Speaker 1: Episode one is episode forty, how and no spend Month
Speaker 1: can help your finances. 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 M
Speaker 1: m M. Welcome to Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and today we are bringing back
Speaker 1: one of your all time favorite episodes, one of the
Speaker 1: most downloaded episodes in our archives. No spend Months, y'all
Speaker 1: love it. Y'all spawned your own sub Facebook group off
Speaker 1: our Facebook group just about no spend challenges, Like y'all
Speaker 1: did that. You're s's a niche here, there's a hard
Speaker 1: niche going on. Yeah. So for those who maybe new listeners, um,
Speaker 1: we're not around at episode forty because clearly we're a
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty seven now. Um, we wanted to replay
Speaker 1: with old we are in in podcast age. We are
Speaker 1: super old. Uh, we're elderly. You could call us elders, elders,
Speaker 1: elder podcasters. So just don't come to us for podcasting
Speaker 1: advice I have found, but we are bringing you this
Speaker 1: oldie so that hopefully maybe October is your next no
Speaker 1: spend month. It is the perfect time to do one,
Speaker 1: right before the holidays are coming up and you want
Speaker 1: to maybe save your Thanksgiving and Christmas money. You can
Speaker 1: do that in October, just do a no spend month.
Speaker 1: Perfect idea. Wow, just getting tips off the top of
Speaker 1: the episode. Yeah, it's kind of like I planned it to,
Speaker 1: like play right here. Yes, but first, our sponsors. Today's
Speaker 1: episodes also brought to you by spending all the money
Speaker 1: you saved. Sinking funds are essential to afford big purchases
Speaker 1: like a home, a vacation, or new windows like we're
Speaker 1: getting right now after months and months of putting it off,
Speaker 1: because seeing all that money leave your bank account is
Speaker 1: really sad. But the energy you waste with paper thin
Speaker 1: windows from the fifties is also sad. So there's like
Speaker 1: no joy here spending all the money you saved. I
Speaker 1: hate to see you leave, but I love to watch
Speaker 1: you lower my energy bill. Oh that's a mic drop
Speaker 1: right there. If I could drop it the mic, I would.
Speaker 1: It's already. Man. There's so many things to point out
Speaker 1: about that, but I think I'm just going to say
Speaker 1: well done and being an adult and buying new windows
Speaker 1: you when you have the money but like it leaves
Speaker 1: and it's just like it hurts so bad. It's like
Speaker 1: that's what you're there for, but it still hurts. I'm
Speaker 1: hoping to help bring the joy back into your life.
Speaker 1: I know that you can, and I know this episode
Speaker 1: will bring it back to and I hope it will
Speaker 1: bring joy to your life as it has done for
Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of other people who have listened to it. So,
Speaker 1: without further ado, here is how a no spend month
Speaker 1: can help you with your finances. Hello everyone, I am Jen,
Speaker 1: I'm Jill. I'm still here. We are here with another
Speaker 1: episode of the Frugal Friends podcast. And today is a
Speaker 1: topic that I'm obsessed with for really good reason. It
Speaker 1: is my bread and butter. It's my lifeline. It's no
Speaker 1: spend challenges and they don't have side anybody as much
Speaker 1: as me. And write about this in your sleep. You
Speaker 1: have written about it. Yes, I was awake the whole
Speaker 1: time I wrote it. But it is good. Yeah. It
Speaker 1: is my Amazon best selling book, The No Spend Challenge
Speaker 1: Guide is on special for Amazon Prime members. We're going
Speaker 1: to talk about that a little later, but we thought
Speaker 1: because of that, it was the perfect time to do
Speaker 1: an episode fully dedicated to no spend challenges and how
Speaker 1: they can help you become more frugal. One challenge is
Speaker 1: clearly not going to change your life, but a series
Speaker 1: of them and incorporating them and the things that they
Speaker 1: teach into your life will change the outcome of your
Speaker 1: spending forever. Jill, have you ever done a no spend challenge? Um,
Speaker 1: my whole life is a no spendale talk. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be honest with you right now. Okay, I was married
Speaker 1: getting a master's degree to an unemployed husband. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I got in the bag and you wrote a lot
Speaker 1: of notes, whereas I wrote one sentence for each Jill.
Speaker 1: Jill wrote a novel, a small novel, So we're you're
Speaker 1: going to get a lot. Listen. You can write about
Speaker 1: it and live it. I will live it with my
Speaker 1: eyes closed. Yeah. I literally wrote a small novel about it,
Speaker 1: so I didn't need to write that again. This is
Speaker 1: fun for me because it can make me feel like
Speaker 1: I'm doing something fun. I'm engaging in a challenge with
Speaker 1: other people, and it's not just like the sorry state
Speaker 1: of my life. Things are always more fun as a challenge.
Speaker 1: That is a solid fact. That's why we're in the
Speaker 1: middle of our declutter challenge. That's why we do not
Speaker 1: spend challenges, and so that is what we're talking about today.
Speaker 1: But first, UH, We're going to get into our sponsors.
Speaker 1: But first I also wanted to mention I was looking
Speaker 1: at the podcasts on iTunes and I saw that we
Speaker 1: have so many reviews, So thank you guys so much
Speaker 1: for reviewing the podcast, But we don't have as many
Speaker 1: people asking uh sending in screenshots of their reviews to
Speaker 1: be entered into our free book giveaways that we do
Speaker 1: every month. And it may be because we mentioned them
Speaker 1: at the end of the podcast, or maybe because people
Speaker 1: don't realize that they don't post as soon as they
Speaker 1: write them. So I just wanted to remind everyone. If
Speaker 1: you haven't, please head over to Stitcher or iTunes review
Speaker 1: the podcast. We really really appreciate them. We read one
Speaker 1: on every episode because we just love to laugh UM
Speaker 1: with all the funny things that you write and all
Speaker 1: the ways that you mock us UM and didn't encourage us. Right,
Speaker 1: you do so so much of both, and we want
Speaker 1: we want you to also be eligible for winning UM
Speaker 1: the free books that we give away every month, So
Speaker 1: head over head over there and screenshot your reviews before
Speaker 1: you hit submit so that you can get over there
Speaker 1: and send them to Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: We love to read them and we love to give
Speaker 1: away whatever book club book is every month. So that
Speaker 1: being said, let's get into our sponsors. Our first one
Speaker 1: is modern frugality dot com. That is my website and uh,
Speaker 1: the shop at modern frugality is my shop with printables
Speaker 1: and e books and resources to help you reduce your spending,
Speaker 1: minimize your stuff, and organize your life. I have a
Speaker 1: ton of free printables, some paid like planner type of
Speaker 1: full sets of printables, so head over there and check
Speaker 1: them out. Got a lot on minimalism, meal planning, financial planning.
