I don’t care if you don’t watch wrestling anymore, the chances are that you know who Stone Cold Steve Austin is and that you grew up watching him. You know him as the bald dude who drank beer, flipped everyone off, beat up his boss, and broke all of the rules.
I love listening to podcasts.
What does me listening to podcasts have to do with Steve Austin and money lessons?
My new favorite podcast is the Steve Austin show. You can check it out here. Austin covers all sorts of topics, from crazy traffic in California to working out. Being a personal finance blogger, I always manage to pull out financial advice.
What are the money lessons that I picked up from Stone Cold Steve Austin?
Save your money. Even if you’re making lots of it.
I’ve seen unofficial stats that suggest that Austin is filthy rich and doesn’t have to work for the rest of his life and his next life. I can’t confirm this, but I imagine that he has earned/saved a decent chunk of change. He would laugh at my savings for sure.
It turns out that no matter how much money Austin had coming in, he always tried his best to save it up. I agree with this because it doesn’t matter how much you earn. It’s what you save that’s important. But, I’m sure you’ve already heard this a million times before. It’s just interesting to hear it from a mega-superstar.
A stupid purchase will always be a stupid purchase.
Austin recalls a story on one show where he goes to rent some jet skies and is absolutely offended to find out that they charge a $45 fee to ride these. I agree! A stupid purchase will always be a stupid purchase. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. Getting ripped off always sucks.
I hate getting ripped off. We’ve all experienced this. From airport food to tourist traps. A ripoff will always be a ripoff. It doesn’t matter if you have lots of money saved up.
You can have some fun being extremely frugal.
Being frugal can be fun. Austin mentions how he would go out of his way to save money on hotels on the road by actively seeking out the biggest dump possible. He would have fun staying at really crappy hotels.
I totally agree with the idea of having fun with extreme frugality in some cases.
For example, we go to clubs or go out in general with as little money as possible sometimes. The goal is to see who can have the most fun without spending a fortune on drinks or on any other random crap. Some of the best nights have had a budget of $5.
This is why I wrote about how to get wasted without going broke. There are so many ways to get out there without blowing your savings account.
Don’t spend your savings.
Just because you have a lot of money saved it doesn’t mean that you should dip into your savings. Your savings are there to bail you out or for the future when you’re too old to work. Your savings aren’t meant to be blown in the present moment when you’re still trying to live.
Austin mentions that he doesn’t like to spend his savings on his bills. He focused on finding new streams of income to get by.
This easily leads to the next point…
ALWAYS have money coming in.
It doesn’t matter how much you saved up, you should always have money coming in. Austin likely has merchandising deals and royalties from the WWE, yet he still seeks out work and even uses his podcast to generate revenue. This shows me that you should always have money coming in. Even when you have millions of dollars saved up in the bank.
It’s okay to be a loner sometimes.
I love to be the life of the party and the one gathering all of the attention. I thought that Austin would be the same. It turns out that he enjoys being longer. He mentioned how when his income increased, he started to travel alone just so that he could have some time to himself. I like that.
There’s nothing wrong with taking time for yourself. When I want to be alone, I grab my headphones and my laptop. I then write away like a maniac.
That’s what I’ve learned from a childhood hero. I suggest that you check out Austin’s podcast. You never know where you can pick up your next financial lesson. If you’re tired of the financial stuff, you should check out Kettlebell Rebels.
@studenomics Thanks for listening to the #steveaustinshow. #saveyourmoney
— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) August 16, 2013
Hah! Beings back memories, I loved watching Stone Cold Steve Austin on WWE. Had wondered the other day what he was up to you, and now I know. Thanks for writing these points. I never would have thought many years that I’d learn personal finance lessons from a man who thought me how to pin someone down!
Thanks for leaving a comment Christina. Stone Cold also got me in trouble as a kid. My brothers didn’t like the stunner during dinner.
What? What? Ha, I always thought that was the most ridiculous catchphrase. Does he do that on his podcast? Good to know he’s got his head on straight and is not one of those athletes that squanders all their earnings.
Omg that what saying is still around to this day in wrestling! Luckily he doesn’t do it on the show lol. It’s always great to hear from athletes that aren’t broke.
Well that’s pretty awesome that he tweeted you back. I remember Stone Cold Steve Austin from back when i was a kid, I didn’t know much about him but seemed like a pretty crazy guy. Very interesting to see that he’s also pretty financially responsible, kudos for pulling some great tips together.
That’s what’s funny about social media. The wall is down and we can communicate with everyone. It’s interesting how different someone is when the camera is on.