Speaker 1: Episode four one one, What to budget for this summer.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live your life Here your
Speaker 2: hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 3: MM.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my
Speaker 1: name is Jill, and today we are giving you the
Speaker 1: four to one one on what you need to budget
Speaker 1: for this summer. Hopefully you've already been saving, but if
Speaker 1: you haven't, here's what to look out for.
Speaker 4: Sometimes the most obvious needs to be restated because we
Speaker 4: may or may not be thinking about all the things
Speaker 4: extra expenses. Summer's apparently the second most spendy season, next
Speaker 4: two wintertime, and we get caught off every year by
Speaker 4: the holidays, and you probably get caught off every year
Speaker 4: by whatever comes up in the summer. So this is
Speaker 4: going to be your friendly reminder of things you can
Speaker 4: do to start preparing now if you haven't yet, and
Speaker 4: maybe even a few sprinkled then things of what to
Speaker 4: do if you didn't prepare and you won't have time
Speaker 4: to prepare, How can you still enjoy your summer?
Speaker 1: Yes, but first, this episode is brought to you by
Speaker 1: four one one. The four one one the information you
Speaker 1: need to know, especially when you have a four to
Speaker 1: oh one K from a previous employer, you need the
Speaker 1: four one one on how to get control of that money.
Speaker 1: When you leave your employer, then you relinquish any control
Speaker 1: you have over that so it just sits there and
Speaker 1: you need to get it into a traditional IRA or
Speaker 1: a roth ira, depending on what your four O one
Speaker 1: K is. You need to get it somewhere where you
Speaker 1: control it, and that can be confusing, and that's why
Speaker 1: we love Capitalize. It is a free service that helps
Speaker 1: you find where your four ol one k is and
Speaker 1: roll it over into the IRA of your choice. So
Speaker 1: you can go to Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash capitalize,
Speaker 1: c ap it t a l ize to use that
Speaker 1: service for free and get the four one one on
Speaker 1: your money.
Speaker 4: Good tie in, Jen. Yes, that's why you said four
Speaker 4: one one instead of four to eleven in this episode title. Yes,
Speaker 4: because we don't know numbers.
Speaker 1: It is yep, that's exactly.
Speaker 4: Right, because we know how to be relevant.
Speaker 1: All right. It is summer, babies, It is summer.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: And if you love budgeting, then let me give you
Speaker 1: some real good episodes to q up. Episode three sixty
Speaker 1: seven Best budgeting Tips for twenty twenty four help you
Speaker 1: plan the rest of the year, and episode three eighteen
Speaker 1: Frugal living Tips for Summer. That episode specifically is all
Speaker 1: the ways summer can save you money. You can take
Speaker 1: advantage of this season because while this is the second
Speaker 1: spendiest season, there are also opportunities that allow you to
Speaker 1: save where other seasons don't.
Speaker 4: Yeah, if you so choose.
Speaker 1: So. In today, we're talking about the spending.
Speaker 4: Parts, and before we get to that, we also want
Speaker 4: to look at your answers to our poll. In a
Speaker 4: recent friend letter email we sent out, we asked, what's
Speaker 4: your biggest expense in the summer besides your usual spending?
Speaker 4: Is it vacation? Is it just all the small activities
Speaker 4: throughout the summer? Air conditioning, food, or something else. A
Speaker 4: few of you said something else, but the majority of
Speaker 4: you said vacation, which makes sense. It is it does
Speaker 4: cost a lot of money, But right behind that is
Speaker 4: small activities throughout the summer and air conditioning. Certainly, are
Speaker 4: you utility bills can increase in the summer, But I
Speaker 4: think we're probably going to be focusing in a lot
Speaker 4: more on the vacations and the small activities throughout the summer,
Speaker 4: ways to plan and ways to save.
Speaker 1: Yes, somebody who answered air conditioning. Their reasoning was just
Speaker 1: they just said Texas and as people who live in Florida,
Speaker 1: we get it Florida. So yes, this is the time
Speaker 1: that we just stay inside. And if you have kids
Speaker 1: summer camp, gosh, oh man, I am fancifully going to
Speaker 1: just opt for smaller activities instead of a full summer camp.
Speaker 1: But man, it is they are expensive. They are so expensive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's ridiculous. So this episode is coming out the
Speaker 4: very last day of May, which for some people the
Speaker 4: summertime really has already begun. Your kids will be after
Speaker 4: school already. And when I say that, I mean for
Speaker 4: people with kids or those still in school.
Speaker 1: When this airs, we will frugal friends will be on
Speaker 1: summer break. You're still going to get two episodes a week,
Speaker 1: but physically we will not be recording. We'll already have
Speaker 1: recorded it all.
Speaker 4: But if you are trying to make up for lost time,
Speaker 4: if this wasn't something you've been preparing for the holidays,
Speaker 4: which completely forgot to prepare for summer, then then start now.
Speaker 4: One of the things that we would can help have
Speaker 4: you consider doing is possibly a no spend challenge that
Speaker 4: doesn't have to be for an entire month. You could
Speaker 4: do that for a couple of weeks if you still
Speaker 4: have a little bit of time before the kids are
Speaker 4: out of school or before you want to start doing
Speaker 4: some of the more fun stuff that might be coming
Speaker 4: up in June, July, August. So a no spend challenge.
