08.25.25 Controlled Spending Method / Travel Warning: Pickpocket Rings

Summary

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The Clark Howard Podcast

Episode: 08.25.25 – Controlled Spending Method / Travel Warning: Pickpocket Rings
Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Clark Howard, with Krista

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clark Howard focuses on practical strategies for controlling spending—introducing a simple “traffic light” method to help listeners decide between needs and wants. Clark and Krista also discuss key personal finance questions from listeners, including estate planning, freezing credit, and the intricacies of changing airline tickets. The episode concludes with a crucial warning about sophisticated pickpocket rings increasingly targeting travelers using ATMs and payment cards, especially abroad.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Controlled Spending: The “Traffic Light” Method

• Clark introduces an updated approach to controlling spending using a green-yellow-red light framework.

  • Green light: Genuine necessities (rent, utilities, basic transportation).
  • Yellow light: Expenses you may need but often overpay for (cell phone plans, subscriptions). Opportunity to “shave” costs.
  • Red light: Wants or luxuries, especially if you’re financially stressed (i.e., Starbucks, bubble tea, unnecessary tech upgrades).

  “If you're having trouble paying your bills at all and you're running balances on credit cards, Starbucks or anything like that, that is full red light territory.” (Clark, 06:50)

• Clark emphasizes adapting the categories based on your own financial situation—the red/yellow/green assignments aren’t fixed.

• Memorable analogy: Clark compares this method to processing a stoplight in your head when considering each purchase.

  “Try this. Because I've been noodling this in my head... How do I get in everyday life? Get into your brain and get you thinking about how am I going to get this spending under control?” (Clark, 07:40)

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2. Listener Stories and Spending Habits

• Krista shares her experience with a “financial fast” (08:10), especially after overspending on vacation, focusing on cutting dining out but keeping essentials like her gym membership.

• Clark’s shoe shopping strategy: Clark buys high-quality shoes (Hokas) only when on clearance, even if the color is odd, after failed attempts to go for cheaper substitutes.

  “I'm just going to keep wearing ugly colors when they go on clearance or they discontinue a model and they're getting rid of the old one.” (Clark, 10:08)

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3. Digital Financial Security

• Venmo and Plaid’s Deep Data Access (10:54):

  • Listener Rod from Colorado reports that Plaid (the intermediary) requires access to all bank accounts at a connected institution, making Plaid’s permission levels a “gross overreach.”

  “A gross overreach for simply creating a connection with a single checking account...” (Rod, quoted by Krista, 10:54)

  • Clark recommends setting up a separate bank account for Venmo/Cash App use to mitigate risks:

  “You have money in it just to cover the amount of transactions you're doing...then the fact that they may validate through Plaid should not be of harm to you.” (Clark, 11:45)

• Electronic Wills and Estate Planning (12:55):

  • Listener Michelle (Missouri) asks about the new legal acceptance of electronic wills.
  • Clark: Electronic wills are fine for simple estates, but complex assets or family situations warrant a professional attorney. States are slowly catching up with digital options.

  “If you have minor children but you don't have assets, you need a will. Because if you don't...the state will decide who raises your children, not your wishes.” (Clark, 14:42)

• Credit Freezes and Managing Thaws (15:37):

  • Listener Jennifer (Connecticut) notes you can ask which credit bureau a company will use before thawing files.
  • Clark: Credit bureaus don’t make temporary thaws easy, but it’s worth the hassle to remain secure.

  “I've noticed that they...had a big button to permanently remove the freeze. But I had to go hunt to find out how to do a temporary thaw. And that's just uncool.” (Clark, 16:31)

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4. Travel Warning: Pickpocket Rings Targeting Payment Cards

• Travel Abroad and ATM Card Safety (19:33):

  • With Americans more likely to use ATMs when traveling, criminals are using pickpocket rings to steal both cards and PINs—sometimes with binoculars—to empty accounts before victims can respond.

  • Banks now often treat customers as “guilty until proven innocent” if stolen cards plus PINs are used for fraudulent withdrawals, with a specific call-out to Citibank’s policy following a New York Times investigation.

  “You cover with one hand while you type in your pin with the other hand so that you do not become a useful target for the pickpocket rings.” (Clark, 22:21)

  • Key tip: Always shield your PIN entry with your hand both at ATMs and payment terminals abroad.

