Speaker 1: Episode two oh seven, What We've learned in four years
Speaker 1: of Frugal Friends. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where
Speaker 1: you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liberal
Speaker 1: your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Oh oh oh,
Speaker 1: oh oh oh. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we
Speaker 1: are celebrating four years of Frugal Friends with a very
Speaker 1: unique episode. Yes, we can't even believe it. Four years
Speaker 1: of yelling and singing and laughing and frugality. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: most podcasts don't make it past ten episodes, and we
Speaker 1: are almost to two hundred and ten. And we've never
Speaker 1: done something like this before. I know some podcasts will
Speaker 1: do like an annual review or something. So we thought
Speaker 1: after four years that maybe it was time to share
Speaker 1: what we've learned about everything. Yeah, now we kind of
Speaker 1: we we finally feel settled, like there's something to back
Speaker 1: on in four years. Yeah, like what we've learned about
Speaker 1: podcasting about frugality, about each other. I think that might
Speaker 1: be interesting because we typically only talk about money in frugality,
Speaker 1: but I think there's a there's a whole other aspect
Speaker 1: to this which is our relationship and like podcasting. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm really excited to share this episode with everyone,
Speaker 1: and I do think as we look back, there's going
Speaker 1: to be the highlights of our biggest frugal tip takeaways,
Speaker 1: how we've implemented frugality over the last four years, what
Speaker 1: our community has meant for us. So it's not just
Speaker 1: our reflections, although that's going to be a lot of it,
Speaker 1: but hopefully also some nuggets in here, just like every
Speaker 1: other episode. But first, first, let's start with our sponsors. Yes,
Speaker 1: celebrating humans accomplished great things, the wheel, the telephone, coffee makers.
Speaker 1: Am I right? And when we accomplish something great, it's
Speaker 1: easy to get swept into the next thing without taking
Speaker 1: time to celebrate what you got here. Celebrating wants you
Speaker 1: to take some time and acknowledge your accomplishments. If you're
Speaker 1: a Frugal Friends listener, you can celebrate our accomplishment with us,
Speaker 1: which is also your accomplishment. Let's be real. On April three,
Speaker 1: this is APO in St. Petersburg, Florida at our four
Speaker 1: year anniversary party. If you'd like to join us, head
Speaker 1: to Frugal Friends Podcast dot com. Lash Party for more
Speaker 1: info if you are a local Saint Petian or Floridian party. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: all right. Well, normally we would share like some episodes
Speaker 1: that kind of tie into this episode, but they're literally none,
Speaker 1: So we're just and we are not covering an article today.
Speaker 1: We do not have an interview. Jill just made some
Speaker 1: a list of some things that we have learned over
Speaker 1: the last four years, and we think that they are
Speaker 1: not just relevant to us, but that there are lessons
Speaker 1: that like everyone will eventually learn. So let's shorten your
Speaker 1: learning curve because in four years of running this podcast,
Speaker 1: it's taught us some life lessons that are super useful.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, that's that's what we've got for you today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and if you're just joining us, if this happens to
Speaker 1: be the very first Frugal Friends podcast episode that you
Speaker 1: choose to listen to, well interesting, But then this will
Speaker 1: tell you what you can expect to learn alongside of
Speaker 1: us if you go back into all of our archives
Speaker 1: and listen through all these episodes. And if you're in
Speaker 1: your car and you have been with us for the ride,
Speaker 1: or you're running or whatever you're doing while you listen
Speaker 1: to this, and you're kind of nodding along like yeah,
Speaker 1: I have learned that, or oh, here's more things we
Speaker 1: love to hear about it in the community, So definitely
Speaker 1: let us know. Speaking of community, this is one of
Speaker 1: the first bullet points that we listed out as we
Speaker 1: reflect back on these past four years, this is the
Speaker 1: biggest one probably that stands out to me as how
Speaker 1: necessary important community is. And I don't think that I
Speaker 1: would have I know relationships are important, but I think
Speaker 1: these past four years and doing this podcast has shown
Speaker 1: me just how a may using an important community is.
Speaker 1: What the larger Frugal Friends community has meant for me.
Speaker 1: I mean I have very specific things that I can
Speaker 1: point to, and then some smaller community. What it has
Speaker 1: meant for you and I jen to be doing this
Speaker 1: podcast together. What I've learned from you through this time,
Speaker 1: that's just invaluable and there's there is real friendship here.
Speaker 1: But then there's also deeper levels of intentionality because we
Speaker 1: do this because we talk about frugality on a weekly basis,
Speaker 1: if not daily basis sometimes and what that produces, the support,
Speaker 1: the knowing that we're not alone in this journey, the
Speaker 1: learning from one another. There's so many sub bullet points
Speaker 1: that I could say, but overarching is just deep gratitude
Speaker 1: and recognition of how important relationships, others, community belonging is
Speaker 1: in this journey. Yeah, I would say the same thing
Speaker 1: as a only child and somebody who's never had like
Speaker 1: a ton of friends. I over this past four years
Speaker 1: have realized how much better life can be in community.
Speaker 1: Like I tried to build businesses and make money like
Speaker 1: on my own, and I think it was just a
Speaker 1: blessing that like those things they were okay, like I
Speaker 1: was successful at them, but like the thing that I
Speaker 1: did with you, and the thing that was focused on community,
Speaker 1: this is the thing that has been the most successful.
Speaker 1: It's changed the most lives, it's been the most life
Speaker 1: giving to me. And so I never realized the how
Speaker 1: integral community was. I mean, I love to have fun,
Speaker 1: I love you know, friends, and it's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons I didn't want to pay off my debt initially
Speaker 1: because I didn't want to stop being able to hang
Speaker 1: out with my friends who all wanted to spend money.
