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5 Consumer Habits That Are Making Us Depressed - YouTube
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hey guys it's chelsea from the financial
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diet and before we start this week's
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video just a quick reminder if you
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haven't already to please hit that
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subscribe button it sends a shiver of
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joy down my spine every time and if you
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love what we do and would love to
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support us just a little bit because we
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do have a team of 12 women working out
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of our offices here in new york that do
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need to pay their bills from time to
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time please hit that join button and
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join our super secret society i promise
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you it is more than worth it and today i
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want to talk about the consumer habits
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that we have that without realizing it
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are leading us to become depressed now i
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want to be clear here that when i use
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the word depressed in this context i'm
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speaking more colloquially for some
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people it may aggravate clinical
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depression but for others we're talking
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about a feeling of malaise a feeling of
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inadequacy a feeling of insecurity a
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feeling of despair even about the
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current circumstances of your life or
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your financial situation or what you
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happen to have we talk a lot on tfd
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about spending money in ways that
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actively bring you joy in ways that are
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truly valuable to you and while that is
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going to look differently for everyone
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it is very important to get a clear
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sense of the kind of discretionary
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spending that is actually paying
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emotional dividends maybe for you a
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bouquet of fresh flowers every week is
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something that genuinely brings you a
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great amount of joy and makes every day
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feel a little bit more special maybe
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especially if you work from home and see
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them all the time but you could also be
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someone who's buying flowers out of
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habit and barely notices them but we're
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not really here today to talk about the
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wasteful spending so much as the
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spending or more generally the consumer
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habits we have that are actively working
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against our mental health and while not
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all of them may apply to you they are
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all shockingly common in our culture
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especially for younger people and in
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some cases especially for women if
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nothing else it's worth taking a look at
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just how normalized some of these
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behaviors and their negative
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consequences have become in our culture
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so without further ado five consumer
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habits that are making you depressed
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number one is watching haul videos on
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youtube or tick tock now if there is one
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type of content that i have to say is
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just a complete net negative from every
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angle on our culture and on our mental
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health as a society
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it has got to be the phenomenon of haul
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videos they are incredibly popular here
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on youtube they become more and more
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popular every day on tiktok and
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basically as a concept it is a creator
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usually a woman showing all of the
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various items that she bought at a given
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store or in a given period of time and
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sometimes these are highly aspirational
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featuring luxury brands where the person
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is spending tens of thousands of dollars
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in a given shopping trip but more common
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in the haul video phenomenon is hauls
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from stores that are more accessible to
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the average person and if you're buying
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in large quantities that usually means
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fast fashion or otherwise very
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unethically and cheaply made products
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now you could make the argument that
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when you're talking about a bunch of
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items from a new season let's say of a
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clothing store it is a more convenient
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way for someone to get a look at all of
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the various new items on offer on an
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actual human body without having to
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scroll through an e-commerce website and
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there are certain haul videos that don't
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have the same negative underpinnings
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because basically the only way to shop
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at these stores is in haul form i'm
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thinking of course about grocery stores
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we've even done a video on this very
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channel about what the same grocery haul
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will cost at several different grocery
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stores but let's be clear if you're
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going to a grocery store and just buying
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a couple of items at one time you are
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absolutely doing it wrong and probably
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spending more money in the long run but
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for the vast majority of haul videos
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we're talking about shopping in a way
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that is neither particularly adapted to
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any budget-friendly lifestyle or
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sustainable on any sort of environmental
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or even personal level and while the
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implications of a video in which an
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individual took 500 of their own dollars
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and bought a bunch of clothing at like
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fashion nova isn't great from several
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different points of view it becomes all
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the more insidious when you realize that
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a lot of these haul videos are not even
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being paid for by the creator many haul
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videos especially for clothing are
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sponsored by a specific brand which
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means that those influencers are rarely
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paying full price or even at all for
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those products in fact they're often
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getting paid usually the brand gives the
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influencer a budget like 10 items or a
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thousand dollars and the influencers get
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to pick which items they want for a haul