  “I don't want to make you paranoid. I want to make you prepared and know that this has been low hanging fruit.” (Clark, 23:25)

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5. Airline Ticket Price Drops and Change Policies

• Changing to a Lower Fare—Delta’s Hoops (24:02):

  • Listener Doug (Georgia) discovers Delta makes it hard to get a lower fare credit when the same ticket class drops in price; requires calls and sometimes receives “one-time exceptions.”
  • Clark’s workaround: If you see a lower fare, try canceling and rebooking your ticket using the credit (if possible).

  “That’s just not the way you treat people.” (Clark, 24:55)

• Travel Agent Fare Classes & Protections (26:11):

  • Listener Michael finds higher fares from a travel agent for supposed “better protections” but less flexibility.
  • Clark skeptical, explaining that in most cases credits are available for fare drops except with basic economy, and he questions the travel agent’s logic.

  “That makes no sense to me whatsoever.” (Clark, 26:45)

• Delta’s Fare Class Experimentation and AI Pricing (28:21):

  • Clark explains Delta is segmenting its fare classes further—even in business and first class—creating “basic” versions to maximize up-sells. Delta will use AI to set fares for up to 20% of its tickets by December.

  “Delta is breaking down every part of the cabin into multiple fare types... only time will tell on that.” (Clark, 29:17)

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6. Packing Light for Extended Trips

• Packing Tips for Women (Listener Kathy, 30:45):

  • Audience interest in Lane’s (Clark’s wife) method for packing two weeks in a carry-on (especially with typical haircare needs, etc.).
  • Clark and Krista promise a video and mention packing cubes/compression packs, rolling clothes, and doing laundry during trips as key strategies.

  "We'll shoot a video for clark.com of Lane packing for a one to two week trip..." (Krista, 31:24) "There's all kinds of YouTube videos from people who show how they pack for a long trip in a carry on." (Clark, 32:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On laissez-faire wants:

  “If you get down to the core of what this is... you spend your money only on what you must and anything else is a want to and you cut it out of your life.” (Clark, 03:16)

• On credit bureaus and freezes:

  “Credit bureaus hate credit freeze. And I've noticed that they... had it almost hidden for a temporary lift of a freeze, as they call it.” (Clark, 16:18)

• On travel pickpocket risks:

  “New York Times did a story recently about how the banks if somebody has your pen and your card gets stolen, the banks are treating you as the guilty party till proven innocent.” (Clark, 21:55)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:41 — Opening and controlled spending theme introduction
• 03:16 — The move from "must pays vs wants" to a traffic light categorization for spending
• 08:10 — Krista shares her “financial fast” experience
• 09:00 — Clark on shopping for shoes and value-based spending decisions
• 10:54 — Listener concern about Plaid’s deep access with Venmo; Clark’s recommendations
• 12:55 — Digital wills and when to use an attorney
• 15:37 — Credit freeze tactics and thawing strategy
• 19:33 — Pickpocket rings and payment card security abroad
• 24:02 — Airline ticket price drop maneuvers and Delta’s restrictive policies
• 26:11 — Fare classes and travel agent justifications—Clark’s skepticism
• 28:21 — Delta’s segmentation of fare classes and use of AI for pricing
• 30:45 — Listener question about packing for long trips—promise of a tutorial video

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Conclusion

Clark’s episode drives home the importance of visual, actionable methods for controlling spending, vigilance in both digital and physical personal finance security—especially while traveling—and skepticism against inflexible or confusing policies by banks, tech platforms, and airlines. The “traffic light” method is positioned as an accessible tool for listeners at any stage in their financial journey.