Speaker 1: And but I didn't realize the I didn't realize how
Speaker 1: that was keeping me from fulfilling my greater life purpose.
Speaker 1: And so this past four years has just been a
Speaker 1: total eye opener. Two how important and how vital community
Speaker 1: is and and you can get along without it, you'll
Speaker 1: be fine, but it takes everything. And like ten X,
Speaker 1: is it when you are in community, in intentional healthy community.
Speaker 1: And I think to your point about the friendship piece,
Speaker 1: I think it has highlighted and underscored for me that
Speaker 1: we can have friends and be frugal and seeing even
Speaker 1: more people who are desiring that through this journey, and
Speaker 1: how you and I can get together and because we
Speaker 1: have a similar mindset, we can engage in things that
Speaker 1: we that are fun but don't have to cost a
Speaker 1: lot of money. It doesn't have to mean that all right,
Speaker 1: If I don't want to go out to a restaurant
Speaker 1: every day of the week, it means I have to
Speaker 1: give up friendships. And that has been amazing to be
Speaker 1: able to pair fun and friendships and frugality because alliteration,
Speaker 1: we do love f's that is the letter F. Has
Speaker 1: also been something I have learned so many words that
Speaker 1: start with the letter F. That's been a lesson for me.
Speaker 1: And our community is amazing. We never imagine that there
Speaker 1: would be such camaraderie and relationships and unity and fun
Speaker 1: built with those who listen to the podcasts and have
Speaker 1: joined us in the Facebook group and have joined our
Speaker 1: Financial Freedom mentorship. Our commune unity is so amazing. I
Speaker 1: don't know how we attracted such amazing people to ourselves,
Speaker 1: but um, I mean, I'm not going to second guess it.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna push back on it. That has been
Speaker 1: so fun. It's one of the reasons that I stay
Speaker 1: on social media. I don't know, for better or worse.
Speaker 1: I really enjoy seeing the celebrations and the questions and
Speaker 1: people giving their tips, and I've learned so much through it.
Speaker 1: So this is again just as much for me or
Speaker 1: for us as it is our desire to give back
Speaker 1: with this podcast. Yeah, I I definitely. I think we
Speaker 1: can't emphasize enough this community aspect of what we've learned. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and like teaching each other things too, Like you've taught
Speaker 1: me so much about I don't know, like generosity and
Speaker 1: home design decor making things pretty. You, I mean, you've
Speaker 1: you've taught I mean a lot outside of that as well.
Speaker 1: But I think we people often say, like don't start
Speaker 1: businesses with your friends or the nothing No ship sinks
Speaker 1: faster than a partnership. I think that's the phrase, and
Speaker 1: we yeah to to an extent. We got really lucky.
Speaker 1: I think we there was a I don't I think.
Speaker 1: I don't think we could have planned for this because
Speaker 1: we were not great friends when we started the podcast.
Speaker 1: We were friends, but we were not close enough that
Speaker 1: we wanted to start a business together. That's not why
Speaker 1: we started this podcast. We started it because Eric told
Speaker 1: us to and just worked out that that that there
Speaker 1: was a spark, and we both were emotionally mature enough
Speaker 1: to be honest and transparent with each other and to
Speaker 1: be I guess also very open to the other person's ideas,
Speaker 1: and we it wasn't something we were banking our lives on,
Speaker 1: so it was something The podcast is something we held
Speaker 1: with a very open hand, and I think because of that,
Speaker 1: we were open to collaboration more, and the collaboration made
Speaker 1: it ten times better than what it would have been
Speaker 1: if we were, you know, close handed, or really were
Speaker 1: relying just on what, like I thought the show should
Speaker 1: be or what you thought the show should be. Agreed,
Speaker 1: I think we've cultivated this together or we didn't set
Speaker 1: out with a motivation, never either one of us to
Speaker 1: make money off of it once we started to see
Speaker 1: we could, it still took us some time to look
Speaker 1: at this as an income source rather than just a
Speaker 1: stream to other platforms that could be an income source.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think having a whole lives out in
Speaker 1: conjunction with this podcast has helped too, that this isn't
Speaker 1: the only thing for either one of us that we
Speaker 1: solely set our hands to our minds too. And yeah,
Speaker 1: because of that, we can celebrate the uniquenesses of one another,
Speaker 1: end of our community and see together where is this
Speaker 1: going to go? What can we make of it? I
Speaker 1: think if I could even back up a little bit
Speaker 1: to respond to what you've taught me. I know we've
Speaker 1: talked about this in a lot of different episodes, but
Speaker 1: I'll highlight it again. Retirement investing. My mind would have
Speaker 1: never gone there. I am used to not having a
Speaker 1: lot of money, certainly through this frugal journey, and in
Speaker 1: the last four years I have seen a significant increase
Speaker 1: in our income, and I know that a portion of
Speaker 1: that has to do with the fact that we've been
Speaker 1: in community. We've talked about it. There's accountability here, there's
Speaker 1: a knowing and being known keeping me on track and
Speaker 1: in light of that and ability to invest in retirement.
