#600 Unpacking Money and Clutter: Exploring the Deep Connection Part 2 with Coach Stefania Mariaa

#600 Unpacking Money and Clutter: Exploring the Deep Connection Part 2 with Coach Stefania Mariaa

by | Jan 16, 2024 | Clutter Free Podcast, Finances, Home, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

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600 – Unpacking Money and Clutter: Exploring the Deep Connection Part 2 with Coach Stefania Mariaa

We all have a limited amount of our three greatest resources: time, energy, and money. Do you feel like you could be doing a better job making decisions about how to use those resources?

Welcome to the conversation, friend!

In Part 2 of Unpacking Money and Clutter: Exploring the Deep Connection, Kathi and Coach Stefania Mariaa continue the conversation about wanting to put every dollar, every bit of energy, and every bit of time into something that gives us a return. But what do those returns look like? Listen in as they talk about financial intimacy and other topics such as:

  • How to get out of shame cycles
  • How to change your mind set about mistakes.
  • How “spending by proxy” affects your financial health

Have you listened to 599 Unpacking Money and Clutter: Exploring the Deep Connection Part 1 with Coach Stefania Mariaa? Click here.

Find information about Coach Stefania Mariaa’s financial Master Class here.

 Sign up here to be notified when the next episode is released.

The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home

Homesteading [hohm-sted-ing]
noun
1. an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
2. the act of loving where you live so much that you actively ignore the fact that your house is trying to kill you on a regular basis.

For Kathi Lipp and her husband, Roger, buying a house in one of the most remote parts of Northern California was never part of the plan; many of life’s biggest, most rewarding adventures rarely are.

Kathi shares the hard-won wisdom she’s gained on her homestead journey to help you accomplish more at home, gain fresh perspective, and give yourself grace in the process. Here’s a handful of the lessons Kathi shares:

  • Prepare before the need arises
  • Everything is always in process, including us
  • Your best household solution is time and patience
  • You don’t have to do everything the hard way
  • Be open to new and better ways of doing things
  • A lot of small changes make a huge difference.
    Highly practical, humorous, and inspirational, The Accidental Homesteader will encourage you to live with more peace, joy, and contentment.

Order your copy of The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home here.

Links Mentioned:

Kathi Lipp’s Clutter-free Academy Facebook Group 

 

Favorites:

Learn more about Clutter Free for Life

Have you ever felt shame about past financial mistakes? How has listening to this episode helped reset your thinking on those feelings?

Share your answers in the comments.

Let’s stay connected

To share your thoughts:

  • Leave a note in the comment section below.
  • Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.

Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.

Meet Our Guest 

 

Stefania Mariaa

Stefania Mariaa is a multidisciplinary coach guiding people back to their radiant and sovereign wealth without abandoning themselves for anything less.

Connect with Stefania Mariaa on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok @stefaniamariaa or @bank.membership, her website, or for her free teaching here.

Transcript

Kathi (00:04.398)
 Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter-Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And guys, we are back for part two of this amazing conversation with Stefania Maria. On TikTok, you can find her at bank membership. We’re gonna have all the links.

down below so you can find out all about her. But last week, and if you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, go back, listen to that, and then come back here because you are going to want to have the first part of this conversation. And when we left off last week, we were talking about financial intimacy, and we defined it in the last episode. But I wanna, so how…

Can my listener give us a one, a two sentence recap of what financial intimacy is and how can my listeners discover that for themselves?

Stefania Mariaa (01:11.587)
Absolutely. So financial intimacy is the practice of getting honest and vulnerable about how you use your resources of time, money, and energy. And what that requires is actually going to look at the reality you’re living. So something as simple as like looking at your bank account, reviewing your bank statements. But beyond that, it’s not just enough to like see them objectively. It’s to ask yourself a question deeper.

What is this showing me about how I’m showing up in my life? What is the way that my calendar is structured, reflecting back to me, whether I’m respecting myself or disrespecting myself? And that continues on into money and it continues on into your energetic, like how full of vitality you are. What is this reflecting back to me?

Kathi (02:02.465)
Yeah.

And you guys, if you feel like, oh, this is weird. This is just weird. These are woohoo kind of things that we’re talking about here. Can I tell you why it’s weird? It’s because as a society, we don’t value people’s time, their energy, and that goes into money. And so we don’t value it, so we don’t talk about it. And here’s what I will say, that corporations,

marketing, all that. It is to their detriment that you look at these things because you will make wiser choices. Am I in the right ballpark, Stefania?

Stefania Mariaa (02:46.019)
Absolutely. And the greatest thing about this is that it’s not necessarily that like businesses will fail in the face of financial intimacy. That’s definitely not what I’m saying. But what I am saying is that even as a business owner, if everyone around you is practicing financial intimacy, you know that your clients are spending money with you because it’s an extension of their self-respect.

Kathi (02:47.596)
Okay.

Kathi (02:54.467)
No.

Kathi (03:00.738)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (03:09.162)
right. Yes. They are.

Stefania Mariaa (03:10.583)
Right? Like, doesn’t that feel so much better?

Kathi (03:14.514)
It’s an investment instead of an oops. And that’s what we want. We want you to be putting every dollar, every minute, every ounce of energy into the thing that’s going to give you the best return. And I’ve talked about this in our coaching this morning, and not a lot of people know this, that I went through a couple of bouts of situational depression. And you know,

Stefania Mariaa (03:31.213)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (03:43.034)
I have no problem with people watching TV. I have no problem with people being on TikTok. But I was doing that to avoid some other things in my life. And if I had understood this financial intimacy, I would have said, you know what? This is, you know, I have no problem with people watching TV, but instead of watching a Friends rerun for the 700 time, maybe I watch a movie that I always say I don’t have time for.

but I think would be really enriching to me or a documentary. And it’s okay to waste some time, some time, but when you’re doing it consistently, when you’re wasting your energy consistently, when you are wasting your money consistently, that’s something to look at. There’s something that’s not aligned in your life and you need to get to the bottom of that.

Stefania Mariaa (04:33.315)
Absolutely. And you know, I’m often like telling people, so I lead people through a process called the bank money audit. And it’s really, it’s quite an extensive process because it readjusts how people look at reviewing their bank statements, reviewing their credit card statements, because it does ask what version of you is showing up to waste your resources.

Kathi (04:40.248)
Right.

Kathi (04:43.502)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (04:57.142)
Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (04:57.659)
Is it your younger child who’s looking to be held, like your inner young one? Is it your inner teen who’s rebelling or conforming against the world? Is it your, like whatever part is operating at that place? Because if it is, it means that you’re actually not present. Like you’re not taking care of all of those parts of yourself to ensure that they’re nourished. So now they have to go rogue with your life.

Kathi (05:01.238)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (05:22.707)
spend the entire weekend binging Netflix, even though you really wanted to go to the gym or really wanted to bake or really wanted to spend the morning with friends. It doesn’t really matter. You weren’t an active participant in your life. So these other parts came in to get their needs met in a really rogue way. It’s the best way to explain it.

Kathi (05:22.935)
Ha ha ha!

Kathi (05:42.13)
Yeah, and they’re not going to go away. By ignoring them, you need to address them. And so this is a great way of doing it. Okay, you talk about being wounded by your past financial mistakes. A lot of time clutter is also a result of being wounded. How do you talk people through this so that they can be free from that past that keeps rearing its ugly head?

Stefania Mariaa (06:10.935)
So part of, this is a little bit weird and woo to some, but what I will say is that shame is an addiction.

Kathi (06:20.182)
Yes, yeah, we talk about shame all the time in here. Yes

Stefania Mariaa (06:23.559)
Yeah, so when we have, let’s say, this embarrassing financial decision that we made, we spent too much money on XYZ, or even time wise, I spent too much time on TikTok, or I.

Kathi (06:28.894)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. You guys, she said Zed because she’s Canadian. So I just to all my Canadian listeners, I just want the shout out. You noticed that other people may not have, but I know you love it when we have our Canadian friends on here. Please go ahead.

Stefania Mariaa (06:36.861)
Ew.

Stefania Mariaa (06:49.428)
I haven’t said a yet, so that’s great. But whenever we spend in excess of our resources, there’s usually this moment of embarrassment, like how could I do that? Oh my gosh, I’m bad. And it’s like this gasping for air. And the problem being is that if that becomes our familiar, if that is the thing that is the most frequent experience.

Kathi (06:51.736)
Hahaha!

Stefania Mariaa (07:15.191)
there’s a neuro groove that gets reinforced there. And even though it’s a negative experience, that neuro groove being reinforced means that we know what to expect from it. So we can feel the shame, we know how to move through the shame, we know how to bask in the shame, but we don’t know how to be unashamed for the past decisions we’ve made. And so if you find yourself in these cycles of like, I’m so humiliated.

Kathi (07:28.48)
Okay.

Kathi (07:36.238)
Mmm.

Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (07:43.415)
that I made that past decision, and I don’t wanna make another mistake like that. The first step is to one, and this is gonna sound a little callous, but like, get over yourself. That shame doesn’t pay. If anything, it actually locks up your energy so that you never move beyond it and that you sit in these looming mental kind of self-harming cycles, instead of being like, oh, I made that mistake. This is why I think it’s a mistake, not what others think is a mistake.

Kathi (07:52.687)
Mmm, right.

Kathi (08:01.632)
Yeah.

Kathi (08:06.976)
Right.

Mm-hmm. This is why I think this is. Yeah. Whatever makes sense. Right. What I think makes sense. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (08:13.239)
This is why I think it’s a mistake. And this is what I’ve learned from it. And this is how I’m gonna shift moving forward. I often say to people like, you know, student loan debt is like a huge thing that people feel ashamed by.

