Speaker 1: Episode three p forty nine is episode one eighty six,
Speaker 1: how to Budget without Deprivation.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and liver your life. Here your
Speaker 2: hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 3: My name is Jen, my name is Jill.
Speaker 1: And today we are playing a rerun of one of
Speaker 1: our most popular episodes. I think this is the first
Speaker 1: one where we really truly introduced values based like budgeting
Speaker 1: and that sort of approach it. We were just testing
Speaker 1: the waters with it, and you guys loved it because
Speaker 1: it was one of our most popular episodes of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one.
Speaker 3: You've all been here for the evolution of understanding and
Speaker 3: redefining frugality and finding freedom and permission to make it ours.
Speaker 3: And essentially, budgeting without Deprivation is values based spending. So
Speaker 3: we can do a little throwbag. You can see how
Speaker 3: we got to where we are today. It's great.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is truly an evolution. So if you're just
Speaker 1: starting with values based budgeting and you're not sure if
Speaker 1: you understand all the craziness that we've been saying about it,
Speaker 1: this is a good one to start with, and it's
Speaker 1: also just a good one to kind of refresh about budgeting,
Speaker 1: spending plans, all of that.
Speaker 3: It's just a just like.
Speaker 1: A good little refresher. But first, this episode is brought
Speaker 1: to you by bags, Bags, Baggy, bag Bags. If you
Speaker 1: have a child and you've read Mo Williams, then you
Speaker 1: get that reference Elephant piggy, but not bags to go
Speaker 1: for a drive. Bags that you can get if you
Speaker 1: refer your friends to the friend Letter. If you are unfamiliar,
Speaker 1: we send out our friend Letter three times a week.
Speaker 1: It helps you save money, spend better, become a better
Speaker 1: values based spender. And at the bottom of every friend letter,
Speaker 1: you're going to see your unique link to refer people friends,
Speaker 1: hopefully to the friend letter. So copy that link, paste
Speaker 1: it into the nearest Slack channel, the nearest teams channel,
Speaker 1: I don't know what if you call them channels. Send
Speaker 1: it in your stories, drop it as a link in
Speaker 1: your Instagram stories, wherever you find yourself. Drop that link
Speaker 1: because when you refer five people, you will get a
Speaker 1: free grocery bag from us. No no, no, no no.
Speaker 1: The plastic time that you're trying to get rid of
Speaker 1: and you can't recycle at your house. You have to
Speaker 1: actually drive to the grocery store to recycle it. A
Speaker 1: reusable shopping bag that says frugal, not cheap, and it
Speaker 1: is beautiful. It is large so it will hold many
Speaker 1: items but not too large. But you can't roll it
Speaker 1: up and put it under your seat and pull it
Speaker 1: out when you get to the store. So lovely, really
Speaker 1: good quality thick canvas. It's so nice. And all you
Speaker 1: have to do is drop that link and ask five
Speaker 1: of your friends to sign up for the friend letter.
Speaker 1: Just tell your friends that you want to help them
Speaker 1: save money, find free things, and do better with their money.
Speaker 1: And that's being a friend.
Speaker 3: These tots are so good.
Speaker 1: So Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash front Letter, Get on
Speaker 1: the front Letter, get to sharing. You actually have to
Speaker 1: only have to refer one person to get a free
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends sticker pack. But shoot for the moon girl,
Speaker 1: go for five, Go for that tote.
Speaker 3: And beyond the tote, there's even more if you just
Speaker 3: are deciding to go wild with your referral link. There's mugs,
Speaker 3: t shirts, sweatshirts for our top tier winners.
Speaker 1: Beautiful coral sweatshirt says live in my life. Yeah, it's beautiful,
Speaker 1: So all right, well let's get into this one. A
Speaker 1: few other good ones to qu up after this would
Speaker 1: be episode three ten, which is the episode Jill did
Speaker 1: with our friend Alison from Inspired Budget and talking about
Speaker 1: what she's learned from going through over seventy five real
Speaker 1: people budgets. Those are great on her Instagram. Love those.
Speaker 1: Episode two thirty seven Kakebo, which I will never pronounce
Speaker 1: that right, kokebo every time somebody tells me I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: but it's the Japanese art of mindful budgeting, and that
Speaker 1: is one of my favorite favorite episodes to date. I
Speaker 1: love that one. And then there's also episode two twenty two,
Speaker 1: which is another rerun Stop Strict Budgeting and Start Living
Speaker 1: in the Radical Middle, which is another kind of one
Speaker 1: of these throwbacks when we were starting to think about
Speaker 1: values based spending in the Radical Man. So it's just
Speaker 1: like fun to see where we were and how it's evolved.
Speaker 1: It's a nice nostalgia episode.
Speaker 3: But stay here now and date, let's kick it back
Speaker 3: with some budgeting without deprivation.
Speaker 1: You should have a budget that makes you feel deprived,
Speaker 1: because it is not a sustainable way to budget We've
Speaker 1: said it over and over and over, and mainly that's
Speaker 1: because we so often, especially when we're getting started with budgeting,
Speaker 1: try to make a budget that aligns with somebody else's
Speaker 1: vision for what our life should be like, or somebody
Speaker 1: that has done this before and has made it work,
Speaker 1: and we try to do what they did and recreate it.
Speaker 1: But you are nobody's second best. You are the only you,
Speaker 1: and you deserve a budget that helps you reach your
Speaker 1: financial goals and live your best life. And so we
Speaker 1: believe that's possible.
Speaker 3: Yeah, budgets do not have to be restrictive. They do
Speaker 3: not have to feel like deprivation. I think a lot
Speaker 3: of times where people feel restricted or deprived has more
Speaker 3: to do with actual spending and earning than it does
Speaker 3: with the tool of a budget. Maybe the budget is
Speaker 3: just highlighting a pain point, which even still it's a
Speaker 3: useful tool because then it can help us identify what
Speaker 3: areas we can work on so that ultimately we don't
Speaker 3: feel deprived.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So let's get into this first article from life
Speaker 1: skillsthmatter dot com, and it is how to create a
Speaker 1: budget without depriving yourself. Very straightforward. I think we could
Speaker 1: have written this article. I think if I was going
Speaker 1: to write it, I couldn't have written it better.
Speaker 3: Can I tell you? I actually looked as I was
Speaker 3: reading through it, I'm like, wait, did Jen write this?
Speaker 3: Like I look to see who the author was and
Speaker 3: if it was like a publication that you've contributed to.
Speaker 1: Oh, hey, this our article today. Look it's me. I
Speaker 1: wrote it.
Speaker 3: It's happened.
Speaker 1: I do that sometimes, yes, but I did not do
Speaker 1: it on this one. And it is such a great article.
Speaker 3: So so tell us what you thought of it, Jen,
Speaker 3: this article that you could have written. Right.
Speaker 1: So he goes through the two. There are two different
Speaker 1: methods of budgeting, and so the first one and he
Speaker 1: starts it off. Budgets are like diets. People go on
Speaker 1: them with the best of intentions, but rarely stick to them. Yes,
Speaker 1: we are so often yo yo diet with money. But
Speaker 1: people view budgets as temporary financial punishments. Like that's such
Speaker 1: an important phrase and it's so true we do. We
Speaker 1: view them as temporary, like I won't have to be
Speaker 1: on a budget forever if I just do it to
Speaker 1: get out of my funk. Financial we only look at
Speaker 1: the numbers and how they relate to our income. And outflow.
