0:05

It's amazing how many things we buy and we

0:07

keep without actually really thinking about it. And

0:10

again, if you are married to any of these things, of

0:12

course you can keep them. But it's just one more thing

0:14

and it just gets in the way most of the time.

0:16

It really does go hand in hand, getting out of debt

0:18

and decluttering. Hey

0:22

guys, welcome to this episode of the Rachel

0:24

Cruze Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're

0:26

here. So today we're going to

0:28

talk about how I'm prioritizing my spending in 2024.

0:32

I'll share with you some of my most hated

0:34

financial advice and to be honest, I

0:37

was really surprised by the feedback on this

0:39

advice. Then I'll share what

0:41

I am currently loving and hating

0:43

from Amazon right now. But

0:45

first, let's talk with Dawn from The

0:47

Minimal Mom about what we won't be

0:50

spending money on this year. Take

0:52

a listen. I am so excited

0:54

to have Dawn, AKA Minimal Mom, back

0:56

with me, you guys. And

0:59

Dawn, thanks for being here. Thank you, Rachel. Oh

1:01

my gosh. Every time she comes on,

1:03

you guys love her. I love her. It's just

1:05

fantastic. So we're going to talk about minimalism because

1:07

that is something we talk about a lot on

1:09

this show. And when you're taking

1:12

control of your money, again, it's really helpful to

1:14

adopt some of these habits when it comes to

1:16

the minimalist practices in your life to help you

1:18

simplify your life and spend less money. Dawn and

1:21

her family have been practicing this for

1:23

over, what, eight years now? Which

1:25

is amazing. And she's been always

1:27

gracious on this show to share

1:29

her knowledge with us. And

1:31

she's been on multiple times. So today, in honor

1:33

of a new year and a fresh start, we're

1:35

going to share some of the things that we

1:37

are no longer going to spend money on. So

1:40

I asked Dawn to make a list for her.

1:43

I've made a list. So we are going to

1:45

talk through it and why we've decided to cut

1:47

these things out of our life. And

1:50

I'm curious from you guys what

1:52

things that you're going to cut out of your life so

1:54

that you spend less in 2024. So,

1:57

all right, Dawn, let's jump right

1:59

in. to these lifts because you're

2:01

a great thinker. You

2:04

always think outside the box. And all her ideas,

2:06

I'm always like, oh, that's good, that's good. Okay,

2:08

so why don't you start with something that you're

2:10

cutting out? All right, and again, if you are

2:12

married to any of these things, of course you

2:14

can keep them. But it's amazing how many things

2:16

we buy and we keep without actually really thinking

2:18

about it. So number one, question all of the

2:21

rugs in your house, the scatter rugs and the

2:23

throw rugs and the area rugs, because it's just

2:25

one more thing that we have to sweep around

2:27

and move around and shake and vacuum. And it

2:29

just gets in the way most of the time. Okay,

2:31

you know the ones that we just like, was

2:34

the ones by our bathroom sink. Oh yeah, like I

2:36

had two and I did away with those years ago.

2:38

And I don't miss them. They collect the hairspray and

2:40

the hair, and all the things. And it's like they

2:43

get so close. I'd rather

2:45

have an outdoor rug than the one by

2:47

my sink with all my makeup and hair

2:49

and everything on it. Okay, that's a good

2:51

one. All right, number two is microfiber towels.

2:54

So fascinating. So I'm so grateful for you

2:56

all because you teach me things every day.

2:59

And so one day I'm like, okay, get your microfiber from

3:01

Amazon. There's this great set. And like so many comments were

3:03

like, hold the phone. We don't buy microfiber

3:06

anymore. And so I'm like, tell me

3:08

more. So it turns out that microfiber

3:10

is basically small plastic particles. And

3:13

it breaks down in our water and they are

3:15

forever chemicals. They get into our body or water

3:17

sources and all this. And I'm like, I had

3:19

no idea. Me neither. And so there are catchers

3:22

that you can buy when you wander them to

3:24

help catch the little fibers or whatever. And so

3:26

I am going to use up the ones that

3:28

I have in my house. I'm not gonna purchase

3:30

new ones. And really what I've learned from professional

3:33

cleaners now is you can actually just use

3:35

like the cotton bar rugs. And so

3:37

they're not as fancy, right? Everything's microfiber now. But

3:39

they actually do work really well. But they're fine.

3:42

Yes, okay, that's so good to know. Cause I

3:44

can get on a train of like, oh yeah, I need

3:46

like six of them. I need

3:48

so many. And it's nice to

3:51

get new ones sometimes too, right? Yeah, that's

3:53

right. Yeah, okay, that's good. One of mine

3:55

is cups. Okay,

3:57

and that sounds kind of funny, but whether

3:59

it's. coffee cups, water

4:02

cups, water bottles. I

4:04

get so many, just like tumblers

4:06

where the kids come on. They came on from the dentist

4:09

two days ago with little water bottles.

4:11

So it's the dentist like, but it's like plastic, you

4:13

know all of it. And I'm just like,

4:15

oh my gosh, we just stack up all this crap. And

4:17

what stresses me out the most on is I open our

4:19

cabinet and they all like, and

4:21

you're trying to push something back in. I'm

4:23

like, I'm done, I'm done. So like more

4:25

water models or cups, I'm done. Especially the

4:28

promotional ones but aren't as good a quality. So they don't

4:30

feel well and they leave. I need just a couple. Like

4:32

give me a nice Yeti or two. And

4:34

I'm good, but I don't need all these. And it's

4:37

so much harder to unload the dishwasher and everything.

