Things we splurge on that make us feel like we're living the high life
Most personal finance advice tells you to cut all unnecessary spending — but we reject that mindset.
Being smart with money doesn’t mean depriving yourself. It means spending intentionally — on things that bring you joy, make life easier, or align with your values.
In this episode, we’re breaking down:
💸 What makes a “good” splurge vs. reckless spending
🛋️ Cassidy’s monthly house cleaner & why she’s never going back
📚 Books, local art, & 14k gold jewelry — when quality is worth the price
🏔️ Why Emily’s most expensive clothes are… hiking gear??
✈️ The one splurge that pays off the most in our businesses
📌 Time Stamps:
[00:02:00] What makes a good splurge vs. reckless spending?
[00:07:00] Why Cassidy finally decided to pay for a house cleaner
[00:09:00] Emily’s CSA experience — was it worth it?
[00:14:00] Handmade & local: Why Cassidy will always splurge on art & unique home decor
[00:19:00] Emily’s biggest splurge: High-quality outdoor gear
[00:23:00] Living in a high cost-of-living city: Is it worth it?
[00:27:00] Why we pay (a lot) for business retreats & conferences
[00:32:00] What we spent money on that wasn’t worth it
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Transcript
0:09
Emily Batdorf
Are you drowning in money questions, but too embarrassed to ask? Tired of scrolling endlessly through conflicting financial advice that leaves you more confused than when you started? Welcome to the Finance Girlies podcast, your cozy corner for all things finance. I'm your host, Emily.
0:25
Cassidy Horton
And I'm your host, Cassidy. We're both finance writers for brands like Forbes Advisor, USA Today Blueprint, and Yahoo Finance. Throughout our careers and personal lives, we have come to one realization – When we keep our money worries to ourselves, we end up feeling alone. That's why each episode we tackle those burning questions you've been afraid to ask
with no judgment, no jargon, just real talk about real money. Ready to finally get answers? Let's dive in.
0:53
Emily Batdorf
Welcome back, girlies. Today we're talking about the things we gladly overspend on. Because while Cassidy and I both love a good budget, We think some things are just worth a little bit of a splurge. So this episode was actually inspired by a thread that we found online where someone had asked,
what areas of your life do you spend above your means? And what makes it worth it? What are the things you splurge on that make you feel like you're living the high life?
1:20
Cassidy Horton
I loved this question because I feel like classic financial advice tells you to cut all unnecessary spending. But Emily and I reject this mindset. We think that you should reject this mindset because it's really not about depriving yourself even as you journey toward your financial goals. It's really about spending intentionally.
And today we're going to get into the things that make us feel quote unquote rich, even when they might technically be bad financial decisions on paper, according to some like finance bro or ancient finance wisdom. And we both have different things that we splurge on. So we hope that this ends up being a really fun episode.
1:58
Emily Batdorf
Yeah. So let's start by talking about like what we actually mean when we say splurge, because I think maybe that word has a bit of a negative connotation. But I think what we mean when we say splurge is like maybe we're not shelling out like hundreds or thousands of dollars on these things, but they feel like...
A little luxury, like something we don't need to spend on, but something that we feel is valuable enough that adds joy or convenience or some other, like something else to our lives.
2:32
Cassidy Horton
That's exactly my definition too. It's like, does this thing bring me joy? Does it make my life easier? Would I be sad if it wasn't in my life?
2:42
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, yeah. What would you say is the difference between like a good splurge and reckless spending?
2:48
Cassidy Horton
Hmm. I think it goes back to, is there intentionality behind it? And are you thinking about how much you actually like this thing or like how it's going to benefit you? Because I feel like there are a lot of things like shoved in our face,
especially with social media and stuff that can make you think that it's a splurge, but it's like something that you've never really thought about. You could get it, but like, it's not really going to add value to your life at all. Like maybe it almost ties back into your values. Um,
like I know one for me like way way way back in the day I used to splurge on like the Birchbox subscriptions do you know what Birchbox is
3:25
Emily Batdorf
I've heard of it, but I don't know what is actually in the box. I have no idea.
