Speaker 1: Episode four ninety nine, the Ultimate Guide to Frugal Grocery shopping.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live at your life. Here
Speaker 2: your hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and we have our annual mega
Speaker 1: episode on how to save money on groceries, and we
Speaker 1: found so many new things this year. I am always
Speaker 1: surprised every year when we do this episode, there are
Speaker 1: more ways to save money on groceries.
Speaker 3: If you clicked on this episode thinking probably not gonna
Speaker 3: say anything new, but I'm curious, Oh boy, we learned.
Speaker 3: I learned there are new things out there that can
Speaker 3: help us save even more on groceries, and we're gonna yes.
Speaker 1: But first, this episode is brought to you by apps
Speaker 1: and websites. In doing research for this episode, I found
Speaker 1: some amazing apps and websites I had no idea existed,
Speaker 1: and that I've already started using. You'll hear them here first,
Speaker 1: but you know where, We'll be showing them on our YouTube.
Speaker 1: These resources are so cool that we will for sure
Speaker 1: be talking about them more in depth on the Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends YouTube channel in the future. So if you don't
Speaker 1: want to miss seeing these things, head to YouTube dot
Speaker 1: com slash frugal Friends, or just Google or search Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends in YouTube and subscribe. There's already some great stuff
Speaker 1: on there that we've been doing in the month of March,
Speaker 1: and new things are coming mid April.
Speaker 3: You cannot wait for that. Yes, so smash that subscribe buttons.
Speaker 4: Smash, smash that subscribe button.
Speaker 1: All right, So we have we do a lot of
Speaker 1: episodes on food and so this episode four ninety nine,
Speaker 1: in episode five hundred, we will be talking about this
Speaker 1: next phase of Frugal Friends, this quote unquote new era,
Speaker 1: and that starts today. Actually, uh so we're gonna be
Speaker 1: doing some new things in this episode. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: doing some new things, some new old things I think
Speaker 1: coming up this year, which means a lot more how
Speaker 1: to save money on X and a lot of food
Speaker 1: things like so how to save money on meat, how
Speaker 1: to save money on restaurants and takeout organic food, all
Speaker 1: these things that you've been asking for in the mega
Speaker 1: survey that we sent out in February. We're just gonna
Speaker 1: dive a very niche into different food categories. And this
Speaker 1: is going to be our overarching groceries episode, but we
Speaker 1: do have some other episodes. You can go back into
Speaker 1: the archives if you can't wait for all the new
Speaker 1: stuff coming. Episode four thirty three Tips for Grocery Shopping
Speaker 1: on a Budget. Episode two ninety six Grocery Shopping Strategies
Speaker 1: that will cut your bill in half with Gina Zachariya,
Speaker 1: the Savings.
Speaker 4: Wiz love her.
Speaker 1: So lots of food coming up and a new format.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we are not doing headlines anymore. Runs we are.
Speaker 3: We used to go through at one point two articles
Speaker 3: on the Internet based on whatever topic we were talking about.
Speaker 3: Whatever you would google, whatever would come up on the
Speaker 3: first page of Google. What do they say about it?
Speaker 3: What do we have to say about it? And you
Speaker 3: know what, Google's changed, and so are we so Google shifting.
Speaker 3: We're shifting. You're just not getting quality information anymore when
Speaker 3: you are googling things. And so we say, we have
Speaker 3: seven years of this podcast under our belt and we're
Speaker 3: just going to take the reins now, move over Google,
Speaker 3: and here's how we're going to talk about things now.
Speaker 3: When we do a Save on XYZ episode, We're going
Speaker 3: to we want to talk to you about how to
Speaker 3: get that item for free, how to get at low cost,
Speaker 3: how to get a deal on it, and how to
Speaker 3: get it guilt free, so maybe even paying full price
Speaker 3: for it brand new, but what's the best way to
Speaker 3: spend our money? So with this new framework, it's something
Speaker 3: that we hope you can take with you on any
Speaker 3: of your purchases to go through this filter of can
Speaker 3: I get it for free? Can I get it for
Speaker 3: low cost? Can I get it for a deal, and
Speaker 3: if not, how do I spend on it guilt free?
Speaker 3: And we're going to kind of show you how to
Speaker 3: do that with each of these episodes on the topic
Speaker 3: that we're talking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're shifting away from Google, but we're not
Speaker 1: relying just on our own experience. We're also going to
Speaker 1: be using AI, so a lot of chat, GPT and honestly,
Speaker 1: that's why I believe it's harder to get quality answers
Speaker 1: from Google is because as Google is shifting its workforce
Speaker 1: into AI, so we're gonna shift with it. And so
Speaker 1: we're going to tell you how we are finding ways
Speaker 1: to save money using AI. So you can use similar
Speaker 1: prompts and you can start start to shift some of
Speaker 1: the ways you search, because it really does save time.
Speaker 1: As long as you know the proper prompts to put in,
Speaker 1: you can get more customized, more local, hyper local, and
Speaker 1: faster answers to your specific questions. So we're starting that
Speaker 1: with groceries. And so we're going to start how do
Speaker 1: we get groceries for free? So we look at local
Speaker 1: We're looking at local places, but also apps that can
Speaker 1: help us in each of these so as far as
Speaker 1: local places, food pantries and suit kitchens, that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: And I want to start out and I know this episode,
Speaker 1: these types of episodes, these filters.
Speaker 4: That we run through.
Speaker 1: I love them because they will benefit those who are
Speaker 1: of low income and they will also benefit those who
Speaker 1: are of mid or high income. But I think everybody
Speaker 1: of every income can benefit from every single level, especially.
Speaker 4: This free one.
Speaker 1: So food pantries for sure have a stigma around them.
Speaker 1: I was doing an interview the other day about how
Speaker 1: now you can use Klarna or pay and installments on
Speaker 1: door dash, so you can like break up your burrito
Speaker 1: into four interest free payments, and she was like, what
Speaker 1: about using it for stuff like groceries? And it really
Speaker 1: does come down to it's there are resources out there
Speaker 1: even if you or maybe not low income, but you're
Speaker 1: in a place where maybe you're a federal employee and
Speaker 1: you lost your job and you were unprepared right and
Speaker 1: you're in a season where you need to use.