Speaker 1: But even if I had done well financially, if it
Speaker 1: weren't for this community, if it weren't for you, Jen,
Speaker 1: I would not have thought to put that money into
Speaker 1: a wrath. I al right. I would have been like, sweet,
Speaker 1: I'm set for the next month, how amazing. And then
Speaker 1: I'll put the money in a bank account and I'll
Speaker 1: take out a huge chunk of it whenever the heck
Speaker 1: I please, And now I can't because I'm investing for
Speaker 1: my future, my future self and my present self. But ah,
Speaker 1: the smokes that is like you're welcome, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: yeah uh. And I think it's important to note like
Speaker 1: we didn't I mean for the past. Out of four
Speaker 1: of these years, you've only lived near me for for
Speaker 1: one of them, like one and a half. So most
Speaker 1: of our friendship, even the year before we started the podcast,
Speaker 1: was all virtual. And this was like pre pandemic times,
Speaker 1: Like we were able to cultivate this through essentially kind
Speaker 1: of just like an accountability relationship online, which is I
Speaker 1: mean the main reason we created our membership because we're like,
Speaker 1: if we can do it, then we can provide the
Speaker 1: space for others to do it, and then maybe one
Speaker 1: day accountability groups will all move to the same city
Speaker 1: and they'll start a commune. And you know, we can
Speaker 1: only hope and dream for things like that. It's not
Speaker 1: a requirement, but how fun would that be. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: such a good point jen that this podcast. Then it's
Speaker 1: not fake community. We can have real, meaningful relationships with
Speaker 1: people even if we're not living local. It's great to
Speaker 1: have local people, and we should. There's something even deeper
Speaker 1: that I think has been provided by the fact that
Speaker 1: we live near one another, but we still record our
Speaker 1: podcasts in separate places because it's just one makes the
Speaker 1: most sense. Yes, so true. Well, let's move on to
Speaker 1: the second overarching theme that we've listed out here. This
Speaker 1: isn't an exhaustive list, but I would say in the
Speaker 1: last four years, something that I've noticed in frugal Friendship
Speaker 1: and exploring this topic on a regular basis is getting
Speaker 1: better and more aware of boundaries and living more intentionally.
Speaker 1: I think, as we've talked about our finances and how
Speaker 1: this integrates with other aspects of our lives, I have
Speaker 1: seen in myself that I think before I make a purchase,
Speaker 1: that pause has become more natural It wasn't from the start,
Speaker 1: but as I am in community, like we talked about
Speaker 1: and aware of where my money is going and coming
Speaker 1: from and how want to be spending. I'm not making
Speaker 1: purchases willy nilly. I am creating that pause thinking about
Speaker 1: how do I want to spend this? Do I have
Speaker 1: to buy it new? Could I fix what it is
Speaker 1: that I'm trying to replace? Could I get on a
Speaker 1: buy nothing group and get what I need from there?
Speaker 1: Could I buy second hand? Whatever the case is, Like,
Speaker 1: I'm not impulse spending maybe as much as I may
Speaker 1: have previously done, which is incredible. M yeah, I I
Speaker 1: would say the intentional living portion of it. I have
Speaker 1: found that creating an intentional life is the foundation to
Speaker 1: actually doing well with money. Because for so long it
Speaker 1: was me checking boxes. I have to pay off debt. Check,
Speaker 1: I have to save an emergency fund, check, I have
Speaker 1: to max out my rob I wright check what and
Speaker 1: I do more? Oh, I can try to retire early
Speaker 1: and that's you know whatever. Check. And it was always
Speaker 1: about what can I do next? And in my mind
Speaker 1: it was like, oh, yeah, what can I do next
Speaker 1: so that I can live the life that I want
Speaker 1: to live? So I'm not beholden to a job, YadA YadA,
Speaker 1: but I didn't take the time to figure out what
Speaker 1: what do I want now? And can I have what
Speaker 1: I want later earlier? Because tomorrow isn't promised. We have
Speaker 1: to find this balance, like we were, you know, talking
Speaker 1: about with with Keisha Blair, this balance between living like
Speaker 1: you will turn one hundred because that's a possibility in
Speaker 1: our time, and also living like tomorrow isn't promised. And
Speaker 1: it is not a spectrum. It's not like we have
Speaker 1: to find balance like it's a like a seesaw, but
Speaker 1: it is. It is a portfoll. It is being intentional
Speaker 1: about doing your priorities, the saving, the investing, and the living,
Speaker 1: and and it's that it's I've learned that intentionality, and
Speaker 1: I did not have that when we started this podcast,
Speaker 1: But after listening to so many people and watching so
Speaker 1: many people on social media and being in the space
Speaker 1: for so long, like that has become the reason why
Speaker 1: I do what I do now, is to teach people
Speaker 1: that it is the intentional living that comes before the
Speaker 1: intentional saving, and that greater level of awareness and intentionality
Speaker 1: has helped with boundaries for me, and I think others
Speaker 1: with pressures, whether it's the larger society or family or friends,
Speaker 1: and getting more confident with those awkward money moments. I
Speaker 1: have noticed so much more ability to highlight what I'm
Speaker 1: sure everyone is thinking, but it can feel awkward to
Speaker 1: talk about, Like, for instance, I am much more confident
Speaker 1: and we'll dive right into, hey, how are we splitting
Speaker 1: this bill up as friends? Or who's gonna purchase this
Speaker 1: that or the other thing? Or this restaurants not in
Speaker 1: my budget this week? Can we try blank? Instead being
Speaker 1: able to just say it out loud rather than waiting
Speaker 1: for something to happen. And then I'm a little bit
Speaker 1: bitter and upset because I didn't actually speak my needs
Speaker 1: and everyone was just kind of assuming that it would
Speaker 1: go one direction. And and it's never been as awkward
Speaker 1: or bad as I thought it would be. Most people
Speaker 1: are like, oh, yeah, thanks for bringing that up, or totally,
Speaker 1: let's do this other thing. It is not a deal
Speaker 1: breaker in relationships, and a lot of times it can
Speaker 1: give greater freedom when we know what to expect from
Speaker 1: one another. That's just an example in relationships. I think
Speaker 1: I've seen better boundaries of across the board. Financially emotionally, relationally,
Speaker 1: and just increased confidence in all of those areas. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: I like the next one on the list. I'm really
Speaker 1: glad you included it. What is it, jen uh? Freedom?
