Speaker 1: Episode one, how minimalism can change your life and finances.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 1: save money, embrace simplicity right, and liver with your life.
Speaker 1: Here your host Jen and Jill. Mm hmmmmmm. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name
Speaker 1: is Jill, and we are almost two hundred episodes in
Speaker 1: one episode away from two hundred. Just wait until we
Speaker 1: get to episode two hundred and all of the singing.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry in advance, but we're very excited to
Speaker 1: get to this milestone, to be so close to it.
Speaker 1: It is the last milestone I think that we can
Speaker 1: technically achieve on our podcast hosting platform. They like give
Speaker 1: us little awards for these different milestones, and I think
Speaker 1: two hundred episodes is the last one. And then we've
Speaker 1: just hit it all. Oh my gosh. We when we
Speaker 1: first when we first switched to buzz Sprout, we had
Speaker 1: already been recording for three years or more, and so
Speaker 1: we hit all of the milestones in one week. It
Speaker 1: was amazing. It felt so gratifying to just day after
Speaker 1: day after day be congratulated. We both kept getting these
Speaker 1: emails like NonStop like you have another subscriber, you have
Speaker 1: another listener, and like I know, keep up buzz Sprout.
Speaker 1: But now this is the last one. There's no more
Speaker 1: awards for us. Jen, You'll have to, as listeners start
Speaker 1: to figure out awards for us, and you can leave
Speaker 1: them in the reviews for the show on Apple or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen, and to reward you, to thank you
Speaker 1: for doing that, we're going to give you episode one,
Speaker 1: which is not important enough to be episode two hundred,
Speaker 1: and it's about minimalism and how it can change your
Speaker 1: life and your finances because both of those things are intertwined.
Speaker 1: They have to be. We love talking about minimalism and
Speaker 1: simple living and frugality and how they all pair together.
Speaker 1: So this is going to be a good one. And
Speaker 1: we've done other episodes like it, but I think always
Speaker 1: with a different perspective in each one, so how it
Speaker 1: helps your life and finances as today's look. But first,
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Speaker 1: your momentum to financial freedom. Oh, this episode is also
Speaker 1: brought to you by Sweden. Sweden wants you to stop
Speaker 1: blaming it for traditional minimalist design. Minimalist design was actually
Speaker 1: originated from designs in the Netherlands in the early nineteen
Speaker 1: hundreds and traditional Japanese design, not Sweden, since the first
Speaker 1: Ikea didn't even open until nineteen forty three. That single
Speaker 1: white chair and round table are not the original minimalist
Speaker 1: icons Sweden, it's not neutral on this fact that you
Speaker 1: need to stop blaming it for minimalist design. Now contral Wow,
Speaker 1: an entire country sponsored es. Yeah, that was more of
Speaker 1: a p s a um when Yeah, when when Sweden
Speaker 1: reached out, I just had to help them because they
Speaker 1: really are sad about this that people think that they
Speaker 1: have to adhere to IKEA in order to be minimalist.
Speaker 1: Setting the record straight, but sorry Sweden, that you couldn't
Speaker 1: be Episode two hundred. Just you are so good but
Speaker 1: not good enough to be Episode two hundred. Other episodes
Speaker 1: that are not good enough to be Episode two hundred
Speaker 1: also are on minimalism. And if you like this idea,
Speaker 1: you're driving on it. Here are a few two key
Speaker 1: up two plane. Next, so we've got episode one O
Speaker 1: nine which is how to maintain a minimalist lifestyle. That
Speaker 1: episode one forty one on minimalist budgeting that is a
Speaker 1: favorite of mine, Episode one sixty two Create a Minimalist Schedule.
Speaker 1: That one was a replay because everybody loved the minimalist
Speaker 1: schedule episode UM and then episode one eight Minimalist Investing.
