Is your wallet feeling lighter… but your closet’s full of regret? Joe, OG, and Mom’s neighbor Doug are throwing open the basement door to tackle one of the trickiest parts of personal finance: consumerism. Whether you’re a recovering impulse buyer or knee-deep in buy-now-pay-later regrets, this episode’s got your back—and maybe your budget.
💸 Hear real stories about overspending and why value-based spending beats chasing trends. 🛍️ Unpack the rise of Klarna and other buy-now-pay-later services—and the hidden costs that come with them. 🌍 Explore how global economic shifts (yep, we’re going there) could impact your investments. 🎤 And just when things get too real, the team lightens it up with a no-holds-barred burger chain draft. In-N-Out? Five Guys? Wendy’s? Who makes the Stacker cut?
Plus: a shoutout to the troops, a TikTok Minute that involves Doug and a questionable egg sandwich, and trivia that’ll make you rethink your next holiday shopping spree.
You don’t need to live like a monk—just stop buying stuff you don’t even like.
Deeper dives with curated links, topics, and discussions are in our newsletter, The 201, available at https://www.stackingbenjamins.com/201
Enjoy!
Our TikTok Minute
Our Headline
- Buy now, pay never? Some Klarna users struggle to repay loans as U.S. consumer debt rises (NBC News)
Doug’s Trivia
- What President signed the legislation giving the green light to withhold income tax from your paycheck?
Have a question for the show?
Want more than just the show notes? How about our newsletter with STACKS of related, deeper links?
- Check out The 201, our email that comes with every Monday and Wednesday episode, PLUS a list of more than 19 of the top money lessons Joe’s learned over his own life about money. From credit to cash reserves, and insurance to investing, we’ll tackle all of these. Head to StackingBenjamins.com/the201 to sign up (it’s free and we will never give away your email to others).
Other Mentions
- The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
- The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
Join Us Wednesday
Tune in on Wednesday when we’re joined by the woman behind Money with Katie, Katie Gatti Tassin.
Written by: Kevin Bailey
Miss our last show? Listen here: 11 Great Ways to Build Wealth (SB1692)
Episode transcript
STACK 06-09 Consumerism -steve
Joe: [00:00:00] It’s Monday morning in mom’s basement. You know what
Doug: that means? Oh, G is cranky. Who knew Doug? Who knew he must have the worst weekends of anybody because he always shows up on Monday. Rougher in a Billy goat’s knee. Let’s
Joe: Billy goats. Totally. Have you been hanging out with mom? That’s like a fifties callback there.
Oh my goodness. Well, you know what we’ve gotta do though? We have to. It doesn’t matter who’s cranky, who’s happy. You know, we’re all happy about, we’re happy that the men and women in our military protected us for another fantastic weekend here in the. Early June. I can’t believe it’s early June. That’s incredible.
Let’s raise our glasses, gentlemen, and all you stackers out there in stacker land, raise your mugs because on behalf of men and women making podcasts in mom’s basement, the men and women at Navy Federal Credit Union, big salute out to our troops. Thank you so much. Let’s, uh, let’s go stack some Benjamins together this week, shall
Doug: we?
Thanks everybody. My God. Joe, I just wanted to take a drink and you just kept going on [00:01:00] and on and I’d like to say, my God,
Joe: but wait, there’s more.
bit: That was a little boy thought. The greatest thing in the world would be to be able to make records. Okay, now let’s just play this and you’ll see what it sounds like.
Doug: Live from Joe’s mom’s basement. It’s the Stacking Benjamin Show.
I am Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug. And, hey, have you bought the latest hot new toys? How about the great looking car? Everyone else drives or, or maybe the house in the cool neighborhood. Today we’re deep diving into consumerism and what it costs your wallet. We’ll talk about your spending budget and tips to find a way to keep up.
No, not do that. [00:02:00] That’s exactly what we’re, that’s exactly what we’re not talking about. That’s awesome. And tips to keep up with the Joneses. How you could buy the latest toy. All right, I’m doing it again. We’ll talk about your spending budget and tips to find a way out of keeping up with the neighbor, Dougs.
Oh, but that’s not all. Of course. We’ll also share a TikTok minute that just may show how smart we are, and I’ll also whip up a batch of my shareable trivia. And now two guys who have been there, done that when it comes to trying all the fun consumerism rabbit holes, it’s Joe and oh G.
Joe: Hey there, stackers. Welcome to the five one get one free episode of the Stacky Benjamin Show. ’cause you just need another one. You just, Ooh, I gotta have it. I gotta have the shiny object. It’s [00:03:00] consumerism weak in mom’s basement and we are going to teach you. How to find a way out of that rabbit hole. And I’ve been there, done that.
And across the card table from me is the other guy who’s been there, done that when it comes to doing all the consumerism, trying all the shiny bits. Mr. OGs here. How are you buddy?
OG: Uh, I am, uh, a little under the weather and I. I am all about consumerism, so I can’t wait to talk about it.
Doug: This is the episode he’s been waiting for.
Let me
Joe: tell you what spawned this, and the reason we’re doing consumerism week is that we’re joined by the amazing. Hosted the Money with Katie Show on Wednesday, kitty Getty Tesson. Katie begins her new project talking about the hot girl hamster wheel. Which is, which is how I’ve seen that movie. There was.
They’re all over. They’re just going circles. There’s an entire. Brand of feminism that Katie rejects, that is all based on [00:04:00] women getting money out of other women’s wallets, right? You deserve it, girl. You deserve beauty, you deserve more. You deserve all this self-care, and by the way, it’s only gonna cost you a little bit.
When she realized how much money that was costing her, she’s like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Well. Guys. Oh gee, you and I, we’ve been there too. We’re, we’re definitely not on the hot girl hamster wheel.
OG: Speak for yourself. But,
Joe: but, but we have definitely done the consumerism thing and seen the dead ends where that can take us.
So where’s the healthy middle? We’re gonna talk about that. That’s our deep dive on today’s episode. But before we get there, we’ve got a couple sponsors that make sure that all this goodness is brought to you by consumerism that we like. And it’s these, it’s these. Is it funny to talk about consumerism?
We’re about to go into the sponsor spot. No.
Doug: Well, I don’t know. I mean, it depends on what the sponsor spot is. Well, they’re great, right? They’re fantastic. But I mean, it could be about insurance. That’s not consumerism. That’s about protect nsurance, I think it’s called insurance. [00:05:00] Insurance.
Joe: Before we dive in, we have a couple sponsors that make sure that this is all free for you and you get all this goodness without paying a dime.
So let’s hear from them, and then we are deep diving into consumerism and how to escape the hamster wheel.
Let’s start off with a problem with the Joneses og. There’s that old phrase, right? Buying stuff that we don’t care about to impress people we don’t know by spending money on things we can’t afford. Ooh,
Doug: something TM there. Pretty sure you butchered that one, but we get the gist of it.