Kathi (08:21.781)
Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (08:29.271)
Right?

Kathi (08:29.828)
Guys, there is a huge industry out there to get you to have student loans. They have spent decades perfecting how to entice you into this. This is not something you should be ashamed of.

Stefania Mariaa (08:37.012)
Oh yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (08:45.155)
Absolutely not. And one of the things that I often teach people is like, well, one, you were a teenager when you made that decision. And even though that sucks, teenage you thought that adult you would be able to handle it.

Kathi (08:51.626)
Yes. I think we know that sucks. Mm-hmm.

Kathi (08:59.962)
Right, right, absolutely.

Stefania Mariaa (09:01.923)
Okay, so when you made that decision, you did the best you possibly could given the circumstances you were in. And I understand that as an adult, you have a lot of judgment for the teenage decision, but that’s where you need to get over yourself because they did the best they could.

Kathi (09:07.818)
Right. Yes.

Kathi (09:14.928)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (09:18.874)
Right, they were trying to take care of you. Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (09:21.675)
Yeah. And this extends beyond, like, you know, some people they’ll feel regret for a marriage that they entered into. Well, past you wasn’t from the same frame of reference. So all that shame and humiliation is really a self judgment rather than self honoring.

Kathi (09:28.278)
Yeah. Well, passed you. Right.

Yes.

Kathi (09:38.06)
Yes.

Stefania, I will tell you, I have come to the conclusion just within the past few months, that 25% of my decisions are mistakes. Now, it’s everything from the kind of canned sardines I bought, to my first marriage, to so many things I’ve done are mistakes. And I think that is entirely human.

So even though 25% of my decisions are mistakes, I’m learning from 100% of them. And I, and you know, like I would say probably in my late teens, early twenties, 75% of my decisions were mistakes. So my average is getting better. It’s just when we live our lives on such a razor thin margin that we can’t make mistakes without absolute disaster that we get into trouble.

Stefania Mariaa (10:16.579)
exactly.

Stefania Mariaa (10:38.071)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (10:39.338)
And so that’s why we have to understand that there are going to be mistakes.

Stefania Mariaa (10:43.523)
Absolutely, and I love that you bring this into the conversation around like, oh no, if I make a mistake, my life’s going to combust.

Kathi (10:50.653)
Right.

Stefania Mariaa (10:52.175)
So the way that I teach financial intimacy, there is like this deeply spiritual aspect of it. And I think most money teachers, if they have any sense, will also include the spiritual aspect of it. And so there’s this concept of, we’ll always reach points in our life where we’ll have to like totally surrender to reality. I’m of the mind that if money is this like do or die experience,

Kathi (10:58.422)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (11:03.669)
Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (11:19.399)
It actually means that there were several instances prior to that moment that got ignored.

Kathi (11:25.782)
Mmm, yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (11:28.299)
It’s like, I need to leave my job and find a better job, but yet you stayed at that job for another eight months. And now you’re in a do or die. It’s, I need to take a look at my spending, but then you avoided your credit card statement for a year, and now you’re in this tremendous debt. It’s the magic people want around their money is actually in the work they’re avoiding.

Kathi (11:34.263)
Right.

Yeah.

Kathi (11:45.579)
Yeah.

Kathi (11:52.054)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (11:53.579)
Right? And so when we’re looking at this, like, I can’t afford to make a mistake. It’s like, actually now is when you need to make the mistake because you didn’t make them when you could afford it.

Kathi (12:00.896)
Yeah.

Right, and guys, it is painful to look at your current situation, but it is absolutely necessary because what it does is it says, oh, this is why I made this decision, this is why I did this. You know what, I’m gonna forgive myself for that, but I’m also not going to repeat that mistake by ignoring it, and that is a beautiful thing. Stefania.

Stefania Mariaa (12:11.427)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (12:29.822)
The reason I wanted this whole conversation is because you did a TikTok about spending by proxy. And I have never heard this before, but I have done this. I have done this a bunch of times. And I want you to explain what spending by proxy is, what it looks like in our lives, and how we can correct it. Go.

Stefania Mariaa (12:54.147)
Absolutely. So spending by proxy, said simply, is that when you spend like the people you are near to. So what this looks like, it starts again, it’s something that is very rooted in our teenage years because we’re surrounded by other friends. Now if those friends were also in financially turmoil experiences, we will mimic their spending for connection. If we had friends who are more financially better off than we were, we would have been

Kathi (13:09.55)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (13:16.63)
Right. Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (13:22.859)
we will still mimic their spending for connection. So spending by proxy is actually a way of using money to induce a sense of connection, even though it’s not the connection we really desire, but to mimic it so that we don’t feel so isolated in our personal experience. And so what this can look like is, when I was in startup world,

Kathi (13:26.201)
Uh-huh. Yes.

Kathi (13:38.359)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (13:44.779)
Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (13:51.059)
So to give you some background, I used to be a financial controller for an international startup. That meant I was going back and forth from San Francisco, from LA. I was rubbing elbows with some really upper echelon startup culture people. And there was this sense of, oh, I can just buy flights. Going back to last week’s episode where I was talking about this over-reliance on abundance. I’ll just buy flights. I’ll always get more money. I’ll always get another paycheck. I’ll just buy flights.

Kathi (13:55.356)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (14:08.056)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (14:14.479)
Right. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (14:20.427)
What this meant was that I was incurring quite a lot of spending around flying because the people I was surrounded by were able to freely do that. Meanwhile, I was actually not in a position to not question the price of these flights, right? And so kind of unconsciously, blindly would be paying for these things. And then as I started to deepen in my financial intimacy practice, I was like, oh, I was not actually like,

Kathi (14:24.898)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (14:30.259)
Yeah.

Kathi (14:36.566)
Right! Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (14:50.111)
Some of those flights were not true for me. It actually wasn’t respectful for me to be spending money on those flights. I could have bought something that was a little bit more aligned. But on the flip side, spending by proxy also showed up in my life when I moved back to rural BC during the pandemic. Cause I was like, I have property there. I can live there, renovate the cottage, even though there was no running water. You know, it was a real like real roughen it life.

Kathi (14:53.25)
Meh. Mm-hmm.

Kathi (15:00.672)
Yeah.

Kathi (15:10.09)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (15:17.562)
Wow. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (15:20.483)
But what I started to recognize was, oh, I’m starting to take on my parents’ financial belief systems again. I’m taking on my friends from high school, their financial perspectives, but they don’t live the same life I do. And to give you kind of a simple example of how I started to unwind this was, I was renovating my property, and the one thing I was really clear on that I deeply wanted was a cloth-foot bathtub.

Kathi (15:37.366)
right.

Kathi (15:50.966)
Oh, I understand that deeply, yes.

Stefania Mariaa (15:51.959)
I was like, yep. I was like, that’s all I want. And given that I didn’t have running water, it was like the epitome goal, right? Like, I can’t wait to have bath in my claw foot bathtub. And I remember having a conversation with a friend and their response was, do you know how expensive that is? Which I’m going to tell you, if you have that sentence in your vocabulary, I want you to get rid of it. Because…

Kathi (15:59.079)
Of course!

Yeah.

Kathi (16:18.91)
Yeah, yeah, it’s a judgment that doesn’t need to be there.

Stefania Mariaa (16:22.995)
Exactly. Now, in that moment when it came up, because it actually showed up several times. It came, like the guy at Home Depot said that to me. And like, all of these people were just, oh yeah, all of these people were just projecting onto me this expense. And I was like, wow, I have one of two options here. I can either A, cower and agree, which would then take on their belief system that there is some number that I’m supposed to obey when it comes to renovations on my home.

and what I’m going to be using my resources towards. Or I can actually have some backing for myself.

Kathi (16:51.701)
Yes.

Kathi (16:55.15)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (17:02.701)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (17:03.167)
It’s not expensive because it’s exactly what I want to spend my money on. Now I’ll be, I’ll give you some full disclosure here. The more you align yourself with reverent spending, right? Where your money is an extension of your self-respect. It will be deeply confronting to those who still use their money in disrespectful ways, because sometimes not spending money is the disrespectful thing.

Kathi (17:25.066)
Right. It’s-

Kathi (17:29.866)
Yes. Ugh, yes! It’s so true.

Stefania Mariaa (17:32.767)
Right. And so in spending by proxy, I could have totally cowered and been like, Oh, I have to save all my money. Even though self-employed, I make good money. I live very like, again, I didn’t have running water. I don’t have any vices. Like I live a very sober, clear life. I was like, wow, here are these people who are spending their money on like dirt bikes, like brand new dirt bikes. And those are a couple of grand that they only use in rural Northern BC, you know, a couple months out of the year.

Kathi (17:39.01)
Yeah.

Kathi (17:49.687)
Yeah.

Kathi (17:55.134)
Yeah. No.

Stefania Mariaa (18:01.799)
on the weekends. So let’s say 12 weekends. They’re spending a couple grand on 12 weekends. And I’m like, oh, but my bathtub that is only $1,600 that I will use every single day is too expensive.

Kathi (18:02.406)
Right. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (18:17.203)
I started to realize that this concept of like, that’s expensive was a way of trying to control other people’s experience of resources. So the practice, right? And it was like, the practice was like, wait a minute, I’m sovereign. I’m reverent. How I’m going to use my resources is up to no one else other than me because how I earn my resources is also generated by no one else other than me.

Kathi (18:26.841)
It is so true. Yeah.

Kathi (18:33.708)
Yes.

Right.

Kathi (18:41.343)
Yeah.

Kathi (18:47.662)
Stefania, it’s not about respecting money, it’s about respecting yourself and knowing what’s important to you, what is going to bring you joy, what is going to save you the time that you need or the energy you need. We all have to constantly balance all of these resources and nobody else can make those decisions for us. If you have a spouse or a partner, yes, you get to have those discussions.

