0:06 Welcome back to a very financially sound episode of Careful Boys. Uh today we have the outcasts with us. I Here's the question. At at some point, like what's the time that you thought you were balling, but you were actually still poor? You know, like where you It was like maybe one of the first times that you bought something expensive and you really believed that like, "Oh damn, this is kind of I got money." But then in the grand scale of things, you really don't. Oh, I got you right here. Promise. Please tell us. Dietrich's uncle helps me to buy a car, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the thing is he's up in like near San Jose or something like that. Like El Grove? Exactly. So I'm like, "Yo, I'm about to get a discount on this Jeep, right?" So I I fly up there in
0:57 order to drive back down. Uh black Jeep you got? Black Jeep, yes. First car I ever bought like just over 10 years ago type thing. So I fly up there and then I I meet with him. He sends me over to his guy over at like Jeep blah blah blah, right? And this other sales person there too. This is when I was like smoking weed and all that. Um after like I buy this Jeep, he's also like, "Yo, like you smoke or whatever?" And I'm like, "Wait, what?" Yeah. Right? And then he goes and he gets me a small nug and he even gives me one of those like one-time use disposable like bowls or whatnot. It's a rainy day. I just remember it vividly. Maybe it's cuz I was high. But anyways, I I I smoke in the car. Uh I get lit and this is my first big boy purchase ever, right? So like being high, the only reason why I give that detail is cuz you got to understand like everything's elevated, emotions as well. And I start driving away and I realize
1:47 that like I finally bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Yeah. And I literally What's the What's the total of that at the time? Like what does that cost? Well, at the time I maybe put like $7,500 down. Down, okay. Which is like That's crazy. And it's like a It's like a $55,000 car in terms of like that like trim package and all that stuff. Right? And I remember like partying by myself. I like blasted the music and you know when you get your like euphoric hysterical kind of like, "Yeah!" Like you vibing out? I was like vibing out and celebrating. No, that's great. And the funny thing now is like it's I mean it's just a Jeep Grand Cherokee. But when did you get the feeling of Oh, you wanted that balling? No, that's dope. Well, was it like It was also later that year that I thought um this was the You
2:39 know how I told you the story a long time ago that uh I thought that this was my best financial year ever, but the thing is I didn't really know how to do things with my taxes and all that stuff, right? So I was saving like, you know, X amount of cash. I probably like saved like 50 grand in cash that year and I thought to myself like, "This I got a car and I got some moneys." But I didn't know how to ████ do anything tax-wise. And then I had to pay $34,000 in taxes and And so all my dreams, everything that I had had plans for, you know, I was like, "I'm moving up in the world." Now I'm like back I pulled that money up right back out of my savings, paid it off and I was so pissed. You know my first thing to do is cuz I had no control. I was like I was so angry. I was like, "I'm going to pirate some movies right now. I'm not That's right. That's right. I'm not paying for this entertainment.
3:29 What sucks is like you you could be have your best financial offensive year, but if you don't have your best financial defensive year, you could end in a net negative. And that's something no one ████ tells you at all. Yeah, you're like, "Oh, I crushed this year." And you're like, "Oh wait, wait, how much is the taxes or whatever or this or that?" And you're like, "What the f███?" That's the ultimate wake-up call is when you have to get your tax bill and then you're like, "Oh dude, I ████ up. I didn't save enough money." But But that was the most expensive lesson that I'm like most grateful for in a sense. Like that that made me like obsessively psycho about learning about like tax code and random ████ that I always thought was such a bore. Oh ████ You guys are good financially? Need some tips on that. Like how do I not have taxes? So when we got here, we were like
4:19 afterwards like I got like 30% of my paycheck? Like our whole That's a lot. You're going to love California. a third of it. And honestly, the biggest thing or like mentality shift for me was realizing that it's a game, right? And like know what you need to know? Everybody is is forced to play We're all on the board game and like the people who are winning that game, they're just playing with cheat codes. It's not cheating like the game developer put in cheat codes and if you're if you're down to discover what they are, then you're just playing a more different game. Like I'm like, "Oh ████ these are There's just cheat codes for everything." Yeah. Like the medical bill. Exactly. It's It's an actual game. But it's possible. Yeah. Here's something that might blow your brains because if you don't live in California, you don't have to worry. But like in California, like the highest tax bracket it's 13% for your income
5:09 tax. Um that means you're working from January until March just to pay that tax. So your January and February, call it working for free if you want to. ████ great, huh? I love it. I love California. This is my best year yet. I'm just working for free. January through March. Q1 is for California, baby. Never thought of it that way. Oh, cool. That's tough, dude. That's all right. You're like, "Oh s███." And the crazy thing is if you really think January through March is like for California, it's like April's also where you pay your taxes. Not if you get an extension. Oh my god. Oh yeah, that's for That's totally us. Like afterwards we're like paying for Anthony's core sales and stuff and then we're like, "Oh shoot, taxes." What we're dealing with now.
