displaying amounts of money that most of us can only dream about! If it wasn’t bad enough that it was displayed in your local convivence store or gas station; now it’s available at the grocery store! Is this because so many peoples lives are being changed by winning the lottery? Is it because they want you to get a piece of the pie that seems to grow more and more every few days? I highly doubt it! In fact, I believe there’s a good reason they enjoy displaying how much the jackpot currently is.

Not to long ago (and probably in the near future), the jackpot of the two major lottery drawings hit the highest ever. For a simple two dollar piece of paper, you were given the chance to become a billionaire! That’s right, no more day or night job for you! Mansions and yachts will be the norm for you! I’m sure you’ll meet Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on your way to cash the check. Well at least that was what I envisioned. People were lined up to get there shot at a piece of the jackpot. I even remember hearing a co-worker tell me how they don’t need the whole thing. All i need is a fraction of the jackpot. They would spend, in my opinion, way more than they should. However, on the news, people were acting like it was the last call for retirement savings on tickets. I can only imagine, some emptied their savings account only to find out that the jackpot went higher the day after the drawing! How could this be? So many that don’t usually play and the ones that do amplified their contributions. Surely the odds of winning were higher. Even the co-worker that played told me if they bought two tickets, their chances of winning doubled. Is that true?

After spending a total of twenty dollars on that escapade of winning a billion, I had to do a little research. Why does the jackpot keep going up, even though countless people, it seems, are buying so many tickets? Why didn’t I (or many others) break even? Should I have played more? Am I just unlucky?!

It’s all an emotional play. Numbers are almost irrelevant. Pick your numbers, pick your birthday, your dogs birthday, your enemies birthday, turns out doesn’t really matter. Overwhelmingly, most jackpots are won by the random pick feature! So your birthday isn’t unlucky, it’s just you’re unlucky! Sorry to brake it to you, but if it makes you feel any better, I’m unlucky too! The lottery wants to seem harmless. Yet, I would argue it’s keeping a large portion of the population in poverty. Why would I say that. Mainly from experience. I’ve lived in the inner city where you go into a corner (convivence) store, and most people are getting three things. A bottle of their favorite alcohol, a pack of cigarettes, or you guest it, a lottery ticket. Then when I worked in an upper middle class area, this was not the case except for local contractor type workers in the area. I can even see the difference in advertising. In the inner cities you clearly see where the jackpot is today. From the building that was selling it, a sign outside or a billboard above your head. Trying to feed that since of desperation to get a better life. Meanwhile, in the upper middle class area, it was actually against city ordinance to have certain signs displaying various things. I can just tell you, working there, I never had an urge to play the lottery, going downtown or urban areas, I would see it as my chance to get a piece! Now I see it as praying on the weak. Unless you get the multipliers for an extra dollar, you don’t get a piece of the jackpot broken down by how many tickets you get. So stop thinking you will get a piece of that. They even came out with a version of all or nothing! The people that are propping up that number you see going up multiple times a week are not millionaires trying to get rich! They know how to invest money and make their money grow. They would rather put all that money instead of on a gamble into an asset that produces an income or at least grows in value. So, you can say they gamble on themselves. Meanwhile, the people that are being targeted are poor to middle class. Some have no savings or very little. Usually have other habits that eat away at there chance of saving money. Some don’t have any money at all, yet according to ‘The Washington Post’, an article found a correlation between the poorest zip codes having the highest lottery ticket sales. What does that mean? The people who are starving will buy a lottery ticket before they buy food! Now, that we know that, when you see the number going up on the jackpot, know that poverty is alive and playing the lottery!

