Ep 42 | More Proof That Budgeting Doesn't Work

Ashley and Priya get real about what it takes to feel in control of your money. They unpack why traditional budgeting rarely works, how to think about spending in terms of happiness instead of guilt, and what it means to be a true financial adult. Ashley shares insights from her 30-Day Money Cleanse and Financial Adulting, along with stories about navigating money in relationships, planning for kids, and redefining what financial readiness actually looks like.

The conversation blends practical advice with real-life honesty that’s the right kind of approachable.

Takeaways:

• How to rethink budgeting as a happiness allocation instead of a restriction

• Why understanding your (and your partner’s) money story matters more than splitting hairs over expenses

• The real costs of planning for kids—and how to know when you’re actually ready

• Simple ways to track and reflect on spending without turning it into a second job

• Participants save an average of $950 in the first month using the method outlined in Ashley’s first book, The 30-Day Money Cleanse
  

Follow Priya Malani:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Youtube | Stash Wealth

Guest Bio:

Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, CFP®, is a personal finance expert, speaker, and the author of the award-winning books Financial Adulting and The 30-Day Money Cleanse. She founded The Fiscal Femme to get women wealthy and has helped thousands of people feel financially confident, achieve major financial goals, and destress their relationships with money.

Guest Links:

https://www.instagram.com/thefiscalfemme/

https://www.instagram.com/howdoyouaffordthis/

30 Day Money Cleanse: https://a.co/d/dVzsbgC

Financial Adulting: https://a.co/d/bYsUqub

Transcription

I'm dead.

Your bonus was gone in three months.

Are we talking like a six figure bonus or like it was?

Figure bonus $1000 but it was 35 once it hit my bank account.

You know, like after taxes, but still like.

Which was the biggest thing, like the concert ticket.

What?

What did you spend it on that you were like, oh God I just wiped out half my bonus?

So at this point I was being smarter.

I definitely like got bottle service when I was an intern.

I definitely, I bought Louboutins and then I returned them because I was like, this is like 10% of my net worth.

So this is not a smart choice.

I also did like back in the day, it was like hard to get a Birken bag.

So I would, I went and put my name on the list and they were like, we actually have 1 and I like smuck out of the store.

Like I'm not ready for this.

Who the fuck am I to tell you what to do with your money?

My name is Priya Malani, currently managing millions of hard working dollars.

Enough for play.

Let's talk.

Welcome to the F word.

Smart money.

Hey guys, welcome back to the F word today.

I'm really excited for our guest, my dear friend for over a decade, Ashley Feinstein Gersley, better known as the fiscal femme.

She is author, she is financial guru, she is mother, wife.

Do it all.

I don't know, Ashley.

I don't know how you do it all, but you clearly do.

We're going to talk about all things money today, but welcome, welcome to the F word.

Thanks.

Thank you.

I'm very excited for our conversation.

So before we jump into all things money, you are an author and a couple years ago you wrote a book called The 30 Day Money Cleanse, which is so empowering to think that you could quote UN quote, get your financial shit together in 30 days.

Tell us a little bit about what it's about.

Yeah, so the 30 day money cleanse came about because when I was doing one-on-one coaching, I was saying the same things over and over again.

And I noticed it was regardless of someone's income.

And so I actually invited a bunch of friends to my house who are entrepreneurs and I said, I'm going to give you a bunch of food and we're going to brainstorm how I turn this into a program.

And one of my friends, he was actually sitting on the couch messaging like, what are you doing?

I'm like, had you come here to help me?

And he said, oh, I just ate a cupcake.

I have to confess to my food cleanse group.

And I said, tell me more.

And so I saw that there was accountability there, like he felt like he had to share with them.

There was like support around it.

So I ended up having a call with the founder of his food cleanse group.

And I realized there was so much, so many similarities between food and money.

And so I turned a lot of what I was teaching into this cleanse program, which is not a traditional cleanse in the sense that you like, you take everything out and then you finally can go back to normal.

