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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to think through when to make do and

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Speaker 1: when not to. There is no point buying new things

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Speaker 1: when the old things work just as well. On the

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Speaker 1: other hand, there is no point being constantly unhappy with

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Speaker 1: little things either. A little contemplation might help you figure

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Speaker 1: out the right balance. So, as longtime listeners know, I

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Speaker 1: am a fairly frugal sort, I come down strongly on

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Speaker 1: the side of making do. I am driving a twelve

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Speaker 1: year old car because it still works. I find it

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Speaker 1: incredibly annoying when I have to buy things like new

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Speaker 1: socks and new underwear, because in my mind these things

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Speaker 1: should last forever. Now, there are some upsides to being

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Speaker 1: willing to make do. I can and have lived on

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Speaker 1: very little money when that's been necessary. I am not

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Speaker 1: upset by mediocre accommodations. When I'm traveling. I am generally

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Speaker 1: content because I am not thinking about what's wrong with

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Speaker 1: what I have. On the other hand, I have lived

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Speaker 1: with things that, it turns out, are easily solved for

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Speaker 1: a long time. I spent a year recording this podcast

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Speaker 1: while sitting on the ground in my closet. It turns

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Speaker 1: out that they make chairs. So the question becomes when

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Speaker 1: to make do and when not to make do. This

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Speaker 1: should somewhat be shaped by what anyone can afford. If

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Speaker 1: not making do means taking on debt, then it is

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Speaker 1: probably a bad idea. If not making do means not

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Speaker 1: having a robust emergency fund and being fully on track

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Speaker 1: for funding your retirement, then again no. But once we

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Speaker 1: reached the place of having some discretionary income, then I

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Speaker 1: think there are a few questions to ask. First, if

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Speaker 1: it is possible to make do, how much joy would

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Speaker 1: something new bring to your life? Since I am reasonably

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Speaker 1: happy with my car and don't derive much of my

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Speaker 1: self concept from my car, I don't think a new

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Speaker 1: car would bring me particular joy. Now that equation would

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Speaker 1: change a lot. If my car didn't start half the time,

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Speaker 1: then a new car would bring me tremendous joy, as

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Speaker 1: I would be less stressed and I wouldn't be late everywhere. Second.

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Speaker 1: Even if something would bring joy, what else could you

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Speaker 1: do with the money? Money is fungible, so money spent

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Speaker 1: on one thing is money not spent on something else,

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Speaker 1: and it is possible that that's something else might bring

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Speaker 1: even more joy. So, for instance, you might think it

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Speaker 1: would be fun to upgrade your kitchen, but if that

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Speaker 1: would cost the same as a trip to Europe, and

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Speaker 1: you think about it and realize you'd rather take a

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Speaker 1: trip to Europe, then maybe it's worth making do with

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Speaker 1: your counters and cabinets and enjoying your vacation instead. These

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Speaker 1: answers are going to be different for everyone. Maybe you

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Speaker 1: have no intention of traveling to Europe, so those counters

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Speaker 1: and cabinets would actually make you happier. Or maybe you

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Speaker 1: have so much cash that there is no trade off.

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Speaker 1: There is nothing else you would do with the cash

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Speaker 1: because you are already doing everything that you want to.

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Speaker 1: If so, have at it with the caveat that avoiding

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Speaker 1: waste is a good in its own right, So if

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Speaker 1: you are redoing your kitchen before it falls apart, it

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Speaker 1: is worth seeing if you can recycle or donate the materials.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it will be possible, and maybe it won't be.

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Speaker 1: But on the other hand, I guess flying internationally creates

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Speaker 1: a lot of waste too. It's just always something to

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Speaker 1: keep in mind. Sometimes it's good to make do and

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's better not to. It is always just a

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Speaker 1: question of how much joy the choice would bring to you,

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Speaker 1: and if it would bring joy, if there is another

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Speaker 1: choice that might bring even more joy. Optimizing in that

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Speaker 1: way can help us create a good balance and spend

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Speaker 1: limited resources as wisely as possible. In the meantime, this

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Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.