Speaker 1: So if you've ever wondered how to build a comprehensive
Speaker 1: and diversified portfolio for your investments, you don't need to
Speaker 1: be a rocket scientist or a financial planner to figure
Speaker 1: that out. You can do it and just one literally
Speaker 1: one fund or we talk about UM, two and three
Speaker 1: fund portfolios as well in that episode. So great episodes
Speaker 1: to queue up to listen to after this one. Perfect,
Speaker 1: but let's get into this one talking about how it
Speaker 1: can improve life and finances. This first article is from
Speaker 1: the tan Hill Homestead. I'm saying that, right, I hope,
Speaker 1: So that's how I would say it. So they go
Speaker 1: into shoot. The writer goes into nine ways that she
Speaker 1: has seen minimalism help her, and super interesting because as
Speaker 1: I was reading through them, I mean, I would say,
Speaker 1: for for both you and I Jen, I think we
Speaker 1: both aim at minimalism. It looks different for all people.
Speaker 1: Both articles reference that, but I found myself agreeing with
Speaker 1: so much that's in here, like, yeah, I've experienced that too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've experienced that too. So I think it's worth it
Speaker 1: to go through all nine. And I'll start by saying
Speaker 1: her intro in this article does give a little bit
Speaker 1: of background. Not a tard blog gives more background on
Speaker 1: what minimalism has meant for her, but it did include
Speaker 1: downsizing her home, and she says it's not necessary to
Speaker 1: live a minimalist life, but it's one of the things
Speaker 1: that happened for her and her family, and now she's
Speaker 1: able to homestead, so she uses some of what minimalism
Speaker 1: has provided in order to live a little bit more
Speaker 1: of a homesteading life. So I found that interesting. So
Speaker 1: if these kind of aspects of this writer's life appeal
Speaker 1: to you, definitely check out this article. But I just
Speaker 1: go through it. I don't know why. I don't typically
Speaker 1: look at the author of of our articles, but I
Speaker 1: really actually liked this one because like on the side
Speaker 1: it says I'm Aaron, I'm a modern homemaker, homesteader and
Speaker 1: decluttering enthusiasts, And I was like, yeah, like me too,
Speaker 1: except I'm not a homesteader, and I feel like a
Speaker 1: modern homemaker in that I make my child go to
Speaker 1: daycare so that I can stay home and work. But like,
Speaker 1: other than that, I really feel I felt like connected
Speaker 1: to her, or maybe I just really liked like what
Speaker 1: she's about, like simple living, sustainability. And you don't usually
Speaker 1: talk about the author either, so I just I wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna say that, but like you said it, and I
Speaker 1: just wanted to put that out there that Aaron, if
Speaker 1: you're listening to this, yeah we get it. We're reviving
Speaker 1: with it, so so proceed, you'll like talk about important stuff.
Speaker 1: I got something relevant. Well, I think it's worth just
Speaker 1: going through the nine things I think they're all relevant.
Speaker 1: I feel as though I can relate to most of them.
Speaker 1: So one of the things that she lists that minimalism
Speaker 1: has helped her with is that she spends less time cleaning.
Speaker 1: So certainly I think this has a lot to do
Speaker 1: with how locked your house is. I mean, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter how much stuff you have in it, if you
Speaker 1: just have more floor space and baseboards to clean, that's
Speaker 1: stur reality. But she does reference the fact that because
Speaker 1: she has less things in her home and a more
Speaker 1: minimalist wardrobe, she spends less time doing laundry, cleaning her necks, organizing,
Speaker 1: and tidying. And she does this basically thirty minutes a
Speaker 1: day of cleaning, and that apparently allows her to also
Speaker 1: do some deep cleaning on this like thirty minute a
Speaker 1: day plan. So that's awesome, and I feel like I
Speaker 1: can relate in some way. Sometimes it does feel for
Speaker 1: me like, oh man, there's so much to clean in
Speaker 1: my little, like four square foot house. But I can
Speaker 1: only imagine how much more I would have to clean
Speaker 1: if I had more things to be taken care of.