3:31
Cassidy Horton
I think you get like 5 to 10 skincare and makeup deluxe samples pretty much to try. It was one of those things that I feel like at the time, if you remember the Birchbox era, I feel like everyone was talking about Birchbox online and I was like, I really need this thing. But I don't know.
Like it was fun to open and see, but a lot of times I'd be so disappointed in the products. Like this is something I'm never going to use. And I was like, I don't think I'm actually enjoying this thing as much as I would if it was an actual splurge that I cared about. Yeah.
So I don't know. It did feel more like reckless spending than like something that was intentionally bringing me joy. What about you? Do you have an idea of what you consider good splurge versus not? Yeah.
4:16
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, I think for me the difference is like a good splurge is something that... I've kind of like thought through the opportunity cost a little bit is maybe how I define it. Like, okay, maybe spending on this thing means I'm going to spend less on something else or
like I'm even going to save less this month or whatever that thing may be. But like, I still think it's worth it. And then to me, reckless spending would be like more of an impulse buy that I don't actually think through the consequences of first.
4:50
Cassidy Horton
Yeah, I completely agree. It's like how much thought have you put behind this thing to make sure that you're actually going to use it and that the money that you spend is going to be worth it. Right. Cool. Well, with that said, do we want to maybe go back and forth on some things that we splurge on?
Yeah, that sounds fun. You want to start? Yeah. So the first thing that I have on my list is getting my house professionally cleaned once a month. And this was something that I fought with myself on for years because I feel like when I do clean my house, I do a very good job at it.
And honestly, I was like, the least I can do is set aside time to like deep clean my house. But I kept finding myself frustrated because my house like wasn't staying as clean as I ultimately wanted it to be. So we started getting our house cleaned a few years ago and we just have someone
that comes in once a month and does like a deeper clean. And it really does make such a difference because then I can focus on just like tidying up and keeping things clean in between visits and And then I know that it's going to get like one really good deep clean every month.
And I think a side benefit of this that I was not expecting is that I love the lady who comes to clean our house every month. I absolutely adore her. And I do feel like I am supporting a local business in my community in that way. So I don't know.
It just feels like it has a tangible like community benefit as well. Yeah.
6:21
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, I like that. And having a professionally cleaned house sounds really nice. Yeah. Do you do anything like that? No, I don't. So things, yeah, they get clean enough. But I know I don't probably do as good a job as someone else might do. Maybe someday. Yeah.
Okay, so one of those things that I have splurged on in the past and don't currently... is a csa so if you don't know a csa stands for community supported agriculture or i think also crop share agreement but essentially you're like buying into a farm or
multiple farms produce for like a season so we did this for a couple of seasons where we bought a share from a bunch of different local farms and so every week we would get a box of like produce fruit and veggies eggs bread sometimes there would be like cheese or maple
syrup or jam or something like that and it was really fun we well i should say i love to cook and like love food and love how agriculture is like such a big part of the community where we live and and loved supporting that. Turned out I was not ready, I think,
for the level of creativity you need to have to get a box of random produce and then cook with it for a week. I'm a planner, and so getting that box and having to figure it out on the fly before it went bad was just – it took up a lot of time.
It's like an episode of Chopped. Yeah. Yeah. And so like it felt like a little bit too much. I think we ended up wasting a lot more than we felt comfortable with because there's only so many radishes you can eat. Like you just never knew what you were going to get. You know what I mean?
So anyway – But for the time that we did it, it was like a it was a fun splurge for sure. Like getting the fresh bread and the really good eggs and goat cheese and whatever was a really nice little weekly kind of surprise.
8:42
Cassidy Horton
Yeah. I love that too. Because once again, you're supporting the farmers directly in your community. Like it has such a tangible benefit. Yeah. Yeah. Another splurge for us, and this might be more of a season of life thing, but milk it services. So over the years, we have tried HelloFresh.
We've also tried thistle, which is one that's mainly on the West Coast. And then like right now we're doing factor meals, just testing those out. We've been testing them out for a few weeks, but I feel like this started because work got really busy for the both of us. Like a lot of times at five o'clock,
we'd both get off work and be like, do we really feel like cooking? No. So like, we're gonna go out to eat maybe. So then it just became like, what can we do? Like, how can we be better about this? Um, and the solution was like HelloFresh for a while.