4:39

It's actually best if your kitchen cabinets are like

4:41

half full. That's what makes it the

4:43

easiest to put stuff away and to get your family

4:45

to also put stuff away. So good, love it, love

4:47

it. Okay, so what's one of yours? All right, next,

4:49

the gimmicky kitchen gadgets and cleaning products. So

4:52

this is tough. I mean, I think we've all gone to the

4:54

Pampered Chef Party and the hostess is

4:56

so good at using the products. So she's like,

4:58

look at this chopper. I'm just gonna, and again,

5:00

I'm not against Pampered Chef by any means. But

5:03

I think, and we see influencers using

5:05

kitchen gadgets and they're like, look how quick this

5:07

is. And it's so easy. Well, yes, because they've gotten very

5:09

good at it. That's what they do when they're trying to

5:12

sell something. And then we get it home and I'm like,

5:15

I don't even take it out of the box because I don't even know

5:17

how to assemble it. Or we do use it once and we're like, this

5:19

was way more work to clean than it

5:22

was worth. The time it saved me for chopping

5:24

the onion. Totally. So

5:26

we've acquired a lot of gimmicky gadgety things, even

5:28

household cleaners that we think are going to make

5:30

our life easier and they don't. They just end

5:33

up cluttering up our kitchen. They're hard to get

5:35

rid of because we've spent money on them. But

5:37

today, permission to let those things go if you

5:39

are not using them and they're just cluttering up

5:41

your kitchen. Yeah, okay. That's good. I love

5:44

that. Okay, next. I'm very interested about those ones.

5:46

Next, okay. Skin care, perfume, lotion

5:48

candles. So again, I kind of wanna

5:50

blame influencers a little bit for this.

5:53

I feel like every influencer, our follower,

5:56

it follows like, this is my skincare unit

5:58

and this is my miracle haircare products miracle

6:00

cleaner and every week they have like

6:02

a new thing that they're trying to

6:04

sell me. And it's very confusing, Rachel,

6:06

because in many ways they feel like

6:08

my friends, right? And I'm like,

6:10

my friends would not steer me wrong. Like if

6:12

they're recommending it, it should be really good. And

6:15

once in a while it is often it's not. And

6:18

now I have all these things in my cabinets

6:20

from the bathroom to the kitchen everywhere that I've

6:22

acquired and I'm not using. And so

6:24

I made a rule about a year ago, like

6:26

at the beginning of 2023, I'm like, this is

6:28

the year of using everything up. I'm like,

6:31

I am not buying anything new in

6:33

these areas until it is all used

6:35

up. And what I found is that

6:37

it's not actually the skincare system or

6:40

the cleaner that's magical. It's when you

6:42

use it. It's when you use it

6:44

consistently. And so most

6:46

cleaners and most products work really well

6:48

when you use them consistently. So

6:51

again, we're at the beginning of a new year, so a great

6:53

time to like commit. I am using things up before I buy

6:55

anything. It's so good. And I'm the worst with

6:57

hair stuff. I'm like, I'll see all this different

6:59

like boost body

7:01

texture spray. And I'm just

7:03

like, Ooh, I'll try that. And that, because

7:06

somehow I'm going to have long flowy, thick hair,

7:08

right? Like with all of this, it's going to

7:10

work. And you're like, nope. Nope.

7:12

So yeah, that's, that's my, that's my

7:15

weakness for sure. For sure. Okay. One

7:17

that I'm not doing anymore is buying

7:19

like nice kids clothes. Yeah. So there's

7:22

a sweet store, Jamie and Jack's. I

7:24

don't know if you'll have one in

7:26

Minnesota, but it's like the cutest

7:28

stuff, but it is, it's expensive. And I would

7:30

go through every year and buy like maybe

7:33

like six nice pieces for my kids per

7:36

season. Did they wear them? Don't know.

