WEBVTT - Frugality Gives You Options #028 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.960 Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:25.160 and today we're talking about how frugality gives you options. Yeah. Oh, 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:27.720 and Joel, we need you to update us on RAPI five. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:29.520 You know how you're making money by having your car 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:31.640 wrap I want to hear all right, I'll give you 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.000 the update. So I think Rapifi is cool and I 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:36.960 think it would probably work well for a lot of people. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.800 I currently, right now, I have made ninety dollars and 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.000 sixty seven cents driving my car a total of three 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.960 dred and forty three miles that you would have driven 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.360 anyway that I would have driven anyway. And here's the thing. 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.600 I've been on vacation and I've been biking a lot, 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.480 so I haven't been driving my car nearly as much 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.280 as Yeah, you don't take your electric car when you 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.360 go to the beach, right, Yeah, of course I couldn't 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.240 make it there. So, uh, it's been it's been good. 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.240 It's been a fun experiment. A lot of people ask 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.040 me if I work for Salesforce, because so, let let's 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:11.880 set it up for everybody. I got my car wrapped 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.160 and there's a company called rapid Fi. You can download 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.880 the app they will test your driving and kind of 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.240 decide whether or not you will work for one of 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.680 their campaigns. And so I got signed up for their 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.600 Salesforce dot Com campaign and so I've got this this 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.240 advertising wrapped around my niecean leaf um. And so for 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.240 a lot of people that commute to drive a long 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.400 distance in major cities, this could work out really well. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.959 But for me, I just I bike too much and 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.880 I don't drive enough when I do drive. And so 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.920 you know, I've I've made ninety bucks, like I said, 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.679 but uh, I just I don't see it for me 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.240 being worth it ultimately. Wait, so when did like the 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.440 campaign start for you? Then? Has it been like a month? Yeah, 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:54.960 it's been a little over a month at this point. 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:56.840 I think I think a month and a half at 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.080 this point. Okay, so you're not quite making, I guess 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:00.800 as much as you thought. But a lot of that 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.160 has to do the fact that, yeah, that you haven't 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:04.480 been driving. Yeah, exactly how that was gonna work out, 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.200 because you know that campaign and the incentive to drive, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:11.040 it's kind of like it's the opposite of what we 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.640 like to do totally, which is biking and not driving places. 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:16.400 And I knew that I just I wanted to give 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.000 it a shot. He's worth trying to see how pan out. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.440 I love kitchy, weird things, and this was exactly that. 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.280 And uh, the cool thing is about Rapifi two they 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.040 have these things called swarms, and so they'll still shoot 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.000 you a message and say, hey, if you can drive 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:31.880 in this one part of town for an hour on 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.280 Saturday from one to two, we'll pay you an extra 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.720 thirty bucks or something like that. So it's kind of cool, 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:39.040 like there's these additional ways to make money. I will 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.480 say all about that, Yeah, right, I will say. The 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.800 downside of rapifi is the communication is terrible, uh, within 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.240 the app. And so I was having an issue with 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.880 the recording, you know, my driving for a minute, and 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.000 so I wrote them and they said, well, you haven't 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.160 updated the pictures from your car. Apparently supposed to do 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.240 that every two weeks. I didn't know that, Like the 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.680 app didn't prompt me to do that or anything. And 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.520 so just to like make sure you still have it 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.440 on your car, Yeah, exactly like that, it's not messed 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:05.920 up or I didn't rip it off with my own 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.160 bare hands or something like that. So you had griff 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.639 feded on your own car on the on the picture. Yeah, 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.120 so I think you know, ultimately I'm I'm essentially beta 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.280 testing Rapidfi at the same time while they're kind of 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.480 trying to see if they're business model flies. But hopefully 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.800 they'll get better at some some stuff like that communication 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:24.200 and notifications through the app. But definitely a worthwhile shot 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.519 for me to test this out. Ninety bucks for doing 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:28.960 nothing essentially and how long? So how long does this 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.600 campaign end? And I guess my big question is, aren't like, 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:33.760 will you do the next campaign that you qualify for? 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.119 So they say it last for two months, and so yeah, 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:37.920 I'm guessing it's a couple of weeks then for you 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.920 coming coming to a close pretty soon. And no, I 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:42.720 can't imagine I'll sign up for the next one. Like 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.040 we said, just getting down there, putting the wrap on, 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.480 going back down to take taken off all that stuff. 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.840 You know, it's just kind of an inconvenience and then 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.600 finding out that maybe the miles aren't getting tracked and 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.240 having to follow that. It's just it's just kind of 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:56.800 a pain and I just don't need that in my 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:58.760 life for the little amount of money it's making. But 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.720 like I said, if you are driving a lot, if 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.520 you're commuting to and from work, you know, miles every 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.680 day each way. You know, rapified could be a great 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:10.760 kind of side piece of income for you. And I 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.640 think for a lot of people it would be worth it. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:14.320 Just not worth it for me in the way I 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.520 live life. Nice enough about my car, though, I saw you. 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.000 You've got some beastings on your hand. What happened working 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.120 over at the rental house? You said, So, I've got 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.360 a couple two or three yellow jacket stings. Not bees, man, 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.680 So yellow jackets, I think are I know, are way 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:29.480 more painful because I've got I get you get stung 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.359 by a bee like you're cutting the grass or whatever. 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:32.920 You get stung on the on the leg or something, 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.840 no big deal. Yellow jackets, on the other hand, hurt 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.240 way more, dude. And my hand has been so itchy 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.800 and swollen. It's actually the best it's been right now. 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.200 But it was look pretty puffy. Man, a few days ago, 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.120 I was over there. Oh okay, yeah, So the reason 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.560 I was over there is my h VAC went out 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.640 over there, like it crept out completely. You know. It's 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:52.400 really fun and July to have your HVACT go out 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.680 of your rental property. Oh man, I felt so bad 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.240 for the girls that are over there. But so this 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:59.520 is the newest rental and I knew when we got 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.560 the house that had an older system may not last 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.000 very long. So it was no surprise that that happened. 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.280 Had the cash set aside and my special little fun 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.320 that I have set up for that that property, and 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:10.600 we went we went ahead and just replaced the whole system, 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.160 not just the condenser. Is that was the condenser, the compressor, 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.520 not just that, but were like, you know what furnace 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.000 to what it was. The furnace is about twenty years 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.520 old and they would have had to retrofit it and 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.040 kind of do all this fancy duck work just to 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.359 get to hook up and say, you know, you may 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:27.960 as well just go ahead and do it. Have a 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.640 fresh system in there. You know, it's good, everything works together, 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.840 all that kind of stuff. But my fat girl, she's good, 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.480 by the way, which I don't think you hear that 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:37.880 very often. H H, fat girl. I know I love 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.280 that normally here like H fact H. Fat guy. She's 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.520 a legit man. She's got a crew, she's got her 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.280 like company. Hat I love it. It's her own company 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.200 and I've used her for projects in the past and 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.320 she's you know, she's awesome. But that being said, I 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:56.560 still don't like partying with uh bucks uh in the 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.280 middle of the summer. Man, isn't it no fun? That's 0:05:58.279 --> 0:05:59.919 no fun? So wait, how did the beast things come up? 