The people who are starving will buy a lottery ticket before they buy food!
Joe

That’s sad and everything, but how can we increase our chances of winning! Well, many financial advisors use the analogy of getting struck by lighting. You have a better chance at getting struck by lighting several times and survive, than winning the jackpot! Feeling lucky, wait until the next thunderstorm to find out… Really though, winning odds are so small it is not worth it in many situations. If you don’t have any money saved, I suggest working on that, not gambling it. If you have a house, cars paid off, saving at least 15% of your income and no debt, knock yourself out! At least at this point, you are not effecting your ability to grow your wealth on a gamble and you have little liabilities that can take away from that. If not, create your own luck by controlling the money you do have, to get in position for that money to grow. Maybe invest in a trade school like I did. Get certified in something you can grow in income with. This will also help your financial discipline. If you already know how to get and handle money effectively, if you get more, than you already know what to do with the money. Just on a bigger scale. That’s why most people that win a huge sum of money loose it. They didn’t have a grasp on the little they had, now it’s too much to maintain.

In conclusion, for most of us, the lottery is really a tax. They can throw school and veteran charities on there, but it’s still taking away from the least among us. We should donate without the string of a benefit we might win something. I will admit, I still play the lottery after it usually reaches $300M. In my mind, without creating and selling a very unique business, this amount won’t be achievable. So it is worth a few dollars every week for the sake of playing. I hope through other means I can obtain anything less than that. However, I do have a house, put 15% toward retirement and investments, all my cars are paid off and I have no debt. Since I also do my best not to eat out, it is cheaper than any one sandwich or burger I could buy. So it has no impact on my net worth at all. I could make a moral argument to not play base off what I talked about, but maybe in a casino blog… Thanks for reading and I hope you are in a good position financially and view the lottery in a similar way. Let me know what you think!

Turning Liabilities Into Assets!

So, you found out, with all the information of the internet, that you own liabilities and not assets! What does that mean? Do you have to sell everything you own including the house and just buy rental property or a business? In my opinion, I think not. However, if you find yourself with a lot of payments and not enough money left over or unused items that seem useful, just not to you right now, I think theirs something we can do about that. With all the technology increases and a little openness to our communities, we can turn virtually any liability into a money generating asset!

First, if you are not sure what an asset is or a liability is you can google the literal definition. I will give you my take on it:

Liability- Things we buy that will cost money to obtain and the value decreases over time, taking away from wealth creation. Cost to maintain and can possibly leave us vulnerable to legal issues. My easiest example is a fast car (like my post on ‘The Hellcat Mentality’). It covers all three of those issues. It’s relatively expensive vehicle, costing more than the average American salary brand new. It’s maintenance is very expensive costing thousands because of the latest technology involved in the vehicle. Finally, it is FAST! So, it is easy to lead to citations for speeding or in some cases racing (even if you just want to get to the speed limit of 60MPH in 3.4 seconds!), I still want one…
Asset- Things we buy that will cost us money that have the potential to go up in value over time. Leading to a storage of wealth. They also have the potential of producing cash flow (generating income) when utilized correctly. Can be insured to mitigate loss prevention incase of a legal or physical issue. The easiest example would be a rental home. Typically goes up in value over time. It should produce an income to offset maintenance and generate some profit. The rental can have insurance to cover tenants, natural disasters and a host over other things to keep it’s value.

Now that we know what an asset vs a liability is, how can we make it work for us? The easiest way would be to make that liability earn it’s worth or generate income. With so many new technologies, we can use apps to market our items.

Lets start off with items we don’t use. If we haven’t used an item and can’t see ourselves using it for awhile, lets just sell it! If we need the item later in the future, we can just acquire it at another time. This frees up not only space but gives us money to buy something else that we really need at the moment, or to do the next thing….

Rent everything! That’s right, from your nice silverware, tools to patio furniture or even bedrooms and cars! Someone is always looking for an item you may have. They may not want to purchase the item long term or don’t have the room to keep it. Someone may be having a special quest over to their home and would like to have very nice silverware for the evening. They don’t, however, have the room to keep it or a reason to use it all the time. There’s apps like Yoodlize, Idle, etc. These apps let you rent out your items and get paid however much you want. They may take a cut but also give you some protection incase something happens to your items. I do not recommend very personal items or priceless things.

Many items are not going to rent out all the time, but you never know! Try to find out what you have that people may want a lot, but don’t have. Now, this is not a replacement for a second job, unless you want to specialize in this area, then by all means make it happen. It will get those items that you put money into, to generate you some cashflow!

