April 8, 2022 • 54 mins
We're turning 4! We started Frugal Friends Podcast with one mission— to create a community where frugality is embraced by choice, not out of obligation. Four years later and that mission remains the same. Grab your favorite drink and join your frugal friends as we look back and highlight what we've learned on frugality, podcasting, and our lovely community.
🎙️
https://bit.ly/3irtJ3w
📑
https://www.frugalfriendspodcast.com/ebook
💸
http://frugalfriendspodcast.com/club
📣
https://www.frugalfriendspodcast.com/bill-of-the-week/
👉🏼
https://www.youtube.com/frugalfriends
💃🏼
https://www.instagram.com/frugalfriendspodcast/Get full show notes here!Get our FREE Modern Frugal Living eBook here!Check out our monthly challenge communitySubmit your bill of the week and get a shoutout from usSubscribe for more on YouTubeHang out with us on Instagram!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode two oh seven, What We've learned in four years
of Frugal Friends. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where
you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liberal
your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Oh oh oh,
(00:25):
oh oh oh. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My
name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we
are celebrating four years of Frugal Friends with a very
unique episode. Yes, we can't even believe it. Four years
(00:46):
of yelling and singing and laughing and frugality. Yeah, and
most podcasts don't make it past ten episodes, and we
are almost to two hundred and ten. And we've never
done something like this before. I know some podcasts will
do like an annual review or something. So we thought
after four years that maybe it was time to share
(01:11):
what we've learned about everything. Yeah, now we kind of
we we finally feel settled, like there's something to back
on in four years. Yeah, like what we've learned about
podcasting about frugality, about each other. I think that might
be interesting because we typically only talk about money in frugality,
(01:32):
but I think there's a there's a whole other aspect
to this which is our relationship and like podcasting. So yeah,
I'm I'm really excited to share this episode with everyone,
and I do think as we look back, there's going
to be the highlights of our biggest frugal tip takeaways,
(01:52):
how we've implemented frugality over the last four years, what
our community has meant for us. So it's not just
our reflections, although that's going to be a lot of it,
but hopefully also some nuggets in here, just like every
other episode. But first, first, let's start with our sponsors. Yes,
(02:12):
celebrating humans accomplished great things, the wheel, the telephone, coffee makers.
Am I right? And when we accomplish something great, it's
easy to get swept into the next thing without taking
time to celebrate what you got here. Celebrating wants you
(02:33):
to take some time and acknowledge your accomplishments. If you're
a Frugal Friends listener, you can celebrate our accomplishment with us,
which is also your accomplishment. Let's be real. On April three,
this is APO in St. Petersburg, Florida at our four
year anniversary party. If you'd like to join us, head
(02:57):
to Frugal Friends Podcast dot com. Lash Party for more
info if you are a local Saint Petian or Floridian party. Yeah, yeah,
all right. Well, normally we would share like some episodes
that kind of tie into this episode, but they're literally none,
(03:18):
So we're just and we are not covering an article today.
We do not have an interview. Jill just made some
a list of some things that we have learned over
the last four years, and we think that they are
not just relevant to us, but that there are lessons
(03:40):
that like everyone will eventually learn. So let's shorten your
learning curve because in four years of running this podcast,
it's taught us some life lessons that are super useful.
And so yeah, that's that's what we've got for you today. Yeah,
and if you're just joining us, if this happens to
be the very first Frugal Friends podcast episode that you
(04:02):
choose to listen to, well interesting, But then this will
tell you what you can expect to learn alongside of
us if you go back into all of our archives
and listen through all these episodes. And if you're in
your car and you have been with us for the ride,
or you're running or whatever you're doing while you listen
to this, and you're kind of nodding along like yeah,
(04:23):
I have learned that, or oh, here's more things we
love to hear about it in the community, So definitely
let us know. Speaking of community, this is one of
the first bullet points that we listed out as we
reflect back on these past four years, this is the
biggest one probably that stands out to me as how
(04:45):
necessary important community is. And I don't think that I
would have I know relationships are important, but I think
these past four years and doing this podcast has shown
me just how a may using an important community is.
What the larger Frugal Friends community has meant for me.
(05:06):
I mean I have very specific things that I can
point to, and then some smaller community. What it has
meant for you and I jen to be doing this
podcast together. What I've learned from you through this time,
that's just invaluable and there's there is real friendship here.
But then there's also deeper levels of intentionality because we
(05:29):
do this because we talk about frugality on a weekly basis,
if not daily basis sometimes and what that produces, the support,
the knowing that we're not alone in this journey, the
learning from one another. There's so many sub bullet points
that I could say, but overarching is just deep gratitude
(05:52):
and recognition of how important relationships, others, community belonging is
in this journey. Yeah, I would say the same thing
as a only child and somebody who's never had like
a ton of friends. I over this past four years
have realized how much better life can be in community.
(06:17):
Like I tried to build businesses and make money like
on my own, and I think it was just a
blessing that like those things they were okay, like I
was successful at them, but like the thing that I
did with you, and the thing that was focused on community,
this is the thing that has been the most successful.
(06:39):
It's changed the most lives, it's been the most life
giving to me. And so I never realized the how
integral community was. I mean, I love to have fun,
I love you know, friends, and it's one of the
reasons I didn't want to pay off my debt initially
(07:00):
because I didn't want to stop being able to hang
out with my friends who all wanted to spend money.
And but I didn't realize the I didn't realize how
that was keeping me from fulfilling my greater life purpose.
And so this past four years has just been a
(07:22):
total eye opener. Two how important and how vital community
is and and you can get along without it, you'll
be fine, but it takes everything. And like ten X,
is it when you are in community, in intentional healthy community.
And I think to your point about the friendship piece,
(07:45):
I think it has highlighted and underscored for me that
we can have friends and be frugal and seeing even
more people who are desiring that through this journey, and
how you and I can get together and because we
have a similar mindset, we can engage in things that
we that are fun but don't have to cost a
(08:07):
lot of money. It doesn't have to mean that all right,
If I don't want to go out to a restaurant
every day of the week, it means I have to
give up friendships. And that has been amazing to be
able to pair fun and friendships and frugality because alliteration,
we do love f's that is the letter F. Has
(08:28):
also been something I have learned so many words that
start with the letter F. That's been a lesson for me.
And our community is amazing. We never imagine that there
would be such camaraderie and relationships and unity and fun
(08:49):
built with those who listen to the podcasts and have
joined us in the Facebook group and have joined our
Financial Freedom mentorship. Our commune unity is so amazing. I
don't know how we attracted such amazing people to ourselves,
but um, I mean, I'm not going to second guess it.
I'm not gonna push back on it. That has been
(09:10):
so fun. It's one of the reasons that I stay
on social media. I don't know, for better or worse.
I really enjoy seeing the celebrations and the questions and
people giving their tips, and I've learned so much through it.
So this is again just as much for me or
for us as it is our desire to give back
(09:32):
with this podcast. Yeah, I I definitely. I think we
can't emphasize enough this community aspect of what we've learned. Yeah,
and like teaching each other things too, Like you've taught
me so much about I don't know, like generosity and
(09:54):
home design decor making things pretty. You, I mean, you've
you've taught I mean a lot outside of that as well.
But I think we people often say, like don't start
businesses with your friends or the nothing No ship sinks
faster than a partnership. I think that's the phrase, and
(10:18):
we yeah to to an extent. We got really lucky.
I think we there was a I don't I think.
I don't think we could have planned for this because
we were not great friends when we started the podcast.
We were friends, but we were not close enough that
we wanted to start a business together. That's not why
(10:41):
we started this podcast. We started it because Eric told
us to and just worked out that that that there
was a spark, and we both were emotionally mature enough
to be honest and transparent with each other and to
be I guess also very open to the other person's ideas,
(11:06):
and we it wasn't something we were banking our lives on,
so it was something The podcast is something we held
with a very open hand, and I think because of that,
we were open to collaboration more, and the collaboration made
it ten times better than what it would have been
if we were, you know, close handed, or really were
(11:28):
relying just on what, like I thought the show should
be or what you thought the show should be. Agreed,
I think we've cultivated this together or we didn't set
out with a motivation, never either one of us to
make money off of it once we started to see
we could, it still took us some time to look
(11:49):
at this as an income source rather than just a
stream to other platforms that could be an income source.
And yeah, I think having a whole lives out in
conjunction with this podcast has helped too, that this isn't
the only thing for either one of us that we
solely set our hands to our minds too. And yeah,
(12:13):
because of that, we can celebrate the uniquenesses of one another,
end of our community and see together where is this
going to go? What can we make of it? I
think if I could even back up a little bit
to respond to what you've taught me. I know we've
talked about this in a lot of different episodes, but
I'll highlight it again. Retirement investing. My mind would have
(12:37):
never gone there. I am used to not having a
lot of money, certainly through this frugal journey, and in
the last four years I have seen a significant increase
in our income, and I know that a portion of
that has to do with the fact that we've been
in community. We've talked about it. There's accountability here, there's
a knowing and being known keeping me on track and
(13:01):
in light of that and ability to invest in retirement.
