Speaker 1: Episode one oh one Tips for being more intentional with
Speaker 1: your finances. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll
Speaker 1: learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liberal at
Speaker 1: your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. What do
Speaker 1: you do? Welcome to another episode of Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Jen, this is Jill, and today we're
Speaker 1: talking about the value of putting pencil to paper and
Speaker 1: being more intentional with your finances, not just the numbers,
Speaker 1: but everything that surrounds finances, emotions, mindsets, your future, everything.
Speaker 1: So we're excited to have author and blogger Alyssa Davies
Speaker 1: on with us today. She is the mastermind behind Mixed
Speaker 1: Up Money, which is an award winning Canadian finance blog
Speaker 1: for all Canadian listeners. Check her out um and she's
Speaker 1: also the author of the one hundred Day Financial Goald journal.
Speaker 1: So excited to speak with her, But first our sponsors.
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Speaker 1: one hundred and one, just like one hundred and one
Speaker 1: Dalmatians and we everyone will own Now, we were going
Speaker 1: to offer you a hundred one tips on how to
Speaker 1: be intentional with your finances, but we couldn't get past four.
Speaker 1: And also four is all you want? Yeah, that's really
Speaker 1: all you need. Uh. So Alyssa is going to chat
Speaker 1: with us about ways to be intentional h and how
Speaker 1: you can put pencil to paper to solidify that intentionality. So,
Speaker 1: without further ado, here's Alyssa Davies. Alyssa, Well, welcome to
Speaker 1: the show. Thanks so much for coming on, Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me. I'm excited to chat with you ladies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we're excited for your your journal that's coming out.
Speaker 1: It's really thought provoking and we love it whenever you
Speaker 1: give somebody a reason to really dig deep and think
Speaker 1: about their finances, not just you know, the surface level
Speaker 1: stuff like I need to pay off debt, I need
Speaker 1: to save more, but like really getting into like why
Speaker 1: we have the goals that we have and stuff. So
Speaker 1: super excited to pick your brain a little bit on
Speaker 1: ways we can be more intentional for sure for starters, Alyssa,
Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about how you
Speaker 1: got started in writing in this financial space, Like what
Speaker 1: what prompted that for you? There is always something that
Speaker 1: prompts people. Hey, no one just wants to write about
Speaker 1: money for fun. Ever since I was three, I just
Speaker 1: wanted to talk about money. I just love budgeting. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I started actually five years ago. Now I've been blogging
Speaker 1: for five years already. It's crazy. Um, I was in
Speaker 1: a ton of consumer debt. Nothing new, it's kind of
Speaker 1: the same old story. But I had just recently gotten
Speaker 1: engaged and I was still in school and I realized, Okay,
Speaker 1: how am I supposed to pay for a wedding when
Speaker 1: I'm carrying around all of this debt? And is this
Speaker 1: exactly how I want to enter into a new part
Speaker 1: of my life? Probably not. So Yeah, I sat down
Speaker 1: and I started mapping out all of the debt that
Speaker 1: I owed and made a plan as to what I
Speaker 1: was going to do. And I was like, maybe I
Speaker 1: should start a blog so that I can hold myself
Speaker 1: more accountable. And when I started to look into it,
Speaker 1: there was so many out there that I realized, Oh,
Speaker 1: this is a real thing that people do, and I
Speaker 1: think this is a great community that I should start
Speaker 1: getting involved in if I'm going to start taking this seriously.
Speaker 1: So that's how I started, and I'm so glad I did.
Speaker 1: That's amazing when I hear people, I mean, it's kind
Speaker 1: of a crossroads that you're describing that you were at
Speaker 1: of shifting in life a little bit, and it can
Speaker 1: prompt us to reevaluate other aspects of our life. But
Speaker 1: it doesn't always. Some people just zoom right past, like
Speaker 1: continue status quo or continue how they've been doing things.