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.120 Them billy yellow jacket stings? Oh so I was over 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.200 there showing her where I wanted the new unit because 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.440 the current compressor was actually installed under the deck, which 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:09.520 is not something that you want been there and done 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.800 that I had to move it before. Yes, I was 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:13.920 over there showing her where I wanted the new one 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.000 to go, and dude, there was like a nest of 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.680 twenty of them underneath the old pad, you know, like 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:22.479 the plastic path that they set the thing on to 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.320 keep it level. Yeah, yeah, we we all got got 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.880 lit up. Did she get stuck? I felt bad, but 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.239 she kind of rolled with it. She's tough. She's probably 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.200 used to running into all sorts of crazy things in 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.000 that line of work. So yeah, I think I had 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.320 more tears than she did, and I was like, no 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:43.960 alt So, speaking of beastings years or worse, I think 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.080 probably than what I got, but I was clearlow jacket 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:49.320 stings yellow. Yeah, sorry, my bad way worse. So I 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.600 was cleaning out the gutters one time at my rental property. 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.039 I was, you know, two floors up on the edge 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:55.960 of you know, certain death if I fall if I 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.720 fall down these two stories, or at least, you know, 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.200 not being able to use my for reas of my life. Right. 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.640 And so I'm cleaning out the gutters by hand, and 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.760 I hit this nest of bees and they totally you know, 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.240 I get stung like four or five times on my 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.320 hand in my arm, and it's all I can do 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.640 just to just to keep going, like just all right, 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.400 I'm okay, I'm okay, back up, back away from the ledge, 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.160 and yeah, it's just not fun doing that kind of stuff. 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.240 But I can see, like the old school comedy, just 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.320 the ladder like tipping back like you freak out and 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.160 just smashing. So I was like sitting on the roof 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:28.960 doing it. I wasn't even I wasn't on the ladder. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.000 I was sitting on the roof. So, oh my god, 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.800 maybe like not the safest way to do it either. 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.560 I don't know, I probably wouldn't depends. I mean if 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.040 you have a low pitched roof, sitting on the roof 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.120 is isn't a bad way to go. But that does 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:41.680 make me think of one more thing before we get 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.680 to the beer we're drinking. I think we're really it's 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.760 icing people to wanna get their own get their own 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.240 rental property going. So in that same house, I just 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:51.680 recently had new gutters put in. Yes, so they were 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.720 ripping away from the house, and Uh, that's just not 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.920 good for the waterflow, right for what you know, water 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:58.880 can get in between you know, the walls and the 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.280 facial board and the utter. Yeah, yeah, that's bad. You 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.480 don't want that happening. So I got new gutters installed. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.920 And it's worth, by the way, the extra hundred dollars 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.000 to get the gutter guards put on. When when you're 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.240 negotiating that with your gutter installer. Uh. And then this 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.120 was a small house, so on a bigger house it 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.120 could be you know, more than that, a whole two 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.640 hundred dollars, right, But one while they're up there, put 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.040 the gutter guards on. It's you going to save you 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.280 from having to clean out leaves often. And if you 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.120 hire someone to do it, you know, that's expensive. To 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.360 get done every six months, so instead get out your 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.640 flowers for itself and like in no time one year 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.000 or something like that, completely and just not having to 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.360 worry about it think about it. Yeah, it's so nice. 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:38.280 So I've done that. Every time I get new gutters 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.520 on at a property, I always, you know, put the 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:42.840 extra the leaf guard, not the you know, they do 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.120 advertisements for these specialty leaf guard systems which are really expensive, 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.880 but just the regular old metal ones that cover it 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.560 was a little a little great like little screen that exactly, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.640 but just put those on at the same time. Completely 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:55.920 worth it. That's more and more. I'm at the stage 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.760 in life and maybe this is because we're getting older, 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.800 we're out of our out of our full years, but 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.000 I'm willing to spend just a little bit more to 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:04.880 kind of do something the right way, you know, just 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.160 go ahead and do it properly. Again, this kind of 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:08.680 goes back. I mean, if you listen to the last 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.320 episode we talked about rental properties, we talked about how 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.720 Joe and I both want to be landlords forever potentially, 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.440 Like this is kind of like our long term a 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.840 long term gig, and when you start thinking it, thinking 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.880 about it, through that lens, and I started thinking, Man, 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.120 do I want to have to come back in like 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.640 five years and deal with this sort of problem again 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:29.760 because I just kind of went went with the cheap 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.400 route on it. Yea more and more, I'm like, all right, 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.160 let's just spend an extra a few bucks now and 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.679 just to save the headache of a having to revisit it, 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.640 but then also to to have that expense again. You know, 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.240 I'm definitely getting the mindset of doing it right the 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.160 first time. Yeah, I completely agree. Uh And that actually, 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:47.720 you know, makes me think about the topic that we're 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:51.280 about to address. Frugality like do do we doesn't mean 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.360 spending the least amount possible or uh, like we're gonna 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.920 talk about doesn't mean getting value from what you purchased. 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.800 So we'll get to that in one second, but first, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.880 let's pop this beer. Nice dude, I know you're so 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.439 excited about this beer. You literally, I mean you basically 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.320 skipped through the door when you when you come over, 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:08.719 I was like being over to the house. I was 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.480 like beaming from from ear to ear. So this, wait, 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.520 before you say it, you're gonna be so proud of 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:14.839 me and all of our listeners are gonna be so 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.400 proud too, because I looked up how to say it. 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.240 Look at you? Yeah, because okay, so since you know, 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:20.840 can I try and then you tell me if I'm right? 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:26.520 Dre Fontane? Would you say it one more time? Dre Fontane? Okay, 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.200 So I saw that some people say that from what 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.360 seemed like the most legitimate source. They say, so the 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:38.800 emphasis is on, Hey, so it's Dre fontanees. That's all right? Sure, 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.880 I don't know, man, we've gotten caught up with some names. 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.320 We've through some recently, you know. I figured if we 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.600 can at least maybe say the dang brewery. So again, 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.280 that's Dre Fontane in and yeah most I think most 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:53.640 people just say free Fontaine because I mean in the 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.040 translation literally three fountains. Yeah, that's right, right, Okay, So 0:10:58.040 --> 0:10:59.319 that's it. That's all I'm gonna say. I want to 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.200 let you give the rest of the scoop. Having been 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:05.440 to Belgium, so I feel like I might be guilty 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:07.199 of saying this. Every time I would say something like 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:08.960 I'm so stoked for this beer or this is my 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.560 favorite style. I feel like that happens a lot, which 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.120 means I like a lot of beers and I have 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.040 a lot of favorite styles. Uh, this is definitely right 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.240 up there, though. This is from one of my favorite 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.840 breweries of all time that I've ever had anything from 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:22.720 in the whole world though, in the whole world. Yeah, 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:27.240 right there, right outside of Brussels, Belgium. And again, I 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:28.640 don't know how to pronounce it. Well, I'm gonna say 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.679 Dreef Fontaine, but this was their ud Creek, and an 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:36.440 ude creek is spontaneously fermented beer that is aged for 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.600 multiple years with cherries. Then I've had just a couple 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.559 of their beers before. They're hard to come by here 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.800 in the States and they're kind of expensive. And this 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.000 is one that I bought on my trip to Paris. 