But even if I had done well financially, if it
weren't for this community, if it weren't for you, Jen,
I would not have thought to put that money into
a wrath. I al right. I would have been like, sweet,
I'm set for the next month, how amazing. And then
I'll put the money in a bank account and I'll
(13:22):
take out a huge chunk of it whenever the heck
I please, And now I can't because I'm investing for
my future, my future self and my present self. But ah,
the smokes that is like you're welcome, yeah, I mean
yeah uh. And I think it's important to note like
(13:43):
we didn't I mean for the past. Out of four
of these years, you've only lived near me for for
one of them, like one and a half. So most
of our friendship, even the year before we started the podcast,
was all virtual. And this was like pre pandemic times,
Like we were able to cultivate this through essentially kind
(14:06):
of just like an accountability relationship online, which is I
mean the main reason we created our membership because we're like,
if we can do it, then we can provide the
space for others to do it, and then maybe one
day accountability groups will all move to the same city
(14:27):
and they'll start a commune. And you know, we can
only hope and dream for things like that. It's not
a requirement, but how fun would that be. Yeah, that's
such a good point jen that this podcast. Then it's
not fake community. We can have real, meaningful relationships with
(14:49):
people even if we're not living local. It's great to
have local people, and we should. There's something even deeper
that I think has been provided by the fact that
we live near one another, but we still record our
podcasts in separate places because it's just one makes the
most sense. Yes, so true. Well, let's move on to
(15:12):
the second overarching theme that we've listed out here. This
isn't an exhaustive list, but I would say in the
last four years, something that I've noticed in frugal Friendship
and exploring this topic on a regular basis is getting
better and more aware of boundaries and living more intentionally.
(15:35):
I think, as we've talked about our finances and how
this integrates with other aspects of our lives, I have
seen in myself that I think before I make a purchase,
that pause has become more natural It wasn't from the start,
but as I am in community, like we talked about
and aware of where my money is going and coming
(15:59):
from and how want to be spending. I'm not making
purchases willy nilly. I am creating that pause thinking about
how do I want to spend this? Do I have
to buy it new? Could I fix what it is
that I'm trying to replace? Could I get on a
buy nothing group and get what I need from there?
(16:19):
Could I buy second hand? Whatever the case is, Like,
I'm not impulse spending maybe as much as I may
have previously done, which is incredible. M yeah, I I
would say the intentional living portion of it. I have
(16:40):
found that creating an intentional life is the foundation to
actually doing well with money. Because for so long it
was me checking boxes. I have to pay off debt. Check,
I have to save an emergency fund, check, I have
to max out my rob I wright check what and
I do more? Oh, I can try to retire early
(17:02):
and that's you know whatever. Check. And it was always
about what can I do next? And in my mind
it was like, oh, yeah, what can I do next
so that I can live the life that I want
to live? So I'm not beholden to a job, YadA YadA,
but I didn't take the time to figure out what
(17:24):
what do I want now? And can I have what
I want later earlier? Because tomorrow isn't promised. We have
to find this balance, like we were, you know, talking
about with with Keisha Blair, this balance between living like
you will turn one hundred because that's a possibility in
(17:46):
our time, and also living like tomorrow isn't promised. And
it is not a spectrum. It's not like we have
to find balance like it's a like a seesaw, but
it is. It is a portfoll. It is being intentional
about doing your priorities, the saving, the investing, and the living,
(18:09):
and and it's that it's I've learned that intentionality, and
I did not have that when we started this podcast,
But after listening to so many people and watching so
many people on social media and being in the space
for so long, like that has become the reason why
I do what I do now, is to teach people
(18:29):
that it is the intentional living that comes before the
intentional saving, and that greater level of awareness and intentionality
has helped with boundaries for me, and I think others
with pressures, whether it's the larger society or family or friends,
(18:51):
and getting more confident with those awkward money moments. I
have noticed so much more ability to highlight what I'm
sure everyone is thinking, but it can feel awkward to
talk about, Like, for instance, I am much more confident
and we'll dive right into, hey, how are we splitting
(19:11):
this bill up as friends? Or who's gonna purchase this
that or the other thing? Or this restaurants not in
my budget this week? Can we try blank? Instead being
able to just say it out loud rather than waiting
for something to happen. And then I'm a little bit
bitter and upset because I didn't actually speak my needs
(19:33):
and everyone was just kind of assuming that it would
go one direction. And and it's never been as awkward
or bad as I thought it would be. Most people
are like, oh, yeah, thanks for bringing that up, or totally,
let's do this other thing. It is not a deal
breaker in relationships, and a lot of times it can
give greater freedom when we know what to expect from
(19:55):
one another. That's just an example in relationships. I think
I've seen better boundaries of across the board. Financially emotionally, relationally,
and just increased confidence in all of those areas. Yeah, definitely.
I like the next one on the list. I'm really
glad you included it. What is it, jen uh? Freedom?
(20:20):
And it is. It's a word I thought that I
really understood, and I viewed it as freedom from the
outside world. So freedom again from being beholden to a job,
freedom from having to choose one thing because I wasn't
(20:45):
I didn't have the finances to choose the thing that
I wanted. I thought that was the freedom. Like going
into it, I thought I had a good grasp on
what you know, quote unquote financial freedom was. And over
the last four years of we have read like hundreds
of articles together on personal finance, I realized that there's
(21:09):
an aspect of freedom from self. That I am the
person that so often limits me and holds me back.
And you know, the easiest way to say it is
like a scarcity mindset, but it goes so much deeper
than that. But I have learned that I am typically
(21:34):
the bottleneck in my problems, and I have learned freedom
from self, like freedom from having to do everything on
my own, freedom from having like what I think that
I need, to accomplish freedom from acquiring more and more
and more and figuring out what is enough and and
(21:57):
having that actual enough umber. So that probably, like you
didn't mean to go that deep, but that's now what
I see when I see the word freedom is like
freedom from the from the things that I impose on
my own self. Oh absolutely, Jen, I think we will
(22:21):
never fully come to At least for me, I've not
arrived at a full understanding of freedom. But my goodness,
if these last four years haven't taught me more and
more about it in my personal and professional life what
it means to literally live in and out of a
(22:44):
place of freedom. And I think I equate this word
a lot to permission as well. Within my work of
counseling clients, I would say this is a big part
of it. Boundaries is another one. We already covered that one,
but also permission. So often we need to give ourselves permission,
(23:08):
and I think that's what you're talking about with the
self component is a lot of times the world is
not going to give it to us, and if they do, okay, great,
But also our own permissions of what we're allowed to do,
the decisions we can make moving towards health and well being,
giving ourselves space, freedom and permission to move towards that.
(23:31):
And if there's any message that I hope our community
has picked up on over these last four years is
that but to greater and greater degrees, where I think
you and I are stepping into more understanding, of course,
as it relates to frugality and specifically finances, recognizing that
there's multiple methods for implementing financial wisdom. We have, as
(23:54):
you said, read hundreds of articles, interviewed so many people.
Could probably put a real number to it, but I'm
not great at estimating. We've just interviewed so many people
and a variety of perspectives have been on this podcast,
and yet for the most part congruent with one another
that there are different methods that all point at well
(24:18):
being for our finances and in our lives, but various
ways of getting there. There is not just one way,
and what works for one person may not work for
another person. We're all in different seasons of life, we
all need different things, we all have different goals, and
so for it, um, yes, yeah, I um, I definitely
(24:42):
I feel that, like the permission two be in the
radical middle, like there's there are so few people giving
permission to be in the radical middle. It's either you've
got to pay off all your debt as fast as possible,
or you know, ignore your debt, and well, besides credit cards,
(25:03):
we can all agree that credit card debt should be
paid off quickly, but other than that, ignore your debt
and just invest as much as possible. And I'm seeing
so many I guess I follow a ton of finance
creators on social media more than the average person, obviously,
and I just see, like these people they talk about
(25:25):
the same thing over and over and over, and it's like, yeah,
but why, Like, I know why we talk about the
same thing over and over and over, because it's we're
talking about freedom and life design and permission, and those
are things that transcend money and and help like in
(25:48):
every area of your life. I'm like, why is this
the financial goal? Why is becoming a millionaire the financial goal?
Why is becoming debt free the financial a goal? It's great,
that's a great goal, but why why? What's enough? What's
the time frame? Why? And if your answer causes you
(26:12):
to go down a different path, then what you were
told you need to you have permission to do that
because we live in We live in the radical middle,
and yeah, to me, freedom is the radical middle. And
I think that that leads so beautifully into our next
big overarching theme of realizing and understanding our integrated self
(26:36):
in more ways that continues to lead to freedom. All
these are connected. But through these last four years and
engaging with our community and through friendship with you, Jen
and doing this podcast and personal life things that have
been happening for me seeing the bigger picture of the
ways and the interconnectedness of our emotions and relationships and
(27:01):
physical well being and financial health and mental health and
how they all coincide. And so I think to your
point about people talking ad nauseum about this one thing
of becoming a millionaire, that's that's one part. But we're not.
