WEBVTT - The Temptation to Spend is Getting Real #350 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.800 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and Matt. 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.120 Today we're talking about how the temptation to spend is 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:28.240 getting realm. That's Rachel. As our lives resumed some sort 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.000 of normalcy, the sirens are calling calling out there. They're 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:36.599 calling us over to the rocks of retail consumption. Give 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.400 me your credit card information, whether online or in person. 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.200 It's true. No, this is what this episode is gonna 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:43.920 be all about. We're talking about spending our money and 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.640 specifically to make sure that we're doing it wisely. That way, yeah, 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.120 we don't end up crashing against the rocks of personal finance. 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:52.440 And I guess those those rocks of this cliffs would 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.760 be like bunted budget bankruptcy. Uh that that would be 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:57.920 the hardest rock that you could, Yeah, you go against. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.640 But even just like credit card debt, that that's unintended, 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.440 the consequences that are there if you do ever spend. 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.240 And I think Matt like, there's this particular temptation right 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.160 now as the economy is reopening and people are getting 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.920 vaccinated and they want to start spending in a way 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.720 that's maybe what they were used to ahead of coronavirus. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:20.080 But but even more so, like an even more ramped 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.240 up version of spending for a lot of people is 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.399 kind of what they're being beckoned to do. And so 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.200 you know, we want to push back against that and 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.400 and help all of us to think through, Okay, how 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.960 do we start to spend money as the economy reopens. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.120 We're gonna talk about that today, but before we get 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:34.520 to that, man, I wanted to let you know, speaking 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.520 of spending, Uh, we're we're about to do a little 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.760 bit of work at our house, and it is going 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.199 to cost money. Um, but I'm looking for as many 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.839 ways as possible to make that work cost less money. 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.440 And so one of the things I found out about 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.880 from a friend. There's this place called life Cycle in Atlanta, 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:59.760 and it's basically this huge warehouse of old doors, tile lighting, 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.559 life fixtures, um anything really you could matter place. Mantel 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:05.760 pieces like it looked like they came out of like 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.240 old castles, basically bath tubs, vanities. I mean really, as 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.679 far as the eye can see, you're looking at pieces 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.600 of older homes, like and or poor things that just 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:17.680 were never used in the first place. Similar stuff is 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.120 brand new at that place, but it's just deeply discounted, 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:22.360 and so we went this weekend as a family to 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.240 kind of check it out, and man, there was a 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.200 lot of good stuff that that we're totally considering in 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:31.280 in particular, like with like a door, you can save 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:34.680 so much money buying the door gently used instead of 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:36.880 buying it brand new. Um, it's just one of those 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:38.320 things that you know, a lot of towns have a 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.639 habitat restore and that's a place worth going to. We've 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:42.440 got one right around the corner from from where we 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.040 live here. But life Cycle was like ten times a size. Man. 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.120 It's like it's like the Walmart of of like reused 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.000 stuff in in our town at least, But it doesn't 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.120 feel like a Walmart. It feels more like an antique store, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.080 right Like. I feel like that's the biggest difference between 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:58.560 like a life Cycle and a Habitat restore is like 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.359 stuff at a habitat restore it kind of us feel 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.639 like a Walmart. You know, it's like kind of subpar products. 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.119 They'll have a bunch of things that are brand new 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:06.760 that just are kind of i don't know, like lower 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:10.520 quality basically, whereas like the life cycle of grade materials. Yeah, yeah, 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.160 not that builder grade means bad necessarily, but I don't know. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.840 We do feel that way. The language we use points 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:19.760 to that. But but yeah, like the life cycle, I 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:21.679 feel like it's it's more like an antique store and 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.600 you can find really cool old stuff. And I remember, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.120 like now, we went there specifically to look for a 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.440 wood burning stove. This is a few years ago back 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.120 when we were first thinking about adding a wood burning 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.040 stove to our house, and we couldn't find one. But 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.320 the reason we knew that they would have them occasionally 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.200 is because we've seen them there before. So yeah, I'm 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:39.960 not sure if where you live you have one of 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.040 these types of places, but if you do, yeah, it's 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:46.080 definitely a great spot to find some high quality used 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.960 or you know, kind of antique pieces of old homes. 