2951: The Totally Unsexy Skill That Makes It Easier To Go After What You Want by Sarah Von Bargen of YesAndYes

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[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_01]: This is Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_01]: The totally unsexy skill that makes it easier to go after what you want.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_01]: By Sarah Von Bargen of YesAndYes.org.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: When I was 32, I celebrated one of the biggest accomplishments of my life with a plate of nachos, a vodka gimlet, and a gathering of friends at my favorite neighborhood bar.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Over a plate of melted cheese, we cheersed my upcoming 11-month nine-country trip.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_01]: As the night wore on and more cocktails were consumed, one of my friends leaned across the table and said,

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I'm just going to say what we're all thinking. How are you paying for this?

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I laughed because of course Midwesterners have to get lightly drunk to talk about money.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_01]: After I was done laughing, I spilled the beans.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I told them how I managed to live sans roommate in a nice neighborhood, pay my $375 a month school loan, wear these cute leather riding boots, and save enough to finance this huge trip.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_01]: On $34,000 a year non-profit salary.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Want to know how I did it?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I lived within my means.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's wildly unsexy, isn't it?

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Whenever I share this not particularly exciting information, I can see people become A. Skeptical and B. Disappointed.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It'd be a lot more exciting if I shared a salacious investment tip or confessed that I had a trust fund or that I was just putting it all on a credit card and hoping for the best.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's not what happened.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I got to take my dream trip because I did things like bring my lunch to work, buy pretty much everything ever secondhand,

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: host potluck dinner parties rather than eating out, stay with friends when I traveled or I camped,

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_01]: split Wi-Fi with a neighbor, go to matinee movies, used my library card, had picnics in the park, etc., etc., etc.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't buy stuff I didn't need.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: When we talk about going after what we want, we usually talk about things like talent, luck, networking, and a tenacious work ethic.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: All those things are important, and they will certainly help you get closer to what you want, whatever that is.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: But I'd like to posit that one of the most underrated skills necessary to chase your dreams is learning to live within your means.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: What now? What does budgeting have to do with becoming an artist or a stay-at-home parent or opening a sanctuary for stray dogs or taking a round-the-world trip?

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: According to a recent survey, the average American spends an estimated $697 a month on non-essential expenses.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: That's more than $8,000 a year.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: The mean income per capita in the U.S. is $48,150, about $24 an hour.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: That means the average American is working about 30 hours each month to pay for those non-essential purchases.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm not saying we should stop making every non-essential purchase ever.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course not.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I spend thousands of dollars every year on travel, pedicures, supper club dinners, and outfits for my dog.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Dog outfits are not essential.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's worth remembering that we pay for our choices with the lives that we lead,

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and all those non-essential purchases, they lead to less money in our bank accounts,

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: which is longer hours at work,

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: which is less time, money, and energy for the stuff we're really excited about.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_01]: What if you dialed in those non-essential purchases by just 10%?

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Totally doable, right?

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I bet it'd be pretty painless to wear the same outfit to multiple weddings,

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: or bring lunch to work once a week.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not hard to make a frozen pizza rather than having one delivered.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Reducing non-essential purchases by even just 10% could free up 36 hours this year.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Imagine what you could do with that.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You could practice your stand-up set, launch your Etsy shop, work on your novel, or train for a marathon.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And buying less shit you don't need might also mean you can drop the side hustle,

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_01]: the overtime, or the second job.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Which means, I bet you can see where I'm going with this,

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: you have more time and energy to pursue things that light you up.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, any conversation about money should acknowledge privilege.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Because of the realities of life in America,

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: some people will have to take jobs they hate because they need the healthcare coverage.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Some people really do need to work 60 hours a week in order to pay for the bare necessities.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Not everyone has the time to wander the aisles of goodwill,

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_01]: digging through racks of cheap secondhand clothing.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Some people live in food deserts and they can't do a huge shopping trip

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and then meal prep and freeze 17 healthy affordable meals

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: that break down to $3 per person per meal.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: However, many of us, I'd hazard to guess most of us,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_01]: could make one or two different financial decisions

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: that would free up hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Which would free up the time and energy we put into earning that money.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And we could put that time and energy into something we're really excited about.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_01]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: The Totally Unsexy Skill That Makes It Easier to Go After What You Want

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: by Sarah Von Bargen of YesAndYes.org

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I like that Sarah mentioned privilege in this post

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: because one of my big aha moments when I first started cleaning up my finances

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_01]: was realizing how much I was wasting my privilege.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I was living paycheck to paycheck for no good reason.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I simply wasn't paying attention.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Some people like to complain about personal finance basics,

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: like living below your means,

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: as if it's an impossible thing to do.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And for some people in the world, it absolutely is.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Financial literacy is not a solution for systemic poverty.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: There are people on this planet that are so severely disadvantaged

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that they don't have access to clean running water,

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_01]: never mind an opportunity to earn more money or reduce their expenses.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_01]: However, I noticed that many people complaining about privilege

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_01]: are doing so online,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: meaning that they have access to the internet,

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: which is an incredible privilege.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The level of privilege you are born into is beyond your control.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But what can be agitating about privilege

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: is when it's unacknowledged and or wasted.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: If you are tempted to complain about someone else's privilege,

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd challenge you to consider the ways you're not acknowledging your own.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's a wrap for another Thursday show.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great rest of your day,

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's...

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's...

[00:08:15] Let's...

[00:08:15] Thank you.