We're we don't live in a vacuum where we're different.
(27:22):
Parts of ourselves are not siloed out. They all impact
one another. And I think this message of frugality and
this journey that we're on is about not just finances,
but frugality which touches every part of us. It touches
our emotions, it touches our relationships, It does touch our finances,
our physical well being and so realizing that all aspects
(27:47):
of our personhood can bear positively on our finances too
when we're paying attention to all parts of who we are.
And it's also what allows us in this conversation to
look at minimal is sustainability, eco friendly. There's so much
that we can talk about in this frugal living space
because we're interconnected, we're integrated, We're not just finances. Frugality
(28:13):
is so much more than that. Yeah, it definitely comes
down to how you view money and frugality, and for us,
it is a means to an end. We don't want
to become like financially stable or achieve financial freedom just
for the sake of having money in the bank or
money in a brokerage account that gets to this level
(28:35):
of safety and physiological needs met, and those are important.
Like we've been talking a lot about the like Maslow's
hierarchy of needs in UM, the financial freedom, mentorship, and yes,
those are the foundational parts of the hierarchy, but you
have more than half of the pyramid still up there,
which is our our esteem and our relationships and our
(28:56):
self actualization. And the point of doing well with money
is to support your higher needs. And we just see
also minimalism also is a foundation to reaching those higher needs.
Being a good steward of your natural resources. Uh, so
your environment is working with you and not against you.
(29:19):
Also foundational, and so we're trying to help like align
all these foundational things so that we have our physiological
needs bet and our safety needs met, so that we
can live lives fuller than just floating through life being
fed and fit. You know, like we can do more
(29:42):
than just go to work, pay bills and die, you know.
And it's nice to be able to afford the bills
and to eat the food. But like I know many
people with successful businesses, uh, and I know so many
of you listening have side hustles. You want to work
for yourself. Know, I know so many people who have
(30:03):
reached financial freedom and they are still looking for more
and more money doesn't help them, Like it's it doesn't help.
Once you have that certain the amount you've decided is enough,
not the arbitrary like oh you're you know after seventy
you're happy, you don't need more. No, that's arbitrary. What
(30:26):
you have decided is enough, and then you can focus
on these higher callings passions, etcetera, etcetera. But you've got
to know what they are first, and that is that
I mean that has I never thought that way four
years ago, and now it's it's like all I think about, well,
(30:49):
and I'll stay here at this point. A very common
question that I get from friends and family about the podcast.
Those who know me and know that I have a
podcast will often say, how do you think you can
come up with more content? You guys have already been
doing it for how long? Four years? And and you're
(31:11):
thinking about continuing, Like how how are you going to
keep coming up with stuff to talk about? And I mean,
first of all, we can just talk about the same
thing over and over again, because the message of freedom
and budgeting never gets old. But it's this, it's this
aspect of the integrated self, the ways that frugality touches
(31:34):
on so many aspects of life that we're not pinned
down to one thing. We're not pinning down to only
talking about debt. Freedom, that's a part of it, but
we can integrate this to so many things that yeah,
we're still going, Yeah, we're four years in and you
can just keep expecting more content from us, because it's
(31:57):
a big wide world out there, which also leads to
our final point, and probably one of the ones that
I'm most excited about is the reality that that's my favorite.
Frugality can follow us. It is not just about one
set stage of life. We can be in any part
(32:22):
of our financial journey life journey and integrate the principles
of frugality. It is not for a particular life stage
or a particular amount of income. It's tenants can be
implemented by anybody to see amazing fruit in your lives. Yeah,
(32:43):
and frugality is for I mean, it doesn't just follow
you as a person. It is for everybody. I get so.
I mean still to this day, people are like, oh,
I couldn't be frugal. I'm not very frugal. I don't
like frugality. Like somebody said the other day, it's like,
what about for people when they move beyond frugality. I
(33:03):
was like, you don't move on frugality. That's the point.
That's the point. It's that it follows you, It forms
with you. It is uh like, can be a core
value that you bring with you, whether you are trying,
whether you are at the beginning of your journey and
(33:24):
you are cutting costs because you don't have time to
make more money, or you're at the point of life
where you're focused on building a business or or becoming
like promoted, and you're focusing more on being intentional and
being frugal with your time, and or you know, whether
you're beyond that stuff and you're just trying to be
(33:45):
frugal with the environment and your your physical stuff, and
you don't even care about money or time. Like it
is so moldible and it is a lifestyle that if
everyone was frugal, like it would solve so many of
the world's problems. Yeah, I mean this is how this
(34:05):
is how extreme we are about frugality. But there is
so much freedom and excitement in this for me that
I'm I don't have to grow out of this. I
can regardless of where I'm at in life, how much
money I'm making, I can still be a frugal friend.
I can still be your frugal friend. I can still
have frugal friends. They're still belonging for me in this community.
(34:28):
And to give a really real time example, and here
you go, Jen, I know you love vulnerability. We're not
even the lightning round yet, but I'll be so specific
with you all because I have had that concern, like,
oh man, what about if I make more money? Can
I still do this podcast? Can I still talk to
people who might still not be making everything that they
(34:50):
want to be making out of their salaries or seeing
what they want in their finances? And I'm glad to
realize that the answer is yes, because frugality is for
everyone and can follow us. But in the last four years,
if I just look at my life since we started
the podcast, I have gone from house sitting for somebody
to living in an RV to purchasing a home in Florida,
(35:15):
and the tenants of frugality are still relevant for me.
I will also say, I'll get even more transparent with
you all. In the last four years, Eric and I
as my husband, have gone from making below the poverty
line combined income to making combined income of into the
(35:36):
six figures in the last four years, and the tenants
of frugality still apply to me. And if I can
even be so bold as to say, I think a
lot of the tenants of frugality have allowed us to
move to that place, But it doesn't mean that now
we're living a super frivolous, unintentional, lacking wisdom life as
(35:57):
a result of that, so freedom, community, integrated self, and
to be in a frugal friend for an entire lifetime.
Oh my gosh, I have chills because I yeah, I
mean you are like you are the exit prime example
of a frugal friend. Like when we started this, you
(36:20):
are not super interested in personal finance. You just liked
thrift ng and and yeah, like not spending a lot
of money, and now I had that down yeah yeah, yeah,
And and the transformation that you have made in four
years is the transformation we hope everyone makes in four
(36:42):
years of listening to frugal friends, Like wherever you think
you are now like knowing there's so much more that
you can do and be, and that you're probably being
your own bottleneck in your own limit to becoming those things.
I mean when we started, I've almost like I've almost
done it like a reverse. So when we started this,
(37:04):
I was very much like I had just started a
full time personal finance writing job, and I had increased
my income, and I had side businesses that were also
bringing in income, and I had you know, then I
started a podcast on top of that that was bringing
in no income, and I was a workaholic, and I
(37:29):
really found my value in achievement and doing. And I thought,
because for so much of my life up until that point,
it really had been like my value to other people
who didn't know me was really in how much they
saw me accomplished. That's those are the words of affirmation
they would give to me. And that is what stuck
(37:50):
with me. And so even into adulthood, I still kept
trying to do that. And over the last four years,
I've realized what enough is and that I am allowed
to do less to earn less, and it does not
make me less because I choose to do that, and
(38:12):
it's one of the reasons I stopped doing all those
other businesses. And now I just now I just podcast
and it makes a smidge more money than it did
when we started, a smidge more, but I mean it's
it's getting my My worth is no longer tied to
being one of those Instagrammers that say, oh I had
(38:33):
a five figure month, Oh I had uh you know,
I made multiple six figures this year, or I'm you know,
I have this many people like buying my course or
membership like like those were all things that I saw
and thought I needed to do like follow suit and
doing and be learning to be a good steward of
(38:54):
my time and my energy resources, my emotional resources. I
think having the seizures. I had a seizure back when
I was pregnant and one in the summer put that
it was really the one in the summer of that
put it into like real perspective, is that I am
(39:15):
not promised tomorrow and one seizure in at the wrong place,
at the wrong time could end everything for me. And
what's the legacy that I want to leave behind. Is
it cash in the bank or is it is it
doing something I love with someone I love, and and
(39:37):
just doing that to the fullest, no matter what it
makes because I've I've created the financial freedom to be
able to live that life. That's again an important foundation
is is that I put the hard work in. But
then I said, okay, now I have enough. Now I
can do these things that bring me life. Beautiful, John,
(40:00):
so much love for you, so much love for this community.
How amazing to reflect back and then hope for more.