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.040 I got it at that beer store when I did 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.920 the beer trade with Chris, and so I'm I'm really 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.920 really excited to have this beer again because I love 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.640 everything these guys do, and a good creek cherry beer is, man, 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.640 it just does it for me. Yeah, and it's got 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.640 this beautiful red color, Matt beautiful, Yeah, nice kind of 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.240 a ruby burgundy looks gorgeous, you know what, Like it 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:13.240 just looks like a cherry. You feel like you can 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.319 actually stick your hand in the beer and pull out 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.360 a bunch of cherries. That's that's the way I feel 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:21.920 looking at this. So cheers, Bunny, cheers. So delicious. Once 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.480 I stop salivating after drinking this, I can actually talk. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:30.719 It reminds me of like an old banana peel. Oh no, 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.200 I'm not selling it, but it's got that you know. 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.480 You know what I'm saying. You taste it, so, you know, 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.840 you know the way an old banana peal smells like 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:39.199 when it's kind of been sitting there at the bottom 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:40.679 of the lunch sack. I can see why you say that. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:42.800 You feel it. Yep, you know. The weirdest taste was 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.199 so they but I like it. Yeah, I'm saying I'm 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.600 not saying that like, oh, gross old banana. I'm saying 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.600 that this is sort of what it what it evokes. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:51.600 I guess I don't know, but I mean, if this 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.480 is what old banana peles tastes like, dude, turn me 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.880 up up for more, no doubt. So I'm so glad 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:57.959 you're able to bring this back to you. This is 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:02.480 delicious me too. So tree contane food creek. Man, if 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:04.600 you do find it, it's it's just got this big 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.440 number three on the bottle in a big green bottle. 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.040 So yeah, it's delicious, all right, Matt. Onto the topic 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.360 at hand. Frugality gives you options. Yeah, and I think 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.080 we really wanted to cover this topic, Matt, because we've 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:18.600 talked you know in some ways you know how to 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:20.880 cut your monthly bills or that you know there are 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.880 articles on our site about how to shop your insurance 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.320 arounds that you're paying the lowest amount possible, and there 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.200 are a lot of ways that you can save money 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.560 or think about money differently. We've covered a lot of 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.520 topics at this point, but but ultimately, in my opinion, 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:40.880 frugality kind of undergirds everything. And without a solid mentality 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.560 and reason for frugality, uh, all those other things just 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.200 out in the ether don't seem to really make a 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.319 lot of sense or click with without that kind of 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.080 core view of frugality and belief in frugality as a 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.760 principle of life. Yeah, that's right, I think frugality. It's 0:13:57.800 --> 0:13:59.640 it's about time that we've sort of talked about and 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.520 spending entire episode. I know you've been wanting to do 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:03.839 this for a minute here, and so to actually spend 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.000 some time talking about frugality. Uh, it should become very 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.000 clear how that's like a core pillar of poor not 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.200 poor and the life we we try to live in 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.040 our attitude towards money and so a common view, uh, 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.000 that a lot of people have that we hear often 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.080 is that I make enough money to have the kind 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.280 of lifestyle that I want to live, So why what 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.680 I even want to be frugal and why should I 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.360 skimp on things? I think that's a lot of people's view, right. 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.360 They either think what's the point, like they have no 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.760 reason to to be frugal, or they think that they 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.800 already are being frugal, and in reality maybe they're really not. 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:39.640 We'll spend a little bit of time talking about that. 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.920 But I mean the biggest answer though to to the 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.960 question is that things change. Right, So your income, jobs, 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.800 the goals that you have in life, all that can change. 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.320 And so if you think that my life is fine 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:53.720 the way it is now, I can just spend every 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:57.320 penny that I make towards you know, sustaining my lifestyle. Unfortunately, 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.520 that's just a near sided sort of view to life 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.560 and in particular your finances, and so spending less than 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.280 having the ability to live on less. I mean, that's 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.840 the answer, right, and essentially that's what frugality is. Yeah, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.600 mat And I've never really heard complaints from people that 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.400 you know, saved too much money, that thought about their future, 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.840 that were lived on less than they made. But man, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.680 I've seen the plight of people that have done the opposite, right, 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:24.880 that have that have racked up credit card debt, that 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:28.240 owe everybody and anybody, and that have sacrificed, you know, 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:33.280 frugality for the current lifestyle and wants as opposed to needs, 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:35.800 and that puts you in a tough financial situation as 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.840 well as like a mental situation right to have those 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:41.480 things you know weighing over you, as opposed to having 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.800 you know, money set aside in your bank account that's 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.720 ready to cover any expense that comes down, like your 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:51.200 h VACT expense. Right, Like a frugal person that has 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.680 you know, the savings set aside to cover you know, 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.960 more than five thousand dollar expense that just boom happens. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.640 You know that you know it's gonna happen at some point, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.800 but most people have no idea how to handle something 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.680 like that. And that's why we think frugality is kind 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.400 of this core. I mean, essentially, it's this framework to 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.960 how you live life, Like frugality has to be a 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.960 huge part of this framework for how you live life, 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.320 or you're gonna live on on steady footing and that's 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:19.920 just man, that's just a tough way to live. And 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.160 so that's yeah, that's why frugality is so important to us. Yeah, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.000 what you said earlier honestly makes me think of the 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.200 sort of end of life comments, you know, the discussion 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:29.880 you hear people have when they're on their deathbed, and 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:31.440 how what you said is like, no one is ever 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.440 sort of at their at the end of their life 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.680 saying oh, I've I've saved too much money. But what 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.280 I think what you do here is you hear people say, oh, 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.360 I work too much, And I think our answer to 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.680 that would be that when you spend money and you're 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:47.320 not frugal and you spend spend, spend, you are forced 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.800 to work. And that is the biggest regret that people have. 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:51.720 You hear people talk about how they spend way too 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.880 much time working and how they did not spend enough 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.680 time with their loved ones, with their family, or with 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.200 their friends. And that's essentially what we're trying to avoid. 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.840 We're trying to take the steps necessary now to not 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.960 keep us locked into working long hours for the rest 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:07.840 of our lives to where we aren't doing the things 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.359 that matter most to us. Yeah, so we're gonna discuss, 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:14.119 you know, white frugality is awesome, and how it builds resilience, 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:15.800 and then ultimately we're gonna get to kind of some 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.440 practical takeaways for you on how to kind of bring 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:21.400 frugality back into focus in your life. But first let's 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.000 kind of define it. Frugality in my mind, is a 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:28.840 question of value, and so sometimes it does mean buying 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.600 something more expensive but using it for a long long time. Right, 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.639 that's actually a frugal move in my opinion. Whereas I 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.679 know that you know, the common thought process towards frugality 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.560 is you know people that that where you know, six 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.720 dollar Walmart shoes or something like that, or don't have things. 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.120 You know, there are things break, they wear out. It's 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.200 almost like I think sometimes you think of like a hoarder, 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.159 someone that has a lot of things, but they're all 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:55.120 cheap possessions, And in my mind, that's not frugality at all. 