Episode 138: Motion Matters. Understanding the Goes Ins and Goes Outs on Your Personal Balance Sheet.

Ever wonder how a simple vacation can morph into a powerful metaphor for financial success? This episode begins with the anticipation of a serene vacation on the California coast, challenging us to depart from our daily grind as “human-doings” to embrace the essence of what we truly are: human beings. From there, we are reminded of the importance of lifelong learning and growth for the benefit of helping others. Hear all about Jim’s journey back into the classroom, this time to become an expert in exit planning for the entrepreneurs and business owner clients Gebhardt Group, Inc. serves. Together we discover so many intriguing parallels between business exit strategies and the foundational stages of entrepreneurship, underscoring the vital role of finishing what we start.

Our conversation then takes a practical turn, honing in on the nuts and bolts of personal finance and connecting the dots between business and personal finances. We break down foundational expenses into six core categories, offering a much simpler and clearer path to gaining control over where your money goes each month. By tracking these expenses over time, you can uncover valuable data about how you actually use your money. Learn how to take more control by fostering a proactive approach to personal financial management with 100% detachment from chasing financial perfection.

Bringing it all together, we reflect on a memorable backpacking trip in Yosemite with Matthew’s cousin David, Hell's Kitchen Season Six winner, who through story, teaches us the valuable concept of "shaving ounces." This principle of making small, incremental changes can be applied to so many areas of our wealth and our lives – learn here how to apply it to the parts of life that matter most. Ultimately, we come full circle to see how the tools discussed on today’s show help us to show up fully in the present moment, eliminate scarcity, realize the true abundance in our lives, and see all of the Whole Wealth we have been able to create.

If you would like to learn more about your whole wealth journey visit: https://gebhardtgroupinc.com/

(00:00) Gratitude and Profit
Gratitude, learning, and commitment are discussed, including the parallels between business exit planning and entrepreneurship.

(11:12) Financial Assessment and Action Plans
Manage personal finances by categorizing expenses, tracking trends, and preparing for unexpected costs.

(22:46) Small Changes Lead to Financial Success
Nature's lesson in personal finance: small changes, like reducing expenses, can lead to significant savings and can be applied to other areas of life.

(28:26) Creating a Vision for Tomorrow
Reclaim power by being aware of current situation, setting time limit to process past mistakes, and creating vision for prosperous future.

You can learn more about The Whole Wealth Journey by visiting The Gebhardt Group. You can follow us on Instagram @thewholewealthjourney

Transcript

Matthew Grishman: [00:00:00] Recognize that win, even if it's just a matter of looking at yourself in the mirror 

Jim Gebhardt: and going, Hey, good job. Yep. You don't have to, you know, get up tomorrow morning, put your running shoes on and run a fricking marathon.

Welcome to the whole wealth journey. 

Matthew Grishman: Wealth with a Y. What does that mean? 

Jim Gebhardt: What does that mean? Are we spelling it funny? 

Matthew Grishman: Uh, no, I think we're using the word. Why the word? Why not the letter? Why the actual word? Why? 

Jim Gebhardt: Well, I know why. Why? Because we want to help people get on their path, then the path is all about their why.

Matthew Grishman: And it's about aligning your finances with the people, the experience, and the passions 

Jim Gebhardt: that give their lives true meaning. It's getting way beyond the bank statements, the brokerage statements, the trust documents, the life insurance, and [00:01:00] taking a deeper dive into your why. 

Matthew Grishman: Well, admittedly, we're not for everyone.

This is different. We're for the bold ones who really want to dive deeper and seek answers. A life that resonates with who they really are at their core. Who finds value in vulnerability? 

Jim Gebhardt: Well, 

Matthew Grishman: you and I do, 

Jim Gebhardt: you and I do. And that's where we want to play, but not everybody is comfortable with that vulnerability.

Matthew Grishman: Maybe we should introduce ourselves. What do you think? Oh, that's a good idea. Jim Gebhardt and I'm Matthew Grishman. We are the co creators of the podcast, The Whole Wealth Journey. Ready to find your why? Then let's get started and get you one step closer to unlocking your inner wealth and well being.

