How Can I Kick Impulse Buying to the Curb and Save Money?
Are impulse purchases derailing your financial goals? In this episode of Ask Ralph, Ralph Estep Jr. addresses one of the biggest traps keeping people stuck in the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle: impulse spending. Ralph unpacks why those “gotta-have-it” moments feel good for a second but wreak havoc on your finances. Using Proverbs 21:20 as a guide, he challenges listeners to replace impulsive “gulping” with intentional—starting with one simple tool: the Power Pause. This small habit will help you kick impulse buying to the curb for good.
Check out the full podcast episode here
You’ll learn how emotional triggers like stress, boredom, and comparison fuel poor spending habits—and how a 24-hour pause can disrupt that cycle, strengthen financial self-control, and bring lasting peace. Ralph offers four key questions to ask before any unplanned purchase, helping you move from reaction to wisdom. Whether you’re working on saving, building a budget, or simply trying to make better financial decisions, this episode offers a powerful mindset shift and actionable steps to help you steward God’s resources well.
Chapters:
- 00:10 - Breaking the Cycle of Impulse Spending
- 02:16 - Understanding Impulse Spending
- 05:14 - Breaking the Cycle of Impulsive Spending
- 05:30 - The Power Pause: A New Approach to Impulsive Spending
- 08:29 - The Power of the Pause
Takeaways:
- Impulse buying can lead to that all-too-familiar buyer's remorse we all dread after splurging.
- Taking a moment to pause before making purchases can drastically change your financial game.
- It's all about being intentional with your spending to avoid ending up broke and stressed.
- Ralph emphasizes the importance of a 24-hour pause to rethink those impulse buys.
- Understanding the triggers behind impulse spending, like stress and boredom, is crucial for change.
- The key to financial peace is learning to say 'no' to impulse and 'yes' to intentionality.
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00:00 - None
00:10 - Breaking the Cycle of Impulse Spending
02:16 - Understanding Impulse Spending
05:14 - Breaking the Cycle of Impulsive Spending
05:30 - The Power Pause: A New Approach to Impulsive Spending
08:29 - The Power of the Pause
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Have you ever felt that buyer's remorse kick in almost immediately
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after you bought something?
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You know that unplanned purchase, it felt good for a second, but
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now just feels like regret.
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Well, if impulse spending is keeping you stuck and you're wondering where your
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money goes, I want you to stay tuned today because we're gonna be talking
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about just one simple step, just one that you can take today to break the cycle.
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I'm gonna share with you why you need to stop gulping and start being intentional.
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All this coming up on Ask Ralph.
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Welcome back to as Ralph.
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I'm Ralph, your financial evangelist, and I'm here to help you find that freedom
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and grow your faith one step at a time.
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Thank you for choosing to join me today.
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My goal is to help you break that cycle of financial shame and do it with confidence.
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And honestly, let me just ask you this.
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Have you ever had that moment, you know, that moment, maybe you're
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scrolling online, or maybe you're walking the aisles and you're,
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you're feeling stressed, you're, you're feeling emotional, then bam.
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You see something and you say, I, I gotta have that.
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And you didn't plan it, you, you, but, but you feel like you need it.
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You need it now.
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So you, you go up to the register and you put that, that credit card down,
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or you're online and you click buy, and you have that feeling, you know, that
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quick thrill then that, that sinking feeling comes not too soon after that.
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And you say to yourself, Ugh, why did I buy that?
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Well, that's impulse spending.
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And listen, it's sneaky and it might feel small at times.
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Here's the problem.
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It keeps us stuck.
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It keeps us stuck in that paycheck to paycheck grind.
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And we sit there and we wonder at the end of the week or the end of
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the month where our money's going and we feel like we can't get ahead.
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Well, I got a message from a listener named Mike.
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I want to share that with you right now.
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It says, hi, Ralph.
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I always end up buying stuff I hadn't planned for.
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How do I stop that?
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Mike, let me just tell you, I hear you and you are definitely
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not alone in that, Mike.
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I feel the same way all the time, but here's the problem, Michael.