Speaker 1: But it's really neat to hear you describe this big
Speaker 1: thing that was happening in my life did prompt me
Speaker 1: to look at is this the way I want to
Speaker 1: keep going? Or do I want to make some shifts,
Speaker 1: maybe even some course corrections. So that that's amazing. I
Speaker 1: think in that a really helpful tip for people to
Speaker 1: utilize those crossroads moments in life to evaluate other aspects
Speaker 1: of life, because certainly that's going to enter into a
Speaker 1: marriage or a new home or new bringing new child
Speaker 1: into the world. Like, if you don't make changes, what
Speaker 1: you're doing already will just continue to perpetuate. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it'll add more stress, which is the last thing you want,
Speaker 1: especially with the cute little bundle of baby that you have.
Speaker 1: Oh do you you since here right there in the
Speaker 1: video not like her, She's not like here, but like
Speaker 1: if you're watching a YouTube, you can see a little
Speaker 1: picture picture right there. Nice. Okay, sorry, just like to
Speaker 1: let our podcasts for so, so let's get into a
Speaker 1: few ways that we can be more intentional with our money.
Speaker 1: What's the first way that you recommend? I think it
Speaker 1: comes down to just making a goal, but also knowing
Speaker 1: the difference between what setting a goal is and what
Speaker 1: being intentional is, because there is a difference so goal
Speaker 1: setting it kind of looks at the future and understanding
Speaker 1: what you want, how you can create a plan, and
Speaker 1: what you can do to stay on track with that goal.
Speaker 1: But setting an intention is more the way to focus
Speaker 1: on who you are in that moment and just understanding
Speaker 1: what you want to you with your money and what
Speaker 1: your values are when it comes to money. Yeah, definitely, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like that distinction. I love the smart goal um framework,
Speaker 1: but I think sometimes it can be limiting. I think
Speaker 1: there is this difference between like specific and achievable goals
Speaker 1: and then maybe going further than you thought you could.
Speaker 1: So I think there's a lot of room to take
Speaker 1: smart goals to the next level by setting like a
Speaker 1: stretch goal. But I do think goals are the way
Speaker 1: that we get moving with our finances, and setting them
Speaker 1: can be can be really intentional. Yeah. And then if
Speaker 1: your parent to, like I know that's a huge thing
Speaker 1: for me, is I have so much on my mind
Speaker 1: all the time that I'm just often going through the motions,
Speaker 1: especially during a tough week like last week, my kid
Speaker 1: was sick, so I had to go to the grocery
Speaker 1: store like several times just to pick up up whether
Speaker 1: it was distilled water for a humidifier or just all
Speaker 1: these things and you just are kind of a zombie.
Speaker 1: So you just start picking stuff up. I'm putting in
Speaker 1: your car, and you're not thinking about what you're buying
Speaker 1: until a week later and you're like, Wow, my grocery
Speaker 1: budgets way over board this month because I just wasn't
Speaker 1: being intentional when I was walking through the grocery store
Speaker 1: and I forgot what my intentions were with my money
Speaker 1: this month. Oh that's amazing. Again. I love that distinction
Speaker 1: of what are your intentions? It's it can kind of
Speaker 1: shift that perspective, like you said, from just calling something
Speaker 1: a goal. There's so much content out there on it
Speaker 1: that we can get bogged down with. Man, what does
Speaker 1: that even mean? Or is that even for me? Is
Speaker 1: that how I approach life? But to say, what are
Speaker 1: my intentions this today or this week or this month?
Speaker 1: And what am I doing to get at those intentions?
Speaker 1: So along these lines with talking about intentional spending, care
Speaker 1: to share I know you've got or tips on this.
Speaker 1: What is your second um? One of the things that
Speaker 1: I like to do personally when it comes to goal
Speaker 1: setting and just making sure that your on track with
Speaker 1: your money is actually doing the not so fun part,
Speaker 1: which is tracking your spending. I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people don't like to do it because it's a lot
Speaker 1: of work and it can be a really real look
Speaker 1: into what you're doing with your money. But it's really
Speaker 1: necessary if you want to make progress and start to
Speaker 1: get an understanding of what you do with your money. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, what are some ways that you've tracked spending?
Speaker 1: Like how if someone's like, what does that even mean?
