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They've taken over cities before, but this July, they're bringing the X Games League Championship home to New Orleans. July 24th through 26th at the Superdome. Over 100 elite athletes competing for the first ever league title. Plus, Metro Boomin', JID, Subtronics, and Bunt performing live. New Orleans doesn't just host the moment. New Orleans is the moment. Get your tickets now at xgames.com.

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terms and conditions apply. The United States is about to mark its 250th anniversary. And so on

the Global Story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story and a lot of people have bought it. I feel like the American dream is alive but

not well from the BBC it's the United States at 250 listen wherever you get your podcasts or find

us on YouTube this is the Bishop Statement at Bishop State Community College we want you to hear what our students educators and business leaders have to say I would say Bishop State's

like a home for people it may not be like a four-year where you have a dorm you have a roommate you have a rec center but it's still a place you can go meet new people classmates put in the hallway make friends with advisors on all these teachers and everything like that it's just a place you could feel like yourself and not try to be the thing you don't want to be. With this program, I learned networking a lot. We've had two dinners with heads of different companies dealing with shipping or even game design builds, dealing with AutoCAD or any 3D modeling. So really being able to meet new people or meet heads of new people has been really helpful. I don't come from a wealthy family, so four years were kind of not out the picture, but less probable for me to go to. Bishop State with my scholarship, it cut my price in half and made it way easier for me to go to school for the same 12 credits I would go for a four-year.

Ready to make your own Bishop statement? Visit bishop.edu today and start building your tomorrow

at Bishop State Community College. It's Mojo in the Morning Show. Megan, this is so real. I was, you know, thinking of this topic and then seeing a story that came out this morning that said that 38% of people are waiting for their tax refunds to come because they say they cannot pay their bills without their tax refunds but this is a this is a time where it's like clamping down

trying to figure out what to do yeah and i i want to be very clear before we get into this like i understand that i am in a position that isn't the same as everybody else um i i'm very grateful to be financially literate and i don't have a car payment right now which is a huge huge blessing and I fully understand that. So like I'm in a place right now where I'm nervous that if I feel this way about finances, how is a lot of people who are in a worse position than me feeling about finances? Because it feels like quickly, very quickly, I do not have the financial stability that I had a year ago. And I have been following a lot of different financial advice accounts online and I have gotten memberships to certain places to lower the costs of my groceries or my gas or whatever it is. And I've done all the math and I have essentially spreadsheets of my finances that are monthly and whatever. And not to get too nerdy about it, but I feel like I'm actually spending more money trying to save money lately. And it's so incredibly disheartening just trying to go to affordable grocery stores, but you can't buy all of your groceries there. They don't provide everything so you're spending more money driving to other grocery stores and it feels like just the the hardest lessons to be learned right now and the only person it's hurting is my own bank account learning them it's so incredibly frustrating i just feel like i'm burning money

trying to save it and it's tough too because you're trying to be healthy and being healthy is also something that is way more expensive is way more yeah um uh so so i i listen i we do things on our show all the time because we think you know it's relatable there's probably nothing more relatable that you'll hear on the show today than what you just said how how crazy it is and difficult it is to try to live in expenses that every single year feels like they just keep going

up and up and up yeah i am i recently you know was feeling like this maybe two months ago Thank you. especially around the holidays, is when it really started to peak. And it sounds like you're doing all the right things from a visibility standpoint. I downloaded an app called Rocket Money because I feel like I'm just blowing money and not having that visibility. I'm not a spreadsheet person. I'm not about to be about that life like that. But that app, putting things into perspective, showing me how much I'm spending, where it's going, being able to categorize things. I wouldn't say it's a game changer because the ship isn't doing a 180, but it's definitely not going in the direction it was going in.