Speaker 1: All that shop dot modern frugality dot com or just
Speaker 1: modern frugality dot com to see the blog. Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: listeners get fifty off whatever you purchase at the shop
Speaker 1: with code frugal Friends nineteen and that code never expires,
Speaker 1: so it doesn't matter when you're listening to this and
Speaker 1: another completely legitimate sponsor. Driving the speed limit. Similar to
Speaker 1: following all of the other rules of the road, driving
Speaker 1: the speed limit is the most sure fire way to
Speaker 1: avoid spending unnecessary money on fines. Just like finds an
Speaker 1: interest for late payments on your credit card makes it
Speaker 1: pointless to have one, So speeding and getting tickets make
Speaker 1: it pointless to drive. Keep your money in your pocket
Speaker 1: where it belongs, and drive the speed limit. Driving the
Speaker 1: speed limit one lass reason for the cops to pull
Speaker 1: you over. That's right. There could be plenty of other
Speaker 1: reasons that that the cops might pull you over, like
Speaker 1: you're swerving, you're blowing through stop signs, you're ding forgot
Speaker 1: to change that sticker on your on your tag. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we would get pulled over all the time because we
Speaker 1: had tinted windows in a little red car and a
Speaker 1: license plate was ZEROS instead of OHS, So the cops
Speaker 1: would plug it in and they think that we were
Speaker 1: driving like a stolen vehicle because it came up as
Speaker 1: a Triumph a motorcycle and they're like ha ha, we
Speaker 1: got you, and we're like, no, actually, you typed it
Speaker 1: in wrong. So don't be like Jill, who doesn't need
Speaker 1: another reason for the cops to pull I don't need
Speaker 1: one more reason for the cops to be after mate.
Speaker 1: Drive this be limit because also you can avoid whatever
Speaker 1: else they're trying to get you for. If they get
Speaker 1: you for speeding and then they find out that registration
Speaker 1: and inspection and what, what's that open bottle of whatever
Speaker 1: in your passion, you probably need to reevaluate how you drive.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying, I'm just saying Jill. So, but if
Speaker 1: you are like Jill and you do get ticketed for
Speaker 1: some shady stuff, you could do a no spend challenge
Speaker 1: to cut down on your spending and be able to
Speaker 1: afford that ticket, and hopefully you won't need to Hopefully
Speaker 1: you can put that savings towards something beneficial. But it's
Speaker 1: an option. I do drive the speed limit because it
Speaker 1: is like I refuse to pay money I don't need
Speaker 1: to pay. Paying because I was going too fast is
Speaker 1: ridiculous to me. It's not happening. I do feel the
Speaker 1: same way. Travis tends to speed and I drive the
Speaker 1: speed limit because I refused to pay that ticket. Yep.
Speaker 1: But our first article today is from the Balance and
Speaker 1: it's called the no spend Challenge. Should you consider a
Speaker 1: spending fast So they call it all kinds of things,
Speaker 1: spending fast, zero day challenge, no spend, but whatever you
Speaker 1: call it, it's spending nothing. It's a it's a very
Speaker 1: complex top it's it's a concept that's complex. It's spending nothing,
Speaker 1: and you get to decide what nothing is. So whether
Speaker 1: that's just no personal spending, no spending on anything. You
Speaker 1: pay all your bills on a on a day one
Speaker 1: and then the next thirty nine days you spend nothing,
Speaker 1: so you can kind of decide what works for you.
Speaker 1: But the challenge is to just spend nothing. It's not
Speaker 1: that complicated of a concept, really, And it's amazing how
Speaker 1: much is written on it and how long we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about it for. But it reminds me of
Speaker 1: that snl skit that and I'll post a link to
Speaker 1: this with Amy Poehler and Steve Martin and there they
Speaker 1: just can't get the concept of not buying stuff particular
Speaker 1: literally that they can't afford. But all of you frugal
Speaker 1: friends listeners would enjoy it. It's it's really really funny.
Speaker 1: But it made me think of that, what don't spend money?
Speaker 1: But what but what about if I see something that
Speaker 1: I really like and I have to have it, don't
Speaker 1: spend money? No, anyhow, I love that skip. Yes, if
Speaker 1: you haven't seen it. Any color doesn't way better than me.
Speaker 1: Go figure. But so this article is helping you cansider
Speaker 1: doing a spending fast and it's asking you should you
Speaker 1: but the answer is already yes, and I'll just tell
Speaker 1: that to you. But there are different ways that you
Speaker 1: can do it, and so it's helping you kind of
Speaker 1: consider which way is best for you. What do you
Speaker 1: think about this article, Jill? I liked some of the
Speaker 1: reasons that they gave as to why to do this,
Speaker 1: and just to lay more of a foundation for all
Speaker 1: of us. I think that there's even more reasons. And
Speaker 1: just to reach a savings goal or to pay down debt.
Speaker 1: I think, like you said, Jen, the answer is yes,
Speaker 1: do this practice this because I think it helps. It
Speaker 1: can help to rain in spending, It can assist in
Speaker 1: identifying priorities. It could help you reach a giving goal,
Speaker 1: maybe not just a savings goal, but if there's something
Speaker 1: that you particularly want to donate money to, or as
Speaker 1: we said at the top of the show, the just
Speaker 1: the sheer challenge of it. It could be fun to
Speaker 1: see can I do this? What might I learn about myself?
