Broke on Good Money | David Houston | Growing Money with Sean Trace

In this episode of Growing Money with Sean Trace, I sit down with returning guest David Houston, financial coach, speaker, and small business consultant, to talk about the real money habits that shape our lives long before wealth ever shows up. 

We get into why so many young people still make the same financial mistakes, how social media and broke advice keep people stuck, and why knowing where you are financially is the first step to getting where you want to go. We talk about compound interest, student loans, debt culture, budgeting without feeling restricted, raising money-smart kids, and the emotional weight debt puts on your life and marriage. David also shares practical advice on choosing between college, community college, and trade school, how to stop comparing yourself to everyone online, and why having a clear “why” is the key to changing your financial future. We even dive into one of the biggest money traps out there: buying a car. 

This conversation is packed with practical personal finance advice, debt payoff strategies, budgeting mindset shifts, financial literacy tips for families, and honest insight for anyone who makes decent money but still feels broke at the end of the month.

What do you think keeps more people stuck financially today: debt, bad habits, or chasing a lifestyle they can’t actually afford?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The the biggest thing I see um that trips up kids and um pretty much anybody is that debt is a resource that if used wisely can be used to build assets. And I I don't know of a bigger lie um or a bigger uh bad sell that that kids are getting. Um the theory that uh you know if I take on debt um and use that debt, uh uh it'll somehow um lead me to financial prosperity. And that's the message they get in conventional wisdom and traditional media and social media, and uh it nothing could serve uh young people or anybody worse than to buy into that lie.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Uh welcome everybody back to the Growing Money with Sean Trace Podcast. I have an awesome guest with me, a return guest. Uh, can you tell people who you are and a little bit about what you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

So my name is David Houston. I am a financial coach, small business consultant, public speaker, and uh teacher. Um deal in the the space of uh personal finance, money management, uh helping people get from where they are to where they want to be in their in their money and their personal finances.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

I love I love talking about where you're at and getting to where you want to be. Because to me, I think it's such an overrated concept, underrated concept that we we don't talk about enough because people talk about their dreams and their aspirations, but they forget about where they're at. Um, I remember I had a friend who was like, I want to make a million dollars a year. And, you know, and he just was always talking about his million a year, million a year, million a year. And then suddenly he I was asked him one day, I was like, Well, what are you making right now? He's like, I don't want to talk about that. And I was just like, Well, you know, if you're not a, you know, is it close to where you are you at 50,000? You know, he's like, um, you know, something like that. I was like, well, cool. That's actually not bad, man. I'm happy for you that you're making 50K a year. And I was like, Well, have you thought about how you can make it to 60K a year? He's like, No, man, that's so hard. I don't know how to do 60k a year. And I was like, but you talk to me all the time about a million a year. And he was like, Yeah, because that's my dream. And I said, Well, shouldn't your next step on that journey be like figuring out how to get from 50 to 60k? And like, that's a good step to have. And he was like, and finally he got kind of where I was going with it. And he started trying to work with a coach to get there. And last time I checked in, he was at about 80 and 90. And it was just from making some simple moves and and looking at where he was at and making that plan.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

That's critical. You have to know where you're starting from. If you call your travel agent, you want to get to California, they're gonna ask first thing they're gonna ask is where are you starting from? And uh that's that's essential. You gotta know where you are before you can get to where you want to go.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