Joe: No, I didn’t butcher it.
I made it ours. Okay, I see it. I totally, yeah, I got around all of the corporate marketing and made it ours. But there is something wrong with it. I mean, I, I just wonder, has there been a time in either of, of your lives when you bought something and you went, you know, the total reason I did that was kind of because everybody else was doing it, and I wanted to see if it was, if it [00:06:00] was as cool as everybody else thought that it was.
I remember growing up. It’s gonna be a little bit of a dated story, but I remember when everybody was going to see Star Wars, like everybody was going to see Star Wars. The original
OG: ones or the second, the original third or the last third,
Joe: the original one. And I can, I can hear, I can hear our young youngest listeners going, okay, boomer here.
Here we go. Yeah. But I do remember that everybody was going to see this movie and I was pounding on my parents. I mean, even at a young age, I’m pounding on my parents. Because of consumerism. I knew nothing about the movie except that it was the cool thing to go see. Everybody was going to see it. Friends of mine had seen it three times already and my parents were like, yeah, I don’t know.
Space opera. Just uh, I don’t know. I think we ended up seeing it way later at the dollar theater. But even at a young age, I mean, you can see, oh gee, I’m sure there to some degree, you get that from your kids, right?
OG: I think that the, um, boys [00:07:00] are less in it and I don’t know why. I think maybe some of it has to do with the fact that they wear uniforms to school.
The only expression of personality is sneakers, but there’s a little bit of it. I think it’s more for my daughter. So you’re talking in the open about girls helping. Women helping women, you know, but they’re basically not helping them by whatever, and Caroline’s nine now. So I mean, we definitely see the, like, I wanna go to Sephora, I wanna go to Ulta.
Like, because that’s the stuff she’s being marketed to.
Doug: Nine years old needs to go to the makeup store.
OG: Well, it’s skincare, Doug. Sorry I’m, it’s health and wellness. You wouldn’t know anything about that.
Joe: I’m so sorry. Health and wellness.
OG: Yeah. But yeah, the kids have not seemed to been drawn into that, the boys anyway.
Too much yet. I was thinking about your question of like, when did I. Is there any ever been a thing that, you know, I was super, well, wait a minute. ‘
Joe: cause I think in other ways your boys have been drawn into it and still have you and I, but maybe [00:08:00] not on the skincare area or fashion, but let’s just talk about sports.
I mean, when it comes to sports, going to the cool game, sitting in the cool seats is a lot of social comparison, isn’t it?
Doug: His kids don’t sit in seats. They’re in the suite where they’re just roaming around. Exactly. Actually eating all the chicken fingers they can get, I mean, they don’t wanna go to the seats.
Joe: There is a social comparison going on. I
OG: mean, to whom are they comparing it though? I.
Joe: To their friends, to everyone else. I get to sit in the cool seats at the game. I’m sitting in a spot that’s better than those seats. Way, way, way up there that other people aren’t sitting in.
OG: Well, to be fair though, we have not really done that ever.
I mean, other than the, I. Couple. And by do that,
Joe: I mean he means sit in the
OG: cheap seats. No, we don’t go to sporting events. We’ve gone to like three. We went to a couple of Michigan games in a row two years ago.
Joe: Okay, wait a minute, wait a minute. Who? Yeah. Who took their family to the Big 10 championship game?
I [00:09:00] just said three games. Three Michigan games a row, and to the Rose Bowl.
Doug: And whose kids were catching or nearly catching home run balls. At the Rangers game last year? Well, I
OG: wasn’t there. They were there.
Joe: I think it’s still social comparison. I mean, we’ve bought into the fact that this game is important, right?
Yeah. We bought into the fact this team is important.
OG: See, I don’t buy that at all. I look at that as, to me, that’s not consumerism. That is about the experience. Oh, you can, you can argue all you want, but yeah, I thought it was a. When I think about the Rose Bowl, I don’t think about the fact that we went to the Rose Bowl game and that everybody was like, oh my God, you must be rich ’cause you can go to the Rose Bowl game.
It had nothing to do with that. Or sticking my, you know, nose in the air to my brother who didn’t go. ’cause he’s also a Michigan fan. Like, ha ha ha, look how better I am than you. It was about our family having an experience that included the Rose Bowl game. We had a week long trip where we started in Dallas.
We went to Michigan, did Christmas with the families. Then we flew [00:10:00] across the country. We had a day at Disney, which was fun. When I tell the story about the Rose Bowl trip, it’s not about like, oh my gosh. The game was amazing. The game was amazing by the way, and it ended right in our end zone, which we couldn’t have asked for anything better.
But it was so much more than just the game. It, I mean, don’t we talk about this all the time of like spend your money on experiences, not on things. Sure. But it’s not, this is an experience,
Joe: but let’s think about this. Number one, it isn’t always about climbing the ladder. Consumerism isn’t always about climbing the ladder.
Look at Kate trying to climb a ladder. I was trying to go Fri experience my case. Sure. You, because you said, well, it’s not about putting in my brother’s face it, putting in your brother’s face is climbing the ladder. I, I said, it’s not about that. Exactly. That’s what he’s saying. And I’m saying that you’re a hundred percent right, but it doesn’t have to be about that.
I’m confused. Think about this. If all experiences are created equal, then why am I doing an experience that costs me a lot more money than another experience? The reason that I’m doing the one that costs more money [00:11:00] is because I have been socialized to believe that this activity, yeah.
Doug: Is worth it. Sure.
We could go to the high school baseball game for free in our town, right. In our local town. We don’t need to have, they’re
OG: not free, but Okay.
Joe: Okay. 10 bucks,
Doug: whatever. Oh my God.
OG: Well, I mean, the minor league game is also $10, so which one of these is, is, but our point,
Doug: so, or, or we don’t need to have the Thermador fridge or the wolf oven or the, you know, we, we all are living above basic, basic needs and that is largely due to some type of consumerism.
I actually agree, but I actually disagreeing with Joe. I disagree with Joe, with her,
OG: agree with, I disagree with all of that, Doug.
Doug: I think it’s because you’ve a hundred
OG: percent bought into it. I mean, whatever. I mean, you’re, it’s like you’re fat shaming me for some reason, and I don’t get it. But no, I,
Doug: I put myself in that category.
Tell I’m not living basic needs either. You can’t tell
OG: me that a freaking, you know, go into a World Series game. I. Is the same thing as going to, from an experience standpoint, the same thing as going to a high school game or that the fridge that you, it’s you bought into the trope that this is worth it, [00:12:00] talking about it.
It’s the best 18 players in the entire universe playing, doing something. Okay. Going to, so is it better to go see the eighth grade drum drumline, or. The, you know, symphony orchestra in the park, assuming don’t go for a hike. Those things are free. Why
Joe: hike? Why did you buy into the fact that that’s even the best thing anyway versus going on a hike?
