Collectibles are PEAK Consumerism | Labubu, Sonny Angels, Stanley & More

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast: "Collectibles are PEAK Consumerism | Labubu, Sonny Angels, Stanley & More"

Release Date: June 20, 2025
Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction to Collectibles and Peak Consumerism

In this episode, Jen and Jill delve into the world of collectibles, analyzing why items like Labubu, Sonny Angels, Stanley cups, and other similar collectibles have surged in popularity. They explore whether this trend signifies peak consumerism and discuss the potential healthy and unhealthy aspects of collecting.

Jen: “If you're on the side of social media that is taken over by Labubu... that's what's happening in this episode.” [03:07]

The Allure of Modern Collectibles

The hosts begin by introducing various modern collectibles, highlighting their similarities to past trends like Beanie Babies and Squishmallows. They discuss specific items such as Labubu keychains and Sonny Angels, emphasizing their scarcity and the excitement generated by blind box purchases.

Jen: “Labubu are keychains with stuffed animals on them that look kind of like monsters... And they are kind of cute.” [06:05]

Psychological Drivers Behind Collecting

Jen and Jill explore the psychological factors that drive people to collect, prominently featuring the mere exposure effect. This phenomenon explains how increased familiarity with a product through constant exposure on social media leads to a growing desire to own it.

Jill: “The mere exposure effect is to ask yourself, do I actually like this? Do I actually want it?” [19:11]

Impact of Social Media and Scarcity

The hosts discuss how social media platforms like TikTok accelerate the popularity of collectibles by repetitively showcasing them, making them feel safe and culturally acceptable. The scarcity created by limited releases and the presence of "secret" items further fuel the craze.

Jen: “These particular ones have an added level of scarcity because of the blind bag component.” [10:32]

Affordability and Impulse Buying

Affordability plays a crucial role in the appeal of modern collectibles. Items priced between $20 to $50 seem accessible, lowering the barrier to entry and making impulsive purchases more tempting. Jen highlights how low-cost items can still accumulate significant spending over time.

Jill: “It's just easier to slip down the slope. It has a lower buy-in, a lower barrier to entry.” [24:02]

Collecting as a Means of Community and Friendship

Beyond the financial implications, collecting serves as a tool for building community and fostering friendships. Shared interests in collectibles can lead to meaningful connections, though the hosts caution against relationships built solely on consumption.

Jen: “Friends are hard to find. Doing fun things is hard to find. So oftentimes collecting can feel like that fast track to friendship.” [33:29]

Strategies to Mitigate Over-Collecting

To maintain a healthy relationship with collecting, the hosts suggest several strategies:

1. Limit Exposure: Unfollow or mute accounts that promote excessive collecting to reduce the mere exposure effect.
2. Implement the 72-Hour Rule: Delay purchases by 72 hours to cool off impulse urges.
3. Conduct a 90-Day Transaction Inventory: Review recent spending to identify patterns of accumulation, even in non-traditional forms like frequent café visits or takeout orders.

Jen: “All you want is the secret one. I don't care about any of the others.” [11:29]

Financial Implications and Long-Term Rewards

The discussion shifts to the financial consequences of compulsive collecting versus investing. Jen emphasizes the lost opportunities by spending on collectibles instead of investing, illustrating potential growth through the stock market.

Jen: “There's no shame in getting caught up in these things because our brains really do have, like, they just are drawn to stuff like this and you don't know why or what's happening.” [27:25]

Personal Anecdotes and Community Building

Sharing personal stories, Jen and Jill recount their own experiences with collecting and how it has impacted their lives. They highlight the balance between enjoying collectibles and maintaining financial discipline.

Jill: “I love doing Disney races specifically... It has been a good part of how collecting has brought me closer to somebody.” [34:25]

Conclusion: Collecting as Reflective of Consumerism

In wrapping up, the hosts reaffirm that while collecting can represent the pinnacle of consumerism, it doesn't have to be detrimental. By understanding the motivations and implementing strategies to control spending, individuals can enjoy collectibles without falling into the trap of excessive consumption.

