Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
StitcherThe baby isn’t born yet, and somehow the spending has already surpassed what could have gone toward years of their upbringing. Today, we’re talking about how welcoming a baby has turned into a full-blown financial event. From over-the-top gender reveals and extravagant baby showers to outrageously expensive baby shower gifts, we’re diving into some of the wildest examples social media has to offer.
Too much of something is too much.
Sponsors:
Smoke. You might believe, where there’s smoke there’s fire. But as you will come to learn in this episode that is not always the case. But if there’s one thing you can be sure of it’s that we send an email every Tuesday and Thursday telling you about our newest episode, sending you offers and discounts from our sponsors, sending you pics we’re not bold enough to post on social media.
If you want to join our crew head to frugalfriendspodcast.com and give us your email. Don’t miss another chance to go BTS of frugal friends and get more from every episode.
Gender Reveals Aren't for Parents Anymore
What started as a simple way to reveal whether a baby was a girl or a boy has turned into a full-blown production, often leading to unnecessary spending. Jen finally says the obvious: this trend shows just how much our decisions are influenced by viral social media content rather than happening organically.
Jill adds that while people naturally love surprises, the amount of money spent because of social pressure can be excessive. A gender reveal can be simple, meaningful, and just as enjoyable without all the extra costs. In the end, these elaborate gender reveals and baby showers often benefit the party industry, influencers, and big-box baby brands more than the families celebrating them.
How Do We Celebrate Better?
For one, Jill reminds us that not everything has to be brand new just because we’re excited about the celebration. She also points out that who we follow on social media matters. Jen also emphasize that during pregnancy, it can be harder to resist impulse purchases, making us more vulnerable to marketing and influencer-driven spending.
Instead, they encourage spending on what truly matters: support systems, time off, and mental health and not one-day aesthetics and picture-perfect moments that quickly lose their value.
What’s the most unhinged baby shower or gender reveal you’ve seen?
An absolutely no for Jen that she encountered is sniffing baby food out of diapers to guess the flavor. While for Jill, it’s seeing pasta baby and doughnut baby out of clay for prizes!
Bill of The Week
Thanks Annie for sharing your bill about internet & phone $260 > $120!
Thanks so Much for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening. We love love love reading your kind reviews of our book Buy What You Love Without Going Broke and we especially loved this one from:
✰✰✰✰✰
This book helped me develop introspection into my spending and shopping habits.
This book has helped me gain insight on the psychology of my impulses around shopping and spending. I think I really needed to understand this in order to set the ground work for long-term change. This book offers more than just financial advise, it provides relevant behavioral insight, great stories, excellent euphemisms and practical tools for regular people...like myself. As an "elder millennial", and a woman, I find the humor and analogies both entertaining and on point.
If you want to check out our monthly challenge community head to frugalfriendspodcast.com/club to see what challenge we have coming up next.
Keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or Stitcher, and sending the screenshot to reviews@frugalfriendspodcast.com. And don’t forget to share your favorite quote from the episode by using the hashtag #FrugalFriendsNote. 😉