So, you know, like you still have to chop and cook everything, but we did that for a while. And then we moved on to let's not even chop and cook. Let's just get meals that are completely ready to eat to us. So that's what we've been trying now.
And I honestly don't know that it's something that I want to do forever because I do know that I specifically do find joy in cooking, but I don't find joy in cooking when I feel super stressed with work and then you have
to do it on top of that there's like a fine line and I feel like there's something else we could be doing like a good compromise situation here where I don't know it's like we're not necessarily doing meal kits because it is cheaper to just get
the groceries at the store and plan out the meals like the cost per meal breaks down to being cheaper but I don't know. For now, we're testing this out. So yeah, it feels good. Yeah. Nice.
10:28
Emily Batdorf
Another one for me is books. Good old fashioned books. And this sounds kind of silly, like we're chatting beforehand. It feels kind of silly to call it a splurge because it's just like, you know, Kind of a small expense in the grand scheme of things.
But to me, buying a book is just, I don't know, it's like the ultimate splurge. And like, for me, that looks like going to like a local bookstore and... Again, it's supporting my local community or whatever community I'm in at the time. And I especially like to buy one like books that I think I'll read multiple times
or books that are just really beautiful. Like that's kind of what I gravitate toward. Or like sometimes you just get a feeling about a book like this is something – i want on my shelf like i want to revisit or something like that so yeah for me
that's a big one because when you buy a lot of books it does add up i feel like
11:37
Cassidy Horton
it's so good though i for the longest time i've been a like library only kind of person but i don't know i feel the tug more to like have the book for more than just three weeks okay
11:50
Emily Batdorf
yeah yeah and i just love an independent bookstore and it's like something i want to see continue to thrive so i'm like i am willing to spend my money there to like support this because i think it's so important i also heard remember like what the context of this was but and I feel like we've mentioned him
so many times already on our podcast but the finance expert Ramit Sethi I think it was him who said his rule about books buying books is if there's any part of me that wants the book I'm gonna buy the book because in the grand scheme of things
they're not very expensive and there's like somebody's put so much of their like life and knowledge and experience and story into that one book and And you're buying it for like $20 or $30. That's kind of incredible. So I've kind of taken that approach a little bit over the last few years too. Yeah. That's really beautiful.
12:50
Cassidy Horton
I think it was him that said that because I do recall that advice. Nice. I think this is also going to be a common theme. And I'm like, is this something that's come with age or am I just sick of like greedy corporations?
But I feel like a lot of my splurges have to do with like supporting either local businesses or like independent artists or I don't know. Like a lot of those are the things that bring me joy. And I feel like as I get older, my splurges are just going to continue to fall more so in that category.
Yeah. because another one for me is unique or handmade items and this can be a lot of different things so for me a lot of it is like house decor but it can also be clothing and stuff like that I really want my home and also my clothes to an extent
to be a reflection of my personality and like the things that bring me joy and And one thing that does bring me joy is supporting like local and independent artists. So for example, I will gladly buy like a $50 handmade mug instead of like a $5 mug from Target or
like a piece of locally made or like independently made art to hang on my wall versus like a $10 print that you could get at Ikea or something. Yeah. Um, there is this like craft fair that goes on in my area twice a year and like 50 to a
hundred like local artists and makers will come to this fair and set up booths and like you can just buy all the stuff that they're making. And a lot of it will be like ceramics or wall art or like upcycled or handmade clothing, uh, But everything is just so handmade and so beautiful.
And it is like my Christmas every single time it rolls in. And I'm just like, take my money. I love this. Take my money. I love this. There's just something so special about having something that's like unique and was made by a small business owner. Like every time you use or look at that item,
you feel the tangible benefit of like supporting someone else and like their art and their craft and just like all of the time and experience that they put into crafting this expertise that they have in this specific thing. It's also more sustainable. And I feel like whenever I buy something handmade,
I'm just more likely to hold on to it for decades. Versus being like, I liked this mug at one point, but now I don't. Off to goodwill you go. Right.
15:14
Emily Batdorf
You know. I have a very similar approach. Like, we have slowly been collecting ceramic mugs over the last, I don't know, as long as we've been together. And each one just has, like, a little memory attached to it. Like... They're from all over.