Jen: “Collecting is peak consumerism. But it doesn't have to be. And it teaches us a lot about our overall consumerism.” [38:21]

Final Tips for a Healthier Collecting Habit

1. 30-Day No Spend Challenge: Encourage listeners to participate in a no-spend challenge to rediscover fulfilling activities beyond consumption.
2. Community Engagement: Foster relationships based on shared interests rather than just purchasing together.

Jen: “If you're planning to show them this video to say how bad it is... this will be a really good video for you.” [08:16]

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Notable Quotes

• Jen: “When we are just so caught up in the consumption of it and it's not actually something we even want, we're just being told it, and eventually we succumb.” [07:02]
• Jill: “If you are trying to pay off debt or have a specific short-term financial goal... our Challenge membership... can help you stay engaged.” [05:16]
• Jen: “You can get one. I could even afford two to see if I can get the one I want.” [24:35]

Takeaways

• Awareness: Recognize the psychological hooks in collectible trends.
• Mindful Spending: Implement strategies like the 72-hour rule and transaction inventories.
• Balanced Collecting: Enjoy collectibles as a means to build community without compromising financial goals.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Buy What You Love Without Going Broke – Available at BuyWhatYouLoveBook.com
• Challenge Membership: Visit frugalfriendspodcast.com/challenge for more information and coupon codes.

Join the Conversation:
Listeners are encouraged to share their own collecting habits and strategies for maintaining financial health in the comments section of their YouTube channel.

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Stay Connected:
Subscribe to the Frugal Friends Podcast on your preferred platform and follow them on YouTube for additional insights and community discussions.

Transcript

[Host 1]

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Walt Disney World Resort collectibles are peak consumerism, talking Labubu, Sunny, Angel, Stanley and more.

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Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity and live a richer life. Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.

[Host 1]

Welcome to Frugal Friends. I'm Jen. I'm Jill and Today we are talking about collectibles because I don't know what side of the social media you are on, but if you are on the side that I am, it is now completely taken over by Labubu. And I didn't know about it until I watched some commentary channels on YouTube. And then after I did, then that's when I got all of all of those videos.

I still don't know about Labubu. You told me not to look it up. You wanted my actual genuine reaction. So that's what's happening in this episode.

Yeah. Yeah. So it got us thinking about why, or me at least why we have this propensity to collectibles to accumulate. Because it does feel like peak consumerism. Is it all unhealthy? Can there be a healthy level of it? And if you're looking at the little boo boo people and you're gawking and saying that could never happen to me, thinking about how it could and already does happen to you. But first, this episode is sponsored by our Challenge membership. So if you're trying to pay off debt or have a specific short term financial goal and you're having trouble staying engaged with it, we have a Challenge membership where we release a new challenge every month. And these challenges help you stay engaged with whatever financial goal you are trying to achieve. So if you are interested in that, to see what challenge we have coming up next month. You also get access to four challenges and our no Spend Challenge from Precede like the preceding months too. So if the next one you're not interested in, you always have access to others. Head to frugalfriendspodcast.com challenge and you can drop down into the description to see if we have any coupon codes.

They help us so much with our spending and de influencing ourselves from things like what we're talking about today. Currently it's Labubu and Sony Angels. Last year it was Stanley and Squishmallow.

Sonny Angels. You haven't even pronounced it correctly.

I don't even know what they are. That's why it's written Sony Angels.

So it is written. Yeah. Sony only has one N where Sony has Sony.

That's how uninvolved with these collectibles I am. But I did hear about Stanley's and Squishmallows and I absolutely was a part of the Beanie Baby craze.

Yes. So let's find out a little bit about these things.

Labubu Unboxing and look what we found.

[Advertiser 2]

We got some special ones.

[Host 1]

I think they're just harder to find. Babe, I'm convinced everyone who's calling the boo boos ugly is just mad they can't get one. Okay, so for those of you who are not on Labubu TikTok Labubus are keychains with stuffed animals on them that look kind of like monsters. Like the where the Wild Things Are book. Do you remember that book? That is what people are refer, like kind of comparing them to. And they are kind of cute.