OG: I, I, I have no idea where you’re
Doug: going
Joe: with this. Let me, I’m
Doug: gonna, I wanna re, I wanna redirect this joke ’cause we we’re obviously heading somewhere with this
OG: and definitely there are materials and products that are superior to other materials and products in terms of quality. Now we can argue whether or not it’s three X quality because it costs three x more.
But you can’t tell me that the refrigerator that you can get at the, you said Thermador fridge, the refrigerator that you can buy at the garage sale that may or may not work is the same thing as buying a brand new one. That’s, well, here’s the point. It’s not consumerism. Here’s the point. Vinyl refrigerator,
Joe: we, we don’t need OU to buy into it to know that it’s science and it’s a fact.
We don’t need you to agree.
OG: Okay.
Joe: [00:13:00] When I went to walk by Fenway Park, there is a piece of consumerism. When I see 1902, I turn to Cheryl and I go. I think it’s just incredibly badass that they can put that they were champions. In 1902, but there’s a consumerism going on there, which is why they put it on the banner so that I’m gonna buy the ticket to go into the stadium so that I am a part of this Red Sox Nation quote experience versus being out on a hike.
That is, that is social comparison. There is no doubt about it. They market the hell out of it, which is how they can market the tickets better. If you wanna hear consumers as its finest, go listen to the acquired podcast and how they got the Super Bowl to be. The big thing, the Super Bowl is how they’ve turned the draft in the NFL into a draft that that 750,000 people in Detroit went to.
Over 600,000 people went to, and even way out there in Green Bay. Oh God went to it is a hundred percent consumerism. It’s a hundred percent I bought, [00:14:00] bought. Does it, does it cost
OG: anything to go there?
Joe: I’ve bought into this thing. Did it cost anything? Yeah. There’s no marketing going on at all. No. I’m asking there is.
There is no marketing. I know L doesn’t do any of that. Any of that for marketing. Stop. Stop.
OG: Does it cost money to go to the draft?
Joe: I think the point is, is to figure out what’s important to you and what’s not. I love Major League baseball. I buy into the fact that going to the game is fun as hell. I’m willing to spend money on the fact, but I also know that it’s because I bought into that.
I was hanging out with a guy at the stacker event, a nice guy named Kevin, and we were talking about the game. ’cause I was at this cool game where there was a walk off home run. I go, oh my God. I was at the game Saturday. He goes, I don’t follow baseball Conversation over. A hundred percent over because he hasn’t bought into it at all.
Or maybe he just doesn’t like baseball. He’s not spending this money, he’s not doing the thing. I thought you said Kevin was a cool guy.
Doug: Where, where’s this story going? So
Joe: I think there is a hidden cost. If I wanna keep up with Major League [00:15:00] baseball, there’s a cost I’m gonna pay to keep up with Major League baseball.
And it is the same as what Katie’s gonna talk about on Wednesday with the hot girl hamster wheel, which is, if I wanna play the game of, I’m gonna take part in the skincare routine every day, I’m gonna do this thing. There is a cost to that. And to say that that has nothing to do with consumerism, that I’m buying thing A versus thing B.
Is, I think, denying what the next step is, which is deciding is it really important to you? Is it worth it? Because that’s really where this needs to go. It needs to go to, you know what, is it worth it to me? Yeah. I’ll spend $90 a few months ago on ranger tickets that are in the third deck. I’ll do that.
Doug: My god.
Joe: I know, right? $90 for upper deck. $90 upper deck.
Doug: Wow.
Joe: Yeah. Walk off home run, by the way, against the Dodgers. They beat the Dodgers at the end of, can you
Doug: come to Detroit in a few weeks when I’m going to see them play the Cubs? ’cause I’d like a couple of walk offs. Seems like you have a knack for bringing on walk offs.
Joe: I think it’s [00:16:00] Cheryl because I went to a game without her, with Len instead at the Angel Stadium, and it was horrible. Okay. Yeah, so I think you gotta have Cheryl go, go, not me. Well, I’ve
Doug: got Cheryl on speed dial, so I’ll give her a call.
Joe: But I think the step to break the cycle, OG is exactly what you said.
Is it worth the three x or four x or five x? You’ll see as an example, Disney aggressively raising prices over time, and I’m seeing more often in the news today. Than three years ago. Is this, is this truly worth it? Like, is this brand of consumerism actually worth taking the family to Disney?
Doug: Well, and it might be, I, here’s where I suspect we’re gonna go.
’cause we’ve been here over the last 15 years. We’ve been here a number of times. It might be worth the three x or you know, but not across your entire. Life not across all of the things that where you need to buy something, pick your spots, right? There’s gonna be things that are worth it to you that match up with where your priorities are and your values, and maybe [00:17:00] family time at sporting events versus family time.
Hiking. The return on that investment because of the way you’re getting your family time might be worth it to you. I think you’re gonna say that’s fine, but you can’t do that for everything. Pick your
Joe: spots, right? Pick your spots. Oh, a hundred percent. You know what’s funny, Doug? I used to always get the t-shirt when I was younger and then I realized that I have a closet full of T-shirts.
Oh yeah. And there’s not enough days to wear all these t-shirts. So instead I started when I saw a T-shirt that I like, you know, I started doing, I started just snapping a picture of it and I don’t know why. Oh, that’s stupid. Buting the pic that’s snapping the picture of the thing. Well, but you know why?
Three days later I don’t care about it. Hmm. I just don’t care about it. Instead of buying the t-shirt for now, what, 45 bucks that sits in my closet, I can barely close
Doug: my t-shirt drawer.
Joe: Yeah, yeah. And I love it. I had to have a thing where only the top 10 got to stay and the rest had to go. I’ve done that twice because you just keep buying.
It also did a thing where, uh, stickers for my luggage when I go to a place, which was super neat because A, it doesn’t [00:18:00] take up any room. B, it’s incredibly cheap. CI get this thing on my luggage so I can identify it when it comes down the comes down the whole thing. But it’s funny how that became enough.
So I think there has to be og this enough number does doesn’t there? No.
OG: Why I. I don’t understand the question.
Joe: So you don’t think that people get themselves into debt because they dive too much into, into just, I’m just gonna buy the stuff?
OG: Well, I mean, we weren’t talking about debt. We were talking about spending money.
Joe: We are, because spending money on stuff that you truly don’t care about is where the debt comes from. I’ve been there.
OG: I mean, it could be, could be necessities, could be job loss or something like that. I don’t know that I have the data on it, but I agree that. I think as time goes on, you find out what, what, what you’re more comfortable with spending money on.
Whether that’s the latest technology, whether it’s the brand name close, whether it’s the sporting [00:19:00] event or outdoor activities or you know, whatever. Like what Doug was saying, you find the thing that, that you wanna lean into. It’s almost like we were talking some time ago about charitable giving. I don’t remember if this is somebody on our show or not brought this up.