Speaker 4: Some kind of program.
Speaker 1: There can be a stigma around these places because a
Speaker 1: maybe we don't want to admit that we need it,
Speaker 1: we don't want to put ourselves at that perceived social level,
Speaker 1: or we just feel guilty because this is not you know,
Speaker 1: I shouldn't be here, I should have saved. I don't
Speaker 1: deserve to take advantage of this this resource because I
Speaker 1: had every opportunity to save and I didn't. So I
Speaker 1: don't want to take it from people who don't have
Speaker 1: the opportunity. And I want to break down that stigma
Speaker 1: and say these resources are available, they are not one
Speaker 1: hundred percent utilized. There is always room for people to
Speaker 1: be using them if they need them. And and so there's
Speaker 1: something to be said for like whether you need them
Speaker 1: versus whether you're just like trying to retire in five
Speaker 1: years and make your spending as low as possible and
Speaker 1: you make two hundred thousand dollars a year that's that's
Speaker 1: totally different. That's probably not you. You think that's you
Speaker 1: think that's it's probably not you. You're probably not going
Speaker 1: to be taking advantage of this resource. But like my
Speaker 1: neighbor works, My neighbor across the street works at a
Speaker 1: food pantry, and every couple of weeks he's bringing boxes
Speaker 1: of food over that were not taken from the food pantry.
Speaker 1: And so this is fresh produce, frozen meats from grocery stores.
Speaker 1: These are not like from camped food drives, you know,
Speaker 1: from somebody's discarded dented can. Right, this is good food
Speaker 1: that needs to be cooked immediately. But it's these programs
Speaker 1: are not being one hundred percent utilized. So if you
Speaker 1: need to lower your grocery spending because of life ser circumstances,
Speaker 1: they are available and it's worth checking them out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean, I love what you're saying here.
Speaker 3: If you're not totally in a position where you absolutely
Speaker 3: need to be getting these things for free and you
Speaker 3: don't want to take from somebody else who maybe you
Speaker 3: perceive has a greater need than you, then calling the
Speaker 3: food pantries and asking them, you know, what's their turnover date?
Speaker 3: When do they get new supplies in when are they
Speaker 3: getting rid of supplies, just so that you can make
Speaker 3: sure that less is being wasted and you could pick
Speaker 3: up the things that are maybe about to be expired,
Speaker 3: kind of at the tail end of what they might
Speaker 3: be donating to somebody. And I know there's plenty of
Speaker 3: communities too who will even have almost like swaps with
Speaker 3: their local food pantries, so you know, take something, but
Speaker 3: then when you have a surplus, go and give back.
Speaker 3: There can also be some reciprocity with it too, where
Speaker 3: you know you don't have to feel like you're only receiving,
Speaker 3: but there's also opportunity for you to give as you
Speaker 3: have ability to do that. But ultimately we want to
Speaker 3: say these are available. It's not going to be the
Speaker 3: right solution for everybody, but if you are really in
Speaker 3: a pinch and grow affording groceries has been one of
Speaker 3: your biggest struggles. We know it's one of the things
Speaker 3: we spend the most money on. There are ways to
Speaker 3: get it for free.
Speaker 1: It's worth doing this before you put your groceries on
Speaker 1: for interest free installments on Klarna, I will say that, yeah.
Speaker 3: And you can also look for community fridges. Some cities
Speaker 3: have public refrigerators where people can donate food that is
Speaker 3: maybe not even as shelf stable as your rice and
Speaker 3: beans and canned goods. So you can search even in
Speaker 3: chat GPT community fridge near me or type in your
Speaker 3: exact city community fridge in XYZ wherever you live, and
Speaker 3: they should be able to spit out some options to you.
Speaker 1: And then there are a couple apps everyone should download.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be a very app heavy episode. The
Speaker 1: first is too Good to Go, so not all the
Speaker 1: food on there is free, but it's either low cost
Speaker 1: or free leftover food from restaurants. And then olio O
Speaker 1: l i O people will give away extra food for free,
Speaker 1: so not necessarily restaurants, but it's a essentially a food
Speaker 1: sharing app.
Speaker 3: All right, moving on to low cost, how can we
Speaker 3: get groceries at a lower cost than maybe what they
Speaker 3: typically would retail for. First of all, we're going to
Speaker 3: want to shop in season produce. This is one of
Speaker 3: the best ways for us to be able to reduce
Speaker 3: our grocery bill is when we are purchasing the items
Speaker 3: that are currently being produced by the land, hopefully even
Speaker 3: more locally to you, so you know, is it fall.
Speaker 3: Then we're talking more apples and squashes. Is it summer
Speaker 3: great berries and lettuce? You decide, you know, kind of
Speaker 3: look up. That's another thing that you can use chat
Speaker 3: GPT on what what produce is in season in the
Speaker 3: area that I live in. Right, that's an important one
Speaker 3: in the area I live in because that then you're
Speaker 3: going to be getting fresh produce from your local area.
Speaker 3: It's going to be pretty plentiful. So the costs on
Speaker 3: that are going to be lower. So this is also
Speaker 3: going to be coming handy when we're meal planning, so
Speaker 3: making sure that we are creating meal plans around what's
Speaker 3: in season, so we're not just randomly picking recipes and
Speaker 3: then needing to buy ingredients that may or may not
Speaker 3: be in season. And of course, if you watch our
Speaker 3: Sunday resets on YouTube for well Friends on YouTube, we
Speaker 3: talk about our meal plans weekly and so we're always
Speaker 3: going to be eating in season stuff of course for Florida.
Speaker 3: So keep that in mind. But if you need some ideas,
Speaker 3: you know, certainly follow follow us there.
Speaker 4: Yes, okay.