It's really about shifting your mindset and your lifestyle so that it sticks with you.

And the average person saves 950 in the 30 days and a large portion of that going forward.

And it's really about budgeting money mindset.

And I ran it live for five years.

I actually ran it as a phone call at first because I was so scared of video and I didn't.

And eventually people were like, can we like see something like, we're just dialing into this call to listen to your money stuff?

And then I turned it into a course.

And then that became my first book.

And it's fun.

It's a workbook.

And yeah, I I hope that it helps people who never would have thought that they would pick up a personal finance book, but to help them really feel intentional and and good about their spending.

That's incredible.

So the average participant in the 30 day money cleanse saves $950 in 30 days.

Yes.

We're going to drop a link to it in the show notes.

That's incredible.

And then following that, you wrote financial adulting.

What made you feel like you had stuff left unsaid?

And what is financial adulting all about?

So basically the money cleanse was like money mindset and budgeting, but then when people kept would reach out about anything else, I had to point them in different directions.

And so financial adulting is essentially all the other money topics like I talked about estate planning, taxes, investing, all the things.

And I interviewed I think 27 people for that book.

And so it's not only from my perspective, but other perspectives and filled those gaps.

And I honestly didn't think that I had another book in me, but my a new project I'm doing has me thinking like maybe I can write another book.

Is no small undertaking and we'll drop a link in the show notes for your financial adulting book as well because it's so great to get all the resources out there to empower everyone.

So you're a money nerd because you're also a CFP, which means you really love this stuff.

Why don't I?

I'd love for you to just share a little bit about your background and what has you so in love with the financial services space.

So it was interesting for so long I refused to get my CFP because the whole point of the fiscal FEMA was making it accessible.

If I could do what you can too.

And then if I Add all these like letters behind my name, it's less.

It's like showing you need credentials.

But I noticed that when I was interviewing people for financial dosing, it helped me feel confident.

And I'm like, if I'm screening for this, like maybe it would be helpful.

I can just dive into it.

But where I find my passion for it is just in the freedom and choices this money gives you.

And I saw it in my own life.

I see it over and over again in my community.

But for me, I studied finance, I worked in finance.

I still knew nothing about my own money.

I was making mistakes in every single area.

And I thought, if I don't know about this, like, who does?

And it turns out very few people do or did.

And I was, at the time an investment banker.

I quit the day after I got my bonus.

Good girl.

I went into a job that had like a lot more flexibility.

I was getting out of work at 6:00 PM instead of like 11:00 PM.

And so I just started making up for lost time and met friends for cocktails and went to concerts and took French class and did a lot of things every night and just was bleeding through my money.

And my bonus was gone in three months.

And I realized if I don't figure this budgeting thing out, like I'm not going to be able to stay in this job that has a better lifestyle because I'll need the higher paying job that has less flexibility.

And so it was very motivating to figure it out.

And I read a bunch of books and just started applying them to my own life And on a, on a dare, honestly, from a life coach, I started sharing it on a blog that was called The Fiscal Femme.

And then people said, hey, can you help me?

I needed help with this.

And can you write for us?

We don't have a lot of younger women writing about money.

And so I was like, oh, this is the thing.

And it evolved overtime, like through many different iterations.

You know, we've known each other for so long, but that's kind of where it all began.

I hear that a lot where it's like I needed to figure my shit out and lo and behold, I realized like everyone needs to.

And so I started putting my my thoughts out there.

Your thoughts are so excellent.

They're so nuggetable.

They're so bite sized.

You've built an incredible community, an incredibly engaged community too.

So it's one thing to like be putting your money tips out there, but I feel like you've done such a good job creating engagement and support.

I'm dead.

Your bonus was gone in three months.

Are we talking like a six figure bonus or like it was?

Your bonus $1000 but it was 35 once it hit my bank account.

You know, like after taxes, but still like.

