Speaker 1: Episode seventy one, Simple Travel Hacking with Lee Hoffman. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
Speaker 1: embrace simplicity, and liberal with your life. Here your host
Speaker 1: Jen and Jill to go there. Welcome, Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast. I'm Jen, I'm Jill, and we are
Speaker 1: super excited about today's episode. This is another listener request
Speaker 1: and this is something Jill and I really really like.
Speaker 1: So we're excited to have Lee Hoffman from We Travel There,
Speaker 1: who is a travel hacking expert, to talk about travel
Speaker 1: rewards and miles and such. Yes, it's gonna be so
Speaker 1: good because who doesn't want to travel, especially once you've
Speaker 1: attain to your minimalist lifestyle. What are you gonna do
Speaker 1: with all your time? You're gonna make memories instead of
Speaker 1: collecting things. So let's learn how to go there frugally. Yes,
Speaker 1: and even for the credit card averse. I think we're
Speaker 1: going to have some good, little simple beginner tips. This
Speaker 1: is not going to be an expert deep dive into
Speaker 1: travel hacking. It's going to be very accessible, So it's
Speaker 1: going to be a lot of the things that Jill
Speaker 1: and I do. We are not experts on this. We're
Speaker 1: just going to share about all of our experiences and
Speaker 1: then we're going to give you a destination that you
Speaker 1: should travel to. That's we're looking forward to. But before that,
Speaker 1: should we should we talk about our sponsors? Yes? We should? Okay,
Speaker 1: believe that this episode is also brought to you by vacation.
Speaker 1: All I ever wanted when you have to get away,
Speaker 1: a vacation is what you want. Some people prefer spending
Speaker 1: it alone, others of family and friends. So whether it's
Speaker 1: a week away to forget someone or two weeks which
Speaker 1: will still probably not be long enough to get over someone,
Speaker 1: try vacation, vacation, anything anyone ever wants. It's a vacation.
Speaker 1: I missness. Wrout that welcome back, Welcome back, Jen. Wow,
Speaker 1: you need a vacation. Apparently maternity leave is not vacation,
Speaker 1: as we can all tell Yeah, I think any parent
Speaker 1: can tell you a maternity leave is not. It's like
Speaker 1: the opposite of vacation. I need a vacation from my
Speaker 1: maternity leave, and I've already scheduled one and I'll talk
Speaker 1: about it. I scheduled it on points. I'm excited to
Speaker 1: hear about that. Let's talk about how we can get
Speaker 1: you on a vacation frugally, because that's necessary. Yes, first,
Speaker 1: we want to give you a destination that you may
Speaker 1: not be able to travel hack because it's meng up
Speaker 1: next week. But we are having a Frugal Friends meet
Speaker 1: up in Washington, d C. I'm so excited, Jill. It's
Speaker 1: September seven at five thirty at Calorama Park, so in
Speaker 1: d C by the Washington Hilton. So if you're in
Speaker 1: the DC area, please head to Frugal Friends community on Facebook.
Speaker 1: It's our group. We've got an event in there um
Speaker 1: and we'll be posting updates in case there's a rain
Speaker 1: change of location. But this is a Calorama Park. It's
Speaker 1: a free and big playgrounds, so great for kids and
Speaker 1: just hanging out and being frugal. Bring your own snacks.
Speaker 1: We'll figure out how you'll know who we are, but
Speaker 1: there'll be some indicator of where Jen and I are,
Speaker 1: maybe where we're wearing a shirts or some shirts that
Speaker 1: we're making. Yeah, I'm excited to see people in person
Speaker 1: and just hang out like frugal friends do. Yes, it
Speaker 1: will be so good, all right, So if you are
Speaker 1: trying to get to d C to hang out, with us,
Speaker 1: and you're trying to travel Hacket in the next week. Um, sorry,
Speaker 1: may not be able to do that, but we can
Speaker 1: get into this interview with Lee Huffman if we travel
Speaker 1: there and find out how you can maybe do it
Speaker 1: a little longer term, like with more time. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: got you. Yeah, let's do it. Today we have Lee
Speaker 1: Huffman from the We Travel their podcast and Bald Thoughts
Speaker 1: dot Com. Welcome to the show. Lee, It's great to
Speaker 1: be here. How are you guys doing today doing? Wow?
Speaker 1: So glad to have you. Absolutely, we love traveling, so
Speaker 1: we're excited to hear all about your travel hacking tips
Speaker 1: and you're you are like a pro expert at this,
Speaker 1: so we're all so excited to learn some things and
Speaker 1: excited to hear more about just what you do, what
Speaker 1: you've got going on. Full disclosure, I just listen to
Speaker 1: your podcast episode on San Diego because my husband and
Speaker 1: I are going there in a couple of weeks. So
Speaker 1: super cool to have interviewed locals from different places and
Speaker 1: hear about cool things to explore. Just a really neat idea.
Speaker 1: I think it's what people enjoy about the airbnb scene
Speaker 1: of getting to interact with locals, but you've kind of
Speaker 1: done it already for folks before they even go so
Speaker 1: that if they do go the hotel route, they still
Speaker 1: get the local piece. So well done with that, thank
Speaker 1: you very much. Yeah, it's it's something that my wife
Speaker 1: and I whenever we travel, we do that anyways. We
Speaker 1: always try to find somebody local if we're sitting in
Speaker 1: a bus or metro stop or even just at the bar, saying, hey,
Speaker 1: what are some of the cool places that that we
Speaker 1: maybe we're missing because we're not locals or what. Okay,
Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of things that are like
Speaker 1: the say, in Philadelphia, right, there's patent genos for Philip
Speaker 1: che stacks, But where did the locals go? And that's
Speaker 1: really what we want to know is get that local
Speaker 1: flavor instead of like more of the commercialized stuff that
Speaker 1: that everybody kind of does when they travel. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: we find too that it can be more frugal to
Speaker 1: do that because the locals will probably tell you, you know,
Speaker 1: the dive bar, bar, the watering hole that you can
Speaker 1: go to that is cheaper than the more commercialized things,
Speaker 1: or you even endear people to you and they're like, hey,
Speaker 1: just come hang out with me with Jenn and I.
Speaker 1: So that's why one of my questions is where's the
Speaker 1: happiest happy hour? And tell yes, nice, Well, we're excited
Speaker 1: to pick your brain on travel hacking. So Lee, what
Speaker 1: is it and how did you get started with travel hacking? Sure,
Speaker 1: so before we get to travel hacking, the hacking, you know,
Speaker 1: there's like life hacking, there's all the personal financeecking. There's
Speaker 1: all these different things that people do that essentially they've
Speaker 1: kind of learned the rules that are out there and
Speaker 1: find them, find them and use them to the your advantage.
