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Welcome to Make Your Passion Pay, hosted by LuAnn Buechler, a seasoned leader with a master’s degree in Hospitality Administration and a recipient of the TLC Award for Leadership. This podcast is designed for business owners who have left toxic environments to create their own thriving workplaces but find themselves struggling with team building and mindset. Join LuAnn as she shares insights and strategies to help you cultivate joy and a positive mindset in your business and personal life. Drawing from her experience working with renowned leaders like Dr. Ivan Misner, LuAnn guides you in building a supportive community and mastering the art of people management. Each episode offers practical advice and inspiring stories to empower you to transform your work environment into one that reflects your values and passions. Tune in to discover how to lead with joy, foster meaningful connections, and truly make your passion pay.
Welcome everybody to the Make Your Passion Pay podcast, where we cover the sixes to make your passions pay. Those, as a reminder, are clarity, connection, building community, collaboration, creativity, and ultimate commitment to your business. And today, I have with me a new friend, David Sawallisch. Did I say that right?
(00:08:46.519) David Sawallisch: David, you got
(00:08:47.719) LuAnn Buechler: It. Yes. Hey, good. The best banker, a server, a realtor, a financial educator, and co-creator of Powerplate Savers. You'll have to tell us about that, where he and his wife, Wenyi, share their FIRE journey and practical frugality strategies. His work focuses on helping people rewrite their money scripts and build confidence through simple, intentional habits. Drawing from years of living abroad and juggling multiple roles, David brings a grounded, relatable perspective to lifestyle design and financial independence. Welcome, David.
(00:09:34.619) David Sawallisch: Thank you. Thank you,
(00:09:36.219) LuAnn Buechler: David spoke at the American Creation, of which I am a member, and he spoke about financial psychology. I was so intrigued. I thought it was a wise choice for me to share what his content is with my audience here on the podcast. Like, I'm helping people monetize their passions, David, but when it comes to managing their finances, that's out of my wheelhouse for sure. So I would like to use tips from you, as well as my audience.
(00:10:16.819) David Sawallisch: Perfect. Yeah. Um yeah,
(00:10:19.419) LuAnn Buechler: I'm glad
(00:10:19.819) David Sawallisch: that
(00:10:20.119) LuAnn Buechler: Right, financial psychology.
(00:10:22.619) David Sawallisch: So when financial psychology is just kind of the behaviors we put behind our money choices and our financial choices. One thing that kind of stood out to me, and I can explain a little more, is a lot of us just kind of have that idea that if we're earning more, we're going to finally get to that spot where we have money put aside for ourselves, and it's always like, oh, that next raise or that next big promotion or that next big purchase of all my stuff that I'm building, you know? It's if I get that one customer in, but we get there and then we find out we're still without money and without saving. So it's kind of taking that idea and unraveling why does that happen and what's the human nature behind it?
(00:11:11.319) LuAnn Buechler: Yeah, and there's lots of human nature behind it, isn't there?
(00:11:17.719) David Sawallisch: There is. And that's, as you mentioned in the intro there, we tend to call them money scripts. I know some people might not know exactly what that means, but there are different money scripts that we're kind of assigned, or that we're following throughout our lives, and we kind of bounce between them. But those are what lead to our actions, or what, I guess we've categorized what leads to people's actions, and depending on which money script we're focused on in our life at that moment in time, it's going to steer where we're spending our money or why we spend the money the way we did.
(00:11:52.419) LuAnn Buechler: Okay, so explain more. What are the different scripts?
(00:11:56.519) David Sawallisch: So in our money scripts, we would have, like I mentioned, there's four of them. The first one would be money vigilance. Money vigilance is probably the one that most people want to be at. It's where you're saving, and you're kind of keeping quiet. You're not spending too much money. You're just basically in a good spot, you're saving everything you can. Another one would be money status, and that's where we're putting our money to use to try and, I guess, show off is a good way of putting it. You're trying to use money to present, like I have this, or I can afford this, I can do this. Money worship is another one. Yes, yeah. Money worship is another one that's categorized, and that's where we believe money can solve all our problems. We are driven towards trying to always get more money. Money worship is the reason why when we watch movies and we're like, oh, that guy's got, you know, 16 million dollars. Why does he keep doing what he's doing and yet he's still out there trying to, you know, make it to 17 million or two billion or whatever they're getting to, and we are all just sitting here with our small paychecks, like oh, we could, you know, we'd be all right with that kind of money. And then the last one is money avoidance. Money avoidance is where it's kind of like, it's where that old saying comes from where we say, money is the root of all evil. And it's really, it's people who believe that money would be a taboo topic to talk about. A lot of times people can identify this in certain situations too. It's not just their whole life, but, you know, maybe at work, or maybe with your family, or with your kids, or your in-laws, you know, you just don't talk about money because it's a taboo subject at that moment in time. So those are the different money scripts that you can fall into. Like I said, it doesn't happen all at once. We're never in one category and we're stuck in that category. But those are the categories we bounce between. And the reason it's nice to recognize them is because after you know what they are, you can help adjust your mindset to, like, okay, the reason I'm feeling this way, the reason I'm thinking this way is because I'm currently in this money script, and a lot of times it just comes down to self-reflection because you don't maybe notice it at the moment, you don't notice it when you're in it, but you might be able to reflect back on something you did, be it an impulsive purchase, and you're like, oh, that's why I did that, and then that self-reflection, maybe prepares you for the next time.
