I did the research so you don’t have to

It’s a good thing I’m not telling you to eat within your means since this just happened:

Also, this:

And a bit later, this:

Oh, the things I do for my readers.

Let me backtrack. A recent article in Southern Living reviewed all the pertinent medical research out there and concluded that going on a girls’ trip is good for your health. Given all the shoddy claims and fake news out there, I made the difficult decision to set aside my husband, my children, and the Wisconsin winter, and sacrifice my weekend to find out whether this is, in fact, the case.

The arduous task of staying healthy via girls’ trips is best handled by experts so I enlisted three of my best friends with whom I’ve been traveling for nigh on 20 years, ever since we met in graduate school. Since we did not want to compromise the data by introducing other potentially beneficial factors such as sunshine and the therapeutic sound of waves, we headed to Southern California:

Just what the doctor ordered.

Did we get healthier? Did we extend our life expectancies? Lower our chances of heart disease and depression? Maybe. We’ll need to replicate the study a few times before we come to a firm conclusion.

Even without knowing exactly how many endorphins were collectively released this past weekend through wine, chili peppers, and laughter, though, a strong LBYM case can be made for why you should indeed cultivate and nurture a circle of friends, plane ride optional. It’s not just good for your mental and physical health, ladies, it can be salutary for your financial health. Here are three ways living beneath your means is better with buds.

They support and encourage us toward our goals.

Do you know what a real friend does? Find a way to get together that’s within your newly-minted budget. And if it’s not, they get creative. Or pay 😍. On the other hand, if they’re always advising you to cash in your 401(k) because YOLO …

They trust us enough to share information.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what’s possible without examples of what’s possible. Can I really save money on my income? Am I underpaid? How do I start investing?

Do you know the salary or Net Worth of five people other than your partner? My girlfriends and I are very forthcoming on this front … quite possibly because it’s difficult not to be when you’re peppering me with questions about marginal tax rates. Is this what other people do on vacation? Discuss teaser HELOC rates and whether we qualify for the new 20% deduction on pass-through income?

If you’re not comfortable talking real numbers with someone, you might want to ask yourself why.

They show you there’s more than one way.

I cannot think of a worse time than spending two and a half days with someone exactly like me (probably someone out there: “same”).

I’m not going to lie—I have a pretty specific idea of what living beneath your means looks like, even though, I, more than anyone, should know better. My idea of living may not—most likely, will not—be her idea of living and your means are definitely not my means. Our friends show us with their own savvy choices that LBYM comes in a variety of beautiful shapes and colors. Thank you for reminding me that, sometimes, Throw money at the problem is 100% the right answer.

This post is dedicated to E, M, and M, without whom I would not know I need to wear blush more often since we start to look ashen as we get older.