April 16, 2024 • 57 mins
We often forget that good stewardship of our resources is a foundational part of a frugal lifestyle. While it is simply unrealistic to have total zero waste in our everyday lives, frugal zero waste living teaches us beyond wasting less and also fostering intentional consumption and choices. In this re-run episode, Jen and Jill talk about the 5Rs of waste management and zero-waste living, aiding our self-sufficiency and problem-solving skills.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode three ninety eight is episode two ten Frugal Zero
Waste Living.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
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 1 (00:26):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and we are replaying one of
our favorite episodes today about Frugal zero Waste Living. I
loved this one.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This one set a bit of a trajectory for me.
I think and I believe that I talk about living
in an RV and how that helped me kind of
get more in touch with my consumption and waste, but
especially having this conversation solidified for me some of the
ways that I can be more intentional about my consumption
(01:01):
and then what I end up throwing out and how
I'm engaging with those things and just kind of principles
along the way. So I'm really glad we're revisiting it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, the five RS really like I use those first
two RS now, I think about them all the time.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, And we'll get into those what those five RS are.
But first, this episode is brought to you by Waste Not,
Want Not Wisdom from the good old seventeen hundreds, mostly
reminding you to not sleep on the friend ladder. All
the goodies and resources can be found within these emails
and gives you all you can imagine and more. Also,
(01:44):
don't waste that referral link at the bottom of your emails.
It's unique to you, and with every friend that you
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you get a tote and it just keeps increasing to
get things like a mug, a t shirt, a sweatshirt.
(02:06):
Waste not the friend letter or the referral link and
want for only more Frugal friends content Frugal friendspodcast dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Love it. I send those stickers and tote bags out myself,
and I try to do it once a month, but
typically will wait until somebody has emailed me and say hey,
I got a referral. You'll very quickly send everything out
and say I just sent it out. What are the chances?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Wow, you're showing your car? Yeah too much?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Uh well, you gotta be transparent, especially when you're talking
about zero waste living, because it is near impossible to
live zero waste. Right, So this is not about being perfect.
Nothing clearly about us is being about being perfect. So
we really appreciated this episode and really wanted to talk
about zero waste ish living. So if you are into
(03:11):
zero ish waste living, a couple other episodes you can
check out episode two ninety eight, No Cost Ways to
be More eco Friendly, episode three forty eight Declutter your
Home in thirty Days, and then a recent episode three
ninety two living a Low talks life frugally with Alex Stewart.
Those are some and yeah, we really do believe that
(03:35):
being a good steward of your natural resources is a
foundational part of frugality. So not only does wasting less
saving money, we just like think it's an inherently nice
thing to do.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
It can aid in self sufficiency, are problem solving skills,
learning how to Yeah, just engage in all of the
five hours. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So let's get into our first article, and this is
straight really straight out of the book that we've been
reading for book club in the membership, and if you
want to check out the membership, you can check it
out at Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash f fm.
Even after April, you'll be able to get access to
our zero waste challenge that we did. But so this
(04:26):
five rs is from the book we were reading called
Zero Waste Home, and we both we've both like, really
enjoyed that book.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
What have you thought, Jill, It's really excellent. I think,
like what you said, Jen, this has been probably the
most challenging challenge that we have done yet in that
I really had to shift a lot and be It
raised a lot of curiosity, a lot of problem solving,
a lot of shifting. Whereas a lot of our other
(04:58):
challenges are so full, beneficial, helpful, I love them, this
for me particularly raised some things that I'd never thought
about before, where you know, a no spend challenge is
like great, there's gonna be some challenging parts to it,
but it didn't cause me to actually think about the
way that I live so much as this challenge has.
(05:20):
That's just me personally. So I really liked it because
I think she answered a lot of questions, both in
this article as well as in her book for what
to do with, you know, the various wastes that we
might encounter, or how we consume and actually make this
a realistic lifestyle and the benefits of it, some of
(05:41):
the benefits that I didn't even think about previously. So yes,
I really enjoyed it. So you can tell I'm excited
to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yes. So the website is Unsustainablemagazine dot com and the
book is Zero Waste Home by beat Johnson. So Eve
heard of the three RS, but she takes a little
bit further with five RS. So let's get into the
first R, which is refuse, so say no to what
you don't need. And it's essentially she's saying, learn how
(06:14):
to say no and mean it. And I think, as
if you are a people pleaser or somebody who loves
free stuff, which should hit one hundred percent of our
listeners on either one of those, this is going to
be a really hard one, but it is. She says
it's her favorite R because you have to be intentional
(06:37):
with everything that comes into your home and intentional about
the environmental impact of your actions. So I think this
is one of those boundaries things where we have to
Frugality is almost a practice in creating boundaries between your family,
between your friends, and even the greater world at large.
(07:00):
And that's what I really like about this one. This
one was very challenging for me right off the bat.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, it's amazing. One of those things that she pointed
out that I never really thought about is how many
things people are trying to give us on a regular basis,
even in a daily She gave a really simple daily
life example of you wake up, you open your door
and there's a flyer for lawn service hanging on the door,
(07:27):
so you pull that off. Then you know, you go
to the grocery store and someone's handing you a receipt.
Then you go for food and people are handing you
straws and takeout stuff that ends up in the trash.
And then you come home and your mailbox is full
of junk mail, and there's just like, there's so much
coming into our life on a daily basis, and this
(07:51):
is the first step. And I like how she really
describes that it does go in order. So Jen and
I are volleying back and forth on what the five
hours are, but you do have to start here with
refusing and then moving into the rest of the four rs,
and then it's kind of like cyclical. But this refusing
is really where it starts, is the ability to say no,
(08:13):
And of course that can even include refusing things that
people are wanting to give you that We talk about
this a lot, refusing gifts, refusing extra things, which is uncomfortable,
but as we train ourselves we can get better at it.
One tip that Bea gives in her book is just
(08:36):
simple answers, not needing to give a long dialogue explanation
or feeling like you need to really defend yourself, but
just practicing the simple things. She one of her go
tos is I don't have a trash can. Yeah, like
I would be lying if I said that. She's not lying,
(08:57):
But you know that was just like a simple thing,
or you know, we are really simple in our household.
We don't have a place for this whatever it is,
but just a simple explanation. So there's so much more
to be said on that. But we're going to move
on to the second R, which is reduce, and this
is partially that learning to let go once we've refused,
(09:22):
We also then want to move into reducing how much
we have how much we take in is both in
that reduction process. This one's quite interesting to me because
this is a clearing out. Like to me, this is
a wasting but I think with this, are we're being
(09:46):
really specific about if there's things we don't want in
our home, we're not simply sending them to the landfill.
We're going to find another home for them. So this
is if you've got extra things in your pantry or
your closet or your toy bin that you're not utilizing,
we are giving it away. So I see this reduce
(10:09):
as part pairing with minimalism, where we kind of go
through this process what don't we need? But then I
think the idea with reduction is we then don't bring
in more. So it's almost like there's this big process
that we go through, but then after that we learn
what we actually need, what we actually utilize, so we're
(10:32):
not bringing in more. So it makes the refusal even
easier as we move forward.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, and I think this right here is like frugality
in a nutshell like this one are like, reduce your consumption,
reduce your spending, don't eliminate. We're we're not eliminating. We're
reducing down to what's best for us, what's best for
the environment, and finding the balance within that. And so
(11:03):
this is always been my true north when figuring out
what's frugal and what's not is like not what can
I get the best deal on? Do I get it
for free? Like stuff like that, But is it a
reduction of everything? All of the clutter and the noise
(11:24):
that the world continuously brings into my life? Does it
somehow reduce that? Like, and I know that's kind of
like bigger picture than just zero waste, but I just
have always been obsessed with like the three RS. And
so to find out that the book was kind of
based around five RS, I was like, Okay, I didn't
know this when I started reading, but yeah, so I
(11:48):
really believe that and we've said it before. You can't
buy your way to greed. And so the first one
is super challenging, like like refusing things that are free
I have a hard time with. And I'm definitely gonna
give this episode to Travis because he has an even
harder time with that. But this one I love and
embrace so wholeheartedly. But yeah, so like this one is
(12:12):
I have nothing more to say. This is great, but
it also says like the life you had before you
were refusing all the things you accumulated, those are things
you're gonna have to reduce. So like all of the
tiny little shampoo and body wash bottles that you get
from the hotels or the airbnbs. Those have to go,
(12:34):
and I have I have quite a few of them,
but use them first. That's see. That's where like the
zero waste like is kind of hard for me because
in the in the minimalism too, like I have a
junk drawer because I'm not just gonna get rid of
things that I will use, Like I know I will
use body wash and shampoo, I just haven't yet. So
(12:55):
that's why there's this like it's not either or it's
just finding the synergy of all of it.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Well, there is a tough tension because I think that
some zero wastes, if I can put a title to it,
some zero wasters will go the direction of just keeping
everything to keep it out of a landfill. That can
be a picture in our mind of people who go
zero waste. That one end of the spectrum is we
(13:24):
utilize everything. If it's a paper plate, we're not throwing
it away. We're going to somehow figure out how to
wash and dry that paper plate and keep using it.
And we're going to have containers everywhere cluttering everything. And
so I think what we're advocating for, and this articles
advocating for, is the pairing of zero waste with a
(13:47):
minimalist lifestyle. So you have less, you're bringing less into
the home, You're not just maintaining your lifestyle and yet
not throwing anything away because that's what moves towards and
that's not a lifestyle that we want to advocate for
just for mental and emotional and physical health. So there
(14:08):
is but there is a tension there because as you
begin this, there is going to be certainly a startup
cost and a waste startup, if that's a word like.
