Blog - Hyrum M. Gray

05Feb 2018 by Hyrum Gray

Your Spending & Savings Habits Are Wrong

Spending Habits Are More Important Than Earning Habits [caption id="attachment_197" align="alignnone" width="300"] Spend wisely[/caption] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average household income was $34,376 in 1995 & $73,298 in 2014. If you earn the average amount during your life for Americans you should be able to have a great retirement. Why is it that some people who earn the average throughout their life will have a great retirement & others earning similar amounts won't? Of course, there are many factors that cause the disparity in retirement savings. This article will focus on only one of those factors. The truth is that most people spend parallel to their earnings. If you fit into that category then you are stifling your wealth potential. With every raise, people tend to equally…

26Jan 2018 by Hyrum Gray

Talk More About Investing & Less About Spending

Future Wealth

Why Doesn’t Anyone Talk About Their Investments [caption id="attachment_190" align="alignnone" width="300"] Talk about your investments[/caption] The other day (every day really) I hopped on my Instagram & I started watching stories. Account after account after account just kept saying things like: These are the best pants I’ve ever bought. You must go buy them. I just got out of the shower & I am telling you, you have to buy this shampoo & conditioner. Check out this new rug that I am obsessed with. We’re staying at this nice hotel downtown. Best view ever. After watching a bunch of these stories I started thinking, why doesn’t anyone boast or ever talk about where they are investing their money. Everybody talks about where they spend their money but not where they…

25Jan 2018 by Hyrum Gray

See All Our Costs For Our Family Vacation

Money Talk

See How Much Our 6 Day Family Vacation Cost [caption id="attachment_170" align="alignnone" width="300"] Darcy enjoying the sunset at Fort Walton Beach FL[/caption] Do you ever wonder how much other people spend on their vacations? Often times people will say “I’m headed to XYZ because I just got a hotel for such a good deal!” I’m always interested to hear how much the trip ended up costing. I am going to show you exactly how much our family of 5 spent on our last trip. It was a 6 day trip. Last year we moved from Utah to Texas (Austin area). It was our first holiday season away from our families. For the past decade, we have always had Thanksgiving dinner with either my family or my wife’s family or sometimes…

18Jan 2018 by Hyrum Gray

Religion vs Politics vs Income

Making Money, Money Talk

Religion vs Politics vs Income In 2017 I posted this question to my Facebook community: If you met someone for the first time in a more formal setting (at school, conference, business meeting…) which would you feel LEAST comfortable asking? Who did you vote for? (presidential election) What is your religion? How much money do you make? Here are the results of that poll: 20% 10% 70% Yes, according to that poll 70% of people would feel the most awkward or uncomfortable asking how much another person makes! The sample size for that poll was extremely small & not super diverse so I would love to continue the conversation & hear which one you would choose. Please leave a comment on this article with which one you’d be most scared…

17Jan 2018 by Hyrum Gray

5 Reasons to Track Your Spending

Future Wealth, Saving Money

5 Reasons to Track Your Spending How much did you spend last month eating out? What were your utility bills in December vs July? Has your cell phone bill been slowly getting bigger? These are the questions you should know the answers to. I’m not saying you should have a general idea of these financial answers. I am saying you should know the EXACT dollar amounts of each of these. Let me tell you mine: Eating out in December 2017: $150.45 Utility bills (Electric, Gas, Water, Garbage, Sewage): December 2017-$331.99 July 2017-$527.03 Cell phone bill has stayed the same for years: $72.25 + $72.25 for my wife Here are five reasons why you should start tracking your spending today. You need to be in control If you don’t know…

16Jan 2018 by Hyrum Gray

DIY vs Purchasing

Entrepreneurship, Saving Money

Here is a post I wrote for Tnee's last year. Have you ever looked at something & thought to yourself: Why does that cost so much or I could probably make that myself & save SO much money! As someone who considers himself very frugal, I always do that. Before buying almost anything I like to compare, research, & analyze whatever it is. Courtney would say I am cheap however I would not say that I like cheap things. I am willing to spend more for quality & craftsmanship. Over the past 4 years of selling teepees, we have received comments such as: “Why do these costs SO much!” “Let’s make our own like these!” (tagging a friend) “I could get these for half the price at XYZ store!” “I…

11Jan 0201 by Hyrum Gray

Virtually! Start today

Entrepreneurship, Social Media

When we (my wife & I) started our company almost four years ago we missed out on a big opportunity. It's a mistake that too many entrepreneurs continue to make & the side-preneurs are even worse. It's something so easy & free but most people put off doing it until later. It's social media. We started our business, Tnee's, in the spring of 2013. Unfortunately, we did not start any social media account for our business until many months later. From the time we started our business to the time we opened an Instagram account for our business, Instagram grew from around 100 million users to 150 million users. That means we missed out on a huge opportunity. Looking back, we did start our Instagram account at a great time…