Speaker 1: And so for the locations where we are shopping plays
Speaker 1: a big role in the cost we will incur, So
Speaker 1: doing discount grocery stores.
Speaker 4: We love.
Speaker 1: Ald Legal Grocery Outlet is another one. Ethnic grocery stores
Speaker 1: will often have lower costs on things they have lower
Speaker 1: overhead day old bread and bakery outlets, so stores like
Speaker 1: Wonderbread or Pepperidge Farm will sell their baked goods discounted.
Speaker 1: And then if you can't just always going generic or
Speaker 1: store brand. If these these places aren't, you know, available
Speaker 1: to you, also farmers Market at closing time, vendors will
Speaker 1: often lower their prices to sell off remaining produce. Another app,
Speaker 1: in addition to Food Hero and an odd Bunch, I
Speaker 1: tried this one.
Speaker 4: It's called flash Food.
Speaker 3: And this was so exciting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so flash Food and food Hero are similar, but
Speaker 1: I think they're going to be in different locations, so
Speaker 1: search both. And I know Flash Food is also in Canada,
Speaker 1: but it's an app that gives you deals on like
Speaker 1: fresh affordable groceries. They partner with grocery stores to take
Speaker 1: food that's nearing it's best by date listed on the
Speaker 1: app for fifty percent off. And I had to try
Speaker 1: it because there was one a mile and a half
Speaker 1: from my house and it was a dashmart and I
Speaker 1: was like, what is a dashmart? It sounds like a skive,
Speaker 1: like like seven eleven almost yeah, but they were having
Speaker 1: strawberries and milk and raspberries and like specialty foods, and
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, So, like, I got a promo
Speaker 1: code for five dollars off my first order of ten
Speaker 1: dollars or more, and we will put that promo code
Speaker 1: in the description or in the show notes wherever you're
Speaker 1: listening to this. And I so, I order ten dollars
Speaker 1: worth of things they charged me five dollars for them.
Speaker 1: I show up and Dashmart is literally a grocery store,
Speaker 1: but the only people who shop there are the employees
Speaker 1: because they're getting food together for door dash deliveries. So
Speaker 1: it's this legit grocery store, not skivy at all. I
Speaker 1: just went up there. I said, I'm picking up a
Speaker 1: flash food order for Gen, and they then took five
Speaker 1: minutes to get my order together and I walked out
Speaker 1: with completely fresh food.
Speaker 3: That's insane.
Speaker 1: It wasn't even starting to mold or anything. It was
Speaker 1: better quality than the strawberries. There were better quality than
Speaker 1: the ones I got from Costco that I paid full
Speaker 1: price for.
Speaker 3: No better than Costco. I know you're saying, crazy thing
Speaker 3: I am.
Speaker 4: I was so pleased with it.
Speaker 1: So definitely they mostly partner with DoorDash because that was
Speaker 1: most dashmarts were most of what I saw. I saw
Speaker 1: like in Orlando there were a few smaller grocery stores.
Speaker 1: It's mostly DoorDash though, and they had a big flash
Speaker 1: food sign right when you walk in. So all the
Speaker 1: door dash people will know about it and take advantage
Speaker 1: of it, right, But it is for everyone, and it was.
Speaker 1: I get my groceries at Walmart, so I pay pretty
Speaker 1: low prices for groceries and it was still less expensive.
Speaker 3: I wonder how many places have access to flash food.
Speaker 1: It's in the major cities where there's a lot of
Speaker 1: door dash stuff.
Speaker 4: So if you're in a city like.
Speaker 3: Where DoorDash is available, then probably flash food does uh
Speaker 3: huh yeah.
Speaker 1: So but check, even if you don't, check all these
Speaker 1: apps to see if they're available, because eventually they could be.
Speaker 1: When Too Good to Go first came out, it wasn't
Speaker 1: available here, and now it is, it is, and so
Speaker 1: you'll be the first to know if you sign up.
Speaker 3: Just the side pause to again reflect on we don't
Speaker 3: know all of the resources out there available to us
Speaker 3: like I would have thought. I know the groceries in
Speaker 3: this area. I know where to get the food.
Speaker 4: And turns out I don't.
Speaker 3: There is something hidden right underneath my nose of discounted groceries.
Speaker 4: I was shocked.
Speaker 3: I was shook.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I am so pleased. I put in another
Speaker 1: I've done flash food several times.
Speaker 4: Now, why wouldn't you?
Speaker 1: It is fresh food that I was going to buy
Speaker 1: anyway at half the cost.
Speaker 3: Okay, clearly we are loving to talk about this. We
Speaker 3: gotta make it through the low cost. So a few
Speaker 3: more things to say on this. Of course, you've got
Speaker 3: community supporting agriculture, your csays or CSA shares. These are
Speaker 3: local farms or maybe even homesteads that have extra land
Speaker 3: that you would be able to go and farm a
Speaker 3: bit of it, or just be able to take advantage
Speaker 3: of the produce that is harvested from the land. Many
Speaker 3: CSAs will require maybe a Saturday of work a month,
Speaker 3: like a couple hours on Saturday a month. Some of
Speaker 3: them don't. Maybe they'll charge you a little bit extra
Speaker 3: to just come and pick up a box weekly of
Speaker 3: whatever produce is in season. That fresh produce is usually
Speaker 3: going to be more nutritious, less pesticides and even less expensive,
Speaker 3: so definitely search for a local CSA in your area.
Speaker 3: There's also you pick farms, so of course this is
Speaker 3: going to depend on the area that you live in
Speaker 3: and seasonality, but you pick farms are everywhere where. You
Speaker 3: can go onto their property, get a bag or a
Speaker 3: bin from them. They'll let you know where you can
Speaker 3: pick the fruits and vegetables from. You pick them yourself,
Speaker 3: and because you're doing that, they give them to you
Speaker 3: for less money. Your father in law has a U
Speaker 3: pick farm, and.
