261: F.I.R.E. with Jen Tserng
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Summary:
What is your exit strategy from your business? ✌️Do you plan to, or hope to retire at some point? That takes a lot of planning and goal setting. Jen Tserng joins the show again to discuss how to have an investing mindset and what it means to make saving money fun. From setting budgets to raising prices, taking a wholistic approach to our financial health is really what sets us up for success. Regardless of whether you want to retire in 10 years, or 30, it takes understanding your numbers and financial discipline to execute the plan.
Topics on this episode:
Saving and goal setting
What is F.I.R.E.?
Financial Discipline
Retiring and exit planning
Main take away? Take the 50:30:20 rule and see where you fall in needs vs goals vs savings.
About our guest:
After almost a decade of big city dog walking, Jen decided to hang up her daily dog walking shoes to concentrate on concierge and travel petsitting. This semi retirement was made possible by following principles of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement. She started her business as an affordable option to petcare, but her pricing structure has evolved over the years to reflect her experience and demand for her services. Jen currently lives in the mountains of Colorado, where she spends her days hiking, snowboarding and hanging out with her newly adopted dog.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
money, people, rates, pet, clients, walking, dog, investing, pay, years, business, budget, setting, saving, sitting, understand, rover, raise, spending, goals
SPEAKERS
Collin, Jen
00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan I'm Collin and this is Pet Sitter confessional an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by timed pet.
Collin 00:20
What's your exit plan from petsitting? Have you ever thought about what your life looks like in 1020 or 30 years, retirement and exit plans can seem like a long way off. But starting now with a simple plan and a simple way forward is one of the most powerful things we can do to set ourselves up for success. Jen sarin was previously back on episode 69. And she joins us again to talk about her philosophy around pricing around goal setting, and how to make sure we are setting ourselves up for success in the long run. Let's get started.
Jen 00:52
Okay, hi, Collin. Thanks for having me back on. I'm excited to be here. My name is Jen CERN and I am a self employed pet sitter and dog walker in Colorado. I started pet sitting in 2012. In Seattle through rover it was a side gig, because I was pursuing my career as a medical examiner at that time. But after my contract with the county expired, I decided I would try pet sitting full time. So I could hang out on the West Coast, have some fun, and I just never went back to medicine. So I'm probably most well known for going full Nomad in 2016. So I gave up my apartment, and just was house sitting full time. And I did that in New York City for about five years, so I didn't have to pay rent. And I saved a pretty good chunk of money while I was doing it.
Collin Funkhouser 01:48
Yeah, yeah. And I love that aspect of your story of being able to go and make some of those decisions to meet what you were looking for. But since we last spoke, you have moved to a brand new area and have started your dog walking petsitting again. So what's that transition been like for you?
Jen 02:07
Yeah, I think we last spoke around the summer of 2020. So COVID lockdowns were still a new thing. And during lockdown. My goal was basically just to make enough money to cover my living expenses and not dip into my savings, which I know was difficult for a lot of dog walkers. Because, you know, our income was decreased by 95%. In a lot of cases. I had about three years of expenses saved. So that was definitely helpful. And I also took the time to learn about investing the rest of the money that I had been saving. So a few months after we spoke, my boyfriend decided to move to Denver. So I moved with him. We thought we were escaping COVID Haha. So he signed a lease in Ripon Denver remotely. And then I had about a week to find coverage for my clients and pack up my things. But thankfully for me, dog walking was still very slow at that time. So it was easy to refer my clients out to establish dog walkers because they were still looking for work. So when we moved, I think I had about 800 verified reviews from Rover at that time. So they transferred over with me and it was pretty easy to start a dog walking business in Denver, just over the span of a couple months. Um, so I did that for almost a year. And then my boyfriend decided he wanted to move again to a sparsely populated unincorporated area of Summit County, Colorado. So it's by the ski resorts, Breckenridge and Keystone. It's about 80 miles away from Denver. So it's close enough that I can still work in Denver if I want but it's far enough that I definitely don't want to commute there regularly. After this latest move to the mountains I decided to retire from daily dog walking and concentrate on vacation and travel house today. So because throughout COVID lockdowns in these two moves in the span of two years, I realized that I've loved having time off. But I also love working I just don't want to work like 80 hours a week or even 40 hours a week. And vacation house sitting has always been my favorite thing to do. Because I love pretending that I can afford the lifestyle that my clients are living. So So I've just it's always been my favorite. And I ran my numbers and doubled my rates because I want to offer more of a concierge type pet sitting. Unfortunately through rover right now the cap is $150 a night, but hopefully that will be changed in the future. But you know, for now $150 A night is okay. But I think maybe eventually want to get up to 300 or maybe $500 tonight, but that's a few years down the line. So first things first. So that all happened a few months ago. And I also went on a working vacation to Los Angeles at the end of last year. And I was able to make about $1,200 Picking up games through rover and wag. So that was over about a nine night span of time. So that was fun. And I adopted a little doggie while I was there. So now that I have more time, I was kind of looking for a purse pooch. And it just so happened that there are a ton of them in the shelters in Los Angeles, and the SPCA was willing to do an out of state adoptions. So I adopted a little doggie. So um, yeah, so every new house is an adventure. But my boyfriend isn't ready to go full nomads. So it's I guess I'll just have to settle for these like working vacations once every few months.
