For September, we let Walter White and the Albuquerque crew help us learn about protecting our financial future with insurance. This week, Heisenberg is back, bringing ten of our favorite personal finance lessons we learned from watching Breaking Bad.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad, go catch up on one of the three greatest television shows of all time. Yes, I mean it.
Lesson 1: Money is a stressor
Financial struggles are one of the biggest causes of marriage fights. 70% of Americans feel financially stressed and over 30% of couples say they argue about money.
Walt and Skyler aren’t an exception to the stats. In the pilot episode, we see Skyler pouring over a credit card statement. She wants to know if Walt spent $15 at Staples on the Mastercard. The Mastercard, after all, is the emergency card. Less than half of Americans have an emergency fund, but over 50% of Americans carry a credit card balance month to month.
Letting credit cards masquerade as an emergency fund is a great way to ensure financial stress. It also increases the likelihood of having a significant other nick pick every dollar spent. Why, it’s enough to make you desperate and decide to cook meth with a former high school student who slept through your lectures.
Lesson 2: Separate finances can lead to disaster
About halfway through season one, Walt is making bank with his side hustle, slinging the sweet blue. He doesn’t want Skyler to know about his extracurriculars, so he keeps his side hustle money separate and gets a burner phone. (Ironically, the second issue is more of a concern for a while than the fact that he’s a drug lord.)
Walt’s financial infidelity worsens as the series continues until Skyler comes to her “enough is enough” moment. She’s done with the secrets. And yes, with the highly illegal drug manufacturing and distribution. I was going to say dealing, but the word choice would insult Mr. White.
When Walt is trying to pay the cash discount for chemo in episode six, my husband turned to me and said, “There’s no good to having separate bank accounts from your spouse.” It certainly doesn’t do the Whites any favors. Yet over 50% of American couples have at least partially split finances.
While people may claim that splitting their finances gives them the freedom to spend “their” money how they want, a budget allows the same freedom. A budget also allows you to align your money to your financial goals. Having shared goals sets you up better for success. We have an entertainment budget, while some couples prefer their own “fun money” line items. However you want to do it, we’ve learned that when you talk about and share your finances, you’re more likely to succeed together. Sure, it’s correlation and not causation, but things didn’t turn out so hot for old Walt and Skyler, and we’ve found great peace and success with this approach.
Lesson 3: Research and hunt for coupons
When Walt’s water heater goes out in episode ten, he makes the mistake of window shopping at the store. A sales rep slides up right next to him and starts pointing out all the fancy features he’s going to want to have.
For a water heater.
Save yourself the pressure tactics and the unnecessary upsell that bust your budget. Do your research before you go, looking up reviews online and asking friends and family for recommendations. Then price compare different vendors and look for the best offer. You may even find a coupon if you purchase it online with free delivery. We saved over $100 on our rider mower this way by Googling coupon codes for Lowe’s.
Lesson 4: Blaming the government won’t fix your situation
To make Jesse feel better about Jane’s death and the dominos that led to the 737 Down Over ABQ, Walt blames the government. Why not? TSA has nothing better to do than track the personal lives of every individual employee.
While it wasn’t Walt’s direct fault that Jane died (my husband and I have debated if Walt carries any blame), it isn’t the government’s fault her father spiraled.
It’s always easier to blame someone else for the circumstances of our lives. But pointing fingers doesn’t fix anything. It certainly didn’t make Jesse feel better in his hippie rehab prison.
We succeed when we’re willing to take responsibility for the consequences of our decisions and our actions. And we excel when we’re willing to fight for what we want instead of waiting around for others, like the government, to bring them to us.
Lesson 5: Always pay the IRS first
Poor Ted Beneke. He does not come off in the best light when we reflect on our Breaking Bad lessons. To be fair, though, was he anyone’s favorite character? Even Skyler wasn’t too keen on him by the end.
This week, Ted teaches us an important lesson when prioritizing bills and debt: always stay current with the IRS.
Definitely don’t go lease a new car instead of paying your tax bill, or Uncle Sam might land you in the hospital before you head to the slammer.
Lesson 6: Always remember your why
One of the biggest things we’ve learned in life is something Walt learns the hard way. While a certain amount of money is nice in order to pay bills and live, money for the sake of money can lead you astray. Without realizing it, you could end up further from your goals than when you started.
