Speaker 1: Episode how Much Is Enough? Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast,
Speaker 1: where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and
Speaker 1: liberate your life. Here your host Jen and Jill Do
Speaker 1: Do Do Do, Do Do. Welcome to another episode of
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, I'm Jill,
Speaker 1: and we are excited to not just be coming at
Speaker 1: you on a podcast, but we are also recording this interview.
Speaker 1: We have recorded a couple for our YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: our web show if you Will, and we're super excited
Speaker 1: about it. So if you are listening there, you get
Speaker 1: the raw, unedited version, and if you're listening in your
Speaker 1: normal podcast app, you'll get the clean version. Well they're
Speaker 1: both clean clean, just one may have more mistakes than another. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll find out that we haven't messed up yet, so
Speaker 1: let's get into our sponsors before we do. Also brought
Speaker 1: to you by Junk Drawers. That's right, all the junk
Speaker 1: Drawers got together to remind us that they're still there
Speaker 1: and also to inform us that junk is just a
Speaker 1: nicer word for trash, So basically it's a glorified trash drawer.
Speaker 1: Are you really going to use all those paper clips. Oh,
Speaker 1: in that battery with all the goo on it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not gonna work anymore. And yes, those pens without
Speaker 1: the caps are dried out. And no, you will never
Speaker 1: figure out what that tiny piece of plastic goes. To.
Speaker 1: Let's face it, we're using a perfectly nice drawer to
Speaker 1: store our garbage. In trash drawers. You can hide, but
Speaker 1: you can't run. Oh that is so convicting, squirrel. You
Speaker 1: really got to be deep gulp. You have trash strawers. Yes,
Speaker 1: I do garbage drawers, coaster fires, and you're cabinets. Even
Speaker 1: when you're so, even as a minimalist ish ish minimalist dish,
Speaker 1: I still have junk drawers. It's a fact of life.
Speaker 1: You just bring things in, you don't know where to
Speaker 1: put them, you put them in the junk drawer. I
Speaker 1: think it's especially something that happens for parents, you know,
Speaker 1: like your kids are just handing you stuff and you're
Speaker 1: just picking stuff up off the floor, and you don't
Speaker 1: have discern whether you need it or not. You're just like,
Speaker 1: this might go in the trash, but let me put
Speaker 1: it in the place that it goes before it goes
Speaker 1: into the junk drawer so real. So we all have
Speaker 1: that junk in our lives. But today's episode we are
Speaker 1: talking about being grateful for all of the junk and
Speaker 1: all of the good stuff and everything before it goes
Speaker 1: into the trash. So this is really the way that
Speaker 1: you can get control of your spending long term, I believe,
Speaker 1: because it's one thing to save money, but to make
Speaker 1: this a lifestyle, and frugality is a lifestyle, Wanting less
Speaker 1: is really the main goal. It's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: we enjoy the concept of minimalism, and we just haven't
Speaker 1: gotten around to talking to it. So I'm really excited
Speaker 1: to share how to be more content, how to be
Speaker 1: more grateful, how to incorporate these things into your life
Speaker 1: so that you can want less and ultimately spend less.
Speaker 1: I really like this first article. It's from Moneying, and
Speaker 1: it talks about why being content is the most important
Speaker 1: aspect to getting at financial goals or just in life
Speaker 1: in general. And they have a quote kind of speaking
Speaker 1: to what you're saying, jen It in here where they
Speaker 1: say we're when we're not content with what we have,
Speaker 1: it leads to spending more money. So you can see
Speaker 1: this direct correlation between contentment and financial freedom. That if
Speaker 1: we are able to be content, we're less likely to
Speaker 1: continue to get ourselves into this financial rut or keep
Speaker 1: accumulating things, which is neither frugal nor minimalist. Right. And
Speaker 1: it's not being content in that you're not striving to
Speaker 1: be better or to do more, or even striving for
Speaker 1: to have better things. That's not the point. The point
Speaker 1: in being content is to be present where you are.
Speaker 1: I think that's the most important concept of contentment, is
Speaker 1: being present and enjoying and being fulfilled what's around you
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, that's such a good distinguishing feature. I
Speaker 1: also really like the way that this article starts out
Speaker 1: is with some of the things we often say to ourselves.
Speaker 1: And this really resonated with me, so I think it's
Speaker 1: worth repeating because this is what we're talking to, this
Speaker 1: thing inside of ourselves, this narrative that can run. So
Speaker 1: I really want to highlight this. A couple of things
Speaker 1: that this article says about what we say to ourselves
Speaker 1: is if I only had made more money, I would
Speaker 1: be able to get on track financially, Or if I
Speaker 1: just had a bigger home then I'd be more organized,
Speaker 1: or if I had a nice art wardrobe, then I'd
Speaker 1: feel more confident in myself. Or if I could afford
Speaker 1: better groceries, then I could get healthy. Holy smokes. I
Speaker 1: think I've said every single one of them, and we've
Speaker 1: heard all of our friends in the frugal friends community
Speaker 1: also say things like this, And so it's not like
Speaker 1: an isolated thing that if you're thinking these things, then
Speaker 1: you actually need these things to to get where you are.
Speaker 1: It's just this mindset that culture is selling us. These
Speaker 1: are selling tactics, their marketing tactics, but they're not true.