We must start with gratitude. Shall we have to start with gratitude? Always start with gratitude. It's kind of one of our things 

Jim Gebhardt: with all that you have going on. What is fresh and ready? 

Matthew Grishman: I'm going to go [00:02:00] with a little bit more positive focus for this gratitude. So looking out a little. Yeah. I'm grateful for what's to come.

I, I don't know that I've done a lot of that in studio. I've done a lot of looking in the rear view mirror at what's happened and finding gratitude in my heart for that. I'm feeling really excited and really looking forward to a little bit of time on the California coast. I'm boy, I've had a lot of downtime.

Unintentional downtime due to health stuff, which we've talked plenty about, and we'll probably talk more about. This feels like the first time in a while that we're going to get a chance to just be, just be human beings for six or seven days versus human doings. This is not a trip. This is not a visit.

This is a vacation. This will be sitting up in a house on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County with not much to do. I mean, we could. Fine [00:03:00] lots to do, but I'm really, really, really looking forward. To being a human being and not doing much and I'm really really grateful for that.

Jim Gebhardt: Fantastic. That's awesome 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah, so hopefully next time we're in studio I'll get to hot wash with you on on what that's like There might be a story or two to sit still without technology in my hands for a week How about keeping the technology out of your hands for a week? Oh, that's that's a chore in a lock box Yeah, I'm wondering if We don't, well, I learned a little, I learned a little something at strategic coach about that, that we could talk about, which is the free day cell phone versus the focus and buffer day cell phone.

Jim Gebhardt: Hmm. 

Matthew Grishman: So it's. That sounds like 

Jim Gebhardt: an episode. 

Matthew Grishman: Going back to the idea of the old bat phone that I used to have. This was something. I remember that. Yeah. So. I remember that. Maybe we'll get a little flip bat phone for the trip and leave the old iPhone. A burner. Get a burner for the trip and leave the old connection to the world at home.

We'll see. But I'm looking forward to that. What's on the positive focus list? 

Jim Gebhardt: You know, I have, I've [00:04:00] been on a quest the last few years to sharpen the saw, to get better at the craft. And I was exploring a variety of different programs and content and kind of just looking at. Exploring and I would get frustrated at the fact that it's like, well, can it just show up already?

Right. And I just kept taking the energy off. I kept channeling our dear friend and coach and mentor Jim Kelly. Just take all the energy off of that. Just let it be in the theme of, you know, a human being. And a few months ago, hit pay dirt with a group called the Exit Planning Institute and a particular curriculum that they've put together as a certified exit planning advisor.

And as I dived into the content, I was like, Oh my goodness. This is like, you know, right out of Central Casting for the content that I just, I love it. I just, I love it. There's so much that the business owner, Hmm. Has to deal with, uh, half of which they're not aware of. Uh huh. It, I mean, [00:05:00] I kind of think of it like a minefield, right?

You mean, the business owner has this This thing they've created out of thin air. Maybe, maybe they bought it, maybe they took it over from mom or dad, or maybe they're still in it with mom or dad. It's grown into this thing that a lot of people tell them is worth a lot of money. But there's a minefield that they have to go through to get to the other side of the desert.

Sure. To eventually have some kind of You know, in, in the Wall Street language, they would refer to that as a liquidity event. 

Matthew Grishman: That's a great word. 

Jim Gebhardt: It's just, it's incredible. So I've jumped into the deep end of the pool, gone through the certification process and just devoured the content. It was just, it was stuff that I'm, I'm just, and I, and I'm so grateful.

I still have An appetite to want to do that at 54. Cause let's face it, brother, we could just phone this thing in. Absolutely. You [00:06:00] know, no offense to your son and autopilot, but we can put this thing on autopilot and it'd be, you know, it'd be pretty darn 

Matthew Grishman: good. Sure. But he's my kid. Why do you think he doesn't want to fly triple sevens overseas?

Because he doesn't want to just. Push a button and snooze out. He wants to fly the airplane. 

