Introducing: What We Spend

Summary

Summary of "Introducing: What We Spend" Episode from The Sunshine Place

The Sunshine Place, an Audacy original podcast executive produced by Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Emily Barclay Ford of Team Downey, and Josh McLaughlin of Wink Pictures, delves into various societal and personal issues. In the episode titled "Introducing: What We Spend," the show previews a new Odyssey Original podcast, "What We Spend." This episode offers an insightful introduction to the series, focusing on the intricate and often tumultuous relationship individuals have with money.

Introduction to "What We Spend"

The episode opens with Courtney Harrell introducing listeners to "What We Spend," a weekly series that explores the personal and complex dynamics of money in people's lives. Courtney emphasizes the universal curiosity about others' financial situations and the importance of discussing money openly.

Notable Quote:

Courtney Harrell [00:00]: "I think we should be talking about money more and all the ways, big and small, that it impacts our lives."

Concept and Structure of the Podcast

Courtney outlines the podcast's premise: each episode features an individual who documents a full week of their life, providing audio diaries that detail their financial activities. Listeners gain intimate access to the subjects' purchases, financial thoughts, upbringing related to money, and overall relationship with finances.

Notable Quote:

Courtney Harrell [01:00]: "We are going to go somewhere that we almost never get to go deep into the heart of someone else's finances."

Introducing Kelly: A Case Study

The episode transitions to a preview of the upcoming full episode featuring Kelly, a 32-year-old from Salt Lake City. Kelly represents one of the 42.8 million Americans grappling with student loan debt while striving to achieve personal milestones such as homeownership and starting a family.

Profile Overview:

• Age: 32
• Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
• Employment:
  • Kelly: Director of Client Experience at a medical spa and online mental wellness coach
  • Ben (Spouse): Engineer at a software company
• Combined Income: Approximately $128,000 before taxes and health insurance

Kelly's Financial Landscape

Kelly shares her substantial student loan debt of $202,728, a burden that significantly impacts her financial freedom and future plans. She discusses the emotional toll of debt, describing her relationship with money as "all consuming" and likening it to a persistent "monkey on their back."

Notable Quotes:

Kelly [04:42]: "Oh, I would describe it as all consuming. Yeah. The thing that keeps, like, coming to mind is, you know when someone has, like, an addiction or a struggle and they call it like, the monkey on their back."

Kelly [09:54]: "Ultimately, I don't regret anything because I am who I am and I'm happy, but I'm financially trapped."

Budgeting and Daily Expenses

Kelly meticulously manages her finances using a detailed spreadsheet. Her monthly expenses total around $4,800, excluding debt repayments. Key expense categories include:

• Rent and Utilities: $2,800
• Gym Memberships: $108
• Car Insurance: $254
• Gas: $125
• Pet Insurance: $76
• Physical Therapy: $250
• Groceries: $600
• Subscriptions and Miscellaneous: Varies (e.g., Dropbox, SoundCloud, Spotify)

Kelly highlights the challenges of covering high rent costs and the sacrifices made to avoid car payments by purchasing used vehicles. She also touches on personal expenditures like hair care, which she views as essential self-care despite budget constraints.

Emotional and Psychological Impact

Throughout the conversation, Kelly candidly discusses the psychological strain of managing her finances. She expresses feelings of being "financially trapped" and the constant stress of balancing aspirations with financial reality. Despite her struggles, Kelly maintains a positive outlook, acknowledging the personal growth that comes from navigating these challenges.

Notable Quote:

Kelly [10:19]: "I'm feeling nervous because maybe I will just realize through tracking every expense that I'm actually just a dum dum and I'm very irresponsible and this is all my fault, but I'm feeling curious."

Conclusion and Forward Look

The episode concludes with Courtney expressing anticipation for the upcoming full episode, where Kelly will share a detailed account of her financial week, including every dollar spent and the emotions tied to those expenditures. Courtney encourages listeners to follow "What We Spend" on their preferred podcast platforms to gain deeper insights into personal financial journeys.

Notable Quote:

Courtney Harrell [10:38]: "For full episodes, follow What We Spend An Odyssey Original Podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts."

Key Takeaways

• Transparency Around Money: The episode underscores the importance of open conversations about money, breaking down societal taboos.
• Personal Narratives: By focusing on individual stories like Kelly's, the podcast aims to humanize financial struggles and successes.
• Emotional Connection: Understanding the emotional aspects of financial management is crucial for holistic financial wellness.
• Educational Value: Listeners can gain practical insights into budgeting, debt management, and the psychological impacts of financial decisions.