Speaker 1: They're not truth. They're glorified excuses really to not do
Speaker 1: the thing, the next best thing with what we have
Speaker 1: right now. And I think one of the best mantras
Speaker 1: that helped me in that mindset and to kind of
Speaker 1: change my narrative is what you do with little, you
Speaker 1: will do with much. I think even when when we
Speaker 1: made such a low amount of money that to remember
Speaker 1: that really helped me that I can start practicing now
Speaker 1: what will be when I hopefully make more money. So
Speaker 1: to you what you were saying, yes, I can still
Speaker 1: strive for that, I can still set goals, but I
Speaker 1: can also start now and I can practice things now
Speaker 1: that will only help me when I do get to
Speaker 1: that point where maybe I have a bigger house, maybe
Speaker 1: I am in a better financial situation, maybe I do
Speaker 1: have nicer clothes, But what am I doing with what
Speaker 1: I have right now? Yeah? And I mean one of
Speaker 1: the ways to to practice that, which it is not
Speaker 1: in this article, but we'll get into more ways. But
Speaker 1: it's to be generous. I think we try to when
Speaker 1: we are paying off debt, pause things like that, because
Speaker 1: we're so intense we want to finish it as quickly
Speaker 1: as possible so that we can be making more money
Speaker 1: and have more money to give. But to consistently give
Speaker 1: while you're trying to reach any financial goal is so
Speaker 1: important because it solidifies a mindset, and the mindset is
Speaker 1: more important than your actions, and it it cultivates this
Speaker 1: habit of giving, so that when you have a small
Speaker 1: disposable income, you're giving small all. But then when you
Speaker 1: have a larger income that's disposable, then you will already
Speaker 1: be groomed to give more. If you're not exercising that muscle,
Speaker 1: then it's it's not going to be a strong muscle
Speaker 1: by the time you actually have the money to be
Speaker 1: able to give and we've got to practice it with
Speaker 1: where we're at now. So the article also lists out
Speaker 1: some important pieces of how we can do this. How
Speaker 1: do we get at contentment in whatever life situation we're in.
Speaker 1: You want to kick us off, Jen, Yeah. The first
Speaker 1: one is to write down your blessings. And we mentioned
Speaker 1: this in our self care episode, but like, keeping track
Speaker 1: of the good things in your life, even if it's
Speaker 1: just one, two, three things a day, will help you
Speaker 1: focus on those things and it will fight the mentality
Speaker 1: that I need this in order to be happy. I
Speaker 1: need this in order to be successful, because you'll be
Speaker 1: able to have this log of all the things in
Speaker 1: your life that are already making you happy, that are
Speaker 1: already helping you be successful. Another way that I like,
Speaker 1: because sometimes the word blessings may not resonate with every person,
Speaker 1: So this could also be keeping a gratitude journal. This
Speaker 1: could be tracking The way that I like to phrase this,
Speaker 1: not that this is going to resonate with everybody, but
Speaker 1: is kindnesses. Where are the kindnesses in your life and
Speaker 1: being able to recognize that, write them down, speak them
Speaker 1: out loud, verbalize it however you want to describe this.
Speaker 1: It's a similar concept of noticing and paying attention to
Speaker 1: the good and taking note of it. Yeah, I love
Speaker 1: that one. The second one is live within your means,
Speaker 1: So rather than striving to get something that you cannot afford,
Speaker 1: or to yeah, live outside your means, spend money you
Speaker 1: don't have, learn what it is to where are my parameters?
Speaker 1: Where are my boundary lines right now? And how do
Speaker 1: I live within that currently? So maybe you want a
Speaker 1: bigger home, but you can't afford it right now, or
Speaker 1: it would be really stretching your budget to do that thing.
Speaker 1: You'd be house poor. Okay, what does it look like
Speaker 1: to make the place you're living now fit your needs
Speaker 1: right now? So yeah, that could mean I mean right now,
Speaker 1: if you're watching us on YouTube, you see that we
Speaker 1: are recording in a nursery. This is my office and
Speaker 1: Kai sleeps in my office, thank you very much. It
Speaker 1: is an office that Kai sleeps in, not a nursery
Speaker 1: that we record. In my bad mind all of the
Speaker 1: baby furniture and the tiny deaths. But this is living
Speaker 1: within your meanings and it's working like your baby is
Speaker 1: not in here right now, and so we're using it
Speaker 1: to record. So I think, rather than looking at what
Speaker 1: does everybody else have. Do they have a dedicated office
Speaker 1: that has all this cute, pretty stuff that they spend
Speaker 1: a ton of money on. Okay, maybe eventually that's something
Speaker 1: you can work towards gin, but how do you make
Speaker 1: it work with where you're at currently. That's such an
Speaker 1: important note because we can see on Facebook and Instagram
Speaker 1: other people being successful and think that they have all
Speaker 1: of these things to be successful. And some of them do.