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.159 That's someone who you know, who buys too much crap 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.960 um and who has a mental illness that too. It's 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.359 like a legitimate thing, right. So, but in general, like, 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.280 being frugal doesn't mean being cheap, right, but it does 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.040 mean buying things that are of value to you, being 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.520 you know, conscious about the things that you are purchasing 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.840 and making sure that what you are buying is going 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:17.919 to add value to your life. And I think you know, actually, 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.000 in the time that we're in right now, it's much 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.920 harder to do that, even because you can one click 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.119 on Amazon. Amazon sells these little buttons man like one push, 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:27.760 Like you can put it under your desk or something 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:29.640 like that and just push the button and I guess 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.720 it communicates via Wi Fi to Amazon that you need 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.960 more toilet paper or whatever that is. So it's so 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.320 much harder to be a mindful frugal shopper in today's 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:39.199 day and age. But that makes it all the more 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:42.240 important because we have all of these competing messages for 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.560 our attention, these advertisements and these easy ways to buy, 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.119 and so you know, frugality is uh take it takes 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.679 much more like training of your mind and resiliency towards 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.000 you know, some of those marketing efforts and those easy 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.040 abilities to buy so that you can kind of create 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:01.000 this discipline of frugality in your life. Joel Man, I 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.879 completely agree with you. Right. Yeah, So, like the entire 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.639 marketing and advertising industry with us out there, that is 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:09.840 all that they're trying to do. They're trying to market you. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.960 They're trying to sell you the latest and greatest shiny thing, 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:16.960 and frugality couldn't be any further from that. And they're 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.639 spending tons of research trying to figure out how to 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.440 get in your head to make you think that like 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.000 that you need what it is that they're selling, and 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.600 like who's on your side of the court, right, Like, 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.880 like who is on your behalf fighting those companies and 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.640 keeping you from from making those things? Like you are 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.240 like that is the only thing and you know, hopefully 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.080 us to like I'm gonna say, you and me talking 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.680 to this here, but yeah, I mean it's a kind 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:43.680 of a constant battle. It's because it's it's going to 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.960 be a constant, uphill sort of struggle to essentially fight 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.560 against that. But yeah, man, for me, a short definition 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:54.159 for frugality is just thrifty and efficient, Like what's not 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:56.240 to like about that. I hear those two words, I'm 0:19:56.280 --> 0:20:00.000 just like, ah, like that sounds so good, like simplicity, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:06.040 the efficiency, thriftiness. But unfortunately, the entire advertising industry is 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:09.240 out there and there's just that negative connotation that's associated 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.359 with just the very word frugality, and it makes you 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:16.160 think cheap, denying yourself, and like nobody wants to say 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.600 no to themselves, and discipline and all these sort of 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.160 hard words that have these these connotations that we try 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:23.919 to avoid. But it's like frugality equals buzz kill or 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.560 something like that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like I'm going 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.200 to be the lame down yeah, wet blanket, like not 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.840 here at the party. Yeah. Um, you know that's up 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:35.159 to us as consumers. It's up to people like us 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:37.520 talking about this hopefully as well that are able to 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:39.600 get others to talk about it and hopefully sort of 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:44.320 change the attitude and the culture around the word frugality 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:46.920 just in and of itself. Yeah, I mean, I think ultimately, 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.480 you know, when it comes to advertising and marketing, usually 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:51.280 the trick is to make you feel bad about where 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.560 you currently are or that you are lacking in some way, 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:55.880 form or fashion, that you don't have enough or that 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:57.639 you know, your life's a bummer until you get this 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:00.480 new product. But you don't need an Ellie de bulb 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:02.639 but with a speaker in it that plays music in 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:05.840 every room. And you know what about one that changes colors? Okay, 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:07.520 that you may need that. No, no, of course you 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:09.480 don't need that. And you don't need because I would 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:10.840 rather have the one with the speaker in it before 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:12.440 I'd do the color totally. I mean that would be 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:14.800 kind of cool. But and you don't need, no even 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:17.359 necessary and like a speaker, and you don't need you know, 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:19.679 the newest generation of iPad. And there are all these 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.080 you know things that and there's these you know these yeah, 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.479 these crafty commercials that cost millions of dollars that are 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:28.080 produced to make you feel like you need that new thing. Dude, 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:29.879 is it no wonder that the number one thing that 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:33.240 Alexa does or like the Amazon little Echo dots and 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:35.440 you know, all those things, Yeah, what are the best 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:37.199 at doing that? You hear people complaining about that their 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:41.040 kids accidentally did ordered crap completely, Like, is it is 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.159 it any sort of surprise that the best thing that 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:45.760 those things are good at doing is purchasing things. It's 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:47.760 like it just feeds into their model, you know, like 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:49.840 this is what they want, like wake up. Well in 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.760 this In my mind, the scariest things about those speakers are, 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:54.600 you know, what we're training our kids to think is 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:56.800 normal and to think is right, you know, and and 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:00.920 and to just order things blindly through this void activated speaker, 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.640 not knowing what the price is even more frightening. So, 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:07.320 now that we have a definition of frugality, Matt, let's 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:19.160 take a quick break. We'll be right back. Let's get 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:21.200 back to it, man, Let's talk some more about frugality. 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:25.000 You want to talk more about now why frugality is awesome? Yeah? So, 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:27.840 in my opinion, and the title of this episode is 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.879 frugality gives you options, And I mean the reason for it, 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:34.919 It all starts with that options are at your disposal 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:37.800 if you lead a frugal lifestyle and and that just 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:40.400 doesn't happen you know, overnight or you know, in a 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:42.679 month or two of being frugal. Uh it, you know, 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:44.639 it takes a kind of an ability to go in 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:46.760 that direction over a long period of time and and 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:49.680 save and be frugal. But ultimately, if you do that, 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:52.760 if you can live a frugal lifestyle over an extended 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:55.600 period of time. Options that weren't previously available to you 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:59.399 manifest themselves, and so you can, as an example, decide 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:02.000 that you know, one of the parents in a family 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:03.879 and a nuclear family wants to stay at home with 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:05.960 the kids, and that's just not an option that's open 0:23:06.000 --> 0:23:08.440 to many Americans these days, both parents feel compelled to work. 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:11.879 Another option if you maintain a lifestyle of frugality is 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:14.480 that it gives you extra time to find a new 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:16.800 job if you get laid off, as opposed to taking, 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:19.120 you know, the next job that comes along with a 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:21.240 company that you don't like, or at a pay that 0:23:21.359 --> 0:23:24.040 you're not okay with but that you feel forced to 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:27.960 take just because you need that job right. Another potential 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:30.960 option open to you if you maintain a frugal lifestyle 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:33.640 over a period of time is that you can take 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:35.600 a job that pays less just because you're going to 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:37.640 enjoy it more and you'll have more time at home, 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:39.960 you know, with your family and in your neighborhood with 0:23:40.000 --> 0:23:42.159 your friends. But those are the kind of options that 0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:45.280 only manifest themselves to people that maintain a frugal lifestyle 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:47.440 that save a good portion of what they make that 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:49.800 refused to you know, spend up to the limits of 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:52.520 their income. Yeah. Man, that's right. And honestly, to another 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:54.320 way I like to look at like the options, right 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:56.800 that frugality gives us is that I sort of like 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:00.159 to replace the word options with goals. And so in 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:02.840 my mind, it's hard for me to be frugal if 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:04.720 I don't have a reason to be frugal, right, and 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:06.639 so we like the way we're talking about it here 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:09.840 is that frugality gives you options, and so in my mind, 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:12.679 it all starts with the options because for me, like 0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:16.119 those options are my goals. Sometimes they do arise like 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:18.239 that where you realize that there's something that you can do. 