Spring hit and I felt it too.

My kids are outside. Soccer's back. The weather broke and for the first time in months it felt like maybe... just maybe... things are turning around.

That feeling is real. I'm not here to take it from you.

But I recorded Episode 35 of Let's Get Real this week because that feeling has a cost if we're not careful. And I think you need to hear what's actually happening underneath all the spring energy... before life hands you the bill.

Here's the honest truth.

The economy hasn't recovered. It just got warmer outside.

The same week the birds came back and the soccer fields filled up... the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs. Household debt hit $18.8 trillion. An all-time record. Credit card debt hit an all-time record. Subprime auto loan delinquencies hit the highest rate since the early 1990s. Worse than the Great Recession. Worse than COVID.

And then on February 28th, a war started that nobody voted for. Gas was $2.98 a gallon. By March 11th it was $3.58. Sixty cents in eleven days. Diesel up a dollar. Groceries are next... that ripple just hasn't hit the shelf yet.

None of that changed because the temperature went up.

What I said in this episode... and what I want you to sit with.

This isn't doom and gloom for the sake of it. I'm not built that way and you know that.

Spring is actually one of the best times to make moves. The energy is right. You feel motivated. You want to take action. The problem is most people use that energy to spend instead of prepare.

So here are the three things I laid out in the episode.

Deep dive your finances this week. Not next month. This week. Go line by line over the last 12 months. Figure out what you actually need to survive and what brings you real joy. Everything else... cut it. I know budget is a dirty word. Do it anyway.

Build your $1,000 wall. 59% of Americans can't cover a $1,000 emergency. If you're in that 59%... that is your only financial goal right now. Five dollars. Ten dollars. Twenty dollars. Don't care. Get to a thousand. I promise you the peace of mind that comes with that number changes how you operate. Everything else starts after that wall exists.

Go get your raise. This one's for my W2 people. Your salary hasn't kept up with inflation. It hasn't kept up with your output. And nobody is coming to give it to you. Track your value. Document what you bring. Walk in and demand what you're actually worth. The people who survive tough economic seasons are the ones who made sure their income grew before they needed it to.

One more thing before you go.

I ended this episode with something that isn't about money at all.

Be there for the people around you going through this. Because the real cost of a struggling economy isn't always in the numbers. Sometimes it's isolation. Someone who's embarrassed they're behind on a bill. Someone who lost a job and hasn't told anyone. Someone who's smiling at soccer practice and drowning at home.

Be that person who makes it safe to say something.

That matters more than any stat I could throw at you.

Go enjoy that weather. Vitamin D is real. Just keep your eyes open while you're out there.

Let's get real.

— Stoy

If this hit home, drop a comment. Tell me where you're feeling it most right now. I read every single one.

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