Speaker 1: We don't don't think about as a budget as a
Speaker 1: way to incorporate more life giving things and then punishments
Speaker 1: like we are living on a budget because we made
Speaker 1: financial mistakes in the past and now we're trying to
Speaker 1: get out of them. And so that's I mean. Budgets
Speaker 1: are not temporary, they are long term. They are not
Speaker 1: just financial. They make sure that you can live a
Speaker 1: whole life because we are whole people. And they're not punishments.
Speaker 1: They avoid the real punishments, which can be bankruptcy, can
Speaker 1: be like shame of living in debt. Like they're the
Speaker 1: things that the tools that we use to avoid those
Speaker 1: real punishments.
Speaker 3: It's like the most misunderstood thing within the finance world.
Speaker 3: But we all know about them, but yet we've got
Speaker 3: such the skewed perspective on it. And he even mentions
Speaker 3: in this beginning portion about just nickel and diming yourself
Speaker 3: to save money. And I think we're going to get
Speaker 3: in that when he talks about the different methods of
Speaker 3: what is the cheap method. But we can often think
Speaker 3: we have to nickel and dime and scrimp in every
Speaker 3: single category. And that's what a budget means. And that's
Speaker 3: just simply not true.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the cheap method, and then he goes over the
Speaker 1: frugal method. And so if you've been listening to us
Speaker 1: for any amount of time, you know what we think
Speaker 1: is cheap. It's the nickel and diming. It's the time
Speaker 1: wasted clipping fifty cent cubons, chasing sales at stores, YadA YadA.
Speaker 1: So that is kind of the cheap method is going
Speaker 1: with those those things, cutting out things that are really
Speaker 1: low ticket and not thinking so much about larger ticket items.
Speaker 1: So like a lot of people think they're you know,
Speaker 1: my mortgage is just my mortgage, and it's a fixed expense.
Speaker 1: But what if you have like an eight thousand square
Speaker 1: foot home, because you know that's what you that's extreme.
Speaker 1: But what if you have like a big home and
Speaker 1: you realize, like several years after buying it, like I
Speaker 1: actually want to live tiny, or I don't use all
Speaker 1: my home. I could live in twelve hundred square feet.
Speaker 1: Like you can get rid of a mortgage, you are
Speaker 1: not tied to that forever. So it's examining these fixed
Speaker 1: expenses too and seeing what we can get rid of it.
Speaker 1: And that is the frugal method. It prioritizes your spending
Speaker 1: according to your needs and wants. So instead of across
Speaker 1: the board minimal cuts like nickel and diming, your spending
Speaker 1: reductions are based on your passions, interests, basic needs, and
Speaker 1: overall life priorities.
Speaker 3: And I guess you can all imagine that we would
Speaker 3: prefer the frugal method. And the writer of this article
Speaker 3: also gives that disclaimer that they utilize the frugal method
Speaker 3: base and it's one of their core values is frugality,
Speaker 3: so they're just speaking our language across the but they
Speaker 3: do give us some pointers in how we all can
Speaker 3: go about this frugal method of budgeting, and I really
Speaker 3: like it. There's certainly so many ways that we can
Speaker 3: approach budgeting. Ultimately, I love the emphasis on mindset here,
Speaker 3: but I think this is a really attainable, simple process
Speaker 3: that we could go through, so I think it's worth
Speaker 3: describing this. So first, they say, make a list of
Speaker 3: all your recurring fixed monthly expenses. These are expenses that
Speaker 3: are the same or approximately the same every month throughout
Speaker 3: the year. So this would include your rent or your mortgage,
Speaker 3: a car payment, whether you have student loans, cable bills,
Speaker 3: phone bills, subscriptions, memberships, utilities, insurances, you name it, all
Speaker 3: of your fixed monthly expenses. To write them all down.
Speaker 3: It is really important to get this on paper, to
Speaker 3: have a clear snapshot of what are the expense says
Speaker 3: that I pay monthly that are relatively fixed. Now that's
Speaker 3: not to say that they can't be changed, but they
Speaker 3: don't fluctuate a ton every month. It's about x amount
Speaker 3: of money per month to engage in.
Speaker 1: This thing, absolutely, And so number two is to identify
Speaker 1: which ones you can cut immediately from that list. So,
Speaker 1: unless you're already a fairly frugal person, there are always
Speaker 1: one or two monthly expenses you can cut right away.
Speaker 1: And so these are expenses that are doing absolutely nothing
Speaker 1: to help you achieve your goals and are easy to
Speaker 1: live without. So this is where it comes in, like
Speaker 1: having your three three to four core values and having
Speaker 1: your financial goals and making sure that everything on the
Speaker 1: list of expenses that you have aligns with them. And yes,
Speaker 1: insurances and utilities can align with your core values because
Speaker 1: I mean, like for us, community is a big core
Speaker 1: value and I love having people over to my house
Speaker 1: frugal way to hang out with people versus going to restaurant,
Speaker 1: but I need utilities in order to do that, and
Speaker 1: the utilities are cheaper than living at a restaurant. So yes,
Speaker 1: you can every single expense tie back to your core
Speaker 1: values or your financial goals hopefully both yes.
Speaker 3: And number three is negotiate a reduction for each one
Speaker 3: of the remaining expenses. So we're still just looking at
Speaker 3: those fixed expenses, the ones that are the same every
Speaker 3: single month. Negotiate. First of all, I love this word.
Speaker 3: I think we don't use it enough. You've heard me
Speaker 3: talk about this before. But also I think this article
Speaker 3: highlights some really important things. So they say, first, negotiate
Speaker 3: with yourself. Ask yourself to come up with at least
Speaker 3: three different ways that you could reduce each expense, no
Speaker 3: matter how dramatic they may seem. That doesn't mean that
Speaker 3: you have to implement on all all three things, or
Speaker 3: even any of the things that you list out, but
Speaker 3: it is a good exercise to engage in that thinking, creativity, creatively,
Speaker 3: problem solving, considering with yourself, where could I reduce some
Speaker 3: of these quote unquote fixed things, these things that I
Speaker 3: thought I have to pay every month. I need to
Speaker 3: be engaging in this expense we'd be surprised when we
Speaker 3: allow ourselves to think outside the box but also engage
Speaker 3: with ourselves and what could I do here just to
Speaker 3: save some money. Again, the purpose for that is to
Speaker 3: free up money to be able to spend on the
Speaker 3: things that we value, not just for the purpose of
Speaker 3: cutting expenses, but to put our money towards the things
Speaker 3: that are most valuable to us. And sometimes our fixed
Speaker 3: expenses aren't that. So once you've negotiated with yourself, right,
Speaker 3: this could include I'm just thinking an example of subscriptions.
