Speaker 1: Propaganda how shopping became patriotic.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity and life. Here your hosts Jen
Speaker 2: and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Frugal Friends. I'm Jen, I'm Jill. And we
Speaker 1: mentioned in our Memorial Day episode which we will link to,
Speaker 1: that not just the sales for Memorial Day and Fourth
Speaker 1: of July get us to overspend on parties and food
Speaker 1: and decor, but also that to an extent, shopping in
Speaker 1: and of itself is patriotic and has been positioned via
Speaker 1: selective advertising to be your civic duty and does impact
Speaker 1: a lot of how you spend today. And that's what
Speaker 1: we're diving into in this episode.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, so we've said something pretty pretty saucy, pretty spicy here.
Speaker 3: We saw what we said that shopping is becoming patriotic.
Speaker 1: How is that become patriotic since the forties?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean potentially even before that. But yeah, I
Speaker 3: mean we can at least point at least to the forties.
Speaker 3: The government and companies definitely want to tie our spending
Speaker 3: to patriotism. I think it is helpful to define propaganda first,
Speaker 3: So here's a little dictionary moment for you. It is
Speaker 3: a form of communication aimed at influencing opinions, beliefs, or
Speaker 3: actions by presenting information selectively, often in a biased or
Speaker 3: misleading way, to achieve a desired outcome. So companies benefit
Speaker 3: when you shop, and they will utilize this type of propaganda.
Speaker 1: Yeah, propaganda in and of itself is not negative. It's neutral,
Speaker 1: but the way people use it is typically negative. They
Speaker 1: will leave out information that does not serve the greater purpose.
Speaker 1: And that is truly what the government has done throughout
Speaker 1: the decades in different ways to lead us to these
Speaker 1: spending habits that we have, and we don't necessarily know
Speaker 1: why we have them. So throughout this episode, we're going
Speaker 1: to go through four instances in history where the government
Speaker 1: has influenced how we should spend and how that's resulted
Speaker 1: in the spending habits we have today, so that you
Speaker 1: can recognize that your spending may have been systematically decided
Speaker 1: for you, and so you can decide whether you want
Speaker 1: to continue or change. So the first area of history
Speaker 1: that we're going to look at is World War One
Speaker 1: and World War two, and so this is where things
Speaker 1: started where the government started to get involved with our spending,
Speaker 1: and that is through buying war bonds.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were strategically positioned as a way to support
Speaker 3: the troops by buying these bonds that you could then
Speaker 3: event ually turn back in at small amounts of interest.
Speaker 3: But this was the messaging to consumers and citizens was
Speaker 3: buy a war bond, and they would utilize slogans This
Speaker 3: was so interesting to me. They would pray upon and
Speaker 3: this happens today too, praying upon really the eras xenophobia,
Speaker 3: framing enemies to drive some of this financial support. So
Speaker 3: slogans like buy a bond, beat a hunt, which is
Speaker 3: a very derogatory term for the Nazi soldiers at the time,
Speaker 3: So again playing into kind of the ideas that people
Speaker 3: had about their enemies and saying this is one way
Speaker 3: that you can participate in winning the war. Supporting the
Speaker 3: troops by a war bond. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The government really does thrive when we have something to do, right.
Speaker 1: They love when we shop. And so in this time,
Speaker 1: there wasn't a lot of consumer goods to buy. There
Speaker 1: was rations you couldn't and so with a lot of
Speaker 1: free time, what and you know, not a lot of
Speaker 1: money going around in the economy, war bonds were a
Speaker 1: way that people could participate and the government kind of
Speaker 1: like keeps the toddlers busy for a minute.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Another slogan was save freedom of speech, buy war bonds.
Speaker 3: So by doing this, you are preserving your right to
Speaker 3: free speech.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And even cartoons like Mickey Mouse Bugs Money, they were
Speaker 1: used in ads to promote buying war bonds. So this
Speaker 1: was the first time in history where we really see
Speaker 1: the government putting themselves in how people should be spending
Speaker 1: money and investing. So the second part of history is
Speaker 1: after the war, So post war consumerism is where the
Speaker 1: government was encouraging people to spend money. So after World
Speaker 1: War Two, the US promoted capitalism and consumption as defenses
Speaker 1: against communism, So they encouraged people buy cars, buy homes,
Speaker 1: buy modern appliances, and celebrate freedom and American prosperity, so
Speaker 1: viewing yourself as better than communists, this is how you
Speaker 1: can like actively do that is buy newer cars, newer homes,
Speaker 1: newer appliances.
