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Speaker 1: Consumers just have to be you know, they have to

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hold themselves accountable. Yes, the FTC is constantly going after

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some of these bigger companies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,

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but at the end of the day, we have to

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protect ourselves. Go through your credit card statements, go through

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your bank accounts, and if there's something that you don't recognize,

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you and I spoke before you can call your bank.

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Speaker 2: You are listening to Carrie Letz's Financial Survival Network where

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00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:29,760
you get valuable information you just can't find anywhere else

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00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,920
to thrive in today's trying times. You need the Financial

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Survival Network now more than ever. Go to Financial Survivalnetwork

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dot com and get your free newsletter and gift. Financial

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Survival Network now more than ever.

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Speaker 1: And welcome.

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Speaker 3: You are listening to the Financial Survival Network. I'm your host,

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Kerry Letz and hey, are you over subscribed? How many

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subscriptions do you pay per month? How much is it

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costing you? Do you have any idea? If you don't,

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or you're thinking about it or concerned to the least,

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then you're going to want to hear from my next guest,

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Paul Oster better Qualified dot com. Paul, great to have

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you back on the show. So how many subscriptions do

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you have?

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure the exact number, but I have done,

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you know, some scouring myself, and I'll talk about a

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couple of the tips later on. But when I did it,

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I did find two or three subscriptions that I had

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no idea. I was still paying four ninety nine a month,

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eight ninety nine a month, and those types of things

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add up. So I am I am guilty as charged.

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Also guilty is charged, punt and ten right, yeah, exactly exactly,

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all right, So what do you do? How do you

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sure you know?

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Speaker 3: Do you go hire a go get another subscription to

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figure out all your other subscriptions?

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Speaker 1: Well? You I, you would. I I've spoken about that also,

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and look, we've covered subscriptions, you know, on the whole.

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The marketing geniuses figured out that the most profitable way

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to do business is via subscriptions. If you can get

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people to sign up for a monthly subscription, Amazon, all

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the major e commerce retailers offer subscriptions. They offer you savings. Right,

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there's a discount if you use a subscription based model,

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but that's only because in the long run they know

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you're going to spend more and you're going to wind

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up using the product or service longer than you would

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have if you did it month to month. So one

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of the easiest ways for your listeners to check to

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see how many subscriptions they really have. Look, it's easier

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said than done. It's certainly not complicated. It might not

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be easy, but let's start with our bank accounts. When

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was the last time, you know, we used to balance

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our checkbooks. We knew to the penny by the way,

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We used to know every penny that went out at

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every penny that came in to those accounts. Those days

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are long gone. With all of the other cashs, cash

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app being one of them, venmo Zell, all these other

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different financial institutions along with our bank accounts. Again, I'm

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not saying it's easy, but it's not complicated. You have

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to go into those accounts and see what you're being

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charged for, really go through it with a fine toothcomb. Unfortunately,

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most people skim through their statements and they're looking for

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anything over twenty bucks fifty bucks. You know, if it

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doesn't have three digits, maybe they don't pay attention. But

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when you look at the average consumer is at about

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two hundred dollars a month in subscriptions, and in recent

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surveys that's about one hundred dollars a month more than

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they were aware of. So they're paying at one hundred

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bucks a month for subscriptions that they had no idea

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they were paying. That's a lot of money. So if

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you're an if you're an Apple person, right, if you

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have an iPhone or you use Apple, you just go

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to your iPhone device, you go to settings, you tap

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Profile and then you tap subscriptions and it will go

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through all of your subscriptions, right, and Apple the people

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that's paying for right, exactly anything that you've set up

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through Apple pay. Then on if you're an Android or Google,

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you go to your Android device and you go to

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the play store, tap on the menu icon and look

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for subscriptions and all of the ones that are based

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at least you know within those you know, uh environments,

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you're going to see what you're actually paying for.

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Speaker 3: M that's crazy, Matt, it's really critm easy.

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Speaker 1: It's it is, it is And there's also I know

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for Apple, I'm not sure about Google and Android, but

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you can check a box for the renewer receipts that

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you will get aworded when those subscriptions get renewed, because

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part of the problem here is exactly that usually when

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they offer you the subscription, it's at a discount, quote unquote,

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the next time you pay for it, it's going to

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be very different. So people have to be aware of

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when those subscriptions are going to renew because that's when

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the prices usually go up. For sure, the recurring charges,

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free trials, auto renewals, monthly subscriptions, that's just a lot

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of dead weight and money for consumers. And look, we

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also have to hold ourselves accountable a little bit here

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and culpable. We get you know, we're clickbait animals. We

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get involved in stuff. You know, we want to know.

