Speaker 1: Episode four ninety three is Episode two ninety two, The
Speaker 1: science behind how simplicity impacts your money.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and liver a your life. Here
Speaker 2: your hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and today we are talking about
Speaker 1: simplicity and how it impacts your money Cognitively. We have
Speaker 1: talked about minimalism and how that kind of affects your
Speaker 1: finances physically and mentally, and so today's is about simplicity.
Speaker 3: We love talking about simplicity.
Speaker 1: We do.
Speaker 3: Many of our episodes are about this, and rather than
Speaker 3: just record another episode, we figured we just play you
Speaker 3: an oldie but a goodie.
Speaker 1: This is one of our most popular episodes from twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, and since so many people loved it, then
Speaker 1: we say why create recreate the way?
Speaker 3: Because here's the thing. Our cognitive bias towards complexity will
Speaker 3: continue to be there. So to be encouraged and motivated
Speaker 3: towards simplicity. To choose simplicity, we're going to need to
Speaker 3: keep having those reminders. Otherwise we're going to keep choosing
Speaker 3: complicated and chaotic.
Speaker 1: But before we get too deep in the weeds and
Speaker 1: make this introduction too complex, this episode is brought to
Speaker 1: you by studies. Studies show the people who piecemeal information
Speaker 1: from various sources can be successful, but they are typically
Speaker 1: more stressed. Anecdotal evidence shows that getting step by step
Speaker 1: information from a trusted source makes learning much easier and enjoyable.
Speaker 1: In cite Frugal The Journal of Frugal Friends twenty five,
Speaker 1: that's why we want to create a simple and affordable,
Speaker 1: comprehensive frugal personal finance course. That sounded like a complicated
Speaker 1: way to say, we want to make a personal finance
Speaker 1: course that centers around the five pillars of frugality, so
Speaker 1: good stewardship of your money, time, physical spaces and natural resources,
Speaker 1: and number five your food. So this personal finance course
Speaker 1: is now in pre order and we are gauging interest
Speaker 1: to see if this is something you want and also
Speaker 1: to see how you want it. Do you want more
Speaker 1: of an education on frugality or do you want more
Speaker 1: of an education on the perferal things around personal finance
Speaker 1: like retirement, investing, insurance with a more frugal slant to
Speaker 1: all of them, and so we're going to design the
Speaker 1: course around the people who buy it in pre order.
Speaker 1: It is available for pre order for one more week.
Speaker 1: You can get more information and pre order at Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends podcast dot com slash frugal Home.
Speaker 3: Super excited about this. I think it's a way we
Speaker 3: can simplify values based spending for people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it goes. It's essentially if you've read our
Speaker 1: book by what you Love without going broke, this would
Speaker 1: be the next step. So we're going to have next
Speaker 1: steps on the podcast. But we wanted to create something
Speaker 1: that is not piecemeal, that is step by step and
Speaker 1: enjoyable from a trusted source.
Speaker 3: But let's get into this podcast episode.
Speaker 1: Yes, let's not waste any more time. If you're looking
Speaker 1: for a good episode to queue up afterwards, Episode four
Speaker 1: sixty two about willpower and self control. Also the recent
Speaker 1: one we just did about minimalism and your financial wellness.
Speaker 1: Very good ones to q Okay, let's get into it.
Speaker 3: This first article comes from happiness dot com and gives
Speaker 3: us six reasons that simplicity is beneficial, like six key
Speaker 3: benefits of simplifying your life, and we're going to go
Speaker 3: through all six. I think I agree with all of them.
Speaker 1: Wow, I know that's great. Yeah, yeah, that's very rare
Speaker 1: that we agree with all of the ones on a list,
Speaker 1: so good job Happiness dot Com, I too agree with them.
Speaker 1: So the first one is to simplify, to learn more
Speaker 1: about yourself. So when we did our spending makeover live
Speaker 1: in January, one, if not the hardest thing everyone said
Speaker 1: was actually figuring out your core values. And we think
Speaker 1: finding what you value is essential to spending money on
Speaker 1: things you love and saying no to the things that
Speaker 1: you don't, and that really that is really hard. It's
Speaker 1: a simple thing to say, it's an easy thing to say,
Speaker 1: but when you are so used to focusing on other
Speaker 1: people and other things, it can be hard to focus
Speaker 1: on yourself in the ways that it matters. And so
Speaker 1: when you simplify, you really do give yourself more space
Speaker 1: to learn about yourself and to learn about those values
Speaker 1: and develop values based spending. We were when I was
Speaker 1: researching for this episode, I found an article on Psychology
Speaker 1: Today that wasn't like a list, so it wasn't really
Speaker 1: great for the purposes of the show, but it was
Speaker 1: like of a woman who is Jewish by heritage, but
Speaker 1: not by practice, and decided one weekend that they would
Speaker 1: her and her son would observe the sabbath, like the
Speaker 1: tradition told you a sabbath that has gosh. I think
Speaker 1: she said, like fifty different rules, and she's like, I
Speaker 1: never observed it because the rules seemed so restrictive and
Speaker 1: just seemed like deprivation. And what she found when she
Speaker 1: followed all these rules, they were essentially forcing her to simplify.
Speaker 1: It was forced simplification, and it almost felt indulgent, and
Speaker 1: that she had the space where her mind would normally
Speaker 1: just go to her phone, or if she had a question,
Speaker 1: it would go to Google, or she would call her mom,
Speaker 1: like all these things that she normally used to distract
Speaker 1: her brain. She had to just sit with herself.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't think we often give ourselves the space
Speaker 3: to do that, and we don't have to. There is
Speaker 3: so much that can take up our capacities and energy
Speaker 3: and attention. And there is something within at least American culture,
Speaker 3: of a hierarchy of value. The busier you are. I
Speaker 3: think there's a lot of movements pushing against that, but
Speaker 3: it's still ingrained in us. Like if you're busy, that
Speaker 3: means you're important, and so that what that then does
Speaker 3: and can lead to is not much time for process
Speaker 3: or reflection or enjoying the simple things in life, the
Speaker 3: beauties that are all around. But it's so much stress, overwhelmed, fatigue.
