The Daily Valet. - 12/13/19, Friday
✔️ How Much Should We Spend on Vices?
Friday, December 13th Edition
I really want the spiced pineapple cocktail at the end of this newsletter.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today's edition is presented by
Today’s Big Story
How Much Do You Spend on Vices?
A survey finds that the less you make, the more you shell out ...
In between all the gift buying you've been doing lately, how much have you been indulging in vices? I know that I just purchased a bottle of gin and it's already mysteriously half empty ... but I digress.
According to a new Bankrate survey, millennials and lower-income Americans spend a higher portion of their income on "financial vices" like alcohol and lottery tickets.
Americans earning under $30,000 a year spend 13% of their annual income on lottery tickets, according to the survey—over 10 times as much as those who earn over $50,000 annually. Millennials spend a higher portion of their income than members of other generations on things like alcohol and tobacco, which Bankrate analyst Amanda Dixon believes may also be attributable to the fact that they are younger and more social.
Yahoo Finance reports that while millennials spend more annually ($1,741 on average) on alcoholic beverages than Gen Xers and baby boomers, they don't spend the most. The so-called silent generation (those born between 1925 and 1945) has a booze budget of a whopping $7,982 a year, on average.
The survey took note that lower-income earners outspend workers making $80,000 or more in all vice categories. And so while most Americans struggle to save $1,000 for a rainy day, such spending makes things even worse.
↦ Smart Money Moves: To make easy work out of saving and budgeting, we've put together the lazy man's guide to getting ahead financially.
Boris Johnson Wins Big in UK Election
Brexit is back on track
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a commanding majority in Thursday’s general election with a landslide victory. For Johnson, whose brief tenure has been marked by serial defeats in Parliament, legal reversals and seemingly endless upheaval, it was a resounding vindication. Defying predictions that he would be tossed out of his job, the prime minister now seems assured of leading Britain through its most momentous transition since World War II, reports the New York Times.
The scale of the victory all but ensures that Britain will leave the European Union at the end of next month—completing a divorce that was initially backed by voters in a 2016 referendum, then bogged down in the country’s Parliament for more than three years.
According to the Wall Street Journal, it also suggests "a once-in-a-generation realignment of Britain’s electoral map, with scores of long-held working-class seats in England and Wales predicted to switch to the Conservatives."
↦ What Happens Now? The Brexit date is currently set for January 31, 2020 ... the BBC outlines how the process will work.
Special Promotion
Got a student to shop for this year? Below are a few essentials any student would be grateful to receive.
Trump Agrees to Limited Trade Deal
It prevents the new tariffs planned for Sunday and rolls back some existing ones
After fears that a deadline would be missed, President Trump has signed off on an initial trade agreement with China that would avoid imminent additional US tariffs and reduce the rates of existing duties in exchange for a Chinese promise to purchase American farm goods, US officials and others familiar with the agreement said.
According to the Washington Post, it "raises hopes for a possible truce in a 21-month commercial conflict that roiled financial markets, disrupted corporate supply chains and cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars."
The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal calls for China to buy $50 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2020, along with energy and other products. In exchange the U.S. would reduce the tariff rate on many Chinese imports, which now ranges from 15% to 25%.
Should Beijing fail to make the purchases it has agreed to, original tariff rates can, and most likely would, be reimposed.
↦ FYI: The president is expected to make an official policy announcement today about the specifics of the deal.
Lyft Launches a Car Rental Service
Smart, easy and as low as $35 per day
Lyft announced a new service called Lyft Rentals on Thursday, which allows you to rent cars for up to two weeks. According to CNN, A sedan in San Francisco was available for $35 per day on Thursday, but prices vary significantly depending on the day and time of booking and could go up to $149 per day on the weekend.
The service will be available in the standard app, starting in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. To make the process even smoother, the company is providing two $20 ride credits to help cover the cost of taking a Lyft to and from the pickup and drop-off points.
What's more, there are no mileage limits, and Lyft says it will only charge the “local market rate” for gas—meaning you won’t have to worry about filling up before you drop the car off.
According to The Verge, Uber previously dipped into the rental space via a partnership with car-sharing company Getaround, but it shut the program down last year. This is the most full-throated attempt from either company at taking a bite out of the rental car market which, if you ask me, is in desperate need of disruption.
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Special Promotion
What to Give Students This Year
Essentials any student would appreciate but wouldn’t pickup for themselves
Want to make a difference in a student’s life this holiday season? Get them something they’ll really love by giving them what they really need. Students are busy, on the move and have a lot to get done. Help them out by picking up one of these well-reviewed items from Dell, including a well reviewed backpack ($104.99) that protects their laptop from unexpected falls.
Galaxy Tab S4, $649.99 / $449.99 by Samsung
EcoTank all-in-one printer, $199.99 / $179.99 by Epson
One Touch solid state drive, $189.99 by Seagate
↦ Shop the full tech gift guide
Weekend Pairing
Uncut Gems + a Liquid Gold Cocktail
The Safdie brothers are not only fantastic writers and directors, but they are also avid NBA fans. Both of those worlds collide in Uncut Gems, a wild ride of a film about a charismatic New York City jeweler. Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, an adrenaline-junkie diamond dealer and gambling addict who's on the lookout for the next big score.
Ratner's small-time hustler ambitions get him way over his head when he gets mixed up with, of all people, the NBA's Kevin Garnett (playing himself). The film has been earning rave reviews and Sandler himself is getting tons of praise, even being touted as a likely Oscar nominee as Best Actor. Oh and GQ says he might be the most stylish film character in all of 2019, though I'm not so sure, myself.
↦ Your Pairing:Stick with the jeweler theme and whip up a batch of Liquid Gold cocktails from Kitchenette. An unconventional take on a classic mulled winter drink, this has cloves and cinnamon infusing fresh pineapple juice and a hearty pour of dark rum. Garnish with a torched hunk of pineapple, because hey ... why not?
What We’re Buying
A reasonably sized Bluetooth speaker can be tough to pick out. The Bose SoundLink Micro combines everything you need in a sleek package. Great sound, waterproof, six hours of playtime and of course it's wildly portable. You can strap it to a bike, bag or in your shower—meaning there's no person this doesn't work for. For its size, it's neatly perfect as a stocking stuffer. For 30% off you're getting an amazing quality speaker to use any where and any time of the year.
↦ Get It $99 / $69 at Amazon
Special Promotion
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↦ Get It $248 / $148.80 today w/code SHOPPER40 at Moral Code
Today’s Deals
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↦ Want More? See all 48 sales
Morning Motto
Trust your gut.
↦ Follow: @thegoodquote
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