So, you know, when you’re young. You give away money in like $50 increments and it might be better just to hold onto that, maybe do like a donor-advised fund and say, let me wait until I find the thing that’s really important and that I really think that I think it’s important and then I can donate lots of money to the one thing.
And I think that’s what you’re saying here is that, or maybe, maybe, I’m just guessing, but stop just napalming everything with like, I want, I want, I want just wait and find the thing that’s. Things that are more important to you.
Joe: I think you have to have your enough number. This is what makes me happy.
This is the area I love. The idea of pausing before I buy something. You know, who am I buying this for? Am I buying it for me? Am I buying it for, to your point, oh gee, am I buying it so that I put this in my brother’s face? [00:20:00] Again, like you said, you weren’t doing that when you went to the sporting events, but I know people who do that.
I see social media influencers on there. Look at where I’m at. Look at where I’m standing. Who’s the audience for this thing? Is it truly because I love it or is it because it’s how I want people to? Perceive me, people that just don’t actually care about me. I mean, there’s a big difference between looking like you’re wealthy and being wealthy, right?
We saw that in the Millionaire Next door.
OG: Yeah. I mean, all the studies show that that’s the case. Yeah.
Joe: And spending against your values. So I think when it comes to the budget, starting with the values based budget is probably the best place to start.
OG: I think honestly, everything counts. You know, and this is probably, maybe it’s the point that you’re getting to here, but how many times do we talk to people that have, you know, they say, well, I can’t get rid of this outta the budget.
Well, I have to have that, my kids have to go to that [00:21:00] school. And it’s like, well, they don’t have to. You don’t have to have that line item. You’re choosing to, and I think as soon as you change the verbiage from half to maybe to I, I’m choosing to all of a sudden that gives you the energy back. You know, that gives you the power back to make a different choice.
Like I choose to buy Thermador refrigerators and wolf stoves. I choose to go to the Rose Bowl, I choose to go out to fancy dinners. I choose, you know, I. Then you can say, well, I choose not to do those things. But when you start saying things like, I have to, you’re putting all that power in somebody else’s hand.
Joe: A hundred percent. And it’s funny how often we do that when we just unconsciously, I. Spend, uh, Morgan Hausel from his book, the Psychology of Money, spending Money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money.
OG: Mm-hmm.
Joe: Absolutely love that. But also, I think to your point, og, realizing you’re not a spreadsheet, you’re a person.
Right? You’re [00:22:00] this, this person who likes stuff. I’m a person who likes baseball. This is what I like. You’ll see grown men with other grown men’s names across their back.
Doug: You’ll see grown men with t-shirts that say dug on the front of them. And that’s not consumerism at all. No. That’s supporting the right values for the future of our country.
Joe: But I think this is where, you know, frugality is important. I love this conversation I have with Sean Mullaney, who’s been on the show a couple times. When you walk into a target and you see or pick your store, whatever it is, and you realize that even if you take care of all this stuff. Even if you take care of it really, really well, all this stuff is gonna be in a landfill someday.
Then you walk into this store, this big department store and you go, oh my God,
OG: all my stuff turns into carbon. ’cause I burn it.
Joe: It’s all gonna get burned at some actual point. Then another point, you know Sean, who was for a long time [00:23:00] a tax advisor for people, Sean, talking about how the stuff we really don’t care about og, we buy that stuff at the highest tax bracket.
’cause if you think about the things you value that you’re not gonna get rid of, so I choose to buy this and I choose to buy that. Whatever I’m buying it, I’m buying it with money outta my paycheck. So obviously my food, my lodging, the stuff that I need, those basic needs on the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy, I’m buying those at the lowest tax bracket.
Because I’m not gonna stop spending on those, but it’s truly the stuff that I don’t care about that I just go, yeah, okay. All right, take my money. I’m buying that at the top tax bracket with the last dollar I. My wallet. It
OG: doesn’t change your taxes at
Joe: all. It doesn’t change your taxes at all. But it certainly changes the fact that if I would’ve taken that money and I would’ve saved it for another year on a thing that I cared about, or I would’ve spent it on a dollar I care about, I am my non-value based spending.
Is more wasteful in [00:24:00] terms of my own use of time. If I’m trading time for money, my own use of these dollars than the things that I truly value. You know? ’cause those aren’t gonna go away.
Doug: Yeah. The, the truly value part, I don’t, I feel like we’re skimming over the surface of that and we just need to go another five feet deeper because in the moment.
You think you value that thing, that impulse purchase you made late at night? I just made one the other night. I carry a pocket knife on me every day, all day. It’s incredibly useful and uh, it works. Now the one I have isn’t the greatest, but it works and I bought a new one. It wasn’t cheap. It was actually way more than I should have spent on a pocket knife.
I really hope, I’m not saying this too loud, so certain people don’t hear it, but, uh,
certain people who don’t check the credit card statement. Yeah. Boy. Uh, it is the long term that doesn’t match. Honestly, I hear myself say this out [00:25:00] loud. It honestly doesn’t match up with my long-term value. I got a pocket knife on me that does everything I need it to do. Do I have to sharpen it more often?
Yeah. But. I didn’t need this new one, but so
OG: what, like wanting what you want is not, it’s nobody else’s business. There’s nothing wrong with saying I want this. No, no, I, and getting it. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m not talking about other people’s business. Nobody’s saying there’s anything wrong with it, og.
Doug: Yeah, but I’m realizing, as I think about my own behavior, I’m realizing that’s not my long-term thing. My long-term thing is being debt free and you know, being, did you go
OG: into debt to buy a knife?
Doug: But it all adds up, right? I’ve got a lot of those little impulse things where I had a thing that served the need before and I decided I needed to upgrade, or I needed to get a newer one and down.
If I didn’t do all of those things, I would have those funds down the road to be able to make my my life a lot less stressful when I’m 75, when I’m Joe’s age. Well, let
OG: me ask you this. I’m not being a jackass about it. Do you feel like you’re on track [00:26:00] for your financial plan?
Doug: Yeah,
OG: I do. Okay, so damn you.
What is the point of limiting yourself and the thing that you want, which is rightfully selfish to have? Because for no other reason than you want it, you don’t need anybody’s approval. If all of your things are already good, all you’re doing otherwise is saying, well, I’ll just pile this money up for somebody else, which may be important to you.
But if it were, you would have that in your plan, right? You would say, my goal is. I wanna leave both boys a million dollars when I die.
Joe: You know, I love og. I love what you just said, and the reason I love what you just said is, is walking through that thinking that
OG: flipped pretty quickly, didn’t it?
Joe: What’s that?
OG: I said that flipped pretty quickly. What do you mean that all of a sudden you love what I said?