Stefania Mariaa (18:54.147)
Exactly.

Kathi (19:17.11)
But you have to know what’s important to you because there are things that are incredibly important to my husband that are not important at all to me. But because I respect him and I care deeply for him, that’s where our money goes. And it’s vice versa. But if we never have the discussion, then we’re always choosing the lesser thing and fighting over the bigger thing.

Stefania Mariaa (19:33.955)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (19:45.662)
And that’s not how I want to live my life. Okay, we have like exactly one minute. Guys, in the last episode, we talked about the Entertein Money Masterclass. I’m going to put a link for that in here. Guys, just trust me, go do it. It’s a half hour of your time. It’s going to reveal some of the beliefs you have around money, some of the thought patterns, what other people have told you about money.

that you don’t need to believe anymore and how to get over that. And Stefania, I want them to follow you on TikTok because you give little tiny master classes every single time you get on there. People need to, we need to realign our neuro pathways about how we think about money. Stefania, thank you so much for being here today.

Stefania Mariaa (20:28.62)
I really do.

Stefania Mariaa (20:38.391)
Thank you so much for inviting me. I love having these conversations and as long as they land with the people that lands with, that’s all I’m here to do.

Kathi (20:45.518)
Yeah, exactly. And you guys, as you start to unpack your money, see how it’s connected to your clutter, because I guarantee you, I guarantee you, how you’re thinking about your money is how you’re thinking about your stuff. It comes out every single time that way. And guys, just remember, Jesus spoke more about our money and our stuff than anything else in the Bible. It is how we respect ourselves. It’s how we respect God. It’s how we respect each other.

Hey friends, thank you for joining us today. You’ve been listening to ClutterFree Academy. I’m Cathy Lib. And now go create the clutter free life you were always intended to live.

 

More Posts 

#599 Between Scarcity to Abundance: Understanding the Spectrum of Financial and Clutter Mindsets with Coach Stefania Mariaa Part 1

#599 Between Scarcity to Abundance: Understanding the Spectrum of Financial and Clutter Mindsets with Coach Stefania Mariaa Part 1

by | Jan 9, 2024 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Podcast, Fear, Finances, Podcast | 0 comments

Listen Now

599 – Between Scarcity to Abundance: Understanding the Spectrum of Financial and Clutter Mindsets with Coach Stefania Mariaa Part 1

 

We all have a common struggle with clutter and how it makes us feel – but did you know those same emotions apply to our relationship with money?

Kathi Lipp and her guest, multidisciplinary coach and TikTok star Stefania Mariaa, have innovative and imaginative answers to the questions, “What is financial intimacy and why do I need it?” In this episode, Kathi and Stefania discuss ways to manage your personal finances and spending habits more deliberately and thoughtfully.

Tune in to learn:

  • Where do I stand on the spending spectrum?
  • How do I make my time, energy, and money count?
  • How does my inner teen influence my decisions?

Sign up here to be notified when the next episode is released.

 

The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home

Homesteading [hohm-sted-ing]
noun
1. an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
2. the act of loving where you live so much that you actively ignore the fact that your house is trying to kill you on a regular basis.

For Kathi Lipp and her husband, Roger, buying a house in one of the most remote parts of Northern California was never part of the plan; many of life’s biggest, most rewarding adventures rarely are.

Kathi shares the hard-won wisdom she’s gained on her homestead journey to help you accomplish more at home, gain fresh perspective, and give yourself grace in the process. Here’s a handful of the lessons Kathi shares:

  • Prepare before the need arises
  • Everything is always in process, including us
  • Your best household solution is time and patience
  • You don’t have to do everything the hard way
  • Be open to new and better ways of doing things
  • A lot of small changes make a huge difference.
    Highly practical, humorous, and inspirational, The Accidental Homesteader will encourage you to live with more peace, joy, and contentment.

Order your copy of The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home here.

Favorite Links:

BANK: Financial Intimacy Curriculum

Burn Book to Bank Book: Inner Teen Money Masterclass

Clutter Free Resources:

Learn more about Clutter Free for Life

Join our Clutter Free Academy Facebook Group

Which resource do you need the most help budgeting – time, energy, or money? Share your answer in the comments.

Let’s stay connected

To share your thoughts:

  • Leave a note in the comment section below.
  • Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.

Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.

Meet Our Guest 

 

Stefania Mariaa

Stefania Mariaa is a multidisciplinary coach guiding people back to their radiant and sovereign wealth without abandoning themselves for anything less.

Connect with Stefania Mariaa on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok @stefaniamariaa or @bank.membership, her website, or for her free teaching here.

Transcript

Kathi (00:03.178)
Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter-Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And guys, if you’ve been listening to this podcast, if you’re part of the Facebook group, if you’re part of Clutter-Free for Life, you know that while we all struggle with clutter,

One of our other common struggles in this group, and if you’ve heard about my upbringing, you know it was for me as well, is money, our relationship with money. And guys, I am so excited to introduce you to a new friend, but I’ve been following her on TikTok for a while. You guys, her name is Stephania Maria, and she is a multi-disciplinary coach. Okay, I could barely say it, so she’s gonna have to explain what that is.

Her take on money is so interesting and so different and I knew it would resonate with all of you. I’m going to, in the show notes, I’m gonna put every way you can connect with her. She has something free for you at the end. But Stefania, welcome to Clutterfree Academy.

Stefania Mariaa (01:20.133)
Thank you for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

Kathi (01:23.138)
I’m so excited for this conversation because you know lots of times when I’m talking to people who are money experts No, no we have not lived the same life we don’t understand each other They don’t understand why I live the way I do I I’ve never been able to live the way they have and it just is it’s almost never

a productive conversation. And then I saw you talking about, you were using words like financial intimacy, and you were using words like spending by proxy. And that’s the one that I’m like, okay, this girl is coming on the podcast, I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to hunt her down. So you have a very unique view on money. You even say you don’t do traditional finance, but you look at the relationship,

we have with money and the connection between your things like spending habits, emotions, and energy. Can you explain a little bit of that? Because I feel like we talk so much in our group about the relationship and the emotions we have around our clutter, our things. But you also say that that’s around money. So can you explain what you mean by that?

Stefania Mariaa (02:47.685)
Yes, I mean, loaded question, but absolutely. Yeah, so money and the way that we relate to money is really an extension of what is going on internally. And I’m sure we’ve all heard the conversation around, like, the clutter in your home is reflective of the clutter in your mind. The way that we interact with our finances, whether it’s from a place of scarcity, feeling like there’s not enough.

Kathi (02:50.011)
Huge question, you know, just take the next 45 minutes. It’s fine

Stefania Mariaa (03:17.545)
also from a place of abundance, feeling as if we’ll always have access to more. Both of those in my world are actual extremes that deny the truth that lies in the opposition. Okay. So what I mean by that is that our relationship to money has to be true. It has to be honest. It has to be vulnerable and has to be personally transparent.

Kathi (03:31.497)
Okay.

Kathi (03:44.224)
Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (03:44.805)
And that’s why I call it financial intimacy, because you have to be intimate enough with yourself to determine if the way that you’re using money or the way that you’re not using money is honest, or if it’s really a projection of an internal dynamic that you’re working through.

Kathi (04:01.43)
Yeah, it’s so interesting that you talk about scarcity and abundance because we always think of abundance as a good thing, but okay, so I understand perfectly the scarcity mindset. It’s why when I find a shirt that I like, I go buy six of them because what if they run out? What if I can never get this shirt again? You guys, I don’t do that anymore because I live by the principles of clutter-free, but.

I could see where people do, you know, it’s buying groceries at the store when you have the money, even if those are, you know, and they’re on sale, even if you’re not going to cook those right, you know, it’s those kind of things. But tell me more about money and abundance because yeah, like right now, my husband and I are in our highest earning potential that we’ve never ever been in. You know, we’ve got

you know, we’ve got some extra. What does that do to our mindset when we’re in that abundance?

Kathi (05:14.43)
So what does that do to our relationship with our money?

Stefania Mariaa (05:27.109)
Absolutely. So the first thing to recognize is that the way that I look at it is that scarcity and abundance are on the same spectrum. They’re just opposite sides of it. So on the scarcity side, we have so much attention to saying that I’m not going to have another dollar.

Kathi (05:41.246)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Stefania Mariaa (05:42.469)
But then on the flip side, there’ll always be another dollar. But if we pedestalize any one mindset, we also have to omit the negatives aspects of it.

Kathi (05:53.606)
Okay, so explain those to me.

Stefania Mariaa (05:54.749)
Okay. So absolutely. So when we have scarcity, if we’re hyper-focused on scarcity, we’ll say, oh my gosh, I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get another dollar or another can or another pair of shoes. I need to go buy six sets or whatever the case might be. Like there’s a freak out, a panic that happens. It denies the reality that you will always have access to more. Like there’s just a fundamental truth. Like you will always have the ability to get another can.

Kathi (06:00.226)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (06:12.907)
Right.

Kathi (06:18.982)
Mm-hmm, right. Yes.

Kathi (06:25.194)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (06:26.825)
And for some who are coming from a history of maybe their parents or they themselves came from poverty, it’s like, no, no. There is a chance that we may never have another opportunity to buy a good pair of shoes. Right? So scarcity is very much a part of their lived reality in the past. But today, there is still an opportunity. There’s always going to be tomorrow. There’s always going to be this chance for you to get whatever you need in the present moment.

Kathi (06:34.412)
No.

Kathi (06:39.803)
Right.