Collin Funkhouser 06:32
Settle for those? Well. And, you know, part of your story that I really find fascinating is you really are focused on the numbers and focused on the future of you and having an exit plan and how this is all tied up. I am curious though, where did that get started with you and your interest in saving and investing and using petsitting really to do that for
Jen 07:03
you. I feel like I did it backwards. As opposed to most people I kind of fell into investing by accident. So my first four years of pet sitting in Seattle, I didn't really make any significant money, even though I was working 24/7 365 Because my rates were really low at that time. When rover was first starting. They were they were advertising overnights for $25 at night. So that's kind of where people were. And I remember having about $10,000 in the bank and thinking that was a big deal because I had never had that much money saved up in my life before. So when I moved to New York City, my business plan changed in Seattle, I was offering everything sporting, drops, drop ins, walking everything. So once I gave up my apartment and moved to New York City, I had to convert to only alcohol services, so only services within the client's home, which is dog walking cat care, and how sitting. So I also had nowhere to put my stuff because I'm a spender by nature. So I just like to spend money on things just to make myself feel better. But when I went to New York, I was working a lot and I was living rent free. And I was basically only spending my money on pizza and takeout. So I continued to accumulate money. And then I started raising my rates and accumulating more money. And I kind of didn't know what to do with the money that I was saving. So through the magic of the internet, I was able to connect with some full time house sitters. Their names are Tim and Amy Rutherford, they run a YouTube channel and a Facebook group called go with less you should join it because they're really amazing. And so they found out that I was hustling full time through rover, they wanted to connect and share stories. And when I listened to their story, I was just blown away because they are basically disciples of what's called the Fire movement. So that stands for financial independence, retire early, and for most people. And for Tim and Amy. This means that you work, the corporate job that you hate, until you accumulate about 25 times your annual spending, and then you tell your employer to shove it and then you retire so that you can enjoy life before you get too old. So typical retirement age is maybe like 65 ish. So earlier Retirement, depending on what you earn, and what you spend can be anywhere between, say, age 30, to age 60. And for some people, the ar e and fire stands for recreational employment instead of retire early. And I really identify that because although I do take my work seriously, I'm definitely here for a good time, and not a long time. So the minute dog walking starts to become stressful for me, then I know that it's time to figure out something else, because I 100% do it, because I'd love it. And because it's a low stress work for me. So, so for me, if I'm following classic fire in my annual spending is around $20,000 a year, then my fire or retirement number is going to be around $500,000. So once I have $500,000 in the bank, then that money can continue to work for me through investments. And then and then I could just live on that money, hypothetically, for the rest of my years.
Collin 11:15
Well, and what I, you know, this concept of basically, like, kind of gritting your teeth for a little bit to do something, for a payoff in the end of being able to do what you want. I think that's that kind of mentality is difficult for some people, and especially to think about doing it for dog walking and petsitting, which is an industry that I see a lot of people saying, I can barely make a living in this. How can you expect me to to save for a future? I can barely pay my bills right now.
Jen 11:51
Yeah, and I think that's true of a lot of people. Or even if you think about it, when people have a full time job, but their dog walking on the side just to help cushion their savings. In for me, I never liked working for other people. So that trade off was never worth it. People are like, Oh, what about medical insurance, like, medical insurance for me is around $300 a month. So I just, I just put it in my budget, and I just pay for it. You know, same thing with coffee and lattes, it's just part of my budget, so I just make it work. So um, so I think it's just kind of a shift. But I think that dog walkers and just people in general have a hard time thinking about self employment unless you're making $100,000 a year thinking that self employment is going to be a way to for financial independence.
Collin 12:53
Yeah, it really is to sit down and look at those numbers. I know, when we went full time, it was going well, how much of a decision is this, you know, $300 a month for health insurance. It's $3,600 a year is it worth the time, the strain, doing the stuff that you don't like to do and your other job to quit and go on your full time for that amount of money. And like, there's also this quality of life benefit that you get to look at as well. And I think appropriately is something that you really focus on too, especially with with dog walking, pet setting and out how sitting is is setting your prices appropriately. So how do you go about knowing what to price and in what the areas that you're going to be working in can can really bear?