Speaker 1: Why not other people are doing it? Uh? So, I
Speaker 1: think there's there's so many reasons, and it can help
Speaker 1: to detox after a lot of spending. We are just
Speaker 1: coming off of the holidays right now, so it could
Speaker 1: be a nice thing for your bank account or to
Speaker 1: prep for upcoming spending, like a vacation. If you've got
Speaker 1: something that you know is in the near future, then
Speaker 1: this could be a great way to prepare for it,
Speaker 1: have less guilt about spending when you do go away
Speaker 1: or whatever it is that you're preparing for. So so
Speaker 1: many more reasons than just what the article stated. So
Speaker 1: I'm I'm excited about it. I'm excited to keep doing
Speaker 1: I'm I'm happy that this is a lifestyle for me
Speaker 1: and other people can join in. So this is just
Speaker 1: a real good thing. Yeah, the article encourages you to
Speaker 1: choose a length and time to determine what you can
Speaker 1: spend on, just like we said, but I really liked
Speaker 1: in the middle it goes towards like trying to reduce
Speaker 1: your essentials. So we always we make our budgets and
Speaker 1: we decide what we can spend on what we can't,
Speaker 1: and we have this like quote unquote like essentials category,
Speaker 1: and sometimes we don't consider enough about reducing those essentials
Speaker 1: and I know there were so many things for me,
Speaker 1: like before I started taking my money seriously that were essentials.
Speaker 1: And it was through no spend challenges that I evaluated
Speaker 1: what really are my essentials? Like? Are these really my essentials?
Speaker 1: And I got to think about it every time I
Speaker 1: missed doing something or ended up in a like buy
Speaker 1: a drive through line about to go in and be like,
Speaker 1: oh wait, I have a choice. I can keep following
Speaker 1: my no spend challenge or I can drive into this
Speaker 1: drive through get those Checkers fries. They're so good. But
Speaker 1: I I love that the writer like slips that into
Speaker 1: to evaluate that's like one of the things that you
Speaker 1: should do when you're trying to determine what you can
Speaker 1: spend on. That's an important thing. Yeah, that you can
Speaker 1: incorporate that trying even the things that you have decided
Speaker 1: you will spend money on, how low can you go
Speaker 1: with that? So this article and others like it talk
Speaker 1: about can you use up the food that you already
Speaker 1: have in your home and even reduce your grocery budget
Speaker 1: for that month as well, which it's amazing to realize
Speaker 1: how how many can goods and things in the freezer
Speaker 1: that and condiments that we have that we could utilize
Speaker 1: when it feels like there's no food, It's like, actually,
Speaker 1: there's ten different meals you could probably prepare. So that
Speaker 1: could be a fun challenge in and of itself. So
Speaker 1: this definitely isn't the month to or an excuse to say, oh, well,
Speaker 1: I'm not spending a ton of money, so increase the
Speaker 1: grocery budget. It's reduced everywhere. It could even be cut
Speaker 1: off Netflix or um some similar things, Spotify whatever for
Speaker 1: a month and just really even pare down as much
Speaker 1: as you can and see how that feels. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: the great thing it's a challenge. So not only do
Speaker 1: you determine how long it goes, but it does end
Speaker 1: at some point. It doesn't go on, you know, longer
Speaker 1: than you plan it too. So if you're giving up
Speaker 1: these things that are do end up being important for you,
Speaker 1: and you do determine our essentials, then you get those
Speaker 1: back at the end of the challenge, and then you
Speaker 1: know for sure that those are things you value. UM
Speaker 1: another thing that I liked. She's she's basically just dispelling
Speaker 1: every myth when you're like, should I can should I
Speaker 1: do a spending fast? Should I do a challenge? There
Speaker 1: are so many excuses that can come up that say, oh, no,
Speaker 1: I shouldn't do on this weekend, or no, I shouldn't
Speaker 1: do one this month, I've got this or whatever. So
Speaker 1: she says to plan ahead for exceptions, and which is
Speaker 1: something I always tell people to do. You're never going
Speaker 1: to find the perfect month, even though if you're going
Speaker 1: to get close to a perfect month. The perfectest month
Speaker 1: I can find is February because it's the shortest month.
Speaker 1: I'm petty, uh, and there's not much going on. There's
Speaker 1: Valentine's Day, but if you've been in a relationship for
Speaker 1: a long time, like who celebrates Valentine's Day, and so
Speaker 1: it's really the perfect month where not a lot is
Speaker 1: going on, You're still saving for your summer travel, you
Speaker 1: still might have some gift cards left from Christmas that
Speaker 1: you can use up, so it's really but even still,
Speaker 1: there are going to be times in February where friends
Speaker 1: coming into town and you want to go to dinner
Speaker 1: with them, or it's your mom's birthday or something. So
Speaker 1: plan for those exceptions. And those are not an excuse
Speaker 1: to just not do a challenge. It is my mom's
Speaker 1: birthday in February, and my sisters and my niece and nephew.
Speaker 1: They just really all planned it out for February. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like they knew they'll be my exceptions. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: that's that's where this idea of planned versus impulsive comes in,
Speaker 1: So you can make exceptions. You're the one creating this challenge,
Speaker 1: so as long as it's something that's planned for, then
Speaker 1: then fine do it. What what we want to avoid
Speaker 1: during a no spend challenge is impulsive purchases that would
Speaker 1: be reflective of how you would typically spend money. So,
Speaker 1: and this is listed in one of the pitfalls to like,
Speaker 1: don't delay necessary spending just because it's a no spend
Speaker 1: challenge month. If you can get something at a less
Speaker 1: expensive rate now versus if you put it off next
Speaker 1: month just so you don't have to see it come
Speaker 1: out of your bank account this month, you're you're winning nothing.
Speaker 1: So if you know, okay, I meet in the next
Speaker 1: three months, I need to get a winner coat. Okay,
Speaker 1: plan for that. Um, I need to get a oil change.