Speaker 3: But then we just keep keep going without even thinking about, well,
Speaker 3: what's causing this and what could shift and what do
Speaker 3: I actually want? And I really appreciated how the author
Speaker 3: pointed out too in the beginning, before they even got
Speaker 3: into these six steps, just what they're noticing this in
Speaker 3: themselves as they age, which I can relate to as
Speaker 3: I'm getting older, I think that there is this draw
Speaker 3: pull attraction to wanting less, wanting opportunities to exhale, wanting
Speaker 3: to know more about myself, the environment in which I
Speaker 3: can from which I think you also see like a
Speaker 3: lot of people leaning into figuring out their ancestry or
Speaker 3: being more interested in the culture in which they came from,
Speaker 3: which I think is a really beautiful process that can
Speaker 3: happen as we age. I also like how they reference
Speaker 3: this aim at simplicity. It's not new. This is one
Speaker 3: of those ancient paths that many religious groups and cultures
Speaker 3: will follow, like from the monastic orders in the Middle
Speaker 3: Ages to modern day Amish people or Quakers. The simple living,
Speaker 3: the simple life is essential to some of these practices,
Speaker 3: and you know, we can take what works for us
Speaker 3: and leave behind what doesn't. But I think it's also
Speaker 3: really interesting and helpful to recognize that there are some
Speaker 3: practices that humanity has engaged with over the decades and
Speaker 3: centuries that is just good for humans. And so when
Speaker 3: we talk about simplicity, it's across the board of schedule
Speaker 3: and within our lives and just creating space to exhale.
Speaker 3: So all of that said, there's like, there's so much
Speaker 3: foundation I think to lay here. But then the so
Speaker 3: now skipping to number two, that a simpler lifestyle what
Speaker 3: we're talking about here, can lead to improved relationships, and
Speaker 3: they reference an essay by Amy Tai at Zioli. You
Speaker 3: were voluntary simplicity is what this essay is about, and
Speaker 3: how in that quest to push against the acquiring of
Speaker 3: material possessions, we are often more likely to focus on relationships.
Speaker 3: And so when spending excessive time on social media, being
Speaker 3: occupied just being by being busy, oftentimes our relationships those
Speaker 3: actually around us can suffer. And so when we read
Speaker 3: do those things. It frees us up to spend more
Speaker 3: time with friends and family. But then they also reference
Speaker 3: when we give space for a pause and margin and
Speaker 3: we're experiencing more time with friends and family. It can
Speaker 3: also lead to a bit of editing of friendship groups.
Speaker 3: I have a good friend who was recognizing in her
Speaker 3: own life kind of taking inventory and keeping a pulse
Speaker 3: on how do I feel after engaging with each of
Speaker 3: these friends shout out to Ashland. She was describing that
Speaker 3: she was starting to notice that with like some hangouts,
Speaker 3: it was leading to like anxiety afterwards, and sometimes she
Speaker 3: felt like so filled up and really like like life
Speaker 3: was poured back into her. And I know we've said
Speaker 3: this before. It's not as if we don't have any
Speaker 3: relationships that have some form of like depletion or need
Speaker 3: surrounding them, but at least intention with very life giving relationships.
Speaker 3: But like, you're not going to create that pause unless
Speaker 3: you've got some of that curiosity and you've cleared some
Speaker 3: space for yourself to say, how did that interaction make
Speaker 3: me feel? What is this group of friends providing to me?
Speaker 3: How is this going to benefit my life? Even long term?
Speaker 3: I think it's a great thing to be focusing on.
Speaker 3: But we're not going to be able to do that
Speaker 3: if we're just so cluttered.
Speaker 1: Right, it's so easy, like you leave someone and you
Speaker 1: immediately will get on social media or thinking about okay,
Speaker 1: what's for dinner, what's the next thing, and we fil
Speaker 1: phil fill our heads. Yeah, every single moment that we
Speaker 1: don't give the opportunity even for like uncomfortable thoughts. Yeah, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's so interesting. So this next one is that simple
Speaker 1: living boosts your bank balance.
Speaker 3: Oh more alliteration.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so this one actually does have a study according
Speaker 1: to a UK study from twenty eighteen which question two
Speaker 1: thousand people, which one thousand is my minimum for including
Speaker 1: survey results. He said, money worries affect forty percent of
Speaker 1: the population. And so if you simplify, And I think
Speaker 1: that article really that I that I read yesterday really
Speaker 1: made me think about the indulgence of simplicity, that we
Speaker 1: we don't want to deprive ourselves, right, and so sometimes
Speaker 1: simple living, minimalism, what have you, they are not the
Speaker 1: same thing, but they can be equated with deprivation, as
Speaker 1: can saving money, but really giving yourself over to the
Speaker 1: luxuriation of it, like all of the the indulgences that
Speaker 1: simplification and minimalism and this stuff can provide. It just
Speaker 1: takes a mindset shift of Like this woman sitting in
Speaker 1: her house, like she got to read through so much
Speaker 1: more of a book than she would have because she's like,
Speaker 1: when I read, I think I should be writing. Because she's,
Speaker 1: you know, writing for psychology today, obviously she's like, I
Speaker 1: feel guilty and I should be writing. But when I'm
Speaker 1: you know, doing the Sabbath, I can't write, so I'm
Speaker 1: forced into further self care. Almost.
Speaker 3: Oh that's so true. Like just to sit and listen
Speaker 3: to music feels indulgent, but there is something very simple
Speaker 3: to that, and it can clear up mind space and
Speaker 3: create rest.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so we when we're creating, like we're when
Speaker 1: we're focusing on the indulgences and the luxuriation of simplicity, you're.
Speaker 3: Done with it.
Speaker 1: I am Now we don't have to rely on spending
Speaker 1: money to fill those gaps, which we so often do
Speaker 1: when we feel like we need to treat ourselves. But
Speaker 1: there are other ways to treat yourself that almost feel
Speaker 1: like guilty. You feel guilty about yeah doing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Oh that's so true. Number four on here is
Speaker 3: living a simple life is great for your health, and
Speaker 3: they reference a study from twenty fourteen, which is just
Speaker 3: on the cusp of my standards for research studies that
Speaker 3: they're fifteen years older, newer, so we're right there, which
Speaker 3: is crazy. Twenty fourteen oh Man Okay published in the
Speaker 3: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology where they found a
Speaker 3: link between materialism and they define that as valuing possessions
Speaker 3: and money, and they're that connection to poor physical health.
Speaker 3: And another team from Knox College in Illinois also found
Speaker 3: an even stronger link between materialism and engagement in risky
Speaker 3: behaviors that could damage physical health, like drinking, alcohol, smoking,
Speaker 3: drug use. And so then they're kind of saying it
Speaker 3: makes sense then that in the reverse of that, having
Speaker 3: a more non materialistic attitude could lead to more positive
Speaker 3: health outcomes, which I think is wild. But I've also
Speaker 3: been thinking recently and having conversations with people about just
Speaker 3: some of the trueness. I'm making up my own word too,
Speaker 3: of that concept of more money more problems, and money
Speaker 3: isn't the issue, like it's what we do with it.