Speaker 3: And it's interesting. We found a quote from economist Victor
Speaker 3: Lebau who said in nineteen fifty five, our enormously productive
Speaker 3: economy depends that demands that we make consumption.
Speaker 4: Our way of life.
Speaker 3: Buying things, discarding them and buying them again is the
Speaker 3: very essence of the American way.
Speaker 4: How much you crazy?
Speaker 1: Does that sound? It is so true though we don't realize,
Speaker 1: Like sometimes I see like people asking on Instagram and YouTube,
Speaker 1: like how did we get this way? How did we
Speaker 1: become such a single use economy, such a single use society?
Speaker 1: And this is why people actively told our grandparents and
Speaker 1: our parents that in order to keep the American economy running,
Speaker 1: we have to purchase and discard and purchase again an upgrade.
Speaker 1: That was the way we keep America running.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and specifically women because historically women have been the
Speaker 3: ones to manage the money of the household. That doesn't
Speaker 3: mean that they were earning or had a lot of
Speaker 3: autonomy to build wealth, but manage the money and so
Speaker 3: women were marketed to that it was their patriotics civic
Speaker 3: duty to purchase new appliances for the kitchen, buy beauty products.
Speaker 3: This is how you keep the nation alive is by
Speaker 3: doing these things. And my goodness, what kind of messaging
Speaker 3: that is, and how how much of a purpose that
Speaker 3: then adds to my purchase?
Speaker 4: Well, okay, I have to do It's not that I
Speaker 4: want to buy these new things. I also have to.
Speaker 1: But also, like women are not women in the fifties
Speaker 1: and women now are not different. We see women like
Speaker 1: owning businesses and in the workforce. Right, women were not
Speaker 1: different in the fifties. They were just not allowed or
Speaker 1: accepted in a lot of places. And so you've get
Speaker 1: women who've got their first taste of being in the
Speaker 1: workforce and being autonomous, you know, with Rosie the riveter,
Speaker 1: like participating working on machines, and then instantly they have
Speaker 1: to go back to being perfect little homemakers and housewives
Speaker 1: and they're dissatisfied. So I think this was another way
Speaker 1: that propaganda could keep women in the home by saying,
Speaker 1: you're doing your part, your patriotic duty by buying things,
Speaker 1: and if I can't work to make money, then I'm
Speaker 1: gonna work to buy things because again, like we all
Speaker 1: need something to do, we all need something to put
Speaker 1: our hands to and to feel purpose. And children are great.
Speaker 1: I love my children, but they are not enough for me.
Speaker 1: For some women they can be, but for many women
Speaker 1: they are not. And so this is I think where
Speaker 1: we see the beginning of women being they were already
Speaker 1: the primary purchasers of their household, but being seen as consumers.
Speaker 1: So men are workers and women are consumers, and so
Speaker 1: I think that is a big reason why today you
Speaker 1: see so many women on social media like overshopping, over consumption,
Speaker 1: all of this it stems back from the fifties.
Speaker 3: Which is almost a whole other topic, but they are
Speaker 3: all connected. Have the types of ways that we are
Speaker 3: marketed to as citizens, but then also how we're marketed
Speaker 3: to depending on our gender.
Speaker 4: There's so much.
Speaker 1: If you want to see an episode on the differences
Speaker 1: in the way women are marketed to versus men, let
Speaker 1: us know in the comments, because that is an episode
Speaker 1: I have been interested in making. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's just me, but yeah, there were ads literally
Speaker 1: saying you're not just buying a washing machine, you're supporting
Speaker 1: American industry.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that is there, It is right there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let me know, let me know in the comments
Speaker 1: if you want to see that. Yeah, I mean see
Speaker 1: it now too.
Speaker 3: That the purpose is always tied to us spending now
Speaker 3: never an emotional connection can be made.
Speaker 1: That's going to come in soon.
