Podcast: Why We Spend Money Irrationally with Jeff Kreisler

Why do we spend money? Here’s one reason: It feels good.

It’s a matter of science. A swipe of a credit card, the click of that button. To your brain, it can feel like a hug. Until you look at your bank balance and wonder where all your money went. Then you feel like crying.

Face it, when it comes to money and spending, we’re not rational beings.

We don’t always buy milk at the store where it’s cheapest. Sometimes we buy it at the store that’s closest to our home or where’s nearest to the pet store where they have the cutest dogs in the window.

There are plenty of ways that companies seek to cash in on our emotional and irrational spending. Think flash sales, markdowns, one-click shopping, and impulse add-ons. It’s just so easy to spend.

But then why does it hurt so much to save? Isn’t saving money good for us? 

On this week’s episode of Teach Me How To Money, we talk to Jeff Kreisler, co-author of the hot new behavioral finance book “Dollars and Sense.”

We discuss  the “pain of paying” and how companies exploit it to keep us spending money on things we don’t need.

Got a question you’d like us to answer on the show? Drop us a line at teachmehowtomoney@stash.com. We’ll do our best to get to all of them.