Speaker 3: But I think that there is this principle where the
Speaker 3: more that you have, whether it's money or resources. The
Speaker 3: more responsible you are for those things, and there's a
Speaker 3: weight and a pressure, whether realized or unrealized, of what
Speaker 3: am I now going to do with these things that
Speaker 3: I've been entrusted with the goal of frugality is to
Speaker 3: be good stewards of that. But if we've not created
Speaker 3: space for mindfulness and intentionality, I think sometimes that can
Speaker 3: lead to that subconscious, not realized weight and responsibility that
Speaker 3: leads to some of those risky behaviors like Okay, well
Speaker 3: I've got this and I'm not putting much thought into
Speaker 3: like what am I going to do with it? And
Speaker 3: this is what the world is telling me is good
Speaker 3: and helpful and will be effective and efficient for my life,
Speaker 3: And then it leads to some of this. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 3: some of the craziest behaviors come from the wealthiest people.
Speaker 3: So there is like there is a phenomena here.
Speaker 1: We're looking at you, old Justin Bieber.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I'm even thinking like the billionaires. I
Speaker 3: think that there's just something too. You just have an
Speaker 3: absurd amount of money and okay, I know that, like
Speaker 3: no billionaires are like listening to our podcast, but like,
Speaker 3: you know, thinking of that on a smaller scale that
Speaker 3: the more that that's the focus of our time, energy
Speaker 3: and efforts, there is this strong link between then maybe
Speaker 3: not making the best decisions. If our aim is just
Speaker 3: collecting everything I can possibly collect and having all the
Speaker 3: luxurious materials in my home, then that type of mentality
Speaker 3: could lead to risk your linse.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the materialism mentality, not necessarily the income mentality.
Speaker 1: Exactly when I was writing my first book, The No
Speaker 1: Spend Challenge Guide, I came across a study and at
Speaker 1: this point it probably falls outside your your time limitsover
Speaker 1: we're ald, but it studied a group of people who
Speaker 1: had a lot of clutter in their homes, like border
Speaker 1: like borderline hoarders, and then just the like on the
Speaker 1: same spectrum to all to people who didn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of things in their homes. And they found that
Speaker 1: the people who had a lot of stuff in their homes,
Speaker 1: like the spectrum kind of correlated to less emphasis on health.
Speaker 1: So the more stuff they had in their home, the
Speaker 1: less they tried to be healthy. Interesting, So that was
Speaker 1: another way that I found simplicity, like in your stuff
Speaker 1: really does help because we all know that health is
Speaker 1: wealth and Obviously being healthy does save you money in
Speaker 1: the long run too, just for practical reason.
Speaker 3: I mean, I just don't have a lot of stuff
Speaker 3: on my own because I don't want to dust a lot.
Speaker 1: Oh I hate cleaning. Yeah, I had to Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I had to change the sheets on my bed more
Speaker 1: than once in a month. And I am pregnant too,
Speaker 1: So like it was just like I can't have too
Speaker 1: many beds in this house, Like you can have too
Speaker 1: many bedrooms.
Speaker 3: Technically, don't they say you should change your sheets every
Speaker 3: two weeks?
Speaker 1: Okay, we had this conversation before. We don't have to
Speaker 1: hide it, we truly are we. Oh yeah, I'm like
Speaker 1: every two months. But I think the stand there. So
Speaker 1: we talked about this. You said every month, and now
Speaker 1: you're saying every two months. Fishing I'm starting.
Speaker 3: Okay, we're getting more and more into the true.
Speaker 1: We're gonna move on before you reveal anything else you
Speaker 1: don't want to. So number five is simplistic. Living means
Speaker 1: increased focus, which is so true. The more we have
Speaker 1: to focus on, the more we will just not focus
Speaker 1: on anything. And that's like we think we need to
Speaker 1: have all of these plates spinning at the same time.
Speaker 1: But the more you have, you're gonna focus on none
Speaker 1: of them, not even one of them, is going to
Speaker 1: get your full attention. And this is why we talk
Speaker 1: so much about prioritizing and not trying to balance. Balance
Speaker 1: is a myth. Prioritize what's important to you, when it's
Speaker 1: important to you, change, switch it up as you need to,
Speaker 1: but prioritize focus, and that means you're probably not going
Speaker 1: to be able to work on ten things at once.
Speaker 1: So simplify your goals, simplify your schedule, your activities so
Speaker 1: that you can have reasonable priorities and be able to
Speaker 1: focus on them as needed.
Speaker 3: And the last one on here, number six, Living a
Speaker 3: simple life helps the environment. There is a symbiotic relationship
Speaker 3: between simple living and being good stewards of the space
Speaker 3: that we take up. As we are more content and
Speaker 3: need less, we consume less, which means less waste. I
Speaker 3: think a big industry where we consume a lot. The
Speaker 3: industry itself utilizes a ton of energy and we often
Speaker 3: throw away is fashion and clothing, and so when we
Speaker 3: are not buying so much fast fashion, then we're not
Speaker 3: contributing as much to the textile industry, which is one
Speaker 3: of the biggest polluters, and it's just it just leads
Speaker 3: to then more sustainability as we're not consuming and throwing away.
Speaker 3: And again we've mentioned it before, it's kind to then
Speaker 3: like the we're not then taking advantage of people either,
Speaker 3: Like there's there's both the environment, there's the workers, there's
Speaker 3: all of it. Paying fair wages is a part of
Speaker 3: this equation. So there's so much interconnectedness between what benefits
Speaker 3: us also benefits others. And when we can find that
Speaker 3: beautiful intersection, what an amazing thing.
Speaker 1: Yes, and most of these that we read out do
Speaker 1: have like studies associated with them, so if you're interested
Speaker 1: in those, definitely check out the article. It will be
Speaker 1: in our show notes.
Speaker 3: In this next article that we're going to go through
Speaker 3: is how to Simplify your life and spend less And
Speaker 3: it came from Jen she wrote it. Yeah, you're talking
Speaker 3: about it Modern Frugality. It's her blog.
Speaker 1: It's so I read other articles because I didn't want
Speaker 1: to be the person that uses their own article.
Speaker 3: But I'm here for it.
Speaker 1: It was the best one, you know, like it was
Speaker 1: and maybe it was the one that said what I
Speaker 1: wanted to say the best exactly.
Speaker 3: So there's tons of tips in here. We're each going
Speaker 3: to go through three of our favorites, and I'm going
Speaker 3: to pick first because I feel like you've got the
Speaker 3: upper hand on this one. Oh wow.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 3: The first one is to declutter your home. We've already
Speaker 3: kind of identified this one already. But the less physical
Speaker 3: clutter that you have in your home, the more focused
Speaker 3: that you can have, the less you have to less
Speaker 3: time and you have to spend on maintaining and cleaning
Speaker 3: and replacing and fixing, and all of that saved time
Speaker 3: and money can lead to increased contentment, which then leads
Speaker 3: to less spending, which then leads to you being able
Speaker 3: to spend your time how you want to spend it.
