WEBVTT - Take a spending pause 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to take a spending pause. Choosing not

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<v Speaker 1>to spend money on anything that isn't absolutely necessary for

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<v Speaker 1>a little while can offer a good reset and remind

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<v Speaker 1>us of what we really care about. So I experienced

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<v Speaker 1>an inadvertent spending pause a few weeks ago due to

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<v Speaker 1>some credit card issues. I've long had just one card

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<v Speaker 1>because I like to keep life simple, but when the

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<v Speaker 1>number was compromised, it then took a while to be

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<v Speaker 1>issued a new card, which the credit card company then

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<v Speaker 1>put another hold on a couple days later. This took

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<v Speaker 1>multiple calls to customer service to sort out, and meanwhile

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<v Speaker 1>I was shut out from the modern digital economy. This

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<v Speaker 1>was going on during all the Friday and Cyber Monday sales,

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<v Speaker 1>which meant that shopping was a challenge, so I pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much sat the sales out. If an email from a

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<v Speaker 1>merchant interested me, I made a note of it, and

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<v Speaker 1>in one case I had my husband purchased something because

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<v Speaker 1>our daughter had requested it as a Christmas present, and

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<v Speaker 1>I knew that retailer almost never had sales but it

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<v Speaker 1>turns out that most stores that have Black Friday sales

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<v Speaker 1>have other sales, and if you buy something you wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have bought, you're negating almost all the discounts you're getting

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<v Speaker 1>on things that you would have bought anyway. Now, I

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<v Speaker 1>was not happy about my forced pause, but I also

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<v Speaker 1>realized that a chosen spending pause might not necessarily be

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<v Speaker 1>a bad thing. It is very easy to spend money online,

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<v Speaker 1>and even if the dollar figures themselves aren't that much

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<v Speaker 1>in the grand scheme of things, it's easy to wind

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<v Speaker 1>up with stuff that you don't desperately need or even

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<v Speaker 1>desperately want. Making spending a little harder can increase the

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<v Speaker 1>chances that you wind up with stuff that is well

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<v Speaker 1>thought through. So if you are looking for a way

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<v Speaker 1>to change things up in the new year, consider if

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<v Speaker 1>you might make spending a little harder. One obvious way

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<v Speaker 1>to do that is to not save your credit card

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<v Speaker 1>or shipping information anywhere, except for say, online groceries. You

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<v Speaker 1>do need to eat, so no need to make that

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<v Speaker 1>take longer than necessary. But by forcing yourself to re

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<v Speaker 1>enter the card number and your address, you build in

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<v Speaker 1>some time between wanting something and actually getting it. You

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<v Speaker 1>might also put your cards somewhere mildly and convenient, particularly

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<v Speaker 1>if you're working from home, if you don't have your

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<v Speaker 1>numbers memorized and you have to tromp up to your

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<v Speaker 1>bedroom from your desk to grab a card. This can

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<v Speaker 1>minimize impulse purchases too. Or you can commit to an

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<v Speaker 1>actual pause for a few days, buy your groceries, put

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<v Speaker 1>gas in your car, and then challenge yourself not to

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<v Speaker 1>buy anything until you're specified date. Now, this doesn't always work. I,

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<v Speaker 1>for one, am not going to refuse to sign my

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<v Speaker 1>kids up for something they want to do. Or if

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<v Speaker 1>we run out of diapers, there's no real good way

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<v Speaker 1>of making do so. Sometimes you do have to take

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<v Speaker 1>a pause from the spending pause. But again, it's not

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<v Speaker 1>about not spending any money. Money is great, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>tool to build the life you want. Instead, this is

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<v Speaker 1>about making sure that money is spent mindfully and on

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<v Speaker 1>things that we do want or need. I took Black

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<v Speaker 1>Friday and Cyber Monday to think through what I wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to get my family members for Christmas, and once I

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<v Speaker 1>finally had a functioning credit card again, I was able

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<v Speaker 1>to efficiently make my purchases without a lot of second guessing.

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<v Speaker 1>That felt like a win. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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