Speaker 1: Do that. Don't just put that off until March just
Speaker 1: so that you can feel like you've saved money, Like
Speaker 1: you will have to get an oil change. Do it
Speaker 1: before your car breaks down. Yeah. I highly recommend Kate
Speaker 1: flanders book The Year of Less, because she did this
Speaker 1: for two years and so she's a really great example
Speaker 1: of planning a list of things she knew she would
Speaker 1: need to buy and giving herself the freedom to buy
Speaker 1: those things when they were on the best sale or
Speaker 1: when she physically needed them. And and that's the same
Speaker 1: concept on a smaller scale, Like you're not going to
Speaker 1: need to buy a mattress in your no spend month
Speaker 1: like she did. That's yeah, don't do that. But it's
Speaker 1: the same concept that you are setting yourself up to
Speaker 1: identify what you truly value of and will spend money on,
Speaker 1: and to just step back, like take a step back
Speaker 1: from your impulse purchases and and think, think for longer
Speaker 1: than ten seconds to rationalize that like coffee or candy
Speaker 1: bar that you're picking up at the convenience store. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we interviewed Kate Flanders, so feel free to check
Speaker 1: out that episode and read her book. It's great. I
Speaker 1: also like the other tips that were given in this
Speaker 1: article of getting buy in from family members no pun intended,
Speaker 1: but make sure that they're on board if you do
Speaker 1: live with other people who are involved in your budgeting
Speaker 1: and spending. It's not gonna be effective or successful on
Speaker 1: any level if they're not on board with you. Could
Speaker 1: lead to bitterness, resentment, fights, anger. That's not the goal.
Speaker 1: So make sure that make sure that they're on board,
Speaker 1: and obviously maybe not obvious, reduce the temptations, like don't
Speaker 1: unsubscribed from emails that are that may be tempting to you,
Speaker 1: of offering sales and wanting to go purchase. Um, maybe
Speaker 1: take a different route so that you're not passing that
Speaker 1: coffee shop you always go into all the time. So
Speaker 1: that's just another little tip. But then I also appreciated
Speaker 1: this list of pitfalls, and so we talked about this
Speaker 1: already of delaying, not not delaying, on not delaying necessary spending,
Speaker 1: but also to be careful of overspending before and after
Speaker 1: both ramping up too and coming off of this no
Speaker 1: spend challenge. That does not give license to like go
Speaker 1: crazy with your finances. Like the goal is to save
Speaker 1: or pay down debt or to give more to a
Speaker 1: certain cause or person or whatever it is that your
Speaker 1: is your financial goal, but it's it defeats the purpose
Speaker 1: if you're like oh my word. Next month is the
Speaker 1: no spend Challenge. So get everything that I ever thought
Speaker 1: that I ever would want, so that I don't want anything.
Speaker 1: That's not the point. The point is to work through
Speaker 1: the wanting and the thinking that you need something and
Speaker 1: to figure out where your priorities are. Like, that's a
Speaker 1: good process to go through. Don't try to protect yourself
Speaker 1: from that. Yeah, So that that's pretty much this article.
Speaker 1: So to recap, should you consider a no spend challenge?
Speaker 1: All of the things that you have going on in
Speaker 1: your life and everything that the people around you have
Speaker 1: going on in your life, and all the things that
Speaker 1: could go wrong? Should you consider one? Dude? Dude, dude,
Speaker 1: what is yes you should if you answered yes to
Speaker 1: that question every listening to us for the last fIF
Speaker 1: two minutes, what is everyone should participate in a no
Speaker 1: spend challenge? Yeah, at least once and report back. You
Speaker 1: don't have to do them a lot, that's the point.
Speaker 1: You do them, uh frequently or occasionally for a period
Speaker 1: of time, and then you learn your lessons and then
Speaker 1: there's not a need for them, And that's that's the hope,
Speaker 1: that's the goal. Uh So, now that we are convinced
Speaker 1: that we should be practicing no spend challenges regularly or
Speaker 1: at least occasionally. How do you do one? And I
Speaker 1: can't read my entire book on this episode, but I
Speaker 1: want to. I know, I wanted to read an excerpt
Speaker 1: from it, which is actually, um, it's a loose excerpt.
Speaker 1: It's from my blog Modern Frugality dot com and it's
Speaker 1: called how to do a no spend Month that will
Speaker 1: improve your finances. Because I am not as great of
Speaker 1: a storyteller as Kate Flanders, so my book is very actionable.
Speaker 1: That yeah, And it's essentially this is what it is.
Speaker 1: This is how to do it. This is how to
Speaker 1: fill your time when you get bored because you're not
Speaker 1: spending money. Um, and this is uh, these are the
Speaker 1: constructive things you can do with your time to to
Speaker 1: you know, fill it up. So, um, yeah, Jill, did
Speaker 1: you read this article? I did. Thanks for forcing me
Speaker 1: to do that. No, it's fantastic, Jen. I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of yours. So I really appreciate even though you
Speaker 1: think that you're not a good storyteller, you do connect
Speaker 1: it with your own life experiences and saying that in
Speaker 1: growing up you were conditioned to think that spending money
Speaker 1: was a hobby. It's it's something that you do. It's
Speaker 1: an activity, it's a form of entertainment. Even if you
Speaker 1: don't need things or even want things, you just you
Speaker 1: go to the mall and you go to Target, you
Speaker 1: stop by the grocery store, and you just spend money.