So Wes and I just sat down and did like a budget. Wes is a numbers guy. He's a software guy, an engineer. So his nature is to put everything into a spreadsheet. And I think it's a Dave Ramsey thing because he said every dollar should have a name. Like everything that you spend, you need to know exactly where it's going. Not that I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan. But when we sat down and put everything in a spreadsheet and like really tried to figure it out and he was like this is how much money we should be saving every month and at the end of the year this is the amount that we should have in our bank account and i was like why have i not been able to do that and he's like because it's like these little it's all of these little things that you're like oh i'm gonna go to target and buy some like cute little valentine's things for the kids or oh i'm gonna grab you know these tank tops on amazon like all of those things that are not necessary it's great that i want to do them or purchase them what are they add up so freaking quickly and I get what you're saying buy whatever yeah no and

I think that's my most frustrating part of all this is that I don't do that and it's still a struggle like gas has gone up so much and groceries have gone up so much I've canceled all of my streaming services I don't do that I haven't purchased any clothes and probably the last time I bought clothes was for jingle ball before that was probably four months before that like I I don't do little shopping. I don't take vacations. I don't go on trips. We did a very low-key Christmas this year. It feels like my money is just going towards living.

You have said this because you moved from Toledo to Detroit, and you have gone back and forth where you said, maybe I'll go back. Is that still a possibility that you're talking about?

Yeah, I can't afford to live here.

Is it the cost of living here, or is it also? So because I know you go back to Toledo a lot for, you know, different appointments and stuff like that.

Yeah.

Is it would it be cheaper for you to find some sort of like, you know, I know you have doctors and stuff there. Like move, move your doctors or do you just not want to do that?

Honestly, if it's if it's like three or four trips a month keeping me from affording my bills to go to Toledo, then I should just move to Toledo. Well, I don't think a couple of trips, 45 minutes away a month should be the determining factor.

And if I can afford to live somewhere, you talk that your biggest expense right now is groceries and gas. Correct. And in the price of gas actually has gone down, believe it or not. I mean, I know it's gone up in like the last week, but it's way cheaper now than it was like a year ago. So I'm like, I'm I'm trying to figure out like I do think and I know you say that you don't. But I say it too, and I'm always BSing myself. I go online, and I think that Jeff Bezos is the reason why I hate everything. He has made it too easy for us to just go, I need this. Boom, I order it. Where in reality, I put things in a cart all the time now, and half the time I end up not even buying the stuff because I really don't need half the stuff I put in there. Do you ever do that or no? Do you buy it?

You don't do it? No, I don't. I haven't bought anything off of Amazon in months either.

Do you guys buy outfits every time we have a function?

The last time I bought an outfit was for Jingle Ball. Do you feel like you're baking a lot?

Like, is that, like, become a new expense?

But, again, baking is actually really inexpensive, and I did that because I canceled all of my other streaming subscriptions and it was something to do in the house. And if I can't afford $10 in flour, that's not the make-or-break factor.

i uh it's i mean listen it things are expensive everything's expensive and honestly if it keeps you from uh you know finding your you know if it's your happiness you know to do certain things you know there's got to be ways to be able to do the things that make you happy they be listening

who why what my app just tell me you spent blank last week that's 30 less than normal That app that you were just talking about? Yes. Like, literally just sent me a notification.

Yeah, that's crazy, by the way. Really weird. They can hear that. And it sends you to this time. Does it normally send it at this time? Hell, I don't know if I've ever seen one. Really? To be honest with you. Initial H brings up the most expensive of expenses, especially with the weather that we have. What's going on, H? You're being voice disguised. Yes, um, my energy bills are, like, so high right now. Yes. It's unbelievable how much they have for this month.

I thought consumers' energy, I, honest to God, my last bill, I thought that they had the wrong house. Right. It was so, it was so over the top.

Somebody was tapping into my energy. Yes. Because I was like, it went from, like, $75 to $2.75. Off the chart.

I talk about DTE all the time. I do their commercials. And there is a website, dteenergy.com slash saveenergy. And people think that it's, you know, oh, that's just a commercial. You're just doing it. It truly is. If you do the things that they tell you to do, you will lower your energy costs.

I agree with the DTE. I'm talking about consumers, by the way.

