NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Why Traditional Budgeting Fails and What’s Missing from Your Money Plan
Mon, 17 Feb 2025
Learn how values-based spending can help you curb impulse buys, avoid financial blindspots, and rethink your money habits How can you stop impulse spending? How do you know if you’re making good financial choices? This episode explores mindful spending and financial habits that may be holding you back. Personal finance Nerd Kim Palmer kicks off the episode with a discussion on spending habits with guests Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni, hosts of the Frugal Friends podcast and authors of the new book, Buy What You Love Without Going Broke. They explore the pitfalls of extreme budgeting, how values-based spending leads to financial confidence, the importance of aligning spending with what truly matters, strategies to curb impulse purchases, and how to reframe financial mistakes without shame. Then, hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss financial blindspots with Jeremy, a listener who works as a talent agent in New York City. They dive into how to evaluate whether you're on track with savings, when to prioritize your time over income, and how to address financial gaps you might not be aware of. Jeremy shares his detailed approach to budgeting and saving while expressing uncertainty about whether he's missing something in his financial plan. They explore retirement savings options beyond a 401(k), the importance of disability insurance, estate planning considerations, and how to balance long-term financial security with enjoying money in the present. Are you on track to save enough for retirement? Use NerdWallet’s retirement calculator to check your progress, see how much retirement income you'll have and estimate how much more you should save: https://www.nerdwallet.com/calculator/retirement-calculator In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: impulse spending, financial blindspots, mindful spending, values-based spending, budgeting tips, budgeting strategies, spending guilt, financial regrets, smart money habits, how to stop emotional spending, personal finance mistakes, how to balance saving and spending, financial security, how to make a financial plan, retirement savings, estate planning, disability insurance, high-yield savings, robo-advisor investing, early retirement planning, how to save for retirement, and brokerage account alternatives. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email podcast@nerdwallet.com. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend.
Why does traditional budgeting often fail?
That's really interesting. And it leads me to a next question, because I know when I first started saving for retirement, I didn't actually have a goal in mind. I just was thinking, you know, let me max out everything I can and save as much as I can. But it really helped me to put things into perspective when I realized I should probably have a number that I'm saving towards.
So with that said, have you used a retirement calculator to get an estimate of how much you may need to save for retirement?
I did, I think it's probably like three or four years ago, to be honest, at this point. And I think the number I came up with was in the range of like 1.3 million. But I have not done it recently. And that probably would be a helpful thing for me to do.
Yeah, I would encourage you to play with that. We have a great retirement calculator on NerdWallet's website, so that's a pretty handy thing to pull up. Just Google like NerdWallet retirement calculator.
31.
Okay. And can I ask what your salary is?
It is just from my full-time job, or I have a couple other streams of income from part-time work as well. So total income?
I guess annual income, yeah.
Annual income is looking around a little above $130 a year.
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