Speaker 1: And that's really what we do when we apply to
Speaker 1: the travel space. You know, there's all these that kind
Speaker 1: of sweet spots and the award charts, or there's like
Speaker 1: uh like little trips, like a little tips and tricks
Speaker 1: to be able to earn more miles and points whenever
Speaker 1: you're spending on your credit cards or uh, you know,
Speaker 1: when you're staying at a hotel. So we we kind
Speaker 1: of accumulate all that in one spot talking about travel hacking.
Speaker 1: So it's a it's a lot of fun. And my
Speaker 1: wife and I we've been able to travel the world
Speaker 1: and then after we had kids, brought them along with
Speaker 1: us for the adventure, and it's pretty it's been pretty
Speaker 1: amazing for me. Like when I really got started in it,
Speaker 1: like way back, probably twenty years ago, whatever it was,
Speaker 1: I had a client that worked for a travel agency
Speaker 1: and he told me it's like, whatever you do, just
Speaker 1: make sure you get a credit card that's specific to
Speaker 1: the airline you want to fly. And this was way
Speaker 1: before everybody is really getting into it, and so I
Speaker 1: was okay, So I bought the I got the Southwest
Speaker 1: Airlines credit card and the SPG which is now Marriott
Speaker 1: credit card. And so I thought I was living on
Speaker 1: the high life, right. I was putting Mike Spend says,
Speaker 1: my dad was putting his expenses for his law practice
Speaker 1: on my credit card. So I was flying everywhere in
Speaker 1: the US and staying a lot of places in the
Speaker 1: US for basically for free. And then I got married
Speaker 1: and my wife basically said, you know what, traveling around
Speaker 1: the US is really cool, but I want to go
Speaker 1: to Paris. And I said, well, babe, Southwest doesn't fly there,
Speaker 1: so we go to Chicago instead. But you know, and
Speaker 1: they're not quite the same Chicago and Paris, New York
Speaker 1: exactly exactly, But so that really got my analytical mind thinking,
Speaker 1: and so I really started kind of diving in at
Speaker 1: that point, and I kind of equated to the matrix, right,
Speaker 1: do you take the red pill or the blue pill?
Speaker 1: Do you go back to your normal life and and
Speaker 1: not really know what's going on in that world? Or
Speaker 1: do you take the other pill and just dive head
Speaker 1: first into it. And so I dove head first into it,
Speaker 1: and I was able to not only get enough miles
Speaker 1: and points for my wife and me to fly, I
Speaker 1: was also able to bring our son, who was at
Speaker 1: twenty six months old at the time, and my mother
Speaker 1: in law, and we flew there in economy and flew
Speaker 1: back in business class, and so it was it was
Speaker 1: quite the funny thing seeing a month old sprawled out
Speaker 1: in a life last business class seat, you know, and
Speaker 1: all the other passengers as they're walking by, going what
Speaker 1: is going on? Why is this little kid and sitting
Speaker 1: in business class? Because he's important and I've been spoiled
Speaker 1: ever since, so it's uh, you know, obviously I still
Speaker 1: fly economy. I've had the Southwest Companion pass for I've
Speaker 1: now qualified for the fourteenth straight year, so my wife
Speaker 1: is my companion. So she flies with me wherever I go,
Speaker 1: uh for free. And um so I still fly economy
Speaker 1: a lot, but whenever I can, I spoil myself and
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that a little bit later, flying in
Speaker 1: business class in first class, but whenever possible. Yes, I
Speaker 1: want to hear about that. We have the companion power
Speaker 1: for Southwest to and we can talk about how to
Speaker 1: get that soon. But it has been so cool to
Speaker 1: go all of these places. And for for domestic it's
Speaker 1: like eleven dollars and twenty two cents her ticket per
Speaker 1: way if you have the companion pass. It's no, it's yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's five person has five dollars and sixty cents
Speaker 1: each way. Yeah. Crazy. And now the Southwest is flying
Speaker 1: to Hawaii, they fly to the Caribbean, they fled in Mexico,
Speaker 1: Costa Rica, and they continue to add more and more
Speaker 1: locations so that that campaign pass it is just adding
Speaker 1: tremendous value to your travel hicking strategy. Yes, so I
Speaker 1: want to know how many cards you currently have? Okay,
Speaker 1: so for the beginners, close your ears. Uh, I have
Speaker 1: about of that's so awesome, I hears. That's why I
Speaker 1: asked my draw literally dropped about it. I'm definitely in
Speaker 1: the deepend I mean, I don't recommend people do what
Speaker 1: I do. You know, I don't have a corporate job,
Speaker 1: so I can balance them all. You know, you took
Speaker 1: the blue pill. It's very clear, absolutely, you know. And
Speaker 1: some of the cards, honestly, I never spend on them,
Speaker 1: you know, I have them specifically for the benefits they provide.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. So for beginners, they can open their ears again. Um,
Speaker 1: so what would your strategy be for beginner travel hackers? Okay,
Speaker 1: so there's a couple of different things you can do. One. Obviously,
Speaker 1: credit cards are a great way to get a lot
Speaker 1: of miles and points in a hurry. I mean, you
Speaker 1: can get bonuses of fifty even a hundred thousand, sometimes
Speaker 1: even more points just with one credit card application and
Speaker 1: meeting the minimum spend. So shining object syndrome. With all
Speaker 1: the credit cards that are out there, I mean, the
Speaker 1: marketers are very good. But what you want to do
Speaker 1: is determined. Word is that you want to go and
Speaker 1: see which hotels are there, and see which airlines fly there,
Speaker 1: and so based on that that will help you determine
Speaker 1: which card you should get, and so you'll you'll want
Speaker 1: the credit card of the of the airline that flies
Speaker 1: to your destination and the credit card of the hotel
Speaker 1: that's there that you want to stay at, because generally
Speaker 1: the credit card will give you for the airlines, will
Speaker 1: give you priority boarding, and it will give you a
Speaker 1: free check back. Plus it will save you some some money.
Speaker 1: The other times the credit cards will save you sometimes
Speaker 1: more on if you buy food or beverages while you're flying.
Speaker 1: Some of them give you free like WiFi, those type
Speaker 1: of things. And then on the the hotel side, sometimes
Speaker 1: you'll get automatic upgrades on your your status, so maybe
Speaker 1: now you get a better chance of getting upgraids or
Speaker 1: late checkouts or early check ins, and sometimes you get
Speaker 1: free breakfast and a lot of other perks like that.