Which was the biggest thing, like the concert ticket.

What?

What did you spend it on that you were like, oh God I just wiped out half my bonus?

So at this point I was being smarter.

I definitely like got bottle service when I was an intern.

I definitely I bought Louboutins and then I returned them because I was like, this is like 10% of my net worth.

So this is not a smart choice.

I also did like back in the day, it was like hard to get a Birken bag.

So I would I went and put my name on the list and they were like, we actually have 1 and I like smuck out of the store like I'm not ready for this.

So I had like a lot of things I thought I wanted to buy, but that was all.

When I was a banker, I think when I had switched, it was really about like the drip, like just the constant things that none of them seemed too wild.

And I think that's the complaint I hear most often.

It's like, Ashley, I'm not going on shopping sprees or these luxurious vacations, but like, where is my money going?

That's what I was hearing over and over.

And that's kind of, I knew in the back of my head it wasn't going well, but it wasn't till I sat down and looked at my bank account and said, Oh my gosh, yeah, My, it's worse than I thought.

It's gone.

So this is not sustainable.

OK, so that brings us to the topic of budgeting, which at Stash wealth is a dirty word.

We hate the word budgeting, but clearly it's a very solid technique for some.

I'm going to allow you to talk about it and the way you talk about it and the way it helps your audience because I'm not the person to talk to about budgeting.

So how do you talk about budgeting and get it to work for your people?

So I also hate the word budget.

I call it a happiness allocation because I think it's a much more fitting term.

It's how we allocate our money in the short and long term in the way that will make us the happiest, not just now, but also later.

And for me, a lot of it was just knowing where the money is going.

And when I saw that and I saw the impact because a lot of times, like for me, I thought, oh, I can't afford a vacation, but then I'm getting lunch every day or getting my latte every day.

And it added up to an incredible vacation when I swapped it out.

So I think seeing where my money was going, the true impact per year of those expenses, I could reallocate them in a way that served me.

And I realized I was doing so many things because I thought I was supposed to be doing them.

I don't even like shopping, right?

And that was something I was doing all the time, like walking into stores, not wanting or needing anything, and now I had to have something that I stayed.

You never want anything until you walk into the store.

Exactly.

So I'm like just torturing myself.

Like I love looking nice.

I love having nice things, but the act of shopping, I actually don't enjoy it.

I would have much rather someone be like this is perfect for you.

You should get this and wear it with this.

Like I I had a stylist once who gave me equations like that's what I need like this plus this plus this and this.

Good job.

Like clothing equations like skirt plus top plus belt equals good outfit.

Like what are we talking?

Well, it was a very capsule.

Like I had certain like dress pants, casual shirts, but always having like details, like at least three details, so a lip, an earring, like because I would just put on the dress and that's it.

You know, just like a little more please, a little more please.

So I'm, I know I'm not typical in that, but I think there's just things that we, our parents did or our friends are doing and we think it should be bringing us joy and it's not.

And maybe the money could go towards something else.

So that's how I think about budgeting and it's ever evolving and very personal.

To take that like one step further, what would be the very first step that you would give someone to get them lined up to start thinking about the happiness allocation?

Like is that the first step?

What comes before it?

How do you get your own happiness allocation?

It depends on the person.

I would say.

The first thing I have most people do is keep a money journal.

So just write down or type out what they spend.

And I think if it sounds absolutely horrible to you, then it's probably a good exercise.

And I think that a lot of times what feels like a manageable step for someone might feel overwhelming.

So just being able to chunk things down so that you feel like you actually will take the step.

I think so much of this and a lot of the part of the money cleanse is it's not just about the things we know we should be doing.

It's like the emotional behavioral things around it, the money mindset that has us keep going and actually take the step and be able to follow through and be realistic with ourselves.

So and the self talk, there's so much to it.

You could start with one category if tracking everything like feels too overwhelming.