Like one was from a fun trip we made to Virginia to visit a friend and went to like this little pottery studio. One was from a trip to Arizona and One we got recently from like kind of what you were saying, like a really fun – it might have been like a Christmas market in my husband's hometown.
But just like everyone is a reflection of like a really fun experience or occasion. And aside from that, they're just like little works of art. They're beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, one of the first things that came to mind when we were thinking about splurges was certain types of clothing.
And this is like funny because if you know me, you know that like my side of the closet is so compact. Like I don't have that many clothes. I wear the same things. all the time. Like I've just never had a real sense for fashion or anything like that. And I don't shop for clothes often. However,
I spend a lot of time outside and I cross country ski and I run and swim in the summer and hike and all these things. And I live in a place with four very distinct seasons and want to be comfortable when I'm outside. So I gladly will spend a
money on like really nice outdoor gear so whether that's like a really warm winter jacket or waterproof boots or ski pants or like a running jacket whatever it is I just don't want my lack of the right clothing to like keep me inside because just
being outdoors is such a important part of my life so that is somewhere where sometimes I feel like this is the nicest thing I own you know like it just it feels a little disproportionate to like the rest of my wardrobe but it's
17:34
Cassidy Horton
so worth it to me do you remember that instagram real trend that was going on maybe a few months ago where it was like honey put on your most expensive clothes you're going out tonight and then the person would walk out and a lot of them would be
them like head to toe in their hiking gear and like their outdoor gear because that's the most expensive thing that they own um
17:54
Emily Batdorf
no but that's me and it's funny because so my first job as you know was working at a non-profit teaching environmental ed and science outside and so like year round I was outside all day like whether it was 80 degrees in the summer and we were like canoeing or it was like
negative 10 degrees in the winter and we were skiing and had a very low salary while I had that job but like it's kind of like you have no choice like you you need to be comfortable to be outside all day so I think that's kind of like a trope of like the outdoor guide or educator but
You spend all your money on, like, the gear. I think it's kind of true.
18:48
Cassidy Horton
Yeah. Yeah. It's a trope for a reason. Right. Okay. I have a few, like, smaller ones on my list. So another thing that I will splurge on is 14K gold jewelry. Yeah. because I'm the type of person like if I'm wearing a necklace I never want to have
to take that necklace off because I feel like once I take it off it's like out of sight out of mind and I'm really gonna wear it and use it so like the best way for me to get the most function out of my jewelry is just to leave it on my body at all
times um and I'm not like a I'm not a super big jewelry person but I do have like a dainty necklace and like some little gold hoop earrings and Some other like little stud earrings. And a few rings. And they're all pretty simple.
But I have just found that my preferred way of wearing jewelry is to wear it 24-7. And I don't want it to tarnish or turn my skin green. Or I have to worry about removing it to wash my hands or anything like that. So... I don't buy jewelry that often, but when I do,
I will usually like save up or try to make it something really special. Like the gold necklace that I'm wearing, I treated myself to it after having like my highest paying month in my business at the time.
20:02
Emily Batdorf
You know,
20:02
Cassidy Horton
I was like, if I reach this milestone in my business or when I reach this milestone in my business, this is going to be my reward for myself or my gift to myself. So that's kind of how I've been treating that, but it can definitely feel like a splurge.
20:15
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, I like that. Another one I can think of from several years ago was housing slash rent. So when I was in my early 20s and working this job I was just talking about, I lived in this property that was owned by my employer and And it was actually an old ranch turned school turned apartment.
Lots of things. Yeah. And so this one building like on this property was called the bunkhouse. And it was like picture a building that's like three big classrooms, two like commercial bathrooms and And then like a teacher's lounge. Like it was a tiny little school building that just had beds and dressers and couches in it.
It had some issues. I won't get into them. And it housed a lot of people. And for a while it was really fun until it wasn't. But it was like dirt cheap, like 150 bucks a month. And for context, I was living in Jackson, Wyoming, which is one of the most expensive zip codes in the US.