(00:14:26.919) LuAnn Buechler: So self-reflection is a key word there. All too often, people just keep running their busy lives and do not take the time for self-reflection. And what I'm hearing here is that certainly in the area of our money and finance, we should be taking time for that reflection. You know, as you talked about it that evening in the presentation, I was reflecting back on my own, really, relationship with money. And I've heard similar things to this script and I couldn't quote it all, but I would say, historically, I was an avoider. And I didn't want to think about it at all,
(00:15:14.219) David Sawallisch: and
(00:15:14.919) LuAnn Buechler: just prayed that good things would happen.
(00:15:17.919) David Sawallisch: Right,
(00:15:18.319) LuAnn Buechler: Right? I'd be able to make ends meet and I met an accountant who said no, you gotta, you know, look at your profit and launch. Gotta look at what's coming in, what's going out, and then you know what you need to make. And I'm like, ah, and she put me into a new script of being able to monitor it. Maybe that's the status.
(00:15:43.019) David Sawallisch: I think so, and like I said, you're probably bouncing between them. I'd put you probably at status or vigilance with that one because now all of a sudden you're aware of it, you're conscious of the money,
(00:15:52.119) LuAnn Buechler: Conscious awareness of it. Yes. Yes, and another coach that I work with, we talk about hypervigilance where you're over the top worried, pinching pennies, what have you, right?
(00:16:07.819) David Sawallisch: Kind of conversation.
(00:16:09.919) LuAnn Buechler: Oh, and I remember when you presented, I said I want to get to a level where my relationship with money is pure.
(00:16:17.719) David Sawallisch: Joy, joy. Yep. Yep. I remember you bringing that up and that's I love that. I love to add that in there. And maybe the next time I make this presentation, I will add a fifth category that says, once we can get through these, there can be Joy. You know,
(00:16:31.019) LuAnn Buechler: Right, joy that you are aware of where your money is at and how you're creating that money and where you get to spend it. You get to choose to spend it where you want to. I think is what my mindset would want to be, that you no longer have to be hyper vigilant about every penny and you can spend and yet still know that
(00:16:58.419) David Sawallisch: you're okay.
(00:17:00.119) LuAnn Buechler: Yeah,
(00:17:00.619) David Sawallisch: exactly.
(00:17:02.319) LuAnn Buechler: The future, right. The worship sounds a little more like greed to me.
(00:17:08.919) David Sawallisch: It does. And it's, you know, it can be both sides. Though, I mean people who fall into money worship, they might be greedy. Like I said, it could be someone that already has more than enough or what we would consider enough, and yet they're still trying to get more. But it could also fall into people who don't have enough, so their only choice is to have money worship. Someone who, you know, they are living paycheck to paycheck, so it seems like they have money worship because all they can think about is, I need more money. I need more money. But it could be a reality for them too. So yeah, I think I could see it on both ends of that spectrum. Yeah. So maybe as they move up in life because they had that mindset early on, I think they continue that mindset without knowing it. So now all of that and they have enough, but because of their past and their history, they think I still need to keep this mindset going—a scarcity mindset, almost.
(00:18:00.519) LuAnn Buechler: Ah, yes. Yes. Now you're talking language I'm used to, right? Scarcity mindset. I think the other thing that was popping into my head is most people that I interact with use that word 'security' of, I want to feel financially secure, right?
(00:18:21.219) David Sawallisch: and
(00:18:21.919) LuAnn Buechler: Still understanding and defining what that means to you.
(00:18:27.419) David Sawallisch: Write
(00:18:28.319) LuAnn Buechler: Morton, right, because what is financially secure to one person versus another could be completely different, and their definition of what that is. Then lots of people will use the word financial
(00:18:43.819) David Sawallisch: Freedom.
