Lazy Man and Money

The Personal Finance of The Simpsons

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Sorry for the tumbleweeds around here. We always take a little family time at the end of the school year to recharge before summer camps. I’ll be settling back into the swing of being online over the next few days and should have fresh new articles for next week. In the meantime, here’s something that I’ve been drafting.

Recently, my kids have started binge watching The Simpsons. They are making the most of our Disney+ subscription. Some of the subjects are probably a little too old for them, but there’s a lot of education packed into 30-years of programming. It’s fun to go back and see the old episodes about stealing pay cable and see their clunky desktop monitors. I get to add historical context like VH1 pop-up video. See, it’s like it’s 1990 all over again at our house – and I couldn’t be happier about it. My kids finally are starting to understand all the one-liners I’ve used over the years. (Kids: “What’s for dinner?” Me: “Mostly circus animals, some filler.”)

It’s easy to forget that The Simpsons is still on television. I mentioned it on social media and a follower was like, “Huh? That’s still on television.”

There’s not a lot of talk about personal finance in The Simpsons. Whenever they have money problems they resolve themselves in 22 minutes.

Recently, NPR had a podcast about The Simpsons and how their finances stack up today. It was something that they addressed a year before, but it was time for an update. It seems that their critique caught the writers attention. They decided to address the Simpsons’ personal finance in last episode of the latest season, Poorhouse Rock. If you have Hulu, it’s worth a watch with your tween or teen kids.

There’s a tremendous song about how the economy has changed since when the Simpsons first went on the air. It goes by fast, so I had to get the lyrics from the transcript here:

1945, we won the war
Our boys came back to the factory floor
The good times rolled, and smiles were on our faces
With plentiful jobs for folks of all ages
Even dumb slobs made excellent wages
The country was booming
Though still pretty racist
Oh, and so it came to pass
With hard work and grit and brass
Bit by bit, we built
Our middle class
Nice little middle class
(Homer Singing) I need cash for food and gas
Black light posters, beer, and grass
Time for me to join the middle class
Oh, boy, that middle class
Go join that middle class
Well, I’m not smart, I’m not a go-getter
My drinking problem’s not getting better
What job could I possibly do?
Nuclear safety inspector

Whoo-hoo!
Your dad and his buddies had it swell
But gradually it all went to hell
Factories closed, unemployment would spike
Here to explain it is Robert B. Reich
The decline of unions, rampant corporate greed, Wall Street malfeasance and the rise of shortsighted politics all contributed to increased economic inequality, widespread real unemployment, wage stagnation, and a lower standard of living for millions of Americans.
They chopped salaries to raise stock prices
Cut up the pie and kept all the slices
Tax breaks went to CEOs
Never trickling down to average joes
And so it came to pass
Greedy rich men kicked our ass
Fiddling while they burned our middle class
Poor little middle class

(Bart singing) All right, thanks for the history lesson, nerds.
But what does any of this have to do with me?

You see, my dad’s still working, and I want to be just like him.
I’m sure you do.
But there’s something else you need to learn, and my friend here is happy to teach you.
Ugh, you.
For days, you’ve been dying to say something. Just spill it.
(Lisa singing) You want a job like Dad? Too bad, so sad
You’ll never have the life our flabby dad had
Yeah
What can he do that a robot can’t?
These Oreos taste like nuclear plant
(Bart singing) Yo, all I need is a foot in the door
And I’ll take Dad’s job when he dies at 44
(Lisa singing) That job you see now needs a PhD
While paying student loans leaves you in poverty
(Bart singing) What?
No brand-new car, no fancy house
No, cool
No hot dinners cooked by your stay-at-home spouse
Yeah
You’re gonna pinch every dollar and cent
And you’ll still have to choose
Between health care and rent

I’ll probably just buy a PlayStation 6.

You’re naive, but it’ll pass
They’ll repo your skateboard, you’ll grow up fast
Mm-hmm
He’s Jeff Bezos, we’re just bozos
Goodbye, middle class
These are facts, they’re not controversial
We can’t even afford what they sell in this commercial.
Okay, so, you’re saying maybe I’ll have a tough time getting a job like my dad’s.
No, no, I’m saying you’ll definitely never get a job like your dad’s, and you’ll have a tough time finding something significantly worse.
Thanks for the song and dance, but I think I’m gonna be just fine.