There is going to be a lot that you're getting
rid of in this process. But then the hope is
that that's not the lifestyle that you keep living of
(14:28):
bringing in a ton of stuff that just needs to
find its way to the landfill.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Mm hmm. Yeah. So let's move on from refuse and
reduce to reuse, and this is maybe the one that
I have the second hardest time with. I do love
reusable water bottles, reusable cloth napkins. There are some things
(14:54):
that I do use a lot of reusables, and then
there's just some that I I am not the person
that has the cabinets full of old glass jars from foods.
And that's kind of the minimalist in me, because I
have what I have, and I just I will recycle
the rest. But so I was challenged in that instead
(15:17):
of just getting single use plastic, to get more things
that come in glass, because glass is much easier to
recycle than plastics, because not all plastics are recyclable. I
keep learning that, like, and not one plastic that's recyclable
here isn't recyclable there, but the glass is. And so
(15:40):
that was one thing with the reuse that I have
been inspired to do. But there are a few other things.
So like she gives some examples, So paper tissues can
be replaced with handkerchiefs, you can get straight edge razors
instead of disposable razors, cotton cloths instead of dish bunges,
(16:01):
loose tea instead of tea bags. I actually did not
buy coffee filters for my coffee maker. I just reused
a reusable It already had a reusable filter in there.
I just kept a filter on it because I liked it,
didn't like the residue at the bottom. And then I
was like, Jen, you're a grown up. Get over it.
(16:23):
So there have been some things that I've been challenged
to like do more of, and I think that's great.
We do things in steps and stages, and we continually
take in knowledge and surround ourselves with people that challenge
us to just be a little bit better every year.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, I love this list. This list is an excellent
place to start. And there's so many things that I
see on here that I can shift in my own lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
What's one thing that you're gonna shift?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Okay that I will shift.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, I'm putting you on the spot. I know.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, I'm looking at it. So the paper and plastic bags.
I definitely bring my own bags to like all the
or Trader Joe's because they force you to do that.
But let's say I shop at Walmart or anywhere else.
I don't and I just didn't ever think about it,
like I think, oh, well they have bags, but here's
a store that they don't have bags. So done. Now,
(17:24):
anytime I go into any store, I have my reusable
bags in my car, like they're already there. For those
other grocery stores, I'm going to start utilizing that. Now
here's my one barrier. Because we're going on A side
tangent now apparently, is that I will use those bags,
the plastic ones from Walmart or home Depot for trash
(17:45):
bags in my bathroom. But then that's what brings up
that whole other issue of what if I stop making
as much trash? But I think it's not really I'm
going to make trash. I know that I'm not going
to be the person who ends up with their annual
trash and a mason jar. But then I would have
to figure out an alternative trash bag for my bathroom.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Well, I think also there's always going to be people
trying to get rid of their plastic bags. So if
you are ever in a pinch where you need plastic
bags like grocery bags for your bathroom, you can just
go on the buy Nothing group and say, I'll take
these off your hands. Or you go to the grocery
store and they have recycling bins for those bags, yeah,
because they're not recyclable and regular recycling bins, and you
(18:33):
just stick your hand in there and pull some out
and I'm at.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Least using it, giving the life of the thing a
little bit longer, more uses, which I think is also
a part of that reuse sometimes it does end up
getting thrown out, but how much more life can we
get out of any kind of product also helps.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, and you, Jill, you're the one that like taught
me about like always think of the third option. There's
always a third option. There's the yes and the no,
and those are usually very obvious, but if you sit
down and just think about it a little bit longer,
there's always a third option. And sometimes there's you know,
(19:17):
four or eight options, but you just have to think
about it a little long. And that's the same with
what we say about frugality. It's not inconvenient. It's just
not the most convenient. You just think about sit down,
think about it for a few minutes or a few days,
and see find what the third option is.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I think that is what's so challenging about this, But
I like it. I enjoy the creativity, the problem solving,
the curiosity that this challenge has created of Okay, I
could do this, then what's the ripple effect of that?
How can I solve for that? What might else need
to change? And shift? Where could I make more shifts?
(19:57):
And it just it's been this like really rich challenge.
All right, let's get to the fourth R. The fourth
R is recycle, and we only get to the fourth
R once we've made it through the other three. So
recycling is for the things that we can't refuse, reduce,
(20:21):
or reuse. And I love how Bea highlights this. She
shares how often people are aware of her zero waste
lifestyle and they're like, oh, yeah, me too, I recycle everything,
and she's like, that's totally not it. I mean like
she's excited for them with like where they're at in
(20:42):
their process and journey. But we don't want to stop there.
It's not just oh great, we recycle. Because there's so
much to be said about the recycling industry and how
much has not been solved for how unaware we are
as a society of how to recycle. Well, there's a
lack of businesses, corporations, companies who are utilizing recycled material.
(21:06):
There's a lack of consumers buying recycled material, like once
it has been recycled into something new, we have a
problem with not actually purchasing those recycled items. We're still
buying the single use items. So it's not as if
we can just put our recycling out by the road
and be like pat ourselves on the back, done deal,
(21:27):
I did my due diligence. No, there's so much more
that goes into it, which is really disheartening for me
because I was in that camp of yeah, I recycle.
I'm like, I'm doing such a good thing, and then
there's this whole myth around recycling. So we only do
this once we've exhausted the first three rs and then
(21:49):
we need to do our due diligence and doing it
well what can be recycled, make sure our recyclables are
cleaned out, making sure that we're not recycling a ton
of stuff, because again, we don't have a system that
can actually support the way that we're doing recycling right now.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yeah, and if you are not recycling and this is
where you need to start, that's fine, that's absolutely fine.
You know, whatever you have in your refrigerator right now
that you can recycle when you're done using it, start
with that and then start to refuse and reduce and reuse.
(22:27):
Whatever you can start with today is good enough. But yeah,
there are so many people that just sit on that
and be like, oh, I did the one thing I did.
I did eco sustainability, And it's really recycling is much
more confusing. It's it actually makes me angry every time
I go to recycle something because I'm like, I either
(22:48):
have to do a lot to get it to be
recyclable or I just don't and I just put it
in and I'm like, I don't really know, and then
I end up I don't want to contaminate the recycling,
so I throw it away.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Like unserfrustrating is a common experience for me when I recycle,
Like anytime I go to my recycling bin, I it
is paired with a feeling of uncertainty, and that's not
the greatest.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Right, which is why I think reducing is again the key,
Like reduce what you buy and you reduce what you recycle,
and if you can rethink, like when I'm now purchasing
instead of my next move is like so I switched
(23:38):
to like mayonnaise only in glass jars, and so now
I'm just gonna move my condiments, like when I rebuy,
I'm going to try to do everything in glass, because
I know glass like clear glass definitely recycable, and just
things that I don't have to be so confused about.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Like the paper around the glass might not be I
think true recycling as you have to pull it off,
you've got to clean it really well, get the glue
as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, yeah, which I can do that enough. But yeah,
so recycling is not what we want to rest on.
It's definitely the reducing and reusing as much as possible.
And that takes us to our last r which I
actually I like and Jill very much likes. But it's
(24:29):
rot and that is compost rot it. Yeah, so Jill
actually likes it because she does use the compost. It
just makes me feel better about not wasting. I don't
do anything with the compost, but it is a way
to use your food scraps. And I actually learned you
(24:51):
can use a lot more in compost depending on the
type of compost you have. You use a lot more,
put a lot more in there than I thought you could.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yes, dryer lint forgiving, Yeah, dryer limb hard Yeah I had.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
She's even putting like food, like like animal waste. I
guess she has like a special compost. I don't know
if it's special, but yeah, she is not a vegan
by any means, Like, so she puts her animal waste,
not her animal like pet waste, right, she said, even
there is like the time you could Yeah, so it's vast.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Yeah, yeah, I've got to learn more about that. For me,
I've got to but I because I know that if
you put animal waste into like food scraps into your compost,
that's when you can get pests. So there definitely is
a way to go about that in a in a
way where you wouldn't have rats around your garden that's
(25:53):
not mine.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And if you are not a gardener, if you have
a black thumb, then you can create composts and maybe
trade it with other people who do have it for
their fresh veggies that they have, like when stuff whatever's
in season that they're trying to get rid of. So
that's an option. If you do not want to grow
your own food, that can be a way to kind
(26:17):
of use the compost and still get some of the
benefits of people who do know how to garden and
grow things.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, that's a great list. We encourage you to try it.
But we also want to move into talking about how
we compare frugal tips with zero waste.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So we are talking about frugal zero waste. So this
next article we're getting into is seven easy frugal tips
that are also sustainable. So this is from Rainbow Vegans
Rock dot com. I much, I very much like it
(27:00):
that you are.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Out Rainbow Vegans Rock. Here we go. So the first
tip on here is to buy second hand. And you
all know this this list if you can listen to
frugal friends for a long time. Nothing on this list
is going to be new to you. But we're looking
at it from the perspective of sustainability and zero waste,
(27:22):
or at least reducing waste. I mean even bea in
her book describes that zero waste is nearly impossible in
the culture that we live in, but we're aiming at it.
It's something to aim at. And so when we buy
second hand, this continues to keep things out of the landfill.
It allows us to reuse and almost kind of recycle
(27:44):
or upcycle things. Of course, we still want to be
aiming at reduction in this process. We don't want to
go buy second hand just because it's a deal and
bringing more things into our house that we may not
need and might find its way to the trash can quicker.
But when we do need something, this is the first
(28:06):
place we should be going to whether it's an actual
physical thrift store, or it's Craigslist or Facebook, marketplace or eBay,
these are the spots that we should be going to
to find the items that we need again, to take
from somebody else who's not going to be using it anymore,
(28:27):
to put that thing to use, to keep them from
throwing it away. And this is also a solution for us,
not just in buying secondhand, but when we don't need
something anymore. These are the places we should be going
to to be donating or selling.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, we went thrifting this weekend, Jill, We did. We
got some.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I was looking for things for our frugal friends party.
