#042: $hooting the Financial $hit: Life in Quarantine

For about two months now, the Talk Wealth To Me team has been working remotely as part of the global effort to lessen the transmission of the highly-contagious coronavirus. 

With stay-at-home orders still in effect for most of the U.S., many Americans continue to find ways to entertain themselves from within the confines of their home. Others of us are working remotely from home while simultaneously trying to ensure our kids are learning and meeting virtually with their teacher at the correct time. With this increased reliance on internet and electricity, some of us may have been a little surprised to see just how much some of our bills increased recently.  

Thankfully, there is help:

• Federal Communications Commission’s “Keep Americans Connected Pledge.” For the next 60 days, these companies promise not to terminate service and will waive late fees caused by the coronavirus pandemic. They are also opening their Wi-Fi hotspots to any Americans who need them.
• Some state and city regulators across the U.S. have started directing utility companies (gas, water, and electric) to suspend shutoffs for customers struggling to pay their bills. Contact your utility company and negotiate relief before your bill is due if you’re experiencing hardship as a result of COVID-19.

What other financial relief options are available to those with a mortgage? Student loans? And what about protections for your credit report?

We'll chat about this and check-in with Felipe, Chase, and Katie to see how it's going for our team at home. 

To learn more about DebtWave Credit Counseling, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about the San Diego Financial Literacy Center, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Transcript

Intro:   0:09
Welcome to Talk Wealth to Me, a safe space podcast where we talk about anything and everything related to personal finance.  

Felipe Arevalo:   0:19
The information contained in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute as accounting, legal, tax or other professional advice.  

Chase Peckham:   0:32
Hello and welcome to another edition of Talk Wealth to Me. In this week's edition of Shooting the Financial Shit, Katie, Felipe, and I discuss the changes that are going on in our lives during this COVID-19 Pandemic. How it's affecting us in our homes in our daily lives financially, of course, and how it's affecting us. Ah, financially across the board, in our colleagues, our constituents, Um, and there's even a few times where our new reality just brings up a whole new world, blurring that personal and professional life. So there's some humor. There's some serious discussion. Stay with us on this next edition of Shooting Financial Shit. So, Katie, how are you guys doing? I mean, how's everything at the Utterback and Arevalo home?

Katie Utterback:   1:28
Casa de Utterback is staying strong right now, um, focusing more on staying sane and staying safe. How are you guys doing?

Chase Peckham:   1:38
I think that's across the board. I'm finding more and more people are getting, especially as it's gotten warmer here in San Diego. We know we've got an unseasonably cold and wet winter and spring so far, and this is two years in a row for us, by the way, which is kind of crazy. But the last couple days, with the weather, it's been you go outside and people are hiking and biking and walking like crazy.

Felipe Arevalo:   2:03
It's gonna be real warm coming up here today.

Chase Peckham:   2:06
And I'm so excited

Felipe Arevalo:   2:07
for us inland. I'm not.  

Chase Peckham:   2:10
I love this weather, absolutely love this weather.

Felipe Arevalo:   2:14
If I were out and about, I would love this weather. But, you know, being at home most of the day, it's just so much I like the cold weather, put on sweaters and stuff.

Chase Peckham:   2:26
Yeah, I mean, and it's been so interesting, too, like when going outside, but also in just staying inside cause we're obviously in more than we ever have been before and trying to work in an atmosphere that is very, um, unnatural for me at least. And I think for most people, I mean, my wife's office has been a bedroom on sharing small spaces We're doing our best to, like stay away from each other during the workday to keep it very much like work we would at home. And that is difficult to do. But it's funny. The last couple days Keri's actually called me where she's upstairs and I'm downstairs in our little and oh, that was fun. That was an F-bomb in the background. I'm glad we can do that. Hey, that's the beauty, right? We're doing these podcasts from home. We're zooming. Yeah, so it's It's part of the elements. Oh boy, that that made my morning. Thank you very much. It was good. I was like sitting there dying like, Do I just ignore that? But that was pretty fun. Pretty comic relief actually way might be using it in there.

Katie Utterback:   3:39
Go for it.

Felipe Arevalo:   3:41
But yeah, he's obviously having a bad morning.

Katie Utterback:   3:45
Yeah, that

Chase Peckham:   3:46
Coronaviruses or work-related?