Speaker 1: How do you start with that? Yeah? So usually I
Speaker 1: just write down, Like that's how I like to do things.
Speaker 1: Is I like to write them down? Um? So I
Speaker 1: just have a pen and paper and I write down
Speaker 1: everything I buy in a single day. Um. But you
Speaker 1: can also use a spreadsheet that you can update daily
Speaker 1: or weekly. It doesn't have to be every single day
Speaker 1: because that can be quite the task if you're busy.
Speaker 1: Or you can use a budgeting app like Cleo is
Speaker 1: one that I like, Or you can use Mint or
Speaker 1: there's lots out there that are available. Um but it's
Speaker 1: not something I use just because I find it's less
Speaker 1: likely to keep you accountable because it's all automatic and
Speaker 1: you're not really being mindful. But that's an option. And
Speaker 1: another way to do it is just keeping all of
Speaker 1: your receipts um and just making sure that you know
Speaker 1: where you spend all of your money, and then you
Speaker 1: just want to sit down and follow up with your
Speaker 1: bank statements month to month to just to see how
Speaker 1: much it is to make sure you didn't miss anything.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's essentially just tracking every single penny
Speaker 1: you spend, sitting down and going through all of those
Speaker 1: expenses and saying, oh, wow, this is actually how much
Speaker 1: I spend in a month. What my budget says, this
Speaker 1: is what I'm spending. Yeah, yeah, And where would you
Speaker 1: find pen and pencil and paper? Where would you what
Speaker 1: would you find that in? I love what you're saying,
Speaker 1: but where do I get pencil and paper? Yeah? Previous sponsors.
Speaker 1: And this, I feel like is one of the most
Speaker 1: low hanging fruits with learning to be intentional with money,
Speaker 1: to budget, to learn where our money is going, how
Speaker 1: we're approaching it. But for some reason we just don't
Speaker 1: do it. We may even sit down and write a budget,
Speaker 1: but then have no idea if like that's like fantasy
Speaker 1: versus reality, right of Like I say that this is
Speaker 1: how much like I say that I spend three hundred
Speaker 1: dollars on groceries, I spend six hundred. Let's be honest,
Speaker 1: her tiny fridge. I'll never know, well because my grocery
Speaker 1: budget includes going out to eat, so anyhow. But yeah,
Speaker 1: but anyhow, tracking spending is really where I learned what's
Speaker 1: the reality. And if I don't want that to be
Speaker 1: the reality, how do I rein that? In Like, we
Speaker 1: want to jump to the thing that saves us money,
Speaker 1: but we have to know what we're doing first before
Speaker 1: we can jump there. So I love that tip, and
Speaker 1: I think, uh, this is another thing I think forming
Speaker 1: a habit out of It's not like one you do
Speaker 1: it one time and you're done. This has to be
Speaker 1: a regular thing. Yeah, yeah, and it doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be a forever thing to Like I like to tell people,
Speaker 1: you know, just try tracking your spending for three to
Speaker 1: six months, because that will actually give you a really
Speaker 1: good idea that just because how we spend each week
Speaker 1: is really hard to estimate, like you said, so just
Speaker 1: giving yourself a good reasonable time frames so that you're
Speaker 1: more aware is really important. Yeah. Set, Yeah, to set
Speaker 1: a time frame so you know, okay, it ends now,
Speaker 1: So if I can just keep going for four more weeks,
Speaker 1: three more weeks, then you'll do it more consistently than
Speaker 1: if it's just open ended exactly. And I also like,
Speaker 1: maybe if you can't do it every day because maybe
Speaker 1: your life is unpredictable or you go NonStop at night,
Speaker 1: then just joel in an hour every other day or
Speaker 1: three days a week, like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, so
Speaker 1: that you can keep track of everything still a few
Speaker 1: times a week. You want to do it more than
Speaker 1: once a week, but you're scheduling in that thirty minutes
Speaker 1: three times a week, and then it doesn't feel so
Speaker 1: overwhelming like I have to do it seven days a week.