(00:18:45.219) LuAnn Buechler: I think
(00:18:45.619) David Sawallisch: that
(00:18:45.719) LuAnn Buechler: freedom is, is the joy?
(00:18:49.219) David Sawallisch: Yes. Yes. And that's ultimately what our blog is about, trying to pursue our version of what financial freedom— we phrase it as financial independence. Essentially the same thing, it's being free of that financial burden of wondering, you know, do I have enough for this, constantly watching things, and I don't know if it would fall into that money worship category that you are trying to be so frugal because sometimes, I mean, it plays a role in your life too, to be doing
(00:19:21.819) LuAnn Buechler: that.
(00:19:22.019) David Sawallisch: Yeah, especially early on. But yeah, it's definitely one of those things where I think, as you mention, everyone kind of has their own version of it. And that's why I mention it's personal finance because it's personal, it's each person has their own version of their finances and you and I could sit here all day and talk. Well, this is great. This is a good idea. But, you know, we don't know everyone who's listening and what stage of life they're in and what stage their finances are in, and ultimately what their goal is because your goal could be, you know, I just need ten thousand dollars a year. I'm going to go live in a little shack down by the
(00:20:01.019) LuAnn Buechler: river
(00:20:01.219) David Sawallisch: and you could be just as happy as you and I, you know, living in a little McMahon and doing that for 10 million a year. So, all of us have different different goals and that's what makes it personal.
(00:20:12.219) LuAnn Buechler: You mentioned your blog. Tell my listeners about your blog?
(00:20:16.119) David Sawallisch: Yeah, yeah, so we brought that up. We started a blog. It's called the Power Plate Savers. On how we got that name, we moved back to the States. One of the biggest shocks for my wife and me was that I lived abroad for nine years, and when I left in 2014, prices were
(00:20:44.104) LuAnn Buechler: a lot
(00:20:44.504) David Sawallisch: different than they were when I got back in 2023, like I experienced the full brunt of inflation, like it was I remember leaving and thinking you know like a soda at the gas station was a dollar now. Now it's like 299 to 499 what you're getting. So um, Yeah, when we came back it was it was definitely a sticker shock. And so I do have a job at a bar here in town and we discovered that one of the dishes they have is called a power plate. Chicken bowl pesto, chicken power play bowl and my wife would have me, bring that home is my shift meal and we would divide it into four. Mix it with
(00:21:25.604) LuAnn Buechler: some
(00:21:25.704) David Sawallisch: frozen veggies that we bought at, you know, Walmart or wherever. And with that was our lunches for the week. So every time I work, I bring home this chicken power plate and a lot of my co-workers were just, I mean, they were in awe. They're like, why do you order the same thing every single time you work? And it just became funny, it became a part of us and I really liked it because it showed that just making these little small choices was something that actually provided money and influence to our life. And that's one thing I do like to tell people too, is like when it comes to saving money, lunch to me, it never meant much. Like I get a 30-minute lunch break from my job and so I'm not out enjoying a nice steak lunch every day. I could be happy with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So to take this rice bowl in, you know, it's a little bit better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yeah. And it's just something that I didn't have to spend, you know, 15 or 20 dollars ordering in something on DoorDash or going out to fast food, which is probably a little less unhealthy and
(00:22:26.404) LuAnn Buechler: and now or
(00:22:27.904) David Sawallisch: sorry, a little more unhealthy. Oh yeah, yeah. So it was, um, yeah, it's just, it was kind of nice to have this thing and I always tell people you got to be intentional with your money and that's a lot of what the blog is about. It's like, there are people who really want to enjoy their lunch. Maybe that's their time in the day where they're away from family, they get to enjoy it. It's their peaceful time. By all means, take your lunch and enjoy it because that's for you. That's your time. But for us it wasn't, but then there's other things that we splurge on and we cut back on this. So I think everyone's got to find that in their life where they're like, I can splurge here. I'm going to cut back
(00:23:03.204) LuAnn Buechler: here. Absolutely.