Speaker 1: My father in law owns a you pick farm, and
Speaker 1: I can confirm that the prices on their produce, their eggs,
Speaker 1: all of it is less than what you'd pay for
Speaker 1: in a grocery store. And they what they don't grow,
Speaker 1: they'll go to the wholesale market and bring in so
Speaker 1: that they still have they can be, you know, as
Speaker 1: much as possible, a one stop shop for people.
Speaker 3: Not to mention that's just a fun afternoon activity. Take
Speaker 3: the kids with you. You're getting out of the house,
Speaker 3: you're doing something for kind of free, and then getting
Speaker 3: low cost vegetables and fruits, and then probably getting more
Speaker 3: interest from the kids to maybe even help you in
Speaker 3: the kitchen build up those skills, so eventually they're the
Speaker 3: ones meal planning and meal prepping for you, you know,
Speaker 3: just well tip from me, the child free one over here.
Speaker 1: And just like we don't know the things in art,
Speaker 1: we don't know everything because things are always updating.
Speaker 4: You may assume that.
Speaker 1: You don't have a CSA or you don't have a
Speaker 1: upick farm near you, but a formally commercial farm could
Speaker 1: have switched to a U pick farm, which is what
Speaker 1: my father in law did. Things are always changing, So
Speaker 1: head to chat, GBT or your nearest AI website and
Speaker 1: search for that. Like are there You can say, are
Speaker 1: there any U pick farms near me? And if so,
Speaker 1: what are there hours? Are there any community supported agriculture shares?
Speaker 1: What are their prices? When are their pickup dates? And
Speaker 1: you can compare all in one place very quickly.
Speaker 3: Moving on to how to get a deal, Make me
Speaker 3: a deal I can't refuse.
Speaker 1: Okay, before we start with the deal with how to
Speaker 1: get the deal, here's how not to get the deal.
Speaker 4: Yeah, tell them Jen, do not buy from the dollar Store.
Speaker 1: I think we can all agree that by now the
Speaker 1: Dollar Store has a cheaper overall price, but it is
Speaker 1: a higher price per unit. So dollar store is not
Speaker 1: going to be where we go. Also, don't assume it's
Speaker 1: cheaper to buy in bulk. A warehouse store can be
Speaker 1: just as expensive and you will spend more if you
Speaker 1: don't use it all. So this is a big one.
Speaker 1: I have spent several years researching warehouse stores compared to
Speaker 1: grocery stores and can confirm that, especially in places where
Speaker 1: there's a lot of competition, that the grocery stores can
Speaker 1: be same price or less than a Sam's Club or
Speaker 1: a Costco, and you will you will save money by
Speaker 1: buying a lesser quality if you're not going to use
Speaker 1: the entirety of the bulk.
Speaker 3: Okay, so far apps go for getting deals, We're going
Speaker 3: to recommend fetch an ibota a lot of time. So
Speaker 3: with these apps, you generally upload your receipt. They then
Speaker 3: are able to, based on what you've purchased, give you
Speaker 3: cash back or rebates for different things that you bought
Speaker 3: during that grocery trip. So with either of these apps
Speaker 3: that you download or both of them, you kind of
Speaker 3: just follow the prompts and eventually be able to get
Speaker 3: money back for what you've purchased.
Speaker 1: It's always worth it to have them working. In the background,
Speaker 1: so I don't necessarily use them regularly, but have them
Speaker 1: running in the background for online purchases.
Speaker 4: It's nice.
Speaker 1: Next is flip flipp. Flip aggregates weekly ads from various
Speaker 1: local retailers and allows you to browse and compare deals
Speaker 1: to find the best prices on groceries and other items.
Speaker 1: So if you're not loyal to a grocery store, then
Speaker 1: you can compare deals and then you're not running around
Speaker 1: to a bunch of different grocery stores. You can kind
Speaker 1: of pick the one that has the deals that you
Speaker 1: want on the things you're buying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then of course you can do these loyalty
Speaker 3: programs with the grocers that you go to most regularly.
Speaker 3: Of course, you're not going to get loyalty programs at
Speaker 3: an all they or idle, but if you don't have
Speaker 3: those near you, and your local grocery store does have
Speaker 3: loyalty programs, then it's worth having that grocer's card on
Speaker 3: you be able to take advantage of whatever sales or
Speaker 3: deals are happening. It's then worth it to be looking
Speaker 3: up what they have on sale. They're circulars, not saying
Speaker 3: to get them in the mail, but you can look
Speaker 3: these things up on the grocery stores app what's on
Speaker 3: sale that week, and again plan your meals around that.
Speaker 3: Look for the double coupon days as well, and again
Speaker 3: this is something that apps can help you with. Gone
Speaker 3: are the days of clipping coupons. You do not have
Speaker 3: to do that anymore because it all can exist on
Speaker 3: your phone, so you don't have to take hours to
Speaker 3: flip through coupon books. You can find the coupons for
Speaker 3: the things that you are shopping, and a lot of times,
Speaker 3: especially manufacturers, might offer you an ability to kind of
Speaker 3: double up on sales.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is where I would go to chat
Speaker 1: GPT and be like, are there any grocery stores with
Speaker 1: double coupon days near me? And what are those days?
Speaker 1: So then you know what they are because they will
Speaker 1: make it hard to find. They don't want you to know.
Speaker 1: And then you can even go further and be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: what where do I get the coupons for these? And
Speaker 1: you can find where those are. If you are really
Speaker 1: committed to getting organic groceries, then Costco is it for you.
Speaker 1: It does specialize in organic groceries, and I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why some of the I don't
Speaker 1: care about get most things I don't care about getting organic.
Speaker 1: So Costco actually costs me more for things like meat
Speaker 1: and frozen fruits and stuff like that because all the
Speaker 1: Kirkland brand is organic, which works for which works for
Speaker 1: Costco because they can charge more and only carry you know,
Speaker 1: one version. So Costco is for sure your place if
Speaker 1: organic is what you're passionate about. And then also if
Speaker 1: there's a sale on something you buy frequently, buy it
Speaker 1: in bulk and freeze it. You know, we love the freezer,
Speaker 1: just getting it in the yes and eat from there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, buying in bulk in general just isn't always the
Speaker 3: best idea. But for things you do eat regularly, you
Speaker 3: go through fast. Yeah, have a bunch of it on hand.