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video and on top of that they will often
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get paid a flat fee for making it and if
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you click one of the links in their
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video description to buy something
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they're probably getting a commission on
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that too which is more often than not
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not properly disclosed so not only are
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they not paying for the clothes they're
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actually making money from the haul
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videos and in many cases the viewer is
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none the wiser about any of it but when
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you look at the kind of consumer habits
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that haul videos are basically designed
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to normalize the idea of buying one or
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two new items in a given season seems
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ridiculously low and as though you're
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depriving yourself there is undoubtedly
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a chicken or the egg phenomenon here but
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when you connect the haul video
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phenomenon which has been around for
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about 15 years to the extent to which
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fast fashion has given rise to up to 52
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micro seasons in a given year of
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clothing you start to understand the
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dynamic in which we're all being trained
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to think that constantly acquiring new
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items and acquiring many of them is the
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normal way to shop and feeling like you
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can't keep up can be a major bummer
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studies show that comparing ourselves to
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the flawless highlight reel that we see
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on social media can lead to feelings of
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inadequacy and depression and when we
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forget that those people are literally
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getting paid to look perfect because
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they often don't even disclose it
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properly it can tank our mental health
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and a perhaps less nefarious but
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arguably more ubiquitous phenomenon is
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the hashtag ootd or outfit of the day
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trends this is something i have
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participated in every now and again
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myself not using the hashtag i don't
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think but in any case the concept is the
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creator is showing you just a picture of
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what they're wearing they'll often tag
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the various brands or give more details
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on the outfit but on its surface the
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idea is pretty straightforward and
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honestly even before social media
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nothing particularly new this is what
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i'm wearing today not that complicated
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but there was a massive surge of outfit
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of the day videos on tiktok in august of
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2021 during rush week at the university
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of alabama it was a non-stop deluge of
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18 year old girls and designer brands
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and expensive pieces specifically chosen
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to impress their sorority of choice and
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while it was a fascinating look into a
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bizarre subculture of americana it was
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also an example of why outfit of the
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days can really bum us out the problem
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with many of these videos or even still
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photos is that they are often being
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explicitly curated in a way that is not
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realistic they're picking their most
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expensive items assembling outfits that
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are completely impractical to wear to
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different scenarios or wearing special
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occasion outfits that are being passed
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off as an everyday look and for those
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creators who do this on an almost
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everyday basis it heightens the pressure
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to never wear the same thing twice
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leading to over consumption and the
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perception on behalf of the viewer that
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wearing the same thing frequently is
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abnormal when that's the basis of most
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functional wardrobes the culture of
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things like halls micro seasons within
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fashion outfits of the day and always
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wearing something new bleeds into the
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mind of the average social media user to
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the extent that many of us don't even
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like posting photos on our own grids if
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we've already been posted in that outfit
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like objectively this is ridiculous
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right everyone knows we wear the same
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things sometimes but the culture of
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always needing to impress and give the
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impression that you have something fresh
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on on a daily basis has been so
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normalized in these viral videos and
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photos as to fundamentally alter our
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perception of how our wardrobe should
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look and similarly number two is
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obsessing over luxury items luxury
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brands are entering new platforms like
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tiktok to reach younger consumers
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gucci's videos regularly surpass a
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million views each and it is working a
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survey of millennials revealed that they
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spend an average of 500
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per month on luxury items 51 percent
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said that they would forego health care
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in favor of luxury goods and this is
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especially upsetting when you consider
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that people with chronic health issues
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are at a higher risk for depression and
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not having health care would only
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exacerbate that problem who are you guys
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literally who are the people who are
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spending 500 a month on luxury items and
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would forego healthcare in order to buy
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them i assume these people exist but
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get right with god now let's also be
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clear and put an asterisk that the fact
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that people even can choose between
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health care and anything else is wrong
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health care is a human right we're the
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richest country in the world give people
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health care for free we're the only
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developed country in the world where
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it's not a thing to just have health
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care what is wrong with us we deserve
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better
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get it together america we spend more
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per capita on health care than like any