They're kind of. What were the. What were the ones that we did back in elementary school? I want to say, like fur babies.

Furby.

Furby.

Furbies.

Yes. Yes.

I'm so impressed by how outside of consumerism you have been your whole life and continue to be.

They look like furbies to me. And I did not like furbies when they were a thing. Like, these are ugly. And I had one so cute. I never did because I'm like, they're ugly.

No. So my dad would put a furby when I was sleeping in the morning. He wanted to wake me up. He would put it by my ear and when I was letting sleeping through my alarm and just wake up the furby. So it would have its little creepy. Like, ooh. Like ooh, that's right. And that would get me.

Yeah, that would get you up.

That would it. That would be it. But so the scarcity in these is pretty much. We'll talk about what's making them popular, but it's a lot of scarcity and there's secret ones. And this is how. The same thing with Sunny Angels. I don't think they're as scared.

You mean Sony Angels?

Yeah, so they're. They're these plastic little dolls that are naked and have different hats on them, I think. Yeah, that is as far as I got on there. But it's not just those. So those are the most popular ones right now. But there's all kinds of little collectibles. And so we were wondering, are collectibles inherently bad as people who want to be frugal?

And we don't think that it's bad, but there's some caveats with it because.

That'S what we've come to.

Yeah. It is something that can connect people. It is something that can be aligned with our values. Depending on kind of what that collectible item is, it might have a lot of meaning behind it. And so we are not saying all stuff is bad. Just like we don't think spending inherently is bad or debt is entirely bad. So this kind of falls into that however, when we are just so caught up in the consumption of it and it's not actually something we even want, we're just being told it, and eventually we succumb. That's where we really want to keep a pulse on it and be able to identify how are there other ways for maybe me to find belonging rather than needing to spend in order to get it? But I mean, we want to say we both collect. Truly, I don't, and I'm so sorry, but I do collect seashells at the beach. I love to scroll, stroll. Not scroll, stroll. Collect the seashells that I think are, like, really adorable. Then I take a picture of them.

You do collect plants.

And then I throw them. But I haven't bought a new plant. I don't buy plants. I haven't not acquired a new plant in over a year. Like, I don't know if I could say I collect them.

Okay, so this is one of the things we'll talk about in, like, our healthy, like, collecting. So we're not going to bash on collecting in this video. If you love someone who collects and you're planning to show them this video to say how bad it is, that's. I'm so sorry. But hopefully if you are a collector and you feel guilty about it or you have somebody in your life who you're trying to understand why they collect, then this will be a really good video for you. The person who is watching it. Even my husband Travis, who is the most frugal slash cheap person I know, he used to collect Spider man comics. He has a whole box of them. And, you know, we still have them in our attics. So, like, even frugal people collect things.

I think especially frugal people can collect things.

So true.

If you get it inexpensive or free, then it's like, well, who cares? And we're not actually thinking about the spirit space it's taking up.

Yeah. So we're going to talk about why collectible trends like this can get all of our money. But first, this per. These particular collectible trends are a little unique. And I want to, like, preface that because it might make a difference for what we're talking about in the rest of the episode is that these particular ones have an added level of scarcity because of the blind bag. Sl. Blind box component. I bought some Sunny Angels from Japan. So let's open them. I got three of these preschool animal boxes. These look so cute. Hey, guys, unbox some Sunny Angels with me. I'll also be happy with Hope, Serenity, or the secret.

[Advertiser 2]

All I want is the secret one. I don't care about any of the others.

[Advertiser 4]

Isn't the pig.

[Host 1]

I'm having fun.

[Advertiser 1]

When I get what I want, I have fun.

[Advertiser 2]

Babe, wake up.

[Host 2]

New Sign angel series just dropped, and.

[Host 1]

They'Re wearing little raincoats and boots. So when you buy a Labubu, a Sunny Angel, a Nomi, all these, they have so many different names.

There's so many words you've never heard before today.