Final Thoughts

"Introducing: What We Spend" serves as a compelling gateway into a new podcast series that promises to explore the multifaceted relationships individuals have with money. Through personal stories and honest discussions, The Sunshine Place leverages "What We Spend" to shed light on the universal challenges of financial management, aiming to foster a more informed and empathetic discourse around money.

Transcript

[Courtney Harrell]

Hi, Sunshine Place listeners. I'm Courtney Harrell and I'm here to share a preview of a new odysea original podcast. It's called what We Spend. It's a weekly series all about the very personal, often complicated relationship we all have with money. In each episode, I talk with one person as they document a full week of their lives, recording audio diaries and sharing all the details of what came up for them around money. You will hear about everything they purchase, the ways they've thought about their finances over the course of their week, what their relationship to money was like growing up, all kinds of things. I think the stories are intimate and moving, but some are also super fun. I hope you enjoy this preview for the full episode Search for what we spend on your favorite podcast platform. You know how you always want to know about everyone else's money? You do, right? Like you'll see someone buying something you want or taking some amazing vacation and you think, how can they afford that? Or you meet your friend's new girlfriend and she has some very impressive job and you think, how much money does she make? I think when it comes to money, even if you don't want to admit it, we're all a little nosy. But I don't know, I actually think that's good. I think we should be talking about money more and all the ways, big and small, that it impacts our lives. On this show, we are actually going to do that. We are going to go somewhere that we almost never get to go deep into the heart of someone else's finances. Here's how this is going to work. Each week, I'm going to introduce you to a new person from somewhere across the country, and they are going to tell us everything about their finances, how much they make, how much they want to make, what they worry about, or if they don't worry about, worry at all. And then for one week, we'll follow them through their daily routine. Every day they'll record an audio diary with all the nitty gritty details of how they're spending their money. I mean, the coffees, the groceries, the rent that's due, the car accident that suddenly upends everything. And after that, we'll talk about what the week brought up for them, what it's made them feel. Because whatever you're buying or not buying or saving or spending, at the end of the day, money is always about more than your balance. I'm Courtney Harrell, and this is what we spend. How much school debt do you have?

[Kelly]

I have 150,000 I had more. I had 300,000 after my master's. I had a great uncle pass away who was an artist. And my parents chose with their share of that that they would help pay off all my private loans. And so that was a crazy night. I remember pressing submit on $150,000 payment and just being like, holy shit. And they were like, yay. Doesn't that feel so much better? And I was kind of like, it feels like 50% better. And it still feels like I have still $150,000 of debt.

[Courtney Harrell]

This is Kelly.

[Kelly]

I turned 32 in one week, and I live in Salt Lake City.

[Courtney Harrell]

Kelly is One of the 42.8 million Americans who has student loan debt. And also, like a lot of her generation, she wants to buy a home and have a baby, and she's trying to figure out if it's possible to make all that work. Kelly married her husband about a year ago, and eight months ago, the two of them moved from Tennessee to Salt Lake City, Utah. Ben is an engineer for a software company. Kelly's a director of client experience at a medical spa, and she's also an online mental wellness coach.

[Kelly]

I used to be a therapist, and for lots of reasons, I'm not right now, but I will always have therapy or coaching in my life, and I will probably go back to that full time at some point.

[Courtney Harrell]

Kelly is paid hourly, but she makes about 50k a year, and Ben makes about 78k. That's before taxes and health insurance together. That puts them just under the average income for married couple families in Salt Lake City. How would you describe your relationship with money consuming?

[Kelly]

Oh, I would describe it as all consuming. Yeah. The thing that keeps, like, coming to mind is, you know when someone has, like, an addiction or a struggle and they call it like, the monkey on their back.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

Because you just can't get away from it. It's just clinging, and it's present with you all the time. It feels like that. And I try really hard to, like, be in control, like, maintain my control.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

But it's kind of this tug of war.

[Courtney Harrell]

What do you do on a weekly basis to manage your expenses?

[Kelly]

On a Sunday, I will sit down and look at the budget. And I made a spreadsheet.