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other country that has universal health
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care bernie sanders 2020 he can still
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pull this one out medicare for all and
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listen i am all for spending extra on an
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item that is of high quality if it is
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going to mean a lower cost per use in
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the long term or in other ways
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significantly improve your quality of
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life that is true of many things for
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example if you're buying something like
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a good pair of leather shoes or a nice
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coat often going for the nicer higher
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quality better assembled item is going
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to result in having to replace it less
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having to repair it less and generally
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getting a lot more use out of the item
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similarly ever since i switched to my
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dyson vacuum cleaner aka my son aka my
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husband i have never looked back i love
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vacuuming i really need to do it though
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i've been gone for a month
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that was gross but listen get a dyson
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you'll know what i'm talking about but
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it is important to remember that just
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because something is expensive or has
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luxury status or is marketed in an
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incredibly effective and luxury adjacent
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way does not mean that the product is
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better or that it's better for your life
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to quote the gay and wondrous life of
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caleb gallo
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sometimes
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things that are expensive
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are worse
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ultimately luxury marketing whether it's
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for a vacuum cleaner or a three thousand
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dollar bag has to go above and beyond
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appealing to the actual functionality of
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whatever the item is you're buying
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according to forbes luxury brands
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operate under the assumption that their
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customers are already getting their
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basic needs met they can afford rent
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they have food in the fridge and they're
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ready for something bigger so luxury
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brands promise to meet our higher level
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needs such as respect self-esteem and
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achievement luxury advertising is full
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of a-list celebrities private jets
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fabulous resorts and it insinuates that
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these things can be part of your life
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too
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in other words a designer purse won't
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just hold your keys and phone the story
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is that you will earn the respect of
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others and become part of an elite
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community when you carry a luxury bag
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you may even achieve
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self-actualization but the truth is that
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in reality almost no product is going to
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be able to live to this insinuated
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promise of becoming a better person or
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living a fundamentally different life
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there is almost always going to be a
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delta between what you expect that
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owning that chanel bag will do for you
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and what it actually does for you
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especially if it means a huge hit to the
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rest of your budget and that delta
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between our expectations and our reality
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in any given decision or experience is
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often what leads us to acute feelings of
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disappointment shame regret longing and
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even feeling worse about ourselves than
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when we started because at least before
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you bought the chanel purse you could
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say to yourself well once i have that
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chanel purse i'll be that person i've
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envisioned in my head now you're just
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you with a chanel purse number three is
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impulsive or compulsive spending impulse
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spending comes in many forms and frankly
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is more normalized than we'd like to
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think in our culture i mean who's among
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us hasn't made a joke about not being
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able to leave target without spending
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300 in a food state jury's out of its
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fugue state but i'm going to keep saying
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foog and while it is easy to be funny
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and relatable with talk of overspending
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in compulsive ways it is very much not a
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joke in our culture according to
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psychology today 80 of compulsive buyers
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being women and there's a lot of overlap
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between compulsive buying and addiction
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and the temptation to buy stuff is
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everywhere with the average person
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seeing up to 10 000 ads per day and
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these aren't just random ads for stuff
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that isn't relevant to you companies
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have gotten terrifyingly good at
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understanding exactly who you are how to
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market to you and what you want to buy
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you can look at a product one time and
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it will follow you around the internet
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for weeks which makes it very difficult
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to resist the temptation but side note
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guys get your algorithm together because
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the number of times that i have bought
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an item and then i have seen that exact
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same item for weeks after the fact it's
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like i have the trash can i can't buy it
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again
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fix your algorithm and when you're
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shopping online so many of the normal
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barriers to making purchases you
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otherwise wouldn't are totally removed
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you might have before been thwarted by
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expensive shipping a long wait on
[754]
delivery or a drive to the store but now
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you can get pretty much anything you
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want shipped to you very fast for very
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cheap which is part of the reason why
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one of the biggest and most important
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tips is to at minimum remove all of your
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card information from your browsers so
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that you at least have the tiny barrier
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of needing to get up and go get your
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wallet which can be more effective than
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many of us think and with so many
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opportunities to impulse or compulse