Speaker 1: Even when you just say that, it's like, Okay, that's
Speaker 1: that's attainable. We can manage that. Yeah, just make it
Speaker 1: more attainable. So we've got creating a goal tracking spending
Speaker 1: so that we can reach that goal. What is another
Speaker 1: tip you've got for us? Well, when it comes to money,
Speaker 1: you have to save it. What you are saying crazy things? Next? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so just finding a way to save money each week.
Speaker 1: So in my journal, it's actually like how you can
Speaker 1: save for a financial goal that's in a hundred days.
Speaker 1: So when you think about it that way, it's like,
Speaker 1: what can I actually afford to save each day if
Speaker 1: I only have a hundred days? Um? So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how I like to look at my financial goals.
Speaker 1: I've always done that. If it's like you're planning a
Speaker 1: trip to Disneyland next year, you have three d sixty
Speaker 1: five days, you want to save five thousand dollars? How many?
Speaker 1: How much is that each day? Yeah, because it makes
Speaker 1: it a little bit more realistic, and it kind of
Speaker 1: sets the tone for what you actually need to save.
Speaker 1: Um And Yeah, So to do stuff like that, like
Speaker 1: to save money each week, you have to do a
Speaker 1: lot of smaller things. So that really gets in. Like
Speaker 1: when we were having our how to Transition from Spender
Speaker 1: to Saver episode, how to build like a habit of saving.
Speaker 1: You have to do it intentionally. You can't just set
Speaker 1: up the auto debit and expect to become a saver
Speaker 1: in your heart. But doing something like this, it's finite.
Speaker 1: It's a hundred days, and you're doing it every day,
Speaker 1: or even like if you're just tracking your transactions every
Speaker 1: other day or three times a week, you're at least
Speaker 1: doing it three to four times a week, and that
Speaker 1: is more than enough to build a habit. I think
Speaker 1: what you're communicating is so great because it speaks to
Speaker 1: an understanding of humanity that, yes, ideally each year we
Speaker 1: could put thousands of dollars towards various savings goals, but
Speaker 1: reality is we don't function that way. We do far
Speaker 1: better with these small incremental breaking it down, what does
Speaker 1: this mean for me on a daily weekly basis than
Speaker 1: we do with the like quarterly annually kind of approach.
Speaker 1: So yeah, in theory you could, but we don't usually
Speaker 1: function well with those kind of parameters. So to say
Speaker 1: break it down to a hundred days, what does that
Speaker 1: mean daily? My goodness, You're so much more likely to
Speaker 1: attain that thing if you're being into channel in that way,
Speaker 1: because it's it's the it's then becoming part of a routine,
Speaker 1: which becomes a habit, and yeah, yeah, makes more successful
Speaker 1: in that area. Okay, saving money, that is an intentionally
Speaker 1: saving So that's our that's the key takeaway from this
Speaker 1: one intentionally doing it? Um, what's our last one? The
Speaker 1: last one is just taking time to actually reflect on
Speaker 1: your behaviors and the habits that you do have with
Speaker 1: your money, and so what I mean by that is
Speaker 1: just actually taking the time to sit down and reflect
Speaker 1: on how you did with your money each week, how
Speaker 1: it made you feel, and why you chose to spend
Speaker 1: the money you chose to spend, or why you chose
Speaker 1: to take a step back and not spend that money.
Speaker 1: Just again thinking about the intentions that you had, and
Speaker 1: just listening to what you're doing with your finances, because
Speaker 1: I find journaling has been a huge difference make or
Speaker 1: for me when it comes to my finances. I'm way
Speaker 1: more aware of how money makes me feel and how
Speaker 1: it impacts the decisions that I make. And then it
Speaker 1: also helped with the goal setting side of things. Amazing,
Speaker 1: You're blowing my mind a little bit. Journaling about your
Speaker 1: finances tell me more. Yeah, so I just kind of track.
