In this episode of Money Feels, we’re talking about why your parents think you’re wasting money on lattes and TVs. It all started with a TikTok that explained the difference between the 1980s and today in simple terms.

Back then, life was cheap, and stuff was expensive. Now it’s the other way around. Housing, rent, tuition and childcare used to be within reach, and a new TV or microwave was the big purchase. Today the treats are what’s affordable, and the basics aren’t.

Alyssa and Bridget break down the numbers behind the generational divide, so you have facts ready the next time money comes up at the holiday dinner table.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Why boomers see luxuries and necessities so differently
• What a home and rent cost in Canada in the 1980s compared to today, and how many years of income it takes to buy a house now
• The “but interest rates were 21%!” argument
• How inflation explains some of the gap between then and now
• How much tuition and childcare costs have gone up
• The pressure to do better than our parents
• Why small treats can feel like the only thing within reach

Thanks for listening to another episode! For bonus episodes and more, join our Patreon! Until then, follow us on Instagram @mixedupmoney, @bridgiecasey and @moneyfeelspodcast, and we’ll see you next time!

In this episode of Money Feels, we’re talking about something most of us don’t think twice about: comfort. Not the kind that refills you, but the kind that numbs you. The scroll, the “I’ll just order it,” the “I’ll decide later.” Somewhere along the way, we stopped using comfort to recover and started using it to escape, and we’ve built a whole world that makes escaping very, very easy.

Alyssa and Bridget dig into the psychology of why we run from discomfort, what that avoidance costs us (financially and otherwise), and who steps in to make our choices when we stop making them ourselves.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

• The study where people chose to shock themselves rather than sit alone with their thoughts
• The difference between restorative comfort and avoidant comfort, and how to tell which one you’re reaching for
• Experiential avoidance, a concept from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and why the strategy we use to feel better can keep us stuck
• Who’s making your choices when you avoid the discomfort of deciding
• Why anticipation is part of the joy, and what we lose when everything arrives tomorrow
• The difference between people choosing convenience to survive and systems that profit from keeping us too tired to choose
• Small, doable ways to choose meaningful discomfort this week

Resources mentioned:

• Wilson et al., “Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind,” Science (2014): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250830

Thanks for listening to another episode! For bonus episodes and more, join our Patreon! Until then, follow us on Instagram @mixedupmoney, @bridgiecasey and @moneyfeelspodcast, and we’ll see you next time!

In this episode of Money Feels, we talk about something that's deeply personal and also big business: fertility, IVF and egg freezing. Having a baby is expensive no matter how you do it, and this way costs even more. A lot extra.

Alyssa and Bridget look at the IVF industry through a money lens: the real costs, the odds most people don't hear about, and why "I'll do whatever it takes" is the most expensive sentence in fertility care. They also take on egg freezing as a corporate perk, and why "empowering" might be the wrong word for it.

This one comes from a place of care, not judgment. If you're going through IVF or have experienced pregnancy loss, please look after yourself, and feel free to skip this one and tune in next week.

In today's episode, we discuss:

• How IVF actually works, step by step, and why there are fees at every stage
• The real odds of a live birth by age, and why they're so rarely talked about
• The Cut article: 11 rounds of IVF, $250,000 and no baby
• Why longing is never where anyone makes a clear money decision
• Add-ons, experimental treatments and clinics with no age cut-off
• What would happen if a financial product had IVF's odds
• Why egg freezing as a workplace perk is really an investment in not paying for maternity leave
• Egg freezing as "buying an option"
• Universal child care and fully paid parental leave
• What repeated loss does to your relationships
• Public funding for IVF in Canada

Thanks for listening to another episode! For bonus episodes and more, join our Patreon! Until then, follow us on Instagram @mixedupmoney, @bridgiecasey and @moneyfeelspodcast, and we’ll see you next time!