Sony Angel. Then you don't know what you're buying, so you know what category you're buying it in. Like, there are seven different usually options in each, like run. And so you know what the possibilities are. Except for one secret. You don't know what you're gonna get, and you don't from social media. You'll know what the secret is. But everyone wants the secret one. And it can become this thing where people are buying extras. They're getting the same, like, of same green one three times, but they're trying to get the whole set, and they're trying to. They're trying to get the secret. And so I think that's an added component to some of the craze in.

This collection, which is very fun. I mean, you want to talk about a dopamine rush, not only have you spent money, something comes to your door, but then there's an extra surprise during your unboxing. That's. That's looking for a hit of dopamine, if I ever have seen one. And I remember those little toys where they came. They were like little dogs or bunnies, and they came with babies inside, but you didn't know how many babies it was gonna have, like, how many were in the litter. And that was very fun. Or what the genders were gonna be like. You could have between three to six babies popping out of this dog's belly, and they were gonna be, you know, different gender, genders.

Never heard of that.

Yeah. So that was fun. But this is what's standing out to me, is that these are toys. I have heard of these types of trends and marketing tactics for kids, and understandably so I think we're gonna have a lot of people watching this saying, yeah, I'm not totally on that trend, but I see my kids on that. And, you know, we're gonna talk in another episode about de Influencing kids with toys and all that, but the thing.

With this is that kids are not buying these. Yeah. Adults are buying these. And we. I've even seen that argument in other videos that this is a Toy. This is for kids. They're actually keychains. And the way that Boo Boos in particular got popular were from celebrities. So like Lisa from blackpink, which is a really popular K pop group, she went into a Vanity Fair interview all about her obsession with these Labu Boo. And they're keychains. So people are buying designer handbags to match their labubus. So this is very much. And then they're buying tiny designer bags for their labubus. So this is. This is definitely an adult thing. And I think adults and children are both, like, prone to collecting. But I think that this. We're gonna talk specifically about. Why do we, in the year of our Lord 2025, do this, do this, keep doing this? Even though we've seen it with Squishmallows, we've seen it with Beanie Babies, we've seen it with Stanley's.

Right? Yeah. And clothing handbags. You know, we're talking about labubus. But there's all different ways that this can show up. And so there are three main reasons that we will end up purchasing the Labu Boo, the Stanley, the. The Sonny Angels, and it has to do with first frequency. Yeah, Hot take. No one actually wants a Stanley or a Lou Boo Boo. You did not ever actually want it.

This is so true. Because I found so many videos saying, I. I don't know why, I don't know what the point is, and then progressing to, if I was gonna get it, where would I get it? And then to, like, finally getting it. I have been fully influenced by Sam Taunt.

Never before have I heard of a Wakuku.

And now I have two Wakuku. Why did I do this? The only reason I even bought these, One, I kind of felt left out. And two, I don't get it. I don't understand besties.

I finally caved, and I bought a Sunny Angel. I don't know. I kind of just got sucked in.

The toy store really just, like, gets you. So how do so many people go from not wanting it to wanting it? And I really think that it is this kind of, like, bandwagon effect or. Or really, it's specifically called the mere exposure effect. So it's the psychological term that our brains like familiar stuff. It's something shows up enough, then it becomes familiar. And our brains say, this is safe, this is acceptable, and this is what's culturally appropriate to, like, to enjoy. And so the more we see something, the more we want it. And so this happens really fast with social media before when it was Beanie Babies. The only opportunities you had to see this stuff was on the news. When people are talking about the Beanie Baby craze, or when your friends would bring them to school, or when you're seeing, you can see, you know, one outfit a day per person. Right. And then slowly trends happen in social media. You can be scrolling and see a hundred videos about Labubus or Sunny Angels or Stanleys in a day. So this mere exposure effect happens 10 times faster now than it ever did before.

Yeah. It's what can take you from first time exposure being like, absolutely not. Which is me right now. You're seeing it real time. Fifth time being like, why do people keep buying these? But then by the 10th time, 15th, 20th time, when you're seeing it on TikTok and YouTube and these celebrities carrying them around to their interviews, you're like, okay, wait, they're kind of cute though. Maybe I do want one.