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:20.800 But just the way my brain works, I like to 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:23.159 sort of put those options out there as goals almost 0:24:23.160 --> 0:24:25.680 that I'm just you know, striving towards. And so when 0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:27.800 I have those options, when I have those goals set 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:30.360 out before me, for me, that gives me purpose, right, 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:33.840 and then in pursuit of that goal, that specific goal, 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:37.080 then I can choose to be frugal, you know, to 0:24:37.119 --> 0:24:40.040 achieve that specific option. Let that you know that goal, 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:43.480 what that looks like. I think from person to person varies, 0:24:43.560 --> 0:24:45.240 you know, for something, for one person that might look 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:47.000 like one thing and for another person that might look 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:50.320 like something else. Because everyone's goals and their options that 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:53.359 they're considering are all different. I think it's kind of 0:24:53.440 --> 0:24:56.520 up to the individual as to where to cut back. Yeah, man, 0:24:56.520 --> 0:24:59.919 for me, that helps so much to consider options interchangea 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.080 with the word goals. Yeah, that's great, man, that's a 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:05.000 great thought. And so sort of on that note, like 0:25:05.000 --> 0:25:07.280 you kind of gave some examples right of, like sort 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:09.200 of the different options that might come up for folks, 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:12.600 and even other things too, I think, like starting a business, 0:25:12.600 --> 0:25:14.520 Like if you know that there's something that you've always 0:25:14.560 --> 0:25:16.800 sort of wanted to try, well, if you're frugal now, 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:19.960 that gives you the flexibility and the you know, even 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:24.240 the potential the option to try starting that business down 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:26.600 the road. Oftentimes there's a lot of debt that is 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:28.920 associated with starting a new business, but that doesn't always 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:31.000 have to be the case. And then another one I 0:25:31.000 --> 0:25:33.000 was thinking of too, is like maybe what some would 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:36.280 consider a less noble goal, but even like a sweet 0:25:36.320 --> 0:25:39.480 vacation or traveling. You know, once you are financially independent 0:25:39.560 --> 0:25:42.160 or or once you retire. I think that's a noble 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:46.080 goal and I think that's something that is worth driving towards. Yeah, 0:25:46.080 --> 0:25:48.840 and I think even if you don't have well formulated 0:25:48.840 --> 0:25:52.240 goals right now, there are reasons for frugality. I think 0:25:52.280 --> 0:25:54.080 for me and for a lot of people. I know, 0:25:54.160 --> 0:25:56.199 there are things that pop up in life that you 0:25:56.200 --> 0:25:58.240 want to be prepared for and that you might not 0:25:58.400 --> 0:26:01.520 even have an inkling are going to be something you're interested. 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:04.720 And so, you know, when I was started being super 0:26:04.760 --> 0:26:07.320 frugal and saving you know, a large percentage of my 0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:10.399 income just in my early twenties, I hadn't met my 0:26:10.480 --> 0:26:13.320 wife yet, I didn't have kids. Some of the goals 0:26:13.359 --> 0:26:15.520 that I have in mind now weren't cemented at all, 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:17.879 and actually, you know, weren't even really on my radar. 0:26:18.160 --> 0:26:20.920 And so, you know, the act of being frugal, these 0:26:20.920 --> 0:26:23.480 goals that you think of and and dream up are 0:26:23.640 --> 0:26:25.440 great things to keep in the forefront of your mind. 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:27.480 But also realized that even if you don't have well 0:26:27.560 --> 0:26:30.560 formulated goals right now, maybe especially if you're you know, 0:26:30.640 --> 0:26:33.919 in your late teens early twenties, there's still a reason 0:26:33.960 --> 0:26:38.119 to be frugal because those goals will manifest themselves over time, 0:26:38.800 --> 0:26:40.840 you know, as you grow. And so I know, for me, 0:26:40.920 --> 0:26:42.840 you know, being frugal even when I didn't have those 0:26:42.840 --> 0:26:45.719 clear cut goals. And also because you don't really know 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:47.399 what's going to happen to you in life. Yeah, that's 0:26:47.400 --> 0:26:48.960 where I thought you were going to go initially, like 0:26:49.000 --> 0:26:51.480 the bad stuff, right, Yeah, there's that too. And and 0:26:51.520 --> 0:26:53.680 so I got new men sick or somebody else getting 0:26:53.680 --> 0:26:56.280 said completely. I got an email from a listener and 0:26:56.840 --> 0:26:58.960 it made me think a lot about my my own 0:26:59.040 --> 0:27:02.000 reasons for frugality because he told me that his wife, 0:27:02.080 --> 0:27:05.480 you know, had gotten sick, and um, he was really 0:27:05.680 --> 0:27:07.520 you know, obviously it's you know, it's a terrible thing, 0:27:07.560 --> 0:27:10.120 but he was really really glad that he had been 0:27:10.160 --> 0:27:13.200 frugal for so many years because he was able to 0:27:13.560 --> 0:27:17.120 take off work essentially just quit his job, um for 0:27:17.960 --> 0:27:20.000 at least a year. He he thought that he would 0:27:20.040 --> 0:27:22.119 be able to just be without a job because he 0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:24.199 had saved so well and he could just spend that 0:27:24.240 --> 0:27:26.320 time with his wife. And I think about how many 0:27:26.359 --> 0:27:29.359 people go through something difficult like that, having cared for 0:27:29.600 --> 0:27:32.359 a parent or a spouse or a child, whatever it 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:33.800 may be. You had to be able to have that 0:27:33.880 --> 0:27:36.639 option to do that. He said, like, obviously that wouldn't 0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:38.720 be a goal, Like, I guess you couldn't really or 0:27:38.720 --> 0:27:41.200 you wouldn't want to use the interchangeably like as like, oh, 0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:43.440 that's a goal, that's something I want to I want 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:44.920 to have happened. But that is something you'd want to 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:46.880 be able to do, right, completely, want to be able 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:49.040 to have the option to care for those people, And 0:27:49.080 --> 0:27:52.199 it's not something you're necessarily working towards hoping that that 0:27:52.280 --> 0:27:55.440 takes place. But like you said, that's a great way. Yeah, 0:27:55.480 --> 0:27:58.080 as far as it manifesting and having having that option 0:27:58.119 --> 0:28:00.240 to do that, it's great. Yeah. I think most people, 0:28:00.280 --> 0:28:02.560 you know, something like that happens, and I think the 0:28:02.600 --> 0:28:04.800 guilt of having to work and then also try to 0:28:04.840 --> 0:28:06.879 care for that loved one or you know, and this 0:28:06.960 --> 0:28:09.720 is just one scenario, but that's just a difficult place 0:28:09.720 --> 0:28:11.800 to be and not to mention just timing wise, you know, 0:28:11.880 --> 0:28:14.200 you feel drawn away to work and you feel like 0:28:14.240 --> 0:28:16.040 you can't spend time with them in the way that 0:28:16.080 --> 0:28:18.359 you wanted. So I think, you know, there are are 0:28:18.400 --> 0:28:20.920 a lot of reasons for frugality, but a good one 0:28:21.119 --> 0:28:23.040 is for those things that are going to pop up 0:28:23.040 --> 0:28:24.840 that you have no idea what they are yet you 0:28:24.840 --> 0:28:27.000 can't even cement it as a goal in your mind. 0:28:27.320 --> 0:28:30.320 But that frugality and having a savings mindset can provide 0:28:30.320 --> 0:28:33.560 these amazing benefits at completely unexpected times in your life 0:28:33.760 --> 0:28:35.600 that you can't even plan for and don't know whether 0:28:35.640 --> 0:28:38.000 they're going to happen or not yet. Yeah, man, that 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:39.880 makes me honestly think of what you're saying in a 0:28:39.920 --> 0:28:42.560 second ago, right, like how it's okay to start and 0:28:42.600 --> 0:28:45.320 it's encouraged to start being frugal now, even if you 0:28:45.320 --> 0:28:48.560 don't necessarily have goals. And I think that even if 0:28:48.560 --> 0:28:50.800 you do have goals, even if you have like say 0:28:50.920 --> 0:28:52.920 you're like, well, I don't want to have kids. That's 0:28:52.960 --> 0:28:55.320 just a goal of mine. It's a kill of mine 0:28:55.320 --> 0:28:57.520 to not have any kids, to have children. And if 0:28:57.520 --> 0:28:59.400 you have kids and that's your goal, that's terrible, Like 0:28:59.440 --> 0:29:02.160 you can't do a coming from the dad's of daughters 0:29:02.160 --> 0:29:04.480 over here, or you might say that like, oh, I 0:29:04.560 --> 0:29:06.640 love my job. My goal is just to keep working. 0:29:06.680 --> 0:29:08.040 I you know, I love what I do. I find 0:29:08.080 --> 0:29:11.400 great satisfaction in that. And the fact is things change, 0:29:11.440 --> 0:29:14.760 goals change, people change, the people that you work with 0:29:14.760 --> 0:29:17.720 at work, like they change, and I just know myself 0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:20.320 as well, and I know that I changed my mind, 0:29:20.960 --> 0:29:22.840 and so I might tell myself that, like, this is 0:29:22.880 --> 0:29:25.920 what I want to do forever, but who dude, who knows, 0:29:25.920 --> 0:29:27.640 Like I don't know what, like what I'm really going 0:29:27.680 --> 0:29:29.800 to be thinking in ten years or and so some 0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:31.800 of that is sort of like taking care of your 0:29:31.840 --> 0:29:33.880 future self a little bit, because you know that, like 0:29:33.920 --> 0:29:35.840 even though right now you say, oh, this is what 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:37.560 I'm gonna do for the rest of my life. I'm 0:29:37.560 --> 0:29:39.720 going to be a landlord for the rest of my life, 0:29:40.200 --> 0:29:42.080 which is what we said at the beginning of the episode, 0:29:42.160 --> 0:29:44.200 or a podcaster. We'll be doing this till the day 0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:46.719 we die. We know that for sure exactly. That's not 0:29:46.760 --> 0:29:50.280 going to change, mark my words. But you know, like 0:29:50.320 --> 0:29:53.360 we love it now. But it's just wise to be smart, 0:29:53.480 --> 0:29:55.720 and it's just it's just wintse to to look ahead, 0:29:55.760 --> 0:29:58.920 to not be so nearsighted into plan Yeah, there's a 0:29:58.920 --> 0:30:01.320 lot of wisdom to raining even if you don't know 0:30:01.360 --> 0:30:03.720 what you're planning for. Yeah, man, that's that's so true. 0:30:03.760 --> 0:30:06.040 And something else as well is to not be so 0:30:06.160 --> 0:30:08.720 tempted to just tell yourself that, oh well, I'll just 0:30:08.800 --> 0:30:11.560 work more or you know, I'll just earn more money. 0:30:11.680 --> 0:30:13.600 I think for a lot of folks, especially for younger, 0:30:13.680 --> 0:30:15.520 younger folks that sort of had their whole career ahead 0:30:15.560 --> 0:30:17.760 of them, that is a huge temptation, right, And so 0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:20.640 there's a there's sort of two sides of saving money, right. 0:30:20.760 --> 0:30:23.640 You can either spend less or you can earn more. 0:30:23.680 --> 0:30:25.840 And I think there is just so much more emphasis 0:30:25.880 --> 0:30:28.840 placed on earning more, Like that's the exciting thing. That's 0:30:28.840 --> 0:30:30.520 what you hear people talking about. Like those are the 0:30:30.600 --> 0:30:33.760 raises and the advancements and the promotions, all the exciting, 0:30:33.800 --> 0:30:36.719 like the big windfalls. That's what people focus on. Nobody 0:30:36.760 --> 0:30:40.440 focuses on trying to be more efficient, right, Like like 0:30:40.480 --> 0:30:43.280 I said earlier, thrifty and efficient and simple, Like what's 0:30:43.280 --> 0:30:45.360 not to like about that? Like the more complicated this 0:30:45.400 --> 0:30:47.560 world gets, I feel like, the more that to me 0:30:47.640 --> 0:30:51.320 that sounds appealing being frugal. And that's what being frugal 0:30:51.520 --> 0:30:53.800 is because as soon as you stop working, your income 0:30:53.840 --> 0:30:56.360 stops coming in. And if you're used to spending every 0:30:56.400 --> 0:30:59.600 penny that you have and you are not frugal, then 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:01.640 gonna find yourself in a world of her with zero 0:31:01.680 --> 0:31:04.360 margin in your life. Yeah, man, I think we've mentioned 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:07.720 that word on the show before, but margin, dude, that's huge. 0:31:07.760 --> 0:31:10.760 And there's so many people living lives right now because 0:31:10.800 --> 0:31:13.760 of a lack of frugality with no margin for error, 0:31:13.840 --> 0:31:17.560 right like no HVAC that can go out, no transmission 0:31:17.600 --> 0:31:20.560 that can fail, or man, even a lot smaller things 0:31:20.600 --> 0:31:23.080 than that, you know, an electricity bill that's a little 0:31:23.080 --> 0:31:25.320 bit higher that month that they can barely afford. And 0:31:25.520 --> 0:31:30.719 frugality is the key to placing yourself in a situation 0:31:31.080 --> 0:31:34.480 where that's not going to happen to you. And I think, uh, 0:31:34.560 --> 0:31:39.720 frugality too. Sometimes it gets positioned as clipping coupons or 0:31:39.880 --> 0:31:42.560 you know, cutting Latte's out of your life, right, And 0:31:42.600 --> 0:31:45.560 sometimes it is the small things that add up, the 0:31:45.840 --> 0:31:48.000 tiny things that are you know, dragging your budget down 0:31:48.400 --> 0:31:50.520 or are killing you every month, And