Speaker 1: I do it daily, which is a lot, but if
Speaker 1: you do have a short term goal, you kind of
Speaker 1: need to do it that frequently. You know, how am
Speaker 1: I feeling today in the morning, and then is that
Speaker 1: going to impact my money for the rest of the day,
Speaker 1: Because if I'm in a bad mood or I didn't
Speaker 1: have a good sleep, I'm probably going to go to
Speaker 1: a coffee shop and buy a coffee, like there's no
Speaker 1: stopping me. Um, And so just being aware of the
Speaker 1: fact that today might not be a great day for
Speaker 1: my money, so I need to be way more mindful
Speaker 1: of that and then or if it's a great day,
Speaker 1: then I know I don't have anything to worry about
Speaker 1: and I can just go through the motions and feel
Speaker 1: good about my money that day. Wow, this is amazing.
Speaker 1: I think we often think about journaling for you know,
Speaker 1: dear diary, what happened in relationships today, or yeah, mental health,
Speaker 1: just how my feeling and then it stops there. But
Speaker 1: my goodness, what a good practice to say, and how
Speaker 1: will this impact my behaviors? Which is so true. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a therapist, and so like we talk about
Speaker 1: how behaviors start first at the thought level. Thoughts lead
Speaker 1: to feelings lead to behaviors, and if we can catch
Speaker 1: it at the thought and feeling level, we can shift
Speaker 1: what our behaviors are out of that scenario. And and
Speaker 1: but it sounds like too, you're even giving yourself a
Speaker 1: bit of permission and planning that sometimes I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be in the best mind space for my finances
Speaker 1: and that there are times when that's okay because there's
Speaker 1: an awareness of it. I don't am I reading between
Speaker 1: the lines too much. I know that's absolutely how I feel. Um.
Speaker 1: I know that I'm not perfect when it comes to money.
Speaker 1: I wish I was. UM. I try to be really frugal.
Speaker 1: That's part of just my upbringing and who I've decided
Speaker 1: to be with my money. But it's not always easy
Speaker 1: to say no, it's perfect, you're not alone. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and especially like since I had a kid, man, I
Speaker 1: it's all about coffee and just taking a break, whether
Speaker 1: that was an hour away from the house or an
Speaker 1: hour just sitting alone in my office. It's it's what
Speaker 1: you need. Yeah, yeah, and yeah. I think this is
Speaker 1: especially important for people who don't like to talk about
Speaker 1: finances um out loud. I think you need to have
Speaker 1: some outlet to process. There can be like a lot
Speaker 1: of grief and shame and anxiety around money, and you
Speaker 1: need a way to process it. And if you're not
Speaker 1: going to go to a therapist, if you're not to
Speaker 1: talk to your friends about it, then you can do
Speaker 1: it privately, like with some kind of guided journal. Um.
Speaker 1: And it's it can be the first step to like
Speaker 1: healing um and re rethinking, reforming the way you think
Speaker 1: about finances. But I love that this is in the
Speaker 1: top four for you in saying that this is part
Speaker 1: of the process. I think we can so quickly like
Speaker 1: skip by this reflection piece and whether we journal about
Speaker 1: that or we just sit and reflect and think about, well,
Speaker 1: what does this mean as we look over our budget
Speaker 1: and our finances and and where do my values lie?
Speaker 1: And do I want to make any shifts and changes?
Speaker 1: I think we can just fly past all of that, like,
Speaker 1: all right, I did my budget and did my savings.
Speaker 1: I'm being intentional but never stopping to say, and is
Speaker 1: this working? And do I want to continue? Or what
Speaker 1: am I learning about myself? Like taking that to the
Speaker 1: deeper level of who who am I? As a result
Speaker 1: of what I see my finances? I mean that there's
Speaker 1: quotes out there right about like show me your your
Speaker 1: bank account statement, and I'll tell you what you value.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you where your priorities are. Like, certainly we're
Speaker 1: going to put our money where our true priorities are.
Speaker 1: And if they're not there, then then let's shift that.