(00:23:07.204) David Sawallisch: Absolutely and it's making
(00:23:08.904) LuAnn Buechler: those choices consciously, yes. A lot of my coaching work is around conscious choices because all too often we are on autopilot in this busy world. Like I said, just trying to keep up with
(00:23:22.904) David Sawallisch: our
(00:23:23.404) LuAnn Buechler: daily tasks, right? Yeah. And so, just quickly want to go back and say the blog is Plate Savers, not Power Play like hockey, Plate Savers, and his lunch example tells you why it's named that, right? As one little habit that they changed in their life to save money on lunch. And where is lunch money? Would you like that plus being more healthy? So you have some other things. I'm looking at the website right now, you have other things on the website, the
(00:24:07.804) David Sawallisch: wealth hub, tell us about that. So the wealth hub is, we kind of divided it into, we wanted to share travels and we also wanted to share kind of things that we've discovered as little hacks in our life and financial hacks. I know it sounds funny and one of my blogs in there, I talked about, I'm like, oh, like I heard about a house hack when I was first discovering this financial independence, which by the way, it's only seven years old to me. I had no idea about finances prior to this. So if you would talk to me seven years ago and said, David, do you want a house hack? I probably would have thought that we're gonna break into somebody's house using like a computer or something, like, I don't know how a house hack could be. So, but what it really intends is that we're using your primary house or your housing costs as a way to earn money. And so that's on the wealth hub. It's one of mine. I think I talked about four categories that can save the most money for the everyday American, or the average American, and I break it down into housing is probably number one. I think most people would agree with that. Your housing is the largest cost whether you're renting or whether you have a mortgage. It's costing you the most. If you have your house paid off, maybe not. That's probably where you get me. Number two is probably transportation. Number three is probably groceries and food and then number four is taxes, and now they can, they're interchangeable. Obviously, some people might pay more taxes than other people, but those are four areas that I found and I was like, I found a way to save money in all four of them and I know everyone thinks about the car, it's pretty easy. You have a paid off car, but I also don't think we always think about the other cost saving effects of having maybe an older model car, which not only comes from it being paid off, but it comes from, like your registration taxes, your insurance. Things are really cheap when you have older cars. Yes, I have to pay to repair them every now and then but I think one repair that costs five hundred or a thousand dollars is worth, you know, two months of payments to somebody making a car payment so I can get a good year out of that repair that I'm you
(00:26:17.604) LuAnn Buechler: Know, 10 months ahead on payments. So awesome.
(00:26:22.004) David Sawallisch: So these hacks are all on the wealth hub. They are, they are. And I mean, there's other things on there. We put in there certain investments we've made. I do eventually need to get around to writing about a bad investment I made, and I think they're hilarious because every single person I've gotten to work with or read their blog, if there's other bloggers out there, everyone says, okay, don't do this. I did this, please don't do. Yes, you know, start here and do this, and I think we all don't listen to that advice and we make the same mistake, and I did that and it hurts. My wife makes fun of me a lot. She still hasn't let it go yet. So, um, but I do want to share because it's vulnerable and it's a real story. I mean, not everyone's going to get it right 100% of the time, and we definitely don't. We are learning along in the process, and I want people to know that that's what our blog is about. It's the reality of it because, you know, I'm living here in Rochester just like you are. So it's not everything is going, going as good as it could be, but...
(00:27:23.004) LuAnn Buechler: As good as it could be, but so what's a money belief you see people carry that holds them back?
(00:27:30.204) David Sawallisch: And that gets in their way. I think a lot of times, big money beliefs that hold people back is, one, the cost of things in life. I think a lot of times we are seeing needs as a big category where we're like, we can't cut down on that, and there's a lot there that can be trimmed. For instance, the house hack falls into that. Yes, you can have a house. You need to have housing. I'm not going to argue that, but housing can also be used to earn income. I mean, there's the ability to rent out a bedroom. There's ability to do some type of Airbnb with it. There's the ability to, I don't know, store stuff at your house. You know, people are always looking for storage. If you have extra room to store things for people, you can make money on that. It's taking that and saying, yes, this is a need, but here's where we can trim or actually turn it into an income-producing part of your life. And we just, we get so focused on this inside the box, like, oh, my parents had a house, they owned a house. Nothing was outside of that, you know, but I think definitely leaving abroad helped me open that horizon. But just hearing about other people's stories, like, one of my favorite people, he bought a fourplex right out of college and he was able to live in one unit, rent out the other three units, and he essentially was earning money while living for free, and the house, the fourplex, was his.
(00:28:57.404) LuAnn Buechler: So you...
(00:28:58.104) David Sawallisch: know, he's building assets that way. Yeah, so I mean it was, it's one of those things that's like, yeah, it's not everyone's ideal cup of tea. Um, but I do have some good success stories. Like, my parents would have never thought of this in a million years. But then I had a friend who was busy meeting us from China just last year and they needed a place to stay. They were here for six months to visit the clinic and they rented a room from my parents, my old bedroom and my parents. Now, once they got a taste of it they're like, you can make 800 a month just renting out a bedroom and they have four spare bedrooms at their house and they're like, you hardly notice people sometimes, you know, if you get a good renter in there and they just go do their thing and come back.