Speaker 4: We love them for how they can retrain our spending habits,
Speaker 4: but they do also have this decide and added benefit
Speaker 4: of helping us to get a little bit of extra
Speaker 4: money out of our paychecks month to month that you
Speaker 4: could put towards some of these activities or vacations that
Speaker 4: you might be wanting to do. So if that's something
Speaker 4: that you're like, I'm going to need a little bit
Speaker 4: of extra money, consider that. But we also want to
Speaker 4: talk about some of these tips ways to prepare alongside
Speaker 4: what do you need to start saving for for the summer?
Speaker 4: And this article comes from the Motley Fool. It's titled
Speaker 4: fourteen summer expenses to start saving for. We're not going
Speaker 4: to go through all of them. We're going to go
Speaker 4: through the ones that we think are most relevant for
Speaker 4: most people, which the first one that I'm going to
Speaker 4: highlight is vacations and vacation gear. We all probably know
Speaker 4: if we've got a vacation coming up, but I think
Speaker 4: one of the pieces we often forget is all of
Speaker 4: the peripheral expenses of a vacation. So is your luggage
Speaker 4: still usable and in good shape? Are you going to
Speaker 4: need to be bringing along travel sized toilet trees? Sunscreen?
Speaker 4: What might you need to be purchasing? And I'm not
Speaker 4: talking the new bathing suit, new outfit, like I do
Speaker 4: think those are the things that if you don't have
Speaker 4: the money for it, you've not planned it in your
Speaker 4: spending plan, then it can be good to find contentment
Speaker 4: in what you already have. But sunscreen, don't pass that up,
Speaker 4: like plan for those things, if you haven't totally thought
Speaker 4: about the fact that you're probably going to be eating
Speaker 4: more meals out when you're on vacation. It's great if
Speaker 4: you already have the hotel and the flight booked, but
Speaker 4: what additional expenses are you going to come across that
Speaker 4: you need to be setting a little bit more money
Speaker 4: aside for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, those peripheral expenses are really what can get you.
Speaker 1: And I know there's been times where I've been so
Speaker 1: concerned with my outfits and what I need to buy
Speaker 1: new for a vacation that I forget some of the
Speaker 1: real basics and then end up having to buy them
Speaker 1: while on vacation, and they are more expensive. So you
Speaker 1: probably know you have a vacation scheduled for June or July,
Speaker 1: take some time a few weeks before to just quasi
Speaker 1: pack just do you know, a run through pack, Make
Speaker 1: sure you have everything so that you're not needing to
Speaker 1: buy anything while you're there, and then also think about
Speaker 1: maybe you're able to bring an air fryer or something
Speaker 1: to create meal more meals in your hotel room then
Speaker 1: you have to buy out other You can also if
Speaker 1: you are a Sam's Club or Costco member, see if
Speaker 1: there's one nearby they have like the pre made dinners
Speaker 1: that you can just like grab and take, and again
Speaker 1: that's something you can make in your airbnb or even
Speaker 1: like a grocery store, just like identify grocery stores that
Speaker 1: have the pre made meals that you can be buying
Speaker 1: there and just do some pre planning so that you
Speaker 1: can spend less on those peripherals.
Speaker 4: I would also recommend gathering up any of your gift
Speaker 4: cards that maybe you haven't used yet. If you have
Speaker 4: anything left over from the holidays, bring those along. Allow
Speaker 4: that to be what informs you on where you might
Speaker 4: go out to eat or have a little bit of
Speaker 4: extra spending. I think too, if you're realizing you're going
Speaker 4: to need a little bit of extra cash, go through
Speaker 4: your house and see if there's things that you can sell,
Speaker 4: because this is like your expenses are raising, so are
Speaker 4: there ways without a lot of effort you can bring
Speaker 4: in a little bit of that extra cash so you
Speaker 4: have a little bit of cushion for the things that
Speaker 4: you want to do.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Facebook Marketplace is a great thing to utilize right
Speaker 1: now and for selling and for buying.
Speaker 4: Also, i'd say look on groupon two for the activities
Speaker 4: that you want to do. If you're traveling within the States,
Speaker 4: and especially as a family, you want to maybe have
Speaker 4: an idea of I want to go bowling, or we
Speaker 4: want to take a boat tour, we want to do
Speaker 4: these things. Start planning now and get those things at
Speaker 4: a discount ahead of time.
Speaker 1: So the next one I kind of already mentioned is
Speaker 1: summer camp. But I also want to talk about in
Speaker 1: addition to that, if you're not doing a summer camp.
Speaker 1: All the activities that will make up your summer. Like
Speaker 1: I'm already thinking about how we're going to structure summer,
Speaker 1: so creating a plan for Okay, these are the free
Speaker 1: things I have available to me. These are the free
Speaker 1: the vbs, these are the free museums, these are the
Speaker 1: free events for summer. There's so many free events for
Speaker 1: kids on the summer. So let's take an inventory, do
Speaker 1: some research, compile all of those things, put them on
Speaker 1: the calendar, and then we can start to put in
Speaker 1: things that cost money. But we want to prioritize the
Speaker 1: free activities. And this can be going to YouTube as well.
Speaker 1: What are free activities I can do with my kid outside?