Speaker 1: Plus both credit cards will give you more points when
Speaker 1: you use those that credit card to pay for the
Speaker 1: airline ticket or for your hotel reservation. So that's that's
Speaker 1: the first thing, uh, And then second, not everybody's ready
Speaker 1: to get a credit card. Maybe you're working on paying
Speaker 1: off some debt, you're trying to build your credit score.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're you don't want any inquiries because you're getting
Speaker 1: ready to refinance your home or get or buy a home,
Speaker 1: uh you know, getting getting a car, something along those
Speaker 1: lines where you want to keep your credit pristine. I
Speaker 1: recommend people use shopping portals. Um go to cashback monitor
Speaker 1: dot com. And so you're gonna shop at Kohl's or
Speaker 1: Target or any pretty much any store that you're gonna
Speaker 1: shop online, you go to a website like that, type
Speaker 1: it in and they'll tell you where you can earn
Speaker 1: the most cash back, airline miles or hotel points, so
Speaker 1: that way you get to your to your vacation that
Speaker 1: much quicker. Yeah, we use racketin to get like cash
Speaker 1: back and stuff like that. Do you think do they do?
Speaker 1: Like so racketon will be one of the ones that
Speaker 1: will that will be on cashback Monitor, cashback monitors or
Speaker 1: like an aggregator site. Think of it like the Expedia
Speaker 1: for airlines. Right, cash Back Monitor aggregates all the different
Speaker 1: options out there. And so what it does then it says, okay, well, uh,
Speaker 1: this time racketin is offering say four percent cash back,
Speaker 1: whereas top cash Back may offering four point five uh
Speaker 1: you know, and Mr Remates may be offering six. So
Speaker 1: you can pick and choose which cash back you want
Speaker 1: or it could say, oh, well, British Airways is offering two,
Speaker 1: American Airlines is offering three, Southwest is offering one, and
Speaker 1: so you can pick and choose which airline that you want.
Speaker 1: And even if some of them were offering higher miles,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to accumulate all your miles with American,
Speaker 1: then make sure that, even if it is a little
Speaker 1: bit less miles that you're going to be earning, that
Speaker 1: you accumulate with that program instead. Because if you have
Speaker 1: a bunch of different miles and points with all these
Speaker 1: different programs, but none of them add up to be uh,
Speaker 1: you know, free night or free flight, then you're kind
Speaker 1: of wasting your time. Yeah, for sure. What are some
Speaker 1: commonly overlooked things that people should consider in travel hacking?
Speaker 1: As far as you mentioned some some pieces about credit
Speaker 1: score or applying for mortgage or um that kind of
Speaker 1: a thing, what are what are the peripheral things folks
Speaker 1: should be considering in this process. The number one thing
Speaker 1: is always keep your credit score as pristine as possible.
Speaker 1: I always sign up all my credit cards for our
Speaker 1: the automatic minimum payment, so that way I never miss
Speaker 1: a payment and that way I don't get a ding
Speaker 1: on my credit score. Plus obviously you're you're avoiding the
Speaker 1: late payment fees that they would charge you. So that's
Speaker 1: number one, because if you don't keep your credit score up,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna be able to get qualified for the
Speaker 1: best credit cards, of which offer the best rewards, So
Speaker 1: that's number one. Two. I always sign up for all
Speaker 1: the different whatever like airlines and hotels that you're interested in.
Speaker 1: Sign up for their mailing list. Yeah, you can probably
Speaker 1: delete a lot of them, but I always sign up
Speaker 1: because they're going to be that whoever's on their email
Speaker 1: is are going to be the first people to find
Speaker 1: out whatever the current promos are, and so sign up
Speaker 1: for those. Again, you can delete them maybe if you
Speaker 1: have a Gmail or a different email system, you can
Speaker 1: apply a filter where they get shuffled into like a
Speaker 1: certain folder that we don't see them when you don't
Speaker 1: need them, and then whenever you do want to see them,
Speaker 1: then you can just go to that folder and see that.
Speaker 1: Whenever there are promos, they don't. They don't cost you
Speaker 1: anything to sign up, So always sign up because you
Speaker 1: never know when you're gonna have a last minute hotel
Speaker 1: stay that would have qualified for a promotion. But the
Speaker 1: registration period ended, so now you can't get those extra
Speaker 1: miles and points. So those are some of the things there. Again,
Speaker 1: you can you can do things where you're stacking your
Speaker 1: benefits whenever you're out there spending with their credit cards,
Speaker 1: so you're going out to eat, whether it's locally or
Speaker 1: when you're traveling around. There's programs like Dosh that provide
Speaker 1: cash back whenever you whenever you dine Uber Local so
Speaker 1: they give you Uber credits whenever you use Visa whenever
Speaker 1: you're dining at participating restaurants. Let's see, there's another one
Speaker 1: called Dining Rewards, which they have partnerships with several different
Speaker 1: airlines and I believe Hilton, and you can get extra
Speaker 1: miles for also. So now you're looking at not only
Speaker 1: you're getting whatever rewards that you would learn from your
Speaker 1: credit card U plus, you're getting cash back from Josh,
Speaker 1: you're getting Uber credits from Uber Local, and then you're
Speaker 1: also getting miles from Dining Rewards. So now you're getting
Speaker 1: you're earning four ways off of one transaction. Wow, wow,
Speaker 1: how did you learn about all of this? Like if
Speaker 1: somebody wants to take the blue Pill, I know we
Speaker 1: did talk about beginners. But if someone wants to begin
Speaker 1: heading in that trajectory, what is the learning process? Sure?
Speaker 1: I mean I read a lot, and I've been I've
Speaker 1: been doing this for a long time. But really the
Speaker 1: world changes so quickly, so even the things I learned
Speaker 1: several years ago may not really apply today. So it
Speaker 1: won't it won't be as big of a learning curve
Speaker 1: as you might think. And it's really if you have it,
Speaker 1: just have an interest in it, then you know you'll
Speaker 1: be focused on it like any subject. So I would say,
Speaker 1: find you know, some of the travel blogs that you're
Speaker 1: interested in. Obviously I'd like it if you found mine.
Speaker 1: But you know, there's a website called boarding area dot
Speaker 1: com and that's where a lot of my articles reside.
Speaker 1: And there are about a hundred different bloggers that are there.
Speaker 1: So you'll find somebody there that really kind of resonates
Speaker 1: with the way that you think, and you'll like their
Speaker 1: writing style. You can go there. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of other bloggers that aren't necessarily under that platform. I
Speaker 1: right for the Points Guy and choose a five super
Speaker 1: money finance buzz, So there's a lot of other websites
Speaker 1: out there that aren't underneath that ecosphere of boarding area,
Speaker 1: but also provide a lot of great content where maybe
Speaker 1: they cover the same thing, uh, and you just find
Speaker 1: one voice that you like versus another, or you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes they cover different topics that that the other ones
Speaker 1: don't cover, and so I would subscribe to maybe a
Speaker 1: handful of them, maybe like four or five. Set it
Speaker 1: for you know, daily emails or weekly email so that
Speaker 1: way you can you're not gonna get inundated again or again.