Speaker 1: Some of them are at the level where they can
Speaker 1: have dedicated studios and uh, you know, hiring out for
Speaker 1: different services. But some of us are just recording on
Speaker 1: a tiny table in their nursery, and of us are
Speaker 1: recording in our closets at times. And everybody's at a
Speaker 1: different level. So don't let the filtered picture influence what
Speaker 1: you're thinking about yourself, because your life isn't filtered, it's
Speaker 1: just real. So and this, I mean, yeah, and one
Speaker 1: of the reasons we're putting more of our stuff on
Speaker 1: video and YouTube just because we want you to see
Speaker 1: what we're really like. And I did put on makeup
Speaker 1: for this and I woke up and and so but yeah,
Speaker 1: that's I mean, I'm self conscious when I'm not wearing makeup.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna be honest about that. I put on
Speaker 1: lipstick just so I did not put on lipstick. I
Speaker 1: missed that one. Maybe the next video, right, So, the
Speaker 1: last one on this list is one I'm super passionate about,
Speaker 1: and it is to simplify your life, not just stuff.
Speaker 1: Simplifying your stuff can really help in lowering your spending
Speaker 1: because instead of seeing a carefully curated hodgepodge of things
Speaker 1: that you would see like a fan see restaurant, and
Speaker 1: try to recreate your home, to have a simple space
Speaker 1: with just a place for everything and everything in its place.
Speaker 1: It will keep you from trying to acquire more things
Speaker 1: to quote unquote complete the look so that in itself
Speaker 1: and then there's less visual stimulation and that can aid
Speaker 1: in mental processing. It's not thought of like our our surroundings.
Speaker 1: And we'll actually talk about more of this next week
Speaker 1: how your surroundings affect what you do mentally and physically.
Speaker 1: But your physical surroundings are very important to the mental
Speaker 1: decisions that you make. And so simplifying your stuff, but
Speaker 1: also simplifying your schedule and simplifying your media consumption social media,
Speaker 1: news and and just the things that you consume. Just
Speaker 1: having be simpler can can give you less to process,
Speaker 1: therefore you can process it better and be more content
Speaker 1: with it. That's the thing I think to make that
Speaker 1: connection between simplicity and contentment is a big deal. I
Speaker 1: don't think we realize how much emotional and mental space
Speaker 1: are things take up when we think about them, and
Speaker 1: it's like, well, oh, then I need to get more
Speaker 1: to maintain this thing that I have or that thing,
Speaker 1: and I want I want this or I want that
Speaker 1: to make it look nicer, whereas and I didn't realize
Speaker 1: I would not have realized this unless I actually walked
Speaker 1: through the process. Many of you know my husband and
Speaker 1: I live in a hundred seventy square feet it's a camper,
Speaker 1: and so we've we've literally had to simplify because we
Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to fit everything in it. And I
Speaker 1: have had to practice over and over again not buying
Speaker 1: things because I simply couldn't there's not space for it,
Speaker 1: which was a practice for me. Yes, I'm frugal, but
Speaker 1: I would still buy things. I would buy a dollar here,
Speaker 1: two dollars there, fifty cents there. I loved yard sales.
Speaker 1: I still do. Don't get me wrong, but I go
Speaker 1: to them less because I can't. I don't have the
Speaker 1: space for it. But what that did produce is contentment.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have known that. It wasn't even that it
Speaker 1: was fully aiming at that. I've just realized that because
Speaker 1: I can't go purchase, I've become more satisfied with what
Speaker 1: I do have, or more aware of what I do
Speaker 1: have to say, No, I don't need another planter. I
Speaker 1: have three planters that are beautiful for the plants that
Speaker 1: I have, and I don't have more space for plants.
Speaker 1: So that's it. I can't get anymore. And yeah, not
Speaker 1: that I am perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
Speaker 1: Eric can chime in on that one. But it has
Speaker 1: led to contentment. So even taking this first step towards simplicity,
Speaker 1: just knowing that it can breathe this. The more that
Speaker 1: we stretch that muscle can help. Just practicing some of
Speaker 1: these these three things we just listed. Yeah, and one
Speaker 1: thing of note, I think we need to stop purging
Speaker 1: and decluttering and then giving ourselves the excuse to purchase more.
Speaker 1: That is a cycle we need to break, and I'm
Speaker 1: guilty of it. So that's why I'm verbalizing it, but
Speaker 1: actually living in the simplification after we create it, and
Speaker 1: not going out and like buying something else put in
Speaker 1: your classt because now you have the space for it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: look at all this empty space that I'm not used
Speaker 1: to seeing. So just be okay living with the with
Speaker 1: the gaps, living with the gaps in your home where
Speaker 1: things used to be, and living with empty drawers, living
Speaker 1: with space on the counters and in the closet, and
Speaker 1: and don't try to fill things that can live with space.
Speaker 1: I love that living with the gaps where things used
Speaker 1: to be. Yeah, man, that's something I'm going to later.
Speaker 1: Beautiful gold coming out of your mouth. Our next article
Speaker 1: is from Chopra dot com and it is simple ways
Speaker 1: to practice gratitude. So another thing that this article didn't mention.
