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Hey, guys. It's Chelsea from The Financial Diet.

And this week's video is brought to you by Adobe Document Cloud. And this week, we're going to talk about those fancy luxurious things that we usually associate with wealth, but which are actually much more affordable than we think. And I definitely include myself in that, in that I looked at these things for a long time as something that inherently demanded a ton of disposable income.

For example, a big part of the reason that it took me to the beginning of this year to really seriously embrace a regular exercise regime is because I've always thought it would be really expensive to maintain. And now my regular Pilates practice costs me about $5 a class, when I break it down, plus all the free stuff I do at home. But if I had kept mentally classifying that exercise regime as something that wealthier people do, I would've kept putting it off, to the detriment of my health.

And there are tons of things like that-- things that we could actually have total access to, if we knew how to approach them. There are things that will help us live the life we want as soon as we stop waiting to be rich enough to have them. Number one is a curated wardrobe.

One thing that we hear over and over again it TFD is how difficult it can feel to create that curated, professional, durable wardrobe without spending tons of money. But it's actually easier and less expensive than you think to emulate this. You can start from any point by creating what is called a capsule wardrobe.

Basically, your capsule wardrobe is a foundational wardrobe of core, timeless, versatile items-- think things like a white button down shirt, a little black dress, a blazer, et cetera-- onto which you can swap in and out occasion or season-specific items. And creating a capsule wardrobe from wherever you are is actually fairly easy. You just have to follow a step-by-step process.

Plus learn how to hone your thriftiness skills for all of the investment pieces-- things like cashmere, wool, leather, suede, et cetera. To start your capsule wardrobe, first take about one to two weeks to curate your ideal wardrobe on a place like Pinterest, Instagram, or even through just savvy googling and saving those images all in one place. Once you have a strong idea of what would be your base necessary pieces, write out a detailed list of your foundational items.

And this will likely end up being somewhere between 25 and 50 items, depending on your needs and lifestyle. Then go through your wardrobe and find all of the items on that list you already have. Check them off.

Then see what's left on your list of foundational items to buy. And because most of these items are supposed to be high quality and timeless, see how many you can challenge to get from drifting-- whether that's in a physical thrift store or on great sites like thredUP. We'll link you in the description.

And when you are thrifting in person, remember to talk with your salesperson. Find out when the stores are restocked, so you can go on their best days. And be patient.

You're trying to create a foundational wardrobe that will last you for years and be able to mix and match to create endless different outfits. It should take you some time to find all those items at the best price. I personally have found everything from several cashmere sweaters to an originally $300 pair of Frye boots for a fraction of the price through savvy drifting.

They provide foundational elements of my wardrobe, but more importantly allowed me to invest in those quality, durable items before I had a lot of disposable income. But the point is, a high quality and professional wardrobe can be within your reach. You just have to follow a clear process and be patient and savvy in getting your core items.

Number two is traveling frequently. When it comes to travel, Americans have a pretty fraught relationship with the concept. On the one hand, we idealize travel.

We consume a ton of media around it, and are constantly bombarded with glamorous images of travel on our social networks, like Instagram. And yet only 23% of Americans take all of their available vacation days. And while part of that is certainly due to work environments which discourage it, a lot of it also has to do with the fact that Americans work really hard statistically, and have a hard time breaking away.

Americans work longer hours than nearly every other major economy. And so when we do break away, between how hard we're usually working and how idealized travel can be for us, we tend to do it big. As we've mentioned before on TFD, in the US, the travel overspend can represent a serious chunk of household income. 74% of Americans admitted to falling into debt of more than $1,100 after returning from a holiday, according to a 2017 survey by personal finance website.

Learnvest. But there's a lot of compelling evidence that taking shorter, more frequent trips can actually be incredibly good for mental health. In fact, one study showed that for every 10 hours of vacation time employees took, their performance ratings at work went up by 8%.