Speaker 1: Set the filter so that way it goes into a
Speaker 1: certain box. You follow people on Twitter again, you'll see
Speaker 1: sometimes they'll give you advanced warning of certain promos or
Speaker 1: other deals that are happening that maybe not may not
Speaker 1: make it to the blogs just because they don't have
Speaker 1: enough time to write about it before they dies. So
Speaker 1: there are a lot of other ways to do things.
Speaker 1: And on the top of that, there's conferences you can
Speaker 1: attend where sometimes like I, I know that I do this,
Speaker 1: I don't always give all of my secrets right on
Speaker 1: the blog, but when I meet you in person, I'll
Speaker 1: sit there and talk to you and probably give you
Speaker 1: a little bit more than I would, you know, in
Speaker 1: something that's more of a general population. So we got
Speaker 1: to meet up with you. We've got to do this
Speaker 1: in a view in person. So I mean they're their conferences,
Speaker 1: Like Finance Buzz has having their conference coming up soon
Speaker 1: in October. Uh f TU, a frequent traveler university, has
Speaker 1: a conference that they do several times a year. Chicago
Speaker 1: Seminars has one as well in Chicago. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of different conferences that that happened. And again maybe
Speaker 1: there there's one that's in your backyard that's easy for
Speaker 1: you to go to or something where you would would
Speaker 1: fly to attend. Yeah, I use the points guy whenever
Speaker 1: I'm trying to figure out like which card that I
Speaker 1: want to get next, because the bonuses on the card,
Speaker 1: which is really like the creme de la creme of
Speaker 1: what you're going for, is they always always changing. So
Speaker 1: it's like we could talk about some bonuses today, but
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that when you go to apply for
Speaker 1: the card that the same bonus is going to be available. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: That's what happened with us for the Companion Pass. We
Speaker 1: just we're in this certain window. We already had a
Speaker 1: Southwest card. We tried to jump the hoops and yeah,
Speaker 1: they shut us down. But somebody who didn't have a
Speaker 1: Southwest card got it very quickly, So it's not always
Speaker 1: going to work for everybody for sure. And then one
Speaker 1: thing to remember also is that when you see different
Speaker 1: offers from different credit cards, say they both have fifty
Speaker 1: thousand points or miles, those points of miles aren't necessarily
Speaker 1: equivalent one to one between two different programs Softy Hilton points.
Speaker 1: It's worth far less than fifty thousand higher points for example. Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1: So speaking of card so I would say so most
Speaker 1: of them, it's like you have to spend a certain
Speaker 1: amount in the first three months in order to get
Speaker 1: their welcome sign up bonus. So say you maybe do
Speaker 1: like four cards in a year. What would be your
Speaker 1: in a perfect world today on this day? What four
Speaker 1: cards would you start with? There are a lot of
Speaker 1: rules that the banks have and they've implemented over the
Speaker 1: last few years, primarily to restrict people like me from
Speaker 1: doing the things that we do. So I used to
Speaker 1: get probably about eighteen to twenty new cards every year,
Speaker 1: and I would just kind of rotate through them, and
Speaker 1: I've slowed down quite a bit since then. But so
Speaker 1: really what you want to do is say you're starting
Speaker 1: completely from scratch. You haven't applied for any new cards
Speaker 1: in the last couple of years, then one of the
Speaker 1: first ones you want to get it would be like
Speaker 1: the Chase a Fire Reserve because it has a generally
Speaker 1: a great bonus of fifty thou points, which those points
Speaker 1: are worth of the seven or fifty dollars and travel
Speaker 1: or you can transfer them to a lot of different
Speaker 1: partners such as Southwest United or even marryott So or Hyatt.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of great value in in that card.
Speaker 1: I would also pair that with like a Chase Ink
Speaker 1: Business Preferred, which I think right now has about an
Speaker 1: eighty thousand point bonus. So now you can combine those points,
Speaker 1: so now you have from one and the eighty thousand
Speaker 1: from the other. And now you're talking really uh tremendous
Speaker 1: value either on a transfer basis where you want to
Speaker 1: transfer to say United and be able to book an
Speaker 1: awesome flight, or be able to transfer to Hyatt and
Speaker 1: maybe go down to down to Mexico, down to Cabo
Speaker 1: and say all inclusive for about four or five days,
Speaker 1: you know, so sailer alert, that's what we're doing. So
Speaker 1: I would do that. I would do those and really
Speaker 1: the next kind of cards really depend upon where you
Speaker 1: want to go, how you like to travel, and what
Speaker 1: categories you spend the most done. One of the cards
Speaker 1: I really like right now is the Capital one Saver,
Speaker 1: which earns four percent cash back on dining and entertainment.
Speaker 1: So if you like to go out to bars or restaurants, concerts,
Speaker 1: sporting events, those type of things, you're gonna earn four
Speaker 1: percent cash back, which is a pretty tremendous value on that.
Speaker 1: For the first year. The annual fees waves, so it
Speaker 1: works out really well. There's a lot of debate depending
Speaker 1: upon how much you spend if it's still worth it
Speaker 1: going into the second year because of the annual fee,
Speaker 1: which about and it negates a lot of that value
Speaker 1: in the spending that you're doing. They also let you
Speaker 1: transfer it over because Capital one has a the Saver
Speaker 1: has like a sister card that doesn't have an annual fee. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's the Saver one which has no annual fee, and
Speaker 1: that one, I believe earns three cash back instead of four,
Speaker 1: So you know, for that extra one percent, you got
Speaker 1: to kind of do the math and decide whether or
Speaker 1: not it's worth you're staying with the annual fe version
Speaker 1: versus downgrading to the one that's no annual fee. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we have all of those so far. And because I
Speaker 1: think the Sapphire Reserve they waived the annual fee the
Speaker 1: first year, or at least they did when we got it,
Speaker 1: preferred does that that's the one that the reserve is
Speaker 1: four and fifty dollars, and so that one is not waived.