Kathi (06:45.44)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (06:51.381)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm, right. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (06:55.209)
if you’re operating from presence. So over-reliance on scarcity denies the truth of abundance that you will always have access to more.

Kathi (07:05.055)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (07:06.381)
But when we go over to the other side and we over rely on abundance, it says, oh, I’ll always have more. This is actually the place where extraction patterns exist.

Kathi (07:11.68)
Yeah.

Kathi (07:16.671)
Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (07:18.174)
So what it says is, oh, I don’t have to be responsible for this dollar, I’ll always get another dollar.

Kathi (07:25.714)
Oh, so I can spend on things. I can stop paying attention to my money. Like I don’t have to check my, you know, oh, so what if I have streaming services I don’t use? Because I can always make more money.

Stefania Mariaa (07:31.34)
Exactly.

Stefania Mariaa (07:43.013)
I can always make more money. And what you’ll find is a lot of the people who really push this abundance mindset, they actually lack financial intimacy. Cause if I were to ask them, how much does your life cost per month? They have no idea.

Kathi (07:55.478)
They don’t know. Yeah, yeah. Oh.

Stefania Mariaa (07:57.465)
but what they know is that they can still make money and that their bills are covered. It’s like, yeah, but you don’t know where your money’s going. And the reason why this becomes a problem is that when you meet these, like, you know, I’m gonna throw out some celebrity names here, but like Steve Harvey, Dana Carvey, 50 Cent, all of them had this tremendous ability to make money, but they lost millions of dollars through false hires, through poor accountants, through whatever.

Kathi (08:11.822)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (08:27.501)
because they weren’t intimate enough with their financial reality to say, hey, where’s this money going? Because they just had this beautiful, tremendous ability to make more money. So they ended up having these crazy financial leaks. And so abundance denies the truth of scarcity that this dollar matters.

Kathi (08:27.738)
Yeah.

Kathi (08:33.792)
Yeah.

Kathi (08:40.962)
Yes.

Kathi (08:48.822)
You know, you probably weren’t even born when this happened, but I remember a conversation between Oprah Winfrey, and I think it was Toni Braxton, and she had somebody very close to her, I think it was a relative, who embezzled just almost all of her money. And Oprah said, this is why I sign every check. This is why I’ve got my eyes on every…

dollar. It’s not that Oprah has to be counting the tens of dollars, but the tens of dollars are a sign. You know, there’s an old saying, watch your pennies and your dollars will mind themselves, something like that. And it’s so it’s so true that we don’t want to become scrooge-like or miserly or ungenerous.

Stefania Mariaa (09:34.518)
Mm-hmm.

Stefania Mariaa (09:44.272)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (09:46.146)
but I would rather my money be going to the animal shelter than to a streaming service I don’t watch. And so, yeah. So let me ask you this. On the other end of the scale, the scarcity scale, scarcity side of the scale, those are the words I’m trying to tell. So I grew up with an unemployed, my dad was unemployed for much of my childhood. My mom, you know.

Stefania Mariaa (09:54.818)
Right.

Kathi (10:13.598)
It’s so funny how often shoes become a part of this conversation. I think shoes are a real symbol for people. But my mom, I remember, was wearing cardboard in the bottom of her shoes because she couldn’t afford new ones. You know, like those are the things I always remember. And so when you say there’s always the ability to get another dollar, I’m like, but what if I can’t? Like, that is always my initial reaction. And so how do you overcome that kind of

Stefania Mariaa (10:38.073)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (10:42.222)
thinking that kind of re I mean it’s really trauma is really what it is. So how do you start to heal from that trauma?

Stefania Mariaa (10:47.141)
Absolutely.

Stefania Mariaa (10:52.773)
So one of the things that I, and I teach this as like a foundational lesson in all bodies of work that come through the financial intimacy curriculum, but it’s the principle of sovereign participation.

Kathi (11:05.671)
Okay, explain that.

Stefania Mariaa (11:07.573)
Yeah. So it’s rooted in the practice that you are a sovereign being. You are the supreme and ultimate authority over what takes place in your 3D reality. Okay. So if we operate from this lens of, but what if I can’t make another dollar? It requires you to not participate in the making of another dollar.

Kathi (11:17.504)
Okay.

Kathi (11:23.255)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (11:28.4)
Mmm, okay.

Stefania Mariaa (11:30.413)
So already you are opting out of life based of fear, history, generational trauma, whatever the case is. And I’m of the mindset of, we can try to heal our trauma for the rest of our lives. And ultimately the question is, are you still gonna be a participant in your life today, even if you’re not healed?

Kathi (11:33.82)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (11:39.757)
Yeah.

Kathi (11:46.215)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (11:53.51)
Okay, so making choices even if you’re not fully healed, but making healing choices. Okay, okay.

Stefania Mariaa (12:00.213)
Exactly. Right? Because, you know, I also grew up very underprivileged on the wrong side of the tracks by definition and by geography. And one of the things that was really clear was, you know, my dad would go buy work shoes, but he was replacing them every like three months because he was buying these cheaper work shoes because he couldn’t afford something more.

Kathi (12:07.516)
Right?

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kathi (12:25.358)
I don’t… Right.

Right.

Stefania Mariaa (12:30.901)
And to this day, I still watch my dad repeat to himself, I can’t afford something more. I can’t afford the better quality.

Kathi (12:36.706)
Hmm.

Kathi (12:40.056)
Right.

Stefania Mariaa (12:41.301)
And I’m actually quite, for lack of better terms, triggering to my dad because I’ve completely removed myself from a lot of those conversations. Because the way that I look at it is, well, how can you participate today where getting the thing that you actually need that is more of service to your life isn’t an obstacle, but an opportunity. Every limitation is an invitation.

Kathi (12:49.027)
Right.

Kathi (12:58.572)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (13:02.994)
Right. Because… yeah.

Yeah, because if I mean, and again, how funny that shoes come up, right? This is core to those of us who didn’t have money growing up. We knew like you didn’t, clothes you could kind of slide on, but shoes were really important. People know like I have a core story about as a single mom buying my son shoes that has guided this whole conversation. But you know,

I’m not going to use your dad as an example, but to buy those work boots, if he was able to put aside or if somebody was able to put aside a dollar a day for a year, even while wearing the cheap shoes, by the end of the year, you have $365 where you can get the shoes that will last maybe a year. It changes the whole dynamic of what we do.

Stefania Mariaa (14:01.221)
Exactly.

Kathi (14:06.514)
And so instead of getting credit and having to pay for something that you purchased and recover from that, if you can get ahead of that, my husband and I have different accounts where we put money in to save up for things that we want in the future instead of recovering from the past. And that has really healed some of my inner, we were not.

but we struggled hard. So it’s my inner struggling child. And to be able to do that, I think that’s so fascinating. So tell me, I would love to know from you, what is the definition of financial intimacy?

Stefania Mariaa (14:50.061)
Yeah, so I’ve redefined it because I didn’t like the current way that it’s interacted. So traditionally financial intimacy is the intimacy between partners, right? It’s a husband, a wife, whatever dynamic you’re in, discussing your financial matters. I think that is kind of a useless experience of financial intimacy because people don’t know how to be honest about their finances with themselves.

Kathi (14:54.092)
Okay.

Kathi (14:59.713)
Right.

Kathi (15:05.45)
Yes.

Kathi (15:15.968)
Oh, okay.

Stefania Mariaa (15:18.157)
So to become financially intimate is your own personal relationship to being honest, to being transparent, to be vulnerable with yourself about what your life requires in terms of its resources. Because even in my work, I don’t just talk about money. I talk about time and energy, because those are all resources in our life. And if we’re only ever focused on money, we’re gonna lose time and energy to live the life we want.

Kathi (15:47.034)
It’s so true, right? I’m not exaggerating when I say just two hours ago, I was teaching in Clutter Free for Life. And we were talking, we’re recording this in November, even though it’s going up in January, where we know lots of people are focusing on their money. So you guys, I got you, we’re gonna do this in January. But we were talking about, you have three resources, time, energy, and money. And you have other resources too, like creativity and things like that.

Stefania Mariaa (16:12.707)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi (16:16.278)
But time, energy, and money are the ones that you are constantly balancing and you are overdrawn on. It’s very easy to become overdrawn in any of those. And we have budgets for each of those three resources. We have only so much time, we have only so much money. And as I get older, I realize that my energy needs to be budgeted. And so I love that you’re speaking in these terms. This is amazing.

Stefania Mariaa (16:32.173)
Absolutely.

Stefania Mariaa (16:46.465)
Yeah, it’s totally aligned, right? One of the things that I find so interesting about it is that we often talk about financial debt.

Kathi (16:48.573)
Right.

Kathi (16:55.594)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (16:57.185)
We don’t talk about temporal or energetic debt, but temporal debt, when you’re debted to the clock, that’s where obligation comes in. That’s where self-sacrifice comes in. That’s where martyrdom comes in, right? If we’re in debt energetically, that’s where burnout exists. That’s where hustle culture exists. And I’m not against debt. I’m gonna be very clear, okay? Because debt was a bet.

Kathi (17:00.362)
No, we don’t.

Kathi (17:05.109)
Yeah.

Kathi (17:08.798)
Yes.

Kathi (17:14.987)
Right.

Kathi (17:21.536)
Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (17:26.559)
on your future self.

Kathi (17:28.352)
Hmm, interesting, okay.

Stefania Mariaa (17:30.637)
Right? It is saying that you will become the kind of person who can repay this. Doesn’t matter what you pay for.

Kathi (17:35.834)
Okay, I’ve never heard that before, interesting.

Stefania Mariaa (17:40.329)
Yeah, it doesn’t matter what you’ve used debt to pay for, whether it’s a house or a pair of shoes, right? Like it doesn’t actually matter because debt is just a bet on you. That you are going to be the person who you need to be for your life to pay it back.