Speaker 1: A way to contentment is through gratitude. And I loved
Speaker 1: this article because there was a bunch of small ways
Speaker 1: that maybe you wouldn't think about to practice gratitude. We
Speaker 1: all think about gratitude journals and writing stuff down, but
Speaker 1: there are so many day to day things that you
Speaker 1: can do in addition to that to just be a
Speaker 1: more grateful person, and that gratitude will result in contentment,
Speaker 1: whether you want it to or not. Yeah, So they
Speaker 1: mentioned something before they got into you know, the ways
Speaker 1: to practice gratitude. In their intro introduction, they talk about
Speaker 1: how the brain is like vel grow for negative and
Speaker 1: teflon for positive, and how it takes a whole lot
Speaker 1: more positive things to help us towards gratitude contentment to
Speaker 1: really be able to focus on the fact that that
Speaker 1: the positive is what's happening in our lives. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: it kind of like that concept of like you say
Speaker 1: one bad thing and that far outweighs like twenty five compliments,
Speaker 1: which that's an unfortunate thing, but it's helpful to know
Speaker 1: that so that we can be putting in more positive
Speaker 1: or that we can be paying attention to the good,
Speaker 1: the kind, the worthwhile, the lovely, because that will help
Speaker 1: us to train to even focus on those things maybe
Speaker 1: when there are a lot more negative things going on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we have to be intentional about creating positivity, especially for us.
Speaker 1: We're like not the bubblest people. I mean, maybe I'll
Speaker 1: just speak for myself because you're looking at me like,
Speaker 1: you're right, we have fun, but yes, people call us
Speaker 1: cold hearted sometimes or just me say that about me
Speaker 1: to you. But so it has to be this intentional
Speaker 1: thing that I do to focus on positive and to
Speaker 1: be If I value being servant, hearted, or being generous,
Speaker 1: then those are the things I have to focus on doing.
Speaker 1: Does my schedule and do my daily actions reflect what
Speaker 1: I say I value? And I have to make take
Speaker 1: an inventory of my day and make sure that that's
Speaker 1: how I'm living. And it doesn't always line up. A
Speaker 1: lot of days it doesn't, but I do sometimes just randomly,
Speaker 1: a time will come up where I can be rateful
Speaker 1: or do one of these things, and I'll have it
Speaker 1: in the back of my mind so I can't act
Speaker 1: rather than just being not self aware at all and
Speaker 1: I wouldn't even think about it. So self awareness is
Speaker 1: really important in this and the intentionality piece. But I
Speaker 1: do also want to say that that doesn't mean it
Speaker 1: takes a lot to make a big difference. So yes,
Speaker 1: we have to be intentional, but these are very small
Speaker 1: things that do make a big difference. So the first
Speaker 1: one on here, I we're not going to go through
Speaker 1: all twenty five, but I did like the first one,
Speaker 1: which is send a text message, and I'll elaborate on that.
Speaker 1: Really to say thank you to somebody, or to encourage
Speaker 1: another person, or for connection with another person, just to
Speaker 1: even say hey, I'm thinking about you. On the days
Speaker 1: that I've done this, it makes such a big difference,
Speaker 1: not not just so it's it's twofold, because number one,
Speaker 1: I've been intentional to think about somebody in a kind
Speaker 1: way and to remember and reflect upon what a great
Speaker 1: person they are, or to be grateful for something maybe
Speaker 1: that they've done for me or just an interaction that
Speaker 1: we've had, I don't know. But then also it's encouraging
Speaker 1: that person, which then causes usually a kind response back
Speaker 1: that can solidify that connection with that person. So uh,
Speaker 1: that has tremendous impact. And it literally takes all of
Speaker 1: thirty seconds. And it's interesting. A lot of times I'll
Speaker 1: think about people. This is gonna sound weird, but whatever.
Speaker 1: I'll think about people either while I'm driving or when
Speaker 1: I'm in the shower. Those are my reflection times. But
Speaker 1: unfortunately two times when I can't send text messages. But
Speaker 1: what I've started to do is voice to text. So
Speaker 1: I can't the shower. That's like iffy, that's not really
Speaker 1: going to happen. But if I'm in the car and
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about somebody. I could do voice to text
Speaker 1: and send that you know, short little message to somebody.
Speaker 1: So yeah, sending all those things out and making note
Speaker 1: of it. What I think it does is that punctuates
Speaker 1: something for us to say, yeah, I thought about them.
Speaker 1: Then I send a text message that solidifies that thought
Speaker 1: or that idea for yourself and for the other person.
Speaker 1: So I love that tip. I'm so bad at that.
Speaker 1: I will I'll think about someone and then for some reason,
Speaker 1: I just won't verbalize it or send the text. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's just because I don't think
Speaker 1: that they'll care what I have to say or anything
Speaker 1: that's most commonly what I think my brain is saying,
Speaker 1: or I don't want to be vulnerable right that too,
Speaker 1: And so I think that's something that I have to
Speaker 1: get over. Is that like calling a friend or texting
Speaker 1: a friend I haven't seen in a while. I love
Speaker 1: getting those texts, so like why wouldn't somebody else like
Speaker 1: to get them from me? But there's this block in
Speaker 1: my head that like says like they're not going to care,
Speaker 1: like don't waste your time, and then I don't. But
Speaker 1: it can do as much for the other person as
Speaker 1: it does for me. Absolutely. Um, what are your favorites
Speaker 1: on this list? So this one has a weird title,
Speaker 1: but stick with me. It's try a body scan and
Speaker 1: so it's saying that it's not move from your head
Speaker 1: to your toes and like thank your body for what
Speaker 1: it can do, which is a little woo woo, but
Speaker 1: like for me, I had an ice skating accident when
Speaker 1: I was in grade school and it was a few
Speaker 1: millimeters off, um from slicing a ligament that would have
Speaker 1: caused me to lose my leg. And so I am
Speaker 1: the worst at athletics. I'm a horrible runner. I hate Yeah,
Speaker 1: sports are horrible. But every time I'm doing something hard
Speaker 1: that I don't want to be doing that I know
Speaker 1: is good for me, I think about my leg and
Speaker 1: how grateful I am to have my leg and that
Speaker 1: both legs. Both legs, yeah, um, specifically the one I
Speaker 1: almost lost, but I am grateful to have both legs.
