Speaker 1: Episode one, Psychological Tricks for sticking to a budget. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
Speaker 1: embrace simplicity, rights, and liver with your life. Here your
Speaker 1: host Jen and Jill m. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today
Speaker 1: we are talking about budgeting. And I said psychological tricks,
Speaker 1: but they're really just psychology. So you can understand why
Speaker 1: you have trouble sticking to a budget and you can
Speaker 1: make changes that serve you better sticking to one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we really like to talk about how we are whole
Speaker 1: people and all of the aspects of our personhood that
Speaker 1: go into some of these decisions. They're not isolated. What
Speaker 1: we do with money is connected to their parts of
Speaker 1: our being, and it's good to take a look at
Speaker 1: that and see, is this part of why I am
Speaker 1: overspending or not getting at the actual coalts I say
Speaker 1: that I have. Yes. Yeah, So no tricks here, just
Speaker 1: treats for helping you to besh it amazing. But first
Speaker 1: our sponsors. This episode is also brought to you by
Speaker 1: house Plants. Brain stuff is heavy and complex, so if
Speaker 1: you feel tired after listening to this episode, go water
Speaker 1: your house plants. House plants are really cool when you
Speaker 1: can keep them alive, and they tend to live longer
Speaker 1: if you water them. Sometimes they need more soil, and
Speaker 1: I don't know where the soil goes, especially if there's
Speaker 1: no holes in the planter. But whatever, house plants. Shout
Speaker 1: out to all the ladies who are plant moms before
Speaker 1: I'm gonna you, Jillian, thank you. Thanks for valid aiding
Speaker 1: me and my love for plants. It's not just trendy.
Speaker 1: It is trendy, but it's not just trendy. It's a
Speaker 1: way of life for you. Have you had more success
Speaker 1: keeping your house plants alive? Only the ones inside my house,
Speaker 1: The ones outside my house that I don't see all
Speaker 1: the time are for sure all dead. It's interesting that
Speaker 1: you say that about the soil piece. I've noticed that too,
Speaker 1: and I think it's what plants need soil. They take
Speaker 1: nutrients out of it, so yeah, sometimes you need to
Speaker 1: add soil to it. It's a lesser talked about thing
Speaker 1: with house just like it's either too much water not
Speaker 1: enough water. And sometimes you need to put your plants
Speaker 1: in a new pot because they're growing out of the
Speaker 1: pot that they're in. Sometimes they need more nutrients in
Speaker 1: their soil. So anyhow, there's your plants for the day.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about psychology. Yes, so we have a few
Speaker 1: kind of bigger named articles today. Sometimes we try and
Speaker 1: get the really good you see, like smaller blogs that
Speaker 1: can say whatever they want. That today we're sticking with
Speaker 1: the Forbes and a vox dot com. So this first
Speaker 1: one is from Forbes and it's, uh, it's short, but
Speaker 1: it's good. It is cognitive science tips for sticking to
Speaker 1: your budget. What do you think of this one, Jill,
Speaker 1: It's great, Like you said, it's short and sweet. And
Speaker 1: to give a little background two on why Jen and
Speaker 1: I like to look at this topic because I'm sure
Speaker 1: if you've been listening to this podcast long enough, you've
Speaker 1: heard some of these themes come out of emotionally, Yeah,
Speaker 1: cognitive pieces behind the decisions that we make and again
Speaker 1: we are whole people. But also my background is in
Speaker 1: mental health, so this is definitely something that I went about.
Speaker 1: This is the beautiful blend of our friendship. I think
Speaker 1: of talking about finances and how that intersects with our mental, emotional, relational,
Speaker 1: spiritual health as well. So that's just a brief background
Speaker 1: on why are they talking about psychology, But again, because
Speaker 1: it's matters. That's why our brains are the ones that spend.
Speaker 1: We don't go into things just like Nope, nobody makes
Speaker 1: us spend money on most things. Like we decide to
Speaker 1: spend money, and sometimes we spend money and we regret it.
Speaker 1: We spend money and things we don't want, and we're like,
Speaker 1: why did I do that? Why can't I stick to
Speaker 1: a budget? I made the budget, um And these are
Speaker 1: the reasons why this is what we're looking at. I
Speaker 1: appreciate that the article started out by talking about some
Speaker 1: of the overspending that we've been seeing through the pandemic,
Speaker 1: so it's even relevant. I mean it's always relevant of
Speaker 1: we as humans can struggle with overspending, but particularly through
Speaker 1: the pandemic. I think there was a lot of what
Speaker 1: they term some comfort spending, which we turned to, we
Speaker 1: turned to any level of coping mechanism, and for some
Speaker 1: of us it can and bring just that feel good
Speaker 1: thing to buy something that I want to have, some
Speaker 1: instant gratification, something new, something cool, And so recognizing that
Speaker 1: and kind of where that comes from is part of
Speaker 1: this part of the cognitive science behind why we spend.
Speaker 1: And so we'll just go through all of the things
Speaker 1: that they list might be leading to overspending or not
Speaker 1: sticking to budgets or not sticking to our goals, because
Speaker 1: I think all of them are useful. Yeah, And I
Speaker 1: like that it refers to it as cognitive science research
Speaker 1: because we don't always I mean, we don't think of
Speaker 1: our spending and our budgeting in terms of cognitive science.
Speaker 1: So I love and I'm like a geek for stuff
Speaker 1: like this too. So I love that the first one
Speaker 1: was recognizing and combating decision fatigue. So decision fatigue refers
Speaker 1: to how carefully analyzing all the various crows and cons
Speaker 1: takes effort. We make thousands of little micro decisions a day,
Speaker 1: and every decision you make wears you down little by little.
Speaker 1: After you make choice after choice, and by the end
Speaker 1: of the day, our willpower reserves have dried up. And
Speaker 1: that is decision fatigue. And so that's why a lot
Speaker 1: of times you can find yourself very successful in sticking
Speaker 1: to a diet or sticking to a budget or something
Speaker 1: for the first you know, two thirds of the day,
Speaker 1: but it's that last third typically when we get to
Speaker 1: dinner time where it becomes really hard and all of
Speaker 1: our progress goes out the window. That is in part
Speaker 1: due to decision fatigue, and that's why we say you
Speaker 1: have to set yourself up for success. After work, that's
Speaker 1: the most important part. That's where the meal planning, the
Speaker 1: meal prep and all of that comes into place. I
Speaker 1: think the same can be said throughout a week too.
Speaker 1: By the time we reach Friday, we can be exhausted
Speaker 1: and everything can go out the window on the weekend.
Speaker 1: So you name it. We have another way to term
Speaker 1: this would be capacity. We do not have unlimited emotional, relational,
Speaker 1: mental capacity, and at some point we're going to reach
Speaker 1: our capacity. There's land mines all over that. Sometimes we
Speaker 1: do well to discover that before we hit one of
Speaker 1: those landmines, and sometimes we don't. End it leads to overspending.