But sometimes with that stuff, it's just for homeowners, too, which is so frustrating. And I know the number one thing people are going to say is, well, it's because of where I live. And absolutely part of the problem is because of where I live. But if my only finance, my only big purchase goes to my my living space and it's not even cable or any of that, it's just heating and cooling, the gas bill and rent. And that is now making my life so unaffordable. That's where I want to move home. I'm acknowledging that it is expensive to live there. But I know the first thing and we're getting texts about this is what you chose to live downtown. John, look at the prices of rent in apartments not in downtown around the city. They're very comparable. It's not like I looked at Royal Oak. I looked at Ferndale. My rent in downtown Detroit was cheaper. And rent prices just in general, because I've been looking at moving back to Toledo, are insane there as well. And homeownership is now becoming not a thing for me anymore. That's not something I can do because I already had my, I bought a house once. So all of the deals for first-time homebuyers now no longer apply to me. So it's very frustrating.

Rewind for just one second because I do want to say this. I do want to say with the energy costs, we talked on the air about what temperature we should keep our homes at. And you guys all thought it was crazy because I was telling you that, you know, I keep my house at like 67 degrees, thought that was too cold. Literally just putting it to 67 degrees and putting on socks around the house or wearing, you know, a pair of sweatpants instead of putting shorts on in the wintertime has literally dropped my bill from year to year. And that was one of the things that they said. Now, I get it. You know, you want to wear what you want to wear, but, you know, stop being naked around the house and you'll be okay. But as far as housing is concerned, Megan, I read an article that was out like a week or so ago on Daily Mail that said that hostile living is now a deal. People are living and doing hostile living where they're randomly just going out and now because expenses are so high, just not even living with people they know, just randomly living with 10 people in a home that might be only for or apartment that might only be for four because we shouldn't have to do that.

I've thought about this. Megan, I'm in the same boat as you where I feel like nothing I do, I can't catch up with my finances. And I think I see these posts on Facebook where people have houses and they have a room to rent. And I'm like, I might as well just live in somebody's house and live in their room and pay way cheaper rent than having my own place to myself. And that's crazy that as a 25 year old adult, I can't afford to live in an apartment with a full time job, with a full time job.

And it's like I like it's crazy to me that people are like, you need a roommate or you need to move like that's not a full expense in and of itself. Just moving. And it's like, but what else do you expect me to do when I work 40 plus hours a week full time? and it's still difficult and i don't even have a car i'm one car accident away from moving

initial b is who a majority of our listeners are initial b what's happening are you there yes your voice disguise which it's okay to be voice guys a lot of times people are just embarrassed or don't want the people to know that they're calling in you're a single mom

yeah single mom two children five and 15 and like i was telling them like i understand um being a single mom after i paid my rent and utilities i barely have money for food yeah it's brutal

and i in child care is the is the most expensive part of probably your existence right trying to

just find a place for your kids well they're both in school thank god but but summertime what do you do yeah in the summertime i mean i got family and like i got a 16 year old so he helps out

unfortunately but yeah that's what we got to do wow man that is uh i i you know know that we try our best to we're paying bills we're doing you know thousand dollars uh an hour you know 13 hours a day. We try to give back as much as we possibly can with some of the promotions that we're doing, giving you opportunities to go Go to places like Florida or, you know, concerts that you're not going to be able to afford. But even going to a concert, even if you got free tickets, the parking is expensive, right? So we appreciate your call. Thank you.

Thank you.

This is a Monday uplifting topic, but it's real. What's going on, Jackie? How you doing? Jackie.

Hi.

What's up?

Hi. I was listening to Megan. I'm a first time caller. Hey, Jackie. And I've been listening to you guys for over two years. And the reason why is I live in Sylvania, Ohio, and I drive to Farmington every day. Sometimes seven days a week for the company I work for. And everyone's like, why don't you move to Michigan? I'm a single mom with two kids that both live with me. My daughter is 17. My son's 21. He goes to the University of Toledo. that the insurance is cheaper trying to buy a home for what the home i have a beautiful home in sylvania but buying a home up in michigan would be insane but triple and i love the company i work for i love all my co-workers i mean this company is amazing and i do this drive every day and i'd rather do the drive every day and i do it and i listen to you guys every morning but i understand Megan because I went to the grocery store yesterday and everything that I bought for some reason like doubled and I remember coming home and telling my son yesterday like all these groceries instead of it being like 150 were like 250. It's getting insane. And that's the thing is like I

I'm getting so much backlash right now which is insane but like people are acting like I didn't budget this when I moved there two years ago. I don't think anybody's in the same financial situation they were in two years ago.