Speaker 1: Your left leg. It's a lot more gratitude than you're
Speaker 1: right leg. Yeah. Um. So it's thinking about that time
Speaker 1: in my life and even when something is hard, being
Speaker 1: grateful for that part of my body um or being
Speaker 1: grateful for my eyes that they can look at a
Speaker 1: computer so I can do my work, And for my
Speaker 1: brain because I don't know how long i'll have it.
Speaker 1: That sounds like morbid, but I don't know how long
Speaker 1: I'll be mentally cognizant. So like having a brain to
Speaker 1: do what I do, I fully expect to go crazy
Speaker 1: by seventy I mean, just look at me. I'm grateful
Speaker 1: to have my eyes. I can be looking as you girl, girl,
Speaker 1: you're turning this around. But yeah, so just thinking about
Speaker 1: the things that I do and thinking being grateful that
Speaker 1: my body can do it even when it's hard, right.
Speaker 1: I mean again, it's the things that we would normally
Speaker 1: take for granted that we want to be paying attention
Speaker 1: to and and can make a huge difference in just
Speaker 1: our mental space that we're in. The Next one that
Speaker 1: I like is run errands with gratitude. I like this
Speaker 1: one too. So basically what they're saying is when you're
Speaker 1: out and about, be aware of how you are approaching
Speaker 1: the situation that you're in and the people that you're encountering,
Speaker 1: and are you making it a good experience for yourself
Speaker 1: and other people, or are you making it miserable. We
Speaker 1: all know those people. We've seen it. We've either been
Speaker 1: the person on the other side of the miserable experience,
Speaker 1: or we've made it miserable, or we've seen it happen.
Speaker 1: Let's just let's just try and make it a good experience.
Speaker 1: And granted I'm preaching to myself on this one here too,
Speaker 1: but there are days where I feel that energy. I'm
Speaker 1: just like, I'm good, I'm having fun, and I'm and
Speaker 1: like I'm gonna be the best part of that cashier's day,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna make jokes and we're gonna just like
Speaker 1: have a good time. Then there's the days where I'm
Speaker 1: just like, this is the worst and this person could
Speaker 1: not be going any slower, and like I always choose
Speaker 1: the wrong line? How do I always choose the room?
Speaker 1: I always choose the wrong line. But like, what if
Speaker 1: we could just slow down, look around us, laugh at
Speaker 1: the people, magazines, and just just enjoy ourselves and make
Speaker 1: it enjoyable for the other person. Like when I literally
Speaker 1: can think about those two experiences where it is all
Speaker 1: on me whether it's a good or a bad experience,
Speaker 1: and the days that it's good and it's fun and
Speaker 1: it's lighthearted. My goodness, those are fantastic days. I don't
Speaker 1: want to sidestep the fact that, yeah, it depends on
Speaker 1: what's going on in our lives and the chemicals that
Speaker 1: are happening in our brains and love's face it, what
Speaker 1: time of month it is. But if I'm aware of
Speaker 1: what's happening, I can there are choices that I can
Speaker 1: make in that situation of how I want that experience
Speaker 1: to go. Definitely. Another one on this one that I
Speaker 1: really liked is write a thank you note. And this
Speaker 1: is also something I wish that I did more often.
Speaker 1: So I didn't realize the value of a thank you
Speaker 1: note until we were in Nashville and we were at
Speaker 1: Ramsey Solutions and they were talking about how much they
Speaker 1: value to thank you notes there and I had just
Speaker 1: finished hearing our friend Alison Baggerley from Inspired Budget she
Speaker 1: wrote thank you notes to everybody who enrolls in her
Speaker 1: membership site, and it's a lot of people. And I'm like,
Speaker 1: isn't there something better you can be doing with your time?
Speaker 1: I was and uh, and she was like no. And
Speaker 1: then they're talking about thank you notes in Nashville and
Speaker 1: I was just so convicted, and I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, those are so important to not just the
Speaker 1: person that receives them because it will inevitably end up
Speaker 1: in the recycling bin, but or the drawer or the
Speaker 1: junk drawer, but for the person sending it to to
Speaker 1: take note of the magnitude of like what they have
Speaker 1: to be thankful for. And I mean, in Alison's case,
Speaker 1: it like all of the people she had to be
Speaker 1: thankful for, and it puts things into perspective when you
Speaker 1: write it down, how significant it is and so and
Speaker 1: I've always believed, like a lot of things like like
Speaker 1: thank you notes and prayer and stuff like that, it's
Speaker 1: less for who it's directed to and more for yourself,
Speaker 1: the person performing it. So, yeah, that was thank you know,
Speaker 1: that was my big revelation. Yeah, one more on this
Speaker 1: list for me and then then we'll get into the
Speaker 1: next thing. Stop and smell the roses. Okay, I don't
Speaker 1: fully resonate with exactly the way that that's worded, but
Speaker 1: here's what it means for me. And I've noticed a
Speaker 1: big difference. I as my friend Brittany Wrigley pointed out
Speaker 1: to me, apparently, just like tiny things, anything tiny I appreciated.