Speaker 3: So decluttering. I know that we're all different. There's definitely
Speaker 3: a spectrum of what is the most beneficial for each
Speaker 3: one of us, what simplicity looks like, what minimalism looks like.
Speaker 3: But for me, at least, I can speak for my
Speaker 3: own experience. When my space is free of just clutter,
Speaker 3: the more I'm able to yeah focus on my task
Speaker 3: at hand, get into my work, not be as distracted,
Speaker 3: and not even feel as stressed or overwhelmed, even if
Speaker 3: I have a lot on my schedule. If my physical
Speaker 3: space isn't as cluttered, then I feel more a to
Speaker 3: engage with whatever my obligations or responsibilities are that day.
Speaker 3: So just here's your encouragement. It can be a lot
Speaker 3: of work at first, but once you put in the
Speaker 3: big effort, its maintenance after that, and it can make
Speaker 3: such a huge difference.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And one of the studies that we didn't cover
Speaker 1: that the last article reference did state that participants in
Speaker 1: their study who had less clutter were able to focus
Speaker 1: better on tests. So that's just another like science reason
Speaker 1: that having less physical stuff affects your mind and also
Speaker 1: affects your ability to make financial decisions, make spending decisions.
Speaker 1: We don't think so much about that, But the more
Speaker 1: clutter we have in our space in our mind, of course,
Speaker 1: the poorer our decisions are going to be. Financially.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the more clutter we have in our finances, the
Speaker 3: less likely we are to want to look at it
Speaker 3: because it feels overwhelming. But even simplifying the way that
Speaker 3: our spending and finances and build pay process looks like
Speaker 3: can also make us feel more competent and at ease
Speaker 3: in the way that we're navigating that aspect of our lives.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the next one for me, and this is one
Speaker 1: that's hitting me really hard right now personally, So you're
Speaker 1: a little vulnerable before well, social media. I very much
Speaker 1: dislike social media. I really hate participating in it. I
Speaker 1: really hate consuming it and creating it. I think it
Speaker 1: can be really helpful, but I think it's few and
Speaker 1: far between that it's helpful. Ninety five percent of it
Speaker 1: is mind numbing entertainment, things that distract us from what's
Speaker 1: going on in reality, and then like five percent of
Speaker 1: it is very helpful content. So like, there is good
Speaker 1: stuff out there on social media. Like I would never
Speaker 1: say that that everything is trash, but so much of
Speaker 1: it is and not trash, it's just so distracted, and
Speaker 1: it is clutter. It is clutter, it's mind clutter, and
Speaker 1: so decluttering your social media, fasting from social media, whatever
Speaker 1: you feel like you need to do to get out
Speaker 1: of social media, is going to help you simplify other
Speaker 1: things in your life by just simplifying that one thing,
Speaker 1: Like what's the one thing that's going to make other
Speaker 1: things down the line easier or unnecessary. I really think
Speaker 1: minimizing social media is one of those things, because then
Speaker 1: you're minimizing ads the cause you to spend. You're minimizing
Speaker 1: seeing like your friends have new things that you want.
Speaker 1: They're not even trying to sell you. They just are
Speaker 1: having it, but you see it and then you want it.
Speaker 1: So it minimizes that aspect, But then it also minimizes
Speaker 1: just the habit of just picking up your phone and
Speaker 1: ignoring what's going on and like consuming social media. And
Speaker 1: that's so much of what I do that it's very
Speaker 1: hard to strike a balance between like having a job
Speaker 1: like this where people want to see your face, right,
Speaker 1: and it's like good, this is how I make the
Speaker 1: you know, the bit of money that I do make,
Speaker 1: the big bucks that I do make. So it's hard
Speaker 1: to like strike that there is no balance. I'll just
Speaker 1: say there's no balance with me between like trying to
Speaker 1: show my face.
Speaker 3: It's like all or nothing. Like sometimes it is heavy,
Speaker 3: it's all on, like we recently started dating, and then
Speaker 3: other times it's like, I don't know, we're on a break.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So that's how I feel about social media. So
Speaker 1: if you don't see me on social media, that's.
Speaker 3: Why I know. Oh likewise, but yeah, we're just in
Speaker 3: a process of simplifying, you know, Yeah, that's what's happening.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 3: So the third one that I do love, just related
Speaker 3: to simplicity is number three, getting out of debt. I
Speaker 3: know we talk about this a ton, it's one of
Speaker 3: the biggest things we discuss when it comes to this podcast.
Speaker 3: But when we look at this from a lens of simplicity,
Speaker 3: I have to agree as well, and you reference in
Speaker 3: this article, it doesn't just mathematically make sense, but is
Speaker 3: also a mental and emotional weight lifted. Now we recognize
Speaker 3: this is a long journey. This isn't like a declutter
Speaker 3: your home this weekend getting out of debt. For many
Speaker 3: of us, this is a long haul decision that will
Speaker 3: often take years. So there's a lot that needs to
Speaker 3: go into that, but it does lead to freed up
Speaker 3: mental and emotional space, freed up finances, and just ability
Speaker 3: to now make decisions for investing for retirement or having
Speaker 3: maybe a little bit more discretionary income, or just not
Speaker 3: worrying that much anymore. And that is an incredible benefit.
Speaker 3: So that's a great way to simplify as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and something I feel like I want to point
Speaker 1: out is that lately we've been getting a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about consolidating debt, which does have the benefit of simplifying, right, So, like,
Speaker 1: what we're talking about is simplifying, but I think it's
Speaker 1: over advertised because it's advertised is a way to save
Speaker 1: on debt, but in reality saves you very little on debt.
Speaker 1: It just moves debt around. It makes you think you've
Speaker 1: done something because you have simplified the problem. So that's
Speaker 1: not a bad thing, but you need to know what
Speaker 1: you're getting into. And like, we don't typically recommend debt
Speaker 1: consolidation because while it does simplify what the debt looks like,
Speaker 1: it is adding a level of complexity to your actual
Speaker 1: financial practice. So it's not like a simplification of you know,
Speaker 1: when you pay off your smallest loan, that debt goes away.
Speaker 1: So this is one of the one of the benefits
Speaker 1: of the debt snowball is that you can simplify what
Speaker 1: your debt looks like or what your bank accounts look
Speaker 1: like more quickly. So it's a quicker simplification process. Even
Speaker 1: though maybe it costs at a little bit more mathematically,
Speaker 1: it does give you that simplifying part quicker, And so
Speaker 1: we would probably say do that instead of consolidating debt.