(00:29:38.604) LuAnn Buechler: home and shower,
(00:29:39.404) David Sawallisch: and brush their teeth or whatever it is, you know. So it's sometimes that outside-the-box thinking, um, it happens with cars too. I know a lot of people are like, on this set of my car's paid. I don't know how many times I see it. My car is paid off so I got to get a new one. Well, can't you just enjoy not having a car payment for a little
(00:29:57.404) LuAnn Buechler: bit? You know, so I knew a doctor back in the day and he had a really old car, right? And you think you should really have a nice car, you know, you're a
(00:30:10.904) David Sawallisch: doctor and he was like,
(00:30:12.204) LuAnn Buechler: Why? Yeah, I'm with him. He was getting from point A to point B. Who cares? Looks like a minute was rusty. It was quite the thing, you know, but it's pretty funny because it was just not a
(00:30:26.304) David Sawallisch: priority.
(00:30:26.504) LuAnn Buechler: I just
(00:30:26.904) David Sawallisch: got
(00:30:27.104) LuAnn Buechler: To get from A to B, that's it. Alright.
(00:30:29.604) David Sawallisch: Rochester really. That's a pretty short distance most of the time. Really, it is. Yeah, yeah, it is. And it's, um, yeah, it's one of those things where once you get that idea in your mind, you flip the script. So now if I see that doctor that you mentioned, I'm gonna say, wow, he's a smart guy. Like, I'm gonna feel
(00:30:45.404) LuAnn Buechler: proud of him. I'm gonna be like, he knows
(00:30:46.904) David Sawallisch: what's up with his finances. Oh, there was a saying that one of the blogs I read, I think it was Mr. Money Mustache. He says, oh, when I see a hundred thousand dollar car, the only thing I know
(00:31:00.804) LuAnn Buechler: is you don't have a
(00:31:01.704) David Sawallisch: 100,000 dollars now. You know, you might have been
(00:31:07.504) LuAnn Buechler: Rich, but now I know you don't have 100,000 dollars. So isn't it another mindset? Oh, I think I was given this mindset coming out of college. You have to build credit, and then the credit card companies would, you know, flock to students with opportunities. So you get all these credit cards under the premise of building credit. The next
(00:31:34.104) David Sawallisch: thing, you know,
(00:31:34.504) LuAnn Buechler: You've drowned yourself in debt, you know, out of college, and you got
(00:31:39.704) David Sawallisch: that debt
(00:31:40.704) LuAnn Buechler: From your college loans,
(00:31:42.904) David Sawallisch: Right? All adds up and that was so again, on my blog, if you went to the about me part, my story is exactly that, what you just shared. I come out of college. By the time I make it over to China, and I probably financed my way to China on credit cards. I'm pretty sure I did. I end up with about 18,000 dollars in credit card debt. By the time I finally met my wife, and I mean I wasn't struggling because they make the payments easy. They're like, hey, you owe 18,000 dollars but you only always 45 bucks, you know, you're gonna be paying on it, so you're 110 but you're almost 45 bucks. So that was my story. I mean I was there and I was doing it, and it wasn't until I met my wife, and at the time obviously she's going to be my wife, but she was earning
(00:32:35.104) LuAnn Buechler: about
(00:32:35.304) David Sawallisch: 10 times less than me in China. So I went from in America, I was struggling. I mean, I was a server, I wasn't struggling struggling. I did a little bit of part-time teaching at a school, that's what got me
(00:32:46.404) LuAnn Buechler: into teaching.
(00:32:47.904) David Sawallisch: And I just, I was trying to paycheck. Yeah. So then I got my first job over in China to teach, and when I moved over there, I mean your income shifts substantially. You're making the same dollar amount as you are in the US, maybe a little bit more, but what happens is your cost of living decreases substantially. So all of a sudden, where here I was renting a place for 1,500 dollars, 1,600 dollars a month, over there you
(00:33:14.004) LuAnn Buechler: can rent an apartment.
(00:33:14.804) David Sawallisch: I think my apartment was 450 bucks. Wow.