Why don't you do this? Why don't you rent a room from Chelsea and I? The kids are away.

No, it's not.

Is that going to make you cry more? You can. I'll rent it to you for 30 cents in baking goods. Could you imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing Mojo's flat ass? No one wants that. Seriously. it will be trade for mentions you come you live with Scott Mick you can live with me I'll hide the Hawaiian shirts Cameron what's up Cameron what's going on it's Mojo in the morning hi Cameron how you doing buddy

hello

hi hey Cameron

hey dad Hey, I get where Megan's coming from with groceries and the cost of living. My wife is a stay-at-home mom, and I got two kids. And every year our land taxes go up, our car insurance goes up, homeowner insurance goes up, groceries are going up, but our paychecks are staying the same.

Yeah.

And I'm assuming that her being a stay-at-home mom is, in many cases, obviously better for your kids but it's also probably cost effective because you put her out in the workforce the money she's bringing in is probably going to watch those kids

yeah we got um we have a friend that put their kid in daycare and it costs them five hundred dollars a week yeah daycare and she's yeah i mean i get we're making silver profits you know

it's hard out there. Yeah. Well, I think, uh, I think that this is the thing that, uh, that I think makes people fed up. And I think that honestly, the world is fed up right now and, and, uh, hopefully, hopefully things, you know, uh, can change. I, I've talked to a guy that told me that one of his things that he's now offering as a way to keep employees, because he wants to keep good employees instead of having employees that, you know, come in and then they go leave for a job that they're going to make another $2,000 a year. So it's always kind of like chasing the paycheck. He's now offering housing as one of his things. So, which is an amazing thing to think about that. But I mean, it used to be the benefits were insurance. Now the benefits are, you know, putting a roof over your head or even groceries.

They've taken over cities before, but this July, they're bringing the X Games League championship home to New Orleans. July 24th through 26th at the Superdome. Over 100 elite athletes competing for the first-ever league title. Plus, Metro Boomin', JID, Subtronics, and Bunt performing live. New Orleans doesn't just host the moment. New Orleans is the moment. Get your tickets now and...

At xgames.com. Hey guys, it's Ryan. I want to tell you about my new pastime, Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has been around for over a decade delivering the most fun you can have online. Play social casino style games for free, anytime, anywhere. So sign up at chumbacasino.com. No purchase necessary. BGW room. Void work prohibited by law. See terms and conditions. 21 plus.

The United States is about to mark its 250th anniversary.

And so on the Global Story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story and a lot of people have bought it.

I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. From the BBC, it's the United States at 250.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or find us on YouTube.

This is the Bishop Statement at Bishop State Community College. We want you to hear what our students, educators, and business leaders have to say.

Alan Lee, my major is drafting and design. In high school, I did it since my sophomore year, and I kind of wanted to continue it. It was the only thing I was good at. I didn't want to move to a four-year yet. I don't think I was mentally prepared. I found Bishop State. They had the program. I met a few people there. I ended up enrolling. The instructor, first day I met him, I told him about my background. He said, okay, great, you know about this. He built me straight to work. He didn't let me have any leeway. He pushed me to my limits. So I think that made me choose drafting and design at Bishop State and stuck with it. The sport's amazing. All my instructors just want to see me succeed. They want to push me to my limit. They want to see me be the best I can be, get a job, just be as successful as I can be. And I really appreciate all of them. With my degree, as of right now, my plan is to work for the city of Mobile with their urban planning department. And I've already got a job shadow before, and hopefully I will internship over the summer. If you choose Bishop, we're welcome to have you any day.

Ready to make your own Bishop statement? Visit bishop.edu today and start building your tomorrow at Bishop State Community College.