100%. And if you're not you're not looking at that, yeah, right. I just that's kind of a funny analogy. You think about calling up a travel agent. You go, I want to travel to Hawaii. You know, like, well, where are you at right now? Like, that's a great question. And I do not know. It's not gonna be so successful, that's for sure. Um, uh last time we talked, you you you talked, we talked a lot about how you teach young people money basics. Are there any like, have you had any new insights from money mistakes or things like that you that you find young people making these days? Has anything changed since we last talked?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Uh there's not much that's changed. The only insights uh are that uh they're that young people are still kind of doing the same thing they've been doing because of the influences that they're surrounded with. Um I see them making similar mistakes and talking to them and teaching them. Um the the top, probably top three mistakes that I see them making is number one, where they're getting their advice from. And most of the time they get their advice from either social media or their peers, which are young people who are starting out, who are essentially broke, for lack of a better term. So they're either getting their advice from from social media or from broke people, um, which is not a great place. Um they kind of operate with this, uh, since everything's digital and everything's kind of uh available on the phone, uh, they can look at their phone and if I've got money in my account, I'm okay. And that's a dangerous way to kind of live financially. And then the third biggest mistake is that that they don't either believe in or understand the concept of compound interest and investing early and what it can do for you. And how much time, you know, they they say, well, I'm I'm 21, I don't need to worry about retirement or investing or things like that. And when they, you know, if you if you look at just the simple math, um, compound interest, there's a reason that Albert Einstein called it the eighth wonder of the world, uh, because it is. I mean, it's it's such a powerful vehicle. And uh, if young people could start early investing, just base in the basics, um, they'd be so far ahead of the game when they're in their 40s and 50s and early 60s that uh the the math is a little mind-boggling, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yesterday I saw a post on LinkedIn and someone said, uh, would you rather? And, you know, thankfully I've been learning more about uh interest myself, but like it was like, would you prefer to have$100, but every time you go to the gym, it doubles? Or would you prefer to have$100,000 right now? And it was interesting because I I I immediately knew I was like, okay, for people who don't understand, going to the gym and doubling every single time is definitely going to be the bigger one because it's it's compounding interest. It's gonna eventually just absolutely blow up. But you don't realize how fast it does, you know? And I um I remember that I did the numbers and it's like 17 workouts in, I think it was like, or 15 workouts in. It was something like really short. You were like blowing past the number. And people don't understand like these little habits that you start now compound over time too. You know, if you sit there and you don't have to put a ton of money in savings every single paycheck, just put a small amount. But if you're starting early, then it's easy to do that. If you're starting late, well, you gotta start getting a little more aggressive, you know?

SPEAKER_00 6:37

And I get that my older clients too, is I've started too late, and the younger ones for I've got plenty of time. And if you've got a that paradigm is is always interesting.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah, it it is. It's super interesting. And um I, you know, and I remember you had mentioned that kids are skeptical. I just said it as well because of social media. Uh are there any like specific money lies that you see like hitting them up and getting them tripped up online?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

The the biggest thing I see um that trips up kids and um pretty much anybody is that debt is a resource that if used wisely can be used to build assets. And I I don't know of a bigger lie um or a bigger uh bad sell that that kids are getting. Um the theory that uh, you know, if I take on debt um and use that debt, uh uh it'll somehow um lead me to financial prosperity. And that's the message they get in conventional wisdom and traditional media and social media. And uh nothing could serve uh young people or anybody worse than to buy into that lie.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

It's interesting too because especially in the U.S., our entire education system is founded upon the idea of debt. You know, I mean, I it especially it's especially challenging too, because these schools are so ridiculously expensive now. And I mean, and I I will give credit to some of the schools out there. I've heard that like for a under a certain income level, uh, Harvard now is going to be giving full rides to students. And I mean, great, but I mean, at the end of the day, I I think that my daughter was talking to me, and um she was like, Well, what should I do I have to go to study in college? And I was like, Well, you know, if you want to, and there's a purpose for that, and there's a degree that you are very interested in, and you talk to your mom and I, and we think that there's actually a way that you can make money from it, um, that's great. Yeah, we'll we'll talk about that. But, you know, if you want to go and study uh something and it's a huge amount of money, I'm gonna talk to you very carefully about whether you could have just, if we're gonna be spending that money as a family, um, maybe we look at about investing in that company for you instead of putting all that money into a school, you know? Yeah. And she was like, wow, that's a possibility. I was like, well, if we have it and we start setting money aside, yeah, of course it's a possibility. But, you know, I think that it's we're not teaching young people about return on investment. Like that is a fundamental thing that we are not talking to kids about.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Yeah. They're just getting the basics, you know, if you go to college, you'll have a higher salary than somebody who doesn't. And uh, but the the math doesn't it's not done and it doesn't work um in most instances. So that's that's a trap that that a lot of people have fallen into. And everybody that's promoting it is promoting it from a place of self-interest, not from your well-being.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Right? It is, it's true. Like the the you know, I have student loan debt that I'm carrying that I am still trying to work off, and it's gonna be with me for quite some time, and it is painful and it is not fun. And I got into it because of very, very, very good marketing departments of schools that I attended who talked to me and made it sound like that degree was gonna make me a lot of money, and it did not. And you know, and I sat there afterwards going, wow, you know, I mean, it if it's if you have that extra money to flow around, I did not. And now I'm dealing with repercussions. And I want to tell as many young people as I can really think carefully about those student loans. Really think carefully about if that's gonna be something that that is is is is worth your time. Because it's gonna be with you for a long time. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