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You find yourself in this cycle.
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It's that impulse buy, and then you regret it, but then you go repeat
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it again, and it's exhausting.
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It's this cycle.
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Just impulse buy, regret, repeat.
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The problem with that is, and it's really, it's really a sinister problem.
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It chips away at your bank account.
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It chips away at your peace of mind.
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Actually, I had this discussion with my own son on Sunday.
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We're talking about what I'm talking about on the show this
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week, and he said, dad, it's funny.
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He said, as I, as I start to look at where my finances are going, I start to realize,
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man, I buy a lot of stuff impulsively.
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And I said to him, I said, you're right, son.
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And the problem with that is it really blocks your goals.
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It makes it hard to save.
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you're listening right now, you're probably thinking the same thing.
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As you know, I'm always buying stuff.
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It does make it hard to save it.
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It makes it hard to build that emergency fund.
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And I'm gonna be talking all about emergency funds tomorrow, so I'm
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gonna encourage you to check that out.
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And the biggest thing it does, it blocks our ability to be generous, which
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leads me right to today's Bible verse.
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I don't wanna share this with you because it's very direct and it really became the
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center of what I wanna talk about today.
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And it comes right from Proverbs chapter 21, verse 20, and I'm
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just gonna encapsulate it says the Why Store up Fools Gulp.
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There's down.
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If you think about it, what we're really talking about there is that impulse
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and the word that the Bible uses.
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Great.
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It uses the word gulping and in your own mind, think about gulping as reacting.
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It's just, it's that reaction.
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It's that impulsive thing, but it's the opposite of planning.
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And see, there's the problem.
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That's that gulping I was talking about.
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And now you're asking Okay, Ralph, that sounds good.
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I, I'm, I'm, I'm guilty.
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Raise my hand.
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I'm guilty of gulping.
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What causes this?
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And I think if you really examine yourself, I think there are
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really, three big common triggers.
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One of the big ones I, I'll call is stress.
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Now that could be emotional or whatever.
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That may be sadness, but it's stress.
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Another one, I think, is just pure boredom.
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We find ourselves, we're bored.
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Maybe we're wondering through the shopping mall, or we're online shopping, we're
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scrolling through and next thing you know, something catches our attention.
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And you know, it triggers that feeling, oh, I gotta have this.
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And then I think the other one is really comparison.
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I, I think we spend a lot of time on social media and we see what
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other people have and it makes us wanna compare our lives to them.
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So those are really the big three things that I, that I think cause it
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what I'll call the common triggers.
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But here's the big problem.
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You might be saying, okay, big deal Ralph.
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I'm spending $10 here.
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I'm, I'm spending $20 there.
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But as my son found out.
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The big problem is it stops us from wisely storing up.
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See, we're just gulping things down.
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So I promised you a simple solution of how to break the cycle, and I'm
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going to tell you that right now.
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So are you ready?
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It's really very simple, and that's just stop the gulping.
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Now, it doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
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I've got one simple strategy for you, and here's the big strategy.
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It's what I call the power pause, or we can also call the 24 hour pause.
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And here's how it works.
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It's really simple.
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The next time you get that urge, I just want you to don't buy it.
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Just don't buy.
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Hit that pause.
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Just hit pause.
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Now listen, I'm not telling you that you're saying no forever.
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You might need this.
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This might be something that you end up buying, but it's just
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going to be a no for right now.
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And then I want you to just step away from it.
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If you're online shopping, maybe close the tab.
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If you're out at the store, just walk away and just give it 24 hours.
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That's really all it takes.
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And you might be saying Ralph, okay, that's great, but how does this work?
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Well, lemme be very candid with you.
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It works because it breaks that emotional grip that need it now feeling
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that's that impulsive feeling that you're feeling right at that moment.
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if you take that, that power pause, you take that 24 hour pause that
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need it now feeling just fades away.
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And it gives the brain that, that brain, that wise brain part thinking time.
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Then I want you to ask yourself these four very simple questions.
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Now, I want you to wait the 24 hours.