Speaker 1: What are free activities I can do inside? And kind
Speaker 1: of getting the inventory of things activities you want to
Speaker 1: do over the summer so that you can start getting
Speaker 1: materials together at lower cost. Maybe it's on the buy
Speaker 1: and Nothing group. Maybe you have then time to look
Speaker 1: around your house for the things you know you have
Speaker 1: but you don't know where they are, or it's going
Speaker 1: to eBay, Poshmark, Facebook, marketplace to get these things. Because
Speaker 1: when we have time to plan, this is the same
Speaker 1: reason we do the run through of the packing. When
Speaker 1: we have time to plan, then we have time to
Speaker 1: get the things we need at a lower cost.
Speaker 4: Planning is always going to be key. I think we're
Speaker 4: going to try and find ways to make planning as
Speaker 4: simplified and accessible as possible, but we will have the
Speaker 4: most money saved, the most peace of mind when we
Speaker 4: are able to carve out that time to plan. My
Speaker 4: good friend Jenna with every season will sit down her
Speaker 4: and her husband Dave, will sit down with their kids
Speaker 4: and plan out or just write a list of what
Speaker 4: do you want to do, what do you want to
Speaker 4: do this summer, what do you want to do this winter?
Speaker 4: And write it all down, and that kind of can
Speaker 4: help be the guide. Like you're describing look up free activities.
Speaker 4: You can also decide as a family what are the
Speaker 4: things that you want to do, or if you don't
Speaker 4: even have kids, like write it down what do you
Speaker 4: want to do and then plug it in so that
Speaker 4: week to week you've got things to look forward to.
Speaker 4: You can feel like you're checking things off the list
Speaker 4: as a family, making memories and not going bored, especially
Speaker 4: with the kids. I think that's a big one. When
Speaker 4: you're lacking the structure. Having these things to be able
Speaker 4: to fill in the gaps is really helpful, and even
Speaker 4: more helpful when they've been the ones to help you
Speaker 4: make the.
Speaker 1: Plan absolutely and then you can get intentional, Like I
Speaker 1: think the biggest thing is that when we don't plan,
Speaker 1: then we just resort to the activities that are most
Speaker 1: frequently in front of us or easiest to identify, and
Speaker 1: those are typically going to be the ones that have
Speaker 1: marketing behind them, and they're going to cost money. Because
Speaker 1: of that, it is not as easy to find free events.
Speaker 1: You have to go looking for them. So being intentional
Speaker 1: can help you avoid the last minute planning that often
Speaker 1: costs us a lot of money.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I will also add increased gas and electric bills,
Speaker 4: So gas for your car and electric bills. Like with
Speaker 4: the AC, a lot of times people are driving a
Speaker 4: whole lot more in the summer, and this isn't This
Speaker 4: is just something to be aware of and not shocked
Speaker 4: by that you're probably going to be refilling your car
Speaker 4: more often, You're probably going to see a little bit
Speaker 4: of spike in your electricity bill. Not that there's a
Speaker 4: ton that you can do to just fabricate more money,
Speaker 4: but there could be some things to think about knowing
Speaker 4: that I'm going to have to fill my gas more,
Speaker 4: are there other adjustments I can make in other areas
Speaker 4: so that it allows for this adjustment in my spending plan.
Speaker 4: I know, for me, my meals get a lot more
Speaker 4: simple in the summer because I am running around a
Speaker 4: lot more. So I'm doing a lot more kind of
Speaker 4: pot luck style dinners with friends, a lot more picnics,
Speaker 4: a lot more cold meals, and that does actually help
Speaker 4: me save on my grocery bill in the summer. It's
Speaker 4: salads and sandwiches and backyard barbecues where I just have
Speaker 4: to bring one side dish. So know that there could
Speaker 4: be room in the budget where the holidays. Is our
Speaker 4: okay plan for food right now? It's yes, food, but
Speaker 4: recognize that you can go a whole lot more simple.
Speaker 4: You probably don't want big heavy meals. You're probably not
Speaker 4: gonna want to be even using electricity to cook a lot.
Speaker 4: You're not gonna be using your oven or stovetop as much,
Speaker 4: So lean into that to make a room for some
Speaker 4: of these other things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, air conditioning man, you all said it. Look at
Speaker 1: now the places you need to be like patching up
Speaker 1: or insulating the places where your AC is leaving your house.
Speaker 1: Do it in early June so that in mid July
Speaker 1: you're not seeing you're not shocked by any any air
Speaker 1: conditioning bills.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So Eric and I both in the summer like hot
Speaker 4: hot summer and in the wintertime have used the plastic
Speaker 4: over the windows and that helps significantly keep it the
Speaker 4: area cool. I'm thinking when we were in a previous
Speaker 4: log cabin and when we were in our RV. But
Speaker 4: to your point of checking out where air is leaving
Speaker 4: your house, it does actually make a difference to really
Speaker 4: be able to seal up as much as you can.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the next one for me, I will continue
Speaker 1: to talk about kids' activities, but I will include the
Speaker 1: things you do have to pay for now. So these
Speaker 1: are memberships and fees and childcare. So if you are
Speaker 1: putting your child in childcare, there is not a lot
Speaker 1: you can do there. Your childcare provider deserves all of
Speaker 1: your money for taking care of all of the children.