Chase Peckham:   3:50
Um, it's Coronavirus related to people going absolutely nuts

Felipe Arevalo:   3:57
Our visitor is back. He bursted in.

Chase Peckham:   3:59
and see it's just everything we're trying to get used to, right? We've got kids, you know, my kids are old enough to know to stay away Clay is in school right now, Avery is actually studying. So from that end, I'm you know, they know when I'm when we're doing podcasts. Where I'm working, they stay away. So that's been pretty good.

Felipe Arevalo:   4:18
He knows I'm in here. So because he got the wave beforehand, he wanted to come in and wave again.

Chase Peckham:   4:24
Oh, that's cute. So  

Katie Utterback:   4:26
sorry about that.  

Chase Peckham:   4:27
Has anybody noticed? Um, just how I think we've been in here for about a month, right. And has anybody noticed any bills that have changed as they've come in?

Katie Utterback:   4:39
I definitely have my electricity. My water has gone up. How are you guys?

Chase Peckham:   4:47
Yeah, that those definitely have gone up. We've done a pretty good job. Not much, though. It's lucky. With the cold and unseasonably wet weather that we've had, we haven't been turning on heaters. We haven't had an air conditioner yet. So from that and it's been pretty good. And the kids have been really good where we just opened up all our window shades and we don't turn on any lights during the day. So they get that way. Yeah, we're lucky, though. We've got a lot of windows and a lot of, uh let's face it, we

Felipe Arevalo:   5:16
haven't haven't really seen a jump but here in the next few days without getting into the low nineties. Ah, the air is probably coming on. So we'll see it jump on the next one.

Chase Peckham:   5:26
Our water has definitely gone up. Our water usages I mean we're doing dishes more than I can ever remember doing dishes since I was a child and my parents didn't have a dishwasher. But, I mean, we run that thing at least once every two days, if not every day.

Katie Utterback:   5:42
Yes. I don't know how you guys are doing, but I wasn't necessarily prepared for the amounts of my electricity and water bills. We're going to go up this last month. Uh, so I have the money. I can pay my bill. ButI did want to let you know that there are two programs for people who may not be able to pay that bill. The first program is called the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. It's part of the Federal Communications Commission or the FCC's program. So for the next 60 days, your services, your internet, your wifi, I cannot be terminated. So if you're working from home and you cannot afford that bill, please please please contact your Internet service provider or the Federal Communications Commission looked further. Keep Americans connected. Pledge being signed up for that, and then they can keep Make sure that you're connected for the next 60 days. Another program is through your state or your city regulators, and this is gonna be gas, water and electricity. There will be no shutoffs. And I believe this is throughout the US There might be some different rules in different cities, but if you're struggling to pay your bills, please contact your utility company before your bill is due and they can help you negotiate a payment you can make. So a lot of this has to be done before you realize that you can't pay the bill. But so before the bill is due please call them. There is an option for that. Yeah,

Felipe Arevalo:   7:08
great. Especially because even if people aren't working, you know, some might say, Well, then you don't need the Internet. But that doesn't mean their kids aren't going to school and you know, they need the Internet to be able to go to school. And there you, in my first graders, going to school, um, or doing schoolwork to the iPad um I mean, he probably he won't like me saying this, but he probably needs 10 times the amount of work they're giving him. But, um, he finishes his daily, Uh, we all took advantage of the little the younger ones. Naptime. So that's when he does his homework. That's when you know, right now should be naptime. So hopefully you won't bus back to the door. Um, you know, and isn't, you know, the Internets important, even for students?

Katie Utterback:   8:03
Well, and actually, since you brought that up, another reason people need to stay connected right now would be telemedicine. That's how a lot of people are you know meeting with their doctor or some, in some cases, getting diagnosed with Coronaviruses is through telemedicine.

Felipe Arevalo:   8:17
You're right. Yeah. That's because they're encouraging.  

Katie Utterback:   8:22
Yeah, exactly. So I know a lot of us may be struggling with cabin fever right now. Um, we're all very thankful it's not COVID Fever, But let's talk about mortgages and run. Famous for anybody that can't. His may 1st is in a couple of days. So for anybody who may worry about making that rent or mortgage payment, Chase are there other options still out there for people?