And for some reason, and I've seen people say this, the Loboo thing, people are saying they've never seen more videos about any other product than Lil Booboo. Like even just like scrolling through and maybe casually interacting with one video. And then the entire feed is unboxing, criticizing. I saw a, a tiny scooter for a Labu poo. And the thing was it said, this is how I spend my adult money. And it's a, it's a Labubu riding around on a scooter, like a motorized scooter. So. And then buying clothes for it and dressing them up and showing off the collection. So there is I tin foil hat for a minute, maybe. I think there could also be a correlation between how profitable labubu is for TikTok, because a lot of the ways that you get them because they're so scarce is through TikTok shop. So Labubus, I believe, are super profitable for TikTok. And that's why it's. They're pushing, pushing them out. Yeah, I don't know that for certain.

Yeah.

But I mean, social media pushes out what is most beneficial for its platform. Its algorithms are not neutral. We know this.

So here's what to do. When it comes to the familiarity, the mere exposure effect is to ask yourself, do I actually like this? Do I actually want it? Or am I just familiar with it? You can also limit your exposure, which literally means unfollowing, muting, not being on social media, taking a little break, block, block ads. Take a walk and waiting 72 hours before buying anything trendy. I love the 72 hour rule for really kind of anything discretionary or anything that might have been an impulse purchase, just give yourself some time in between because you can kind of cool off a little bit. Let. Let the Labubu craze just calm down a bit and then see if you still want it in 72 hours. All right.

And that is super important for, for collectibles because some of these more rare collectibles like Lububu is so hard to get. So it is truly. It's taking people who are just casual to. If they have the opportunity to get it, they feel special and like it's. They have a responsibility to get it and then just buy it. That's. I saw a lot of videos on that too. Like if you have an authentic Labu boot. Cause then there's also knockoffs. They call them Lefufus.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. So if you are in the vicinity of an actual Labubu, even if you don't want it, going to get it just because it's available and that. This, this collectible craze thrives off of impulsivity. So sometimes wait 72 hours and you won't even be able to get it. So that is not a risk. That's actually a reward. View it as a reward.

[Host 2]

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[Host 1]

The next reason that we might be drawn to some of these trends and collectibles is their affordability. We're not talking about the $500 AirPods or the $200 Ninja Creamies, although I have heard you talk about wanting one.

I am. I am close to getting one on Facebook Marketplace.

And there you go.

And it is.

I talked about it for a while too, so it's impulsive.

I don't know if it's the mere exposure. Well, I'm also following Ninja Creamy accounts, so I'm being intentional.

You're allowing yourself to be.

I mean, but that's like a part of it too. Like last year I was like, you don't need to buy a $200 ice cream maker to make ice cream. And then now I'm seeing so many, like, good ice cream creams. I don't even eat ice cream a lot. It's. And it makes you feel crazy, right? Like, there's no sh. There's no shame in getting caught up in these things because our brains really do have, like, they just are drawn to stuff like this and you don't know why or what's happening. But that. That's been easier to say no to. Because that's $200.

Yes. But yeah. So especially for things like the Stanley cup being $45, that's expensive but not unattainable. And then some of these other things that we're talking about are usually $20 or under.

Yeah.

And so that just feels like I can be a part of this thing. I can say yes to this because it feels so affordable. I don't have to second guess it. And decreasing that barrier is you huge to us.

I can get one. I could even afford two to see if I can get the one I want. Get the special one. Now I already have two. Might as well get the whole set. Spend another $40 on another one or two. Yeah. It's just easier to slip down the slope. It has a lower buy in, a lower barrier to entry. I ordered a really rare Stanley off of ebay and I'm not sure if it's like real because it was like really cheap. I think it was $50, which is normally like to 200. How much?

[Advertiser 3]

I let it go for about $40.