Jim Gebhardt: And I don't want to push a button on what we're doing and what we're building and the impact that we're having. And we need 

Matthew Grishman: to see it to the end because you know what this, this idea of an exit planner, it makes so much sense because what have, what have you been for all these years?

You've been an entrance planner. You have helped so many people. See how to become a successful entrepreneur. You don't even know you do it. You do it every time we've been with a client who doesn't own their own business and they get a little sniff and a snapshot of what being an entrepreneur looks like.

And so many of them have made. That transition. Hello, you're sitting across from probably one of your biggest case studies right here. True. Live, live in studio. Uh huh. And so all these years you were a certified entrance planner [00:07:00] into creating the entrepreneurial experience. And here we are nearly 30 years later, and you gotta see how the movie ends.

You can't do all this work for 30 years and just phone it in. You've gotta develop now the expertise to finish the freaking job. Well, it's, uh You helped him start it, now you gotta help him sell 

Jim Gebhardt: it. It's something I could do for a very, very, very long time. Good boy. Good, cause we need some shit to do.

Yeah. Right? Yeah. Nice work. Alright, where'd we leave off? Holy cow, we were on fire. We were balancing sheets and making beds, or no, what were those called? Oh, balance sheets. I had to go run, like, laps in the parking lot after that. I was so amped up. Dawes. 

Matthew Grishman: He, he had, he was doing one arm pushups afterwards.

I've never seen that before. It's incredible way to go ace. Well, let's get back to kind of measuring this idea of where we are today. It's back to school season. It is. And there we go. Wait, wait, wait. All the 

Jim Gebhardt: kiddos are back in school. Absolutely. Might've been at it for like six, seven weeks already. Right, right.

[00:08:00] So. Yeah, 

Matthew Grishman: that's 

Jim Gebhardt: crazy. Back to school season. Here we go. 

Matthew Grishman: Yes. Well, for the entrepreneur, there ain't no summer vacation. We're always in school. So we left off, we're in this whole kind of process of just trying to get real clear on where we want to go based on where we are today. We took the deep dive into the snapshot.

The balance sheet, the personal net worth statement. Now, what we want to do is there's a second big piece that, again, I think for entrepreneurs who've been at this for a while, this is going to be a familiar exercise. You've done it in the business. Now it's time to look at it on the personal end. And that's something called the profit and loss statement, or as you and I like to refer to it, the goes ins and the goes outs.

Jim Gebhardt: You know, goes ins and goes outs are as simple as, you know, what comes in the top of the funnel in the way of income. And then where does it all go? And is there, is there something at the end, right? Take all, take all the income, right? That comes in the top of the funnel. And that may be a consistent number.

That may be a fluctuating number. [00:09:00] Obviously it's a more challenging exercise if it fluctuates, but as entrepreneurs, we get it and then. Just start to line item out. Where does it all go? Yeah, right. So this is a little 

Matthew Grishman: different than the balance sheet exercise because this is the balance sheets like a snapshot in time today Right, would you recommend because you said it could be a variable amount.

It could be a variable amount So I like a monthly look at this. Okay, how many months? Ideally six. Okay, so to create a proper P& L statement, a goes ins and goes out statement. We should be looking at the last six months and making an average. 

Jim Gebhardt: You would like to look at the six months and list out all the expenses, and the one, and the one, go ahead.

The income on the left, the expenses on the right. Well, more, more, more in my mind, the income at the top. Ah. And then you're going to start to have your parentheses around, you know, the mortgage and the property tax and the car insurance and the gasoline and the grocery store and the It's almost like a big running list that 

Matthew Grishman: starts at the top of the page.

[00:10:00] And 

Jim Gebhardt: Lifetime and Amazon and Amazon and Amazon. How many Netflix subscriptions 

Matthew Grishman: do you have? 

Jim Gebhardt: Oh, I, all of them. Oh, good. Yeah. Warning. It's a painful exercise. 

Matthew Grishman: Labor intensive or emotionally painful? 

Jim Gebhardt: Emotionally 

Matthew Grishman: painful. Okay. Tell me more. 