Speaker 3: If it's a fixed monthly expense, but you realize, actually
Speaker 3: that subscription doesn't give me that much. Here's an alternative
Speaker 3: that is less money or no money. Do that. Consider
Speaker 3: that and secondly, negotiate with companies to ask for lower
Speaker 3: cost alternatives or threaten to switch to a competitor. I know, Jen,
Speaker 3: You've got a ton of resources out there on negotiation
Speaker 3: and it's something that I think we've even had a
Speaker 3: podcast episode about. This is a surprising technique that I
Speaker 3: think a lot of us. It takes some courage. We
Speaker 3: don't often practice of negotiating for a lower internet rate
Speaker 3: or phone rate, you name it. There's plenty of room
Speaker 3: for negotiation on some of these things that we think
Speaker 3: this is the amount that I have to pay. So
Speaker 3: love number three negotiation with yourself and with these companies,
Speaker 3: and that could make an incredible difference with just those
Speaker 3: fixed expenses, so that when we get to some of
Speaker 3: those more variable expenses, we've got more wiggle room.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah, we're actually doing a negotiation challenge in Club
Speaker 1: BFF in twenty twenty two. So we love negotiating. I
Speaker 1: actually wanted to touch on the first one, negotiating with yourself,
Speaker 1: no matter how dramatic, ways to reduce your expense, no
Speaker 1: matter how dramatic. And so I was listening to Hello
Speaker 1: Habits by Fumio Sasaki and he gave a story about
Speaker 1: how Panasonic once tried to lower its i think energy
Speaker 1: consumption by ten percent and they were just having a
Speaker 1: horrible time figuring out what to do, and so the
Speaker 1: CEO was like, Okay, we're actually going to cut it
Speaker 1: fifty percent. And it was taking it like to the extreme.
Speaker 1: That had everybody coming up with creative ideas and what
Speaker 1: was just like, okay, how can we skim off the
Speaker 1: top like implemented changes that were structural and really like
Speaker 1: deep into the company changed a lot of practices, and
Speaker 1: so sometimes you need to get extreme to land somewhere
Speaker 1: in the middle. So if you're if you're spending is
Speaker 1: somewhere where you don't want it, or spending in one
Speaker 1: categories where you don't want it, then it's already more
Speaker 1: on the extreme side on the side you don't want it.
Speaker 1: So coming up with solutions that are extreme to the
Speaker 1: other end can land you somewhere in the middle. It's
Speaker 1: why we love no spend challenges because they allow you
Speaker 1: kind of to do that.
Speaker 3: Oh chat, what a good example that really landed and
Speaker 3: is resonating well with me. Amazing? All right, don I
Speaker 3: got my takeaway? Cool, Okay, Well, let's let's cut out
Speaker 3: fifteen minute episode.
Speaker 1: All right. So number four is to make a list
Speaker 1: of all your irregularly monthly expenses, so discretionary irregularly.
Speaker 3: I think it was a typo.
Speaker 1: Yeah, discretionary expenses. So if you have other regular monthly
Speaker 1: expenses then aren't fixed like groceries, eating out, video games.
Speaker 3: Which is a thing people spend money on video games
Speaker 3: and watching people play video games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and here's the thing. If you love video games
Speaker 1: like I don't, I've never played a video game in
Speaker 1: my life besides Tetris and Solitaire, and so I don't
Speaker 1: get the appeal. But there are some people who love it.
Speaker 1: And so just because some financial guru doesn't play video
Speaker 1: games and tells you to cut them out, it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean they're right. Like, maybe you don't buy basic b
Speaker 1: lattes and you play video games like.
Speaker 3: You, Yeah, it is okay, I just don't I don't
Speaker 3: understand it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there comes a point where you have to stop
Speaker 1: listening to the gurus and start being intuitive with what
Speaker 1: works for you. Yeah, video games, electronics, clothes, gas for
Speaker 1: your car, all that stuff. So calculate your average spending
Speaker 1: over six months for each expense that's the recommendation, and
Speaker 1: put those average monthly expenses into a list from are
Speaker 1: just to smallest, and then again negotiate with yourself and
Speaker 1: look for expenses that can be reduced or eliminated.
Speaker 3: And again aligning with your values. This list that they're
Speaker 3: having you create. I think it's an awesome practice, but
Speaker 3: it will also be quite telling of where probably your
Speaker 3: highest values and priorities are. It doesn't mean that it
Speaker 3: has to be continuously the thing that you spend the
Speaker 3: most on. We can still honor our values and priorities
Speaker 3: without spending all of our money there. But it is
Speaker 3: worth looking at all. Right, it looks like there is
Speaker 3: a ton of money being spent on takeout or eating out.
Speaker 3: What does that tell me about myself? Is this anario
Speaker 3: that I want to cut? Or do I really like
Speaker 3: doing this? Does it really serve my values one hundred percent?
Speaker 3: And maybe I'm going to focus a bit more on
Speaker 3: negotiating with myself in the other categories. So there is
Speaker 3: this ebb and flow process. It's not just this hard
Speaker 3: and fast we have to cut every category for the
Speaker 3: sake of cutting every category. It is to free up
Speaker 3: money to put towards some of the things that are
Speaker 3: most enjoyable, most valuable for you. Okay, last, but not
Speaker 3: least number five, which goes into what I'm talking about here.
Speaker 3: Choose three guilt free expenses and then look for ways
Speaker 3: to reduce the rest. So identify some of the some
Speaker 3: of the things they're saying three, that's a great number. However,
Speaker 3: many one to three, four is fine that you really
Speaker 3: want to be able to spend. It aligns with things
Speaker 3: that are life giving to you, that are valuable for
Speaker 3: you. You want to be able to spend on them and
Speaker 3: not have a cringe factor to it of oh I
Speaker 3: should have done that right, guilt free, shamefree. It's budgeted for,
Speaker 3: it's planned for. You've cut in other ways so that
Speaker 3: you can put money here. That's the idea. Yeah, So
Speaker 3: it doesn't just have to be I only spend money
Speaker 3: on food. It can be that you know the groceries.
Speaker 3: It can be that you find things that are really
Speaker 3: enjoyable for you and put that into your budget. So
Speaker 3: spend on your priorities, reduce spending on everything else.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I like he says, I'm not recommending having
Speaker 1: a unlimited budget for each of these expenses, but don't
Speaker 1: feel guilty about spending on money on them either. That's
Speaker 1: so important to understand and really take to heart. Like there,
Speaker 1: you're going to have a different budget depending on what
Speaker 1: your income is. And I like to say, and maybe
Speaker 1: this isn't true anymore, but like I always like to say,
Speaker 1: like your income is the lowest it's ever going to be.
Speaker 1: If you're working and intentional about like increasing your income,
Speaker 1: then you will make more money and you will be
Speaker 1: able to have more money for the things that you value.
Speaker 1: And so maybe your coffee budget is twenty dollars a
Speaker 1: month you wish it was thirty, then go out there
Speaker 1: and start a side hustle, or negotiate for a raise,
Speaker 1: or find a better paying job. So these things can
Speaker 1: give you the motivation you need to take those intentional actions.
Speaker 1: But if we don't have a budget that we are
Speaker 1: intentionally creating to align with our life, we're never gonna
Speaker 1: We're not gonna have a reason to do the actions
Speaker 1: to make more money, like because we all say we
Speaker 1: want more money, but having more money typically isn't enough
Speaker 1: of a motivation to do the hard work that it entails.
Speaker 3: The final thing I want to highlight with this article
Speaker 3: is the statement about any cuts that you make to
Speaker 3: your spending need to be rooted in your purpose and
Speaker 3: goals so that you have a clear motivation for making
Speaker 3: those cuts. So again, as we talk about having budgets
Speaker 3: that don't feel like deprivation, like soul crushing punishment, this
Speaker 3: is how we're gonna do it. Making sure that whatever
Speaker 3: decrease in spending we do, whatever negotiation we do with
Speaker 3: ourselves or with others, is rooted in an ultimate purpose
Speaker 3: and goal of what we want to see with our money,
Speaker 3: having that motivation for those cuts, that why behind those cuts.