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Some of the clubs that I've seen recently, the Pickle

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of the Month club, the Cannabox for all of our

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cannabis loving friends. You can get all sorts of ganja

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accessories during Cannabi.

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Speaker 3: I don't do that, at least I don't do that,

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so I'm not worry about my cannabis or the month club.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the adult coloring Adults Coloring monthly, where they'll send

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you blank things that you're going to color in. I

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mean it gets crazy, crazy crazy. Part of the problem here, also, Jerry,

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is it they make it so simple or they disguise

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it right. So at the end of the terms and conditions,

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there's usually a box it says check here if you agree. Well,

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the box right under that usually says something like check

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this box if you'd like to subscribe to our emails

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and information and promotions. And most people are just going

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through checking the boxes because they think they have to

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check all the boxes in order to complete that initial transaction.

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Then when you go to cancel, it's not as easy

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as just checking a box. You have to go through,

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you know, numerous hurdles to get to the endpoint. Look

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the FTC as we speak, by the way, they're still

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sending Vontage customers. It's over one hundred million dollars in

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refunds because Vonage made it almost impossible to cancel their subscription.

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So one hundred million dollars in refunds from a company

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that knew exactly what they were doing. Yeah, and it's

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it's it's deceitful, it's it's fraudulent, you know, it's false advertising.

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It's just leading the consumer. By the way, at the

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worst time ever right now, when the consumer can't afford

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to do anything on top of what they're already paying for.

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Consumers just have to be you know, they have to

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hold themselves accountable. Yes, the FTC is constantly going after

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some of these bigger cumpanies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,

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but at the end of the day, we have to

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protect ourselves. Go through your credit card statements, go through

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your bank accounts, and if there's something that you don't recognize,

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you and I spoke before, you can call your bank

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and say I want to stop on these charges. As

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a matter of fact, I want a dispute. Then you

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go back and you look and you've been getting charged,

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you know, nineteen ninety five for eight months from cannabox

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and you're like, they don't think I ever signed up

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any So your banks can usually help you out. Credit

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card companies can usually help you out. But somehow you'll

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be able to figure out where the website is and

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how you ultimately have to cancel this subscription. All of

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these companies that now have subscriptions, they are on by alert.

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If a customer calls in and says, you're making it

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really difficult for me to cancel this service. They will

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help you because they know they're going to get called

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on the carpet and like v right, yeah, exactly exactly.

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Speaker 3: His vantage still around.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, vantage is still around. Week. I actually use

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vontage for my for my business phone systems.

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Speaker 3: Oh really, okay, yep, I didn't know that. I didn't

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know they were still here, all right, So, uh, you know,

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this is like insane here. I had no idea it

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was this bad.

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Speaker 1: But I'm looking through my own stuff and it's easy

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enough to do. If you use Quicken.

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Speaker 3: You just go into it, into the account, you click spending,

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and then you sort it by payee and see, like

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you know, I've got like there's so many ridiculous you know,

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some of them most of them I need, but some

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of them are just stupid. Like I I'm paying for

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a Skype number nine dollars and ninety nine cents a month.

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I mean, what do I need that for? Here? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: His Skype still a ramp.

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Speaker 3: Yeah Skype, hard to believe Microsoft owns them now, believe

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it or not. And yes, uh you know it's there's

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still a refound.

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Speaker 1: There. So listen. On top of all of this, you know,

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I think it's really important that we also touch base

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on the current state of affairs for the average consumer.

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You and I spoke about where can we save money,

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because unless you're going to get a second job, which

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you may have to to make ends meet, unless you

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win the lottery, you get an inheritance, you have to

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figure out where the money is going to come from

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to try and help you get out of debt. Right.

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Credit card debt, unfortunately now is at an all time high,

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and the interest rates are at an all time high.

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Those two things, you know, coupled together are the perfect

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storm for the consumer. Because if you're paying thirty percent

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interest daily, compounding interest, which means your your balance increases

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every day based upon the previous day's battance. So unless

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you're paying it down, you don't have to spend another time.

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At the end of the billage cycle, you're going to

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owe more than you did at the beginning of the month.

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So where's the money going to come from? Do an

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insurance protection audit. Most people are either over insured or

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under insured. Most people are over insured or they're paying

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too much. Their situations have changed, their credit has changed.