And I think the average stage of of debt paying off student loans right now is 42. That's that's at least 20 years in most instances. I mean, and if you think, do I want to be saddled with debt by the time I'm 42? I know the future's not as clear for young kids, but uh that's a long time.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

It's a long time. Well, if you if a parent listening wants to raise a kid who is money smart without being money obsessed, what does that look like like in a real life at home? What are a few habits, conversations, or rules you'd recommend?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Um, so I'd probably just go back to what my my wife and I did with uh with our kids. Um, I think the concept of working for uh your money, the concept of an allowance for doing certain things, such as tours around the house or your homework or whatever, and then setting up a plan for what that allowance goes to. So a little bit can go to savings, a little bit can go to giving, and a little bit can go to spending. But getting them in the habit of saving, giving, and spending at an early age creates the the means by which to operate later in life, because that's essentially how you know sound financial planning is is structured. Um to live within your means, to to be able to give, um, you know, to have a giving heart, and then to say to save early is is critical to your long-term future. So if you can if you can create that base of knowledge early on, um, it certainly will behoove and and improve the kid's ability to function later in life.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Right now, my daughter, we have her um going and learning exercise. Like she does muay thai, like Thai boxing three days a week. And I mean, if you're thinking you know about much like kids' martial arts, they're not like really, really like she's learning to kick, she's learning to punch, but there's a lot of sit ups, there's a lot of running, there's a lot of like jumping jacks and jump rope. And, you know, she doesn't, she's not learning fighting, fighting, but she's she's learning how to just be healthy. And those little things that you instill, you know, I see it in a cultural difference uh not between cultures of countries, but a health and wellness culture in my family between my wife's family and mine. Um, you know, her family, uh, although her mom gets out and exercise a lot, but there wasn't this sports and fitness emphasis when they were growing up. Um, but yet my family, like, geez, we were out all the time. We were at the track, we were at the gym, we were playing basketball, tennis, volleyball. And it was just something that we were taught that you needed to stay active. You needed to, and it was important for health. And it's interesting because those little seeds that were planted stuck with us for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Right. The development of habits is is so critical to everything you do in the in your future.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

And you know, and as a parent, you gotta start planting them young. Uh, but I I want I want to come back to another point because again, we were talking about debt, and I love that you speak to young people about debt because I don't think enough people are. And it used to be much worse. I remember when I was in college, they had all the credit card companies come to the colleges and just be like, hey, do you want a credit card? And like, in zero education about it. But like, you know, that's consumer debt and that's can one thing. But, you know, uh most of the young people that are going to college in America right now are getting student loans. And I want to talk really practically. If a 17-year-old is deciding between A, a four-year university with debt, or B a community college, then transfer or C trade school, you know, because great options. What framework would you use to decide, you know, or advise them to look at, you know, which is the best option for them?