7:39

They did not wear them. Nope. And there I

7:41

am packing them up to give to our little

7:43

neighbor with price tags still on them. And I'm

7:46

like, this is

7:48

like, this is nice stuff. So I'm done. I'm just

7:50

like, it's going to be the old Navy target and

7:52

it may not even last for the season. And I

7:54

don't care anymore. I'm just like, I'm going to spend

7:56

a fourth of the money. Yes. And if we have

7:58

to buy another piece throughout the season. That actually feels

8:00

better, right? Because we've gone to that point

8:02

now too with our kids where they're actually

8:05

wearing their clothes out, right? And by the

8:07

time they're done with it, that it is

8:09

just done. And I'm like, that feels so

8:11

much better than donating the clothes that

8:13

are still like new. And

8:15

so we decided, I'm like, I actually only

8:17

need, at any age of our children, they

8:20

needed one dress outfit. And that was it,

8:22

right? But it's so fun, especially even if

8:24

you're going to garage sales and thrift stores,

8:27

it's always the nice clothes that are there, right? Because

8:29

their kids didn't wear them. And I'm like,

8:31

it's only $2, I'm just going to grab this. And

8:33

then again, you feel so guilty once they've outgrown it and

8:35

they haven't worn it. And so I think there's so much

8:37

wisdom in being like, okay, what type of clothes do my

8:39

kids actually wear? Because what our kids wear

8:42

to school, even the girls, it's like Nike

8:45

shorts and t-shirts. If all anyone

8:47

wears. And I'm just like, why am

8:49

I trying to convince you to wear a dress? I don't

8:51

know. I just think it's cute with like a headband to

8:53

look somewhat put together, but nope, they all just run out

8:55

the door. And I'm like, well, I'm done. That's

8:59

great. Go girl. All

9:01

right, next is jewelry. So

9:04

again, I really like to invest in

9:06

good quality pieces that are very

9:09

versatile and that I know that

9:11

when I'm getting dressed in the morning, I can

9:13

just grab something. It goes with everything. Dress it

9:15

up, dress it down and not have to fuss

9:17

with storing it and untangling it

9:19

and having stuff that's, you know, going

9:21

out of style and whatnot. So I've decided to just

9:23

invest in a few good pieces. I

9:25

mean, invest, I mean, these are from Target,

9:27

but they're very neutral, versatile. They go with

9:30

everything on our Amazon. Okay. Nice. Yeah. But

9:33

not to have to put much thought into getting dressed in what I'm going

9:35

to wear. Yes. It's amazing.

9:37

The amount of like mental space that you

9:39

actually end up having when you don't have

9:41

a thousand choices because jewelry earrings are probably

9:43

my weakness. I do love earrings. Okay.

9:47

But I even like today, I'm like, and I always

9:49

just go back to just the gold earring. I'm

9:51

like, I can't believe it. But

9:54

the mental space that it takes to like

9:56

have to sit there and sift through and sink

9:58

and decide. I'm like, no. Yeah, it's pretty

10:01

much. All right, next is unnecessary

10:03

home decor or furniture. So again, I

10:05

mean, stores like HomeGoods and

10:07

Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx, oh

10:09

my goodness, the amount of home decor.

10:12

Like when you walk in there, I'm just like,

10:14

how can they fit so many things in such

10:16

a small barefoot? And it's

10:18

so tempting because I mean, in many ways,

10:20

I think as women, it is fun to

10:22

make our house beautiful and to look nice,

10:24

but I just found, again, especially I think

10:26

the season of life we're in with young

10:28

kids and running them places, that it was

10:30

more to managers, more to dust. It was things

10:33

that were going out of style and then I'm like,

10:35

oh, I wanna switch it out. And so I have

10:37

found that as I've simplified, highly simplified the furniture and

10:39

the decor in our house, that it's so much easier

10:42

to take care of. And it's also easier for our

10:44

kids to help. I realized that often I wasn't even

10:46

asking our kids to help in certain areas because I'm

10:48

like, oh, don't break that or don't touch that or

10:50

only I can do that. And so I feel like

10:53

our house now, it's much more peaceful that we don't

10:55

have so much of that stuff in it. Oh,

10:57

I love that. I know because for me, I'm like,

11:00

I haven't done this in a while. I

11:02

really haven't. We were talking about earlier

11:04

Christmas decor from the previous

11:06

season and how we bought some stuff

11:09

years ago, invested in nice pieces. And I feel like

11:11

when we shopped in 2019 for our home, that's

11:14

the philosophy I took. I'm like, I just wanna invest in

11:16

some nice stuff. So I don't have to go through TJ

11:19

Maxx and feel like, oh, I should

11:21

get a new throw pill, all this stuff. I'm like, you

11:23

know what? No, I have what I like and it's fine.

11:25

And it's fine. And I

11:27

mean, I do think that's hard too because there's

11:29

so many influencers that make their living by showing

11:31

us different like home decor and stuff. Totally. And

11:34

I love them as people, but I have had to unfollow, especially

11:36

if you're working on getting out of debt, working,

11:39

I mean, I love your children's book about

11:41

finding contentment. And so

11:43

I do think sometimes we have to

11:45

unfollow certain accounts and or mute them for a

11:47

while so that we aren't always tempted to buy

11:50

something. Totally, you open it up and you see

11:52

something new. I know. Okay, so one

11:54

thing I'm not buying this year, don't have to

11:56

hold me to it, is jeans.

11:58

Okay, this sounds so. silly. I've

12:01

realized what she's the style changes every

12:03

season. Yes. Every season. So it goes

12:05

from this thing to that thing. And

12:07

so last year I did the mom

12:10

highway. Yeah. Straight leg. And I was

12:12

like, you know what? And I bought

12:14

probably three to four nice for

12:17

these is basically all I wear. I just wear jeans all the time.

12:20

And I'm like, and that's it. I'm not gonna go

12:22

by anymore. Because let's be honest next season. I know

12:24

it's gonna change and I'm gonna want it because I

12:26

know me. And so I'm like, no, I'm not gonna

12:28

stack up on drinks. I used to say I'll have

12:30

a lot of jeans because it is what I wear.