Jim Gebhardt: Well, because you, you work your fanny off to go make this money. Yeah. And then you see where it all goes.

I mean, we've talked about this in, in the olden days on the show. Sure. But, again, all progress begins by, by telling the truth. Sure. So unless you can't possibly measure interiors, as we talked about on the show last time, we measure progress interiors. Thank you, Dan Sullivan. You can't possibly do that.

Unless you have the data because otherwise it's a total guess. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah, 

Jim Gebhardt: and There are plenty of tools that are out there to do this. My wife and I use YNAB. You need a budget. Oh, Y N A B. Not 

Matthew Grishman: W H Y. 

Jim Gebhardt: That we didn't do this for many years and now we're getting [00:11:00] getting into a much better habit of it Because it has been a little bit in the last few years like where in the world Where does all this money go?

Matthew Grishman: So you're looking at your bank account at the end of the month and you're wondering. Yeah. Wow. 

Jim Gebhardt: Yeah. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. I don't know anything about that. 

Jim Gebhardt: No. 

Matthew Grishman: You didn't write a book on that, did you? Strange concept. No, no. That's a past life. We're in the whole wealth journey now, brother. 

Jim Gebhardt: So you could have, I mean, you could have a lot of line items there.

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: Right? And again, refreshing ourselves on the concept. No judgment here. No, you know, it's, it's a, it's an emotionally challenging enough exercise when you realize how hard you may work to make the money. What, what hits the bank account either, you know, pre tax or, or after tax, and then where it all goes and what's left.

Matthew Grishman: So, I'm gonna suggest an intermediary step in creating the P& L statement before you go through the exhaustive every detail of every Amazon purchase and Netflix subscription that you have. I was stuck. I, I was not able to ever [00:12:00] do something as exhaustive as that. Uh, for the same reason why my Why my workout coach right now why I'm struggling to put everything I eat, right?

Why I try why I'm having a hard time tracking everything I eat because I don't want to look at the fact that I know I'm putting things in my body. I probably shouldn't be at this point, but we're getting there progress, right? I felt that way times ten When my life with money was a complete train wreck and I was looking at my bank statement at the end of every month and I had no idea where my money was going and the idea of looking at every single line item scared the crap out of me so I wasn't going to do it.

Let's start with some very basic foundational expenses. Let's just start with the have tos, right? You've got two types of expenses in your life. You've got have tos and want tos. If we want to make them bigger words, we can call them foundational expenses and discretionary expenses. But those are, you know, for big word people.

I like the small words, the have tos and the want tos. The have tos, [00:13:00] we can break down into six major categories. And what Glenn suggested is, can you off the top of your head, because you pay your bills, you're in touch with the guy who goes ins and goes out, can you estimate What these numbers are and then you're going to back this up by looking at the data And if your estimation doesn't come anywhere near well, then you got to get a little more forensic like what you were suggesting So just the intermediaries love it love it of your six foundational expenses So we've already got all the goes ins now.

We got to start measuring the goes outs. Yep We have six ready and I can count all six on one hand Good for you. You got that right in the circus. Uh huh roof over my head food in my fridge clothing on my back transportation communication health care six Foundational expenses. There we go. That's one hand.

There you go thumbs. Yep. You like that six foundational [00:14:00] expenses What a rip what does it cost to put a roof over your head and everything that goes into that? What does it cost to put food in the fridge? I'm not talking about eating out. I'm talking literally about the basics. That would be a want to. A want to.

A discretionary, right? Not a foundational. I don't want to cook tonight. I know. I don't want to cook tonight. I have lots of those. Therefore, 

Jim Gebhardt: it goes into the I want to category. The I 

Matthew Grishman: want to category. Exactly. So, we look at what those foundational expenses are. Then, we look at everything else. Because everything else is a want to.

So, we have seven line items of the goes outs. Between the six different foundational categories and the one discretionary category. All the have tos and the one which is called, I want to. And it really doesn't matter what that is. For now. For now. So, we've sat down. I, I would suggest we push pause now.