Joe: Well, I do love what you said because walking through that thinking is what this episode’s all about, is the fact that we don’t think about the fact, is there something I would [00:27:00] rather do with this? Are you on track?
Like walking, dug down that thing? Are you on track or are you not? Because you know what? There’s a bunch of people in our audience who aren’t and they’re spending money on, they don’t care about. And for those people, the answer is yeah, the pocket knife is just absolutely stupid. That was a stupid purchase because it’s not on track for what your true goal was.
But for Doug, you’re walking him through the fact that he is okay and he can spend the money. I was about to say that I got this kitchen knife that I bought. That’s badass. Cost me a ton of money. Did I need hell? No, I didn’t need it. You know what though? I take that thing out now and I’m cutting up stuff ’cause I like to cook and it is so fun.
It is so a hundred percent fun. A good
Doug: knife in a kitchen is a game changer, isn’t
Joe: it? Oh, it was so, it’s so fun. It is just absolutely great. But the whole point of this episode is not shaming. It isn’t. Don’t buy stuff. It’s realized that I’m buying into these constructs and is it truly important to me to go to the Red Sox game?
Doug: So let’s do some Doug Counseling here and, and we’ll use Doug as what? An [00:28:00] avatar, a use case, because you’re right. I’m glad you asked me that question. I do feel very comfortable that we are on the right path, long-term, all the way through retirement. ’cause there’s no way in hell I’m living to 104
OG: how with that attitude.
Doug: But you know, here’s where my initial. Worry or guilt, shame myself about buying that pocket knife. Uh, it’s a bench made. It’s so sweet.
OG: You just asked me. I got like six of ’em. I sent you one. I’m kidding.
Doug: Damn
OG: you. Oh, bench mates.
Doug: Yeah. Here, here’s the thought is that all of those little purchases that I make, even though I feel like I’m, I, I feel comfortable when I look at the data that I’m on the right track for a WorryFree comfortable retirement is that some unforeseen circumstance happens.
OG: Is that not accounted for in your plan? And I needed
Doug: that money even more, something outside of what the plan accounts for. And so it’s that black swan event that is not planned. For that. I’m gonna look back and say, [00:29:00] damn, why did I buy that fishing equipment? That knife, why did I go skiing with og? I mean,
OG: it is what it is.
Like there’s, I don’t think you can play that game. Can’t. There’s no way to account for all this. I mean, what if you get in your car and you slip getting on the running board and you smash your head on the concrete and nobody finds you for three days? What if that happens and you’re laying there going.
Damn. I never got to use my knife.
Doug: That is a oddly
OG: specific scenario. You just, yeah. What if somebody shoves you down the stairs?
Doug: Right,
Joe: right at the end of this episode.
OG: Oops, my bad. I didn’t see you there. No. What if somebody holds your head under water when you go swimming next time? Just saying you tangled in some fishing line.
It’s a freak accident.
Joe: Well, and oh gee, that is the other side of this, right? I mean, there’s these people of great savers, a lot of people listening to the show have trouble spending money for that. Very real. I might need it later. I might need to, what am I gonna, and oh my goodness, like letting go and actually doing the thing that, and having the pocket knife without regret is such a, such a hard place to [00:30:00] be.
I got a headline, by the way, that is, uh, all about this consumerism issue. There’s a problem, there’s a big problem happening around the world right now, and we’re gonna talk about that next. But before we get to. Kind of a little bit, uh, a little bit troubling area of consumerism. Doug, I think it’s time that we break for a second because you’ve got a phenomenal trivia question today.
Doug: Hey there, stackers. I’m Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug, and today we’re celebrating the day that income tax withholding was first levied on the American population. What a great day. Joe’s mom suggested a great way to celebrate. Here’s what you do, you just. Take out an envelope, throw some cash in it, mail it to us.
You don’t even have to wait to do that once here. You can do that every week if you want. It’s gonna give you the same great feeling every time you file your taxes and while you’re searching for a stamp. How about I fill in the time with some trivia? [00:31:00] What president? Sign the legislation giving the green light to withhold income tax from your paycheck.
I’ll be back right after I go grab a hammer. Joe’s mom says, pounding on your left hand is another fun way to simulate taxes, apparently gives you the same sensation.
Hey there stackers. I’m bandaid wearer and guy who’s now looking for a kinder, gentler way to tax Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug, want some fun? Try this out. Guess how much you paid in federal taxes last year? Now go find your tax return and see were you close. Most people find they’re paying far more than they’d guessed, but what I really want you to guess is the answer to today’s trivia question.
What president signed that nefarious legislation that sneakily let the government withhold taxes from your paycheck so you didn’t see it coming [00:32:00] out and didn’t have to pay it yourself with a check or cash? Well, that law was signed on today’s date way back in 1943, which means it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who signed the bill into law requiring employers to collect taxes from their employees as they are paid.
And here come two guys who are laying down the law on kicking consumerism to the curb. It’s Joe and og.
Joe: Man, we got a headline. Steve, play the headline.
headlines: Hello doling. And now it’s time for your favorite part of the show. I was stacking Benjamin’s headlines.
Joe: Our headline comes to us from Oh Boy, comes to us from NBC News.
Uh, this is written by JJ McCorvey, buy Now Pay Never. Some Klarna users struggle to repay loans as US consumer debt rises geared. Here’s an issue, og. Remember this thing Klarna, where you can have this magic deal where you’re not gonna [00:33:00] pay any interest as long as you pay back these, uh, easy payments later.
If you just make the payments on time, things are gonna be good, and Klarna makes no money. We thought, how does that work? This sounds like magic sounds amazing. For a while, it was amazing for Klarna because people would make the payments, but they’d make them late. Meaning Klarna made a lot of money, but now we’re on the other side of that.
Klarna customers are having a harder time paying back the installment loans. They take out with their popular buy now pay later service. The Swedish company’s net losses doubled in the first quarter, even as its user base and revenue grew. Klarna reported a couple weeks ago, weeks after pausing its plans to go public over concerns over tariffs and economic uncertainty.
Klarna consumer credit losses swelled 17% in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, hitting $136 million. So, uh, $136 million of consumer credit losses. People decided, og, I’m just gonna use Klarna, [00:34:00] and hey, I’m not gonna pay for this.
OG: I mean, that’s how unsecured debt works. The lower the barrier to entry, the more likely it is that a larger amount of people default or are seriously late,
Joe: couldn’t have seen this coming a mile away.
This was not at all shocking. I remember being at the Galleria Mall in Houston, this huge. Mall in Houston and go around a corner and it says, make the holidays more magical with Klarna. Like, if I can do the holiday season on three easy payments, og, I mean, just imagine how magical it can be.
OG: Costco has buy now, pay later, even at the uh, food court.
Joe: Well, and that gets, so you get
OG: a dollar 50 hotdog and Coke and pay it over time and pay for
Joe: it later. Pay for your dollar 50 hotdog later.