In my opinion, things that will never go unwanted are tools and party items. If you have special tools or have celebrations often (or want to start to get these items ‘wink wink’), these items can take up room or just not something people would want to buy due to cost. You can take advantage of this and make them available when not in use. Then you not only get to help your community but earn extra cashflow on the side. I have a neighbor that sent flyers around advertising party chairs for rent. They would rent up to 100 chairs for a minimum of 5 hours. Depending on how many chairs and how long they would give you the price and even set it up and take it down for you! How cool is that!

I personally in the future would like to rent out some cars for a side hustle. There’s an app called Turo I like. They have many vehicles to suite your needs. From everyday drivers to luxury or even exotic cars! Most of the host on the Turo platform are like you and me. Just everyday people that are looking to turn a liability into an asset! Maybe they have an extra car that they only use for road trips, or didn’t want to sell an older car when they bought a newer car. Instead of just letting it sit and rot in the driveway, rent it out for how much and how long you want. I have a co-worker that rents out an RV on a similar platform that pays for itself. When he wants to travel in it, he just won’t rent it out at that time. If you’re worried about issues with people damaging, not cleaning or any abuse, the platforms usually take care of mistreatment for that. They try to make it easy for you to have a painless experience for your precious items. It is suggested that you do review any potential renters, especially the more expensive the vehicle.

Now, one of the more controversial asset or liability perspectives is the house. Depending on who you listen to, it could be a liability or an asset. In my opinion, It’s whatever you need it to be. My personal home to me is an asset. I’m defining it that way because the value of it is more than double the amount I owe on the home. It is costing me money to maintain it, but if I need the equity for some reason, I can refinance or take a loan out against it. Giving me a cashflow effect that’s not possible when renting. With my family all the bedrooms are full. Now, if for some reason I could’t keep up with the maintenance or even the payments, I think it becomes a liability. If the home is falling apart grass and other appearance issues that could lead to citations are present, the value will not be increasing. Even worse if the taxes are neglected a lean can be placed on the home and eventually taken away from the owner. However, if your home has unused bedrooms or you have a summer home and you are open to the idea, I would rent out the rooms or home if possible. I would be very selective on who would be the renter, but lets explore the idea.

If your open to a short term renter, the app Airbnb is a good place to start. You get some protection from the Airbnb platform to mitigate loss from potential renters. You would essentially become a hotel. Meaning you may need to wash sheets, stock up on tissue paper and other commonly used items in a hotel. Depending on your market, this can bring in a great income. I actually wish I would have thought about this while I was renting. Think about this. You buy a small to modest house. What if you learned how to take care of a rental property while you limited your responsibilities of the place you stayed. Giving you equity in a property while you saved for a home you really want! Yes there’s much to that but it’s just an idea for some.

If you have spare bedrooms and are anywhere near a college, I would invest in bunkbeds and rent out to college students! Depending on the location of the home and amenities you could offer ( rome square footage, washer/dryer, backyard, distance to the college, etc.), I would see no problem in charging $450 a person per month (or be competitive to the dorm rooms). Two people to a room or one if you want to limit the amount of people but charge more. If you have a three bedroom home, rent out two of them in this manner, you would stay their virtually free! If your a people person, you may even get good people that will make it fun to not be alone.

In conclusion, if you have liabilities, you now have assets! Don’t say I have no way to make extra money. We just need to be dedicated to spending time, a little research and opening our mind to the possibilities of what people in our communities need. This can be just for a vacation for you and your family, an item you really want or an actual job if you decide to pursue a rental business! I hope you make the most out of your items and be safe doing so. Let me know what you want to try or what worked for you!

How My Nephew Scammed My Parents of Almost $3K!

First off, let me say, my parents are elderly. This doesn’t mean it can’t happen to someone younger. However, our older demographic is vulnerable to scams and other entities looking to take advantage of people and their good will. We always here about the Nigerian prince emails or the lottery winner that never bought a a ticket or even phone calls. Now, somehow scammers are gaining access to our loved ones info and likeness to deceive us into believing they are in some type of distress. Let me start from where I found out about this scam then how my parents got involved.