Speaker 1: And now I know, if you're a beginner, you're here
Speaker 1: four and fifty dollars, you're probably choked up a little bit, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, but when you compare that versus the annual fee,
Speaker 1: this one, the four fifty, the reserve card gets three
Speaker 1: and annual travel credits which can be used offset you know,
Speaker 1: baggage fees. You're a flight that you pay, uh you know,
Speaker 1: some other travel things such as like taxis or excursions
Speaker 1: as long as they code as travel expenses, you can
Speaker 1: use that three dollars to wipe those off your off
Speaker 1: your bill. And so that works out really well. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so now you're talking instead of four fifty, now
Speaker 1: you only talk a hundred and fifty dollars. When you
Speaker 1: factor in you get the global entry credit, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: access to airport lounges and h and higher spending, higher
Speaker 1: rewards when you spend say like three x on signing
Speaker 1: and travel. And then also your points are worth one
Speaker 1: point five cents instead of one point to five, so
Speaker 1: it makes sense to spend a little bit more on
Speaker 1: that card versus the prefer which I remember that when
Speaker 1: we were signing up, I did sign up for the
Speaker 1: preferred because the four scared me. But now looking back,
Speaker 1: like three dollars travel credit, that's a whole other sign
Speaker 1: on bonus for another card, because right now the capital
Speaker 1: one saver can sometimes be like fifty thousand points or
Speaker 1: or like that one changes, and that's basically the bonus
Speaker 1: for a whole other card without signing up for one.
Speaker 1: So yeah, the reserve is definitely worth it if you
Speaker 1: can swallow that. We just got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card,
Speaker 1: and I am living the jury. I can't, and I've
Speaker 1: seen it. The three hundred dollars automatically comes off it
Speaker 1: just as erase from the bill when it is coded
Speaker 1: as travel. I have uti lies the lounges and it's
Speaker 1: been amazing. Yeah, you know, going from sitting in the
Speaker 1: terminal and being scrunched up in those those nasty seats,
Speaker 1: versus being able to relax in the lounge and get
Speaker 1: some free drinks and food, sometimes getting a shower or massage,
Speaker 1: free WiFi, all those things. It just elevates your your
Speaker 1: travel to such an awesome level. Yeah, I get sometimes
Speaker 1: I get frustrated if I if I go to an
Speaker 1: airport there's no lounge, it doesn't have a third World country,
Speaker 1: you know, or is this opening? I have to wait?
Speaker 1: Now you have to wait forty eight months between getting
Speaker 1: the reserve and the preferred like to get the bonus.
Speaker 1: So I'm just like counting the months until I can go.
Speaker 1: We can travel together because between Eric and I you
Speaker 1: can take two people into the lounge each deal. So
Speaker 1: let's do it. Anyhow, I love the Southwest credit card.
Speaker 1: A lot of people in the travel community kind of
Speaker 1: shy away from that one because they go, oh, there's
Speaker 1: no first class, there's no upgrades available, etcetera. But like
Speaker 1: we talked about earlier, the Companion Pass is to me
Speaker 1: the best benefit for especially for family travel that is
Speaker 1: in anywhere out there and from any airline. So essentially,
Speaker 1: what the Companion Past does is you have to earn
Speaker 1: thousand miles or points in the calendar year, and you
Speaker 1: can do that through actually buying and flying in a seat.
Speaker 1: You can spend with their travel partners, or you can
Speaker 1: get bonuses on the credit cards and spend on the
Speaker 1: credit card. And so I really haven't paid for many
Speaker 1: of Southwest flights UH in the last few years, but
Speaker 1: I still have the Companion Pass, primarily from spending on
Speaker 1: the credit card. So to me, I keep the card,
Speaker 1: and I've had it for for years and years. Most
Speaker 1: people get the card and they cancel it after a
Speaker 1: year or two and then reapply later on. To me,
Speaker 1: the value of having that companion Pass is I don't
Speaker 1: want to risk it. I don't want to lose that benefit.
Speaker 1: So I just keep the card, put the dred ten
Speaker 1: thousand or more, spend on it, and then get the
Speaker 1: Companion Pass. And the awesome thing is you're not redeeming
Speaker 1: ten thousand points for the companion Pass. It's just once
Speaker 1: you suppress surpass that level, you get the Companion Pass
Speaker 1: and you still keep your points. So now that points
Speaker 1: is really the equivalent of two because now wherever you fly,
Speaker 1: your designate companion can fly for free. And so this
Speaker 1: year right now, my my wife is my companion, but
Speaker 1: I'm man wried to switch it up because my my
Speaker 1: daughter and I were flying to Chicago to do then
Speaker 1: fly to Brussels, and so she's gonna be my companion
Speaker 1: for a little bit so we can fly to on
Speaker 1: Southwest to get the Chicago from Nashville. And then in
Speaker 1: a couple of months, my wife and I are going
Speaker 1: to Austin, and so I'm gonna put her back as
Speaker 1: a companion. And you can try. You can change your
Speaker 1: companion up to three times per year, and so it's
Speaker 1: not like you're stuck with that person. Uh So, you know,
Speaker 1: if you if you have your spouse and you have kids,
Speaker 1: or you just have a couple different friends, you can
Speaker 1: change your companion throughout the year basically the suit your needs.
Speaker 1: You can have up to three boyfriends a year, essentially
Speaker 1: your fourth boyfriend if you break up and make up enough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can take three capable guys and then marry the
Speaker 1: last one. The last one has to be a rich guy.
Speaker 1: Get the companion passed. That way, he can take you
Speaker 1: for free. Sure, yes, even more capable. Okay, So to
Speaker 1: recap that chase Sapphire reserve, swallow the four fifty it's
Speaker 1: worth it. Chase Ink Preferred, which has to Chase Chase Inc.
Speaker 1: Business Preferred, Business Preferred. Sorry, that is a business card.
Speaker 1: And if you're wondering, like I don't have a business,
Speaker 1: I can't get a business card. They're very lax on
Speaker 1: what they consider business. And actually I've I've signed up
Speaker 1: with my business like tax I D for one and
Speaker 1: then use my social security number for another business. And
Speaker 1: it was easier to get a proof for a business
Speaker 1: card using my social security number than it was using
Speaker 1: my business E I N. So throwing that out there, well,
Speaker 1: think about this way. Okay, there's a lot of people say, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't have a business, but they sell on Etsy,
Speaker 1: they have a rental property. They do a little consulting
Speaker 1: on the side that you don't have to have a
Speaker 1: six figure business in order to be able to qualify
Speaker 1: as a business. Uh. In anyways, actually if you can
Speaker 1: stay they're starting a business and you know your c
Speaker 1: p A wants you to keep your business in personal
Speaker 1: expensive separate So even if you don't have a business
Speaker 1: from day one, you can actually still apply for a
Speaker 1: business card to say, hey, I'm starting up the business.