So setting aside a specific budget for more frequent, lower impact, and lower budget travel will allow you to reap a lot of those same psychological benefits, while also not making it so that you tend to overindulge every time you go away, because you do it so infrequently. I'm personally a huge fan of the staycation. Mark and I actually just did one for a few days over the 4th of July holiday, because we got an amazing deal at a hotel here in New York.

And it was just as refreshing and exciting to be in our own city as if we were halfway across the world. And if one of the things preventing you from traveling more frequently is the fear of not being able to get any work done on the go, you should check out Adobe Scan an Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile apps. Adobe Scan is a mobile app that allows you to turn your phone into a portable scanner and create editable PDFs.

It can be used to consolidate any paper documents you might need to take on the go, or to capture digital versions of documents while traveling. You can even automatically capture details from business cards directly in your contacts, in case you're making valuable connections on your travels. Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app seamlessly integrates with Scan and allows you to work on documents anywhere.

It's packed with all the tools you need to view, annotate, sign, and share PDFs on the go. So if you need to share or sign any important or time-sensitive documents while you're away, you're covered. No more wandering the streets of cities while on vacation to find a printer and fax machine to get a contract signed.

And the best thing, these apps are free on iOS and Android. So download them now and check them out. Links are in the description.

Number three is fancy fitness. So as I mentioned at the beginning of this video,. I'm someone who really used to idealize that image of what it meant to be a fit person, especially the kind of exercises that always felt very fancy to me, like yoga, Pilates, and meditation.

We see these practices stylized all the time on places like Instagram, and can easily start feeling like becoming a fit person requires that we drop $100 on fancy yoga pants and get an elite gym membership. But I've learned that that's incredibly, wrong, and that it's so important we reconsider how we think of these practices, because they're super good for us. Yoga and Pilates are low impact workouts that build strength and endurance for people of all ages and fitness levels without heavily impacting your joints.

They're also great for mental health by focusing on breathing techniques, maintaining internal calm, and focusing on self-improvement rather than competition. Perhaps best of all, though, these seemingly fancy practices can actually be super affordable. There are community classes, where many yoga, Pilates, and meditation studios will offer community classes for free or suggested donations.

For Pilates, you can start with mat classes, which can be anywhere from $5 to $20 a session, as opposed to $30 to $60 for the machine-based reformer classes. Lululemon actually hosts free community yoga events all the time, and you can follow their pages on social media to see when there might be one near you. Many studios also offer pay-what-you-can classes and work study programs for people who are interested in learning to instruct.

And many gyms-- even less expensive ones-- offer classes in these practices at no extra charge. There are also tons of totally free resources on the internet to get started with these fancy fitness regimes at home. There are YouTube channels, like Yoga.

With Adrian and Blogilates. There are also several great Instagram accounts to follow-- which we'll link you to, along with those YouTube channels in the description-- including the TFD Instagram, where every Monday our own social media manager. Mary, who's also a certified yoga instructor, is sharing some of her favorite poses as well as weekly thoughts.

The point is, you do not have to spend a ton of money or be a hashtag #FITSPO model to get involved with some of these incredibly beneficial fitness regimes. Number four is a healthier diet. So it might go without saying, but generally speaking,.

Americans do not have very healthy diets. According to the USDA, typical American diets exceed the recommended intake levels or limits in four categories-- calories from solid fats and added sugars, refined grains, sodium, and saturated fat. And the CDC reports, only one in 10 US adults eats the recommended amount of fruits or vegetables each day.

And lastly, the American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day for women, and nine teaspoons for men. Yet the average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons every day. So both because of these unhealthy cultural norms around eating and because of-- just like with fitness and travel-- how glamorized and idealized the idea of a healthy diet can be, it can feel like an elite an incredibly expensive thing to do to become someone who eats really well.

A truly healthy diet can feel like a luxury item. And for people living in poverty or in areas called food deserts, which have very low access to fresh and healthy foods, this can be true. But for many of us, a healthy diet is not just affordable.

It can actually save us money when compared to a diet that's based on processed, prepackaged, or ordered out foods. But for many of us, a more healthy diet isn't just affordable. It can actually save us money when compared to a diet that's heavily based on packaged, processed, and out-of-season foods.