Speaker 1: But recognizing we're not unlimited and how to put in
Speaker 1: some of these helps along the way for us so
Speaker 1: that we can be operating within our capacity. That's going
Speaker 1: to be one of the things that's going to help
Speaker 1: us towards those those financial goals is recognizing decision fatigue
Speaker 1: and knowing then how to handle it. Yeah. So, I
Speaker 1: mean that's a big reason why you see, like you know,
Speaker 1: the tech billionaires like the Steve Jobs and those people
Speaker 1: like we're the same thing every day, is because they've
Speaker 1: been taught this decision fatigue by whoever their mentors are,
Speaker 1: and they just take different decisions off the table. I
Speaker 1: put out a week of clothes for my son on Sunday,
Speaker 1: so in the mornings I never have to wonder what
Speaker 1: he's gonna wear. It's already like stacked there by his bed,
Speaker 1: and so what are It's not just meal planning, but
Speaker 1: like look at your life and figure out what are
Speaker 1: the things throughout the day you can do, especially after work,
Speaker 1: that can take decisions off of your plate. No decision
Speaker 1: is too small to be taken off your plate, because
Speaker 1: we're looking all the way down at micro decisions and
Speaker 1: so the fewer decisions we have to make, obviously the
Speaker 1: bigger ones take more effort, cause more fatigue, but we're
Speaker 1: even looking at taking some of those micro decisions off
Speaker 1: of our plates too. So that's a big thing to
Speaker 1: be aware of in your life. And look at what
Speaker 1: are the things I can plan ahead for on Saturday
Speaker 1: or Sunday. Take those things off of my plate, or
Speaker 1: what are things I can be doing Wednesday Thursday to
Speaker 1: take decisions off my plate Saturday Sunday. If that is
Speaker 1: where you struggle more with with your overspending. I've noticed
Speaker 1: I do so much better eating at home if I
Speaker 1: just have a written list of the food that I
Speaker 1: can eat for lunch and dinner. It doesn't even have
Speaker 1: to be a full on Monday, I'm making this, but
Speaker 1: to even have it written down of you have these
Speaker 1: options available to you between your fridge and your freezer,
Speaker 1: and just seeing it takes out, yeah, some of that
Speaker 1: decision fatigue and where I might then just go and
Speaker 1: say let's just order out. Well, no, you have stuff.
Speaker 1: Here's what it is like. Those simple things are helpful.
Speaker 1: That's so great, and that's great for people who like
Speaker 1: quote unquote hate planning or hate a rigid meal plan.
Speaker 1: If you just make a list, these are the things
Speaker 1: that I can make and just pick one. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: The next one on this list is to not be
Speaker 1: tempted with introductory offers. So the con and of science
Speaker 1: part of this would be the things that are appealing
Speaker 1: to us that look good and shiny, and marketers know this.
Speaker 1: Of how can we rope people in two overspending, They're
Speaker 1: primarily talking about credit card companies and how they will
Speaker 1: often offer this really low or zero percent a p
Speaker 1: Y financing only to get you out with very high
Speaker 1: a p r s in the future, and that might
Speaker 1: not be the case maybe for all of our listeners.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's something else, But I feel like this could
Speaker 1: be applied across the board. It's not just credit cards
Speaker 1: trying to rope you in. I mean this is where
Speaker 1: we could think subscriptions, Oh X y Z is free
Speaker 1: for the first seven days, but then they all they
Speaker 1: get you to input your credit card information so then
Speaker 1: they're automatically charging you after that and we forget to
Speaker 1: go back in and cancels. So just being aware of
Speaker 1: the fine print in any situation, of course, our eyes
Speaker 1: can glaze over with fine print, but that shouldn't be
Speaker 1: a reason that we find ourselves overspending. We really need
Speaker 1: to have a better handle on what is this really offering?
Speaker 1: What's the catch? Will is this actually useful and valuable
Speaker 1: to me? Will I actually take advantage of this? Or
Speaker 1: am I falling for a marketing tactic right now? Yeah?
Speaker 1: What this one made me think of where lost leaders.
Speaker 1: So companies, yeah, offering you the free seven day trial,
Speaker 1: or offering you the free ice cream if you come
Speaker 1: into the store, the five dollar chicken at Costco, and
Speaker 1: so these are things that will get you into a
Speaker 1: store or onto a mailing list that don't even make
Speaker 1: the company money. But when you take an action with
Speaker 1: a company, you're warming up to that company, so it
Speaker 1: becomes easier for you to walk through the doors again
Speaker 1: or to open another email. And so the more you
Speaker 1: do those micro actions, those micro interactions with a company,
Speaker 1: the more comfortable you become and the more likely you
Speaker 1: become to spend money with them. And so while free
Speaker 1: stuff is great, we highly highly recommend free trials and
Speaker 1: getting what you can from companies. Don't be tempt like,
Speaker 1: don't take those for granted. Those are marketing tactics, and
Speaker 1: so they also bank on the concept of reciprocity. So
Speaker 1: if I do something for you, you're more likely to
Speaker 1: do something for me. And so know that that's a
Speaker 1: marketing tactic. You're not obligated to do something for any
Speaker 1: company no matter what they've given you. It is their
Speaker 1: choice to do that. And so with these introductory offers,
Speaker 1: marketing tactics just be aware of what the tactic is
Speaker 1: so you can be more empowered. Two or come it.
Speaker 1: So the last one on here, like we said, real
Speaker 1: short um but real, I mean packs a punch is
Speaker 1: to avoid envy inducing social media channels. So that's your
Speaker 1: friends on Facebook, your Instagram, influencers that you love to follow.
Speaker 1: Social media can be such a great place. It has
Speaker 1: brought such relationships together as my husband and I, as
Speaker 1: Jill and I, but it can also be a really
Speaker 1: dangerous place and cause a lot of envy. And just
Speaker 1: like wishing not. People are not even being malicious when
Speaker 1: they're doing these things. They're just very excited for themselves.