Speaker 3: Jumping ahead a few decades. The next example that we
Speaker 3: have is nine to eleven. So after the terrorist attacks,
Speaker 3: President George W. Bush at the time encouraged Americans to
Speaker 3: go shopping after these attacks, saying, even get down to
Speaker 3: Disney World, go to Florida, take your families, and enjoy
Speaker 3: life the way we want it to be enjoyed, kind
Speaker 3: of sending this message to the terrorists that our American
Speaker 3: way of life cannot be disrupted and that shopping was
Speaker 3: kind of our way of showing American resilience.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So from the fifties to two thousand and one, there
Speaker 1: were different little things that changed our shopping habits. But
Speaker 1: I think what was key in two thousand and one
Speaker 1: is that was the foundation of when the the tech boom,
Speaker 1: the internet boom, was happening. Before then, we didn't really
Speaker 1: have all of the availability and ease of shopping. And
Speaker 1: even when he said that we didn't have that that
Speaker 1: was you really did have to leave your house. People
Speaker 1: in two thousand and one two thousand and two were
Speaker 1: afraid to leave their houses. That was another tool that
Speaker 1: is used against this a lot is fear, and people
Speaker 1: were staying home. They didn't want to be in the
Speaker 1: next place that was potentially attacked for like really good reason.
Speaker 1: So that was kind of the key to the message,
Speaker 1: is that don't let outside people make you fear being
Speaker 1: an American, and you can be an American by going shopping.
Speaker 1: And so with that kind of as the foundation, then
Speaker 1: the Internet and Amazon have that foundation to grow off of.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and during that time, Americans bought homes and cars
Speaker 3: in record quantities. From October through December, consumption soared up
Speaker 3: to six percent that year.
Speaker 1: And you might not be surprised by that in knowing
Speaker 1: that two thousand and eight there was a housing.
Speaker 4: Crash and then we experienced what we experienced.
Speaker 1: Right, So, yeah, we have this and people shopping at
Speaker 1: record rates and then the housing crisis where jobs are lost,
Speaker 1: and we kind of have this small reset of sorts,
Speaker 1: but then we quickly this gives way for a lot
Speaker 1: of people to build wealth in real estate. And we
Speaker 1: quickly have this rebound to jump forward to twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: and so this is our most recent boom in consumerism
Speaker 1: and how shopping has been patriotic, but in a slight shift.
Speaker 1: So now instead of support, there is still some like
Speaker 1: marketing that is like supporting troops. And I'll come back
Speaker 1: around to that. But I think there was a key
Speaker 1: shift in twenty twenty when we all had to stay
Speaker 1: home from work. We were all very well versed in
Speaker 1: the internet. We'd had it, We've had it for twenty years,
Speaker 1: and so we all have an Amazon account. So online
Speaker 1: consumption started to boom and a lot of things happened
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, not just COVID, and consumerism shifted to activism.
Speaker 1: So if you wanted to fight back against what a
Speaker 1: political party was doing, you could shop to support this cause,
Speaker 1: or you can shop from this local business owner, what
Speaker 1: have you. And it can all be done online. And
Speaker 1: we've got social media now, something that we didn't have
Speaker 1: in two thousand and one, telling us these are the
Speaker 1: causes that need your support, these are the people that
Speaker 1: need your support, these are the injustices. And so it
Speaker 1: also becomes so overwhelming because there's so many people who
Speaker 1: need help in this time, and we all get stimulus checks.
Speaker 1: So that is a way a lot of people were
Speaker 1: able to show their activism and invest in different communities
Speaker 1: and people. And we have a new the current I
Speaker 1: would say, uprising of political or activist spending.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's a tough one a bit, because we
Speaker 3: do want money is power and we can we talk
Speaker 3: all the time about voting with our dollar and being
Speaker 3: able to put our money towards into local businesses, into
Speaker 3: the types of businesses that we want to support. So
Speaker 3: there is something to tease apart with that to say, yep,
Speaker 3: there's these messages. Be aware of the messages, but then
Speaker 3: also eyes wide open in what your dollar is doing
Speaker 3: and where it's going. Because some of this we do
Speaker 3: agree with, and you'll hear us say yeah, buy local, Yeah,
Speaker 3: pour the businesses around you, you know, buy from the
Speaker 3: people who are doing good things with the money, putting
Speaker 3: it back into the community.