Walt makes meth to pay for his cancer surgery and treatment.
Medical bills, am I right?
He wants to be the man of the house and provide for his family. A noble reason, for sure. We’ve all felt that pinch and resulting duty to provide for our loved ones.
Then he loses sight of his why, and his life goes off the rails. He ends up with more money than they’ll ever be able to launder through the car wash, but loses his family. The same family he set out to provide for doesn’t want his money. He has to go crawling to Gretchen and Elliott to take care of Walt Jr./Flynn.
Considering Walt’s downward spiral and how his story ends, it’s probably safe to say it wasn’t worth it in the end.
Although he did get to die in a beloved meth lab, surrounded by his legacy. So maybe with his ego, he’d say it was. Who knows.
Lesson 7: Money buys you stuff, not contentment
After the fallout with Jane, poor Jesse spirals. He started throwing dolla dolla bills everywhere, surrounding himself with parties and people, drugs and noise. He looks for anything and everything to fill the void.
One of the most potent scenes in the series for me is at the end of the second episode of season four. Jesse sits in front of the speaker, the vibrating bass rippling through him. He’s on the verge of tears, trying to keep it together after endless days of partying. Nothing helps. All the money in the world can’t fill the void or resolve his guilt over Jane’s death. (Aaron Paul was a master with this character. I’m so glad they didn’t kill him off in season one like originally planned.)
Community and connection are what he needs. He lost that with Jane, and Walt certainly doesn’t win any friend of the year awards when it came to his dynamic with his “business” partner.
Lesson 8: Money doesn’t solve all issues. Some, it makes worse.
In season two, Jane wants to get Jesse’s payout from his partnership with Walt and sail off into the sunset. Jesse will get away from the micromanaging Mr. White, and Jane will get out from under her father’s control. They’ll be able to do whatever they want.
It’s a wonderful dream, but it ends in tragedy. Money doesn’t solve Jane’s drug addiction. Losing Jane makes Jesse’s life unbearable until he meets Andrea in NA. (Let’s not even get into the Brock and Andrea heartbreak. Jesse had a rough five seasons.)
While Walt’s motivations for holding Jesse’s half hostage are more controlling and selfish than in Jesse’s best interests, there’s truth at the heart of his reasoning. Money makes Jane’s problems worse.
While Walt might think the notoriety of his blue meth was worth everything it cost him, I’m not sure Jesse would say the same. His millions did not solve any of the issues in his life.
Lesson 9: Never invest in something you don’t understand
Following others’ guidance blindly can leave you destitute. Or, in Jesse’s case, with a hole in your ceiling where your bathtub melted. Jesse technically takes the opposite approach of not listening to sage advice, but the point’s the same.
If someone tells you to invest in an expensive plastic tub and you don’t understand why, ask questions! What’s so special about this expense plastic tub? Hydrofluoric acid won’t eat through it? That makes sense. Sign me up!
This is also a bonus lesson that cheaper isn’t always better, which I’ve learned multiple times buying stuff at Harbor Freight. For certain tasks, quality matters.
Lesson 10: Even high-income earners need to budget
This is The Budget Brigade, so we have to end with a budgeting one. Don’t worry, Breaking Bad delivers.
This is one of my favorite unexpected Saul moments in Breaking Bad. (If you haven’t seen Better Call Saul yet, you should go watch it too. So many fun Easter eggs and parallels for Breaking Bad fans! And Nacho is perfection.)
Jesse is trying to get the heck out of Dodge. He comes to Saul with a duffle bag full of money. I don’t remember the exact quote, but Saul tells Jesse he needs to budget. The money won’t last him forever without a plan, especially once Saul pays his relocation expert at the vacuum store. And, of course, once Saul takes his hefty finder’s fee.
You can make a lot of money, but if you spend it all, you still wake up broke at the end of each month. Over 40% of high-income earners currently live paycheck to paycheck, and lots of former celebrities and lottery winners go broke.
If you don’t know where to get started with your budget, check out our budgeting 101 page. If you want to talk Breaking Bad, drop it in the comments below, friends. We are here for that!