Speaker 3: I got a ton of rice, a ton of black beans.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm, because I eat it a lot. Yeah, what
Speaker 3: I eat rice beats. I also put all my cheese
Speaker 3: the freezer.
Speaker 4: A lot of cheese in the freezer. All right.
Speaker 1: So this last section is is guilt free spending, And
Speaker 1: so this is essentially when we do spend, like pay
Speaker 1: for something full price, how can we feel guilt free
Speaker 1: about it? Because that's a big thing in our frugal community,
Speaker 1: like how how do I spend in alignment with my
Speaker 1: values even when it's not the lowest cost. And I
Speaker 1: think going through these first three steps is a real
Speaker 1: good framework so that when there is something that we
Speaker 1: want that we've been through the you know, free low
Speaker 1: cost deal, still can't get it, but it's aligned with
Speaker 1: our values, we can spend on it without guilt because
Speaker 1: we know we have done all we can, but we're
Speaker 1: not going to deprive ourselves by not spending within our values.
Speaker 1: So a couple of ways we can get groceries like
Speaker 1: guilt free maybe aligned with our values is starting a garden.
Speaker 1: Starting a garden is not a way to save money,
Speaker 1: for sure. It is a high upfront cost, it is
Speaker 1: a high time investment. It's truly a values driven investment though,
Speaker 1: and a way to get groceries as a result. That's
Speaker 1: how we view gardening. If you look back, we did
Speaker 1: an episode last year with Nicole from Gardenery. She really
Speaker 1: changed my perspective on gardening to look at it as
Speaker 1: a values based activity. And we're investing money in this
Speaker 1: to get so many more things, and the food is
Speaker 1: kind of just a result of all these other things.
Speaker 4: We're getting at, and I love that.
Speaker 3: It's not only the food, it's all these other things. Now,
Speaker 3: I will say, you could start a garden for also
Speaker 3: not a ton of money. It doesn't have to be
Speaker 3: thousands of dollars. It could be one hundred dollars. And
Speaker 3: then from there, if you're able to compost yourself and
Speaker 3: you are making your own soil from your scrap, so
Speaker 3: eventually it does become pretty sustainable. Not to say that
Speaker 3: there aren't any upfront costs, but it doesn't have to
Speaker 3: be to the nines either. But I agree, I love
Speaker 3: the idea of just starting small, doing some of those
Speaker 3: herbs like you mentioned, or some of the easy vegetables,
Speaker 3: because these are the things that are even going to
Speaker 3: be flavor enhancers. Herbs you can't just eat and be full,
Speaker 3: but they can help you to want to cook in
Speaker 3: the kitchen, want to pull from your garden, enjoy what
Speaker 3: you're eating, so make you want to cook at home
Speaker 3: even more so for that reason, it's one of those
Speaker 3: things that Yeah, spend on it because you've saved money
Speaker 3: in every other area. Of course, we also want to
Speaker 3: talk about ways that we can support local, small, independent
Speaker 3: businesses like our groceries store door, and our local farmers,
Speaker 3: even our local homesteaders who maybe have a chicken coop
Speaker 3: and they're putting out free range chicken eggs, and yeah,
Speaker 3: maybe they're even a dollar more than they are at
Speaker 3: the store, so they are goal.
Speaker 1: Which makes them like fifty dollars exactly.
Speaker 3: But if that's of high value to you, not only
Speaker 3: to get high quality, nutritious eggs, but to support local people,
Speaker 3: then do it and do it guilt free. And again,
Speaker 3: some of these independent grocery stores, if you have those
Speaker 3: around you and they're not chains, and of course they're
Speaker 3: going to be a little bit more expensive on their
Speaker 3: various items, but if they're employing people in your neighborhood
Speaker 3: and giving back to the community, then they might be
Speaker 3: where you want to shop.
Speaker 1: Occasionally, you're you'll be spending more upfront, but you'll get
Speaker 1: more back in other ways when you shop local, So
Speaker 1: don't feel guilty about that. If you can't save money
Speaker 1: on something particular you want, then buying it locally instead
Speaker 1: of just heading to Amazon is a great way to
Speaker 1: invest in your community and invest those dollars wisely.
Speaker 3: Do you know how we've invested wisely into this podcast?
Speaker 3: And how others have invested their time wisely into this podcast.
Speaker 4: The most guilt free thing that we do every day.
Speaker 3: The Bill of the week.
Speaker 5: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 5: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 5: is William. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your
Speaker 5: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 5: that bill anymore. That's Bill Buffalo, Bill, Bill Clinton. This
Speaker 5: is the bill of the week.
Speaker 6: Hey guys, this is Megan in Oklahoma, and I have
Speaker 6: been waiting to call this bill of the week in
Speaker 6: for almost a year now. It's actually not my bill
Speaker 6: of the week. It is my dad's. He is retiring
Speaker 6: this month after working forty years for the same company
Speaker 6: here in Oklahoma. So we are super excited for him.
Speaker 6: And guess what else. His name is William, and guess
Speaker 6: what else He goes by Bill.
Speaker 1: Bell.
Speaker 3: He goes by Bill, of course he does.
Speaker 4: Happy retirement to.
Speaker 3: Bill, Bill, Happy retirement to Bill. You were but for
Speaker 3: forty years and now you're tired. Happy retirement to Bill.
Speaker 4: How you play that for him?
Speaker 3: Megan, We absolutely do go on stage nightly to sing.
Speaker 4: Obviously, obviously.
Speaker 3: This is so exciting you know we love people named
Speaker 3: Bill and he sounds like a gem. Your dad working
Speaker 3: for the same company for forty years. That committed takes commitment,
Speaker 3: probably bravery and courage, long suffering, patience, and now he's
Speaker 3: done and that's amazing. We hope you all through a
Speaker 3: big old party and you're celebrating and just enjoying life
Speaker 3: now without the work. That's so fun. If you all
Speaker 3: are listening and you have a bill that you want
Speaker 3: to share, if it's about your father just putting in
Speaker 3: the time, If his name's William, we want to hear
Speaker 3: about him. If your name is William or you go
Speaker 3: by Bill.