you know that 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:52.840 is definitely a part of frugality. It's looking at every 0:31:52.880 --> 0:31:55.640 purchase and seeing where it adds value. And maybe you 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:58.000 do need to cut out eating your lunch out at 0:31:58.040 --> 0:32:01.120 work with your coworkers and brown bagging it, or you know, 0:32:01.160 --> 0:32:03.680 not getting coffee a couple of times a week out 0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:06.040 at your favorite coffee shop and brewing it at home. 0:32:06.240 --> 0:32:08.440 So there are definitely things like that, But then so 0:32:08.560 --> 0:32:11.080 much of the time, you know, frugality is about the 0:32:11.080 --> 0:32:15.360 bigger expenses, and it's potentially leasing a car or buying 0:32:15.360 --> 0:32:18.560 a new car versus an older one, um not shopping 0:32:18.560 --> 0:32:21.640 around for things that you are buying that are necessary, 0:32:21.720 --> 0:32:24.000 and paying too much for the things that you you 0:32:24.040 --> 0:32:26.920 know are buying that are necessary, and then also just 0:32:27.360 --> 0:32:31.240 buying things needlessly that don't bring real value into your life. 0:32:31.360 --> 0:32:33.200 And I think we get fixated sometimes on these just 0:32:33.280 --> 0:32:36.920 these smaller purchases that really have very little to do 0:32:37.000 --> 0:32:39.120 with our bottom line. Right. It's like we're kind of 0:32:39.160 --> 0:32:41.720 like stressing and over like a few bucks here and there, 0:32:42.120 --> 0:32:45.440 say on like your grocery budget or something like that, 0:32:45.520 --> 0:32:48.800 when in reality, I think like some of these bigger purchases, 0:32:48.800 --> 0:32:50.600 like some of the monthly expenses that that are just 0:32:50.640 --> 0:32:53.120 sort of on automatic, like auto pay that happened to 0:32:53.120 --> 0:32:55.080 you every month without you even realizing it, without you 0:32:55.120 --> 0:32:58.720 even considering it, or even bigger expenses to like you said, 0:32:58.720 --> 0:33:01.160 like like car payments and even like your house, like 0:33:01.160 --> 0:33:03.400 your mortgage, those expenses if you look at it as 0:33:03.400 --> 0:33:05.840 a percentage of your total expenses, has such a larger 0:33:05.880 --> 0:33:08.040 impact on the amount of money that you have leaving 0:33:08.080 --> 0:33:10.760 your bank accounts every month, whereas I think we spend 0:33:10.800 --> 0:33:13.320 the majority of our time just fiddling with like that 0:33:13.360 --> 0:33:15.880 tiny little bit, say with groceries, because that's something that 0:33:15.920 --> 0:33:17.920 you like come in contact with, right like on a 0:33:17.960 --> 0:33:19.480 day to day basis, or not day to day. But 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:22.000 when you're going to the grocery store, you think, oh, no, 0:33:22.880 --> 0:33:25.440 eggs are more expensive this summer. What's going on, which 0:33:25.440 --> 0:33:26.840 is true, by the way, I don't know what's going on, 0:33:28.520 --> 0:33:30.640 but let's bring on a skilled economist to find out. 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:32.800 And so you know, you might think, well, I'm not 0:33:32.840 --> 0:33:35.240 gonna get it eggs anymore because that's gonna that's gonna 0:33:35.320 --> 0:33:38.000 mess up my my grocery budget, when in reality, that's 0:33:38.040 --> 0:33:40.360 only making like five five dollar difference, you know, like 0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:43.240 saying you're in your monthly grocery budget. When they then 0:33:43.320 --> 0:33:46.040 just go home and they've got the cable bill sitting 0:33:46.040 --> 0:33:48.760 there and they're paying you know, eighty bucks or something 0:33:48.800 --> 0:33:51.040 like that, and they're not even considering how that's impacting 0:33:51.280 --> 0:33:53.520 their their monthly bills. I think some of the smaller 0:33:53.560 --> 0:33:56.960 things just get overblown sometimes when in reality it might 0:33:56.960 --> 0:33:59.200 be worth looking at like the big picture and look 0:33:59.200 --> 0:34:01.520 at the actual percentages of what you have, you know, 0:34:01.560 --> 0:34:04.680 going out of your bank accounts and starting with the 0:34:04.680 --> 0:34:06.960 biggest ones and working your way down and then seeing 0:34:07.280 --> 0:34:08.960 if that would have a better impact. You know, I 0:34:08.960 --> 0:34:11.880 think actually for me being frugal on some of the 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:14.480 bigger things, being super frugal, you know, renting out part 0:34:14.480 --> 0:34:17.680 of our house, driving older cars that are are paid off. 0:34:18.000 --> 0:34:20.279 Those sorts of choices over the long haul that we've 0:34:20.320 --> 0:34:23.160 done for for so many years have created such breathing 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:25.680 room that you know, when we do want to splurge 0:34:25.760 --> 0:34:28.360 just a little bit, especially like in the area of groceries, 0:34:28.440 --> 0:34:30.919 you like, you know what, we're beer, get that, get 0:34:30.920 --> 0:34:33.279 this fancy beer that we're drinking. That's right, they're good beer. 0:34:33.640 --> 0:34:36.160 Or you know what, I'm gonna get some fancy steaks 0:34:36.200 --> 0:34:38.520 for this weekend, something like that, you know, a nice 0:34:38.560 --> 0:34:40.719 steak to to toss on the grill. You know, those 0:34:40.760 --> 0:34:44.960 sorts of splurges are so meaningful. Yeah, when you you know, 0:34:44.960 --> 0:34:47.480 when you live a life of frugality, and literally just 0:34:47.520 --> 0:34:49.440 this past weekend, I was at the pool, and I 0:34:49.480 --> 0:34:51.200 was talking to this random dude that I just met 0:34:51.440 --> 0:34:54.759 completely unprovoked. You know, we weren't talking about frugality or 0:34:54.800 --> 0:34:56.600 anything like that, but he you weren't showing off, You're 0:34:56.600 --> 0:35:00.360 like porto port tattoo. But he mentioned how, you know, 0:35:00.400 --> 0:35:03.480 in his condo complex, he had gone from the fourteenth 0:35:03.480 --> 0:35:05.360 floor to the seventeen floor and the seventeen four with 0:35:05.440 --> 0:35:07.239 the top floor. I was like, oh, man, how's the 0:35:07.280 --> 0:35:09.520 view from there? Is it that much better? And he said, 0:35:09.600 --> 0:35:11.040 you know what, dude, you just kind of get used 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:13.640 to it pretty quickly, and it's pretty meaningless, you know, 0:35:13.680 --> 0:35:15.920 he said, he said, it's exactly one of the saddest 0:35:15.920 --> 0:35:18.319 statements I think I've ever heard, I know, And then 0:35:18.360 --> 0:35:21.719 he said, it's exactly like getting a new car, a 0:35:21.800 --> 0:35:24.040 really nice new car. And he said it the way 0:35:24.040 --> 0:35:25.560 he said it made it sound like that had happened 0:35:25.600 --> 0:35:27.960 to him, that he had also made that misspeake. He's like, 0:35:28.320 --> 0:35:31.520 it wears off super quick. And man, that like what 0:35:31.600 --> 0:35:35.319 he said was just completely true. And I'm sure you know, 0:35:35.400 --> 0:35:38.319 for three days that view from the seventeenth floor was 0:35:38.360 --> 0:35:40.160 a little bit cooler than the view from the fourteenth 0:35:40.160 --> 0:35:42.719 floor or just the same in the same way that 0:35:43.000 --> 0:35:45.600 you know, having that new car. Man, it's really cool 0:35:45.640 --> 0:35:47.600 for you know, a week, week and a half until 0:35:47.640 --> 0:35:49.719 a bird poops on the windshield or you know, you 0:35:49.760 --> 0:35:52.239 get that first bill in the mail or the first 0:35:52.320 --> 0:35:54.680 thing in like the grocery store. Yeah, car bumps into 0:35:54.680 --> 0:35:56.839 the doors exactly right. So there are all these things 0:35:56.920 --> 0:35:58.800 that you know that seemed really cool in the moment 0:35:58.960 --> 0:36:01.399 or for a couple of days, but ultimately they're they're 0:36:01.440 --> 0:36:04.000 not really lasting and they're not fulfilling. But that sort 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:05.879 of margin that you're able to bring in your life 0:36:06.160 --> 0:36:07.880 and the power that you're able to put back in 0:36:07.920 --> 0:36:10.520 your life by you know, living a lifestyle that is 0:36:10.560 --> 0:36:14.400 centered around frugality, it's super meaningful. And you know, the 0:36:14.440 --> 0:36:17.120 other way of living where you you know, throw caution 0:36:17.160 --> 0:36:19.799 to the wind and throw frugality out the window, that's 0:36:19.800 --> 0:36:21.960 such a more tenuous way to live. And man, it 0:36:22.000 --> 0:36:24.480 scares it scares me, And you know, I don't wish 0:36:24.560 --> 0:36:26.680 that for for anybody, to to live a life where 0:36:26.680 --> 0:36:29.719 frugality is not important. And something else that frugality does 0:36:29.760 --> 0:36:31.879 for you is that it builds resilience. Joe, you want 0:36:31.880 --> 0:36:34.120 to talk some more about this one Yeah, frug gality 0:36:34.120 --> 0:36:36.840 can really kind of provide you a buffer from financial 0:36:36.880 --> 0:36:39.520 harm and just like lifting weights. You know, we've talked 0:36:39.560 --> 0:36:41.600 about this metaphor a couple of times on the podcast 0:36:41.640 --> 0:36:44.440 so far. We're all we're all about building that muscle, right, 0:36:44.680 --> 0:36:46.839 is that you're gonna say, yeah, and and but we 0:36:46.840 --> 0:36:49.279 we are all about building a muscle right of resiliency, 0:36:49.600 --> 0:36:53.040 and frugality is kind of this ultimate resilience against whatever 0:36:53.040 --> 0:36:55.879 storm can come. And you might love your job, but 0:36:56.400 --> 0:36:58.080 you might get a new boss and then your job 0:36:58.520 --> 0:37:01.360 isn't as cool, or your company's downsizing. There are a 0:37:01.400 --> 0:37:04.479 lot of things that you can't prevent, but frugality gives 0:37:04.520 --> 0:37:07.719 you that ability to you know, be lean and be 0:37:07.760 --> 0:37:10.360 able to you know, shift on a dime. And I 0:37:10.360 --> 0:37:12.440 think too on top of that, you know, besides just 0:37:12.440 --> 0:37:15.319 being prepared to weather a storm, there's something about, you know, 0:37:15.360 --> 0:37:18.480 living a frugal lifestyle that teaches you, over time to 0:37:18.560 --> 0:37:21.239 kind of respect the things that you have and to 0:37:21.440 --> 0:37:23.640 go without some of the things that you don't need. 0:37:23.880 --> 0:37:26.640 And I think especially right right now in this day 0:37:26.680 --> 0:37:30.040 and time in the United States of America, where everyone 0:37:30.080 --> 0:37:32.080 gets whatever they want whenever they want it, that that 0:37:32.080 --> 0:37:34.040 that that's the kind of mentality that we have as 0:37:34.040 --> 0:37:37.480 a culture, like immediacy, I want it now, drone it 0:37:37.520 --> 0:37:41.640 to me, bro like completely exactly and building that, you know, 0:37:41.719 --> 0:37:45.120 frugal resistance. It is like this powerful muscle that you 0:37:45.200 --> 0:37:48.239 can uh that you can work that that it kind 0:37:48.280 --> 0:37:52.200 of again is countercultural and you can you can develop 0:37:52.239 --> 0:37:55.279 this for yourself. It provides not just a strength in 0:37:55.320 --> 0:37:58.279 your bank account, but like the strength of character over time, 0:37:58.360 --> 0:38:01.840 like mental strength. You're like resisting force of the advertising 0:38:01.840 --> 0:38:04.600 and marketing giants. It's a constant struggle, you know, we're 0:38:04.640 --> 0:38:07.600 we're constantly swimming up stream. It's something like a salmon. 0:38:08.960 --> 0:38:11.959 We're having to to fight against this, and it takes 0:38:12.000 --> 0:38:15.320 mental strength to resist that, right, It takes mental strength 0:38:15.320 --> 0:38:17.719 to tell yourself to tell yourself no, not not just 0:38:17.800 --> 0:38:20.080 like the marketing, but to tell yourself that no, I 0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:23.480 don't need this new fingled comfort device, you know, like 0:38:23.520 --> 0:38:25.399 this new thing that's gonna make my life easier, that's 0:38:25.400 --> 0:38:29.080 gonna make me happier. Just whatever reason, whatever excuse that 0:38:29.080 --> 0:38:31.239 that you either give yourself or that you're fed, that 0:38:31.280 --> 0:38:33.960 you're marketed to and sold. You're resisting that as well. 0:38:34.000 --> 0:38:36.600 You know, yeah, and I think ultimately too, there's something 0:38:36.719 --> 0:38:41.479 really visceral right about how frugality impacts you. I can 0:38:41.560 --> 0:38:44.280 see it in myself right when I do challenge myself 0:38:44.360 --> 0:38:47.560 to do something, the kind of reward, the intrinsic reward 0:38:47.640 --> 0:38:49.799 that comes when when that happens, you know, when I 0:38:49.880 --> 0:38:52.360 challenge myself to start biking to work and I actually 0:38:52.400 --> 0:38:54.400 follow through and do it, and then I know that 0:38:54.440 --> 0:38:56.600 the days, you know, when I failed to, I kind 0:38:56.600 --> 0:38:58.840 of feel like a crummy human being. I let yourself 0:38:58.920 --> 0:39:02.120 down a little bit, exactly. And you know, nobody else knows. 