12:32

And now I'm like, no, you don't actually need a

12:34

lot. I don't need a lot. So hold

12:36

me to it, Dawn. I love that. No jeans

12:38

in 2024. Yeah. No, every time

12:41

I reset my wardrobe for this season, I have

12:43

two pairs of jeans. And again, that idea like,

12:45

I kind of want to wear them out. You

12:47

know, and then then the next year when the

12:50

style changes, I'm like, I can justify getting new

12:52

jeans. And because I have I warn me I've

12:54

gotten the use out of them. I got my

12:56

money out of them. And you know, mostly I

12:58

was two pairs of jeans with fit in my

13:01

budget, no matter where we were at getting out

13:03

of debt. And so I love that. And again,

13:05

is anybody really looking at

13:07

your jeans that much? No. No.

13:10

All right. Next is no fake

13:12

plants. So again, this is something that Friends Online

13:14

gave me a hard time about. They would see

13:16

like my fake IKEA plants. And they were like,

13:18

Dawn, you should upgrade to some real plants. And

13:20

I'm like, no, because I kill them. Right. You

13:22

know, it's just like a very logical. And so

13:25

I was like, okay, I'll start with a couple easy ones.

13:27

And then I started having them in our house. And I'm

13:29

like, oh, it's very nice actually

13:32

to have living things around us and not

13:34

dead things. Yeah, dead fake plants. And so

13:36

again, I still stick to plants that are

13:38

very easy. I have had to throw

13:41

a couple away. But I have graced myself with

13:43

that. But it is actually very enjoyable now having

13:45

some real plants around the house, probably because our

13:47

kids are a little older, too. I feel like

13:49

I can take that on totally, totally and getting

13:51

rid of all the fake ones. Yes, I love

13:53

that. I know we have These two

13:55

vases in our front room when you walk into our

13:57

house. And they had orchids. They're

14:00

not as the hard to kill apparently and

14:02

I replace some a handful of time get.

14:04

but when they are replaced and I am

14:06

in the say it is there's something so

14:09

like. Peaceful. Yeah about having

14:11

yes living plants so I'm with you on that.

14:13

I love that I needed to. Moreover, I think

14:15

it's great and or suppose I got the color

14:17

green that help the zelig relax and they have

14:19

any other helpfully clean the air in what now

14:21

if a little help with that we think. I'd

14:24

advise that right up early, fairly. Or

14:26

it next day is kids' toys and classifies

14:28

Zola. Something that I have learned earnest and

14:31

journey of become a minimalist and getting rid

14:33

of. Eighty five percent of our says is

14:35

that kids need a very little when it

14:37

comes to classifies and toys and it's it.

14:39

Without importantly they had very creative kids. I

14:41

would create a growing up in a lot

14:44

so different accents but I realized that kids

14:46

don't need this tested to see them as

14:48

any sense because we've seen when kids can

14:50

go outside and build nothing from sticks or

14:52

other things they dined. are you know the

14:55

joke? Always. On Christmas is like oh they

14:57

to see depends the boxes right and so

14:59

again I can it. It is this experiment

15:01

where I was just like I don't enjoy

15:03

maintaining the classified if I like a big

15:05

mess all the times as I'm like I'm

15:07

gonna remove the classify as I'm just going

15:09

to have like harbor boxes masking tape as

15:11

racist it for kids and some markers and

15:13

it they would play with that them for

15:15

hours and so I know it's fun to

15:17

go the dollars or go different places and

15:19

get out of fun but color and pompoms

15:21

and in the pipe cleaners but is that

15:23

is a lot for you to manage their

15:25

kind. Of tired of having to organize it

15:27

and take care of it in kids are

15:29

very good at at doing it. I would

15:31

encourage you to highly simplified assets into certain

15:33

them use their own imaginations with the limited

15:35

things they have you are we so impressed

15:38

with the things that your kids come up

15:40

well so fun song you're a hero really

15:42

having ah I feel like does it is

15:44

true of we have a thing of crayons

15:46

and will get some from like. Yeah.

15:49

Even a restaurant yes among my sister, another man's

15:51

yeah and I'm like that with some blink sheets

15:53

the papers yeah my should sell yeah to say

15:56

I'll do it and it's like and into does

15:58

something for only and effects. Okay

16:00

when they I'm not doing it for me for

16:03

is that target dollars section I'm right there with

16:05

yes I am I have a pretty good at

16:07

it reads like advice on com flowing and put

16:09

on the flip like I think Everly campus illness

16:11

and puts his i used to my is that

16:14

like a that if I it prices the by

16:16

oh I don't regret yeah my kids are needed

16:18

I mean it's all of it So. I

16:21

up with the blinds on the line. Will.

16:23

In a notice because I'm always around the

16:25

house, Am I looking like what stands the

16:27

test? The time and what doesn't? And I

16:29

felt like even always. always like super cute

16:31

on trained inexpensive still was never read like

16:33

eddy. Cue to the store and I get

16:36

home and I'm like it. So that he a

16:38

tiny i need fourteen of those or as. A parent

16:40

now it's and in from Edo, teammates or whatever

16:42

and so I did. I make this stuff does

16:44

not stand the test. The time or goes out

16:47

of style is again I I put the blinders

16:49

on and I I haven't really miss that. I

16:51

now know they're made in their skin or it.

16:53

Next Things: I no longer by our subscription boxes

16:56

so in the beginning when they first came out

16:58

like this is so fun yeah you can try

17:00

new things. I had an it sees of script

17:02

say it like difference maker products and like a

17:04

so monitoring things. The first.