Speaker 1: Or maybe your name's not William and you still go
Speaker 1: by Bill, please let us know.
Speaker 4: We'd love to hear that story.
Speaker 3: Brugal friendspodcast dot com slash Bill. We can't wait to
Speaker 3: hear it.
Speaker 1: And now it's time for being rush. All right, your
Speaker 1: most beloved grocery store purchase and how you like to
Speaker 1: save on it. I'm going to add that little caveat.
Speaker 3: Oh love this? Okay. I took this to mean when
Speaker 3: I look at my grocery cart, what do I feel
Speaker 3: best about being in there? And I love a grocery
Speaker 3: store run that just has a ton of fresh produce
Speaker 3: and fruit. I just like how that feels to have
Speaker 3: a cart full of nutritious fruits and veggies. And so
Speaker 3: that's my answer. But how do I like to save?
Speaker 3: I like to save by shopping at Aldi. I have
Speaker 3: found some really great prices and actually great prot There
Speaker 3: was a time that the Aldi near Us took a
Speaker 3: dip in the quality of their produce, so I stopped
Speaker 3: shopping there. But then they did a refresh on the
Speaker 3: store and the quality has been better.
Speaker 1: Just like when you do a refresh on your look
Speaker 1: and you perform better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, same, same, so shopping at Aldi. There was a
Speaker 3: time that I also got boxes of fresh produce from
Speaker 3: a local farm that they would bring me fresh produce
Speaker 3: every other week, and it would be a variety like
Speaker 3: I wouldn't quite know what was in it. It was
Speaker 3: just always a combination of whatever was in season, veggies
Speaker 3: and fruit. That was so fun. I did that for
Speaker 3: I want to say, close to a year. It just
Speaker 3: for me got to the point where it was so
Speaker 3: much produce that I couldn't keep up with it in
Speaker 3: the seasons when I had a lot of guests in town.
Speaker 3: So I really enjoyed when I had the time to
Speaker 3: be in the kitchen, but then it kind of got
Speaker 3: to be a little bit too much produce than I
Speaker 3: would typically buy. They did offer boxes that had less
Speaker 3: in it, but I wanted the combination of the fruit
Speaker 3: and veggie. So anyways, that was a way that I
Speaker 3: did save. So I'm mentioning it just in case it's
Speaker 3: something that somebody else would want to pursue, because again,
Speaker 3: it's only Eric and I in our household, so if
Speaker 3: you've got more people, that's definitely something to consider. Is
Speaker 3: whether local. So this farm would actually mostly supply to restaurants,
Speaker 3: but they would have leftover fruits and veggies that then
Speaker 3: they would sell to just households. So that was the
Speaker 3: deal with this one. So that could even be something
Speaker 3: to look up, like local restaurant suppliers and see if
Speaker 3: any of them offer something sah.
Speaker 1: Maybe a prompt would be, are there any wholesale farms
Speaker 1: that sell leftovers to consume something like that? Mine is
Speaker 1: coffee and I don't go to the grocery store for it.
Speaker 1: Actually I buy directly from a coffee company over here
Speaker 1: in Cape Coral. Cape Coral, That's what it's called Florida,
Speaker 1: so nearby, and it's called Bones Coffee Company. There are
Speaker 1: artificially flavored coffees, but in like very great flavors. So
Speaker 1: canol is my favorite. Moores one there's oh my gosh, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's not diet coke, all right, get over it. And
Speaker 1: I went on a limb telling you that it's artificial.
Speaker 4: Okay, and I feel.
Speaker 3: Okay, you do love like I put yourself into the fire.
Speaker 1: Right, there's clearly no protection here, so I'm being exploited.
Speaker 1: I love Conolores right now on this like Jamaican one,
Speaker 1: which is like kind of like rum vanilla caramel.
Speaker 3: Yes, I love what you're supporting local, but you're not
Speaker 3: buying coffee.
Speaker 4: I'm buying coffee beans.
Speaker 3: You're buying some version of caffeine.
Speaker 1: Listen, you don't have any You don't even drink coffee anymore. Okay,
Speaker 1: So don't don't snob me into saying I'm not drinking
Speaker 1: coffee because my beans have a little bit of artificial flavor.
Speaker 3: You're right, I am not leaning wow empathy and no judgment.
Speaker 1: You're right, You're incorrect, honestly, I mean devoid from empathy,
Speaker 1: but also correctness. Okay, So for everyone else.
Speaker 3: Just I mean bones coffee maker.
Speaker 1: That's talk to coffee makers. I just drink coffee. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: thank you. And that's the mistake you made, is you
Speaker 1: probably talk to people that make coffee and roast it
Speaker 1: and had to Guatemala and source bean. You're exactly right up,
Speaker 1: and that's a problem, not mine. It's not my problem
Speaker 1: because I don't talk to those people.
Speaker 3: So you just get your coffee beans soaked in gnoli
Speaker 3: and then.
Speaker 4: I just really wish that we're literally let me.
Speaker 3: Just squeeze it out in your cup. Oh I love it.
Speaker 4: I love it. It's so good.
Speaker 1: So if you're not a coffee snob, I highly recommend it,
Speaker 1: and I love it. And so the way I save
Speaker 1: is that I so it is end of March when
Speaker 1: we're recording this.
Speaker 4: I bought a.
Speaker 1: Big bulk order when they were doing a Black Friday
Speaker 1: sale and I'm.
Speaker 4: Still I love it. As you can't here.
Speaker 1: It's not fresh. Coffee doesn't stay fresh that long.
Speaker 3: It doesn't fuck, but it's protected in its icing around
Speaker 3: the beans. The icing protects it so the beans can
Speaker 3: last longer. Huh.