Speaker 1: But also understand that just like there was propaganda in
Speaker 1: the forties, the fifties, the two thousands, it's still happening
Speaker 1: now and not just from the government, but companies benefit
Speaker 1: when you feel insecure, when you feel afraid and when
Speaker 1: you want to act and that they prey on your empathy,
Speaker 1: they prey on your insecurity. We all want to be
Speaker 1: accepted and one of the ways that we can be
Speaker 1: accepted is by joining similar causes to people who are
Speaker 1: you know, are in need. So we recognize that that's
Speaker 1: a good thing. But also some of the people in
Speaker 1: need you may not be getting the full picture. And
Speaker 1: so we've seen stories like that too, where there's this
Speaker 1: rise in like go fundme scams we covered in our
Speaker 1: scam episode. These you know, quote unquote older people who
Speaker 1: are having to shut down their business and or need
Speaker 1: support to keep their business open and will pray on
Speaker 1: that for you to buy their products, when really they
Speaker 1: are just p products from like Sheen or Timu or
Speaker 1: something from China. It's not like real So people are
Speaker 1: praying on this desire for activist spending. And even still
Speaker 1: like there is marketing that's targeted to like veterans and
Speaker 1: supporting the military and veteran owned businesses and supporting you know,
Speaker 1: people who have similar political parties as you. So this
Speaker 1: is still in the realm of government as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's transcended.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I like the advertising as activism how you're
Speaker 3: describing that and also selling a lifestyle too. You know,
Speaker 3: I think we've heard people talk about the American dream
Speaker 3: ad nauseum, and that means different things to different people,
Speaker 3: but it is still being utilized as a marketing technique
Speaker 3: to sell some version of the American dream.
Speaker 4: We saw a lot of examples of this.
Speaker 3: Rocket Mortgage had a own the Dream ad in the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five Super Bowl commercial. There's an example of
Speaker 3: Northwestern Mutual who also did an American Dream campaign, and
Speaker 3: the ad highlights that the American dream can vary for
Speaker 3: different people, but it is encompassing this idea of financial independence,
Speaker 3: career fulfillment, personal growth. Really selling this idea of this
Speaker 3: is what it is to be an American and it
Speaker 3: includes these things of buying from our business and achieving
Speaker 3: some of these things that might look to be a
Speaker 3: version of success, whether that's the type of house you
Speaker 3: have or the car that you drive. Ikea, which this
Speaker 3: is very funny to me that Ikea did an American
Speaker 3: Dream campaign. Yea as not an American company. It's like
Speaker 3: they see what works for us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is so funny because I also see on
Speaker 1: the other end of the spectrum like people saying the
Speaker 1: American dream is dead, but it's definitely not dead. In marketing,
Speaker 1: it's definitely still working. People like companies wouldn't do it
Speaker 1: if it wasn't working, right, Ikia wouldn't have an ad
Speaker 1: about the American Dream if it.
Speaker 3: Wasn't what they play on it though, It's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: their ad is where did the American Dream go? So
Speaker 3: even the fact that that concept is still circulating within
Speaker 3: our vernacular is a huge part of this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so where do we go from here? So now
Speaker 1: that we know kind of why this like spending is
Speaker 1: so ingrained in us and it was really just leading
Speaker 1: to this idea of like activist spending, where do we
Speaker 1: go from here? I think it's still important that we
Speaker 1: don't just like rag on activists spending. I do believe
Speaker 1: in that, Like you were saying, I do think that
Speaker 1: you vote with your dollar. I think you we focus
Speaker 1: so much on voting once a year in a polling booth,
Speaker 1: but you do vote every day with where you spend
Speaker 1: your money. And I think that's far more important because
Speaker 1: where you spend your money the people you're giving your
Speaker 1: money to. Those are the people who are bank rolling elections.