17:07

Super fun! But

17:09

the news if I did it was a

17:11

subscription boxes most of them to the time

17:13

you get. The. Second third fourth, you end

17:15

up bringing a lot of stuff into your home.

17:17

yet the you don't end up using doesn't toll.

17:20

is that your needs and they're kind of expenses

17:22

yellow? Totally. Oh yes. or for me it's a

17:24

i have this as I just. Didn't.

17:26

Never use and it a up in a

17:28

drawer. yes, physical bathroom away or whatever it

17:30

and and answer seems a guy in the

17:32

i'm with you I haven't done on Amazon

17:34

Women years and same or attacks again. It's

17:36

a new year at work out equipment and

17:38

so ah how guilty do we feel when

17:40

we buy new shoes, new work out of

17:42

him it new leggings or whatever it is

17:44

your gym memberships and then we never use

17:46

it and we see it. There's and so

17:48

my best encouragement to you as to start

17:50

the new habits first and then reward yourself

17:53

with the new stuff. So really, if you're

17:55

hoping to get in shape this year you

17:57

could just walk outside. I'm in Minnesota National

17:59

Not. it depends. The wider ah

18:01

but. There's so many things you can

18:03

watched free exercise videos on Youtube. There's so many

18:05

things that you hit you right now to start

18:08

the habits and then was a proven herself and

18:10

kept this commitment with ourselves. Then we can reward

18:12

yourself with new shoes are some new equipment and

18:14

that feels so good a yes or served once

18:17

the habit of them because I think you're exactly

18:19

right. You get that I used to feel like

18:21

of I get the stuff that and to be

18:23

maybe of your life can if is motivator and

18:26

it's not as them as. The. News

18:28

is of it isn't right it's another to pair

18:30

of yoga pants be around do ano that felt

18:32

as if you doing it so and getting and

18:34

that rhythm and yet and I love that rewarding

18:37

years of as a group of if he were

18:39

dead. Set against when

18:41

they were not doing and funny money on

18:43

and twenty twenty four as nice restaurants with

18:45

the kids know why we do the some

18:47

use ourselves as citizens and I love good

18:49

food humor like if we're going out to

18:51

eat like. You. Know he wanted to

18:54

play some ran through a nice restaurants yeah

18:56

our kids and sense of the caused by

18:58

things like twenty twenty five okay I may

19:00

inserted back antidote for the or other sl

19:02

that lights amount of stress yeah as a

19:05

mom that I'm like everyone's still sentiments of

19:07

ruin and everyone else everyone else writes an

19:09

like you're i eating the kids meal that

19:11

was for i in dollars or whatever and

19:13

i'm just like oh my gosh what it

19:15

says and went and can enjoy it so

19:18

her reserving all nice restaurants as from him

19:20

once and in a nice landing as really

19:22

enjoyed the. Great restaurants pet. Why? bring my

19:24

bring the kids. they're gonna want a truckload

19:26

milk. The com. All

19:28

of it all of it and buy all

19:31

my ourselves of want them when they they

19:33

were cut now of of it was either

19:35

sex sell as you have zero of of

19:37

rather know like. Magic.

19:39

To one specific, seeing your product that sustains

19:41

our lives. But really what brings the most

19:43

of film it is keeping it simple to

19:45

free up my time and my mind's eye

19:48

Concerned though the people that I love so

19:50

be smart. You guys be smart when you

19:52

go and spend money. That isn't the thing

19:54

that brings he's in your life. It's who

19:57

you are and I'll tell you it, it

19:59

gets easier. Over time to pay now such

20:01

as are some muscle and it will come

20:03

natural sounds. Don't think you so much for

20:05

being against on it today. I love haven't

20:07

you and yeah theory that on things are

20:09

all your thoughts and were never mind you

20:11

I'm a hangout the most on you tube

20:13

so we have over seven hundred videos to

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help you. declutter of course irritated hammer were

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looking at movies of our house. I can

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help you without a doubt the declutter thought

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of Israel my job is so many of

20:26

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20:28

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20:30

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20:32

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Sauce Budget at Ch

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Ministry's.org First Budget. Of

21:17

Hades Today I'm of explaining another one

21:19

of my a controversial takes. Today's topic

21:21

is that the one piece of financial

21:24

advice I saw it was. Like.

21:26

A hundred percent safe in that I wouldn't

21:28

get cancelled or yellow that on the area

21:30

for and see seeing. is it really even

21:32

about money? When you boil it down it's

21:35

more about who you are, your characters. So

21:37

what I'm talking about. Giving.

21:40

So. who knew encouraging people to practice

21:42

in or us that he would cause that's

21:44

a heated up or or but did his

21:46

effort yeah oh sure enough whenever i'm editing

21:48

someone's budgets and looking out at are showing

21:51

people how to plan out their paychecks using

21:53

every dollar one of the most common comments

21:55

that i get about how some it is

21:57

to give away a poor savior and when

22:00

you're trying to build wealth, how could she keep

22:02

giving in there? This is unbelievable. They

22:05

keep going at it. I'm like, okay,

22:07

I get it. Yes, when you are giving

22:09

money away, you technically have, you do, you

22:11

have less money to pay off debt

22:14

or build wealth or whatever it may be. Yes,

22:16

that is true. I understand that.