Chase Peckham:   8:49
Yeah, there's the mortgage relief, which is part of the Coronavirus Aid relief in Economy Economic Security Act, which is cares act that we've all heard of. There's so much to that. But there are and is relief for home loan borrowers. You just have to reach out to your bank. You can request suspensions on your payments up to 360 days about, and it's not gonna be forgiven. It will be added on to the back end of your, uh, loan so you will pay for it. You just pay for it later and interest can still accrue. But it will give you and that kind of relief without worrying about whether you know you're gonna go into default on your loan.

Katie Utterback:   9:37
Can I ask a clarification question?  

Chase Peckham:   9:39
Don't add on, correct is just wentDon't add on, correct is just went on towards the end, so you will eventually pay a little bit more. But no, it will not increase your payment after it comes back toe paying again so that that will not happen and this is these air. All these provisions, by the way, apply for everything, even for those that did f h A loans that have done VA loans who have done regular loans. Ah, and private loans. So they weren't government-backed that were just straight through your bank. Everyone and all banks are working to do this. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's happening quickly. Obviously, when this all first happened, all the banks were rushed on very quickly, But, uh, I think they have. They're at the point now where they're catching up. The the really important thing for most people to understand here is you need to be proactive on all of this. People think that this is just naturally going to happen. It's not Ah, all the things that we talked about today You have to be proactive, as you mentioned earlier, just with the utilities, you have to reach out before it gets crazy. Because, like anything else, this isn't gonna happen overnight. You need to be able to be prepared for this to take a little bit of time to go into effect.

Katie Utterback:   11:10
Well, then, maybe you could speak To about credit reports. They know, a lot of people are starting to panic. Like if I cant pay off my credit card debt or if I can't make this payment, what is gonna happen to my credit score? And am I going to be in a financial mess far longer than this coronavirus?

Chase Peckham:   11:28
Absolutely. And I mean, yes, the The Cares Act does provide leniency for consumers. Um, during this current period, if you reach out to your creditors and you let them know that you have been laid off or you're gonna have trouble paying your bills and you can work out some kind of in agreement with them at least letting them know that you're through this period, they cannot send new bad information. Ah, that can hurt can hurt you even more than whatever you're credit scores were prior to this pandemic happening and our country being shut down. So if this is new, they cannot put it on their to affect you negatively. Uh, the also The other things that you can do is there are you can reach out to each of the credit reporting agencies and let them know directly as well. And they will put a code on your credit reports showing that there were difficulties. But it shows that you had difficulties during this period. So in the future for future lending, if you're buying a home or whatever it might be, they can take a look at this and they can see that that was on there. Now, what is interesting about this is Ah, fico, which is like 90 to 95% of credit scores that are looked at by or organizations and businesses when looking to establish credit is that they are not taking these codes into consideration right now.  so looking at your credit report, it will be there. But with the FICO score, it won't be now. Word has it that the VantageScore will and why is that that the FICO score doesn't. But the vantage score does. It seems to me that because the vantage score was created by all three credit bureaus back in the day, they tried to work this whole competitive credit score with Fico, which did not work out well at the time and still isn't because, like I said, 95% of all businesses that air, uh, looking to give loans and those kinds of things are pulling FICO scores, but the vantage score is taking this into consideration. But I believe it's easier because the credit reporting agencies air behind the vantage score anyway, um, but again, when you are pulling your credit or you are, uh, going in to get a loan for something, If they're not looking at a vantage score, it doesn't really matter whether that code is on there or not. Makes sense. Also, one more thing. The thing that also take a look at two is if you're not proactive, if you just think that oh, these times are tough, that they're not gonna send these bad information that is wrong. Like anything else when it comes to your credit reports, you need to take a look. You need to check them constantly. And the good news is that the credit bureaus right now are making those available where you can check them weekly where before it was, you can check them once every year for free, where now they're letting the consumer check your credit scores. Excuse me, not your credit score is your credit reports weekly, and there is another reason for that and that is during this time. Obviously, um, there are gonna be some bad seeds that take advantage of the situation that we're all in. Ah, and there's gonna be a lot of identity theft. So it's very, very important for people to take a look. Ah, at their credit reports to make sure that everything that is on there is accurate.  