And I was like on a bus line, like 10 minutes from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Like it was an amazing location and it was 150 bucks a month. So I had so much guilt when it just like got to be too much. And I was like,
i need my own space um i can't deal with this like this many people in one building anymore kind of thing yeah and i felt so guilty making the decision to move to like a nicer apartment that was like probably four times as expensive as But it was so worth it.
I went back and forth so many times about it, but just having a space that felt like home, even if it was a lot of money at the time, I found that I didn't want or need to spend a whole lot on other things. So that was a major splurge at the time and was super worth it.
22:33
Cassidy Horton
Yeah. Okay. I'm going to go into my next splurge right now because I feel like it feeds so nicely into this one. Mine is also like choosing to live in a place that has a higher cost of living, which naturally means like you're paying more for housing, you're paying more for rent.
You're paying more for all the things, knowing that you could live somewhere else for cheaper. And part of me, like you can tell me if this resonates with you, but I feel like because you started out as an adult with your rent being $150, that was kind of your anchor point for like all the rents to come.
So it's like as you drastically got higher than that, your brain was like, but this is so much more expensive than like what we could be spending somewhere else. Like we've lived in a cheaper place. So like why is that?
23:20
Emily Batdorf
Does that kind of resonate? In some ways, I think I ended up paying like $600 for like my second place, which is like four times as much, but still so cheap. Yeah, but I think at the same time, I lived in such an expensive place and knew what a great deal I had because I like
heard all these stories of other people's housing situations and how much they were paying. So I was aware that I could be paying so much more and I was just in like a really lucky situation.
23:52
Cassidy Horton
Was the $600 even cheap at the time for where you were living? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But it still felt like a splurge for you.
24:04
Emily Batdorf
It did, yeah. And like I was making very little, living in a very expensive town. So it probably would not have been possible for me to like save anything had I not had like a really good deal on housing.
24:19
Cassidy Horton
I think because I grew up in such a low cost of living area and then like went to college and became an adult in such a low cost of living area, like – For example, my rent in college was like $425, which I feel like is pretty inexpensive. And then even once I got married,
like we lived in a two bedroom, one bath loft downtown for $725 a month. Like it was so inexpensive. And then moving out to Seattle, which is also one of the like most expensive areas to be in. It we like chose to move out there wasn't like a job took us out there or anything like that.
So I think I had to really fight this inner voice that like kept telling me you are spending so much money on all of these things like are so much more money on all of these things and you have to be and like you should be able to get by.
in a place that has a lower cost of living so you can save more money every month. And I think it's taken me years to fight through that voice and overcome it. But because of that, even merely the act of just choosing to still live in a place that has a higher
cost of living feels like such a splurge. Even if on paper, they have percentages. Your rent should be no more than 33% of your income and all of those rules. We're well within the rules, but... It still feels like such a splurge just knowing in the back of my head that I could live somewhere else for cheaper.
Yeah.
25:53
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, I know what you mean. We also like, even though we've moved, live in like not the most affordable part of our state or even like part of the country. But that's just something that like we've decided is important to us. It's like living,
choosing somewhere to live based on what it has to offer and like being willing to pay more for that. Yeah. So like I feel lucky to be able to like make that choice.
26:20
Cassidy Horton
Yeah, me too. And I think that is something you have to do is just to remind yourself of all of the indirect benefits that you get, like the access to nature, the access to hiking trails, the access to activities, both paid and free. I feel like you have to think of your quality of life,
if that is something that's important to you. Yeah. And not discredit like the benefits that come from that too. Yeah.
26:44
Emily Batdorf
Right. Okay. I'll share one more. And this is something I know we both spend our money on. So I'm curious actually to hear what you think about it. But Yeah, one thing I'm happy to splurge on is business retreats. And this is something that if you had asked me a few years ago, I don't know,
I would probably ask what a business retreat is. It just was not on my radar. But I feel like when I tell friends and family about these business retreats, They sound so splurgy, like so kind of luxurious and like more of a vacation than anything. And like in some ways they are. Yeah.