22:19

But also, can we just talk

22:21

about what a good thing giving

22:23

is regardless of where you are

22:25

financially. Giving and living your

22:27

life with an open hand, it's pretty incredible.

22:29

I guarantee you that this will transform your

22:32

relationship and your progress with

22:34

money. Now, if you are somebody on

22:37

the spiritual end of the

22:39

spectrum, you're a believer, you're a Christian,

22:41

whatever you could put in your religion

22:43

of whatever you worship, if you do,

22:46

for me, I am a Christian. There

22:49

is a thing called the tithe

22:51

in scripture that I do

22:53

practice. The tithe is 10% of your

22:55

income. It talks about this in the

22:57

Old Testament. Jesus talks about giving a lot

22:59

in the New Testament. For me, there

23:01

is a spiritual element that not only

23:03

is it out of obedience, not in

23:05

a legalistic way, but I do believe

23:07

God sets this up for us to

23:09

be reminded that, hey, this is all

23:11

his anyways. When you do

23:14

give, there is a level more of trusting, I think,

23:17

a higher power, and in my case, God,

23:19

than just myself. There is something

23:21

about, hey, I'm going to work on who

23:23

I am in this process and opening my

23:25

hands and being a selfless person. I am

23:27

going to be giving and creating that habit

23:29

in my life because ultimately, I believe spiritually,

23:31

that is what God is. He is a

23:33

selfless God. He is a giver and we're

23:35

created to be more and more like him.

23:37

We are in that process of being refined.

23:40

I think when it comes to your money,

23:42

there is something about letting go of that control

23:44

and saying, hey, I am going to trust you

23:47

in this and I am going to be obedient and

23:49

I am going to give 10% and for the tithes

23:51

specifically, it is to your local church. Winston and I,

23:53

we do this. Every

23:55

month, it is like, hey, we are going to put money

23:57

aside 10% for a tithe. And we have done that. from

24:00

the very beginning. And my parents even talk about

24:02

this. They ties into bankruptcy and out of bankruptcy.

24:04

So it's not one of these things either, a

24:06

prosperity gospel that if you do this, you're

24:09

gonna get a BMW in your driveway when

24:11

you come home or you're gonna get a $100,000 raise next

24:13

year. Like,

24:15

you know, something crazy because some people go

24:17

off on that end. But I do believe

24:19

something happens inside of you. There's a level

24:21

of contentment. There is something that is produced

24:23

in you when you are a selfless person.

24:25

And I think from a spiritual aspect that

24:27

is huge. Now, if you're not somebody that

24:29

is a believer or you have a spiritual

24:31

practice in your life when it comes to

24:33

money, let's just talk about just like the

24:35

humanity, right? The humanity and your posture in

24:37

your heart towards money. Because if money becomes

24:39

the thing that you're after and that's it and

24:41

that's the only goal in mind and it's the

24:43

only thing you're looking at and you're obsessed with

24:46

it and it does become the thing in life,

24:48

you're gonna hit that goal. You're gonna get that

24:50

car you wanted. You're gonna get the thing and

24:52

you're gonna realize, wow, that's like, it's

24:54

temporary happiness. And then it's gonna be

24:57

the next thing and the next thing. It's

24:59

never gonna be fulfilling. But what's fulfilling is

25:01

when you honestly, again, live your life with

25:03

that open hand, financially speaking, and you help

25:05

people and you experience the act of giving,

25:07

there is a joy in that that can't

25:09

be bought. There's a joy in

25:11

that, that is, it is unbelievable. And Winston and

25:13

I have done some anonymous stuff and I can

25:16

just tell you, it is one of the joys

25:18

that we are able to do. And we also

25:20

have places and ministries and foundations

25:22

that we personally love and have a

25:24

heart for that we give to every

25:27

month because we believe in what they're

25:29

doing. And for me, it's always around

25:31

the idea of ending with kids. So

25:33

whether it's like fostering or adoption, like

25:35

anything in that spectrum, I just

25:37

feel like if people have the resources to be able to do

25:39

it, like that's where I wanna give. And what it does

25:41

is it moves you beyond yourself and that's what giving

25:44

does. It's really a beautiful thing to go on that

25:46

spectrum from being selfish where it's like all about us

25:48

to actually looking up and looking for others and being

25:50

generous. So I know for some of you, you're

25:52

thinking, yeah, Rachel, that's great, but listen, I'm drowning in debts.

25:55

I'm trying to budget, but literally have

25:57

no money. What do I do? And

26:00

listen, I hear you. I know it's been a really

26:02

hard year financially for a lot of people last year.

26:04

Was so what I would

26:06

say is be as diligent as you can,

26:08

but I would give something. Like

26:11

even if it's $10, but start that habit. I

26:13

always tell people give a little until you can

26:15

give a lot. I think it's

26:17

a great baseline, but if you can't get there,

26:19

give something, start the habit because people believe, well,

26:22

if I just had more money, I would give.