Katie Utterback:   15:08
A good reminder to to be checking credit card statements is that just reminded me I had a friend who went to 7 11 the other day, and she said she normally buys her champagne from 7 11 because it's pretty cheap. And she said, Instead of $4 a bottle, it's now $11. There you go. Wow. Yeah, the price of things that people are using to manage the cabin fever skyrocket. Um, but there's one, I guess expense that has kind of gone down or temporarily gone down. Felipe, What's going on with student loans?

Felipe Arevalo:   15:43
Yeah, So, unlike the credit reports and and ah, the credit, the rest of the credit card industry, that kind of thing where you have to take the initiative, the student loans are actually Ah, you don't have to do anything. The payments on federally owned student loans was suspended until September 30th so that it gives relief to students. And, ah, the It is also still count as payment towards any kind of forgiveness plan that you might be under if you're under those plans. The private student loans, federal student loan forgiveness. Now, if you have federal non-federal student loans through banks, credit unions, schools and those kind of lenders, that's going to be more of a case by case basis, and you definitely will want to take the initiative. In that case, if they're federal student loans, obviously still always want to make sure that you take a look at your statement and you make sure that you, uh, in fact, it did get suspended. But it it's automatic. It's all part of the cares Act as well on that should be in place for everyone already.

Katie Utterback:   16:56
Yeah, I have a friend who is definitely taking advantage of that pause, and she just threw her stimulus check at her student loan debt. She said it was probably the most satisfying payment ever.

Felipe Arevalo:   17:07
Yeah, you can continue to make payments, though, of most lenders, you know, continue to take them you could start taking ah, bigger chunks out of it if you're in a position to continue the payment that you're on or throw extra money at it, you know? But if it is something where, uh, that's causing a hardship at the moment. And the thing was, federal student loans to remember is unless you've used it up already. You do always have your forbearance and deferment options in your in your back pocket. It's just great that people don't have to a take the initiative to call, because if everyone was calling at the same time, you know, we've seen in other industries what kind of hold times that will lead to. And B, you don't use up those that forbearance or deferment option that you have, and you can use that at a later date. If, for whatever reason you encounter some kind of hardship,

Chase Peckham:   18:00
that's awesome. I think that they're going to be planning for this. Uh, this isn't gonna be just something that is during the Coronavirus pandemic state that we're in right now. Obviously, we're going to be in some form of this for quite a while. But the economic implications are going to be huge for a much longer period of time. And so they are working on things that are gonna be able, like credit card payments, Um, and hurting people's credit. It's going to take time for people to be able to come back and pay on a regular basis again. So they will. They're gonna be more lenient in the way that things are reported for sure all the way around.

Katie Utterback:   18:42
What are you? Guys are both budget experts. What are your thoughts on using that stimulus money to pay off credit card debt And make sure that I guess there's more room if you need it on your credit card later.

Chase Peckham:   18:56
Are they an individual choice? Completely? Okay,

Felipe Arevalo:   19:00
Yeah, I was asked the same thing by reporter on TV, and you know, it really is something with, you know, it's a case by case, like everything else. Personal finances, um, basis. There's just so many intricacies that could be in play.

Chase Peckham:   19:20
Well, for sure, I mean, if if you are in a state where your you know your income has been cut back, you've lost your job for the time being and there's no income coming in, then? Absolutely not. You're not going to, um, pay off more credit card debt with that because you need that to live. And so you can't look at credit card debt in making that payment, And I'm not, Believe me, I mean, I'm not saying that you shouldn't make your payments. You should if you can, But if it comes down between a credit card payment and going to the grocery store and or feeding your kids, you know, or yourselves paying your rent, then I mean, that's a no brainer. I mean, you've got to be able. It's like anything else. When times like this happen, you've got to be able to prioritize where your money is gonna go

Felipe Arevalo:   20:08
like a Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Chase Peckham:   20:10
for sure. In area 100. We want to

Felipe Arevalo:   20:12
take care of those base needs before you work your way up the ladder.

