The Ultimate Guide to Smarter Living: All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

Society & Culture, Talk Radio, Writer, Philosophy, Comedy, Chess, How To, Entrepreneurship, Jay, James, The James Altucher Show, Altucher, Author, Jay Yow, Education, Jay The Engineer, Business, James Altucher

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A Note from James:

Jay, remind me, I've gotta send this episode to my kids because I cannot believe what that guy just told us. Chris Hutchins, he has the "All the Hacks" podcast and so many interesting things at his website, allthehacks.com. But I don't like the word life hack. A lot of that stuff is just BS.

But this was legit—from buying gold bars at Costco to making money off gift cards. He has so many weird, interesting financial and life hacks that can genuinely help you make a living and improve your life. It seemed like he was doing great with all this stuff. What you're about to hear is weird, interesting, and potentially financially lucrative—or at least thought-provoking.

Let's start the episode.

Episode Description:

In this episode, James Altucher sits down with Chris Hutchins, host of the podcast "All the Hacks," to uncover some surprising yet practical ways to enhance your financial life. Chris shares actionable tips that can genuinely increase your income, cut down costs, and shift your mindset around everyday decisions—without resorting to gimmicks. From arbitraging Costco gold bars and credit card rewards to smart relationship strategies and travel tricks, Chris offers practical solutions that anyone can start using immediately.

What You'll Learn:

How to make money arbitraging gold bars from Costco.
Simple mindset shifts to improve your eating habits without feeling deprived.
Why you should never pay full price at major retailers and how to consistently save money.
How to efficiently leverage credit card rewards and cashback offers.
A strategy to reduce relationship stress by changing how you "keep score" with your partner.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Credit Card Insights
01:06 Life Hacks and Personal Stories
02:24 Mindset Shifts for a Better Life
04:47 Travel Hacks and Airbnb Experiences
06:16 Gold Arbitrage and Financial Strategies
21:54 Gift Card Arbitrage and Credit Card Rewards
36:55 Credit Card Strategies and Limits
37:23 Creative Uses of Credit Cards and Points
38:23 Gift Card Arbitrage and Business Ideas
39:13 Early Entrepreneurial Ventures
41:09 Career Shifts and Financial Hacks
45:54 Unclaimed Money and Privacy Concerns
52:42 Podcast and Newsletter Business
01:01:05 Travel Agency Ventures
01:05:49 Book Publishing Advice
01:10:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Additional Resources:

This episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/james

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Jay, remind me I've got to send this episode to my kids because I cannot believe what that guy just told us.
0:15.1	So Chris Hutchins, he has the All the Hacks podcast and so many interesting things at his website, All The Hacks.com.
0:23.3	But I don't like the word life hack. I think a lot of that is just BS. But this was legit.
0:30.4	Like ranging from his stories where he would go buy gold bars at Costco and how you can make money by doing that or his stuff with gift cards
0:40.9	or he had so many weird, interesting financial or other kinds of life hacks where you can literally
0:50.3	like make a living and have a better life. like it seemed like he was doing great with all
0:55.1	this stuff so again what you're about to hear is weird interesting and potentially financially
1:02.3	lucrative or at least thought provoking so it's chris hutchins he's got the all the hacks podcast
1:08.6	and all the hacks.com and you can find his newsletter there and other stuff let's got the All the Hacks podcast and All The Hacks.com, and you can find his newsletter there and other stuff.
1:12.8	Let's start the episode.
1:18.5	This isn't your average business podcast, and he's not your average host.
1:23.7	This is the James Altasier Show.
1:34.8	Thank you. This is the James Altasier show. Chris, I'm skeptical of the word life hacks.
1:38.1	Like, everybody's got their life hacks.
1:39.7	Oh, you could, you know, ever since Tim Ferriss wrote the excellent book, the four-hour work
1:45.1	week, the meme of the century has been the word life hacks. And I'm usually sick of it. But when I
1:51.7	ran into you at that party, you were telling me these amazing hacks that you did that were like,
1:57.9	they actually worked and they also were great stories and so i just i want to get into
2:02.7	your whole like origin story how you got into these but first i just want what is like one
2:08.6	just so we could demonstrate to the listeners what's one life hack that works that you've used
2:14.5	to successfully change something in your life, maybe even financially?
2:20.9	Well, financially. I was going to go with like a really simple one, which is related to food.
	...

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