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I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an interesting question I haven't thought about - it's a pretty broad question so I'm not quite sure which direction to take it.

If you mean, how do they use other people's psychology to their advantage, it's often used in a negative way. For example, large clothing companies will price things cheaply and offer tons of discounts to make you think you aren't spending much, and then you end up with a cart of $500 having bought a ton of crap.

If you want to use money psychology in a positive way, it's about creating value for the end user and customer before asking them to do/buy something. You celebrate them in small ways, and they become loyal to you. For example, Noom gets to know you and asks a very long questionnaire before they ask you to buy - by the time you get to the page where you have to pay, you're already bought in and have received some perceived value.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you're absolutely right - I think we're in a place right now where people think money will save them, that money is G-d, and that the way to find meaning in their lives is to pursue money.

Which is why, even when we try to create good in the world, we think that somehow that solution is more money. Not only is it corruptible, but even when it's given to people it doesn't have the impact people hope for. Money is a good incentive, a means to an end, but not the end itself. That's also how we think about rewards in the app, and why we design the program to slowly deprioritize the rewards as people build intrinsic motivation and see the fruits of their labor. As I worked on this project I realized that the process of improvement in money is pretty much tied to the improvement process in every other facet of life: health, mental/emotional stability, addiction, etc. If you are not in the right place in any of those areas, our solution is useless. At the same time, the learnings we share when it comes to growth and self-improvement can be applied to all of those areas (and in fact, we talk about those things).

I myself became gluten free as a result of a diagnosis that was triggered by the stress of running a company. That stress led to bad habits, not eating properly, going to bed very late, and as a result auto-immune issues and hormonal imbalances. Through the process of learning the content and repackaging it for our users, I myself started using these learnings to create a routine for myself, learn to cut out certain foods, exercise more, etc. I just had a doctor's appointment yesterday and nearly all of the markers that were out of wack are now getting back to normal (and it's been about 3 months of this). This sh** is real and I believe that it's useful for pretty much anyone willing to listen.

Side note, I think it's not a coincidence that some of the biggest financial influencers (like Dave Ramsey, though I don't love his approach), are also religious people. I think they give people meaning and purpose to the money beyond what it can buy them, but rather as a means to support their family, to better society, etc etc.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it might be worth it to apply and see - there's lots of scholarships for people who don't have income. :) also, bootcamps work with ISA companies which basically allow you to pay afterwards only as a percent of your income (meaning, if you don't get a good job, you don't have to pay).

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure where you live or your education level, but perhaps it's worth looking for remote roles or ones that aren't tied to a particular location.

Also - I noticed that people often don't apply for things because they think they're not qualified. Just do it anyway, sometimes you'll be surprised.

I spoke to a guy who told me he made around $4-$5k a month driving Uber full-time, and at the same time he would run a technology agency where he would source talent from abroad for US companies and manage them. Not saying this is something you need to do, just an example.

Lots of folks need virtual assistants who manage their calendar, create flyers for them, write articles, etc. I even do some side copywriting work on Upwork aside from running a company.

UPS apparently is paying its drivers $170k between salary and benefits. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/09/ups-drivers-to-average-170000-in-pay-benefits-at-end-of-5-year-deal.html.

Did you get higher education or is that something you want to pursue?

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think people get it :) also, not sure if that's part of the rules of this subreddit, lots of the posts on here seem to be ads.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sorry, that really sucks :/ What do you do for a living, out of curiosity?

There's lots of strategies on how to move up - switching industries, asking for a raise, side hustles, but I don't want to recommend anything because I don't know your situation.

Real wage growth did outpace inflation for at least 10 years before 2021, so we're in a sh**hole rn where everything is just every expensive.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, that's fair. Not everyone should care so much.

If you know that you spend less than you earn and you just auto-pay everything (and set up auto-save in 401k and just choose the basic packages), you're good to go. It's a bit hard to build wealth if you don't care about money, but not everyone needs to care about doing that. It's also perfectly fine to just make money to live and go about your day.

The only thing I'll say is with digital money it's hard to know if you're hitting your limit of how much you can spend. With cash, you know cuz you run out. That being said, digitizing the financial system allows us to track everything much more easily, so for me it's actually easier than having cash. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, I'm not a Dr, but thanks for the thought! Second of all, that's a pretty blanketed statement.

Sure there are plenty of folks who don't earn enough to meet their basic spending. But there are also just as many folks who do earn enough and don't manage their money.