Jen 13:40
Yeah, so basically, I started playing around with the numbers as I was walking jobs in New York City, and I had a lot of time to think. So um, I had already been in the business for about four years before I started saving money. So I already had a good idea of how much I could feasibly work in a day or in a week. And I just started playing with numbers and I always like the sound of six figures. So I would punch into my calculator. Okay, if I want to make $100,000 a year, how many dogs I have to walk and at what rate in order to make that happen? How many dogs is that? A day? Are they solo walks? Are they small group walks, how much commute time do I have in between walks? What if I raise my rates to $5 a lock? You know what if I take four weeks of vacation? What if I only want to work Monday through Friday? These are all things that people can think about for their own business and just kind of plug it into a calculator and do a little back of the napkin math and see what works for you and whether that's even attainable for for your lifestyle and your goals. But for me, also a six figure rate meant earning around $50 An hour So if you someone works for the man, and they earn about $50 an hour, 40 hours a week, that's six figures, hypothetically. But it's pretty difficult for a solo dog walker to actually walk dogs for 40 hours a week. So there's commute time involved, etc. But if I was booking walks close to each other and earning about $50 an hour, or if that was my goal, I was pretty happy with that. So what I did was I set my 30 minute rate to $25.20 $5. And then my hourly rate was $50 an hour simply because that's what I wanted to make. There's no other rationale for it. Because most people charge lower, but I didn't want to charge lower, so my hourly rate was $50 an hour and people paid it. I don't necessarily think that I have special pet sitting powers. But I've come to realize that finding reliable pet care has always been a problem. And I feel like it's a problem wherever you go, sometimes just want the best, and they're willing to throw money at the best. And I remember having dinner in Manhattan with a friend from LA. We're both originally from the Midwest. So I think that's why we're friends, because we certainly have nothing else in common. He's a big time Hollywood producer. So at some fancy bar in New York, and I was like, Oh, I'm house sitting and walking dogs in New York. And you know, being a man and a producer. She was like, Are you the best? And I'm like, Well, I have a lot of reviews. And he's like, Okay, you're the best you should charge charge your rates, you should set your rates at $500 a night and market yourself at the best as the best. And I was like, what? Like, I just moved to New York. And I think I was charging $18 a walk and $45 in overnight and just trying to establish my dog walking business. But the Fast forward five years and many wealthy clients later and I think he knew what he was talking about. So if you think about it, we pay higher rates for Master hairstylist and master groomers established tattoo artists, so why wouldn't someone pay more for a master pet sitter? Like I'm not trying to be Walmart, I'm not trying to book most people. I'm trying to be Louis Vuitton I've never bought Louie the time, I'll never buy Louie Vuitton. But I'm not going to be in everyone's budget, but I'm not trying to be. So I'm just charging what people are willing to pay. And I'm kind of trying to find that ceiling. I'll let you know if I reach it.
Collin 17:47
I'm very interested for sure. And I know most people look at those and think, Oh, I, I could never charge that there's somebody down the street that charges less. So I can't raise my prices too much. But you know which what I hear you saying is you have this goal of this fire, financial independence retire early or recreational part is going in order to meet that, what must I do, and then looking at dog walking and pet sitting looking at your business and going, I need to use this as the vehicle to get me to my goals. And I think that's a really appropriate way to look at our businesses and look at what we're doing to make sure that they're actually working for us that we aren't just out there doing this and not getting anything in return. I think part of that is understanding that it's okay for us to actually make a living on this. Like that is genuinely okay. And many people struggle with that mindset to go, oh, I can I can ask for money, I can ask for more money, I can ask for a lot of money. Because that's what I'm doing and is I can meet my goals with this. And always keeping that kind of central to our decision making in how we move forward.
Jen 18:53
Yeah, I remember being a client before I got into pet sitting and I thought dog walker rates were outrageous, just because it wasn't in my budget. But it doesn't mean that they're not worth it. Now I realized because I'm charging more than the so so yeah, so our background, our comfort level isn't really a good indicator for what people are willing to pay. I think a lot of pet sitters come from modest backgrounds. So I don't know what it's like to have endless amounts of money or just to pay someone $100 an hour just because you can
Collin Funkhouser 19:35
or, or just changing mindsets like my background. Dogs were not members of the family. They were to be had and enjoyed. But when they weren't really lavished on like a lot of modern pet parents do these days. So even then we bring in a lot of our biases and expectations for how we were raised or how we would expect to approach this this problem and you find people that never blink an eye at your rates. And that and I think that's something that more people should do is to play with their rates to try and see to, to push them up and see what people will pay. And Megan, and I just had an experience today where somebody posted in a local Facebook group and said, Who do I need to take care of my pets? And we were recommended, and she had responded with, wow, look at those rates. And every single one of the people who responded to that were our clients. And they're like, it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it over and over, and it was like it was kind of you know, we didn't say anything, we're just like, oh, well, that's really nice that people they see that value. And and some people do, and some people don't. And at that point, it's going, that's okay, because I don't have to be everything to all people.