Kathi (17:45.332)
Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (17:58.157)
The issue is that financial debt is actually the easiest to manage.

Kathi (18:04.67)
Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (18:05.357)
because once you start getting into temporal or energetic debt.

They’re very unforgiving.

Kathi (18:13.374)
Yes. And when you get into energy debt, that’s when your health starts to be affected. And that is when and I really think time debt is when temporal debt is when your relationships become affected because you’re paying the clock on things that are not important to you.

Stefania Mariaa (18:21.642)
Exactly.

Stefania Mariaa (18:31.673)
Absolutely.

Stefania Mariaa (18:37.829)
Exactly. Now my question would be, how can someone be wealthy if they have all the money in the world, but they are in time and energy debt?

Kathi (18:47.922)
No, no. And you know why this aligns so beautifully with clutter is because when we have clutter, and I define clutter as things you don’t use, love or would buy again. Like if you have a messy desk, somebody told me I have a messy desk because I’m researching my ancestry.com. And she goes, it brings me great joy. And I said, I do not believe that’s clutter. I believe that that’s bringing you great joy.

But if you have a lot of things around you that you don’t love, you don’t use, and you wouldn’t buy again, that is costing you time because you can’t find the things that you actually use and love. It’s costing you energy because you can’t go to bed without taking everything off your bed in order to sleep in it. And it’s costing you money because you can’t find the things you need.

And so you’re back at the dollar store or Walmart or Target, depending on, or even Macy’s or Nordstrom, depending on your economics, your money, back stock, but we wanna be wise with our resources. We want to be that person who knows where our time, energy and money is going. Okay, this is such a great conversation that we cannot do it.

in one episode. We’ve already maxed our, we’re already in debt to our episode friend. Look at us. But you know what? That’s okay because we believed in this episode and we are going to do so. But I do before we before we go, Stefania, you, I mean everybody can find you at financial, financiallyintimate.com and we’ll put those links in there. But tell me about the teen money masterclass.

Stefania Mariaa (20:18.405)
Bye!

Kathi (20:41.563)
listening to this, have teenagers in their lives. Why teen money? Why not old person money, Stefania? Because we need help too, why teen?

Stefania Mariaa (20:50.861)
Well, because this isn’t actually for teenagers.

Kathi (20:55.33)
Good. Okay. Tell me more Inner Teen that’s right. I’ve heard you talk about this. This is so good We’ll talk about more this more in the next episode, but go ahead. Tell us what it is

Stefania Mariaa (20:56.838)
Yeah, so the-

Stefania Mariaa (21:01.069)
Yes! Okay, so- I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Absolutely. So inner teen money master class, which I affectionately call burn book to bank book because I’m a millennial that watched Mean Girls in high school. But the reason being is we often talk about healing our money wounds. And everyone wants to talk about our inner child, right? All of the money beliefs that were superimposed from our parents in what we were growing up in. But the reality is most of our actual money beliefs that get

Kathi (21:13.166)
Hahaha!

Kathi (21:21.342)
Yes.

Stefania Mariaa (21:34.873)
projected out into reality, are from our inner teens.

Because during our teenage years, we’re just learning what autonomy is. We’re just learning how to be mini adults, but we’re not adult. We’re still underdeveloped mentally. We’re starting to get our first jobs. And we’re dealing with these inner child wounds that never got addressed. And so between ages of 14 and honestly like 22, but like I say 14 to 19, we’re creating our…

Kathi (21:51.309)
Right.

Stefania Mariaa (22:10.261)
Oh, narratives that may be in rebellion to what we were raised in, or conformity to what we are raised in. Both are opposite sides of the spectrum. Now I talk a lot about these spectrums where one side denies the truth and the opposition. Ultimately, what financial intimacy allows me to do is guide you back to what’s in the center. What’s in the center of scarcity of abundance is reverence. What’s in the center of

Kathi (22:22.872)
Yeah.

Kathi (22:33.922)
Mmm.

Kathi (22:37.745)
Okay.

Stefania Mariaa (22:39.597)
conformity and rebellion, autonomy. So if you are really reverent, a deep embodied sense of respect for the autonomous individual you are, there are certain ways that you are going to use your money, your time and your energy that are an extension of that self-respect rather than a reaffirmation of the belief systems that actually harm you. And so in the money masterclass,

Kathi (22:42.623)
Oof.

Kathi (22:49.243)
Mm-hmm

Kathi (23:04.894)
I love this. I love this. Steph- Go ahead.

Stefania Mariaa (23:09.617)
I take you through kind of the process of why this is so important to look at. And it really is an opportunity for you to explore, well, do I actually want to become financially intimate and look at these pieces of my money story? Or am I going to continuously re-inflict these really painful practices, these really behavioral habits, behaviors that are quite painful for me? And that is just a, it’s a free class. It’s like…

Kathi (23:13.602)
Yeah.

Stefania Mariaa (23:37.217)
I think it’s like 30 minutes long. So it’s not very long at all, but it is one of those like mini courses that really allow you to tap into parts of yourself that we do not as a society spend any time with. Like the fact that anybody is working on their money stuff and not looking at their inner team, mind boggling to me.

Kathi (23:40.148)
Yeah.

Kathi (23:55.178)
Wow, that’s so interesting. And as you’re just talking about it, my teenage years were the most broke years in my family. It was surrounding the most money stress. And I think that’s the issue for a lot of people. And if you’re thinking, why did I buy that? Why did I spend money on that when I needed to pay a bill and I decided to do something different? If you have any of that, why did I do that?

This sounds like such a great place to start. Stefania, thank you so much for being here today and thank you for coming back next week because we’ve got more to talk about.

Stefania Mariaa (24:34.329)
I am so excited.

Kathi (24:36.13)
Okay, and friends, if you enjoyed this episode, if it revealed something about yourself, if it’s something that could help someone you know, you know, take a moment and share the podcast with friends or loved one on our own social media. We would love for the word to get out about what Stefania is doing and about how that relates to our money and our clutter. Friends, thank you for joining us. You’ve been listening to Clutter-Free Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp. And now go create the clutter free life you were always intended to live.

More Posts 

#598 7 Ways to Buy Less in 2024

#598 7 Ways to Buy Less in 2024

by | Jan 2, 2024 | Clutter Free Podcast, Finances, Home, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

Listen Now

598 – 7 Ways to Buy Less in 2024

Are you ready to start the year with less clutter?

This is the episode for you, my friend.

As you put away the holiday decorations and look around, you may feel like it’s time to start fresh with some decluttering for the new year. Kathi Lipp and her partner in life and decluttering Roger Lipp give us 7 perfectly practical ways to declutter by buying less in 2024. They’ve looked at their personal practices and come up with some fabulous ideas for you to implement to start 2024 a bit more clutter-free. Listen in as they discuss decluttering ideas such as:

  • How to make online shopping inconvenient.
  • How to use it up before you buy more.
  • How to recognize your personal clutter traps.

 Sign up here to be notified when the next episode is released.

The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home

Homesteading [hohm-sted-ing]
noun
1. an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
2. the act of loving where you live so much that you actively ignore the fact that your house is trying to kill you on a regular basis.

For Kathi Lipp and her husband, Roger, buying a house in one of the most remote parts of Northern California was never part of the plan; many of life’s biggest, most rewarding adventures rarely are.

Kathi shares the hard-won wisdom she’s gained on her homestead journey to help you accomplish more at home, gain fresh perspective, and give yourself grace in the process. Here’s a handful of the lessons Kathi shares:

  • Prepare before the need arises
  • Everything is always in process, including us
  • Your best household solution is time and patience
  • You don’t have to do everything the hard way
  • Be open to new and better ways of doing things
  • A lot of small changes make a huge difference.
    Highly practical, humorous, and inspirational, The Accidental Homesteader will encourage you to live with more peace, joy, and contentment.

Order your copy of The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home here.

Links Mentioned:

Kathi Lipp’s Clutter-free Academy Facebook Group 

 

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Share your answers in the comments.

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Meet Our Guest 

 

Roger Lipp

Roger is a productivity and quality engineer for a Fortune 50 company.

Roger helps teams reach their full productivity potential by teaching them the practical and simple steps to reach their goals. Roger and his wife, author Kathi Lipp, teach communicators how to share their message through social media and email marketing.

He and Kathi coauthored Happy Habits for Every Couple with Harvest House Publishers.

Transcript

Kathleen Lipp (00:00.958)
Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter-Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And you know, when you want real life examples, there’s nothing more real life than getting your husband to be on here with you. Cause there’s no, there’s no coating it, there’s no rose colored glass, this is the real thing. And guys, what we are here to talk to you about today is,

we’ve had to do some real soul searching in our house about how to buy less stuff. And so I am here with my favorite partner in crime. It’s Roger Lipp. Hey, Rog.

Roger (00:45.519)
Hey there, and I was just thinking, okay, so you’re talking about clutter and what better way than to bring my husband on? The creator of clutter.

Kathleen Lipp (00:55.194)
Right. No, you know what? No, let’s be clear. I know, I know, and I have said many times that of us, I am the cluttery one. Now, you have your clutter conundrums, your clutter corners, your clutter, you know, catchers. Let’s just say tech. For a long, long time, we had a box called goo.

Roger (01:20.047)
Oh yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (01:24.562)
And that goo was just tech stuff that I don’t think anybody was using. And yeah, so, but here’s what I know. We’re gonna talk about seven ways to buy less in 2024. And these are some things that we have either done or in the process of doing to keep, because clutter, we talk so much about getting rid of clutter.

which is crucial and critical, but if we can keep clutter from coming into our house, and let’s be clear, when we’re talking about clutter, it’s stuff you don’t love, use, or would buy again, but everything is bright and shiny when you first bring it into the house. So.