So imagine what what we could be looking back on
in another four years from now. And I hope for
all of our community members too that this can be
the case. And speaking of something that can follow us,
(40:22):
it never gets old. We've kept it since day one.
The bill of the week. That's right, it's time for
the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby
(40:46):
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. Bill Buffalo Bills,
Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. Hi,
Jen and Jill, I have a bill of the week.
I think you're really going to enjoy. I got talked
into a sales pitched massage membership at a chain salon
(41:09):
over a year ago, and as much as I really
love the massages, it got to be too much for
my budget when they raised prices, so sadly I had
to cancel. And my final appointment, I found out that
my favorite massus is also a teacher at the local
massage therapy school and I could schedule there at a
much discounted rate. So that is a bill I am
glad to be paying again at a lower rate. And
(41:31):
guess what my massuses name is. It's Bill as Yes, yes, yes,
we're just dancing over here like Hill, Yeah, I I
love that. I actually so we have a massage school
(41:51):
near us too that offers very affordable good massages. So
that is something like there are quite a few massage
schools and not enough people know that you can get
a good massage there. It's the same with any school.
We talked about this all the time, So teeth cleaning,
barber shops. I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go with this
(42:14):
quaff there, but Travis goes all the time, like, yes,
it is such a good way to save money, especially
like if it's something that you you want, but is
it highest in your values? Two compromise with students at schools,
and you left us with the Ziger because you know
(42:37):
us and you know what we love. We love those
Bill tips and we love those people named Bill. I
could not ask for a better gift of than a
frugal tip of saving on your massages and the fact
that your massus's name is Bill. I'm elated over here.
What a great celebration, what a great four year, absolute
(43:00):
treasure of a gift. Absolutely thanks Bill, Thanks for being
the best MASSUS teacher out there. Amen. Amen. If you
want to submit your Bill of the Week to us
visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to leave
us yours And now it's time for Ning Round, the
(43:24):
Lightning Round. So today on the Lightning Round, we are
sharing a few reviews from people who have said we
have changed their life. And this is more for us
than it is for you, if we're being completely honest.
(43:46):
But we do get a lot of feedback from people
who are so excited like they read my review, so
this is also a shout out. But yeah, also, this
is so great to hear all of these all of
these pieces of reality for many of you and how
the podcast has helped. And so when we typically do
(44:06):
vulnerability during the Lightning Round, this is all of you
being vulnerable in your reviews. So thank you. So this
first one, as we give examples of people who have
really amazing feedback for this podcast, it helps us to
reflect and celebrate, but we are also celebrating with you
because some of you have some really incredible stories to
(44:28):
share about what this community has provided. So this first
one comes from Okay she Jen Doodle Dad, Big Joe,
Den Me. So Okay, I tried. You know who you
are happens to be Fine Changed My Life is the title.
(44:51):
You know we're going to read that one. This is
the podcast I didn't know I needed. I liked the
idea of Dave Ramsey, but being that I am human,
those ideals were admittedly hard to pull off. I needed
the happy medium Outlook now I'm a work in progress
and I'm loving it. Doesn't mean labeling myself a failure
if I spend money, but surprisingly, this more lax look
(45:14):
on life has made me much less likely to splurge unnecessarily.
My family is living a more affordable and eco friendly
life that's fueled by common sense and the love for
healthy living. Thank you, ladies for helping to improve the
mindset of my entire household. God bless oh my goodness.
(45:35):
Thank you Sha Jenna, Dada, Joda Ninos. We are so
pleased to be a part of I love this. I
I definitely feel the yo yo dieting in finance, and
which is why we try to be in the happy medium.
The radical middle is to keep people from doing that
(45:57):
like yo yo diet with their budget. It so it's
super gratifying to hear that when you're trying to do
something that it's really like getting through so our next
one is from and I'm so sorry that I did
that accent, but it's it's five starts, she says. Jen
(46:21):
and Jill are frugal queens. I've been listening to Jen
and Jill for over a year and should have posted
this review a long time ago. As a grad student
unlimited income. The golden nuggets of information in this podcast
have been life changing over the past year. Also, most
of my real life frugal friends are men, so it's
been a breath of fresh air to feel like I
(46:42):
have frugal lady friends by listening to this podcast. Bravo, ladies,
and thank you for all the hard work that goes
into making this podcast. You're welcome, Charlotte. This is I
and and So this comes back to being a woman
in podcasting too. It is are. One of our goals
(47:03):
with this podcast is to be uh to elevate other women,
is to lift other female voices up in the industry
that we are in, so in finance, in sustainability, in minimalism.
You will hear some men on the show, but it
is they are few and far between because we really
(47:24):
like it is important to us to elevate, to lift
other women up to where we are in podcasting, UM,
and so we want you to have more frugal lady
friends through the interviews we do on the show because
we think it's so important because yeah, a lot of
finance people are in those voices are male. A lot
(47:47):
of like frugal people in real life, tend to be male.
They tend to be more proud of being frugal than
women are, and we are pushing back on that intentionally.
Thanks Charlotte. This next one comes from Rebecca Coval, a
long time coming dot dot dot. That's the title. It's
(48:09):
five stars. I've been listening to the Frugal Friends podcast
for over a year now. In that time, I've learned
myriad tips and tricks to save money and spend intentionally,
and I've delved into topics I didn't immediately associate with
frugal living, like developing a minimalist capsule wardrobe and regifting
with purpose. When I start an episode with these women,
(48:30):
I know i'm incapable and kind hands. Every insight is
delivered with the compassion only experience can teach you, and
I never feel like an idiot when it's clear I've
made some huge mistakes. Instead of feeling defeated. At the
end of the show, I am energized and ready to
take on my financial challenges. Thank you, Jen and Jill,
You've changed my life and some of the best ways possible. Well,
(48:54):
Rebecca co all, this is really amazing. I'm so thrilled
to hear the specific ways that you've enjoyed the show
and some of the tips that you've taken away. And Yes,
to your point, there's so much we can talk about
as it relates to frugal living, and it does touch
on so many areas of our personhood and lifestyles. And
(49:14):
my goodness, this theme of changed lives is like really
humbling and sobering for me. And I know that there's
other aspects to that, and there's intentionality that you all
who are writing these reviews are putting in. You are
doing the work. But what a privilege and honor to
be entrusted with your time, whatever time you choose to
(49:37):
give to listening to this and for the the ability
to be a small part of some of the positive
changes you all are making. Yeah. So this last one
is from Carabell ninety. She says you are truly my
frugal friends. This podcast and it's wide range of topics
(49:59):
is so encouraging. With each episode, I feel equipped and
empowered to make realistic changes and have seen real results
in my bank account over the last year. We even
paid cash for this semester of my husband's graduate program,
in large part due to things I've implemented from this podcast.
(50:20):
I love you, Frugal Friends, and I wanted to end
with this one because we love you too. You are
the fuel to our fire that keeps us doing this podcast.
I mean, we were just saying before we started recording,
I was like, I love you, know, doing business things
with you, Jill, but I'd rather just like hang out
with you. And so if we didn't have like stuff
(50:42):
like this, I think we probably would just hang out,
uh sort of instead of like recording shows and stuff.
But yeah, you are our frugal friends as well, and
the reason that you know in two we are focusing
so heavily into community and community building and really forming
(51:08):
everything we do from here on out around intentional community.
For this journey, for this journey, financial journey, and everything
that your finances touch. A men and amen, And what
an amazing opportunity this journey has been. And here's to
four more and more years of this frual living, frugal friendship,
(51:34):
frugal community. Yeah, four more years and then some So
so thrilled to be in your ears for these past
four years. Thank you all so much for listening. Thank
you for the kind reviews like the ones we just read,
and keep doing that. We want to thank you for
sharing the show with your friends, with your family, posting
(51:57):
on social media. We whenever you see whenever you tag
us on social media, we still do enter you into
that drawing for the fifty dollars to spend in the
Frugal Friends shops. So keep leaving us reviews like the
ones you just heard, and we'll keep reading them, and
we'll keep giving you as many gifts as we can
(52:20):
to thank you. Yes, and so when you leave a
review after listening to the podcast, send the screenshot of
that review too. Reviews at Frugal Friends podcast dot com.
Also tag us on social all of the ways will
enter you into that drawing and we'll see you next week. Right.
(52:41):
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian jen I feel
so encouraged and empowered for the rest of my day
after this episode and reading these reviews and looking back
(53:05):
and reflecting and seeing, gosh, yeah, what this has meant,
what we've built, how it's impacted us and others. What
a beautiful thing. It's so good to reflect. Yeah, we
as I mean, we all need relationships, but I think
females having powerful female relationships like we have, I think
(53:28):
it is It's not like you need it to survive,
but it just ten X is everything you do. It
ten X is your progress to your goals. It ten
X is the goals that you make for yourself. It
ten X is your capacity to reach those goals and more.