Jen 20:43
Yeah, I feel like a lot of clients who are willing to pay higher rates, I don't ask sometimes they volunteer this information. But I feel like maybe they've been burned by pet sitters in the past. And they just, you know, they associate a higher rate with maybe more dependability, maybe just more personal attention, something like that. And they just want to make sure that it's handled, they don't want to be looking for a pet sitter, the night before their vacation, they don't want to work that worry about whether phyto is safe, or whether she's happy, they just want to make sure that it's taken care of. And if that means throwing extra money at it, then so be it.
Collin Funkhouser 21:23
No, you're totally right. It's them going, what what what money, can I light on fire to make this problem go away and out of money? I know, everybody, we have to realize that people make decisions based off of how much of a problem they're having in their life. And it's we're in the peace of mind business, that peace of mind is more valuable to some people than others. And we can't, we can do our part to help educate about all the benefits and all this stuff. But if somebody doesn't actually see the problem, or they don't feel that burden, sometimes they're not going to pay that price. And again, it's one of those things of going, that's fine, like I will there are people out there who do see the value in this, they do have that burden than that problem that needs to be solved. And that's what that's where we come along and in, right, as you said, a couple times here, like sometimes all it takes is just showing up and being dependable. Like that's what people light money on fire more often than not is How can I know that you're actually going to do what you're going to say you're going to do? And that's what they're paying for? Yeah,
Jen 22:24
I agree. And I feel like a lot of people also get into dog walking more as a side hustle. And then maybe especially for women, you also get some kind of emotional validation out of it, because you're helping and I feel like a lot of problems happen when those emotions kind of become too much of a part of the equation, because I feel like some problems situations, people are like, I love this dog. But and for me, that just seems really weird. It's like, like, what is this Tinder? Like we're not, we're not going to make excuses, because we love a dog. So you just kind of have to know what you're willing to do, how much you're willing to do it for. And that's all gonna take trial and error. Because I certainly know that I, there are certain jobs that I've taken in the past which retrospectively, were too much work. And then I'm just like, alright, well, the next time that kind of situation comes up, I'm definitely not going to do it, whether it's a commute further than I want to go or it's a dog that needs to be put on a potty pad every hour, I didn't take that job. But just things that clients will request, you just have to understand your boundaries and what your time is worth.
Collin 23:46
Yeah, and not getting emotionally tied up into that. I think that's been one of the biggest learning curves. For me personally. And I know for Megan as well of going that at the end of the day, this is a business yes, it's a very personalized business. And yes, it is. Very, there's a lot of emotions and a lot of energy that we invest in into the to the pets into their parents, but it is a business transaction. And so getting caught up emotionally in in these transactions is, is it can be helpful because you can be sensitive to clients, but can also put yourself at risk and detrimental because you'll find yourself doing things that are not good for you, or that you should really shouldn't be doing. be doing because it's worth your time. But that is hard to separate out those emotions, the feeling of investment. I've cared for the stock for 10 years or No, they've been through so much already. And we do get tied up in that.
Jen 24:42
Yeah, and I think that is a little easier for me because I change locations so frequently and I think also people that are booking pet care in large cities, it's just more of a sometimes it's just more of a one time thing or they're only there. For a year, when I moved out of Denver, I was starting to tell my clients, oh, I'm moving to the mountains. I'm so sad. And they're like we're moving to. So it was, it was great. It was perfect timing. But, but I know that when I charged lower rates, I always, I mean, I started petsitting, honestly, because I thought that, because I couldn't afford dog walking, because I couldn't afford a pet care professional for my own dogs. So I started pet care because I was stuck at home. And I was like, oh, I want to be the affordable option. And that worked for a time. But I always thought that clients who pay a lower rate, they're going to be more laid back and you know, more relatable. And I always thought that if I raised my rates to some ridic, what I considered a ridiculous level, that the clients would be really nitpicky and higher maintenance. But I haven't found that to be the case, I found that people who are willing to pay more, they're just more like transactional in nature. And like we, like we stated before, they just want to make sure it's handled and they're willing to spend money on it.
Collin Funkhouser 26:13
Yeah, I guess that's a really good point. They tend to be more transactional in nature. And they'll hold up their end of the bargain as long as you hold up your end, which is usually right.
Jen 26:23
Yeah, yeah. Can you give me a discount? Yeah, if you put the money in my pocket right now. Yeah, I, that I, that's one of the reasons why I actually prefer to book on rover because my off rover like rates and like not negotiations. But I mean, I do have a bottom line that's a lot lower than my rover rates. And I just don't like to have those conversations.
Collin Funkhouser 26:50
Sure. Yeah. And I think you're right, I think having that kind of interface. So whether it is an app like rover, or whether you have a booking software for your own business, having that direct interface where the all the owner is doing is clicking buttons. There's less wiggle room for any sort of, oh, well, what about or what about this? Or what if you did this? It's just these are the options? It's like ordering off of menu. Here are the options? Yes. Do you like these? Submit like that? That's it. And it really does take out that those those wiggle room for clients to try and wiggle down your prices? Because it's just it's just right there. And they can either choose to click it or not.