Speaker 1: I mean, go figure, I live in a tiny home.
Speaker 1: Your travel mugs are tiny. Everything's just tiny. I really
Speaker 1: there's I just love tiny things. And I've realized within
Speaker 1: the past couple of years tiny flowers just in the
Speaker 1: grass even or hidden within bushes or whatever, just these little, tiny,
Speaker 1: intricate it delicate, little little guys, little little babies, and
Speaker 1: and I will stop to notice them. What I will
Speaker 1: do is take photographs of them. You literally did this
Speaker 1: last week, and you took a photograph to it all
Speaker 1: the time. Yes, And there's so many life things that
Speaker 1: I've learned through this process too. It's just my own
Speaker 1: little fun thing. I'm not saying everybody has to do this.
Speaker 1: You can find your own thing. For me. This is
Speaker 1: what it is, just tiny things and stopping to pay
Speaker 1: attention to them and the intricacies within it. For me,
Speaker 1: I like to take a picture. Thank goodness. I'm grateful
Speaker 1: for my phone that is able to kind of get
Speaker 1: these very close thoughts of tiny things. And I'm so
Speaker 1: grateful for my husband who lets me do this. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Eric Sirianni for literally never giving me a hard time
Speaker 1: about like stopping when we're on a walk or trying
Speaker 1: to get somewhere, even sometimes like pulling off to the
Speaker 1: side of the road because they see something that I
Speaker 1: want to take a picture off. But yeah, noticing these
Speaker 1: little things has really helped me to pause and then
Speaker 1: notice other things as they happen. So that practice has
Speaker 1: stretched a muscle that I didn't even know I needed
Speaker 1: stretched and exercise. I'll move off the muscle reference. But
Speaker 1: you know what else is tiny and maybe seemingly insignificant,
Speaker 1: but makes a big difference in our week. It's a
Speaker 1: bill of the week. That's right. It's time for the
Speaker 1: best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was
Speaker 1: born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off
Speaker 1: your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to
Speaker 1: not have to pay that bill anymore. That bill Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 1: Bill Clinton, This is the bills of the week. Hi,
Speaker 1: Jen and Joe. This is Emarellas from Campa, Florida. I
Speaker 1: have a good bill. That was kind of a mistake,
Speaker 1: but a really exciting mistake. Um. So, I owned my
Speaker 1: own business and I was putting to the side one
Speaker 1: percent of everything that I made last year. Like mid year,
Speaker 1: I started to put away five percent of everything I
Speaker 1: made well May being me, uh, did not update the
Speaker 1: spreadsheet to reflect that. So at the end of the year, Um,
Speaker 1: what I thought was only eight in profit turned into
Speaker 1: almost two thousand dollars in profit and I was able
Speaker 1: to pay off my business credit card. Um. So I
Speaker 1: now have a debt free business. And it is one
Speaker 1: of my greatest accomplishments because everything that I now make,
Speaker 1: I get tacked and then I get to pay off
Speaker 1: the rest of my bills. So yay for a mistake bill. Okay, bye,
Speaker 1: mistake bills from Florida. First of all, debt free business
Speaker 1: in Florida. Just a little order right now. That's what
Speaker 1: I'm paying for your debt free business. That's so awesome.
Speaker 1: And to know that you like can write off business
Speaker 1: expenses if you have a small business. I just did
Speaker 1: our taxes. Well, we just went to have our taxes done.
Speaker 1: And knowing that, like we have a small business and
Speaker 1: so many things can be written off. It's like everyone
Speaker 1: should have one of these. It's also such a nice
Speaker 1: gift to give to yourself to put aside that money.
Speaker 1: And the mistake of not updating the spreadsheet, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's like finding money in your gene shorts when you
Speaker 1: pull them out the next season. Yes, it's my favorite.
Speaker 1: That is it's like yeah, yeah, but this was like
Speaker 1: done more intentionally than that, and it sounds like it's
Speaker 1: a lot more money than you might find and you're
Speaker 1: in the pockets. That is the money you are finding
Speaker 1: in your pockets. Let's be friends. Be friends with anyhow,
Speaker 1: good job future thinking with your business and putting aside
Speaker 1: that money and now being debt free. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: what more could you ask for? Well done? Yeah, If
Speaker 1: you want to submit your bill of the week to us,
Speaker 1: if it's a mistake bill or it's a real bill,
Speaker 1: or it's a bill bill, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: visit us at for girl Friends podcast dot com slash bill,
Speaker 1: leave us a bill or listen to it. We'll be
Speaker 1: excited with you. Yes, And now it's time for round
Speaker 1: for lightning round. Today we're going through things we're grateful for,
Speaker 1: because what else would we do for a lightning round
Speaker 1: on gratitude and contentment? Practice gratitude exactly, Jill, You're at first,
Speaker 1: I am grateful for my home because I love it.