And it ten X is like the fulfillment you feel
(53:51):
on the journey, because the journey really is all we have.
The journey is so much longer than the destination, and
if we're not investing in the journey, we really miss
out on so much of our lives. And I think
our relationship has really shown us how important and how
elevating it can be for all women to have these
(54:13):
types of relationships. Agreed. So grateful to still be friends
with you, Jen and still be living that frugal friendship
even off the podcast. So I'll see you tonight for
our b y O pizza dinner. I'll see you tonight.
Episode two oh seven, What We've learned in four years
of Frugal Friends. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where
you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liberal
your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Oh oh oh,
(00:25):
oh oh oh. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My
name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we
are celebrating four years of Frugal Friends with a very
unique episode. Yes, we can't even believe it. Four years
(00:46):
of yelling and singing and laughing and frugality. Yeah, and
most podcasts don't make it past ten episodes, and we
are almost to two hundred and ten. And we've never
done something like this before. I know some podcasts will
do like an annual review or something. So we thought
after four years that maybe it was time to share
(01:11):
what we've learned about everything. Yeah, now we kind of
we we finally feel settled, like there's something to back
on in four years. Yeah, like what we've learned about
podcasting about frugality, about each other. I think that might
be interesting because we typically only talk about money in frugality,
(01:32):
but I think there's a there's a whole other aspect
to this which is our relationship and like podcasting. So yeah,
I'm I'm really excited to share this episode with everyone,
and I do think as we look back, there's going
to be the highlights of our biggest frugal tip takeaways,
(01:52):
how we've implemented frugality over the last four years, what
our community has meant for us. So it's not just
our reflections, although that's going to be a lot of it,
but hopefully also some nuggets in here, just like every
other episode. But first, first, let's start with our sponsors. Yes,
(02:12):
celebrating humans accomplished great things, the wheel, the telephone, coffee makers.
Am I right? And when we accomplish something great, it's
easy to get swept into the next thing without taking
time to celebrate what you got here. Celebrating wants you
(02:33):
to take some time and acknowledge your accomplishments. If you're
a Frugal Friends listener, you can celebrate our accomplishment with us,
which is also your accomplishment. Let's be real. On April three,
this is APO in St. Petersburg, Florida at our four
year anniversary party. If you'd like to join us, head
(02:57):
to Frugal Friends Podcast dot com. Lash Party for more
info if you are a local Saint Petian or Floridian party. Yeah, yeah,
all right. Well, normally we would share like some episodes
that kind of tie into this episode, but they're literally none,
(03:18):
So we're just and we are not covering an article today.
We do not have an interview. Jill just made some
a list of some things that we have learned over
the last four years, and we think that they are
not just relevant to us, but that there are lessons
(03:40):
that like everyone will eventually learn. So let's shorten your
learning curve because in four years of running this podcast,
it's taught us some life lessons that are super useful.
And so yeah, that's that's what we've got for you today. Yeah,
and if you're just joining us, if this happens to
be the very first Frugal Friends podcast episode that you
(04:02):
choose to listen to, well interesting, But then this will
tell you what you can expect to learn alongside of
us if you go back into all of our archives
and listen through all these episodes. And if you're in
your car and you have been with us for the ride,
or you're running or whatever you're doing while you listen
to this, and you're kind of nodding along like yeah,
(04:23):
I have learned that, or oh, here's more things we
love to hear about it in the community, So definitely
let us know. Speaking of community, this is one of
the first bullet points that we listed out as we
reflect back on these past four years, this is the
biggest one probably that stands out to me as how
(04:45):
necessary important community is. And I don't think that I
would have I know relationships are important, but I think
these past four years and doing this podcast has shown
me just how a may using an important community is.
What the larger Frugal Friends community has meant for me.
(05:06):
I mean I have very specific things that I can
point to, and then some smaller community. What it has
meant for you and I jen to be doing this
podcast together. What I've learned from you through this time,
that's just invaluable and there's there is real friendship here.
But then there's also deeper levels of intentionality because we
(05:29):
do this because we talk about frugality on a weekly basis,
if not daily basis sometimes and what that produces, the support,
the knowing that we're not alone in this journey, the
learning from one another. There's so many sub bullet points
that I could say, but overarching is just deep gratitude
(05:52):
and recognition of how important relationships, others, community belonging is
in this journey. Yeah, I would say the same thing
as a only child and somebody who's never had like
a ton of friends. I over this past four years
have realized how much better life can be in community.
(06:17):
Like I tried to build businesses and make money like
on my own, and I think it was just a
blessing that like those things they were okay, like I
was successful at them, but like the thing that I
did with you, and the thing that was focused on community,
this is the thing that has been the most successful.
(06:39):
It's changed the most lives, it's been the most life
giving to me. And so I never realized the how
integral community was. I mean, I love to have fun,
I love you know, friends, and it's one of the
reasons I didn't want to pay off my debt initially
(07:00):
because I didn't want to stop being able to hang
out with my friends who all wanted to spend money.
And but I didn't realize the I didn't realize how
that was keeping me from fulfilling my greater life purpose.
And so this past four years has just been a
(07:22):
total eye opener. Two how important and how vital community
is and and you can get along without it, you'll
be fine, but it takes everything. And like ten X,
is it when you are in community, in intentional healthy community.
And I think to your point about the friendship piece,
(07:45):
I think it has highlighted and underscored for me that
we can have friends and be frugal and seeing even
more people who are desiring that through this journey, and
how you and I can get together and because we
have a similar mindset, we can engage in things that
we that are fun but don't have to cost a
(08:07):
lot of money. It doesn't have to mean that all right,
If I don't want to go out to a restaurant
every day of the week, it means I have to
give up friendships. And that has been amazing to be
able to pair fun and friendships and frugality because alliteration,
we do love f's that is the letter F. Has
(08:28):
also been something I have learned so many words that
start with the letter F. That's been a lesson for me.
And our community is amazing. We never imagine that there
would be such camaraderie and relationships and unity and fun
(08:49):
built with those who listen to the podcasts and have
joined us in the Facebook group and have joined our
Financial Freedom mentorship. Our commune unity is so amazing. I
don't know how we attracted such amazing people to ourselves,
but um, I mean, I'm not going to second guess it.
I'm not gonna push back on it. That has been
(09:10):
so fun. It's one of the reasons that I stay
on social media. I don't know, for better or worse.
I really enjoy seeing the celebrations and the questions and
people giving their tips, and I've learned so much through it.
So this is again just as much for me or
for us as it is our desire to give back
(09:32):
with this podcast. Yeah, I I definitely. I think we
can't emphasize enough this community aspect of what we've learned. Yeah,
and like teaching each other things too, Like you've taught
me so much about I don't know, like generosity and
(09:54):
home design decor making things pretty. You, I mean, you've
you've taught I mean a lot outside of that as well.
But I think we people often say, like don't start
businesses with your friends or the nothing No ship sinks
faster than a partnership. I think that's the phrase, and
(10:18):
we yeah to to an extent. We got really lucky.
I think we there was a I don't I think.
I don't think we could have planned for this because
we were not great friends when we started the podcast.
We were friends, but we were not close enough that
we wanted to start a business together. That's not why
(10:41):
we started this podcast. We started it because Eric told
us to and just worked out that that that there
was a spark, and we both were emotionally mature enough
to be honest and transparent with each other and to
be I guess also very open to the other person's ideas,
(11:06):
and we it wasn't something we were banking our lives on,
so it was something The podcast is something we held
with a very open hand, and I think because of that,
we were open to collaboration more, and the collaboration made
it ten times better than what it would have been
if we were, you know, close handed, or really were
(11:28):
relying just on what, like I thought the show should
be or what you thought the show should be. Agreed,
I think we've cultivated this together or we didn't set
out with a motivation, never either one of us to
make money off of it once we started to see
we could, it still took us some time to look
(11:49):
at this as an income source rather than just a
stream to other platforms that could be an income source.
And yeah, I think having a whole lives out in
conjunction with this podcast has helped too, that this isn't
the only thing for either one of us that we
solely set our hands to our minds too. And yeah,
(12:13):
because of that, we can celebrate the uniquenesses of one another,
end of our community and see together where is this
going to go? What can we make of it? I
think if I could even back up a little bit
to respond to what you've taught me. I know we've
talked about this in a lot of different episodes, but
I'll highlight it again. Retirement investing. My mind would have
(12:37):
never gone there. I am used to not having a
lot of money, certainly through this frugal journey, and in
the last four years I have seen a significant increase
in our income, and I know that a portion of
that has to do with the fact that we've been
in community. We've talked about it. There's accountability here, there's
a knowing and being known keeping me on track and
(13:01):
in light of that and ability to invest in retirement.