Speaker 1: So I think that's super important, and I think we
Speaker 1: should keep as many of our dollars local and in
Speaker 1: small businesses as possible. But supporting small businesses doesn't always
Speaker 1: have to cost money. It's not always having to spend
Speaker 1: more to support these because that you have that issue
Speaker 1: as well. It does cost more to buy to shop
Speaker 1: at a smaller grocery store or a farmer's market or
Speaker 1: you know, a locally owned place. Yeah, and we do
Speaker 1: think that that's worth it. If you're going to buy something,
Speaker 1: if you want quality, maybe skip buying a thing and
Speaker 1: use that money to be able to spend more to
Speaker 1: support local Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think ultimately this can help us to tease apart
Speaker 3: what is the messaging from the actual product, Because no,
Speaker 3: me buying a Subaru is not me buying an enjoyable
Speaker 3: life living in the woods with my dog, like they're
Speaker 3: selling you a lifestyle with the messaging. Fine, if you
Speaker 3: want a Subaru, but let's tease a part some of this,
Speaker 3: the ways that they're preying upon our emotions or our
Speaker 3: patriotism or lack of patriotism, just to get you to
Speaker 3: spend your money. Be sure that if you want purpose
Speaker 3: behind your spending, that you know that your purchase is
Speaker 3: going to accomplish that purpose and you're not being scammed
Speaker 3: lied to propaganda too. And so along with that, things
Speaker 3: that you can do that don't even require you to
Speaker 3: spend your money include leaving a quick review to support
Speaker 3: your local businesses, so that is free. It helps to
Speaker 3: get them noticed. Yeah, it takes a little bit of
Speaker 3: our time, but if you've enjoyed a produce, stand a
Speaker 3: local restaurant, a service they did good quality work, reviews
Speaker 3: go such a long while.
Speaker 1: Spend an afternoon a time that you were going to
Speaker 1: scroll on Instagram or TikTok and instead of opening the
Speaker 1: social media app, just go on to Google and start
Speaker 1: reviewing local businesses that you have been.
Speaker 4: To, or the Google Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: And subscribe to Frugal Friends on YouTube because we are
Speaker 1: a small business, and yeah, do things like that to
Speaker 1: help local businesses, local creators, local service providers. A lot
Speaker 1: of local businesses are service providers too, so like your
Speaker 1: lawn team and your laundry teams and mats and stuff.
Speaker 1: So that could be a great way that you a
Speaker 1: skip a you know, thirty minute session scrolling on social
Speaker 1: media if you're trying to do less of that and
Speaker 1: you're voting with your time where you choose to spend
Speaker 1: your time.
Speaker 3: And when you are on social media, liking a post,
Speaker 3: sharing a post, commenting on a post of a local business,
Speaker 3: a service, whoever it is, that can also really help
Speaker 3: these businesses have engagement visibility find new customers. So there's
Speaker 3: another freeway to see.
Speaker 1: When you comment on something or like something, that gets
Speaker 1: a further reach that that business doesn't have to pay for.
Speaker 1: So if you see it and you comment on it,
Speaker 1: then an algorithm could push that out to two more
Speaker 1: people and that business didn't have to pay for that
Speaker 1: extra push. It doesn't have to be anything insightful. Could
Speaker 1: just be love this, like yeah, and like on our videos,
Speaker 1: comment love this and give it a lot yeah, or
Speaker 1: all of your favorite YouTubers please like, especially the ones
Speaker 1: with you know, one hundred thousand subscribers or less like
Speaker 1: they could Truly, if they're putting out good educational content
Speaker 1: and you like it, then you can support them by
Speaker 1: doing that.
Speaker 3: Like we've already said, choosing local whenever possible, I mean,
Speaker 3: do your research on the companies and make sure that
Speaker 3: you feel comfortable about spending the money if it's within
Speaker 3: the budget. Grate if it's not, because it's not always
Speaker 3: going to be. Sometimes it's a lot more expensive and
Speaker 3: just not feasible to buy something more local. Then maybe
Speaker 3: it would be from a big box store. That's okay,
Speaker 3: we're not going to hit the mark every single time.
Speaker 4: We're not.
Speaker 3: There's no like perfection to be found here, but whenever possible,
Speaker 3: let's do that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think something is simple as meal planning so that
Speaker 1: you can so Yeah, for me, like it's too expensive
Speaker 1: for me to shop at the local grocery stores. I
Speaker 1: buy my groceries at Walmart or ald but then I
Speaker 1: make a meal plan and I try to eat all
Speaker 1: that food, So then I am not eating at fast
Speaker 1: food chains that are you know big like franchises or
Speaker 1: you know big I don't know corporate entities, right, so
Speaker 1: I'm choosing I will put my money here, and yes
Speaker 1: it's not one hundred percent of like everything I agree with,
Speaker 1: but I'm also doing what I can to avoid putting
Speaker 1: my money in all of these other places too. So
Speaker 1: it's like that eighty twenty role. We are never going
Speaker 1: to be perfect, and I think this illusion of perfection
Speaker 1: this is another like advertising technique. Again, Businesses make money.