Jen 27:24
Yeah, I love it. It's fantastic.
Collin Funkhouser 27:28
Have you heard of time to pet Claire from acting critter sitters has this to say
27:32
time to pet has honestly revolutionized how we do business. My sitters can work much more independently because they have ongoing access to customer and pet information without relying on me. I save hours upon hours of administrative time on billing, processing payments and generating paychecks
Collin Funkhouser 27:49
if you were looking for new pet setting software, you have time to pet a try listeners of our show save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confessional. Well, it's a part of part of this, this this mentality that the fire some of your goals here. Part of it is the the making the income and setting your prices appropriately. The other part is obviously reducing expenses and saving some so I know you've you've been nomadic for a long time. How do you go about knowing how much to save? And really what what that process thought process is for you for not spending all of that money?
Jen 28:28
Yeah, so I basically sat down and figured out my budget. So it's basically what cell phone medical insurance. Now I have a car payment, those things and then just adding them up. And then I also use budgeting software. So um, so you can kind of track what you are spending but also what you're earning. There are a few apps out there, I use one called mint. But I think that final financial discipline is kind of like healthy, like eating healthy or exercise, you just have to keep at it every day, little by little, just building small sustainable habits. And sometimes you might slip up or you might have a full blown relapse shopping, therapy, whatever. But the important thing is that you understand your spending and earning patterns, and then just make changes that are working for you. I think that the 5030 20 rule is a good place to start. And this means that from your post tax dollars, you're supposed to allocate about 50% of your money toward needs. So things that are non negotiable for me those are rent cell phone, car, things like that. And then 30% toward wants. So those are going to be like entertainment things you You don't need dining out movies, whatever you choose to spend that on. And then the rest of the 20% of your money is supposed to go into savings. So I think people just have to sit down and figure out those numbers for their lifestyle. And then once you figure that out, the beautiful thing about being self employed is that our race can be whatever they want, or whatever we want them to be. So figure out what rates you need to make in order to make those numbers happen. And you know, maybe it's $5 to service here $10, or service there. Maybe it is trying to do small pack walks, if that's feasible for you. And you just kind of have to figure those out. Because if you don't know where you want to go, then you're just going to be stuck in this cycle of, Oh, sure. My bills, here some money, I'm going to throw money at my bills, and then just, you know, keep going at it, but you just kind of have to figure out where you
Collin Funkhouser 31:04
want to go. Yeah, that is that is totally critical of if you've never sat down and done a monthly personal budget and on a budget for the business, anything that's expended there. But for your personal budget to see, what am I spending? How much money do I need, and then with things like mint, and you need a budget or other things like that, actually track that and put it into categories. So you can see whether you're sticking to your budget or not. So kind of getting back at that the spending habits that really is foundational to sitting there and going, Okay, if this is my, if this is my baseline, what do I need to meet that and then sitting down, I use spreadsheets because they're kind of the best because I can just click and then a calculates a bunch of stuff for me. So it's whatever. But sitting down and going, Okay, how much if I increase this by $1? If I increase this by $2? If I increase this by $20, where does that get me, and now I get to go out and I get to work for that and try and find those people who can do that. So that I can be meeting my goals tool. That's where that kind of that little bit of hustle comes from of going, Okay, this is what I need, I'm going to go out and I'm going to get my business into people's lives who need that and can pay that so that I can start having this, this plan for my business and my my personal life too. Because that's ultimately what we want. We want to have a life and want to have something at the end of this business when we're done and we're want to move on to something else. We kind of we do want to add something to show why
Jen 32:29
you want to move on to something else. understand
Collin Funkhouser 32:34
exactly like that there needs to be something there and having that 5030 20 rule, he says a guiding principle, because you know, you may do your budget and go okay, actually, I don't need 50% to go towards this so I can increase my savings or I can do other things and just make it work for you.
Jen 32:52
Yeah, for sure. And I also listened to a bunch of finance podcast when I was out walking dogs. I know that not everyone likes to listen to podcasts. But while they're working, but for some of us add types you kind of have to, for me, Susie Orman was the gateway. Because it's very, it was very easy to understand. I can't listen to her anymore because because it's so simple. But, but that was an example of a podcast that for me, it was just very easy to digest and to learn about just personal finance and investing and, and things like that at a very 101 level. I also like the Motley Fool series, I think Motley Fool Answers is pretty good in breaking things down. And then once you start listening to a few few finance podcasts, you know, the AI algorithms will suggest a bunch more for you.
Collin 33:52
Yeah, I also like Motley Fool, not really for investing into individual stocks or individual companies, but really to get a better picture overall of kind of like how things are going and what sectors are healthy or not. And just kind of stay on top of stop top of everything. So when when you talk about investing basics and things like that, what are some things that really impacted you that you wish more people knew or recognized?