[Host 1]

$40. Some people say that this is a recession indicator. Interesting. Which is. So a recession indicator in is indicates like sinking consumer confidence. So people would normally purchase like make big purchases like cars, houses, even expensive skincare luxury items. And when that starts to decline and the purchase of lower priced items like, you know, Labubus goes up. That some people will call that, people will call that a recession indicator. It's, it's an indicator of one. I, I don't think that that's what's happening with these. I really do believe that it's a. Just a combination of people tend to go toward affordability. It's why people buy so much fast fashion. And it's the blind bag component for a lot of these Stanley cups. People owning a lot of them. That was rare because those are, you know, you know, 45, 50 bucks. But I think it's a lot more common to see collections that, you know, of things like Fungo Pops or action figures that started out low and then just the more, the deeper you get in, then the higher the cost. But we, thanks to dopamine, the future doesn't feel real enough. We always want to, you know, the future doesn't feel real enough to compete with the present. Right. So we always think of what can I do to get my dopamine hit in the present? And I think that's a big reason why collectibles are so popular.

Yeah. It can be so much easier to buy a $20 thing that's gonna give me the dopamine of purchase, the dopamine of the mystery. That's inside and not really think about what could $20 have done invested. What could I do if I were to be saving that money instead? And that's that long term reward that isn't gonna give us that dopamine in the future, but it can help us to look back and realize what did life look like, you know, five, 10 years ago? What would have happened if I could have put $100 into the stock market? The S&P 500 has had a rate of return of 12% in the last 10 years. That could have meant $320 today.

Yeah. And I want to also, if you're not a collector and you're watching this and you're like, oh, I can't, I can't relate because I just invest. There are other things that you may not be physically collecting, but if you look back through your 90 day transaction inventory, you are see you are collecting transactions of. That's why we think doing a 90 day transaction inventory is so important. If you're not familiar with one, it's going back through your last 90 days, all of your transactions and seeing where you have been spending your money with a mindset of neutrality and learning, not like shame or making you feel bad. And I think you're going to start to see you're collecting things and it may not be toys, it may not be water bottles, but there is something on there that you are collecting. Maybe it's lattes, maybe it's Chipotle or takeout, like fast casual takeout. There is something you are collecting. We would love to know about that in the comments. If you do a transaction inventory and you're like, dang, I never looked at it like collecting, but I doing that let us know what it is. And if you're a collector and you've figured out how to, you know, even out your collecting, we'd like to know that in the comments too. Maybe somebody can find some extra wisdom down there. But there are two ways that we can start to get over this kind of affordability trap, whether it's things you're collecting or transactions. And the first one is to look back, we're going to take into account this kind of like recession indicator, you know, quote unquote that says that we don't trust the future and we're going to take that into account and that's how we're going to combat it. So first we're going to look back, see where you were five years ago, 10 years ago, and get some perspective. If you don't feel confident about where you're gonna be in five or 10 years. Think about where you were five or 10 years ago and look at the positive things and the positive growth that has happened even amidst all the craziness that has happened in the past five and 10 years. I don't think, I mean, in our generation, this is the craziest five to 10 years we've probably had since we've been alive as millennials. So see where you were five, 10 years ago. See where you are now. Put it into perspective. Like what you said. The s and P500 has had a cumulative growth of a return of about 12% over the last 10 years. So $100 invested would have made an additional $220. Yeah.

And so if you would prefer to think shorter term. So that's one strategy.

Look back and realize you can do both.

That's affordable, right? Like putting $100 five, 10 years ago. Well, it would have had been 10 years ago, could have returned this amount of money. But also realize that if one of the hesitancies is that uncertainty about what does it mean to release my money into the stock market to invest now and you know, knowing that that money, I'll get to see the growth on it by the time I'm 60, 70, 80. But that feels so far away. Then recognize that there is a short term reality here too, that we can pull whatever money we put into those accounts out. We can't draw upon the interest we've earned without penalty before a certain age. But even then, there are some caveats to it. But whatever you put in, let's say you do put in a hundred bucks, twenty bucks, you can get that back.