Let's do another little writing exercise. This would be a great time 

Jim Gebhardt: to do it. Well, and as you're sharing the exercise, you [00:15:00] know, as you're sharing those details, what it gets me thinking of is, you don't have to get the anchor all the way up in the boat to get across the lake. Okay. Right. You just got to get it up off the bottom of the, of the lake, you know, like an inch, an inch to get in motion right.

And that's really the energy that we want to put behind this is to get into motion. Right. Don't, don't go for perfection. Get in motion. Yes. Yes. All right. What's the writing exercise here, 

Matthew Grishman: Leonardo? As you just described it, I was, I was envisioning the writing exercise as you were describing the top of the page.

Take out a piece of paper and at the top of the page list all the goes ins. Where do your goes ins come from? The business. Rental income, dividend income from your liquid investments, like your brokerage accounts. Maybe there's some alimony money out there. Whatever you've got coming in, whatever source of money coming in, put that on top of the page.

Add it up. Add it up. What's the total? [00:16:00] Now, start getting your red pen out. That would be your goes ins. That's the goes ins. Minus, big line across, and now let's start taking the red pen out. And adding up the seven different goes outs, we just talked about the six different foundational or have to categories and the one want to category, which is everything else and what's left.

Is it a black number or is it a red number? If it's a black number outstanding, 

Jim Gebhardt: that means there's leftover 

Matthew Grishman: accounting speak surplus. That's 

Jim Gebhardt: a, that's a surplus, 

Matthew Grishman: right? So when I say black ink versus red ink surplus or deficit, do we have money left over? Where are we going into the hole every month based on the goes ins and goes outs.

Jim Gebhardt: And when we talk about, you know, looking at this over a six month period, that's going to help a little bit with the kind of the extraordinary things, right? The kids orthodontia bill, [00:17:00] the water heater broke. We needed new tires on the blah, blah, blah, right? That, you know, you're going to have some of that in there that over time you're going to start to look at because eventually where we want you to get to is thinking ahead, right?

Right? Is being a little more prepared for some of the personal surprises that, you know, come up. I feel like I've been an auto fleet manager for the past month. With oil changes, oil changes and new tires and two windshields. And I mean, it's just been this rigmarole, as my mother would say, of dealing with car maintenance.

And it was, and it felt like, obviously oil changes aren't 700. 700. It's just, it's like buh with expenses coming in. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: And the six month look is going to help you, I mean, you can fine tune this thing. Sure. Absolutely you can fine tune this thing because ideally you would like to know what's in the Amazon category.

Sure. Because, I mean, some of [00:18:00] that is probably need versus want. Sure. It's not all want, right? So depending on how granular you want to get, but again, we just can't emphasize enough getting in motion. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: Right. To start to see, okay, six months in a row, we've been in a deficit. Yes. That's when you hit the WTF button.

Right. Right. No judgment, no judgment. 

Matthew Grishman: You're bleeding out. You're bleeding out. Boy, wouldn't that be good to know so that we can make different decisions going forward? Right. I don't know an entrepreneur who wouldn't want a course, correct. If they found out that they were, in fact, on the personal balance sheet or on the personal P& L bleeding out a little bit.

Because eventually that's going to spill over into the business. 

Jim Gebhardt: Well, they would definitely want to know it in the business. Yes, of course they'd want to know it in the business. If they had six months in a row that they were, they were bleeding out, uh, something's going to change. Something's gonna, 

Matthew Grishman: something's dramatically going to change.

I can't do the taps with my voice like you can, but that's quite okay. We were trying there. Exactly. Yeah, the business is going down. It's all [00:19:00] about trying. Uh huh. 

Jim Gebhardt: Effort, baby. So, this exercise is as critical as the net worth statement because it's going to give you a very good sense of, are you, are you able to save anything on a monthly basis?

Or is it just kind of going out, you know, albeit mindlessly? And we cannot overemphasize enough. to keep judgment out of the room. Yes. Right. You are collecting information, you are collecting data by which you can then start to have a more thoughtful conversation with your partner spouse who loved one on the intentionality behind where this money is going.

