Trader Joe’s now the official grocery store of gentrification

Welcome to the workweek. I’m here to provide you with some lunch break reading on Trader Joe’s effects on home prices, saving-shaming, and home affordability.

First up, despite Whole Foods’ reputation as “Whole Paycheck,” it’s not actually the store associated with the highest housing costs in surrounding neighborhoods. Housing data outfit ATTOM Data Solutions found that homes near Trader Joe’s grocery stores sell for 10% more of a return on investment for the seller than homes near Whole Foods.

Homeowners in hotly-growing neighborhoods who read The Basis Point, sound off! Which store would make you think your neighborhood had made it? Is Trader Joe’s effects on home prices real for you?

Moving on, my favorite personal finance writer Ben Carlson has a word or two for people who might shame others for not being able to afford to shop at Whole Foods. He says the save-and-spend-shaming style of finance gurus like Dave Ramsay and Suze Orman totally misses the point of peoples’ relationships with money.

I completely agree. Ben admits he was a born saver, because he grew up emulating his parents’ scrupulous money habits. That resonates hard with me, since I spend money exactly like my parents do.

There’s no standard personal finance curriculum that we’re all taught, so it doesn’t make sense to shame people for not knowing what you might think are money basics.

Next up, those personal finance decisions might start to get a little harder now that the U.S.’s trade war with China is kicking into gear. Tariffs are now hitting consumer goods instead of obscure trade materials like heavy machinery. Shoe makers and other retail product producers are sounding alarm bells on the latest round of tariffs Trump is threatening.

We’ll keep an eye on this in case it actually starts to affect your financial life in a major way.

In other news, Zillow’s homebuying service is now live in the heart of country music, so expect Zillow CEO Rich Barton to hop on the next remix of “Old Town Road.”

Enjoy today’s Linkage.