SPEAKER_00 14:44

You know, it it sounds um too too simple, but if you have the money available, um, the choice is yours. If you don't have the money, you want to go with the option that gives you the best long-term financial benefit, which is starting at something like community college at an affordable rate, getting your basics out of the way, um, working while you're there, building up a cash reserve so that if you move to a transfer to a four-year university or to an associate's program or whatever it is you're looking for, you've got the cash to do it, and you don't end up um borrowing money to fund something that's not going to pay for itself in the long run. Um, trade school is a tremendous option, and trade schools themselves have a vested interest in making sure they put out a product that uh that serves the market. And employers are tied to trade schools, and employers, uh in many instances, manufacturers, large-scale employers will create um alliances with the trade schools to help pay for um uh a student's uh education. And it's something that we're sorely lacking and missing in in America today is uh the the output of technicians and mechanics and HVAC and plumbers and all those kinds of things that make tremendous um good, good incomes way above national averages, um, but that there's a uh huge demand for. So the first thing is if you can afford it, great. If you can't, start start with what you can afford, what you've got the cash for, build up the cash, get to that level, uh, but strongly consider the the trade route because there's a it's a huge supply-demand issue right now, especially in America.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Right? And one of the things I I did my on a scholarship, which was a very cool thing, I did my NBA um in 2023 and 2024. And one of the things that I love it, not everything stuck with me. There were some great things and some things that were just like, okay. But one of the things that really stuck with me was the return on investment idea. Like, and I was like, how am I, you know, in my 40s now? And this is the first time that anyone has ever talked to me about the concept of return on investment. And I'm like, this is a principle that should be taught to every single person on the planet, every single kid. You know, like, and I'm teaching it now to my daughter, you know, like if you want to go and spend some, you know, you're spending one dollar and you get one dollar back, that's not a great return on investment. You spend a dollar and you get a hundred back, okay, now we're talking, you know. Um, you spend a hundred dollars and you get one back, man, you need to go a whole different direction. And when you look at that, I I saw this video the other day, and it was on um, I think it was on Instagram. And it was all of these young people that were talking about their, and it was kind of mean video, but it was talking about all these young people and their new college majors. And and this guy was looking at like future job prospects for all these people after they listed all these weird majors. And it was not, it was not great because like you might think that you have the coolest major on the planet, you know? Uh yet a lot of those really cool majors, you're not gonna be making any money. I had one of those. I loved what I studied. I studied history, one of the coolest things in the world. I love learning about history. And yet they told me, oh, you could do all these things. Now, my friend had a cool job after university, but mine was just super boring. Um, because the only thing you could do is like become a history teacher. And I don't want to become a history teacher. And then they're like, oh, you need all these other skills. But you know, the job market wasn't there, and I had to regroup and think about going a different way. Luckily, my parents worked at that school, so I didn't get student loan debt at that point in time. I got it later when I went onto my own self and did my own stuff, you know. But it's tricky to see. And it's tricky because I was a university professor for a while and I stopped because I was blown away how much my students were paying for those classes. And sometimes they were just not taking them seriously. I had this one kid who was in basketball uh at the gym playing basketball. I was like, Tom, are you his name's not Tom, but I'm making an example. I said, Tom, are you at the gym playing basketball? No, Professor Trace, I'm not playing basketball. I was like, dude, your webcam is on on your phone. I can hear you playing basketball, man. And and he flunked my class. And I know the class cost$3,000 for information that I know is online. It's on YouTube, it's out there everywhere. And yet I felt it was criminal that it was like$3,000, and then this kid failed. And I'm like, please, I don't want to fail anyone. This is too much money for me to fail someone. Just show up. And they weren't. And I was like, a kid like Tom, way should have just someone should have told him early on, Tom, this is not for you. This is not for you. This is a waste of money. Go and find something that, you know, he was like, he wanted to be a basketball coach. Then why are you out of college? Go and find the best basketball program out there. Go and tell that person, I love basketball. I want to interim with you, I want to follow you, I want to learn about this trade. Don't go to this college and waste all this time. And I think he was becoming a communication major. And I was just like, Tom, wrong major, wrong place, wrong everything, you know. Right? Um, you know, but I love that you talk to me a little bit about um you, you know, you you have strong opinions about debt because of your own background, but you got out of debt using the debt snowball. And you talked about some of the psychological wins, but like one of the reasons that people fail when trying to get out of debt, why do people not succeed?