If you're curious, hey, I'm just curious what I spend on shopping or I'm curious what I spend on dining out or whatever it is tracking one category you're curious about to just start because we can make a beautiful plan or happiness allocation, but if it's not reflective of reality, it's not that helpful.

It's just something on paper.

And so we want it to be realistic.

It could be optimistic, but still realistic.

I concur.

I I run into so many people who are like, I know where my money is going.

I promise you, don't start a journal.

Like even if you keep it for a week or two weeks or whatever, I don't know what you recommend.

There is like a starting point, but inevitably it's not so much like tracking where you're spending as it is the exercise of reflecting on what you've spent and whether or not you would spend that again.

Because all of a sudden now it gives you the insight as to wait.

I might have extra money that I'm spending in a way that I don't care about and I could reallocate it, I guess, towards what makes me happy.

Is that the idea?

Yeah, if you have enough.

Yeah, if your needs are met, that's what's great about it.

It's like, that's why I think it's not this restrictive thing.

It's an act of self love, like treating yourself.

But like you said, it's it's about the reflection.

It's kind of like if you're like, where is my day going?

You track your time and you see where it's going and or you know, I feel really sick after I have lunch.

Like what are you eating for lunch?

So I think tracking and reflecting, I think we're very do, at least to me, a very do move culture, reflecting is so important.

And at the beginning of each money cleanse week is a reflection.

Like, did you miss anything?

Because if you missed it, we don't want you to be missing it.

And if a lot of times it's like surprise, I didn't miss something, which is the fun one.

And really quantifying our progress can be helpful.

Like how much does this save me per year?

What else could I do with that?

Like get it to be juicy and exciting in the conversation versus like, I'm saving, you know?

Another thing that we often say is think about where you wish it was going first.

So like your goals, like if you wish you could travel more, you wish you could spend more money at the holidays, or if you wish you could do bigger gifts when gifting comes up, like for weddings and baby showers and all the things.

All of a sudden you have this inherent motivation to be a little bit more thoughtful about where your money is going because you have these things you really, really, really care about that you want to be able to do.

Yeah, it reminds me when, So before I quit my corporate job, I was building the fiscal femme and I knew how much it was losing a month.

Like I knew like this was how much I was losing.

This is how much I had in savings.

So this is my runway essentially to have this business.

Well, but I was working, so I didn't need that yet.

But every time I didn't spend money, I put it towards my project Freedom, which was this like I can quit fund and fund my business.

And so it was very simple for me to make those trade-offs at that time because I was so motivated by this Project Freedom Fund that I wanted to like go out and do this on my own.

So I think that your point to the motivation, it's like, oh, I'm going to Morocco or I'm going to have this incredible holiday spread.

Like having that in mind makes the decisions that much easier, I think because it's, you're thinking about the end result and it's real.

That's where the money will be going instead.

So it's not even a trick, it's just the reality.

One of my other most favorite topics to talk about when it comes to money is relationships, couples and money.

And you're in a serious relationship one might say.

So I'm curious when you got together with your husband, like what role did his financial savvy or maybe he wasn't play in your decision like did he need to be financially savvy?

Was that one of your criteria?

Because.

Great question.

Yeah, you know, I people think about it.

Right, you know, I think it's really important.

I think when I talk about couples and money, it's like, and I really do think who you're in a long term relationship with friends, even sometimes friends or colleagues that you're seeing everyday impact your finances, your partner impacts it so much.

Like people will say it's the biggest financial decision of your life, which, you know, I don't disagree with that.

That being said, they don't have to be experts, but they have to be willing to communicate and willing to learn and get better at it and be collaborative.

You know, not like so there are definitely red flags, but I think just because they're not good at it now does not mean like you can shun them or got to get rid of them.

But I think the willingness to learn, the willingness to talk about it is important because even I just actually made a real about this.

I am very much like an outsource it and spend money person and Justin is very much or do it ourselves and save money person.