Speaker 1: And it is. It's a word I thought that I
Speaker 1: really understood, and I viewed it as freedom from the
Speaker 1: outside world. So freedom again from being beholden to a job,
Speaker 1: freedom from having to choose one thing because I wasn't
Speaker 1: I didn't have the finances to choose the thing that
Speaker 1: I wanted. I thought that was the freedom. Like going
Speaker 1: into it, I thought I had a good grasp on
Speaker 1: what you know, quote unquote financial freedom was. And over
Speaker 1: the last four years of we have read like hundreds
Speaker 1: of articles together on personal finance, I realized that there's
Speaker 1: an aspect of freedom from self. That I am the
Speaker 1: person that so often limits me and holds me back.
Speaker 1: And you know, the easiest way to say it is
Speaker 1: like a scarcity mindset, but it goes so much deeper
Speaker 1: than that. But I have learned that I am typically
Speaker 1: the bottleneck in my problems, and I have learned freedom
Speaker 1: from self, like freedom from having to do everything on
Speaker 1: my own, freedom from having like what I think that
Speaker 1: I need, to accomplish freedom from acquiring more and more
Speaker 1: and more and figuring out what is enough and and
Speaker 1: having that actual enough umber. So that probably, like you
Speaker 1: didn't mean to go that deep, but that's now what
Speaker 1: I see when I see the word freedom is like
Speaker 1: freedom from the from the things that I impose on
Speaker 1: my own self. Oh absolutely, Jen, I think we will
Speaker 1: never fully come to At least for me, I've not
Speaker 1: arrived at a full understanding of freedom. But my goodness,
Speaker 1: if these last four years haven't taught me more and
Speaker 1: more about it in my personal and professional life what
Speaker 1: it means to literally live in and out of a
Speaker 1: place of freedom. And I think I equate this word
Speaker 1: a lot to permission as well. Within my work of
Speaker 1: counseling clients, I would say this is a big part
Speaker 1: of it. Boundaries is another one. We already covered that one,
Speaker 1: but also permission. So often we need to give ourselves permission,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what you're talking about with the
Speaker 1: self component is a lot of times the world is
Speaker 1: not going to give it to us, and if they do, okay, great,
Speaker 1: But also our own permissions of what we're allowed to do,
Speaker 1: the decisions we can make moving towards health and well being,
Speaker 1: giving ourselves space, freedom and permission to move towards that.
Speaker 1: And if there's any message that I hope our community
Speaker 1: has picked up on over these last four years is
Speaker 1: that but to greater and greater degrees, where I think
Speaker 1: you and I are stepping into more understanding, of course,
Speaker 1: as it relates to frugality and specifically finances, recognizing that
Speaker 1: there's multiple methods for implementing financial wisdom. We have, as
Speaker 1: you said, read hundreds of articles, interviewed so many people.
Speaker 1: Could probably put a real number to it, but I'm
Speaker 1: not great at estimating. We've just interviewed so many people
Speaker 1: and a variety of perspectives have been on this podcast,
Speaker 1: and yet for the most part congruent with one another
Speaker 1: that there are different methods that all point at well
Speaker 1: being for our finances and in our lives, but various
Speaker 1: ways of getting there. There is not just one way,
Speaker 1: and what works for one person may not work for
Speaker 1: another person. We're all in different seasons of life, we
Speaker 1: all need different things, we all have different goals, and
Speaker 1: so for it, um, yes, yeah, I um, I definitely
Speaker 1: I feel that, like the permission two be in the
Speaker 1: radical middle, like there's there are so few people giving
Speaker 1: permission to be in the radical middle. It's either you've
Speaker 1: got to pay off all your debt as fast as possible,
Speaker 1: or you know, ignore your debt, and well, besides credit cards,
Speaker 1: we can all agree that credit card debt should be
Speaker 1: paid off quickly, but other than that, ignore your debt
Speaker 1: and just invest as much as possible. And I'm seeing
Speaker 1: so many I guess I follow a ton of finance
Speaker 1: creators on social media more than the average person, obviously,
Speaker 1: and I just see, like these people they talk about
Speaker 1: the same thing over and over and over, and it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: but why, Like, I know why we talk about the
Speaker 1: same thing over and over and over, because it's we're
Speaker 1: talking about freedom and life design and permission, and those
Speaker 1: are things that transcend money and and help like in
Speaker 1: every area of your life. I'm like, why is this
Speaker 1: the financial goal? Why is becoming a millionaire the financial goal?
Speaker 1: Why is becoming debt free the financial a goal? It's great,
Speaker 1: that's a great goal, but why why? What's enough? What's
Speaker 1: the time frame? Why? And if your answer causes you
Speaker 1: to go down a different path, then what you were
Speaker 1: told you need to you have permission to do that
Speaker 1: because we live in We live in the radical middle,
Speaker 1: and yeah, to me, freedom is the radical middle. And
Speaker 1: I think that that leads so beautifully into our next
Speaker 1: big overarching theme of realizing and understanding our integrated self
Speaker 1: in more ways that continues to lead to freedom. All
Speaker 1: these are connected. But through these last four years and
Speaker 1: engaging with our community and through friendship with you, Jen
Speaker 1: and doing this podcast and personal life things that have
Speaker 1: been happening for me seeing the bigger picture of the
Speaker 1: ways and the interconnectedness of our emotions and relationships and
Speaker 1: physical well being and financial health and mental health and
Speaker 1: how they all coincide. And so I think to your
Speaker 1: point about people talking ad nauseum about this one thing
Speaker 1: of becoming a millionaire, that's that's one part. But we're not.
Speaker 1: We're we don't live in a vacuum where we're different.
Speaker 1: Parts of ourselves are not siloed out. They all impact
Speaker 1: one another. And I think this message of frugality and
Speaker 1: this journey that we're on is about not just finances,
Speaker 1: but frugality which touches every part of us. It touches
Speaker 1: our emotions, it touches our relationships, It does touch our finances,
Speaker 1: our physical well being and so realizing that all aspects
Speaker 1: of our personhood can bear positively on our finances too
Speaker 1: when we're paying attention to all parts of who we are.