Speaker 1: Here's my E I N my my business name is
Speaker 1: Lee Huffman Consulting and there goes. So as all as
Speaker 1: your first and last name is in the business name,
Speaker 1: you don't need a business name statement, you don't need
Speaker 1: an articles of incorporation, none of the other legal documents
Speaker 1: that O the businesses require. You know, all you gotta
Speaker 1: do is is, uh, you have your first and last
Speaker 1: name in the name of the business and your SOL
Speaker 1: Security number or E I N. And you can apply
Speaker 1: for a business card or open up a business bank account. Yes,
Speaker 1: I love it. Um. And then the Capital one Saver,
Speaker 1: which we didn't use that for any travel purposes. That's
Speaker 1: just like cash back, so we just used it. Was
Speaker 1: when we signed up, it was five cash back. Um,
Speaker 1: I know it's not that right now, but and so
Speaker 1: we just transferred that to our statement. That was a
Speaker 1: free we just got and so that was awesome. What
Speaker 1: I want to tell people to do with that is
Speaker 1: basically just use that as like your slush fund for
Speaker 1: when you go on vacations. Set aside in a separate account,
Speaker 1: and now you have a little bit of spending money
Speaker 1: whenever you go on vacation. Yeah, it's so it's so
Speaker 1: worth it. Not just to have like the Miles and
Speaker 1: the Chase Ultimate rewards, which are great, but to have
Speaker 1: like just a cash back card and Capital One has
Speaker 1: a great one, it's so nice to have that. Like
Speaker 1: that term slush fund makes it sound fun. Yes, and
Speaker 1: then the Southwest Credit Card, which I would actually say
Speaker 1: is cards four and five because we because if you
Speaker 1: get a Southwest Personal Card and a Southwest Business Card,
Speaker 1: you can use both of those towards the Companion Pass
Speaker 1: and then you just spend a little more and you've
Speaker 1: got it. But there is a little stipulation to get
Speaker 1: the Companion Pass. You have to get all the points
Speaker 1: in one calendar year. So you can't get some points
Speaker 1: in two thousand nineteen and finish it in You have
Speaker 1: to at this point probably wait until to get all
Speaker 1: of your points. Ideally, what you want to do is
Speaker 1: apply in late December and hit the minimum spend in
Speaker 1: early January. That way you get all the current year
Speaker 1: and all the next year, because whenever you earn the
Speaker 1: Companion Pass, it's for the remainder of the current year
Speaker 1: that that you're in and the full year following. So
Speaker 1: ideally January February is the right time to do that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can apply at the end. It's just when you
Speaker 1: hit the minimum spend. You want that to be at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the following year, or the beginning of
Speaker 1: whatever year, because I've heard some horror stories people will
Speaker 1: apply in like October or November and then accidentally hit
Speaker 1: the minimum spend right before January and then those points
Speaker 1: don't count. It's so sad. Yeah, for the first world problems.
Speaker 1: But yeah, but still, I know, right, it's so sad,
Speaker 1: the speaking of happy things that aren't so sad? Is
Speaker 1: it that time, Jill? It's that time. It's finally that time.
Speaker 1: It's time for the bill of the That's right, it's
Speaker 1: time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe
Speaker 1: a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe
Speaker 1: you paid off your mortgage, maybe your card died and
Speaker 1: you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That built buffalo bill, Bill Clinton, This is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week, alright, Lee. So every week we invite
Speaker 1: either a listener or our guest to tell us about
Speaker 1: their favorite bill this week. It can be a serious bill,
Speaker 1: a dollar bill, a dude named bill. Never it just
Speaker 1: build it up. What do you have for us? Sure?
Speaker 1: So um kind of in the realm of credit cards.
Speaker 1: Anytime I get a bill, basically, it's a statement for
Speaker 1: my credit card, and it just shows me how many
Speaker 1: miles and points I've earned. I've been spending a lot
Speaker 1: on one of my my Hilton cards recently, and so
Speaker 1: I just surpassed the sixty spend mark, and so I
Speaker 1: got my second free night from Hilton. So I can
Speaker 1: use that that free night and the when I earned
Speaker 1: earlier this year, and any Hilton anywhere in the world. Um,
Speaker 1: there are a couple exclusions, but really I can use
Speaker 1: it for ones that costs even most of a thousand
Speaker 1: dollars a night, and to stay there for free on
Speaker 1: the weekend, even on the weekend. That's so great. That's
Speaker 1: the kind of statement you want to get in the mail.
Speaker 1: I love that bill. If you would like to submit
Speaker 1: your bill of the week and build it up, visit
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash bill and leave us
Speaker 1: a voicemail. We love hearing these, and now we move
Speaker 1: into the next best time of the episode, the lightning round.
Speaker 1: I love it when you do that. I've clearly heard
Speaker 1: a lot of lightning in my life, and I know
Speaker 1: exactly how it sounds and I'm able to recreate it
Speaker 1: with RV. Yeah. Actually we slept right through it. The
Speaker 1: other night. People were like, did you hear those storms?
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I hear the birds in the morning,
Speaker 1: did not hear the lightning? Dang? Well. For this Lightning Round,
Speaker 1: instead of asking questions, we thought it would be really
Speaker 1: cool that we're all going to share our favorite trips
Speaker 1: that we've taken using travel rewards and then a little
Speaker 1: bit about how we got there using them. So Lee,
Speaker 1: we will let you go first as our guest. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for that. So so I guess
Speaker 1: age before beauty. I guess in this in this case,
Speaker 1: oh god, I'm like less than at the starting line
Speaker 1: for that one. Then all right, so um, like I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, my my daughter and I were find in Chicago.
Speaker 1: We're going to stay there for the night, just go
Speaker 1: check out the city a little bit, and we used
Speaker 1: the Southwest points to get there. I'm gonna get some
Speaker 1: deep dish pizza while we're there, because of course Chicago,
Speaker 1: you gotta get some of that. But what we did
Speaker 1: is there was a promotion that was going on in
Speaker 1: June where you can fly on kale m h in
Speaker 1: Air France for either discount on business class or discount
Speaker 1: on economy. Now, the frugal friends part of me was
Speaker 1: going discount sounds pretty good. But then I said, wait
Speaker 1: a minute, I really don't want to fly overnight in
Speaker 1: economy with my daughter. So I splurged and we took
Speaker 1: a business class flights to go to We're flying from
Speaker 1: Chicago at the Belgium forty tho klem Air France points
Speaker 1: to get there, I transfer them. You can transfer them
Speaker 1: from American Express City Thinking points or chase Ultimate rewards,
Speaker 1: so it's forty thou points each to get there in
Speaker 1: business class. They didn't really have good flights options on
Speaker 1: the way back, so instead I used United Airlines. So
Speaker 1: I'm flying United Player's business class on the way back.