But even if I had done well financially, if it
weren't for this community, if it weren't for you, Jen,
I would not have thought to put that money into
a wrath. I al right. I would have been like, sweet,
I'm set for the next month, how amazing. And then
I'll put the money in a bank account and I'll
(13:22):
take out a huge chunk of it whenever the heck
I please, And now I can't because I'm investing for
my future, my future self and my present self. But ah,
the smokes that is like you're welcome, yeah, I mean
yeah uh. And I think it's important to note like
(13:43):
we didn't I mean for the past. Out of four
of these years, you've only lived near me for for
one of them, like one and a half. So most
of our friendship, even the year before we started the podcast,
was all virtual. And this was like pre pandemic times,
Like we were able to cultivate this through essentially kind
(14:06):
of just like an accountability relationship online, which is I
mean the main reason we created our membership because we're like,
if we can do it, then we can provide the
space for others to do it, and then maybe one
day accountability groups will all move to the same city
(14:27):
and they'll start a commune. And you know, we can
only hope and dream for things like that. It's not
a requirement, but how fun would that be. Yeah, that's
such a good point jen that this podcast. Then it's
not fake community. We can have real, meaningful relationships with
(14:49):
people even if we're not living local. It's great to
have local people, and we should. There's something even deeper
that I think has been provided by the fact that
we live near one another, but we still record our
podcasts in separate places because it's just one makes the
most sense. Yes, so true. Well, let's move on to
(15:12):
the second overarching theme that we've listed out here. This
isn't an exhaustive list, but I would say in the
last four years, something that I've noticed in frugal Friendship
and exploring this topic on a regular basis is getting
better and more aware of boundaries and living more intentionally.
(15:35):
I think, as we've talked about our finances and how
this integrates with other aspects of our lives, I have
seen in myself that I think before I make a purchase,
that pause has become more natural It wasn't from the start,
but as I am in community, like we talked about
and aware of where my money is going and coming
(15:59):
from and how want to be spending. I'm not making
purchases willy nilly. I am creating that pause thinking about
how do I want to spend this? Do I have
to buy it new? Could I fix what it is
that I'm trying to replace? Could I get on a
buy nothing group and get what I need from there?
(16:19):
Could I buy second hand? Whatever the case is, Like,
I'm not impulse spending maybe as much as I may
have previously done, which is incredible. M yeah, I I
would say the intentional living portion of it. I have
(16:40):
found that creating an intentional life is the foundation to
actually doing well with money. Because for so long it
was me checking boxes. I have to pay off debt. Check,
I have to save an emergency fund, check, I have
to max out my rob I wright check what and
I do more? Oh, I can try to retire early
(17:02):
and that's you know whatever. Check. And it was always
about what can I do next? And in my mind
it was like, oh, yeah, what can I do next
so that I can live the life that I want
to live? So I'm not beholden to a job, YadA YadA,
but I didn't take the time to figure out what
(17:24):
what do I want now? And can I have what
I want later earlier? Because tomorrow isn't promised. We have
to find this balance, like we were, you know, talking
about with with Keisha Blair, this balance between living like
you will turn one hundred because that's a possibility in
(17:46):
our time, and also living like tomorrow isn't promised. And
it is not a spectrum. It's not like we have
to find balance like it's a like a seesaw, but
it is. It is a portfoll. It is being intentional
about doing your priorities, the saving, the investing, and the living,
(18:09):
and and it's that it's I've learned that intentionality, and
I did not have that when we started this podcast,
But after listening to so many people and watching so
many people on social media and being in the space
for so long, like that has become the reason why
I do what I do now, is to teach people
(18:29):
that it is the intentional living that comes before the
intentional saving, and that greater level of awareness and intentionality
has helped with boundaries for me, and I think others
with pressures, whether it's the larger society or family or friends,
(18:51):
and getting more confident with those awkward money moments. I
have noticed so much more ability to highlight what I'm
sure everyone is thinking, but it can feel awkward to
talk about, Like, for instance, I am much more confident
and we'll dive right into, hey, how are we splitting
(19:11):
this bill up as friends? Or who's gonna purchase this
that or the other thing? Or this restaurants not in
my budget this week? Can we try blank? Instead being
able to just say it out loud rather than waiting
for something to happen. And then I'm a little bit
bitter and upset because I didn't actually speak my needs
(19:33):
and everyone was just kind of assuming that it would
go one direction. And and it's never been as awkward
or bad as I thought it would be. Most people
are like, oh, yeah, thanks for bringing that up, or totally,
let's do this other thing. It is not a deal
breaker in relationships, and a lot of times it can
give greater freedom when we know what to expect from
(19:55):
one another. That's just an example in relationships. I think
I've seen better boundaries of across the board. Financially emotionally, relationally,
and just increased confidence in all of those areas. Yeah, definitely.
I like the next one on the list. I'm really
glad you included it. What is it, jen uh? Freedom?
(20:20):
And it is. It's a word I thought that I
really understood, and I viewed it as freedom from the
outside world. So freedom again from being beholden to a job,
freedom from having to choose one thing because I wasn't
(20:45):
I didn't have the finances to choose the thing that
I wanted. I thought that was the freedom. Like going
into it, I thought I had a good grasp on
what you know, quote unquote financial freedom was. And over
the last four years of we have read like hundreds
of articles together on personal finance, I realized that there's
(21:09):
an aspect of freedom from self. That I am the
person that so often limits me and holds me back.
And you know, the easiest way to say it is
like a scarcity mindset, but it goes so much deeper
than that. But I have learned that I am typically
(21:34):
the bottleneck in my problems, and I have learned freedom
from self, like freedom from having to do everything on
my own, freedom from having like what I think that
I need, to accomplish freedom from acquiring more and more
and more and figuring out what is enough and and
(21:57):
having that actual enough umber. So that probably, like you
didn't mean to go that deep, but that's now what
I see when I see the word freedom is like
freedom from the from the things that I impose on
my own self. Oh absolutely, Jen, I think we will
(22:21):
never fully come to At least for me, I've not
arrived at a full understanding of freedom. But my goodness,
if these last four years haven't taught me more and
more about it in my personal and professional life what
it means to literally live in and out of a
(22:44):
place of freedom. And I think I equate this word
a lot to permission as well. Within my work of
counseling clients, I would say this is a big part
of it. Boundaries is another one. We already covered that one,
but also permission. So often we need to give ourselves permission,
(23:08):
and I think that's what you're talking about with the
self component is a lot of times the world is
not going to give it to us, and if they do, okay, great,
But also our own permissions of what we're allowed to do,
the decisions we can make moving towards health and well being,
giving ourselves space, freedom and permission to move towards that.
(23:31):
And if there's any message that I hope our community
has picked up on over these last four years is
that but to greater and greater degrees, where I think
you and I are stepping into more understanding, of course,
as it relates to frugality and specifically finances, recognizing that
there's multiple methods for implementing financial wisdom. We have, as
(23:54):
you said, read hundreds of articles, interviewed so many people.
Could probably put a real number to it, but I'm
not great at estimating. We've just interviewed so many people
and a variety of perspectives have been on this podcast,
and yet for the most part congruent with one another
that there are different methods that all point at well
(24:18):
being for our finances and in our lives, but various
ways of getting there. There is not just one way,
and what works for one person may not work for
another person. We're all in different seasons of life, we
all need different things, we all have different goals, and
so for it, um, yes, yeah, I um, I definitely
(24:42):
I feel that, like the permission two be in the
radical middle, like there's there are so few people giving
permission to be in the radical middle. It's either you've
got to pay off all your debt as fast as possible,
or you know, ignore your debt, and well, besides credit cards,
(25:03):
we can all agree that credit card debt should be
paid off quickly, but other than that, ignore your debt
and just invest as much as possible. And I'm seeing
so many I guess I follow a ton of finance
creators on social media more than the average person, obviously,
and I just see, like these people they talk about
(25:25):
the same thing over and over and over, and it's like, yeah,
but why, Like, I know why we talk about the
same thing over and over and over, because it's we're
talking about freedom and life design and permission, and those
are things that transcend money and and help like in
(25:48):
every area of your life. I'm like, why is this
the financial goal? Why is becoming a millionaire the financial goal?
Why is becoming debt free the financial a goal? It's great,
that's a great goal, but why why? What's enough? What's
the time frame? Why? And if your answer causes you
(26:12):
to go down a different path, then what you were
told you need to you have permission to do that
because we live in We live in the radical middle,
and yeah, to me, freedom is the radical middle. And
I think that that leads so beautifully into our next
big overarching theme of realizing and understanding our integrated self
(26:36):
in more ways that continues to lead to freedom. All
these are connected. But through these last four years and
engaging with our community and through friendship with you, Jen
and doing this podcast and personal life things that have
been happening for me seeing the bigger picture of the
ways and the interconnectedness of our emotions and relationships and
(27:01):
physical well being and financial health and mental health and
how they all coincide. And so I think to your
point about people talking ad nauseum about this one thing
of becoming a millionaire, that's that's one part. But we're not.
We're we don't live in a vacuum where we're different.
