May 2026
We expect financial advisors to have it all figured out. Fully optimized budgets, zero impulse purchases, and complete immunity to a well-timed discount code. The reality is considerably more human.
In this episode of Couchside Conversations, Modearn® advisors Beau and Patrice open up about their own spending confessions: late-night Instagram shoes, $500 in mobile game purchases, $2,000-a-month grocery bills, and a DoorDash habit that started with a newborn and never quite stopped. Along the way, they get into the real psychology behind why we overspend and the practical strategies that actually help.
Watch previous episodes:
Ask a Therapist: How to Make Your Relationship Work
The Invisible Load of Mid-Life
0:00 Intro
4:11 What makes late-night social media spending so easy to rationalize?
5:45 Why do people spend intentionally but irrationally?
7:42 How do stress and sleep deprivation drive impulse purchases?
8:44 Why do needs and wants blur so easily for adults today?
12:05 What are the most common categories of sustained overspending?
13:38 What are we really buying when we overspend?
16:00 How do discounts manipulate our spending behavior?
20:08 What practical strategies actually help curb impulse spending?
21:18 This or That
These are the questions people ask when they know their spending is off but cannot quite figure out why. We have addressed them directly below, and the full conversation is available as a transcript further down the page.
Why do I keep making impulse purchases even when I know better?
Because impulse spending is rarely about the thing you are buying. It is about what the purchase is doing for you emotionally in that moment: comfort, novelty, distraction, a small reward at the end of a long day. The apps and algorithms on our phones are designed by teams of neuroscientists and behavioral researchers who know exactly when you are most likely to spend. They are catching you when your guard is down, your inhibitions are relaxed, and you are looking for a little relief. Knowing this does not make the urge go away, but it does change how you respond to it.
What is the difference between impulse spending and emotional spending?
Impulse spending tends to be unplanned and reactive: you see something, you buy it, and you may or may not regret it. Emotional spending is broader and includes purchases that are deliberate but driven by emotional pressure rather than practical need. In this episode, Patrice describes buying expensive shoes the night before a major work event, fully intentional with zero price sensitivity, because she needed the confidence boost. Beau describes spending $500 on mobile game purchases one micro-transaction at a time while sleep-deprived with a newborn, because he needed distraction to stay awake. Both are emotional. Only one felt spontaneous.
How does social media make overspending worse?
Social media distorts your baseline for what is normal. When you are scrolling through aspirational content about homes, travel, wardrobes, and celebrations, your sense of your own needs quietly shifts. What once felt like a want starts feeling like a reasonable expectation. On top of that, the algorithm learns your preferences and gets increasingly precise about surfacing things you are likely to buy. Patrice puts it plainly: the algorithm is scarily intuitive. It knows what you like and keeps showing you more of it at exactly the right moment.
Is it normal for spending to spike after a major life change?
Yes, and it is worth understanding why. Beau describes how a DoorDash habit that started out of genuine necessity after his son was born quietly became a default long after the chaos of early parenthood settled. This is how a lot of overspending patterns form: a habit that makes complete sense in a high-stress period outlasts the stress. The convenience and comfort of it get baked in before you realize you no longer need it the same way. Spending patterns are much easier to establish than to undo.
What actually works for curbing impulse spending?
Two things stand out from this conversation. The first is hacking the anticipation loop: your brain gets most of its reward from anticipating a purchase, not from making it. Adding something to your cart and then closing the app gives you much of the emotional payoff without the spend. If you still want it a day later, you can buy it with intention rather than impulse. The second is using guardrails on your own behavior. Apps like Opal can limit your screen time on shopping or social apps. A quick check-in with your partner before purchases over a certain amount creates a small but effective friction point. The goal is a short delay between the impulse and the action. That gap is where better decisions live.
How do discounts and deals drive overspending?
Discounts create urgency and justify purchases that might not otherwise make sense. Patrice is candid about this: she refuses to pay full price, but wave a discount code in front of her and the purchase becomes easy to rationalize. This is not a personal failing. It is a feature of how consumer marketing is designed. In the US, roughly 70 percent of the economy runs on consumer spending, and retailers have built sophisticated systems to keep it moving. A discount is not a gift. It is usually an invitation to spend money you had not planned to spend.
What is the right way to think about spending on things that genuinely matter to you?
The goal is not to stop spending. It is to spend on things that actually reflect your values rather than things you bought in a moment of emotion you will barely remember. Both Beau and Patrice have categories they are genuinely happy to spend on: quality food and experiences for Beau, quality over quantity for Patrice. A good spending strategy has room for those things. What it tries to eliminate is the spending that does not deliver what you thought it would.
This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at their credit card statement and wondered where it all went. That is most of us. Overspending is rarely a math problem. It is a behavior problem, and behavior is shaped by emotion, habit, environment, and the relentless precision of the platforms we use every day.
This episode is especially relevant for:
At Morton Wealth, we build spending strategies alongside investment and retirement plans because how you spend is just as important as how you save. The two are not separate conversations.
You are not buying the thing. You are buying a feeling.
Comfort, distraction, novelty, confidence, relief. When you understand what emotional need a purchase is meeting, you can often find a cheaper or healthier way to meet it. And you can start to tell the difference between spending that genuinely serves you and spending that just felt good in the moment.
The algorithm is not neutral.
Your phone knows when you are tired, what you like, and how to make the purchase feel inevitable. Recognizing this does not make you immune, but it means the solution is not just more willpower. You need systems: friction, delays, limits, and accountability.
Anticipation is the real reward.
Your brain gets most of its dopamine hit from the lead-up to a purchase, not from the purchase itself. The shopping cart trick works because it delivers the anticipation without the spend. Use it.
Overspending patterns outlast the circumstances that created them.
Habits formed under stress or transition tend to stick around long after the stress is gone. If your spending went up during a hard season of life, it is worth asking whether those habits still make sense now that things have settled.
“What are you buying? That’s the question we keep coming back to. There is a reason you’re doing it. And usually it’s actually rational.” — Beau, Wealth Advisor, Morton Wealth
DISCLOSURES
Information presented herein isfor discussion and illustrative purposes only and is not intended to constitutefinancial advice. The views and opinions expressed by the speakers are as ofthe date of the recording and are subject to change. These views are notintended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, and should not berelied on as financial, tax, or legal advice. You should consult with yourfinance professional, accountant, or tax professional before implementing anytransactions or strategies concerning your finances.