0:39:02.160 --> 0:39:04.439 You know, it doesn't it doesn't matter to anyone else. 0:39:04.520 --> 0:39:08.000 And I distinctly remember reading this Mr money Mustache post along, 0:39:08.120 --> 0:39:09.880 you know, like four years ago, and by the way, 0:39:10.160 --> 0:39:12.600 amazing that the first time Mr money Mustache. I don't 0:39:12.600 --> 0:39:14.160 think we've talked about it before. We'll link to this 0:39:14.280 --> 0:39:16.399 to this post in the show notes. But he got 0:39:16.400 --> 0:39:19.839 a letter from a wealthy New Yorker who made over 0:39:19.880 --> 0:39:22.520 a million dollars a year and kind of talked about 0:39:22.520 --> 0:39:24.840 how he had given in to you know, thirty or 0:39:24.840 --> 0:39:27.960 forty dollar taxi trips and buying you know, the finest 0:39:28.040 --> 0:39:29.799 organic meats and just kind of how he like let 0:39:29.840 --> 0:39:32.319 his spending slip, and he talked about how it didn't 0:39:32.320 --> 0:39:34.200 matter to him because it didn't make any dent, right, 0:39:34.239 --> 0:39:37.200 Like he he made so much money that he didn't care, 0:39:37.239 --> 0:39:40.279 it didn't matter, but how like, ultimately it wasn't very 0:39:40.320 --> 0:39:43.279 fulfilling that he was missing out on this. And he 0:39:43.320 --> 0:39:46.040 saw Mr money Mustache and and his readers having this 0:39:46.120 --> 0:39:49.200 kind of sense of purpose and this fulfillment in their lives, 0:39:49.440 --> 0:39:52.040 you know, living a life of frugality and intentionality, and 0:39:52.080 --> 0:39:53.880 how he was just kind of, for lack of a 0:39:53.880 --> 0:39:56.720 better term, pissing his money away and and doing things 0:39:56.719 --> 0:39:59.600 that you know, weren't fulfilling. And and it was just 0:39:59.680 --> 0:40:02.359 kind of interesting to see that perspective because I know 0:40:02.440 --> 0:40:04.040 that's true because I see it in my own life 0:40:04.200 --> 0:40:05.840 when I, you know, failed to rise to meet a 0:40:05.920 --> 0:40:07.840 challenge or failed to take on a challenge that I 0:40:07.880 --> 0:40:09.279 know is a good one for me to take on. 0:40:09.680 --> 0:40:11.560 Um And I think, you know, fru gality kind of 0:40:11.600 --> 0:40:15.360 provides you a lot of challenges right in in daily life, 0:40:15.440 --> 0:40:18.080 you know, and and in your monthly budget. It provides 0:40:18.080 --> 0:40:20.120 that challenge for this chance for you to rise to 0:40:20.160 --> 0:40:23.520 the occasion and meet something that's like it's necessary for 0:40:23.560 --> 0:40:25.640 you for your financial health, but it's so good for 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:27.719 you as a human, you know, to build that sort 0:40:27.719 --> 0:40:30.359 of resiliency and and to meet it head on. Yeah, 0:40:30.480 --> 0:40:32.440 to kind of like take control of your life, you know, 0:40:32.480 --> 0:40:34.840 like kind of going back to like the muscle metaphor. 0:40:35.160 --> 0:40:36.640 It's like you can see the New Yorker guy kind 0:40:36.640 --> 0:40:38.960 of just getting soft. You know, he's just likely getting flabby, 0:40:39.000 --> 0:40:41.200 and he's just like not really working, and he's just like, 0:40:41.239 --> 0:40:43.160 all right, I'm just gonna spend money here. I want 0:40:43.160 --> 0:40:45.600 to spend money here. It doesn't matter the cost. I 0:40:45.680 --> 0:40:48.200 make a ton of money. But then yeah, he starts 0:40:48.239 --> 0:40:51.440 seeing other folks being tough, working the muscle, not getting 0:40:51.440 --> 0:40:54.280 brainwashed to spend all of his money and wasted away. 0:40:54.320 --> 0:40:55.880 And yeah, you kind of wake up to it and 0:40:55.920 --> 0:41:00.640 realized how inefficient and unthrifty that he's like the complete 0:41:00.640 --> 0:41:03.520 opposite of frugality obviously. Well, and and we see that 0:41:03.560 --> 0:41:05.920 in our culture, right, like the video game culture. And 0:41:06.000 --> 0:41:08.080 you know, there's nothing wrong with playing video games on occasion, 0:41:08.160 --> 0:41:10.680 I guess I don't play video games, but there that 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:13.240 culture of you know, hours and hours of video games 0:41:13.600 --> 0:41:15.799 and you know, hours and hours of Netflix and chill 0:41:16.120 --> 0:41:19.000 those sorts of things of not challenging yourself by you know, 0:41:19.000 --> 0:41:21.680 reading a book or listening to a podcast or you know, 0:41:21.719 --> 0:41:24.680 figuring out a way to fix something that's broken and 0:41:24.719 --> 0:41:27.120 instead you know just calling the professional, you know, whatever 0:41:27.160 --> 0:41:28.960 it is that there's all these ways that we just 0:41:29.040 --> 0:41:31.239 kind of give in um as opposed to you know, 0:41:31.320 --> 0:41:33.600 standing up and and meeting it a challenge head on 0:41:33.960 --> 0:41:37.319 and kind of embracing frugality. You know, at the same time, 0:41:37.560 --> 0:41:39.480 I think we're talking about you know, this kind of 0:41:39.520 --> 0:41:42.480 more widespread societal epidemic at the same time as we're 0:41:42.520 --> 0:41:45.680 talking about individual frugality and all kind of goes together. Man, Like, 0:41:45.719 --> 0:41:47.799 it's all related. That's the thing. That's what's what's so 0:41:47.840 --> 0:41:50.319 weird about frugality is like, yeah, we're talking about money, 0:41:50.360 --> 0:41:51.839 but you can kind of see the way that like 0:41:51.920 --> 0:41:54.600 bleeds into other aspects of our life, not just financial, 0:41:54.680 --> 0:41:58.280 but like cultural and social and just like all the aspects. 0:41:58.320 --> 0:42:01.359 You know, Yeah, no doubt awesome. So we just talked 0:42:01.400 --> 0:42:03.879 about some of the things that frugality you know, does 0:42:03.960 --> 0:42:06.000 for you and some of the things that frugality is, 0:42:06.520 --> 0:42:09.719 but something that it isn't is that frugality isn't restricting, 0:42:09.840 --> 0:42:12.920 you know, I think again, frugality kind of gets a 0:42:12.920 --> 0:42:17.319 bad rap when it gets brought up. But frugality isn't 0:42:17.440 --> 0:42:20.719 keeping you from spending money on something that you love 0:42:20.800 --> 0:42:24.800 to do. Instead, it's consciously deciding to not spend money 0:42:24.840 --> 0:42:26.960 on the things that you don't love. Right, there's a 0:42:27.000 --> 0:42:29.200 difference there, and then that gives you the options to 0:42:29.239 --> 0:42:31.840 spend money on the things that you do love. Again, 0:42:31.880 --> 0:42:34.600 whether that's now, if it's a goal, is something that 0:42:34.640 --> 0:42:36.319 you want to do now that you that you're aware of, 0:42:37.280 --> 0:42:38.920 or if it's something in the future that you really 0:42:38.960 --> 0:42:41.400 just have no clue. It's not the sort of restricting 0:42:41.440 --> 0:42:44.480 thing where you know, you're constantly telling yourself no, it's 0:42:44.520 --> 0:42:48.160 just sort of reorganizing and re prioritizing or spending. Is 0:42:48.200 --> 0:42:49.560 this thing that I spend my money on, you know, 0:42:49.640 --> 0:42:51.120 going back to the New york Er, like do I 0:42:51.160 --> 0:42:53.239 really care about like the the taxi ride or maybe 0:42:53.280 --> 0:42:54.879 I can just hop on the subway like the rest 0:42:54.880 --> 0:42:57.000 of Manhattan? What is it that I'm spending money on? 0:42:57.040 --> 0:42:59.640 And does that again, does that align with my goals? 0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:02.000 Is that align with the options that that I want 0:43:02.000 --> 0:43:04.120 to pursue, And I think to kind of put it 0:43:04.120 --> 0:43:05.600 in that framework, and to put it in that light 0:43:05.800 --> 0:43:08.719 is incredibly helpful to see frugality as something to be 0:43:08.760 --> 0:43:11.160 sought after, not this thing that you're just trying to avoid. 0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:14.359 So what's next for people? You know, Matt, that are 0:43:14.760 --> 0:43:16.520 they understand you know what? Okay, maybe I do need 0:43:16.560 --> 0:43:19.120 to flexus must Well maybe you know frugality isn't as 0:43:19.160 --> 0:43:21.279 core but a tenant as I wanted to be. You know, 0:43:21.280 --> 0:43:24.160 how do people move forward in adopt like a more 0:43:24.200 --> 0:43:26.920 frugal lifestyle, a more frugal mindset in their own lives. Man, 0:43:26.920 --> 0:43:29.000 When I think it's so awesome about frugality is that 0:43:29.040 --> 0:43:31.680 it's something you can do right away. It's something that 0:43:31.719 --> 0:43:34.520 almost overnight you can change your life and start making 0:43:34.520 --> 0:43:37.600 decisions to not spend money. We touched on this a 0:43:37.640 --> 0:43:39.920 second ago. But how your income. You don't have a 0:43:39.920 --> 0:43:42.920 whole lot of control over your income. Right you're employed, 0:43:42.960 --> 0:43:45.319 you've got a job, Maybe you'll get laid off, or 0:43:45.360 --> 0:43:47.920 maybe the company will get sold and your position will 0:43:47.920 --> 0:43:50.480 get absorbed or something. I don't know. There's only so 0:43:50.560 --> 0:43:53.640 much control that we have over the money that we make. However, 0:43:54.040 --> 0:43:57.240 we almost have full control over the money that we spend, 0:43:57.640 --> 0:44:00.320 and so on that note, you can decide to sorrow 0:44:00.400 --> 0:44:02.080 that you're not going to spend the money that you 0:44:02.160 --> 0:44:05.520 spent the day before, right that you spent yesterday, even 0:44:05.560 --> 0:44:07.640 if it's not something that you have been doing, is 0:44:07.680 --> 0:44:10.120 something that you can right now take steps and start 0:44:10.200 --> 0:44:12.799 living a frugal lifestyle. And now let's talk about how 0:44:12.840 --> 0:44:14.800 you can switch to a frugal lifestyle. But first a 0:44:14.880 --> 0:44:26.319 quick break. Knowing exactly where to start might be kind 0:44:26.320 --> 0:44:29.200 of tough, and for that, I think the best thing 0:44:29.200 --> 0:44:31.959 that to do is to dream. We kind of talked 0:44:31.960 --> 0:44:35.160 about this in the Why Behind Money episode, But to 0:44:35.280 --> 0:44:38.200 think about what are your goals? You know we we 0:44:38.239 --> 0:44:41.480 said that frugality gives you options, like what are those 0:44:41.520 --> 0:44:44.040 options that you want to have? What are those goals, 0:44:44.280 --> 0:44:47.919 and then work towards those That's the first step. Look 0:44:47.960 --> 0:44:49.840 at what it is that you want to do, and 0:44:49.920 --> 0:44:53.080 then you can start making changes and start taking the 0:44:53.120 --> 0:44:56.360 steps necessary to achieve those goals. I think that's totally 0:44:56.400 --> 0:44:58.279 the first step. Then the next step is to kind 0:44:58.280 --> 0:45:00.520 of figure out, you know how and or you can 0:45:00.520 --> 0:45:03.239 cut back and there are a lot of great resources 0:45:03.280 --> 0:45:04.759 out there for you. There are a lot of great 0:45:04.760 --> 0:45:07.319 blogs and podcasts and you know people that that that 0:45:07.360 --> 0:45:09.520 spent a lot of time writing and thinking about these things. 0:45:09.840 --> 0:45:12.880 And uh, you go back and listen to episode number thirteen, 0:45:12.960 --> 0:45:15.480 Ways to cut your monthly bills. That's a great one 0:45:15.560 --> 0:45:19.080 for you to think about. Just small incremental changes, you know, 0:45:19.480 --> 0:45:22.200 raising the temperature of your thermostat during the summer, you know, 0:45:22.239 --> 0:45:25.920 being a little uncomfortable during the day. Maybe consider taking 0:45:25.920 --> 0:45:27.920 your lunch to work like I mentioned earlier, you know, 0:45:27.960 --> 0:45:30.360 eat at home at night, go out to eat less. 0:45:30.480 --> 0:45:32.440 The numbers on how much more it costs to go 0:45:32.440 --> 0:45:34.719 out to eat versus you know, what it costs to 0:45:34.760 --> 0:45:38.000 cook a dinner at your home. Their astounding um. Shop 0:45:38.000 --> 0:45:40.760 at thrift stores, you know, cut those regular monthly bills, 0:45:41.040 --> 0:45:42.960 you know, cutting your own hair even maybe you know, 0:45:43.040 --> 0:45:46.319 Matt cut my hair recently. It doesn't look too bad, Hey, 0:45:46.560 --> 0:45:49.560 pretty good. So there's like a million ways that you 0:45:49.560 --> 0:45:52.600 can save right And I personally I thrive on these 0:45:52.640 --> 0:45:54.640 kind of tips and tricks. I I love them. I'm 0:45:54.680 --> 0:45:56.879 all about them. You know, in future episodes will give 0:45:56.880 --> 0:45:59.640 you even more. There's an article right now on poorn 0:45:59.680 --> 0:46:02.520 up poor dot com about how to save on your 0:46:02.520 --> 0:46:05.200 insurance costs, and I give you a lot of tips 0:46:05.200 --> 0:46:07.479 and tricks to figure out how you can cut down 0:46:07.560 --> 0:46:09.920 your home and car insurance bills, you know, and that 0:46:10.080 --> 0:46:11.640 right there, that's a that's a bigger expense, you know, 0:46:11.719 --> 0:46:14.640 that could save you over a grand a year just 0:46:14.680 --> 0:46:17.239 by shopping your insurance around or or thinking about, you know, 0:46:17.280 --> 0:46:20.520 how you approach getting insurance. And so there there are 0:46:20.520 --> 0:46:22.480 a lot of things like that that once you have 0:46:22.560 --> 0:46:24.759 kind of identified some of those goals and kind of 0:46:24.760 --> 0:46:27.440 made that mindset shift to switch to a you know, 0:46:27.520 --> 0:46:30.319 frugal lifestyle, a more frugal lifestyle, you know, learning some 0:46:30.360 --> 0:46:33.360 of those some of those ways to cut down the 0:46:33.400 --> 0:46:36.399 costs and figure out how to save more of your 0:46:36.400 --> 0:46:38.440 hard earned money. You just know that there are a 0:46:38.480 --> 0:46:40.560 ton of great resources around the web that will help 0:46:40.600 --> 0:46:42.520 you kind of with those specifics. You don't have to 0:46:42.520 --> 0:46:44.920 be left to your own devices and just kind of 0:46:44.920 --> 0:46:47.120 with those vague goals with no idea how to actually 0:46:47.160 --> 0:46:49.480 achieve them. Man, another point I wanted to bring up 0:46:49.520 --> 0:46:51.960 to is that a lot of people think that they 0:46:52.000 --> 0:46:55.080 are being frugal when in reality they're not being frugal. 0:46:55.440 --> 0:46:57.600 And they think that well, you know, I don't do this, 0:46:57.719 --> 0:46:59.480 and I don't do this, but there's just so much 0:46:59.520 --> 0:47:01.600 in their life that they're not really paying attention to 0:47:01.760 --> 0:47:04.839 that is a huge expense. The question is, then, how 0:47:04.840 --> 0:47:06.879 do you even know if you're being frugal or not. 0:47:07.080 --> 0:47:08.520 What you need to do for that is to look 0:47:08.560 --> 0:47:10.840 at your savings rate. But essentially, your savings rate is 0:47:10.880 --> 0:47:13.840 the amount that you're saving, So your your savings over 0:47:14.080 --> 0:47:18.000 your income creates a percentage, and the average American today 0:47:18.120 --> 0:47:20.759 has a savings rate of less than five percent. So 0:47:20.800 --> 0:47:22.319 the question is do you want to be like an 0:47:22.320 --> 0:47:25.680 average American where you're working, you know, well into your 0:47:25.680 --> 0:47:28.719 sixties at a job that you can't leave because you 0:47:28.719 --> 0:47:31.120 don't have the option to because you make a lot 0:47:31.120 --> 0:47:32.719 of money there and you need to make a lot 0:47:32.760 --> 0:47:35.120 of money in order to keep paying your bills. So yeah, man, 0:47:35.160 --> 0:47:37.480 it's hard to know, you know, how frugal you're being, 0:47:37.520 --> 0:47:39.680 like on the scale of like frugality if you don't 0:47:39.719 --> 0:47:42.000 have something to kind of measure that again, So so yeah, 0:47:42.040 --> 0:47:44.600 we would encourage you to, yeah, try to actually calculate 0:47:44.640 --> 0:47:46.640 your savings rate. Take what your take home pay is, 0:47:47.080 --> 0:47:49.239 figure out how much you're setting aside every year your 0:47:49.239 --> 0:47:52.560 savings there, and that's your percentage. If you are sort 0:47:52.600 --> 0:47:54.800 of the average American and you're sitting aside five percent, 0:47:54.880 --> 0:47:56.960 consider trying to double that, try to get that up 0:47:56.960 --> 0:47:59.279 to ten percent. That would be huge if and if 0:47:59.320 --> 0:48:02.600 you are, say you're can, you're already setting aside, man, 0:48:02.680 --> 0:48:04.880 imagine if you could double that. And so if you're 0:48:04.920 --> 0:48:08.080 sitting aside thirty percent of your income every year, that 0:48:08.120 --> 0:48:11.440 would be insane. Some listeners out there might be like 0:48:11.480 --> 0:48:13.960 me where you're self employed, and I mean personally my 0:48:14.080 --> 0:48:16.560 savings rate because my income flexu rates. I mean some 0:48:16.640 --> 0:48:19.799 years my savings rates like two percent, but then there's 0:48:19.800 --> 0:48:22.120 some years, like we've had years where our savings rates close. 