Didn't find what I needed, but I did find Actually
I found this shirt. I needed more. I found this
shirt I needed another. Look at us. We're so excited
to wear our new shirts. Yeah, I realize I don't
have any like professional short sleeve shirts. I always it's
(29:08):
either like a dress that I wear or a lightweight
long sleeve or sleeveless. But I only have one other
short sleeve shirt, so I got a second one. So
now I have two professional short sleeve shirts. So you're
either gonna see this or my black one.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Love that yeah, and so I don't particularly love thrifting,
Like we went to one thrift store and afterwards I
was like exhausted. So typically I do most of my
thrifting online. We use thread up. We have a promo
code for ten dollars off thread up at Frugal friendspodcast
dot com, slash thread up No. A. And then Poshmark eBay.
(29:49):
I love eBay. Their prices are usually cheaper than Poshmark
and it's the same exact things they post them at
both places. And then this one also says depop or
Facebook marketplace, so there are plenty of places to get
secondhand that are not a thrift store too. The second
one on this list is bulk buying. And so when
(30:13):
Jill and I were originally talking about this, she thought
I meant like Sam's Club Costco bulk buying, and then
I was like, I want glass containers for bulk buying,
and she didn't know what I was talking about. But
this is like at your health food store where you're
filling up your own container of shelf stable products. And
(30:37):
so that's something that I'm going to try and move
towards and trying to bring instead of using the plastic
bags they give trying to bring my own glass containers
that are uniform in size. I'm just not here for
bringing seven different types of jars and getting them all
(30:57):
teared and then going to fill them up. I'm here
for simplicity, So I might just start with one, maybe
brown rice. I think I'm due for a brown rice refill.
So but yeah, I am very interested to try this
and see the price difference. We'll see, yes.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
There, As with some other things like minimalism, eco friendly, sustainability,
zero waste, there is a version of this that could
go not super frugal. We can, in anything, spend a
ton of money, although if it's within our values and
(31:43):
something we really want to aim at, then it can
be frugal living. But again that intentionality with our finances,
with our lifestyle. So I think we all have to
find is what's going to work for us, Because going
to seven different stores, spending all of the time and
(32:04):
energy to make your own laundry detergent, butter mend clothes,
like to do all of the things as if we
were living in fifteen twenty two might not work for everybody.
So there is definitely a lot of room in here
to figure out what how does this pair with your
(32:25):
version of frugality and, like you said, Jen, just being
doing a little bit better each day towards the goals
that we have stated. I will say this article does
highlight bulk buying in your lart what is it the
big box stores like your Costco or your Sham's Club.
Now we've all still better, We've all yes. I guess
(32:47):
it reduces waste in the sense that you're not throwing
out five tiny bottles, You're throwing out one slightly larger bottle,
and you're probably reducing the waste.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I would guess by twenty to thirty percent. That's I'm
just throwing that out there. I'm not great at numbers,
but that'd be my guess. But then you've also got
the alternative where sometimes that isn't minimal, and we may
not it might not be financially sustainable for us to
be spending a ton of money on these like larger
(33:24):
bulk items. So that's one of those that can kind
of go either way, and we'd have to determine what
will we buy bulk, how will we buy bulk? Is
it worth it to us to be going to all
these different stores to do this. So, yeah, there's the
bulk buying is one that I'm I'm curious about. I'm
a little bit on the fence.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
With because yeah, it does reduce the cost per ounce,
but you have to be selective. So instead of getting
everything bulk, you choose maybe three things. We choose three
things that we buy in bulk. We go to one store,
we go to the store that has all of them,
or we choose the store that's closest to them, and
whatever store, whatever they have, that's what dictates our bulk.
(34:07):
Because driving around all over also has an environmental impact
and it has a time impact, and we're not about
that either. So sometimes you do have to let your
location and what's available to you dictate what you keep
in bulk, and don't get you don't need to get
everything in bulk. So like, I'm just gonna start with
(34:29):
brown rice because I use brown rice every week and
I love that. Bea said that she keeps a jar
on a rotation of like unique like grains or whatever
she wants to try, so she doesn't have like twenty
containers with all these different bulk things, which can be expensive.
(34:49):
She has her set and then she has one jar
or one container that if there's something interesting that she
wants to try, she'll fill it up, and she has
to use all of that before she can get something
else that she wants to try. So I actually love
that too.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yes, agreed? All right. This next one, which I am
all for where we compare frugality with zero waste, is
mending our things. So if something is broken or torn
or ripped, we look at mending and fixing. Mending to
me kind of seems very fabric clothing specific. I would
(35:30):
take it a step further and just say fixing things
if something gets broken, rather than throwing it away, tossing
it to the side, putting it in a junk drawer,
how can we make this thing useful again, work again,
serve its purpose again, and picking up a new skill
set in this regard, I don't think we have to
all become seamstresses. But if there's a hole in our clothing,
(35:55):
is there, could we mend it before we go out
and buy new and just throw it away? So I'm
I'm all about sewing on buttons, patching up our clothes,
fixing the things that are broken, which is going to
also mean that we buy quality things that's worth fixing,
that's going to last us a long time. That's a
(36:16):
whole other part of this. When we do buy that
it's quality, and then we make sure we're going to
use can be fixed.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yeah, and and some things are created to not be
able to be fixed. They're just created cheaply. So that
is something we also have to be intentional about buying.
Like the author, sorry, the author of this article, did
you hear my story about my nutribullet? Is that what
you were bringing up.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Everyone has a story about a nutribullet not by and
throwing it out and getting a new on. I went
through two or three. I've got other friends who, well, nutrible.
It will never sponsor us because I think that they
make crap products, at least the one the bullets. Only
the rubber like melts away and it smells and there's
(37:06):
no like, how are you gonna fix the rubber that
melts away? I can't.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I tried. Wow, Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Listen,
if you work for nutribullet, okay, just let them know.
But this author of this article talks about trying to
return a dehumidifier that didn't work and to the manufacturer instead,
and her husband was like, did you, like, are you
(37:32):
returning that to be fixed? And she didn't even realize
that that's what she would be doing. She just thought
she was going to get a new dehumidifier. And she's like, well,
I could try. I could just try to repair it myself.
And I don't necessarily try and recommend trying to repair
something that might be like defunct or just a lemon,
but definitely anything that maybe could use it do a repair,
(37:58):
just try and YouTube it. I had a listener who
just she was listening to us and then she said
that her oven went out or something, and she's like,
you know what, I'm just gonna try. I'm just gonna
watch YouTube. Or maybe it was her husband or something,
I don't remember, but they watched YouTube and it ended
up being like a fifteen thirty dollars fix. Wow, Like yeah,
(38:20):
to fix, and it's not something like if you realize
that it's you're in over your head. Once you watch
the YouTube video, go get it fixed. But if you
don't try, you'll never know if it's the easy fix
or the hard fix.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
I will say we've also gotten really great deals on
things that we've been willing to fix that other people
are getting rid of. So, for instance, we've been wanting
this really high end in wall microwave oven combination for
the kitchen that we're renovating at our house. It's very expensive.
It's like four to five thousand dollars new, and we're like,
(38:55):
we're never doing that. Well, one popped up on Facebook
Marketplace broken for a fraction of that cost, and we
snagged it and Eric is fixing it and we're gonna
have like we're going to keep that out of the
landfill because the manufacturer eventually told this person like, we're
just replacing it, so do what you want with it,
like meaning just like go ahead and throw it out,
(39:17):
this massive appliance. And so them, good on them that
they decided not to just throw it away and find
a new home for it. And then if you do
have some of those problem solving ability to fix things,
now we'll be able to give it a new life.
We got a great deal and it's going to make
(39:37):
our kitchen look amazing. So win win, win, win, win
win win win. When you mendn't fix.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Yeah, and or if you're not handy like that, you
have a friend that is, you can see if they
will like do it for money. Some people like to
just toy around with those things or be helpful and
be like, hey, like I have this, if I got
this for free or whatever, would you fix it? I'll
pay you, And that could be a thing too. Oh,
(40:04):
so many options. There's always a third option.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
The next one is probably one of our favorites, if
not our ultimate favorite. It is mindful purchases. And that's
kind of what we're all about. Intentional spending, conscious consumerism,
mindful purchase, whatever you want to call it, but realizing
(40:30):
what your values are, and then making sure you all
of your spending, not just your discretionary but like your
mandatory quote unquote spending as well, is aligned with those values.
I think the hardest part in that equation isn't making
the mindful purchases. It's actually figuring out what your core
(40:52):
values are. Because our core values are so often influenced
by media, friends, family, coworkers, jobs, whatever, it's very hard
to figure out what do I actually want to have
in my life, what do I want to live in,
what do I want to acqu have not have. It's
(41:15):
hard to figure that out and that's what you need
to do in order to be able to make mindful purchases.
And that on the flip side with also being aware
of the impact behind the things you are consuming, so
the journey that it took to get wherever you are.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
So this is some I mean, mindful purchases is not
just a tip on some article. It is the foundation
of frugality. I think that is when someone asks us
to define frugality, it is some version of mindful spending
(41:55):
then being intentional with your resources. That's it. So done.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, if my mic was not on a stand, i'd
drop it right now.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Yeah, well you could. You could throw it on the
ground if you want, just to prove your point.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
No, I love I love my mic. Just leave it here.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
So the article also mentions as a tip in this
space free activities. It might seem at first like it
doesn't fit, but as we engage in free activities, generally
we're not engaging in purchasing things, collecting things, gathering things,
(42:37):
and so there can be a pairing of engaging in
fun free things that mean zero waste. So when we
enjoy time on the weekend with friends with family in
things that are free, and we also are able to
implement the refuse reduce reuse mentality. Then this is a
(43:02):
helpful kind of frugal zero waste pairing.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
And the last one on this list re using containers.