5:59 Uh yeah, and I'm like, "Oh, I'm so stressed out." Cuz I'm like It does get easier and then once you understand the game, it's Yeah, it is our first year dealing with taxes, so Just got to just bite our tongue. Dude, you know what's really funny? And I I always remember this is like so stupid. So in 2009, when I um I bought that DeLorean, so that I My one of my dreams is to have the Back to Future car and it popped up and it I got it really cheap. I got it for like $15,000 like straight up. That was probably half the money I had. Yeah. 50%? That was like half all of my money. Hey, you a gangster, dog. What is that gangster? Half of your money? That's what I mean. For a DeLorean, that's some like G ████ But then it didn't equate like I was still at the time where I thought that was a lot of money already.
6:50 But it was also your dream car, so you're like, "F███ it." Yeah, but like that's literally one half of my total everything money. I didn't have any stocks or nothing. Like I was so young. I was just like, "Dude, So young. whatever. Cool, let's do it." But it didn't cause me any hardships. It just I didn't realize it until like later that year that I was like, "That was not smart because I got to pay to fix this thing now." So there'd be like some months where it was just sitting there because I just couldn't afford to fix it cuz I had to like live life and I'm like, "Well, I guess I have it at least." Yeah, it was such a waste for a little bit. So that it's I took It took about I'd say maybe nine years until that car was like perfect because I I I fixed it up so slowly. Nine years? Was there joy in the journey? What's that? No, it's the friends we made along the way.
7:42 But I think the The funny thing that That's why it fits me so well about the thinking you're balling because like people thought I was balling too because they don't know how cheap I got it. And at the same time like it doesn't run. And it's just sitting there. I'm like, "Yeah, you know, I got to I got to I got 50 50k. You know, but it's like it's just sitting there in my apartment. I was like, "Damn, I got to like rethink finances now." Yeah, but all that time that like kids or whatever was like, "Oh, I want to be like that." It's like, "Nah, I don't think you do, man." I don't think your dad would do this. I think mine was um it was like a bunch of little things added together. This might have been like 2014 or 2013. But um I live I was living in downtown LA at the time in one of the high-rises. So I was like, "Okay, before like me and
8:33 Jill settle down, I want to live like in the city and then kind of have a feel of city life." And uh the place I was living in was pretty expensive. It was like like six grand a month. Yeah. And um Yeah, it was It was really expensive. And at that time I think I was only dealing with numbers and absolutes. Like Like this is the amount of money. I never thought of money in terms of the rate of money coming in and the rate of it going out. So it was just like if you looked in your bank account and you had a good amount of money, you're just like, "Oh, that feels safe." Yeah, right, right. You just look at that, right? Like if you have like like 200 Gs or whatever. Or you just You just don't look. Yeah, you're just like, "Oh, that feels safe." But then that year I think I started to like um I don't know what caused me to, but I was like at that apartment and then we
9:24 have like a automatic deposit and then I just set it automatic deposit and it would just take like six Gs out every month. And then I remember going like, "Wait, six Gs ████ 12 months a 70 Gs a year. Oh, 70 GS A YEAR JUST ████ GOING OUT." AND I SO THAT'S WHAT I HAD ALL THESE CRAZY life balls. The lease has been signed for so long. I'm like, "70 Gs a year? I'm like, in two years, that's 140 Gs. That's a ████ down payment on the house." And then I remember going like, "Wait, well, how much does JK pay for the office?" I'm like, wait, 10-15 Gs? What the ████ And then it was just like things started to go into like the rate of things rather than the absolute number. For real. Put down a numbers, they the money just goes. Like it's so yeah. Crazy. And then I'm like, yeah, it's not even about how much cuz if you you if