Speaker 1: And you're over here like I'm trying to reach a
Speaker 1: goal and that's out of my budget, but I want
Speaker 1: that jacket so bad. But look at how fun that
Speaker 1: vacation looks. Have. I'll even add to this, social media
Speaker 1: has just become a big old ad. Most of what
Speaker 1: you're seeing is ads, if not like blatant ads where
Speaker 1: you know this is just a sponsored post, but even
Speaker 1: a lot of those people sometimes your friends are selling something,
Speaker 1: whether they themselves are selling something, or they have partnered
Speaker 1: with a company selling something, whether some of those people
Speaker 1: that you're following on Instagram that you think are like
Speaker 1: living a really cool RV lifestyle, they're trying to sell
Speaker 1: you something they've partnered with somebody check it out in
Speaker 1: their hashtags. Like as fun as those pictures are to
Speaker 1: look at, I would venture to say only about five
Speaker 1: percent of people are you actually just keeping up with
Speaker 1: what's happening in their lives, and they're not actually an
Speaker 1: ad for you. And even then, if they're posting just
Speaker 1: about their lives, chances are they're posting the best part
Speaker 1: of their lives that could be envy inducing. So no
Speaker 1: matter what you do, that scroll is just trying to
Speaker 1: get your money, So beware. Yeah, that is it is dangerous.
Speaker 1: And I have definitely purchased things that I've seen on
Speaker 1: Instagram and TikTok I'm not beyond it. And we're absolutely
Speaker 1: not against marketing or the cool things. I mean, TikTok
Speaker 1: taught me pesto eggs, and you know, like praises because
Speaker 1: that's delicious, um, but pesto eggs, Oh, it's uh. You
Speaker 1: use instead of oil, you use pesto two and and
Speaker 1: you put the pesto in the pant and then break
Speaker 1: the egg on the pesto. Yeah, and then you put
Speaker 1: it over some sour dough. Sometimes people put like avocado
Speaker 1: or ricotta, so it's it's delicious and you just have
Speaker 1: to make sure it's in your budget. Like that's what
Speaker 1: we're talking about. Spend with your values. Spend on what
Speaker 1: you want to spend on. Just make sure it's what
Speaker 1: you really want to spend and not what you feel
Speaker 1: like you should spend or you feel like you want
Speaker 1: to spend. Don't trust your feelings, trust your values, do
Speaker 1: the scroll. Just make sure it's mindful. Absolutely, and basically,
Speaker 1: I think in summary with this article, they're saying they're
Speaker 1: advocating for us understanding our own thoughts and feelings behind
Speaker 1: what might be leading us to overspend or not stick
Speaker 1: to our quote unquote budget. It could be a variety
Speaker 1: of things. It could be that our budget isn't realistic,
Speaker 1: or we do have a tendency to buy when we're sad,
Speaker 1: you name it. But we're not going to actually be
Speaker 1: able to change our behaviors if we're not looking at
Speaker 1: the thoughts and feelings leading to that. So a little
Speaker 1: bit of mental health counseling background for you. Many of
Speaker 1: you will be familiar with this concept. It's a cognitive
Speaker 1: behavioral therapy CBT for short, concept that our thoughts lead
Speaker 1: to feelings lead to behaviors. This cycle thought. First, we
Speaker 1: have the thought, which then gives us some sort of
Speaker 1: feeling or emotion inside of us, which then leads to
Speaker 1: the behavior. And a lot of times we will try
Speaker 1: to hit something at the behavior level and it totally
Speaker 1: misses the mark. We have to understand what comes before
Speaker 1: it if we're gonna want to change the behavior, So
Speaker 1: taking some steps backward and saying, well, what was the
Speaker 1: thought that I had here? Even drawing it out? I
Speaker 1: will have folks in my counseling sessions actually draw it out.
Speaker 1: What thought did you have? Then? What feeling did that produce? Then?
Speaker 1: What was the behavior? And if you want to seek
Speaker 1: to change the behavior, you're going to have to interrupt it,
Speaker 1: hopefully at the thought level. It can be interrupted at
Speaker 1: the feeling level too, But ideally we get to the
Speaker 1: point where we can snatch it at the thought level,
Speaker 1: adjust the thought around it, which then will change the
Speaker 1: feeling and it will change the behavior into something more
Speaker 1: avantageous and beneficial for us. Mm hmm, I hope, I
Speaker 1: hope you got that. If you didn't catch all that,
Speaker 1: then you know, go back fifteen seconds because that was gold.
Speaker 1: Thank you, j Thank you. Alright, So let's move on
Speaker 1: to our next article from Fox dot com and it's
Speaker 1: five sneaky mental tricks to spend less while shopping And
Speaker 1: I liked every single one of these and all of
Speaker 1: the little graphics that go with them. Fox just really
Speaker 1: does it. So, Jill, what did you think of this one?
Speaker 1: It was a visually pleasing article. And they use the
Speaker 1: term behavioral economics. So for those of you who want
Speaker 1: just more research and more on these kinds of topics,
Speaker 1: these are the types of things you can be searching for.
Speaker 1: What does behavioral economics have to do with this? What
Speaker 1: does cognitive science have to do with this? Those are
Speaker 1: some good keyword searches. Richard Failure is a really good
Speaker 1: author of behavioral economic experts, so anything by him it
Speaker 1: will be good. Yeah. And so they start this article
Speaker 1: out by saying that behavioral economics can teach us a
Speaker 1: lot about why we tend to neglect our budgets or overspend.
Speaker 1: One theory that can stick out from behavioral economics is
Speaker 1: the present bias, meaning we will often value the present
Speaker 1: gratification over the long term, and they referenced the marshmallow
Speaker 1: research to test. That's the word thank you, which I
Speaker 1: don't know if you've seen it, Jen, I think there's
Speaker 1: that magician Magic for Humans. I use that one all
Speaker 1: the time. It's so good. I mean, first of all,
Speaker 1: it's just such a fun show. If you haven't checked
Speaker 1: it out, check it out Magic for Humans. And he
Speaker 1: does this test with like toddlers and young kids, which
Speaker 1: is just so funny of offering them a marshmallow now
Speaker 1: or to marshmallows later, and some of them you can see,
Speaker 1: it's so cute, they like hold out and then others
Speaker 1: are like, I want this thing now, like they eat it,
Speaker 1: but then they try and hide the fact that they
Speaker 1: ate it. But we're no different from those dollers. Yeah exactly,
Speaker 1: Yeah that we even though we can rationally say it's
Speaker 1: going to be more advantageous to me and my future
Speaker 1: self if I let this thing grow and and have
Speaker 1: greater benefit in the future, but I want my marshmallow
Speaker 1: right now. I want this good thing right now. Because
Speaker 1: we do we favor our present selves over our future selves.
Speaker 1: I'm not my future self right now. I'm my present
Speaker 1: self right now, and I want to treat myself. And
Speaker 1: so just even recognizing that can help interrupt some of
Speaker 1: those patterns that show is so great. He uses a
Speaker 1: lot of these psychological techniques that is magic. You have
Speaker 1: to know people and human behavior in order to trick them.