Chase Peckham:   20:17
Exactly, But if it the same time, if you are employed and things are not, you know you're working from home, all right, and you can and you got that stimulus check. There's one of two things. You mean you can put it away because, look, it's not guaranteed that you will keep your job through the entirety of this. We don't know how long this goes. So if it were me, I would put it away. And I would wait for a rainy day and hopefully put it somewhere that, uh, you that will serve you well. Um, but, you know, it's very, very individual, but it's there for a reason. You want to be able to use it to make sure that you can, uh, pay the bills as needed. Is that like a walk off? Everybody's just super quiet.

Katie Utterback:   21:08
No, I didn't I didn't have anybody had anything to add.

Chase Peckham:   21:10
I'm like mic drop?

Katie Utterback:   21:15
It was kind of like a mic drop. Like, um, as silly, as it may sound like all of this stuff is so heavy without being noticed that we heavy if that makes any sense. So something as simple as like trying to figure out how much your like for me, like, how much is my SDG and e pay make gonna go up for the foreseeable future is like, not the easiest thing for me to figure out. And then once that number is kind of confusing, like, the whole puzzle starts looking fuzzy and then, yeah, just the whole thing and start to feel overwhelming.

Chase Peckham:   21:55
Yeah, it can. But like anything else, you need to be able to put that in perspective and

Katie Utterback:   22:01
Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Chase Peckham:   22:02
No, that the things that our minds can make us worry about and those kinds of things financially going stir crazy in our homes. I mean, all these things, these emotions and feelings that we're having it's OK to, you know, it's okay, toe, have those feelings. It's okay to be a little bit worried about those things, but compartmentalizing the fact that you know most everyone else is going through the same kinds of things that we are. And I don't know if that makes people feel more comfortable. But we're not in this alone. If that makes any sense, I mean, it's by no doing of your own that you're not able to pay your bills if you're in a In an industry that has been dramatically affected by this, I have friends and former colleagues at the San Diego Padres, where, you know, it's just a matter of time before they have, you know, the front office staff, non baseball, Ah, contract ID staff that, you know, they could be, um, furloughed for a little while or have their and the Padres are trying not to. They're going to do everything they can, but they could. They've been. Those employees have been let known that there is a possibility that their wages could be, ah, cut back a bit. Um, but I think they're happy to have their jobs, obviously. But, you know, this is gonna be a long, drawn-out thing. So keeping yourself in a positive state of mind is going to be very important through this.

Katie Utterback:   23:37
Not only that, but I think that that positive state of mind is where abundance like that abundance mindset gives you ideas. Um, you know, I have several friends who are hairstylists and one of my friends actually is selling her clients here color so that they can try to highlight their hair at home. And she's selling like, little custom kits and then I have another friend who does nails. And she's now selling the, uh, solution to get the fake nails off. Because I guess a lot of women are stuck with, like, half of their nails on . So she's selling a solution to get it off. And then she's also selling, uh, like a little kit to make your own little gel powder nails.

Chase Peckham:   24:20
That is so funny. You say that because I walked down last night and I don't know if you got so you can't see it. Can you Hold on. I need to take away the background. But you guys, unbelievably, you say that, Um but my daughter, my wife's hairdresser, um, it brought the She has all of her information for the color cause my wife's you know, roots and all that stuff were starting to come through pretty heavily. And as we all know, ladies do not like their roots coming through very heavily unless you it was mid nineties and then they didn't care very much. But my daughter and we have pictures I on my wife's phone. But I have the one of my what? My daughter actually washing all of the solution out over our sink in our kitchen last night because they're sent his giant in our kitchen, and it turned out beautiful. But it was It wasn't like she went and bought this over the counter her her, uh, hairdresser brought already, uh, her hair color that she does when she gets her hair done. She mixed it, brought it in and they did it. It took about an hour or so, and my wife was. My daughter was painting my wife's hair, which was, I don't think I've ever watched women's hair get done very much like that. But it was really, but that's but that's that's kind of what, if anything, can be seen as positive throughout this whole thing, because I mean, believe me, it's it's not positive. But there are some things the ingenuity that human beings have, ah, different ways to try to supplement what their current work was has been really inspiring. We've seen a lot of things like that.

Katie Utterback:   26:07
It iS, and that's not to say that if you didn't come up with a genius idea that you're wasting your pandemic time because I have not done that, haven't learned a language. I haven't done any of that.  