SPEAKER_00 21:00

I think one of the biggest reasons, and this is something I find with all the clients that I work with and consultations and people that I talk to, is um there's not a compelling enough reason for them to get out of debt. Um, there's not a big enough why. And that's something I try to identify early on in my in my work with clients is what is it that you're looking for and and why is it that you want to get there? And in in many instances, they they may have a compelling why, they just don't keep it in front of them, or they haven't said it out loud. You know, they may say something like, I don't want to end up like my parents, or I had bad examples, or uh my kids, I don't want them to see a bad example. And those are those are good reasons, but you got to pull it out of them and you gotta keep it in front of them so that they have something that sort of moves them towards the the direction that they want to go financially. It's if if your physical health is something and you want to get on a diet or get in shape, um, if if you can identify that a more physically fit me um would provide things for me that are really advantageous, then I've got a reason to get up and go to the gym. I've got a reason to do the things. And that's financially, you know, I I'm I'll paraphrase the the, I guess it was Nietzsche or somebody, if you have a big enough why that you can do, you can accomplish anyhow. And that's something that um is critical to uh somebody getting out of debt is they have to know what it is that they're shooting for in in in the end that will propel them there and keep them on track.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Right? Yeah for me it it is and always has been my my daughter. You know, the reality of the fact is that she is the thing that gets me up in the morning and is the thing that keeps me working all day. And and I think that if you can have that why in a very clear understanding of why your why is important. I know that sounds simple, but you know some people don't understand why it's so important to them. But you have a very clear idea of that you know it makes it easier to wake up every day. It makes it easier to show up every day. I I have so many podcasts booked because I have four different podcasts but they are all important for me because I believe that they help me leave an impact on this world. You know and I will have how many 15 different normally I have about 15 different podcast interviews a week. And it is exhausting it is tiring it is hard to show up and yet I do it because I think it's important. I think these conversations are important, you know, and I'm not getting millions of downloads but the you know the hundred people that tuned in last week to this podcast, they got something out of it you know I the 250 people that did that that left comments on this one video, they got something out of it. And so you know when you start looking at like you're making a difference and that's the why. But if you don't have your why figured out it's really hard.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

You bet. You bet. And your identity is tied to certain things. You know a lot of people have the I've never been good with money and that's how they identify themselves and therefore it's kind of an excuse to not progress and not do the things that they need to do. And if you can change that identity to what they want to be and sort of give them a path or a plan to get there they can start to see the it as a possibility and then they'll work towards it.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

You know and and sometimes people will fall off the path you know they get off of the path and they they want to get back on but you know they don't always know how. And that's a a question of like how how do you help get people back on track when they when they fall off track?

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah I I I try to explain um a concept it was in a book called The Gap and the gain and um I I try to make sure that that whoever I work with that we're focusing on being better than we were yesterday and not so much I need to get out of debt within two years because I've got$300,000 in debt or$50,000 in debt or whatever it is. Those large, massive goals that sort of people set in front of themselves and like your example earlier, I need to make a million dollars, those are so big and so overwhelming that it becomes toxic to tie yourself to that that that overarching goal whereas if I can just get a little bit better than I was yesterday and start to feel a little bit more comfortable in today's skin and today's mindset and today's, you know, I've done I've done well today, therefore tomorrow's going to be good too. You can get that just small incremental progress that sort of builds on itself over time that uh that that propels you and sort of carries you forward rather than this if I'm not debt free by five years or if I don't lose 50 pounds by next year or whatever that big deal is that enables you or allows you to say I quit when it gets too hard. It's just a it's just a shift mindset shift that has to kind of occur. You have to focus on today and not a year from now or three years from now or five years from now.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Yeah I I love that the idea of what can I do today? You know when you whenever you have like a task that seems overwhelming and you got a lot going on, uh what can I do today for this task? What can I do today to kind of move the needle one step forward? What can I do to move this a little bit forward? Because if you can figure that out it's amazing that you can start going in the right direction you know and to me I I you don't have to fix everything but you do have to see what you can be doing at this next spot. You know and maybe maybe that's opening up your bank account and going what did I spend this week you know maybe that's sitting there going um did I set aside you know the different buckets that I need to set aside for my stuff is it saying hey you know for me I keep different cards for my business my business debit card I keep it locked up so that I'm not spending on my business account unless I don't need to. So if that that extra step of like you know oh I got to go find that card dragon I don't care to my wallet because if I carry a bit I I can justify business expenses all the time but they're not really needed. You know so I think that you got to figure out what you got to do that keep things up for you. But um one of the things that I was thinking about because you had said something you know that uh about you you talked about budgeting it. And you know budgeting is a great tool and it's like the first tool you go to but for someone who hates budgeting uh feels restricted and keeps avoiding it how do you make budgeting feel like freedom instead of punishment for that?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