Speaker 1: So I can definitely commiserate with that. Yeah, I have
Speaker 1: fewer things because I am lazy and I don't want
Speaker 1: to clean, and I know that I won't. It's not
Speaker 1: that I don't want to, it's that I won't. And
Speaker 1: so I have fewer things so that I don't have
Speaker 1: to clean as often I think I did. We did
Speaker 1: a um my allergies were getting pretty bad this past
Speaker 1: allergy season, and so we did a deep clean of
Speaker 1: the entire house just for dust and we made it
Speaker 1: a focus. So that's like a really great cleaning tip. Like,
Speaker 1: so we didn't we were doing decluttering. We weren't doing
Speaker 1: like sanitizing ing. Literally we were just dusting. And uh,
Speaker 1: there was some I have some mugs in the top
Speaker 1: on top, like decorative mugs at the top of my
Speaker 1: kitchen on top of my cabinets, and they were gross,
Speaker 1: like they had grease, Like I didn't know grease could
Speaker 1: get up and it was tops of kitchen cabinets gets grimy.
Speaker 1: Do yeah, clean it, y'all. It's uh, so I have
Speaker 1: to have, uh cabinets, so I have to clean those.
Speaker 1: But like if I can get rid of as much
Speaker 1: other decor and appliances and things, then it's better for those.
Speaker 1: The once a year that I deep clean everything, because
Speaker 1: it only happens once a year. So number two, I'm
Speaker 1: still thinking about cleaning, uh, and how much I hate it.
Speaker 1: Number two, I have more time to do things I enjoy.
Speaker 1: So if you have spending less time cleaning, and I
Speaker 1: mean this this involves simple living, like simplifying your schedule,
Speaker 1: having a minimalist schedule as well. You can have a
Speaker 1: really minimalist home, but if your schedule is jam packed,
Speaker 1: then you don't have time to enjoy your home. So
Speaker 1: she says with less cleaning and organizing, she can enjoy
Speaker 1: more things. But I think it it goes way beyond
Speaker 1: just cleaning. I think the more we focus on minimalism
Speaker 1: in the parts beyond our physical life, and I think
Speaker 1: physical gives us a quick one, right, Like we get
Speaker 1: rid of our stuff, we can instantly see that there
Speaker 1: is less and that permeates into other things. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you do have more time to do things that you
Speaker 1: value and that you enjoy when you are obviously not
Speaker 1: cleaning as much, but can discern the things in your
Speaker 1: cow nder and in your lifestyle that are really there
Speaker 1: to serve you or are just clutter. Mm hmm. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just an overall getting to the things that matter
Speaker 1: most having a minimalist schedule, budget, home. All of these
Speaker 1: things helped clear it all away to be able to
Speaker 1: focus on what's actually most important to you. I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of the bottom line there. Number three that
Speaker 1: she lists on here is that she has more money.
Speaker 1: So by reducing consumption and paying attention to where her
Speaker 1: money goes more each month, it saves money, it frees
Speaker 1: up money, and I would agree. I think that this
Speaker 1: has been my experience as well. Minimalism has taught me
Speaker 1: a lot about contentment, not wanting as much, being happy
Speaker 1: with the things that I do have because they actually
Speaker 1: serve a function for me, and so I'm just I'm
Speaker 1: not spending as much, so it freeze up money for
Speaker 1: other things, the things that I want that money to
Speaker 1: be able to go to. Yeah, and I say this
Speaker 1: quite a lot on for me, Like if I have
Speaker 1: a minimalist design in a middimalist home, then I no
Speaker 1: longer buy home decor or for anything. Like if you
Speaker 1: believe that a part of your life is complete physically,
Speaker 1: then you no longer spend money to complete it. So
Speaker 1: whether that is your home design or gosh, this might
Speaker 1: be a little too deep, but like even your body like,
Speaker 1: if you feel like your body, if you're content, you
Speaker 1: feel like your body is complete, then you will no
Speaker 1: longer waste money trying to make it complete. So there
Speaker 1: is yeah, and unpack that how you will. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean if if you have this mindset, then yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't. You no longer spend money trying to complete things.