Yes. Right. That is part of the reason Beth and I are using YNAB is to get in a position over the next several months. to be able to fine tune and explore where it's all going. Yes. And while we've been making plenty of investments in the house and furniture and all this stuff, it's just, it's expensive.

And we want to be more thoughtful and intentional about, you know, the money that's coming in. 

Matthew Grishman: Good on you, brother. [00:20:00] That's good stuff. 

Jim Gebhardt: Yeah, it is. It's, it's not by nature, I have to say. Oh, no. Right? Absolutely not. It is, it is a hard thing to do, but no, no different than, The journey I've been on to, you know, radically improve my health and my fitness and my nutrition.

It's in that, it's in that category. I got to start somewhere. Well, 

Matthew Grishman: and you, and you and I have learned how to be better business owners as a result of taking what we've learned by hiring people in our business to run our business with the help of our CPA and the outside advice we've gotten. And we've taken some of those skills and we've turned around and applied them at home.

And that's what we're trying to help the uber successful entrepreneur do. So, especially if you don't have that person at home running your finances, that it's all on you. We have to take what we learn here and now we got to apply that at home. So what do we do once we do these two exercises? Once we sit down and we now have the data, we have a net worth number [00:21:00] and we have either a surplus or a deficit.

There are a couple of things we can 

Jim Gebhardt: do. Uh, yeah, I know the first thing I would do. What's that? I would go sit down with my wealth manager, my financial advisor, and have a meeting and talk about it. And share the information. And share the information. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. That might be the second thing you'd do. First thing I would do?

No, it's the first thing I would do. Before celebrating that you actually did it? That's the first thing you would do? I would do that with my financial advisor. Go celebrate with your financial advisor. I love it. The fact that you sat down and did it, that's a big deal. For me, that's a big deal. So, good on ya for sitting down and gathering the data.

Totally. Recognize that win. Yep. Even if it's just a matter of looking at yourself in the mirror, and going, hey, good job. Yep. Right? Huge. Very important. Now, go tell somebody about it. Go sit with somebody about it. If you don't have somebody to sit with, Reach out to us. We'd love to hear your story. We'd love to hear how this experience was for you.

Jim Gebhardt: And maybe you've been preparing a [00:22:00] personal net worth statement for years, your, your balance sheet, because you too have a banking relationship. Absolutely. And whether you do it or your CFO or controller does it for you, go, go down memory lane, go back and look at. P& Ls, personally or professionally, balance sheets, personal network statements, go back and, and, and actually look at where you've come from and the progress that most likely you've made over a, a three to five year period of time.

Find the progress 

Matthew Grishman: you've made. Yeah. Because it's there. It's got to be there. It's there. Now, one of two things is going to happen. And this is what's going to kind of direct Where you go next. You're going to see this data as giving you some information that requires you to make some massive changes. You might.

That's where I was a few years ago, where I looked at this data, the net worth was negative, and the P& L statement was red. That did not feel good. That's, that does [00:23:00] not feel good. Now, if that's where you are, that's okay. We at least know where we are and the good news is, is that if you follow along with what we're teaching, we don't make promises we can't keep.

But a year from now, when you're looking back on this finding, you will be able to measure progress. Here's what I'm going to suggest. Go back to the very beginning of our podcast. If you realize that there are big changes that need to be made, we created an entire curriculum called Financial Sobriety.

You might need A little refresh on the concepts behind financial sobriety, which will help you right size that balance sheet. It'll help you right size that P& L statement. We have how many episodes? 134 episodes in financial sobriety. Go back. First, 

Jim Gebhardt: first 15 or 20. 

Matthew Grishman: Right. Are all the curriculum of how to right size your finances.

The second possible [00:24:00] outcome is you have a positive net worth. You have a green P& L statement. And you would like it to get better. You would like it to get healthier. You would like it to move in a direction because you have big goals. And perhaps there are little adjustments that can be made. Tiny little adjustments.

I, boy, this, this hit me. Fifteen years ago, when I was out with David hiking. Cousin David, I hope he's listening. Uh, haven't talked to him in a long time. But man, he taught me one of the most important lessons about money. Unintentionally that I ever could have learned on the trail on the trail in Yosemite.