And we have a few key tips to making that healthy diet way more affordable. One is our favorite TFD tip of taking two bags every time you go to the grocery store, one of which must only be filled with produce. And that can be fresh, frozen, dried, canned, et cetera.

But only the other one can be filled with everything else. This doesn't just make you eat tons more produce. By opening it up to the canned, frozen, et cetera vegetables, which are often just as nutritionally dense as fresh, it allows you to get them for much less money.

Next, buy fresh fruits and vegetables when they're in season, which is when they're more abundant, nutritious, and often less expensive. You can then freeze them. Everything from fruit to herbs to produce-based sauces can easily be frozen.

You'll also want to vary your sources of protein. While lean animal protein can be extremely good for you, it can also be extremely expensive, and not always great for the environment. Challenging yourself to have several meals a week where your protein is not animal-based isn't just helpful for the environment.

It's also really, really good for your wallet. Things like beans, lentils, whole grains are all great protein sources that tend to cost a fraction of a lean animal protein. Of course, you should also always be in the practice of big batch cooking and freezing individual meals, which doesn't just help get rid of some of that desire to order takeout every time you're hungry, but also allows you to buy things in bigger quantities when it's often less expensive.

And lastly, you'll want to stock up on the basic herbs, spices, oils, sauces, et cetera that will allow even the most simple and plant-based meals feel really exciting. We did a whole video on the ingredients you'll want to keep in your kitchen to make almost any kind of delicious meal on a short notice, and we'll link you in the description. Lastly, number five is a professional side gig.

If you are ever in the position of considering a side job-- and we're big fans of the side hustle here at TFD-- one of the biggest advantages you can give to yourself is a clean, professional, put-together look for whatever it is that you're doing. It can feel really luxurious to have that professional side business, where you've got nice business cards, a clean website, a nice logo, professional email, et cetera. But those things are actually surprisingly accessible and affordable, and they can be incredibly helpful in landing new clients, no matter what kind of product or service you're offering.

And even though this gig may not be your full time job, A, you never know what it might turn into that, which is what happened with TFD. But also, B, if you're taking the time to do anything professionally, it deserves the best possible presentation. To that end, you'll want to follow this simple process to setting up any side business that you want to look as professional as possible.

Start by setting up that small business as an actual legal entity, usually an LLC. Even if it's just Your Name LLC, for whatever freelance work you might be doing. An LLC protects your personal assets, allows you to maximize your tax benefits, and gives an air of professionalism to the work that you're doing.

We'll link you to instructions on setting one up for about $100 in under an hour. Next, you'll want to set up the digital framework for your business to make it look professional and sleek. That means, of course, a great logo.

And we'll link you to some resources to help you build it. A basic website with relevant domain name and essential information, because even if it's just contact info and a quick bio, having a coherent place for your business to live online makes it way easier for clients to find you. And of course, a basic email attached to that domain name, where people can reach you.

We'll link you in the description to several great resources to getting started on all of those things, many of which are free. We estimate that overall you should be able to get the digital framework of your business together for under $100. Lastly, consider getting real business cards.

There have been many times when I've been caught without a TFD business card on me when I really could have used one to form a great connection. And while they're actually not very expensive to get printed digitally-- we'll link you to that in the description as well-- they can do wonders for the air of professionalism that you give off when talking about what you're doing. Just those small changes to any side gig can make it seem infinitely more professional, and yes, luxurious.

But you don't have to pay luxurious prices to get it. Remember that having a more fulfilling and rich feeling life is all about understanding what you want, learning the shortcuts to getting there, and realizing that being creative can often be just as effective as spending more money. And when it comes to getting stuff done no matter where you are, even on a luxurious feeling weekend trip, having the right tools is half the battle, like Adobe Scan and Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile apps.

Download both for free on iOS or Android at the links in our description. As always, thank you so much for watching, and don't forget to hit the Subscribe button and to come back every Tuesday and Thursday for new and awesome videos. Bye. .