Chase Peckham:   26:17
But we at the same time you're still you're working. working right. We're all going. It's just different. We're working

Katie Utterback:   26:23
different, and I think that, like a lot of I'll just speak for myself I keep seeing those posts of like, Oh, I learned this today or I did this today. And, yes, I'm working but. Still feel that pressure because I still kind of even if you're working, there's a cloud over your head of how long is this gonna last for me? You know, right. So even in that, it's just this confusing time. So it is like the friends. Yes, Like my hairdresser friends who are unemployed. I completely understand why they've done all these new videos. And the my gosh, the video quality is just incredible. Now it really is. Yeah, but I mean just watching them and how they've managed to improve their video while they're at home hair tutorials from Day one of quarantine today, like 32 or whatever went on, It's crazy. My video skills have not improved since. Only incentive comparing myself, I'm just trying to stay sane, you know, I

Felipe Arevalo:   27:24
think that's that's very important. The way I see it is, you know, still working and somehow became somewhat of a part time teacher. Um

Katie Utterback:   27:36
oh, yeah, you got it. If if

Felipe Arevalo:   27:38
I had, you know, I considered being a teacher after college, but I would have never considered being a first-grade teacher. Um, it would have been some high school, something or other, but looking. And when I learned math, for example, I didn't learn common core math. That's it for another podcast. I'm trying to teach him something on trying to help him on his homework. And he's telling me, No, you're doing it wrong, and I know I'm not, but I know I'm not teaching it the way that it needs to be taught. So now I gotta go tonight and watch some YouTube videos on first grade. Common core math because I don't I don't know it.

Chase Peckham:   28:20
Hey. Oh, fill your You're talking to the choir, man. I think all of us parents and that was funny. You brought that up, Katie. And we have all of us are gonna look at social media and the beauty of social media as you can see how your friends are doing and what everything else. But you're also you can get a negative feeling because, like, I'm, am I not doing all these things that these people are doing? Ah, and you know, we carry and I talk about this the other day. We have a lot of friends that are, you know, put it putting things on social media about drinking because they never thought that they were gonna home school. And all these funny means, that air coming out about home schooling and carry. And I have just not We're not putting together curriculums were not, um, forcing our kids toe sit down for a certain amount of data. Now, Clay, we're lucky Clay does. His school is doing, like, literally, his school is following their, uh, schedule like they as if they were in there, but virtually, But with Avery, she's not. But her teachers have done an incredible job of putting this stuff out there. But Carrie and I are not trained teachers. We do not know how to teach these things to our kids. And in the week, a few minutes that I did do this with Avery. We just got in a big argument and fight because I was frustrating or more than I was helping her. So all we can do is I just discussed this with her teacher and just said, you know, this is what happened with this, and she said, You Look, we're all in a different situation here than we're used. Teoh, you're not a teacher. Don't put that pressure on yourself. And that that coming from her made me feel much better because we felt this unbelievable pressure that we are not doing this home schooling thing, Uh, as parents, you know, and trying to structure it so heavily we're letting the teachers structure what they recommend, and that's helped carry, And I a bit

Katie Utterback:   30:16
No, it is a great point. I I saw a post kind of going viral that said something similar, which is that you're not your kid's teacher. You're their parent. And sometimes, especially in a situation like this, they don't want you to try to become their teacher. They just they need someone to tell them everything's gonna be OK or get a hug or something. They're picking up on our fear. I mean, it's just this circle

Chase Peckham:   30:41
where we did what I did learn through this whole thing on and which I'd known but was the fact that I got to teach my daughter and my son, but but more my daughter, now, because she's a little bit more free, is how to study how to listen, how to follow directions. I mean, shoot. My fourth grader is getting a and I think all these kids are getting a huge boost for their future. Because of this in the learning how to learn where everything is so structured for them in the classroom as it needs to be at this age. And they're finding now that they're having to follow directions closer, they're having to really read these instead of looking up their teacher and saying I don't understand. And then the teacher pointing it out, they have to learn so teaching my daughter to ask questions if you need help, you know, instead, she was just like, I don't understand, so I'm not gonna do it. Well, that doesn't work. That's not the way the world works, right? You need to figure this out. And if you have questions, ask and if it means me helping by looking at the computer and reading the directions with her and saying, Oh, do you mean this link right here? Oh, okay. So I think that that's gonna be a benefit for these kids down the road in learning how to work for themselves and learn a little bit better. Um, so that's another small, teeny little piece of positive out of that thing. But I really feel for a lot of those parents that are, you know, really stressed out about making sure their kids don't fall behind when I don't really think that that's reality right now. I mean, the kids are just not going to learn as much by not being in their classroom atmosphere and just realize that this is what it is. And this is the way life is gonna be and don't stress about it cause there's nothing you can do about it.

Felipe Arevalo:   32:31
And that's what I was telling Sara. We're not teachers, and he's not the only kid. It's not like we're keeping them away from school, and his class is still going on. Every single kid in his age group is going through this, and I guarantee that their parents are not also teachers. So you know, you if I could teach it in a way where he was gonna learn it the right way, I would. Unfortunately, that's just not That's not

Chase Peckham:   33:00
I've got that exact same story. You're you're you're explaining a story of exactly the same thing that happened to me five years ago. 10 years, 5 years. I'm looking

Felipe Arevalo:   33:10
at it like I can give you. I mean, I can solve the math problem. I just can't solve it like you need me to help.  

Chase Peckham:   33:18
I remember Clay looking at me like I was nuts. Like what you're doing. What is Long division?

Felipe Arevalo:   33:26
It's very interesting, but it's something where, you know, I was wondering, Do you Did you guys pick up any new hobbies or anything? I know. Chase, You jump on that peloton, I set up the ah, my exercise machine. I got a Bowflex one. Um, I have been using it. I do like it, Um, and basically, I can't go anywhere. So when the boys go to bad I can, jump on there for why Sarah watches TV or we watch TV and apartments. Not huge, but the one place where it fits is near the TV. So and I could still watch in and get some kind of workout. Are a nap time during lunch workout type thing. But you know that and I've taken back up video games.

Chase Peckham:   34:19
Yeah, it's funny. Clay's tried to get me into playing more video games with him, and I just I'm not gonna do it because it's sitting idly not doing anything I have been. You know, you guys know the work. I've done it a few times. I've done it a few times, but I'm trying to get him to not play as much. Um, and that's to fold. But you asked if I have any new hobbies. You know, I don't think new, um, for me personally, but I have really built on the hobbies that I already had. You guys both know that I was kind of a workout guy anyway or stayed in shape, but it's been like triple. Now. I'm in trouble when this thing's over and I have to go back to the office. I can't possibly keep up the amount of because it's a break I get. Yeah, well, I wake up in the morning and before I go to work and I'm doing a workout, Peloton. And then there's I don't know how many groups of text message groups that you know, friends and everything that have done workout challenges of some kind, like you have to do so. Many push ups sit ups, squats, calf raises planks every day of your age. So, like you have to fight for me. I have to do 48 of these every single day. And then my brother, my son's, um, baseball coach has given us the Spartan workout challenge. My body is tired, like I woke up this morning going old man, I think this is catching up to me cause I have not taken a day off of working out in over 40 days now. And I'm thinking one of these days, I gotta I gotta take a break 

Felipe Arevalo:   35:50
Take one off.

Chase Peckham:   35:50
But if I do it, the peloton challenge stops like every day. It shows me 41 days now, but then the also the amount of reading that I've done for you know, not just what we do for a living, Um, but trying to keep up with all of the different laws and things that are going on and changes in our economic world, that's been difficult to do. I don't know about you guys in front and in the with the rapid changes that are happening on a daily basis, You think you know something and the next day. It's not so anymore. You

Felipe Arevalo:   36:21
get it like Wait a minute. I know what it said yesterday. You can do that. Was another mic drop, No instruments or anything? I thought about getting my guitar, but I didn't do that either. Um,

Katie Utterback:   36:36
t's hard with Children and puppies,  every Avery's

Chase Peckham:   36:39
Avery's taking guitar lessons virtually every single day. Now, I don't know if we bought up. We're not paying for an instructor, trust me. But her old, her third grade teacher, who is a musician and his daughters actually very, really moving up in the music industry. Um, he gave Avery a Taylor guitar like a starter guitar, a smaller guitar for her to learn. And so she's been. We bought this program that he recommended, and it was 40 bucks, and so she's been taking lessons every single day. If that's part of her schedule for an hour, she's learning how to play the guitar, which has been really fun to watch. That's cool. Yeah, my son, on the other hand, not interested in any of that stuff at all. It's all sports, and he's going crazy with no sports, by the way, Absolutely going. Oh, I feel nuts and, like a lot of us are.