Jen 34:19
Yeah, for me, it was just how to get started. So as I was earning money, I was just shoving it into savings accounts, because I didn't know what else to do with it. So at the time, I think interest rates were pretty good. They are about 2% a week. And then and then they started to fall. So once they the high yield interest accounts were around, I think point 5% interest I was like I can't buy that many lattes on my interest anymore. So that was coincidentally, coincidentally about the time that COVID hit. So suddenly, I had a bunch of time to listen to more podcasts. And just to play around with some investing apps, thankfully, investing now is no fee. So for frugal people like me, I can invest all I want and take out my money all I want. But yeah, so I, it took COVID lockdowns for me to just kind of sit down and just figure out how to move my money from a savings account to an investment or brokerage account. And there are also investment calculators out there that you can use. I use that when I was trying to figure out my finances for for this kind of like soft retirement. So if I have, you know, $200,000 a year, sorry, not, I wish I had $2,000 a year, if I had $200,000 to invest, then I can just plug that into a calculator. And they can say how much you're going to add to it? What's your time horizon? So I would put say, I'm not going to add anything to it beyond this 200,000. And then I just want to let it grow over 15 years. And then this magic calculator will tell you how much you could possibly have at the end of you know, in 15 years if you just let your investments simmer. So those are those are all tools that I like to use.
Collin 36:36
Yeah, and I think they are very, very important. I think for me, one of the concepts that got me really excited about saving and investing was actually finally understanding what compound interest does two investments and going oh, it continues to work for itself as more money is gained in that account. And the key for that is just to start early, or to shovel as much money at as low as possible over time. Yeah. And so it's kind of it's very interesting to sit in, kind of do use those calculators with your spreadsheets to to see where you can be in 20 years and 30 years. Because I know for me, it's like, oh, especially when we first started out, but 10 years ago, or whatever, we were graduate students, and we're just started petsitting, we had no money to our names. And it was like, I can only put away $100 this month. But to sit down with a calculator and go Well, if I put $100 in an account every month at 8% interest, compound interest for 10 years, that's actually a considerable amount of money. So it's also having this long term view in mind and long these long term goals. And that's where we need to kind of be thinking with a lot of this too.
Jen 37:43
Yeah, I agree. And my mentality before I started investing was basically okay, I could sit down and learn how to invest, which is this big, scary thing. Or I could just go out and walk the dog for 20 bucks. And it was a lot easier to go out and walk a dog for 20 bucks. So I just never looked at it. But again, once COVID lockdowns happened. And I was started investing and looking at my accounts, I'm like, what I can make $1,000 today by doing nothing, I mean, I can also lose $2,000. But, you know, when you're a dog walker, and you're used to increments of $20, watching the money work for you is just really impressive. And like you're saying you could you could be you could put $100 a month, decide you could allocate $5 $10 $25 $50, anything is a good place to start. Because again, it's about it's about developing habits. And if you automatically have that, say $50 set to transfer into your savings, you're never going to miss it, you're just going to work your budget around that, you know that $50 less, and you're not even going to miss it.
Collin 38:54
Yes. And I know for me, one of the big mindset shifts that I had to do when it came to finances and running our own business was money is kind of coming in and going constantly in the business. So it can be a little bit of overwhelming of like days, like I get paid basically every single day for little things that we're doing and all the walks and the drop ins and stuff. So I basically had to set a schedule of every one one day a week is whenever I'm going to sit down, I'm going to move money, I'm going to pay bills, I'm going to do this stuff. And it helped consolidate a little bit of that too. And like you said, having these things on autopilot of the first and 15th of every month things get saved. And then when I sit down on the day after that, that's the money that I have left to then do everything else. And you're right you don't miss it because you never saw it in the first place.
Jen 39:41
Yeah, exactly. And I love that there's so many banking apps now so I I can check my finances compulsively. But that also becomes a hobby saving money becomes a hobby so um, so I think that that was also a shift for me in terms of spending on things that I didn't need into saving money that I would someday eventually use, you know, if there's a global pandemic or something
Collin Funkhouser 40:12
like that, whatever happened, right? Crazy.