So definitely if you want to do this, get your
glass jars or look at your thrift stores. I am
still in the market for some more glass containers that
look esthetically pleasing. I have open shelving and I care
about that stuff, but there are some pretty good looking
(43:30):
glass containers that food comes in, so be on the
lookout for that. And if you have any suggestions, dm
us on Instagram and let us know what we should
be what food we should be consuming to get those
cool glass.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Jars that or yeah, finding them secondhand. Definitely will not
be buying them used. And I like the tips that
they give for how we can reuse some containers. One
of my go tos for glass jars is to keep
hold on to some them. Again, this is where it
bumps up against my minimalism. I don't want to have
(44:04):
an entire cabinet dedicated to glass jar empty glass jars.
But if I give flowers as a gift to somebody,
or sometimes I'll make like an antipasta or an appetizer
of some sort, and that's an easy way to give
it to people and not require them to be giving
back the container. So I'll kind of keep some things
(44:26):
around so that I can gift things to people and
not have to purchase containers for it or be putting
the pressure on them to get my container back to me.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
Absolutely, but you know what, there's never any pressure to
give back to the people.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
And always it always does give, never, never, hardly resist.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
This is zero waste for sure. The bill of the week.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (45:01):
It's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams.
Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died
and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
That's bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clion, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
Hi Jen and Jill. My name is Amy. I live
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and my bill of the week
is my dad, William but known to everyone else as Bill.
My dad was a minimalistic, frugal, simple living, non materialistic
person before it was cool. He's content with living a
(45:43):
simple life, and so when my brothers and I try
to pick his brain for potential Birthday or Christmas gifts.
His response is usually I could use a new fish
filter for his aquarium and they cost like ten dollars.
So I just want to say cheers to my dad
who keeps things simple but frust rights those of us
who want to buy him presence because he does not
(46:03):
care for material things. Thanks ladies, keep up the good work,
love the show, Oh.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Amy, Marie, I am I am in love with your dad, Bill.
He sounds like the best.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
Bill sounds so great. Bill, Thank you for paving the
way for your family and this minimalism, contentment, simple living
that doesn't require much. But you also just sound like
an amazing person with rich relationship with those around you,
(46:40):
which I think is what this can lead to. Like
it can be a byproduct, this minimalism, simple living can
lead to contentment, which leads to yeah, it can better
relationships with people and just time enjoyed together. And how
amazing Amy to hear how much you enjoy and admire
your dad in this. Well done and thanks Bill, what
(47:03):
a great Bill.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
If you want to submit your Bill of the week,
visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to leave
us your dad bill, your duck bill, your man bill,
any bill.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
And now it's time for.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
This is the part of the show where our podcast
manager Goldie asks us a question to get us vulnerable.
I no longer make up the questions because Jill feels
attacked when I, like, you know too much typically for Yeah,
(47:48):
So now Goldie does it, and now it's fun because
I don't see the question until right before it comes.
So this week's question, what are your compromise items like
not zero waste but still eco friendly? Go for it, June, Jill.
Speaker 3 (48:04):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, you kind of took mine, so can you go
first so that I can think of another one.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
I don't know if this is ego friendly, but toilet paper,
I can't give that up. That's my that's my no
compromise item. I don't know that there's ever going to
be a time when I say no to toilet paper. However, well,
hold on, as I'm thinking out loud and that problem solving,
creative juices are flowing.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
What's the third way, Jill?
Speaker 3 (48:37):
The third way is a bedet. Oh it rhymes two.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
The way is the bedet. That's a lot. That's a
big transition people who have all those Oh, I'm sure
they do have a bidet.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
Love their third way.
Speaker 1 (49:02):
I am squirming thinking about it. I ooh, what is
my compromise? Yeah, no, I'll never give up toilet paper. Okay,
so here, okay, So this isn't zero waste, I guess.
But I actually I like I have to have a
certain hair care product, like shampoo and conditioner. I have
(49:26):
heard all of the ideas, and the shampoo bars and
the all of the apple cider. I've heard all of
the ideas. But if you had my hair, which is
very curly and very thin, you would know that I
am fighting a battle and I can't. I can't go
(49:50):
zero waste.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
If I had your hair, I'd be happier. I mean,
but you know what the gift to me is that
I get to look at it.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah, and my son has the same hair, and everyone's
always trying to touch it and complimenting it. And I
feel complimented by proxy because nobody does that to me.
Such a cumute all. But yeah, but so I think
the I do always recycle the plastic containers that they
(50:23):
come in, and I think next time I will see
if I can buy a larger size than what I
currently have. I think those are my alternate and Okay,
so also I only shampoo my hair once a week.
All the other times I will condition it, and I
only condition it maybe like two or three times a week.
(50:44):
All the other times I just like wet it because
I do work out most mornings, and sometimes I'll just
either not wash it or just wet it. So that's
a zero waste thing that I do. But I gotta
have I gotta have the right hair care.
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Oh and rest assured. This is not the only area
where our lives need improvement. There's so many other shifts
and changes we can be making. But I think, like
we said at the beginning, we'll say at the end,
it is about making small adjustments as we go and
as we can see the low hanging fruit of what
(51:20):
needs to shift. Like I got stressed yesterday about the
junk mail that's coming. It's like, well, this shouldn't be
my first step. If I'm also still using paper towels,
I shouldn't be hunting down and spending a ton of
time making sure the local Catholic church doesn't send me
like flyers all the time. It should be what am
I doing in my own personal life currently. That could
(51:44):
be a drastic shift, more drastic than the flyers that
come to my door.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
Absolutely. Yeah. I think refuse is the hardest thing for us,
especially Travis. Travis still refuses to refuse. It's been two
years that we've been talking about this, and he refuses
to refuse, and so he's maybe taking it still too
(52:13):
close to heart and so. But I have gotten a
lot better at not allowing some things to come into
my home and then just kind of like reusing as
much as possible.
Speaker 3 (52:31):
Yeah, on any given day, my refusal might be stronger
than another day. Somebody just gave me free koozies, you know,
to wrap around a drink, and I should have said
no to them, but I just dincepted and my will
power was low.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Yeah. I never used koozies. Yeah, I don't drink.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
I do at the beach, just for any kind of drink, Like, Yeah,
they're just helpful.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Yeah at the beach. I don't go to the beach.
Speaker 3 (52:57):
We do use them, we just don't we just to
need two more.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
Yeah. Yeah, I was holding on to like six from
Jess and Joseph's wedding, Yes, because I had two in
each color, and I finally whittled it down to one,
one in my favorite color.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
Just for you. No one else gets a kuzzi in
the house, just just me. Well, and I am continuing
to use regular toilet paper. We're not on the reusing.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
No in that neither. Please no, oh my gosh, thank
you so much for listening. If this is your second
time through listening to this episode, thanks for listening again.
But we know most of you will will not have
heard this, so that's why we do these kind of
best of replays. And uh we're just appreciative that you're here.
(53:49):
And uh yeah, we love reading your kind reviews when
you like an episode, especially this one from uh BREBN
one oh one back Bye on Track.
Speaker 3 (54:03):
I know, I keep trying to read it different ways.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
I initially read it. I initially read it Baby Got Back.
I did find it too.
Speaker 3 (54:14):
But thanks BREBND for your Baby Got Back five star re.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
The real review. Thank you ladies for giving me the
strength to get back on track this year. Well BREBN
one oh one, Baby got Back on Track. We're so
glad to play a small part in your journey. So
thank you, and to anybody listening, please leave a review
(54:39):
with the title baby Got Back.
Speaker 3 (54:42):
We'll take We'll take any five star review real And
we still have that goal to reach one thousand reviews
and then more. Don't stop if you see we have
a thousand reviews, don't stop, keep going, uh, but also
sign up for the friend letter. We love giving you
all of our tips and tricks for saving spending better
buying affordable quality so that you don't have to be
(55:05):
wasting so much. Yes, that's kind of a new series
we're doing on like clothing, sheets, pots and pans, what
are the best affordable quality?
Speaker 1 (55:14):
And we just recently did one on vacuums and that
one was in UH in February, and that one was
very great, so fire yeah, Baby it was back.
Speaker 3 (55:23):
Was that Baby got back?
Speaker 1 (55:25):
Baby got vack? Thanks for listening, Love you see you
next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3 (55:48):
Sometimes you do make me laugh like legit, and I
can't help the fact that, yeah, we're still recording, but
I'm laughing.
Speaker 1 (55:58):
We we came in this morning. I'm just gonna give
you all more transparency. We came in this morning and
neither of us were having a good day. We were
we hadn't had a good three previous days or year
that's are Yeah, I mean life's been rough. I mean
(56:19):
it's been rough.
Speaker 3 (56:20):
But den it gets only gonna get worse.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Wow, this is where we're at. It's sometimes you're in
these seasons and they are not great. Yeah, they are
not great.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
But you know what we're trying on just for size,
just to see if we can like mindset trick ourselves,
because it is kind of what we preach. We don't
preach tricker, right, but just saying, you know what, it's
a great day, because we'll probably look back on this
day at some other day in the future that is
really really rough, potentially more rough than this, and think
(56:58):
that was a great day.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
We had it bad.
Speaker 3 (57:00):
Then look at us now.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
Yeah, we're we're not negating how sucky this season is
right now, but like knowing that there's there are harder
days ahead eventually at some point.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
Hopefully beat our days ahead to yea.