Speaker 1: Or that's not actually what we want to be a priority,
Speaker 1: then let's shift that that's only going to happen by
Speaker 1: reflecting and looking back and identifying these things. Mine was
Speaker 1: so emotional, oh for sure. Yeah, and we forget that
Speaker 1: it's linked to those aspects of our personhood. We think
Speaker 1: it's separate. We think it's uh, this stale kind of
Speaker 1: um business e thing. But yeah, it is wrapped up
Speaker 1: in relationships and emotions and everything. You know what else
Speaker 1: is the bill of the week. That's right, it's toime
Speaker 1: for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a
Speaker 1: baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you
Speaker 1: paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're
Speaker 1: happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's
Speaker 1: built buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of
Speaker 1: the week, Alyssa. Every week we invite our listeners or
Speaker 1: our guests to share with us their favorite bill, any
Speaker 1: bill with us on the show. Do you have a
Speaker 1: bill for us? Yes? I do. I have my mortgage. WHOA,
Speaker 1: that's a bill for sure, a bill. I actually bought
Speaker 1: a house. It's we've been here for about seven months now, um,
Speaker 1: and every single time I pay the mortgage, I I'm
Speaker 1: happy about it, which is something not a lot of
Speaker 1: people are happy about. But it just makes me feel
Speaker 1: good because we accomplished a goal that we were really
Speaker 1: excited about. You have a permanent place to build memories
Speaker 1: as a family, and I feel like I've done what
Speaker 1: I wanted to do with my money and now I
Speaker 1: can just enjoy that. Oh that's lovely. I also love
Speaker 1: my mortgage. It's like way more than I ever paid
Speaker 1: in rent and I don't even think twice about it
Speaker 1: because I love our house well. And you can also
Speaker 1: know that you're investing in something like, yeah, you're paying
Speaker 1: for a place to live currently, but it also is
Speaker 1: building the potential wealth for you to Yeah. For us,
Speaker 1: it's all about just having like a safe space for
Speaker 1: a family and knowing that we don't have to go anywhere. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and yeah, that's just a huge thing for me. Is
Speaker 1: I was always a renter and as soon as we
Speaker 1: moved in here, I was like, is this real? I
Speaker 1: can hang a picture and I don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about it I have to call the landlord. Right if
Speaker 1: you're just hanging pictures where wherever I want, I can
Speaker 1: see you've done that. It looks tasteful. You're good. If
Speaker 1: you guys have a bill for us, whether it's your
Speaker 1: mortgage or whatever. Please visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com,
Speaker 1: slash bill and leave us a voicemail or speak pipe
Speaker 1: and let us celebrate with you nice. And now it's
Speaker 1: time for Lightning Round. You always go so much softer
Speaker 1: and sweeter than I do, because I've always felt so
Speaker 1: intimidated by the lightning round. It comes on and I'm
Speaker 1: just like too much in your ears. It is. So
Speaker 1: today for the Lightning Round, we wanted to continue the
Speaker 1: conversation about journaling. So we're going to go through how
Speaker 1: we value the significance of putting pencil to paper when
Speaker 1: dealing with your finances. And so we're each going to
Speaker 1: share different valuable tidbit insight, feeling something, our thoughts on
Speaker 1: why that's important because it affected us individually, because you, Alissa,
Speaker 1: have done and have written a one day financial goal journal. Uh,
Speaker 1: and so the value of a kind of workbook process
Speaker 1: rather than just hearing about something but this pencil to paper.