Speaker 3: Having spending connected with our values, That's what's going to
Speaker 3: create so much freedom within you utilizing a budget and
Speaker 3: will help shift that mindset into this is actually a
Speaker 3: tool that's useful, not something that's restricting me.
Speaker 1: Good word. I wish I could copy and paste this
Speaker 1: article and put it everywhere.
Speaker 3: Is like, I love it so much. Have it be
Speaker 3: a car wrap on your vehicle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just everybody has to walk around and read it.
Speaker 1: And after reading my car, you will make a budget.
Speaker 3: Frugal Friend's Manifesto.
Speaker 1: Yes, you will make a budget. All right. So let's
Speaker 1: go into our next article from Whole Family Living, and
Speaker 1: it is five ways to stick to your budget without
Speaker 1: feeling deprived. So in the first one, we're talking about
Speaker 1: how to create a budget or cut things out to
Speaker 1: make a budget that supports not being deprived, and so
Speaker 1: here we're talking about how to stick to that budget
Speaker 1: without feeling deprived. What do you think of this one, Jill?
Speaker 3: It's good. I don't think that there's a ton of
Speaker 3: really new earth shattering information, but I think it is
Speaker 3: going to help us again to just realign our mindset
Speaker 3: in a place that's useful in being able to engage
Speaker 3: in a budget, because that's so much. We talk about
Speaker 3: mindset so much. That is where it starts. Behaviors are
Speaker 3: not going to shift until mindset shifts. I do, however,
Speaker 3: like some of the reasoning that they give for why
Speaker 3: we should be considering a budget. I think it a
Speaker 3: lot of times when we're kind of lacking that understanding
Speaker 3: or willpower. It's good to see here's an argument for it,
Speaker 3: here's all the pros for it, and they list out
Speaker 3: it can help us focus on our families or our
Speaker 3: individual goals and priorities. A budget helps us to be
Speaker 3: able to plan for the future. We're not gonna be
Speaker 3: able to plan. We're not gonna think about the future
Speaker 3: if we don't know what our finances and spending is
Speaker 3: looking like. It helps us to track our income and expenses.
Speaker 3: Knowing where everything goes, Budgets avoid being sideswiped by unexpected emergencies.
Speaker 3: We can be more prepared and proactive. They help us
Speaker 3: to avoid accumulating debt or adding to it. That's a thing.
Speaker 3: They help us to enjoy experiences together without paying for
Speaker 3: them after the fact. It's not like, oh, swipe the
Speaker 3: credit card and we'll see what it looks like next
Speaker 3: week when I look at the checking account. Budgets also
Speaker 3: can help us get discounts or better rates by being
Speaker 3: able to pay in full when we're on top of
Speaker 3: our finances and we can actually cash flow things that
Speaker 3: can lead to better rates. That's so true. I experience
Speaker 3: that when Eric and I only once in our marriage
Speaker 3: so far have we purchased a couch brand new. Otherwise
Speaker 3: it's been.
Speaker 1: Like Facebook, Marketplace and stuff.
Speaker 3: But I was so surprised when we found a couch
Speaker 3: that we liked and I told the guy. I was like, hey,
Speaker 3: I got cash, what can you do for me? And
Speaker 3: they actually gave us like a ten percent discount for
Speaker 3: having cash, and I was shocked that it worked. But yes,
Speaker 3: it's true. It was amazing.
Speaker 1: Works great at pawnshops. Always get the cash discount at
Speaker 1: pawn shop. I love how the author says that budgeting
Speaker 1: is a mindset, and you have to have the right
Speaker 1: mindset to stick with your budget because it's not something
Speaker 1: that is inherently meant to deprive you or meant to
Speaker 1: make you miss out on things. But if you have
Speaker 1: that perspective, that's not sustainable. You're not going to be
Speaker 1: able to stick to a budget. But she says, actually,
Speaker 1: your budget will be a tool that allows, or as
Speaker 1: I prefer to say, empowers you to have more and
Speaker 1: do more, which is hard to hear, like if you're
Speaker 1: in a situation where you're living on a really tight budget.
Speaker 1: But you can't just think of the hear it now,
Speaker 1: because even if it's hard today, even if it's hard
Speaker 1: right now, you will reap the benefits ten twenty years
Speaker 1: in the future, and you will be so glad you
Speaker 1: budgeted in the hard days when the good days are easier.
Speaker 1: And so maybe these these do more and have more
Speaker 1: aren't always month to month or having more values driven
Speaker 1: purchases aren't always happening in the immediate, but they do
Speaker 1: happen eventually.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all of these things don't just come to us
Speaker 3: when we have more. We start to develop the habits
Speaker 3: and the understanding of these things. Yeah, even in the
Speaker 3: hard times, like you're saying, Jen, so good. Okay, So
Speaker 3: they list out five ways to stick to your budget,
Speaker 3: so we'll just go through them. The first one is
Speaker 3: to develop a smart budget, and many of you are
Speaker 3: familiar with this. Smart acronym. What I like about what
Speaker 3: they're highlighting here is that budgets should add clarity to
Speaker 3: your financial situation, not make it confusing or chaotic. So
Speaker 3: if you're confused, the budgeting situation that you're choosing probably
Speaker 3: isn't the best one. If you're confused and you don't
Speaker 3: have a budget, then hopefully a budget will help you
Speaker 3: with that. And so they're saying that it could be
Speaker 3: useful to look at this technique of having a budget
Speaker 3: that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time limited, and being
Speaker 3: able to apply this way of approaching goals to a
Speaker 3: budget can be really useful and help to empower us,
Speaker 3: help us with our mindset around budget. So making sure
Speaker 3: that each category is specific, we put a real number amount,
Speaker 3: that our progress within our budget is measurable. Is there
Speaker 3: a way to track it, which, yes, there is income
Speaker 3: and expenses there you go. Is it attainable? This is
Speaker 3: very important when it comes to budget. Sometimes we can
Speaker 3: sit down and have all sorts of lofty goals, but
Speaker 3: then that is where it can feel restrictive. It's not
Speaker 3: sustainable or attainable long term, So being realistic. Well, so
Speaker 3: that's three and four attainable and realistic about these numbers
Speaker 3: that you put in place. I know, for me, I
Speaker 3: consistently in my fantasy budget spend far less money on
Speaker 3: food than I actually do. But I had to come
Speaker 3: to this place of being realistic with that budget and say, okay,
Speaker 3: well what can I cut but not absolutely slice this thing.
