Robert Brokamp

Don't eat your money.

In other words, put cash in context.

Dining out has usually been the discretionary category that has sometimes gotten away from us.

As I've mentioned in a previous episode, once you've analyzed your spending, you'll find that you just have a few categories that you need to keep a better eye on.

And I think we were trying to acknowledge that very early on with this component of our manifesto, that eating out is the thing that we probably have to just stay on top of more.

All right, let's move on to component number four of our manifesto, the wacky khaki.

In other words, find ways to save money.

And this name came from my days as a financial advisor back in the 90s, and the CEO of a sportswear company came to talk to us basically to get us to sell his stock to our clients.

And he had a pair of khaki pants.

He said, we make these pants for around $10.

We sell them to Walmart.

Walmart sells them for $15.

We sell the same pants to JCPenney's.

They sell for $25.

We make the same pants, sell it to Macy's.

They sell for $40.

And the point being...

There are lots of ways to spend less money that don't necessarily result in much of a drop in quality of the goods or services that you're buying.

The importance of comparison shopping, looking for deals, you can find lots of ways to save money that don't necessarily result in a lower quality product, and being comfortable with used items by shopping on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or maybe through estate sales too.

And that's part of what makes you such a great mom, of course.