Speaker 1: And it's also what allows us in this conversation to
Speaker 1: look at minimal is sustainability, eco friendly. There's so much
Speaker 1: that we can talk about in this frugal living space
Speaker 1: because we're interconnected, we're integrated, We're not just finances. Frugality
Speaker 1: is so much more than that. Yeah, it definitely comes
Speaker 1: down to how you view money and frugality, and for us,
Speaker 1: it is a means to an end. We don't want
Speaker 1: to become like financially stable or achieve financial freedom just
Speaker 1: for the sake of having money in the bank or
Speaker 1: money in a brokerage account that gets to this level
Speaker 1: of safety and physiological needs met, and those are important.
Speaker 1: Like we've been talking a lot about the like Maslow's
Speaker 1: hierarchy of needs in UM, the financial freedom, mentorship, and yes,
Speaker 1: those are the foundational parts of the hierarchy, but you
Speaker 1: have more than half of the pyramid still up there,
Speaker 1: which is our our esteem and our relationships and our
Speaker 1: self actualization. And the point of doing well with money
Speaker 1: is to support your higher needs. And we just see
Speaker 1: also minimalism also is a foundation to reaching those higher needs.
Speaker 1: Being a good steward of your natural resources. Uh, so
Speaker 1: your environment is working with you and not against you.
Speaker 1: Also foundational, and so we're trying to help like align
Speaker 1: all these foundational things so that we have our physiological
Speaker 1: needs bet and our safety needs met, so that we
Speaker 1: can live lives fuller than just floating through life being
Speaker 1: fed and fit. You know, like we can do more
Speaker 1: than just go to work, pay bills and die, you know.
Speaker 1: And it's nice to be able to afford the bills
Speaker 1: and to eat the food. But like I know many
Speaker 1: people with successful businesses, uh, and I know so many
Speaker 1: of you listening have side hustles. You want to work
Speaker 1: for yourself. Know, I know so many people who have
Speaker 1: reached financial freedom and they are still looking for more
Speaker 1: and more money doesn't help them, Like it's it doesn't help.
Speaker 1: Once you have that certain the amount you've decided is enough,
Speaker 1: not the arbitrary like oh you're you know after seventy
Speaker 1: you're happy, you don't need more. No, that's arbitrary. What
Speaker 1: you have decided is enough, and then you can focus
Speaker 1: on these higher callings passions, etcetera, etcetera. But you've got
Speaker 1: to know what they are first, and that is that
Speaker 1: I mean that has I never thought that way four
Speaker 1: years ago, and now it's it's like all I think about, well,
Speaker 1: and I'll stay here at this point. A very common
Speaker 1: question that I get from friends and family about the podcast.
Speaker 1: Those who know me and know that I have a
Speaker 1: podcast will often say, how do you think you can
Speaker 1: come up with more content? You guys have already been
Speaker 1: doing it for how long? Four years? And and you're
Speaker 1: thinking about continuing, Like how how are you going to
Speaker 1: keep coming up with stuff to talk about? And I mean,
Speaker 1: first of all, we can just talk about the same
Speaker 1: thing over and over again, because the message of freedom
Speaker 1: and budgeting never gets old. But it's this, it's this
Speaker 1: aspect of the integrated self, the ways that frugality touches
Speaker 1: on so many aspects of life that we're not pinned
Speaker 1: down to one thing. We're not pinning down to only
Speaker 1: talking about debt. Freedom, that's a part of it, but
Speaker 1: we can integrate this to so many things that yeah,
Speaker 1: we're still going, Yeah, we're four years in and you
Speaker 1: can just keep expecting more content from us, because it's
Speaker 1: a big wide world out there, which also leads to
Speaker 1: our final point, and probably one of the ones that
Speaker 1: I'm most excited about is the reality that that's my favorite.
Speaker 1: Frugality can follow us. It is not just about one
Speaker 1: set stage of life. We can be in any part
Speaker 1: of our financial journey life journey and integrate the principles
Speaker 1: of frugality. It is not for a particular life stage
Speaker 1: or a particular amount of income. It's tenants can be
Speaker 1: implemented by anybody to see amazing fruit in your lives. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and frugality is for I mean, it doesn't just follow
Speaker 1: you as a person. It is for everybody. I get so.
Speaker 1: I mean still to this day, people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: I couldn't be frugal. I'm not very frugal. I don't
Speaker 1: like frugality. Like somebody said the other day, it's like,
Speaker 1: what about for people when they move beyond frugality. I
Speaker 1: was like, you don't move on frugality. That's the point.
Speaker 1: That's the point. It's that it follows you, It forms
Speaker 1: with you. It is uh like, can be a core
Speaker 1: value that you bring with you, whether you are trying,
Speaker 1: whether you are at the beginning of your journey and
Speaker 1: you are cutting costs because you don't have time to
Speaker 1: make more money, or you're at the point of life
Speaker 1: where you're focused on building a business or or becoming
Speaker 1: like promoted, and you're focusing more on being intentional and
Speaker 1: being frugal with your time, and or you know, whether
Speaker 1: you're beyond that stuff and you're just trying to be
Speaker 1: frugal with the environment and your your physical stuff, and
Speaker 1: you don't even care about money or time. Like it
Speaker 1: is so moldible and it is a lifestyle that if
Speaker 1: everyone was frugal, like it would solve so many of
Speaker 1: the world's problems. Yeah, I mean this is how this
Speaker 1: is how extreme we are about frugality. But there is
Speaker 1: so much freedom and excitement in this for me that
Speaker 1: I'm I don't have to grow out of this. I
Speaker 1: can regardless of where I'm at in life, how much
Speaker 1: money I'm making, I can still be a frugal friend.