Speaker 1: When you feel vulnerable or insecure, when we can't be perfect,
Speaker 1: then we just decide to not do anything, or that
Speaker 1: all of our efforts are for nothing and they're not.
Speaker 1: Like we talk about meal planning as a way to
Speaker 1: save money, and it's so that you don't have to
Speaker 1: put that money into you know, big corporations, and so
Speaker 1: then when you have date night, you can afford to
Speaker 1: go to a locally owned, nice restaurant's. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how we do it.
Speaker 3: Or by quality over quantity on something tangible. Another way
Speaker 3: that you can support local businesses is to show up
Speaker 3: to the free local events. Just your presence contributes to
Speaker 3: places being seen, being able to grow, and telling your
Speaker 3: friends about the different businesses and services that you've liked,
Speaker 3: helping them find new customers. Honestly, for local companies, referrals
Speaker 3: are the biggest way that they get business and so
Speaker 3: you are a part of that process by being a referral.
Speaker 1: And I think we ultimately, like first we'll think of
Speaker 1: like restaurants and places that you know, coffee shops, but
Speaker 1: providers are super important. Your mechanic, your oil change guy,
Speaker 1: like all of these people who provide services to you.
Speaker 1: If you like them, telling people like, hey, this person
Speaker 1: did really good work, they were well priced and I
Speaker 1: like them. That is so helpful to people and Facebook
Speaker 1: can be a good platform for that. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I would do it in a group because it
Speaker 1: could sound like your sponsored or putting it on your
Speaker 1: social media in your Instagram. So whatever, it's helpful for
Speaker 1: the people around you, it's helpful for the business. And
Speaker 1: just lastly, reiterate you vote with your dollars. So if
Speaker 1: you want to push back against this idea of like
Speaker 1: patriotic shopping and that your worth to the country is
Speaker 1: as a consumer, then view every dollar you spend as
Speaker 1: a vote on what you want to happen where you live.
Speaker 3: And also recognizing that what we do with our time
Speaker 3: is important too, like that we don't have to be
Speaker 3: spending money in order to have purpose or have a
Speaker 3: hand in activism and advocacy. Like all of the free
Speaker 3: examples we just gave about ways that we can show
Speaker 3: support for the things that matter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, start small, and even just a small change in
Speaker 1: how you spend over time can can lead to more
Speaker 1: and more habits that have a big difference.
Speaker 3: Do you know what else is super helpful? And I
Speaker 3: do tell people about every single time.
Speaker 1: And is not propaganda. We give the full context the
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Speaker 5: Hi, jenn and Jill. I just moved to a new
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Speaker 5: Local library thirty five dollars because our new home is
Speaker 5: technically outside of city limits. And I'm just psyched to
Speaker 5: pay my library thirty five dollars because one, I love books,
Speaker 5: and renting books helped me save money for myself and
Speaker 5: my daughter. And two, I don't know anyone in my
Speaker 5: new town, and so we've been going to free events
Speaker 5: at the library and meeting other parents, and it's been
Speaker 5: a great way to build community in a new place.
Speaker 5: So I am stoked to give my local library thirty
Speaker 5: five dollars a year so I can enjoy these activities. Thanks.
Speaker 1: I fully support libraries. That is where you should be
Speaker 1: putting your money libraries advocacy.
Speaker 3: Groups' just a one issue voter.
Speaker 1: I am a one issue voter, and it's on the
Speaker 1: support and funding of libraries.
Speaker 4: This is so great. We love that you don't mind
Speaker 4: paying this.
Speaker 3: I love five dollars a year. I mean, for most
Speaker 3: of us, libraries are just all the way free. I'm
Speaker 3: so sad that you live too far outside.
Speaker 1: They don't even let me pay late fees anymore. They
Speaker 1: took away late fees. Yeah, they just auto renew it
Speaker 1: for you, and so then you have the opportunity to
Speaker 1: just bring it in late. It's I can't say a
Speaker 1: bad thing about the life.
Speaker 4: We're tired. They were so tired of fighting people on
Speaker 4: late fees.