Speaker 1: If that's what you're thinking thinking about, not that's helpful.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: My next one is number four. We're not going to
Speaker 1: go through every single one of them.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: What just happens upfront is what I did. Uh So
Speaker 1: number four is learn to say no and that that's
Speaker 1: going to offend something you're talking to me. No, I'm
Speaker 1: not like you know, you know how to say no,
Speaker 1: but some people don't. And I think I grew up
Speaker 1: watching these people. So in my adult life I say
Speaker 1: the first line. I am the type of person who
Speaker 1: says no first. I always say no first, and then
Speaker 1: I take time to think about it and whether I
Speaker 1: want my to change my answer to yes.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So some people would say, Jen, you should just say
Speaker 1: let me think about it first.
Speaker 3: Do too much on the other instrum.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So so maybe I wouldn't recommend becoming me, but a
Speaker 1: lot of people start with lead with yes, just out
Speaker 1: of insecurity wanting to be a people pleaser. Oh, this
Speaker 1: is a perfect example. So last week I took like
Speaker 1: a Girl's trip with our friends Caroline Wensel Alison Baggerley
Speaker 1: inspired budget. Alison is a gem of a person and
Speaker 1: a people pleaser, and so there. I can't even remember
Speaker 1: what it was, but like, I think I was maybe
Speaker 1: road raging for a second. And I won't repeat what
Speaker 1: I said.
Speaker 3: But we don't have the explicit rating, right.
Speaker 1: Alison was like, oh, I was like I always like
Speaker 1: give these people the benefit of the depth or no. No,
Speaker 1: it was a social media thing. It wasn't road rage.
Speaker 1: Somebody was trying to like manipulate, to manipulate her, I'll
Speaker 1: just say that. And she knew it too, she knew it,
Speaker 1: but she just wanted to give them the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt, even though she knew what they were doing.
Speaker 1: She just wanted to say yes, yeah, because she wanted
Speaker 1: to give them the benefit of the doubt. And you know,
Speaker 1: she's just a gem of a person, right, Saying no
Speaker 1: to people who are trying to manipulate you does not
Speaker 1: make you any less of a gem. Yeah, that's what.
Speaker 3: You're working out. I mean, it sounds like the radical middle.
Speaker 3: Whether you find yourself on one extreme of leading with
Speaker 3: no or leading with yes. Is that Let me think
Speaker 3: about it, and either side could choose that pathway, just
Speaker 3: to give yourself space just a pause to identify, is
Speaker 3: this something I want to engage in, and I think,
Speaker 3: I mean, it sounds like a great way of living
Speaker 3: for Allison to just be a gem of a person.
Speaker 3: Like then everybody likes you and everybody we all do.
Speaker 3: But if it hurts you, I think that's where it's
Speaker 3: time for some reevaluation. If you are always saying yes
Speaker 3: at the cost of yourself and your own well being,
Speaker 3: then that's where we need to kind of identify some
Speaker 3: different patterns and relating.
Speaker 1: Even if it doesn't always end up in you being
Speaker 1: a stressed, overtired people pleaser, if it's resulting in that
Speaker 1: more often than it is resulting in you being filled up,
Speaker 1: there's an issue because there are a lot of important
Speaker 1: things that you have to do that aren't going to
Speaker 1: fill you up, but they're important, so we have to
Speaker 1: do them. So if you're doing things for other people
Speaker 1: that are draining you as well that you don't have
Speaker 1: to do, those things need to be cut out of
Speaker 1: your life. And it's not always it's typically not people
Speaker 1: trying to manipulate you. It's typically really well intentioned people
Speaker 1: that really see that you would be a good fit
Speaker 1: for something and it's a good opportunity. But sometimes you
Speaker 1: have to say no to good so that you can
Speaker 1: pursue great And so you have to really either say
Speaker 1: no or say I'll think about it, yeah, to really
Speaker 1: give yourself time to figure out is this good or
Speaker 1: is this great?
Speaker 3: And that's what leads to simplifying our schedules, which I
Speaker 3: think for many of us is where we all need
Speaker 3: the most work of how do I continue to kind
Speaker 3: of rain myself in from the vortex of busyness that
Speaker 3: will suck us in. I do think there needs to
Speaker 3: be active, intentional, perpetual awareness of the vortex of busyness.
Speaker 3: It will always want to suck us in and own us,
Speaker 3: so that saying no is what leads to some of
Speaker 3: that more simple schedule. I am going to jump all
Speaker 3: the way to the bottom of this. I'm done going
Speaker 3: in order is plan a simple menu? Ugh, I could
Speaker 3: not agree with this more and probably because you wrote
Speaker 3: it and I like and our friends. But I think
Speaker 3: when it comes to activities that we have to do daily,
Speaker 3: like food, this is also where we can experience a
Speaker 3: lot of overwhelm and fatigue and can lead to the
Speaker 3: convenience purchases of eating out or ordering takeout, which isn't
Speaker 3: always the friendliest for our budgets or our money if
Speaker 3: it's not something that's been planned for, and so I
Speaker 3: think one way to get around that is to really
Speaker 3: simplify what we're going to eat at home throughout the week.
Speaker 3: That doesn't mean that it's bland or not fun or inedible,
Speaker 3: just simple like pairing down the number of ingredients that
Speaker 3: you need. You can still reuse and repurpose ingredients, but
Speaker 3: making it easier or more accessible for yourself will cut
Speaker 3: down on the amount of times that you feel like
Speaker 3: you need to eat out. It will have the decisions
Speaker 3: already made for you, so there's less of that decision
Speaker 3: fatigue and usually can lead to lower cooking times not
Speaker 3: taking up as much of your space and energy. For
Speaker 3: me personally, I think one of the ways that I
Speaker 3: do this is I'll change up a lot of what
Speaker 3: we'd eat for dinner, reusing ingredients, but my breakfasts and
Speaker 3: lunches from week to week will look very similar. Like
Speaker 3: a breakfast for me, it's two options. It's going to
Speaker 3: be a smoothie or some eggs and toast, and that's
Speaker 3: fine because I know I'm still going to get variety
Speaker 3: that day. Lunches I'll have two to three options on
Speaker 3: hand in any given week, so I feel like I
Speaker 3: have options, but it's not complicated. I'm not reinventing all
Speaker 3: of the time and then changing up week to week
Speaker 3: what the dinners are going to be. Again, still doesn't
Speaker 3: have to be complicated, but I found the simpler that
Speaker 3: I can keep it, the more likely I am to
Speaker 3: eat at home and stick with it. Sometimes it's really
Speaker 3: fun to try the new thing and make a new
Speaker 3: you'll every single night just to like keep our palettes tantalized.
