February 18, 2025 • 46 mins
Who better to talk about the benefits of frugal living than your Frugal Friends? If you are interested in frugal living and are interested to know if you are one, this episode is for you. In this episode, Jen and Jill share why they love this lifestyle—and why you just might love it too!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode four eighty six, the Top Benefits of Frugal Living.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your hosts,
Jen and Jill.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
M.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and who better to talk about
the benefits of frugal living than the Frugal Friends Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
You know, we got a list of all those Bennies.
If you are.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Interested in frugal living and are questioning whether you want
to identify as frugal, then we're here to give you
the bennies. Talk about why this is the lifestyle that
we love and that we think you will love as well.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
But first, this episode is brought to you by none
other than Bennies. We love benefits like PTO, amazing healthcare coverage,
and extra money, but if you're not getting those kinds
of Bennies, get the reward of helping us decide the
future of Frugal Friends. Take our ten question mega survey
(01:21):
and help us know the types of topics that you
want to hear more of. Give us a better understanding
of who exactly we're talking to, because we've been doing
this now for coming up on seven years, so it's
good to get a new pulse on our audience and
kind of know where you all are at so that
we can make content that will be tailored to you.
(01:43):
So get those bennies Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash Mega survey,
or subscribe to the friend letter where we're also sending
out the Mega survey. You can get that at Frugal
friendspodcast dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, Mega survey and if even if you think we've
probably done an episode on it before, still at the end,
the last question of the mega survey is episode ideas.
Our average listener has a lifespan of two years with
us before they move on to bigger and better things,
and so we like to recycle topics every two years.
(02:17):
So we want to know what you want to hear,
So Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash Mega Survey and let
us know if you are really interested in transforming your
lifestyle into a frugal lifestyle. Here are a couple episodes
to cube after this one Episode three thirty seven how
(02:38):
to Adopt a Frugal mindset and episode three ten Frugal
Living Tips from the Great Depression. Two very good ones.
You can search for those in your podcast player, how
to Adopt a frugal mindset and Frugal Living Tips from
the Great Depression. Just add frugal Friends at the end
and the episode will pop up, even if the episode
number does not.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So we're going to go through just this one article
that comes from this ever Green Home, and it's titled
why frugality is actually more fun than just spending whatever
you want? And there happen to be ten things, so
we are just going to list off all ten of them,
although I will say we'll have our own spin to
add to some of these as we go through it.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yes, so let's start out. The first one is finding
joy in creative problem solving. So this is something we
talk a lot about on the show, is creativity. And
it's because when we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
these are our human needs. These are the things that
(03:44):
motivate us to do anything and to make a lot
of purchases. These are the needs that motivate us to
make purchases. And at the very top, the highest need,
the one that gets forgotten about the most, is self actualization.
And that isn't just some transcendent like I'm finding purpose
(04:04):
and I'm meditating all the time. Self actualization is the
feeling of being an individual that you are living a
uniquely authentic individual life. And part of that is creativity, spontaneity,
and purpose. So creativity is a higher need, and so
(04:27):
we don't give ourselves a lot of options or opportunities
to be creative. And when we desire that, we think
we have to buy like craft supplies to be creative
or innovative. And some of that can actually come from
solving problems. So instead of just heading straight to Amazon
(04:50):
to solve a problem, you can start by asking, how
can I solve this problem with what I have? Can
I solve this problem without spending at all? Like getting
it for free? So buy nothing, groups, you know, free resources,
all of that. How can I solve this problem without
(05:12):
spending much? So secondhand, Facebook, Marketplace, Craigslist, what have you.
And then after you go through those filters, it will
be a barrier. It's not the most convenient, but it's
not inconvenient to just look at those options first to
get creative with how you're going to solve the problem.
(05:35):
If none of those works, the problem still exists, then
we can go to the store to Amazon stuff like that.
But when we have a frugal mindset and we are
looking to steward our resource as well, then we get
to solve problems creatively, and that's meeting a higher need.
(05:55):
And when we get creative, that results in the less
impulse spending to meet that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
The second reason listed here is that you get to
experience the thrill of the hunt. And this is the
one I'm going to kind of reframe for us a bit,
because the thrill of the hunt is one of the
top five reasons that we give for why we impulse spend.
That we are searching for the best deal, the clearance item,
(06:22):
the hidden treasure, and so we do acknowledge that that
is fun. But I want to call this second one
more like exercising creativity part two, where if we are
decreasing our overall level of consumption, our level of I'm
just going to immediately buy to solve a problem, but
(06:43):
instead we create some space or friction between us and
a purchase, which is a lot of what can happen
in living a frugal lifestyle. Then we can exercise more
degrees of patience and not just doing the thing, making
the purchase, putting it on the credit card, But we
(07:04):
are causing ourselves to need to wait, which will then
spark some of that creative problem solving of what could
I do instead? What is the need that I'm experiencing?
And so I think there's a lot of just resilience
and quality characteristics that are built up in ourselves when
we reduce our level of consumption. But also not to
(07:27):
discount that it will require at times research degrees of hunting,
and there is a thrill to waiting, searching for researching
and feeling really confident in the in the purchasing decisions
that we make. Yes, there is a high. I'm not
(07:48):
going to deny that. I'm not going to encourage people
to chase that high, to chase that hunt, but just
know that it is a part of a frugal lifestyle
that can happen. But we don't want it to turn
into like a hobby, a spending habit that we're just
like always hunting at the thrift storeyard sale like I
used to do before I lived in a motor home
(08:10):
and couldn't bring a bunch of stuff back into my house.
So more so looking at it from the perspective of
what is waiting build in me? What resilience problem solving patients?
Am I learning through this process? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I think hunting is another of those self actualization we
are It creates self sufficiency and it also breeds self
confidence and self esteem because you're like I am smart
enough to find these deals and gather them. And that's
(08:43):
another one of those higher needs is self confidence and
self esteem. So I think it hits two of those,
which is why we love it so much. So the
next one is connect more deeply with your values, and
it's essentially the topic of our book book, Buy What
You Love Without Going Broke? Is how do I identify
(09:04):
what I value in the first place? And we use
Maslow's hierarchy of needs as kind of a baseline and
realize that our biggest higher values on that hierarchy that
we are searching for our family, friends, faith, and fulfilling work,
and they transcend a lot of those top higher needs.
(09:25):
And when we can know those values, we can put
those at the focus of why we're spending money versus
chasing stuff that is marketed to us as fulfilling that needs.
So I love that they start this section off with
in a culture that equates spending with success. Frugality helps
(09:48):
you step back and ask what really matters to me,
so that we can choose our higher needs over wants,
and then it's easier to prioritize quality over quantity and stuff,
and you will naturally find that your life aligns more
closely with these things. We're all going to say our
(10:09):
highest priorities, but when we look at our transaction inventory,
our inventory doesn't necessarily say that they are our highest priority.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Number four.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
One of my favorites of the benefit of a frugal
lifestyle is that it allows us space to rediscover simple
pleasures that when we are less accustomed to just buying
and consuming, we give ourselves space to recognize that some
of the best things in life truly are free or
at least super affordable. They give examples of a homemade
(10:42):
dinner shared with loved ones, a quiet walk in nature,
a night spent stargazing. For me, I've really enjoyed daily
simple luxuries, is what I've been calling them. Anything from
just plating my food at lunch, making that my food
on my plate look esthetically pleasing, to making myself a
(11:04):
nice cup of tea or doing some really RESTful exercises
or stretches, Like I'm realizing that the things that I
need that kind of keep me going and maintaining are
the little things that I can engage in in routine,
(11:24):
small bursts, tiny practices throughout the day.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
That these are the things.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I mean, Yes, it's fun to go to an awesome
concert and a crazy vacation, but life is lived in
the day to day and sometimes just the mundane. But
if we can find simple pleasures in the day to
day and mundane, then we're not so much looking for
the extravagant, luxurious vacation. We can still take them, but
(11:50):
it's not like our whole lives are wrapped around that.