Out, no penalty in five to 10 years if you need it. So we want to make sure that we're not. Because the dopamine says, like we hate losing more than we love winning. Right? Which is why we choose the immediate gratification over the long term success. Because we overestimate what we can do in a year and we underestimate what we can do in 10 years. But if we're thinking about our money like, yes, I will have access to it in five to 10 years, even though it's in a retirement account, then that could make it easier to. It won't take away the dopamine of instant gratification 100%, but it could make it easier to say no to these things up front, to say bigger yeses to things down the line. And it's not just with investing, but if you're in that Mindset, it is easier to say no to instant gratification because ultimately if you build a habit of saving, then it is very unlikely you'll take that money out in five or 10 years. Because you're going to see the growth and you're going to. Then when you look back, you're going to see even more growth in your 5 to 10 year look back. Just knowing you can access it makes it feel safer.

So true. And the last reason we might collect is for community and friendship. Friends are hard to find. Doing fun things is hard to find. And so oftentimes collecting can feel like that fast track to friendship, to a connection, to an experience of belonging to a community. And that's why we don't think that collecting is, is inherently bad. Anything that can kind of connect us with others and provides that in for relationship and friendship is great. But wherever relationships are based upon purchasing something in order to be a part of this group, or every time I get together with this friend, we are always going out to eat or going shopping, then the friendship is an actual connection. It's consumption.

Right.

Based on consuming things together.

So if you're meeting new people because of your shared collections and then forging like real relationships with them, relationships where you know, you're sending gifts back and forth and you're hanging out at each other's houses and you're really investing in each other, like that is beautiful. I think that is a beautiful aspect of the collector community. But it gets dangerous when relationships are only about spending money together. And so that's ultimately how to make this collecting journey healthy. So like, personally, I, I don't really collect anything either. But if I had to think of something I do collect, I would have to say, would it kind of run Disney medals? That would be like the only thing I could think of. I really like doing Disney races specifically. I don't love running races in general, but like half marathons at Disney, I really love those. Exactly. And I could do all of them and, you know, be fine and spend so much money there. But I love it, so I want to keep it special. I love the community of people that do it. A lot of the relationships I've built there are parasocial. So I'm just like following other people on social media who do it. So I wouldn't say that's the healthiest way. But thankfully I have a lot of really great relationships here. But there is a friend that I made recently who also runs and we decided to run the Wine and Dine half marathon this October together. And so it's getting us closer because we're sharing our like training runs. And so that has been a good part of like how collecting has brought me closer to somebody who is kind of like in that community, how you meet your people. Right. But it's not right, but it's not based on the race aspect and the registering for the race aspect. We would still be friends and will be better friends after it. So yeah, I would say that if your collecting is bringing you closer to people and it's building community, which we think is kind of like the purpose of everything in life is to get closer to people. Right. When our things when, when we alienate ourselves, even if it's to do better financially, that's not healthy. And when we spend money to get closer to people, also not healthy. So like how can we form the best relationships possible and spend the right amount of money for us? Like that is the key. So like that's what we want to hear about in the comments, if you have anything to say about that.

The final tip that we have here is to do a 30 day no spend challenge to really be able to find out who you are apart from consumption. This can really give you an opportunity to be creative, learn some of the things that you love doing that maybe consumption is getting in the way of you even realizing some of the more fun free activities. So we talk about how to do a 30 day no spend challenge in our book buy what you love without going broke. You can get it anywhere books are bought. BuyWhatYouLoveBook.com we'll have it linked with the YouTube video here as well. We think that these can be really fun challenges. Not to say that spending is bad or that you'll never ever spend again, but really gives the opportunity to see what do I actually love doing. What are the things that are fulfilling that I can feel really good about spending on and realize the things that aren't so important and I don't need to keep spending on those.

Yes. So in conclusion, collecting is peak consumerism. Yeah. But it doesn't have to be. And it teaches us a lot about our overall consumerism. So that's why we wanted to talk about it. I think collecting transactions is a really important like key piece to take away from this. And collecting can go really well, but it can also be very destructive. And yeah, so I hope you got something out of it.

Do you know what's not destructive?

It's always uplifting and does get at our core value of building community.

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Now it's time for the lightning round.