Speaker 1: I truly believe that. But if you are not well,
Speaker 1: If you are, and then that's where you're going to
Speaker 1: want to be intentional about reducing other things in your
Speaker 1: life otherwise, So memberships to the pool for the summer,
Speaker 1: or fees to like indoor playgrounds. I know we in Florida,
Speaker 1: we need the indoor playground. So I personally am going
Speaker 1: to get like a ten like punch card, you know
Speaker 1: ten visit punch card to an indoor playground and then
Speaker 1: I'm going to you know, do those out over the summer.
Speaker 1: So anything like swim lessons, anything that costs money to
Speaker 1: right now be comparing prices on pools and memberships and
Speaker 1: indoor playgrounds, like think about what you want to do
Speaker 1: and compare the prices and then put that down on
Speaker 1: your schedule. The worst thing is is that we buy
Speaker 1: these things, we get a really good deal on them,
Speaker 1: and we don't utilize them all.
Speaker 4: Yeah, do you buy get many or you forget you
Speaker 4: had them?
Speaker 1: So put it on the calendar so you make sure
Speaker 1: you use it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's key. The next one on the list that
Speaker 4: I'll highlight is both graduation and wedding gifts. Start to
Speaker 4: think about who do you know that's graduating weddings have
Speaker 4: you been invited to and start to plan for how
Speaker 4: you're going to bring gifts And if you're feeling like
Speaker 4: you can't afford that, then you should probably not go
Speaker 4: to the wedding or to the graduation. You can send
Speaker 4: a nice card, but also there are ways that you
Speaker 4: can think about giving nice gifts in a affordable way.
Speaker 4: I don't like using that word, but it's for lack
Speaker 4: of a better one. I love group gifts for weddings.
Speaker 4: I think that you can make your money go further
Speaker 4: when you're able to do that. I think it can
Speaker 4: also be worthwhile to look at what are the things
Speaker 4: that are on sale during the time that you are
Speaker 4: going to the wedding, Like we know certain types of
Speaker 4: appliances or yeah, kitchen items can go on sale right
Speaker 4: around the summertime. You might be able to even give
Speaker 4: a really good gift at a reduced price then what
Speaker 4: it might typically go for throughout the year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but if you wait until the last minute, like
Speaker 1: I do, then you're paying full price for something that
Speaker 1: you really don't need to I love the group gift
Speaker 1: idea because it is most likely that you are going
Speaker 1: to that wedding with two or three other people that
Speaker 1: you know, and they are also stressed about the gift,
Speaker 1: So you can pull your money to get a really
Speaker 1: nice gift because we are frugal. We are not cheap. Yes,
Speaker 1: we are generous, And.
Speaker 4: If you can't be generous, then don't go out to eat.
Speaker 4: If you can't dip, yeah, don't go to the wedding
Speaker 4: if you can't give a gift. Yes, yes, one of
Speaker 4: my favorite things to do is back to the selling
Speaker 4: things on face marketplace. But whenever I do get cash,
Speaker 4: because it's not much these days, I just stash it away,
Speaker 4: so that ends up being what I will spend on
Speaker 4: fun activities or gifts like wedding. So I typically am
Speaker 4: a person who shows up with a card with cash
Speaker 4: in it, So that's something to consider too. If you're
Speaker 4: not one to typically use cash, if you're not a
Speaker 4: cash envelope girly like me, then keep those things aside
Speaker 4: and just be able to pull from that for these
Speaker 4: fun things you want to do throughout the summer, or
Speaker 4: the gift that you forgot about.
Speaker 1: And shout out to Brittany our frugal friends, like a
Speaker 1: long time listener member friend who should get here here tomorrow,
Speaker 1: literally the day after this episode comes out. So I
Speaker 1: don't know if you'll be listening, Brittany, but.
Speaker 4: I'm very excited about the gift.
Speaker 1: Hope you've got our gift.
Speaker 4: Yes, we did send a gift to Brittany. I think
Speaker 4: she probably got it already. It's knives. I can't not
Speaker 4: talk about it. Oh my freaking love knives. A great
Speaker 4: knife set on her registry and I was like, boom,
Speaker 4: there it is. I knew it.
Speaker 1: Frugal friends are definitely gonna get for me. If you
Speaker 1: send us an invitation to your wedding, will we might
Speaker 1: show up, but we'll definitely get knives. Definitely get you knives.
Speaker 4: Oh now, we're gonna get a lot of people.
Speaker 1: Well you got You have to be willing for us
Speaker 1: to show up. That's the thing. It's the risk you take.
Speaker 1: If you invite us to your wedding, you have to
Speaker 1: be willing for us to show. It has to be
Speaker 1: a real invite. I need to be able to r
Speaker 1: s VP. I need to verify with the location about
Speaker 1: the open bar. And but you will get knives. That's
Speaker 1: just I mean, you know that, all right. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to keep this theme going because apparently I have
Speaker 1: the children.
Speaker 4: So they say.
Speaker 1: So, they say school supplies and new clothes. This is
Speaker 1: for real. I realize this when Kai went to pre
Speaker 1: k that required uniforms, and I'm looking all over Facebook,
Speaker 1: Marketplace and Facebook. I was like, where are the uniform swaps?