26:24

And the weird messed up truth of it is

26:26

if it's not a habit in your life and

26:28

you get more money, your lifestyle just seems

26:30

to match up to that and you just

26:32

get used to that and you start because you're just

26:35

continuing to live in the habits you've been living. So

26:37

once you start getting out of debt and you have

26:39

an emergency fund and you start to get control of

26:41

your money, you're going to find more margin and that's

26:43

where you can up it. But dream big about this,

26:45

you guys, because generosity is a part of money that

26:47

a lot of people don't talk about, but it is

26:49

something that is so, so huge. It's

26:52

huge in who you are. So find that thing again,

26:55

for me, it's foster care and adoption. Like I had

26:57

this call and like, how fun would it be to

26:59

pay for somebody's international adoption one day and just like

27:01

write the text for them and just do it,

27:03

like have things in your life that you think

27:05

I want, I want to do that. I want

27:08

to do that because that is going to spur

27:10

you on to do things bigger and better than

27:12

just what's in you and what

27:14

you want for your life. Right. So changing your

27:16

family tree is huge and doing all the Ramsey

27:18

baby steps. Part of that is to change your

27:20

life and change your family trees life. But we

27:22

say to live like no one else. So later

27:24

you can live and give like no one else.

27:26

And giving doesn't have to be a thing you dread or

27:28

you hate to do again, making it small

27:31

and a manageable habit now. And

27:33

as you start to do better, open that up and

27:36

continue to give more and more. So whether

27:39

you're spiritual or not, whatever

27:41

the science, so is there. It is

27:43

proven the people who are generous, have

27:45

higher levels of joy, have healthier

27:48

mental health stability, and there is just

27:50

something about living your life selflessly that

27:52

affects all areas of your life. And

27:54

it's a pro. It's a pro. So

27:56

give it a try today and even

27:58

download every dollar. Start your budget.

28:00

You'll feel never dollar. The very first category

28:02

is giving. I challenge you to

28:04

a new way of thinking. Practice generosity and

28:07

put something there. Hey,

28:14

you guys. Do you ever feel like Amazon

28:16

listings, they trick you into ordering something and

28:19

then you end up getting it and you're

28:21

like, this is just terrible. Well, recently in

28:23

my Amazon purchase history, I've seen some highs

28:26

and I've seen some lows. So today in

28:28

the spirit of saving you from wasting your

28:30

money, I'm going to share four things that

28:32

I loved from Amazon that

28:34

are actually great buys and four things,

28:36

not so much. And since

28:39

I always end on a positive note, let's

28:41

just start with the bad things I did

28:43

not like. So the first item that did

28:45

not meet my expectations that I really hope

28:47

for. And I will admit,

28:49

I feel like I was a little

28:52

influenced into buying them because I saw

28:54

a few bloggers and then a few

28:56

celebrities that had them on their stories

28:58

and I was like, Oh my gosh,

29:00

they're so cute. And it's like these

29:02

hoops and they're very, very, very

29:04

thin hoops. And I thought, I want

29:06

to try these out. And so I

29:09

ordered some off Amazon got them and

29:11

yeah, definitely not as high quality as

29:13

they seemed. Yeah. Uh, it's a

29:15

little bit sad because when I started putting them in,

29:18

I was like, Oh my gosh, it's like, like, like

29:20

you bend it and it just stayed that like there.

29:22

It didn't have the shape. Like it just was not

29:24

great. Cheap metal. It broke.

29:26

Just, just not good. But after

29:28

that accessory fail, I decided to

29:31

pivot a piece of workout equipment.

29:33

Should be great, right? Which brings

29:35

me to the second Amazon item. That was not

29:37

great. I must say I have some compassion on

29:39

the version of me who thought that she could

29:42

buy some cheap athletic gear on the internet and

29:44

suddenly just, it'd be great and awesome. So Winston,

29:46

actually we were looking online and I was like,

29:48

Oh, I really want some resistant bands. Cause we

29:50

were doing some stuff and he had to pull

29:52

up on it. It's like, this would be great.

29:54

Great, great. Yeah, they weren't. I

29:56

think they lied. Like I genuinely

29:58

think they, they. They did not, they

30:01

did not work y'all. I'm telling you, like they had

30:03

like a certain weight or something of what the resistant

30:05

was supposed to be. I was like, this isn't it.

30:07

They were just cheap. They were not great. So it

30:09

was a, it was a no-go for me, at least

30:12

in my experience with these, with this brand. Which

30:14

is why I decided to pivot back to

30:16

jewelry again with item number three. Now

30:19

I know that some of you have very

30:21

strong feelings about my why behind this

30:23

purchase, but Winston and I had a trip

30:25

coming up where we had tickets to

30:27

a very exciting show. And for this show,

30:29

everybody in the audience dresses up

30:32

very enthusiastically. It's

30:35

a lot of Gen Zers and millennials and

30:37

you know, all the things. And so yes,

30:39

it was a Taylor Swift, Taylor

30:42

Swift concert. So I decided to

30:44

go with the reputation vibe. And so

30:46

I got these like this packet of snake

30:48

jewelry. And

30:50

I was like, this would be great. And I think the earrings were

30:52

fine. Everything else, it was just crap. I

30:55

tried doing the bracelet, but it kept unwinding. It

30:57

was falling apart. The necklace, like, it was supposed

30:59

to cross, but it like looked all bizarre. Anyways,

31:01

it was very inexpensive. And that's when you realize

31:03

some things you buy that are cheap are like

31:05

dupes and they're awesome. And actually are great and hold

31:07

up well. This, not

31:10

so much, not so much. The outfit was

31:12

great. The snake situation

31:14

around the arm and the neck. Yeah, it just

31:16

wasn't, it wasn't very sad, but we're fine. We

31:18

live to see another day. So the fourth

31:21

Amazon fail on my list is the sticky

31:23

patch that goes on your iPhone so that

31:25

it sticks on the surfaces while you film.