Speaker 3: But that's not gonna last long. There's no longevity in that,
Speaker 3: and we're not going to experience the benefits of simplicity
Speaker 3: in that way.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I hate that I have to pick just one
Speaker 1: more from the list because it's like.
Speaker 3: My people can go check it out. Yeah, you're artically
Speaker 3: check it out.
Speaker 1: There's some like okay, so there's some really concrete, practical tips,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna go with one more non concrete one.
Speaker 1: And I know you guys hate that, but here I
Speaker 1: am five is focus on one thing at a time.
Speaker 3: I left that for you. I'm like, I did not
Speaker 3: steal her one thing that is through and through she
Speaker 3: has trademarked I am.
Speaker 1: I am obsessed with the concept of and it's essentially
Speaker 1: the just the concept of prioritizing to choose, be intentional
Speaker 1: about the things that you are working on, the financial
Speaker 1: goals that you are working on, the life change goals
Speaker 1: you are working on. Be intentional and work on one
Speaker 1: at a time. Making small changes and working on one
Speaker 1: thing at a time is not sexy. We do not
Speaker 1: want to have gradual growth and change. We love a
Speaker 1: good overnight success and that's just not reality. It's just
Speaker 1: not like if your New Year's resolution was to lose
Speaker 1: ten pounds, payoff debt, and have a smoothie every day,
Speaker 1: how's that going for you? How is that going for you?
Speaker 1: I am sure not well. But if your New year's
Speaker 1: resolution was just I want to want to drink eighty
Speaker 1: ounces of water every day, that's it. No other goals, nothing.
Speaker 3: Doesn't mean you're not doing anything at all. It's just
Speaker 3: not taking up the majority of your focus.
Speaker 1: Right. It's like one choose one thing that can help
Speaker 1: multiple other things. So like just keeping on the water.
Speaker 1: I know that's not financial, but water can help you,
Speaker 1: you know, get your cravings under control, so it'll help
Speaker 1: with food. It can help you get your hormones and
Speaker 1: your water weight fluctuations under control, so it helps with that,
Speaker 1: it helps with so many other different things. Yet it
Speaker 1: is one thing. It is just one thing, and it's
Speaker 1: much easier to do than focusing on all these big,
Speaker 1: higher level goals. So, yes, your goal may be to
Speaker 1: pay off debt, but what are the actions that are
Speaker 1: going to take you to get there? Okay, think about
Speaker 1: those and then pick one to focus on at a
Speaker 1: time and really dig into it until you feel like
Speaker 1: you've mastered it and you can move on. Yes, that
Speaker 1: is focusing on one thing at a time, and that
Speaker 1: is what's going to move the needle. We can't all
Speaker 1: be overnight success stories. If it happens, cool, but don't
Speaker 1: plan for that. Don't plan to be an overnight success story.
Speaker 3: And really, the journey is so much more, oh my god, yeah,
Speaker 3: than the destination when you are.
Speaker 1: When you become an overnight success you miss out on
Speaker 1: all the learning and growth that the journey provides. So
Speaker 1: it's really you miss out on a lot. So plan
Speaker 1: to be average, play to be normal.
Speaker 3: Do you know what my very average one thing is,
Speaker 3: to the exclusion of all other things, This is the
Speaker 3: one thing, nothing else, but whereby doing we we we
Speaker 3: we gain so much.
Speaker 1: But I think it was an overnight success. I mean
Speaker 1: it's a wonder thing.
Speaker 3: This one is the like the destination, the journey. The
Speaker 3: bill of the week.
Speaker 2: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 2: time week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 2: is William. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your
Speaker 2: card died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 2: that bill anymore. That's bills, bffalo bills, Bill Clinton.
Speaker 3: This is the bill of the week.
Speaker 4: So find feet from Scotland. This month, I cleared my
Speaker 4: online banking overdraft for which I was being charged monthly.
Speaker 4: Transferred the violence to zero percent credit card, so now
Speaker 4: I can peel off my credit card without the monthly
Speaker 4: charges I was getting. Will I was in my overdraft,
Speaker 4: I was being charged thirty pound a month, which will
Speaker 4: now just go off to paying off that date.
Speaker 1: Thanks. Isn't it so interesting when you start to look
Speaker 1: at your finances and you find things that you don't
Speaker 1: want to find, like you're being charged thirty dollars a
Speaker 1: month for overdrafting. That's crazy. But now Katie, you took
Speaker 1: you were brave, and you went in there like Meredith.
Speaker 1: I envisioned that you are like Mereda because I like
Speaker 1: Disney and you just went in there and you said
Speaker 1: no more transferring it. And now I'm gonna use this
Speaker 1: thirty dollars a month to pay off my credit card.
Speaker 3: Yes, well done, Katie from Scotland. Jen is being quite imaginative.
Speaker 1: I don't even know where Scotland is where that movie
Speaker 1: takes place, and I'm so sorry. If it's not Yeah,
Speaker 1: here we go.
Speaker 3: It's Irish. Maybe she was Scottish. Okay, we're gonna figure
Speaker 3: that out, Katie, but mostly we're focused on you. And yeah,
Speaker 3: how you paid off your credit card? You no longer
Speaker 3: got these overdraft fees happening, So just well done. What
Speaker 3: do you got, Jen, She.
Speaker 1: Is voiced by a Scottish actress. Huh, it's from obviously
Speaker 1: a made up place. So we're gonna say, We're gonna
Speaker 1: say Scotland. Okay, we're gonna go to Scotland. You went, Katie.
Speaker 3: For sharing a Hill of the week. If you all
Speaker 3: listening want to share your bill if it has anything
Speaker 3: to do with like a Disney movie character, sliceing and
Speaker 3: dice and some overdraft fees or paying off credit cards,
Speaker 3: or or your name is Bill. I don't know how
Speaker 3: many times I have to say this. Visit Frugal Friends
Speaker 3: podcast dot com slash Bill, leave us your bill.
Speaker 1: No, it's time for I don't think I have to
Speaker 1: get any more vulnerable because I already got vulnerable. No, no, no.
Speaker 3: It doesn't work that way. You chose vulnerability, this is
Speaker 3: now vulnerability.
Speaker 1: Okay, So what's something in your life that has been
Speaker 1: hard to simplify? And I think you should go first?
Speaker 3: Uh huh. I feel like did you write this question
Speaker 3: or was this a goldie question?
Speaker 2: Is me?
Speaker 3: Oh, my schedule? This is so vulnerab because I would
Speaker 3: love to say that I'm just like crushing simplicity, and
Speaker 3: maybe I'm doing that in my possessions and just like
Speaker 3: getting rid of things, But I'm not crushing it my schedule.
Speaker 1: The nicer you are, and the more of a gem
Speaker 1: of a person you are, I think, the harder it
Speaker 1: is to simplify the schedule.