Clark signs off:

“It’s all about what we’re about, which is empowerment through knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.” (33:21)

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Thanks for joining us here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. And I sure hope you had a great weekend. How'd you do spending money? If you spent too much money and you're like, oh boy, different kind of hangover on Monday. I want you to listen to what I have to say about this no spending trend that's been hot in 25. And later, there's something I need you to do to protect your money if you travel anywhere outside the United States. Ultra important. So the no spend 25 thing was really big on TikTok. I addressed it back at the beginning of the year. It's really an idea, not a practical thing. You have to spend money, right? But it's the whole process of thinking about money. And I think how often people say, you know, well, I've been working hard or this is happening or that's happened, so I deserve it, deserve whatever. And we're at Brass Tax now. For a lot of people, it's so hard to make it through a month with the money you're making. I keep thinking about this because the idea of buy nothing is incomplete. And I want you to think about this. The whole idea of shock therapy for you. You don't buy a new piece of clothing, you go shop your closet. You don't buy a new this, that or the other. You live with what you've got. And so if you get down to the core of what this is, I used to talk about this must pay versus wants. And I've realized over time that there's more nuance to this. And so if you're in financial Armageddon, then what I've always said is true, that you spend your money only on what you must and anything else is a want to and you cut it out of your life because the Stress of not having enough money before the next paycheck comes is ugly. And it leads to a lot of bad habits, like running up balances on credit cards where you're paying 25 or more percent interest, or in the worst cases, taking out payday loans or buying things pay in for where credit is. What you think is pushing the problem away, but only magnifies the problem. So I've been thinking so much about this, and this is a moving target, but where my head is now is that when you're out there and you're thinking of buying something, and let's say you're not in a disastrous situation with money, but you're not where you want to be. And if you look at things just as these are the have to's and these are the want to's, that too many things end up a yes and the want to. So I think it really requires maybe a third category. Like you think of a traffic signal, you got the red light, the yellow light, and the green light. So what would be a green light for spending? What would be a have to? You got to pay your rent, right? Got to pay your mortgage. If you have a car payment, you got to pay it. You got to pay your electric bill. Those things are all clear. Where does a cell phone go? Where does any subscription go? It goes in this second category that I'll call it. That is not a, like, not totally like, well, I want to book this vacation. If money's really tight right now, that's a red light. But you got to have a cell phone, right? But what you're paying for it is a yellow light. Because there's virtually no one I know who isn't overpaying for their cell phone plan. And that's an ongoing, meaningful monthly expense. But how about buying the newest Android or iPhone? Is that a yellow light? Is that a red light? If money's tight, that's a red light. As long as your phone you have is working monthly bill, that's a yellow light. That's where you really think about, how do I shave this expense? If you look through your checking account or your credit card statements and you're like, I didn't know I was paying for Netflix twice. I didn't know I had, I don't know, Hulu or how many different streaming services, how many of these are out there that we're paying for? We're not even watching. We didn't know we were subscribed to them anymore. We're definitely in yellow light territory. You go through those Bills and, and you really look, what am I spending money on? Where would going to Starbucks be? If you're having trouble paying your bills at all and you're running balances on credit cards, Starbucks or anything like that, that is full red light territory. This is situational. Depending on where you are financially, I want you to think, because it's got to be something you can just process immediately in your head, oh, that's a red light. I can't do that. Oh, I want to go get a bubble tea for $11 or whatever they are. I don't even know what a bubble tea is, but I see people walking around with them all the time and they cost a lot of money. If you're not doing the things you should do financially, like saving in your Roth IRA because you're buying bubble teas, where's a bubble tea? It's not a yellow light, it's a red light. I want you really to, to use this. Try this. Because I've been noodling this in my head. How do I get in everyday life? Get into your brain and get you thinking about how am I going to get this spending under control? And so if you think of things, green light, yellow light, red light. And again, depending on where you are in your life with financial stress, there are people who, things are going to be yellow that for you will be red. There'll be things that will be red for them that'll be yellow for you. But I want you to think through, how do you get more control in your life? And I'm feeling good about this for now. And we'll see, because this is a moving target, how to help people who feel out of control with their spending to get more control with it. So what would you say in your life right now you're spending money on that? You should really. Red light right now.

[C]

Well, I'm in a financial fast right now. I put myself on that because I took some vacations, spent more on vacation than I expected, expected to.

[B]

And who doesn't spend more on vacation than they expected?

[C]

So now I've really clamped down, like on eating out is the thing that I most indulge in. I really don't indulge in that many things. I spend a lot on, like health, like a gym membership and things like that. But I'm not willing to give that up. But I've cut back everything else. My grocery bill is very low. I cook at home all the time, so I'm doing well with it. But I had to really go to beyond red Light.