So. the week before my parents answered the phone; I was listing to the ‘Kim Komando Show’ on my podcast list on Spotify. A person called into the show saying they had been scammed. I don’t remember the story exactly, but basically, someone pretended to be a woman’s daughter. The daughter was I think on a camping trip. So not near the mother. The mother received a call from, who she thought, was the daughter. In a panic, saying “hey mom, I’m sorry I messed up!”. Then someone else threatened to have their way with her and harm her. Then proceeded to ask for money in exchange for her. A Ransom. Of course they didn’t want them contacting the police. The mother was able to verify with the father that the daughter was indeed safe. When the mother contacted the police, they told her that this scam is actually not rare! The mother was convinced she heard her daughters voice and that she was in legitimate immediate danger! It turns out they possibly used an AI generated voice! It’s a blessing that everything turned out ok and no money was given to the scammers. I told my wife about the story because she is very protective and would easily panic over such a predicament. I did not realize, however, that scammers would use variations of this to go after my own parents, not even a week after hearing this story…

So, one day I’m at home and I call my dad. He tells me something interesting happened the day before. I thought that odd because he never says that. I asked him to explain what was odd. He proceeded to tell me that my nephew had called the day before to tell him he had went to Mexico and ended up in prison. Supposedly, he ended up there and he didn’t want his mother to know because he wasn’t supposed to be there. He wanted my parents to send two thousand dollars so he could get out of jail. Apparently my parents discussed it and even had another sibling wire the money. Then my nephew called back, thanked them and proceeded to ask for another thousand so he could get back home because he lost his money. After sending another time, they decided to contact the mother. My sister confirmed to them that my nephew was at home and never went to Mexico! At that time they knew they had been scammed. They explained that the scammers used my nephews nick name and even sounded like him! Just like the person on the podcast! I immediately drove to my parents house to explain the scam and how to avoid it in the future. They were relieved that my nephew was ok, but I’m upset someone would use another persons likeness an possibly AI generated voice to gain financially. My parents were not greedy trying to inherit some prince’s money or get the winning of an unknown lottery. This wasn’t a too good to be true scam. They were trying to help a family member out! If that’s not evil, I don’t know what is!

Hopefully, whoever is reading this doesn’t fall prey to such an evil scam like these. Here are some things I think can help in this ever evolving scammer world. First, is to recognize scammers thrive off of urgency. They need you to react without thinking. Timing is crucial for them to get you acting rather than using logical reasoning. If you get a call or email and it ends up asking for money, at that point realize this may be a scam. Even if it’s a charitable organization I’m familiar with. Which is next, don’t give money over the phone. Send me a request through the mail with a physical address. Even a bill collector or company, if they call me I will want to go to their website and pay. If not call back on a number you can verify is for that company. Even if someone threatened to cut my electricity off and it was turned off would be better than giving money to a company that calls me and find out I was scammed! Next, try to verify whatever someone is claiming they need money for. If it’s a bill, do I use that company. A collection agency, Is that agency legitimate with a google search, call them back on their number. If a loved one in distress financially, I need to verify why and if I’m helping or are they going to keep coming back because they have other issues. Finally the loved one in parrel like the forementioned. Get the authorities involved. It will seem like you can’t or worse will happen to them. However, if it’s a scenario like a real cartel in Mexico asking for a ransom; if you try to do it yourself, chances are they will keep the loved one and do something terrible to them so they don’t get caught. They will end up taking you too or just be a scam like the above. Strategy is key and it’s hard to do when your in fight or flight mode.

In conclusion, Just be aware of horrible peoples intention in this world. If you find yourself getting scammed by an individual, it’s just money and not the outcome that was potentially worse. However lets try to starve these scammers of oxygen so they die out ( I know it’s a dream). Contact the authorities to let them be aware of the situation and to help them to help others. We are not helpless, we just need to be informed and diligent about new scams. Stay safe and spread the awareness!