Speaker 1 (57:18):
God help us hopefully. And you know, we just got
to hold the tension between both kinds of days and
then we can sit here and laugh with each other
and call it a great day, and call it a
great day
Episode three ninety eight is episode two ten Frugal Zero
Waste Living.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
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 1 (00:26):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and we are replaying one of
our favorite episodes today about Frugal zero Waste Living. I
loved this one.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This one set a bit of a trajectory for me.
I think and I believe that I talk about living
in an RV and how that helped me kind of
get more in touch with my consumption and waste, but
especially having this conversation solidified for me some of the
ways that I can be more intentional about my consumption
(01:01):
and then what I end up throwing out and how
I'm engaging with those things and just kind of principles
along the way. So I'm really glad we're revisiting it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, the five RS really like I use those first
two RS now, I think about them all the time.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, And we'll get into those what those five RS are.
But first, this episode is brought to you by Waste Not,
Want Not Wisdom from the good old seventeen hundreds, mostly
reminding you to not sleep on the friend ladder. All
the goodies and resources can be found within these emails
and gives you all you can imagine and more. Also,
(01:44):
don't waste that referral link at the bottom of your emails.
It's unique to you, and with every friend that you
send it to who signs up using your link, you
get free stuff. One referral means you get stickers, just one,
you get a tote and it just keeps increasing to
get things like a mug, a t shirt, a sweatshirt.
(02:06):
Waste not the friend letter or the referral link and
want for only more Frugal friends content Frugal friendspodcast dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Love it. I send those stickers and tote bags out myself,
and I try to do it once a month, but
typically will wait until somebody has emailed me and say hey,
I got a referral. You'll very quickly send everything out
and say I just sent it out. What are the chances?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Wow, you're showing your car? Yeah too much?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Uh well, you gotta be transparent, especially when you're talking
about zero waste living, because it is near impossible to
live zero waste. Right, So this is not about being perfect.
Nothing clearly about us is being about being perfect. So
we really appreciated this episode and really wanted to talk
about zero waste ish living. So if you are into
(03:11):
zero ish waste living, a couple other episodes you can
check out episode two ninety eight, No Cost Ways to
be More eco Friendly, episode three forty eight Declutter your
Home in thirty Days, and then a recent episode three
ninety two living a Low talks life frugally with Alex Stewart.
Those are some and yeah, we really do believe that
(03:35):
being a good steward of your natural resources is a
foundational part of frugality. So not only does wasting less
saving money, we just like think it's an inherently nice
thing to do.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
It can aid in self sufficiency, are problem solving skills,
learning how to Yeah, just engage in all of the
five hours. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So let's get into our first article, and this is
straight really straight out of the book that we've been
reading for book club in the membership, and if you
want to check out the membership, you can check it
out at Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash f fm.
Even after April, you'll be able to get access to
our zero waste challenge that we did. But so this
(04:26):
five rs is from the book we were reading called
Zero Waste Home, and we both we've both like, really
enjoyed that book.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
What have you thought, Jill, It's really excellent. I think,
like what you said, Jen, this has been probably the
most challenging challenge that we have done yet in that
I really had to shift a lot and be It
raised a lot of curiosity, a lot of problem solving,
a lot of shifting. Whereas a lot of our other
(04:58):
challenges are so full, beneficial, helpful, I love them, this
for me particularly raised some things that I'd never thought
about before, where you know, a no spend challenge is
like great, there's gonna be some challenging parts to it,
but it didn't cause me to actually think about the
way that I live so much as this challenge has.
(05:20):
That's just me personally. So I really liked it because
I think she answered a lot of questions, both in
this article as well as in her book for what
to do with, you know, the various wastes that we
might encounter, or how we consume and actually make this
a realistic lifestyle and the benefits of it, some of
(05:41):
the benefits that I didn't even think about previously. So yes,
I really enjoyed it. So you can tell I'm excited
to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yes. So the website is Unsustainablemagazine dot com and the
book is Zero Waste Home by beat Johnson. So Eve
heard of the three RS, but she takes a little
bit further with five RS. So let's get into the
first R, which is refuse, so say no to what
you don't need. And it's essentially she's saying, learn how
(06:14):
to say no and mean it. And I think, as
if you are a people pleaser or somebody who loves
free stuff, which should hit one hundred percent of our
listeners on either one of those, this is going to
be a really hard one, but it is. She says
it's her favorite R because you have to be intentional
(06:37):
with everything that comes into your home and intentional about
the environmental impact of your actions. So I think this
is one of those boundaries things where we have to
Frugality is almost a practice in creating boundaries between your family,
between your friends, and even the greater world at large.
(07:00):
And that's what I really like about this one. This
one was very challenging for me right off the bat.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, it's amazing. One of those things that she pointed
out that I never really thought about is how many
things people are trying to give us on a regular basis,
even in a daily She gave a really simple daily
life example of you wake up, you open your door
and there's a flyer for lawn service hanging on the door,
(07:27):
so you pull that off. Then you know, you go
to the grocery store and someone's handing you a receipt.
Then you go for food and people are handing you
straws and takeout stuff that ends up in the trash.
And then you come home and your mailbox is full
of junk mail, and there's just like, there's so much
coming into our life on a daily basis, and this
(07:51):
is the first step. And I like how she really
describes that it does go in order. So Jen and
I are volleying back and forth on what the five
hours are, but you do have to start here with
refusing and then moving into the rest of the four rs,
and then it's kind of like cyclical. But this refusing
is really where it starts, is the ability to say no,
(08:13):
And of course that can even include refusing things that
people are wanting to give you that We talk about
this a lot, refusing gifts, refusing extra things, which is uncomfortable,
but as we train ourselves we can get better at it.
One tip that Bea gives in her book is just
(08:36):
simple answers, not needing to give a long dialogue explanation
or feeling like you need to really defend yourself, but
just practicing the simple things. She one of her go
tos is I don't have a trash can. Yeah, like
I would be lying if I said that. She's not lying,
(08:57):
But you know that was just like a simple thing,
or you know, we are really simple in our household.
We don't have a place for this whatever it is,
but just a simple explanation. So there's so much more
to be said on that. But we're going to move
on to the second R, which is reduce, and this
is partially that learning to let go once we've refused,
(09:22):
We also then want to move into reducing how much
we have how much we take in is both in
that reduction process. This one's quite interesting to me because
this is a clearing out. Like to me, this is
a wasting but I think with this, are we're being
(09:46):
really specific about if there's things we don't want in
our home, we're not simply sending them to the landfill.
We're going to find another home for them. So this
is if you've got extra things in your pantry or
your closet or your toy bin that you're not utilizing,
we are giving it away. So I see this reduce
(10:09):
as part pairing with minimalism, where we kind of go
through this process what don't we need? But then I
think the idea with reduction is we then don't bring
in more. So it's almost like there's this big process
that we go through, but then after that we learn
what we actually need, what we actually utilize, so we're
(10:32):
not bringing in more. So it makes the refusal even
easier as we move forward.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, and I think this right here is like frugality
in a nutshell like this one are like, reduce your consumption,
reduce your spending, don't eliminate. We're we're not eliminating. We're
reducing down to what's best for us, what's best for
the environment, and finding the balance within that. And so
(11:03):
this is always been my true north when figuring out
what's frugal and what's not is like not what can
I get the best deal on? Do I get it
for free? Like stuff like that, But is it a
reduction of everything? All of the clutter and the noise
(11:24):
that the world continuously brings into my life? Does it
somehow reduce that? Like, and I know that's kind of
like bigger picture than just zero waste, but I just
have always been obsessed with like the three RS. And
so to find out that the book was kind of
based around five RS, I was like, Okay, I didn't
know this when I started reading, but yeah, so I
(11:48):
really believe that and we've said it before. You can't
buy your way to greed. And so the first one
is super challenging, like like refusing things that are free
I have a hard time with. And I'm definitely gonna
give this episode to Travis because he has an even
harder time with that. But this one I love and
embrace so wholeheartedly. But yeah, so like this one is
(12:12):
I have nothing more to say. This is great, but
it also says like the life you had before you
were refusing all the things you accumulated, those are things
you're gonna have to reduce. So like all of the
tiny little shampoo and body wash bottles that you get
from the hotels or the airbnbs. Those have to go,
(12:34):
and I have I have quite a few of them,
but use them first. That's see. That's where like the
zero waste like is kind of hard for me because
in the in the minimalism too, like I have a
junk drawer because I'm not just gonna get rid of
things that I will use, Like I know I will
use body wash and shampoo, I just haven't yet. So
(12:55):
that's why there's this like it's not either or it's
just finding the synergy of all of it.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Well, there is a tough tension because I think that
some zero wastes, if I can put a title to it,
some zero wasters will go the direction of just keeping
everything to keep it out of a landfill. That can
be a picture in our mind of people who go
zero waste. That one end of the spectrum is we
(13:24):
utilize everything. If it's a paper plate, we're not throwing
it away. We're going to somehow figure out how to
wash and dry that paper plate and keep using it.
And we're going to have containers everywhere cluttering everything. And
so I think what we're advocating for, and this articles
advocating for, is the pairing of zero waste with a
(13:47):
minimalist lifestyle. So you have less, you're bringing less into
the home, You're not just maintaining your lifestyle and yet
not throwing anything away because that's what moves towards and
that's not a lifestyle that we want to advocate for
just for mental and emotional and physical health. So there
(14:08):
is but there is a tension there because as you
begin this, there is going to be certainly a startup
cost and a waste startup, if that's a word like.