10:15 you have a million dollars, but if you spend 100 Gs a month, it's only going to last 10 months. Yeah. You know, so it's not even about the the absolute amount of number. It's the rate the rate of things going in and out is more important than what you actually have. And that that that was like the first big defining year of I think looking at finances in that way. Dude, that year sounded really expensive cuz you had the JK big office and your apartment We spent like 500 Gs building the whole sound stage. God, dude. But I was that's when I got have done it for 5K, man. And you would have pocketed, too. And I would have embezzled, too. But that's when I got out of that place. I was like, we got to get out. Yeah. And then that's when I we first bought our the our first house in Monterey Park like our our first apartment. I need to get the ████ I was like, dude, 2 years
11:05 and I'm going to be spending 140 Gs if that's a down payment. was 2 years at that apartment? It was 1 year. But you were there, too? No, I only got up to um maybe like 7 or 8 months. And then I got really lucky. My dog wouldn't stop barking. Meatloaf, I don't know if you've ever met Meatloaf. No, I didn't. But whenever I leave, he'd be like like the whole ████ time. And then they're like, hey, if your dog doesn't stop barking, I think we're going to have to kick you out. I'm like, I don't think there's anything I can do. Obviously, he's going to keep barking. I'll have to break the lease. So I think we might just have to BREAK THE LEASE. SO IT WAS LIKE A PERFECT IT WAS a perfect It was a perfect storm. Wow. I got to break the lease cuz I couldn't get the dog to stop barking and we got out of there. Did you do that at the studio, too? No.
11:56 Was Meatloaf there? Hey, the dog's barking. You can't I can't break the lease. He won't shut up. Yeah, and there's nothing you can do. Come on. Yeah, that one was crazy. Anyone else got any sad stories like that? Riches to rags stories? Well, like well when you think you're riches, but you're really still rags, ultimately. I think the first time I got business class, like I knew I was a peasant. Like the way that I act cuz I'm like, dude, I'm going to ████ whatever packet they have on my chair, I'm taking that ████ Oh. For sure. Cuz like well, first it was a deal. I got it on a deal. It was like 3 grand round trip to Japan Singapore Airlines. Wow. ████ And then I was just like, I'm staying awake for the whole thing cuz I
12:47 want everything. Like I want the most out of it. Dude, I'm getting everything, right? All the food, whatever. But as I'm acting like this like low-class peasant that's never seen anything luxury ever in his life, I'm looking around and I'm just like, they're sleeping through the whole You don't want the skewers? Can I eat yours? SAUTé. DID YOU SEE THE SLIPPERS IN THE WOW. And then the like I literally went just for fun, I went down to like the the laying thing and then I went back to the normal thing and I probably did that just over and over just so I could be like, I could sleep if I want to, but I'm going to keep staying up, right? And I'm like, dude, this is like ████ dope. Well, when I saw how everyone else was acting, I felt a little shame of like oh, I feel like the
13:40 the the one that's kind of the the trash that's here. And then like I'm just like doing everything, right? And then everyone's like I know they weren't looking at me. They let anyone in here now. Yeah, right? Yeah, but I'd be feeling like that though cuz I'm like, well, I can pay for it, but like do I belong here? Like I didn't feel like I belonged, you know? Yeah, but I loved it though. The whole time I was Well, at least you appreciated it. Yeah, you're not jaded, at least. And also another one would be walking into luxury stores. I felt like wrong. Like I don't belong there and they're going to tell me to leave. They're laughing at you, yeah. I just wanted to look. Yeah. And then I actually bought something. Yeah, and then I was like, you know what? That's crazy. Like they treat you so VIP at these places and then I'm like, wow. But then I didn't feel worthy of the customer service. Oh. I felt like I