But they're also so worth it. Like you and I have been lucky enough to go on some of these together and just beyond the maybe financial payoff, if you can even quantify that, like the energy and like the – mood you leave with I don't know it's really hard to quantify but objectively like
I think it is a splurge especially when you add in like plane tickets and that type of thing but 100% willing to pay for those retreats 100% I think the like high that you ride after you leave is
28:15
Cassidy Horton
One of these retreats, you were just riding this energy wave that really gives you so much momentum in your business. Like you and I just went on one of these retreats like a month and a half ago. And I still feel like I'm so energized and pumped about my business and the things
that we're doing with the finance girlies in ways that I would not even have a fraction of the energy and excitement that I have. have right now had it not been for going on one of these retreats. So it's like they do end up sounding really splurgy on paper,
but just the pure like momentum that they give you to like do these bigger things in your business is so, so, so, so worth it.
28:58
Emily Batdorf
Yeah. You said it well. Thank you. Do you have any more to share?
29:06
Cassidy Horton
My last one that I will share is that I recently bought a Pure Bar membership, which old Cassidy, up until this point in my life, has always had the mindset of, there are so many ways to exercise for free. You do not need to be paying any money to go to a gym or for exercise classes. You
If you want to do a bar, if you want to do yoga, if you want to do anything else, there are YouTube videos you can look up. There are so many ways to exercise for free. You do not need to be spending money on that.
But something that I've learned about myself over time is that I will not exercise as much as I want to for my mental and physical health if I don't have something forcing me to go. So like with bar, I will sign up for my classes weeks in advance. And if
I don't cancel at least four hours before, which usually I don't. You're charged a fee. So I'm like, I'm going to this class no matter what. I've signed up for it. I don't want to be charged a no-show fee.
So I prioritize it in my day in a way that I never would if it was just this free thing that I had any time of day to do myself on my own time. Like, for example, for years, one of my only goals, I would set this goal so many times and never was actually successful with it,
was to just simply go for a walk every day during the work week. I was like, the least you can do is just prioritize like a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood to like break up your work day. And I would inevitably let work take priority and then it wouldn't happen.
And I would talk myself out of it and I'd be like, but tomorrow you'll do it. And then tomorrow the same thing would happen and that process would repeat indefinitely. So it's just been so nice to have this forced time. time and also I've started to make friends through bar so I feel like that's been a
nice added benefit also because Emily and I are going to talk about this in a future episode of just like how important building community and like finding friends is for us because we know that it's also a shared goal for a lot of our
listeners but yeah I have just found a lot of direct and indirect benefits from paying money every month to go to a studio to work out. And I know you've recently started yoga, so I don't know if you have any thoughts on this.
31:23
Emily Batdorf
Yeah, it's super new. So like I don't feel like I have a lot to report, but it's something I've thought about spending money on for years because I've always just dabbled in yoga at home with YouTube, like you were saying, and know how good it is for me. But for me, like I can do the walk.
I love getting outside for a midday walk, like no problem. But it's other types of exercise that I, for whatever reason, can't like get into a regular schedule to do. For me, it's yoga and And so, yeah, I'm trying out a yoga studio and same thing. I think like if I pay for it, I will go.
And yeah, it's just like as someone who works from home, it's also really good motivation and accountability to like get out of the house and go be a part of the community in some way.
32:10
Cassidy Horton
Yeah. I've also recently splurged on a standing desk and a walking pad for my office once again, because going for a walk during the day has been so high on my priority list for so long and I keep failing myself in that department. So I was like, how can we make this really easy for you?
So last month I bought a standing desk and a walking pad. And a lot of times while I'm working, whether it's like writing an article for a client or even like editing our podcast episodes, I'll just walk while I do it. And I'm so shocked at like how many miles I get in during the day.
On days that I probably wouldn't walk at all.
32:44
Emily Batdorf
You found the cheat code. I did. I did. Switching gears a little bit. Is there anything that you feel like you've spent a lot of money on or too much money on that actually wasn't worth it?
33:01
Cassidy Horton
Actually, I think I might have an answer. So I have rosacea. And one thing that's touted if you have rosacea is to do laser treatments for your face. It's supposed to be like this magical cure-all that just like takes your rosacea away and you're just like mesmerized and it's great.