Our lives are wrapped around what's happening in my life
in the present moments, day to day.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
The next one is feel the freedom of financial security.
And so often frugal living has been positioned as something
you either do out of necessity because you don't make
a lot, or something very well off people do so
they can save so much of their money and retire early.
(12:22):
But we have always tried to argue that frugality doesn't
necessarily pin you into either of those extremes, But it
really is a feeling of freedom and liberation because every
dollar that you don't spend, every dollar you don't give
(12:43):
to Jeff Bezos, you get to do what you want
to do with it, what you and again align it
with your values. So whether that is you want to
spend more time with your family and friends, so maybe
that means you want to do your workload, you want
to go down working twenty hours a week instead of forty. Well,
(13:06):
the more you invest, the more that money can grow
for you and you can live off the dividends, and
the fewer things you buy, the lower your budget needs
to be, the lower your income needs to be every month.
And so it just gives you so much flexibility to
choose what you want to do or to react better
(13:29):
in in a higher place of power when things happen
to you that you can't control. And honestly, that's what's
going to be happening. More often than not, we know
things we can't control are going to happen to us.
So how can I put myself in a position of
control to control as much as I can and retain
as much power as possible.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
These are things that can kind of seem impossible, especially
if we're in more of the middle income earning category,
where how would I possibly experience financial security? It can
be one of the reasons that people turn to a
podcast like ours, But it has been amazing to hear
all of the stories, I mean a lot of them,
just through the bills of the bill of the week,
(14:11):
callers talking about small changes that they've made. I would
say probably about fifty percent of our callers if I
were just like, choose a number off the dome or
something about I negotiated this bill, I changed this, I
dropped this subscription, and it allowed me to put twenty
fifty one hundred bucks more to xyz goal and now
(14:35):
I have an emergency fund and because of that, I
was able to pay for the car that just broke down.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Or just the.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Realities that yep, there's a lot outside of our control,
but also small changes towards progress can can become cumulative.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
People will rag on frugality, being like, don't worry about
the six dollars latte, worry about making ten thousand dollars
extra a year, right, But that's easier said in a
personal finance blog or book than it is done in reality.
And when we pursue, pursue, pursue, and we don't get
(15:13):
that extra ten thousand dollars, it is possible, and you
should continue to pursue it till you get it. But
the more you pursue it and do not get what
you pursue, the less motivated you are to pursue it.
So in tandem, we also need to be doing small
things that boost our self esteem, that boost our self confidence,
that make us feel like we're doing something, and these
(15:34):
are the small things. Frugal living encompasses the small thing.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
It's so true because while we also are saying, yeah,
it doesn't necessarily need to be about cutting out the coffee,
like let's make some wise housing, transportation and over arching
food decisions. But some of that that mindset and theory
can lead you to just not looking at your spending
behaviors at all. You know what, instead of worrying about
this habit that you have, just try and earn so
(16:02):
much more money. And really we're not solving some of
the core issues. So yeah, as always we take both
and approach The next one on here talks about one
of the benefits being strengthening relationships through shared goals I
would absolutely agree because Frugal Friends.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Frugal Friends is in existence because of this.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But even on aware micro scale, this has happened. So
we're part of a book club, you and I Jen,
and we of course the ladies in this book club
know what we do, and it has led to us
talking about our financial goals and just more money minded things,
(16:44):
which then causes them to feel more comfortable to talk
about these things. And we now pick books based off
of what's available at our local library. I mean, it's
such a small example, but I think we feel, at
least I feel really seen in this that it's a
small shared goal that all of us want. None of us,
(17:06):
every single month want to be dropping ten to thirty
dollars on the book that most likely we won't keep
on our shelves, but instead make use of a local resource,
and everybody's on board for it, and it just creates
such a fun camaraderie, you know, not just because we're
rallied around the library, although that might be your dream company,
(17:28):
the library, but these small, these small things that really
make us feel like a sense of belonging when we're
able to talk about the goals that we have and
we're able to problem solve together and let one another
know about the resources available to us. We just can
go so much further together.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yes, Next is you learn to appreciate what you have,
which is very is a very strong good skill to have.
So when you're focused shifts from what you don't have
to what you have, you just naturally buy less, right,
(18:07):
but then you also have this you know, added benefit
of looking to appreciate it. So this appreciation fosters contentment,
which is a whole chapter in our book by what
you love without going broke, contentment without complacency, and so
you are feeling more abundant when you gosh, there's just
(18:31):
so much to be said mentally for when we are
looking at our things and we put social media, you know,
behind us, and we just really focus on looking at
what we have and being appreciative of it, like writing
it down, like I'm so thankful for this couch, I'm
(18:51):
so thankful for this instant pot, for this stove, and
like really appreciate what you have and what it can do.
Really looking to get creative with how can I make
this last longer? How can I have this for longer?
How can I use more of the features of what
(19:11):
I have, so I can feel like I'm getting something
new by using what I have, and then you learn
to appreciate it more and it's just it's a snowball.
And then you buy less and you just are happier.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Yeah, it's a beautiful cycle.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Gratitude leads to contentment, leads to more gratitude leads to
the more contentment. Like sometimes we can find ourselves in
non beneficial cycles and patterns, this one is a beneficial one,
and we can just start with gratitude and it will
build upon it and.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
It goes into every other area of your life. When
you start with your stuff, then it goes to your family,
and then it goes to the people around you, the
people at work, and you become a nicer human being
all around.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I found some great definitions, or the definitions for these
things are great. When it comes to gratitude, the definition
is to be thankful for benefits received, which I think
is so interesting. It's not talking about the things you
hope for, the things you think will happen. There's a
place for that, but gratitude is literally talking about present
(20:17):
moment and maybe even past experiences. What up to this
point have you received that there is to be grateful for,
which can then lead to, as we've said, contentment, And
the definition of contentment is to be satisfied with your stuff, status,
and situation, which we know money touches all of those things.
So if we can leverage gratitude to lead to contentment,
(20:41):
we will find less need to spend on stuff, our status,
improving our situation. We will be more creative and identifying.
How can I be more satisfied with each of these
three categories? The next one is that being frugal can
help us discover our inner d Y Guru.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
There's a spectrum here.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Oh, absolutely, some of us.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
More than others, for sure, But frugality and DIY projects
can go hand in hand, and you have heard it
from us over the years. With Jen's goal of learning
how to repair clothing, I in the past have refinished furniture.
Both of us have tried our hands at gardening to
varying degrees, maybe even fixing, doing small repairs in your home.
(21:29):
That's another one we hear often from our listeners is
I decided to try to fix my toilet, my fridge,
my leaky faucet, fill in the blank, myself before calling someone,
Not that we're opposed to hiring it out, but could
it be a simple fix. Could it be a YouTube
fifteen minute video that I watch and I learned something new,
and I'm able to do this myself and I don't
(21:51):
have to hemorrhage two hundred and fifty dollars that just
didn't need to be hemorrhaged unless your priority is to
save yourself so time, and you're fine paying for that.
So again, there is a charac but it is a
beautiful thing to learn how to care for the things
that we already have to learn more about maintenance too.
We've done a lot of episodes on maintaining our appliances
(22:15):
and prolonging the life of the things that we own,
which is also degrees of DIY.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And then we've got enjoy the charm of minimalism. So
this is less stuff means less stress, and so minimalism
I would say, I'm back and forth on it. I
think minimalism, as we traditionally know it can be a
little bit extreme and it can create judgment, right if
(22:45):
you're not the perfect minimalist, like I posted a real
once on like my minimalist home, and I think it
was pretty minimalist. But somebody was like, oh, she's got
all those chatchkeys in that china hutch. She's minimalist, even
though that's the only place in my house that I
have chatch keys. That was my chatch key hutch. So
(23:07):
for me, that's minimalist. And to think that to be
a minimalist you can't have any chatch keys is insane.