Speaker 1: If you feel there, why I just you know, stop showering,
Speaker 1: shoot my teeth. I am enough and I am complete.
Speaker 1: You are unpacking that little little is gen because I
Speaker 1: think you know, you're talking about spending money on various
Speaker 1: diets and fads that might not actually be serving us.
Speaker 1: It's spending money on maybe even cosmetic things or clothing
Speaker 1: because we think it's going to give us the next
Speaker 1: boost of beauty or acceptance. And so if we are
Speaker 1: content with ourselves and some of the basic ways that
Speaker 1: we're caring for ourselves, that's definitely going to reduce the
Speaker 1: amount of spending. I love that, and then said, I
Speaker 1: mean I spend money on a gym membership and races,
Speaker 1: Like I spend money, you know, to help my body,
Speaker 1: but not because I think it's incomplete, because I enjoy
Speaker 1: challenging my body to do better things. Well, there's a
Speaker 1: maintenance component, and I think it doesn't negate nutrition and exercise,
Speaker 1: but things that are above and beyond that, and they
Speaker 1: cost more than what we actually need to be spending.
Speaker 1: Or if it's related to being discontent, that's another story, right.
Speaker 1: I think it's the discontentment portion, whether we're talking about
Speaker 1: body image or home image. If you're content, you're looking
Speaker 1: for ways to improve UM. If you are discontent, you're
Speaker 1: looking for ways to complete and both have a cost,
Speaker 1: but one has um. One is like at cost of
Speaker 1: you know, your mental health to an extent. MHM Number
Speaker 1: four is I'm conscious about the things I buy. I
Speaker 1: love this one because it's we It's so rare for
Speaker 1: people to talk, like outside of the sustainability niche to
Speaker 1: talk about sustainability, and I'm just like glad that she's
Speaker 1: putting it in to the context, like she's conscious about
Speaker 1: the items and not just I mean, she doesn't talk
Speaker 1: about cost, but she's not just like buying things because
Speaker 1: they are the cheapest. So she says, I take my
Speaker 1: time when purchasing a new shirt or piece of technology,
Speaker 1: I think if I really need it or not. When
Speaker 1: it comes to the beauty products with the food. She
Speaker 1: pays attention to ingredients, and I would say also pay
Speaker 1: attention to where a garment is made or how it's made,
Speaker 1: where you're getting it from, so you can if you're
Speaker 1: buying less, if you're shopping is minimalist, then you can
Speaker 1: take more time to think about the journey that an
Speaker 1: item takes to get into your house. You can't do
Speaker 1: that if you're buying a lot. I'm definitely a lot
Speaker 1: more conservative with my spending when I think do I
Speaker 1: want to have this for years to come, versus just
Speaker 1: approaching it from a either not really thinking that much
Speaker 1: or throw away thoughts you know, where you just okay,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. I just I like it. Maybe I'll
Speaker 1: wear it once. But is this going to be a
Speaker 1: regular part of my wardrobe? Do I like all facets
Speaker 1: of it and all the ways that it fits. I
Speaker 1: think it makes me personally a lot more choosy, and
Speaker 1: as a result, I do spend less because that is
Speaker 1: kind of the standard. Now that I've done this work,
Speaker 1: I'm really bullish about not wanting to bring more things
Speaker 1: into my house, and I I think I also like
Speaker 1: to think, like, is buying this and I think about
Speaker 1: this for new items because I don't buy exclusively used,
Speaker 1: but when I buy something new, I was like, am
Speaker 1: I okay, Am I telling this company that I am
Speaker 1: okay with the way this is made, that I want
Speaker 1: them to produce more of this item in the way
Speaker 1: that it was produced. Because when you give a company money,
Speaker 1: you're telling them I want more of what you're doing.
Speaker 1: Because the only thing that talks is money in you know,
Speaker 1: in the marketplace US. Sure, yeah, that's the only thing
Speaker 1: that talks. So if you do not give a company
Speaker 1: your money, then you are telling them I do not
Speaker 1: like your business practice. If you do, then you are
Speaker 1: saying do more of what you're already doing. Number five
Speaker 1: is I don't feel guilty about the items that I keep.