All right, today's lightning round question would be should be what do you collect?

I know we did kind of already talk about that.

Yeah.

But anything you've ever collected, your favorite.

Type of thing you've collected in childhood? I collected turtles. Like anything turtle related. I loved turtles.

I did not know this.

The problem began arose when everyone took it as an excuse to not think about what to get me but just like get me random turtle stuff that I didn't really want.

That's always the problem.

My mom would all anytime she would see something with a turtle on it, she would get me it. Like, even if I didn't, it was just the dumbest stuff.

Has it stopped?

Yeah, well, I had to tell her, like in college, just like, I have too much turtle stuff. I just want to get rid of all of this. I still like turtles, but I'm not obsessed with them. And I was never obsessed with them. I just had like a collection of little turtles. If I had the option to get something and there was A turtle option. I'd always go with the turtle. That was how it started.

That makes sense.

And it ended up with too much turtle stuff. So that was. That was my thing.

Yep. It is always funny when collections are pushed on you, which I do believe was probably most of my collections as a child. But I did have a few. Now I'm realizing the Rolodex is going okay. I talked about my snow baby collection in the books. I'm going to choose something different because it wasn't my only collection, which was a weird one. I would dip my fingers in hot wax and then wait for it to dry and then peel it off and they would form like these little molds and I would put them into this, like, chest, this wooden chest, and just whenever I had the opportunity to dip my fingers in wax.

And how often do you have your. The opportunity? How often do you come across wax?

Well, I. Well, because another one of my collections was candle snuffers. So I had candles.

Jill, you're trying to come off at this as this. I don't have any collections and I don't now.

I don't now, but I'm realizing too.

Good for it where I can.

Yeah, yeah. I'm. Wow, the things I've blocked off. I did it enough. I had my own candles. I would dip my fingers into the wax, then I'd use my candle snuffer. And then when they were all dried, I loved the sound of them. I was quite like tactile person. So just to like put these little wax finger molds back and forth between my hands, they'd create such a nice calming noise. It was my own like ASMR creation. And then I'd put them into this wooden box and that lived under my bed.

Wow.

Yep. But you know what? Mere exposure effect. You're judging me now, but if I come in with enough of these wax molds on my fingers, you're gonna get into it.

Uh huh.

Yep. Just you wait.

Oh, wow.

Okay. That was weird. Well, thanks everybody so much for listening, for watching. As you know, we have a YouTube channel, so if you have not seen this on YouTube, please go to our YouTube channel, Frugal Friends Podcast. Subscribe. That's like the best way that you can possibly support us. And we want to read you one of our favorite comments on a YouTube video. Maybe not a favorite, just a recent one. This is just happening real time for you all. Okay, here we go. A recent comment from realclassroom1278 says on one of our spending intervention videos. Between my two sons, I spent about 10 years in a row taking advantage of all the free summer programs at the public library.

Which is the one you chose.

You know what? I had to do it on the fly, Jen. And we love library. There's editing, so there's library. That's what I'm choosing.

Okay. That's what she chose.

If you want there to be better comments on our YouTube videos, then go ahead, subscribe, comment on our YouTube videos. Let us know what you're collecting or what you used to collect.

You can pop me, ask us to read your comment on on the air, and we will.

Yeah, okay, bye.

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

Jen, what are your kids starting to collect? Probably Kai, right? He'd probably be into collections.

Nothing like he likes Iron man right now.

Okay.

So given the options to consume something tangible, he prefers it to be Iron man themed.

Oh, cool. Yeah, I remember it used to be monster trucks, but he's off of that now.

Yeah, monster trucks were big for a long time. They were our potty training incentive of choice and we still love them. Atlas is getting into them, so that's really nice. I think we'll take all the monster trucks away and then six months later start to potty train him and then give them out again is my plan. So I still got about six months of playing and cleaning up monster trucks before that. But yeah, yeah, that's about it. The two year old doesn't collect anything.

The two year old collects climbing. He climbs on things eventually.

Yeah.

Collects climbing experiences.

Collect climbing stuff.

Yeah, probably get in the zone.

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