Speaker 1: Where are the uniforms? And nine months into this year,
Speaker 1: I realized why there's no swaps or uniforms on marketplaces
Speaker 1: because they are destroyed. Like I sent Kai to school
Speaker 1: this morning with a shirt with a white polo covered
Speaker 1: in permanent marker drawings. He's there right.
Speaker 4: Now with it, but I put it on it.
Speaker 1: I put it on him. He's got like six weeks
Speaker 1: of school left and we're not buying more. But the
Speaker 1: kids do grow throughout the year. So the clothing I
Speaker 1: bought in the summer didn't buy Christmas. I had to
Speaker 1: get him a bigger size. So think about sizing, think
Speaker 1: about how close your kid is to the next size up,
Speaker 1: and potentially send them in bag year clothes the first
Speaker 1: half of the year. I don't know, but they have
Speaker 1: great sales on school clothes. At the end of summer,
Speaker 1: You've got your tax free days, so do some loading up,
Speaker 1: do as much secondhand as you can. And man, if
Speaker 1: you're going, they're still going uniforms.
Speaker 4: I I still feel like there's going to be stuff
Speaker 4: at the thrift store or potentially if you do enjoy
Speaker 4: going the yard sales, because I do think people will
Speaker 4: buy ahead of time and then their kid just never
Speaker 4: ends up being the y size.
Speaker 1: We did find a lot of his pants and shorts
Speaker 1: at the thrift store, a couple of shirts, so definitely
Speaker 1: pants and shorts. Shorts, especially pants. The knees tend to
Speaker 1: like rub out, but oh my gosh, ten times out
Speaker 1: of ten I can find shorts at least in uniforms.
Speaker 1: And then like, if it's just regular clothes that your
Speaker 1: kid is wearing, those you can find in abundance at
Speaker 1: the threst store, like literally new with tags. Also, check
Speaker 1: out Kid's consignment like Stelli Bellies. That's I think a
Speaker 1: national chain, but Kid's Consignment stores locally.
Speaker 4: And Benny would should be a good extension for this.
Speaker 1: Benny right yes, Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash b
Speaker 1: e n I you can go looks it's free. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Say you're looking at the Children's Place uniform tops. So
Speaker 1: you go on there and you're looking at the tops.
Speaker 1: The Benny browser extension will then show you on eBay,
Speaker 1: poshmark thread up all the secondhand online retailers. The closest
Speaker 1: thing to those shirts that are on all those sites,
Speaker 1: which like ten times out of ten will probably be
Speaker 1: identical because those are the most popular uniform shirts.
Speaker 4: It's an awesome extension.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's fantastic, so you'll be able to save some
Speaker 1: money and usually you'll probably find them honestly new with tags,
Speaker 1: even on the second hand sites. So definitely use Benny
Speaker 1: when you're looking for your kids clothing. I love telling
Speaker 1: the story about how I was working at a foster
Speaker 1: group home and I was in charge of going with
Speaker 1: the kids, going with the teens for them to pick
Speaker 1: out their school clothes, and they got a three hundred
Speaker 1: dollars allowance, and I was like, oh, we going a
Speaker 1: Plato's closet. You will And they got so much. They
Speaker 1: could not spend three hundred dollars each at Plato's closet,
Speaker 1: and they all got so many things they loved. They
Speaker 1: were just delighted. It was half off what we would
Speaker 1: have spent new. It was just a fantastic experience. And
Speaker 1: I got so many punches on my punch card. I
Speaker 1: got so many twenty percent off discounts because of that experience.
Speaker 4: Wow, it was taking advantage of the system win when.
Speaker 1: It was just like blessings, be blessed, you know, that's
Speaker 1: what it was.
Speaker 4: The last thing on this list that all mention is
Speaker 4: lawn care. I mean, some of you don't have lawns,
Speaker 4: and that's great, but if you do have a lawn,
Speaker 4: don't forget that it's going to go nuts in the summer.
Speaker 1: We forget about that every year. Uh huh, how nuts? So,
Speaker 1: and this is a time thing. If you need to
Speaker 1: hire somebody to do your lawn over the summer, you
Speaker 1: better do it yesterday, right because they will be booked.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I also think to pace yourself with this.
Speaker 4: Some of us who do have your yards and lawns
Speaker 4: want to do all of the things and make it
Speaker 4: look as beautiful as possible. And I also want to
Speaker 4: give permission to say, sure, mow the lawn, water the
Speaker 4: plants you care about. But also it doesn't have to
Speaker 4: look perfect, and you don't have to do all the
Speaker 4: things you ever wanted to do to it. This exact summer.
Speaker 4: You can get even if you want to mulch, you
Speaker 4: can get free mulch. Most cities and townships have free
Speaker 4: mulch available because it's all the debris that they've collected
Speaker 4: throughout the city that they've ground down intumulch. So look
Speaker 4: up free mulch in your area, be able to pick
Speaker 4: that up or figure out how to reuse things on
Speaker 4: your property. I will often just pile up my leaves
Speaker 4: in a corner and mow over it and then use
Speaker 4: that as mulch, and I just propagate the stuff that
Speaker 4: I already have on my property and plant that. So
Speaker 4: also know that, Yeah, you have to take care and
Speaker 4: maintain things, but don't go nut.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think don't look at lawns on social
Speaker 1: media or in lawn care advertisements. I think we really
Speaker 1: have to be happy with the patches of grass that
Speaker 1: are in our front and backyards. Like, embrace the patch.