Speaker 1: Oh I love this one too, because once you've done
Speaker 1: and minimalism isn't just about the declutter, I think that's
Speaker 1: just it's one small aspect. Somehow it gets most of
Speaker 1: the attention. Yeah, declutter is needs to happen, but minimalism
Speaker 1: is more of a lifestyle and approach, and so once
Speaker 1: that happens, the things that we do have and keep
Speaker 1: and choose to continue to engage and interact with, there's
Speaker 1: not guilt about that because there has been intentionality in
Speaker 1: why am I keeping this? Or if I buy something,
Speaker 1: what am I going to use this for? And making
Speaker 1: sure that it lasts a while. So there doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be that like emotional mental baggage with the things
Speaker 1: that are in my home of like why is this here?
Speaker 1: It's taking up so much mental space and capacity. So
Speaker 1: I would agree with this one too, very guilt free
Speaker 1: with the possessions that remain in my home. Well, we
Speaker 1: have to say the same thing about our spending when
Speaker 1: we sometimes budget for something and spend on it. If
Speaker 1: you're really pushing to reach a financial goal, you can
Speaker 1: feel guilty even spending money on the things that you've
Speaker 1: budgeted for. So there has to be this shift in
Speaker 1: saying like, there is no guilt on the things that
Speaker 1: I spend money on if I know that that is
Speaker 1: what I value, and there's no guilt on the things
Speaker 1: that I don't spend money on and transferring it to
Speaker 1: there's no guilt for getting rid of something, and there's
Speaker 1: no guilt for keeping something. You design your own minimalism
Speaker 1: and it's yours and you shouldn't if any part of
Speaker 1: it may makes you feel guilty, then you're either following
Speaker 1: somebody else's standard of minimalism or you have to like
Speaker 1: really look inside to see like, Okay, what where is
Speaker 1: that from? Where is that coming from? And how can
Speaker 1: I like get that out of here? The part about
Speaker 1: the gifts and the section makes me laugh. They're saying,
Speaker 1: you know, oftentimes you're given a gift out of tradition
Speaker 1: or obligation, and the writer said, it isn't due to
Speaker 1: someone wanting to give you something you keep the rest
Speaker 1: of your life. I don't know anyone that gives you
Speaker 1: something and expects you to keep it no matter what.
Speaker 1: Apparently she's not that my mom. I'm like, what, No,
Speaker 1: I definitely have received gifts where the expectation from the
Speaker 1: gift or is that I will use it and love
Speaker 1: it and keep it forever. M Thankfully, my mother knows
Speaker 1: me well enough at this point that she has needed
Speaker 1: to come to accept the fact that I probably won't
Speaker 1: keep hardly anything from my childhood or other eyes. My
Speaker 1: mom told me last Christmas, She's like, be upfront with me.
Speaker 1: If you plan on returning or giving away anything I
Speaker 1: give you, just give it back to me. And I
Speaker 1: was like, Oh, that's gotten obvious. I have not hit
Speaker 1: it anymore. Um, but it's also like, so she gives
Speaker 1: much better gifts now, like because of that, she's more
Speaker 1: intentional about the gifts she gives us, you know, because
Speaker 1: of that. And I don't know, it's not I don't
Speaker 1: think that's like a sale to like train your family
Speaker 1: to give better gifts. But yeah, I am thinking now
Speaker 1: she thought that I would keep everything. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's only a mother situation. I think most other people
Speaker 1: who give you a gift, there's no obligation there. Unless
Speaker 1: your mother gives you a gift. It's full of obligation
Speaker 1: and expectations. That's that's where boundaries and communication come into play.