(00:33:18.104) LuAnn Buechler: So,
(00:33:18.404) David Sawallisch: It was a nice two-bedroom apartment. It wasn't anything to cry about. They are a little smaller, though. The apartments are smaller. Yeah. And then, like, cost of food is incredibly cheap over there, you know, two to three dollars for a meal, just really cheap and
(00:33:33.204) LuAnn Buechler: no tips,
(00:33:33.804) David Sawallisch: not that
(00:33:34.404) LuAnn Buechler: I
(00:33:34.504) David Sawallisch: like that because I'm a server. I love tips, but in China, they didn't do tipping. And then, if you wanted a haircut or massage, everything's very cheap over there. So, all of a sudden, you go from being, I would say, lower middle class, maybe even in a lower class status, to all of a sudden, you're in the top tier, you're the top income class. I was earning 10 times more than the
(00:33:55.804) LuAnn Buechler: average
(00:33:56.204) David Sawallisch: salary of the people around me in China. So, It's like you're now your top of the food chain, but I still was living paycheck to paycheck. So that's how I can relate to. Like it's not the income that matters. It's the ability to
(00:34:10.604) LuAnn Buechler: Save that income. So yeah. Is that what made you get into this
(00:34:18.704) David Sawallisch: Financial.
(00:34:20.004) LuAnn Buechler: Journey? Yeah, so my hands and that
(00:34:25.404) David Sawallisch: Dramatic difference between the two countries. It didn't start right away. No, it took about four years. I was there, and then I met my wife. Her and I were just friends at the time. She made sure I knew that. We took a travel together and, by the time we got back, I was desperate for money. Like, I had spent a lot of money on this trip. I had to pay stuff back because I had credit card debt and I just, I didn't, I had to wait for my paycheck. In China, everyone's paid monthly. You're not paid biweekly, so you have to budget well. And so, I'm waiting for my paycheck and I'm looking at this girl who was earning way less than me, and she's totally fine. No worries. You know, next paycheck's coming in a little bit, doesn't matter to her, and she had savings built up. That was just, I mean, it was probably close to four or five thousand US dollars. And she was earning 400 bucks a month. So she's living on 400 and still able to save that amount of money, and to me that was mind-blowing.
(00:35:23.904) LuAnn Buechler: I was like, okay, you
(00:35:25.004) David Sawallisch: Gotta teach me.
(00:35:25.804) LuAnn Buechler: What's
(00:35:26.504) David Sawallisch: going on now. Yes. So she taught me the majority of this, and that's where I think it also has to do. That's when we talked about money worship earlier and how people from the bottom—my wife is money script, money worship 80% of the time, maybe less now, maybe 60%. But man, this woman, she will pinch a penny so hard it's screaming. She is incredible at that, and it comes from her childhood though. Her and I are born a year or six months apart, but when she grew up in the part of China she was in, they lived in a wooden hut. They often didn't have food. Her parents had too many kids, and it was during the Chinese one-child policy. So she told me there's a distinct memory she has where her parents ran away because the police were coming, and they ransacked her house. All they had at the time was an electric fan that hung onto the wall to help cool the hut, and the police just took it, and they took a sack of rice that was their only food. So when you grow up in that type of situation, her money means everything. It means stability. It means the ability to make it to the next day. So she saves like nobody's business. I always tell people we were on opposite sides of the spectrum, and we didn't meet in the middle. We're definitely more towards her
(00:36:58.104) LuAnn Buechler: way. But
(00:36:58.804) David Sawallisch: she has definitely
(00:37:00.004) LuAnn Buechler: Double bed. Yeah, we
(00:37:01.904) David Sawallisch: See these up a bit and it's for a living. Um, so she works at a bank.
(00:37:06.604) LuAnn Buechler: She's
(00:37:06.804) David Sawallisch: Now, she's a financial advisor, no, financial advisor's assistant. So she works with a financial advisor. She didn't get her license yet, but yeah, she's very good at that role because she could open by people. But before that she
(00:37:23.204) LuAnn Buechler: was a,
(00:37:23.604) David Sawallisch: She worked for the hotel. She was an event planner. Oh, that was how we met. I was at the school. She thought it would be good to bring the school to the hotel and we kind of met each other. She didn't know any English when we met, and I didn't know much Chinese. So we translated a lot to each other at the start, but now she speaks really good English. So that was a lot of our story and then it was just kind of working from there and it was paying off all my debt. I think I read a pretty good article about that and then coming back around, and now I use credit cards a lot, but I'm using them to my
(00:37:58.304) LuAnn Buechler: Advantage and I
(00:37:59.404) David Sawallisch: I do a lot of traveling. Um, yeah, so you gotta, if you know how to use them without holding that trap, putting that, letting him carry the balance. Credit cards can be a massive tool and I love that so many people have blogs on it. I wish I could write better about it, but I'm not gonna explain it yet. But it's like if you were to get those, the priority pass where you're able to get into certain lounges, the bonuses, every time you
(00:38:26.904) LuAnn Buechler: Sign up and you
(00:38:27.404) David Sawallisch: Can get these bonuses for spending this certain dollar amount, the cash back rewards that you get on there. So, um, I think in my blog post, I talked about, it's like the first time in my life, I feel like those credit cards were beating me down. They were holding me down, my finances were destroyed because these guys were, you know, kicking me while I was down, and I'm coming back for round two, and I'm beating them up. And so, I feel like every time I'm taking money from that, my wife can't believe how much money we get from the credit card companies, like we traveled to China free.
