Happy Friday, Friends!
Wanna know the best way to get better at spending money well? …and, no, it’s not just through buying more stuff.
It’s by getting curious with ourselves. Genuine curiosity leads to learning and understanding, and this applies to the ways we interact with money.
We believe it’s one of the first steps towards values based spending, so we’ve rounded up a quick guide on how to practice curiosity so you can start making the shifts with your money that will lead to less stress and more margin in your finances!
5️⃣ Steps to Implement Curiosity Today:
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Create Space. 🧘🏻♀️ We need to incorporate opportunities for pause if we want to have any level of insight into ourselves and the world around us. Pausing can take many forms, but the key here is to be intentional. Some quick ways to get started are journaling, reflecting before bedtime, and taking breaks throughout the day to process life as it happens.
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Observe Objectively. 👀 Channel your inner 5th grader here and call back the scientific method. Observe yourself with the single goal of collecting data. This is a judgment free zone! It’s not until we look at our actions without criticism that we are able to move on to the next step.
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Inquire Inquisitively. ❔ Ask questions with care and kindness, and avoid asking “why.” These should be some big questions to help us see and accept more of ourselves and inform the steps we want to take with our spending. Some examples:
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What is happening in the environment around me?
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How am I feeling?
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How do I want to respond?
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What feels most important at this juncture?
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What do my perceived ‘failures’ tell me about myself?
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Assess. 🔎 In this step, we pair information and facts with our thoughts and feelings to notice any patterns that may exist. More guiding questions here can include things like:
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What do the various data points mean?
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What do I make of my feelings and my conscious or subconscious responses?
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Are there any patterns of behavior or thoughts that I’m noticing?
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What am I learning about myself?
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How do I function best?
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Respond. 💬 Here’s where everything culminates to inform our actions! Instead of guessing or following what we “should” or “must” do, we can use what we’ve learned to move forward with confidence!
On Tuesday, Jill and Jen were joined by a special guest for Ep 434 Minimalism For Families with Dawn Madsen. Dawn talks relatably and realistically about what aiming at minimalism looks like with kids.
Today’s episode (435) is a rerun of one of my (Misti’s) personal favorites: How Jill Paid Off $56,000 of Debt Over 7 Years.
Fun fact: This episode is one of the first times I heard about nontraditional housing as a way to pay off debt and Jill’s story definitely influenced my decision to full-send on my own nomad journey!
Listen wherever you get podcasts and let us know what you thought of the episode over on our latest Instagram post!
✅ Read: 5 Benefits of Curiosity (Experience Life)
✅ Watch: Yara Shahidi’s brilliant Tedtalk on curiosity: Let Curiosity Lead
✅ Do: get your FREE ticket to the virtual Get Organized Summit happening the week of Sept. 9th. There are over 100 speakers (including the Frugal Friends) talking on topics like maintaining your space, organizing daily tasks, and overall wellbeing. It’s a great way to kick off Fall! And if you can’t make it live check out the All Access Pass for lifetime access and extra goodies!
✅ Meal Prep: Anyone else feeling like it’s just too much effort to come up with a meal prep idea this week, or is that just me? If you can relate, now’s the perfect time to sign up for Cooksmarts, an app that can help take the decision making out of meal planning! Join now for a free week! **
Spending is a skill and you can learn to master it. If you’ve ever struggled with being unable to stick to a budget or felt guilty about spending on something you enjoy, Jen and Jill’s upcoming book is going to be your next favorite read.
Grab your pre-order gifts. Free With EVERY pre-order. 🥳
Happy Friday,
Misti
⭐️⭐️ P.S. Want to share all this goodness with your friends AND earn cool Frugal Friends merch?
**Means this is a sponsored or affiliate section. We may earn a small fee or commission when you choose to try one of our sponsor or affiliate partners. But opinions are still 1000% our own.