Speaker 1: That was six see thousand points each way, I mean
Speaker 1: each each person. So for a total of two thousand
Speaker 1: miles and points, I'm flying my my daughter and me
Speaker 1: from Chicago to Belgium and back and uh and then
Speaker 1: I think it was abound six or seven d dollars
Speaker 1: in taxes total for us, and I used my Capital
Speaker 1: one Venture card to erase that all those portases. So
Speaker 1: really the whole trip was completely free from me. Wow,
Speaker 1: including hotels while you're there or was that something separate?
Speaker 1: So the hotel on there, mare At has this really
Speaker 1: cool program where they call it Knights and Flights or
Speaker 1: actually maybe there's a more technical term, but everybody in
Speaker 1: the in the industry calls the Knights and flights. So
Speaker 1: what you do is you you redeem your miles you're
Speaker 1: married at points for a one week stay and a
Speaker 1: certain number of airline miles. And so this week I
Speaker 1: learned from when I traded in and got add American
Speaker 1: airline miles a couple of couple of months ago, and
Speaker 1: so but I of how the one week stay and
Speaker 1: so my daughter and I were staying at a Marriott
Speaker 1: that's really nice in in Brussels, and uh, and so
Speaker 1: the basics is completely free that way, So that it's
Speaker 1: going to be that promo that you signed up for
Speaker 1: that was off that was like off of the points correct,
Speaker 1: So it would have been you know, fifty some thousand
Speaker 1: points or maybe a sixty whatever it was, and so
Speaker 1: end up being forty points each way instead. So that
Speaker 1: would be the reason to sign up for those emails.
Speaker 1: So you find out about those promos, Okay, correct. Actually
Speaker 1: that one I found out because I have friends with
Speaker 1: Capital One and at the same time they had a
Speaker 1: transfer bonus, So you can transfer from Capital one Venture
Speaker 1: or the Spark Miles business card over to KLEM and
Speaker 1: get a transfer bonus that you can redeem for less.
Speaker 1: So really, now you're talking about less miles than what
Speaker 1: I would have taken if you try points from Capital
Speaker 1: One over to Klem and then redeemed for those flights. Wow.
Speaker 1: You definitely have to be savvy to really get the
Speaker 1: most of this, willing to invest some time and research.
Speaker 1: But my goodness, is it creating a lot of space
Speaker 1: for travel for you? Absolutely? But I will say this,
Speaker 1: I'm very good at earning. I'm not as good at redeeming.
Speaker 1: And so even I have used they have award booking
Speaker 1: services out there, and I have a bunch of friends
Speaker 1: that do it, and so what they do is that
Speaker 1: they're they're like rain Man as far as as far
Speaker 1: as it goes with all the different miles programs and
Speaker 1: how to redeem them for the maximum value. And I
Speaker 1: redeemed one time my wife and I flew from l
Speaker 1: A to Rome and we end up paying somebody and
Speaker 1: they actually including their fee was less than if I
Speaker 1: would have tried to book it myself as far as
Speaker 1: the taxes and everything goes. So sometimes it's worth it
Speaker 1: to pay a couple hundred bucks and have an expert
Speaker 1: do it because that's all they do all day long. Way. Yeah, dang,
Speaker 1: that's cool. So that's my thing that I learned, is
Speaker 1: to sign up for some emails and find some promos.
Speaker 1: We're really good at using our points. We use one
Speaker 1: card at a time. Well technically too, because Travis and
Speaker 1: I are two people and we each need a card,
Speaker 1: but we're only looking. We're only like trying to get
Speaker 1: the bonus on one at a time. So we really
Speaker 1: do only do four or five cards a year. But
Speaker 1: we took a baby moon in March to Beaver Creek, Colorado,
Speaker 1: and we were able to stay at the Park Hyatt
Speaker 1: for free. High It's our our hotel chain of choice
Speaker 1: because I find that they have the best redemption value
Speaker 1: for points, and so we stayed at the Park Hyatt
Speaker 1: and it was right on the slopes. It was so cool,
Speaker 1: and we used the Southwest Companion Pass to get there
Speaker 1: and back and that was each So that is how
Speaker 1: much we paid for the whole trip if you don't
Speaker 1: count like food and stuff while we were there, which
Speaker 1: we were using another card to do the like meals
Speaker 1: and stuff and get points for our next bonus there.
Speaker 1: We also haven't taken this trip yet, but it's coming up.
Speaker 1: Our companion past expires at the end of this year,
Speaker 1: and so to get that last bit of it, we
Speaker 1: are flying to Cancoon and we are staying at one
Speaker 1: of Hyatt's all inclusive resorts there for four nights, and
Speaker 1: I am so excited. We're not taking the baby there,
Speaker 1: you go. Well, the good thing is if you did
Speaker 1: take the baby until they're two years old, they're free
Speaker 1: as well. Oh my gosh, which is great, but we're
Speaker 1: still not taking cost is not what I'm concerned about
Speaker 1: in this situation. Relaxation, vacation all I ever wanted. Well,
Speaker 1: I know, we're sharing our favorites and so this one
Speaker 1: is yet to come, although by the time this episode releases,
Speaker 1: we will currently be enjoying this trip, so I'm hoping
Speaker 1: it's one of my favorites. But Eric and I just
Speaker 1: booked a trip multiple destinations through Southwest. We have a
Speaker 1: Southwest UM business card, so we use points to fly
Speaker 1: from Philly, which is where we're from, to Las Vegas,
Speaker 1: and then a rental car which we booked on our
Speaker 1: Chase Sapphire Reserve Cards points to go from Las Vegas
Speaker 1: to the Grand Canyon to Sedona, over to San Diego
Speaker 1: and flights back from San Diego to Philly. So super
Speaker 1: excited about that so far, not a penny spent on it,
Speaker 1: and gonna be booking some hotels through our Chase Sapphire
Speaker 1: Reserve points. We might have to buy a couple of nights,
Speaker 1: but through using e A or racketin now too, we
Speaker 1: get some cash back from what we've booked. So super
Speaker 1: excited about that and what these credit cards have provided
Speaker 1: for us. That sounds like a fun road trip. I know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's great that you can use at least with Chase
Speaker 1: Sapphire Reserve on all things travel, so we can book flights,
Speaker 1: rental car, hotel all on points, which is great. Yes,
Speaker 1: so good. I'm so glad you were able to join us, Lee,
Speaker 1: So what do you have going on at We travel
Speaker 1: there and bald thoughts dot com, Well, thanks for inviting
Speaker 1: me dot com. I'm always talking about the latest news
Speaker 1: that's going on in the industry. We travel there every
Speaker 1: week on Monday's we have a new podcast episode. We've
Speaker 1: been all over the world, big cities, small cities, and
Speaker 1: so what I like to say is that we help
Speaker 1: you travel like a local whenever you listen, and that
Speaker 1: we have better experiences whenever you visit a city. Awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so check those out. We look forward to talking with
Speaker 1: the rest of you and our Frugal Friends community about
Speaker 1: travel rewards and how you can travel more frugally. So
Speaker 1: thanks for coming on, Lee, Thank you. Wow, that was awesome.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad we did that. I love talking about
Speaker 1: travel because it's one of the reasons that I have
Speaker 1: set up my life the way I've set it up
Speaker 1: so that I can travel. So learning how I can
Speaker 1: do that more but still be working on other financial
Speaker 1: goals not break the bank and yeah hack it and
Speaker 1: figure out the tips along the way. So super cool
Speaker 1: to learn from Lee on what he's done. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: when you get your values based spending in order and
Speaker 1: you're only spending on things that you really need, then
Speaker 1: you can handle using credit cards and why not use
Speaker 1: them to your advantage. So I think it's great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's got a super cool podcast too, so I'm excited
Speaker 1: even as we go to different places to check check
Speaker 1: it out. You know we're different place. Yes, if you
Speaker 1: go to St. Petersburg, check out my episode so good. St.