‘Cause there’s a lot of new ways a guy can make a dollar
I’ll ride the money train, make it rain, holla
I’ll buy and sell Bitcoin, build a new app
Do pranks on YouTube, I’m great at that crap
Film TikTok tricks on my sick motorbike
Your chances are slim
Go to hell, Robert Reich
Those aren’t careers, they’re a million to one
You ain’t that lucky and you ain’t smart, son
Who gives a damn? I’ll find my new jam
As an influencer on Instagram
If all else fails, I got backup plans
I can shake my cans on OnlyFans.
No. Just… no.
Okay, great. So I have no options whatsoever.
Smell you later, dude.
Isn’t it infuriating?
We’ll never live as well as they did.
Why doesn’t anyone do anything about this?
Well, there’s an answer to that, but it’s not one you’ll like.
Moe the bartender, serve it up on the mic
So, greedy politicians write bad laws
Throwing goodies to the rich like Santy Claus
They chew up us poors, who votes for these guys?
All my friends are dropping like flies
And where are these voters getting their cues?
Putin for president, next on Fox News
And that’s why our system is so out of order?
Cross-dressing dr?g fiends are crossing our border
We vote for gun nuts and climate deniers
Lunatics from QAnon and con men and liars
They shred our safety net and gut Medicare
But they get our vote
‘Cause we’re incredibly easy to scare
Cable news declares we’re doomed
And Facebook feeds our fright
They convince us things were great
When gas was cheap and men were white
So we rally round the crooks
And the creepy and the crass
The vengeful id of our vanishing middle class
So, as you can see, Bart…
Bart?
I get it, dude, abandon hope
We can’t escape our slippery slope
The future’s a sandwich made of poo
Just tell me, what do you want me to do?

Burn it.

That’s the end of the song as it transitions into the rest of the show. It’s quite a commentary on the state of class, the economy, and politics

The Best Educational Streaming Shows for Preschoolers

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For years ago the day (and the hour), I published much of the article below. I’ve updated for 2020 with schools all over the United States closing due to COVID-19 (coronavirus). Parents need to stay home, but education never stops. Parents need a break some times, and there’s some valuable educational material on television. Now my kids are 6 and 7 and at the top of their private school’s class. I’m a fan of educational screen time, even at an early age! I just remember to have moderation in everything Also, don’t forget to turn on the closed captioning.

When my first son was born more than 3 years ago, I made it a point to not make this a parenting blog. While children change everything when it comes to money (and I’m happy to write about that), I simply didn’t want to give parenting tips. That’s not my strong suit anyway.

Over time, I’ve found myself, looking for more educational television for my 2 and 3 year old. I know some parents don’t believe in television for children, but I’m equal-opportunity when it comes to all learning formats. There’s a time and a place for books, television, tablets, and good old crayons and paper to teach letters, numbers, shapes… even foreign languages.

There was a time when parents had to accept whatever was on PBS at the time or buy VHS or DVDs of what they like. Fortunately, today we have on-demand, streaming media. Our Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions provide a ton of options at a great value.

I tried to find lists of the best educational shows online and couldn’t find any that I’d consider complete. Almost all of them get the obvious Daniel Tiger, but there are so many hidden gems. This list is going to focus on Netflix, because that’s where the majority of the best shows are. However, I’m going to slip in a couple of Amazon series that I think are top-notch as well.

I’d also like to add that Common Sense Media is excellent and often my first stop to read about a show. There’s almost too much information on the website that it is hard to best stuff. Admittedly, this is (obviously) one man’s opinion and shouldn’t be a substitute for the great work Common Sense Media does.

    Netflix

    All of these may not be on Netflix anymore. They change their programming. However, you can usually find these ideas streaming somewhere. For example, Amazon Prime (through a PBS Kids subscription) is perfect for WordWorld

    Reading

  • Super Why! – This is one of the only shows I’ve found to focus on reading. You can find shows on letters, but this really brings the whole words and reading to life. This isn’t exactly a hidden gem as it is still being regularly run on PBS.

    • Math

  • Monster Math Squad – I found this simply by searching Netflix for “Math.” What a hidden gem! The monsters appear to be knock-offs of Pixar’s Monsters Inc., but I don’t care. These monsters teach math concepts! And when I was looking around to write up this article, I found there’s even an extensive teacher’s resource guideline online.
  • LeapFrog (with LionsGate) – LeapFrog is known for its education material. The DVDs it produced a few years back are no exception. They are focused on letters, numbers, shapes, but extend to some math like simple adding and subtracting. I’m a big believer in STEM, so the math is a welcome addition.

