Samza Round-Up - 10/13/2022

This Week's Round-Up

I love the articles I found for y'all this week: good balance of economic news, personal balance, and great ideas. Always love to hear your feedback on what I'm providing as well; keep those emails coming!

How to Hustle and Still Reclaim the Rest of You

I often work whenever I have free time. I get home from my office job, make myself dinner, take a nice long walk, and then settle in for another 3-4 hours of highly focused work. I do this at least 3 days a week, schedule willing. While this may sound like a lot of unforced effort, I find it fulfilling and relaxing in some weird way. I don't think I'm alone in that.

While I'm working on non-career-related items at home, many professionals today seem to put in the same number of crazy hours on their careers. Technology today has blurred the line between personal and work, with many business owners and suits having total access to their work lives at all hours of every day. If they get an email late at night, there's really no reason not to respond at 2 am. This creates an environment in which they feel like they are "hustling" at all hours of every day and night, and can be exhausting. This article delves into the addiction of hustling, and how to set appropriate boundaries around your work and personal life. An interesting read, if nothing else.

Paycheck-to-Paycheck Consumers Rethink What’s Essential

More than 60% of American citizens live paycheck to paycheck, and about 25% of the population struggles to meet their current monthly expenses. The interesting part of these numbers? The portion of people who are living paycheck to paycheck has increased since last year, but the percentage of people struggling to pay their bills is down 7% since September of 2021.

What does this mean? Inflation has brought down the take-home earnings of a lot of people, evidenced by the increase in "p-to-p" consumers. At the same time, discretionary purchases and "fun money" expenses are being sacrificed in order to stabilize the financial picture of these low-earning consumers. Takeaways for you: be careful when considering investing in companies in the "discretionary" category: things like high-end clothing lines, restaurants (outside of fast food), alcoholic beverage businesses, cosmetic product companies, and consumer electronics. A wise man once told me to watch Starbucks' stock when wondering if the market was going through a recession: this stock is the quintessential discretionary income equity. Starbucks is the first thing people cut out when financially strained.

When Will the Price of Electric Cars Come Down?

With all the talk of climate change in the tabloids every day, the topic of electric cars is always right around the corner. Most people find them nearly impossible to afford, but this article outlines a theory on how the prices of these cars could match gasoline-fueled vehicles by 2025. I don't agree with some of the premises of the article, but I want to provide relevant items for my readers on real-world news, so take a look.

Idea of the Week - 3D Printing

Have a 3D printer and want to make some money? There are a number of ways that an average person can make money with this machine, including printing educational models and selling them to schools (think topography, medical models, and scientific molds), 3D printer reviewed, YouTube channels, 3D scanning for reverse engineering, renting our your machine, selling digital models, or selling personalized products.

No, I don't have a 3D printer. No, I'm not actually planning on starting a 3D printing business anytime soon. But yes, this is a fascinating business model, and it demonstrates a point I will never stop making: money has never been so accessible with the democratization of technology and the internet. Have a skill or niche technical skill that people will pay for? You can do the same thing with that skill that people with 3D printing skills do.

Sell products directly to consumers or businesses, start a YouTube review channel, rent out your assets, sell digital templates, or offer customization services on a platform in which you have expertise. Seeing the world through these lenses is truly revolutionary.

Podcast of the Week - The Next Generation

Want to listen to some 20-something finance bros talk about making money? Then this show is for you. Hosts Connor and Gio are quick-witted and have interesting guests on weekly. Great show I use to brainstorm ideas and consider my own direction with my businesses.

This week's content is sponsored by Kickflips. Kickflips is your one-stop-shop for all things reselling; get access to hot leads, flipping guides, drop dates/times for sneakers, consoles, tickets, etc., and much more. All this for just $30 a month. I made my subscription cost back in profit within 5 minutes of joining the channel, and you can too. Check out Kickflips here.

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