Speaker 1: Good, I mean good for them. I just the library
Speaker 1: does so much for so many.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, and thirty five a year. That is a
Speaker 3: small amount to enjoy everything they have to offer, all
Speaker 3: of the books, all of the enjoyment. Well done, Sarah
Speaker 3: would love this, you sill. And if you all are
Speaker 3: listening and you have a bill that you want to submit,
Speaker 3: if it has to do with a bill, you don't
Speaker 3: mind paying. If you are a one issue voter and
Speaker 3: that issue is libraries, and you want to talk about that.
Speaker 3: If your name is Bill and you work at a
Speaker 3: library or literally you've got anything vaguely related to a
Speaker 3: Bill Frugal friendspodcast dot com slash Bill, leave it for us.
Speaker 4: We can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 3: And now it's time for the lightning row.
Speaker 1: All right, today's lightning round question. What's something you spent
Speaker 1: money on recently to support a local business? Oh gosh, well,
Speaker 1: can I look at my transactions real quick?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I love this? Okay, yeah, yeah I do. I
Speaker 4: can go first.
Speaker 3: So we just paid somebody to detail our car?
Speaker 4: You did? Yep?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you were there for that. You know, I'm not lying,
Speaker 3: not that I lie that often. But they there is
Speaker 3: a mobile I mean these exist everywhere, but around us
Speaker 3: there's a mobile car detailer. Who our office, our shared
Speaker 3: co working space where we have the studio, has this
Speaker 3: mobile car detailer come, I don't know, once a quarter maybe,
Speaker 3: And we found out that this person was coming in
Speaker 3: our car has been dirty, so so dirty.
Speaker 1: She doesn't know what dirty is.
Speaker 4: She doesn't have to. You're right, I don't have children,
Speaker 4: but my.
Speaker 1: Dog threw up in my car this morning.
Speaker 4: That's very filthy, actually, my car was dirty. Your car
Speaker 4: sounds filthy, and.
Speaker 3: We kept meaning to clean this vehicle ourselves. We do
Speaker 3: love going to our local car wash to do this,
Speaker 3: but the thought of not needing to do it, and
Speaker 3: to support somebody else to give him the business that
Speaker 3: day was everything. And now our car is so spick
Speaker 3: and span. I've been saying I'm at the pinnacle lately.
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm at the pinnacle. Wow. My home,
Speaker 3: my renovations are done for now done on the home.
Speaker 3: The car is spotless, my house is clean. I have
Speaker 3: a meal plan. And I'm not saying this like well,
Speaker 3: I I mean it feels great, but also to recognize
Speaker 3: like it is also only downhill from here. You never
Speaker 3: experience everything converging like this all at once.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 4: So I am also a little scared, but it feels great.
Speaker 4: Oh for this.
Speaker 3: Moment in time. I love very short lived moment. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I love that for you.
Speaker 4: Okay, what about you?
Speaker 1: I have two.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 1: The first one is we just got our dog Spade
Speaker 1: at Operation Snip, which is a nonprofit that works to
Speaker 1: get as many dogs spade and neutered as possible.
Speaker 4: It sounds like a wild goal.
Speaker 1: That's it's a really good goal if you don't want
Speaker 1: like all a bunch of dogs running around everywhere.
Speaker 4: Do we have a problem with stray dogs?
Speaker 1: I know we don't because we have Operation Snip. We
Speaker 1: pay for that. They offer affordable spade and neuter, and
Speaker 1: then also like provide the surfaces to dogs who can't
Speaker 1: afford to you know, dogs you don't.
Speaker 4: Have got dogs lazy dogs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that one. And then also we had my
Speaker 1: birthday party at a local coffee shop called Poor and Decor.
Speaker 1: It's very fancy, and they if you go to my
Speaker 1: Instagram at Modern Frugality, you'll see this the last picture
Speaker 1: I posted from like months ago. Uh and they put
Speaker 1: happy birthday on my lot.
Speaker 4: On it. Uh.
Speaker 1: So they are actually a locally owned part like part
Speaker 1: of a like a family of businesses almost you know
Speaker 1: Mazarro's which also I recently went there for lunch, which
Speaker 1: is a fantastic like locally owned Italian restaurant, and the
Speaker 1: family member of the you know that family and believe
Speaker 1: they own porn decre I could be wrong, but I
Speaker 1: think they're part of the same.
Speaker 4: Conglomeration family.
Speaker 1: I literally call it a conglomerate literally bloodline. So yeah,
Speaker 1: those are my most recent ones. We do not go
Speaker 1: out much, but.
