Millie Bobby Brown has been very visible lately, and it’s not just because of her new platinum blonde hair. Her movie with Chris Pratt, The Electric State, premiered on Netflix on March 14, which prompted the recent flurry of appearances, including covering the March issue of Vanity Fair. In that interview, Millie — who married Jake Bongiovi last May when she was 20 and he was 22 — talked about conversations she and Jake had when they got together. Things like making sure they were aligned on politics, values, and their career and family goals. It seems there’s one area, though, where they agreed to be opposites: money! On a recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Millie shared how wildly different financial backgrounds have shaped their contrasting spending habits. While Jake grew up with Bon Jovi money, Millie’s family had very little before she landed Stranger Things. The experience left such an impact that to this day, Millie still shops for basics at Target and Amazon, and carefully considers large purchases.
Millie Bobby Brown still remembers what it was like to have financial insecurity.
The 21-year-old “grew up with no money” before receiving the life-changing call that she had been cast on Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” In an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Brown said that her upbringing has had a profound effect on how she thinks about her finances.
“I have a money thing where I’m very conscious about money,” she said. “When I do spend money on something, I have to call my parents, I have to think about it, I don’t just buy it right away.”
That’s not because money is in short supply. The “Electric State” star was reportedly earning $10 million per film as early as 2019 and has a “ridiculously lucrative” overall deal with Netflix, according to Puck.
But just because she has the money doesn’t mean she has champagne tastes. Compared to her husband Jake Bongiovi — son of musician Jon Bon Jovi — Brown said she is very thrifty.
“I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I need socks,’ and he’ll be like ‘Let’s go to Prada,’” she said. “And I’m like ‘Let’s go to Target.’”
“He loves to go shopping,” she continued. “He will refuse to pack a suitcase because he likes to go shopping in the place we’re going. Whereas I like Amazon Basics. I love that.”
Indeed, when Brown wanted to make her first big purchase with her Netflix earnings, she said she needed her parents to encourage her to take the plunge and buy the Chanel sunglasses she had her eye on.
…Brown’s strategy of waiting before making a big purchase is in line with advice from experts. To curb impulse shopping, finance podcaster Glen James recommends employing something called the 1% rule: if you want to make a purchase that’s larger than 1% of your gross annual income, wait at least a day before purchasing it.
The 24-hour cool down period gives you time to sit with your decision and determine if you really want the item.
Was I laughing at baby-faced Jake saying, “Let’s go to Prada!” for socks? You bet. Though I’m sure my feet would probably cry out “What have you been doing to us all these years?!” the day I ever get so lucky to don a pair of designer socks, I still say Jake’s lucky to have Millie around to knock some sense into educate him. And I’m not at all surprised their respective financial backgrounds have stuck with them. Kids know their home money situation. My mother and aunt are seven years apart, and they’ve talked to each other a lot about how different each of their childhoods were based on changes in my grandparents’ income. For my part, growing up I always took note of the postcard affixed to our refrigerator that said, “Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.” So I love it when people (especially women!) talk about money, and will definitely file away that practical tip about waiting a day on a purchase that’s 1% of my gross income. And I’ll pay it forward with a bit of advice that was transformative for me: if you can, try to put 10% of your paycheck into savings. It adds up!
PS — Wait, did Millie really just reveal that Jake basically buys a new wardrobe for each trip? Oh-oh, livin’ on… dad’s royalties.
Photos credit: Smart Pictures/Avalon, Oscar Gonzalez/Wenn/Avalon, IMAGO/Barbara Hine/Avalon, Backgrid