0:48:23.400 --> 0:48:26.520 And so it's tough because it's not something that people 0:48:26.600 --> 0:48:28.279 normally keep up with. But if you're trying to figure 0:48:28.320 --> 0:48:30.839 out where you are on this sort of scale of frugality, 0:48:31.080 --> 0:48:32.800 check check out your savings rate, because it's kind of 0:48:32.800 --> 0:48:34.600 hard to pin down. I will say, if you're like 0:48:34.680 --> 0:48:37.440 fresh on the frugal bandwagon and you're deciding to, you know, 0:48:37.560 --> 0:48:40.800 kind of take this path, sometimes the first couple of years, 0:48:41.160 --> 0:48:43.000 you don't feel like you're making all that much progress 0:48:43.120 --> 0:48:45.319 you're figuring out ways to save more, You're finding these 0:48:45.320 --> 0:48:48.040 tips to spend less, and you know your bank account 0:48:48.120 --> 0:48:51.799 is growing, your investible assets maybe are increasing a little bit, 0:48:52.040 --> 0:48:55.839 but the true results of frugality, you know, bear out 0:48:55.840 --> 0:48:58.960 over the long term. After a decade of being frugal, 0:48:59.200 --> 0:49:01.239 you'll look at your bank account, you will look at 0:49:01.320 --> 0:49:04.520 your four oh one k or roth Ira statement and 0:49:04.880 --> 0:49:07.439 kind of be amazed at how you got there through 0:49:07.480 --> 0:49:11.080 these small, simple steps and that mindset change, through creating 0:49:11.080 --> 0:49:14.640 some goals and then finding some ways to to achieve them, 0:49:15.200 --> 0:49:18.680 through increasing your savings, right, finding more ways to incorporate 0:49:18.719 --> 0:49:21.839 a lifestyle of frugality. And so not only will you see, 0:49:21.840 --> 0:49:24.360 you know, your bank account numbers increase and your investable 0:49:24.400 --> 0:49:27.239 assets you know, increase in number over that decade or 0:49:27.280 --> 0:49:29.879 two decades. I mean, it'll be amazing. You will also 0:49:29.920 --> 0:49:32.120 kind of see, you know, that resiliency level in your 0:49:32.160 --> 0:49:35.360 life just kick up a notch, two notches, four notches, 0:49:35.600 --> 0:49:37.960 you know, And that also has a kind of compounding 0:49:38.000 --> 0:49:41.040 interest like effect in your life. Right, The more you 0:49:41.040 --> 0:49:44.160 feel like you can stomach uh, the more hardship you 0:49:44.239 --> 0:49:46.680 can endure and get through it, the more things that 0:49:46.760 --> 0:49:48.480 you can cut out of your life and still be 0:49:48.719 --> 0:49:51.359 happy and actually find out that you're happier for having 0:49:51.400 --> 0:49:53.440 foregone some of those things. Well, dude, that's what I'm 0:49:53.440 --> 0:49:54.759 gonna say, is that, like I feel like some of 0:49:54.760 --> 0:49:57.080 those things that you feel that you're suffering. Maybe early 0:49:57.160 --> 0:49:59.520 on it is like working out, you get used to 0:49:59.560 --> 0:50:01.880 it and you're like, go, well, I'm not suffering anymore, 0:50:01.960 --> 0:50:03.560 Like what else can I then do? It's just like 0:50:03.600 --> 0:50:06.479 getting in shape. Like the first run or first few runs, 0:50:06.520 --> 0:50:08.440 you're gonna be sucking wind and it's gonna be terrible 0:50:08.600 --> 0:50:11.200 trying to run one mile. But then when you're running 0:50:11.239 --> 0:50:14.200 ten miles, the first five miles are nothing, you know, 0:50:14.280 --> 0:50:17.080 And so yeah, it's all sort of relative to kind 0:50:17.120 --> 0:50:19.480 of your fitness, but also to sort of where you 0:50:19.520 --> 0:50:22.280 are financially and sort of how fit you are frugally. 0:50:22.719 --> 0:50:25.440 So test your frugal fitness level. That's what we encourage 0:50:25.440 --> 0:50:27.840 you to do. And you know, hopefully this this episode 0:50:27.840 --> 0:50:29.879 has not only kind of given you some some big 0:50:29.920 --> 0:50:32.640 picture thoughts, but then also kind of some you know, 0:50:32.719 --> 0:50:35.520 finer tune little takeaways. Ultimately, you just have to know 0:50:35.560 --> 0:50:37.879 that you can do it. You can build that resiliency 0:50:38.160 --> 0:50:41.080 it just takes time and intentionality. But the whole reason 0:50:41.120 --> 0:50:43.360 behind it is that choosing to live a life of 0:50:43.360 --> 0:50:47.200 frugality gives you options, and man, those options are so 0:50:47.239 --> 0:50:50.480 sweet and so few people actually have them. Yeah, So, 0:50:50.520 --> 0:50:53.080 on that note, we would love to hear from our listeners. 0:50:53.120 --> 0:50:55.879 We'd love to hear from you guys, specifically about being 0:50:55.920 --> 0:50:58.560 frugal and the steps you've taken to to live on 0:50:58.680 --> 0:51:01.880 less and spending less. And what has being frugal allows 0:51:01.960 --> 0:51:05.360 you to do now you know currently, or what is 0:51:05.400 --> 0:51:07.880 being frugal now allowing you to hopefully do in the future, 0:51:07.920 --> 0:51:09.319 you know, like, what are your dreams, Like, what are 0:51:09.360 --> 0:51:12.720 your goals that you are sort of working towards? Whatever 0:51:12.760 --> 0:51:15.400 those things are. From that you have said, we would 0:51:15.400 --> 0:51:18.040 love to hear from you guys and leave a comments 0:51:18.400 --> 0:51:20.759 on this episode, post on our website Poor Not Poor 0:51:20.840 --> 0:51:22.759 dot com, or even head over to our Poor Not 0:51:22.840 --> 0:51:25.400 Poor Facebook group. Hopefully we'll get a sort of a 0:51:25.440 --> 0:51:27.400 thread going there where folks are sharing what it is 0:51:27.440 --> 0:51:30.319 that they're doing and ultimately encourage each other to be 0:51:30.440 --> 0:51:32.840 more frugal. Right, yeah, and like, like I said, the 0:51:33.280 --> 0:51:35.680 those goals, they're amazing, But then you you've got to 0:51:35.719 --> 0:51:37.360 know some of those tips and tricks and and a 0:51:37.400 --> 0:51:39.920 man of face. Our Facebook group and and Facebook groups 0:51:39.960 --> 0:51:41.880 like that are kind of the perfect place to be 0:51:42.360 --> 0:51:45.720 to learn how other people are doing things. And probably 0:51:45.719 --> 0:51:48.600 the greatest thing about the Internet is the easy access 0:51:48.600 --> 0:51:51.319 to knowledge that we didn't have access to beforehand. That's 0:51:51.360 --> 0:51:53.400 my favorite thing about the Internet. I can, you know, 0:51:53.440 --> 0:51:56.239 listen to two hour lectures or two hour discussions or 0:51:56.520 --> 0:51:59.200 join Facebook group with people that have different or more 0:51:59.200 --> 0:52:01.799 specialized now that I have, and I can learn from 0:52:01.800 --> 0:52:03.560 those people. And so, you know, that's what our Facebook 0:52:03.560 --> 0:52:05.239 group is all about. Hopefully it's a you know, a 0:52:05.239 --> 0:52:07.000 fun place for people to talk about, you know, what 0:52:07.080 --> 0:52:08.920 beers they're drinking, but then on top of that to 0:52:09.000 --> 0:52:11.319 kind of share their frugal winds and the ways that 0:52:11.400 --> 0:52:13.759 you know, they are changing not only their mindset but 0:52:13.840 --> 0:52:16.200 their habits. And hopefully as we get you know, more 0:52:16.680 --> 0:52:19.720 post about how people are approaching frugality and making changes. 0:52:20.000 --> 0:52:22.359 It's it's an inspiration to all of us. All right, man, 0:52:22.400 --> 0:52:24.520 what do you think about this? Uh? This beer dre 0:52:24.800 --> 0:52:29.400 Fontane in the Oud Creek. Man, it's delicious. I love 0:52:29.520 --> 0:52:32.160 a good cherry beer, and you know this is man, 0:52:32.400 --> 0:52:35.920 pretty much the finest cherry beer money can buy. It is. 0:52:36.080 --> 0:52:37.640 It's really good. Man. I'm so glad you're able to 0:52:37.640 --> 0:52:39.680 bring this back. You brought this back with a suitcase 0:52:39.719 --> 0:52:42.799 full of other beers during your trip to Paris, and 0:52:42.840 --> 0:52:45.240 so yeah, I'm glad I get to enjoy the fruits 0:52:45.239 --> 0:52:47.080 of your labor a little bit here. The best thing 0:52:47.120 --> 0:52:49.880 about that too, man, I love cracking a beer, and 0:52:49.880 --> 0:52:52.280 a beer like this, you know, stays good for years, 0:52:52.400 --> 0:52:55.040 for decades. Actually, this beer, it doesn't expire, it says 0:52:55.120 --> 0:52:58.200 until so you have plenty of We would have had 0:52:58.200 --> 0:53:00.399 plenty of time to drink that, but I just under 0:53:00.400 --> 0:53:03.520 the wire, you know, right. But I love drinking a beer, 0:53:03.920 --> 0:53:06.880 you know, months or years down the road from a 0:53:06.920 --> 0:53:09.000 trip I've taken. It just kind of, you know, brings 0:53:09.040 --> 0:53:11.359 me back to that place where when I met Chris 0:53:11.440 --> 0:53:13.640 and I got the beer, and visiting that beer store 0:53:13.920 --> 0:53:17.040 and then just visiting Paris, just the whole trip kind 0:53:17.040 --> 0:53:19.239 of you know, floods back into my mind. That's one 0:53:19.239 --> 0:53:21.480 of my favorite thing about souvenir beers. It's the best, 0:53:22.200 --> 0:53:24.640 all right, Matt, Let's wrap things up. Frugality gives you 0:53:24.719 --> 0:53:27.040 options and you know, the key thing for me is 0:53:27.040 --> 0:53:29.040 that things change. Man. You don't know whether that job 0:53:29.080 --> 0:53:31.960 you love is going to be here tomorrow, and circumstances 0:53:32.280 --> 0:53:34.600 in your life can change on a dime, and so 0:53:34.680 --> 0:53:37.480 adopting a frugal mindset gives you kind of options to 0:53:37.520 --> 0:53:40.480 combat those potential changes that might be on the horizon 0:53:40.760 --> 0:53:43.560 they haven't even crossed your mind yet. Also, don't be 0:53:43.719 --> 0:53:46.920 sented to just earn more money. Obviously we're spending this 0:53:47.080 --> 0:53:49.680 entire episode talking about frugality, and so the focus has 0:53:49.719 --> 0:53:52.760 been on spending less. I think one of the biggest 0:53:53.000 --> 0:53:55.839 obstacles to frugality is people thinking, oh, I can just 0:53:55.960 --> 0:53:58.800 earn more money. That is just not a great way 0:53:58.840 --> 0:54:01.520 to think about saving money. As soon as you quit working, 0:54:01.960 --> 0:54:05.320 your income will also stop. Frugality is much more powerful 0:54:05.360 --> 0:54:10.160 than a high income because frugality compounds upon itself and Matt, 0:54:10.200 --> 0:54:13.120 the thing about that mindset too, is that if you 0:54:13.160 --> 0:54:17.000 focus on earnings, oftentimes you're spending goes up in tangent 0:54:17.200 --> 0:54:20.920 with that increased income, which actually doesn't increase savings or 0:54:20.920 --> 0:54:23.920 a frugality mindset at all. And on top of that, 0:54:24.280 --> 0:54:28.319 frugality builds resilience. It's like working a muscle. The more 0:54:28.360 --> 0:54:31.279 you practice frugality, the better you'll get at it, and 0:54:31.360 --> 0:54:35.319 ultimately the bigger buffer you'll have from potential financial harm. 0:54:35.440 --> 0:54:37.440 And then the good news, man, is that even if 0:54:37.480 --> 0:54:39.640 you are not living a frugal lifestyle right now, you 0:54:39.680 --> 0:54:42.719 could switch right away, like tomorrow, you could start living 0:54:42.719 --> 0:54:44.640 a frugal lifestyle. You could sell stuff, you can just 0:54:44.640 --> 0:54:48.400 stop making the expenses that you currently are. First, though, 0:54:48.560 --> 0:54:51.279 you've got to identify those goals, figure it out what 0:54:51.320 --> 0:54:53.799 it is that drives you. And once you have those 0:54:53.800 --> 0:54:56.880 goals set, then look and see does you're spending a 0:54:56.920 --> 0:54:58.640 line with that? Are you putting your money and are 0:54:58.640 --> 0:55:01.560 you spending in a way that will get you to 0:55:01.600 --> 0:55:04.680 that goal? And if not, make those changes. Yeah, and 0:55:04.719 --> 0:55:07.240 there are a lot of resources out there to help 0:55:07.280 --> 0:55:10.560 you make those changes, just like on our how to 0:55:10.640 --> 0:55:14.040 Money Facebook group, So tap that collective wisdom for kind 0:55:14.040 --> 0:55:16.520 of some of the more specific down in dirty ways 0:55:16.800 --> 0:55:20.239 to bring a mindset of frugality more into your life. Yeah, man, 0:55:20.239 --> 0:55:22.399 that's right. And a few episodes ago, we had our 0:55:22.400 --> 0:55:25.239 first episode that we dedicated purely to you know, a 0:55:25.239 --> 0:55:27.680 listener's question. But I love that. It just felt like 0:55:27.680 --> 0:55:29.640 a much more practical way for us to kind of 0:55:29.640 --> 0:55:31.920 cover a topic. So, if you are out there and 0:55:31.920 --> 0:55:34.320 you're listening, and you have a specific question in regards 0:55:34.360 --> 0:55:37.680 to personal finance, whether it be real estate or tips 0:55:37.719 --> 0:55:39.640 on how to save money, just whatever it is it 0:55:39.719 --> 0:55:43.239 might be, email us at how to Money pod at 0:55:43.280 --> 0:55:45.880 gmail dot com. We read all the messages that come 0:55:45.920 --> 0:55:47.560 through and we try to respond to all of them 0:55:47.680 --> 0:55:49.799 and hopefully we'll be able to feature some of those 0:55:49.840 --> 0:55:53.440 as full podcast episodes. That's right, and if you like 0:55:53.560 --> 0:55:55.920 this show, if it's bringing value to your life, please 0:55:56.040 --> 0:55:59.560 let us know. Consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts 0:55:59.600 --> 0:56:03.760 and hit the subscribe button wherever you're listening to the show. Cool, 0:56:04.280 --> 0:56:07.080 Thanks for listening. Best Friends Out, best Friends Out Man