The first thing I would do is don't call it a budget. If a budget creates strain or stress or or anything like that, call it something else. Call it just a spending plan. But it but at the end of the day it is a budget. But in order for it not to be restrictive you sort of have to pair the the the short-term goal with the act of writing down um what you're spending. You know a a budget does sound restrictive but writing down what you're spending and looking at it and analyzing it is more just gathering information to allow you the chance to to to make progress in your money. The first thing I do with every client that I have who says I don't know where my money's going or I want to get out of debt or I want to spend less or want to live within my means, I say, well let's write down everything we're spending right now and let's look at it, analyze it, see where you see see where we can see some options and some different ways of looking at things and doing things. And just the act of just the act of writing it down before I ever even get to a coaching session creates momentum in the people that I'm working with because they'll come to the coaching session and say, I had no idea I was spending this much on restaurants or groceries or entertainment or babysitters or whatever that case might be. Just the simple act of writing it down on paper and looking at it creates momentum in and of itself and you don't have to call that a budget just call it a spending plan and then analyze it to what you can do going forward and that's it. It doesn't have to be restrictive it's just you keeping track of like you like we said earlier, knowing where you are so that you can get to where you want to go.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yeah. And you know like one of the things too is like I know that I have times where I don't like checking my my spending and my budget because it causes anxiety. But you know one of the things that's powerful is like I I got debt free. I paid down I paid off all my credit cards last year and I'm very proud of that. And it was with tightening my belt and really being intentional. And um I I was very happy to get that that cleared up but like you also talked about becoming debt free made your anxiety vanish.

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Like what changed day to day for you after that not just financially but emotionally and it did it help your your life your marriage or anything like that yeah um that's a great question and and something I I take an immense amount of pride in just because I was able to accomplish that and you know debt debt weighs on you. It weighs on you emotionally it weighs on you psychologically so I mean when I said that when I got out of debt all the weight lifted off my shoulders it's a literal um you know you feel your shoulders sink a little bit when when you don't have to worry about that. And going through the process with my wife, identifying that we both had the same goals started a level of communication that we had not sort of engaged in prior. You know I prior to that I considered this may sound you know old school but I I considered my my role as a male to be a provider. And um and when I when that role was threatened I sort of it created a level of anxiety in me. And when we chose to go through this process together that that that old school mentality dropped and we started talking about things and realizing that we both had a role we both had um the same objectives and if we talked about it honestly and openly we could begin to make progress. And once we started making progress it just brought us closer brought us closer emotionally relationally it's just you know when you communicate with your spouse on an open honest vulnerable level um you just start to create traction and and and you know put things out on the table that that haven't been out there before and it leads to more you know being vulnerable leads to more openness and more honesty and more strength in your relationship long term. And that's really that was really a huge benefit for us.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

I think that when so many people are telling me they're having marriage problems, I always want to ask about like what what's going on with your finances? You know, are you guys handling things in a in a good way you know I my parents divorced and I know that they had their different reasons but I also know that there was always financial stress and that my dad was always ready to move to a new place. And there was one place where they were talking about buying a house and my dad I I and my mom were not sure it was the right idea and they didn't end up buying it. And it was like it was expensive at that time. It was about$3000. But I now I know I can tell you that though that exact house just sold for five mil and you know and it's like if they had gotten in at that time and just made a move and I mean I'm not saying that it was easy or everything's clear but like you have to make moves and you have to be making moves together and you have to be committed to talking about that to getting clear about your intentions with money and to do all that stuff because it's one of the most important things is to get that clarity.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Yeah just about every client every couple client that I have um at some point in in talking about finances they almost always invariably say I bet you didn't think you were going to be involved in marriage counseling. And I and in the back of my mind I think well I knew I knew where this was going and I know I know that that's a byproduct of this but uh yeah it's getting getting on the same page is is as big as an important as any number or dollar side that that you work with.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