You could have even if you're a collector of something,
say you're collector of trolls, which I saw of recent
reel of and this woman has like thousands of troll dolls. WHOA,
(23:27):
But I didn't see any other collections of any other things,
any other chratch keys. Just a full basement of troll dolls,
and you know, good desire and good yeah. And she
also said in the real I am ageless, and I said,
yes you are, but so yeah, minimalism. I'm more minimal ish.
(23:51):
But I think we really put that in an extreme So,
but it is charming, Like I will agree, I love
the word charming. So frugality does naturally encourage a bend
towards minimalism by prompting you to buy less than you
naturally own less. And I think this is a harsh
(24:14):
truth of decluttering. So much of decluttering is a marketing
like it's I don't know if it's marketing, but so
much of it promotes organizing, which is just telling you
to buy more stuff to organize with.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
So I would say, if you like, decluttering is pointless
if you don't first get at the root of why
you're consuming. Right, we can all agree on that. So
minimalism is just a mindset that will help you consume
less and maybe giving give you an extra reason to
consume less. It plays on simplification, So there's just a
(24:55):
lot of good stuff around it as long as you
separate it from that extreme view of minimalism, or that
minimalism has like a set guideline of anything that it
should look like anything.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
That's the thing.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, I haven't totally departed from that word. I just
think that it can be so flexible in what it
looks like for people, and that primarily we're advocating for
just less clutter and more simple spaces and schedules. The
final benefit of frugality, which we've kind of alluded to
already but also one of our faves, is that it
(25:34):
can connect us to like minded community so we can
find people who share our goals, and that can include
joining a buy nothing group or swapping tips with friends,
or following frugal living podcasts or blogs, or reading the books,
and these communities can be super supportive and inspiring. It's
(25:57):
one of the reasons that we want a listener segment
as part of this podcast from the very beginning that
we recognize we don't have the corner on frugality. We
want to hear from you all, learn from you all.
It's why we have our Frugal Friends community on Facebook,
It's why we invite you to engage with us on Instagram,
(26:19):
and yeah, a lot of these are digital ways of connecting,
but we experience a lot of support and motivation through this,
and it can also be the launching point to including
people just in your community, to be able to listen
to a podcast together and chat about it, or read
a book together and discuss or do more frugal, low
(26:40):
cost activities, just to be able to share with your
friends your low consumption journey and inspire one another. There's
so much benefit to community, especially when we can learn
to leverage it towards growth and the things that we
want to be accomplishing. We can just learn so much
more together. Yes, you know, speaking of learning, where I
(27:04):
do think we get some learning and just some fun tidbits.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
And a true benefit of frugality is having one of
these to call in every week.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Oh, the bill of the week.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this
is the bill of the week.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Hi, this is Marie from Alberta, Canada. My favorite bill
of the week was when my sons were nine.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
And ten years old.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
We had been teaching them how to budget since they
were very little, and they would want and they wanted
to buy something. We would put money away and we'd
make a chart. This is how much money you have left,
this is where you are, and then when they finally
got to the mount that they needed, we'd go to
the store and we'd buy it. Then they wanted to
learn about a credit card, so we said, okay, let's go.
(28:19):
We went to the store. We said, when you let's
pick out something. They picked it out, so I said,
you don't have to pay now, but when the bill
comes in, you have to pay it.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Well, they were very happy.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
So we went home and then a month later the
bill came and I said, okay, boys, it's time to
pay the bill. And they looked at me and said,
but Mom, we finished our video game. Why do we
have to pay that bill? And I said, that's the
lesson of a credit card. It doesn't matter whether you
are still using the item or not. You put it
(28:53):
on the card and you have to pay it. That
was the best lesson they learned, because they have been
great with credit cards ever since. Thank you for all
you do.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
I love your podcast. Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Oh wow, Murrie, what a great lesson.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I love this.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
I actually one have chills right now because we were
just talking about how this community teaches us things and
we learn and we're supported and encouraged and yeah, I'm learning.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
A good approach.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
What a good Yeah, so much better than just teaching
kids credit cards are bad, because that's what my parents
taught me. And guess what I did as soon as
I turned eighteen. The second I turned eighteen, I went
out and got a credit card and immediately maxed it
out because I thought I was smarter than my parents.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yeah. Yeah, And I'm hearing from her too that it's
not just about don't ever have a credit card, but like,
here's the realities of it, and for some of us, yeah,
that does work. I recognize that. Okay, I didn't pay
for it then, but now I'm going to pay for
it now. You really drove home that lesson. Super Well
well done, Murrie, Thanks for sharing about your boys. If
(30:03):
you have a bill that you want to submit, if
it has to do with financial education and literacy, or
bills that you did pay a little later, bills you
paid right on time, bills you don't mind paying. You
know what we want, frugal friendspodcast, dot com, slash bill,
leave it for us and now it's time for hyping up.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
All right.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
What's the most rewarding part of living frugally for you?
So getting for me, it's getting to do the work
that we do. We do not make a ton of
money because we don't sell coaching. We don't sell like
high ticket courses or memberships. Like most of the digital
(30:50):
creators that are doing this full time, they live well,
know all of them they live off of brand deals
that sell you products and high priced digital things you know,
like so, and none of these are bad, right, they're great,
But we want to We wanted to bring you a
(31:13):
book buy what you love without going broke, and so
we wanted to really focus on getting that into the
world and promoting it. And advertisements do support this show,
so we appreciate your grace in listening to them or
at least, you know, skipping through them and not sending
us angry emails. So, but we don't make a ton
of money through it. But because we live frugally, we
(31:38):
can do this show and make our measley salary. And
my husband was able to quit his really demanding, exhausting,
emotionally and physically exhausting job to take a twenty thousand
dollars pay cut and work at a job he really
enjoys and has a very good schedule. And both of
(31:58):
those were able to happen at the same time because
we were living on you know, one salary to begin with.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Yeah, I mean, I'll say something different, but I would
agree with what you're describing and same, and it should
have been One of the top ten reasons is just
the more flexible life.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Well, if that financial freedom, that flexibility is the real
it's yeah, that flexibility to save as much as you
want or do the work you want, yea, you know, all.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
That learning to live off of less without it being deprivation,
and utilizing the seasons when there is maybe a little
bit more to stash away not just spend it all,
can allow some of that flexibility to say, you know what, actually,
I'm going to choose a pay cut and that's actually
going to be really great for my well being and
(32:55):
maybe it's not for forever, but and we've heard so
many of our listeners say that too, Like, it's not
just always about earning more. Sometimes it's the permission to
earn less if that's gonna be best for you at
this time, and yet still living a full life and
you know, not actually sacrificing too much in the process.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
So, while while I would say same, I'll choose something different.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
I think.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Less consumption leads to less overwhelmed, certainly for me, but
specifically as it relates to doing this podcast. I think
I've said recently how I'll bemoan the fact that many
times people who don't necessarily listen to the podcast, but
know I have a podcast about frugal living, will assume
what that means and how that can become laborious for me.
(33:49):
Of No, it's not about couponing or getting shirts for
the lowest possible price meanwhile exploiting other people's labor.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
It's not about that.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
The pop positive side of it is that, yeah, people
know that I'm going to be kind of mindful of
my resources, and those who know me well are super
accepting and supportive of that. Where I do feel a
true freedom and license to not partake in some of
(34:20):
the typical things that people partake in, and thankfully because.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Of the field that I'm in, people don't give me.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Too crazy of looks for that, although I can deal
with that. But that's the flip side of it that
I feel absolute licensed to just say no, I'm actually
not going to get a second car, and I'm not
going to go out to a restaurant five days a week,
and I'm not going to continue to just buy things
(34:50):
on the internet and have a package at my door
every day, and I'm not going to be easily influenced
by Instagram ads, and I'm going to curate the things
that I'm rolling through and I think over time it
has accumulated to just less overwhelm with that permission too,
that I can live life differently. I don't have to
(35:12):
say yes to all of the things that other people
are saying yes to. I get to say yes to
the things that I decide, and I just feel so
much less chaos inside me.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Absolutely, so, thank you so much for listening. And I
hope this is really if you're already feeling like a
frugal person, I hope this has helped just to solidify
you if you're trying to find the appeal in frugality.