Collin 40:18
And I think something else to point out here is you're doing all of this solo, you've been been solo as a walker, and as a pet care provider for over 10 years now, at this point, did you ever feel like you wanted to, or were interested in hiring,
Jen 40:33
I don't think that ever felt a strong urge to do that I have worked with some people in the past when, in the early days, you know, I worked with a boyfriend at the time, and then I ended up finding someone when I was in Seattle to work with and I just, I tried those things, and I just, I'm so tight a that I don't want to be responsible for someone else's mistakes, I don't want to listen to why you have a migraine, or why you can't come in today, or, or that you got locked out and lost someone's key. Those are all mistakes that I've already made, and I'm over it. But, um, but I also I really love being in the field, I hate paperwork, I don't know how to use a spreadsheet. So um, so for me, it's always, it's just gonna be me, and because I know that I can control the quality, the best that way. And I also feel like, if it's just me, then it's easier to raise rates. Because because you're paying for me, you're not paying for whatever college kid is working for a company this summer. So I'm, so that's how I'm going to increase the amount of money I'm making, I don't have to stay at $20 per 30 minutes, or $25 per 30 minutes, or $30. For 30 minutes. It's all literally driven by the demand for pet care services for my services, in particular, versus how much I feel like working honestly, like inflation isn't even a part of the equation or my expenses, my expenses are all baked in because of because my rates are on the higher side of things. So I have a lot more wiggle room. And then the easier jobs are just awesome. But, um, but yeah, so I think so that's how I've decided to grow my business is just by continuing to raise my rates as my experience and demand grows. Yeah, I
Collin 42:43
think that's really important to hear is that these goals, this financial planning, this desire to retire or do something different later in life, doesn't mean you have to build this huge, massive business with a bunch of employees across different service areas. And all this stuff like it like doing doing planning, budgeting, and then sticking to your investment plan really can get you there. And I think too often, especially because we are afraid of charging too much. And we don't charge enough. We don't feel like we're making any traction. But again, looking at this over a little bit longer time horizon, then today and tomorrow is really helpful in considering okay, I can have something down the line that that I have have built and I've worked on over the last several years.
Jen 43:30
Yeah, exactly. There are so many pastors who are overworked. So I think they just have to consider like if you have if your books are full, and then it's time to raise rates. If your clients are tipping you then that means there's more money in their budget for you. So it's time to raise rates. And you may lose a couple clients. But who cares, you're going to get new clients in per going to be attracted by your reputation, and they're going to pay your new rates because they never knew any different. I don't even mess with one or $2 rate raises my rate races are $5 per walk or $10 for an overnight. And even doing that what I would try to do is I would say raise what rates one year and then raise overnight rates the second year, and even that wasn't enough to keep up with the demand. Sounds like all right, double it. Yeah, you know, also I am in a little bit of a unique, unique situation because I'm not trying to retain the clients that I had at lower rates. I'm like, these are my rates now. You can pay them if you are at a lower price point, which is totally fine. I network with a bunch of amazing people in Denver that could probably help you out.
Collin 44:53
You had said that when if clients are tipping you it means they have space in their budget and I see at the end of the year, tons Have people posting about all the tips, all the gifts, all the things that their clients got them for their services, and I look at that, and I go, Well, if they gave you $1,000 tip for Christmas, it means that you could have been charging them a little, at least $2 more service throughout the rest of the year, and made it up again. And I think it's just we get this kind of one hit of this big dopamine boost. At the end of the year, when we get a gift that we kind of forget, like, Oh, this is I could amortize this throughout all my walks throughout the rest of the year, and be making more across all of my clients then.
Jen 45:35
Yeah, for sure. I had a, because I gave up my dailies probably around October. So when the holidays came around, I will admit, I was a little sad, because I'm like, Oh, I'm not getting holiday bonuses. But then the other part of my brain was like, your rates are double now. The holiday bonuses aren't even going to be a drop in that bucket. Because you're booking at double your rates right now, like, Okay, that's cool.
Collin 46:06
Exactly, we have to exactly having again, this, like, more long term view on an annual basis going, Okay, if this one client gave me $1,000, if I raise my rates, so that they pay me that $1,000 throughout the rest of the year, that also means I'm raising rates on everybody else. So I'm making even way more than that. So stop trying to live off the tips and the little extra things that you get at the end of the year, and put that across the rest of it too.
Jen 46:32
Yeah, exactly. And then I need, you know, if I'm going to take time off, then I also need to build those four weeks, you know, as a solopreneur, I need to build those four weeks of not getting money into my budget. So maybe that means also, you know, an extra $5 A Walk to accommodate for that. And that's okay, your clients aren't going to miss it.
Collin Funkhouser 46:54
They're not, you know, as you think back to kind of where you're going, what is your your your exit plan,
Jen 47:01
I had started thinking about retirement before COVID happened, because I think that dog walking is a young man's game. And it's a lot of commitment to show up to multiple homes every Monday through Friday, and I had already been doing it for like eight years at that point. Um, so I was already in a pretty good position when COVID lockdown started happening. So for me COVID lock downs, were just kind of like a trial. Retirement, I didn't know it was at the time. But retrospectively it kind of was. So I ran my numbers. And then I was like, originally, my fire plan was going to take 10 years. And I think I was about four years into that. So during COVID, when I ran my numbers, I was like, I can just invest the money that I have, and then just make enough money to cover my living expenses. And I should be golden. And for me, that number is around $20,000 a year, maybe it will be more because maybe I'll spend more money with my free time, but we'll see. So for me, if I work half the year, then I only have to make a little bit over $100 a day, which compared to what I was doing is completely feasible. So um, so that's kind of the plan that I'm not on now. Because I know that I'll never fully retire because I love dog walking and pet sitting. But because I don't have as many clients now then I can really enjoy the gigs that I do take. So that for me is really appealing. And I'm very sustainable. And I also know that if I ever need more money, I can just go back to dog walking, because I've already moved, you know, four times. And two of that was in the last two years through a pandemic. And I could always just pick up dog walking wherever I landed. So that to me is very comforting as a backup plan if I need it.