Speaker 1: And to some degree, yeah, I can understand that. It
Speaker 1: can sometimes be like, oh, what do we do? I
Speaker 1: don't know, let's go to a store where Target is
Speaker 1: a big thing. I see a lot of my friends
Speaker 1: is just oh, I don't have anything to do. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm going to go to Target. It's not unique to
Speaker 1: just me. Um, but it's a problem with a lot
Speaker 1: of people. So we'll skip. We can skip the section
Speaker 1: that tells you why you should do a challenge because
Speaker 1: we just went through that. So once you have decided
Speaker 1: how long you want to do, obviously this article is
Speaker 1: about doing a no spend month, but if you don't
Speaker 1: feel capable of that at first, that's totally fine. You
Speaker 1: can start with a weekend or um, oh like five
Speaker 1: week days or a whole week or something. Start where
Speaker 1: you feel comfortable, Start where you feel like you can
Speaker 1: have a quick win, so you can continue to build
Speaker 1: on that, and then once you decide that, you're going
Speaker 1: to want to figure out what do you want to
Speaker 1: spend on. And it is totally possible to do a
Speaker 1: no spend month without spending any money on groceries. I
Speaker 1: want to repeat that for you. It's totally totally doable
Speaker 1: to do a no spend month without spending any money
Speaker 1: on groceries. WHOA explain that? Are you mooching off of
Speaker 1: everybody else? No, it's replacing some of your fresh produce
Speaker 1: with frozen and then choosing fresh produce that has a
Speaker 1: longer shelf life. And some of the I didn't write
Speaker 1: down the vegetables that have like a longer shelf life,
Speaker 1: but onions, carrots, those tend to be uh, some very
Speaker 1: versatile vegetables that have a longer shelf life inside the fridge,
Speaker 1: so you can do your research on that. I will
Speaker 1: say that carrots do go bad. This is completely aside tangent,
Speaker 1: but it's worth knowing. When carrots go bad, they smell
Speaker 1: like a main easing sweet vanilla. It smells so fantastic
Speaker 1: and then you put it in your mouth and it's rancid.
Speaker 1: I found that one out the hard way. I had
Speaker 1: some shredded carrots in the fridge, and I'm like, they
Speaker 1: look fine. I was about to put them on my
Speaker 1: salad and I smelled it. I was like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: that smells amazing, But that's not what carrots typically smell like.
Speaker 1: And so then I tried it and it was so bad.
Speaker 1: I don't they must have been in the fridge for forever.
Speaker 1: I've never experienced that with carrots, Like you are telling
Speaker 1: a true story that they have a long shelf life,
Speaker 1: but that comes to an end with some sweet, smelling,
Speaker 1: rancid carrots. So if you experience that, don't put them
Speaker 1: on your salad or anything. But you can get away
Speaker 1: with some vegetables longer than others. And you know what
Speaker 1: those vegetables are. You have kept them in your in
Speaker 1: your refrigerator for over a month and they're still fine.
Speaker 1: So would that be for you gen a ramping up
Speaker 1: to some degree of you would stockpile a bit beforehand
Speaker 1: so that you don't have to spend that month on groceries. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because another way that you don't have to spend money
Speaker 1: on them is to prepare some freezer meals in advance.
Speaker 1: So you would take maybe the amount that you predict
Speaker 1: you would spend on produce for that for each month
Speaker 1: um and maybe spend a little less and just get
Speaker 1: it all, prep it and make a batch of freezer meals.
Speaker 1: This also helps because freezer meals really limit the number
Speaker 1: of times that you will go out to eat. They
Speaker 1: are life savers, so this is kind of like a
Speaker 1: double whammy. You're not having to make trips to the
Speaker 1: grocery store, like multiple trips through the month, and you're
Speaker 1: less tempted to go out because everything is already prepped
Speaker 1: and ready for you and you just have to put
Speaker 1: it in the slow cooker or the instant pot or
Speaker 1: the oven whatever. I would love a recipe guide or
Speaker 1: meal guide. Do you do that? We should do that
Speaker 1: for the month? Yeah. I do have some obviously, like
Speaker 1: meal planning freezer things in my other book, Meal Planning
Speaker 1: on a Budget. But there's so many things online like
Speaker 1: once a Month Meals. That's a really big freezer meal website.
Speaker 1: I find that soups and stews and really anything that
Speaker 1: I can put in the instant pot or slow cooker
Speaker 1: that's what tastes best. I haven't had a lot of
Speaker 1: success with like oven meals for the even if I
Speaker 1: defrost them and then put them in the oven. Maybe
Speaker 1: my fridge is just really cold. But so people that
Speaker 1: aren't as familiar with freezer meals don't make the same
Speaker 1: mistakes I did with starting with like casse roles, start
Speaker 1: with soups, stews, anything that you can put in the
Speaker 1: slow cooker. You're going to get really really nice from
Speaker 1: freezer meals because freezing vegetables makes them softer in the
Speaker 1: end anyway, So you definitely want something where the end
Speaker 1: result is going to be soft vegetables, like anyway. So
Speaker 1: but those are just groceries. So other things that you
Speaker 1: can decide not to spend money on transportation if you
Speaker 1: really love your bike. Transparation is never something that I
Speaker 1: have included in my nosepend challenges because I live in
Speaker 1: a driving city and I could bike, and I choose
Speaker 1: not to. It's never been one of my enjoy pleasure activities.
Speaker 1: But one that I always do give up is entertainment,
Speaker 1: and that was the last one on the list, and
Speaker 1: I have entertained by a a wide variety of things,
Speaker 1: and that's what really trips me up. Would you include
Speaker 1: going out to eat under entertainment, Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So personally, I I will spend money on fresh produce.
Speaker 1: I'll still go to all the and buy those things,
Speaker 1: but I'll try to do pantry challenges. Like if you've
Speaker 1: listened to this podcast, you know I'm a horrible cook
Speaker 1: and or just don't enjoy it. So I'm not super
Speaker 1: creative in the kitchens. So I really rely on recipes
Speaker 1: and stuff which have me buying more produce every week.
Speaker 1: But since I did my last no it's been challenge,
Speaker 1: which was a while ago, I have gotten better at
Speaker 1: freezer meals, so that is has been one improvement for
Speaker 1: me and why I'm so passionate about them. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think they're fantastic because if you do end up doing
Speaker 1: something else going to somebody's house, no problem. It can
Speaker 1: stay in the freezer. You're not wasting food either, it's
Speaker 1: just sitting there right and waiting ready for you. Yes,
Speaker 1: So so this is where this article ends, but since
Speaker 1: I know the rest of the story, I can go on.