Speaker 1: So we'll let you go first because you're our guests. Um,
Speaker 1: what do you see of the value of Yeah, like
Speaker 1: we said, putting pencil to paper. Yeah. For for me,
Speaker 1: it's it's about the actual accountability aspect, because if I
Speaker 1: just say I'm going to do something, I won't do it. Um,
Speaker 1: So I have to have something actually that I can
Speaker 1: hold and feel and kind of move through that. And
Speaker 1: the journal has been a way to talk about the
Speaker 1: bad times with my money, because there's always going to
Speaker 1: be bad times. But it's also a really great place
Speaker 1: to go and celebrate your personal successes with money, because
Speaker 1: I don't want to always run to my friends and
Speaker 1: talk about I'm doing so great financially if maybe they're
Speaker 1: not in the same spot. So it's really a good
Speaker 1: place for me to kind of give myself a pat
Speaker 1: on the back for doing what I want to do
Speaker 1: with my money and reaching that milestone every single time
Speaker 1: I get closer to accomplishing a goal, um, and just
Speaker 1: it's like a memory, like you can go back and
Speaker 1: be like, Wow, look at what I've accomplished with my money,
Speaker 1: and if I can do that, then there's way more
Speaker 1: I can do. Yeah, And having written those things down
Speaker 1: allows you to go back, which can even be an
Speaker 1: encouragement when there are times that you're feeling like I
Speaker 1: can't get this right or I'm not doing things like
Speaker 1: I used to and realize the ebbs and those of
Speaker 1: it in the past, and how it is possible to
Speaker 1: be back in a place of doing Well, what about
Speaker 1: for you, Jim? So for me, I do so much
Speaker 1: work on the computer that the computer for me is
Speaker 1: like something text and PDF and stuff are things that
Speaker 1: I skim while like books and things that I hold,
Speaker 1: I really go through. And so for me, the value
Speaker 1: of actually writing through something i'm processing it allows me
Speaker 1: to be that much more intentional about it. Um. But
Speaker 1: it forced me to not skip any questions, Like I
Speaker 1: go through each one line by line. Um. When I'm scrolling,
Speaker 1: it's easy to just scroll on by, but if it's
Speaker 1: there in front of me on the paper, it doesn't scroll.
Speaker 1: It's there until I answer it, So that that would
Speaker 1: be for me it. Yeah, there is something really important
Speaker 1: about the tangible, and same thing with journaling. There there's
Speaker 1: something that happens when our minds and like what's happening
Speaker 1: in our brain gets to connect with our physical body,
Speaker 1: and I think more understanding comes through that process, more
Speaker 1: awareness comes through that process, more insight all these things.
Speaker 1: I don't know all the science behind it. I just
Speaker 1: know that it's true. So yeah, um, for me, when
Speaker 1: it comes to work books or putting pencil to paper
Speaker 1: for just my own tracking spending or budgeting. I I
Speaker 1: like it because because of the walking through a process,
Speaker 1: I think, when things can feel so jumbled, it's really
Speaker 1: helpful for me to be able to be guided through something,
Speaker 1: which is which is what a workbook provides of, here's
Speaker 1: where to start, here's the middle, here's the end, and
Speaker 1: and it it helps to just bring clarity to something,
Speaker 1: um and and then to be able to see it
Speaker 1: all at once. I think, Yeah, similar to what you're saying,
Speaker 1: there's something really helpful about the tangible, specifically when it
Speaker 1: comes to tracking my spending. I'll take it even further
Speaker 1: than the pencil and paper and pull in the highlighters,
Speaker 1: get real crazy with it. But yeah, also and like
Speaker 1: break it up into different categories so then I can see, like,
Speaker 1: all right, if yellow is all the highlighted food and
Speaker 1: blue is gas and whatever, like, I can kind of
Speaker 1: see where is the most of my money going to.
Speaker 1: And then there's something just therapeutic about having done that
Speaker 1: with my hands. So the process of it is um
Speaker 1: rewarding for me. Yeah, well, we hope that you guys
Speaker 1: will take that to heart and do something that puts
Speaker 1: pencil to paper. And unless I know that you specifically
Speaker 1: your book is coming out, tell us a little bit
Speaker 1: more about it. Things you have like already covered everything
Speaker 1: that we covered. Actually those four pieces of intentionality, those
Speaker 1: are all questions in your book that you have people
Speaker 1: go through. Yeah, so it's, um, it's a hundred days
Speaker 1: that you pick a goal. You actually get to know
Speaker 1: how you set a goal, how you choose a goal,
Speaker 1: why you're choosing that goal, and then every single day
Speaker 1: it gives you an opportunity to reflect on your spending
Speaker 1: habits and why you did the things you did. And
Speaker 1: then you also have the opportunity to learn a little
Speaker 1: bit of a lesson every single week so that you
Speaker 1: have something to focus on every week and so that
Speaker 1: it's not the same thing. So it's moving along with you. Um,
Speaker 1: it's like you said, there's a beginning, of middle and
Speaker 1: an end, and you'll be able to check in with
Speaker 1: yourself to make sure that you're on the right page
Speaker 1: so that you're not halfway through and you're like, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to accomplish this goal, so what's the next step. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's awesome. Where can we get more from you? A Lissa.