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.320 And you mentioned doors. I mean that's exactly what like 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:52.800 the next time Kate and I get like, we're thinking 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.280 about maybe swapping out our front door because dude, like 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.240 our front door kind of sucks. Like it's very clearly 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.400 from the nineties. It kind of has like cut glass 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.600 design and it's a solid door. It's perfectly fine, but 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.120 it would be really cool if we were able to 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:06.800 find one that was made of wood that was maybe 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.240 kind of a little more I don't know, something more 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.680 original to to our house instead of this, uh, this 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.440 store that was put in, you know, over twenty years ago. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:16.800 But yeah, you want something like a hundred years old 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.400 like like that actually fits the style exactly. Yeah, Like 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.520 the whole rest of our house looks very old except 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.800 for this weird store exactly got a modern door, so well, 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:27.600 that is the place to look. And then I saw 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.800 some light fixtures there that were just incredible, some of 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.760 which look like they belong in a ballroom or something 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.080 like that. I mean, just some really cool stuff. So yeah, 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.280 just hang that up in your bathroom. Yeah, I guess 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:38.840 I could. People would hit their heads on it would 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.400 be way too big. But it's uh, it's one of 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.920 those things where I think there are a lot of 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.479 people who could benefit from shopping in a place like 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:51.159 that as opposed to just instinctively going to the big 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.080 box store that sells the big box hardware store. Right, 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.160 you're gonna save some money, there's gonna be less waste involved, 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.240 and you might find something that you like better too. 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.840 Oh yeah, you way more likely to find something unique there, 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:05.240 for sure. Let's introduce the beer for this episode. This 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:10.160 is actually another non alcoholic near beer from Right Side 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.880 Brewing and this is their Citrus Wheet. Looking forward to 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.240 enjoying this one and talking about it at the end 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.560 of the episode. But let's move on to the subject 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.520 at hand, Matt. Today unless year, we're talking about the 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.880 temptation to spend. It's getting real and Uh. When we 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:25.599 were talking about what this episode would look like, Matt, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.080 it made me think about I know there's a lot 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.320 of people out there that beat themselves up over a 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.320 purchase that they made that they can't take back, and 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.200 it's probably not the healthiest thing to do. But it's 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.680 something I've done before when I've made a purchase and 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.840 I'm like, I go past the return window and now 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.600 I'm stuck with it, right, uh, and I kind of 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:45.919 will break myself over the coals. I feel like I 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:47.479 just gotta get a couple of jabs in so that 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.680 I remember not to do that in the future. And 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.920 that's probably not like jabs on your own self. Yeah, 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:53.960 that's probably not healthy, not the best way to approach it, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:57.039 but sometimes that happens, right and Um, over the years, 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.680 I have become I would say a better spender. I 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.280 think I was a more thoughtless spender when I was younger, 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.200 and I think we all need a dose of like 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.880 thoughtfulness when it comes to how we spend, and right 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.520 now is a crucial time to discuss spending in more detail. 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.320 There have been stories already talking about how American spending 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.360 is ramping up, and it's specifically on clothing. That's one 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.800 of the items people are spending more on their wardrobes 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:29.520 these days. And apparently comes after a year he's basically like, Wow, Okay, 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.480 maybe I shouldn't go out in public with the sweatpants 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.600 on it, right, Yeah, because they're going out in public more, 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.680 whereas we hold up in our homes there for a 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.680 long time. And it kind of seemed to think that 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.120 that that this could be an early hint of a 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.640 spending spree unlike anything we've ever seen before, that the 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.080 floodgates of spending are opening in this country. Um, And 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:49.920 I think part of it's because of the influx of 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:54.159 stimulus money, the economic recovery really being in full swing, 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.800 and then folks being just a little bit tired of 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.200 being at home as much as they have been spending 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.920 money might feel like the only sane thing for a 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.839 lot of folks to do. And I think we're okay 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.400 with people spending more money, but there are some important 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.480 things to take into consideration before we just go out 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.120 there and start spending ad nausea. Yeah, you know, since 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.400 there is so much of this pent up demand, it's 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.080 it's gonna be easy to, I think, to fall prey 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.520 to some poor spending choices. It kind of makes me 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.520 think of, like maybe what it must be for for 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.520 someone living abroad for a year or two, right, Like 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.240 you probably over indulge on cheeseburgers, like maybe for a 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.000 month or two, like like once you come back to 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.600 the States. For many of us, it doesn't feel like 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.080 we've spent much over the past year. We've essentially been 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.840 forced into spending less because of COVID lockdowns and the 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.280 inability to to eat out at our favorite spots at all, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.560 you know, for a while, or as maybe as frequently 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.720 as we might have before. But again, yeah, we just 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.480 want to make sure that we're not getting carried away 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.080 as more of us get vaccinated and get back to 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.480 at least a bit more normalcy than we've been used to. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.880 So that's what we're discussing today how to spend our 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.840 money more wisely. Yeah, and a lot of Americans are 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.720 in a decent spot when it comes to the amount 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.320 of death that they've been raking up on their credit cards. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.800 According to one of the major credit bureaus, Experience, there 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.040 was a seventy three billion dollar decrease in overall credit 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.440 card debt last year, and a lot of that was 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.800 due to the pandemic. People were taking extra money they had, 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.520 they were paying off their credit card debt instead of 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.320 racking up more, and that means that it was about 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.480 an average decrease of eight hundred and seventy nine dollars 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.640 on the average credit card balance. That's great news for 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.240 a whole lot of folks. But the trick now is 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.720 to make sure that we don't immediately return to our 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.880 old ways. It's okay to spend money, but the temptation 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.480 to spend more than you can afford to or should 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.960 be spending right is going to be real in the 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.720 coming months. That allure to spend and let that credit 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.640 card debt hang around just a little bit longer than 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.839 you planned to let it hang around is going to 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.720 be real to you. You can probably justify it as 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.440 your spending desires increase, so it's important to do what 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.840 you can to combat those urges. And we've got some 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.080 ideas on how to do that for you today. Yeah. 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.560 In that same report by Experience, they talked about the 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.280 different states who that that normally carry the highest credit 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.240 card balances and how they saw the highest percentage of 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.960 decreased amount of debt on their credit cards, meaning that 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.200 though those states were carrying large balances, those folks showed 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.320 an incredible amount of control over their finances when it 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.280 came to it, you know. And so that just highlights 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.240 the fact that we do have way more control than 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.120 I think we give ourselves credit for. And an important 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.240 part of this is to question sort of the the 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.959 deeper reasons why it is that we're tempted to spend money, 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.200 you know, like ask yourself, do you actually need the 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.520 thing that you've been pining after or maybe you're just bored. 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.680 Pinpointing the root cause can help you to react, you know, 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.440 differently in the future. U It can remind you maybe 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.480 that you know, the browsing that you're doing or the 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.959 stuff that you're buying. It's really just an attempt to 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.480 maybe even just paper over something else that's going on, 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.000 or you know, often being bored or maybe even being sad. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.200 And you know, if you are able to recognize those things, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.280 those are feelings that you don't need to just shove 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.360 deeper inside that you don't address. This is something you 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:57.240 need to talk to your friend or talk to your 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.640 partner about. We're not fans of retail therapy at all, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.120 and we feel that if you were to try to 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.280 spend your way out of that dull drum, that's, yeah, 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.080 you're probably gonna find yourself in an even worse position 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:09.560 down the road. Yeah. Instead of retail therapy, you can 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.320 actually spend money to get actual therapy, like talk to 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.439 somebody and get some real thing. Yeah, and that that's 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:16.880 gonna be a whole lot better for you and a 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:18.920 whole lot, whole lot better for your budget. Yeah. Sometimes 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.200 you'll hear folks say that it's yeah, more affordable to 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.600 go shopping than it is to go see a counselor 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:25.880 It's like, in reality, I actually think that would be 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.240 a wiser decision. You can go and see ac counselor 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:30.679 go and talk to somebody, and yeah, the shopping habit 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.920 can get more expensive than seeking professional help us for sure. 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.000 It's also important to remember that there are meaningful trade 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.880 offs and other sacrifices that you're making when you do 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.360 spend haphazardly. It's really tough to see them in the 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.480 moment when you're blinded by the cool new item and 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.000 all you can think is how much better would things 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:51.360 be in my life if I own that? If I 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:53.160 like got on my credit card and made sure that 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.559 was in my life right now, that's what you're feeling. 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.600 But the truth is that purchase, if it's done on 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:01.559 a whim, is likely not something that will bring much 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.320 joy or satisfaction in your life over the long run, 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.440 and it will actually detract from the bigger and more 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.079 significant things that not spending that money does for you. 