When Is The Best Time To Have Kids?

For people that want to have kids or find themselves with a kid on the way. This may be a huge question. Unplanned or planned, things you don’t expect can happen. My wife and I have three kids. Ages 11, 12 and 15. As someone who started to have kids when I was twenty and now I’m thirty six, I’ve realized there is no right answer to this question. The real important question is do you want to have kids and are you ready to dedicate a major part of your life to their well being. It’s that simple. I thought, and planned, that I would need at least a million dollars in the bank. The reason is because of how much ‘they’ said it cost to raise children. Now I’m not saying raising kids is cheap, but it’s not as devastating in the USA as it maybe in other countries. We have so many programs to help growning families, it’s almost unreal. For my welfare reduction people, this isn’t the blog for that debate! So, If your thinking about it or expecting, I would like to tell you why it doesn’t matter!

We are sold, in The USA, a certain picture of what life is supposed to look like. Every movie, show, magazine and now social media. This becomes even more real when you think or are expecting to bring another life in to the world. Kids want love and attention. Full stop! Can you give them that? You’re ready then! Everything else is either a distraction or cherry on top. I can’t afford ____. =distraction! My kid goes to the prestige school of ____. =Cherry on top!

We have to think about when we were younger. Think of all the things you had, what did you want the most? Was it the prestige’s school, a big house, more toys, travel etc. I believe that with all those things being a cherry on top, that’s not what we really wanted. We may have not had the best food in the world, had the best outfits, or even lived in a house or apartment of our own. The one thing we wanted the most was a loving caring family. A mom and dad that loved us and was there for us. That doesn’t mean they were at every game or gave us whatever we wanted! That means we could communicate about whatever we had going on in life and they tried to take care of us the best they could. I remember growing up, I had both of my parents. Their were so many kids growing up without one or some neither of their parents. They would tell me how lucky I was. And, almost like a survivors guilt, I wondered why I did have both of my biological parents and others didn’t! As I’ve gotten older, I realized they just wanted to know the love and care of a mother and father. Not Disney World, not the latest shoe out, or to even eat out as much as we Americans do. No, it was to have the embrace of a family and love that one wants in life, especially from their parents!

Now, don’t get me wrong, the ‘distractions’ of being an adult and what we want for our kids is strong. We all want to give our kids the world and everything in it! But, I have a surprise for you! They don’t come into this world asking for it! I’m not going to sit up here and tell you I don’t want the best for my kids. As of this writing, I have my oldest turning 16 in a few months and trying to get her a license and car. You can have kids that grew up in the poorest of neighborhoods, no tv or new clothes in their life be just as happy as a kid that has the latest and greatest everything! The kid with everything thinks that’s what makes them happy. But, the other kid usually has only friends and family. They may want things, but that’s not bringing them happiness. Relationships with people bring us happiness. The park is free, enjoying goofy times, little moments, activities with each other are what feels like caring. As someone from New Orleans, deemed the murder capital of America at one time when I was younger;. I’m still amazed at how many kids were happy around me and actually grew up with confidence in who they were. Is that what you want for your kids, no fancy needed!

The ‘cherry on top’ can be deceitful! If we want to wait until we can give our kids everything, It may not turn out like you wish! We imagine our kids being so happy when they are first born that we decorate their room in the most lavish of items. Everything we could find in the baby section of our favorite retail store is in the room before they are born! Guess what, again, they didn’t ask for that. That’s for us! We don’t want to tie our kids identity in to things. That can lead to depression and worse if we are unable to keep giving them things or they can’t get it when they are older. Our kids today are so involved in electronics it’s ridiculous. If the power goes down or battery runs out, my youngest daughter says she’s bored and acts like the end of the world has come! I’m working on showing her when one thing doesn’t work, we must pivot to other activities, such as reading, writing and hobbies! We must realize that the world is not for us to give, but for them to explore. Think of some celebrities (not all) that gained fame, but then overtime found themselves in dark places. We always ask what happen? The truth is nothing. They had everything they wanted. They either had to do something that changed what we knew about them because there was nothing else to get or they became very depressed and some fatally.