OG: Yeah. This is just an extension of unsecured debt and what’s gonna happen. So you go, oh, poor Klarna. Well, guess what? They’re not stupid. They’re not idiots. So what they’re gonna do is for the people that do pay, but pay late, the [00:35:00] costs are gonna arise, you know, exceptionally, to offset the fact that more and more people are just outright not paying.
So American Express, visa, Klarna, bank of America, yeah. These guys do not lose money. They take a temporary dip and go, oh, our models are a little off. We’re gonna now raise the rates to offset. I,
Doug: I’d like to see some comps between unpaid RNA debt and unpaid visa and, and other, because I honestly think this is a little bit of a headline grabbing, attention grabbing headline because it says in the, in the news piece, I read on this, and you’re right, Joe, this was now a couple of weeks ago.
If you look at the dollar figure, that hasn’t been paid, that’s outstanding in Klarna. It is astounding, and I think it’s because we pair in our heads, we pair Klarna with stupid purchases, with burritos and with, you know, socks or whatever, or put together yourself furniture at Target. And you think, well, that’s not worthy of using something like [00:36:00] Klarna.
But their total share, when they actually did their reporting, their total share of unpaid debt just went from 0.51. Of a percent, so half of a percent to 0.54. So there’s still really the, the vast majority of people using Klarna are paying on their debt. It’s just that, I think this is headline attention grabbing stuff because of what we think people are using Klarna for.
Look, I’m not saying it’s good. This is ridiculous. No question about it, but I just don’t think the news This is, don’t
Joe: the news. I think the news here is more in the trend. It’s in the trend that it went up 70%, Doug. That’s where the news is. Is it a 70% higher than it was before In a survey conducted by credit platform LendingTree last month?
41% of users said they paid late within the last year, which is up from 34% the previous year. Listen to this one, at least a quarter of buy now pay. Later users took out loans to pay for groceries. The survey found up from 14%, [00:37:00] so we went from 14% of buy now pay later people using it for groceries to. A third of buy now, pay later customers saying they use it for groceries.
No, but I
Doug: pay all of my groceries with my Visa card, so it’s still buy now, pay later. I’m paying for those groceries later.
Joe: Not at all a problem. The problem is the trend. And the trend, and this is why I think it’s a great time to talk about consumerism, because if I’m looking at numbers that are up 17% from.
Last quarter, and I’m looking at going from 14% to 34%. Doesn’t matter if you do it. The trend is more people are using this for things that I need today.
OG: So JP Morgan and their Guide to the Markets, which is a great resource for all things data, looking at consumer finance balance sheet info, they go back to the 1980.
So it’s hard to, it’s a pretty small chart, but to give you an idea, 1980 Q1 of 80. Household debt [00:38:00] service. So debt payments as a percentage of personal income. Disposable personal income was a little over 12% at the height of the great recession. Q 4 0 7 was 15.8%. So those are the 1980 to 2007 in COVID. It dropped down to about.
9%, all the stimulus money. And to your point, Joe, it’s risen from that. And as of, uh, Q1 25 is at 11%. The average of, you know, just kinda looking at the chart, trying to figure it out, the average from 2010, let’s say post recession through COVID was right about 12. So household debt service is still lower than it was, but it’s rising.
And then on delinquencies. Um, the largest increase on delinquencies is on auto loans and, and credit cards with a little bit of mortgage delinquencies, but higher than it was during the 20 teens, but somewhat on par with the s [00:39:00] if that’s how you say that. So some somewhere in there. But, uh, yeah, the trend is up into the right on things that you shouldn’t have go up into the right debt service.
So I guess Doug ultimately, you know, we probably shouldn’t be paying for our Costco. ’cause I know you and I are both Costco hotdog. Oh yeah. Do you ever get the pizza or the yogurt? Just to kinda spice up? Actually hate it. You hate the pizza? Okay.
Doug: Hate the pizza. Yeah. I haven’t gotten a hot dog in a while because ever since COVID, they stopped having onions.
I’ve used to love to, I love onions and I used to just crank the heck outta that thing. Just coat my dog in onions.
OG: Yeah. I don’t think we ever stopped that in Dallas. I have to go check.
Doug: Yeah, I don’t think mine, the couple I go to, they don’t have it anymore, so I haven’t had a dog in a while, but, but yeah, huge fan of Costco.
OG: Moral of the story here is do not use Klarna. For your Costco hotdog.
Doug: It looks like Joe is having some technical issues. The infrastructure in Texarkana, shockingly is not, which is
OG: weird ’cause he is right across the table. Right. And it’s just, it’s odd that he would have a technical issue, but he has a
Doug: different internet [00:40:00] provider apparently than we do.
He’s all like,
OG: have, have you seen, um, what was that movie? Wreck it Ralph. Did you see? Did you see Wreck at Ralph? I did not. Well anyways, the whole story of Wreck at Ralph was obviously the wreck It guy wanted to be a hero, not the villain all the time. Mm-hmm. So the whole movie was played inside a video game in an ade.
Oh yeah. I remember. So they could like go from, they could use the power cables to go to other video games, but you had to be back to your video game when the arcade opened. Uh, one of the other people protagonists in the movie was the glitch. It was this character that could like transport herself because she was, the code was screwed up.
Yep. And so she was the glitch for those of you who have watched the movie, she looks like the pixel lady is like, you know, like a pixelated thing. Uh, that’s what Joe looks like right now. He’s very, uh, he’s like the glitch. He’s, he’s just all, he’s all pixelated.
Doug: He’s pounding on the screen trying to get out his glitch game.
Yeah. He’s trying to get out.[00:41:00]
Calm down Joe. We
OG: can carry on, sir. Yeah, I think we got it from here, bro. We
Doug: can manage this. Joe, I og I wanna take us out to the back porch ’cause it kind of involves you. Oh. We got a note from Jeffrey of yellow Porsche fame. Mm-hmm. Remember that? I did see that, that discussion. Jeffrey says, hi, it’s Jeffrey with the yellow Porsche.
You spoke about Josh’s future sports car that I have listed on Haggerty Marketplace. I’m writing to confirm the story is not elaboration. It’s nearly a match to the really old song. It was a little old lady from Palo Verde. Pretty sure that’s not how the song goes. That drove it less than Sundays to church, I swear on my AF Academy.
Honor. Oh, what I swear on my as Academy Honor. No, that’s not, I don’t think that’s what he means as a former cadet, that it is all true. Thank you for the great show and all that you do. Sincerely, Jeffrey. PS a finder’s fee is a possibility. Thanks for the [00:42:00] exposure, honestly. Air Force Academy, I just got it.
Yeah, just got it. Well, thanks for your service, Jeffrey. It’s a pretty beautiful place to go to an academy. Yeah. And um. Hope that that gets sold so that, uh, I get that commission check.
