Let’s Get Real | Week of Sept. 2nd, 2025

Personal

Last Friday was Lincoln’s first tackle scrimmage! He made two plays that most people would miss. The angle he took on a pursuit. The way he reset his feet after contact instead of drifting. That stuff lights me up. As a coach, I saw the work. As a dad, I saw my kid betting on himself in real time and BOY WAS IT AMAZING! The energy I get from coaching is something I didn’t know I needed!

A promise I live by is to be transparent with you as follows and clients and well this month punched us in the mouth.

We got back into school rhythm. Seven days a week of sports. We also drove to see my wife’s grandmother. She is ninety-something. Small town Iowa. We sat. We listened. We slowed down. I needed that more than I wanted to admit. Then we got home and the bills reminded us what month it is.

Uniforms. School fees. Equipment. Travel. Annual renewals I did not time right. Inflation leaking into everything. We blew our August budget. Not by a little. We had to pull from emergency savings. I am not embarrassed to say that. I am just telling you the truth.

Why did it happen. Because timing is a real thing and we did not stage cash ahead of the cluster. It was not a spending binge. It was a stack of essentials that hit the same four-week window. That is life. And if you are honest, you have had that month too.

What we did about it, not the Instagram version, the actual version:

• We pulled what we needed from the emergency fund and called it what it is, an emergency. Not a moral failure.

• I went back to our calendar and write a list for the stuff that always sneaks up. School fees. Sports gear. Membership renewals. Those are now monthly line items so next August does not blindside us.

• We left our investments alone. We did not punish the future because the present was loud.

• We told the boys the truth. Money is not a secret in this house. If it is tight, we say it. If we need to wait, we wait. That is how you build adults.

So if you needed to hear someone say it: you can do everything “right” and still have an off month. Pull the cash. Fix the system. Keep moving. Wealth is not a highlight reel. It is a long season.

Current Events

Let’s get to the point. Most of what hits your feed is designed to steal your attention, not improve your decisions. If a story does not change how you spend, earn, save, or invest, it is not news for you. It is noise for you.

What to watch instead:

• Your inflation, not the index. Groceries, housing, insurance, childcare, utilities, services. If those lines are up, your plan has to move.

• Inputs that whisper before headlines shout. Lumber softens, builders slow. Oil jumps, everything else gets punished. You see the truth in price before you hear it on TV.

• Your cash flow buffer. Three to six months where you can breathe. You either have it or you are building it. Everything else is commentary.

• Debt rate audit. If a refinance or balance transfer lowers your monthly outflow, do it. Margin beats pride.

• Local health costs. If your city is dealing with water quality issues, filters and testing are not nice-to-haves. They are budget lines. Protect your house first.

Rule for this week. If it does not touch your next money decision, it does not get your anxiety.

This Week’s Drops

LGR is late this week. Appreciate the grace. If you want to binge while you wait, the archive is here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LetsGetFReal

NoBS Wealth relaunches tomorrow, Wednesday the 3rd. Episode one sets the new vision and the structure so you know exactly what you get every time you press play. Tighter format. Deeper dives. Same-day moves.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nobswealth
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hRolFyn4QkcTXPCqyDNbp?si=9928847f3f824ee7
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nobs-wealth/id1598154326

I want your fingerprints on this. Send the question you actually want solved. Taxes. Pricing. Marketing that does not make you feel slimy. Money and mental health. Exit planning when you are done pretending you are not done. Ask the real one.

Investment Opportunities

September gets a reputation for market chaos. Sometimes it earns it, sometimes it does not. Either way, the right response is not panic. It is preparation.

Moves that matter if the month gets choppy:

• Stage near-term cash in cash. If you need dollars in the next 3 to 12 months, hold them in high yield savings or T bills so volatility cannot cancel plans.

• Point new contributions at quality. Cash generative, boring on purpose, large cap. If you add a defensive sleeve, think staples, healthcare, short duration bonds.

• Use rules, not vibes. Dollar-cost averaging keeps you from trying to be a hero on a noisy day. Rebalancing bands tell you when to trim or add without second guessing.

• Build a watchlist before you need it. If September gifts you a sale, you want targets ready, not a feeling.

Soul Check In

Two truths can live in the same room. You can be grateful and still hungry. You can love your people and still want to build more for them. That tension is not hypocrisy. It is fuel.

Pick two moves today. One that protects your peace. One that advances your plan. Walk before screens. Put your phone in a drawer for an hour. Cancel a dead subscription. Raise your auto transfer by one percent. Email the CPA. List the first parcel. Send the pitch.

You do not need a miracle. You need a streak. Quiet wins stack. Results follow. And if this month punched you like it punched us, you do not apologize for being human. You adjust, you keep going, and you take pride in telling the truth out loud.