Understanding Money in Life (LA 1412)
Understanding Money in Life (LA 1412)
Transcript:
Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
Steven Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
And I’m Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven Butala:
Today Jill and I talk about understanding money in life. And no, this is not going to be a lecture.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
Jill said yesterday she’s concerned this is going to be a lecture, no, it’s not. This title came up for me, and it obviously made it to the light of the show because people ask me stuff, all the time, and I have been walking around the planet incorrectly perceiving a couple of things for quite some time. And I think it’s funny that I’ve been misconceiving this, so we’ll talk about it in a minute here. I think people understand accounting, just because I have an accounting background, and I think people understand real estate, and it’s just not correct. People need to understand, or I need to be more clear, I guess I should say.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
Are you taking notes?
Jill DeWit:
I am.
Steven Butala:
About what?
Jill DeWit:
Not about that. No, I’m just taking notes and thinking about some things I want to talk about with this.
Steven Butala:
Nobody understands money better than Jill, and I mean that. Most of the people I’ve ever had any type of relationship with are true cost center, and Jill is truly a walking profit center, and I’m amazed by her all the time. Whether it’s at the grocery store, or buying a primary residence, or buying a trailer park, she just gets it.
Jill DeWit:
Thanks.
Steven Butala:
And I don’t think there’s any better compliment, well, there’s probably some better compliments, but-
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, thanks.
Steven Butala:
For a former accountant, there’s no better … it’s hard to find a person like that.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvesters.com online community, it’s free.
Jill DeWit:
For the record, I think I learned … there’s some stuff that you taught me along the way, and really helped with, so thank you. I don’t get all the credit, you helped. You’re good, you’re awesome. All right, James wrote-
Steven Butala:
This is a repeat question.
Jill DeWit:
Oh.
Steven Butala:
I made a mistake. It’s actually from last Tuesday’s question.
Jill DeWit:
Let’s sub it with a different question. Or make up a question.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, make up a question is what I was going to say.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, let’s make up a … if I were going to read a question today, want to just read this one?
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, I’ll read this one.
Steven Butala:
Okay, sorry.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, Luke M. wrote, “Hey guys, I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas. I’m looking into Landmasters for helping me with mail merging and data scrubbing. I want to hear everyone’s input if they have experience with them, or any suggestions on another VA service with these features to help me with the data part of the business. I’ve heard Jack and Jill mention outsourcing what you aren’t good at, and focus on the strengths to be more productive. I suck at the data side of the house, and I was curious if anyone had a better company for these components, or if anyone’s had a bad experience with Landmasters’ services. Thanks so much, and happy new year.” I want to add one little thing first real quick, don’t worry anybody about mail merging, because O2O, offers to owners, will automatically do that for free. Now, that’s-
Steven Butala:
Landmasters, here’s the story of Landmasters. It’s a group in the Philippines, run by an amazing person named Jillian. And she and her group, they contacted Jill and I years ago, at least two years ago, right?
Jill DeWit:
Oh gosh, more like four or five years ago. Four, I want to say.
Steven Butala:
And so, at first, I’m like, who the heck are these people, and why do they want to infiltrate our stuff? And we don’t need any help, and we’ve got a lot of stuff in place. And then after about a month of trying her out, she probably had two people at that point, she’s probably got 50 now.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Butala:
I really realized her work ethic, and the firs day was just like yesterday for us, they go the extra mile. I can’t thank them enough. So there’s a lot of people in our group that use Landmasters, and you’ll find them. Just contact anybody, or our support at Land Academy. We don’t have a formal agreement with them, we don’t make any money off of each other, there’s none of that business going on. But she just gets it.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Butala:
That said, I would not, this is personally now, ever outsource the data part of this, ever. I would find somebody like me in a group, that needs somebody like you, Luke, who if you’re not a data person, you’re probably on the other side, like Jill is. You need to find a Steve, the way that I found a Jill, so that you can really together complement each other, and have different talents, and Jill, there’s not a week that goes by that I don’t say to Jill, what would we do without each other? There’s two of us, and it’s so much easier.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Butala:
And it’s not just the data and the sales part, it’s just bouncing stuff off of a partner, or saying, “You know what, this isn’t working. I need another set of eyes on it”, or “Should we do this deal? It came in, I’m not sure.” So I would really, seriously encourage you to get some type of business partner. What’s great, Luke, and I encourage everybody to do this, is to really sit down and say, if I had a partner, what would they be? What would they look like? Because it’s just changed my life, when Jill and I joined forces.