14:32 should have been nice to them. Cuz I'm like, thank you for letting me shop here, you know? Yeah. But then when you look around and see like what other people are buying and how many they buy, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the volume when you see people with bags like my god, it's crazy. I would ask a lot like so I went to the Omega store and I would ask like the sales people, what is the craziest thing you've seen? And they'll be like, oh, when there's Chinese buyers, they'll be like, if they like a watch, they'll buy the whole thing. What do you mean the whole thing? So like let's say there's a line of Like they want the whole stock. What? So no one else can have it. of stock? Yeah, they don't just want Yeah. Maybe they might Yeah, yeah. How many watches is that typically? I don't know, man, but that if they like a design, they'll be like, how many of
15:22 those designs do you have? And then it might be a $40,000 watch or whatever. And then they'll be like, oh, we have like five in store. Okay, I'll take it. Wow. Just like that. You know in Japan, you know how like there's like Chrome Hearts like jewelry? But you know how if you like go into all those places with Chrome Hearts, all the new ████ is always either sold out or it's resale? Yeah. I asked them cuz I was looking for some Chrome Hearts stuff, even though I can't afford it. And they said that when the new stuff really drops, people from China just fly to Japan, buy out everything, resell in China. Wow. That's why it's so high demand. Yeah, I well, I didn't see I didn't know this whole world. Cuz I was just like, dude, like to me the way I see all the shopping is like, okay, you save up and when it's special. So you thought the people that were working the retail in Omega or all these
16:12 stores were also rich? I no, no, I don't know about the sales people, but I thought the way people shopped luxury, I thought it was like you save up for many years and it's a special thing that you do. I didn't understand that people were so rich that this is just going to the grocery store for them. Yeah, that it's like relative to you buying a Seiko or like a G-Shock, yeah. And I didn't know that there were $100,000 purses. I didn't know that there were like these numbers. I can't even like understand. Like I knew there were cars that were supercars that I like I knew that, but like like I just didn't know that like yeah, like luxury items, clothes, whatever. I didn't know they made blanks that cost that much. You know what I mean? Like a polo shirt with nothing on it. Oh, like a yeah, yeah, like Zuckerberg's black shirts
17:02 how they're like thousands of dollars or something. Like it's a black shirt. Yeah, they're not normal black shirts. You're wearing a black shirt. I know. The black tee they're able to find out what specific black tee he was wearing. Yeah, cuz everyone was making fun of him that his outfit's so plain, but then they're like, no, you don't know what he's wearing. It's not a normal black tee. It's not a normal It's a shock aware shirt, dude. And I didn't know I didn't know this until my 30s. It's Kevlar. Yeah, I didn't know this until my 30s. for ████ thousands of dollars. Yeah, I just never stepped into the world of like luxury ever. Yeah. But when you go in and like it's just the whole And the the crazy thing that also blew my mind is the stuff in the store are for peasants. The special ████ is you got it's invite only. So like like LV, all these other, you know, they when
17:52 they get their special edition stuff, um they have a they call directly to like the prince or the the ballers and say, hey, you're a VIP customer. Real ballers. Yeah, I have this $200,000 wallet waiting for Where they bring the rack to you and you choose and they leave that there. I didn't even know tell you there's like there's only 100 of these in the world. Yeah, yeah, you buy by rarity. And yeah, just all that the that whole like world of like luxury and and everything and then also the VIP stuff at hotels and casinos and all that. I was like, they have different entryways and different like suites and places they can stay that we can't. Like that's the crazy stuff. the back entrance to the LAX terminals, that was mind-blowing. What? Celebrities