Speaker 1: I can still be your frugal friend. I can still
Speaker 1: have frugal friends. They're still belonging for me in this community.
Speaker 1: And to give a really real time example, and here
Speaker 1: you go, Jen, I know you love vulnerability. We're not
Speaker 1: even the lightning round yet, but I'll be so specific
Speaker 1: with you all because I have had that concern, like,
Speaker 1: oh man, what about if I make more money? Can
Speaker 1: I still do this podcast? Can I still talk to
Speaker 1: people who might still not be making everything that they
Speaker 1: want to be making out of their salaries or seeing
Speaker 1: what they want in their finances? And I'm glad to
Speaker 1: realize that the answer is yes, because frugality is for
Speaker 1: everyone and can follow us. But in the last four years,
Speaker 1: if I just look at my life since we started
Speaker 1: the podcast, I have gone from house sitting for somebody
Speaker 1: to living in an RV to purchasing a home in Florida,
Speaker 1: and the tenants of frugality are still relevant for me.
Speaker 1: I will also say, I'll get even more transparent with
Speaker 1: you all. In the last four years, Eric and I
Speaker 1: as my husband, have gone from making below the poverty
Speaker 1: line combined income to making combined income of into the
Speaker 1: six figures in the last four years, and the tenants
Speaker 1: of frugality still apply to me. And if I can
Speaker 1: even be so bold as to say, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of the tenants of frugality have allowed us to
Speaker 1: move to that place, But it doesn't mean that now
Speaker 1: we're living a super frivolous, unintentional, lacking wisdom life as
Speaker 1: a result of that, so freedom, community, integrated self, and
Speaker 1: to be in a frugal friend for an entire lifetime.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I have chills because I yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean you are like you are the exit prime example
Speaker 1: of a frugal friend. Like when we started this, you
Speaker 1: are not super interested in personal finance. You just liked
Speaker 1: thrift ng and and yeah, like not spending a lot
Speaker 1: of money, and now I had that down yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And and the transformation that you have made in four
Speaker 1: years is the transformation we hope everyone makes in four
Speaker 1: years of listening to frugal friends, Like wherever you think
Speaker 1: you are now like knowing there's so much more that
Speaker 1: you can do and be, and that you're probably being
Speaker 1: your own bottleneck in your own limit to becoming those things.
Speaker 1: I mean when we started, I've almost like I've almost
Speaker 1: done it like a reverse. So when we started this,
Speaker 1: I was very much like I had just started a
Speaker 1: full time personal finance writing job, and I had increased
Speaker 1: my income, and I had side businesses that were also
Speaker 1: bringing in income, and I had you know, then I
Speaker 1: started a podcast on top of that that was bringing
Speaker 1: in no income, and I was a workaholic, and I
Speaker 1: really found my value in achievement and doing. And I thought,
Speaker 1: because for so much of my life up until that point,
Speaker 1: it really had been like my value to other people
Speaker 1: who didn't know me was really in how much they
Speaker 1: saw me accomplished. That's those are the words of affirmation
Speaker 1: they would give to me. And that is what stuck
Speaker 1: with me. And so even into adulthood, I still kept
Speaker 1: trying to do that. And over the last four years,
Speaker 1: I've realized what enough is and that I am allowed
Speaker 1: to do less to earn less, and it does not
Speaker 1: make me less because I choose to do that, and
Speaker 1: it's one of the reasons I stopped doing all those
Speaker 1: other businesses. And now I just now I just podcast
Speaker 1: and it makes a smidge more money than it did
Speaker 1: when we started, a smidge more, but I mean it's
Speaker 1: it's getting my My worth is no longer tied to
Speaker 1: being one of those Instagrammers that say, oh I had
Speaker 1: a five figure month, Oh I had uh you know,
Speaker 1: I made multiple six figures this year, or I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I have this many people like buying my course or
Speaker 1: membership like like those were all things that I saw
Speaker 1: and thought I needed to do like follow suit and
Speaker 1: doing and be learning to be a good steward of
Speaker 1: my time and my energy resources, my emotional resources. I
Speaker 1: think having the seizures. I had a seizure back when
Speaker 1: I was pregnant and one in the summer put that
Speaker 1: it was really the one in the summer of that
Speaker 1: put it into like real perspective, is that I am
Speaker 1: not promised tomorrow and one seizure in at the wrong place,
Speaker 1: at the wrong time could end everything for me. And
Speaker 1: what's the legacy that I want to leave behind. Is
Speaker 1: it cash in the bank or is it is it
Speaker 1: doing something I love with someone I love, and and
Speaker 1: just doing that to the fullest, no matter what it
Speaker 1: makes because I've I've created the financial freedom to be
Speaker 1: able to live that life. That's again an important foundation
Speaker 1: is is that I put the hard work in. But
Speaker 1: then I said, okay, now I have enough. Now I
Speaker 1: can do these things that bring me life. Beautiful, John,
Speaker 1: so much love for you, so much love for this community.
Speaker 1: How amazing to reflect back and then hope for more.
Speaker 1: So imagine what what we could be looking back on
Speaker 1: in another four years from now. And I hope for
Speaker 1: all of our community members too that this can be
Speaker 1: the case. And speaking of something that can follow us,
Speaker 1: it never gets old. We've kept it since day one.
Speaker 1: The bill of the week. That's right, it's time for
Speaker 1: the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby
Speaker 1: was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid
Speaker 1: off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy
Speaker 1: to not have to pay that bill anymore. Bill Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 1: Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. Hi,
Speaker 1: Jen and Jill, I have a bill of the week.