Speaker 1: It's fine, it doesn't have to be perfect, and there
Speaker 1: is some research you can do for like what are
Speaker 1: the best grasses for my area. We don't want to
Speaker 1: be uneducated or uninformed, but embrace your season. If you
Speaker 1: are a parent of young children and do not have
Speaker 1: the time to invest in your lawn or the money,
Speaker 1: then embrace having an unesthetic lawn. If you don't have
Speaker 1: the time to mow every single day, yeah, then embrace
Speaker 1: the weeds. Embrace the six inch grass.
Speaker 4: I will also say sorry back to like some tips
Speaker 4: for saving if you do want to plant some things,
Speaker 4: it's also really possible that your city has plants that
Speaker 4: they would give you for free to plant on your property.
Speaker 4: Like Penelis County where we live, there's all sorts of
Speaker 4: environmental plans to kind of reduce flooding and wanting to
Speaker 4: plant native plants, which that's definitely something to look up
Speaker 4: in your area because it's going to be more advantageous
Speaker 4: to the environment and the ecosystem if you plant what
Speaker 4: is native to that area. But a lot of times
Speaker 4: cities will get these grants to do some of these
Speaker 4: environmental efforts and they just start looking for places to
Speaker 4: put all of these plants. So look into that in
Speaker 4: your area too. You might be able to get some
Speaker 4: of the stuff that you've wanted for free if you're
Speaker 4: willing to say, yeah, put it on my property and
Speaker 4: I'll help out our community in that way. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And again, if you want to hire a kid
Speaker 1: to mow your lawn, ask them yesterday, yeah, because they
Speaker 1: if you don't somebody else.
Speaker 4: That's my favorite hack. I just call up the kids
Speaker 4: next door and I tell them to come over and
Speaker 4: help me, and they we get so much done. They
Speaker 4: can weed, pick sticks, water the plants. I'm teaching the
Speaker 4: oldest how to mow. I'm out there with them, but
Speaker 4: I'm able to get so much more done on the
Speaker 4: lawn for five bucks I pay them each. Yeah, by
Speaker 4: the end of the day, I've spent not a lot
Speaker 4: of money, and I got a lot done.
Speaker 1: And how old are those kids they are?
Speaker 4: Wait, am I gonna get no?
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I just like you can start kids
Speaker 1: helping in the yard like younger than you think.
Speaker 4: They are four, seven, nine and twelve.
Speaker 1: And what does the four year old do?
Speaker 4: I give them a little water and candy waters the
Speaker 4: plants on my porch, and he can pick up sticks
Speaker 4: and put them in a bucket.
Speaker 1: Yep. Yeah, So if you have a four year old,
Speaker 1: then they can start helping you in the yard, in
Speaker 1: your garden, and that just builds good habits too, honestly, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: even if it takes you a little longer to do something,
Speaker 1: it's it's going to be a lot better in the
Speaker 1: long run. It's going to be time well invested.
Speaker 4: Well, these are my kids, so they probably do listen
Speaker 4: to me better than they listen to their own parents.
Speaker 4: But it works for me find other people's kids so
Speaker 4: much true.
Speaker 1: There you go, there you go, kids for your yard work.
Speaker 1: I love that. So the last thing I want to
Speaker 1: talk about is just a little encouragement, like how to
Speaker 1: have a fun summer when your finances fall short. That's
Speaker 1: what the title of the article is, and it not
Speaker 1: even falls short, but just maybe you are in a
Speaker 1: season where you are really focusing on debt payoff, or
Speaker 1: you're really focusing on saving for college or something, and
Speaker 1: so you can still have a really excellent summer. I
Speaker 1: personally am doing a low spend summer. So like I
Speaker 1: did no spend January, where spent no money on certain
Speaker 1: things for thirty days, so I'm gonna do the same
Speaker 1: thing over the summer. But instead of those thirty days
Speaker 1: being consecutive, They're going to be spread out throughout the summer.
Speaker 1: And so obviously I will spend on you know, some days,
Speaker 1: but I will do I'm going to try my hardest
Speaker 1: to plan in advance to really have a low spend summer.
Speaker 1: So even those things like I'm buying that ten card
Speaker 1: punch card, if I go there and don't spend any money,
Speaker 1: I'll still consider that a no spend day because I
Speaker 1: took the time to plan and I am rewarding myself
Speaker 1: for planning. So but this is when you are trying
Speaker 1: to pay off debt, really focusing in on the free activities.
Speaker 1: So museums passes from the library, go into your library
Speaker 1: and ask them what else they have, because it's most
Speaker 1: likely not just library passes, it's all. So the other time,
Speaker 1: like the other day, I was in the library and
Speaker 1: I saw a ukulele kit, like learn the Ukulele, a
Speaker 1: kit with a ukulele and a book, and I think
Speaker 1: it might have been a CD. I'm not sure, but
Speaker 1: it was just up there. So go in and talk
Speaker 1: to the librarians and see what's available, and just make
Speaker 1: it a point to take advantage of all that this summer,
Speaker 1: and then see what your health insurance gets you, like
Speaker 1: what activities you can get discounted or some you know
Speaker 1: are included in stuff like that. We often forget about
Speaker 1: our employee benefits in the summer when things start to
Speaker 1: maybe slow down. If that's if it's a slower season
Speaker 1: for you, then take advantage of all of the employee
Speaker 1: benefits or if you're a member of something like triple
Speaker 1: A or whatever. If there are benefits to a membership,
Speaker 1: look those up and try to take advantage of them
Speaker 1: over the summer. It's such a shame, I'll say it again.