Roger (02:10.335)
Oh yeah, it all starts with a wonderful possibility.

Kathleen Lipp (02:13.762)
Yes, so I need less bright and shiny in my life. Let’s just be super, super clear. So here are some things that we have employed that are helping us to have less clutter and to think about, and I’m not gonna say do all seven of these things guys, but maybe pick one or two that you can work on that will make a significant difference in your life. So number one is know what you have and where it is.

I will say I know.

Roger (02:44.356)
Oh, oh man.

All right, that where it is, is a tricky part.

Kathleen Lipp (02:51.474)
Yes, yeah, you know, I think it has taken us a good five years to kind of figure out how we’re using our house because we’ve used our house in different ways. If you don’t know our house story, first this was an Airbnb and then we moved into it to primarily do a lot of retreats and then the pandemic happened.

So we’ve used our house in a bunch of different ways. I think we’re finally honing in on how to do things. But also, you know, one of the things that I talk about in ClutterFree so often is you don’t have to store everything at your house. You can store some things at Walmart. You can store some things at Target. You can store things other places, and then when you need them, you go buy them. That’s not really our situation here. If I need a certain kind of flower,

If it’s not here, it’s another week until I can get that flower. So I keep on hand more things than probably the average bear. You probably do too, Roger, when it comes to materials around.

Roger (04:00.955)
Oh, yeah, we think about, you know, what do we need to be prepared for a season? And that has its own set of things, especially winter for us where we’ll have limited access to the outside world.

Kathleen Lipp (04:07.369)
Right.

Kathleen Lipp (04:15.294)
Yeah, so we have for us is know what you have and where it is. And one of the things that we’ve had to do is kind of leave notes to our future self about where things are. I mean, we really thought that maybe we threw away a bunch of cushions last year, we could not find them anywhere. These were cushions for outdoors, we had stored, you know, it’s like, did we store them for the winter? We had some that got ruined.

And so we said, did we throw away everything? Well, it turns out they were stored in an extra vehicle. And it made sense to do that. It was our trailer and it was covered. But we were about to go buy just a whole bunch of stuff because we didn’t know where it was. And so this year we’ll put a note like in April to say, hey, this is where it’s at. I do that with wrapping paper to say, hey,

Don’t buy any wrapping paper, you’ve got plenty. It’s in the attic. You know, notes to our future selves.

Roger (05:17.499)
And you use your calendar, don’t you, for a lot of those kinds of notes.

Kathleen Lipp (05:20.378)
Oh, yes, you know, on a different note, things like cover the patio umbrella, which, okay, so it’s very silly, but when I type that into my calendar and it comes up every year, it’s the potato umbrella and it’s just, it makes me giggle every year, so we just, we call it the potato umbrella. Yeah. Yeah, it’s fun.

Roger (05:29.871)
the

Roger (05:40.583)
It’s a typo that has just stuck.

Kathleen Lipp (05:44.062)
So know what you have and where it is, and if it’s a seasonal thing, go ahead and make a note in your calendar about where you’re gonna be able to find it next year. We have storage that is not attached to our house, and we need to know what’s in that as well. Okay, number two, I think this is where we have made the biggest difference in the amount of, okay, you’re agreeing with me, yeah. Yeah.

Roger (06:04.975)
No.

Roger (06:08.355)
Oh yeah, I see the outline here and yes, 100 times yes.

Kathleen Lipp (06:12.71)
Number two, make Amazon inconvenient. Now, we really changed our Amazon purchasing practices when we did No Buy July. And if you guys have never done No Buy July, and we’re renaming it, we’re calling it Low Buy July because a lot of cloddery people are black and white people and they’re like, okay, I can’t buy anything including food the entire month. It’s like, no, that’s not what we’re trying to say. So we’re doing Low Buy.

So we didn’t buy anything from Amazon in January, I mean, excuse me, July. And we’ve really, I mean, drastically cut down our Amazon purchases. And I think it has made a huge difference in the amount of stuff coming into our house. How do you feel about it, Raj?

Roger (07:05.859)
Absolutely, especially in our situation where getting to a store is fairly inconvenient, Amazon grew in its convenience in our minds. So it was our go-to resource. We need a new hose, just put it in the Amazon cart. So everything was landing there and it was tremendously easy.

Kathleen Lipp (07:11.726)
Mm-hmm.

Kathleen Lipp (07:17.087)
Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (07:26.423)
Right.

Kathleen Lipp (07:34.19)
Mm-hmm

Roger (07:34.595)
And I think what we found was that it was easy to the ease and convenience made us overspend and overbuy.

Kathleen Lipp (07:43.806)
Right, we were buying things that we didn’t, it wasn’t, you know, everybody buys stuff they don’t need. You don’t need that book, you don’t need that, you know, tablecloth. But it was just easy to spend that and not feel it. So I have taken Amazon off the front of my phone so it doesn’t come up easily.

And here’s the thing, the less you buy from there, the less you’ll buy from there. I know that’s the dumbest thing, you know, that sounds crazy, but if you get out of the habit of just going over there and doing the buy now, and I think about the environmental implications on that, you know, that buy now button, that could mean that, you know, FedEx or the Amazon truck is coming to your house several times.

And if you have a bad spending habit, that could really have an environmental impact. So I try to think about those things and make them inconvenient. And it’s already inconvenient for us anyway, because we can’t have Amazon delivered to our house. We have to go pick it up at my mom’s or at a locker. And so we’ve just fallen out of the Amazon habit. So how can you fall out of the Amazon habit? Can it be that you have to sign into Amazon?

every time you do it. That may be enough of a barrier to not just automatically go and spend there.

Roger (09:19.128)
or have it delivered to a locker instead of your house. And now it’s an extra step to actually get your product.

Kathleen Lipp (09:22.132)
Yes.

Kathleen Lipp (09:27.61)
Yeah, and I want to make sure that local stores stay in business. So when I’m buying a book, I want to go buy it whenever I can at Barnes and Noble. When I am buying, you know, makeup, I’m going to go to local Sephora. And I try to shop in smaller local stores whenever I can, because that’s going to keep them in business and that’s what we want. Okay. Number three.

unsub from advertising. I have been doing this, you know, every time you purchase something online, and you know, I’ve purchased several things online. I love this jewelry brand, it’s called Ink and Alloy. I just absolutely love it. But I have had, I unsub from their advertisements because it is too easy to get so many advertisements.

And then you’re like, well, I’m only buying from one place, but the amount of advertisements, it really, it affects my brain and it interrupts me all day long. I get a notification on my phone that there’s a new thing there. And so I’ve had to take myself off of some of those lists. I don’t want to, especially the coupons.

You know, if they’re sending you a coupon for 25% off, that’s a great coupon, unless you weren’t gonna buy anything anyway. And that need to purchase something can be a real stressor. Does the advertising affect you, Raj?

Roger (11:06.371)
Not as much. Occasionally, through my Facebook feed, I will get suckered into something. They get me dialed in on something that we’ve been talking about in the house, and suddenly it starts showing up in my feed. You’re right. But it doesn’t really hit me in my email as much. What comes to my email is always spam.

Kathleen Lipp (11:11.804)
Mm-hmm.

Kathleen Lipp (11:19.826)
Yes, because they’re always listening. Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (11:30.07)
to always spam. So, you know, to just say, I’m not gonna click on that Facebook ad, I’m not gonna click on that TikTok ad, I am going to unsub from all advertising that I can. One thing that we do, and this isn’t an unsub, but it’s a different thing, is we pick up our mail and we sort it right there in the post office and recycle.

Roger (11:31.332)
Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (11:57.354)
all those advertisements. Now I do keep the Sundance catalog because that’s my favorite catalog. It makes me super happy. And I keep the Costco. But otherwise, no, we’re just gonna get rid of it because it’s just enticing us to buy. Okay, now, and if you don’t pick up your mail, in our last house, we had our recycling can right next to the mailbox and it just went straight in there. Okay, number four.

Unsub from autoship. Okay Guys, yeah, you’ll never you will never hit just right the autoship deliveries the

Roger (12:37.087)
It’s like there has to be a way to dial these knobs to get it just right, and there isn’t.

Kathleen Lipp (12:42.782)
They say that there is but there and I skip it the only thing I do have on auto ship is our dog food but I Yeah, I skip it probably every like three or four months Because our dog has a weird eating schedule, but so that I’ve kept up but everything else I’ve taken off. I’ve taken my protein bars off of auto ship because I have like 12 boxes now. I’ve taken my coffee

Roger (12:51.295)
Is that working?

Kathleen Lipp (13:12.466)
Everything is off of auto ship chocolate syrup. Oh my goodness you guys. I don’t know. Yeah, what was happening and Amazon makes it pretty Inconvenient pretty hard to Completely detangle from auto ship and so if you think well, I use this pretty regularly I can do don’t do it Just don’t resist resist. Yeah

Roger (13:13.731)
Chocolate syrup is…

Roger (13:40.517)
Is it as bad as getting rid of a gym membership?

Kathleen Lipp (13:43.762)
It’s not that bad. But you have to know, but I’ve had to Google how to do it before, you know, and that’s just an extra step that I don’t need. I know when I’m running out of something.

Roger (13:45.343)
Okay, you don’t have to call Amazon.

Roger (13:55.023)
Huh. You’d think that they knew that was an extra step and people wouldn’t go through that extra step.