Speaker 1: One of so, another one of my favorites of his
Speaker 1: is that he's talking to people and he's like, I
Speaker 1: can guess which actor you're thinking of, and so he
Speaker 1: has he says this and like nah, and though he
Speaker 1: has a conversation with them and then asks them to
Speaker 1: think of an actor, and he shows them what he's
Speaker 1: written down before he even started the conversation, and without fail,
Speaker 1: all of them say Tom Hanks. And he wrote down
Speaker 1: Tom Hanks. And the reason he was able to get
Speaker 1: them to all say Tom Hanks is because throughout the
Speaker 1: conversation he was just dropping particular words or concepts or
Speaker 1: ideas from different Tom Hanks movies, so like Castaway, Toy Story,
Speaker 1: all of these things to make them think of Tom
Speaker 1: Hanks movies. Um. And so it was so crazy because
Speaker 1: that's also a marketing technique. So luxury marketers will use
Speaker 1: in their marketing uh more luxury focused words verbe edge
Speaker 1: to make you feel like you deserve luxury, like that's
Speaker 1: what you are accustomed to and can afford, whether it
Speaker 1: is true or not. So that's also, yeah, marketers use
Speaker 1: that all over the place. We've got to combat these
Speaker 1: magic tricks with our own magic tricks. And you said
Speaker 1: it's not about tricks, but it might be. It might
Speaker 1: be tricks are for kids and maybe for adults. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so let's dive into some of these tricks. The first
Speaker 1: one is to never go shopping without a list. And
Speaker 1: this might seem so old fashioned, but it is so effective.
Speaker 1: And it's not like a cash envelope system that's like
Speaker 1: very inconvenient. Shopping with the list is very convenient. Um, it's,
Speaker 1: you know, not the most convenient, but it is still convenient.
Speaker 1: And it just helps you so much to avoid impulse buys.
Speaker 1: Not only does it help impulse buys, it helps me
Speaker 1: when I'm at the store not forget something and have
Speaker 1: to come back to the store. So as I run
Speaker 1: out of something, I just have a running list on
Speaker 1: my phone. And actually Eric and I are taking it
Speaker 1: to the next level where I'm making a checklist like
Speaker 1: a Google Sheets checklist or a Google checklist, I guess
Speaker 1: is what it is, and then I share it with him.
Speaker 1: So for at the store together and we really want
Speaker 1: to be efficient with our time. We both have access
Speaker 1: to the checklist and we're able to check it off,
Speaker 1: so we're able to keep up with each other knowing, Oh,
Speaker 1: he already got this. I don't need to text him
Speaker 1: or call him and let him know I I already
Speaker 1: got the toilet paper, headed to the frozen food. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, wow, trying to hack our whole lives. But
Speaker 1: does it helps? Yeah, to be when you're shopping. It
Speaker 1: helps to not forget things and then it helps keep
Speaker 1: you from buying things you don't need. Yeah, that would
Speaker 1: be effective. Like when Travis will go to the grocery
Speaker 1: store just randomly for something, He's like, you need anything
Speaker 1: from the grocery store, Like, I don't know. You can
Speaker 1: share a list and then you know exactly what you
Speaker 1: need at the grocery store. The next one on this
Speaker 1: list is to double check that you are in fact
Speaker 1: getting the best value. So this could mean you are
Speaker 1: at the store, you see something that is already on
Speaker 1: your list, and you want to know the first thing
Speaker 1: could be, well, I'm just gonna go get this, but
Speaker 1: we would strongly encourage you to do a quick search
Speaker 1: on your phone, thank goodness for smartphones, and make sure
Speaker 1: that that is the best deal that you can purchase
Speaker 1: it for or even if it's possible that you could
Speaker 1: get that thing used. So just make sure even even
Speaker 1: if it's on your list, you know I need this.
Speaker 1: This has been something I've had my eyes on for
Speaker 1: a while. Make sure that the store that you're at
Speaker 1: is going to give you the best deal. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: like to say mentioned bulk shopping. People tend to overspend
Speaker 1: and where how stores and bulk shopping is not the enemy.
Speaker 1: You just have to make sure a you're not buying
Speaker 1: bulk for the sake of buying bulk because it typically
Speaker 1: is a better deal, but you have to make sure
Speaker 1: it's only on things that you really need or will
Speaker 1: benefit from buying in bulk. And then also actually do
Speaker 1: check the price per unit, because if it's just a
Speaker 1: few cents, it may not be worth buying in bulk,
Speaker 1: especially if it's something that's perishable. So this is is
Speaker 1: really something to consider if you are a bulk shopper
Speaker 1: or prefer bulk buying. Yes, I had noticed I recently
Speaker 1: did that. The bulk price on just some window cleaner
Speaker 1: was so much better. I would say it was like
Speaker 1: thirty percent less expensive than if I were to have
Speaker 1: bought like two bottles of window cleaner. And it was
Speaker 1: actually preferred for me because I have my own spray bottle.
Speaker 1: So now this could just act like a refill for
Speaker 1: the entire house, rather than needing to get individual bottles
Speaker 1: from the store and keep them in the different rooms bathrooms, kitchen,
Speaker 1: laundry room throughout the house. Just refill it with that.
Speaker 1: And it's also reducing waste because now I have one
Speaker 1: container rather than three containers that I've bought. So yeah,
Speaker 1: sometimes it is just even when you're at the store.
Speaker 1: Know if it doesn't mean I've got to go to
Speaker 1: a different store. Are you getting the best value? But
Speaker 1: like you said, are you using it to We don't
Speaker 1: just want to become hoarders because it's a better price. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: So the third on this list is to don't shop
Speaker 1: when you're feeling emotional. So this is so huge, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna just read this first um line right here. More
Speaker 1: than seven and ten people consider their finances a source
Speaker 1: of stress. According to a Capital one survey of more
Speaker 1: than two thousand respondents in the US. If you're among them,
Speaker 1: be especially conscious when you're spending, since you're emotions may
Speaker 1: further cloud your judgment. Isn't this, sus a vicious cycle?
Speaker 1: Money makes us stress, stress makes us shop shopping reduces
Speaker 1: our our liquid cash, and then it's and then all
Speaker 1: over again. Yeah, it is a vicious cycle. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think one way you can combat this is to
Speaker 1: again be prepared so you don't have to make as
Speaker 1: many decisions when you're stressed, because that increases decision fatigue exponentially.
