Shadowing Practice: rich girl habits that elevated my finances - Learn English Speaking with Video

Okay, between you and me, you need to stop thinking that rich girl habits are just buying matcha

and investing in ETFs because the habits that actually elevated my finances had way more to do with protecting my time,

energy, attention span, and decision making.

Hi muses, welcome back to my channel where we talk about how women can have their cake and eat it too.

I'm your host Nadine and I'm here to rebuild the village women once had

so we can have the right conversations and create lives that feel as good as it looks.

Please like, subscribe, and turn on the notification bell so you don't miss anything.

I think social media has made rich girl habits look very aesthetic and surface level.

Like, okay, sure, the Pilates membership is cute, the silver card holder is cute, the business class flight is nice,

but genuinely smart women with money, they think very strategically.

They think in systems.

They think in sustainability.

They think long-term.

And most importantly, they think about how to make their life easier, calmer, and more efficient.

A lot of financial stress actually comes from emotional spending, poor planning, or decision fatigue.

So today, I wanted to share six tips

that genuinely changed the way I approach money and honestly made me feel significantly more intelligent and in control with my finances.

This is not financial advice, just what has personally worked for me.

As always, we don't gatekeep, so let's step into it.

Tip number one, price purchases in three currencies.

One of the smartest habits I have ever developed was learning to stop pricing things only in literal dollars

because money is not the only thing you spend when you buy something.

Now, I price purchases in three currencies, obviously money, but also time and energy.

So for example, how many hours of work does this item actually cost me?

How many sales would I need to make? how much mental bandwidth is this going to require?

Does this simplify my life or complicate it?

Because something can technically be cheap financially and still be extremely expensive emotionally.

Like buying some trendy organizational system

that creates 45 new micro tasks for you to do every day sounds like an energetic nightmare.

So this is expensive, but a $300 service that saves me 25 hours of stress every month and gives me back my weekend, totally worth it.

Smart rich girls understand that everything has a cost.

When I was learning how to expand my money mindset and get out of scarcity thinking, one of the things I heard a lot of people say is to stop saying I can't afford it and start asking,

how can I afford this?

This is great because it puts you into creative action problem solving mode, but I want you to take it one step further and start asking, what is this actually costing me?

Because that solidifies belief and gives you an actual perspective on whether

or not you need something is not having this costing you time and energy.

Will having this save you time and energy?

This gives you justification for your decision and it makes it stick.

Tip number two, the minimum effective luxury rule.

So this habit changed my spending so much.

So the minimum effective luxury rule basically means that instead of automatically choosing the most expensive option,

I choose the option that gives me the experience I actually want with the least amount of waste.

It's always this balancing game in my head where I want to save

and invest but I also want to enjoy life because we work so hard for our money.

So sometimes we need to enjoy ourselves.

My money mindset has always been that I want to give myself the best experiences and best things without being financially irresponsible.

So an example of the minimum effective luxury role is when I used to go on vacations, I would upgrade everything to the maximum possible if I could.

Flights, hotels, car service, dining, what can I say?

I like nice things.

But now I care way more about the utility and experience.

So let's say for a hotel, instead of upgrading to a huge suite I'll barely be in,

maybe I'll get the beautiful deluxe room with an amazing location and use the extra money for sightseeing, spa treatments, or a flight upgrade.

That to me is smart luxury because sometimes people overspend chasing the identity of wealth instead of the experience of wealth.

Like do it for the convenience and comfort and access, okay?

Smart rich girls optimized for enjoyment, not just optics.

And the craziest part is a lot of genuinely wealthy people are actually very intentional spenders.

People have this idea that just because people have money, they spend it however they want.

And while part of that is true, from my experience working with wealthy individuals, they spend it on what they think is worth it and has some sort of value to them.

Now their threshold for what they think is worth it or valuable, that's on a different scale.

Tip number three, quality audits before aspirational purchases.

One thing I had to learn very quickly is that branding and quality are not the same thing.

Okay, just because something is expensive does not mean it's well made, especially in the last 10 years or so,

a moment of silence for many luxury brands that I used to love.

So before any aspirational large purchases, I started doing what I call quality audits.

I look at the material, the construction, the warranty, any resale value, cost per wear, and cost to maintain.

This is an important one that not a lot of people think about, okay?

If you have to constantly dry clean or hand wash your clothing item, that takes more time and energy and money.

Or let's say you buy a car that you have to always bring to the shop, nightmare.

I also audit by something I call the annoyance factor because

respectfully if something wrinkles instantly stains easily breaks quickly snags or like requires babying,

I definitely consider and then reconsider.

Because the older I get, the more I value ease, okay?