Speaker 1: Peter's so good. Not me, but St. Petersburg both are good.
Speaker 1: That's really why I do this podcast with you, so
Speaker 1: that I can just go to St. Petersburg, yes, and
Speaker 1: have a place to say, all right, well, folks, we're
Speaker 1: still doing book clubs. It's still I think I say
Speaker 1: that every time because because I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: if you're expecting it to stop or what. It hasn't
Speaker 1: stopped yet. We're doing it. So it's August again, it's
Speaker 1: still my birthday month. I know it's like, but I'm
Speaker 1: holding on. So we are wrapping up really reading The
Speaker 1: Simple Path to Wealth by J. L. Collins for book clubs,
Speaker 1: So there's still time to jump in on that or
Speaker 1: just pick up the book and engage with it as
Speaker 1: you want to. Yeah, it's one of my favorite books ever.
Speaker 1: It is self published, so some libraries have it, some don't,
Speaker 1: and if yours is one that doesn't, you can get
Speaker 1: a free copy on us um by leaving us a
Speaker 1: review on iTunes or stitcher um screenshot the review and
Speaker 1: send it to Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: And for every five of those we receive while we
Speaker 1: select one winner um to receive a copy of our
Speaker 1: book club book. So send those reviews in. We also
Speaker 1: love seeing what you guys have learned from the podcast.
Speaker 1: That's a really great place to leave it, and it
Speaker 1: helps other people know what to expect from the show.
Speaker 1: And just for some example reviews, since sometimes people can
Speaker 1: get confused on like how many stars they should be,
Speaker 1: or like the type of content that should be in it,
Speaker 1: we'll give you some writing samples. This sample actually comes
Speaker 1: from Stitcher. We usually pull them from iTunes, but uh,
Speaker 1: we're moving over to Stitcher because they seem to like
Speaker 1: us more over there. This was an oldie but goodie
Speaker 1: from from a few months ago, but John h says
Speaker 1: more than just frugality. I've been catching up on all
Speaker 1: the great content lately, and I must say there is
Speaker 1: a lot of great tips blended into the frugality here.
Speaker 1: Some minimalist and frugal minded podcasts are overwhelming and too
Speaker 1: extreme for my liking. Jen and Jill do a wonderful
Speaker 1: job offering a wide array of perspectives. Keep up the
Speaker 1: great work. Thanks John H. John. That's exactly what we're
Speaker 1: going for. That is what we're going for. We're not
Speaker 1: trying to overwhelm you. We're just trying to be fun,
Speaker 1: low key. Throw in some tips blended in there, almost
Speaker 1: like blending in broccoli to the cookie dough. The kids
Speaker 1: have no idea what, I don't know. It's not something
Speaker 1: moms do. Don't they do that. They'll like grind down
Speaker 1: veggies and be like, oh, Cindy, I love your brownies.
Speaker 1: Yeah you do. Guess what, there's cauliflower in here. The
Speaker 1: kids never knew. Haven't you ever heard a mom talk
Speaker 1: like that? Yes? If not, you are soon to be
Speaker 1: the mom talk. Guess what I blended into this thing? Nancy? Oh,
Speaker 1: I don't know. Upcoming episodeen brand things you can blend
Speaker 1: into other things to hide them, mostly vegetables. Well, that's
Speaker 1: exactly what you're getting here on the Rugo Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: So broccoli mixed into your cookie dough. And on that note,
Speaker 1: before you toss out the cookie dough, we will see
Speaker 1: you next week. Bye. Hergo Friend is produced, edited and
Speaker 1: mixed by Eric Serria. Really you would see it in
Speaker 1: Cookie doll. You would listen I'm not a mom, so
Speaker 1: I haven't done this. I haven't had to disguise veggies
Speaker 1: in sweet things, so maybe that's not what they do.
Speaker 1: I just know that moms who want to have their
Speaker 1: kids eat healthy will sometimes have to blend in healthy
Speaker 1: things to seemingly unhealthy things so that it's palatable for
Speaker 1: their children. I don't know what it is. I feel
Speaker 1: like i've heard the words oat brand and kale thrown
Speaker 1: out there. Um, zucchini, you can make a good muffin
Speaker 1: with zucchini zucan brownie, see exactly. You know exactly what
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. You was just the cookie dough that
Speaker 1: threw me. I'm so used to using breaking bakes, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, how do you get broccoli into a breaking bake?
Speaker 1: I don't understand. That's the way cookies are made. You
Speaker 1: just buy them and you break them off and bake them.
Speaker 1: Because little Cairos is throwing his little broccoli on the ground.
Speaker 1: And you think about this podcast and you're like, m
Speaker 1: I wonder if I could get that into a cookie. Possibly,
Speaker 1: take the breaking bake and like stuff it inside a
Speaker 1: cookie so it's like a stuffed cookie, but you bite
Speaker 1: into it. Then you're broccoli in the center. It will
Speaker 1: forever ruin cookies for him. I think the point is
Speaker 1: that it has to be not just hidden. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'll try it and see if it's a surprise that's welcomed.
Speaker 1: I might I mean, best case scenario, he just doesn't
Speaker 1: like cookies forever and then I eat all the cookies.
Speaker 1: Or I might have come up with something genius here,
Speaker 1: like like I normally do all the genius things. I say, yeah,
Speaker 1: I believe it, all right, my b