I hope this has inspired you to take on this
identity to live this lifestyle, because it's not until you
(35:48):
truly like internalize it will you start to see it
on the outside, i e. In impulse, spending less and
just having just like wanting not wanting less, but wanting different.
And so we hope that if you want to learn more,
you'll check out our book By What you Love Without
Going Broke. It will help you a lot in taking
(36:10):
action in becoming more frugal and aligning your spending with
your values. And we have loved reading your kind reviews
of the book. Like this one from Patricia. It's five stars.
She says, gentle and encouraging. I really can't say enough
good things about this book. It's such a gentle and
encouraging take on the psychology of why we spend money
(36:32):
and how our decisions surrounding money are either helpful or
not helpful. In reference to her personal goals, this is
the financial book I wish I had read at the
beginning of my journey with debt payoff and financial education.
It has still come to me at a time when
I needed a refresh recourse on why being intentional with
my money matters. Both Jen and Jill from the Frugal
(36:53):
Friends podcast knocked this one out of the park a
fantastic read. I highly recommend, Oh Trisha, this is so kind.
Thank you, such authentic words. I love reading the ways
that it's landing with other people. If you all listening
have purchased the book and you haven't left us a review.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yet, please do so. It really helps us.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
And if you've not gotten the book by what you
loovebook dot com, it's gonna give you even more motivation
and tips on how to live and embrace this frugal lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Yes see you next time.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. All Right, so
this doesn't have to be the topic of our entire
after show. But I have not been able to stop
(37:52):
itching my nose. So if you've heard in the audio
like a weird sound, probably me itching my nose. I
just want to like reference that. I don't know why.
It usually only happens when I drink wine. And I
promise you I have not had wine right this morning.
Okay it is, I believe you, twelve twenty in the
afternoon and I have not had any wine today.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
It also happened to you when you drank hazelnut coffee
that I had at my house.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Oh do you remember that?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, but I have not had any hazel nuts.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Oh but you did get coffee out today. I see
it take up takeout mug on your desk.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, but I've had that coffee. Man, it's my favorite
one from Carr.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
It's away from me.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
But I usually get a medium and I got a
small today. Maybe that's the problem.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Yes, you're allergic to I'm allergic to a smaller size.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
Oh gosh, I need to just get the big one.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Maybe it's that I took one of those cup bowl
yeah things, and maybe that has like cat hair or
something on it. Maybe it hasn't been washed and somebody
with a cat held it. That could also be the culprit.
I think that's the probably the most likely scenario.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
In case you're still here and you're confused, we have
a new podcast studio. Yes, out of both of our homes,
we rent an office space at a coworking facility facility
that's on so intense coworking building, and they've got a
shared kitchen with these like cozys, like sewed fabric things
(39:36):
for a cozy, yeah, for a bowl, but for a bowl,
which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
You put a bolder and the sides are kind of
stitched up so the potholder does not lie flat, but
the corners are shaped.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah, so you can kind of hold something like a bowl,
a warm bowl in your hands, and that's why it
might have mystery cat hair because it's a shared sp Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
So I'm gonna wash my hands after this and hopefully
that will solve the problem. But let's talk a little
bit about our mega survey.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
So if you.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Are new here, every February, we do a mega survey,
and by mega we mean ten questions. They are Nine
of them are multiple choice, one of them is short answer. Essentially,
if you have an episode.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Idea mega because we want a mega amount of you
listeners to respond to it. Yes, it would really help us.
Here's the thing. We get a lot of people, not
even a lot, and maybe that's part of the problem.
We get a handful of people dming us on Instagram
about podcast episode ideas, and while I'll pull from that
(40:47):
and add it to our sheet of podcasting ideas, they're
all one off and so I can't totally tell if
is this something that is super niche that this one
individual want or would this appeal to the masses, because
the podcast is going out to the masses, right, not
the individual person. And so something like this survey helps
(41:11):
us to know what are the majority of people want
to hear more of, because we do have to tailor
things to the crowd of people rather than just the individual.
But collectively, we do believe there's probably a lot of
similarities between you all. We just have to capture what
that is. And because I also don't want to assume
(41:32):
that my experience is everybody's experiences just for Jen and
I to pull topics out of thin air thinking this
would help me. We're still just the individual. We've got
to make sure that our ideas are also going to
fit your needs and keep you coming back for more.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
And so if you're still with us, this is not
something we're talking about in the front letter or at
the top of the episode, but we are going to
be doing more YouTube this year, so you'll be able
to see our faces.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Out of the bag. That's why you're itching.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
But we're not because I'm nervous. It's not just so
you can see our faces, right, That's not why we're
doing YouTube. But we want to create a YouTube series
that will live in the RSS feed eventually, but it's
going to be YouTube first. That is truly good for YouTube.
(42:27):
It's good visually. And so one of those ideas.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Is you're telling you're telling at all?
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Well, if you're still here.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
Yeah, away, yeah, it being reality yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
So we want to do something similar to Remeet and
Caleb Hammer, where they are doing financial coaching with people,
but our spin on it is spending just looking at
the way people spend money and helping people really think
about what is the root cause of my spending? Is
(43:02):
this overspending? Am I not spending enough here? And really
helping people get a hold of their spending, reframe what
they think they need to be spending on, or reframe
what they don't think. There are just so much there's
so much convolution when we think about our spending, and
(43:25):
as experts in spending, psychology and social work, we want
to help people navigate that. We want to take what
the book starts, and we want to help people progress
after that and take really like real world you know,
examples in action, and so that is something we're hoping
(43:45):
to do. If there's something you really like when you
see YouTube videos about finance, please let us know in
the mega survey.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
For goolfriendspodcast dot com slash Mega survey.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
If there's something you don't like besides being mean, we're
not going to be mean. I know that you guys
don't like. We don't like people being mean to other
people in these things, even for shock value, even for views,
We're not going to be mean. So you don't have
to put that. But if there's something you don't like
that these other creators do, let us know so that
(44:19):
we can steer away from it because we want to
differentiate ourselves and we want a tailor for you guys,
and it be something you guys want to watch on YouTube,
something you would stream and cast on your TV to watch. Yeah,
so let us know in the mega survey, and we
know the real ones. Only the real ones are still here,
(44:42):
and so you are who we want to hear from
the YouTube guidance.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
It's so true, how fitting to be talking about this
post this episode, because I think it really is a
expanded community engagement that we want to do in twenty
twenty five of hearing more from listeners. And actually that
is some feedback that we've gotten over the years is
(45:07):
more I mean some of it has talked about debt
free stories, but like more real listeners, more of the community.
And we really feel like this is going to be
the way to capture that, to allow us a different
set of people that we can see ourselves in and
(45:27):
glean some things, have our own takeaways as we explore
other people's stories.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Oh, I couldn't be more thrilled and excited.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
We're very, very excited about the direction. And yeah, we're
gonna do some videos that are just Jill and I too,
and they're going to be chill like the show, you know.
So we're going to try to bring you several different options,
but we would love to hear what you're interested, what
you like on YouTube, What are you already watching, Who
are you already watching? Let us know all the details
(45:56):
so that we can watch them too, we can get inspired,
and we can just create really helpful guidance.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
Yeah, so what you should be hearing is that there's
no better time to have your voice heard and bear
influence on the trajectory of the show because we are
moving and shaking up something. So let us know what
you want, what you don't want. Frugal friendspodcast dot com,
slash mega survey.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
And follow us on YouTube if you haven't already Frugal Friends.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
Bye,
Episode four eighty six, the Top Benefits of Frugal Living.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your hosts,
Jen and Jill.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
M.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and who better to talk about
the benefits of frugal living than the Frugal Friends Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
You know, we got a list of all those Bennies.
