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Do you think millennials and Gen Zers would rather splurge on a liquid death or a weakened Mykonos? What about Trader Joe's raw milk cave-age Swiss Gruyere or an Equinox membership? Okay, hold on. What about a bright pink air wand smoothie or clothes? Treat yourself. Fragrances. Treat yourself. Massages. Treat yourself. Mimosas. Treat yourself. Fine leather goods. Treat yourself. If you guessed water, Gruyere, and smoothies, you're onto something. Millennials and Gen Zers are dreaming
small this year. A recent survey revealed they plan to splurge more on groceries than anything else, beating out restaurants, travel, apparel, fitness, and beauty. If you
If you think beauty is pain, try paying for organic blueberries these days. It's out of control. I'll take the GMO ones for cheaper. Thank you very much. Your penny-pinching rampage has gone too far. There's nothing worse than the bitter regret of a shopping spree you couldn't afford. But splurging doesn't have to fill you with shame, self-loathing, and soft cheeses. And that's why today, I'm going to teach you how to splurge guilt-free on the groceries you love.
But before we start, I want to let you guys know that if you like and subscribe to my channel right now, you'll get a 70% off coupon for absolutely nothing. So don't miss out. - Sounds like a scam. - First things first, let's agree on what we mean by splurge. Now I melded together a couple of dictionary definitions into a nice word hero, if you will, and here's where I landed.
A splurge is indulging beyond the limit of reason or necessity. So this is pure extravagance, pure excess, and that is the American way. The land of the free. And these money splurges are sort of like binging the office. Too much of a good thing, if you do it too often, becomes your entire personality and affects your entire life. We all have that one friend who's constantly quoting the office, and if you can't think of that friend, it's you. Jason, come up with your own material, man. I've
a lot of questions. Number one, how dare you? - Now, splurges are only guilt-free when you do them with intentionality instead of emotion. So here's five ways to ensure a guilt-free splurge. Number one, don't use debt. If you need a credit card, a loan, or a buy now pay later option to get your hands on whatever it is that you want, it is not a guilt-free splurge. I don't care if it's a can of Coke or a Cadillac.
Buying stuff with debt is the opposite of a guilt-free splurge because you're most likely living above your means to make it happen, aka spending more than you make. The wisest man who ever lived said, and I quote, the borrower is slave to the lender. Nope, not Seinfeld. I'm talking about Solomon. When you borrow someone else's money, your body is keeping score and you get further away from freedom, which is not the goal.
Number two, keep your priorities straight. Now we're all adults here, which means we have financial responsibilities and that's a good thing. The only problem is that a few of us are in denial about what those responsibilities are. For example, some people are in denial that it's on them to cover their basic needs like transportation, housing, food, and utilities. Other people are in denial that it's their job to prepare financially for retirement.
And a lot more people than you think are in denial that the government's gonna forgive their freaking student loans. I'm sorry, but do you really think Uncle Joe's gonna make this happen? He still hasn't forgiven Corn Pop for that childhood shakedown back in Scranton. - Corn Pop was a bad dude, and he ran a bunch of bad boys. - I'm not getting around, folks. Serious, folks.
Now, if you splurge before taking care of your financial responsibilities, you might as well have spent your money on a one-way ticket to Guiltville. Population, you. There's only one person in that town. It's you. You live there. It's lonely down in Guiltville.
To be fair, it would be overwhelming to try and prioritize all of those responsibilities at once, which is why Ramsey created a plan called the seven baby steps to help you know what to focus on and when. This is the same plan that took me from broke with a negative net worth back in my 20s to a millionaire by my 30s completely debt free. So I'll put a link in the description to a video where I break down those seven steps in detail.
And while we're talking about life-changing stories, let me tell you about someone I know who had their information stolen by online data brokers. It was so emotional, I wrote a song about it. Just a small town girl living in an online world. She clicked a skeezy link on a questionnaire.
It was a BuzzFeed quiz. So she did what I did and signed up for Delete Me, a sponsor of today's show. Delete Me, spoiler ahead, deletes your personal info from hundreds of data broker websites, saving you hours of time that could be spent coming up with useless but entertaining parody songs. Delete Me helps protect you from the risks of identity theft and online scams, even if you're a city boy born and raised in South Detroit. And you can get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash george or click the link in
in the description. What's that? You want to hear the chorus? Sure. Don't stop deleting. Hold on to that feeling. How many people were scared?