Speaker 1: So make a list of things self care, things you
Speaker 1: can do when you're feeling different types of emotions, so
Speaker 1: not just negative emotions, but positive emotions too, because sometimes
Speaker 1: we can shop to celebrate, But what are the things
Speaker 1: that you're going to do when you're feeling sad, What
Speaker 1: are the things you're gonna do when you're feeling mad,
Speaker 1: What are the things you're going to do when you're
Speaker 1: feeling like really joyful or happy? And so you have
Speaker 1: things to do other than shop to celebrate or deal
Speaker 1: with these emotions, and they don't have to be like,
Speaker 1: you know, schedule a call with your therapist, they don't
Speaker 1: have to even be effective, but just something you can
Speaker 1: do real quick, instant gratification, like so that you're not
Speaker 1: running to the store too, you know, blow off steam
Speaker 1: or whatever with an emotion and already having a list
Speaker 1: for when you're in the moment again helps remove some
Speaker 1: of those barriers of decision fatigue or being able to
Speaker 1: problem solve that in the moment when you are excited
Speaker 1: or you are sad. So just having a list, even
Speaker 1: though it's very simple, it's like I know these things already,
Speaker 1: just having them in front of you, something you can
Speaker 1: look at, Okay, what what thing on this list can
Speaker 1: I do? You're more likely to do it if the
Speaker 1: barrier to that entry is taken away. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: can eliminate some guilt too, I think, because we want
Speaker 1: to be we want to be efficient, and we want
Speaker 1: to be like healthier in all these areas. But when
Speaker 1: you're trying to change a habit, and this is you know,
Speaker 1: not a habit, but this is similar. When you're trying
Speaker 1: to change a habit, you need to replace it with
Speaker 1: something that's equal in kind of level, so to speak.
Speaker 1: And so if you are turning to shopping when you
Speaker 1: have an emotion. You need to think of something that's
Speaker 1: on the same level as that, not necessarily like when
Speaker 1: I you know, I'm celebrating a raise, I'm going to
Speaker 1: give a thousand dollars to charity, that's a different level.
Speaker 1: You know. You need to think of something small that's
Speaker 1: on the same level as shopping that you can replace
Speaker 1: shopping with. So we're not trying to make like you know,
Speaker 1: become leaps and bounds better people, just a little something
Speaker 1: that's on the same level of shopping to replace that
Speaker 1: emotional outlet. And I appreciate the spectrum that you described
Speaker 1: here because I'll be honest to hear this line when
Speaker 1: I when I first read this article, there's a part
Speaker 1: of me that once once a little bit of pushback
Speaker 1: on this. You know, don't chop when you feel emotional.
Speaker 1: Almost we can use this word emotional in a very
Speaker 1: negative way. It often is associated negatively like you're just
Speaker 1: being emotional, you know, it's a way to kind of
Speaker 1: discount people. And so I like that you describe jen
Speaker 1: the spectrum either when we're happy or sad, and we
Speaker 1: know that there's other more complicated emotions than those two.
Speaker 1: But that's you know a little bit of the spectrum.
Speaker 1: I would maybe offer an alternative vernacular to this of
Speaker 1: maybe feeling emotionally vulnerable. So in a position where you
Speaker 1: know I, because of X y Z again, whether happy
Speaker 1: or sad or somewhere in the middle, I am more
Speaker 1: vulnerable to making some of these decisions that might derail
Speaker 1: some of my goals or things that are actually going
Speaker 1: to benefit me. Knowing our vulnerabilities will help us to
Speaker 1: be able to protect them. There's nothing wrong with vulnerability.
Speaker 1: Vulnerability is beautiful. It's part of the human condition. But
Speaker 1: knowing and recognizing our vulnerability and being able to care
Speaker 1: for ourselves in the midst of it move towards protection
Speaker 1: of vulnerability. I know I've said this sound bite before,
Speaker 1: but I'll say it again because I think it's relevant here.
Speaker 1: Vulnerability without protection leads to exploitation. I'll say it again
Speaker 1: because I do think that this is something even worth
Speaker 1: like writing down. Vulnerability without protection leads to exploitation, meaning
Speaker 1: that if we don't move to protect these areas of
Speaker 1: vulnerability inside of ourselves, they will be exploited in us.
Speaker 1: An example of that would be I was sad there
Speaker 1: was no protection for me. I went to the coping
Speaker 1: mechanism that most made sense, and I spent my entire
Speaker 1: grocery budget for the month, right, that would be an exploitation.
Speaker 1: There's other areas that we can talk about related to that,
Speaker 1: and of course there's so many deeper implications, but as
Speaker 1: far as talking about our budgets, this still remains true.
Speaker 1: And again, it's not about removing our vulnerability, it's about
Speaker 1: moving to protect it. So, like you said, Jen, creating
Speaker 1: that list of go to things that we can do
Speaker 1: happy or sad that are going to be beneficial for us,
Speaker 1: that are not going to derail us from our hopes,
Speaker 1: goals and dreams when we're in those emotionally vulnerable states.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so so much wisdom right there. And that's exactly
Speaker 1: where my head went when you started. I was like, yes,
Speaker 1: the vulnerability without protection leads to exploitation and it is
Speaker 1: so relevant here, all right. So number four is to
Speaker 1: sleep on it before purchasing large items. And so this
Speaker 1: is just a good rule of thumb. I member a
Speaker 1: few months ago, by the time this comes out, I
Speaker 1: was for something for my business, got a really big
Speaker 1: price tag for something and it was very stressful because
Speaker 1: I thought I needed it. I thought that it was
Speaker 1: the only way forward for me, but it seemed very
Speaker 1: out of my budget, and so I had to sleep
Speaker 1: on it. After I cried quite a bit about it,
Speaker 1: and then I slept on it, and then I was
Speaker 1: I slept off that decision fatigue because I'm sure a lot,
Speaker 1: and I was exhausted when I went to sleep because
Speaker 1: I had all of these micro decisions running through my
Speaker 1: head about this purchase that I thought I should make,
Speaker 1: And when it's for your business, you can kind of
Speaker 1: justify it a little bit more than when it's for yourself.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think it would might be the same
Speaker 1: for kids. So I went to bed, and I woke
Speaker 1: up the next day and I was much more level
Speaker 1: headed about it and ended up thinking of or reaching
Speaker 1: out to find alternatives that were more affordable for me,
Speaker 1: and went with one of those. But I didn't that
Speaker 1: reaching out to find alternatives wasn't even on my mind
Speaker 1: when I was so stressed. So for sure, sleeping sleep
Speaker 1: is sacred. I love sleep, do it. Sometimes sleep is
Speaker 1: the best thing we can do for ourselves. And I
Speaker 1: won't get too into the weeds on this, but when
Speaker 1: we are able to enter into that r E. M. Cycle,
Speaker 1: the rapid eye movement. It's like the specific and deepest
Speaker 1: point of sleep in our sleep cycle that that we have,
Speaker 1: and it is necessary for actual rest of our bodies
Speaker 1: and like rejuvenation of things. When we're able to get
Speaker 1: into that R E M cycle, it does help. The
Speaker 1: reason that we can wake up and think more clearly
Speaker 1: is for what can happen in our brains as we
Speaker 1: sleep again. I'm not going to get too into the
Speaker 1: weeds or the science behind it, just know that sleep
Speaker 1: is helpful for our thought patterns are memory formation. It
Speaker 1: sleep allows us, specifically when we're in that R E
Speaker 1: M cycle, to be able to put things in correct
Speaker 1: files in our brain. So yes, for many, many reasons,
Speaker 1: it's good to be able to sleep on it and
Speaker 1: wake up refreshed and rejuvenated. We're not going to make
Speaker 1: the best decisions when we're sleep deprived, but especially if
Speaker 1: we're feeling really uncertain about something. Usually there's nothing thing
Speaker 1: so urgent that we can't put a night of rest
Speaker 1: in between us and our final decision. Absolutely, and the
Speaker 1: final one on this is number five. To say no
Speaker 1: to sales unless the item is already on your list.