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You're gonna do that power pause or what I call the 24 hour pause, and then you're
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gonna ask these very simple questions.
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The first one is, do you really need it?
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Is this something you really need or is this a want?
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The second question you're gonna ask yourself is, does it fit in my budget?
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you've got that intentional spending plan.
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Hopefully you've got that plan, but does it fit into your budget?
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The next question you're gonna ask yourself is, does it align with my goals?
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Does it fit into where I'm trying to take my finances?
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And then finally, the big takeaway question.
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Is it wise stewardship?
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Now listen, in the end, the outcome might still be yes, but
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now you're being intentional.
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And that's the whole point.
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See that that need vanishes and instead of feeling that regret that we talked
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about at the beginning, you feel that relief because you've made an intentional
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decision and that's really the key.
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So here's my challenge for this week.
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I just want you to do this one thing just one time this week.
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I want you to just, next time you feel that impulse urge, just hit that pause,
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do that power pause that we talk about, and then wait 24 hours maybe for you.
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You write that thing down.
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If you're shopping online, put it in your online shopping cart.
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Maybe take a photo of it, but just walk away, close out the browser, get up
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from where are, and walk away from it.
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That's it.
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I just want you to do that one time this week
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And listen, you're not gonna find perfection overnight, but you're
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building a new muscle and you're building that muscle called intentionality.
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And think of it like this.
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Here's a great analogy.
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Sort of like lifting weights at the gym.
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You know, it takes time to build that muscle.
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When you first go in there, the first day, hey, you're not gonna be able to lift
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all those weights, but every time you go into the gym, you get a little stronger.
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Well, this works the same way every time you take that pause.
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It's going to strengthen your ability to be a wise steward.
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Just like it talks about in Proverbs, you're gonna move away from gulping and
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you're gonna move to storing up wisely.
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So Michael, you asked this at the beginning and I'm gonna tell
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you how to stop it, and that is, start with that power pause.
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Just try it once this week, and I'm gonna tell you right now is
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gonna help you kick that habit.
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You're gonna watch your savings grow and you're gonna find peace of mind.
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And let me just tell you.
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You can do this.
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Alright, well let's take a moment to bring this before the Lord in prayer.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your endless provision and for your grace.
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Lord, you know our hearts and you know the struggles we face.
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And today we specifically lift up this battle with impulse spending.
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Those moments where desire outweighs our wisdom, where we act quickly
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and often we regret it later.
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Lord, forgive us for the times we've been poor stewards of the
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great resources you've given us.
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For the times we've gulped down what you intended for us to really manage wisely.
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As your word says, Lord, grant us the strength and the
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self-control to hit that pause.
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Do that Power Pause.
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And Lord, when temptation arrives, please help us to stop.
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Help us to breathe and help us to seek your wisdom before we act.
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Lord, give us clarity to see the difference between that true
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need and just a fleeting want.
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Lord, guide our hearts toward contentment with what you provided
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us, Lord, and replace that temporary thrill of an impulse buy with
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the lasting peace that comes from financial order and trust in you.
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Lord, help us to become wise stewards and faithful stewards.
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And Lord, we just thank you for your patience with us and for the power
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you give us to change and to grow.
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We ask this in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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And listen, I just want you to remember this.
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Small steps lead to big changes.
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They just do.
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And don't forget, tomorrow we're gonna be getting into why building
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that emergency fund is so crucial.
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For breaking that cycle for good and finally moving beyond that.
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And it's a foundational piece you don't want to miss.
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And hey, before we wrap up, if you want more practical tips if, if you want
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some encouragement and you want some resources like this delivered right to
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your inbox I would love for you to join the Ask Ralph Community Newsletter.
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You can do that by going to . Askralphpodcast.com/newsletter.com
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Again, that's askralphpodcast.com/newsletter.com
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Sign up and let's keep growing together.
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So until then, thank you for joining me today and keep taking those
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steps towards financial freedom and growing deeper in your faith.
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And as I always end the show, stay financially savvy out
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there and God bless you.