[B]

All right, so we're going to go visual right here. You're going to see something you don't need to see. These are my. My walking shoes.

[C]

They are Hokas, very fancy brand.

[B]

Hokas have been great for my feet. Absolutely great. They're so expensive. So those of you watching the YouTube show saw that mine look like I'm a Smurf. That's what Lane my Smurf shoes. So why did I buy the Smurf color? Because they were on clearance. I paid $81 for them, and I'm wearing. Can you believe I spent that much?

[C]

I'm shocked at you. I know they're Normally well over 100 for those, but.

[B]

So I got completely suckered on Amazon into buying a pair of shoes that there were all these ads for that people said they're just as good or better than Hokas, but they cost a whole lot less. Well, they weren't for me. So $42 down the drain on those.

[C]

You couldn't return them?

[B]

I wear shoes to see if I'm gonna wear them in.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So they would have been unsellable for Amazon seller. So I just couldn't do that. So I donated them. And I've tried all different brands that are cheaper trying to find something as comfortable for me as these Hokas. And I'm just going to keep wearing ugly colors when they go on clearance or they discontinue a model and they're getting rid of the old one.

[C]

Well, that's a very. That's a classic, very important purchase. You walk like 18,000 steps a day minimum, normally. And you have had back issues in the past. I mean, you need quality shoes to walk on, but you'll save money on other stuff all the time. I mean, you save money on those. I'm just saying, like, the $80 investment is worth it.

[B]

These shoes are not an investment.

[C]

Okay, Clark?

[B]

They are spending so that I have comfort in my feet.

[C]

All right, Rod in Colorado recently, my Venmo app said it had lost connection with my bank. It turns out the reason it needed to reconnect was to reestablish connectivity through Point Plaid. The plaid process included without opt out ability, granting Plaid access not only to the bank account I want to continue to use to transact via Venmo, but also access to all accounts that I have at that bank, all past transactions in all accounts, all past monthly statements for all accounts, and all tax forms for all accounts. A gross overreach for simply creating a connection with a single checking account from which to conduct My Venmo payment transactions. Bye bye Venmo and not happening. I thought this was a good follow up to the other day when you were talking.

[B]

Yeah, talking about Venmo. All right, so Plaid is this bank tool owned by the banks that Venmo is using as a method that doesn't have. It's not the only one you have to use that they verify that you're legit, that you know you're really who you say you are and all that. And the permissions are crazy that you're describing. I've not heard this about this level of deep dive permissions you're giving. But again, if you do what I've talked about before and set up a separate account for your Venmo or Cash App at an alternate financial institution, what you do with that institution is you have money in it just to cover the amount of transactions you're doing on Venmo or Cash App, then the fact that they may validate through Plaid should not be of harm to you. But yes, it is ridiculous. The permissions that are often buried deep in the policies of services you're using. And it's all to the advantage of the lawyers. Write it all to the advantage of the banks and obviously not to your advantage.

[C]

Michelle in Missouri, says Clark, my state will soon offer complete digital estate planning and recognize electronic wills. In what ways will this benefit me and will I still need an attorney?

[B]

So, Michelle, the whole idea of the digital will or electronic will is something that technology has allowed for a long time, but state laws have mostly around the country, not caught up to it. I didn't know that Missouri had passed a statute permitting electronic wills. Whether a will is electronic and properly validated through an electronic process or it's a paper will. Doing a will depends on the complexity of your situation, whether you're okay with a software program to do a will or you need the help of a professional. You own a business normally that says you need a lawyer to do a will. You got a lot of assets. You're going to need a lawyer to make sure that a will is done properly. You have a complicated family situation. You got kids from prior marriages. You got, you're married and each spouse has kids from a prior marriage, might have kids together. Situation like that. Don't do a will any other way but with a lawyer. In other words, if you have a very simple situation in your life and you want to prepare your own will and use a software program like Will Maker or something like that, that's absolutely fine. You're Good to go. Whenever you say, oops, I'm one of those check marks, you don't do your own will. That's when you spend what seems like big money, but it's cheap money versus the problems you could cause by trying to do your own will when your situation has too many complicating layers and then you need that lawyer for it. You don't want to cause problems for those that you wanted to help after you pass away because you thought what you did covered the situation. It didn't. And let me point out once again, if you have minor children but you don't have assets, you need a will. Because if you don't do one, the state will decide who raises your children, not your wishes and that crazy brother you have or something. The the state might decide, oh, that's who's going to raise your kids. So you've got to do a will when you have minor children, period. If your situation's simple, it can be a will you do yourself.