Speaker 1: If people want this book, if they want to read
Speaker 1: more of your content, for sure. So the book is
Speaker 1: available for preorder right now, but it actually comes out
Speaker 1: on April seven, so mark your calendars and you can
Speaker 1: get that on Bards and Noble dot com or Amazon.
Speaker 1: It's available, and you can find me on Mixed Up
Speaker 1: Money dot com and all of my informations there. So
Speaker 1: if you want to follow me on social media or anything,
Speaker 1: you can head there and get all the links you need.
Speaker 1: And Melissa draws the cutest, greatest drawings on Instagram. You
Speaker 1: actually have to follow her. It's a requirement. It's Mixed
Speaker 1: Up Money. You will not be sorry. They're so amateur,
Speaker 1: but I have so much fun doing Absolutely love them
Speaker 1: for all of their character. I love them. You gotta
Speaker 1: have fun with this process. Yeah, well thanks so listen
Speaker 1: for coming on and sharing your wisdom in your book
Speaker 1: with us, and we are super super looking forward to
Speaker 1: it coming out and uh maybe putting some more pencil
Speaker 1: to paper in our own finances. Yes on twenty year
Speaker 1: of papers and pens. Yeah, having it, I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: here for it. Get back to the basics. Amazing, I mean,
Speaker 1: so just tangible tips, I love it when we can
Speaker 1: break things down into digestible information. I love it when
Speaker 1: I think that an interview is going to go one
Speaker 1: way and then it actually goes another way. That's like
Speaker 1: much more uh not just like profound, but like much
Speaker 1: more tangible, like with more tangible tips and things that
Speaker 1: I can get out of it. So I loved it.
Speaker 1: Journaling about finances is going to stick with me? Sure
Speaker 1: al Right, guys, So we are wrapping up, and as
Speaker 1: you know, we just want to keep thinking you all
Speaker 1: for the ways that you are listening and engaging with
Speaker 1: this content. And one of the ways we want to
Speaker 1: thank you is by reading a kind review that that
Speaker 1: we found, because they all get emailed to us, so
Speaker 1: we read all of them, but we highlight the kind ones.
Speaker 1: So this one is from Claries, she says, awesome podcast.
Speaker 1: Jen and Jill, host of the Frugal Friends podcast, highlights
Speaker 1: all aspects of business investing and more. In this can't
Speaker 1: miss podcast, the host and expert guests offer insightful advice
Speaker 1: and information that is helpful to anyone that listens. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much. Clary's like what kind words to say? Yes,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. So we we always thank our
Speaker 1: listeners that leave us a review. But we also want
Speaker 1: to thank our listeners who share us on social media.
Speaker 1: That is a big way that people find out about us,
Speaker 1: and so we just want to thank you by including
Speaker 1: you in our monthly giveaway. So we want to include
Speaker 1: that on our Amazon gift card giveaway by looking at
Speaker 1: how you tag us. So tag our latest episode this
Speaker 1: week on Facebook or Instagram and you will be entered
Speaker 1: into that drawing. Well, we'll give one winner a gift
Speaker 1: card for every five tags or reviews we get at
Speaker 1: the end of the month. Yeah, so it's a ten
Speaker 1: dollar Amazon gift card that you would receive both by
Speaker 1: there's two ways, by either tagging the most recent episode
Speaker 1: or by still leaving a review and screenshotting that review
Speaker 1: and sending it to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: So two different ways to enter that drawing. You know.
Speaker 1: The drill, Thank you, thank you for listening, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you next week by Frugal Friends is produced, edited
Speaker 1: and mixed by Eric Syria. We did it, We've arrived.
Speaker 1: Who should we quit now? Yep? Bye, getting out of here.
Speaker 1: I got dalmatians to take care of dalmatians, freaking So yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what I'm gonna do. I can't do a podcast anymore.
Speaker 1: Going to feed the Dalmatians