And so that is a conversation and about and you know, I'm sure somewhere in the middle is probably the right balance for us and, and for our finances, but we, it's a, it's a conversation often that comes up and he's very money savvy and so am I.

So I think being able to have those conversations and compromise and understand something I have couples or I recommend couples do is talk about just like where they're coming from when it comes to money, because sometimes the way we're behaving around it is something much deeper and it helps us have compassion for each other.

So like what's your first money memory or what was your family like growing up?

Like if your family lost everything and that it was super stressful and feast and famine, like maybe you'd be more of a saver or more conservative.

And so I think knowing what drives those conflicts, you might be a saver in one area, but then your partner is a saver in a different area and you're in a spender in that area.

And so to know where they're coming from can help us be more compassionate and just get the underlying fear that is behind it or the underlying goal.

And then I also recommend if money is stressful, to have money parties every month where if if something urgent happens, like you're hacked, deal with that.

But if like the Amex bills really high, say let's talk about it at the money party and we're going to set the tone that it's going to be compassionate and kind.

Like I've even had couples have a jar with money.

Like if someone says something kind of judgy that to put a dollar in, you know, but setting the stage for a productive conversation and you can kind of compartmentalize it, but you got to deal with it.

Would you be willing to share some of the things that you and Justin like part of your setup, just some decisions you guys have made about how you manage your money as a as a team, as a couple and maybe like where you don't align or keep things together.

So as far as our roles, I think you can play to each other's strengths.

So like I am the person who loves to go in and like track and look at what we spend and like track our net worth and do all that stuff.

Like I report it back, we talked about it.

But like, I'm the one who like physically does that, where he's the one who's going to like negotiate for days with a mortgage lender, like between like multiple mortgage lenders and like we each have our, our roles or he's going to call and get like a fee taken off.

Like he, he doesn't mind those long, tedious phone calls.

I don't mind long, tedious spreadsheets.

So I think as long as it feels kind of Fair and you're both taking apart and doing the thing that feels good to you, I think it's fine to have different things that you each do as long as everyone's in the know.

It's interesting because I have a business, so I have a like accounts that are separate to me outside of retirement.

I don't know, if I didn't have that, maybe I would keep a checking that was separate, you know, so I feel like I have my own thing going on.

But I do feel like in that way, like he has an apartment that he subleases and.

So he has his business, I have mine, we have those accounts and then kind of these and joint things.

And so I do when I work with couples, I feel like there's this push to like have everything be joined.

And I think for a lot of people it works to have some things joint, something separate.

You know, I don't think it reflects poorly on your relationship if you just like have you want to have some things to yourself.

He's really good at keeping the emotion out of things.

Like he was able to sell our first apartment.

You know, we had, we kind of went into this agreement together that we'd come up with a number and we call it our make us move price.

And if someone gives us that price, we'll move.

And you know, I think.

That's a great idea.

Yeah.

And we tell agents honestly, we keep it off market, but we're like, if you can and we it has to be good enough that it actually is worth moving for.

But I feel like it's less hard for him to have no emotion in it.

I really stick to it that the number is good enough that like, yeah, you're like, that was great memories, but this is really good for our finances.

So that's something we do that's kind of that's kind of fun.

You definitely sound like you're on the same page and you guys like have a divide and conquer sort of approach which allows each of you to have your own lane, your own strengths, and then let the other person handle the stuff that they don't want to do.

Yes.

But fights, any money fights like what is one of the things that you guys disagree on or if whether it's for the kids or I'm very curious, like, yeah, couples and money.

I mean, that's 70% of couples fight about money more than sex.

I would say that he's a things person.

I mean, I'm an experiences person.

He's the person who does the grocery shopping and I, I have, I like to have certain things that are organic.

I get The Dirty dozen organic I get he calls them college educated eggs.

Like every time he goes to the grocery, he's like, do I really have to get this version?

It's like 3 times as much and I'm like, we've been married for 10 years.