Speaker 1: So we already did allude to this, but you are
Speaker 1: not saving money if you're spending money. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: how inexpensive that item is, how on sale it is
Speaker 1: compared to what it typically goes for. If you don't
Speaker 1: need it, if it's not on your list, if it's
Speaker 1: not something you've had opportunity to sleep on, say no
Speaker 1: to it. No red yellow sticker is alluring enough to
Speaker 1: get you away from your savings and spending goals. So
Speaker 1: absolutely your ad isle of shame, shoppers, it's so dangerous
Speaker 1: looking in the mirror again, if it's something you needed.
Speaker 1: I already needed a beach chair. Thank you all defines
Speaker 1: for giving me one that's far less expensive than I
Speaker 1: thought that I would ever get it. Fantastic, but no,
Speaker 1: thank you. She's its explosions. That was never on my
Speaker 1: West Chess explosion. It shouldn't be on anybody's list. It
Speaker 1: does sound good, though, but I already have cheddar goldfish
Speaker 1: at home snacks. Yeah, I mean the like marketers again
Speaker 1: will use uh this tactic. They will use percent to
Speaker 1: is off versus amount of money off, because percentages can
Speaker 1: be higher than amount of money and studies have shown
Speaker 1: that if something is you know percent off versus twenty
Speaker 1: dollars off. Even if twenty is a higher percentage, people
Speaker 1: tend to go with the cent off if things are similar,
Speaker 1: because we're just a custom two or even thirty percent off.
Speaker 1: Thirty percent off is less than twenty dollars off, you
Speaker 1: will still go for the percentage one because it's a
Speaker 1: bigger number, and so the store makes more money because
Speaker 1: they're giving you less than twenty dollars off. You think
Speaker 1: you're getting a better deal because you see that thirty number,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's just not true. If you didn't need
Speaker 1: the item, if it's not on your list, you're not
Speaker 1: saving money. And I'm so sorry. There are some people
Speaker 1: out there that's love to find a deal like that,
Speaker 1: is there like their core value us They love to
Speaker 1: be on the hunt. But you can figure out you
Speaker 1: don't have to give up that value. Just think of
Speaker 1: another way to live it out. It doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be im purchasing things, at least for yourself. There are
Speaker 1: tons of things you can hunt for, so just creative,
Speaker 1: just not people don't hunt for people. Oh yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't do that. You know. You know what's a better
Speaker 1: idea to do with your time? Oh? Yeah? That you
Speaker 1: can really channel your energy into whoever you are. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.
Speaker 1: Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died,
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's Bill Buffalo Bills, Bill Clint, this is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week. Hi John and Joel. This is Laura
Speaker 1: from New York. My bill of the week is my
Speaker 1: Target credit card bill. I finally paid it off. I
Speaker 1: got it in and I've always held the balance on it,
Speaker 1: sometimes even close to maxing it out, and since we
Speaker 1: bought our house last summer, I've held a pretty high
Speaker 1: balance on it, and my goal was to pay that
Speaker 1: off first. So I have paid it off and closed
Speaker 1: the account and opened a Target debit card because I
Speaker 1: still need that five percent discount. So super excited to
Speaker 1: finally get that one paid off and stop impulse shopping
Speaker 1: at Target all the time. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: the podcast. You guys are awesome. Yes, Laura, we do
Speaker 1: not listen to these before we play them just for
Speaker 1: the llionth time. But it's so perfect, how so perfect,
Speaker 1: congruent and relevant to what we're talking about not only
Speaker 1: a decision that you made for yourself to pay it
Speaker 1: off and not have that lingering over you, but to
Speaker 1: set up barriers to experiencing this again in the future
Speaker 1: where you have debt on a target credit card, to
Speaker 1: connect it to the debit card, which is a specific
Speaker 1: tip and trick for Target. You can still get that
Speaker 1: five percent discount with a target debit card. It does
Speaker 1: not have to be their credit cards. So well done,
Speaker 1: putting now a barrier in between you and where you
Speaker 1: know your vulnerabilities are protecting that vulnerability, Laura, well done.
Speaker 1: We're celebrating with you. Yes, if you want to submit
Speaker 1: your bill of the week, please visit Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash bill to leave us a bill. And
Speaker 1: now it's time for so today we are talking psychology
Speaker 1: tricks we personally use to keep from overspending that kind
Speaker 1: of share some of our triggers and how we get
Speaker 1: creative in overcoming them. So, Jill, you have a list.
Speaker 1: I got a list I've sent and tricks baby girls
Speaker 1: start start give them to me. Please. Well, for those
Speaker 1: of you have listened for a while, you know that
Speaker 1: spending isn't necessarily my area of difficulty. It's I am
Speaker 1: between Eric and I. I am more of the saver. However,
Speaker 1: that's not to say that I am immune to impulse buys.
Speaker 1: So here we go. I do not scroll shopping sites
Speaker 1: for entertainment, so you're not going to find me on
Speaker 1: Amazon or cute bathing suit websites or even Facebook Marketplace.
Speaker 1: Like I do not go on to Facebook Marketplace just
Speaker 1: for like a fun scroll to see what people are
Speaker 1: selling in the area I go on if I'm looking
Speaker 1: for something specific. Shoudn't realize was a tip until like
Speaker 1: I just started talking to other people and realizing, oh,
Speaker 1: a lot of people will just like I'm bored or
Speaker 1: I'm procrastinating, let me look on my favorite site and see,
Speaker 1: like what kind of deals they got going on. So
Speaker 1: I just don't do that. I avoid it. I also
Speaker 1: just like avoid going to the store. So if that
Speaker 1: tip can help you, great, find something else to look
Speaker 1: up online. You know, it doesn't mean that you can't
Speaker 1: be on the internet, but maybe research something that you're
Speaker 1: curious about. I've gotten real curious about honey Bees. So
Speaker 1: much interesting information there. So if you want to get
Speaker 1: started somewhere, just you know, learn more about honey bees. Also,
Speaker 1: my next tip, shop the perimeter of the grocery store.