Speaker 1: It's perfect, and I'm practicing contentment right now in it's
Speaker 1: tiny but it's all that we need and to have
Speaker 1: a space of our own is invaluable and so for
Speaker 1: me it's like it sounds cliche like my home, but
Speaker 1: it means so much more to me, especially having come
Speaker 1: from the different types of living situations we had. We
Speaker 1: moved into our camp or directly from living with and
Speaker 1: taking care of my grandmother, which that was a privilege
Speaker 1: to be able to do, and I'm grateful that we
Speaker 1: did it. It did come with its sacrifices and its
Speaker 1: difficulties though, of not having our own space, sharing a
Speaker 1: space with an elderly woman with Alzheimer's, and we didn't
Speaker 1: have any of our own plates, cups, forks like right,
Speaker 1: we kept everything of hers so that we could keep
Speaker 1: as much familiarity as possible for her as her memory declined.
Speaker 1: So again, glad that we're able to do it. But
Speaker 1: it has highlighted for me how amazing it is to
Speaker 1: have our own things that I am able to use
Speaker 1: my own for my own plates that I picked out
Speaker 1: and be in my own home. I love it. I'm
Speaker 1: so grateful and I hope, I hope I don't lose them.
Speaker 1: I'm a year out from living with my grandmother. But
Speaker 1: I'm still I still feel that I still remember what
Speaker 1: that was like, and I'm grateful for my own Spacey.
Speaker 1: I am grateful for my family, which sounds cliche, but
Speaker 1: I I have a cute baby. I sometimes will try
Speaker 1: to work since I work from home, and it is
Speaker 1: impossible really to work with an nine month old. Uh
Speaker 1: just you know, needing your attention all the time. And
Speaker 1: sometimes the thought will cross my mind, be like if
Speaker 1: I didn't have a kid, I could just work, And
Speaker 1: then immediately the second thought will be, but like, for
Speaker 1: what what would be the point of of doing this,
Speaker 1: like working from home and building this business, Like what
Speaker 1: would be the point? And so it puts it back
Speaker 1: into perspective of like this is why I'm doing this,
Speaker 1: and like my my son and my husband are the
Speaker 1: reason that I'm You know that I have this business
Speaker 1: so my lifestyle can be flexible, so I can spend
Speaker 1: as much time with them as possible. Because if given
Speaker 1: the choice between running my business or just hanging out
Speaker 1: with my with my dudes, I would take my dudes
Speaker 1: every time. My dudes, my dudes. That's awesome. I'm also
Speaker 1: grateful for the sun. For obvious, I don't know that
Speaker 1: I needed to elaborate on that. I mean vitamin D, warmth, sunshine, growth, happiness, happiness,
Speaker 1: hm hm. Who doesn't like the sun? Not me? I
Speaker 1: love it, skin cancer. I am grateful for um. Also
Speaker 1: my job, So I love what I do. I love writing,
Speaker 1: I love talking about personal finance. I love helping people.
Speaker 1: I am obsessed with what I do for a living.
Speaker 1: I am generally obsessed with it. I just get to
Speaker 1: talk about and write about personal finance all day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I do it for work, and then I come
Speaker 1: here and I talk about it for like three dollars
Speaker 1: an episode. Referencing back to one of our Side Hustle episodes.
Speaker 1: That is absolutely in the archives where we mentioned how
Speaker 1: on average, podcasters make about three dollars an hour, that's
Speaker 1: not even true. It's like less than that. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: like three dollars an hour. But then also we are
Speaker 1: have to split it, which ends up actually being like
Speaker 1: a doode whatever. We're grateful to do this because we
Speaker 1: actually genuinely like it, so we don't. Yeah, it's fine.
Speaker 1: I don't take my job for granted. It's why I
Speaker 1: don't subscribe to the like Fire movement because I don't
Speaker 1: want to retire from this. As long as my brain
Speaker 1: can do this, I want to put my hands to
Speaker 1: the computer and I want to write, and I want
Speaker 1: to talk to people. And when I feel bored of that,
Speaker 1: I'm going to put up a camera and start recording
Speaker 1: my face doing it and do it in a new way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not going to get away from us never. So
Speaker 1: if please tell us what you're grateful for, either on
Speaker 1: our YouTube channel comment to the video, or tell us
Speaker 1: in our Frugal Friends community group on Facebook or what wherever,
Speaker 1: just get at us. Let's keep spreading the things that
Speaker 1: we are noticing as kindnesses in our lives. Where the
Speaker 1: gratitude is how we're getting at contentment because it is
Speaker 1: one of the foundational pieces to frugality and realizing the
Speaker 1: financial goals that we have. So in addition to all
Speaker 1: this gratitude, we're gonna heap on some more gratitude. We
Speaker 1: want to say thanks so much for listening. This is
Speaker 1: not getting old that we're actually reaching people and people
Speaker 1: are listening to our voices like I hope the novelty
Speaker 1: of that doesn't wear off. And we're grateful for all
Speaker 1: of your kind reviews like this one on iTunes, uh
Speaker 1: iTunes and Stitcher. I think this one's I don't know
Speaker 1: where this one's from, but thank you. This one's from iTunes.