If you are.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Interested in frugal living and are questioning whether you want
to identify as frugal, then we're here to give you
the bennies. Talk about why this is the lifestyle that
we love and that we think you will love as well.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
But first, this episode is brought to you by none
other than Bennies. We love benefits like PTO, amazing healthcare coverage,
and extra money, but if you're not getting those kinds
of Bennies, get the reward of helping us decide the
future of Frugal Friends. Take our ten question mega survey
(01:21):
and help us know the types of topics that you
want to hear more of. Give us a better understanding
of who exactly we're talking to, because we've been doing
this now for coming up on seven years, so it's
good to get a new pulse on our audience and
kind of know where you all are at so that
we can make content that will be tailored to you.
(01:43):
So get those bennies Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash Mega survey,
or subscribe to the friend letter where we're also sending
out the Mega survey. You can get that at Frugal
friendspodcast dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, Mega survey and if even if you think we've
probably done an episode on it before, still at the end,
the last question of the mega survey is episode ideas.
Our average listener has a lifespan of two years with
us before they move on to bigger and better things,
and so we like to recycle topics every two years.
(02:17):
So we want to know what you want to hear,
So Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash Mega Survey and let
us know if you are really interested in transforming your
lifestyle into a frugal lifestyle. Here are a couple episodes
to cube after this one Episode three thirty seven how
(02:38):
to Adopt a Frugal mindset and episode three ten Frugal
Living Tips from the Great Depression. Two very good ones.
You can search for those in your podcast player, how
to Adopt a frugal mindset and Frugal Living Tips from
the Great Depression. Just add frugal Friends at the end
and the episode will pop up, even if the episode
number does not.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So we're going to go through just this one article
that comes from this ever Green Home, and it's titled
why frugality is actually more fun than just spending whatever
you want? And there happen to be ten things, so
we are just going to list off all ten of them,
although I will say we'll have our own spin to
add to some of these as we go through it.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yes, so let's start out. The first one is finding
joy in creative problem solving. So this is something we
talk a lot about on the show, is creativity. And
it's because when we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
these are our human needs. These are the things that
(03:44):
motivate us to do anything and to make a lot
of purchases. These are the needs that motivate us to
make purchases. And at the very top, the highest need,
the one that gets forgotten about the most, is self actualization.
And that isn't just some transcendent like I'm finding purpose
(04:04):
and I'm meditating all the time. Self actualization is the
feeling of being an individual that you are living a
uniquely authentic individual life. And part of that is creativity, spontaneity,
and purpose. So creativity is a higher need, and so
(04:27):
we don't give ourselves a lot of options or opportunities
to be creative. And when we desire that, we think
we have to buy like craft supplies to be creative
or innovative. And some of that can actually come from
solving problems. So instead of just heading straight to Amazon
(04:50):
to solve a problem, you can start by asking, how
can I solve this problem with what I have? Can
I solve this problem without spending at all? Like getting
it for free? So buy nothing, groups, you know, free resources,
all of that. How can I solve this problem without
(05:12):
spending much? So secondhand, Facebook, Marketplace, Craigslist, what have you.
And then after you go through those filters, it will
be a barrier. It's not the most convenient, but it's
not inconvenient to just look at those options first to
get creative with how you're going to solve the problem.
(05:35):
If none of those works, the problem still exists, then
we can go to the store to Amazon stuff like that.
But when we have a frugal mindset and we are
looking to steward our resource as well, then we get
to solve problems creatively, and that's meeting a higher need.
(05:55):
And when we get creative, that results in the less
impulse spending to meet that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
The second reason listed here is that you get to
experience the thrill of the hunt. And this is the
one I'm going to kind of reframe for us a bit,
because the thrill of the hunt is one of the
top five reasons that we give for why we impulse spend.
That we are searching for the best deal, the clearance item,
(06:22):
the hidden treasure, and so we do acknowledge that that
is fun. But I want to call this second one
more like exercising creativity part two, where if we are
decreasing our overall level of consumption, our level of I'm
just going to immediately buy to solve a problem, but
(06:43):
instead we create some space or friction between us and
a purchase, which is a lot of what can happen
in living a frugal lifestyle. Then we can exercise more
degrees of patience and not just doing the thing, making
the purchase, putting it on the credit card, But we
(07:04):
are causing ourselves to need to wait, which will then
spark some of that creative problem solving of what could
I do instead? What is the need that I'm experiencing?
And so I think there's a lot of just resilience
and quality characteristics that are built up in ourselves when
we reduce our level of consumption. But also not to
(07:27):
discount that it will require at times research degrees of hunting,
and there is a thrill to waiting, searching for researching
and feeling really confident in the in the purchasing decisions
that we make. Yes, there is a high. I'm not
(07:48):
going to deny that. I'm not going to encourage people
to chase that high, to chase that hunt, but just
know that it is a part of a frugal lifestyle
that can happen. But we don't want it to turn
into like a hobby, a spending habit that we're just
like always hunting at the thrift storeyard sale like I
used to do before I lived in a motor home
(08:10):
and couldn't bring a bunch of stuff back into my house.
So more so looking at it from the perspective of
what is waiting build in me? What resilience problem solving patients?
Am I learning through this process? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I think hunting is another of those self actualization we
are It creates self sufficiency and it also breeds self
confidence and self esteem because you're like I am smart
enough to find these deals and gather them. And that's
(08:43):
another one of those higher needs is self confidence and
self esteem. So I think it hits two of those,
which is why we love it so much. So the
next one is connect more deeply with your values, and
it's essentially the topic of our book book, Buy What
You Love Without Going Broke? Is how do I identify
(09:04):
what I value in the first place? And we use
Maslow's hierarchy of needs as kind of a baseline and
realize that our biggest higher values on that hierarchy that
we are searching for our family, friends, faith, and fulfilling work,
and they transcend a lot of those top higher needs.
(09:25):
And when we can know those values, we can put
those at the focus of why we're spending money versus
chasing stuff that is marketed to us as fulfilling that needs.
So I love that they start this section off with
in a culture that equates spending with success. Frugality helps
(09:48):
you step back and ask what really matters to me,
so that we can choose our higher needs over wants,
and then it's easier to prioritize quality over quantity and stuff,
and you will naturally find that your life aligns more
closely with these things. We're all going to say our
(10:09):
highest priorities, but when we look at our transaction inventory,
our inventory doesn't necessarily say that they are our highest priority.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Number four.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
One of my favorites of the benefit of a frugal
lifestyle is that it allows us space to rediscover simple
pleasures that when we are less accustomed to just buying
and consuming, we give ourselves space to recognize that some
of the best things in life truly are free or
at least super affordable. They give examples of a homemade
(10:42):
dinner shared with loved ones, a quiet walk in nature,
a night spent stargazing. For me, I've really enjoyed daily
simple luxuries, is what I've been calling them. Anything from
just plating my food at lunch, making that my food
on my plate look esthetically pleasing, to making myself a
(11:04):
nice cup of tea or doing some really RESTful exercises
or stretches, Like I'm realizing that the things that I
need that kind of keep me going and maintaining are
the little things that I can engage in in routine,
(11:24):
small bursts, tiny practices throughout the day.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
That these are the things.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I mean, Yes, it's fun to go to an awesome
concert and a crazy vacation, but life is lived in
the day to day and sometimes just the mundane. But
if we can find simple pleasures in the day to
day and mundane, then we're not so much looking for
the extravagant, luxurious vacation. We can still take them, but
(11:50):
it's not like our whole lives are wrapped around that.