Speaker 1: So once you decide how long you're doing it, what
Speaker 1: you're spending on, and what you're not spending on, then
Speaker 1: comes the actual task of doing it, and and that
Speaker 1: is obviously the hard part and the two things that
Speaker 1: are important that I try to include in in each
Speaker 1: of my no spend challenges. Um, I guess there's three
Speaker 1: things really. So it leaves you a lot of time
Speaker 1: to fill, right, because you're not spending money to fill
Speaker 1: your time, so you have to find other ways to
Speaker 1: So I will try to make money and my no
Speaker 1: spend challenge, I'll spend that time either doing a side
Speaker 1: hustle or writing or whatnot. I will declutter, which we've
Speaker 1: been on that kick all month, and uh so it's
Speaker 1: the perfect time when you're not doing anything out to
Speaker 1: stay at home, especially on a Friday night when all
Speaker 1: of your friends are busy, to stay at home and
Speaker 1: and just clean out everything, do that Kunmori method. Start
Speaker 1: with your clothes and just go down the list. And
Speaker 1: then the last thing if you are just sick of
Speaker 1: staying in the house, is to find free activities. And
Speaker 1: we will we'll talk about that in a few minutes.
Speaker 1: But I think the hardest part about doing a no
Speaker 1: spend challenge is filling your time because you don't want
Speaker 1: to put the same triggers in your life that we're
Speaker 1: there before. So you want to change up your routines
Speaker 1: and do different things. And yeah, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: mindset things when you just happen to find yourself at
Speaker 1: a store wanting to impulse by. But it's really important
Speaker 1: to not put yourself in that situation at all and
Speaker 1: practice saying no so you can say yes to better things. Yes, still,
Speaker 1: do you have do you have anything to say? Since
Speaker 1: it's just been the Gen Show? I like the Gen Show.
Speaker 1: This is nice. I took a map. I took a
Speaker 1: real quick map. Lucky no j K the I think
Speaker 1: it's all fantastic. I think that what it can do
Speaker 1: for us is great. What it the room that it
Speaker 1: creates for us, and you even listed it to even
Speaker 1: more reasons. It can break addictions, It can help you
Speaker 1: build healthier emotional habits. It can help you find less
Speaker 1: expensive things that you can carry on into your nose
Speaker 1: you're spending life, and even find healthier ways to manage
Speaker 1: stress or decompress or enjoy time with others. You You
Speaker 1: could find that you love writing, or you love reading,
Speaker 1: or you love doing something that you had no idea
Speaker 1: that you liked doing because you had to find something
Speaker 1: that was free. Yeah, and you have the time to
Speaker 1: think about it. We don't give ourselves enough time to
Speaker 1: think about new things. And this spending detox is a
Speaker 1: space for you to give yourself time to really consider
Speaker 1: other options and new ideas and all of that. So
Speaker 1: I I love I love no spend challenges, and I
Speaker 1: can't say enough about them. What else do we love?
Speaker 1: I feel like there's something else coming up that we
Speaker 1: really love. I mean sometimes I think about up. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born in his name, miss Williams.
Speaker 1: Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your card died
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's bill bills, Bill clin this is the bill of
Speaker 1: the week. My favorite bill for the month is our
Speaker 1: monthly subscription for massages. My husband and I both work
Speaker 1: full time jobs. We have five children ranging from age
Speaker 1: thirteen all the way to two, and my husband works
Speaker 1: as a cross this case worker and I work as
Speaker 1: an administrator for a clinic, and so we tend to
Speaker 1: get a little stressed and carry it in our shoulders
Speaker 1: and such, and so it's nice to be able to
Speaker 1: have that time for us to be able to unwind,
Speaker 1: so we can be and and just have that moment
Speaker 1: to ourselves UM and get a massage and relax so
Speaker 1: that we can be better parents and better UM employees
Speaker 1: as well. So that is my favorite one. Wow, that
Speaker 1: is from Humanistic Nick, and that's a great email name
Speaker 1: and a great bill. I love it on so many levels.
Speaker 1: I like that you don't mind spending on this because
Speaker 1: you know what it's providing for you. I always see
Speaker 1: self care as putting on your mask for first before
Speaker 1: assisting others with theirs, like what they tell you on
Speaker 1: the flight, like yes, you're not going to be a
Speaker 1: good mom or a good employee. I love that you
Speaker 1: even care about that being a good employee if you
Speaker 1: are not taken care of and you don't have wellness
Speaker 1: inside of you. So fantastic that you have created space
Speaker 1: in your budget in your life for this. My goodness,
Speaker 1: we can all take a page out of that book.
Speaker 1: I get maybe one massage a year, and every time
Speaker 1: I get it, I love it. But we just got
Speaker 1: massages on Sunday. Actually was our annual massage, and it
Speaker 1: was so relaxing. I have to say that I got
Speaker 1: a It was a prenatal massage and it was much
Speaker 1: more comfortable than regular massage positioning. So if you are
Speaker 1: uncomfortable being on your face or back, just tell them
Speaker 1: you're pregnant, and then you get a bunch of pillows
Speaker 1: and you get to be on your side and it's
Speaker 1: really good. That's amazing. Yeah, it doesn't matter who you are.
Speaker 1: I just say you're pregnant. They'll make it. They'll make
Speaker 1: it more special for you, so much better. Yeah. If
Speaker 1: you have a favorite bill that you want to share
Speaker 1: with us, please head over to Frugal Friends podcast dot
Speaker 1: com slash bill leave us your favorite one. We are
Speaker 1: looking forward to so many new and funny bills this year.
Speaker 1: We love them all. Definitely nice. All right, Wow, moving
Speaker 1: on to our lightning fire thunder around, lightning around. I
Speaker 1: just learned a new term today. It's thunder snow. I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure it's made up, right. Yeah, that's what I
Speaker 1: said too, because I wonder. I had this thought last night.
Speaker 1: It was it was thunder and lightning outside, and but
Speaker 1: yet it's the time of year where it could snow,
Speaker 1: And I thought to myself, has it ever snowed and
Speaker 1: lightning and thundered? Or are those two separate types of
Speaker 1: climate conditions that need to be present? For that to happen,
Speaker 1: and so it would never happen. And then I heard
Speaker 1: that no it can. It's called thunder snow. I still
Speaker 1: have to look it up because it sounds really made
Speaker 1: up and unoriginal and not real. Well, I look forward
Speaker 1: to hearing about it. If I ever experienced it, I'll
Speaker 1: definitely take a video. First it was then it was
Speaker 1: bomba Genesis, then bomb cyclone, not at No. One is
Speaker 1: thunder snow. What do I do during a thunder snow?