Speaker 1: I think you're really going to enjoy. I got talked
Speaker 1: into a sales pitched massage membership at a chain salon
Speaker 1: over a year ago, and as much as I really
Speaker 1: love the massages, it got to be too much for
Speaker 1: my budget when they raised prices, so sadly I had
Speaker 1: to cancel. And my final appointment, I found out that
Speaker 1: my favorite massus is also a teacher at the local
Speaker 1: massage therapy school and I could schedule there at a
Speaker 1: much discounted rate. So that is a bill I am
Speaker 1: glad to be paying again at a lower rate. And
Speaker 1: guess what my massuses name is. It's Bill as Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: we're just dancing over here like Hill, Yeah, I I
Speaker 1: love that. I actually so we have a massage school
Speaker 1: near us too that offers very affordable good massages. So
Speaker 1: that is something like there are quite a few massage
Speaker 1: schools and not enough people know that you can get
Speaker 1: a good massage there. It's the same with any school.
Speaker 1: We talked about this all the time, So teeth cleaning,
Speaker 1: barber shops. I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go with this
Speaker 1: quaff there, but Travis goes all the time, like, yes,
Speaker 1: it is such a good way to save money, especially
Speaker 1: like if it's something that you you want, but is
Speaker 1: it highest in your values? Two compromise with students at schools,
Speaker 1: and you left us with the Ziger because you know
Speaker 1: us and you know what we love. We love those
Speaker 1: Bill tips and we love those people named Bill. I
Speaker 1: could not ask for a better gift of than a
Speaker 1: frugal tip of saving on your massages and the fact
Speaker 1: that your massus's name is Bill. I'm elated over here.
Speaker 1: What a great celebration, what a great four year, absolute
Speaker 1: treasure of a gift. Absolutely thanks Bill, Thanks for being
Speaker 1: the best MASSUS teacher out there. Amen. Amen. If you
Speaker 1: want to submit your Bill of the Week to us
Speaker 1: visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to leave
Speaker 1: us yours And now it's time for Ning Round, the
Speaker 1: Lightning Round. So today on the Lightning Round, we are
Speaker 1: sharing a few reviews from people who have said we
Speaker 1: have changed their life. And this is more for us
Speaker 1: than it is for you, if we're being completely honest.
Speaker 1: But we do get a lot of feedback from people
Speaker 1: who are so excited like they read my review, so
Speaker 1: this is also a shout out. But yeah, also, this
Speaker 1: is so great to hear all of these all of
Speaker 1: these pieces of reality for many of you and how
Speaker 1: the podcast has helped. And so when we typically do
Speaker 1: vulnerability during the Lightning Round, this is all of you
Speaker 1: being vulnerable in your reviews. So thank you. So this
Speaker 1: first one, as we give examples of people who have
Speaker 1: really amazing feedback for this podcast, it helps us to
Speaker 1: reflect and celebrate, but we are also celebrating with you
Speaker 1: because some of you have some really incredible stories to
Speaker 1: share about what this community has provided. So this first
Speaker 1: one comes from Okay she Jen Doodle Dad, Big Joe,
Speaker 1: Den Me. So Okay, I tried. You know who you
Speaker 1: are happens to be Fine Changed My Life is the title.
Speaker 1: You know we're going to read that one. This is
Speaker 1: the podcast I didn't know I needed. I liked the
Speaker 1: idea of Dave Ramsey, but being that I am human,
Speaker 1: those ideals were admittedly hard to pull off. I needed
Speaker 1: the happy medium Outlook now I'm a work in progress
Speaker 1: and I'm loving it. Doesn't mean labeling myself a failure
Speaker 1: if I spend money, but surprisingly, this more lax look
Speaker 1: on life has made me much less likely to splurge unnecessarily.
Speaker 1: My family is living a more affordable and eco friendly
Speaker 1: life that's fueled by common sense and the love for
Speaker 1: healthy living. Thank you, ladies for helping to improve the
Speaker 1: mindset of my entire household. God bless oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: Thank you Sha Jenna, Dada, Joda Ninos. We are so
Speaker 1: pleased to be a part of I love this. I
Speaker 1: I definitely feel the yo yo dieting in finance, and
Speaker 1: which is why we try to be in the happy medium.
Speaker 1: The radical middle is to keep people from doing that
Speaker 1: like yo yo diet with their budget. It so it's
Speaker 1: super gratifying to hear that when you're trying to do
Speaker 1: something that it's really like getting through so our next
Speaker 1: one is from and I'm so sorry that I did
Speaker 1: that accent, but it's it's five starts, she says. Jen
Speaker 1: and Jill are frugal queens. I've been listening to Jen
Speaker 1: and Jill for over a year and should have posted
Speaker 1: this review a long time ago. As a grad student
Speaker 1: unlimited income. The golden nuggets of information in this podcast
Speaker 1: have been life changing over the past year. Also, most
Speaker 1: of my real life frugal friends are men, so it's
Speaker 1: been a breath of fresh air to feel like I
Speaker 1: have frugal lady friends by listening to this podcast. Bravo, ladies,
Speaker 1: and thank you for all the hard work that goes
Speaker 1: into making this podcast. You're welcome, Charlotte. This is I
Speaker 1: and and So this comes back to being a woman
Speaker 1: in podcasting too. It is are. One of our goals
Speaker 1: with this podcast is to be uh to elevate other women,
Speaker 1: is to lift other female voices up in the industry
Speaker 1: that we are in, so in finance, in sustainability, in minimalism.
Speaker 1: You will hear some men on the show, but it
Speaker 1: is they are few and far between because we really
Speaker 1: like it is important to us to elevate, to lift
Speaker 1: other women up to where we are in podcasting, UM,
Speaker 1: and so we want you to have more frugal lady
Speaker 1: friends through the interviews we do on the show because
Speaker 1: we think it's so important because yeah, a lot of
Speaker 1: finance people are in those voices are male. A lot
Speaker 1: of like frugal people in real life, tend to be male.