Jill DeWit:
You know what I would use them for, when you’re starting out, though? If your time is critical, there’s a lot of things that you could have input into a spreadsheet that will help you do your due diligence, I would totally use them for that. Like say once a week you send them all these properties that came in, and they fill in the back tax information, and they pop in some images for you. They can double check the flood stuff for you, they can check the zoning for you, or there’s some calls to the county that you need, or something like that. They could do some of that really monotonous, look it up, plug it in kind of information, and that would speed up your work.
Steven Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
That’s a great place to start. And then how you do that is make them videos. Give them access to wherever you want the information input, and make them real simple, step by step videos where you’re screenshot, showing them where you want them to look it up, where you want them to plop it in, what the numbers are, and then let them go. And they’ll do that, it’ll be great.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, since we started, the rule has been if you can film it in a less than three minute video, like a screenshot, not yourself, but a screenshot of what you’re doing, some repetitive task, and they do it over, and over, and over again, populating databases. Like they can do the red, green, yellow test, there’s all kinds of stuff like that that they can … they’re very good at. I heard they’re answering a few people’s phones right now. One person even has somebody giving them parameters on negotiating a deal, certain deals, so there’s a lot of different … and Jillian’s constantly expanding the services she provides. So I mean, this is not a formal endorsement, but we wouldn’t use anybody else.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. If you’re going to use a VA, we really trust them. That’s it, they’ve got the experience and the trust with us.
Steven Butala:
Today’s topic, understanding money in life. This is why you’re listening. This topic came up because, like all topics it seems like this week, I’ve answered it probably three times separately for people, recently, and so then it becomes an episode.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Butala:
So I think understanding money, I was talking to somebody at a party, actually, I don’t know when it was. Last weekend, or during the holiday season, and I’m just amazed at how there’s such lack of education for stuff that really matters. Like in high school, I don’t know, Jill and I are old enough to remember home economics. I think they call it health now. But why isn’t there an entire high school class about money, and budgets, and just basic stuff on the pros and cons of a mortgage, and just basic, basic stuff that all of us seem to have to figure out on our own, and fail at a few times before we get it.
Jill DeWit:
And a lot of kids, like me, growing up, my parents didn’t talk about that stuff in front of the kids.
Steven Butala:
Me either.
Jill DeWit:
That was behind closed doors, kind of thing. We didn’t know what the mortgage was, or what the payments were going to be, or interest. And if parents were, even if they were worried about it, or any of the decision making process, that would have really been helpful. All we had was home ec, like I learned how to make brownies. Big deal. I learned how to sew a dress-
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Trying to think. I maybe had to write a check, big flipping deal. But even that, I don’t know if they do that anymore.
Steven Butala:
Right.
Jill DeWit:
So now kids don’t even know what a check is, okay, they know what Venmo is-
Steven Butala:
That’s okay, though.
Jill DeWit:
They know Venmo, they don’t know how to write a check. You’re right, and we had typing skills, don’t have that anymore.
Steven Butala:
You know what they have now, and all of us obviously do, is Google. So that, and this is the point to my topic today, you’ve got to ask these questions about it. So I see younger people of all ages going to Google, asking a question, me included, I think I get the answer, and that’s it. And I’d spend that much time on it. That’s the problem. If you’re going to get a mortgage, you’ve really got to go ask some people that have an unrelated interest in however you’re going to do it, meaning they’re not going to make any money off of you, not a mortgage broker, to explain how the whole thing works, and then my whole point to this is you’ve got to do some research. Money’s important as hell to me, and I think some people can’t stand the topic, and don’t care, and think we all should ave it, and it’s just how it is.
But understanding money in life, really to me, means doing a lot of research on every single thing, financial decision that you’re going to make. And doing a budget every month, and looking at a bank statement every month. Balancing a checkbook, which we never have to do anymore-
Jill DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven Butala:
That really forced you to-
Jill DeWit:
That was my job. Like for years, early on, when we had to do that, that was my job. Not with my parents’ family, but other stuff.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
So yeah, that’s interesting.