Speaker 1: I don't even know if I could get the bread
Speaker 1: of milk thunder snow. Oh my God, help me, help
Speaker 1: well in our thunder snow around today. Uh So, the
Speaker 1: No Spend Challenge Guide is actually free right now on
Speaker 1: Amazon for Amazon Prime members through the Prime Reading program
Speaker 1: um and that is now through March. So if you
Speaker 1: are an Amazon Prime member and you have Prime Reading,
Speaker 1: go ahead and search for the No Spend Challenge Guide,
Speaker 1: or you can head to our show notes and get
Speaker 1: the link there, but it's free. The Kindle version is
Speaker 1: free right now, So that's why we wanted to talk
Speaker 1: up No Spend Challenges. And there's also a bonus that
Speaker 1: comes with the book, and that is fifty two free
Speaker 1: activities to do on a no spend challenge because there
Speaker 1: are so many guides. It infuriates me. So many guides
Speaker 1: with like a hundreds something free things to do, and
Speaker 1: a lot of them actually include you have you need
Speaker 1: to purchase things for them right and or there you
Speaker 1: have to purchase things later before, like start a new
Speaker 1: hobby that's not free depending on your hobby, so vague.
Speaker 1: So I compiled the list of fifty two so one
Speaker 1: for every weekend, and they are genuinely legitimately free, and
Speaker 1: that is a free bonus that you get with downloading
Speaker 1: the book. But frugal Friends listeners don't even have to
Speaker 1: purchase the book even if you don't have Prime, because
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you that you are or else where.
Speaker 1: You can download that right now. It's at modern frugality
Speaker 1: dot com slash No Spend Guide. That's easy enough. But
Speaker 1: we'll also have it in our show notes. Yes, and
Speaker 1: we are going to just go over some of our
Speaker 1: favorites from that list, so you can see if if
Speaker 1: you even want to download it at all. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: is a really good list, gen and I love all
Speaker 1: the suggestions. But as I read through it, I realized
Speaker 1: that I work too much. I'm like, yeah, all these
Speaker 1: things sound great, but I'm not looking for something to do,
Speaker 1: Like I apparently don't have free time to do these things.
Speaker 1: So it's really not a matter of oh, I've freed
Speaker 1: up time by not spending I do. I just work.
Speaker 1: So I think this is really pointing out to me
Speaker 1: that I need to engage in more fun. I do
Speaker 1: say in the book that the best way to not
Speaker 1: spend money is to spend time making money. So that's
Speaker 1: how I got through a lot of my nose spend
Speaker 1: challenges is just picking up extra shifts, working on extra things,
Speaker 1: and just working a lot. Like I'll be totally honest,
Speaker 1: that's kind of how I made it through. But yeah,
Speaker 1: if you don't have that as an option, Jill, what
Speaker 1: was your favorite or two favorite things whatever? I really
Speaker 1: like visiting open houses. I think I've mentioned this and
Speaker 1: the other Eric really doesn't like to do it with me,
Speaker 1: but when when I'm able to get him too, it's fun.
Speaker 1: I just like touring houses. I think it's fun. I
Speaker 1: don't know why, I just do. Also, I think the
Speaker 1: decluttering my house, that's that's what I do when I
Speaker 1: have downtime, is I mean and it basically goes along
Speaker 1: with like getting my life back in order because I'm
Speaker 1: working so much and traveling so much that but I
Speaker 1: enjoy it. It then freeze up my mind and allows
Speaker 1: me to breathe. I don't know if I'm breathing before that,
Speaker 1: but I like that. How about you know, what are
Speaker 1: your favorites on your own list that you created? Uh?
Speaker 1: So other than starting like doing a side hustle? Um,
Speaker 1: I love Um. This is gonna sound really weird, but
Speaker 1: wash your car because who has time to wash their car?
Speaker 1: I never washed my car, and if I am literally
Speaker 1: looking for something to do because I can't spend money,
Speaker 1: that is the only time my car is going to
Speaker 1: get washed. So that's probably it's it's not as fun,
Speaker 1: but I like looking at this time as doing practical things. Certainly,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of fun things on this list, but
Speaker 1: there's also practical and even efficient and frugal things like
Speaker 1: NU call your service providers to negotiate your bill get
Speaker 1: a lower price. My goodness, what a good use of
Speaker 1: your time instead of spending instead of not spending money,
Speaker 1: you cannot spend money and save money, so why not
Speaker 1: I love it? Yeah, I also love the use up
Speaker 1: any like spa or facial or bath products that are
Speaker 1: hiding in your bathroom closet, because I do have those.
Speaker 1: They're like ones that normally I'm really quick to get
Speaker 1: rid of things when I get a gift or something
Speaker 1: that I just know I'm not going to use. But
Speaker 1: then there are some things where like, oh I would
Speaker 1: really actually like to use it, but I just put
Speaker 1: it in the closet and it sits there forever. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so I added it here because this is a
Speaker 1: time to actually get those things out and like do
Speaker 1: your little facial or put in your bath bomb or something.
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. Yeah, those are just a few. There's fifty two. Again,
Speaker 1: it's at Modern Frugality dot com slash No Spend Guide,
Speaker 1: and you can get that without even getting the book,
Speaker 1: though I would love for you to head to Amazon
Speaker 1: and get the No Spend Challenge Guide, available in kindle
Speaker 1: and paperback forever. Yeah, it is fantastic. Jen's a great
Speaker 1: writer and she goes really practical tips if you haven't
Speaker 1: picked that up already on this podcast. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty eight reviews that are almost five stars,
Speaker 1: can't be wrong, almost time. I don't even know hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty eight people, so you know that that's a lot.