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Let's not forget insurance policies and premiums are directly tied

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to our credit scores. They don't call them credit scores,

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but it's an insurance score that uses the same information

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as our credit scores. So do an insurance protection audit,

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get some quotes on your homeowners and auto insurance and

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try and figure that out. Health insurance costs or through

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the roof. It's a little harder to shop around for

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health insurance, but there are options out there. Maybe you

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do a higher deductible, maybe you get into a health

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you know, savings account for your higher deductible premiums. If

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you don't go to the doctor or a lot, you

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don't take a lot of medications, then maybe a higher

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deductible is right for you. But you have to look

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at all of this stuff, and you know what. It

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takes a little time, but you and I spoke before.

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Stop scrolling through TikTok and Facebook and watching TV. Take

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an hour a half an hour of a couple of

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days this week and sit down and figure out your

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household budget. The typical household now is like a small business.

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You could easily have one hundred transactions a week. So

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figure out where the money is going and figure out

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where I can save some money, take a look at

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all of the things you're spending money on and ask

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for a discount. When was the last time you went

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back to your your internet provider, your cable company, you know,

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maybe change your plans. Do you really need seven hundred

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and nineteen channels when you only watch six of them?

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Maybe you don't need cable at all. Use an internet

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provider and some streaming services. Yeah, cut the court, cut

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the court. So yeah, interesting. Interesting.

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Speaker 3: And the people that come to you, what percentage of

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them are using like quick in or it's some personal

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finance manager to track all their expenses?

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Speaker 1: Is it? Most people now use it? No, Unfortunately it's not.

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And I'm a big advocate of mint dot com. It's

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a great place for people to start that basic household

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budget expense tool. Mint dot com, I'm a big fan.

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But there are others out there, you know. Fortunately, there's

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lots of different free softwares out there. I think quick

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And you pay a couple of bucks for, but you

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get what you pay for. It's a much better it's

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a more robust service, and it pays for itself by

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identifying these types of things like we just spoke about,

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let's identify all of the payees that I'm paying every

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single month my art earned money because at the end

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of day, people do not pay attention, unfortunately to their

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expenses unless it's a major ticket item. But all of

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those onesies and twosies, you could do it. You could

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do an analysis and find out, holy cow, I'm spending

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two hundred and thirty dollars a month at wah wah

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quick check these convenience stores. And my number one thing

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message to everybody for this has been going on for

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a decade. Stay out of convenience stores. Stay out of them.

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There's a reason, there's a reason why they're there. You're

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paying thirty percent premiums on every single piece of merchandise.

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And if you go in for coffee, because the coffee's cheaper,

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but that's the that's the front, that's the loss leader.

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They want to bring in by offering a dollar cup

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of coffee. But then while you're there, oh, let me

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get a pack of dumb Oh let me get this

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now it's it's somewhat painless, but you're paying a thirty

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percent premium on every single item. Stay out of convenience

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stores and you will thank me later. But do that

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spend analysis too. Like you just if you don't want

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to use the software, break out the pad and pen. Okay,

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go through your bills, go through your statements, write it

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all down if you want to write it, write it

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and then figure out what can I what can I

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get rid of? And it literally adds up. Like you said,

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you know, one hundred dollars a month is a tho.

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It's over one thousand dollars a year. WHU to at

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the you know on December thirty first, if I started

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handing out checks for one thousand dollars, people will get excited.

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Well you can literally, you can hear it yourself a chat. Yeah,

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it's so easy to do.

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Speaker 3: Hey, I've been using quick and literally for twenty five years,

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but I haven't really used the budgeting thing, and not

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a big budgeting person. But you know, I'm aware of

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every dollar I spend because I update my transactions daily,

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so I know where my money's going. But still it

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could still get away from me.

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Speaker 1: Right absolutely, you know it could happen to the best

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of us. So, especially if you're struggling, especially if you're

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trying to make ends meet, especially if you have one

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dollar in credit card debt. You have to. It's just

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it's imperative that you figure out how you're going to

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start to pay down that debt. Now, the good news

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is just like it accelerates when you're you know, increasing

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your balance, is the debt elimination process accelerates itself. So

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as you start to pay down the debt, you're paying

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down more and more of that principal ballance every dollar,

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every single week, every single day, every single month. So

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just start the process. But that also means that you're

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not putting any additional charges on credit cards. You have

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to be able to live off the income that you're making.

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We do not want to put another dollar on a

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credit card right now. It is the worst thing you

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can do.

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Speaker 3: It sounds so simple and principle, doesn't that, But in reality,

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you know, it's hard. But it requires some discipline, right,

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It requires time and discipline.

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Speaker 1: It requires time and discipline. But again, people spend more

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time planning vacations, People spend more time on social media,

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people spend more time, you know, wasting time. Then sit

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down and this is how you do. So we can

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go on and on and on for days, but if

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I were you, I would block time in a certain day.