Speaker 1: It's from Pari Larry, and it says easing about to
Speaker 1: graduate college anxiety five stars. I'm a senior in college
Speaker 1: who comes from a low income family that has never
Speaker 1: taught me anything about money. Thankfully, I'm graduating with a
Speaker 1: relatively low amount of loans, who woo. But I still
Speaker 1: wouldn't have known what to do with them after graduation
Speaker 1: if it wasn't for Jen and Jill. They're like the
Speaker 1: big sisters I've always wanted, teaching me to budget and
Speaker 1: be responsible before I make my more mistakes hello credit
Speaker 1: card debt from the past four years. While not being
Speaker 1: judgy about the mistakes already made, they also helped me
Speaker 1: come to terms with the fact that I was never
Speaker 1: financially prepared by a family who I know loves me
Speaker 1: a lot. Taking responsibility of my finances had has made
Speaker 1: the road to becoming an adult, whatever that means, much easier,
Speaker 1: especially when there's so much fun to listen to, making
Speaker 1: difficult topics actually enjoyable to discuss. Thank you, guys, I
Speaker 1: can never recommend you enough. Holy smokes, I love that.
Speaker 1: I know the Bill of the Week is my favorite
Speaker 1: time of the week, but like reading these reviews is
Speaker 1: my second favorite time. And thank you so much for
Speaker 1: all the effort that you put into that review. You obviously,
Speaker 1: yeah that wasn't just like well the podcast, which those
Speaker 1: are great too, especially if stars keep doing that. But
Speaker 1: this is this is really meaningful, and we're so glad
Speaker 1: to be there for you and be your big sisters.
Speaker 1: I love that. I love it. I never had a
Speaker 1: big sister either, and so to be somebody's I'll take it.
Speaker 1: I have a big sister. I am a big sister.
Speaker 1: But there's more room for you, sisters, sister sister. So
Speaker 1: we want to thank all of our listeners. Um and
Speaker 1: if you've already left a review, we want to thank
Speaker 1: you for sharing the episodes on social media as well,
Speaker 1: so on Instagram, Facebook, what have you. And so for
Speaker 1: this year, we're doing a giveaway for anybody that tags
Speaker 1: us in social media shares of this latest episode is
Speaker 1: going to be entered into a monthly drawing. We're going
Speaker 1: to give away a ten dollar Amazon gift card for
Speaker 1: every five tags or reviews we receive. In the month. Yes,
Speaker 1: so really keep leaving us reviews on iTunes and stitchure.
Speaker 1: They still do matter. We love them. Send us a
Speaker 1: screenshot of your review to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com, and it's just another way to enter to
Speaker 1: win that ten dollar Amazon gift cards, either by reviewing
Speaker 1: us and sending us an email or tagging us on
Speaker 1: social media. Yes, thank you so much. We will see
Speaker 1: you next week. Well literally see what you will see
Speaker 1: us if you're on YouTube. Literally. Frugal Friends is produced,
Speaker 1: edited and mixed by Eric Sirian. M hmm, how is
Speaker 1: that thrice concert? The thrice concert was good? Um, we
Speaker 1: stood for about ten hours, so my my lower back
Speaker 1: early hurts, and my legs hurt, and my arms feel
Speaker 1: like jelly. I don't know why. I don't remember doing
Speaker 1: anything with my arms, but this standing there for ten hours. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we had a really good time. But then when we left,
Speaker 1: we both said we felt like we worked like a
Speaker 1: ten hour shift on our feet, and then we didn't
Speaker 1: get paid for it, so we're kind of like we
Speaker 1: might have been paid to be there. We paid to
Speaker 1: be there. We should have just got behind the bar
Speaker 1: and trying to bar down while we were there, Yes,
Speaker 1: make some cash if we're going to be standing. You
Speaker 1: remember when we were in college and like going to
Speaker 1: those shows was nothing, like we just go to a
Speaker 1: show stand for ten hours and then stoked about it. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: if there are not shares at the theater, I'm not going.
Speaker 1: I still still show. I'm just going to pay the
Speaker 1: price for it. Also, I found myself for the first
Speaker 1: time in the middle of like a mash pit, which
Speaker 1: was a new experience for me. Um. I was wearing
Speaker 1: flip flops, so that was it felt dangerous. I felt
Speaker 1: like I was living on the But I also learned.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I can use my elbows and
Speaker 1: my arms, and like the big dude in front of
Speaker 1: me and he's like pushing into me, and I got
Speaker 1: my arm out and I'm like curling in my toes
Speaker 1: knowing that like I am on the brink of losing
Speaker 1: a toenail, like pushing up against him. I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: thirty years old, what is happening? If anybody, anybody who
Speaker 1: knows me right now where to see me and what
Speaker 1: I'm doing at this very moment, they'd be like, no way,
Speaker 1: no way. She in the middle of a Mashman right now,
Speaker 1: like pushing dudes, like big dudes, like out of her way.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's that that happened. That's why your arms
Speaker 1: feel like. That's true. That what I always doing. It
Speaker 1: wouldn't not good, doctor, but I think not a bit.
Speaker 1: Eric kept looking over like are you good? Are you good?
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, I'm good. I got this at one
Speaker 1: point to get a little intense on my feet. Are
Speaker 1: not going to sustain this journey. We got to get
Speaker 1: out of here, and thankfully we did because from the
Speaker 1: stage Thrice announced that somebody got hit in the eye
Speaker 1: real bad, and I was like, yep, I saw the
Speaker 1: writing on the wall with that one. Oh so I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go get more coffee now you deserve it.