Our lives are wrapped around what's happening in my life
in the present moments, day to day.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
The next one is feel the freedom of financial security.
And so often frugal living has been positioned as something
you either do out of necessity because you don't make
a lot, or something very well off people do so
they can save so much of their money and retire early.
(12:22):
But we have always tried to argue that frugality doesn't
necessarily pin you into either of those extremes, But it
really is a feeling of freedom and liberation because every
dollar that you don't spend, every dollar you don't give
(12:43):
to Jeff Bezos, you get to do what you want
to do with it, what you and again align it
with your values. So whether that is you want to
spend more time with your family and friends, so maybe
that means you want to do your workload, you want
to go down working twenty hours a week instead of forty. Well,
(13:06):
the more you invest, the more that money can grow
for you and you can live off the dividends, and
the fewer things you buy, the lower your budget needs
to be, the lower your income needs to be every month.
And so it just gives you so much flexibility to
choose what you want to do or to react better
(13:29):
in in a higher place of power when things happen
to you that you can't control. And honestly, that's what's
going to be happening. More often than not, we know
things we can't control are going to happen to us.
So how can I put myself in a position of
control to control as much as I can and retain
as much power as possible.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
These are things that can kind of seem impossible, especially
if we're in more of the middle income earning category,
where how would I possibly experience financial security? It can
be one of the reasons that people turn to a
podcast like ours, But it has been amazing to hear
all of the stories, I mean a lot of them,
just through the bills of the bill of the week,
(14:11):
callers talking about small changes that they've made. I would
say probably about fifty percent of our callers if I
were just like, choose a number off the dome or
something about I negotiated this bill, I changed this, I
dropped this subscription, and it allowed me to put twenty
fifty one hundred bucks more to xyz goal and now
(14:35):
I have an emergency fund and because of that, I
was able to pay for the car that just broke down.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Or just the.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Realities that yep, there's a lot outside of our control,
but also small changes towards progress can can become cumulative.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
People will rag on frugality, being like, don't worry about
the six dollars latte, worry about making ten thousand dollars
extra a year, right, But that's easier said in a
personal finance blog or book than it is done in reality.
And when we pursue, pursue, pursue, and we don't get
(15:13):
that extra ten thousand dollars, it is possible, and you
should continue to pursue it till you get it. But
the more you pursue it and do not get what
you pursue, the less motivated you are to pursue it.
So in tandem, we also need to be doing small
things that boost our self esteem, that boost our self confidence,
that make us feel like we're doing something, and these
(15:34):
are the small things. Frugal living encompasses the small thing.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
It's so true because while we also are saying, yeah,
it doesn't necessarily need to be about cutting out the coffee,
like let's make some wise housing, transportation and over arching
food decisions. But some of that that mindset and theory
can lead you to just not looking at your spending
behaviors at all. You know what, instead of worrying about
this habit that you have, just try and earn so
(16:02):
much more money. And really we're not solving some of
the core issues. So yeah, as always we take both
and approach The next one on here talks about one
of the benefits being strengthening relationships through shared goals I
would absolutely agree because Frugal Friends.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Frugal Friends is in existence because of this.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But even on aware micro scale, this has happened. So
we're part of a book club, you and I Jen,
and we of course the ladies in this book club
know what we do, and it has led to us
talking about our financial goals and just more money minded things,
(16:44):
which then causes them to feel more comfortable to talk
about these things. And we now pick books based off
of what's available at our local library. I mean, it's
such a small example, but I think we feel, at
least I feel really seen in this that it's a
small shared goal that all of us want. None of us,
(17:06):
every single month want to be dropping ten to thirty
dollars on the book that most likely we won't keep
on our shelves, but instead make use of a local resource,
and everybody's on board for it, and it just creates
such a fun camaraderie, you know, not just because we're
rallied around the library, although that might be your dream company,
(17:28):
the library, but these small, these small things that really
make us feel like a sense of belonging when we're
able to talk about the goals that we have and
we're able to problem solve together and let one another
know about the resources available to us. We just can
go so much further together.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yes, Next is you learn to appreciate what you have,
which is very is a very strong good skill to have.
So when you're focused shifts from what you don't have
to what you have, you just naturally buy less, right,
(18:07):
but then you also have this you know, added benefit
of looking to appreciate it. So this appreciation fosters contentment,
which is a whole chapter in our book by what
you love without going broke, contentment without complacency, and so
you are feeling more abundant when you gosh, there's just
(18:31):
so much to be said mentally for when we are
looking at our things and we put social media, you know,
behind us, and we just really focus on looking at
what we have and being appreciative of it, like writing
it down, like I'm so thankful for this couch, I'm
(18:51):
so thankful for this instant pot, for this stove, and
like really appreciate what you have and what it can do.
Really looking to get creative with how can I make
this last longer? How can I have this for longer?
How can I use more of the features of what
(19:11):
I have, so I can feel like I'm getting something
new by using what I have, and then you learn
to appreciate it more and it's just it's a snowball.
And then you buy less and you just are happier.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Yeah, it's a beautiful cycle.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Gratitude leads to contentment, leads to more gratitude leads to
the more contentment. Like sometimes we can find ourselves in
non beneficial cycles and patterns, this one is a beneficial one,
and we can just start with gratitude and it will
build upon it and.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
It goes into every other area of your life. When
you start with your stuff, then it goes to your family,
and then it goes to the people around you, the
people at work, and you become a nicer human being
all around.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I found some great definitions, or the definitions for these
things are great. When it comes to gratitude, the definition
is to be thankful for benefits received, which I think
is so interesting. It's not talking about the things you
hope for, the things you think will happen. There's a
place for that, but gratitude is literally talking about present
(20:17):
moment and maybe even past experiences. What up to this
point have you received that there is to be grateful for,
which can then lead to, as we've said, contentment, And
the definition of contentment is to be satisfied with your stuff, status,
and situation, which we know money touches all of those things.
So if we can leverage gratitude to lead to contentment,
(20:41):
we will find less need to spend on stuff, our status,
improving our situation. We will be more creative and identifying.
How can I be more satisfied with each of these
three categories? The next one is that being frugal can
help us discover our inner d Y Guru.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
There's a spectrum here.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Oh, absolutely, some of us.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
More than others, for sure, But frugality and DIY projects
can go hand in hand, and you have heard it
from us over the years. With Jen's goal of learning
how to repair clothing, I in the past have refinished furniture.
Both of us have tried our hands at gardening to
varying degrees, maybe even fixing, doing small repairs in your home.
(21:29):
That's another one we hear often from our listeners is
I decided to try to fix my toilet, my fridge,
my leaky faucet, fill in the blank, myself before calling someone,
Not that we're opposed to hiring it out, but could
it be a simple fix. Could it be a YouTube
fifteen minute video that I watch and I learned something new,
and I'm able to do this myself and I don't
(21:51):
have to hemorrhage two hundred and fifty dollars that just
didn't need to be hemorrhaged unless your priority is to
save yourself so time, and you're fine paying for that.
So again, there is a charac but it is a
beautiful thing to learn how to care for the things
that we already have to learn more about maintenance too.
We've done a lot of episodes on maintaining our appliances
(22:15):
and prolonging the life of the things that we own,
which is also degrees of DIY.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And then we've got enjoy the charm of minimalism. So
this is less stuff means less stress, and so minimalism
I would say, I'm back and forth on it. I
think minimalism, as we traditionally know it can be a
little bit extreme and it can create judgment, right if
(22:45):
you're not the perfect minimalist, like I posted a real
once on like my minimalist home, and I think it
was pretty minimalist. But somebody was like, oh, she's got
all those chatchkeys in that china hutch. She's minimalist, even
though that's the only place in my house that I
have chatch keys. That was my chatch key hutch. So
(23:07):
for me, that's minimalist. And to think that to be
a minimalist you can't have any chatch keys is insane.