Speaker 4: She doesn't drink.
Speaker 1: I just want to reiterate the fact she doesn't drink
Speaker 1: coffee anymore, so she doesn't have a right to be
Speaker 1: like this.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 3: Also, I still am this.
Speaker 1: She used an espresso like, so, how long are those
Speaker 1: pods in your drawer in your cabinets?
Speaker 6: Right?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I just okay, okay.
Speaker 4: Okay, I love it.
Speaker 1: I buy in bulk when they're doing like big seasonal sales,
Speaker 1: and I just ride that wave for a long time.
Speaker 1: And you know what, it's end of March, and my
Speaker 1: coffee still tastes good, and it still tastes like coffee
Speaker 1: from what I from the taste that I am familiar with.
Speaker 3: I'm glad. I'm glad for you that this is your
Speaker 3: beloved shamefree grocery burchase.
Speaker 4: Well, they have to have really thick skin.
Speaker 1: Co Hosting this podcast with Jill, I just want everyone
Speaker 1: to know.
Speaker 3: That we both do. Don't even kids yourself. This is
Speaker 3: where I get on my high horse.
Speaker 1: But ohkay, okay, stay on your high horse, stay there
Speaker 1: for a little while.
Speaker 4: Bring us out, Okay, bring us out.
Speaker 3: Okay. Thanks so much everyone for listening. Thanks you're still
Speaker 3: being here. I promise we're still friends. If you have
Speaker 3: also read the book where we truly are we wrote
Speaker 3: a book together, and we are not judgmental in that book.
Speaker 3: I honestly feel like I'm the really the most judgmental
Speaker 3: about coffee, like more so than I am about money,
Speaker 3: which you're right. It's like, it's really unfair and unreasonable
Speaker 3: because I don't drink coffee anymore. But you know what,
Speaker 3: so many of you have loved reading the book, and
Speaker 3: we're so appreciative. Four reviews like this one that came
Speaker 3: from Pam five stars. This book was like a warm
Speaker 3: hug as a personal finance guide where not only was
Speaker 3: it a breeze to read, but also relatable and practical.
Speaker 3: I love the focus on finding what you value and
Speaker 3: prioritizing what you value instead of what others or social
Speaker 3: media tells you. Jenna make saving and spending fun where
Speaker 3: it's possible to see it as a hobby instead of
Speaker 3: a chore. Thank you so much for the Advanced reader
Speaker 3: copy of this book, and I look forward to hearing
Speaker 3: more from the Frugal Friends podcast. Yeah, forward to you
Speaker 3: hearing more, because again we're still friends.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Pam, thank you for listening. If you enjoyed
Speaker 1: the show, please leave a rating and review on Spotify
Speaker 1: and let us know if you think that it's the
Speaker 1: relationship is salvageable.
Speaker 4: And if you've read the book.
Speaker 1: Please leave a rating review on Amazon, even if you
Speaker 1: didn't buy it there, because that's where most people go
Speaker 1: to check reviews, even if they're getting it from the
Speaker 1: library or bookshop dot org because bookshop dot org doesn't
Speaker 1: have a rating systems yet. So please rate and review
Speaker 1: book show. It really does help us.
Speaker 3: See you next time.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani. Jill, are you
Speaker 1: sitting down on that high horse?
Speaker 3: I'm sitting, but I'm high. I'm really my head is
Speaker 3: really high.
Speaker 1: Okay, So today, one of the things that we talk
Speaker 1: about a lot on the show, No, it's how smart
Speaker 1: people say.
Speaker 3: I am able to stop this recording right now.
Speaker 1: One of the big misconceptions about being scammed is that
Speaker 1: smart people don't get scammed, and we've always said it
Speaker 1: is the smart people that have the most to lose
Speaker 1: and are actually most vulnerable. It's really a wrong place,
Speaker 1: wrong time sort of thing. And we've always been very
Speaker 1: clear about that, and we have a first hand experience
Speaker 1: of a very smart person getting scared.
Speaker 3: Here's the thing. I'm I'm a little bit of a
Speaker 3: dumb dumb though.
Speaker 1: Okay, as much as I do, I do want to
Speaker 1: play into that with you right now because of how
Speaker 1: you made me feel about the coffee. I think this
Speaker 1: could be a really a real learning experience, just to
Speaker 1: reiterate the points.
Speaker 3: Wow, not enough time has passed for this to be
Speaker 3: a scar instead of a scab.
Speaker 4: But here we go.
Speaker 5: Well, you.
Speaker 1: Brought yourself in, you set yourself up for this. You
Speaker 1: really do have to go as hard as you did
Speaker 1: with the coffee thing. You chose that and then.
Speaker 3: The people didn't see my face though only you saw
Speaker 3: my faces that I was making.
Speaker 1: Not that's not their problem. Okay, that's your problem.
Speaker 3: Here's what happened, my safe, safe friends, because I know
Speaker 3: you're safe if you're literally still here listening. I am
Speaker 3: now responsible for our rugal Friends Instagram account. First mistake, Okay,
Speaker 3: scammed y'all into that one, which means that I respond
Speaker 3: to all of the direct messages that are sent. So
Speaker 3: there was an end and if you know how direct
Speaker 3: messages work, if there's many that are requests that come
Speaker 3: in right, so just like Rando's and a lot of
Speaker 3: them are just like I can help you grow your business.
Speaker 3: We get that this was a message from somebody who
Speaker 3: I had messaged with in the past. They had reached
Speaker 3: out with some sort of something about us. At one
Speaker 3: point we had responded to like legit conversation back and forth.