Collin Funkhouser 49:20
And I think what's really important here is just take one step aside here and say we're not saying everybody needs to be on the fire program and everybody needs to try and retire in 10 years or less, and everyone needs to be doing these things. I think what's really key here is just understanding that's why we wanted to have you back on Jen is to help us understand the importance of setting these longer term goals so that we can work our business and work our lives to meet them. And that ultimately is is really what this this big takeaway here is is understanding that I set goals I can work towards the goals and I can structure things around them so that I can meet those and that's gonna look different for everybody. and it should, rightfully so if somebody is like, oh, you know, I would like to do a 30 year plan or something like that. But having a plan was really so powerful when we start looking at everything from prices to locations to services that we offer, and even like how busy we want to be, if we don't have those plans, if we don't know our numbers, it's really hard to set everything else in context.
Jen 50:21
Yeah, for sure. I mean, if I wanted to be a slave to my schedule, and never raise my rates, then I would just work for someone else. So but I have full control of that I just have to make it happen. And you can't make it happen until you understand what you want. Yeah.
Collin Funkhouser 50:39
Well, so for people who are listening, who maybe struggle with staying on track with long term goals and understanding that what's what's the advice that you would give to them,
Jen 50:47
I think it's important to know that it's not going to happen overnight. And I think that's one of the reasons why I'm why I ended up in CNBC because like, My situation is so crazy, because I just like, gave up having a place to stay in order to fast track it. But just know that it's not going to happen overnight, maybe you'll read some inspirational stories in the news, or listen to some inspirational stories on a podcast, but know that your journey is going to be personal to you. And it's just going to be small pieces of progress, small changes in your spending, small changes in your earning, which could be you know, $5 of $20 is what 25% Raise. So that's pretty cool. But um, yeah, just understand that there's going to be some progress and some setbacks. But as long as you understand where you're going and kind of get back on the horse, and just keep doing it little by little by little, then eventually, your overall situation is going to change for the better. It might not happen overnight, but maybe at the end of next year, you'll have an extra $5,000. Maybe at the end of the year after that, you'll have an extra $10,000. And once you start building those habits, then you can start setting more aggressive goals for yourself, like doubling your race. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kind of kidding. But anyway. So yeah, I think that's just that just just understand your habits and what you need to do to get to where you want to go.
Collin Funkhouser 52:30
Yeah, absolutely. You know, Jen, I know that there's a lot more to this. And if someone's listening, and they want to learn more about fire, or pick your brain on setting rates, or how to go about getting more financially fit, how best can they do that?
Jen 52:46
I run a Facebook group called the pet care hustle. So it's a lot of it is app based, because that's what I know is working through the apps. But you can come find the Facebook group, the pet care, hustle, or you can always find me on Facebook, I'll be you know, I'm happy to answer questions. There's a lot about finance that I don't know about, but but I know how to raise my rates. You're out the rest after that.
53:16
Which you know, is pretty foundational to everything that we've we've talked
Jen 53:21
money in what do I do with the money? I don't know.
Collin Funkhouser 53:26
Exactly, exactly. But to have that first before you can totally understand. I can't thank you enough for coming back on the show and giving us update on how you're doing and then encouraging us to take those little steps and start building some of those financial muscles that we need to have a better future in a different future if we want to have that. So I want to thank you so much for your time.
Jen 53:48
Thanks for having me on. This was a great conversation. Yeah,
53:51
I really appreciate it.
Jen 53:51
Thank you. Okay, all right. Bye, bye.
Collin Funkhouser 53:53
I really encourage you to sit down whether this week or next and start putting down some numbers as to what you would like to see in your retirement, how you would like your exit plan to look, when we start doing just basic financial planning right now it sets ourselves up for success in one 510 20 year timeframes. That just takes a little bit of planning. So whether you can set aside 50 bucks a month, 100 bucks a month or $1,000 a month, whatever that looks like for you. The important part is to start now and start reaching those goals. Because we all want to do something else. Eventually, we all have ideas of what's next in our lives. And we need to prepare for that we need to plan for that appropriately. We want to thank today's sponsors time to pet for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. If you have questions about more financial planning or retirement or what that would look like or maybe your views on how you are going about it in your approach. We'd love to hear from you. You can send that to feedback at Pitzer confessional.com We're at Pitzer confessional on social media. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend. We'll be back again soon.