I 100% agree. Now you you talked last time about commitment and how it was a is a key mindset shift that you had you know how do you help someone become content or contentment like commitment commitment's also important but contentment you know um how do you help someone become content while still being ambitious and wanting more for their life what's the difference between like that healthy drive and lifestyle chasing because I know it's easy especially in this day and age to chase after something that's like that big flashy thing man. Trust me I I like the flashy things.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Who doesn't but you know they don't always bring the contentment you know yeah it's interesting that you asked that question because my my wife and I have just I had a coach that helped me in my coaching and I asked her to to sit down with a financial coaching session with my wife and I and we started talking about some of our goals and some of the things that she wanted versus what some of the things that I wanted. And our coach started asking us things like well tell me what enough is um you know and and that hit us both kind of uh where we have to to look inwardly because if we look outwardly it's n it'll never be enough. If we look at our friends or neighbors or the bigger house across the street the flash of your car at the stop sign, it's never it'll never be enough. So we have to you know look inward and have some hard conversations about what what re what is really important in the long run. And you know be that your faith be that your your relationship be that whatever it is that's where the rubber hits the road as far as gaining contentment is is knowing what's really important in your life and not those things that are outside that are like sirens on the on the hill calling your name to to crash um which is what invariably happens when you start the the comparison trap and the keeping up with the Joneses.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

That's so true. And it's really easy to do the keeping up with the Joneses is the tailest oldest time but you know it's still and it's even more difficult to kind of get neutral to it because we're inundated with all the time. It used to be like you lived in this one small community and then you'd see Tom Jones drive in on the new Cadillac and oh well they got Tom he's got the Cadillac but now social media you see everyone has everything and that's really tough for these younger generations. Let me ask you this like because you know with the keeping up of the Joneses people have that hard time finding commitment. But if if someone's making decent money but still feels broke every month, you know, where do you look first? Because sometimes you know they might be unhappy but there is change to still be had.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah again that goes back to I I've got uh a few clients that I deal with that that essentially their their motto when they come into me is uh I make too much money to be this dang broke. And you know identifying where that money is going and what's important and what your priorities are is is essentially the the critical component to to getting past you know the the Joneses and more into the me and what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. And the more you can focus on what what level of contentment it brings to me to know where my money's going and know that I have a purpose for it and know that I have an end game in mind or at least a um a good why can can lead to all the progress I want to make I love it.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

A good why is this so so core and so important because again you know making change is not easy. It's just like it is painful. I remember earlier on after college I started smoking and someone asked me do you smoke? And I I I I do not and even though I put up a new uh I jokingly put up a new logo for my Growing Money podcast on uh on LinkedIn today it was tongue in cheek as I'm redesigning my logo I asked uh ChatGPT to help me make it more fun and it had a picture of me in these like aviator sunglasses holding a stack of cash smoking a cigar and I was like wow that's probably one of the coolest logos I've ever seen not me at all and I had a giant mullet too which was pretty rad. But um not me at all. But when I quit smoking it was something that was ridiculously hard. And I had to use the patch but those little cravings man I can still I still feel the like I can still feel it it's been 20 years since I quit smoking. But I can still if I think back about that that feeling and that urge and that pull it's really tough to change those habits. And those financial habits have as strong of a pull on us as anything else. You know that dopamine hit people get from spending me too like I am guilty of that. But you know you have to have that willingness that North Star about your why to make that change or it gets really hard. No question.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Absolutely and that's why that's why it's the fulcrum of um all the work that I do and all the all the progress that I see people make is identifying identifying what you want to be and then focusing on becoming that you know I'm not not a smoker. I'm a non I mean if I smoke to to try to move towards the identity of a non-smoker is really critical. I'm not a smoker yet I'm smoking. So I gotta I gotta reverse that I got to change that I got to find whatever it takes to get me to that next step and that different person, that different mindset, the different identity.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

I love that now there's one thing that like I you had mentioned last time and I didn't have a chance to dive into it I really want to because one of the biggest challenges in my life has always been buying a car. And I have a a a family member who recently just picked up a car and when she told me what her her her deal was I was just like oh that sounds horrible that does not sound like a good you know a good deal on that car. But they were they they were at the dealership they're like this is a great deal we are taking care of you. And I have to ask you what are your rules for buying cars, financing leasing is we know how do you know what's too much car and how can people avoid getting trapped in a payment that wrecks their financial future right well um so full disclosure I was in the car business for 40 years.