There is going to be a lot that you're getting
rid of in this process. But then the hope is
that that's not the lifestyle that you keep living of
(14:28):
bringing in a ton of stuff that just needs to
find its way to the landfill.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Mm hmm. Yeah. So let's move on from refuse and
reduce to reuse, and this is maybe the one that
I have the second hardest time with. I do love
reusable water bottles, reusable cloth napkins. There are some things
(14:54):
that I do use a lot of reusables, and then
there's just some that I I am not the person
that has the cabinets full of old glass jars from foods.
And that's kind of the minimalist in me, because I
have what I have, and I just I will recycle
the rest. But so I was challenged in that instead
(15:17):
of just getting single use plastic, to get more things
that come in glass, because glass is much easier to
recycle than plastics, because not all plastics are recyclable. I
keep learning that, like, and not one plastic that's recyclable
here isn't recyclable there, but the glass is. And so
(15:40):
that was one thing with the reuse that I have
been inspired to do. But there are a few other things.
So like she gives some examples, So paper tissues can
be replaced with handkerchiefs, you can get straight edge razors
instead of disposable razors, cotton cloths instead of dish bunges,
(16:01):
loose tea instead of tea bags. I actually did not
buy coffee filters for my coffee maker. I just reused
a reusable It already had a reusable filter in there.
I just kept a filter on it because I liked it,
didn't like the residue at the bottom. And then I
was like, Jen, you're a grown up. Get over it.
(16:23):
So there have been some things that I've been challenged
to like do more of, and I think that's great.
We do things in steps and stages, and we continually
take in knowledge and surround ourselves with people that challenge
us to just be a little bit better every year.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, I love this list. This list is an excellent
place to start. And there's so many things that I
see on here that I can shift in my own lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
What's one thing that you're gonna shift?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Okay that I will shift.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, I'm putting you on the spot. I know.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, I'm looking at it. So the paper and plastic bags.
I definitely bring my own bags to like all the
or Trader Joe's because they force you to do that.
But let's say I shop at Walmart or anywhere else.
I don't and I just didn't ever think about it,
like I think, oh, well they have bags, but here's
a store that they don't have bags. So done. Now,
(17:24):
anytime I go into any store, I have my reusable
bags in my car, like they're already there. For those
other grocery stores, I'm going to start utilizing that. Now
here's my one barrier. Because we're going on A side
tangent now apparently, is that I will use those bags,
the plastic ones from Walmart or home Depot for trash
(17:45):
bags in my bathroom. But then that's what brings up
that whole other issue of what if I stop making
as much trash? But I think it's not really I'm
going to make trash. I know that I'm not going
to be the person who ends up with their annual
trash and a mason jar. But then I would have
to figure out an alternative trash bag for my bathroom.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Well, I think also there's always going to be people
trying to get rid of their plastic bags. So if
you are ever in a pinch where you need plastic
bags like grocery bags for your bathroom, you can just
go on the buy Nothing group and say, I'll take
these off your hands. Or you go to the grocery
store and they have recycling bins for those bags, yeah,
because they're not recyclable and regular recycling bins, and you
(18:33):
just stick your hand in there and pull some out
and I'm at.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Least using it, giving the life of the thing a
little bit longer, more uses, which I think is also
a part of that reuse sometimes it does end up
getting thrown out, but how much more life can we
get out of any kind of product also helps.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, and you, Jill, you're the one that like taught
me about like always think of the third option. There's
always a third option. There's the yes and the no,
and those are usually very obvious, but if you sit
down and just think about it a little bit longer,
there's always a third option. And sometimes there's you know,
(19:17):
four or eight options, but you just have to think
about it a little long. And that's the same with
what we say about frugality. It's not inconvenient. It's just
not the most convenient. You just think about sit down,
think about it for a few minutes or a few days,
and see find what the third option is.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I think that is what's so challenging about this, But
I like it. I enjoy the creativity, the problem solving,
the curiosity that this challenge has created of Okay, I
could do this, then what's the ripple effect of that?
How can I solve for that? What might else need
to change? And shift? Where could I make more shifts?
(19:57):
And it just it's been this like really rich challenge.
All right, let's get to the fourth R. The fourth
R is recycle, and we only get to the fourth
R once we've made it through the other three. So
recycling is for the things that we can't refuse, reduce,
(20:21):
or reuse. And I love how Bea highlights this. She
shares how often people are aware of her zero waste
lifestyle and they're like, oh, yeah, me too, I recycle everything,
and she's like, that's totally not it. I mean like
she's excited for them with like where they're at in
(20:42):
their process and journey. But we don't want to stop there.
It's not just oh great, we recycle. Because there's so
much to be said about the recycling industry and how
much has not been solved for how unaware we are
as a society of how to recycle. Well, there's a
lack of businesses, corporations, companies who are utilizing recycled material.
(21:06):
There's a lack of consumers buying recycled material, like once
it has been recycled into something new, we have a
problem with not actually purchasing those recycled items. We're still
buying the single use items. So it's not as if
we can just put our recycling out by the road
and be like pat ourselves on the back, done deal,
(21:27):
I did my due diligence. No, there's so much more
that goes into it, which is really disheartening for me
because I was in that camp of yeah, I recycle.
I'm like, I'm doing such a good thing, and then
there's this whole myth around recycling. So we only do
this once we've exhausted the first three rs and then
(21:49):
we need to do our due diligence and doing it
well what can be recycled, make sure our recyclables are
cleaned out, making sure that we're not recycling a ton
of stuff, because again, we don't have a system that
can actually support the way that we're doing recycling right now.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yeah, and if you are not recycling and this is
where you need to start, that's fine, that's absolutely fine.
You know, whatever you have in your refrigerator right now
that you can recycle when you're done using it, start
with that and then start to refuse and reduce and reuse.
(22:27):
Whatever you can start with today is good enough. But yeah,
there are so many people that just sit on that
and be like, oh, I did the one thing I did.
I did eco sustainability, And it's really recycling is much
more confusing. It's it actually makes me angry every time
I go to recycle something because I'm like, I either
(22:48):
have to do a lot to get it to be
recyclable or I just don't and I just put it
in and I'm like, I don't really know, and then
I end up I don't want to contaminate the recycling,
so I throw it away.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Like unserfrustrating is a common experience for me when I recycle,
Like anytime I go to my recycling bin, I it
is paired with a feeling of uncertainty, and that's not
the greatest.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Right, which is why I think reducing is again the key,
Like reduce what you buy and you reduce what you recycle,
and if you can rethink, like when I'm now purchasing
instead of my next move is like so I switched
(23:38):
to like mayonnaise only in glass jars, and so now
I'm just gonna move my condiments, like when I rebuy,
I'm going to try to do everything in glass, because
I know glass like clear glass definitely recycable, and just
things that I don't have to be so confused about.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Like the paper around the glass might not be I
think true recycling as you have to pull it off,
you've got to clean it really well, get the glue
as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, yeah, which I can do that enough. But yeah,
so recycling is not what we want to rest on.
It's definitely the reducing and reusing as much as possible.
And that takes us to our last r which I
actually I like and Jill very much likes. But it's
(24:29):
rot and that is compost rot it. Yeah, so Jill
actually likes it because she does use the compost. It
just makes me feel better about not wasting. I don't
do anything with the compost, but it is a way
to use your food scraps. And I actually learned you
(24:51):
can use a lot more in compost depending on the
type of compost you have. You use a lot more,
put a lot more in there than I thought you could.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yes, dryer lint forgiving, Yeah, dryer limb hard Yeah I had.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
She's even putting like food, like like animal waste. I
guess she has like a special compost. I don't know
if it's special, but yeah, she is not a vegan
by any means, Like, so she puts her animal waste,
not her animal like pet waste, right, she said, even
there is like the time you could Yeah, so it's vast.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Yeah, yeah, I've got to learn more about that. For me,
I've got to but I because I know that if
you put animal waste into like food scraps into your compost,
that's when you can get pests. So there definitely is
a way to go about that in a in a
way where you wouldn't have rats around your garden that's
(25:53):
not mine.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And if you are not a gardener, if you have
a black thumb, then you can create composts and maybe
trade it with other people who do have it for
their fresh veggies that they have, like when stuff whatever's
in season that they're trying to get rid of. So
that's an option. If you do not want to grow
your own food, that can be a way to kind
(26:17):
of use the compost and still get some of the
benefits of people who do know how to garden and
grow things.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, that's a great list. We encourage you to try it.
But we also want to move into talking about how
we compare frugal tips with zero waste.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So we are talking about frugal zero waste. So this
next article we're getting into is seven easy frugal tips
that are also sustainable. So this is from Rainbow Vegans
Rock dot com. I much, I very much like it
(27:00):
that you are.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Out Rainbow Vegans Rock. Here we go. So the first
tip on here is to buy second hand. And you
all know this this list if you can listen to
frugal friends for a long time. Nothing on this list
is going to be new to you. But we're looking
at it from the perspective of sustainability and zero waste,
(27:22):
or at least reducing waste. I mean even bea in
her book describes that zero waste is nearly impossible in
the culture that we live in, but we're aiming at it.
It's something to aim at. And so when we buy
second hand, this continues to keep things out of the landfill.
It allows us to reuse and almost kind of recycle
(27:44):
or upcycle things. Of course, we still want to be
aiming at reduction in this process. We don't want to
go buy second hand just because it's a deal and
bringing more things into our house that we may not
need and might find its way to the trash can quicker.
But when we do need something, this is the first
(28:06):
place we should be going to whether it's an actual
physical thrift store, or it's Craigslist or Facebook, marketplace or eBay,
these are the spots that we should be going to
to find the items that we need again, to take
from somebody else who's not going to be using it anymore,
(28:27):
to put that thing to use, to keep them from
throwing it away. And this is also a solution for us,
not just in buying secondhand, but when we don't need
something anymore. These are the places we should be going
to to be donating or selling.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, we went thrifting this weekend, Jill, We did. We
got some.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I was looking for things for our frugal friends party.
Didn't find what I needed, but I did find Actually
I found this shirt. I needed more. I found this
shirt I needed another. Look at us. We're so excited
to wear our new shirts. Yeah, I realize I don't
have any like professional short sleeve shirts. I always it's
(29:08):
either like a dress that I wear or a lightweight
long sleeve or sleeveless. But I only have one other
short sleeve shirt, so I got a second one. So
now I have two professional short sleeve shirts. So you're
either gonna see this or my black one.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Love that yeah, and so I don't particularly love thrifting,
Like we went to one thrift store and afterwards I
was like exhausted. So typically I do most of my
thrifting online. We use thread up. We have a promo
code for ten dollars off thread up at Frugal friendspodcast
dot com, slash thread up No. A. And then Poshmark eBay.
(29:49):
I love eBay. Their prices are usually cheaper than Poshmark
and it's the same exact things they post them at
both places. And then this one also says depop or
Facebook marketplace, so there are plenty of places to get
secondhand that are not a thrift store too. The second
one on this list is bulk buying. And so when
(30:13):
Jill and I were originally talking about this, she thought
I meant like Sam's Club Costco bulk buying, and then
I was like, I want glass containers for bulk buying,
and she didn't know what I was talking about. But
this is like at your health food store where you're
filling up your own container of shelf stable products. And
(30:37):
so that's something that I'm going to try and move
towards and trying to bring instead of using the plastic
bags they give trying to bring my own glass containers
that are uniform in size. I'm just not here for
bringing seven different types of jars and getting them all
(30:57):
teared and then going to fill them up. I'm here
for simplicity, So I might just start with one, maybe
brown rice. I think I'm due for a brown rice refill.
So but yeah, I am very interested to try this
and see the price difference. We'll see, yes.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
There, As with some other things like minimalism, eco friendly, sustainability,
zero waste, there is a version of this that could
go not super frugal. We can, in anything, spend a
ton of money, although if it's within our values and
(31:43):
something we really want to aim at, then it can
be frugal living. But again that intentionality with our finances,
with our lifestyle. So I think we all have to
find is what's going to work for us, Because going
to seven different stores, spending all of the time and
(32:04):
energy to make your own laundry detergent, butter mend clothes,
like to do all of the things as if we
were living in fifteen twenty two might not work for everybody.
So there is definitely a lot of room in here
to figure out what how does this pair with your
(32:25):
version of frugality and, like you said, Jen, just being
doing a little bit better each day towards the goals
that we have stated. I will say this article does
highlight bulk buying in your lart what is it the
big box stores like your Costco or your Sham's Club.
Now we've all still better, We've all yes. I guess
(32:47):
it reduces waste in the sense that you're not throwing
out five tiny bottles, You're throwing out one slightly larger bottle,
and you're probably reducing the waste.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I would guess by twenty to thirty percent. That's I'm
just throwing that out there. I'm not great at numbers,
but that'd be my guess. But then you've also got
the alternative where sometimes that isn't minimal, and we may
not it might not be financially sustainable for us to
be spending a ton of money on these like larger
(33:24):
bulk items. So that's one of those that can kind
of go either way, and we'd have to determine what
will we buy bulk, how will we buy bulk? Is
it worth it to us to be going to all
these different stores to do this. So, yeah, there's the
bulk buying is one that I'm I'm curious about. I'm
a little bit on the fence.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
With because yeah, it does reduce the cost per ounce,
but you have to be selective. So instead of getting
everything bulk, you choose maybe three things. We choose three
things that we buy in bulk. We go to one store,
we go to the store that has all of them,
or we choose the store that's closest to them, and
whatever store, whatever they have, that's what dictates our bulk.
(34:07):
Because driving around all over also has an environmental impact
and it has a time impact, and we're not about
that either. So sometimes you do have to let your
location and what's available to you dictate what you keep
in bulk, and don't get you don't need to get
everything in bulk. So like, I'm just gonna start with
(34:29):
brown rice because I use brown rice every week and
I love that. Bea said that she keeps a jar
on a rotation of like unique like grains or whatever
she wants to try, so she doesn't have like twenty
containers with all these different bulk things, which can be expensive.
(34:49):
She has her set and then she has one jar
or one container that if there's something interesting that she
wants to try, she'll fill it up, and she has
to use all of that before she can get something
else that she wants to try. So I actually love
that too.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yes, agreed? All right. This next one, which I am
all for where we compare frugality with zero waste, is
mending our things. So if something is broken or torn
or ripped, we look at mending and fixing. Mending to
me kind of seems very fabric clothing specific. I would
(35:30):
take it a step further and just say fixing things
if something gets broken, rather than throwing it away, tossing
it to the side, putting it in a junk drawer,
how can we make this thing useful again, work again,
serve its purpose again, and picking up a new skill
set in this regard, I don't think we have to
all become seamstresses. But if there's a hole in our clothing,
(35:55):
is there, could we mend it before we go out
and buy new and just throw it away? So I'm
I'm all about sewing on buttons, patching up our clothes,
fixing the things that are broken, which is going to
also mean that we buy quality things that's worth fixing,
that's going to last us a long time. That's a
(36:16):
whole other part of this. When we do buy that
it's quality, and then we make sure we're going to
use can be fixed.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yeah, and and some things are created to not be
able to be fixed. They're just created cheaply. So that
is something we also have to be intentional about buying.
Like the author, sorry, the author of this article, did
you hear my story about my nutribullet? Is that what
you were bringing up.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Everyone has a story about a nutribullet not by and
throwing it out and getting a new on. I went
through two or three. I've got other friends who, well, nutrible.
It will never sponsor us because I think that they
make crap products, at least the one the bullets. Only
the rubber like melts away and it smells and there's
(37:06):
no like, how are you gonna fix the rubber that
melts away? I can't.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I tried. Wow, Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Listen,
if you work for nutribullet, okay, just let them know.
But this author of this article talks about trying to
return a dehumidifier that didn't work and to the manufacturer instead,
and her husband was like, did you, like, are you
(37:32):
returning that to be fixed? And she didn't even realize
that that's what she would be doing. She just thought
she was going to get a new dehumidifier. And she's like, well,
I could try. I could just try to repair it myself.
And I don't necessarily try and recommend trying to repair
something that might be like defunct or just a lemon,
but definitely anything that maybe could use it do a repair,
(37:58):
just try and YouTube it. I had a listener who
just she was listening to us and then she said
that her oven went out or something, and she's like,
you know what, I'm just gonna try. I'm just gonna
watch YouTube. Or maybe it was her husband or something,
I don't remember, but they watched YouTube and it ended
up being like a fifteen thirty dollars fix. Wow, Like yeah,
(38:20):
to fix, and it's not something like if you realize
that it's you're in over your head. Once you watch
the YouTube video, go get it fixed. But if you
don't try, you'll never know if it's the easy fix
or the hard fix.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
I will say we've also gotten really great deals on
things that we've been willing to fix that other people
are getting rid of. So, for instance, we've been wanting
this really high end in wall microwave oven combination for
the kitchen that we're renovating at our house. It's very expensive.
It's like four to five thousand dollars new, and we're like,
(38:55):
we're never doing that. Well, one popped up on Facebook
Marketplace broken for a fraction of that cost, and we
snagged it and Eric is fixing it and we're gonna
have like we're going to keep that out of the
landfill because the manufacturer eventually told this person like, we're
just replacing it, so do what you want with it,
like meaning just like go ahead and throw it out,
(39:17):
this massive appliance. And so them, good on them that
they decided not to just throw it away and find
a new home for it. And then if you do
have some of those problem solving ability to fix things,
now we'll be able to give it a new life.
We got a great deal and it's going to make
(39:37):
our kitchen look amazing. So win win, win, win, win
win win win. When you mendn't fix.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Yeah, and or if you're not handy like that, you
have a friend that is, you can see if they
will like do it for money. Some people like to
just toy around with those things or be helpful and
be like, hey, like I have this, if I got
this for free or whatever, would you fix it? I'll
pay you, And that could be a thing too. Oh,
(40:04):
so many options. There's always a third option.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
The next one is probably one of our favorites, if
not our ultimate favorite. It is mindful purchases. And that's
kind of what we're all about. Intentional spending, conscious consumerism,
mindful purchase, whatever you want to call it, but realizing
(40:30):
what your values are, and then making sure you all
of your spending, not just your discretionary but like your
mandatory quote unquote spending as well, is aligned with those values.
I think the hardest part in that equation isn't making
the mindful purchases. It's actually figuring out what your core
(40:52):
values are. Because our core values are so often influenced
by media, friends, family, coworkers, jobs, whatever, it's very hard
to figure out what do I actually want to have
in my life, what do I want to live in,
what do I want to acqu have not have. It's
(41:15):
hard to figure that out and that's what you need
to do in order to be able to make mindful purchases.
And that on the flip side with also being aware
of the impact behind the things you are consuming, so
the journey that it took to get wherever you are.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
So this is some I mean, mindful purchases is not
just a tip on some article. It is the foundation
of frugality. I think that is when someone asks us
to define frugality, it is some version of mindful spending
(41:55):
then being intentional with your resources. That's it. So done.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, if my mic was not on a stand, i'd
drop it right now.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Yeah, well you could. You could throw it on the
ground if you want, just to prove your point.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
No, I love I love my mic. Just leave it here.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
So the article also mentions as a tip in this
space free activities. It might seem at first like it
doesn't fit, but as we engage in free activities, generally
we're not engaging in purchasing things, collecting things, gathering things,
(42:37):
and so there can be a pairing of engaging in
fun free things that mean zero waste. So when we
enjoy time on the weekend with friends with family in
things that are free, and we also are able to
implement the refuse reduce reuse mentality. Then this is a
(43:02):
helpful kind of frugal zero waste pairing.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
And the last one on this list re using containers.