Speaker 3: The thing about it for me is I don't think.
Speaker 3: I don't feel as though I am just bending to
Speaker 3: the will and needs of others. There is a true
Speaker 3: tension for me. We were talking about this even before
Speaker 3: we hit the record button today where I want a
Speaker 3: lot of things, it is mostly a me problem where
Speaker 3: I want all of the things. I want rest and
Speaker 3: opportunities to explore my hobbies and things that are life
Speaker 3: giving to me. And I want to grow this business
Speaker 3: and pursue other types of career, and I want to
Speaker 3: host people, and I want to hang out and I
Speaker 3: want to build community, like I just want all the things,
Speaker 3: like I want to say yes to it all, not
Speaker 3: because I feel like I'm play cating someone or something.
Speaker 3: It just truly is what I want to do. So
Speaker 3: that has been and potentially will be a forever and
Speaker 3: always thing to navigate of still sincerely keeping a pulse on. Okay,
Speaker 3: but what is going to be best for me? What
Speaker 3: is this going to cost me? Not just monetarily, like
Speaker 3: what will this cost me in my energies and capacities?
Speaker 3: What will that potentially steal from something else? Like if
Speaker 3: I choose to go all out just in the social world,
Speaker 3: then there is a cost benefit analysis to that. There's
Speaker 3: an opportunity cost then that means projects aren't getting done
Speaker 3: at my house, or if I go all in on projects,
Speaker 3: that means community is not being found. So it's there
Speaker 3: is such a tension, and I'm sure there's plenty of
Speaker 3: people listening who like want to collect all the things.
Speaker 3: You just want to do it all and it's all
Speaker 3: so appetizing and appealing and fun and enjoyable. So really
Speaker 3: deciding how do I want to spend like the twenty
Speaker 3: four hours that's been allotted to me and creating some
Speaker 3: space to keep a pulse on how is this impacting me?
Speaker 3: Was that? Was that a good choice? Or would I
Speaker 3: want to shift or morph that in the future. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm not there. I don't know that I have or
Speaker 3: will be there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think, especially because your value is so
Speaker 1: like very much aligned with what you were just saying,
Speaker 1: Like to be healthy in your values creates like the
Speaker 1: perfect schedule, but nobody's perfect or perfectly healthy. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: it's always something that you'll have to keep a pulse on.
Speaker 3: I think I have also, I'll just say this and
Speaker 3: then I'll be done in case it's fruitful for anybody else.
Speaker 3: But I think I've realized that I had a narrative
Speaker 3: going that go Go Go go go was not good
Speaker 3: for me, mostly because of what I think is talked
Speaker 3: about like just being busy isn't isn't good? And I
Speaker 3: would partially agree with that, but then to also realize
Speaker 3: maybe that narrative is what's mostly unhelpful, Like I love
Speaker 3: spending time with people that is actually life giving. What
Speaker 3: if that's a form of rest for me? Where I
Speaker 3: might have this very like mono idea like of oh,
Speaker 3: this is what rest is. It's only sitting down in
Speaker 3: complete quietness reading a book, That's what rest is. But
Speaker 3: to come to realize that might be somebody's rest, but
Speaker 3: for me, my rest can look different, and usually for
Speaker 3: most of us, we've got a lot of different forms
Speaker 3: of rest. So I think it's been taking a lot
Speaker 3: of the pressure away from myself the things I put
Speaker 3: on myself to say this might feel like a lot,
Speaker 3: and maybe others would look on the way that I
Speaker 3: live my life or spend my time as like that's
Speaker 3: just too much. But it might be too much for
Speaker 3: that person and what's valuable for them, But for me,
Speaker 3: it's okay and it's not hurting me, and if anything,
Speaker 3: there's aspects of it that are life giving. So that's
Speaker 3: been a whole other kind of realization and mostly helpful
Speaker 3: for me. To not just get bummed that I filled
Speaker 3: my space and time with people and things that I
Speaker 3: really enjoy. That can be Okay, that's lovely, that's great.
Speaker 3: What about you get vulnerable?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I'm gonna is it a cop out
Speaker 1: to say the same the social media thing again? No
Speaker 1: do it, because that really does plague me. I was
Speaker 1: off social media entirely for about three months, and then
Speaker 1: people kind of convinced me to get back on. They're like,
Speaker 1: it's free marketing for your podcast and your business, and
Speaker 1: we're going for a book deal and every publisher wants
Speaker 1: to see you're active on social media. Like it's just
Speaker 1: so sad.
Speaker 3: I feel like I hear this from you, Like there's
Speaker 3: always there's a cycle of yeah, I'm leaving it, this
Speaker 3: is good for me. Then you get into some mastermind
Speaker 3: group and they're like, you're shaming you into getting back on,
Speaker 3: and you're like, I know that they're right, and you
Speaker 3: do crush it. You post some really great stuff. You're funny,
Speaker 3: you're a gem, you're witty, you're insightful, You've got a
Speaker 3: lot to give. And I think that's especially in this
Speaker 3: space right where there's like a business connected to it.
Speaker 3: That's a big component. There's got to be a radical middle.
Speaker 3: And we're partially now getting into business meeting here. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll find.
Speaker 1: The radical We will have to find the radical middle. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's that's kind of where I'm at. I just
Speaker 1: I don't have strong enough boundaries or self discipline to
Speaker 1: not get sucked into it. It is for sure, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I am, I could be more disciplined, but also I
Speaker 1: can give myself grace for just being not perfect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's where I'm at.
Speaker 3: Agreed, Listening back to that.
Speaker 1: Lightning round about being stressed to be on social media
Speaker 1: one hundred percent still a struggle, Still still a struggle.
Speaker 1: I think we're getting closer to a radical metal. It's
Speaker 1: so weird to hear, like we were trying to get
Speaker 1: a book deal and yes, that was important we had
Speaker 1: to do. We had to, Yeah, like it was not
Speaker 1: an option, and it did impact our activity on social
Speaker 1: media did impact the book deal we got, and we
Speaker 1: got a good book deal. And so now yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's still one of those like when we talk about
Speaker 1: the one thing, what's one thing you can do to
Speaker 1: make all other things easier or unnecessary? Social media kind
Speaker 1: of ties into that I think we've decided YouTube is
Speaker 1: that one thing for us this year, because it makes
Speaker 1: social media easier and it is an integral part of
Speaker 1: our growth.
Speaker 3: I think part of our radical middle that we've found
Speaker 3: in social media is me taking on some of the
Speaker 3: social media management. To everyone's full shock and surprise, you
Speaker 3: are the one.
Speaker 1: That initially did the Frugal Friends podcast Instagram. In those
Speaker 1: early days, you made a great for every episode.