Kathleen Lipp (14:00.69)
Right, right. Yeah, so what they really want you to do, the social engineering behind it, is they don’t want you to cancel it. They want you, if you’re like, I’m gonna cancel it. No, you could just go to every three months instead of every month, or you could go to every six months. And that might work for some people, but you’re probably gonna run out before then and order. It’s just a mess, don’t do it. Unless you know you use the same amount of stuff every single month, it’s not worth it.

Roger (14:02.744)
Alright.

Kathleen Lipp (14:30.822)
Okay, number five, use it up before you buy more. There are certain things that go on sale at certain times of the year, and I try to buy X amount until we know we’re gonna need it again. But most of the time, I’m trying to use up, or at least get to, okay, we just have one serving left, or we just have a little bit left before we buy it. I used to be the,

accidental hoarder. Oh, that’s my next book. Okay, I did accidental homesteader now, accidental hoarder. But I would see something at Costco and think, well, Roger really likes those chips. I’m gonna buy some. Well, it turns out we had three bags at home. So really using it up before we’re buying more, it’s a challenge to myself to say, how far can I get to the bottom of

whatever it is before I buy more. Because a lot of things don’t have as big of a shelf life as you think they do. And you know, talking about the auto ship nightmares, we feed our chickens mealworms, dried mealworms. And somehow we had like six bags. And now you just empty the bag. So now I know to put on the list mealworms.

But we’re not at the bottom. The chickens will not revolt, but we have used it up, and now it’s time to either order more. We have tractor supplies on the way home from town, so that’s probably what we’ll do. Yeah, okay. They are.

Roger (16:15.339)
Yeah, those mealworms are expensive. But yes, I think, you know, cause if you buy significantly before it’s gone, you’re storing it at your house, you’re paying to store it at your house. And that’s, you know, depending on how big it is, that could create a space issue. Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (16:25.59)
Yeah. Right.

Kathleen Lipp (16:33.514)
Yeah, if you’re a cluttery person, this is not the strategy for you. It’s just not. Unless you know exactly where it’s gonna go. You know, I buy the big packs of stewed tomatoes because we use those all winter long. So I’ll have 12 at a time, but I know exactly where they’re gonna go. I know I’m gonna use them in soups and stews and casseroles and all those kinds of things. It’s all good. Okay, number six, challenge yourself.

You know, where is an area that you are struggling? Again, in Clutter Free Academy, our free Facebook group, we are going to be doing our low by July. And people really challenge themselves. Some of the challenges that Roger and I have done is, we’ve done no by July, or low by July. I one time said, I went for a year without buying pens, which I probably need to do again, because I…

Guys, I have a problem. I love pens. I love certain kind, I’m a pen snob. I love a certain kind of pen. So, but I have plenty of pens. I don’t need more pens. I have done a challenge to clean out our freezer. So Roger would dip his hand in there, grab something out of the freezer, and I would cook it for one of our meals. Trying to think of some other challenges. I’ve done a notebook, you know, notebook buying for a year because I had.

plenty of books here I needed to purchase. You know, Roger, you don’t have as much of a clutter problem as I do, but is there a challenge that you think that would be helpful for you and when you’re acquiring stuff?

Roger (18:15.791)
You know, I could see things like a no Amazon month, just zero, not gonna do it. Yeah, that could be helpful. Just to reframe our thinking in terms of, okay, what other vendors out there that we could use or stores? Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (18:19.034)
Mm-hmm. Yeah zero. Yeah. Yeah

Yeah, well, and I think it’s…

Kathleen Lipp (18:31.53)
Yeah. Because let’s be honest, Amazon has some less than awesome business practices when it comes to smaller retailers. And I want to aim my money dollar at, you know, buying local, even if it’s from a chain, I still believe, you know, as much as we can buy local.

And then when we can buy from small independent places, I like to buy clothes from independent designers whenever I can. It’s a little harder because I’m plus size. But you know, to get out of the easy trap, and I don’t buy clothes from places like Tmoo. Roger, you probably don’t even know what that is, but like it’s all the rage right now. They have very cheap stuff that you can buy, but it’s also slave labor.

And so I don’t want my dollars supporting that. Almost any clothing we buy, you know, so there are ethical considerations for this as too. So I love the idea of buying, you know, less and less from Amazon and more from independent, which I know can be sometimes be more expensive, but most of us are not lacking in our houses. You know, I’d rather save up for the thing that I really, really want from a business that’s doing business ethically than to…

just have more stuff in my house. That’s really what we’re trying to do is get less stuff in your house. But I still want you to have stuff that you love. And then number seven, know your traps. I think we all have that store that is just easy. They’ve set up the store to really make it easy for you to get lost in and spend more time in and purchase more.

I, some of the ones I’ve heard of Marshall’s, Target, Michael’s, Costco, you know.

Roger (20:30.543)
Are you saying that IKEA has a strategy behind how they lay out their stores?

Kathleen Lipp (20:33.622)
Oh my gosh, right? You can’t get out until you’ve eaten a dozen Swedish meatballs and a cinnamon bun. You’re not allowed to leave. Yeah, so you don’t die. Yes, exactly. So if you’re going to these stores and you’re like, you know what, I just want a new shirt. I want a new shirt. You go get that new shirt. But you don’t need, you know.

Roger (20:42.991)
That’s why the restaurant is there, so in case you starve while you’re trying to find your way out.

Kathleen Lipp (21:01.266)
a face mask, a face roller, a new dog bed, all the things that Marshall’s is famous for. Target, go in with a plan, go in with a list. Michaels, our daughter could be lost in a Michaels for a month. It’s so easy. And when you’re in Michaels, you can discover a new craft that you’ve…

Never heard of, but now you have to buy all the stuff for. Go in with a list. We go to town each week when we’re running errands and we know what we’re buying at Home Depot. We know what we’re buying at Ace Hardware. We know what we’re buying at Walgreens or Costco or whatever it is. Go in with a plan so that you don’t just get sucked into buying all the things because they’re there and they’re pretty.

So Roger, which of these of the seven that we’ve talked about, do you feel like we need to kind of, well, oh, the other with the know your traps. Also, you know what? I mean, go in and be excited to buy what you want to buy. We are going to Disney. We’re going to Disneyland after a speaking trip. And Roger has already said, just so you know,

This is what are you buying when you’re at Disney? What’s gonna be your tchotchke, your goody?

Roger (22:32.387)
I am getting one shot key while we’re there. I’m gonna get a probably $150 button down art shirt from Disney. So, you know, one of their artists that has done it. So a little more intentional kind of design.

Kathleen Lipp (22:43.946)
Like the Hawaiian style shirts, yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (22:51.982)
Yeah, and you, I mean, if there’s anything you collect, that’s probably what it is, is the Disney shirt. And we’re going for your 60th birthday, so you get a Tragickey. I also am, I’m like, I wanna get a couple of Disney shirts. I’ve lost a bunch of weight and my Disney shirts don’t fit anymore. So I know I wanna get two Disney shirts and one zip-up hoodie. Like…

That’s, I know what I want and that’s what I’m getting. And so we’re going in with a plan. Oh, and I’m sorry, your daughter wants us all to get ears.

Roger (23:31.219)
I have never bought ears for myself.

Kathleen Lipp (23:33.79)
Well, here you go. Here you go.

Roger (23:36.291)
have all these I go to this you know we’ve been Disney people for a long time and I’ve never bought yours for myself.

Kathleen Lipp (23:41.81)
Yeah. Well, this is the year because Amanda really wants all of us to get ears. I don’t know if she maybe she said the girls to get ears. OK, we’re going to figure it out, but it’s going to be fun. Yeah.

Roger (23:47.797)
All right.

Roger (23:53.658)
So we have our plan. We’ll see what actually happens, but that is our plan. And, you know, we’re not necessarily super rigid. No, we’re not going to get that other thing, but, you know.

Kathleen Lipp (23:57.43)
Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (24:03.09)
No. No, because we’ve set money aside to, yes, to go and do the thing. And so we’re going to go do the thing, but we’re going in with a plan. We go, we’re going in knowing what we want and I’m super excited. Okay. So what do you feel like we need to do focus on of these seven things?

Roger (24:07.895)
Right, we have saved. Right.

Roger (24:29.995)
Well, we’ve made the most progress on making Amazon inconvenient. So I think we need to continue pushing the envelope on that. I do also resonate with the Use It Up Before We Buy More and making sure that we’re getting the stuff that is needed when we need it. Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (24:34.92)
Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (24:44.437)
Yeah.

Kathleen Lipp (24:49.222)
Right. And I really, my thing is, know what you have and where it is. It’s still a struggle. You know, yeah, so because we have, this is a new kind of life for us, even though we’ve been here for five years and knowing what we need and where it is, we’re still working on that. It’s, you know, we’ve made a ton of progress, but we’re still working on it.

Roger (24:56.235)
Yeah, there is that. Oh my, yes.

Roger (25:13.193)
We have an event coming up this weekend and we need a credit card charger thing and we can’t find it. So we have to go buy another one.

Kathleen Lipp (25:19.374)
Because we can’t find it.

So frustrating. It’s, it just, yeah. Anyway, okay. Seven ways to buy less in 2024. Guys, if one of the things you wanna do is challenge yourself, we have a bunch of challenges in the Clutterfree Academy group, but in July, you know, which seems like a long time off, but it’s really not. We’re gonna be doing our low buy July. So if you go and join,

Kathy Lipp’s Clutterfree Academy on Facebook will have a link in the notes. Guys, do it because it’s gonna be, you are going to change your life. Roger, thanks for hanging out with me. And yeah, and friends, thank you for hanging out with me. You’ve been listening to Clutterfree Academy. I’m Kathy Lipp. And now, go create the clutter free life you were always intended to live.

Roger (26:03.779)
A lot of fun.