Steven Butala:
I grew up in an environment where, for whatever reason, having a car payment was like the devil.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
But I’ve talked to people my age, and obviously younger, that say they were always taught that having a car payment was an investment. It would get you to the places you needed to go to make money, which I think is just a crack up.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
So understanding money in life has to do with asking a lot of questions, and putting all the little pieces together that go into what you’re spending, and what you’re bringing in every month.
Jill DeWit:
Do you have any big words of wisdom for our brand new investor, with a family, with a wife and kids. It’s 2021, I’m listening to this show for the first time, I’m married, I have a lovely wife, I have a five year old and a two year old. Their names are Skip and Ricky. Dreaming this up here. And we live in Houston, and we have a dog that we just got the boys for Christmas.
Steven Butala:
Oh, jeez.
Jill DeWit:
So now you understand why I need to make this extra money, okay? Oh, and I have a mortgage, by the way. We have a $250,000 house that we’re paying a mortgage on. All right, I don’t want to move, I just want to get this going. I need to make more money. I have a job, but every day it’s touch and go. I don’t know if it’s going to stay there, and … we don’t need more. So I found Land Academy, or I found something else, whatever it is, I want to be an investor. Let’s just say I found Land Academy, I want to be an investor, what the heck is this understanding money in life, because this is the one show that I tuned in on because I want to make sure I can do this. What words of wisdom do you have for me?
Steven Butala:
Well, you obviously have a job.
Jill DeWit:
Yes.
Steven Butala:
And maybe your spouse does, [inaudible 00:12:38] your wife.
Jill DeWit:
No, she’s stay at home.
Steven Butala:
All right, so theoretically, then, your job’s covering your costs.
Jill DeWit:
Yes.
Steven Butala:
Or it’s coming really close, plus or minus. Hopefully you’re at zero or better, or in the black. Do not touch that money to do any investing. You hold onto that job, and you deal with it, and go on your way in that job as if you’re going to work there forever, because that’s the people that are above you want to see out of you.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
You get involved in the Land Academy thing, or whatever you choose to do, or the Convenience Store Association of America, if that’s what you want to do. And you research the hell out of it for a few months, we’re not even getting into the money yet. All this stuff is free, research the heck out of what you’re going to do, or what you want to do, or what’s possible. It might be that at the end of six months, you just haven’t found it, it didn’t work for you. This is my whole life. I still do this stuff. I just looked at buying a nursery, like for plants, because everybody’s sold out. So I still do this stuff, to this day. I have no business owning a nursery, and I’ll never buy it, but I still just think it’s fun.
So do a ton of research, don’t borrow any money, and learn how to buy and sell property. And at the same time, find a business partner like us, and that’s yesterday’s show. Find a partner, a place to get the money, in the form of a partnership, and somebody to learn from. That would be my recommendation.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Steven Butala:
What would you recommend?
Jill DeWit:
No, I have no changes. I’m just asking. I’m the guy.
Steven Butala:
I think that your cute little story is-
Jill DeWit:
That’s a lot of people.
Steven Butala:
Assuming that … no, but I know, I think you’re assuming that they’re at zero. Because that’s at zero.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
But I think more people are in the red than are at zero.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, that’s true.
Steven Butala:
And so piling that stress on yourself, the am I going to pay my rent this month? Or a mortgage? That’s tough.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Butala:
I think that before you get into a Land Academy environment, you might want to address that, what’s going on there.
Jill DeWit:
There you go. Understanding money in life, to me, is sounding like … this makes me think of how much do I need? How much do I think I need, and how much do I really need? And making conscious decisions.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, so I mean, how much do you think you need?
Jill DeWit:
How much do I think I need? I think I could live on $5,000 a month.
Steven Butala:
So do I.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
That’s great, Jill.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you. Now, how much do I want to do? Well, way more than that, obviously, but I know I could. I could live somewhere else, I wouldn’t be living on the beach, and that’s okay, but I could be living, and having a nice life. So for me, just wrapping up on this, I’m just thinking big picture, and I hope that gives you something else to think about, too. Okay, we’ve got to have money, and we have a long way to go here, hopefully you have a long life, I don’t know what I’m saying, a lot of years to plan this out. Hopefully you’re young, and I would just be thinking about what do I really need? Setting goals. I like thinking about money and life, right now, 10 years from now, and I don’t know, 25 years from now, and getting myself on that plan, and being conservative and smart. And realistic. That’s the part that’s hard for people.