You could have even if you're a collector of something,
say you're collector of trolls, which I saw of recent
reel of and this woman has like thousands of troll dolls. WHOA,
(23:27):
But I didn't see any other collections of any other things,
any other chratch keys. Just a full basement of troll dolls,
and you know, good desire and good yeah. And she
also said in the real I am ageless, and I said,
yes you are, but so yeah, minimalism. I'm more minimal ish.
(23:51):
But I think we really put that in an extreme So,
but it is charming, Like I will agree, I love
the word charming. So frugality does naturally encourage a bend
towards minimalism by prompting you to buy less than you
naturally own less. And I think this is a harsh
(24:14):
truth of decluttering. So much of decluttering is a marketing
like it's I don't know if it's marketing, but so
much of it promotes organizing, which is just telling you
to buy more stuff to organize with.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
So I would say, if you like, decluttering is pointless
if you don't first get at the root of why
you're consuming. Right, we can all agree on that. So
minimalism is just a mindset that will help you consume
less and maybe giving give you an extra reason to
consume less. It plays on simplification, So there's just a
(24:55):
lot of good stuff around it as long as you
separate it from that extreme view of minimalism, or that
minimalism has like a set guideline of anything that it
should look like anything.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
That's the thing.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, I haven't totally departed from that word. I just
think that it can be so flexible in what it
looks like for people, and that primarily we're advocating for
just less clutter and more simple spaces and schedules. The
final benefit of frugality, which we've kind of alluded to
already but also one of our faves, is that it
(25:34):
can connect us to like minded community so we can
find people who share our goals, and that can include
joining a buy nothing group or swapping tips with friends,
or following frugal living podcasts or blogs, or reading the books,
and these communities can be super supportive and inspiring. It's
(25:57):
one of the reasons that we want a listener segment
as part of this podcast from the very beginning that
we recognize we don't have the corner on frugality. We
want to hear from you all, learn from you all.
It's why we have our Frugal Friends community on Facebook,
It's why we invite you to engage with us on Instagram,
(26:19):
and yeah, a lot of these are digital ways of connecting,
but we experience a lot of support and motivation through this,
and it can also be the launching point to including
people just in your community, to be able to listen
to a podcast together and chat about it, or read
a book together and discuss or do more frugal, low
(26:40):
cost activities, just to be able to share with your
friends your low consumption journey and inspire one another. There's
so much benefit to community, especially when we can learn
to leverage it towards growth and the things that we
want to be accomplishing. We can just learn so much
more together. Yes, you know, speaking of learning, where I
(27:04):
do think we get some learning and just some fun tidbits.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
And a true benefit of frugality is having one of
these to call in every week.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Oh, the bill of the week.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this
is the bill of the week.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Hi, this is Marie from Alberta, Canada. My favorite bill
of the week was when my sons were nine.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
And ten years old.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
We had been teaching them how to budget since they
were very little, and they would want and they wanted
to buy something. We would put money away and we'd
make a chart. This is how much money you have left,
this is where you are, and then when they finally
got to the mount that they needed, we'd go to
the store and we'd buy it. Then they wanted to
learn about a credit card, so we said, okay, let's go.
(28:19):
We went to the store. We said, when you let's
pick out something. They picked it out, so I said,
you don't have to pay now, but when the bill
comes in, you have to pay it.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Well, they were very happy.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
So we went home and then a month later the
bill came and I said, okay, boys, it's time to
pay the bill. And they looked at me and said,
but Mom, we finished our video game. Why do we
have to pay that bill? And I said, that's the
lesson of a credit card. It doesn't matter whether you
are still using the item or not. You put it
(28:53):
on the card and you have to pay it. That
was the best lesson they learned, because they have been
great with credit cards ever since. Thank you for all
you do.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
I love your podcast. Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Oh wow, Murrie, what a great lesson.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I love this.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
I actually one have chills right now because we were
just talking about how this community teaches us things and
we learn and we're supported and encouraged and yeah, I'm learning.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
A good approach.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
What a good Yeah, so much better than just teaching
kids credit cards are bad, because that's what my parents
taught me. And guess what I did as soon as
I turned eighteen. The second I turned eighteen, I went
out and got a credit card and immediately maxed it
out because I thought I was smarter than my parents.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yeah. Yeah, And I'm hearing from her too that it's
not just about don't ever have a credit card, but like,
here's the realities of it, and for some of us, yeah,
that does work. I recognize that. Okay, I didn't pay
for it then, but now I'm going to pay for
it now. You really drove home that lesson. Super Well
well done, Murrie, Thanks for sharing about your boys. If
(30:03):
you have a bill that you want to submit, if
it has to do with financial education and literacy, or
bills that you did pay a little later, bills you
paid right on time, bills you don't mind paying. You
know what we want, frugal friendspodcast, dot com, slash bill,
leave it for us and now it's time for hyping up.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
All right.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
What's the most rewarding part of living frugally for you?
So getting for me, it's getting to do the work
that we do. We do not make a ton of
money because we don't sell coaching. We don't sell like
high ticket courses or memberships. Like most of the digital
(30:50):
creators that are doing this full time, they live well,
know all of them they live off of brand deals
that sell you products and high priced digital things you know,
like so, and none of these are bad, right, they're great,
But we want to We wanted to bring you a
(31:13):
book buy what you love without going broke, and so
we wanted to really focus on getting that into the
world and promoting it. And advertisements do support this show,
so we appreciate your grace in listening to them or
at least, you know, skipping through them and not sending
us angry emails. So, but we don't make a ton
of money through it. But because we live frugally, we
(31:38):
can do this show and make our measley salary. And
my husband was able to quit his really demanding, exhausting,
emotionally and physically exhausting job to take a twenty thousand
dollars pay cut and work at a job he really
enjoys and has a very good schedule. And both of
(31:58):
those were able to happen at the same time because
we were living on you know, one salary to begin with.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Yeah, I mean, I'll say something different, but I would
agree with what you're describing and same, and it should
have been One of the top ten reasons is just
the more flexible life.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Well, if that financial freedom, that flexibility is the real
it's yeah, that flexibility to save as much as you
want or do the work you want, yea, you know, all.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
That learning to live off of less without it being deprivation,
and utilizing the seasons when there is maybe a little
bit more to stash away not just spend it all,
can allow some of that flexibility to say, you know what, actually,
I'm going to choose a pay cut and that's actually
going to be really great for my well being and
(32:55):
maybe it's not for forever, but and we've heard so
many of our listeners say that too, Like, it's not
just always about earning more. Sometimes it's the permission to
earn less if that's gonna be best for you at
this time, and yet still living a full life and
you know, not actually sacrificing too much in the process.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
So, while while I would say same, I'll choose something different.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
I think.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Less consumption leads to less overwhelmed, certainly for me, but
specifically as it relates to doing this podcast. I think
I've said recently how I'll bemoan the fact that many
times people who don't necessarily listen to the podcast, but
know I have a podcast about frugal living, will assume
what that means and how that can become laborious for me.
(33:49):
Of No, it's not about couponing or getting shirts for
the lowest possible price meanwhile exploiting other people's labor.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
It's not about that.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
The pop positive side of it is that, yeah, people
know that I'm going to be kind of mindful of
my resources, and those who know me well are super
accepting and supportive of that. Where I do feel a
true freedom and license to not partake in some of
(34:20):
the typical things that people partake in, and thankfully because.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Of the field that I'm in, people don't give me.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Too crazy of looks for that, although I can deal
with that. But that's the flip side of it that
I feel absolute licensed to just say no, I'm actually
not going to get a second car, and I'm not
going to go out to a restaurant five days a week,
and I'm not going to continue to just buy things
(34:50):
on the internet and have a package at my door
every day, and I'm not going to be easily influenced
by Instagram ads, and I'm going to curate the things
that I'm rolling through and I think over time it
has accumulated to just less overwhelm with that permission too,
that I can live life differently. I don't have to
(35:12):
say yes to all of the things that other people
are saying yes to. I get to say yes to
the things that I decide, and I just feel so
much less chaos inside me.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Absolutely, so, thank you so much for listening. And I
hope this is really if you're already feeling like a
frugal person, I hope this has helped just to solidify
you if you're trying to find the appeal in frugality.