Speaker 3: I want to make steady progress towards decreasing this because
Speaker 3: one thousand dollars is way too much to be spending
Speaker 3: on food every month. But acting like I can spend
Speaker 3: just three hundred dollars in a month is not realistic
Speaker 3: going from a thousand so and then time limited, which
Speaker 3: budgets naturally do that, whether you want to budget every
Speaker 3: two weeks if that's how often you get paid, or monthly,
Speaker 3: and then revisit it. This isn't a static document that
Speaker 3: never shifts and changes that we never revisit. I would recommend,
Speaker 3: especially when just beginning to be pretty short in the
Speaker 3: time that you budget. Like again, if you get paid
Speaker 3: bi weekly, make your budget bi weekly and go from
Speaker 3: there until you really get a handle on what is
Speaker 3: my spending look like and what do I need to
Speaker 3: be accounting for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think one of the biggest things that makes
Speaker 1: budgeting complicated or complex is budgeting based on income you
Speaker 1: have not yet received. That can be really really confusing
Speaker 1: and make you really anxious if there's a bill coming
Speaker 1: up that's really close to when you get paid, so
Speaker 1: it can cause undue stress. So I think budgeting based
Speaker 1: on what you made last paycheck or what you made
Speaker 1: last month can relieve a lot of stress and make
Speaker 1: this smart budget technique a lot easier. And so, yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely when you're starting out, make those shorter budgets, week
Speaker 1: long budgets, two week long budgets, et cetera. But yeah,
Speaker 1: there's like you can definitely save up the amount of
Speaker 1: money that you got paid in the last pay period
Speaker 1: or the last month, and then use that buffer and
Speaker 1: budget off of that. If it's November, now use what
Speaker 1: you made in October and budget off of that for November,
Speaker 1: because you're not making any more money in October if
Speaker 1: it is November, so you know exactly what you have
Speaker 1: to work with. The money's already there, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: when a bill is due, all of that stuff. So
Speaker 1: I think that can take a lot of confusion out
Speaker 1: of budgeting.
Speaker 3: It does take a little bit of front end work
Speaker 3: to build up money in your account to do that.
Speaker 3: But once you've got it, you're golden exactly.
Speaker 1: So number two, go on a spending freeze. We just
Speaker 1: talked about going extreme to land in the middle, and
Speaker 1: that is what we're talking about here. So every little
Speaker 1: thing we spend money does add up. And while we
Speaker 1: are not promoting a lifestyle of nickeling and diming, when
Speaker 1: you do a no spend challenge or spending freeze for
Speaker 1: a period of time, you start to realize all the
Speaker 1: little things you're spending money on. It's much more powerful
Speaker 1: than just tracking your expenses because you're putting a stop.
Speaker 1: You're putting like a barrier between you and your spending habits.
Speaker 1: So you're disrupting that queue so that the habit loop
Speaker 1: can no longer function mindlessly. You have to be intentional
Speaker 1: about purchases and then sometimes you may still choose to
Speaker 1: make that purchase and then you have to, you know,
Speaker 1: focus on other things. But when you do something extreme,
Speaker 1: oftentimes at the end, if you're paying attention to what
Speaker 1: you're learning and you're intentional about that, then at the end,
Speaker 1: you can land yourself in the middle for the long term.
Speaker 1: And so I think that's a great strategy when you're
Speaker 1: getting started or when you just need to shake things up.
Speaker 1: If you're feeling stagnant, trying a no spend challenge is
Speaker 1: a great way to kind of regain some momentum and excitement.
Speaker 3: And it gamifies this process too. It can be fun
Speaker 3: to call it a challenge and to see, yeah, your
Speaker 3: fortitude in this area and then learn more about yourself.
Speaker 3: So we love those you.
Speaker 1: Know, we love a challenge, and you can even get
Speaker 1: our free seven day no spend challenge Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash free.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you know, you know our sponsor. So the
Speaker 3: third thing that they list on here of helping budgets
Speaker 3: not feel so restrictive is to find an accountability partner. Oh,
Speaker 3: things are so much more enjoyable with friends and buddies
Speaker 3: who have our best interests in mind. So when we're
Speaker 3: working on a budget or other goals, it truly does
Speaker 3: help to have a partner, someone who is on the
Speaker 3: same page as you, or who is just willing to
Speaker 3: help you stick to what you say you want to
Speaker 3: stick to and how they'll do that right. It's helpful
Speaker 3: if we can give the specifics of here's where I
Speaker 3: need support and encouragement and assistance. Here's the ways you
Speaker 3: can provide that to me and really come up with
Speaker 3: a plan together of how that person can help and
Speaker 3: if there's any reciprocity present there of are they also
Speaker 3: interested in you supporting them and encouraging them in a
Speaker 3: certain direction. I know, frugal friends is that for me?
Speaker 3: Jen you are that for me in so many ways.
Speaker 3: But also having even this larger community is so important
Speaker 3: on this journey, but specifically when we run against challenges
Speaker 3: that feel insurmountable to us, if we're really struggling with
Speaker 3: a budget, if they really feel super restricted to us,
Speaker 3: invite another trusted That's an important key component when we
Speaker 3: talk about accountability and vulnerability and being known by another person,
Speaker 3: letting someone else into our struggles that they're trusted, and
Speaker 3: again that there's some boundaries in the ways in which
Speaker 3: support and that accountability is going to look. But this
Speaker 3: will make the journey so much more enjoyable, so much
Speaker 3: more actually attainable and realistic. When you bring someone else
Speaker 3: else along for the journey, I would say that this
Speaker 3: could certainly be a spouse or partner, but it can
Speaker 3: also be a friend, depending on what the changes or
Speaker 3: goal that you have. It doesn't have to be someone
Speaker 3: that you're living with. It could certainly be someone outside
Speaker 3: of your household, A good trusted friend absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean Club BFF is kind of our solution to
Speaker 1: that problem. If you don't have anybody near you, you
Speaker 1: can join our online community and find that doors are
Speaker 1: not open right now, but we are going to open
Speaker 1: them at the end of December, so definitely start thinking
Speaker 1: about that. If start looking for people local, that's always
Speaker 1: the best, obviously, but if you don't have that, then
Speaker 1: check out Club BFF when doors reopen. And the fourth
Speaker 1: one is maybe my favorite. I don't know, make it fun.
Speaker 1: I do love a no Spen challenge, but I love
Speaker 1: fun more.
Speaker 3: I guess it's not forgal friends if it's not fun.
Speaker 1: Right, So the author I may be an odd ball,
Speaker 1: but I actually enjoy budgeting. Some people do. I'm not
Speaker 1: one of those people. So she uses a spreadsheet. I know,
Speaker 1: Jill and I both use Google sheets. That's our budgeting method.
Speaker 1: Hashtag free, hashtag free. But she says, try to do
Speaker 1: something fun while you're budgeting, instead of sitting at the
Speaker 1: kitchen table with your pen and paper, staring at the refrigerator,
Speaker 1: go outside to a nice scenic spot, work on your budget,
Speaker 1: play music. I would say, maybe like have a drink,
Speaker 1: eat a nice meal, whatever, things like that, dessert. Yeah,
Speaker 1: make budgeting fun for me, that's I guess not enough.
Speaker 1: Actually do just enjoy sitting in front of my computer
Speaker 1: and vegging out with a spreadsheet. It's just the budgeting
Speaker 1: that is kind of like a I'm neutral about the
Speaker 1: feeling I have about budgeting.
Speaker 3: Right, because it's not just about setting aside the time
Speaker 3: and drinking tea and sitting in the park making a spreadsheet.
Speaker 3: It's about the implementation. We can make a budget and
Speaker 3: not stick to it. So much of what we're talking
Speaker 3: about is what comes next or are the actions that
Speaker 3: flow out of that. But the budget can inform the actions.