Steven Butala:
You know what I think? Money doesn’t play an accurate role, or an appropriate role, in the vast majority of people that I know.
Jill DeWit:
What does that mean?
Steven Butala:
You need to sit down every week, if not every day, I do it every day.
Jill DeWit:
Oh.
Steven Butala:
And think about it, and understand it, and respect it, and save it, or spend it, or whatever. But I just grew up in an environment like that. My dad was an accountant, and we talked about money all the time. And not in a bad way, in a good way.
Jill DeWit:
[crosstalk 00:16:36]-
Steven Butala:
It was taken very, very seriously. And I don’t see people taking it seriously. I see it, especially in our government right now, which I don’t want to get into, but it’s just like, I’ve never, never, ever seen the kind of spending that’s going on. And in all governments, especially in California.
Jill DeWit:
I did not grow up that way, and your way is better. My mom paid the bills, everything got paid. My mom paid the bills at the beginning of the month, and we’d live on what’s left over. My dad, we’d go out and do all kinds of stuff and then try to pay the bills at the end of the month. It was awful. My mom was like, “You can’t do that anymore.” So it was kind of weird. So it wasn’t until I was an adult, and getting out there, and paying my own bills, that I really understood the value of money. I really understood budgeting, and planning, and making sacrifices. And sometimes, I think this is a huge point that you have to learn to sacrifice to get where you want to go.
Steven Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
And a lot of people can’t do that. They’re all very, I want it now, short term, I’ve got to have this. No you don’t, just wait.
Steven Butala:
The two things that are going to cost you the most money, ever, in your life are marriage and children.
Jill DeWit:
Even more than colleges? College education, is that up there, too?
Steven Butala:
Oh gosh, jeez, college is a profit center, the vast majority of the time.
Jill DeWit:
I hope so, yeah. Okay.
Steven Butala:
Well, let’s say to get a four year accounting degree, which will pay out in spades, even now-
Jill DeWit:
If you choose the right program.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, I mean, that goes without saying. If you’re going to get a bachelor of arts degree-
Jill DeWit:
That’s what I’m saying, you spend $200,000 on it-
Steven Butala:
Medieval literature, that’s not going to pay out. But no, a four year college degree at a state school is probably a hundred thousand? Maybe less.
Jill DeWit:
I think, I don’t know.
Steven Butala:
I don’t know, prices change so much by region and all that. But I think that’s, for tuition anyway, that’s pretty close. Maybe a little more. But you’re going to make that the first year.
Jill DeWit:
Cool.
Steven Butala:
So, I can’t believe that college is an expense. No, I think that … I mean, it used to be this. Two very young people get together, however you want to describe that, join forces, pay one rent instead of two, now you have dual income, you hold off for having kids for at least 10 years, maybe more, have separate bank accounts, have the same bank account, like this is if the planets are lined up. And after a bunch of years of renting, have enough money to put a substantial money down on a mortgage, that’s the perfect way.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Butala:
So if you’re super young listening to this, there’s an order to do these things in. But we all just love to mess our lives up, I guess, sometimes.
Jill DeWit:
Apparently we do. Happy you could join us, five days a week you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Butala:
Tomorrow, the episode of the Land Academy Show is called Failing Repeatedly, It’s The First Requirement To Stay On Course. You are not alone in your [inaudible 00:19:42] ambition. We’re just full of happiness and happy titles in the first week of the year.
Jill DeWit:
I’m like, what the heck? Those are not what I thought we talked about. Gee, man. But thank you for staying with us on this, this episode was a journey. I think we covered about four episodes in one on this-
Steven Butala:
Really?
Jill DeWit:
We did, it was all over a little path, but that’s okay. Again, this was a journey show. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable, and we appreciate your support. If you haven’t already, please zip on over to our YouTube channel, and please hit the subscribe button.
Steven Butala:
Your comments and suggestions help us to create the type of content you’re here for. Hitting the like button on your favorite episodes helps to support our channel’s algorithm, and gauge your interest in future shows. We’re Steve and Jill-
Jill DeWit:
We’re Steve and Jill-
Steven Butala:
Information-
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration-
Steven Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me directly at steven@BuWit.com.
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