[Courtney Harrell]

Okay. Yeah. So walk me through your spreadsheet. So I would love to hear what all of your regular expenses are and, like, what you kind of typically pay in each category.

[Kelly]

So rent and utilities. $2,800. That's pretty expensive for rent. Anytime I tell someone that, they're like, that's more than my mortgage. I'm like, yeah, I. I know. Please don't tell me what your mortgage is. I don't want to know.

[Courtney Harrell]

Two gym memberships. 108. Car insurance. 254.

[Kelly]

Gas 125.

[Courtney Harrell]

Do you have a car payment?

[Kelly]

No, we just buy used cars.

[Courtney Harrell]

Nice.

[Kelly]

Ben's car. Basically the. The roof flies off, but, you know, just don't take it on the highway, you know, we don't have a car payment.

[Courtney Harrell]

Who needs a roof?

[Kelly]

Yeah, who needs that? It's a.

[Courtney Harrell]

It's a convertible phone payment. 75. Pet insurance, 76. And physical therapy for 250. It helps with Kelly's chronic back pain and osteoarthritis and then groceries.

[Kelly]

This one sucks the most right now, and I really feel like everyone will understand. I put 600amonth for our groceries. And I mean, that includes like toiletries and stuff too.

[Courtney Harrell]

They have a Costco membership, but they pay that yearly fee with the cash.

[Kelly]

Back they get from their credit card medications and supplements. Like, Ben works out, so he has like this huge bag of protein powder that he gets from Costco. So Ben's is mostly workout supplements and just one medication. And mine is, I think, like four medications and like a probiotic and some multivitamins. Total for that is 650 streaming platforms. No, we mooch off of our families.

[Courtney Harrell]

Some of the subscriptions are on them, though. Dropbox for 12. Soundcloud for 6. Spotify for 10.

[Kelly]

Hair my hair. I put $40 next to my hair, and that's so I can spend that $40 and get my hair washed by somebody else one time every month. And it is like the gift to me to have somebody else wash my hair every once in a while. And it's not shitty that like, even now just reading my own budget, that it really is just my business. I still feel the need to justify, like, I just need to treat myself sometimes and have my hair washed.

[Courtney Harrell]

What does that make your expenses altogether your regular expenses?

[Kelly]

Around 4,800amonth. But then you get to debt.

[Courtney Harrell]

How much debt do you have?

[Kelly]

A lot. If you are including my student loans, we have $202,728 in debt.

[Courtney Harrell]

Where did you go to school?

[Kelly]

I went to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

[Courtney Harrell]

Why did you go to school?

[Kelly]

I thought I was supposed to because I was told that, you know, this is, this is the next step. And I think this is part of like the. The dream or the lie that was sold to my generation was like, if you don't go to college, you're going to end up working at McDonald's, you know, and, like, you're going to be a deadbeat, and you're going to have to live with your parents, and you're probably going to use marijuana even, and, like, you're going to be a bad person, essentially, if you don't go to college.

[Courtney Harrell]

Kelly's degree cost about 40 grand a year. And after undergrad, Kelly went on to grad school at the same university. She has a master's in mental health counseling. But as Kelly sees it now, the math doesn't make much sense. I want to ask you something about that, and I mean, no judgment with this. How did you think you were going to pay off that amount of tuition? Or were you at the time? Like, I know I can't pay this off. Like, how did you think about it then?

[Kelly]

Oh, no, it's a good question. I didn't. I did not think about it. I had no clue what I was doing. It wasn't like, I wonder how I'm going to pay this off when the, you know, average annual salary for a therapist is 40 to 60 thousand dollars a year. I was not thinking about that. I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't really have anyone around me who was explaining what I was doing. Like, your prefrontal cortex is not developed when you are making those decisions.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

Ultimately, I don't regret anything because I am who I am and I'm happy, but I'm financially trapped.

[Courtney Harrell]

So that's Kelly. And this week, instead of just tracking it in her spreadsheet, she's going to tell us about every dollar she spends and every feeling that comes with it. How are you feeling about tracking your finances for a week?

[Kelly]

I'm feeling nervous because maybe I will just realize through tracking every expense that I'm actually just a dum dum and I'm very irresponsible and this is all my fault, but I'm feeling curious. I'm just curious to see what comes of it.

[Courtney Harrell]

Yeah, me too. I will check in with you on the other side of your week. Okay. For full episodes, follow what We Spend An Odyssey Original Podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts.