May 12, 2023 • 60 mins
As shocking as it may be, your finances are not stressful to manage, and it shouldn't be! The world has made handling our money complex, becoming a source of negativity and stress. In this special episode with Allison Baggerly, let's shift our perspective on money and learn how to approach finances easier, less stressful, and with a bag full of confidence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode three oh nine, Money Made Easy.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity and life. Here your hosts Jen
and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Mmmm. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
My name is Jill and my name is Alison.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hey O, it's a special one. You caught it. Jen's
not here. She's on maternity leave and that makes this
a very special episode for many reasons. Sorry, I mean
I miss Jen. It's special because Jen is caring for
a baby, and that's special. And then it's also special
(00:50):
because goodness, Alison, we have had such history. Allison was
the stand in co host the first time Jen had
a baby because she like to do this like regularly.
But it was about four years ago that she stood
in as a co host and she's back again. Old
hat So Alison Baggerly. In case you don't know her well,
(01:11):
she's a standing co host for us, always in forever.
But also she is the brains behind Inspired Budget. If
you don't already, you need to follow her on Instagram.
She's also got a podcast called Inspired Budget. She literally
wrote a book called Money Made Easy. It's the inspiration
for the title of this episode. So she is bringing
(01:33):
all of the knowledge to us, but also in the
very specific form of co host, which is different from
being a guest on the podcast. I would say it's
a little bit more special. So we're still going to
go through the articles. One of them is from Alison
herself through her blog, because goodness, you are all over
the internet doing so much stuff talking about budgeting, talking
(01:55):
about making money easier, and this book that you've got,
which is amazing. We'll hear more about that, but we're
going to just be learning more about how to approach
finances in a little bit easier of a way, less stressful,
full of confidence, and I'm so glad that you're here
with me. Alison. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'm like honored you guys wanted me to come back
after the first co hosting session because you know, you
committed to me for three full episodes.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
That's like a you asked me out on three dates at.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
First, once just off the bat, over zealous.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yes, you were just like, I know this is going
to work. We're going to go on three dates. And
I was like, heck, yes, we're going to do this.
So thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yay. That's how actually Eric and I got together was
he asked me on an over zealous first date. So
it works, you know it works. Yeah, I mean he's
committed from the jump.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Put your intentions out there and you stand by them.
I like that about you, Jill.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But first tell us who's sponsoring this show, Allison.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Today's sponsor is something I love so much, and it
is Da Da Da ADHD medicine. So I was diagnosed
with ADHD as an adult. And when I tell you
that this medicine has brought so much focus and energy
and amazingness to my life, I mean I attribute it
(03:22):
to me helping write a book, an entire book. So
I love my ADHD medicine. I stand by it. It
just helps me focus and honestly, like, I don't know
why I didn't have this sooner. Sometimes I think I
can conquer the world when I have my medicine. And
I decided to start by writing my book. I wrote
(03:46):
my book and with the help of my ADHD medicine.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yes, that's amazing. Where can people get this book? Because
I know it's brand new, right, it's like hot off
the press.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
It is it's hot off the press. It's called Money
Made Easy.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
You can get it at Barnes and Nobles in stock
at most Barnes and Nobles. It's in some Canadian bookstores,
the main Canadian bookstore.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I can't remember the name of it.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I think it's Ingram, I want to say, I can't remember,
and then you can get it on Amazon easily.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
But it's called Money Made Easy. Is super wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
What I love about it is I personally think that
number one, let's be real here, a lot of money
books are boring. I mean a lot of nonfiction books
are boring, right. However, inside of every chapter of my book,
it's wrapped up in stories. So I try to make
it a little bit more enjoyable for you to read
(04:36):
about money. And it's less of like this step by
step guide.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And more of a choose your own adventure book.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
And what I mean by that is my money's different
from your money, Jill, which is different from Gen's money,
which is different from whoever is listening right now, your money.
And so what works for me might not work for you.
And that doesn't make me wrong or you wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
It just means we're different.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And so instead of telling you cookie cutter ways to deal.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
With your money, because it probably won't work.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I just share with you different tools in different ways
to budget, pay off debts, save money, change your relationship
with money, and then you can choose what works for you.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I love that. And we're going to actually get to
go a little bit behind the scenes in this episode
and gather tips even before you buy the book. But
hopefully it'll just make you more interested in getting this book.
If this topic is of interest to you and you're
liking what you hear, feel free to queue up after
this episode two forty eight, Simple Money, Rich Life. That
(05:36):
was an interview with Bob and Linda Lodeck. Super great.
We love our interviews and other people's perspectives and so
just another opportunity to learn how you can simplify your
personal finances. Then we've also got episode two ninety two,
The Science of Simplicity and Your Money, and that is
that's looking more into the behavioral sciences behind the decisions
(05:58):
that we make with money, really decisions across the board.
So those are two great ones, but let's talk this
one and we're going to get into our articles. This
first one is titled finding Your catalyst to change your
money for good. And this comes from our one and only,
Allison Baggerley on the Inspired Budget blog, which is also
(06:20):
linked to your podcast. You've got a whole brand going
on which is really awesome, and it looks like this
article is going through really the first chapter of your book,
so we're kind of being able to get a behind
the scenes sneak peek at your book, but then also
able to begin taking some steps and learning how do
(06:42):
we make money easier for us, but through the specific
lens of a catalyst. So I mean you're the expert
on this. So what were your thoughts on this article? Allison?
What do you want to say about it?
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:54):
I think it's an amazing article and contribution to society.
This article actually also a podcast, so you can go
listen to Inspire Budget Podcasts episode ninety six. But in
this article, I really share about how a catalyst for
change is where you need to start when it comes
to your money. I know, for me personally, just having
(07:17):
my mom sit down and say, like, Allison, you need
to be better with your money.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
When I was a young.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Adult, I was like, okay, Mom whatever, And it wasn't
until I was in a spot where I hit rock
bottom and my husband hit rock bottom that we were
willing to find a change that worked for us and
stick with it and see consistency with our money. So
for our family, that was whenever we realized we wouldn't
(07:43):
be able to afford daycare payments, when we became unexpectedly pregnant,
it was very much a we're standing at this fork
in the road.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Something needs to change. Which way are we going to go?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Are we going to do the responsible thing and make
some sacrifices and really look at our behalhaviors with money
and make changes. Are we going to keep doing what
we're doing and just hope it works out. So we
were at this fork in the road, and I think
that so often people find themselves at these forks in
the road. Now it might not be as dramatic and
(08:17):
as our experience, where it's like, Okay, you either make
the money or you don't have daycare for your baby.
You can't take your baby to school with you whenever
you're a teacher, Like I used to joke that I
would like stick them in a filing cabinet. I was like,
I'm just gonna put them in this filing cabinet.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
No one, I'll know, we don't have to pay for daycare.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But I think that so often, even in some of
our small instances in life, that we are faced with
this choice, and your catalyst for changing your money doesn't
have to be this big, grand thing that happens to you.
It can be something small. It can be a dream
you have for your future. It can be a person
(08:59):
in your life, be the fact that you are annoyed
that when you go to the grocery store you have
to pull up your checking account your bank app and
look and see how much money you have because you
want to make sure you have enough money in your
checking account.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Before you swipe your debit card.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
That small, seemingly annoying thing can be enough reason to
change your relationship and how you manage your money.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I really appreciate the story, even the personal story that
you give here about if you use the word two
broke teachers struggling to get by, then you find out
you're pregnant. And I think these types of stories, as
you've described our throughout your book, help us to connect
and realize, well, what is that for me? But also
giving permission to say it doesn't always look like this.
(09:44):
It doesn't always look like rock bottom. Sometimes it's the
daily life annoyances. But I also appreciate that's high end
because when we talk about okay, money made easy, simplifying
our money, feeling more confident in it, it feeling like
an easy task for us, how do we get there?
And I appreciate that your perspective is starting at a catalyst.
(10:08):
Part of the way that we make money easy is
figuring out, well, what is our motivator for engaging in this,
and then how are we going to get there? So
this is almost like step one, and I think this
is probably how most people would describe a why, identifying
your why. There's something I really love about the word
(10:28):
catalyst though, that is I think unique to what you've
identified here and the way that you describe it in
this article. Breaking free of the shoulds requires a motivator
that you call a catalyst. So a catalyst just essentially
a motivator and really like a launching point, the thing
that you can springboard off of, and the way that
(10:48):
you also go into or the article says your reason
for changing the way you spend and manage your money,
it's the reason that you will sacrifice potentially for a
period of time, so that you can live an abundance
for the rest of your life. Sometimes it requires that.
Sometimes as we identify our catalyst, it is going to
mean than saying no to other things, not for the
(11:11):
sake of deprivation, but for the sake of whatever our
catalyst is, whatever our motivator is. And I've seen personally
that can shift throughout life. I think that I experienced
a catalyst in my debt payoff journey, and more recently,
I'm experiencing different catalysts for different financial goals that I have,
(11:35):
and so I think sometimes it can shift and change,
and maybe we've got maybe multiple catalysts, like here's my
catalyst for this goal, and here's my catalyst for that goal.
I don't want to that's making it kind of complicated.
All I look at one at a time.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
But that would overwhelm me, like being like, oh my gosh,
I have to have all of these reasons that would
overwhelm well me, but works for you. That's great. But
I love You're exactly right. I love what you said
about how your catalyst can change, and I think that's
so true. I remember I was I was in Mexico
with Jen and our friend Caroline, who we'll get to
(12:13):
talk to here here from in a couple couple episodes,
and we had this We're at this all inclusive resort drinking.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You know, this is before Gen is pregnant.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
We're in this adults only pool and drinking and we're
having these like very deep conversations about how in life
it's okay to pivot, it's okay to change, it's okay to,
as Jen says, throw a plot twist.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
And I think the same is.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
True when it comes to our catalyst and our reason
behind it. The reason why I might have done that
back then and made money choices back then and be
willing to sacrifice then is totally different than now, and
that's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I welcome that change.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
As I grow and change as a person, my views,
my desires, my once, my dreams, my goals, and what
I'm willing to work on will also change. And I
think it's so beautiful because it just shows how money
is so personal and we can't just like put it
in this little box and say this is exactly what
you need to do and this is exactly what will
(13:13):
work for you.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Because it's not true.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I also like how the article goes on to talk
about how your catalyst must be something that's at the forefront,
not necessarily something that you are constantly thinking about and
ruminating on and contributing to your anxiety, but something present
and that is stronger than the frustrations that you will
face along the way. So I think there's even some
(13:38):
tips in that and identifying what is my catalyst, what
is going to help make this easier? How am I
going to stick to the plan? What is something that
is at the forefront, what is something that's ever present,
and what is something that's going to be stronger than
the frustration's face? And I know we've kind of alluded
to or touched on a bit. What's some of those
(14:00):
can be? You've said rock bottom. You've also listed in
the article that your catalyst could be the little annoyances
throughout the day, your sleepless nights, your ever present desire
for a vacation that just seems looming and unattainable but
you want it so badly, or your desire for financial literacy. Like,
(14:20):
it doesn't have to be this massive story that culminates
in someone's rock bottom. It could be these other things
as long as we're making sure that whatever it is
that we've identified is, as you've said, stronger than the
frustrations that we're going to face on a daily basis
in our efforts to simplify our money become more confident exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
And I think it's important to note that those frustrations
that you're going to face are going to change over time.
So for example, when we were paying off debt and
our catalyst was finding more money and our budget to
send to debt so we could eventually keep all of
the money we made. I remember my frustrations during the
summer was seeing everyone take these beach vacations. I live
(15:05):
in Texas and everyone goes to Florida, they go to
Destin actually thirty a area, and I remember just thinking.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Like, I want that.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I want that, And my frustration was that I felt
like I couldn't have that to the level that I
wanted it, And I had to remind myself, Okay, like
that doesn't mean you're never going to have it. But
then guess what, come October that was no longer a
frustration for me. My frustrations became something else. So your
(15:34):
frustrations can change. But as long as you go back
to your catalyst, it can allow you to at least
pause and question right. And that's the goal. The goal
isn't to be perfect. The goal is to pause and say, Okay,
if I make this choice with my money, is that
going to help me get closer to this goal? And
the answer it can either be yes or no, and
(15:56):
sometimes we still go ahead with it, and that's okay.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
It's not about being perfect.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
But when you have that thing to go back to
and to think about, that's where I think the magic is.
It's the willingness to pause and ponder.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And then the article wraps up with an action point
which we can all do. You could pause this podcast
now and do it or do it at the end
whenever you want, but to take ten minutes to journal
or write down. If the word journal scares you, it
makes you start to sweat. Just diary, writ down? No, Tay,
(16:33):
I had a diary, Can I tell it?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Really?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Randozing, I had a diary in sixth grade and I
felt weird.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I was like past the dear diary stage.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Of my life, but I felt weird being like dear diary,
and I felt like I had to write a letter
of someone.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
So I named my diary Jenny, and I was like,
dear Jenny.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
And I yes, And I wrote to an imaginary person
that was my diary.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'd have told anyone this except for my mom.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Thanks for in trusting us. I'm going to make my
dear Jenny well, dear Jenny. So take some time to
write to Jenny yes, about what your catalyst could be.
So some of the prompts in this to kind of
get closer to understanding yourself in this way include what
(17:24):
hopes do you have for your future? What can managing
your money better do for your life? What is worth
the temporary sacrifice? And changing your relationship with money? Those
are just some questions. If, as you've listened to this
first part of the podcast, you kind of have other ideas,
go for it, but these are some of the really
helpful questions that are going to help you really narrow
(17:46):
down and focus in on what is my catalyst. And
that's going to be a really great launching point for
simplifying money, which gets us to this next article which
I found really interesting. This one comes It's actually on
linked In and it's titled personal finance is Simple, We
make it complicated.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
I have all the thoughts about this article. I read
this article and I was like, Okay, mister CFA guy
I don't know his name is. I'm not even going
to try to speak say his name because I will
butcher it.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But it says one idiot.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It's his.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It's how he describes himself.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
It's one of his like it's true, like things like
he's the CEO of this and a financial literacy campaigner.
And it also says one idiot. So that's interesting. But
I really enjoy this article.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Because I agree personal finance is simple.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
We make it complicated, and I think it's a collective
we of the world and everything pulling at our attention,
and all the different people telling us what we need
to do, and everyone telling us what we need to buy,
people telling us what we need to have prepared for
when we die, and then all the options along with it.
(19:03):
It's like when you go into the grocery store and
you try to pick out a type of peanut butter
and there's just like ninety different peanut butters.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Life then it used to be that way.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
There was one type of peanut butter when you went
into the grocery store, and.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Back before we were before we were alive.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
And I think that we as a society make it complicated,
and then we as ourselves can make it complicated too.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
So I love this.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Why do we do that? I know? Sometimes I think
it's job creation, Like make it complicated so that someone
can be an expert and they can mystify it and
take your money. That's my pessimistic feel.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Well, I I'm more of a silver lining, half glass
full kind of girl myself. I think that while we
make it complicated because we think it needs to be
complicated because money is so important.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
We know that money is important.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
It is it seeps into every aspect of our life
for the of time. I mean, even thinking like I
think about like, oh my gosh, what if I'm ninety
years old and I'm in a nursing home and it's
costing my kids ten thousand dollars a month? How do
I make sure I don't run out of money? Like
the fact that I that is a concern of mine
and that I'm worried about that I'm doing that to myself.
(20:16):
I make it complicated because I see it as important.
And when we see something as important, sometimes we think
it has to be complicated.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Because it is important.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
But that's not that's for interesting theory. Yeah, we complicate
things when they're important. I like that. So this article
is primarily written around a piece of advice given what
did they say like a while ago from a person
named Scott Adams from the Dilbert cartoon Yes series, many
(20:48):
years back. And it's just a simple one page financial plan.
And yeah there is something too. I see a one
page financial plan and I want to discount it for
some reason, like, oh, well, it can be that simple.
But then as I read through it, I don't see
many holes to be poked. Certainly there are addendums that
could be written to any one of these, and there
(21:10):
are steps, and each step could take a long time,
but it can be all written down in one page.
And so I'll just go through and describe it and
then we can kind of say a little bit more
about it. But the one page financial plan is and
it's titled Everything you Need to Know about Personal Investing.
(21:32):
Make a will, pay off your credit card balance, get
term life insurance if you have a family to support.
Fund your four oh one K to the max, Fund
your IRA to the max. Buy a house if you
want to live in a house and can afford it.
That's six months expenses. I do too, put six months
expenses in a money market account, take whatever money is
(21:53):
left over and invest seventy percent in a stock index
fund thirty percent and a bond fund through any discount
brokerage company, and never touch it until retirement. If any
of this confuses you, or you have something special going
on retirement, college planning, tax issue, hire a fee based
financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.
That's it. That's the entire one page financial plan. And
(22:15):
of course there are entire books that could be written
on any one of these bullet points. So it's not
to say that each of them aren't don't have things
to do as a part of them, but what a summary.
And it's also occurring to me, what an original TikTok
almost like this is what we love. We love the
(22:35):
bite size, like how do we get all this information
into a six second video? Or like something that is
super simple. We do love to simplify it, and then
we also love to over complicate. I don't know, we're
complicated creatures in some regard, but we can make complicated
things more attainable and I think every one of these
(22:58):
is is great. Certainly, there are circumstances where this wouldn't
make sense. I mean, for me personally, I don't have
one a four oh one K through the place that
I work, So you know, I've got to look into
and educate myself on one of the workarounds for that.
Of course, you may not want to buy a house.
For certain people, more than six months of living expenses
would be good. But if we're looking for give me
(23:21):
something bite size, what can I do here? It is?
And I think this is simple.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
It is simple, but we make it so complicated. And
you know why, I'm looking at this list right now,
and I feel like a lot of people immediately and
tell me if this is me being pessimistic, because I'm
not usually pessimistic, I wonder I feel like a lot
of people would look at this and they would say, well,
that's great, but that doesn't apply to me. Because and
(23:46):
we're always finding reasons why we stand out from this list.
This not because you did, because I don't have a
four to oh one K offered right, And so it's
sometimes I feel like we discount everything on the list
because because it it doesn't apply to us in one aspect,
and sometimes I think that we discount this and we
(24:09):
make excuses because because it's hard to work on our part,
because it takes time and attention. And I can totally
relate this to like my personal health journey right now
and like trying to work out and get better and
just in more shape, to where like I can run
outside and play soccer with my kids and not feel
like I have to stop.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And it's like I.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Only need one hour in the day to be very
intentional about exercise, but I can find you all the
reasons why I can't do it.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
And I feel like sometimes that's what we do with
our money too.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
I don't usually actually like to relate money to like
dieting or working out, but that was a very seamless
analogy there.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Sometimes there's overlap in those worlds, and we're whole people.
So the issues and barriers that we face when it
comes to our personal finance is our most likely very
similar issues and barriers that we're facing in other aspects
of our personhood physical, emotional, mental, and so I think
it is worth moving through. I think growth in any
(25:13):
one area or aspect of our life means growth in
the entire thing. If we are able to learn how
to get on a regular exercise routine, we are more
likely going to be able to get on a budget
because there are some similar brain pathways at work in
being able to do that. And so I think that's
(25:33):
another way of being able to talk about making our
money easy is recognizing the intersection of all aspects of
our personhood that just growth in any area of our
lives is going to mean growth for the whole and
it's going to help us financially, not to mention in
other areas as well.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
So yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Mean I personally I think it's a great tie in.
But then so so to move through the article, I
think there. It then goes on because the author adds
more to this one pager that was initially put out
by this Scott Adams, and so they review the components
(26:15):
of financial planning, and we'll go through each of them,
but I'll just highlight the main categories that when it
comes to financial planning, so we're not necessarily just talking
about day to day managing personal expenses. We're talking about
the whole thing of how do we manage our personal finances,
not just how do we budget while that's a part
(26:37):
of this, right, It's an aspect of it. Right. So
we're talking about protection, savings, and growth primarily that everything
we do with our financial planning falls under one of
those three categories. And then there's some additional kind of
outliers that are maybe good to have or good to do,
(26:57):
So we'll go through them. If you want to kick
us off with protection, what falls under that category when
we're looking at protection, savings growth? What's protection?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
We have life insurance, health insurance, home and motor insurance.
So basically we're just hoping that life doesn't just take
advantage of us. Things happen and we are left up
a creek without a paddle.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Look at you all the creativity that we need to
implement when explictives are taken away. I love, Yes, there
we go.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, So, I mean, I definitely think that these are
things that I think most people know that they're supposed
to do and.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Are actually pretty In terms of delegating them or actually
going through the process can be very simple.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Obviously.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Health insurance usually you have someone at your HR at
your job, if you're working a traditional nine to five
offers health insurance. They're going to sit down and be like, Okay,
we have these three days, guys, let's get you signed up.
And so it's kind of like someone holding your hand
through that home insurance same thing. If you're buying a house,
you don't have a choice. You can't buy that house
(28:07):
without home insurance policy. And then car insurance same thing.
It's illegal to not have car insurance. Life insurance, though,
I think, can be easily overlooked unless you have like
a guide, someone telling you. And then it gets complicated
when you go to a salesperson and they try to
sell you something that might not be best for you,
(28:27):
like before, like in that original list he talks about
getting term life insurance and then he says, you want
whole life insurance policy.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It's worse, like don't get it.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
But there is humor throughout the art.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
There is there is humor.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
I think that we complicate it whenever we're trying to
decipher what of the life insurance policies which one is
best for our family, and other people complicate it for
us when they try to sell us different things.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Would you agree with that?
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Absolutely? And I would recommend term life insurance. Do your
own due diligence on that. And also I want to
add to this protection category and insurances. If you're renting,
I would really encourage renters insurance because your landlord will
(29:20):
only cover damage done to their property, not yours. That
is not covered. And so especially if you've got items
of high value that if they were lost in a fire,
you would be devastated. Get those things covered. And renter's
insurance is usually quite affordable, I want to say, less
(29:42):
than one hundred dollars a month. So shop around, but
I'm going to highly highly recommend that. I think it
should be thinking, Oh, I'm renting, like it's all going
to be covered. It's not. And I've seen way too
many people think that they were covered and not be
and really be up that creek with no path. Al.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yes, So there's a woman in my neighborhood and she's
renting a house here. She's a family of five kids,
and they had a water pipe burst in the middle
of the night and they're upstairs, flooded the downstairs area
and they had to leave their house for two weeks
while the owner renovated the home. Well, they where were
(30:24):
they going to go? Their renters insurance paid for a
hotel and so they actually had two hotel rooms with
like a suite because of the size of their family.
They paid for that and they gave them a daily
stipend for food, so that there alone, it covers the
cost of that in it. It also replaced some of
the items in their home that was lost. But it's like,
(30:47):
we always think it's not gonna happen to us, but
it will, and.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Don't I think that exactly?
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I wish, I personally wish that Renter's insurance was a requirement,
just like home insurance as a requirement.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
I wish Renter's insurance.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And then I just I'm going to throw this one
in there because of where I live in the Houston area,
we also have flood insurance personally, just because we are
in an area. Our house did not flood during Hurricane Harvey,
but literally three fourths of a mile down the road
it did. And even though we're not ever supposed to flood,
(31:21):
I'm like, I don't want it's to me, It's not
worth the risk. So we actually pay like six hundred
dollars a year in flood insurance, and obviously for homes
that might be in a flood area, it's required as well.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, so this is the time to actually consider worst
case scenario and what are you going to wish that
you had in those circumstances. It's also a protection against
some unnecessary anxiety that you can sleep at night knowing, well,
you know what I did this step of protection. So
then it moves into another component of financial planning, which
is savings, and they outline both emergency savings and short
(31:59):
term goal savings. We've talked about this ad nauseum through
other podcasts episodes, but is good to be repeated here.
And this is different from investing, which we'll get into
in the next component of financial planning. But savings is
literally the money that you have set aside that is
easily accessible to you for those items emergency and short
(32:24):
term goals. You've heard the advice to have six months
worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund. That's
a great, that's great. Of course, some people will choose
the route of three months, depending on their circumstances and
their confidence and being able to get a job in
the event of a job loss. And then you've got
(32:46):
more recommendations. Primarily we just talked about this with or
is it coming up? I forget. I don't want to
give away other episodes, but for single people, it can
be recommended, yes, to have a more beefy emergency fund,
maybe something more along the lines of nine to twelve
months worth of living expenses saved. So whatever you're going
(33:08):
to feel most comfortable with. Obviously it spans the gamut
of three to twelve months, but find yourself somewhere in there.
Grow your emergency fund, and then you've got your short
term goals, which we've also called sinking funds. So that
can be a fund for home maintenance. That could be
a fund for vacation. That could be a fund for
(33:29):
giving or holidays, or you name it. Whatever it is.
Are your things that you want to be in spending
on the things that you value. Those are your short
term goals. That's where you're going to put it into,
hopefully a high yield savings account that you can then
easily withdraw from. So that's the savings category.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yes, And can I throw in another short term goal
that I recently started and I really love, please. So
we have a really large backyard and I've always wanted
a pool. My husband's been very against pools, very much against.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
It, and I am for it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
So he like what this was When I first started
my business, I was like, I want a pool. He
was like, Okay, when you're making this much money a year,
we'll get a pool. Like almost like, oh, that's never
going to happen. And like within two years I hit
it and I was like, okay, are we getting a pool?
Speaker 3 (34:22):
And he was like, well no, I didn't know that
was possible, Like I didn't think this was possible for
your business. And I was like, oh yeah, now we're backtracking.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So anyway, fast forward, We've moved into this home now
we have a nice, beautiful backyard, and I still want
a pool.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
My husband does not. We are conflicted. We've had people
come out.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
We've had three different people come out to give us
quotes and drop plans for a pool, but we just
can't pull the trigger. And the reason why is because
it we would have to take out a loan for it.
We would and putting in a pool right now these
days is like over one hundred thousand dollars. And so
he says, I don't want you to sign up for
that responsibility in your life, like you already are the
(35:02):
breadwinner and the family I don't want you having that
extra added pressure. So I said, fine, what if I
save up for it in cash? Like what if I
save one hundred thousand dollars in cash? And he was
like great. But I didn't like the idea of just
like putting it in a pool fund because I don't
know if I want that yet, Like I'm not sold myself.
So I have a Things I Want fund. It's just
(35:25):
a savings fund that I can put money into.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Usually it's like.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
If I get a bonus from my work, I will
put it in there and I don't have to make
a decision about what I'm going to spend that money on.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Now.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
It's not meant to cover emergencies. It's not meant to
cover Christmas.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
It is meant to.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Be used for any future goals that I haven't even
been inspired.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
To have yet, or a pool whichever comes first.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I love that, not locking yourself in. Yeah, and that's
that's simplifying too, sometimes giving yourself just freedom open handed
with some of these goals. But yeah, that's the savings category.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Yes, And then we have growth, which I love this one,
and that includes retirement planning, which we know is hey
so important, but can be incredibly stressful, children, children's education,
house purchase, so if you want to save up for
a down payment on.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
A home, and then other goal based planning.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, and so I love that this is under the
growth category because I know it might just be semantics,
but we often hear people talking about saving for retirement,
and I think we're trying to do some work to
tease that apart, because while I understand what people are saying,
you really want to be investing for retirement, You want
(36:47):
to be saving for your short term goals and your
emergency fund, because that primarily is talking about savings, meaning
you're just taking the money, putting it aside. It may
or may not grow by percentage is it's not investing it,
you're wanting it easily accessible, but retirement investing, and so
(37:08):
that's why they're putting it under this growth category of
financial planning. And so the growth meaning that you are
hopefully putting it into accounts that are going to earn
interest on your money. So that is your four oh
one K, your WROTH, four oh three B, other investment options. Yeah,
(37:30):
that's the retirement investing and then growth. It's interesting to me, Yeah,
that they put kids education under the growth maybe because
your kids are growing, but of course if you're doing
a five twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You're investing that money. So yeah, I would. I would
definitely say that, but like and I, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Don't know if I would put children's education in our growth. Personally,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
You're investing in your kids to earn money, and I'm
for you and your old age.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
I'm going to invest in you emotionally, so you'll take
you'll want to take.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Care of me. I always make a joke because Eric
and I don't have any children, but my sister has
four kids, and so I'm always joking that I'm going
to identify one of them who seems like particularly interested in,
you know, being with me until the very end. I'm like,
I'm gonna especially invest in this one because I think
(38:28):
they might. I tell my sister, I'm like, can I
just take one of your children in my old age
to be the response to my God, I love that, Well,
you've got four of them, can just wake me exactly?
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Well, even if you have your own children, don't guarantee
they're going to do that. I asked my kids. No,
I done that with my own kids. I'm like, Okay,
which of you is going to take care of me?
And I even asked Evan, my oldest. I was like,
are you going to take care of me when I'm older?
And he was like, no, James can do it. And
I asked James and James was like, no, Evan can
do it. And I'm like, one of you have got
(38:59):
a step up, guys, maybe not now, but in the future,
like you've got to step up.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I need a leader here.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Yeah, And that's where we can help the kids out
by having that retirement investing happening where you are planning
for growth so that you're not putting a financial burden
on your children, but hopefully they're going to be there
to help make decisions as needed and make and advocate
for you medically if that's needed. That would be the hope,
I suppose, exactly. And then the article goes on to
(39:30):
some other kind of good to have good to dos
as it relates to financial planning, so certainly paying off
credit card debt and other high interest loan debt. I
love that they specify that, because it's not as if
we can't carry any degree of debt. I know we've
talked about this in other podcast episodes. Sometimes we can
(39:52):
use it to our advantage, but it's that high interest
debt particularly that we want to be really hap at
and getting that gone as soon as possible so that
we're not held back from these other goals. So that's
going to be your credit cards and your other high
interest debt, and that's really anything above six or seven
(40:12):
percent interest rates. They also advise to make a will, absolutely,
and I think even even for people who aren't married
or don't have kids, I think this is really important.
And I would put you know, medical decision making under
this as well, So not even just a will for
(40:34):
what happens to my stuff if I pass, but also
what happens to me if I am in a coma,
or I am in a situation where you know, medical
decisions for me need to be made. Rather than the
hospitals or some other person deciding who's going to make
those decisions, you identifying who's going to make those decisions.
(40:55):
If anything, I would argue this is almost more important
for our single friends out there. Oftentimes you know, the
spouse is the kind of go to or the child
is the go to in that, but but name them,
put it on paper, get it notarized, and then keeping
family up to date. So certainly if you are married
or you know you are single, and you've got people
(41:18):
who are going to be your your your people, our attorney.
Yeah right, it's I say, your people, keep them up
to date, keep them involved, make sure that they know,
and review it annually. This is one of those things
that we don't have to be looking at regularly, especially
when we're talking about these big overarching pieces of protections, savings, growth.
A lot of this can be automated, but we should
(41:40):
review it annually because things change, plot twists get thrown in,
and we want to make sure that it's still relevant exactly.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Yeah, absolutely, things change. I have a I have not
done this, but it's on my to do list and
I need to just do it. I need to give
myself a deadline. I want to create like a Google
doc and give it to my mom and share it
with my mom, and that gives her all of the
passwords for everything, and even for our safe and where
the will is located and all the things. Because if
(42:09):
something God forbid were to happen to Matt and I,
I want it to be as easy as possible for
her to deal with all the mess you can't have
to deal with.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, almost like money made easy? Yeah, exactly making it easy. Yeah,
that's interesting though, like sometimes sometimes there's a learning curve,
sometimes there's work that needs to happen. It's not as
if the entire process is easy, but the making it easy.
We can do things that might require effort, that might
(42:40):
require some investment of learning and gaining resources and tools
so that it becomes easy with the process of making
it easy. Exact For that reason too, I love the
title of your book.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Do you know what else we make easy? It's not
a plot twist because you always see it coming the week.
Speaker 6 (43:12):
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is Williams. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore. Fust bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this
is the bill of the week.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
Hey y'all, this is Victoria from North Carolina. Last year,
at Christmas time, I was so excited to buy my
daughter one of the expensive lifelike baby dolls, and it
was a bill that I'd loved paying for over the year,
that bill has become very expensive as my daughter and
(43:55):
I have enjoyed shopping for little baby things for her
baby doll. This year we have given away the baby doll,
and I am thankful to no longer have that bill
that grew so large. But here's the best part. She
named him William. Can't get better bill's than that. Thanks
(44:21):
for you, guys, doo.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Wow, Victoria. That felt like a wild ride, like a
thirty second wild ride for small Thanks for calling in.
But also okay, it was a bill that you were
really excited about that you didn't mind paying. You were
able to give a good gift to your daughter, but
then that turned into needing to buy more things. Then
it was like a bill you wish you didn't have.
(44:45):
But then it was a.
Speaker 7 (44:46):
Bill named Bill, and then it was a bill you
gave away. This is complicated, but you made it easy
by getting rid of it.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Oh well done.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I feel like this is a really good lie lesson
to your daughter on how parenting is.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Like it's expensive.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
It does it like you have to care for it
and you have to continue to put money in it,
or like a pet, it's like whenever you have like
I remember the first time I got a cat.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
My mom was I was in college min and was like,
you know, this costs money. I'm like, it's fine.
Speaker 4 (45:19):
If I had had this experience at the baby doll,
maybe I wouldn't have gotten that cat right away, because
it's a lot of responsibility. This baby doll was a
lot of responsibility.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
It's such a good lesson. I think that oftentimes we
will only think about the upfront cost or investment of something,
forgetting about what we're gonna want with that thing, then
the maintenance costs, or just the desires that we have
alongside it. I mean, it's an interesting thing to look at, Okay,
the baby doll, but now now we want a carriage
(45:50):
for it, and we want cute clothes, and we want
all the miniature things, and when we want to set
up a little room for it, and it just kind
of becomes this whole mom stir William, this big bill
named Bill, and man, you just cut ties with William,
and I like that. It's it's a William you gave away.
(46:12):
Well done. If you all listening happen to have a
baby doll named William that you had to give away
because it costs you too many bills, or you are
a person named Bill, or you've just got some other
tie into Bill. You know, we like to keep it vague.
Visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Bill, leave us
(46:33):
your bill, and now it's time for.
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Question.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Have we added this.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Aggressive that I like, I'm like excited but scared all simultaneously,
you are in.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
The exact right place.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
It in the round.
Speaker 1 (47:00):
It's just the same as the rest of the podcast,
just as we're coming to a close soon and there's
more yelling because we've eased you into it now. Okay, great.
So this question comes from Goldie, our amazing podcast manager,
who asks us what was the best decision you made
for simplifying your finances. Allison, you go first because you
(47:25):
are our honored co host, so for my very special
co hosts.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
So for our family, it was definitely our weekly budget meetings,
which if I'm being honest or it's not every week,
maybe every other week. But for us having a family,
running a household together, having kids that were taking to
theater and music lessons and soccer and all the places,
(47:51):
it's really hard to get on the same page because
you feel like you're just like sometimes two ships crossing
in the night, or by the end of the night
when you put the kids to bed and you come
down and you just want to watch the newest episode
of ted Lasso, which we did last night. So our
weekly budget meetings allow us to kind of just like
one and done, talk about money. Are we on track?
Are there any changes we need to make? Let's pay
(48:13):
off the credit cards in full and just get on
the same page. That way, the rest of the week
we can just be parents and partners.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
I like that, like getting a to do thing out
of the way so that it's not interrupting your other
connection exactly. That's cool. How long have you done these
weekly budget meetings for?
Speaker 3 (48:35):
So we started them.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
It was actually my husband's idea, and I was like,
that's ridiculous, which it's not, so he has good ideas.
But we started them probably in twenty eighteen, and it's
every Sunday. Sometimes we do them at dinner in front
of the kids. Sometimes we don't, but we talk about
all of that, but we also talk about just some
other life things like, Okay, do you have any late
(48:58):
night meetings this week? What are we cooking for dinner?
A lot of times, like I'll make the meal plan,
or he'll make the meal plan, and then things like, Okay,
what are the kids have going on? We're in a
very busy season just of the year and of our
life with children, so we have different choir concerts and
music recitals and a cub Scout graduation and all the things.
(49:20):
So it allows us to get on the same page
for the whole week.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
With our money and our life.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
That way, during the week we can just enjoy each
other's presence and we don't have any of that like
you said you were gonna pay off the credit card
bell and or you said you were gonna pick him
up from this, Like, no, we have all of that done,
so that.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
Way we can just enjoy our life during the week.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Yeah, it's interesting because it sounds like a lot. It sounds.
I'm sure anyone listening is like you do that every week,
But that almost simplifies it because then there's not as
much to do if you're looking at it that often.
That's neat and it includes other things.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Too, Yeah, like the mental energy.
Speaker 4 (50:01):
I'm not having to sit here and thinking like oh
my gosh, when I get home or when Matt gets
so many to talk to them about this or this,
because I'm not living day by day anymore, which can
be really stressful when your days are chaotic. I'm living
week by week, so I have a plan for the
week that my partner is on board with with our
money and our life, so that way the rest of
(50:24):
the week, I just need to take action and implement
what we talked about.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
If that makes sense, yes, wow, mine is not quite
as cool, but it's simple and it's automation. It amazes
me still that so many people do not have certain
things automated, and it just makes life so much easier
that I have to set something up once, but then
(50:48):
after that, like savings is automated, investing is automated, A
lot of my bill pay is automated. Like it's just
so simple. Then all I have to worry about is
my discretionary spending.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
It's awesome, great.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Do you have making sure that all of that is
below My means.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
Oh, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (51:05):
But do you have all of that come out at
a certain time? So I yeah, Like, for instance, like
do you have it come out right after pay day?
Speaker 1 (51:15):
So both my husband and I get paid by weekly,
but on each other's off weeks, so once a week
we are receiving someone's paycheck. Okay, so I have oscillated
my bills, like there are some that come out at
the beginning of the month and some halfway through the month,
so that can kind of volley between our two.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (51:39):
And you can just anyone who's listening, You can ask
for your pay your due date to be changed. So
if it makes more sense for you to pay a
bill at the beginning of the month, just ask for
them to change your due date and typically they will.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
But that's very similar to bills I've broken. Yeah, and
to buy monthly, like car payment, I make buy monthly,
which allows me to add a little bit more to it.
And yeah, that's I don't know, just all the different
hacks you can do with automation.
Speaker 3 (52:07):
And then you don't have to think about it. Your
mental energy is not bent on it.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly, until like a bank account changes
and you got to go back and remember, okay, what
all comes out of that bank account?
Speaker 4 (52:20):
Oh yeah, or your credit card gets stolen and your
number gets stolen. Yes, which can I tell a really
funny story about this?
Speaker 1 (52:29):
We love funny story.
Speaker 4 (52:30):
Okay, So I have a business and I have two
business credit cards. I have one that I use primarily
and I have.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
One that's just kind of like a backup. Just don't
use it very often.
Speaker 4 (52:41):
Well, I also have a bookkeeper, and my bookkeeper there
was like an Amazon purchase and she was like, what
is this Amazon purchase?
Speaker 3 (52:48):
I have to categorize it.
Speaker 4 (52:49):
And I was like, I didn't make that Amazon purchase
and she's like, well, it's here for this much money.
We have to figure out what it is. And I'm like,
oh my gosh, I think my credit card has been stolen,
my business credit card. And I'm like, oh, do I
really want to deal with this. I go through all
of my Amazon orders. I'm like, did I buy something
personal on accident with the wrong card. I cannot find
(53:10):
this order, so I tell them I can't find it.
But I think I'm just gonna ignore it because it
wasn't that much money, and I know it's going to
be such a hassle to switch everything over to.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
A new card, and I didn't want.
Speaker 4 (53:20):
I would rather pay the twenty five dollars of have
it compromise, which is so awful.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
So she was like, Allison, no, you need to switch
your card.
Speaker 4 (53:28):
I was like fine, cancel my card, report it as fraud,
all of the things. And then I get an email
I reported fraud on buying my own book.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
I bought a.
Speaker 4 (53:42):
Commy of my book on Amazon, and then I was like, oh, fraud.
So Amazon is like, okay, we're canceling your order for
money made easy because you reported it as fraud.
Speaker 3 (53:58):
I was like, oh, I went through us to.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
My own but not only was it your own purchase,
it was on your own book. Oh man, al that's too.
Speaker 4 (54:11):
Good, really embarrassing, and so yep, I had to I
already canceled my card.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
I had the new one in.
Speaker 4 (54:19):
I had to sit down and go through my bank
statement and change because everything comes out on my credit
card with my business change all of the auto pays.
So that way I didn't it miss something all because
I marked my own.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Book as a fraudulent purchase.
Speaker 1 (54:36):
So that's a great story.
Speaker 3 (54:38):
I have my own worst enemy.
Speaker 1 (54:39):
I appreciate your vulnerability there, guys, the vulnerability lightning round
there we go. Oh, well, thanks everyone so much for listening.
We hope that this was hopeful to you and figuring
out how to simplify your money a bit, and of
course definitely get Allison's book if you want more tangible
tips on how you can simplify that make your money easy.
(55:00):
Any of you also know we have a membership for
our listeners who are paying off debt, where we do
monthly money challenges and we offer accountability groups, which we
know is so important in this personal finance journey finding
other buds along the way. So we want to congratulate
one of our members for a big win. This one
comes from Jacqueline M who shared I decided to do
another thirty day no spend this month. Whoa Jacqueline. Last month,
(55:23):
I kept a list of what I wanted to buy
when the no spend was over, and by the end
of the month, there was only one thing I still wanted.
It was very sobering. This month feels much easier to navigate.
I feel quote unquote unhooked from the constant, relentless buying treadmill.
Sometimes that's what we need. Jacqueline like that, it's like
(55:44):
something to interrupt that pattern, shake it up, throw them
a plot twist, and then realize that, oh wow, that
I just needed a I needed an interrupter. I needed
a disruptor to kind of show me that I don't
actually care about these things. Yes, holy smokes, that's so cool.
Well done.
Speaker 3 (55:59):
Yes, that's like a dtalks.
Speaker 4 (56:00):
You had a money detox and then you're able to
introduce back in the spending that is valuable to you.
I feel like so many people we should just do that,
like once a month every year. I need to just
schedule a money detox. I'm gonna choose it on the
shortest month, February.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Okay, well, congratulations, good one.
Speaker 4 (56:18):
Congratulations Jacqueline. That's amazing and I can't wait to hear.
I hope I get to hear how month two of
your thirty day no spend month goes.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Yes, if you want to check in on Jacqueline, or
just check in on the membership where we have all
kinds of courses, interviews, challenges, just all kinds of amazing
people like Jacqueline, head to Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash
club check it out, and after you do that.
Speaker 3 (56:44):
We will see you for another episode next time. I
get to come back by Yeah, I get.
Speaker 1 (56:49):
To yay, we got more from Allison. See ya. Frugal
Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Oh my, Allison, I
(57:11):
don't even I'm still reeling from your story.
Speaker 3 (57:14):
I know, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
It's funny because I have a similar story where I
made like a an order on Walmart online and it
was on a credit card that was connected to Eric's
phone number, and the credit card company flagged it. They're like,
this is weird. This probably wasn't you. And Eric looked
(57:37):
at it and he thought, yeah, that's weird. Probably wasn't me.
Didn't even think to ask me, just I am not
a spender. That's the thing about me, is like I
don't really need detoxes because I'm always just a little
bit like I don't need that. Nah, I can. I
can get by with what I have. It's actually kind
of bad sometimes anyhow. He was like, no, certainly, I
(57:59):
don't even need to check with Jill, like she just
doesn't ever spend money, So like, I'm just gonna say
it was fraudulent. Well, yeah, no it wasn't. I actually
did go on Walmart dot com. But it's not as
amazing as your story of like purchasing your own product.
Speaker 3 (58:15):
Yes, and then embarrassing. Then I had to go back
to my bookkeepers and they were like.
Speaker 4 (58:21):
Oh, did you figure out like like where the scam
was like, oh, and.
Speaker 3 (58:26):
Not even that.
Speaker 1 (58:26):
Are you ready?
Speaker 4 (58:27):
So then I'm I'm talking to Chase on the phone
whenever I was originally telling them like, yeah, this is fraud,
and they were like, okay, well we can see it
comes from this Amazon account.
Speaker 3 (58:36):
Is this your Amazon account?
Speaker 4 (58:37):
I was like yes, and they're like, well, you're gonna
need to change your Amazon password. So then I go
to Matt, I'm like, we have to change our Amazon password.
We have to be aware because someone might be in
Amazon buying things like books that would buy my books.
And so then like literally days later, that's like, this
was literally your purchase your book.
Speaker 3 (58:58):
I had pre ordered it.
Speaker 4 (59:00):
So anyone who pre orders said the like, oh my gosh,
I felt so stupid.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
Well that is a good tip because I have noticed
that specifically with Amazon, when you buy things from different
parts of Amazon, sometimes it doesn't show up like your
your actual physical tangible orders will show up differently than
digital orders, you know, like podcasts or books or your
annual membership fee or whatever that is. And that usually
(59:29):
does trip me up where I'll get this charge and
I'm like, well, what is that. I don't see it
in my orders. Oh, it's in the digital orders, or
it's in this section of Amazon, so it is worth
checking all of those things before canceling. But well, oh
my gosh, this is the irony of yeah.
Speaker 3 (59:46):
And you know what, I didn't even buy it again.
I was like, whatever, my publisher sent me some copies.
I don't even need to buy another.
Speaker 4 (59:52):
I'll I'll just let that one be a loss.
Speaker 3 (59:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (59:58):
Well, you know it's just that that is how you
know that no one has it all together. Like people
don't have it all together. They only show you what
they want you to see.
Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
And I wanted everyone to see my mess up. Mmm
yeah beautiful, Yeah, so shoop perfect
Episode three oh nine, Money Made Easy.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity and life. Here your hosts Jen
and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Mmmm. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
My name is Jill and my name is Alison.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hey O, it's a special one. You caught it. Jen's
not here. She's on maternity leave and that makes this
a very special episode for many reasons. Sorry, I mean
I miss Jen. It's special because Jen is caring for
a baby, and that's special. And then it's also special
(00:50):
because goodness, Alison, we have had such history. Allison was
the stand in co host the first time Jen had
a baby because she like to do this like regularly.
But it was about four years ago that she stood
in as a co host and she's back again. Old
hat So Alison Baggerly. In case you don't know her well,
(01:11):
she's a standing co host for us, always in forever.
But also she is the brains behind Inspired Budget. If
you don't already, you need to follow her on Instagram.
She's also got a podcast called Inspired Budget. She literally
wrote a book called Money Made Easy. It's the inspiration
for the title of this episode. So she is bringing
(01:33):
all of the knowledge to us, but also in the
very specific form of co host, which is different from
being a guest on the podcast. I would say it's
a little bit more special. So we're still going to
go through the articles. One of them is from Alison
herself through her blog, because goodness, you are all over
the internet doing so much stuff talking about budgeting, talking
(01:55):
about making money easier, and this book that you've got,
which is amazing. We'll hear more about that, but we're
going to just be learning more about how to approach
finances in a little bit easier of a way, less stressful,
full of confidence, and I'm so glad that you're here
with me. Alison. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'm like honored you guys wanted me to come back
after the first co hosting session because you know, you
committed to me for three full episodes.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
That's like a you asked me out on three dates at.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
First, once just off the bat, over zealous.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yes, you were just like, I know this is going
to work. We're going to go on three dates. And
I was like, heck, yes, we're going to do this.
So thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yay. That's how actually Eric and I got together was
he asked me on an over zealous first date. So
it works, you know it works. Yeah, I mean he's
committed from the jump.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Put your intentions out there and you stand by them.
I like that about you, Jill.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But first tell us who's sponsoring this show, Allison.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Today's sponsor is something I love so much, and it
is Da Da Da ADHD medicine. So I was diagnosed
with ADHD as an adult. And when I tell you
that this medicine has brought so much focus and energy
and amazingness to my life, I mean I attribute it
(03:22):
to me helping write a book, an entire book. So
I love my ADHD medicine. I stand by it. It
just helps me focus and honestly, like, I don't know
why I didn't have this sooner. Sometimes I think I
can conquer the world when I have my medicine. And
I decided to start by writing my book. I wrote
(03:46):
my book and with the help of my ADHD medicine.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yes, that's amazing. Where can people get this book? Because
I know it's brand new, right, it's like hot off
the press.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
It is it's hot off the press. It's called Money
Made Easy.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
You can get it at Barnes and Nobles in stock
at most Barnes and Nobles. It's in some Canadian bookstores,
the main Canadian bookstore.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I can't remember the name of it.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I think it's Ingram, I want to say, I can't remember,
and then you can get it on Amazon easily.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
But it's called Money Made Easy. Is super wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
What I love about it is I personally think that
number one, let's be real here, a lot of money
books are boring. I mean a lot of nonfiction books
are boring, right. However, inside of every chapter of my book,
it's wrapped up in stories. So I try to make
it a little bit more enjoyable for you to read
(04:36):
about money. And it's less of like this step by
step guide.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And more of a choose your own adventure book.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
And what I mean by that is my money's different
from your money, Jill, which is different from Gen's money,
which is different from whoever is listening right now, your money.
And so what works for me might not work for you.
And that doesn't make me wrong or you wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
It just means we're different.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And so instead of telling you cookie cutter ways to deal.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
With your money, because it probably won't work.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I just share with you different tools in different ways
to budget, pay off debts, save money, change your relationship
with money, and then you can choose what works for you.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I love that. And we're going to actually get to
go a little bit behind the scenes in this episode
and gather tips even before you buy the book. But
hopefully it'll just make you more interested in getting this book.
If this topic is of interest to you and you're
liking what you hear, feel free to queue up after
this episode two forty eight, Simple Money, Rich Life. That
(05:36):
was an interview with Bob and Linda Lodeck. Super great.
We love our interviews and other people's perspectives and so
just another opportunity to learn how you can simplify your
personal finances. Then we've also got episode two ninety two,
The Science of Simplicity and Your Money, and that is
that's looking more into the behavioral sciences behind the decisions
(05:58):
that we make with money, really decisions across the board.
So those are two great ones, but let's talk this
one and we're going to get into our articles. This
first one is titled finding Your catalyst to change your
money for good. And this comes from our one and only,
Allison Baggerley on the Inspired Budget blog, which is also
(06:20):
linked to your podcast. You've got a whole brand going
on which is really awesome, and it looks like this
article is going through really the first chapter of your book,
so we're kind of being able to get a behind
the scenes sneak peek at your book, but then also
able to begin taking some steps and learning how do
(06:42):
we make money easier for us, but through the specific
lens of a catalyst. So I mean you're the expert
on this. So what were your thoughts on this article? Allison?
What do you want to say about it?
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:54):
I think it's an amazing article and contribution to society.
This article actually also a podcast, so you can go
listen to Inspire Budget Podcasts episode ninety six. But in
this article, I really share about how a catalyst for
change is where you need to start when it comes
to your money. I know, for me personally, just having
(07:17):
my mom sit down and say, like, Allison, you need
to be better with your money.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
When I was a young.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Adult, I was like, okay, Mom whatever, And it wasn't
until I was in a spot where I hit rock
bottom and my husband hit rock bottom that we were
willing to find a change that worked for us and
stick with it and see consistency with our money. So
for our family, that was whenever we realized we wouldn't
(07:43):
be able to afford daycare payments, when we became unexpectedly pregnant,
it was very much a we're standing at this fork
in the road.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Something needs to change. Which way are we going to go?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Are we going to do the responsible thing and make
some sacrifices and really look at our behalhaviors with money
and make changes. Are we going to keep doing what
we're doing and just hope it works out. So we
were at this fork in the road, and I think
that so often people find themselves at these forks in
the road. Now it might not be as dramatic and
(08:17):
as our experience, where it's like, Okay, you either make
the money or you don't have daycare for your baby.
You can't take your baby to school with you whenever
you're a teacher, Like I used to joke that I
would like stick them in a filing cabinet. I was like,
I'm just gonna put them in this filing cabinet.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
No one, I'll know, we don't have to pay for daycare.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But I think that so often, even in some of
our small instances in life, that we are faced with
this choice, and your catalyst for changing your money doesn't
have to be this big, grand thing that happens to you.
It can be something small. It can be a dream
you have for your future. It can be a person
(08:59):
in your life, be the fact that you are annoyed
that when you go to the grocery store you have
to pull up your checking account your bank app and
look and see how much money you have because you
want to make sure you have enough money in your
checking account.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Before you swipe your debit card.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
That small, seemingly annoying thing can be enough reason to
change your relationship and how you manage your money.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I really appreciate the story, even the personal story that
you give here about if you use the word two
broke teachers struggling to get by, then you find out
you're pregnant. And I think these types of stories, as
you've described our throughout your book, help us to connect
and realize, well, what is that for me? But also
giving permission to say it doesn't always look like this.
(09:44):
It doesn't always look like rock bottom. Sometimes it's the
daily life annoyances. But I also appreciate that's high end
because when we talk about okay, money made easy, simplifying
our money, feeling more confident in it, it feeling like
an easy task for us, how do we get there?
And I appreciate that your perspective is starting at a catalyst.
(10:08):
Part of the way that we make money easy is
figuring out, well, what is our motivator for engaging in this,
and then how are we going to get there? So
this is almost like step one, and I think this
is probably how most people would describe a why, identifying
your why. There's something I really love about the word
(10:28):
catalyst though, that is I think unique to what you've
identified here and the way that you describe it in
this article. Breaking free of the shoulds requires a motivator
that you call a catalyst. So a catalyst just essentially
a motivator and really like a launching point, the thing
that you can springboard off of, and the way that
(10:48):
you also go into or the article says your reason
for changing the way you spend and manage your money,
it's the reason that you will sacrifice potentially for a
period of time, so that you can live an abundance
for the rest of your life. Sometimes it requires that.
Sometimes as we identify our catalyst, it is going to
mean than saying no to other things, not for the
(11:11):
sake of deprivation, but for the sake of whatever our
catalyst is, whatever our motivator is. And I've seen personally
that can shift throughout life. I think that I experienced
a catalyst in my debt payoff journey, and more recently,
I'm experiencing different catalysts for different financial goals that I have,
(11:35):
and so I think sometimes it can shift and change,
and maybe we've got maybe multiple catalysts, like here's my
catalyst for this goal, and here's my catalyst for that goal.
I don't want to that's making it kind of complicated.
All I look at one at a time.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
But that would overwhelm me, like being like, oh my gosh,
I have to have all of these reasons that would
overwhelm well me, but works for you. That's great. But
I love You're exactly right. I love what you said
about how your catalyst can change, and I think that's
so true. I remember I was I was in Mexico
with Jen and our friend Caroline, who we'll get to
(12:13):
talk to here here from in a couple couple episodes,
and we had this We're at this all inclusive resort drinking.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You know, this is before Gen is pregnant.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
We're in this adults only pool and drinking and we're
having these like very deep conversations about how in life
it's okay to pivot, it's okay to change, it's okay to,
as Jen says, throw a plot twist.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
And I think the same is.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
True when it comes to our catalyst and our reason
behind it. The reason why I might have done that
back then and made money choices back then and be
willing to sacrifice then is totally different than now, and
that's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I welcome that change.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
As I grow and change as a person, my views,
my desires, my once, my dreams, my goals, and what
I'm willing to work on will also change. And I
think it's so beautiful because it just shows how money
is so personal and we can't just like put it
in this little box and say this is exactly what
you need to do and this is exactly what will
(13:13):
work for you.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Because it's not true.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I also like how the article goes on to talk
about how your catalyst must be something that's at the forefront,
not necessarily something that you are constantly thinking about and
ruminating on and contributing to your anxiety, but something present
and that is stronger than the frustrations that you will
face along the way. So I think there's even some
(13:38):
tips in that and identifying what is my catalyst, what
is going to help make this easier? How am I
going to stick to the plan? What is something that
is at the forefront, what is something that's ever present,
and what is something that's going to be stronger than
the frustration's face? And I know we've kind of alluded
to or touched on a bit. What's some of those
(14:00):
can be? You've said rock bottom. You've also listed in
the article that your catalyst could be the little annoyances
throughout the day, your sleepless nights, your ever present desire
for a vacation that just seems looming and unattainable but
you want it so badly, or your desire for financial literacy. Like,
(14:20):
it doesn't have to be this massive story that culminates
in someone's rock bottom. It could be these other things
as long as we're making sure that whatever it is
that we've identified is, as you've said, stronger than the
frustrations that we're going to face on a daily basis
in our efforts to simplify our money become more confident exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
And I think it's important to note that those frustrations
that you're going to face are going to change over time.
So for example, when we were paying off debt and
our catalyst was finding more money and our budget to
send to debt so we could eventually keep all of
the money we made. I remember my frustrations during the
summer was seeing everyone take these beach vacations. I live
(15:05):
in Texas and everyone goes to Florida, they go to
Destin actually thirty a area, and I remember just thinking.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Like, I want that.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I want that, And my frustration was that I felt
like I couldn't have that to the level that I
wanted it, And I had to remind myself, Okay, like
that doesn't mean you're never going to have it. But
then guess what, come October that was no longer a
frustration for me. My frustrations became something else. So your
(15:34):
frustrations can change. But as long as you go back
to your catalyst, it can allow you to at least
pause and question right. And that's the goal. The goal
isn't to be perfect. The goal is to pause and say, Okay,
if I make this choice with my money, is that
going to help me get closer to this goal? And
the answer it can either be yes or no, and
(15:56):
sometimes we still go ahead with it, and that's okay.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
It's not about being perfect.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
But when you have that thing to go back to
and to think about, that's where I think the magic is.
It's the willingness to pause and ponder.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And then the article wraps up with an action point
which we can all do. You could pause this podcast
now and do it or do it at the end
whenever you want, but to take ten minutes to journal
or write down. If the word journal scares you, it
makes you start to sweat. Just diary, writ down? No, Tay,
(16:33):
I had a diary, Can I tell it?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Really?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Randozing, I had a diary in sixth grade and I
felt weird.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I was like past the dear diary stage.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Of my life, but I felt weird being like dear diary,
and I felt like I had to write a letter
of someone.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
So I named my diary Jenny, and I was like,
dear Jenny.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
And I yes, And I wrote to an imaginary person
that was my diary.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'd have told anyone this except for my mom.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Thanks for in trusting us. I'm going to make my
dear Jenny well, dear Jenny. So take some time to
write to Jenny yes, about what your catalyst could be.
So some of the prompts in this to kind of
get closer to understanding yourself in this way include what
(17:24):
hopes do you have for your future? What can managing
your money better do for your life? What is worth
the temporary sacrifice? And changing your relationship with money? Those
are just some questions. If, as you've listened to this
first part of the podcast, you kind of have other ideas,
go for it, but these are some of the really
helpful questions that are going to help you really narrow
(17:46):
down and focus in on what is my catalyst. And
that's going to be a really great launching point for
simplifying money, which gets us to this next article which
I found really interesting. This one comes It's actually on
linked In and it's titled personal finance is Simple, We
make it complicated.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
I have all the thoughts about this article. I read
this article and I was like, Okay, mister CFA guy
I don't know his name is. I'm not even going
to try to speak say his name because I will
butcher it.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But it says one idiot.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It's his.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It's how he describes himself.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
It's one of his like it's true, like things like
he's the CEO of this and a financial literacy campaigner.
And it also says one idiot. So that's interesting. But
I really enjoy this article.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Because I agree personal finance is simple.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
We make it complicated, and I think it's a collective
we of the world and everything pulling at our attention,
and all the different people telling us what we need
to do, and everyone telling us what we need to buy,
people telling us what we need to have prepared for
when we die, and then all the options along with it.
(19:03):
It's like when you go into the grocery store and
you try to pick out a type of peanut butter
and there's just like ninety different peanut butters.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Life then it used to be that way.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
There was one type of peanut butter when you went
into the grocery store, and.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Back before we were before we were alive.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
And I think that we as a society make it complicated,
and then we as ourselves can make it complicated too.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
So I love this.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Why do we do that? I know? Sometimes I think
it's job creation, Like make it complicated so that someone
can be an expert and they can mystify it and
take your money. That's my pessimistic feel.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Well, I I'm more of a silver lining, half glass
full kind of girl myself. I think that while we
make it complicated because we think it needs to be
complicated because money is so important.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
We know that money is important.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
It is it seeps into every aspect of our life
for the of time. I mean, even thinking like I
think about like, oh my gosh, what if I'm ninety
years old and I'm in a nursing home and it's
costing my kids ten thousand dollars a month? How do
I make sure I don't run out of money? Like
the fact that I that is a concern of mine
and that I'm worried about that I'm doing that to myself.
(20:16):
I make it complicated because I see it as important.
And when we see something as important, sometimes we think
it has to be complicated.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Because it is important.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
But that's not that's for interesting theory. Yeah, we complicate
things when they're important. I like that. So this article
is primarily written around a piece of advice given what
did they say like a while ago from a person
named Scott Adams from the Dilbert cartoon Yes series, many
(20:48):
years back. And it's just a simple one page financial plan.
And yeah there is something too. I see a one
page financial plan and I want to discount it for
some reason, like, oh, well, it can be that simple.
But then as I read through it, I don't see
many holes to be poked. Certainly there are addendums that
could be written to any one of these, and there
(21:10):
are steps, and each step could take a long time,
but it can be all written down in one page.
And so I'll just go through and describe it and
then we can kind of say a little bit more
about it. But the one page financial plan is and
it's titled Everything you Need to Know about Personal Investing.
(21:32):
Make a will, pay off your credit card balance, get
term life insurance if you have a family to support.
Fund your four oh one K to the max, Fund
your IRA to the max. Buy a house if you
want to live in a house and can afford it.
That's six months expenses. I do too, put six months
expenses in a money market account, take whatever money is
(21:53):
left over and invest seventy percent in a stock index
fund thirty percent and a bond fund through any discount
brokerage company, and never touch it until retirement. If any
of this confuses you, or you have something special going
on retirement, college planning, tax issue, hire a fee based
financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.
That's it. That's the entire one page financial plan. And
(22:15):
of course there are entire books that could be written
on any one of these bullet points. So it's not
to say that each of them aren't don't have things
to do as a part of them, but what a summary.
And it's also occurring to me, what an original TikTok
almost like this is what we love. We love the
(22:35):
bite size, like how do we get all this information
into a six second video? Or like something that is
super simple. We do love to simplify it, and then
we also love to over complicate. I don't know, we're
complicated creatures in some regard, but we can make complicated
things more attainable and I think every one of these
(22:58):
is is great. Certainly, there are circumstances where this wouldn't
make sense. I mean, for me personally, I don't have
one a four oh one K through the place that
I work, So you know, I've got to look into
and educate myself on one of the workarounds for that.
Of course, you may not want to buy a house.
For certain people, more than six months of living expenses
would be good. But if we're looking for give me
(23:21):
something bite size, what can I do here? It is?
And I think this is simple.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
It is simple, but we make it so complicated. And
you know why, I'm looking at this list right now,
and I feel like a lot of people immediately and
tell me if this is me being pessimistic, because I'm
not usually pessimistic, I wonder I feel like a lot
of people would look at this and they would say, well,
that's great, but that doesn't apply to me. Because and
(23:46):
we're always finding reasons why we stand out from this list.
This not because you did, because I don't have a
four to oh one K offered right, And so it's
sometimes I feel like we discount everything on the list
because because it it doesn't apply to us in one aspect,
and sometimes I think that we discount this and we
(24:09):
make excuses because because it's hard to work on our part,
because it takes time and attention. And I can totally
relate this to like my personal health journey right now
and like trying to work out and get better and
just in more shape, to where like I can run
outside and play soccer with my kids and not feel
like I have to stop.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And it's like I.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Only need one hour in the day to be very
intentional about exercise, but I can find you all the
reasons why I can't do it.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
And I feel like sometimes that's what we do with
our money too.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
I don't usually actually like to relate money to like
dieting or working out, but that was a very seamless
analogy there.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Sometimes there's overlap in those worlds, and we're whole people.
So the issues and barriers that we face when it
comes to our personal finance is our most likely very
similar issues and barriers that we're facing in other aspects
of our personhood physical, emotional, mental, and so I think
it is worth moving through. I think growth in any
(25:13):
one area or aspect of our life means growth in
the entire thing. If we are able to learn how
to get on a regular exercise routine, we are more
likely going to be able to get on a budget
because there are some similar brain pathways at work in
being able to do that. And so I think that's
(25:33):
another way of being able to talk about making our
money easy is recognizing the intersection of all aspects of
our personhood that just growth in any area of our
lives is going to mean growth for the whole and
it's going to help us financially, not to mention in
other areas as well.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
So yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Mean I personally I think it's a great tie in.
But then so so to move through the article, I
think there. It then goes on because the author adds
more to this one pager that was initially put out
by this Scott Adams, and so they review the components
(26:15):
of financial planning, and we'll go through each of them,
but I'll just highlight the main categories that when it
comes to financial planning, so we're not necessarily just talking
about day to day managing personal expenses. We're talking about
the whole thing of how do we manage our personal finances,
not just how do we budget while that's a part
(26:37):
of this, right, It's an aspect of it. Right. So
we're talking about protection, savings, and growth primarily that everything
we do with our financial planning falls under one of
those three categories. And then there's some additional kind of
outliers that are maybe good to have or good to do,
(26:57):
So we'll go through them. If you want to kick
us off with protection, what falls under that category when
we're looking at protection, savings growth? What's protection?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
We have life insurance, health insurance, home and motor insurance.
So basically we're just hoping that life doesn't just take
advantage of us. Things happen and we are left up
a creek without a paddle.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Look at you all the creativity that we need to
implement when explictives are taken away. I love, Yes, there
we go.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, So, I mean, I definitely think that these are
things that I think most people know that they're supposed
to do and.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Are actually pretty In terms of delegating them or actually
going through the process can be very simple.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Obviously.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Health insurance usually you have someone at your HR at
your job, if you're working a traditional nine to five
offers health insurance. They're going to sit down and be like, Okay,
we have these three days, guys, let's get you signed up.
And so it's kind of like someone holding your hand
through that home insurance same thing. If you're buying a house,
you don't have a choice. You can't buy that house
(28:07):
without home insurance policy. And then car insurance same thing.
It's illegal to not have car insurance. Life insurance, though,
I think, can be easily overlooked unless you have like
a guide, someone telling you. And then it gets complicated
when you go to a salesperson and they try to
sell you something that might not be best for you,
(28:27):
like before, like in that original list he talks about
getting term life insurance and then he says, you want
whole life insurance policy.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It's worse, like don't get it.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
But there is humor throughout the art.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
There is there is humor.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
I think that we complicate it whenever we're trying to
decipher what of the life insurance policies which one is
best for our family, and other people complicate it for
us when they try to sell us different things.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Would you agree with that?
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Absolutely? And I would recommend term life insurance. Do your
own due diligence on that. And also I want to
add to this protection category and insurances. If you're renting,
I would really encourage renters insurance because your landlord will
(29:20):
only cover damage done to their property, not yours. That
is not covered. And so especially if you've got items
of high value that if they were lost in a fire,
you would be devastated. Get those things covered. And renter's
insurance is usually quite affordable, I want to say, less
(29:42):
than one hundred dollars a month. So shop around, but
I'm going to highly highly recommend that. I think it
should be thinking, Oh, I'm renting, like it's all going
to be covered. It's not. And I've seen way too
many people think that they were covered and not be
and really be up that creek with no path. Al.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yes, So there's a woman in my neighborhood and she's
renting a house here. She's a family of five kids,
and they had a water pipe burst in the middle
of the night and they're upstairs, flooded the downstairs area
and they had to leave their house for two weeks
while the owner renovated the home. Well, they where were
(30:24):
they going to go? Their renters insurance paid for a
hotel and so they actually had two hotel rooms with
like a suite because of the size of their family.
They paid for that and they gave them a daily
stipend for food, so that there alone, it covers the
cost of that in it. It also replaced some of
the items in their home that was lost. But it's like,
(30:47):
we always think it's not gonna happen to us, but
it will, and.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Don't I think that exactly?
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I wish, I personally wish that Renter's insurance was a requirement,
just like home insurance as a requirement.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
I wish Renter's insurance.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And then I just I'm going to throw this one
in there because of where I live in the Houston area,
we also have flood insurance personally, just because we are
in an area. Our house did not flood during Hurricane Harvey,
but literally three fourths of a mile down the road
it did. And even though we're not ever supposed to flood,
(31:21):
I'm like, I don't want it's to me, It's not
worth the risk. So we actually pay like six hundred
dollars a year in flood insurance, and obviously for homes
that might be in a flood area, it's required as well.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, so this is the time to actually consider worst
case scenario and what are you going to wish that
you had in those circumstances. It's also a protection against
some unnecessary anxiety that you can sleep at night knowing, well,
you know what I did this step of protection. So
then it moves into another component of financial planning, which
is savings, and they outline both emergency savings and short
(31:59):
term goal savings. We've talked about this ad nauseum through
other podcasts episodes, but is good to be repeated here.
And this is different from investing, which we'll get into
in the next component of financial planning. But savings is
literally the money that you have set aside that is
easily accessible to you for those items emergency and short
(32:24):
term goals. You've heard the advice to have six months
worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund. That's
a great, that's great. Of course, some people will choose
the route of three months, depending on their circumstances and
their confidence and being able to get a job in
the event of a job loss. And then you've got
(32:46):
more recommendations. Primarily we just talked about this with or
is it coming up? I forget. I don't want to
give away other episodes, but for single people, it can
be recommended, yes, to have a more beefy emergency fund,
maybe something more along the lines of nine to twelve
months worth of living expenses saved. So whatever you're going
(33:08):
to feel most comfortable with. Obviously it spans the gamut
of three to twelve months, but find yourself somewhere in there.
Grow your emergency fund, and then you've got your short
term goals, which we've also called sinking funds. So that
can be a fund for home maintenance. That could be
a fund for vacation. That could be a fund for
(33:29):
giving or holidays, or you name it. Whatever it is.
Are your things that you want to be in spending
on the things that you value. Those are your short
term goals. That's where you're going to put it into,
hopefully a high yield savings account that you can then
easily withdraw from. So that's the savings category.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yes, And can I throw in another short term goal
that I recently started and I really love, please. So
we have a really large backyard and I've always wanted
a pool. My husband's been very against pools, very much against.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
It, and I am for it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
So he like what this was When I first started
my business, I was like, I want a pool. He
was like, Okay, when you're making this much money a year,
we'll get a pool. Like almost like, oh, that's never
going to happen. And like within two years I hit
it and I was like, okay, are we getting a pool?
Speaker 3 (34:22):
And he was like, well no, I didn't know that
was possible, Like I didn't think this was possible for
your business. And I was like, oh yeah, now we're backtracking.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So anyway, fast forward, We've moved into this home now
we have a nice, beautiful backyard, and I still want
a pool.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
My husband does not. We are conflicted. We've had people
come out.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
We've had three different people come out to give us
quotes and drop plans for a pool, but we just
can't pull the trigger. And the reason why is because
it we would have to take out a loan for it.
We would and putting in a pool right now these
days is like over one hundred thousand dollars. And so
he says, I don't want you to sign up for
that responsibility in your life, like you already are the
(35:02):
breadwinner and the family I don't want you having that
extra added pressure. So I said, fine, what if I
save up for it in cash? Like what if I
save one hundred thousand dollars in cash? And he was
like great. But I didn't like the idea of just
like putting it in a pool fund because I don't
know if I want that yet, Like I'm not sold myself.
So I have a Things I Want fund. It's just
(35:25):
a savings fund that I can put money into.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Usually it's like.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
If I get a bonus from my work, I will
put it in there and I don't have to make
a decision about what I'm going to spend that money on.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Now.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
It's not meant to cover emergencies. It's not meant to
cover Christmas.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
It is meant to.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Be used for any future goals that I haven't even
been inspired.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
To have yet, or a pool whichever comes first.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I love that, not locking yourself in. Yeah, and that's
that's simplifying too, sometimes giving yourself just freedom open handed
with some of these goals. But yeah, that's the savings category.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Yes, And then we have growth, which I love this one,
and that includes retirement planning, which we know is hey
so important, but can be incredibly stressful, children, children's education,
house purchase, so if you want to save up for
a down payment on.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
A home, and then other goal based planning.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, and so I love that this is under the
growth category because I know it might just be semantics,
but we often hear people talking about saving for retirement,
and I think we're trying to do some work to
tease that apart, because while I understand what people are saying,
you really want to be investing for retirement, You want
(36:47):
to be saving for your short term goals and your
emergency fund, because that primarily is talking about savings, meaning
you're just taking the money, putting it aside. It may
or may not grow by percentage is it's not investing it,
you're wanting it easily accessible, but retirement investing, and so
(37:08):
that's why they're putting it under this growth category of
financial planning. And so the growth meaning that you are
hopefully putting it into accounts that are going to earn
interest on your money. So that is your four oh
one K, your WROTH, four oh three B, other investment options. Yeah,
(37:30):
that's the retirement investing and then growth. It's interesting to me, Yeah,
that they put kids education under the growth maybe because
your kids are growing, but of course if you're doing
a five twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You're investing that money. So yeah, I would. I would
definitely say that, but like and I, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Don't know if I would put children's education in our growth. Personally,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
You're investing in your kids to earn money, and I'm
for you and your old age.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
I'm going to invest in you emotionally, so you'll take
you'll want to take.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Care of me. I always make a joke because Eric
and I don't have any children, but my sister has
four kids, and so I'm always joking that I'm going
to identify one of them who seems like particularly interested in,
you know, being with me until the very end. I'm like,
I'm gonna especially invest in this one because I think
(38:28):
they might. I tell my sister, I'm like, can I
just take one of your children in my old age
to be the response to my God, I love that, Well,
you've got four of them, can just wake me exactly?
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Well, even if you have your own children, don't guarantee
they're going to do that. I asked my kids. No,
I done that with my own kids. I'm like, Okay,
which of you is going to take care of me?
And I even asked Evan, my oldest. I was like,
are you going to take care of me when I'm older?
And he was like, no, James can do it. And
I asked James and James was like, no, Evan can
do it. And I'm like, one of you have got
(38:59):
a step up, guys, maybe not now, but in the future,
like you've got to step up.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I need a leader here.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Yeah, And that's where we can help the kids out
by having that retirement investing happening where you are planning
for growth so that you're not putting a financial burden
on your children, but hopefully they're going to be there
to help make decisions as needed and make and advocate
for you medically if that's needed. That would be the hope,
I suppose, exactly. And then the article goes on to
(39:30):
some other kind of good to have good to dos
as it relates to financial planning, so certainly paying off
credit card debt and other high interest loan debt. I
love that they specify that, because it's not as if
we can't carry any degree of debt. I know we've
talked about this in other podcast episodes. Sometimes we can
(39:52):
use it to our advantage, but it's that high interest
debt particularly that we want to be really hap at
and getting that gone as soon as possible so that
we're not held back from these other goals. So that's
going to be your credit cards and your other high
interest debt, and that's really anything above six or seven
(40:12):
percent interest rates. They also advise to make a will, absolutely,
and I think even even for people who aren't married
or don't have kids, I think this is really important.
And I would put you know, medical decision making under
this as well, So not even just a will for
(40:34):
what happens to my stuff if I pass, but also
what happens to me if I am in a coma,
or I am in a situation where you know, medical
decisions for me need to be made. Rather than the
hospitals or some other person deciding who's going to make
those decisions, you identifying who's going to make those decisions.
(40:55):
If anything, I would argue this is almost more important
for our single friends out there. Oftentimes you know, the
spouse is the kind of go to or the child
is the go to in that, but but name them,
put it on paper, get it notarized, and then keeping
family up to date. So certainly if you are married
or you know you are single, and you've got people
(41:18):
who are going to be your your your people, our attorney.
Yeah right, it's I say, your people, keep them up
to date, keep them involved, make sure that they know,
and review it annually. This is one of those things
that we don't have to be looking at regularly, especially
when we're talking about these big overarching pieces of protections, savings, growth.
A lot of this can be automated, but we should
(41:40):
review it annually because things change, plot twists get thrown in,
and we want to make sure that it's still relevant exactly.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Yeah, absolutely, things change. I have a I have not
done this, but it's on my to do list and
I need to just do it. I need to give
myself a deadline. I want to create like a Google
doc and give it to my mom and share it
with my mom, and that gives her all of the
passwords for everything, and even for our safe and where
the will is located and all the things. Because if
(42:09):
something God forbid were to happen to Matt and I,
I want it to be as easy as possible for
her to deal with all the mess you can't have
to deal with.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, almost like money made easy? Yeah, exactly making it easy. Yeah,
that's interesting though, like sometimes sometimes there's a learning curve,
sometimes there's work that needs to happen. It's not as
if the entire process is easy, but the making it easy.
We can do things that might require effort, that might
(42:40):
require some investment of learning and gaining resources and tools
so that it becomes easy with the process of making
it easy. Exact For that reason too, I love the
title of your book.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Do you know what else we make easy? It's not
a plot twist because you always see it coming the week.
Speaker 6 (43:12):
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is Williams. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore. Fust bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this
is the bill of the week.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
Hey y'all, this is Victoria from North Carolina. Last year,
at Christmas time, I was so excited to buy my
daughter one of the expensive lifelike baby dolls, and it
was a bill that I'd loved paying for over the year,
that bill has become very expensive as my daughter and
(43:55):
I have enjoyed shopping for little baby things for her
baby doll. This year we have given away the baby doll,
and I am thankful to no longer have that bill
that grew so large. But here's the best part. She
named him William. Can't get better bill's than that. Thanks
(44:21):
for you, guys, doo.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Wow, Victoria. That felt like a wild ride, like a
thirty second wild ride for small Thanks for calling in.
But also okay, it was a bill that you were
really excited about that you didn't mind paying. You were
able to give a good gift to your daughter, but
then that turned into needing to buy more things. Then
it was like a bill you wish you didn't have.
(44:45):
But then it was a.
Speaker 7 (44:46):
Bill named Bill, and then it was a bill you
gave away. This is complicated, but you made it easy
by getting rid of it.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Oh well done.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I feel like this is a really good lie lesson
to your daughter on how parenting is.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Like it's expensive.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
It does it like you have to care for it
and you have to continue to put money in it,
or like a pet, it's like whenever you have like
I remember the first time I got a cat.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
My mom was I was in college min and was like,
you know, this costs money. I'm like, it's fine.
Speaker 4 (45:19):
If I had had this experience at the baby doll,
maybe I wouldn't have gotten that cat right away, because
it's a lot of responsibility. This baby doll was a
lot of responsibility.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
It's such a good lesson. I think that oftentimes we
will only think about the upfront cost or investment of something,
forgetting about what we're gonna want with that thing, then
the maintenance costs, or just the desires that we have
alongside it. I mean, it's an interesting thing to look at, Okay,
the baby doll, but now now we want a carriage
(45:50):
for it, and we want cute clothes, and we want
all the miniature things, and when we want to set
up a little room for it, and it just kind
of becomes this whole mom stir William, this big bill
named Bill, and man, you just cut ties with William,
and I like that. It's it's a William you gave away.
(46:12):
Well done. If you all listening happen to have a
baby doll named William that you had to give away
because it costs you too many bills, or you are
a person named Bill, or you've just got some other
tie into Bill. You know, we like to keep it vague.
Visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Bill, leave us
(46:33):
your bill, and now it's time for.
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Question.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Have we added this.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Aggressive that I like, I'm like excited but scared all simultaneously,
you are in.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
The exact right place.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
It in the round.
Speaker 1 (47:00):
It's just the same as the rest of the podcast,
just as we're coming to a close soon and there's
more yelling because we've eased you into it now. Okay, great.
So this question comes from Goldie, our amazing podcast manager,
who asks us what was the best decision you made
for simplifying your finances. Allison, you go first because you
(47:25):
are our honored co host, so for my very special
co hosts.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
So for our family, it was definitely our weekly budget meetings,
which if I'm being honest or it's not every week,
maybe every other week. But for us having a family,
running a household together, having kids that were taking to
theater and music lessons and soccer and all the places,
(47:51):
it's really hard to get on the same page because
you feel like you're just like sometimes two ships crossing
in the night, or by the end of the night
when you put the kids to bed and you come
down and you just want to watch the newest episode
of ted Lasso, which we did last night. So our
weekly budget meetings allow us to kind of just like
one and done, talk about money. Are we on track?
Are there any changes we need to make? Let's pay
(48:13):
off the credit cards in full and just get on
the same page. That way, the rest of the week
we can just be parents and partners.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
I like that, like getting a to do thing out
of the way so that it's not interrupting your other
connection exactly. That's cool. How long have you done these
weekly budget meetings for?
Speaker 3 (48:35):
So we started them.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
It was actually my husband's idea, and I was like,
that's ridiculous, which it's not, so he has good ideas.
But we started them probably in twenty eighteen, and it's
every Sunday. Sometimes we do them at dinner in front
of the kids. Sometimes we don't, but we talk about
all of that, but we also talk about just some
other life things like, Okay, do you have any late
(48:58):
night meetings this week? What are we cooking for dinner?
A lot of times, like I'll make the meal plan,
or he'll make the meal plan, and then things like, Okay,
what are the kids have going on? We're in a
very busy season just of the year and of our
life with children, so we have different choir concerts and
music recitals and a cub Scout graduation and all the things.
(49:20):
So it allows us to get on the same page
for the whole week.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
With our money and our life.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
That way, during the week we can just enjoy each
other's presence and we don't have any of that like
you said you were gonna pay off the credit card
bell and or you said you were gonna pick him
up from this, Like, no, we have all of that done,
so that.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
Way we can just enjoy our life during the week.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Yeah, it's interesting because it sounds like a lot. It sounds.
I'm sure anyone listening is like you do that every week,
But that almost simplifies it because then there's not as
much to do if you're looking at it that often.
That's neat and it includes other things.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Too, Yeah, like the mental energy.
Speaker 4 (50:01):
I'm not having to sit here and thinking like oh
my gosh, when I get home or when Matt gets
so many to talk to them about this or this,
because I'm not living day by day anymore, which can
be really stressful when your days are chaotic. I'm living
week by week, so I have a plan for the
week that my partner is on board with with our
money and our life, so that way the rest of
(50:24):
the week, I just need to take action and implement
what we talked about.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
If that makes sense, yes, wow, mine is not quite
as cool, but it's simple and it's automation. It amazes
me still that so many people do not have certain
things automated, and it just makes life so much easier
that I have to set something up once, but then
(50:48):
after that, like savings is automated, investing is automated, A
lot of my bill pay is automated. Like it's just
so simple. Then all I have to worry about is
my discretionary spending.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
It's awesome, great.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Do you have making sure that all of that is
below My means.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
Oh, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (51:05):
But do you have all of that come out at
a certain time? So I yeah, Like, for instance, like
do you have it come out right after pay day?
Speaker 1 (51:15):
So both my husband and I get paid by weekly,
but on each other's off weeks, so once a week
we are receiving someone's paycheck. Okay, so I have oscillated
my bills, like there are some that come out at
the beginning of the month and some halfway through the month,
so that can kind of volley between our two.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (51:39):
And you can just anyone who's listening, You can ask
for your pay your due date to be changed. So
if it makes more sense for you to pay a
bill at the beginning of the month, just ask for
them to change your due date and typically they will.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
But that's very similar to bills I've broken. Yeah, and
to buy monthly, like car payment, I make buy monthly,
which allows me to add a little bit more to it.
And yeah, that's I don't know, just all the different
hacks you can do with automation.
Speaker 3 (52:07):
And then you don't have to think about it. Your
mental energy is not bent on it.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly, until like a bank account changes
and you got to go back and remember, okay, what
all comes out of that bank account?
Speaker 4 (52:20):
Oh yeah, or your credit card gets stolen and your
number gets stolen. Yes, which can I tell a really
funny story about this?
Speaker 1 (52:29):
We love funny story.
Speaker 4 (52:30):
Okay, So I have a business and I have two
business credit cards. I have one that I use primarily
and I have.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
One that's just kind of like a backup. Just don't
use it very often.
Speaker 4 (52:41):
Well, I also have a bookkeeper, and my bookkeeper there
was like an Amazon purchase and she was like, what
is this Amazon purchase?
Speaker 3 (52:48):
I have to categorize it.
Speaker 4 (52:49):
And I was like, I didn't make that Amazon purchase
and she's like, well, it's here for this much money.
We have to figure out what it is. And I'm like,
oh my gosh, I think my credit card has been stolen,
my business credit card. And I'm like, oh, do I
really want to deal with this. I go through all
of my Amazon orders. I'm like, did I buy something
personal on accident with the wrong card. I cannot find
(53:10):
this order, so I tell them I can't find it.
But I think I'm just gonna ignore it because it
wasn't that much money, and I know it's going to
be such a hassle to switch everything over to.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
A new card, and I didn't want.
Speaker 4 (53:20):
I would rather pay the twenty five dollars of have
it compromise, which is so awful.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
So she was like, Allison, no, you need to switch
your card.
Speaker 4 (53:28):
I was like fine, cancel my card, report it as fraud,
all of the things. And then I get an email
I reported fraud on buying my own book.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
I bought a.
Speaker 4 (53:42):
Commy of my book on Amazon, and then I was like, oh, fraud.
So Amazon is like, okay, we're canceling your order for
money made easy because you reported it as fraud.
Speaker 3 (53:58):
I was like, oh, I went through us to.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
My own but not only was it your own purchase,
it was on your own book. Oh man, al that's too.
Speaker 4 (54:11):
Good, really embarrassing, and so yep, I had to I
already canceled my card.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
I had the new one in.
Speaker 4 (54:19):
I had to sit down and go through my bank
statement and change because everything comes out on my credit
card with my business change all of the auto pays.
So that way I didn't it miss something all because
I marked my own.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Book as a fraudulent purchase.
Speaker 1 (54:36):
So that's a great story.
Speaker 3 (54:38):
I have my own worst enemy.
Speaker 1 (54:39):
I appreciate your vulnerability there, guys, the vulnerability lightning round
there we go. Oh, well, thanks everyone so much for listening.
We hope that this was hopeful to you and figuring
out how to simplify your money a bit, and of
course definitely get Allison's book if you want more tangible
tips on how you can simplify that make your money easy.
(55:00):
Any of you also know we have a membership for
our listeners who are paying off debt, where we do
monthly money challenges and we offer accountability groups, which we
know is so important in this personal finance journey finding
other buds along the way. So we want to congratulate
one of our members for a big win. This one
comes from Jacqueline M who shared I decided to do
another thirty day no spend this month. Whoa Jacqueline. Last month,
(55:23):
I kept a list of what I wanted to buy
when the no spend was over, and by the end
of the month, there was only one thing I still wanted.
It was very sobering. This month feels much easier to navigate.
I feel quote unquote unhooked from the constant, relentless buying treadmill.
Sometimes that's what we need. Jacqueline like that, it's like
(55:44):
something to interrupt that pattern, shake it up, throw them
a plot twist, and then realize that, oh wow, that
I just needed a I needed an interrupter. I needed
a disruptor to kind of show me that I don't
actually care about these things. Yes, holy smokes, that's so cool.
Well done.
Speaker 3 (55:59):
Yes, that's like a dtalks.
Speaker 4 (56:00):
You had a money detox and then you're able to
introduce back in the spending that is valuable to you.
I feel like so many people we should just do that,
like once a month every year. I need to just
schedule a money detox. I'm gonna choose it on the
shortest month, February.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Okay, well, congratulations, good one.
Speaker 4 (56:18):
Congratulations Jacqueline. That's amazing and I can't wait to hear.
I hope I get to hear how month two of
your thirty day no spend month goes.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Yes, if you want to check in on Jacqueline, or
just check in on the membership where we have all
kinds of courses, interviews, challenges, just all kinds of amazing
people like Jacqueline, head to Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash
club check it out, and after you do that.
Speaker 3 (56:44):
We will see you for another episode next time. I
get to come back by Yeah, I get.
Speaker 1 (56:49):
To yay, we got more from Allison. See ya. Frugal
Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Oh my, Allison, I
(57:11):
don't even I'm still reeling from your story.
Speaker 3 (57:14):
I know, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
It's funny because I have a similar story where I
made like a an order on Walmart online and it
was on a credit card that was connected to Eric's
phone number, and the credit card company flagged it. They're like,
this is weird. This probably wasn't you. And Eric looked
(57:37):
at it and he thought, yeah, that's weird. Probably wasn't me.
Didn't even think to ask me, just I am not
a spender. That's the thing about me, is like I
don't really need detoxes because I'm always just a little
bit like I don't need that. Nah, I can. I
can get by with what I have. It's actually kind
of bad sometimes anyhow. He was like, no, certainly, I
(57:59):
don't even need to check with Jill, like she just
doesn't ever spend money, So like, I'm just gonna say
it was fraudulent. Well, yeah, no it wasn't. I actually
did go on Walmart dot com. But it's not as
amazing as your story of like purchasing your own product.
Speaker 3 (58:15):
Yes, and then embarrassing. Then I had to go back
to my bookkeepers and they were like.
Speaker 4 (58:21):
Oh, did you figure out like like where the scam
was like, oh, and.
Speaker 3 (58:26):
Not even that.
Speaker 1 (58:26):
Are you ready?
Speaker 4 (58:27):
So then I'm I'm talking to Chase on the phone
whenever I was originally telling them like, yeah, this is fraud,
and they were like, okay, well we can see it
comes from this Amazon account.
Speaker 3 (58:36):
Is this your Amazon account?
Speaker 4 (58:37):
I was like yes, and they're like, well, you're gonna
need to change your Amazon password. So then I go
to Matt, I'm like, we have to change our Amazon password.
We have to be aware because someone might be in
Amazon buying things like books that would buy my books.
And so then like literally days later, that's like, this
was literally your purchase your book.
Speaker 3 (58:58):
I had pre ordered it.
Speaker 4 (59:00):
So anyone who pre orders said the like, oh my gosh,
I felt so stupid.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
Well that is a good tip because I have noticed
that specifically with Amazon, when you buy things from different
parts of Amazon, sometimes it doesn't show up like your
your actual physical tangible orders will show up differently than
digital orders, you know, like podcasts or books or your
annual membership fee or whatever that is. And that usually
(59:29):
does trip me up where I'll get this charge and
I'm like, well, what is that. I don't see it
in my orders. Oh, it's in the digital orders, or
it's in this section of Amazon, so it is worth
checking all of those things before canceling. But well, oh
my gosh, this is the irony of yeah.
Speaker 3 (59:46):
And you know what, I didn't even buy it again.
I was like, whatever, my publisher sent me some copies.
I don't even need to buy another.
Speaker 4 (59:52):
I'll I'll just let that one be a loss.
Speaker 3 (59:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (59:58):
Well, you know it's just that that is how you
know that no one has it all together. Like people
don't have it all together. They only show you what
they want you to see.
Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
And I wanted everyone to see my mess up. Mmm
yeah beautiful, Yeah, so shoop perfect
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