18:44 when they there's a different way they go. You you went with Yeah, yeah. There's a different like area that you go and you pass through all the other stuff. You guys are making me feel real poor right now. Um I appreciate it. ████ you. ████ you. ████ me. I think it's like $60,000 a year, but there's a different there's a different entrance and and waiting room for Yeah, there's a different waiting room. for like celebs. Or like any VIP. And then you You see other celebs in there waiting, too. Yeah. Yeah, it's weird. And I was like, dude, yeah, that whole world is like, wow, I I had no idea. Right. Cuz I thought like buying a first class ticket on a plane is rich, right? And then you go, wait, people own planes? Shut up. There's always more and more and more that's like Yeah. Like you know when you look at like Zillow in the
19:35 wrong area, you're like, wait, that's a runway. This guy's house has a runway? One of the craziest things I heard, I was at like this uh fitness entrepreneur like mastermind like event thing. And then one of the guys that he was bringing up, he's from Canada and he he works in America and he's like talking about certain like tax things or like he's just bringing up certain crap and we try to like solve each other's problems. The main guy in there, he owns a um or like the the highest level guy in there, he owns a meal prep company and he sponsors the UFC. So I won't name who he is but then you could probably put two and two together. I think I know who he is. so he's at he's at that kind of level. Later on when we have like water cooler talk You know when the meeting is like done and you just kind of have side convos? Uh-huh. We were in the side convo area and I
20:25 hear him go to that guy and he goes, "Oh, that's actually a easy easy thing. He's like I can get you US citizenship like literally in 2 days." What? And then he was like, "What? How?" And then he goes, "Well, first you have to just it's it's pretty easy. There's like this I guess rule book of um you know what they call like when when something happens in the ocean, what is it called? Like international law or whatever? Oh, maritime? Maritime law. Maritime law or whatever. He goes, "You book a private flight. No one's on the plane. Um you get a notary and a whatever. You fly to like US Virgin Islands or something like that because it's a US territory. The person notarizes whatever thing. You get there and then they'll sign it and then you'll get a passport literally in like 24 or 48 hours." What? But you just need 500 Gs. So he goes, "If you have 500 Gs, you can get a passport." You could buy your citizenship. And I was just like
21:15 what the ████ am I listening to? MARK, ARE YOU OKAY? MARK. I WAS LIKE YEAH, I WAS LIKE DUDE, people are living in a different world, man. Yeah, we don't have access to that. My friend was ████ bro. Cuz they know all these other rules that and we're just trying not to jaywalk and ████ And sometimes you still do. They know all these other rules I'm not even Are you guys in the top 1%? Are you guys top Me? No. Where? What if they are and they just hit you like, "YEAH, WE ARE." I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT AT ALL. HE'S TELLING HE'S TELLING PEOPLE HE'S THERE'S one uh there's one billionaire who like goes and like parties all the
22:06 time and does business meetings international stuff but he always parties, right? And he's like he's an older dude but he's like super down to ████ But every but every Great personality trait. Wow. He's like the like according to this situation like 10 straight 10s are always trying to like young you know girls are always trying to get pregnant because you're just trying to be with the a billionaire or something like that. But he's always down to ████ so there's like he has a process and like a a list of things and like making sure things get tested a certain way and protection a certain way and then even the after like because like he can't get people pregnant yeah but like they all want to just in case. There's a line up too. I'm like, "Can you get me pregnant?" Yeah, that's exactly what I asked him. to put some eggs in me too, dog.