[C]

Jennifer in Connecticut says, because of Clark, I learned years ago that I need to freeze my credit files. I wanted to let people know that if you know a company is going to pull your credit for something, you can ask them which credit agencies they pull from and just thaw that agency. I've done this several times now. Thanks for all you do.

[B]

And Jennifer, thank you. Because I have found that more often you can ask that question and they actually know the answer. At Customer no Service, where it used to be, they were like, we don't know and you'd have to thaw all three files. But now they generally will know more, more often than not. And you do only have to thaw one file and make sure you click the right button when you're at a credit bureau. Credit bureaus hate credit freeze. And I've noticed that they. Which one in particular? I better remember which one it is because I had to thaw my file recently and they had it almost hidden for a temporary lift of a freeze, as they call it. And they had a big button to permanently remove the freeze. But I had to go hunt to find out how to do a temporary thaw. And that's just uncool. So make sure when you do it that you are doing it for a minimal specified period of time. Coming up ahead, there's something you got to be aware of with criminal gangs or just criminals acting as lone rangers to protect yourself when you are using payment cards, there's something you gotta know.

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

Krista all right, this one came in from Doug in Georgia. Clark I bought changeable tickets on Delta to Korea with expensive round trip prices. I did what you recommended and I watched prices for the next few months and at one point the price dropped more than $500 when I tried to change to the new fare on the website. I could only get the new price if I changed the type of ticket I had ie I had to go to a lower basic ticket or higher class tick it would not let me change to the new fare with the exact same ticket class I had already. Seriously I contacted customer service and they said that it was not allowed and I could only do what was allowed on the site's change page. I complained for a while and they eventually said they would give me a one time exception and I got the credit. How do you manage this type of situation? I was counting on it being an easy change to get the lower fare and credit, but it really wasn't. Thanks for your advice.

[B]

So either this is a long standing practice at Delta I'm not aware of. I've not seen this before that when a fare drops that they make you jump through extra hoops to get the lower fare. And this is really important right now as I've addressed on multiple podcasts and YouTube shows, that airline bookings have been softer than they anticipated and airlines have been cutting fares and that's why you keep checking if you bought a ticket well ahead of time, particularly for international but also potentially for domestic. So how would you handle that? So go do a separate search. If the fare is available at the lower price you could cancel the ticket and have an immediate credit and then immediately use that credit to rebook and then you'd still have the leftover credit for would you say 500 bucks a ticket you'd have is ridiculous. That, and I'm only hearing that this is what happened to you, that Delta would have a company policy that if you called in that, well, we'll do it for you as a one time exception. That's just not the way you treat people.

[C]

Okay. Michael in Georgia says, I recently booked airline tickets to Europe via a full time travel agent that I've known for decades. Her fare was higher than what was published online for the same flights. The explanation was that she was booking with a different code that gave us an advantage if the flight is canceled or delayed. She said that multiple clients got stuck in European airports after booking extra cheap airfare online and their flights were canceled. After I heard your advice to rebook travel to Europe because of falling prices, I asked her and she said her tickets did not allow that. What do you think of this?

[B]

I can't figure out the situation at all. That's really odd. So she's saying you buy it through her at a higher price, that's going to give you more protections in the event there's a big delay or cancel of your flight. But then if a lower fare comes along, you're not eligible for it. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. I can't understand what she'd be referring to. You said this is an agent you've known for a long time, not a friend. Based on what you said, the way you described it, you may not want to use that individual anymore because that explanation just doesn't add up. Now you don't get your money back when the fare drops, but you do get a credit towards future travel on fares other than basic economy, which a lot of the airlines say, you bought it, you thought you were saving money. Jokes on you. You're not. So I, without being in the situation, I have no clue exactly what this travel agent is referring to.