Speaker 3: Well then they messaged me one day and they're like, Hey,
Speaker 3: this I know might seem strange, but one of my
Speaker 3: friend's sons is in the hospital with cancer and they're
Speaker 3: raising money. And I'm just sending this out to like
Speaker 3: literally anybody that I follow on Instagram. If you could
Speaker 3: give just like ten dollars or reshare this, we'd be
Speaker 3: so so grateful. And I have a personal motto, this
Speaker 3: is real in depth for me to give to anyone
Speaker 3: who asks. I like tried out this challenge about a
Speaker 3: year ago. It was kind of like a New Year's
Speaker 3: resolution because I was noticing that I just felt uncomfortable
Speaker 3: anytime that I would like pass a homeless person. I
Speaker 3: know most people will just like walk by them, but
Speaker 3: I'm like, why am I not giving them what it
Speaker 3: is that they're asking for? And I think I had
Speaker 3: this fear of I'm gonna I'm gonna run out. There's
Speaker 3: just there's not gonna be enough to give to everybody
Speaker 3: who asks for something, But this one year, I decided
Speaker 3: I'm going to try it out. I'm going to see
Speaker 3: how much I actually end up giving away, just like
Speaker 3: anyone who asks to my ability. Right, Like I've told
Speaker 3: some friends this. They're like, all right, Joe, can you
Speaker 3: give me two hundred thousand dollars? Like no, Like, I
Speaker 3: don't have that, but if I have it to give,
Speaker 3: I don't need to be worried about what you're going
Speaker 3: to do with it. You're asking for it. If I
Speaker 3: have it, I'm going to give it to you. Turns
Speaker 3: out it was nominal amounts of money that I've been giving,
Speaker 3: so I've just like kept up with it. Somebody asked me,
Speaker 3: I'm going to give it to them, So this definitely
Speaker 3: hit on that value for me of this person is
Speaker 3: reaching out, they're asking for something. I did go to
Speaker 3: that website. I read the whole thing about like this kid,
Speaker 3: and the thought did occur to me like this might
Speaker 3: not be legit like this, This might not be a
Speaker 3: real kid who's sick, but kids do get sick, so
Speaker 3: it could be. And in my mind I was thinking,
Speaker 3: what's the worst that could happen if the kid's not sick,
Speaker 3: then I'm out fifty bucks. If the kid is sick, great,
Speaker 3: I'm really glad that I gave. What I didn't consider
Speaker 3: was like giving away credit card information that then like
Speaker 3: could be utilized further from there. But anyways, so I
Speaker 3: gave the fifty dollars, wrote back to the woman and
Speaker 3: I was like, hey, I just gave. I'm so sorry
Speaker 3: for like what your friends are going through. And then
Speaker 3: the next day she responded and was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 3: I'm so sorry my account was hacked. It wasn't me.
Speaker 3: I hope you can get your money back. So that
Speaker 3: was a really unfortunate circumstance. Now to our knowledge, just
Speaker 3: the fifty dollars was taken. We thank goodness her credit
Speaker 3: cards were able to like report it as fraud and
Speaker 3: get that money back. They didn't take more than the
Speaker 3: fifty dollars, so it really wasn't like a full blown
Speaker 3: scam where somebody's like, it's just a person who's mad at.
Speaker 1: We sought it immediately, so we got the card canceled.
Speaker 1: So the card information they have is now unusable and
Speaker 1: we can report the fifty dollars charge as a fraud.
Speaker 1: So the receipt though had a Shopify this the page
Speaker 1: it looked like it was a gofund me, but it
Speaker 1: was made through Shopify, So that would have been like
Speaker 1: if I would have read that, I would have been like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's definitely something I would just spam it to all
Speaker 1: my friends to make sure that it you know, I
Speaker 1: wasn't like asking for money, but just to get the
Speaker 1: word out there and raise you know, raise the fly.
Speaker 3: I definitely didn't feel comfortable sharing it. But that that
Speaker 3: was where like I messed up. Wasn't thinking like I
Speaker 3: thought that like the worst that could happen is we're
Speaker 3: just out fifty bucks. Like I didn't take it that
Speaker 3: step further to think. But then they if it is
Speaker 3: not legit, they could charge more to the card. Again,
Speaker 3: it's a credit card. If you're paying attention, you can
Speaker 3: you know, report that, yeah, get your money back. But
Speaker 3: I think good lesson for me. I mean, not everybody's
Speaker 3: got like business accounts with tons of people direct messaging
Speaker 3: you all the time. But everyone friends friends and friends
Speaker 3: there can get hack. Yeah, And that's the tough thing
Speaker 3: because we've had plenty of friends who have done gofundmes.
Speaker 3: So just making sure that you know whoever sending it
Speaker 3: to you, that they know that it's legit, being sure
Speaker 3: that when we do give online, we're giving with credit
Speaker 3: cards so that we can then report it if it's
Speaker 3: not legit, and checking our credit card statements regularly.
Speaker 1: And my I mean, my filter would be I have
Speaker 1: to know of the child. I don't have to know
Speaker 1: the child or the family personally, but know of them
Speaker 1: in order to be able to verify that there is
Speaker 1: a child and that the child is sick, so that
Speaker 1: we don't, you know, get get hacked. And like the
Speaker 1: person doesn't you know, we have no way to verify
Speaker 1: the kid. And I agree with you in giving, it's
Speaker 1: not my responsibility what the person does with my money.
Speaker 1: Like I want to have a giving spirit, a generous spirit,
Speaker 1: and so that I do it for me. And I
Speaker 1: think you can be a selfish giver honestly.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it's not entirely all true, like we get
Speaker 3: something out of giving.
Speaker 1: But so like I agree with you there, but I
Speaker 1: think I don't you know, I don't want to compromise it.
Speaker 1: If you don't want to compromise your security, or you know,
Speaker 1: have fifty dollars go to a scammer, or just avoid
Speaker 1: that in general, then giving the rule of like making
Speaker 1: sure that you peripherally know the person.
Speaker 4: So you're sorry everyone.
Speaker 3: You now cannot direct message me asking for money because
Speaker 3: I now won't give it. Yeah, I now have to
Speaker 3: have boundaries around my value system. Okay, that wasn't so
Speaker 3: so bad.
Speaker 1: Wow wow, Yeah, you'll go easier on me on the coffee.
Speaker 4: I'm really drink.
Speaker 3: Drink your rice and beans.