Like this is never changing just except that I like fancy eggs, you know, like so he finally stopped bothering about the eggs.

He loves buying kitchen appliances and he doesn't cook.

It's like we have our things that bothers the another one and you know, we tease, but as long as it's within limit and gets approved, you know it overall, then we're good.

But they're definitely he's like, are you kidding me with this?

Like, why are we gonna?

Want to know what that is like?

What did he bring home?

Or you're like, you don't even make pasta from scratch.

So he got an apple peeler also moving like apartments, Like, it's not like we have unlimited space.

So we have an Instant Pot and he's made chili once in 10 years.

And he's like, I need a slow cooker.

And I'm like, Oh my God, you don't need a slow cooker or he got these peelers because he remembers from being a kid.

Like these apple peelers, they sit on the counter and you turn it and there's like appeal.

And the peel is fun.

But he did one appeal.

If someone says anything like you don't have a soup ladle, like it's there, it's coming and we'll never use it.

So I'm also very much like a like, I don't keep things I don't use.

I rent a lot of my clothing.

Like I have my basics, but like, he'll keep a white shirt and think, you know, there might be a White Party or black party, you know, and I need to be prepared.

So I think not only money, but just like utilization of space.

I like, yeah.

Or just, you know, beauty treatments.

He doesn't spend anything in that area, but he likes to have the latest technology.

So we're, I think stuff versus experience.

Or I love meal service.

Like, I don't want to have to cook, you know, He don't have cereal.

So we're both Divas in our own way.

I don't want you to get mad at me, but I have another device.

I wonder if he has?

I've been recently obsessed with an olive stuffer so you can make like your own blue cheese stuffed olives for martinis.

Hello.

I'm never telling him about this.

He loves he loves blue cheese stuff for olives.

Oh my God, do they?

Taste better when they're freshly stuffed.

I me, and it's part of the novelty.

Ashley, come on, you can.

Also expand it with your initials on the olive.

Oh, I want, I actually want that.

I want the ice blocks where you can stamp them with your own design.

Yeah, those are fun.

My parents have that.

So fun, so fun.

OK, I'm going to ask a final kind of AC question.

Did you guys talk about affordability of your children before you had them?

Well, we definitely have before we have any more.

Kids are so fucking expensive.

I know, I think he jokes because he wanted four and I wanted 2, so we compromised and had two, but literally I'm the one having them.

But we knew it was expensive.

I think we we budgeted.

I did mess up some things like I didn't realize camp.

That was one that really surprised me.

You like our kids are in private school and I just thought, wow, we can cover that.

But then it's like, wait, then they have nothing to do all summer.

So that was an expense that I now like set aside money for all year or if we had a bonus or something in there to smooth that out.

We made a budget, but it wasn't really.

So whether or not because of the budget we've it's kind of like we're doing this.

But I think for any more, it's definitely something that we realize it's like many fold expense to add to someone.

I think that could be a whole nother episode.

There's so much to talk about and planning for children and most people I think go into it with that same we're having them, we'll figure it out.

But what what does that entail?

Because there's so many, so many times that we run into situations with clients and they're like, Oh my God, nobody told me.

So many things to plan for.

Ashley, thank you so much for being so vulnerable and just like authentic with your story.

I do want to leave after all that money talk with a bit of a palate cleanser, let's call it.

We like to do this segment.

I like to do this segment called Best Bite because I'm a foodie and I just love a good recommendation.

So with that in mind, can you think of something that you would recommend, something that you recently had at a restaurant, something that you made, but either a bite or a sip that you think is to die for?

It doesn't have to be like recent, but maybe you traveled somewhere.

What is your best bite?

Well, the one if I'm thinking like best ever, it was on our honeymoon there.

We went to Piazza Duomo I think was the name of it restaurant in Italy.

And it was like, I think it changes based on the season, but it was like a 57 ingredient salad.

And it was so beautiful.

It looks like a garden.

