Here on How to Money, we often debate the merits of a purchase, not because we hate spending money and try to avoid doing so at all costs, but because we are constantly checking ourselves to avoid the MINDLESS spending of our money. It is a challenge to make every financial decision with the same level of intentionality but we find we are often more wasteful when we are feeling too tired or lazy to be intentional. But just being aware of some of the triggers and circumstances that lead us to spend in ways that don’t align with our financial goals can help us see it and own it when it happens, and lead us to effectively change our habits for good. Being excited to spend our money mindfully on a purchase that aligns with our financial goals is a good, healthy feeling- whereas impulse spending can leave a spending hangover, often accompanied by debt. Listen as we run through several rules that help us be mindful spenders.
Related: Check out this Should I Buy It Flowchart — it includes questions you can ask yourself before making a purchase.
And some additional resources we mentioned in this episode: for budgeting check out You Need a Budget (YNAB) and Dollarbird if you prefer the more manual approach. Here’s a full blog post on different budgeting methods you might like also, and check out our needs vs. wants post also!
During this episode we enjoyed a National Cherry Blossom FestivAle by Old Ox Brewery which you can find on Untappd. A big thanks to our good buddy Andrew for donating this beer to the show! And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts, Castbox, or wherever you get your podcasts- we’d love to hear from you.
Best friends out!
I have a question about thinking of spending in life/work hours. When you think about a purchase with your current hourly wage, should one consider the cost of the purchase with the net or gross income? For example, I make $15/hr. If I want to go out to eat and the meal will cost me $40 with tax and tip, calculating how many hours I have to work for that meal would be ~2.5 hours gross vs 3.25 hours net. I hope this makes sense.