Money Tips From John Green

It’s lunchtime, or if you’re on Pacific Time with me it might be breakfast time, or maybe it’s coffee break time, or maybe it’s “I don’t care let’s watch a YouTube video” time!

I will listen to anything John Green says, because he’s, like, the adult we all want to grow up to be, right? (It’s the combination of understanding that the truth resists simplicity and the willingness to put peanut butter on your face for a joke.)

So when I learned he had done a video titled “23 Money Tips for Any Occasion” for Mental Floss, I decided we needed to have a Watching and Discussion Party.

Video after the jump:

I was curious if it would be the same old same old (and yes, “invest in your 401(k)” and “drink tap water” both make it on the list) but I was delighted to discover that 14 of the 23 tips were brand new to me.

Like, did you know that if you shop in stilettos, you spend less? It’s probably because you’re shopping in stilettos and want to get the experience over with as quickly as possible. I would like to see follow-up peer reviewed studies on “shopping in a standard two-inch reduction corset” or “shopping in a pair of sneakers with the laces tied to each other.”

Also, apparently if you get a lot of cravings for chocolate, you are supposed to save money by mushing around some modeling clay for a while, because playing with clay distracts you from how much you want chocolate. But what if you don’t want to be distracted from how much you want chocolate? What if you just want chocolate?

How many of these money tips had you heard of? And are you going to start wearing your four-inch stiletto heels to go shopping because John Green said it would help you save cash?

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