[C]

By the way, going back to the Delta question earlier, I wonder if this could have something to do with the way that they've change their fare classes. I don't know if that's true for the foreign fares like this one. Like maybe the fair classes changed in between booking and now this new flight that where they have extra, you know, there's like multiple main categories and.

[B]

Yeah, so I, I've never addressed that specifically. All right, so let me address that. So Delta is the most powerful US airline and everybody in the industry lets Delta put its neck out there and experiment. And then if the things work, then everybody copies Delta and that's why everybody's being quiet about Delta using AI to set fares. In addition, Delta is breaking down every part of the cabin into multiple fare types. So it's not just coach that you could buy a basic coach ticket. Delta is actually planning to have various levels of tickets for every type of seat on the plane, including even their international business class, domestic first class where they will strip out benefits and offer you a lower fare. So odds are there will be a basic first class, there will be a basic business class, basic coach, basic. Delta calls their extra legroom comfort plus. And so others are watching this and seeing how this works. Does it confuse people, overwhelm them, or does it actually generate additional revenue to devalue the experience in each of these and then offer the sell ups? Does the sell up generate more revenue or do people say this is too complicated, I'm going to go buy that ticket from United or go whatever and only time will tell on that. American CEO has been very outspoken that Delta is really stepping into it with the using AI to set fares. And Delta is moving forward that by December they hope to be setting 1 in 5 tickets prices by AI figuring out what they think is the most you'll pay for a ticket.

[C]

You know what I have on your calendar for you in the next show on Wednesday to talk about buying tickets because I know you told me you're doing that even different than the last time. Like you have new information on that. So we should do a whole segment.

[B]

And Delta is part of that angle as well.

[C]

Yeah, so we'll do that Wednesday for sure. Okay. One more here from Kathy in Georgia. Clark mentioned on a previous podcast that Lane also can pack for a two week trip with only a carry on case. Would she be willing to do a special podcast and show us women just how that's possible? I have curly hair made frizzy by humidity and need products to combat all that. I take my own hair dryer with the brush attachment that also helps. I would really like to get suggestions on how to leave stuff behind and still look good. Thanks so much. Elaine always looks great no matter where but definitely when she's on vacation.

[B]

Okay. Should we see if she'll come on the podcast and show or we can shoot a video.

[C]

Yeah, I love that.

[B]

We'll shoot a video for clark.com of Lane packing for a one to two.

[C]

Week trip and YouTube.com clark where you should subscribe.

[B]

Always selling, aren't you Krista?

[C]

Sorry.

[B]

Yeah. So Lane has been able to do this for everything but when we go on a trip that's like 17 days or longer. She will want to take a. How do you say that word?

[C]

Checked?

[B]

Bag. Cha. Cha. Cha. Yeah, bag. But shorter than that. Couple of weeks, she's able to do it and carry on with a backpack. Yeah. So let's see if she's willing to share her secrets.

[C]

Yeah, for sure.

[B]

By the way, a lot of people who have really adopted this have done a lot with the compression packets, packs that actually compress down your clothes. There's all kinds of YouTube videos from people who show how they pack for a long trip in a carry on. One thing a lot of people are into is they roll their clothes in the suitcase instead of fold their clothes in the suitcase. But anyway, yeah, I do. We'll see if Elaine is up to the challenge.

[C]

I think she would be awesome. If I'm on a two week trip, I look for a laundromat in the city, like near where I'm staying. I love a wash and fold, but if not, I'll do the laundry myself one day just to refresh my clothes because I can't make it on in a carry on for two weeks unless I do that.

[B]

It is so easy for me, obviously, as a guy. I mean, I just wear the clarkiform every day of my life. Yeah. All right, well, enough about that. And then I'm going to talk about this other airfare thing you said on Wednesday. On Wednesday. All right. Krista has predicted the future.

[C]

We'll make it happen.

[B]

So I hope you have a great, great rest of your day. By the way, if there's something about your wallet that you would like some one on one advice for it, we offer that for free and we've been doing so since 1993. That rhymes. Free since 93. And so you can talk with a member of Team Clark at the Consumer Action center. Just go to clark.com cac to see how to get that done. And it's all about what we're about, which is empowerment through knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And I'll be with you on Wednesday. As Krista said.