    • Life Skills

  • Special Agent Oso – The episodes are cleverly titled after Bond movies (but kid themed). The special agent bear teaches basic life skills in “3 simple steps.” I’m not sure my 3-year old is ready to mail a letter yet, but it was helpful for learning to brush teeth. Sadly, there’s Spanish as the Oso name may indicate.
  • Curious George – The majority of what you’ll find are the television shows. They are great, but it’s hard to pin down what they are really aiming to teach from a skill point-of-view. I’d say they teach life… if you happen to be a monkey where everything always comes up roses at the end. There’s a lot of problem solving and discovery which is priceless.

    The real gem is the original movie with Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore with music by Jack Johnson. For a kids movie, there’s a lot of entertainment for adults. They let Ferrell improv, his strength, and drew the movie to match it. It isn’t just his voice. Drew Barrymore is a voice of reason with the appropriate amount of Jessica Rabbit mixed in. (Was that too much information?) When I’m pulling apart pyramid schemes, I’m singing Upside Down and Talk of the Town. This is a top recommendation even if it doesn’t entirely focus on learning.

Team Work

  • Animal Mechanicals – The focus is on 5 mythical animals living in a fantastic mechanical world. They solve very basic physic problems by working together and using their unique abilities (strength, stretching, flying, gizmos, and speed). Each of the characters have their own distinct personalities. My sons and I ended up loving this so much that we bought the DVD because it had episodes that weren’t on Netflix.

    • Amazon Prime Shows

    Amazon Prime has some great shows as well. Many people have a Prime subscription for free shipping, so these come at no additional cost. As a extra bonus you can download them to Amazon Fire tablets and take them with you. (… Or so I am told. I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m going to look into it today.)

      Problem Solving

    • Go, Diego, Go! – I went looking for this because I wanted to introduce the kids to Spanish. They are much more interested in rescuing animals, but we’ve learned a little Spanish while watching it. Besides counting to ten, they can speak about 5-10 other words. If nothing else, Rescue Pack is 100x better than Dora’s lame Backpack.
    • Tumble Leaf – This Amazon exclusive is almost entertaining enough for parents to watch. The animation is incredible. The main character Fig the Fox, finds a new item each episode and figures out how to use it. The item could be a mirror for reflecting light, a flashlight for creating shadows, or a sponge for soaking up water. There’s a reason why it has won 5 daytime Emmys.

      • Math

    • Peg + Cat – Another math show… but I like this more than my kids. Maybe they aren’t old enough for the math concepts. At least once a week, I break an imaginary ukulele and sing this:


      • Other Streaming Services

      Reading

    • Wallykazam! – This is one of the few other shows that I’ve found focusing on reading. The kids love it! It’s on NickJr., so you might have DVR some episodes or get the Noggin app.
    • WordWorld – This is one of the most clever shows that will help kids read. The cartoon characters and objects are animated with the words themselves. So a couch is actually spells couch. You’ll find many seasons of this on the PBS Kids’ application. I subscribe through Amazon Prime Video, because it is easier for us to watch on a TV that way.

      • How do you feel about educational television? What are some of the favorite shows you and your toddlers have enjoyed? Let me know in the comments.

    Looking for a TV? Get this deal, now! (Today Only!)

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    I very rarely write an article about good deals, but today I’m making an exception. (Also, this will give me a little more time to work on the EpiPen article that had been trying to get finished last week.)

    Amazon’s Deal of the Day is on this LG 55-Inch Curved Smart OLED TV. I’m going to make a case that many people looking for a television should jump on this.

    For those who aren’t tech junkies, OLED is new television technology that has critics raving that it’s the best picture they have ever seen. What makes it so special? It has the ability to turn off pixels completely, so blacks are… well black. It doesn’t sound like much, but if you see it in person it can make a big difference. It seems to cause the other colors to “pop.”

    Back in 2013, an equivalent version of this was $15,000! Today it is $1100. I’m going to let that sink in for a bit.

    I’ve been watching the prices on these and it has never gotten this low. It was around $1300 a few months ago, which was a fantastic price then. It’s probably not going to get much cheaper. This seems to be them clearing out the older stock. It might be the last time you can any kind of OLED for ANYWHERE near $1000… as they’ve moved to even higher end televisions in recent years.

    I’ve been wanting an OLED TV for about 3 years now. A few months ago, I wrote about how I’m starting an OLED TV fund. Today that fund has around $200. Hmmm…

    There are some caveats to consider. First, it’s “only” 55 inches. Second, it’s 1080p, not 4K. Those are probably deal-breakers for some people. However, because the television picture itself is “smaller”, you might not be able to tell it’s not 4K… especially if you are sitting far enough away. Also, this television is curved. I’ve been reading that the curve is so subtle that you don’t notice it. It’s worth reading the reviews if that’s a concern of yours.