In conclusion, Don’t let the world influence your decision on having kids. If your spouse and you want to have kids, right now is always the best time! Life is going to happen! You ask, what about my income? I answer, what if you lost the job and had to start over? You ask, what if I can’t get them i to a prestige’s school? I answer, what ifthey hate school and want to be a tattoo artist (you know who I’m talking about)? You say, I don’t know what the future holds? I say If you do, let me know too! We come up with excuses, but the greatest gift we have on earth is to have kids and raise them the best we can in our situation. If you have a wonderful situation, great! You’ll find out you don’t know everything and still wish things were different. If your situation doesn’t look so wonderful. Try to make it better, but, you’ll be doing that if you have a kid either way, like I had to do! It could be harder, but not many things in life worth having is easy!

Is Subscriptions Going To Be Our Financial Downfall?

I was listing to one of my go to radio shows. It’s on satellite radio, called Urban View, ‘The Karen Hunter Show’. A subscription based radio. She’s a writer so I hope she never critics this. The host was talking about all the platforms their currently watching different shows on. You know the list; Netflix, Hulu, Prime video, Paramount, on and on…. I was thinking while she was naming all these episodes she was suggesting to watch, that I don’t really want to pay to listen to you! They have value that comes from different segments of their show. But, lets be honest, I could probably get it somewhere else for free. But, I’m not!

The world is changing to a subscription based society. On one hand that’s good so you can keep up with people or topics you are interested in. However, it seems like those people and interest will want you to pay for a subscription at some point. I’m all for a profit being had, but it doesn’t seem feasible to keep up with the trending topics if you can’t keep up with so many platforms that you have to pay for in order to participate. I remember not to long ago thinking satellite tv and cable were outrageously expensive, then their were upgrades to that! Now we get a choice in what platform we want to pay for at a lower cost, yay! Except it’s still not fair. Don’t be a Dwayne ‘Rock’, Kevin Hart, Jason Statham, Collin Ferrell, or countless others fan. You will need all the platforms to keep up with their shows or movies! For the average person this is not sustainable for good finances.

Now, I’m going to try not to go into a rant on why we watch to many videos on all the platforms. How we put more effort in watching cat videos and cooking shows while we stopped doing our own hobbies and actually cooking! I’m not pointing fingers, I’m in the same boat. I watched so many home fixer upper shows and wonder why my house still needs fixing up!

I want to say, how i think it’s ironic how many things we can be sold as easy payments, only xyz a month. Yet none of those places are telling you how to afford those things! And, of course, we fell for we need it same day or next day on top of cereal being delivered automatically. Yes, we may be taking the steps to order or go pick up something from the store more convenient, but this stuff can truly add up for the average American family, making you a dependent slave to these wants!

Try it out! Go add all your automatic payments and see what your yearly budget on it is. Add all your prime, +’s, entertainment platforms. Don’t worry, I’ll wait… Most people wont do it because it’ll make you sick! I worked hard and slaved for all these billion dollar companies! Yup, you did! And all they did was make a bite size way to eat at your budget. The bright side is the wall street investors are happy… hope our consumer selves are too? Studies show we are less happy every year, yet we have more conveniences today than ever before in history. But guess what, there’s a higher price to be paid for convenience! Go by the exact same milk at a corner store rather than grocery store. You would think their robbing you without a gun! All they had to do was make it easy ( market it on the corner ) for you to hand your dollars over. Once in a while, ok. Weekly habit, crippling to our financial goals. We not even going to talk about the car payments and fast food addictions in this post!