Speaker 3: And if all around we've we've made it fun, we've
Speaker 3: made it enjoyable, attainable, approachable, we've connected it to our
Speaker 3: values and priorities, the implementation will come a lot more
Speaker 3: easily and naturally.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just make your budget fun. How about we do that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the whole process.
Speaker 1: Instead of the right, Instead of the making the budget
Speaker 1: a fun event, make the actual budget a fun.
Speaker 3: Budget implementation thing. Yeah, like, what what do you get
Speaker 3: to spend money on this month? And how have you
Speaker 3: made room for that? Oh? That's so fun? All right.
Speaker 3: Number five on here is use an accordion file. Okay,
Speaker 3: spoiler alert, they're just talking about cash envelope system. How
Speaker 3: cash envelope system can help us stick to our budget.
Speaker 1: I do love a good accordion file. I love organization.
Speaker 1: Who does love a good accordian file?
Speaker 3: They are fun. Whenever I see them, I always think
Speaker 3: that I need to purchase one, but I never really
Speaker 3: have like a reason to buy it.
Speaker 1: They just they're back in style. Like at Target, you
Speaker 1: can buy like fancy, trendy accordion files. So y'all out
Speaker 1: there here, And oh she's weird with the accordion file thing.
Speaker 1: Target's already on it. So I was not the first
Speaker 1: one to love the accordion file.
Speaker 3: All these basic bees are out here with accordian file.
Speaker 1: All of them are. I actually don't have an accordion
Speaker 1: file because I have a full like file cabinet. I
Speaker 1: have too many files for that. But if I was
Speaker 1: a single lady with maybe just ten forms of paperwork
Speaker 1: or something, I'd have an accordion file.
Speaker 3: Well, this is what they're saying, I don't know if
Speaker 3: I can fully get on board with this making it
Speaker 3: super fun or less restrictive. It's essentially I.
Speaker 1: Mean, I kind of got off the rails here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it might be a method that could help you
Speaker 3: if just budgeting is not going that well for you,
Speaker 3: to help see where you spending money, to stop spending
Speaker 3: money when the money runs out. It's a cash envelope system, right,
Speaker 3: So the idea is you've got one slot for groceries,
Speaker 3: another slot for transportation. When the money runs out of
Speaker 3: those categories, you're done. You can't go anywhere, you can't
Speaker 3: eat anymore. In essence, there's plenty out there on cash
Speaker 3: envelope systems. We're not going to get super into it.
Speaker 3: It's not for everybody. It's not for me. I can't
Speaker 3: carry around that much cash. And actually for me, I
Speaker 3: feel more freedom to spend when I do have cash
Speaker 3: because I'm like, there's no trail, Like I spend this
Speaker 3: cash and it's not going to show up in my
Speaker 3: bank account, so like I'm.
Speaker 1: Able to just like it doesn't exist.
Speaker 3: Yeah, go on, So it doesn't. It doesn't work for me.
Speaker 3: If it works for you, that's amazing. If it gives
Speaker 3: your reason to buy an accordion file and that's fun
Speaker 3: for you. Great, really have a solution for not losing
Speaker 3: all of your cash. If you're a person who like
Speaker 3: often loses your keys, don't do this.
Speaker 1: Okay, here's a better solution, and thank you technology for
Speaker 1: giving us solutions to all of our problems. So Cube Money,
Speaker 1: who is a partner of the show. They do a
Speaker 1: digital envelope system or a digital accordion file system, whichever
Speaker 1: you prefer, but you can have it's actually you put
Speaker 1: your money in a bank. Cube is a banking app
Speaker 1: and you can distribute it into different cubes which are
Speaker 1: different areas of your accordion file, and then you can
Speaker 1: spend out of that. So it is the envelope system
Speaker 1: without having to carry around cash. So if you are
Speaker 1: paying off debt, ten times out of ten, I recommend
Speaker 1: and using Cube so you can get more frugal friends,
Speaker 1: podcast dot com, slash qube and find out more about them.
Speaker 1: But ten times out of ten, it is a long
Speaker 1: time coming that this solution has, you know, we've been
Speaker 1: waiting for. But yeah, so this is highly recommend if
Speaker 1: you need parameters like that to stick to your budget.
Speaker 3: Great, solution for the Accordion file that's coming back, and
Speaker 3: there's a lot of things that are coming back, like
Speaker 3: the mullet, and I'm wondering now about the fanny pack
Speaker 3: and if maybe we should come up with like a
Speaker 3: fanny pack budgeting system.
Speaker 1: I feel like you could put an Accordion fuss small Accordian.
Speaker 3: File into the fanny pack.
Speaker 1: It's almost a perfect fit, and then your fanny it's
Speaker 1: just too perfect. And so this might be the only
Speaker 1: reason I wouldn't recommend Cube is that if you really
Speaker 1: want to have a fanny pack Accordion file budget, which
Speaker 1: they're on the same level, the Cube money and the
Speaker 1: Accordian file fanny pack.
Speaker 3: And then if you want to have extra security, you
Speaker 3: just put your shirt over the fanny pack, so no
Speaker 3: one knows that you've got a fanny pack full of
Speaker 3: money to stick to your budget. You're just out here
Speaker 3: having fun keeping your money safe under your shirt, inside
Speaker 3: your fanny pack, inside the Accordian file wow.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Or you can just wear it across
Speaker 1: your chest like all of the gen z TikTokers, and
Speaker 1: then nobody's going to think you have money in there anyway,
Speaker 1: because they think you're a child. So there are so
Speaker 1: many ways. I mean, really, these solutions are limitless. They
Speaker 1: have limits, and that's why they're great. Maybe, And then.
Speaker 3: That's why we use digital solutions when the trending styles
Speaker 3: don't really give us what we want.
Speaker 1: But if you're interested in being trend I mean, don't
Speaker 1: sleep on this accordion file fanning pack.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's just fun, and that that'll help and not
Speaker 3: feel like deprivation for sure. You know what else is
Speaker 3: not limitless? What is limitless but.
Speaker 1: Has a limit. And maybe that's why the bill.
Speaker 4: Of the week, that's right, it's time for the best
Speaker 4: minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born
Speaker 4: and his name is Williams.
Speaker 2: Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died
Speaker 2: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 2: That's bills, Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Bills, Bill Clinton.
Speaker 4: This is the bill of the week.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna do two bills this week, because why not,
Speaker 1: We're just gonna We're just gonna hang out with them.
Speaker 1: So here is our first bill.
Speaker 5: Of the week.
Speaker 1: Is my lowest credit card.
Speaker 6: I just finished pain off my balance in at ow
Speaker 6: zero dollars.
Speaker 3: I feel great.
Speaker 1: That's awesome say no to lows credit cards? Yeah, yeh
Speaker 1: that hated.
Speaker 3: Are well done? What a good feeling. We are celebrating
Speaker 3: with you for that bill that you no longer have anymore.
Speaker 1: All right, and here is our second.
Speaker 5: Bill, my free cool friend. It's Kate Tear from the UK.
Speaker 5: My bill of the week is my moving bill. So
Speaker 5: we have bought a house this year, and what with
Speaker 5: all of the cost of moving, like solicitor's fees and
Speaker 5: you know, listing the house on the market and you know,
Speaker 5: the estate agent fees and everything, it all tops up
Speaker 5: to about six thousand pounds. And the start of the
Speaker 5: year I started using wine app and it's completely revolutionized
Speaker 5: my budgeting. I sat down and actually tried to understand
Speaker 5: their fall rules and really kind of invested some time
Speaker 5: into it and actually follow their full rules. And the
Speaker 5: embrace your true expenses rule has completely revolutionized my budget.