    The OLED television I had my eyes on was 65-inches and 4K. That television is $3000. This one is $1100. Is it worth the sacrifice to save $1900? Let me know in the comments.

    Naturally, by “Deal of the Day”, the deal is for today only. This is perfect timing for showing off to your friends who come by to watch football games on Sunday, right? Tell them to bring the pizza and beer and you might even save money with this deal. (Okay, maybe that last one is a stretch.)

    Buying a Television? Read this first…

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    Happy Back to the Future Day. For those who haven’t read the news in the last week, this is the day that Marty McFly traveled into the future in Back to the Future II.

    Back to the Future Day
    Back to the Future Day

    There might be some theaters showing the movie around the United States, but chances are if you are going to watch it, you’ll watch it on a television. You can stream it, but I’ve found the best quality is usually the Blu-Ray version. It just doesn’t seem as compressed.

    And that brings us around to watching the best quality television. In 1985, I was only 9, but I seem to recall my father buying a 36-ish” Fisher television. It was awesome because it was big. We might not have hoverboards, but television technology has come a long way, right?

    In just the last year or two, televisions have taken another jump. Not only have they gone from HD to 4K, but technology like Quantum Dots and OLED are making pictures better than ever. One of these alone would be revolutionary, but two at the same time is something else.* I was hoping this would revolution would happen faster as I bought a bargain Element television in 2010 with the idea of saving money for this new technology.

    I was a few years early, but in the last year, things have changed dramatically. It was just last September when I wrote that I was, budgeting for the next television revolution (4K OLED). Here is how the pricing has dropped on OLED televisions in the last 3 years:

    DateResolutionSizePricePricing Source
    August 20131080P (HD)55"$15,000NBC News
    September 20141080P (HD)55"$3,000Lazy Man
    September 20144K65"$7,000Lazy Man
    October 20151080P55"$1800Amazon
    October 20154K55"$3,000Amazon
    October 20154K65"$5,000Amazon

    Two years ago, you could have spent $15,000 for a television that was smaller with worse resolution than what $5,000 will buy you today. Of course $5,000 for a television is still a lot of money. However, this has pushed the price of the 55-inch 4K down to $3000. Even better… a 55-inch 1080P OLED screen that was $15,000 is now a relatively reasonable $1,800.

    (Side note: These are all LG televisions. LG is not paying me any money for this, it’s just that they are the only company to bring the jaw-dropping OLED technology to the masses.)

    Let’s assume you have some spare money and wanted to buy one of these televisions. You almost need a web-based calculator or a personal advisor to figure out which is likely to be the best for you. I’ve covered this before: Getting a Television on Black Friday? Read This First, but here’s an abbreviated version of that.

    The first thing to consider is room size. If you have a big room, you are going to want a larger television. This is simply a factor of sitting further away. Even an average size room should have a fairly large television according to experts. So you may be tempted to cross the 55-inch off your list. I think that’s a little weird, because I have a 55-inch television now and it’s fine. It is all relative to what you are accustomed to.

    The difference between 4K and 1080P on small screens isn’t that noticeable. The differences in the technology is more obvious as screens get bigger because good eyes can differentiate the pixels better. If you have poor vision, the 4K and thee 1080P may look exactly the same to you… so why spend more money?

    Furthermore, there’s not a lot of 4K content available. Netflix and Amazon has some content, but cable and satellite providers are behind. And not much content is shot in 4K. Not even sports which would really take advantage of it.

    At some point 4K will come, but it might be a few years. In the meantime, prices will continue to drop, so it may be worth waiting to take advantage of that.

    Usually, when I see such great price drops, I think, “It’s time to take advantage. This is the sweet spot, where I’m early, but not paying top, top dollar.” My finances don’t allow for a $5,000 television, so the 65-inch isn’t in the cards. A $3,000 television is still stretching the budget, but I’m not sure if I want to stretch it for something at 55-inches and a feature (4K), which isn’t rolled out yet. Finally, the $1800 television is still on the high-end of the budget, but would probably be the best value right now. If my television broke today, this would be what I’d buy.

    It looks like I’m going to be waiting another year or two for the price drops to level off. However, your situation may be different. I can definitely see the case to jump in and buy these now.

    * A third technology, HDR, is new this year and also looks to be revolutionary. I don’t have the space to get into this, but many of these televisions feature HDR as well.