(27:22):
Parts of ourselves are not siloed out. They all impact
one another. And I think this message of frugality and
this journey that we're on is about not just finances,
but frugality which touches every part of us. It touches
our emotions, it touches our relationships, It does touch our finances,
our physical well being and so realizing that all aspects
(27:47):
of our personhood can bear positively on our finances too
when we're paying attention to all parts of who we are.
And it's also what allows us in this conversation to
look at minimal is sustainability, eco friendly. There's so much
that we can talk about in this frugal living space
because we're interconnected, we're integrated, We're not just finances. Frugality
(28:13):
is so much more than that. Yeah, it definitely comes
down to how you view money and frugality, and for us,
it is a means to an end. We don't want
to become like financially stable or achieve financial freedom just
for the sake of having money in the bank or
money in a brokerage account that gets to this level
(28:35):
of safety and physiological needs met, and those are important.
Like we've been talking a lot about the like Maslow's
hierarchy of needs in UM, the financial freedom, mentorship, and yes,
those are the foundational parts of the hierarchy, but you
have more than half of the pyramid still up there,
which is our our esteem and our relationships and our
(28:56):
self actualization. And the point of doing well with money
is to support your higher needs. And we just see
also minimalism also is a foundation to reaching those higher needs.
Being a good steward of your natural resources. Uh, so
your environment is working with you and not against you.
(29:19):
Also foundational, and so we're trying to help like align
all these foundational things so that we have our physiological
needs bet and our safety needs met, so that we
can live lives fuller than just floating through life being
fed and fit. You know, like we can do more
(29:42):
than just go to work, pay bills and die, you know.
And it's nice to be able to afford the bills
and to eat the food. But like I know many
people with successful businesses, uh, and I know so many
of you listening have side hustles. You want to work
for yourself. Know, I know so many people who have
(30:03):
reached financial freedom and they are still looking for more
and more money doesn't help them, Like it's it doesn't help.
Once you have that certain the amount you've decided is enough,
not the arbitrary like oh you're you know after seventy
you're happy, you don't need more. No, that's arbitrary. What
(30:26):
you have decided is enough, and then you can focus
on these higher callings passions, etcetera, etcetera. But you've got
to know what they are first, and that is that
I mean that has I never thought that way four
years ago, and now it's it's like all I think about, well,
(30:49):
and I'll stay here at this point. A very common
question that I get from friends and family about the podcast.
Those who know me and know that I have a
podcast will often say, how do you think you can
come up with more content? You guys have already been
doing it for how long? Four years? And and you're
(31:11):
thinking about continuing, Like how how are you going to
keep coming up with stuff to talk about? And I mean,
first of all, we can just talk about the same
thing over and over again, because the message of freedom
and budgeting never gets old. But it's this, it's this
aspect of the integrated self, the ways that frugality touches
(31:34):
on so many aspects of life that we're not pinned
down to one thing. We're not pinning down to only
talking about debt. Freedom, that's a part of it, but
we can integrate this to so many things that yeah,
we're still going, Yeah, we're four years in and you
can just keep expecting more content from us, because it's
(31:57):
a big wide world out there, which also leads to
our final point, and probably one of the ones that
I'm most excited about is the reality that that's my favorite.
Frugality can follow us. It is not just about one
set stage of life. We can be in any part
(32:22):
of our financial journey life journey and integrate the principles
of frugality. It is not for a particular life stage
or a particular amount of income. It's tenants can be
implemented by anybody to see amazing fruit in your lives. Yeah,
(32:43):
and frugality is for I mean, it doesn't just follow
you as a person. It is for everybody. I get so.
I mean still to this day, people are like, oh,
I couldn't be frugal. I'm not very frugal. I don't
like frugality. Like somebody said the other day, it's like,
what about for people when they move beyond frugality. I
(33:03):
was like, you don't move on frugality. That's the point.
That's the point. It's that it follows you, It forms
with you. It is uh like, can be a core
value that you bring with you, whether you are trying,
whether you are at the beginning of your journey and
(33:24):
you are cutting costs because you don't have time to
make more money, or you're at the point of life
where you're focused on building a business or or becoming
like promoted, and you're focusing more on being intentional and
being frugal with your time, and or you know, whether
you're beyond that stuff and you're just trying to be
(33:45):
frugal with the environment and your your physical stuff, and
you don't even care about money or time. Like it
is so moldible and it is a lifestyle that if
everyone was frugal, like it would solve so many of
the world's problems. Yeah, I mean this is how this
(34:05):
is how extreme we are about frugality. But there is
so much freedom and excitement in this for me that
I'm I don't have to grow out of this. I
can regardless of where I'm at in life, how much
money I'm making, I can still be a frugal friend.
I can still be your frugal friend. I can still
have frugal friends. They're still belonging for me in this community.
(34:28):
And to give a really real time example, and here
you go, Jen, I know you love vulnerability. We're not
even the lightning round yet, but I'll be so specific
with you all because I have had that concern, like,
oh man, what about if I make more money? Can
I still do this podcast? Can I still talk to
people who might still not be making everything that they
(34:50):
want to be making out of their salaries or seeing
what they want in their finances? And I'm glad to
realize that the answer is yes, because frugality is for
everyone and can follow us. But in the last four years,
if I just look at my life since we started
the podcast, I have gone from house sitting for somebody
to living in an RV to purchasing a home in Florida,
(35:15):
and the tenants of frugality are still relevant for me.
I will also say, I'll get even more transparent with
you all. In the last four years, Eric and I
as my husband, have gone from making below the poverty
line combined income to making combined income of into the
(35:36):
six figures in the last four years, and the tenants
of frugality still apply to me. And if I can
even be so bold as to say, I think a
lot of the tenants of frugality have allowed us to
move to that place, But it doesn't mean that now
we're living a super frivolous, unintentional, lacking wisdom life as
(35:57):
a result of that, so freedom, community, integrated self, and
to be in a frugal friend for an entire lifetime.
Oh my gosh, I have chills because I yeah, I
mean you are like you are the exit prime example
of a frugal friend. Like when we started this, you
(36:20):
are not super interested in personal finance. You just liked
thrift ng and and yeah, like not spending a lot
of money, and now I had that down yeah yeah, yeah,
And and the transformation that you have made in four
years is the transformation we hope everyone makes in four
(36:42):
years of listening to frugal friends, Like wherever you think
you are now like knowing there's so much more that
you can do and be, and that you're probably being
your own bottleneck in your own limit to becoming those things.
I mean when we started, I've almost like I've almost
done it like a reverse. So when we started this,
(37:04):
I was very much like I had just started a
full time personal finance writing job, and I had increased
my income, and I had side businesses that were also
bringing in income, and I had you know, then I
started a podcast on top of that that was bringing
in no income, and I was a workaholic, and I
(37:29):
really found my value in achievement and doing. And I thought,
because for so much of my life up until that point,
it really had been like my value to other people
who didn't know me was really in how much they
saw me accomplished. That's those are the words of affirmation
they would give to me. And that is what stuck
(37:50):
with me. And so even into adulthood, I still kept
trying to do that. And over the last four years,
I've realized what enough is and that I am allowed
to do less to earn less, and it does not
make me less because I choose to do that, and
(38:12):
it's one of the reasons I stopped doing all those
other businesses. And now I just now I just podcast
and it makes a smidge more money than it did
when we started, a smidge more, but I mean it's
it's getting my My worth is no longer tied to
being one of those Instagrammers that say, oh I had
(38:33):
a five figure month, Oh I had uh you know,
I made multiple six figures this year, or I'm you know,
I have this many people like buying my course or
membership like like those were all things that I saw
and thought I needed to do like follow suit and
doing and be learning to be a good steward of
(38:54):
my time and my energy resources, my emotional resources. I
think having the seizures. I had a seizure back when
I was pregnant and one in the summer put that
it was really the one in the summer of that
put it into like real perspective, is that I am
(39:15):
not promised tomorrow and one seizure in at the wrong place,
at the wrong time could end everything for me. And
what's the legacy that I want to leave behind. Is
it cash in the bank or is it is it
doing something I love with someone I love, and and
(39:37):
just doing that to the fullest, no matter what it
makes because I've I've created the financial freedom to be
able to live that life. That's again an important foundation
is is that I put the hard work in. But
then I said, okay, now I have enough. Now I
can do these things that bring me life. Beautiful, John,
(40:00):
so much love for you, so much love for this community.
How amazing to reflect back and then hope for more.
So imagine what what we could be looking back on
in another four years from now. And I hope for
all of our community members too that this can be
the case. And speaking of something that can follow us,
(40:22):
it never gets old. We've kept it since day one.
The bill of the week. That's right, it's time for
the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby
(40:46):
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. Bill Buffalo Bills,
Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. Hi,
Jen and Jill, I have a bill of the week.