(00:38:56.404) LuAnn Buechler: like,
(00:38:56.704) David Sawallisch: all, everything was paid for on points, so you just got to be very strategic about it and I always tell people don't do it. If you can't handle it, don't do it. Don't put yourself in a risky situation where you might open this card and max it out and
(00:39:11.304) LuAnn Buechler: you know,
(00:39:12.104) David Sawallisch: you're paying the minimum because that's not good advice at all. But if you know how to handle it well and you're like, okay, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna get that bonus and then I can close it or I can, you know, just leave it open on the
(00:39:22.304) LuAnn Buechler: side, they're well worth the money. So the key is
(00:39:26.604) David Sawallisch: to consistently be paying them off. Always
(00:39:30.104) LuAnn Buechler: Be paying them off. Correct. Yeah. And there's different levels, and as you need cash, so to speak, right? Use them as, I'm gonna buy something on
(00:39:43.204) David Sawallisch: it. That I
(00:39:43.804) LuAnn Buechler: know I could pay for anyway,
(00:39:45.404) David Sawallisch: right because it's gonna
(00:39:47.404) LuAnn Buechler: Give me this many points, 100% travel voucher or
(00:39:52.104) David Sawallisch: Miles or right. Have you? And a lot of them, if you're listeners that are listening own businesses, the business credit cards are fantastic. We do it through our rental property, so we have a lot of business cards that we open and then close. But I mean some of them, they just, they have great, great rewards. Um, so yeah, use your business to your advantage. If you're making those purchases already for your business, why not, you know, get something from it
(00:40:19.004) LuAnn Buechler: And then just pay it off. Very good. Very good. Yeah, one other life hack for us or
(00:40:28.604) David Sawallisch: Money hack. What language do I want to use? I would say maybe it wasn't so much as a hack, but we found a lot of cheap ways of getting around the US now. So a big one that I like is cell phone with so much Wi-Fi around. We went on to Mint Mobile. I'm not at all the representative of Mint Mobile, so go ahead and find any cheap plan you can find out there, but we started out with their limited plan, which was 30 bucks a month. We realized we were not using much data, so we cut it down. I think each of our plans now are about 20 bucks a month. They get like 15 or 10 gigabytes of that. We still don't even use that because at home we have Wi-Fi, at work we have Wi-Fi, at the restaurants you have Wi-Fi, you know, no matter where you're going you have Wi-Fi. So it's like,
(00:41:17.404) LuAnn Buechler: Why are we paying for that extra? Okay, this is technology now so
(00:41:22.904) David Sawallisch: you gotta
(00:41:23.504) LuAnn Buechler: Back up for me for a minute, right. I know when I travel internationally, I use the Wi-Fi in the hotel to run myself home and I don't think about it. Otherwise, is it off and running off of Wi-Fi and I don't even know about it and I'm still paying for the top
(00:41:47.904) David Sawallisch: dollar. Access, you know, it could be most Wi-Fi links. You have to have signed in at least once and then it can remember it. So usually when I walk into my house, I walk in the work which is probably, you know, 80% of my life, right? It's automatically connecting to the Wi-Fi. When we do travel we do go to the hotel. We do log into their Wi-Fi and use it um but yeah, I mean most of the time it's it's it's just why I would say GPS
(00:42:16.104) LuAnn Buechler: is
(00:42:16.304) David Sawallisch: about the only time you
(00:42:17.104) LuAnn Buechler: Can do that hack because I mean GPS. My cell phone. What?