I hope this has inspired you to take on this
identity to live this lifestyle, because it's not until you
(35:48):
truly like internalize it will you start to see it
on the outside, i e. In impulse, spending less and
just having just like wanting not wanting less, but wanting different.
And so we hope that if you want to learn more,
you'll check out our book By What you Love Without
Going Broke. It will help you a lot in taking
(36:10):
action in becoming more frugal and aligning your spending with
your values. And we have loved reading your kind reviews
of the book. Like this one from Patricia. It's five stars.
She says, gentle and encouraging. I really can't say enough
good things about this book. It's such a gentle and
encouraging take on the psychology of why we spend money
(36:32):
and how our decisions surrounding money are either helpful or
not helpful. In reference to her personal goals, this is
the financial book I wish I had read at the
beginning of my journey with debt payoff and financial education.
It has still come to me at a time when
I needed a refresh recourse on why being intentional with
my money matters. Both Jen and Jill from the Frugal
(36:53):
Friends podcast knocked this one out of the park a
fantastic read. I highly recommend, Oh Trisha, this is so kind.
Thank you, such authentic words. I love reading the ways
that it's landing with other people. If you all listening
have purchased the book and you haven't left us a review.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yet, please do so. It really helps us.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
And if you've not gotten the book by what you
loovebook dot com, it's gonna give you even more motivation
and tips on how to live and embrace this frugal lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Yes see you next time.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. All Right, so
this doesn't have to be the topic of our entire
after show. But I have not been able to stop
(37:52):
itching my nose. So if you've heard in the audio
like a weird sound, probably me itching my nose. I
just want to like reference that. I don't know why.
It usually only happens when I drink wine. And I
promise you I have not had wine right this morning.
Okay it is, I believe you, twelve twenty in the
afternoon and I have not had any wine today.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
It also happened to you when you drank hazelnut coffee
that I had at my house.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Oh do you remember that?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, but I have not had any hazel nuts.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Oh but you did get coffee out today. I see
it take up takeout mug on your desk.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, but I've had that coffee. Man, it's my favorite
one from Carr.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
It's away from me.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
But I usually get a medium and I got a
small today. Maybe that's the problem.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Yes, you're allergic to I'm allergic to a smaller size.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
Oh gosh, I need to just get the big one.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Maybe it's that I took one of those cup bowl
yeah things, and maybe that has like cat hair or
something on it. Maybe it hasn't been washed and somebody
with a cat held it. That could also be the culprit.
I think that's the probably the most likely scenario.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
In case you're still here and you're confused, we have
a new podcast studio. Yes, out of both of our homes,
we rent an office space at a coworking facility facility
that's on so intense coworking building, and they've got a
shared kitchen with these like cozys, like sewed fabric things
(39:36):
for a cozy, yeah, for a bowl, but for a bowl,
which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
You put a bolder and the sides are kind of
stitched up so the potholder does not lie flat, but
the corners are shaped.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah, so you can kind of hold something like a bowl,
a warm bowl in your hands, and that's why it
might have mystery cat hair because it's a shared sp Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
So I'm gonna wash my hands after this and hopefully
that will solve the problem. But let's talk a little
bit about our mega survey.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
So if you.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Are new here, every February, we do a mega survey,
and by mega we mean ten questions. They are Nine
of them are multiple choice, one of them is short answer. Essentially,
if you have an episode.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Idea mega because we want a mega amount of you
listeners to respond to it. Yes, it would really help us.
Here's the thing. We get a lot of people, not
even a lot, and maybe that's part of the problem.
We get a handful of people dming us on Instagram
about podcast episode ideas, and while I'll pull from that
(40:47):
and add it to our sheet of podcasting ideas, they're
all one off and so I can't totally tell if
is this something that is super niche that this one
individual want or would this appeal to the masses, because
the podcast is going out to the masses, right, not
the individual person. And so something like this survey helps
(41:11):
us to know what are the majority of people want
to hear more of, because we do have to tailor
things to the crowd of people rather than just the individual.
But collectively, we do believe there's probably a lot of
similarities between you all. We just have to capture what
that is. And because I also don't want to assume
(41:32):
that my experience is everybody's experiences just for Jen and
I to pull topics out of thin air thinking this
would help me. We're still just the individual. We've got
to make sure that our ideas are also going to
fit your needs and keep you coming back for more.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
And so if you're still with us, this is not
something we're talking about in the front letter or at
the top of the episode, but we are going to
be doing more YouTube this year, so you'll be able
to see our faces.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Out of the bag. That's why you're itching.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
But we're not because I'm nervous. It's not just so
you can see our faces, right, That's not why we're
doing YouTube. But we want to create a YouTube series
that will live in the RSS feed eventually, but it's
going to be YouTube first. That is truly good for YouTube.
(42:27):
It's good visually. And so one of those ideas.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Is you're telling you're telling at all?
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Well, if you're still here.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
Yeah, away, yeah, it being reality yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
So we want to do something similar to Remeet and
Caleb Hammer, where they are doing financial coaching with people,
but our spin on it is spending just looking at
the way people spend money and helping people really think
about what is the root cause of my spending? Is
(43:02):
this overspending? Am I not spending enough here? And really
helping people get a hold of their spending, reframe what
they think they need to be spending on, or reframe
what they don't think. There are just so much there's
so much convolution when we think about our spending, and
(43:25):
as experts in spending, psychology and social work, we want
to help people navigate that. We want to take what
the book starts, and we want to help people progress
after that and take really like real world you know,
examples in action, and so that is something we're hoping
(43:45):
to do. If there's something you really like when you
see YouTube videos about finance, please let us know in
the mega survey.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
For goolfriendspodcast dot com slash Mega survey.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
If there's something you don't like besides being mean, we're
not going to be mean. I know that you guys
don't like. We don't like people being mean to other
people in these things, even for shock value, even for views,
We're not going to be mean. So you don't have
to put that. But if there's something you don't like
that these other creators do, let us know so that
(44:19):
we can steer away from it because we want to
differentiate ourselves and we want a tailor for you guys,
and it be something you guys want to watch on YouTube,
something you would stream and cast on your TV to watch. Yeah,
so let us know in the mega survey, and we
know the real ones. Only the real ones are still here,
(44:42):
and so you are who we want to hear from
the YouTube guidance.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
It's so true, how fitting to be talking about this
post this episode, because I think it really is a
expanded community engagement that we want to do in twenty
twenty five of hearing more from listeners. And actually that
is some feedback that we've gotten over the years is
(45:07):
more I mean some of it has talked about debt
free stories, but like more real listeners, more of the community.
And we really feel like this is going to be
the way to capture that, to allow us a different
set of people that we can see ourselves in and
(45:27):
glean some things, have our own takeaways as we explore
other people's stories.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Oh, I couldn't be more thrilled and excited.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
We're very, very excited about the direction. And yeah, we're
gonna do some videos that are just Jill and I too,
and they're going to be chill like the show, you know.
So we're going to try to bring you several different options,
but we would love to hear what you're interested, what
you like on YouTube, What are you already watching, Who
are you already watching? Let us know all the details
(45:56):
so that we can watch them too, we can get inspired,
and we can just create really helpful guidance.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
Yeah, so what you should be hearing is that there's
no better time to have your voice heard and bear
influence on the trajectory of the show because we are
moving and shaking up something. So let us know what
you want, what you don't want. Frugal friendspodcast dot com,
slash mega survey.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
And follow us on YouTube if you haven't already Frugal Friends.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
Bye,
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.