    Getting a Television on Black Friday? Read This First.

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    To get a television or not? That is the question.

    Just two months ago, I wrote about the next television revolution which combines two upcoming technologies OLED and 4K. OLED is a huge improvement for everyone with typical 1080P televisions (yes even those with plasmas). We’ll get to it in a bit, but 4K isn’t likely to make as big of a difference.

    So if you are looking to buy a television this season, you’ll want to keep the following in mind: You probably shouldn’t, unless you should, and it doesn’t matter, unless it does and it doesn’t matter, except for when it does.

    Confused? You should be. This is the most confusing time to buy a television I’ve seen in decades.

    Is 4K (Ultra HD) Worth It?

    I’ve been seeing some 4K televisions in the Black Friday ads this year. Since everyone remembers the huge improvement in going from SD to HD, the expection is that it will happen again with the switch to 4K televisions.

    Unfortunately, 4K is mostly marketing. Most people (those with 20/20 vision) can’t tell the difference at a certain distance. It depends on your eye sight, where you sit and the size of the television. The bigger the television, the better your vision, and the closer you sit, the more it matters. There’s no point in getting a 30″ 4K television and sitting 15 feet away from it. However, if you are 7 feet away, you can probably tell the difference on a 70″ 4K television.

    Fortunately there’s a great 4K television calculator here.

    You want to start by figuring out your viewing distance. Most likely that’s going to stay constant unless you are planning to move or do room redesign. Let’s assume you aren’t going to do that. Most people sit around 9 feet away from their television… or at least that’s the popular Lecher distance median number.

    The next question is how big of a television should you buy. CNET answers this question directly. THX recommends a 90″ television for that 9 foot distance. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommends a 68″ television for 9 feet. CNET’s recommendation was for a 72″ television. Since you can’t buy 68″ or 72″ televisions, let’s just say that most people would be best suited with a 70″ television.

    I’m going to send to my wife the above paragraph.

    Now that we know where most people sit and we have an idea of what size television they should (optimally) buy, we can plug these numbers into the handy aforementioned calculator to decide if 4K is worth it. Plugging in a 70″ television with a 9′ foot viewing distance and 20/20 vision, there is only a 29% improvement for 4K.

    As if there weren’t enough factors to consider, there is this. There isn’t a lot of 4K content out there. In fact, there is almost none. So any kind of benefit you might see, may be masked by the source you are watching.

    So in the typical case, even if you are spending a lot of money for a large 4K television, you aren’t getting much benefit. If you drop the television size down to 55″ (the most common 4K television size marketed on Black Friday) there is zero benefit.

    However, if you have a nice little man (or woman) cave where your viewing distance is close and/or you have better vision than the norm, a 55″ 4K television can make sense.

    What About OLED?

    As I wrote in the beginning of the article, OLED is where the best picture is. The problem is that only one company, LG, has been able to figure out how to make them efficiently enough to bring them to the audience. That’s why a search for OLED televisions on Amazon gives you only choices by LG.

    It’s fun to read the reviews on the LG 55″ Curved OLED TV… everyone is screaming about how incredible it is. You simply don’t get that with all the 4K televisions. Of course, those 4K televisions don’t cost $3,500 either.

    If you are looking for something in the 55″ range and want the best picture, you are better off skipping the 4K exercise above and going with this television. Of course it’s going to cost you twice as much, but another way to look at it is that it would have cost you $15,000 last year.

    And if you want the best of both worlds, you can get a LG Electronics 65-Inch 4k Curved OLED TV for only $9,999. I’d say that’s my dream television, but there’s a 77 inch version coming that’s only $24,999. If you are wondering that’s a better fit for my room size and seating distance (obviously not so much for my wallet).

    What Do You Do?

    It’s impossible to give blanket advice on televisions. I can’t say what’s right for everyone.

    However, the impossible hasn’t stopped me before, so here’s my two cents (which you get for free!).

    The price of 4K televisions that are going to be big upgrades for most people is still too high – especially given the lack of content. OLED is really exciting, but again, the price is very high. I’m not sure Lazy Man and Money readers are the type to spend that kind of money. If you are, hopefully it’s because you’ve been reading my site for years and made ridiculous amounts of money (if so, please share it with me).

    If you have an older and/or smaller television and you can get a good deal on an upgrade that will keep you happy for the next 4-5 years (or longer) it might be worth taking that plunge. (As a preview for my next post, I am thinking of doing such a crazy thing!)

    Otherwise, my best advice is to sit on the sidelines and wait for technology to do what technology does… get cheaper.