I am addicted to the smoothies at Nourish Raleigh in Seaboard Station in downtown Raleigh.
That’s where I met Nourish co-owner, Lauren Strohofer. One day we talked about my organizing business, and she enthusiastically told me she is an “under buyer” after going through a major spending transformation.
I was intrigued, so I interviewed her to find out how she did this and how it can help you.
Lauren used to be in corporate sales. She had all this money, but “I had no idea what do with it, what insurance to have, what bank accounts to have.”
And even with all this money, she was in debt.
“I wasn’t tracking my money. I wasn’t allotting money to pay the debt,” Lauren said. “I was just living.”
She ate out a lot, and she went to Target, needing toilet paper, “but I would come out with nail files, nail polish, a bathing suit and cheese.”
Divine intervention came when a friend gifted her the Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University classes.
“That’s when I learned the difference between a need and a want,” she said. “And I fell out of love with stuff.”
Two things happened after she went through the 13-week course twice.
Within a year, she paid off her credit card debt and her car.
And soon after, she was able to walk away from her corporate job without fear to open Nourish, a health club that provides smoothies, health coaching and workout challenges.
“Most people have no idea where to start, or understand how to get money to work for them, or how to pay off debt or why it’s important to pay off debt,” she said.
One way she became debt free was selling her stuff.
“None of this stuff matters,” she said. “I see people frivolously buying stuff, and I am nervous for them. They spend $100 on nothing that in a year won’t matter.”
Now, she does not even enjoy spending money. If she wants something, she sets goals for herself rather than just buying it, she said.
Recently, she wanted new perfume. She bought it after she made a sales goal, and she bought it on eBay.
“It’s so much more fun when I buy something I love,” she said. “When I would buy stuff, I would get that instant gratification, but one minute later, I would say ‘that was dumb.’”
“I don’t have that any more,” she said. “If I see something, I leave it. And if I really want it, I go back.
She also does not eat out as much and does not buy ahead. She uses up what she has first, and then replaces it.
“You don’t need seven peanut butters,” Lauren said.
If you want be like Lauren, here are her top 5 money-saving tips:
- Track your spending for 30 days. “If you are spending, you are writing. I was shocked over what I was spending when I did this.”
- Fall out of love with stuff. Go to the grocery store with a list or do online shopping. If you can’t handle going to Target to just get toilet paper, don’t go.
- Know where you stand financially. “How much debt are you in? Set a plan to get rid of it. Pay off your smallest debts first, so you feel like you are accomplishing something.”
- Sell your stuff. She has sold her stuff on eBay, Craig’s List, flea markets and a garage sale. She has made about $1,000 doing this. In addition, she has maxed out her charitable giving for her taxes.
- Don’t succumb to peer pressure. “You don’t have to have the Kardashian lifestyle. Find happiness in other things. You will feel freer and lighter without the stuff.”