Speaker 1: We get great deals on something, they sell us on
Speaker 1: all the benefits in the features, and then we never
Speaker 1: use them. And so this is a really good time
Speaker 1: to be intentional about the things you have already paid
Speaker 1: for and utilizing those the gift cards, all of those benefits.
Speaker 1: So be flexible, plan in advance, and you can have
Speaker 1: a really great summer without spending a lot.
Speaker 4: Do you know what else is super flexible and gives
Speaker 4: me a great podcast episode experience, I think I do
Speaker 4: without spending any money. The Bill of the week.
Speaker 5: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 5: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 5: is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, Maybe your
Speaker 5: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 5: that bill anymore. Buck bills, Buffalo bills, bill claim. This
Speaker 5: is the bill of the week.
Speaker 3: Hello frugal friends. My name is Mary. I am an
Speaker 3: elementary music teacher and I like to read a lot
Speaker 3: in my free time. So my bill of the week
Speaker 3: is the bill that I have not paid because I
Speaker 3: got all of my books from the local library. This year.
Speaker 3: I have read twelve books so far. So I added
Speaker 3: up to the cost of what all of these books
Speaker 3: would have been had I gone to Barnes and Noble
Speaker 3: and bought them. And by getting my books from the library,
Speaker 3: I did not pay two hundred and ninety dollars for them.
Speaker 3: It's a lot of money that I get to use
Speaker 3: for things like gas to get to work, like purchasing
Speaker 3: tea for my throat, and other wonderful things. Hip hip, hooray,
Speaker 3: hip hip hooray.
Speaker 1: Yes, just another vote for the library. It's so good.
Speaker 1: I have audio books on my phone right now. I've
Speaker 1: got a library book at my house. It's just a gift.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the library is a gift. They know that they're
Speaker 4: a gift, and they're just over there given. Yes, And
Speaker 4: this is this is great.
Speaker 2: Mary.
Speaker 4: You are speaking directly to me and tallying up what
Speaker 4: you would have spent. I love doing stuff like that,
Speaker 4: and what is my cost savings? What might I have
Speaker 4: spent two hundred and ninety dollars. That's significant, Not to
Speaker 4: mention not having your shelves cluttered with a ton of
Speaker 4: books that most likely, at least for me, I don't
Speaker 4: read books twice, so then it's just sitting there like
Speaker 4: this badge of honor, which is cool. But better yet,
Speaker 4: just call into the Frugal Friends podcast and tell us
Speaker 4: how many books you read this year? A man? Yeah,
Speaker 4: stack them up on your shelf. Twelve books already, that's amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 4: girls done. If you all listening, want to submit your
Speaker 4: bill of the week if it has to do with
Speaker 4: money you could have spent but you didn't. Now you're
Speaker 4: finding better ways to spend it, or you're just out
Speaker 4: there being a bill and join your summer Frugal friendspodcast
Speaker 4: dot com slash bill, leave us your bill, and now
Speaker 4: it's time for the Lightning Around show.
Speaker 1: All right, Jill, what are your summer plans? What are
Speaker 1: you budgeting for this summer?
Speaker 4: Similar to you, I am in a low spend season.
Speaker 4: It's a low spend year. We're gonna call it for
Speaker 4: what it is, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's this book, man, because it ain't sell until Juary,
Speaker 1: so we ain't seeing any money. It's a sacrifice that
Speaker 1: we're willing to make.
Speaker 4: We are making the sacrifice here's the thing. I'm actually
Speaker 4: really grateful for this. I did write about this a
Speaker 4: bit in the book, maybe not necessarily my story, but
Speaker 4: the idea of contentment. Knowing that twenty twenty four was
Speaker 4: going to be just a little bit tighter, but I
Speaker 4: was making that choice has caused me to shift my
Speaker 4: mindset to say, how can I lean into contentment this
Speaker 4: year and in every season? What's around me that I
Speaker 4: can really enjoy? You've heard me talk about this if
Speaker 4: you've been listening to us in twenty twenty four, but
Speaker 4: the same thing for the summer. But I'm not bummed
Speaker 4: about it, which feels really cool. We've had far fewer guests.
Speaker 4: I have not traveled nearly as much as I have
Speaker 4: in any other previous year. And the slowness and the
Speaker 4: simplicity and the really challenging myself to find contentment and
Speaker 4: be grateful has produced that like gratitude has produced contentment.