We did a five day loop around the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. 

Jim Gebhardt: It was a personal finance workshop. 

Matthew Grishman: It was two guys going out backpacking after he had just won season six of Hell's Kitchen. Wow. And we weren't allowed to tell anybody it wasn't going to air for like three more months. So we needed to get away for a couple of days.

He told me [00:25:00] I was his quote unquote personal advisor at the time. So we went out and celebrated with a five day backpacking trip. In Yosemite National Park on our very first day now, David is an avid outdoorsman, hiker, backpacker. He's through hiked the Appalachian Trail. He's through hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.

Uh, I don't believe he's done the Rocky Mountain. Uh, what's, uh, the Continental Divide Trail. But if he does accomplish that, he will have what's called the Triple Crown, which is three through hikes. Of the three trails that go from the bottom to the top in the United States. Very few people have done that.

But, man, he's, he's, he's a pro. So he took me out, and on day one, we're sitting in the campsite, the fire's raging, he's reading a book. And as he turns each page in the book, he rips the page out, throws it in the fire. He was cold? Well, I'm wondering, because I'm the son of an English teacher, and that's blasphemy.

You don't burn books. [00:26:00] It just, you don't do it. I was curious. So I just, I kept watching as he did this. And then he was done reading, closed his book, was getting ready for bed, pulled out his brand new wooden Tom's of Maine toothbrush, snapped off the wooden handle, threw it in the fire. I couldn't help myself.

What are you doing, David? I'm watching you destroy a book. I'm watching you destroy your toothbrush. What's going on? He said, you know, it's just, it's a habit. It was a habit I learned on the Appalachian trail years ago on my first through hike. It's called shaving ounces. Wha, wha, what? What do you mean?

Well, if you start on the trail with 50 pounds on your back, there's only so much you're going to lose with food and water. But if each day you can shave a couple of ounces, by the time you get to New Hampshire, where you've done 80 percent of the walking but only 20 percent of the work, between New Hampshire and Katahdin, Maine, you could lose another 15 to 20 pounds, which will make that [00:27:00] last, you 80 percent of the work, 20 percent of the distance, that much easier.

Holy cow, say that again? 

Jim Gebhardt: Right, that was 

Matthew Grishman: a mind blower. Shaving ounces. Yeah. And immediately my head went to how that could apply to my own personal finances. Sure. Because at the time, we were going through a major restructuring of our own personal finances where I had already eliminated as many of the big expenses as I possibly could.

We had brought our income down. Well, our income was down substantially and we had to reduce our expenses substantially and there was about four thousand bucks a month We had to get rid of and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it and it was through David's idea of just gradually shaving ounces over time a little bit here a little bit there a Subscription here 20 a month there instead of a Starbucks latte.

I started brewing coffee at home, right all these little little things Adjustments that just helped tighten it and over time allowed me to [00:28:00] be more intentional with thousands and thousands of dollars that were literally nickels getting dropped left and right 

Jim Gebhardt: unintentionally. Yeah. So. That's a fabulous story.

There is so much to learn from that when it comes to personal finance. I was also in my head going, you know, that, that 1 percent difference, that shaving ounces is how I'm losing weight. So. Yes. Right? Absolutely. Most literally in terms of nutrition. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: And, and I'm actually, uh, tracking calories and it is painful.

Nice. But it is giving me the data that helps me go, oh, wow, oh, I didn't realize there was that many carbs in there and I've exceeded my, my carb take, carb intake for the day. Hmm. Right? Uh, oh, that's a problem. It's noon. Uh huh. Right? And, but again, I mean, this whole, this whole story is just so representative of how, uh, How you, you don't have to, you know, get up tomorrow morning, put your running shoes on and run a fricking marathon.[00:29:00] 

That's not the point here. The point is to get in motion and to start looking at the information. I'm thinking of clients that we did this with and the husband was into cigars and she was into clothing and they did this exercise and over the span of, I think it was four or five months we looked at it and she was spending 2, 500 to 4, 000 a month on clothing and he was spending 700 to 800 a month on cigars.