Speaker 1: The last time I checked, which feels like a few
Speaker 1: days ago, there were reviews, so people really kicked it
Speaker 1: into high gear. There. I know it's been this prime
Speaker 1: reading thing. It is crazy. All right, Well, we have
Speaker 1: another challenge going on to Jill. How are you doing
Speaker 1: with our thirty one day declutter challenge? Oh, Jen, I
Speaker 1: have not been home, but I've been thinking about it
Speaker 1: a lot. I am excited. I might start tonight. Eric
Speaker 1: gets home from Texas tonight, but who knows, he might
Speaker 1: just find me with my clothes all over the bed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not in a sexy way, in a degluttering way. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna jump back on the bandwagon um this weekend
Speaker 1: because I have fallen behind. But you know what, there's
Speaker 1: there's grace. You do it however you want. Now that
Speaker 1: Marie Condo has given us all permission to take upwards
Speaker 1: of six weeks to do the Konmori method, we can.
Speaker 1: We can do it. So I love it when she
Speaker 1: gives me permission to do things. Oh my gosh, she's
Speaker 1: so cute. I have started to watch the Netflix special.
Speaker 1: It's fun it is. It's it's actually a very good special,
Speaker 1: and so it's kind of humanizes the book. The book
Speaker 1: makes her sound very weird for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: and the show really humanizes her, and I love that
Speaker 1: because her method is so practical. I love it and
Speaker 1: it's a great way for everyone to declutter. So definitely
Speaker 1: go check that out. That was a good throwback, and
Speaker 1: now I'm excited to hear about how everyone implements those
Speaker 1: tips in October and then even the residual benefits of
Speaker 1: it come holidays. Let's do this thing. I am ready that,
Speaker 1: I am ready to do it, and now that I've
Speaker 1: lost all of my window money, it's probably time for
Speaker 1: me to do one just to make my bank account
Speaker 1: feel a little better. Yeah, she's getting pretty lonely all
Speaker 1: her dollar bill friends have left. Well, I'm sorry that
Speaker 1: your bank accounts lonely, but we're not lonely because we
Speaker 1: got friends, and we got friends we wanted. Fis like
Speaker 1: all you listeners who leave us kinder views on iTunes
Speaker 1: and Stitcher like this one. It happens to be five
Speaker 1: stars from Jersey. Nick all right, I used to live
Speaker 1: in PA, so I feel like we could be friend.
Speaker 1: I'm going to say it in a Jersey accent. Don't
Speaker 1: because I will offend somebody. So it's gonna be my regular,
Speaker 1: my regular Jill voice financial Freedom, but make it fun.
Speaker 1: Did I say that it was five stars because it is?
Speaker 1: Thanks Jersey Nick. I love these two girls. They complement
Speaker 1: each other perfectly. Different topics are disgusted each week. I
Speaker 1: love the topics they choose. Even if I feel a
Speaker 1: topic doesn't apply to me, I still listen and get
Speaker 1: nuggets of information. Please keep doing the pod. Thank you
Speaker 1: for fun financial content. A Jersey Nick will keep drinking nuggets.
Speaker 1: I do like nuggets, all kinds of nuggets, all the nuggets.
Speaker 1: We also want to thank our friends who share these
Speaker 1: episodes on social media. So when you share the latest
Speaker 1: episode and tag us on Facebook or Instagram, we are
Speaker 1: going to add you to our monthly drawing. Every five
Speaker 1: tags and reviews we get, we are giving away a
Speaker 1: copy of the Frugal Friends Workbook, and we do share.
Speaker 1: We do reshare your whenever you share us on social
Speaker 1: we'll reshare it. So keep leaving us. Those reviews on
Speaker 1: iTunes are Stitcher send us the screenshot. That's right. You
Speaker 1: can email us Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com
Speaker 1: and tag us on social both ways. Enter you to
Speaker 1: win fantastics both and we will see you next week
Speaker 1: with a fresh episode, brand new, spanking new with all
Speaker 1: them just as good. Frugal Friends is produced, edited and
Speaker 1: mixed by Eric Syrian. I cannot handle when you said
Speaker 1: nuggies nugis. I was like, yeah, do you know where
Speaker 1: that's from? Okay, so I don't know originally, like I
Speaker 1: don't know who said nuggies for the first time ever,
Speaker 1: mom ever getting their child chicken nuggets. But like I
Speaker 1: saw a baby Yoda meme and it had like chicken
Speaker 1: Nuggies on it, and I was like, this is everything,
Speaker 1: this is everything. It's right up there with Taco Bell. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I think Baby Yoda, like baby Yoda meme with
Speaker 1: like I don't even know what the context was. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I am not. I know little to nothing about Star
Speaker 1: Wars um, but I can still get on board with
Speaker 1: with what char song, Jill. I'm literally searching it right now.
Speaker 1: There is a song, let me see. Okay, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to do this to you can't do it. We
Speaker 1: can't infringe rights on this podcast, Okay. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: have people's rights. I'm gonna see what happens. It's just
Speaker 1: a minute in forty seconds, and I'm going to give
Speaker 1: credit to whoever this is when they come up her
Speaker 1: fugs Dicky Okay, weirdest episode ever, weirdest outro after the
Speaker 1: outro ever of them, credit um, thank you her fuchs
Speaker 1: like hair fuchs Um. Baby Yoda Chicken Nuggets song. It's weird. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Like right now, Baby Yoda's driving a car trying to
Speaker 1: get I guess some chicken nugg ees. This wasn't the
Speaker 1: thing that I saw, but it's just so interesting. I
Speaker 1: cannot handle you say chicken nuggets, Chicken nuggies. Well, you
Speaker 1: know what, that's what we bring to the financial podcast world.
Speaker 1: We like we like the Baby Yoda Chicken Nuggies of
Speaker 1: Personal Finance podcast. This meme says it's got Baby Yoda
Speaker 1: very sad, and it says, when you don't get any
Speaker 1: chicken nuggies, because there's food at home. That is the
Speaker 1: frugal answer. Always there's food at home. May the Lord
Speaker 1: bring you many many Baby Yoda memes in your future,
Speaker 1: m hm, and to you also