And it was just so fresh, so many flavors.

And I just remember being just, you know, hook your breath away when it came out.

I love that you're sending me to Italy for a salad.

I'll send you a picture.

I also love I'm like, I'm a pescatarian, but I love my veggies.

So OK, it's not your typical salad.

It's actually more like eating flowers, but it's beautiful.

OK, now I need to go check it out.

That is awesome.

So Piazza Duomo.

Yes.

And the 57 ingredient salad.

Yeah, it's a tasting menu.

It's like, I think it's 3 Michelin or two Michelin star or something.

It's a tasting menu, but that was part of it and it was really beautiful.

I'll send a picture.

I'll I'll find the picture with them.

What?

Wait, what part of Italy?

Which city?

Where was your honeymoon girl?

We had like a very long honeymoon.

We went all over Italy.

We we Rd. tripped all through Italy.

So I wanna, I feel like it was that's a great question.

It was like in a countryside, maybe in Piedmont.

OK.

All right, Awesome.

My gosh.

Love chatting with you.

Tell the people where they can find you, where they can join your money club.

You recently started a new, amazingly interesting, fascinating Instagram account.

Please tell everyone all the ways in which they can stay on board for your journey.

Yes.

So you can find me on all the socials at the Fiscal Femme like Priya mention, I have a money club.

You can find it on the website thefiscalfirm.com/money Club and it is a community where we have monthly events.

We just had Priya come talk about investing, but we talk budgeting every month investing.

There's office hours, there's gold check insurance.

It's just an incredible community of women going after their goals.

Like unabashedly.

Someone posted yesterday that they hit the 50K mark and we all were celebrating.

It's just not something you typically can send to like your group chat.

You know, hopefully we can.

Hopefully you can, but if you can't, this is a really great place to do it.

I started a new account called How do you afford this?

Because I just want to know, I want all the deets.

Like when I see someone on a boat, I'm like, how much does that cost?

Is that your boat?

What is this trip cost?

What is your house cost?

I just want to understand how people are affording things and what they're doing savvy, you know, what's helping it make it possible.

And so I just started an account where I'm doing women on the street interviews, asking people how they're affording the shopping they're doing.

I kind of want to go in front of like a Whole Foods and be like, how do you afford this?

But also their homes, their vacations.

And so it's been really fun and to just dive in and get to talk to people about like the details of their money.

It's so cool.

I've already been following it and it's incredible the types of things that people say.

I remember one girl I saw in one of your reels.

She was like, my husband pays for everything.

I just pay for all my monies for the fun stuff.

I was like, oh girl, that is one way to afford things.

That's right.

I know people have been really honest, which it's a fun and a voyeuristic way to see how people afford it, but I think it also kind of shows that a lot of people aren't affording it themselves.

And so I think it can make people feel better.

Like there's no judgment or shame in it.

It's just like realistic, like when you're seeing when you have the same job as someone and they're living a different lifestyle, there's probably something else funding it.

And so I think it's in a way helping us be a little easier on ourselves when we, we really understand where that's coming from, where it's their parents house or you know, it's so that's been really fun.

I hope it gives people some Peace of Mind.

Good reality check.

Really, really smart point.

Thank you, Ashley, this was a blast and thank you everyone for listening.

If this episode helped you or you found something we want to share with a friend, we're trying to grow the channel.

So please share it, like it, subscribe all the places and we're so grateful for your support.

We'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening to the F word with Priya Malani.

If you like what you heard, hit subscribe wherever you're listening and leave us a review while you're at it or approval junkies.

Don't forget you can find a ton of great resources, content, courses and other freebies at stashwealth.com.

Now for the capital F stuff our lawyers want us to say Stash wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Content presented it's for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific security product, service or strategy.

Consult with a qualified investment advisor that's us before implementing any strategy.

Investing involves risk, including.

THE STUFF OUR LAWYERS WANT US TO SAY: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.