But these laser treatments are like $500 a piece and you end up having to do... I think like three to five of them depending on how severe your rosacea is um and last year I did treatments it was like close to two thousand dollars and I it did
not do a thing for my face and I knew like after the third treatment I was like I did not see a change I think I should just stop but of course you know they're like maybe just one or two more like It's like the sunk cost fallacy. You're like, well, I've already spent this much,
and if it's just one or two more, why stop here? And I think it's one of those things. I still would have wanted to do the treatments no matter what because they are a magic cure-all for so many people. Yeah. I think I still would have wanted to try it regardless.
But the fact that it didn't work for me, I'm just like, you are a waste of money in hindsight. But it's fine. But it is something that I put a lot of thought into and opportunity cost and all the things, you know, it just like I feel like I did my due diligence. It just didn't pay off.
But that is kind of a recent one, I would say. Do you have anything that comes to your mind?
34:31
Emily Batdorf
I know there has to be something. I'm trying to think of like what ends up in the Goodwill pile.
34:38
Cassidy Horton
Do you want to know what ends up in my Goodwill pile a lot of times? What? Things that I previously bought from Goodwill.
34:45
Emily Batdorf
Yes. Okay, that's what I was going to say, but it felt lame. Like literally, literally today I'm just washing this shirt that's about to go in the Goodwill pile that I got from Goodwill. Yeah, that's honestly, and I've said this before in a previous episode, like that's where I spend the money I end up regretting.
And I don't like regret it, regret it because I'm not spending a lot of money. But something about buying something secondhand just makes it feel like – I don't have to love it. I just have to like it a little – like enough. And then I end up not wearing it and it goes back to Goodwill.
So – Yeah.
35:23
Cassidy Horton
And I think there's also like a little time pressure put on you. It's like if you think that you like this thing and you don't get it now, someone else could just move in here and get it and then it's gone. So if you even remotely like it, you're like, well, I'll just get it.
Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, the same thing happens with me. I also have a little pile that needs to go to Goodwill. And I would say probably at least half of it are things that I bought from Goodwill. So I don't know. That's so funny. Yeah. I think the moral of this episode, though,
is that splurging isn't necessarily the enemy of financial wellness, but it's more so mindless spending or reckless splurging that can really put a hamper in your financial plans. And you don't need to necessarily justify every purchase, but you should know what makes a splurge worth it for you, even if it's
You just taking the time to think through it ahead of time and making sure that that splurge reflects your priorities. So, you know, whether it's a latte or a $200 haircut or a bar membership, go for it guilt-free. If it's something that's really important to you and is going to bring some joy,
maybe make some goal that you've been wanting to reach a little bit easier. For example, my goal of walking, right? It's like, what's going to make this easier for you to accomplish? Yeah. But in the same vein, there are some things that you might be spending money on where you're like,
I wish I was spending a little bit less on this thing, maybe. So we're just going to tease a future episode that we have coming out next month. Emily and I are going to do a dry march. where we give up one thing, like one set of purchases for an entire month.
And the podcast episode that comes out in April is going to be us chronicling our journey of giving that up. I personally am doing dry Amazon. For reference, it is only February and I have 28 Amazon purchases under my belt. So I am giving it up for March.
And Emily, do you want to share what you're giving up? Thanks.
37:24
Emily Batdorf
Yeah. So mine's a little different. I am giving up any discretionary purchases that aren't locally sold. So in other words, I'm only any discretionary purchases. So aside from like bills and groceries and all of those necessities, I will be buying everything local. So that is my challenge.
And neither of us are committing to either of these things long term. We just want to give it a try for a month and report back.
37:57
Cassidy Horton
Yeah. So for context, Emily is not doing dry Amazon with me because she rarely ever uses Amazon like the angel of a human that she is. So yeah, we each picked something that would be challenging but also really exciting if we can successfully do it.
So we're excited to kind of chronicle that for you and let you know how it goes.
38:22
Emily Batdorf
In the meantime, we'd love if you could email us at hello at thefinancegirlies.com and let us know what's one thing that you splurge on that makes you feel like a rich person. We would love to know. That's a wrap on another episode of the Finance Girlies podcast.
Nothing in this episode is meant to be taken as financial advice.
38:43
Cassidy Horton
Please do your own research and talk to a professional if you need advice. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Love you. Bye.