OG: I mean, I don’t know who’s gonna buy an ugly yellow one, but, uh, woo. Hot take hot take hot take. If I wanted a p colored car.
No, I don’t know. Some people, some people like the, I, I always, I’m kind of torn on that. I obviously don’t have a Porsche, but. Would you wanna have like the bright candy, apple, red Ferrari? Yeah. Or do you want like the black or gray one that’s like, I know, you know, so
Doug: here’s my thought on that. Is that because you
OG: have a candy apple red pickup truck, and I know you’re all about peacocking with that thing.
Like look at, look at me. That’s not the
Doug: peacock part about my truck. ’cause it’s actually kind of a darker red, it’s not candy apple. I know it’s a darker red, but it’s all the damn chrome on it, which I honestly am not a fan of. I got that truck because of the [00:43:00] incredible deal that I got on it, and I didn’t know that I was gonna end up buying it out and keeping it.
And I honestly, I think about it every time I drive it. ’cause I feel like I’m. A drug dealer in the hood when I drive that thing, uh, no offense to any drug dealers listening to the show right now, but uh, you know when you see the new Yeah, the Ferrari, the Lamborghini, the, and it’s the brightest color possible.
It’s just screaming. Look at me and I don’t, I. I don’t like that. Buy the car if you love the performance of it or whatever, but I just, it’s not for me, the super bright color. So I would not, to answer your question, yeah, I would get the gray or the, the black. You wouldn’t go
OG: candy, apple red. You just, you know, standard color.
Yeah,
Doug: I, right. But here’s where it shifts for me is when it’s like a classic. Jeffrey’s old yellow Porsche. Yeah. From the seventies. That kind of might look cool because it almost makes it look more retro because you know, that was kind of a popular color scheme for, for those mm-hmm. Back then, or the old Lambo Kun toes, you know, those were in ridiculous colors and that car [00:44:00] is just, was ridiculous from day one.
But then it’s kind of kitschy cool if it’s in a bright color, so, so
OG: eighties or seventies.
Doug: Yeah,
OG: like Magnum pi, Ferrari. You’re going bright red.
Doug: Yes. Yeah.
OG: Yeah.
Doug: Because that’s the iconic color for this car. You’re, you’re not gonna
OG: dumb it down to like saltwater gray. Correct. Yeah. But if you got a new one, saltwater gray.
Doug: Yeah. I’m going subtle. Like I’ve been to this party before. Yeah. Like Barry Sanders scoring a touchdown. I’m, I’m just here because I love the performance of the car. Yeah, if you’re gonna get a bright colored one, you gotta park that in a garage for like 30 years. What if you’re gonna
OG: buy an airplane?
Should you go hot pink?
Doug: I would get a pink airplane probably. You get pink. You one.
OG: Alright, good. Just making sure.
Doug: Well, og, here’s what we should have learned today. First, take some advice from you and Joe trying to. There’s something I almost never say. Trying to keep up with the Joneses. Keep up with your own values.
Instead, your wallet will be thicker, but you’ll also avoid feeling shame and [00:45:00] regret on your road to financial independence. Second, buy now, pay later. How about buy now? Pay now if you’re buying groceries and hot dogs at Costco. But the big lesson, don’t get Joe’s mom dreaming about all the money you’re gonna send us to celebrate the birth of the income tax.
You think keeping up with the Joneses is bad now it’ll be keeping up with Joe’s mom. I mean, how many Harleys does one grandma need? This show is the Property of SP podcast LLC, copyright 2025, and is created by Joe Saul Sehi. Joe gets help from a few of our neighborhood friends. You’ll find out about our awesome [email protected], along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media spots.
Come say hello. Oh yeah. And before I go, not only should you not take advice from these nerds, don’t take advice from people you don’t know. This show is for [00:46:00] entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I’m Joe’s Mom’s Neighbor, Duggan. We’ll see you next time back here at the Stacking Benjamin Show.[00:47:00]
Joe: Welcome to the after show. This is part of the show where I get my internet back.
OG: Lucky us. Thank you
Joe: to the people burying the cable line outside my house. By the way, I had two different ones. I had not only the new one, but I kept the old one ’cause they told me to keep it. They managed to cut the old one while they’re reinstalling the new one.
So who knows?
OG: And the show was going so great when he wasn’t here, wasn’t it? Doug?
Joe: Damnit Foiled again. I thought you two guys speaking about Doug getting, uh, we could hear Doug getting fatter. Yelp. You guys leads to this Yelp just unveiled its top 25 burger chains in the United States. I think this is important stuff.
We need to cover 25 Iman Show. Yes. I think there will be some opinions here. They’re just naming all of them. Top 25. Well, but they’re in order. I mean, we gotta, we gotta debate whether it belongs there or not. Number 25. And most of these, we’ll just, we don’t need to stop in everyone. Number 25. Steak and Shake.
I’ve never been to a steak and shake. I have no idea.
Doug: Me neither. Me neither. [00:48:00] Move on.
Joe: Yeah. 24 checkers or rallies. Never been there. No idea.
Doug: Uh, that’s pretty deep on the list. That’s actually not a bad grease ball, that burger. So, okay. Move on. 23, which I think is related to that.
Joe: I have had, a year ago I had Carl’s Jr.
For the first time I thought that Burger was pretty damn good.
Doug: That’s Hardee’s. Carl’s Jr. And Hardee’s are the same thing and different parts of the country. And Hmm,
Joe: no, Doug’s like, no, not on that. That’s 20,
Doug: that’s 25.
Joe: Number 22 is Wendy’s. I have no problem with Wendy’s. However, being 22. Yeah, except what’s above it?
There’s some stuff above it. I’m like, no, I think Wendy’s is better. Like as an example, burger King is number 19. I don’t think Burger King’s better than Wendy’s. No way. I’ll take Wendy’s over Burger King. No way. All day long
Doug: way. Yes. Everything on Wendy’s menu is better than everything on Burger King’s menu.
Joe: And guess what beats both of them. Number 17 is McDonald’s. How does McDonald’s, right? Yeah, I don’t get it. Wendy’s gotta be in the top 10 of a national chain. Okay, keep going. By the way, [00:49:00] number 21, fat Burger. Never had that. Never heard of it. Number 20 is White Castle. That’s only at 2:00 AM that it reaches number 20 on any list.
Well, maybe
Doug: they were they, they might’ve been drunk when they did this list. It sounds like they were drunk
Joe: when they did
Doug: this list.
Joe: 18 is sonic now we have way more sonics here in the south than we had, uh, when I was in Michigan. And, uh. I like Sonic when I ate it, but I can’t not have Sonic, not get massive heartburn, so not that great.