Speaker 3: Oh that's right. You started it right.
Speaker 1: And now you're You're just coming home, is what it is.
Speaker 3: I still can't stand Instagram, but if I'm gonna do it,
Speaker 3: this is the best case scenario for it. I actually
Speaker 3: prefer to engage with Instagram as Frugal Friends than I
Speaker 3: do on my own personal accounts. I say, not one
Speaker 3: who's just posting whatever. I really like giving helpful and
Speaker 3: entertaining content. So when I've been able to come at
Speaker 3: it with that framework and lens, it has really lowered
Speaker 3: the barrier to entry for me.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I have enjoyed taking our YouTube videos and
Speaker 1: making those into reels because that is very easy for me.
Speaker 3: I love that. Look at us forget we find the
Speaker 3: radical metal.
Speaker 1: We find it in community. Oh, I think we don't
Speaker 1: find it in isolation.
Speaker 3: A great Thank you all so much for listening to
Speaker 3: this podcast. Thank you also for reading our book, maybe
Speaker 3: even listening to our book because it is an audio
Speaker 3: format and those of you who have read the book
Speaker 3: have been leaving such kind reviews, so we've been wanting
Speaker 3: to give some space to reading the reviews of our book,
Speaker 3: like this one from Jack one p thirty five stars says,
Speaker 3: an absolute gem of a book that's focused on spending.
Speaker 3: I love this book so much. It's a breath of
Speaker 3: fresh air from other personal finance books. The focus is
Speaker 3: not on budgeting or baby steps, and instead is on
Speaker 3: understanding values and all of the things that trigger spending.
Speaker 3: If you already have your budget, this book is the
Speaker 3: next step to think more about spending habits. It's worth
Speaker 3: coming back to reread and reference Jen and Jill's words.
Speaker 3: The writing is non judgmental. For a reminder when I'm
Speaker 3: struggling with shopping. One of the biggest takeaways retail therapy
Speaker 3: can feel like the one thing we can control when
Speaker 3: things are chaotic. Also check out their podcast for Cool Friends.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Jack.
Speaker 1: The funny thing is that so many people have said
Speaker 1: that the book is shamefree and non judgmental. That those
Speaker 1: are some of the words Amazon has used in the
Speaker 1: biggest like what people say most shameful, judgmental, but yet
Speaker 1: every other word or shame align with that, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's powerful, helpful, values based spending shaming.
Speaker 3: Yeahs like, oh, they're probably saying it's non shaming.
Speaker 1: It's hilarious. Thank you so much, Jack, Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: Thank you for reading the book. If you have not
Speaker 1: gotten your copy of Buy What You Love without going broke,
Speaker 1: please head to buy what youlovebook dot com. We also
Speaker 1: have directions on there for requesting it at your library.
Speaker 1: So and if you have, please leave a rating and
Speaker 1: review for the book on Amazon good Reads, review for
Speaker 1: the show on Spotify or Apple. All of it helps
Speaker 1: us and spreading this message to more people.
Speaker 3: See you next time.
Speaker 1: Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3: Okay, Jen, I figured it out. Oh would you figure out?
Speaker 3: I'm sitting over here with a smelly shirt. Oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: shirt smells.
Speaker 1: I can't smell it.
Speaker 3: That's very good. Yeah, I think you'd have to be
Speaker 3: as close as my noses to my shirt to smell it.
Speaker 3: But I am constantly getting whiffs of something, and then
Speaker 3: I really First of all, I didn't realize where the
Speaker 3: smell was coming from. Then I realized it's my shirt.
Speaker 3: And now I'm like, why does my shirt smell? And
Speaker 3: I think I have come to the answer. So this
Speaker 3: is actually like an elongated sports brawl that I'm wearing.
Speaker 3: And during the hurricanes, we stayed with friends who were
Speaker 3: not in a flood zone, but they have a part
Speaker 3: of their property that becomes like a little pond when
Speaker 3: it rains a ton, And before the winds got really bad,
Speaker 3: we went swimming in the water that becomes a pond.
Speaker 1: On my face has changed from intrigued to alarmed.
Speaker 3: Alarmed, yeah, and then so it was like a bathing
Speaker 3: suit top for me. Then then we showered, rinsed off
Speaker 3: the top in the shower, but left it at their house,
Speaker 3: didn't remember to pack it back up with us when
Speaker 3: we moved our whole lives back into our home after
Speaker 3: the hurricane, and then didn't get this shirt back from
Speaker 3: them until at least two months later. I did wash it,
Speaker 3: but I'm thinking it sat so long in pond water
Speaker 3: or like the remains of pond water, that it is
Speaker 3: still holding on to the stench of it despite having
Speaker 3: been washed. And this is now the first time that
Speaker 3: I'm wearing it realizing, Yeah, it didn't, it didn't wash out.
Speaker 1: Because of you're all natural.
Speaker 3: Washing going for the Yeah, maybe maybe maybe the length
Speaker 3: of time is to blame. Maybe my homemade laundry detergent
Speaker 3: is to blame. I'm gonna go with length of time.
Speaker 3: Sitting in pond water.
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking, like I wouldn't let my children and
Speaker 1: swim in pond water like.
Speaker 3: Just ever under any circumstances.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a They make those to be like
Speaker 1: those little retention ponds, and so there can't be good
Speaker 1: stuff pulling up in there like throughout time, and then
Speaker 1: it just pools in and it's all gross, and then
Speaker 1: the rain comes and just softens it so you can't
Speaker 1: see it. It's all still in there though.
Speaker 3: Well it wasn't. It wasn't. There was no water in
Speaker 3: it before the hurricane, right, so I could just see
Speaker 3: the bottom. I could see it. What was there grass? Look, listen,
Speaker 3: I didn't stay in the water long. It was a
Speaker 3: quick little The world is crumbling around us, but you
Speaker 3: know what, we can swim in this two feet of
Speaker 3: water over here.
Speaker 1: For two feet? Oh yeah, you do.
Speaker 3: We just like sat there for a minute.
Speaker 1: All of this seems so bizarre to me.
Speaker 3: When the world is grumbling around you, Jen, you take
Speaker 3: what you can get. Listen, you took videos hold on
Speaker 3: in the midst of a hurricane, sitting on the front
Speaker 3: porch just watching pumpkins float by. I did, and that
Speaker 3: was taken what you could get, just the simple pleasures
Speaker 3: of life.
Speaker 1: There is so much different me noticing something funny and
Speaker 1: taking a video of it and.
Speaker 3: You noticing an opportunity.
Speaker 1: For fun noticing two feet of standing water and walking
Speaker 1: into it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, yeah, it is a choice I made.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're now.
Speaker 3: I am still experiencing the consequences because this shard smells