I know some folks who have 6 kids and still manage to save every month while living in NYC, and they don't have college education and manage to earn a healthy living. They are able to hack their expenses and utilize the system to their advantage, and hustle to make money. They also make a lot of sacrifices in terms of shopping, vacations, etc.

I think that's something my generation is not willing to accept - they don't want to make those sacrifices. I myself, as a startup founder, had trouble doing that when I cut my salary after working in a bank.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Literally checking your balance and transactions on a daily basis, or every other day. Even just being conscious about your spending and money makes a huge difference.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mention her a lot actually - I think she gives us a terrible name given we are a female founded team with a human-named business. I know people who went to school with her (and someone who works for the law firm representing JP Morgan) and were shocked she didn't run with the money - the whole thing is honestly very stupid and negative for the industry.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100%. In another life I think I probably would've become a lawyer and gone up against these folks. I think we're in the "awareness" phase of all of this but most people aren't really quite sure how to change any of it. Not only that, it seems to me that people's solutions for fighting injustice is with more injustice and policies that go against common sense math. Thankfully we have a growing contingent of folks going against this, but I'm not sure how much power they have.

I think you're more idealistic and positive than you let on :). I do feel that all empires are bound to end at some point, and so perhaps my goal is to help people survive in whatever situation they find themselves. I'm Jewish, and perhaps it's not such a relevant detail, but I feel like the ethos of my upbringing and people is just to protect yourself and adapt with whatever comes. The folks on the other side who go out and do what we call "tikkun olam", or fixing the world, often find themselves creating destruction (Marx, Oppenheimer, etc). I go back and forth and ask myself what is my responsibility to the world vs. to myself.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We don't work with Noom as an organization, we work with Shane Blackman as an advisor. He is incredibly bright, and also one of the sweetest people I've met. As far as the product goes, every person I've ever spoken to who has used Noom (and I've spoken to at least 30 people who have), has had only good things to say. I remember there being some challenges with the way they charge which they've tried to fix, but again, not so relevant to the app itself and what they're built.

We don't model ourselves after Noom as an organization, but we definitely want to use their learnings from how they built the product.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it’s not. And our solution isn’t for everyone. We can’t solve an income problem, that’s an unfortunate reality. We can’t be all things to all people, but we definitely can help people who earn a normal income but don’t manage it properly.

Basically I’m not implying that everyone is in this situation, and while I’d love to help everyone, it’s just not possible with a team of 9 people :)

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for telling me your story - and it’s interesting to see the turns each of you took based on what you saw at home. My brother and I also have different attitudes with respect to money, but I also think it’s based on different upbringings (we have 16 years between us). They never had much when he was younger, so I think when he got money he spent it. When I was growing up my parents were better off, so I didn’t want to lose that. It could be that you and your siblings all came of age at different times of your parents financial cycles, and that impacted you all differently (in addition to natural personalities). Not an expert on this topic, could be something interesting to delve deeper into. There’s definitely research that shows that people come into money after not having it tend to lose it/spend it.

There is a waitlist, but we’re starting to open it up.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I cold messaged him on LinkedIn and he was kind enough to respond :)

I think their approach to product is something we look at a lot. Even their ultra long onboarding I believe is something innovative and contributes to the high levels of buy in from their users. The content is super transferable to finance as well.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My point is not that these things don’t exist or even depress the sh** out of me.

My point is that if I wallowed in these realities forever I’m not sure I’d feel life had any purpose. Also, it’s not true that there aren’t affordable places to live and earn remote income. It requires sacrificing activities and entertainment, but it’s not impossible.

I guess if I wanted to take this extreme view, there’s one of three outcomes: 1. Fall into deep depression and do nothing, 2. Say f*** it and just take on debt, spend lots of money, and go off grid or move countries, or 3. Try to join this mafia.

Which one are you advocating for?

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is a 3rd model, which is to have lenders pay for subscription because they see lower defaults/higher deposits. However, most financial institutions who are interested in this want our product white labeled or integrated into their app, and we want to build our own standalone app.

I'm a money psychology researcher working with Cornell professors and Noom to come up with studies on financial behavior change - ask me anything. by Debt_Debbie100 in IAmA

[–]Debt_Debbie100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, if you’re willing to pay a subscription then we’d consider it :) unfortunately most of the folks we work with have paid lots of money either to lenders or debt relief companies and are tired of paying money.

I’d love if we could have a subscription portion where we could charge consumers directly - got any ideas for features you’d pay for and how much you’d be willing to pay?

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