I think you're really going to enjoy. I got talked
into a sales pitched massage membership at a chain salon
(41:09):
over a year ago, and as much as I really
love the massages, it got to be too much for
my budget when they raised prices, so sadly I had
to cancel. And my final appointment, I found out that
my favorite massus is also a teacher at the local
massage therapy school and I could schedule there at a
much discounted rate. So that is a bill I am
glad to be paying again at a lower rate. And
(41:31):
guess what my massuses name is. It's Bill as Yes, yes, yes,
we're just dancing over here like Hill, Yeah, I I
love that. I actually so we have a massage school
(41:51):
near us too that offers very affordable good massages. So
that is something like there are quite a few massage
schools and not enough people know that you can get
a good massage there. It's the same with any school.
We talked about this all the time, So teeth cleaning,
barber shops. I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go with this
(42:14):
quaff there, but Travis goes all the time, like, yes,
it is such a good way to save money, especially
like if it's something that you you want, but is
it highest in your values? Two compromise with students at schools,
and you left us with the Ziger because you know
(42:37):
us and you know what we love. We love those
Bill tips and we love those people named Bill. I
could not ask for a better gift of than a
frugal tip of saving on your massages and the fact
that your massus's name is Bill. I'm elated over here.
What a great celebration, what a great four year, absolute
(43:00):
treasure of a gift. Absolutely thanks Bill, Thanks for being
the best MASSUS teacher out there. Amen. Amen. If you
want to submit your Bill of the Week to us
visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to leave
us yours And now it's time for Ning Round, the
(43:24):
Lightning Round. So today on the Lightning Round, we are
sharing a few reviews from people who have said we
have changed their life. And this is more for us
than it is for you, if we're being completely honest.
(43:46):
But we do get a lot of feedback from people
who are so excited like they read my review, so
this is also a shout out. But yeah, also, this
is so great to hear all of these all of
these pieces of reality for many of you and how
the podcast has helped. And so when we typically do
(44:06):
vulnerability during the Lightning Round, this is all of you
being vulnerable in your reviews. So thank you. So this
first one, as we give examples of people who have
really amazing feedback for this podcast, it helps us to
reflect and celebrate, but we are also celebrating with you
because some of you have some really incredible stories to
(44:28):
share about what this community has provided. So this first
one comes from Okay she Jen Doodle Dad, Big Joe,
Den Me. So Okay, I tried. You know who you
are happens to be Fine Changed My Life is the title.
(44:51):
You know we're going to read that one. This is
the podcast I didn't know I needed. I liked the
idea of Dave Ramsey, but being that I am human,
those ideals were admittedly hard to pull off. I needed
the happy medium Outlook now I'm a work in progress
and I'm loving it. Doesn't mean labeling myself a failure
if I spend money, but surprisingly, this more lax look
(45:14):
on life has made me much less likely to splurge unnecessarily.
My family is living a more affordable and eco friendly
life that's fueled by common sense and the love for
healthy living. Thank you, ladies for helping to improve the
mindset of my entire household. God bless oh my goodness.
(45:35):
Thank you Sha Jenna, Dada, Joda Ninos. We are so
pleased to be a part of I love this. I
I definitely feel the yo yo dieting in finance, and
which is why we try to be in the happy medium.
The radical middle is to keep people from doing that
(45:57):
like yo yo diet with their budget. It so it's
super gratifying to hear that when you're trying to do
something that it's really like getting through so our next
one is from and I'm so sorry that I did
that accent, but it's it's five starts, she says. Jen
(46:21):
and Jill are frugal queens. I've been listening to Jen
and Jill for over a year and should have posted
this review a long time ago. As a grad student
unlimited income. The golden nuggets of information in this podcast
have been life changing over the past year. Also, most
of my real life frugal friends are men, so it's
been a breath of fresh air to feel like I
(46:42):
have frugal lady friends by listening to this podcast. Bravo, ladies,
and thank you for all the hard work that goes
into making this podcast. You're welcome, Charlotte. This is I
and and So this comes back to being a woman
in podcasting too. It is are. One of our goals
(47:03):
with this podcast is to be uh to elevate other women,
is to lift other female voices up in the industry
that we are in, so in finance, in sustainability, in minimalism.
You will hear some men on the show, but it
is they are few and far between because we really
(47:24):
like it is important to us to elevate, to lift
other women up to where we are in podcasting, UM,
and so we want you to have more frugal lady
friends through the interviews we do on the show because
we think it's so important because yeah, a lot of
finance people are in those voices are male. A lot
(47:47):
of like frugal people in real life, tend to be male.
They tend to be more proud of being frugal than
women are, and we are pushing back on that intentionally.
Thanks Charlotte. This next one comes from Rebecca Coval, a
long time coming dot dot dot. That's the title. It's
(48:09):
five stars. I've been listening to the Frugal Friends podcast
for over a year now. In that time, I've learned
myriad tips and tricks to save money and spend intentionally,
and I've delved into topics I didn't immediately associate with
frugal living, like developing a minimalist capsule wardrobe and regifting
with purpose. When I start an episode with these women,
(48:30):
I know i'm incapable and kind hands. Every insight is
delivered with the compassion only experience can teach you, and
I never feel like an idiot when it's clear I've
made some huge mistakes. Instead of feeling defeated. At the
end of the show, I am energized and ready to
take on my financial challenges. Thank you, Jen and Jill,
You've changed my life and some of the best ways possible. Well,
(48:54):
Rebecca co all, this is really amazing. I'm so thrilled
to hear the specific ways that you've enjoyed the show
and some of the tips that you've taken away. And Yes,
to your point, there's so much we can talk about
as it relates to frugal living, and it does touch
on so many areas of our personhood and lifestyles. And
(49:14):
my goodness, this theme of changed lives is like really
humbling and sobering for me. And I know that there's
other aspects to that, and there's intentionality that you all
who are writing these reviews are putting in. You are
doing the work. But what a privilege and honor to
be entrusted with your time, whatever time you choose to
(49:37):
give to listening to this and for the the ability
to be a small part of some of the positive
changes you all are making. Yeah. So this last one
is from Carabell ninety. She says you are truly my
frugal friends. This podcast and it's wide range of topics
(49:59):
is so encouraging. With each episode, I feel equipped and
empowered to make realistic changes and have seen real results
in my bank account over the last year. We even
paid cash for this semester of my husband's graduate program,
in large part due to things I've implemented from this podcast.
(50:20):
I love you, Frugal Friends, and I wanted to end
with this one because we love you too. You are
the fuel to our fire that keeps us doing this podcast.
I mean, we were just saying before we started recording,
I was like, I love you, know, doing business things
with you, Jill, but I'd rather just like hang out
with you. And so if we didn't have like stuff
(50:42):
like this, I think we probably would just hang out,
uh sort of instead of like recording shows and stuff.
But yeah, you are our frugal friends as well, and
the reason that you know in two we are focusing
so heavily into community and community building and really forming
(51:08):
everything we do from here on out around intentional community.
For this journey, for this journey, financial journey, and everything
that your finances touch. A men and amen, And what
an amazing opportunity this journey has been. And here's to
four more and more years of this frual living, frugal friendship,
(51:34):
frugal community. Yeah, four more years and then some So
so thrilled to be in your ears for these past
four years. Thank you all so much for listening. Thank
you for the kind reviews like the ones we just read,
and keep doing that. We want to thank you for
sharing the show with your friends, with your family, posting
(51:57):
on social media. We whenever you see whenever you tag
us on social media, we still do enter you into
that drawing for the fifty dollars to spend in the
Frugal Friends shops. So keep leaving us reviews like the
ones you just heard, and we'll keep reading them, and
we'll keep giving you as many gifts as we can
(52:20):
to thank you. Yes, and so when you leave a
review after listening to the podcast, send the screenshot of
that review too. Reviews at Frugal Friends podcast dot com.
Also tag us on social all of the ways will
enter you into that drawing and we'll see you next week. Right.
(52:41):
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian jen I feel
so encouraged and empowered for the rest of my day
after this episode and reading these reviews and looking back
(53:05):
and reflecting and seeing, gosh, yeah, what this has meant,
what we've built, how it's impacted us and others. What
a beautiful thing. It's so good to reflect. Yeah, we
as I mean, we all need relationships, but I think
females having powerful female relationships like we have, I think
(53:28):
it is It's not like you need it to survive,
but it just ten X is everything you do. It
ten X is your progress to your goals. It ten
X is the goals that you make for yourself. It
ten X is your capacity to reach those goals and more.
And it ten X is like the fulfillment you feel
(53:51):
on the journey, because the journey really is all we have.
The journey is so much longer than the destination, and
if we're not investing in the journey, we really miss
out on so much of our lives. And I think
our relationship has really shown us how important and how
elevating it can be for all women to have these
(54:13):
types of relationships. Agreed. So grateful to still be friends
with you, Jen and still be living that frugal friendship
even off the podcast. So I'll see you tonight for
our b y O pizza dinner. I'll see you tonight.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!