So definitely if you want to do this, get your
glass jars or look at your thrift stores. I am
still in the market for some more glass containers that
look esthetically pleasing. I have open shelving and I care
about that stuff, but there are some pretty good looking
(43:30):
glass containers that food comes in, so be on the
lookout for that. And if you have any suggestions, dm
us on Instagram and let us know what we should
be what food we should be consuming to get those
cool glass.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Jars that or yeah, finding them secondhand. Definitely will not
be buying them used. And I like the tips that
they give for how we can reuse some containers. One
of my go tos for glass jars is to keep
hold on to some them. Again, this is where it
bumps up against my minimalism. I don't want to have
(44:04):
an entire cabinet dedicated to glass jar empty glass jars.
But if I give flowers as a gift to somebody,
or sometimes I'll make like an antipasta or an appetizer
of some sort, and that's an easy way to give
it to people and not require them to be giving
back the container. So I'll kind of keep some things
(44:26):
around so that I can gift things to people and
not have to purchase containers for it or be putting
the pressure on them to get my container back to me.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
Absolutely, but you know what, there's never any pressure to
give back to the people.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
And always it always does give, never, never, hardly resist.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
This is zero waste for sure. The bill of the week.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (45:01):
It's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams.
Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died
and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
That's bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clion, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
Hi Jen and Jill. My name is Amy. I live
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and my bill of the week
is my dad, William but known to everyone else as Bill.
My dad was a minimalistic, frugal, simple living, non materialistic
person before it was cool. He's content with living a
(45:43):
simple life, and so when my brothers and I try
to pick his brain for potential Birthday or Christmas gifts.
His response is usually I could use a new fish
filter for his aquarium and they cost like ten dollars.
So I just want to say cheers to my dad
who keeps things simple but frust rights those of us
who want to buy him presence because he does not
(46:03):
care for material things. Thanks ladies, keep up the good work,
love the show, Oh.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Amy, Marie, I am I am in love with your dad, Bill.
He sounds like the best.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
Bill sounds so great. Bill, Thank you for paving the
way for your family and this minimalism, contentment, simple living
that doesn't require much. But you also just sound like
an amazing person with rich relationship with those around you,
(46:40):
which I think is what this can lead to. Like
it can be a byproduct, this minimalism, simple living can
lead to contentment, which leads to yeah, it can better
relationships with people and just time enjoyed together. And how
amazing Amy to hear how much you enjoy and admire
your dad in this. Well done and thanks Bill, what
(47:03):
a great Bill.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
If you want to submit your Bill of the week,
visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to leave
us your dad bill, your duck bill, your man bill,
any bill.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
And now it's time for.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
This is the part of the show where our podcast
manager Goldie asks us a question to get us vulnerable.
I no longer make up the questions because Jill feels
attacked when I, like, you know too much typically for Yeah,
(47:48):
So now Goldie does it, and now it's fun because
I don't see the question until right before it comes.
So this week's question, what are your compromise items like
not zero waste but still eco friendly? Go for it, June, Jill.
Speaker 3 (48:04):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, you kind of took mine, so can you go
first so that I can think of another one.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
I don't know if this is ego friendly, but toilet paper,
I can't give that up. That's my that's my no
compromise item. I don't know that there's ever going to
be a time when I say no to toilet paper. However, well,
hold on, as I'm thinking out loud and that problem solving,
creative juices are flowing.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
What's the third way, Jill?
Speaker 3 (48:37):
The third way is a bedet. Oh it rhymes two.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
The way is the bedet. That's a lot. That's a
big transition people who have all those Oh, I'm sure
they do have a bidet.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
Love their third way.
Speaker 1 (49:02):
I am squirming thinking about it. I ooh, what is
my compromise? Yeah, no, I'll never give up toilet paper. Okay,
so here, okay, So this isn't zero waste, I guess.
But I actually I like I have to have a
certain hair care product, like shampoo and conditioner. I have
(49:26):
heard all of the ideas, and the shampoo bars and
the all of the apple cider. I've heard all of
the ideas. But if you had my hair, which is
very curly and very thin, you would know that I
am fighting a battle and I can't. I can't go
(49:50):
zero waste.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
If I had your hair, I'd be happier. I mean,
but you know what the gift to me is that
I get to look at it.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah, and my son has the same hair, and everyone's
always trying to touch it and complimenting it. And I
feel complimented by proxy because nobody does that to me.
Such a cumute all. But yeah, but so I think
the I do always recycle the plastic containers that they
(50:23):
come in, and I think next time I will see
if I can buy a larger size than what I
currently have. I think those are my alternate and Okay,
so also I only shampoo my hair once a week.
All the other times I will condition it, and I
only condition it maybe like two or three times a week.
(50:44):
All the other times I just like wet it because
I do work out most mornings, and sometimes I'll just
either not wash it or just wet it. So that's
a zero waste thing that I do. But I gotta
have I gotta have the right hair care.
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Oh and rest assured. This is not the only area
where our lives need improvement. There's so many other shifts
and changes we can be making. But I think, like
we said at the beginning, we'll say at the end,
it is about making small adjustments as we go and
as we can see the low hanging fruit of what
(51:20):
needs to shift. Like I got stressed yesterday about the
junk mail that's coming. It's like, well, this shouldn't be
my first step. If I'm also still using paper towels,
I shouldn't be hunting down and spending a ton of
time making sure the local Catholic church doesn't send me
like flyers all the time. It should be what am
I doing in my own personal life currently. That could
(51:44):
be a drastic shift, more drastic than the flyers that
come to my door.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
Absolutely. Yeah. I think refuse is the hardest thing for us,
especially Travis. Travis still refuses to refuse. It's been two
years that we've been talking about this, and he refuses
to refuse, and so he's maybe taking it still too
(52:13):
close to heart and so. But I have gotten a
lot better at not allowing some things to come into
my home and then just kind of like reusing as
much as possible.
Speaker 3 (52:31):
Yeah, on any given day, my refusal might be stronger
than another day. Somebody just gave me free koozies, you know,
to wrap around a drink, and I should have said
no to them, but I just dincepted and my will
power was low.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Yeah. I never used koozies. Yeah, I don't drink.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
I do at the beach, just for any kind of drink, Like, Yeah,
they're just helpful.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Yeah at the beach. I don't go to the beach.
Speaker 3 (52:57):
We do use them, we just don't we just to
need two more.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
Yeah. Yeah, I was holding on to like six from
Jess and Joseph's wedding, Yes, because I had two in
each color, and I finally whittled it down to one,
one in my favorite color.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
Just for you. No one else gets a kuzzi in
the house, just just me. Well, and I am continuing
to use regular toilet paper. We're not on the reusing.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
No in that neither. Please no, oh my gosh, thank
you so much for listening. If this is your second
time through listening to this episode, thanks for listening again.
But we know most of you will will not have
heard this, so that's why we do these kind of
best of replays. And uh we're just appreciative that you're here.
(53:49):
And uh yeah, we love reading your kind reviews when
you like an episode, especially this one from uh BREBN
one oh one back Bye on Track.
Speaker 3 (54:03):
I know, I keep trying to read it different ways.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
I initially read it. I initially read it Baby Got Back.
I did find it too.
Speaker 3 (54:14):
But thanks BREBND for your Baby Got Back five star re.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
The real review. Thank you ladies for giving me the
strength to get back on track this year. Well BREBN
one oh one, Baby got Back on Track. We're so
glad to play a small part in your journey. So
thank you, and to anybody listening, please leave a review
(54:39):
with the title baby Got Back.
Speaker 3 (54:42):
We'll take We'll take any five star review real And
we still have that goal to reach one thousand reviews
and then more. Don't stop if you see we have
a thousand reviews, don't stop, keep going, uh, but also
sign up for the friend letter. We love giving you
all of our tips and tricks for saving spending better
buying affordable quality so that you don't have to be
(55:05):
wasting so much. Yes, that's kind of a new series
we're doing on like clothing, sheets, pots and pans, what
are the best affordable quality?
Speaker 1 (55:14):
And we just recently did one on vacuums and that
one was in UH in February, and that one was
very great, so fire yeah, Baby it was back.
Speaker 3 (55:23):
Was that Baby got back?
Speaker 1 (55:25):
Baby got vack? Thanks for listening, Love you see you
next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3 (55:48):
Sometimes you do make me laugh like legit, and I
can't help the fact that, yeah, we're still recording, but
I'm laughing.
Speaker 1 (55:58):
We we came in this morning. I'm just gonna give
you all more transparency. We came in this morning and
neither of us were having a good day. We were
we hadn't had a good three previous days or year
that's are Yeah, I mean life's been rough. I mean
(56:19):
it's been rough.
Speaker 3 (56:20):
But den it gets only gonna get worse.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Wow, this is where we're at. It's sometimes you're in
these seasons and they are not great. Yeah, they are
not great.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
But you know what we're trying on just for size,
just to see if we can like mindset trick ourselves,
because it is kind of what we preach. We don't
preach tricker, right, but just saying, you know what, it's
a great day, because we'll probably look back on this
day at some other day in the future that is
really really rough, potentially more rough than this, and think
(56:58):
that was a great day.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
We had it bad.
Speaker 3 (57:00):
Then look at us now.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
Yeah, we're we're not negating how sucky this season is
right now, but like knowing that there's there are harder
days ahead eventually at some point.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
Hopefully beat our days ahead to yea.
Speaker 1 (57:18):
God help us hopefully. And you know, we just got
to hold the tension between both kinds of days and
then we can sit here and laugh with each other
and call it a great day, and call it a
great day
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