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If it's Sunday afternoon. If it's Sunday morning, maybe you

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get up an hour earlier. One day, you spend you know,

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seven instead of watching sports or something seven o'clock on

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a Wednesday night. However you want to do it, you

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block the time, and then you hold yourself accountable. This

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is the time. I'm going to go through all my bills.

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I'm going to create a budget. I'm going to do

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a spend analysis, and I'm going to figure out how

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to get out of debt. Because if you don't do

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it that way, before you know it, people live in

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a crisis mode every thirty days. Yeah, and they live

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in a crisis mode every thirty days. You know. Oh,

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it's the end of the month and I have to

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kids are going back to school. I have to get

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Johnny or Mary. I got to get the kids book bags.

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I got to do that. So what happened They put

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it on a credit card because they didn't plan So

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at the end of the month, if you need groceries,

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they put it on a credit card because they didn't

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plan it. At the end of the month, they need

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a tank of gas. So you have to sit down

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and do this because it only gets worse. It just

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continues to pile up. It's a very very slippery slope.

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Debt is, you know, and it's painful at the end

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of the day. Unfortunately, in this country, people commit suicide

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because they're in debt. And I don't want to say

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they don't they you know, they didn't have to be

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in debt. They There's a great book out there called

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You're Broke Because You Want to Be and I love

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it because it really puts the onus back on the

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consumer of the individual, and it says, hey, you're broke

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because you want to be, and these are the reasons

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why you're broke. One of the top reasons in that

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book convenience stores and overpaying for things because your credit

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score is not as high as it should be or

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could be. You know your credit score is going to

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cost or save you money every single day, so do

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whatever you can. So start to focus on your credit.

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Figure out why your scores are so low. A lot

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of times the scores are low because the credit card

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balances are so high, but you can work on that.

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A lot of times the scores are so low because

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you don't have enough open active accounts, so there are

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there are credit builder accounts. Just like you spoke about

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quicking and mint and all of these things, there are

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credit builder accounts out there. Like there's a company called

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self and they will give you a credit builder loan.

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Then I am telling you that the end of twelve

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twenty four months, it has a tremendous impact on your

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overall credit score. So if you need to open up

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secured cards, open up secured cards, and look, you can

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raise your hand and say I need help, right, I'm

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going to swallow my pride here, and I need help.

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So that's where a company like my company, better Qualified

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comes in. If you choose to hire us, it's like

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hiring a personal trainer. Right. We do it all day,

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every day. We've trained thousands of people, right, So we've

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helped thousands of people, and we've been doing it for

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twenty years. So no one's going to judge you because

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this is your first rodeo and you're trying to figure

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this out, and you might raise your hand and say,

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you know what, I need help and at least allow us.

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Here's the best thing about the company and the program

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that we've built. The credit consultation and analysis is free

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at the end of that phone call. You're going to

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know exactly what to do and what not to do.

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It's like going to the personal train of the first time.

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They're going to give you the roadmap. Now, if you

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need help staying on that, staying on the path and

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staying on the road, then hire somebody to help you

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do it. Yeah. Our program there's yeah, and here's the

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beauty again part of I love what I do right

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twenty years later. Our program pays for itself. It's not

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a question of if it's going to pay for itself.

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It's a question of when and if you If you

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apply for a mortgage and we get your scores up

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from a six hundred to over a seven hundred, it'll

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pay for itself within a couple of months. If you're

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buying a car again, Insurance premials, security deposits. If you

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go to get your gas turned on, you go to

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get this and you don't have excellent credit, they're going

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to ask you for a security deposit or now you're

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going to get it back. But I'd rather have that

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money in my account than sitting in somebody else's account

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burning them interest. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I couldn't agree with you more. Hey, all of this

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is common sense. But as they say, common sense is

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the least common commodity in the universe. So you better

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get started now, don't hesitate to better qualified dot com.

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The link is in the show notes this interview on

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Financial Survival Network dot com. And there's no easier path

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00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,079
to financial survival than controlling your spending and raising your

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credit score. And I've got any questions comments for myself

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00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,920
or Paul The email addresses kl at Carrie LUTs dot com.

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00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,240
When you're over at Financial Survival Network dot com, sign

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00:22:48,319 --> 00:22:50,920
up for your free newsletter, Paul, Oh is a pleasure.

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Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again real soon.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Jerry, thanks for listening to carry Lets's Financial Survival

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00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:01,119
Network your solution to today's trying time. For the latest,

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00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:07,000
go to Financial Survivalnetwork dot com. Financial Survival Network now

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00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:07,839
more than ever,