Felipe Arevalo:   37:34
Yeah,

Katie Utterback:   37:37
I love it. I have to say, I love it.  

Chase Peckham:   37:41
Your husband's a big sports fan, isn't he? Yeah. You know, be careful what you say, because when it comes back, it's coming back. Gangbusters.

Katie Utterback:   37:52
No, I know well I actually told him, like, felt kind of bad. I felt like I had manifested this quarantine thing because I was telling him that I was like, Oh, we so awesome to work remotely with you every day and now here I am.

Chase Peckham:   38:08
and how would you What do you think about that now?

Katie Utterback:   38:11
I truthfully love it

Chase Peckham:   38:14
Man I like my own Plett space. I like I realized how much I love the commute. Now I loved that that time in between working out and getting the kids to school and getting in the car and that 20-minute drive to work and getting my mind right and kind of just relaxing time to myself and then getting to the office and seeing you guys, my colleagues, that that interaction that you have, that I missed the interaction of of teaching personal finance in front of a crowd you feed off that crowd like   

Felipe Arevalo:   38:50
I did a presentation. Did it in a presentation earlier this week. The 1st 1 during the great job by the at-home thing. Thank you. It was carbine. It was for students at the Teaching and Learning Center at Palomar College. And it was weird because you don't see the audience. Well, now you're sitting here staring at a little light on your laptop, knowing that it still recording and then staring at your picture of you talking. And you can't get that feedback from the audience. Know whether it's audio feedback feet, the participation, you know, just the body language. I even made a joke. Why was presented?  I can't even tell us half of your sleeping or not. It's just just me sitting here presenting to I see there's people in the room and it was a good turnout.

Felipe Arevalo:   39:41
a good turnout. Um, I just I only see myself in, like, a few comments people made. And, um, you know, you just kind of present, like you would in front of people minus walking around, and yeah, but participation some. My examples rely heavily on audience and has in it. Well, I'm just gonna pretend you guys said, uh, this is an example is the one I want to use today? Um, may I was. And we have more or more presentations coming on. We have a series of presentations coming up at UCSD. Ah, we just added, ah. Thursday to list. It'll be three Monday's in three Thursdays. Um, for students, three different topics, one topic a week and ah, just getting used to and presenting. And hopefully people continue to show up. At least we get to keep, uh, you know, doing our presentations. However, I do miss being able to be in the classroom with an audience. And, um, do you think of something Oooh I want to tell Katie of, uh, I don't sit next to Katie. Um uh, and then Ah, so I'll also occasionally sent a tweet at debtwave. Um, I know Katie sees these um so, Yeah, I do, miss. And I think as far as like, working from home, having the kids around makes it so much harder. Especially with the little one. He's one. So, you know, he doesn't really understand that sometimes he'll come running over and how No, I want to sit on the lap, and now you're typing with one hand. Um, you know, right now sequestered in the other room so you won't be coming in. But, you know, it's a different dynamic during his older I can tell him Hey, buddy, you know, go do homework. Er go read a book or positive or play video games, and then he just goes on. It's a little one, that adjusting

Katie Utterback:   41:52
that would be hard. I do miss seeing you guys and like chatting with people you know in real life. But I What I love so much is the time that I have with Jagger truthfully, and it makes the morning so much easier. Like today, I walked him before work and then you quickly showered like I don't have to worry about being somewhere and all that

Chase Peckham:   42:18
Well, you can see for me. And I worked out earlier this soaring, and I told my daughter we're gonna go for a bike ride at lunch today around noon, and I sound like I am I gonna shower. I mean, I was I'm disgusting right now. So from that end, it's been a little more like, you know, the routine of getting up shower, dressed, manicured. Get yourself together. Look, dress appropriately, All of that. That's going to be something that I'm gonna have to get back in to. You know, the swing of things again. And I look forward to getting back in the swing of things in that way. Yeah, really, Really. All kind of you, in some level. Absolutely way do. But, uh well, I mean, hey, everybody stay safe and we'll be talking to you next week. All right, guys.