 

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#580 How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 2

#580 How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 2

by | Aug 29, 2023 | Accidental Homesteader, Finances, Home, How to, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

Listen Now

580: How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 2

 

Would you like some tips and tools to help you move from last minute scrambler to organized planner? Welcome to Part 2 of How to Plan Like A Homesteader where Kathi and her co host in life and on the mic Roger Lipp discuss strategies for advanced planning.

You might not need to worry about your snow blower not working like they do out in the wilderness they call home, but there are so many things you can plan in advance for to make your life run more smoothly. For example:

  • Pet and animal care
  • Regular medical appoints to avoid a medical crisis
  • And the many joys of putting a vacation on the calendar

If you haven’t listened to 579 How To Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 1 yet, click here.

Also…today is the day that Kathi Lipp’s new (and visually stunning) book The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home releases! You can still get in on all the preorder goodies but you MUST order it today.
How?
Listen at the end of the episode to get the details on how to procure your Accidental Homesteader extras!

Click here for the Clutter Free Academy newsletter and be notified when future episodes are released.

The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home

 

Homesteading [hohm-sted-ing]
noun
1. an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
2. the act of loving where you live so much that you actively ignore the fact that your house is trying to kill you on a regular basis.
For Kathi Lipp and her husband, Roger, buying a house in one of the most remote parts of Northern California was never part of the plan; many of life’s biggest, most rewarding adventures rarely are.

Kathi shares the hard-won wisdom she’s gained on her homestead journey to help you accomplish more at home, gain fresh perspective, and give yourself grace in the process. Here’s a handful of the lessons Kathi shares:

  • Prepare before the need arises
  • Everything is always in process, including us
  • Your best household solution is time and patience
  • You don’t have to do everything the hard way
  • Be open to new and better ways of doing things
  • A lot of small changes make a huge difference.
    Highly practical, humorous, and inspirational, The Accidental Homesteader will encourage you to live with more peace, joy, and contentment.

Order your copy of The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home here.

Links Mentioned:

Notion app

Learn more about Clutter Free for Life

Clutter Free Academy Facebook Group

Is there something you enjoy planning in advance? Vacations perhaps? 

Tell us in the comments!

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To share your thoughts:

  • Leave a note in the comment section below.

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Meet Our Guest 

Roger Lipp

Roger is a productivity and quality engineer for a Fortune 50 company.

Roger helps teams reach their full productivity potential by teaching them the practical and simple steps to reach their goals. Roger and his wife, author Kathi Lipp, teach communicators how to share their message through social media and email marketing.

He and Kathi coauthored Happy Habits for Every Couple with Harvest House Publishers.

Transcript

More Posts 

#579 How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 1

#579 How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 1

by | Aug 22, 2023 | Accidental Homesteader, Finances, Home, How to, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

Listen Now

579: How to Plan Like a Homesteader No Matter Where You Call Home, Part 1

Would you consider yourself a natural planner, or is it challenging for you to plan ahead? If you think planning doesn’t come easily, then you share that trait with Kathi and Roger Lipp, but moving to the Red House has forced them to plan ahead. In today’s podcast they share their hard-won wisdom with all of us.

Even if you don’t live on acres in the wilderness, you can still apply these lessons to lessen the stress in your life. For example:

  • Are you prepared for extreme weather events or other emergencies in your area?
  • Have you been thinking longer term in your financial planning?
  • What home maintenance issues are going to turn into big problems without attention?
  • Are you taking the time to build practical skills?

Kathi and Roger give us some helpful ideas in all these areas and more. Listen and find out how you can experience more peace in your home by planning ahead.  

Sign up here to get an email when Part Two comes out next week, when we will learn seven more areas to think about in order to plan like a homesteader.

The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home

 

Homesteading [hohm-sted-ing]
noun
1. an act or instance of establishing a homestead.
2. the act of loving where you live so much that you actively ignore the fact that your house is trying to kill you on a regular basis.
For Kathi Lipp and her husband, Roger, buying a house in one of the most remote parts of Northern California was never part of the plan; many of life’s biggest, most rewarding adventures rarely are.

Kathi shares the hard-won wisdom she’s gained on her homestead journey to help you accomplish more at home, gain fresh perspective, and give yourself grace in the process. Here’s a handful of the lessons Kathi shares:

  • Prepare before the need arises
  • Everything is always in process, including us
  • Your best household solution is time and patience
  • You don’t have to do everything the hard way
  • Be open to new and better ways of doing things
  • A lot of small changes make a huge difference.
    Highly practical, humorous, and inspirational, The Accidental Homesteader will encourage you to live with more peace, joy, and contentment.

Order your copy of The Accidental Homesteader: What I’ve Learned About Chickens, Compost, and Creating Home here.

Links Mentioned:

Learn more about Clutter Free for Life

Clutter Free Academy Facebook Group

Are you a natural planner or is planning ahead a challenge for you?

Tell us in the comments!

Let’s stay connected

To share your thoughts:

  • Leave a note in the comment section below.

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one.

Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.

Meet Our Guest 

Roger Lipp

Roger is a productivity and quality engineer for a Fortune 50 company.

Roger helps teams reach their full productivity potential by teaching them the practical and simple steps to reach their goals. Roger and his wife, author Kathi Lipp, teach communicators how to share their message through social media and email marketing.

He and Kathi coauthored Happy Habits for Every Couple with Harvest House Publishers.

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#570 Urge to Splurge? How to Manage Your Impulsive Shopping – Part 2

#570 Urge to Splurge? How to Manage Your Impulsive Shopping – Part 2

by | Jun 20, 2023 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free For Life, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Fear, Finances, Freedom, Giveaways, Hard Stuff, How to, Overwhelmed, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

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570: Urge to Splurge? How to Manage Your Impulsive Shopping – Part 2

Did you know the “urge to splurge” is a brain chemistry response and can last from 7 – 12 MINUTES? No wonder it can be a difficult mindset to break! In this Part 2 episode, Kathi and spending coach Paige Pritchard talk about brain chemistry and the way it affects our behavior. Today they finish discussing Paige’s five tools to managing your impulsive shopping. The conversation is fascinating. Here are just a few of the many highlights:

  • How to use an Urge Jar to change your behavior (and maybe save enough for a trip to Disneyland).
  • Making a list of what you want to buy is actually a healthy choice.
  • There is a big difference between an intentional buy and an impulse buy.

Haven’t listened to #569 Urge to Splurge? How to Manage Your Impulsive Shopping – Part 1? Click here.

As promised in the episode, here’s a link to Paige Pritchard’s Free Masterclass Why You Impulse Shop & How To Stop.

Join Kathi and friends for No Buy July! Click here to join her free Facebook community Clutter Free Academy, and get ready to participate in this No Buy challenge that can change your home and your life.

Sign up here for the Clutter Free Academy newsletter and be notified when future episodes are released.

Overwhelmed: How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore Your Sanity

 

Feeling overwhelmed? Wondering if it’s possible to move from “out of my mind” to “in control” when you’ve got too many projects on your plate and too much mess in your relationships?

Kathi and Cheri want to show you five surprising reasons why you become stressed, why social media solutions don’t often work, and how you can finally create a plan that works for you. As you identify your underlying hurts, uncover hope, and embrace practical healing, you’ll become equipped to:

  • trade the to-do list that controls you for a calendar that allows space in your life
  • decide whose feedback to forget and whose input to invite
  • replace fear of the future with peace in the present

You can simplify and savor your life—guilt-free! Clutter, tasks, and relationships may overwhelm you now, but God can help you overcome with grace.

Kathi and Cheri Gregory, co-author of Overwhelmed, get together for this episode for a little discussion regarding the concepts of being overwhelmed and being clutter-free. So often we find that our clutter overwhelms us and that being overwhelmed contributes to our clutter. It can be a vicious cycle.

Kathi and Cheri discuss five steps to keep from getting overwhelmed as you declutter your home, your heart, and your life. Order your copy of Overwhelmed here.

Links Mentioned:

Paige’s Free Masterclass Why You Impulse Shop & How To Stop

What to work with Paige directly? Overcoming Overspending Group Program

Paige Pritchard

Organizational Website Notion

Kathi’s Favorites:

The Clutter-Free Home

Learn more about Clutter Free for Life.

Clutter Free for Life Facebook Group

Sundance Catalog – Women’s Clothing

 

Giveaway: Paige Pritchard has a FREE Masterclass for you! It’s an hour long pre recorded class you can watch at your convenience. Once you sign up, you only have access for a limited time so carve out that hour and start on a path to curbing your urge to splurge.

Here’s the link: Why You Impulse Shop & How To Stop with Paige Pritchard

Let’s stay connected

To share your thoughts:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.

Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.

Meet Our Guest 

 

Paige Pritchard

Paige Pritchard is a spending coach who helps women stop impulse shopping and overspending.

Paige discovered her passion for helping women develop healthier spending habits through her own personal struggles with impulse shopping when at age 22 she blew through her $60,000 salary after graduating from college.

By uncovering the root cause of her shopping and making a commitment to develop healthier spending habits she was able to turn her financial situation around in her twenties by paying off her $40,000 of student loan debt, cash flowing her MBA, becoming a homeowner and building a multiple six-figure investment portfolio by age 29.

In 2020 Paige became a certified life coach through The Life Coach School and since then has coached thousands of women to become better spenders and reach their full financial potential through her social channels, her podcast called The Money Love Podcast, and group coaching program, Overcoming Overspending.

Paige’s work has been featured in publications like NBC News, The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, and the Dr. Phil Show.

You can connect with Paige on Instagram @overcoming_overspending , Tik Tok @overcoming_overspending, YouTube  Overcoming Overspending with Paige Pritchard, her Apple Podcast  The Money Love Podcast , and at www.paigepritchard.com.

 

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