Speaker 4: Not just sitting here saying be content has made me
Speaker 4: that way, but the mindset of what can I find
Speaker 4: around me that brings joy and is fulfilling? And so
Speaker 4: anyways that said, I am going to be teaching a
Speaker 4: course actually online this summer for those of you who
Speaker 4: don't know. I am an adjunct professor at a previous
Speaker 4: university that I used to go to, and that's that's
Speaker 4: fun for me because it's a way that I can
Speaker 4: make money, it's a way that I can kind of
Speaker 4: stay connected to social work and forces me to read
Speaker 4: some books that maybe I wouldn't have chosen at this
Speaker 4: stage anymore, and I'm looking forward to that. I will also, though,
Speaker 4: be going to a wedding, so we already did book
Speaker 4: the flights for that, and we'll be staying with friends.
Speaker 4: But that is what always gets me. A are going
Speaker 4: to be eating out more and I am beginning to
Speaker 4: set some money aside for that.
Speaker 1: Are these friends that you have housed?
Speaker 4: No, actually I've housed her brother, but not her, so
Speaker 4: she'll probably she'll probably be next on them.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 4: Yeah, how about you, Jen?
Speaker 1: So I have Kai with me all summer. The baby
Speaker 1: will still be in daycare.
Speaker 4: I mean, you have your children with you twenty four
Speaker 4: can but Kai will be out of school. In my heart,
Speaker 4: You're like, I'll have Kai for the summer, Like, well, yeah,
Speaker 4: he belongs to me.
Speaker 1: I house and feed him, but he will be in
Speaker 1: my presence.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: More so we're not doing any summer camps. They just again,
Speaker 1: it's a low spend summer. I couldn't justify the cost,
Speaker 1: and so I'm just like working less, which means less
Speaker 1: money too. But yeah we are.
Speaker 4: Oh man, this is If you feel sad for us,
Speaker 4: be sure to write it on your calendar that you
Speaker 4: plan to buy our book.
Speaker 1: Right, please buy our book. Do not get it from
Speaker 1: the library, please or tell the library to get like
Speaker 1: twenty copies.
Speaker 4: That'll be fine.
Speaker 1: To tell them to do that and buy it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Please.
Speaker 4: If you set just ten cents aside every day from
Speaker 4: now until September, you will be able to go for
Speaker 4: the book.
Speaker 1: Sarah McLaughlin's over here. I'm gonna be going to the
Speaker 1: indoor playground, like I said, and I I, okay, this
Speaker 1: is a stretch goal. I want to go to Disney
Speaker 1: World with Kai. They've got a really good Florida resident deal,
Speaker 1: so I am hoping that I can stretch enough dollars
Speaker 1: to get that.
Speaker 4: When. Well, you'll have to decide soon because I think
Speaker 4: that pass is only good through September.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, well we would only we would go
Speaker 1: in the summer, so yeah, okay, yet, Okay, We're gonna
Speaker 1: do this thing. We are gonna do it.
Speaker 4: Thanks everyone for listening. We're so grateful for your listens,
Speaker 4: and we are especially grateful for your reviews, like this
Speaker 4: one from SAZZLEB, who says so much fun. I absolutely
Speaker 4: love this podcast. The ladies give great advice but also
Speaker 4: make everything so much fun, and the bill of the
Speaker 4: week intro is absolutely genius. Laugh emoji love love love
Speaker 4: this and binge listening the backlog. Thank you, Thank you, Sazzib.
Speaker 4: We appreciate that.
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed the show, if it helped you take
Speaker 1: away something new, or you were inspired or encouraged, we
Speaker 1: would love to hear about it in a rating and
Speaker 1: review on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify. It very much
Speaker 1: helps us and it helps us reach more people with
Speaker 1: the message.
Speaker 4: Yeah, see you next time.
Speaker 1: Gorugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani, So by the
Speaker 1: time this comes out, it will be summer. This will
Speaker 1: be the first episode of our official summer whose Summer
Speaker 1: Kai and I Yeah and Kai are summer.
Speaker 4: Oh you should, God, you should well.
Speaker 1: I already log it in like my five year journal,
Speaker 1: but I am going to print out a June and
Speaker 1: July calendar and I'm I'm going to write the things
Speaker 1: we're going to do and when so he can see it,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to make sure that it's as structured
Speaker 1: as possible, so in hopes of not ruining him when
Speaker 1: he goes back to school in the fall, ruining all
Speaker 1: the progress that he's made with having structure.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, well the teachers are ready for it. They know,
Speaker 4: they know the kids haven't been structured.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, but I got great news. So we actually
Speaker 1: paid for a three day camp at Kai's new school
Speaker 1: that they do for incoming kindergarteners just to familiarize them
Speaker 1: with the teachers and the kids and the campus and
Speaker 1: the district did the camp for the kids. So I
Speaker 1: don't have to pay. I had already paid for it,
Speaker 1: but I get to get my money back. So and
Speaker 1: as far as camps.
Speaker 4: Are, right, when you've already paid.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it. I didn't get my money back, but like,
Speaker 1: as far as camps went, that was the most affordable one,
Speaker 1: you know. So and I get the money back.
Speaker 4: That's so great. What are you going to do with
Speaker 4: that money that's like your bill of the week? Oh wow,
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe put it towards our Disney Fund. I have a
Speaker 1: friend and former editor who just started working for the
Speaker 1: Disney Parks Blog. Wow, so maybe I'll try and get
Speaker 1: some freelance writing gigs there.
Speaker 4: We're all getting summer jobs, working us someone job.
Speaker 1: It's great, It's gonna be great, So looking forward to that.