Speaker 4: But it sounds like you're doing it.
Speaker 1: We're trying. We're trying to plan a date night to
Speaker 1: another locally owned restaurant.
Speaker 5: Whatever.
Speaker 3: In the comments on YouTube, what you do to support
Speaker 3: local businesses?
Speaker 1: Yeah, let us know how you vote with your dollar,
Speaker 1: because I think we could all use an expansion of
Speaker 1: our mind on how to do that. It is a
Speaker 1: foreign concept, I think for a lot of people, and
Speaker 1: I would love to hear how other people are doing it.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much much for watching, so much
Speaker 1: for listening. Yes, we love your kind reviews, your kind comments,
Speaker 1: whether that's on Spotify or Amazon. If you buy our book,
Speaker 1: we hope you buy our book at a local bookshop
Speaker 1: or get it from the library. But if you have,
Speaker 1: and you could leave a review on Amazon.
Speaker 4: Because you know here Amazon, you know.
Speaker 1: If you're going to get a book from the library,
Speaker 1: where you're going to look for reviews of that book,
Speaker 1: You're going to Amazon. So if you could leave a
Speaker 1: review there, you don't have to purchase it there, but
Speaker 1: you can still leave a review there, like Noira Martinez
Speaker 1: did five Stars. I adore this book. I read it
Speaker 1: cover to cover within days of receiving it, and can
Speaker 1: honestly say that this book delves not only into the
Speaker 1: process by which you can choose your priorities and spend accordingly,
Speaker 1: but also into the psychology behind our spending and money practices.
Speaker 1: These two authors are personable and make you feel as
Speaker 1: though a friend is chatting to you over coffee. Already,
Speaker 1: purchase two more books for friends and family.
Speaker 4: Oooh yeah noirah, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1: Buy what you Love Without Going Broke is available wherever
Speaker 1: you buy books and wherever you check out books hopefully,
Speaker 1: and if it's not, go to buy what you loovebook
Speaker 1: dot com. We've got instructions on how to request it
Speaker 1: at your library.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So, speaking of supporting things you love and believe in,
Speaker 3: if you are loving this, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Speaker 3: Even if you're not a YouTube person, Just hop on
Speaker 3: over to YouTube and hit subscribe. You never have to
Speaker 3: visit it again. But it don't help us never again. Uh,
Speaker 3: comment on a video, like a video, h leave a
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Speaker 3: Freeways that you can support us in exchange for of
Speaker 3: scrolling instead of scrolling.
Speaker 1: And other creators who are also trying to say the
Speaker 1: same things about anti consumerism and conscious conception and if
Speaker 1: that's what you're into, we'll see you next time. Grugal
Speaker 1: Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3: That party at poor Into Court I missed because.
Speaker 1: I was not going to throw you under the bus.
Speaker 3: Not I'm throwing myself because I was not at the
Speaker 3: pinnacle of my life. Then I did miss my birthday. Well,
Speaker 3: it wasn't a real, like big party. I just invited
Speaker 3: like five girls.
Speaker 4: I really wanted to be there with me.
Speaker 3: I was looking forward to it, and then I got
Speaker 3: swept up in my renovations.
Speaker 4: And totally forgot.
Speaker 3: But to pull myself out of from being under the
Speaker 3: bus the day before, we did do a lot of
Speaker 3: things Birthday. We did decorated the office, we went out
Speaker 3: to lunch. I made you a special drinky drink.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did not feel like you forgot.
Speaker 3: I did not forget because you were forget the coffee shop.
Speaker 4: Hang.
Speaker 3: But you know what, it also helped me to get
Speaker 3: my renovations done sooner so that I can now be
Speaker 3: at the pinnacle of my life. I don't know how
Speaker 3: long it's gonna last for, but I'm really and I
Speaker 3: don't know how it's going to benefit me.
Speaker 1: But I am pleased that you're at the pinnacle of
Speaker 1: your life.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, because it can be contagious, right.
Speaker 1: Hasn't been so far. I feel, I feel other things,
Speaker 1: But I am absolutely not a joy for you to
Speaker 1: be at this part in your life.
Speaker 3: I am.
Speaker 4: Yeah, check in next week, we'll see where we're at.
Speaker 4: But for now, yeah, we'll see