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.320 That's why it's important to have those bigger money goals 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.480 identified so that you can look to those as your 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.280 guiding light when that spending appetite begins to gnaw at you. Right, 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.720 having a bigger goal helps you see exactly the trade 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.559 off that you're making when you make piddally smaller purchases, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.520 because those are eating away at the bigger goal, and 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:31.560 it's important to see that in real time. Yeah, so 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.560 that's one of the reasons why it's you know, important 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:37.119 to make wise purchases. And aside from the financial applications, 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.520 curry being the massive amount of trash, dude, in the 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:41.959 in the waste you know, that we create every single day, 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.120 that's a great reason to avoid falling prey to that 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.400 spending temptation that we're that we're being faced with. Dude. 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.320 According to the e p A, we create around five 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.080 pounds of waste every single day, which is kind of 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.400 mind blowing, Like five pounds is a lot. And to 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.480 the largest amount of waste that's filling up our landfills 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.400 is food, which is at around of all that goes 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.680 to landfills, and plastics, which is like that second and 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.720 that's at eight. And these are two areas that I feel, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.040 you know, again, we have tremendous amount of control over 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.080 UH and spending wisely could have a pretty huge impact 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:13.880 on the amount of waste in our lives, on the 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:15.959 amount of waste that we're you know, that's getting hauled 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.440 off to the landfills. Have. The less we consume, the 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.240 less waste we're producing. Literally, the less we consume or 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.000 think we're gonna consume, and then to just throw in 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:24.800 the trash, like we think we're gonna eat that food, 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:26.920 but instead it just goes to waste. And same I mean, 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:28.760 and just plastics as well. I mean, so much in 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.160 our lives is just made from plastic, whether it's packaging, 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:33.800 if for other stuff that we buy, or just you know, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.559 throw away goods that are meant to be obsolete after 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.320 a year. Yeah, it's a financial and an environmental problem 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.720 at the same time that we're basically working to remedy 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.920 with our actions, um and by avoiding some of the 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.000 spending temptations that that pop up. And not only is 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.160 mindless spending bad for the environment, it's likely just it's 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.160 not a very good thing for us as individuals as well. 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.200 Right Over, spending at restaurants isn't great for our health. 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.080 If we opt for a dessert and two drinks on 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.920 top of our on top of our main course, we're 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:05.040 going to not only gain weight, but we're gonna spend 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.240 more money. Or like the fried foods. For me, it's 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.000 always the fried foods because like we don't fry food 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:10.920 at home, and so like when I look at a menu, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.760 I'm always like, okay, what is your Yeah, I'm like, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.320 what what's on the men you here that we never 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:17.319 cook at home? Because to me, that's you know, that's 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.240 where the value lies. But it's also not you know, 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.800 it's not good for my arteries. I'm always going for 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.400 the French fries. Truth. Yeah, And I think to buying 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.400 on a whim reduces our own self discipline and it 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.280 turns our focus inward as opposed to looking around to others. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:35.079 There's an entire host of reasons why it's bad to 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.600 impulse spend. So we're gonna give some concrete ways to 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.839 help you curb unwide spending, to avoid some of those 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.200 spending temptations. They're gonna be cropping up more and more. 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:54.400 We'll get to those right after this break. Al Right, 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:57.760 we are back. We're talking about how the temptation to 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.360 spend money, how it's just getting a credib the real 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.800 these days. Angel, Let's just talk about some of the 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.640 things that we can do instead of actually spending our money. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.720 You know, if you're maybe thinking about making a purchase, 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:09.880 we're gonna offer up a few different mental tricks, some 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.840 different tactics here that can help you to avoid those 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.199 on wise decisions. First of all, one of the things 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:17.120 we suggest, and you're kind of touching on this before 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:20.760 the break, but uh, substitute that temptation to spend with 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.720 a financial goal. If you pause long enough, can you 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.600 identify something that you would maybe rather do with your 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.080 money instead of spend it. We challenge you to to 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.120 think through like what, really, you know, big and crazy 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.600 goal could you reach if you opted out of this 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.120 short term purchase. So for you, it might help to 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.440 run some basic math to see what those unspent funds 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:41.480 can turn into if you keep it in your bank account, 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.040 or maybe even if you invest it instead of spending it, 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:47.200 say maybe on that new watch. And as we say this, 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.359 if you think that doesn't get me very excited at all, 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.640 like saving money or investing that money and sticking it 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.920 in the bank, Uh, that doesn't get me pumped to 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.200 do anything, right. I think what we would say then 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.160 is that you need to think two bigger goals. Like 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.640 if you don't get sided about like some sort of 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:03.520 far off goal that's going to take you multiple years 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.880 to achieve. I think that means you're not dreaming big enough. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:07.920 Maybe that means you're signed up and you're pursuing somebody 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:09.840 else's goal, you know, Like you've heard that is good 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.320 to save for a retirement, But in your mind, anytime 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:13.960 you say retirement, you just kind of die a little 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.400 bit inside, Like for you, maybe that means, yeah, it 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.840 feels very far away. And obviously we've talked about how 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.240 retirement it just brings a different connotation to it than 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:26.360 financial independence. And so maybe it's just semantics, you know, 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:28.280 like maybe for you, what that means is instead of 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.480 saying retirement, I'm saving to become financially independent, I'm saving 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.000 up to be able to start my own business, to 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.280 owning your own time at an earlier age. Yes, yeah, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.600 And so just whatever it is, figure out what that is. Like, 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.240 maybe it's travel. It's not retirement, it's the ability to 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:42.640 travel around the world and just see lots of amazing 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.280 things that you've never been able to see up until 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:48.280 this point. But dream bigger, like like identify whatever goals 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.080 it is that get you excited to avoid some of 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.000 these smaller, dumber, you know, purchases in the near term. Certainly, 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.160 there's some things that we have to buy in order 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:58.800 to get by, but there's a lot of stuff in 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:00.920 our lives that we per just you know, like we 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:02.960 talked about earlier, because we're kind of feeling bummed out 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:04.920 and we're thinking, Okay, maybe maybe if I just get 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.600 a little hit of that dopamine. Uh, look, left my 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.360 spirits a little bit when I know that package is 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.480 going to show up in the next two days, you know, Yeah, 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.960 And I think another I think another way, Matt, to 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:17.600 kind of help curb some of that temptations. Some of 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.000 that desire to just spend right now is to do 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:22.400 some sprint cleaning of the stuff that you already have. 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.320 And I feel like nothing actually helps curb spending like 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.800 getting rid of a bunch of stuff and realizing that 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.120 a clean, organized house is a treasure in and of itself. 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.760 And we've we have been doing a lot of sprin 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.680 cleaning at our house. Some of the stuff we're able 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:38.640 to donate some of us just trash that we've been 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.640 holding onto, like literally just needs to go in the trash. 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.920 And this is the literal garbage. Yes, broken toys that 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.760 are just completely worthless, Like why are we hanging onto this. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:52.520 It's it's broken, and it's it's not reparable. Uh, it 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.520 makes you not want to fill that house back up 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.440 with new stuff. When you go through that exercise. So 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.640 just the act of like tossing some of the stuff 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.920 out of your home can really curb that desire to 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.480 spend money, because you're like, I just spend all this 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.439 time getting rid of stuff, making my house kind of 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.040 feel a little more zen, a little more minimalist, and 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.160 now more peaceful. A little more peaceful. Yeah, I guess 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.800 some candles litting out and it smells oils. Yeah yeah, 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:18.919 and it just kind of makes you not want to 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:20.960 bring a bunch of a bunch of junk to clutter 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.439 back up. Yeah. Yeah, you're talking about being inspired basically 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.680 by like a clean and orderly house, but like even 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:27.680 to just thinking about the items that you're getting rid of, 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.640 Like at some point you spend money on those things, 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.879 you know, like you you decided that, Okay, if I 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.440 trade my hard earned money for these items, it's gonna 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.160 solve a problem, it's gonna make me happier, it's gonna 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:40.280 make somebody happier. And then by kind of purging and 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.320 just removing all these things from your life, like you 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.359 can identify these things and you and I think that 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.520 can be a reminder to keep us from future purchases. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.400 As well, right, Like, you see these things and you're like, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.600 at some point I thought this was gonna bring me happiness, 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:54.240 and now I'm selling it for pennies on opennies on 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:55.840 the dollar, or I'm just giving it away or just 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:57.800 throwing it away. I think that can be a good 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.399 reminder as well too. You know, as we look forward 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:02.879 and look ahead more purchases in our lives that they 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.040 may not fulfill us in the way that we thought 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.040