Speaker 1: I stay out of the middle. The middle is where
Speaker 1: typically most of the unnecessary items are shopping. The perimeter
Speaker 1: gets me my fruit, veggies, bread, dairy products. And that's
Speaker 1: that's how all I need to live off of meat.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, that's those are the basics. Those are the
Speaker 1: nutritional pieces that I need. But not your wavy lace. However,
Speaker 1: you will catch me getting some chips and getting some
Speaker 1: frozen pizza. Okay, I am still human. You might find
Speaker 1: me down those aisles, but in general, I'm just in
Speaker 1: the perimeter. That helps. Also, I do a review of
Speaker 1: my cart. I'm talking about physical shopping at this point.
Speaker 1: If I am physically shopping and I physically have a car,
Speaker 1: I do a review of it before check out. Of Okay,
Speaker 1: is there anything in here that it just kind of
Speaker 1: like looked cool but now at second glance like I
Speaker 1: don't actually need this thing? And so this this blends
Speaker 1: into my next tip, which is a self check. I
Speaker 1: do a do I need it? Can I make it?
Speaker 1: Can I find it less expensive? Those are some of
Speaker 1: my go to decision tree questions that I ask myself
Speaker 1: and a lot of times that can help me weed out. Also,
Speaker 1: I have found patients. Patience is a virtue. We know that.
Speaker 1: But if I can be patient on something usually that
Speaker 1: does allow me to have like get the deal, but
Speaker 1: also just to be looking around at all the different
Speaker 1: places for that thing. And because I've had a list
Speaker 1: as I'm out and about, I'm able to keep checking.
Speaker 1: Like when I say I have a list, I have
Speaker 1: a grocery list, and then I also have a here's
Speaker 1: what's on my radar to purchase for the home list.
Speaker 1: It does not mean I need it right now. Does
Speaker 1: not mean the next time I go to the store,
Speaker 1: I'm getting that thing. It's just a helpful reminder. When
Speaker 1: I am at the store, do I happen to come
Speaker 1: across this thing? Is it a good deal? So the
Speaker 1: price point that I was hoping to pay for it.
Speaker 1: Just as an example, we've known the type of dishwasher
Speaker 1: that we want to get for our kitchen. It's been
Speaker 1: on our radar, but we know we don't want to
Speaker 1: pay full price for it, so we've just been keeping
Speaker 1: an eye on on it. Anytime we're at Lows or
Speaker 1: home depot or sometimes you know, we'll check out the
Speaker 1: dented appliances. Anyhow, long story short, we've just been patient
Speaker 1: and I caught it in the clearance aisle way in
Speaker 1: the back back of Lowes for like sixty percent off
Speaker 1: and we were able to snag it. Was a steel
Speaker 1: for you. Yeah, but it's because we've been in our
Speaker 1: house for a full year and we're just waiting on
Speaker 1: the dishwasher we want. In the meantime, I've been the dishwasher,
Speaker 1: got really good forearms strength because of it. And finally,
Speaker 1: here's my final trick and tip is if I feel stressed,
Speaker 1: like I've learned to assess and evaluate and know what
Speaker 1: some of the signals inside my body me. And this
Speaker 1: might sound dramatic, but sometimes I can feel stressed a
Speaker 1: little sweaty, a little uneasy inside myself when I'm about
Speaker 1: to make a purchase. I have learned don't ignore that,
Speaker 1: don't just push through it. It's usually a sign I'm
Speaker 1: not at piece about buying that thing, I don't actually
Speaker 1: want to buy it. I feel so much more relief
Speaker 1: putting it back on the shelf and walking out the door.
Speaker 1: So just just paying attention to that and not being
Speaker 1: like no, no, no no, I think I wanted I think
Speaker 1: I really want to buy it, and allowing that adrenaline
Speaker 1: to kind of move me towards the purchase. I've worked
Speaker 1: towards allowing it to move me away from the purchase,
Speaker 1: and I've not been disappointed yet. Nice. What about for you, Jen, Well,
Speaker 1: my list is a little shorter, so I used UM. So.
Speaker 1: When we were paying off debt, I definitely was triggered
Speaker 1: by the social media thing. We were newly weds and
Speaker 1: a lot of our friends were newly weds, so you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you've been around newlywed do you know
Speaker 1: what happens that two income household comes in and you
Speaker 1: get in new cars, you buy in a house, upgrading
Speaker 1: your wardrobe, taking a vacation. And so it felt like
Speaker 1: all of my friends were doing that during the two
Speaker 1: year span that we were paying off debt, and so
Speaker 1: I was either get off a face like either I
Speaker 1: leave or you leave. And I wasn't leaving because Facebook
Speaker 1: was all I had. So I had to unfollow quite
Speaker 1: a few friends that are good friends. They are still
Speaker 1: to this day, my very good friends. I just didn't
Speaker 1: want to see what they were doing. I didn't want
Speaker 1: to know, to be clear, un following on social media
Speaker 1: is different from cutting someone, right, You just don't. You
Speaker 1: no longer see those things in your news feed unless
Speaker 1: you intentionally go to that person's profile and you can
Speaker 1: turn it off and follow them again, which I do
Speaker 1: so because you know, I want them to see my
Speaker 1: vacation photos. Now. No, the life I've been able to
Speaker 1: have now that I'm deaf free. Yeah, but so I
Speaker 1: had to do that. I had no shame, and I
Speaker 1: still I mean tell people like you can do that.
Speaker 1: That's an option. You can unfollow somebody, so if they
Speaker 1: follow you, they'll never know that you don't follow them.
Speaker 1: So that's a key thing that I've learned. And so
Speaker 1: now I don't use that method. But I I'm really
Speaker 1: cognizant of decision fatigue and helping my brain make the
Speaker 1: best decisions possible for as long as possible, because I
Speaker 1: have realized I'm lazy, like straight up lazy. You are
Speaker 1: the least lazy person on the pool. When it's things
Speaker 1: I don't care about, I'm super lazy. If it's something
Speaker 1: I care about, like I will work my fingers to
Speaker 1: the bone. I hurt my pointer finger last week. Like um,
Speaker 1: no clicking on the mouse, the clicking one. It went
Speaker 1: numb last week. Jill Um. Yeah, I will work my
Speaker 1: fingers literally because yeah, I could no longer feel the
Speaker 1: tip of my finger. And so if I care about it,
Speaker 1: it's fine. But if it's not something that is, you know,
Speaker 1: aligned with my highest values, I am disgustingly lazy. Usually
Speaker 1: you can ask Travis. So I have to put as
Speaker 1: many systems in place to make you know, decisions better.