Speaker 5: So using these four rules, we have been able to
Speaker 5: cash flow our moving expenses.
Speaker 6: So that's really exciting and I'm really proud of myself.
Speaker 6: I'm really proud of my husband. Great work on the podcast.
Speaker 6: It's amazing and you're hilarious, so keep it up.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, Case that is awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, OK, from the UK, we're an amazing We don't
Speaker 3: listen to these bills ahead of time, so self fitting
Speaker 3: with what we're chatting about today, and really thrilled with
Speaker 3: you that wineab has worked for you. It has really
Speaker 3: helped you not be surprised by these moving expenses which
Speaker 3: can really be shocking. I mean six thousand pounds above
Speaker 3: and beyond the purchase of the home and everything that
Speaker 3: you need to be able to move and yet to
Speaker 3: be able to cash flow that as a result of
Speaker 3: looking at your budget and preparing for it. Well well done.
Speaker 3: Hope you're enjoying your new place and beginning to settle
Speaker 3: in a bit. And thanks for your words of encouragement.
Speaker 3: Glad you find us funny. We laugh at ourselves, so
Speaker 3: it's good to know other people are laughing too, whether
Speaker 3: it's with us or at us. We're here for it all.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much, Kate. That was so great.
Speaker 1: So if you have a great bill, like you paid
Speaker 1: off a credit card, or you cash flowed your moving
Speaker 1: costs or anything, then please visit our website www. Dot
Speaker 1: frugal friends dot com slash bill to leave us your
Speaker 1: bill of the week.
Speaker 3: And now it's time for.
Speaker 1: The lightning Lightning round.
Speaker 3: Give it to us, Jen, what are we doing for
Speaker 3: this lightning room?
Speaker 1: We're talking about cool things that we budget for.
Speaker 3: That was it.
Speaker 1: Jill really thought it was going to be more in
Speaker 1: depth than this.
Speaker 3: I'm always a little bit more complicated in the way
Speaker 3: that I get my thoughts out.
Speaker 1: But today we're just going to be talking about our
Speaker 1: version of non deprived budgets and what they included, I
Speaker 1: guess maybe now, and what they included while we were
Speaker 1: paying off debt. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 3: Ooh, curveball. All right, you want me to go if
Speaker 3: you have something? Yeah, yeah, sure, Okay. When I was
Speaker 3: paying off debt, real talk friends, my frugal friends, I
Speaker 3: was living on a very low income with Eric. Both
Speaker 3: of us are living on a very low income living
Speaker 3: life for sure, but did not have a lot of
Speaker 3: discretionary income once our very minimal expenses were paid. But
Speaker 3: yet gum was important to me. You've heard me talk
Speaker 3: about this before. There was always a few quarters, pennies,
Speaker 3: nickels and dimes lying around for me to get that
Speaker 3: pack of gum. Was that was always in the budget
Speaker 3: and currently still food related. Still things I'm putting in
Speaker 3: my mouth at this point that is cool and fun
Speaker 3: for me to spend money on. Which is food, well,
Speaker 3: I mean gum is obviously, and then food. So you've
Speaker 3: heard me talk about this already, even in this episode,
Speaker 3: where Okay, one thousand dollars a month is pretty steep
Speaker 3: to spend on, so we've gotten it down to like
Speaker 3: you all might cringe at this, but hey, there's freedom
Speaker 3: for me, and it's guilt free, shamefree. We're at about
Speaker 3: eight hundred dollars a month that I budget for food now,
Speaker 3: to be fair, that is groceries, takeout, restaurants, everything, food
Speaker 3: eight hundred dollars a month. Because it's just for Eric
Speaker 3: and I, we realized one of the most important aspects
Speaker 3: of discretionary spending. We value eating good food, We value
Speaker 3: going out with other people. We value having fun at
Speaker 3: home nights of feasting. So that's I really will cut
Speaker 3: in so many other areas so that we can have
Speaker 3: food that we enjoy and go out guilt free.
Speaker 1: We feel similarly. I think that's probably around our budget.
Speaker 1: We're a little lower than that. We can't go out
Speaker 1: as often because we have a toddler, so our food
Speaker 1: budgets all less than that, but it might be higher
Speaker 1: if we were not young parents. So yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: I'm full on board for me. So when I was
Speaker 1: paying off debt, I think you all might be surprised
Speaker 1: to know that I made it a point to include
Speaker 1: coffee in my budget. Please don't judge me. I mean,
Speaker 1: judge me if you will. It's just something that was
Speaker 1: like a huge sticking point for me. And part of
Speaker 1: it is Travis doesn't drink coffee, so this is still
Speaker 1: something that we talk about as being something he doesn't
Speaker 1: really understand why I spend money there because he didn't
Speaker 1: get it. So it's just like always top of mind.
Speaker 1: But it's small things like that, and it has dressed.
Speaker 1: There are seasons where I enjoy it, and there's seasons
Speaker 1: where I don't get takeout coffee at all, Like it
Speaker 1: just depends. I like working at a coffee shops. I
Speaker 1: wrote my entire first book at a coffee shop. I
Speaker 1: anticipate writing the second edition next week, adding to it
Speaker 1: probably every day at a coffee shop is probably what
Speaker 1: I will do. So that was something that was important
Speaker 1: to me while we were paying off debt and something
Speaker 1: that I really prioritized.
Speaker 3: I love how you push against that because so many
Speaker 3: people are going to say, cut coffee. Look at how
Speaker 3: much you spend a year in this category. But you're saying,
Speaker 3: there's room to be able to purchase the thing that
Speaker 3: you enjoy if you look at all these other line
Speaker 3: items in your budget.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm all about the cappuccino. Cappuccino fact, capuccino factor.
Speaker 1: I'm all about the cappuccino factor.
Speaker 3: Remind us what that is jen for those who haven't
Speaker 3: listened to previous episodes.
Speaker 1: So the cappuccino factor is just going to the coffee shop,
Speaker 1: but instead of getting the five dollars latte, you get
Speaker 1: the four dollars cappuccino, and then you could go essentially
Speaker 1: over five times. You get a free cappuccino, right, because
Speaker 1: you save a dollar every time, so you can go
Speaker 1: and get more coffee.
Speaker 3: It's essentially the same thing, just different ratios of espresso
Speaker 3: to steamed milk.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and you save the calories on the steamed milk.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: So there's so many benefits. And this works especially well
Speaker 1: in the cold season because I prefer an iced latte,
Speaker 1: and that's a jip. You know, you don't get an
Speaker 1: iced cappuccino. But yeah, so try the cappuccino factor and
Speaker 1: get all the coffee you want boo. So that was
Speaker 1: me paying off debt, and then we found ways to
Speaker 1: get around eating out. Is that we would do mystery shopping.
Speaker 1: I think mystery Yeah, that's like so underrated, so we
Speaker 1: really wouldn't spend money there. But now I would say
Speaker 1: take out take out. We don't do sit down restaurants
Speaker 1: very often, maybe every other month, once a quarter maybe,
Speaker 1: but we do take out several times a week, and
Speaker 1: I schedule it in a budgeted in and I love
Speaker 1: my takeout. It's always a pretty affordable takeout too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're usually getting from taco places, and takeout is
Speaker 3: more affordable than going to a restaurant because you're just
Speaker 3: paying for the food, you're not necessarily paying for weight service.