Me too. And while you're down there in the description finding links in a hopeless place, may I recommend a high-yield savings account from online bank Laurel Road, another sponsor of today's video. These accounts have no minimum balance, no monthly maintenance fees, no heebie-jeebies, and they're FDIC-insured deposits. And to sweeten the deal, they've got 5.15% APY right now. No notes, Laurel Road. No notes. Perfection.
So make your money work harder for you and park your savings in a hopeful place. Go to laurelrow.com slash george or click the link in the description to get started. That's laurelrow.com slash george. All right, back to reality and guilt-free splurging. Number three, you've got to define reality.
One of the fastest ways to feel guilty about a splurge is to try and convince yourself that it's a necessity. Now, I know a few of you millennials and Gen Zers think that you've hacked the system because groceries are a necessity. And they're right. Man need food. Little man need less food. Why waste time? Say lot word when few word do trick. But does little man need grass-fed filet mignon, a pre-cut fruit bowl, gobs of goldfish, and a stash of Bear Bell hazelnut and nougat protein bars? Mm, yeah.
I'm not a nutritionist, but I think common sense tells us most humans need somewhere around three meals a day with a combination of healthy proteins, veggies, and carbs. And listen, I am a gluten-free gladiator, so I understand how much dietary restrictions, allergies, and even religious preferences can factor into all of this. All I'm saying is that a lot of times we overstate what we really need to survive.
So if something isn't a need, it's a want. And splurging on wants is totally fine if you're doing it with intentionality. Which brings me to number four, make a budget. A budget is the only way to get a crystal clear picture of what you can and can't afford. I know, I know, you hate all budgets, but I swear, this budget is one of the good guys.
He comes from a nice family with fiscally conservative parents who are still socially moderate. If that even exists. And this budget covers all of your basic needs and supports your long-term money goals, like becoming a net worth millionaire or finally buying a Bojangles franchise, if that's what you choose to do with your life. Plus, it won't control you or squash your independence. A budget gives you permission to spend so you can buy those...
hippies chickpea puffs with clarity and confidence. And if you don't have a budget right now or your budget's kind of a deadbeat, be sure to check out my favorite budgeting app, EveryDollar. I'll drop a link in the description below and it's the one I personally use. So you'll know you're in good company. Now I know it might be mind bending to think that budgeting and tracking your expenses is the key to splurging guilt free, but picture this. Next time you're at the grocery store and you suddenly have a hankering for a gut nourishing pink lady apple health aid kombucha,
All you have to do is pull out your EveryDollar app to see if you have the money for it in the budget. And if the answer is yes, then you can afford it. Guilt-free. Put it in the cart. Check out Dunzo. If the answer is no, leave Pink Lady alone. She's not interested, okay? She's looking for a man in finance. Trust Fund 65, Blue Eyes. I'm looking for a man in finance with Trust Fund.
Six five, blue eyes. - If that's not you, move it along. Next up, stick to the budget. You gotta stay committed here. I'm not saying you won't tweak your budget as life happens throughout the month, but you can't spend more than you make and you can't pull from your savings to cover these grocery splurges. So the question you need to answer for yourself is how am I going to keep from caving in when that cheese board I want for dinner is not in the budget?
Well, here's my advice. Instead of doing mental acrobatics to justify that 10-year cheddar at $44.99 a pound, try brainstorming a budget-friendly alternative. Maybe you head to Trader Joe's and spend $3.99 on their unexpected cheddar instead. It did, after all, win best cheese at TJ's 12th Annual Customer Choice Awards. And yes, that's a real thing. Or maybe you just, I don't know, don't buy cheese this week. You will survive. That's cute. I wish I could get it, but...
If you wanna live that guilt-free life, the answer might be not today. The other thing that helped me when I first started budgeting was writing down a grocery list before I went to the store. And maybe you do this on an iPhone note, but here's the deal. When you make a list and when you learn how to meal prep and shop for what's on sale and then stick to that, it will help stretch your budget and even make room for a few bonus flurges.
And if you want some help with this, I've got a free grocery guide and meal planner that I will link in the description and it's completely free. So you got nothing to lose here. Go check it out. And just so we're clear, you never need to feel guilty about the urge to splurge. You're a human living in a modern society that deploys highly sophisticated marketing tactics at you 24/7. We all experienced the frantic impulse to buy now, but if you keep your budget in this list handy,
I promise you've got everything you need to beat the shame-inducing buy-now culture and instead enjoy your splurges guilt-free. And if you wanna know more about the cultural influences conspiring to make you splurge against your will, check out this video right here on money dysmorphia. I'll drop a link in the description as well. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