Speaker 1: They tend to be more proud of being frugal than
Speaker 1: women are, and we are pushing back on that intentionally.
Speaker 1: Thanks Charlotte. This next one comes from Rebecca Coval, a
Speaker 1: long time coming dot dot dot. That's the title. It's
Speaker 1: five stars. I've been listening to the Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: for over a year now. In that time, I've learned
Speaker 1: myriad tips and tricks to save money and spend intentionally,
Speaker 1: and I've delved into topics I didn't immediately associate with
Speaker 1: frugal living, like developing a minimalist capsule wardrobe and regifting
Speaker 1: with purpose. When I start an episode with these women,
Speaker 1: I know i'm incapable and kind hands. Every insight is
Speaker 1: delivered with the compassion only experience can teach you, and
Speaker 1: I never feel like an idiot when it's clear I've
Speaker 1: made some huge mistakes. Instead of feeling defeated. At the
Speaker 1: end of the show, I am energized and ready to
Speaker 1: take on my financial challenges. Thank you, Jen and Jill,
Speaker 1: You've changed my life and some of the best ways possible. Well,
Speaker 1: Rebecca co all, this is really amazing. I'm so thrilled
Speaker 1: to hear the specific ways that you've enjoyed the show
Speaker 1: and some of the tips that you've taken away. And Yes,
Speaker 1: to your point, there's so much we can talk about
Speaker 1: as it relates to frugal living, and it does touch
Speaker 1: on so many areas of our personhood and lifestyles. And
Speaker 1: my goodness, this theme of changed lives is like really
Speaker 1: humbling and sobering for me. And I know that there's
Speaker 1: other aspects to that, and there's intentionality that you all
Speaker 1: who are writing these reviews are putting in. You are
Speaker 1: doing the work. But what a privilege and honor to
Speaker 1: be entrusted with your time, whatever time you choose to
Speaker 1: give to listening to this and for the the ability
Speaker 1: to be a small part of some of the positive
Speaker 1: changes you all are making. Yeah. So this last one
Speaker 1: is from Carabell ninety. She says you are truly my
Speaker 1: frugal friends. This podcast and it's wide range of topics
Speaker 1: is so encouraging. With each episode, I feel equipped and
Speaker 1: empowered to make realistic changes and have seen real results
Speaker 1: in my bank account over the last year. We even
Speaker 1: paid cash for this semester of my husband's graduate program,
Speaker 1: in large part due to things I've implemented from this podcast.
Speaker 1: I love you, Frugal Friends, and I wanted to end
Speaker 1: with this one because we love you too. You are
Speaker 1: the fuel to our fire that keeps us doing this podcast.
Speaker 1: I mean, we were just saying before we started recording,
Speaker 1: I was like, I love you, know, doing business things
Speaker 1: with you, Jill, but I'd rather just like hang out
Speaker 1: with you. And so if we didn't have like stuff
Speaker 1: like this, I think we probably would just hang out,
Speaker 1: uh sort of instead of like recording shows and stuff.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you are our frugal friends as well, and
Speaker 1: the reason that you know in two we are focusing
Speaker 1: so heavily into community and community building and really forming
Speaker 1: everything we do from here on out around intentional community.
Speaker 1: For this journey, for this journey, financial journey, and everything
Speaker 1: that your finances touch. A men and amen, And what
Speaker 1: an amazing opportunity this journey has been. And here's to
Speaker 1: four more and more years of this frual living, frugal friendship,
Speaker 1: frugal community. Yeah, four more years and then some So
Speaker 1: so thrilled to be in your ears for these past
Speaker 1: four years. Thank you all so much for listening. Thank
Speaker 1: you for the kind reviews like the ones we just read,
Speaker 1: and keep doing that. We want to thank you for
Speaker 1: sharing the show with your friends, with your family, posting
Speaker 1: on social media. We whenever you see whenever you tag
Speaker 1: us on social media, we still do enter you into
Speaker 1: that drawing for the fifty dollars to spend in the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends shops. So keep leaving us reviews like the
Speaker 1: ones you just heard, and we'll keep reading them, and
Speaker 1: we'll keep giving you as many gifts as we can
Speaker 1: to thank you. Yes, and so when you leave a
Speaker 1: review after listening to the podcast, send the screenshot of
Speaker 1: that review too. Reviews at Frugal Friends podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: Also tag us on social all of the ways will
Speaker 1: enter you into that drawing and we'll see you next week. Right.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian jen I feel
Speaker 1: so encouraged and empowered for the rest of my day
Speaker 1: after this episode and reading these reviews and looking back
Speaker 1: and reflecting and seeing, gosh, yeah, what this has meant,
Speaker 1: what we've built, how it's impacted us and others. What
Speaker 1: a beautiful thing. It's so good to reflect. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: as I mean, we all need relationships, but I think
Speaker 1: females having powerful female relationships like we have, I think
Speaker 1: it is It's not like you need it to survive,
Speaker 1: but it just ten X is everything you do. It
Speaker 1: ten X is your progress to your goals. It ten
Speaker 1: X is the goals that you make for yourself. It
Speaker 1: ten X is your capacity to reach those goals and more.
Speaker 1: And it ten X is like the fulfillment you feel
Speaker 1: on the journey, because the journey really is all we have.
Speaker 1: The journey is so much longer than the destination, and
Speaker 1: if we're not investing in the journey, we really miss
Speaker 1: out on so much of our lives. And I think
Speaker 1: our relationship has really shown us how important and how
Speaker 1: elevating it can be for all women to have these
Speaker 1: types of relationships. Agreed. So grateful to still be friends
Speaker 1: with you, Jen and still be living that frugal friendship
Speaker 1: even off the podcast. So I'll see you tonight for
Speaker 1: our b y O pizza dinner. I'll see you tonight.