Speaker 3: But both have its value and its place. I see
Speaker 3: why people liked it so much. Yes, yeah, because I
Speaker 3: love talking about not depriving myself.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think the biggest thing that maybe I've changed
Speaker 1: on is like my view of smart goals. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time sensitive.
Speaker 1: But the people focus so much on that without really
Speaker 1: focusing on the actions. And you think of a goal,
Speaker 1: it can be arbitrary, like I want to use lose
Speaker 1: fifty pounds, and you can for sure make that smart,
Speaker 1: but it's still arbitrary. If you're making a goal of
Speaker 1: I want to eat one hundred and fifty grams of
Speaker 1: protein daily, that's a better smart goal. So both of
Speaker 1: them can be smart goals, but some are better than others.
Speaker 1: So I think that is the biggest thing that I
Speaker 1: have learned since this episode. But I still love the
Speaker 1: choosing three guilt free expenses. Like when you start and
Speaker 1: you're feeling guilty about spending money you've budgeted, if you
Speaker 1: just choose three, that's a really good gateway.
Speaker 3: I have not changed one bit, one single tiny bit.
Speaker 3: I know you have. I am still budgeting for gum
Speaker 3: and food like special food, like going out. It's still there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm actually on a buying coffee fast right now.
Speaker 1: For being honest, I started to see myself developing a
Speaker 1: habit of it, and I was like, nope, I will
Speaker 1: still buy it if I am working at a coffee
Speaker 1: shop because I know I value that, or if somebody,
Speaker 1: if a friend would invite me to coffee, which happens
Speaker 1: very rarely nowadays, but drive through line. I won't buy
Speaker 1: it through the drive through line right now.
Speaker 3: I like that limitation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's you always got to revisit these things every
Speaker 1: once in a while because it's a journey. You don't
Speaker 1: master this and then never have to work on yourself again.
Speaker 1: It's always it's about revisiting what an expense means to
Speaker 1: you and in what context it fulfills that value.
Speaker 3: It isn't deprivation, but it might be sacrifice, yes, and
Speaker 3: that's good, pretty good for us, preach. Thanks so much
Speaker 3: for listening everyone again, please do cue up those other episodes.
Speaker 3: You don't have to leave us just because we're leaving
Speaker 3: you right now. And if you don't already know, we
Speaker 3: have a modern frugal living ebook that is free because
Speaker 3: we just we love giving you free staff, free podcasts,
Speaker 3: free ebook, free friend letter in you're inbox, free merch
Speaker 3: because you're telling other people about the friend Letter and
Speaker 3: it's specifically the ebook is available for you to grab
Speaker 3: all year round. And we wanted to give a shout
Speaker 3: out to this one friend who gave the ebook a sweet,
Speaker 3: sweet review. This came from Natalie, and it said helpful tips.
Speaker 3: Your podcast and workbook have been helpful for getting my
Speaker 3: spending under control. I love the week long No Spend challenge.
Speaker 3: It has been an eye opener for me. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: That's great, Natalie. Because the week long No Spend Challenge
Speaker 1: is also free, you can go to Frugalfriends dot shop
Speaker 1: and I think the links should be right on the
Speaker 1: home page to get that. So and that's just like
Speaker 1: a kind of a week long intensive of giving up
Speaker 1: all discretionary spending so you can more easily identify your
Speaker 1: values so that you can better budget without deprivation. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening. If you want more,
Speaker 1: then please please please Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash friend
Speaker 1: letter to get so all these goodies and more in
Speaker 1: your inbox three times a week. Make your inbox a
Speaker 1: safe space, get rid of the marketing emails. Put good
Speaker 1: life giving stuff in your inbox.
Speaker 3: See you next time.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani.
Speaker 3: Jen Jill. I have a recent example of frugality for you,
Speaker 3: tell me about it or savings.
Speaker 1: Is this from you or that you witnessed?
Speaker 3: No from me? My experience witness sing my own experience. Yeah,
Speaker 3: being an active participant and an observer, is that possible?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: So doctor prescribed me this round of medicine that I
Speaker 3: had to go to the pharmacy for. And I expected
Speaker 3: because I have had this prescription in the past, and
Speaker 3: I expected it to be somewhere in the range of
Speaker 3: six to twenty dollars because it should not be very
Speaker 3: expensive what it was that I was getting. And I
Speaker 3: show up to the desk of the pharmacy and they're like,
Speaker 3: that'll be sixty seven dollars what for this? What? And
Speaker 3: because we are practiced in the ways of questioning and
Speaker 3: curiosity and being willing to take a pause, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: hold on, give me a minute. Feel free to help
Speaker 3: the person behind me. I step out of line. I
Speaker 3: recall back to tips that we've discovered and have been
Speaker 3: given into us along the way of good RX. Download
Speaker 3: the app, sign up for the free trial. I am
Speaker 3: going to have to remember to cancel because I don't
Speaker 3: get enough prescriptions for it to be worth You can
Speaker 3: get it for free, but then the top tier is
Speaker 3: ten dollars a month, and I'm like, might as well
Speaker 3: get the free trial because I don't know what additional
Speaker 3: discounts I might be able to get on this particular medication.
Speaker 3: So do it. All that takes me a few minutes.
Speaker 3: I go back up to the counter, right, I'm like,
Speaker 3: does this mean anything to you? I mean I didn't
Speaker 3: say it quite like that.
Speaker 1: Mean, does this mean anything to you?
Speaker 3: I show her the little number that she's supposed to
Speaker 3: type in. She's like, yeah, I can dry. That brings
Speaker 3: it down to twenty four dollars.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 3: Who yeah, of forty dollar savings. Because I wasn't afraid
Speaker 3: to take a pause step aside, download an app and
Speaker 3: do it. However, that was paired with a little bit
Speaker 3: of anger, honestly because number one, obviously this pharmacist knows
Speaker 3: about GoodRx and what it could save you. So it's
Speaker 3: kind of a bummer that she didn't say, Hey, do
Speaker 3: you happen to have this app? Additionally, what is going
Speaker 3: on with the medical world around us that you have
Speaker 3: to be in the know.
Speaker 1: Oh God, we can't start Yeah, we can't start with that.
Speaker 1: That's you. We can't even this after shows too show.
Speaker 3: I know we don't have time, I mean don't. I'm
Speaker 3: glad I don't have the energy or my forty dollars savings.
Speaker 3: But I am going to be honest that it was
Speaker 3: paired with other emotions.
Speaker 1: I don't have the energy teach.
Speaker 3: But there you go. Now you can be in the know.
Speaker 3: You too can be one of those people because you
Speaker 3: have to be part of a club to know about
Speaker 3: how to save money.
Speaker 1: Yes, and this is something we will write about in
Speaker 1: a future friend letter that you can forward to your
Speaker 1: friends and help them be in the know.
Speaker 3: Too, and you can get a tote because of it.
Speaker 1: We all need to help each other. The individual is
Speaker 1: no longer capable of solving all of their problems. We
Speaker 1: need to help each other. And I just don't have
Speaker 1: the energy to yell right now. Jill, you don't have
Speaker 1: to help care system. I don't. Oh okay, bye bye