22:57 It's it's a different world when you have a different like money. Yeah. He had to do NDA, driver's license, DMV, job resume, everything, background check. I got to beg chicks to have sex with me. Same. Beg my own wife. I said, "Babe, please. I really need this right now." vacuumed the living room and I wiped down the counter. And I brushed my teeth. PRETTY PLEASE? YOU SAID AFTER I DO THE DISHES. I CLEANED MY FINGERNAILS. HAS THAT HAVE you guys ever had moments like that where you thought you had a lot of money but you don't? Uh me, yeah. I was like I cuz there's a lot of rich people in Macau. Sure. There's just a girl that I I was friends with that she her grandma owns like one of the hotels in Macau so she gets like mad money. Yeah, she went like to a a luxury store
23:47 once but she like wears really normal t-shirt shorts, you know, those t-shirts probably cost like a lot of money or we don't even know, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could be made of Martian thread. Exactly. She goes into a store and then she's like, "How much is that bag?" And then the the lady was like, "It's too expensive." And then like she got so pissed off. She like threw the money in the air and was like, "I want all the bags up there." And then the lady was like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." What if that was the strategy? Oh, she's coming in she's coming in. You can't afford FOR REAL. I WAS LIKE, "That's such a pretty spot over there." Like you know like make them feel yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't afford the store's lease. OH, YEAH. AND THEN IT'S LIKE I WAS I WAS LIKE SO HAPPY that month because I I bought a
24:39 new phone with with my money and I'm like, "Oh, hi." Baller. And then this woman is just like throwing her money like, "I want everything." Just cuz of attention. Probably the cost and money that she didn't find is your phone's total. Exactly. There you go. It was I I was like, "Damn." And even like seeing like my friends that would just order whatever on the menu without looking like at the price. Whoa. They wouldn't even finish their food, man. They're like, "I'll take this and this and this and this and this." I'm like, "And this. Yeah, okay. And then they just go I'm done. Yeah. AND I'LL BE LIKE AND THEY JUST GO, "NO." DON'T MAKE US LOOK STUPID IN HERE. Can I take it to go? Yeah. Thank you. Not looking at the not looking at the price for food is still that's scary to me.
25:30 It's like getting extra guac in Chipotle. No, like yeah, I didn't grow up like we didn't even grow up with getting extra guac. Or ordering wines. Have you seen people order wines? Oh, wines yeah. That's tacky to ask the price for that. You just Do you do like a year? You just ask the year? Oh, I ask the price. I go straight tacky. I'm like, "This is good but is there a cheaper one that tastes like this?" I don't give a ████ They add up. And then buy the glass or the whole bottle, right? I don't give a ████ You know like I don't know. Maybe it's just that it doesn't look as cool. I know my worth. I beg for sex. No. Me, too. On a first date you don't be doing that ████ It's a big penis move if you're Anthony Lee. Or you go to Have sex with me, please. Have sex with me, please, please, please. What do you go to a place where you're already familiar with the menu? Oh, in and out. In and out? No trick so drinks.
26:22 GET ANYTHING YOU WANT. NO SHAKE, NO shake but no no extra large drinks. What did you think? Not impressed. Most people aren't. Most people aren't. Burger? Shake Shack or Shake Shack? Cuz in New York you got Burger uh Shake Shack's pretty good. I like Shake Shack. I like even the fries. I don't know if you have ever had BurgerFi? It's like in BurgerFi? I think it's a Florida thing. BurgerFi. BurgerFi. Is it Is it Smashburger or what kind of burger is it? I think it is Smashburger. Yeah, it's really good. And then their fries are good. I think the thing with In-N-Out is like their fries are very like plain. Not good? Yeah. The price point's good though. It's pretty good. They're real potatoes. It's very affordable burger though. There's salt there. It's honestly a nostalgia thing. We were like, "We need salt for this."
27:15 That's always been a thing. I thought I was balling buying things like In-N-Out. High school and college, yeah. That is at high school. I remember the first time eating at Denny's with my friends. I thought I was balling. Yeah, me, too. At a sit-down place? That's fancy. I was like And you only ask for water. Oh, dude, do you remember Carl's Jr.'s for a second had something called the $6 burger and that was a baller's like symbol. If someone saw you eating that they're like, "Dude, that was six bucks." That's a deal, man. That was the most expensive burger you could get at the time. For fast food. You're like, "I'm working now." They literally called it the $6 burger. It was a flex. Now all burgers are like $19. I think the first time I did my nails, too, I was like, "Damn, I'm paying so much for nails." And people do this weekly like
28:05 every other week. To be honest, even buying Chinese food, I'm like, "I can't believe I'm paying like 20 bucks for fish balls right now." It's like because it's like you know it's very cheap food in in Macau. Well, how much is it in Macau like just like off the When we grew up like how much? Few cents, you know? US dollars like $10 for fish balls. I don't know my aunt or no. It's if you if if it was like normal I mean it would be cheaper, you know? Damn. Please let me have sex. Please.
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