(00:42:26.804) David Sawallisch: uh,
(00:42:28.204) LuAnn Buechler: what the 5G? Yeah,
(00:42:30.904) David Sawallisch: I'm not using that when I'm on
(00:42:32.904) LuAnn Buechler: Wi-Fi. Correct. Yep. So your Wi-Fi, I don't need the
(00:42:36.904) David Sawallisch: 5G and therefore I
(00:42:38.304) LuAnn Buechler: shouldn't
(00:42:39.204) David Sawallisch: pay for it. Exactly. So I mean, I meet people who are like, they're like oh, my phone bill, 70 dollars a month. I'm like, what are you doing? Like I pay 50 dollars less than you ever. Then I have a cell phone too. You know. So um, there is one out there, so there's
(00:42:58.404) LuAnn Buechler: a
(00:42:58.504) David Sawallisch: latte factor that people talk about. I'm not sure if you've heard of this but the latte factor is, um, somebody wrote a blog or a book about if you were to cut out your coffee every day, your six dollar Starbucks. You are going to become a millionaire, you know, by the time you're 62 years old, or whatever age it is and I don't think they're wrong. Obviously, the math is there, if you took the math and you said, okay, I'm gonna put this six dollars into the stock market every day and until I'm 65. It would make a million dollars. I'm not arguing the math, but what I'm arguing is the logic behind it. If you are a person who loves coffee, then go out and get your six dollar Starbucks every day because that's your joy in life, right? So if you're a guy who enjoys gaming on his cell phone and you're like, constantly gaming or doing whatever you're doing wherever you're at, or maybe you're downloading videos because you're a YouTube person. I mean, I wouldn't tell you, oh, switch off.
(00:43:51.904) LuAnn Buechler: That plan because
(00:43:52.604) David Sawallisch: you're streaming, you're using it. Yeah, but I would say if you're not that type of person cut
(00:43:58.904) LuAnn Buechler: back where it doesn't matter to you. Right. And, and again, it's conscious awareness. Yes. Because the world is just gonna
(00:44:08.404) David Sawallisch: tell you what they want you to do. Right. Right. Yeah. And, of course, T-Mobile or Verizon, they're going to tell you. Yeah. We should put you up here because, well, they love that you're paying 70 bucks a month
(00:44:21.404) LuAnn Buechler: for yourself. You know, they're all about it. Right. Right. And now I look at my children's Lifestyles right with their casting from their phone and have the Disney Channel on their phone for their kids, and what
(00:44:39.304) David Sawallisch: have you, right? But
(00:44:40.604) LuAnn Buechler: I don't do that, right, right? And so I should probably look at that, and so, wow, I'm gonna encourage our listeners to go out to David's
(00:44:52.104) David Sawallisch: blog. Tell us again. It's the Power Plate Savers.com. Our plate
(00:44:58.604) LuAnn Buechler: p. l. a. t. e. Right. And look at the wealth hub for some of these hacks to go a little bit deeper and engage with David and his wife, Winnie, on your financial journey. If you know you could use some help like this, right? No harm, no foul. It's a blog. They're not charging you to be a part of it, and they have some really great financial hacks to share. We didn't get to your fire story, but I know that's on the website as well. There's a blog about the fire story, so check it out. And again, I'm going to emphasize it's about conscious choice and just awareness of how you're using your money and how you're making your money.
(00:45:50.004) David Sawallisch: and could we look at it
(00:45:51.204) LuAnn Buechler: Differently? Exactly. And there's ways to look at it differently. I mean, I'm just thinking too of this guy, he's a contractor, he built a fourplex, right? And he wanted to have a car for all the renters.
(00:46:09.604) David Sawallisch: in the
(00:46:09.904) LuAnn Buechler: Fourplex that they could share. Mmm, so they didn't have to have their own, right?
(00:46:15.804) David Sawallisch: And they just
(00:46:16.304) LuAnn Buechler: It's part of their rent. Mmm, vehicle. And don't
(00:46:23.804) David Sawallisch: have to pay the
(00:46:25.004) LuAnn Buechler: Price of themselves alone, right, right. Well, there's creativity out there in the world. There are other ways to think about
(00:46:33.304) David Sawallisch: differently than your parents taught you.
(00:46:35.304) LuAnn Buechler: Exactly, exactly. That's an awesome idea. I love that. Yeah, and there are so many more. So I hope you enjoyed this conversation about financial psychology. Thank you, David, for joining us today. I really enjoyed the conversation. Maybe we'll have you back and learn some more financial
(00:46:55.904) David Sawallisch: hacks. I like that language, s***.
(00:46:58.004) LuAnn Buechler: Perfect, thank you for that. It's been a pleasure. Oh, and go out there and do what you love in the world. Make your passion pay, and David here can help you save more than you spend. Have a great day.