Matthew Grishman: Wow. So those, those didn't fall under the foundational expense categories. 

Jim Gebhardt: That's correct. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: And the, there was no judgment coming from, for us. We were just showing them the information. Sure. So that they could then make a decision, which was, well, that's excessive. Yeah. I believe the wife said that's ridiculous.

Yes. And you know, that, that's what you're, that's what you're going to get as a, as kind of a bonus prize from this is it's going to get you in motion because it's going to, it's going to emotionally. You're going to, you're going to go, Oh. How are we spending [00:30:00] 222 a month on subscriptions? 

Matthew Grishman: Well, come on. How much time did I spend feeling like a victim because I would look at my bank statement at the end of the month and wonder where all my money went.

Right. Oh my God, woe is me. Right. Right. Now, all of a sudden we get to take our power back because we become aware of where we stand, which empowers us to make different decisions going forward. You can choose to judge the output. You can, which will keep you firmly planted in victim mode. And, 

Jim Gebhardt: it's over.

Right. You can't change it. It's like, I played golf on Sunday with Grant, and he had a four putt. Right, he triple bogeyed a hole. Nice. And he triple bogeyed that hole in his head for like the next five holes. So he triple bogeyed the next five holes. No, but just in his head, he wouldn't let it go. He was stuck.

Did it affect the next 

Matthew Grishman: five holes? Yeah, he played 

Jim Gebhardt: shitty. 

Matthew Grishman: Yeah. 

Jim Gebhardt: Because he couldn't let it go. So if you're going to look at this information and get all worked up about it, that's not going to serve [00:31:00] you. That's not going to help you. Or 

Matthew Grishman: decide how much time you're willing to give it to be all worked up.

When you look at the, when you look at the data, if you're not happy about the data, how much time are you allowed to be unhappy about the data before it's time to move forward? Because we can't spend more than, I don't know, 15 minutes trying to hope for a better past. 

Jim Gebhardt: Yeah, but it's it's it's a wasted effort.

Matthew Grishman: Yeah, so 15 minutes. Let's agree on 15 minutes And then set the timer we're going to make some decisions on how we move forward because that is what we're gonna start doing in The next couple of episodes is we're gonna start creating the vision now that you know where you are Now that we've unpacked the story, we know the people, the purpose, the play, the prosperity in your life.

We've taken an x ray vision of where we stand today. Now we can start building and visioning what tomorrow's going to look like, where we're going. We've [00:32:00] unpacked the story, and now we're going to start defining the story going forward. Where do you want to go, and what are the tools we've created here in the Whole Wealth Journey to help you get there?

Whole Wealth Journey That's what's coming up next on the next episode of The Whole Wealth Journey. And with that, brother, that's a wrap. Thanks for joining us today on The Whole Wealth Journey. Whatever your path may look like, our purpose is to make sure that your way forward aligns with your core values and intentions.

Are you ready to start planning for a future that's rich in wealth and well being? Then click like and subscribe and make sure you don't miss a single episode of The Whole Wealth Journey. So if we've struck a nerve with you 

Jim Gebhardt: today. You 

Matthew Grishman: can find us at That's G E B H A R D T And once you get there, make sure you connect with us so you can take the first steps to finding your why.[00:33:00] 

We'll see you next time. 

Amy: Jim Gebhardt is a registered representative of and securities offered through Brokers International Financial Services LLC, member SIPC. Jim Gebhardt and Matthew Grishman are investment advisor representatives of Gebhardt Group Incorporated, a registered investment advisor.

Brokers International Financial Services LLC and Gebhardt Group Incorporated are not affiliated. The opinions in this podcast are for informational purposes only and are not intended to provide Specific advice or investment recommendations to determine which investments or financial advice may be appropriate for you.

Consult a financial advisor prior to investing. Any reference to market performance is based on historical information and there is no expressed or implied guarantee of future performance. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Brokers International Financial Services, LLC.

The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener. Gebhardt Group Incorporated does not offer legal or tax [00:34:00] advice. Listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.