SPEAKER_00 40:59

I was a retail automobile dealer, a new car dealer for 26 years and a used car dealer for 15 um and I'm so I'm reformed I'm now on the other side and I have a huge uh difference in perspective as a consumer versus a uh a seller and um have even gone so far as now I'm teaching a class on a virtual class on how to buy a car. Um just using the experience I've had over 40 years and what I learned um as the salesperson or as the trainer of the salespeople to to help people save money and make the process less intimidating and more rewarding. And sort of as a financial coach I always kind of start from um the best way to buy a car is to buy used and pay cash. Sounds easier than it is but if you can you want you don't want to take that depreciation that a new car has because it has you know 10 to 20% of the minutes you drive it off the lot and at least 60% in the first five years. So so considering a used car over a new car is always a good idea financially and paying cash and avoiding the debt is certainly what I'd recommend as a financial coach. You want to prepare psychologically um you know take the emotion out of it because emotion can be a great deal you can fall in love with a car you can see a car in a commercial and do I gotta have that that's my dream car. You know, detach the emotion from the process is certainly a critical first step. You know gathering information with chat GTP and the internet all the information's at your fingertips to gather as much information as you need to make a well-informed decision on purchase price, trade-in value all those kinds of things um you have to kind of steal yourself in the dealership world if you're going out into the world to look to buy a car that it's going to be a little bit of a of a of a battle for lack of a better term and you have to steal yourself for that and be ready for that. You have to give yourself the grace and the the the ability to walk away which is the most powerful tool in any negotiation. You know be ready when you walk in to give yourself the the the permission to stand up and walk out when you're uncomfortable or you're not in a not in a good position or you don't feel like you're being treated fairly or spoken to in the way you want to. And then the last thing is that um one of the most dangerous one of the most the most dangerous place in an auto dealership is the FI office. And they sell financial insurance and add-ons. And when I went to buy a car even paying cash for it back in 2021 it was during COVID but um so it was a different world but uh we paid cash for a car and a lady came in and offered us a package of add-ons that were about 15 products that that she asked$15,950 for. And I said no but it took us probably 10 minutes to get through the reduction of the platinum to the gold to the bronze to the basic to all those packages that I had to say no to starting from$15,950 to zero um just realize um you know the dealership uh unfortunately doesn't have your best interest in mind there won't move the metal and make the money. And um so you have to you have to prepare yourself just as prepared just as well as they do and they do it every day. So and you probably buy a car every what every you know five, seven years. So when you're competing with someone who does it every day versus somebody who myself buys a car every hopefully every five to ten years, there's a lot of education and preparation that goes into that. That's why I'm offering this class and uh and and the people that I've taught it to have have found a lot of value in it.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

I love that. And tell me a little bit more how how can people find out about this class and what you're offering?

SPEAKER_00 44:35

Right. They can contact me directly I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, uh Instagram, David Houston, um and I've got uh links to to the class that I've got. I've got my calendarly uh set up so if somebody wants to set an appointment for the class, it's one-on-one. It's virtual. So if you said I want to learn how to buy a car, you and I would set a time at 530 tonight and we would have an hour long class. I'd have 50 minutes of content where I tell you everything you need to know and then you get to ask questions and uh this specific situation or you know I'm thinking about leasing or buying or financing or used or new or all those things. And I'll give you the full skinny of everything, anything and everything you want to know and maybe some things you don't but I'll tell you everything you need to need to do to be prepared um in that car buying world because it's it's getting it it seems like it's getting worse not better. So you need all the ammunition you can get to to fight back.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Yes we do and and and having that knowing is half the battle as they used to say you know and so knowledge is power. Well I love that where where can people find out more about you specifically not just your class but you and do do you have socials that you recommend again?

SPEAKER_00 45:43

I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram and I'm on LinkedIn and uh if you ever s want to send me a direct message I'd be happy to visit with you about anything. All of my consultations in the financial coaching world are always free of charge. So I'll always visit with anyone complimentary for for you know 30, 45 minutes an hour if you need to to talk about some of the things that you're struggling with or working through or planning towards and even if we don't you know create a connection on a coaching basis I'll be happy to share whatever options or considerations I think would move you in a good direction