Ease is luxury.

Longevity is luxury.

Things functioning beautifully over time is luxury.

And unfortunately, nowadays, if you want something that is non-toxic and doesn't ruin your health, apparently that is a luxury too.

So things I absolutely will splurge on that aren't really aspirational purchases,

but like daily life needs are quality silk or cotton pajamas,

good athleisure and intimates because it's touching our skin all the time for how long we wear them.

The news with Lululemon products being terrible for women's reproductive health, I honestly thought we all knew that.

Like PFAs, forever chemicals, anything polyester and microplastics.

Also bedding, so pillows, mattress, sheets, comforters, duvet covers, the whole nine yards, okay?

Then it's cookware, and then skincare, including body care and hair care.

Now for aspirational purchases, because your girl loves handbags,

shoes, and jewelry, I absolutely look at the craftsmanship and the quality of jewelry and treat those as investment pieces.

You girls probably notice I wear the same jewelry all the time

and I'm okay with that because they are pieces I really love that can also withstand time.

Can't say the same about some of the large luxury brands and their shoes and handbags anymore, but there are still a few brands that I really love.

Moving on to tip number four, protect your high output hours.

This one directly affected my income.

I realized I had very specific hours during the day where my brain is significantly smarter, works faster, and just more creative and focused.

Like it's peak flow state for me and my brain is just going.

So those I consider my high output hours, you do not give your high output hours to menial tasks like running errands,

random meetings, texting, or low value admin work like paying bills.

Okay.

This is when your brain is functioning at its best.

So you structure your life to protect those hours where you can generate the most value.

So for me, that's when I'm scripting my YouTube episodes

or planning my content or figuring out new strategies or solving really important problems and everything else gets scheduled around that.

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So if my brain is amazing from 11 to 3 PM, those are my protected hours where no one,

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and I mean no one and nothing can touch or book them unless it's an emergency.

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I get things done faster and I understand things quicker

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and it helps me save time later on

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because I'm able to do more during this period and set myself up for success.

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If you spend a few minutes just auditing how you spend your time, you'll realize that you don't always need more hours.

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You just need to better allocate your high functioning ones.

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Tip number five, create a profit first lifestyle.

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And here's what I mean.

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A lot of people like to spend first and then hope

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that there's money left for investing and saving at the end of the month.

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But what this means is that you are building your future from leftovers.

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And that lack of intention just didn't sit right with me.

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So I flipped it.

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Before fund money, I fund future me first and then rainy day money.

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And then essentials like bills I have to pay, not things like Pilates or gym memberships, actual overhead costs.

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And then what's left, that becomes my fun money for my lifestyle.

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This helped me become more responsible with how I was using my money and honestly, helped me get really organized as well

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because I needed to know where the money was going and I had a purpose for every account I opened.

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You have to realize that a lot of money anxiety comes from avoidance.

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People feel stressed when they look at their accounts, but you only gain financial confidence when you learn about your money habits

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or how you're using your money and getting a clear game plan.

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A smart rich girl identity is built through repeated responsible financial habits.

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Don't overspend just to keep up with your friends and neglect your own future.

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Last tip, tip number six, have a weekly board meeting with yourself.

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Every week, Sunday afternoon, I have a personal board meeting with myself.

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And yes, that sounds mildly insane, but stick with me.

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I review my bank accounts around seven things what came in, what went out, what needs attention, what's wasting my time, what's draining my energy,

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what's creating momentum, and what needs to be cut.

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You can remember this by your MOVE MO, M-O-V-E-M-O, okay?

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Your money operating system.

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Money in, outflow, vision, energy, momentum, and out.

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Because time is money.

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Energy is money.

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Attention is money.

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You audit, review, and adjust.

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Don't just wait until everything is on fire.

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The CEO version of you needs to sit down with emotionally impulsive you once a week to check in.

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At some point, you have to realize

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that smart rich girl habits is less about looking rich and more about reducing friction so you can actually build wealth.

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Because while you do need to accumulate to build wealth, there are often obstacles that block you from doing it smoothly.

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Things like your capacity or clarity or stability or not having the right systems in place to actually support you.

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I really do think becoming a financially intelligent woman is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself, not because money is everything,

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but because having money gives you options that change your life.

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Anyway, muses, let me know in the comments which habit resonated with you the most or if you want a part two.

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That's all the cake I have for you today.

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Thank you so much for watching until the end.

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I appreciate it so much.

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And if you enjoyed our little chat today, please like, subscribe, and leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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And I'll see you in the next episode you

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing Practice: rich girl habits that elevated my finances - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What is the Shadowing Technique?