Rachel Cruze: How Comfort and Scarcity Drain Your Wallet

Commitment to Our Readers

GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.

20 Years
Helping You Live Richer

Reviewed
by Experts

Trusted by
Millions of Readers

Many factors can lead to overspending. Financial personality Rachel Cruze recently focused on two that you may never have considered.

On an episode of “The Rachel Cruze Show,” Cruze interviewed guest Michael Easter, author of “The Comfort Crisis” and his newest book, “Scarcity Brain.”

The author has some interesting perspectives on how leaning into either a comfort or scarcity mindset can cause you to spend more than you should. 

How Leaning Into Comfort Drains Your Wallet

Constantly spending money on things that make you more comfortable but aren’t really necessary can drain your wallet. 

“So many people live above their means, and the stress and all that that comes with it,” said Cruze. 

She said when people are wanting to get out of debt, she tells them to temporarily cut everything nonessential out so they can find the margin they need to start making progress toward becoming free from debt. 

“But it’s uncomfortable and people are used to their routine,” Cruze said. “They’re used to living at a certain level … and when you tell someone to go below, it feels off.” 

Unfortunately, if someone is unable to give up the comforts they’ve become accustomed to, it can make getting out of debt extremely difficult, if not impossible.

How To Deal With Being Uncomfortable When Making Sacrifices

Cruze asked Easter what he would say through the “comfort-crisis lens” to somebody who is uncomfortable making sacrifices as a way to eliminate debt. 

“So, in the book, I talk about how we basically adapt to the level of comfort we’re at,” explained Easter. “And the level of comfort that we used to think was great now becomes uncomfortable.” 

Easter said that levels of comfort are related to time. He said if you looked at someone who was considered comfortable 50 years ago, the perception would be much different today.

“You would look at today and be like, ‘Oh my gosh. I can’t believe they’re living like that. They only have one car — oh my gosh! How could anyone do that?'” he said.

Easter went on to say that while it will be uncomfortable to make drastic changes, such as cutting out unnecessary comforts, due to an adaptation period, it’s important to keep things in perspective.

“The reality is that you know your grandparents were perfectly happy, and their lives were a lot more uncomfortable and didn’t have as much as you had,” Easter said. “And same with their grandparents — and on and on and on. So a lot of times what we consider uncomfortable is just sort of determined by time and space we are in.” 

How Leaning Into Scarcity Can Drain Your Wallet

Easter said the pandemic gave him the idea to write “Scarcity Brain.” When he went to the store with his list in March 2020 to prepare for being stuck at home for a while, everything was gone from the shelves. 

“And so your natural inclination — everyone’s inclination — into that when they thought that what they needed to survive was scarce [was] we all went into, like, hoarder mode,” Easter recounted. “Everyone freaked out right? Get as much toilet paper as you can. Yes, we’re going to need 100,000 gallons at least of hand sanitizer, right?

“So after we have this initial freak out of hoarding when the pandemic first sets in, then you start to see this new trend set in where people start to acquire more in different ways,” he said. “So shopping increases — online shopping has never been higher. You start to see a lot of people gain a significant amount of weight. We start moving even less. Screen time goes through the roof.”

Easter said that those behaviors made him curious and he started researching why people were reacting in the ways they did. He said that when people think something they need to survive might be scarce, their reaction is to get more of it. He said that we live in a world of abundance but people still have a drive to acquire more food, stuff and information. 

“The average home today has more than 10,000 items,” shared Easter. “We used to have maybe 100 items in a house 150 years ago. A person today sees more information in one day than they would have seen their entire life 700 years ago. And then I mean, just food we throw out — about a third of the food we produce, you know?

“So the book really looks at all these things that we’re sort of built to crave and how technology is really pushing us into overconsuming them and how that’s come with a lot of downsides. Just financially, like people spend so much money on things they don’t need, but we think we need them because of marketing or because, you know, we’re bored.”

How To Avoid the Scarcity Mindset

To avoid succumbing to the scarcity mindset and acquiring more and more things you don’t need, you must be aware of the marketing ploys and tactics that are being used by retailers to manipulate you into buying.

“These are billion-dollar industries .. they know what they are doing,” said Cruze. “You have to be aware. It’s like this cautionary tale; there’s industries literally after you whether it’s to get your money, your time, your attention — all of it.”

Easter agreed. He said that when you want to buy something you should ask yourself why you are buying the item and what you will get from it. He also said to ask yourself if there’s another way you can achieve what you want using something you already own. 

Easter said another example is to slow down how quickly you can shop, such as quitting online shopping and only buying stuff in person. 

“Now you have to drive to the store … and along the way, you’re probably going to forget what you were going to buy,” Easter said. “If you have to buy something online, it could be like, ‘All right — I’m putting a three-day holding period on, and so I’m not going to buy it unless I think I still need it in three days. Chances are you’ll probably come to your senses.”

Share This Article: