Episode Details

From curated ads to influencers showcasing the newest, hottest items it is impossible to escape ads on social media, and it's never been easier to purchase these items. But how can you stay on top of trends without overspending on things you, frankly, don't need?

On the latest episode of PennyWise, host Nat Cardona talks with Kimberly Palmer of NerdWallet about how to keep social media from helping you overspend.

Read the NerdWallet article here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to Pennywise Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host, Nat Cardona

We're all guilty of it sucked into buying a gadget you saw in a Facebook ad or late night scrolling that turns into a whole shopping spree because of all those hard to miss deals. Personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer joins us today on how to curb your social media spending. I'm actually kind of excited to talk about this topic.

We're looking at five tips to keep you from overspending on the things that you see on social media. A lot of people are guilty of it, myself included. The first one is just an oldie but goodie. Making that wish list and waiting.

Yes, I actually use this myself all the time because it's such a helpful way just to not buy everything you want right away. So if you see something online, maybe on social media or anywhere, instead of clicking purchase, you just click to put it in your cart or add it to your wish list and then you can circle back to it later. You can wait a day or a week or a month, and it just gives you that extra chance to think about if you really want it.

Definitely my go to approach with Amazon. Yeah, this is the cart. It kind of lives there. Gets stores on it, and then I'm like, Oh, you know, why did I even think I wanted that?

Exactly. And the secret that a lot of people don't know is that retailers, online retailers, notice when you put it in your cart and then they might even send you a follow up coupon to apply. So it's extra It's actually an extra way to save money, too.

Oh, I like that. Next thing here: Evaluate the item without thinking about the sale price attached to it. Too much. Let's go into that.

It is so easy to see something that's on sale and just let that excitement get the better of you. And then you think that item is actually better than it really is. And so you want to take a minute and think, Would I actually want this even if it wasn't on sale? Just to consider take that the sale price out of the equation.

Because the fact is, even though there's so much messaging around, you need to buy this now, the sale is only coming once. The fact is sales definitely do reoccur and it's not your only chance to get it. And so if you do actually want it, you can just get it next time it goes on sale too.

I know that around prime days or that Nordstrom's sale that happens, is it just it's going on in the mom influencer world. It kind of feels like you're in competition with other people trying to buy the same kid's gadgets. And I know what I've seen that 30% off price tag. I'm like, I need to get it before that mom over there does so.

Exactly.

Yeah. And then it never turns out