Now, I’m not against many subscriptions. However, I think it needs to be put in a priority based mindset. What do I need and what’s just wasting my time. If Prime or Walmart plus are helping you save time on getting groceries, I think that’s great. I don’t think you need both. You may say, but I get free shipping on both. To that, I will let you know, I do not have prime and I get free shipping! Some people forgot that was even a thing. Yes, as of the writing of this article, if you spend $45 dollars or more on eligible items, you get free shipping. In todays money, that’s not hard. In my family of five I always need toilet paper. And, if I’m not going to reach $45 or because I’m not going to get it next day, I drive my butt to the nearest store and pick it up. How many times have you not planned ahead for stuff you need? I don’t think many, so not worth the extra money. Also, be conscious that these companies play the long game. Money you may not have spent normally feels better if you think you are getting over on them. That’s why banks own most of the skyscrapers down town, peoples interest payments, mainly from credit cards. Not because you saved all those airline miles. Why is Amazon’s warehouses growing so rapidly in the big cities? It’s not because there loosing out on that little prime fee. It’s because they found it easier for people to spend more and get more of something if they don’t go get it themselves.

In conclusion, only you can evaluate if subscriptions are hindering you from achieving your financial goals. Maybe you save a lot ( at least 15% ) despite these things or make way above the average American wage and this doesn’t appear on your concern list ( I hope to join you soon ). It is wise to be a good steward of what we have because we can’t always control what comes in, but we can control a lot of what’s going out!

The Restaurant Trap

If Americans didn’t already have issues with eating out so much, now we can have it delivered to us so we can eat in. I was watching a short on YouTube. It seems like influencers that ‘make there own money’ say they don’t have time to cook or travel too much. So the solution is to have a food delivery service bring them something. Full disclosure, I have not tried to have a meal delivered to me. I feel like it’s a convenience of something I shouldn’t be eating anyway (and over spending on food). I understand there may be healthy options available. However, with me struggling with my weight my whole life and trying to keep a budget for five on my average income, it just never seemed to be a smart move.

Anyway, I feel that more of this convenience is hurting our society. No longer is it a treat to go out with friends or family to celebrate or connect about something. We’re eating out for the convenience of it. Not taking into consideration many of the issues of the day our communities are struggling with. Just to name a few, obesity, socializing, increase in the cost of living with our budgets, the extra waste from carry out packaging rather than using reusable plates and utensils, and others. In my opinion, these things are what’s creating more of a divide in this country from a human interaction stand point. We just want something that taste good and quick, not worrying about what the the restaurant put in the food or how it was prepared to save corporate companies money! This is the microwave mentality at its finest.

The health aspect is horrible, as we all know. But, If i crave something, with all the chemicals out here, what am I really craving? I watched a Netflix special where they were using altered molecules from different things and calling it ‘natural flavor’ on the product we consume. Even though it was not from what we would think is the natural source. Orange flavor, not from oranges. Apple flavor, not from apples. yet all these things were enhanced to make us crave them. If they could do that with drinks, how do we know it’s not in the foods we so desperately crave. We know Asian restaurants are not afraid to enhance flavor with MSG. How do we know what these other money making companies will not do to keep us craving and coming back for their food?

Even if you can find a deal on a meal, you need to tip everybody on top of that. Don’t get me wrong, I tip and I’m happy to tip well for attentive service. My usual starting tip is 20%, unless the service was horrible. And I want to say, that since covid, it seems like the service industry has really not been the same. I don’t like ordering out much; because it feels like I have to do what I thought I was paying for. I need to know the menu and all side dishes, how I want it, condiments to accompany the meal and check that I received the correct order… I did everything but cook it! I literally went out for some wings a few days ago, ONLY ordered eight boneless and got bone-in! I digress.

Now, I’m not about to stop going to my local favorites any time soon. However, I am being mindful that they need us to make profit and frequent the place to prosper. If you enjoy a certain place, maybe just make sure the waiter isn’t knowing more about you, than you do. make sure the delivery guy, doesn’t know if your home or not.

In conclusion, It’s definitely a blessing to be in a place where we have food in abundance. As Americans we must keep in mind that capitalism is running our lives. If they can get us to hand every dollar over, they will. So unfortunately, the targeting advertisements, placements of restaurants and now convenience of anything we want delivered; lets realize if we want this out of choice, or are we being given addictive drugs and dopamine effects from having these conveniences? Now we are in an inner city Trap House. Just the way I look at it. Lets help each other be better!