Speaker 1: So one of the main things for me is avoiding
Speaker 1: physical clutter so that I can have more space for
Speaker 1: cognitive energy. That's a big thing for me, clutter. I
Speaker 1: grew up in a clean home because my dad was
Speaker 1: a clean and when he died, the house just kind
Speaker 1: of went to like cluttered, hoarder ruin and so like
Speaker 1: I kind of have like PTSD from that, and that
Speaker 1: stresses me out. And so now I realized that, So
Speaker 1: my house is not always clean and uncluttered, but I
Speaker 1: have like fewer things in it so it doesn't get
Speaker 1: as messy and cluttered because I have a two year old, like,
Speaker 1: and you know, cleaning is not my core value. So
Speaker 1: I just put those barriers into place and bring as
Speaker 1: few things into my house as possible so that that
Speaker 1: level of mess and clutter never gets to a level
Speaker 1: that stresses me out and makes me like unable to
Speaker 1: make wise decisions. I think this is probably the case
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, and definitely, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to say everybody, but our physical space does bear weight
Speaker 1: on our mental capacity cities, emotional capacities, relational capacities, and
Speaker 1: so even keeping a pulse on how your environment is
Speaker 1: impacting you and then what steps can you make to
Speaker 1: be able to free up some of that because it
Speaker 1: is going to make a difference and it's going to
Speaker 1: impact all of these other areas. So you're definitely not
Speaker 1: alone in that. That is a really helpful insight. I think. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's I mean, that's the end of my list.
Speaker 1: That's a good one, though, you picked the good ones.
Speaker 1: I just say I shopped the perimeter of the grocery store.
Speaker 1: I geek out on this like spending psychology, like not
Speaker 1: all of psychology in general, but just spending psychology. I
Speaker 1: am a nerd. Yeah, I can research it and click
Speaker 1: my finger to the button about it. Thanks for listening everyone.
Speaker 1: We want to thank you for your kind re views
Speaker 1: on iTunes and Stitcher like this one. It's from Sarah
Speaker 1: shot saw Chuck. Mhm happens to be five stars, says
Speaker 1: my favorite podcast. Jen and Jill are the lovely, friendly
Speaker 1: and knowledgeable hosts of this podcast about frugality and living
Speaker 1: and intentional life. They share great tips around saving money, investing, minimalism,
Speaker 1: and getting the most out of your life, but without
Speaker 1: being preachy or unrealistic. It is truly inspirational and has
Speaker 1: helped me rethink my approach in a number of areas.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, Sara saw Chuck. That's a really
Speaker 1: beautiful review that you've left for us. I'm so glad
Speaker 1: to hear that this has been beneficial for you and
Speaker 1: that we're not preaching at you are offering unrealistic things.
Speaker 1: I definitely don't want to preach at anybody. Nobody. Yeah,
Speaker 1: nobody hears trying to be a preacher, but we're glad
Speaker 1: that we've allowed you space to rethink traditional approaches. Not
Speaker 1: is really our goal. So we also want to thank
Speaker 1: our friends who share these episodes on social media. When
Speaker 1: you share are it, you get the word out to
Speaker 1: more people that you can rethink your approach to finances
Speaker 1: and there is space for freedom and not just guilt
Speaker 1: and shame in spending and money. So when you tag
Speaker 1: us on Facebook or Instagram the latest episode, we are
Speaker 1: going to add you to our monthly drawing. For every
Speaker 1: five tags and reviews we get every month, we are
Speaker 1: giving away a copy of the Frugal Friends Workbook. Of course,
Speaker 1: keep leaving us those reviews on iTunes and Stitcher and
Speaker 1: then send a screenshot to Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. That will still get you entered into that
Speaker 1: drawing to win the Frugal Friends Workbook. And don't forget
Speaker 1: to teg us on social both will enter you into
Speaker 1: that drawing and you might win. Yeah, so we will
Speaker 1: see you next week. Stay Strong at Their People by
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Air Experiality. I can't get
Speaker 1: over you calling yourself lazy, and I would love to
Speaker 1: know where you think that's accurate about yourself. I mean,
Speaker 1: I get that your work yourself to the bone and
Speaker 1: you see that. But what are you talking about, because
Speaker 1: right now you've got the rubber liners of your food
Speaker 1: storage containers soaking and bleach Like. If that's not like
Speaker 1: going the extra mile, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: I'm not physically sitting there soaking them in bleach. But
Speaker 1: you've done it, like you've taken you looked like they
Speaker 1: were okay. But like there's a lot of people would
Speaker 1: just a lazy person like would say, who cares, I'd
Speaker 1: rather lay down. I would rather lay down, yes, but
Speaker 1: but you still did it. I don't understand. How do
Speaker 1: you see that that descript or word. So here's the thing,
Speaker 1: and this isn't I can't give you a specific thing,
Speaker 1: but I do just want to put out there that
Speaker 1: I love to sit at home and watch TV. And
Speaker 1: I am not like a constant go getter, Like I
Speaker 1: don't want to give people the wrong impression about me.
Speaker 1: I am in Anyograham three and I do love to
Speaker 1: achieve and find much of my self worth for better
Speaker 1: or for worse, in achieving. But I also do like
Speaker 1: to sit in my bed and watch TV more so
Speaker 1: than like read a book, um you and the rest
Speaker 1: of the world. I just yeah, I just want to
Speaker 1: like I I don't want people to think okay, But
Speaker 1: then you say that, and I think that what you
Speaker 1: actually mean is like one hour a week, you have
Speaker 1: a show that you watch and it's like a treat
Speaker 1: to you. That is like typically the newest show the
Speaker 1: opposite of lazy, Like sometimes I like to give me
Speaker 1: myself a break by watching a show I don't like.
Speaker 1: If you're not going to give people the wrong impression,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give them the right impression. It is
Speaker 1: that you're just a go getter in every aspect of life.
Speaker 1: And that's that's okay. Everyone doesn't have to be that way.
Speaker 1: But I also don't want people to think like you're
Speaker 1: just sitting around watching TV, because I've also been with
Speaker 1: you while you're watching TV, and you're also working, you're
Speaker 1: also researching, you're also like posting things to the business
Speaker 1: social media. Just let's just be real here. And and
Speaker 1: if it's not that you're like taking care of your
Speaker 1: son while you're watching TV, like who knows, let's just
Speaker 1: be realistic, Jen, Lazy cannot be a word to describe you.
Speaker 1: My brain sometimes gets lazy when it's tired, and sometimes
Speaker 1: I get take out, and that is okay. It's okay
Speaker 1: to have a lazy brain, is really what I was
Speaker 1: trying to say. Okay, Well, we're all human. You're human,
Speaker 1: I'm human. Everyone listening to this as human, And you know,
Speaker 1: I think we should just all avoid the word lazy,
Speaker 1: I think, do any of us any good. It's unanimous.
Speaker 1: We avoid that word and we just find psychological techniques
Speaker 1: to better our brains, and we give our brains grace. Amen,