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spend we are more and more susceptible
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to the horrible cycle that it creates in
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terms of mental health we get a rush of
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excitement when we purchase which has a
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name it's called buyer's high and which
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can be extremely addictive and is often
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followed by buyer's remorse which is
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often felt when we buy an item we
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probably couldn't afford or knew that we
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didn't need and what's a great way to
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get rid of that nagging feeling of
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remorse getting back on that high again
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and buying something new that this time
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we think will fix the problem regular
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impulse spending has been shown to
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decrease overall ambient levels of
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happiness which can make you even more
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susceptible to chasing that buyer's high
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so it's important to remember just how
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dangerous this cycle is and just how
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much brands are constantly trying to
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keep us sucked into it number four is
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spending money because your friends are
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spending money we talk a lot on tfd
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about cultivating a social circle that
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is not only adapted to your financial
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lifestyle but fundamentally very
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empathetic and understanding about your
[833]
financial needs and limitations if
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you're not comfortable saying it's out
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of my budget to a friend you are often
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going to be drawn into spending tons of
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money you can't afford while feeling
[843]
like about yourself in the process
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in fact 27 percent of millennials have
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reported feeling uncomfortable saying no
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when a friend suggests an activity that
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they can't afford and according to a
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2018 credit karma qualtrics survey 48 of
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millennials admit to overspending even
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going into debt to keep up with their
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friends and this pressure to accept our
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friends invitations when they want us to
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go to a nice dinner or even on a fancy
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vacation is only compounded when we know
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that we are going to live out every
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single moment of what we're not able to
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do on social media should we decline
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which many often refer to as fomo
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spending and this can be the fear of
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missing out on a night out or even just
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a sweater that your friends are
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pressuring you to buy this fomo spending
[885]
can be so great that about half of
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millennials have reported going into
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debt because of fomo and because it is
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such a stigmatized reason to have gone
[893]
into debt as opposed to things like
[895]
student loans most people who are in
[897]
debt for these reasons keep it a secret
[899]
and the irony is that racking up debt
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you do not feel you can talk about is
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more likely to create feelings of
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isolation in you and what happens when
[907]
you feel isolated you want to connect
[909]
with your social circle which can
[911]
increase the pressure to make it seem
[912]
like everything's normal you're not
[914]
drowning in credit card debt and you can
[916]
totally afford to go to the bar with
[917]
them after work but maintaining an image
[919]
that is not true to our financial
[921]
reality is the most dangerous consumer
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habit of all which brings us to our last
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point number five is going into debt to
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fuel a specific lifestyle a few years
[930]
ago the internet went nuts over a woman
[932]
named lizette calvero lizette was
[934]
working in marketing in pr when she
[936]
decided to try her hand at being an
[937]
instagram influencer but being an
[939]
instagram influencer isn't cheap lizette
[941]
was constantly buying new clothes so
[943]
that she never had to repeat an outfit
[945]
and going out for sie bowls to get a
[946]
perfect photo eventually she started
[949]
springing for designer bags and plane
[950]
tickets to create the illusion of a
[952]
dreamy luxury lifestyle but her income
[954]
couldn't keep up with her influencer
[955]
spending on top of her everyday expenses
[958]
lisette racked up ten thousand dollars
[960]
of credit card debt while trying to
[961]
achieve her influencer lifestyle and
[963]
this is an extreme example but it is
[965]
more and more common to feel that they
[967]
have to spend at least some money in
[969]
order to maintain certain images fueled
[971]
by social media the level of visibility
[974]
into our lifestyles that social media
[976]
provides is unprecedented in human
[978]
history and extends the pressure to
[980]
impress our social circle and immediate
[982]
connections which has always existed
[985]
into the need to impress tens hundreds
[988]
even thousands of people we may not even
[990]
know according to a survey by chase
[992]
millennials are willing to spend more
[994]
money if it meant that they would get a
[995]
better instagram post out of it and 90
[998]
of millennials say that social media
[1000]
causes them to compare their wealth and
[1002]
their material possessions to their
[1003]
peers ultimately we'd likely be lying if
[1006]
we said that we don't think about the
[1007]
image that is being projected about us
[1009]
on our social media and it is sometimes
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hard to parse out what spending
[1013]
decisions are influenced by that need to
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impress versus the spending decisions
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that we otherwise would have made anyway
[1019]
a good litmus test though is challenging
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yourself not to take photos of certain
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things if you're worried that you may
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overspend because of it because
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ultimately all of these various consumer
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habits are leading us into a very
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dangerous cycle repeatedly spending
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beyond your means leads to debt and the
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average american has fifteen thousand
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nine hundred and fifty dollars in credit
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card debt and thirty nine percent of
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americans carry credit card debt month
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to month and debt can lead to a downward
[1045]
spiral when it comes to mental health
[1047]
with forty percent of people in credit
[1048]
card debt reporting that it has had an
[1050]
effect on their mental health and when
[1052]
you combine debt with sky-high interest
[1054]
rates it can create a feeling that you
[1055]
will never escape your cycle of debt
[1057]
which results in stats like people who
[1059]
are struggling to pay off debt being
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twice as likely to report depression and
[1062]
anxiety ultimately any one consumer
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habit can be enjoyed in moderation and
[1068]
be part of an overall healthy holistic
[1070]
relationship to your finances and your
[1072]
mental health but it's important to
[1074]
check in with ourselves about how we
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feel when we hang out with a certain
[1078]
friend or we see an ad for a certain
[1080]
item or we watch an outfit of the day
[1082]
video from an 18 year old who's wearing
[1085]
all designer labels like like i was
[1087]
getting that stuff marketed to me on my
[1088]
instagram real explore page and i was
[1090]
like is life not hard enough it's 20 21
[1093]
we are like almost two years into a
[1094]
pandemic do i need to be bombarded with
[1097]
like a gorgeous 18 year old wearing
[1099]
prada probably not we need to check in
[1101]
with not only how we're feeling but also
[1103]
the habits that this might be creating
[1105]
in us however having a strong
[1107]
relationship with our budgets tracking
[1109]
our spending closely and generally
[1111]
focusing more on our goals and what
[1113]
we're able to save than what we're
[1115]
spending on in a given month are great
[1117]
firewalls to some of the worst
[1118]
tendencies that these phenomena can
[1120]
bring on none of us are totally immune
[1122]
but we can build up a much better
[1123]
financial immune system as always guys
[1126]
thanks for watching and don't forget to
[1127]
hit the subscribe button and to come
[1129]
back every monday tuesday and thursday
[1130]
for new and awesome videos goodbye
[1143]
you
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