31:27

And I've seen some influencers use it and

31:29

had a short video where we'd talk directly

31:31

into their phones for social posts. And yeah,

31:33

that's my job. So I was like, oh

31:35

yeah, what this is is great. Well, it's

31:37

so funny as Winston bought one too, uses

31:40

it all the time, all the time.

31:42

For me, I don't like it. I think I got

31:44

makeup in it. It didn't stick as well. And

31:46

every time I put it up, I just feel

31:49

like I'm like panicked because I'm like, oh my

31:51

gosh, I like, like it's gonna fall

31:53

down and it's gonna break. And I get more

31:55

anxious using it than not. So it's maybe sort

31:57

of a me Problem, but I was like, mm-mm, can't

31:59

do it. However, as I don't like

32:01

him before we go and chancellor Amazon Prime

32:03

accounts, those are things that is not love.

32:06

The here are some that I did love

32:08

buying it this next nine One Amazon pretty

32:10

much was a core value of mine at

32:13

this point. I use these every single day,

32:15

but they're way too easy to lose. Or

32:17

to break for. Me to ever buy a really

32:19

fancy version and I know we've all had moments

32:21

where we actually sit on them in the car

32:23

crash, some where they drop into the lake and

32:25

you'd never find them again. And if you know

32:28

me, You know, the Amazon

32:30

sunglasses? Are. Among. I

32:32

mean a quick. Nine. Ninety nine

32:34

dollar hair as trendy and

32:36

suits. And they look

32:39

like they're five hundred dollars, but there

32:41

doesn't. give me Amazon sunglasses all day.

32:43

People all. Day. I the

32:45

next amazon I don't that I've been loving

32:48

recently is another go to plastic accessory or

32:50

thing these very first time back in the

32:52

nineteen nineties. Young players in the mall and

32:54

will smell that and see and pretzels and

32:57

the food court and go back there are

32:59

the second I don't. As of

33:01

members on. Some. Good clock it.

33:04

For. My hair. Yep. And. They

33:06

come in all different shapes and sizes but

33:08

let me tell you the that I bought

33:10

it was like a four pack large clips

33:12

and they are some of the best and

33:14

the his I'm telling you it's it's it's

33:17

one of the best things as you can

33:19

do. I like it was cheap, inexpensive sort

33:21

of my door and suit and trendy. All

33:23

the things are You guys went crazy for

33:25

the third Amazon Princess that I loved and

33:27

out of all the financial content that I

33:30

put on the internet, all things that's easy

33:32

about money on Sesame the at this as

33:34

a thing you can stop commenting. About

33:36

and I don't blame you because I

33:38

literally where these once a week and

33:40

com or months every hour them and

33:42

they are making. Trousers from

33:44

Amazon. They are

33:46

the compass piece of clothing ever. They

33:49

are slowly their professional. They are cute

33:51

I have them and for other colors.

33:53

Because. They're affordable and they're wonderful. A gimme

33:56

a good trouser all day any day and

33:58

all the view loves it. Rollins, where

34:00

did you get those pants when it gets a things. On.

34:03

On. A fantastic A but if

34:05

I'm being honest as fourth and final item

34:07

probably has been the biggest game changer of

34:09

my life stayed same because I'm her life.

34:11

I've struggled with the same thing at a

34:13

lot of women struggle with from sense I'm

34:15

here no matter who you are his part

34:17

of your appearance the you think about at

34:19

least once a day when you wake up

34:21

in the morning and for mean it's something

34:23

that I'm very aware of it as an

34:25

exit amount of time on because I'm on

34:27

camera and lining in the pictures and all

34:29

things and that's is. My. By

34:32

ourselves here. Air B Treatments is like gray.

34:34

I get a lot of my products on

34:36

Amazon This I got really inexpensive see the

34:38

thing is like seventeen dollars and as is

34:40

a little bit at a time, but it's

34:43

convenient see. That's. Great for the ends.

34:45

It's useful as something that it doesn't

34:47

cost a fortune so morals or a

34:49

the most convenient useful products here lies

34:51

the don't support and xunzi by something

34:53

because it looks so like changing and

34:55

amazon it in some not fulfilling the

34:57

needs of realize that you think it

34:59

might. The. Oh

35:01

he did. but of course online shopping

35:04

has to since your budget course and

35:06

that makes her to go every dollar.

35:08

To create your personalized. Monthly

35:10

Advanced said that you can know hey

35:13

how much money to send on clothes

35:15

or hair products or resistant than ones

35:17

that actually worked great like dogs and

35:20

of being oh Amazon I usually love

35:22

my purchases bearably. a couple of as

35:24

sin sin guy doing in a happen

35:26

sometime well sign at I want to

35:29

think heard so much for being on

35:31

the says she's incredible Make sure to

35:33

check her out and for all of

35:36

you guys that are loving the podcast

35:38

he did leave a review. And

35:40

let us know the thing to do. Any

35:42

here and it's Er episodes. I love your

35:45

fees eyes A Thank you so much for

35:47

listening to this episode. And remember, take control

35:49

of your money and create a like he

35:51

was. you