Alright. 16 Smash Burger. The two times I’ve had Smash Burger, that’s a pretty good burger. Number 16 on the list. Ever had it? Never had it. Nope. Never had it. I,
OG: I don’t go out for burgers.
Joe: 15 Wall Burger. Never had it to Donny Walberg. Nope. 14 is Whataburger now. Whataburger. Oh gee. You’ve had a Whataburger since you moved to the South, haven’t you?
OG: But it’s pronounced Whataburger. What? It’s not, what a burger.
Doug: I don’t have the, well, well, it’s not what Burger? You’re not from Baltimore. Yeah, it is.
OG: It is. You
Doug: put an R in there.
OG: It’s there.
Doug: Okay.
OG: It’s [00:50:00] like a soft R.
Doug: Okay. I. You took me there. We were driving from Dallas to Texarkana. Yeah, to Whataburger. And I was skeptical and that was, that exceeded expectations.
That pretty, it’s a good burger. Yeah. Whataburger
Joe: is a nice burger. Number 13 is Burger Fi. Never had Burger Fi. 12 is cookout. Never heard a cookout. No. That doesn’t make sense. I have no idea what that is. They made that up. Number 11 is Jack in the box? I
OG: know, right? No. That owned by the same people that own Hardee’s.
Joe: Is j, is Jack in the box part of that same chain? If only
Doug: there was a place we could look that up. How are they? This is like dead or alive playing. Dead or alive? I think Jack in the box is outta business. They’ve been outta business since 1979. We just opened a new one in Texarkana. Of course did. Which is the sure
Joe: sign that chain is going outta business.
Yes. That chain will be outta business in the next six months ’cause we just opened up, which is dumb enough to buy these burgers, ticks or cannons.
Doug: Number 10 is Red robin.
OG: Eh, Robin would be a good, was a good burger. They’re, they’re on their way out too. Well,
Doug: but hold on. But they are, I mean, that’s a, that is a fast casual chain.
[00:51:00] That is not burger chain. That’s a totally, I know, different kinda restaurant. How does that make it in here?OG: I mean, red Robin. Did market it as a burger place though you could get chicken sandwiches and stuff. But it was a burger place. It was a burger place. It’s just, it’s a
Joe: sit down restaurant, but still sit down.
OG: Yeah.
Joe: Number nine. So
OG: Steak shake or Shake Shack or whatever. Anyways,
Joe: I didn’t even know number nine until it came to Texarkana. It’s, it’s one of my favorite burgers in town. Moya. The Moya Burger is fan. I dunno if you guys have moa. Great, great, great Burger. As is the number eight. We just got a way back as well.
So I sampled that a couple weeks ago. Way back. Burger was delicious. Here’s what
Doug: I like about this list, is my undoubtedly number one fast food burger is still in the running here for number one,
Joe: it’s like March Madness. Yeah. And Doug’s, Doug’s number one is still in it. Number seven I like, but I think the price tag is what usually takes me out.
Five guys. Five guys is a really good burger. Yeah. [00:52:00] But when I’ve gotta do a down payment on my or or refinance my house.
OG: Yeah.
Joe: To buy five guys, I don’t get it. Number six is coming to TXK, by the way, Freddy’s. When I had Freddy’s, which was in Missouri, fine, fine, fine burger chain. It’s sad how much I know about all these different, wow.
Yeah.
Doug: You drive too much. Come on hot. Now
Joe: there are still two on this list. I remember they’re coming back. I remember OG when we got hot now in Kalamazoo growing up, and I get this sack of like six cheeseburgers, right? For roughly 87 cents for all six of them. Yeah. And my mom is riding with me and she looks at me and the look at her face.
At the time I didn’t understand and now I get it ’cause my mom’s like, someday you’re gonna remember this moment. You’re not gonna be able to do that. I’m like, who cares? Let’s just unwrap these babies. And I’m shoveling those things in. Didn’t gain a pound. Now I look at a sack of, but now look at one half of a hamburger.
Night Gained weight. There’s still two on this list I’ve never heard of, including number five. [00:53:00] So Doug, yours is still in the running. Yeah, baby. All right. Top five islands. Have you guys heard of islands?
Doug: Yeah. There’re these things out in big bodies of water, Joe. Oh yeah. Heard of. And there’s some dude
Joe: and Pierre who’s just flipping hammers on the beach when you go up to I, I have no idea.
Number four, this might be Doug’s. Number four is
Doug: Culver’s. It is mine. And I’m, I definitely am, uh, pissed. I was looking for a, a more $12 word than that, but it’s just, that’s what it is. I’m pissed that it’s four, but at least it’s top five. It really should be one or two, but you go. By the
Joe: Rutberg didn’t make this list.
And root burgers keep speaking your lies in and around, in around Texas. It’s a funny, we were talking about this before we, before we went on airs, talking about this with Cheryl and we were like, the fun of this list is debating how stupid the list is. Whenever you get these, you’re like, no, no, no, no,
OG: no.
Joe: Number three is Shake Shack. [00:54:00] Yeah.
Doug: Hard. No, I like Shake Shack. Shake Shack’s, fine. I’ve had it, but it is so incredibly overrated and overpriced at best. That should be in the teens.
Joe: Yeah. Way back in Moya on this list. I thought were better. Five guys is better than Shake Shack. Number two, I’ve also never heard of the Habit Burger.
Grill the habit. Nope. Number one. You guys can predict what’s Come on. What’s the chain that we haven’t said yet? Inn out number one.
Doug: Oh yeah. It’s not better than Culver’s. I actually did a direct comparison when I was in Arizona. You went Got one of each. I got one of each. I did. And there is no comparison between those two burgers.
Culver’s is so significantly better than in Look Inn out’s a fine burger deserves to be in the top five, but it is not the number one burger.
Joe: It is not. What I like about Inn Out is not the burger by itself. ’cause actually like I like a Five Guys burger better. But Inn Out is a third of the price. Well, [00:55:00] there’s that.
So for me, Inn Out is price, you know, the value proposition for what I get. Okay. I really like, I
Doug: actually
OG: can’t argue with that. I think the last time we went to In-N-Out, it was like $8 for a burger. Was it really? Was it? No. No. I’ll take a picture of it.
Doug: Yeah. Didn’t pay that in Round Rock. I, I agree. No, I, I mean if, I don’t know what the basis was for these rankings, but if somehow value factors in, I would have to agree that that in and out combined with, you know, the burger combined with the price, but still, shake Shack is not a cheap Burger, Doug,
Joe: and it’s number three.
That’s wrong.
Doug: No, that Shake Shack’s, I think at least as much as five guys, if I’m not mistaken. My, my recollection is, but yeah. Let us know. Stackers. I wanna hear your righteous indignation about this list of all the really important things we talked about on today’s episode. I guarantee you this is who cares The thing that’s gonna get talked about the most in the basement.
I know who cares about consumerism and international funds [00:56:00] and.
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