Speaker 1: You can all learn and grow absolutely all right. So
Speaker 1: number six is that for her life is simpler, She says,
Speaker 1: my life is simpler and more enjoyable. Everything simple, simple wardrobe,
Speaker 1: simple meal plants, simpler routines. I love this idea of
Speaker 1: simple over minimal because when we think of minimalism and minimalists,
Speaker 1: we think of less. Mostly, I just think of simpler
Speaker 1: because simple things that are simple are sustainable, Like minimal
Speaker 1: isn't always sustainable, but simple is sustainable when you've got
Speaker 1: the simple wardrobe. You wear it, you go through everything,
Speaker 1: and and since you're wearing everything, you actually keep I mean,
Speaker 1: things last longer because you're not wearing you know, there's
Speaker 1: this weird phenomenon. If you have like thirty shirts, then
Speaker 1: you wear like two shirts over and over again and
Speaker 1: then and so those don't last, and then you don't
Speaker 1: wear the other twenty eight. But if you ten shirts,
Speaker 1: you cycle through all ten. And there's I've don't know
Speaker 1: the research to back that up. I don't even know
Speaker 1: if there's research, but in my life, that is a
Speaker 1: weird phenomenon that I've seen. So that's you know, simple wardrobe,
Speaker 1: simple meal plans, simple recipes get done. Like if your
Speaker 1: your meal plan is full of like gourmet things from
Speaker 1: the feed, feed, like cut it out because those the
Speaker 1: food like ingredients go to waste. Like simple meal plans,
Speaker 1: simple recipes, simple routines that like don't make your young
Speaker 1: children overwhelmed or you like, I just that is minimalism
Speaker 1: to me. It's cutting out all the clutter in every
Speaker 1: part of your life, simplifying so that all that remains
Speaker 1: is what lights you up and what lights your partner
Speaker 1: up and what lights your family up. Yeah, I love
Speaker 1: that distinction that there it's possible that we might have
Speaker 1: a few extra things in order to make life more
Speaker 1: simple for our circumstances. So yeah, again, just permission to
Speaker 1: have this look for you different from other people. Whatever
Speaker 1: is going to work though. Number seven on here is
Speaker 1: I enjoy being at home And I can really resonate
Speaker 1: with this one too. This is like a newfound experience
Speaker 1: for me. I don't know that I ever used to
Speaker 1: be one to fully understand when people are like I
Speaker 1: just like being home. I just want to go home
Speaker 1: and be home. And it still is not totally my mantram,
Speaker 1: but I do understand it more. You travel a lot,
Speaker 1: but you also have people at your home a lot,
Speaker 1: so yeah, yeah, it probably has to do with having
Speaker 1: a home. But certainly when it feels peaceful and calm,
Speaker 1: that that can create a cozy and comfortable environment. When
Speaker 1: it doesn't feel dirty, untidy, overwhelming, chaotic, busy, complicated, then
Speaker 1: home can be a really enjoyable, RESTful place. And and
Speaker 1: certainly where you have contentment, then yeah, you certainly feel
Speaker 1: at home there. So I love what she's saying there,
Speaker 1: and I can attest to that as well. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think with anything that is unknown, we avoid it. So
Speaker 1: she's saying, like now that she's you know, simplified and minimize,
Speaker 1: she can find things so she doesn't have to waste
Speaker 1: time searching for things. Like when we before paying off debt,
Speaker 1: I just avoided my navigant account like the plague, because
Speaker 1: I didn't want to look at it, because I didn't
Speaker 1: know how I was gonna pay it off, so I
Speaker 1: didn't I didn't look at it. And like when your
Speaker 1: home is cluttered and you don't know how to get
Speaker 1: it to the picture that you want it to look like,
Speaker 1: you just avoid it. You avoid being there. But if
Speaker 1: you can, like bust it out and you subtract act everything.
Speaker 1: I heard this recently, this design tip. It was from
Speaker 1: like fix and flip rehabbers from real estate, but I
Speaker 1: think it was so wise. It's aid add by subtracting.
Speaker 1: So basically for their properties, they just take away everything
Speaker 1: as much as possible, leave the things that are still
Speaker 1: you know, working and have to be there, and then
Speaker 1: just take away everything else. Landscaping, just take it all
Speaker 1: away and then only add back what is like desperately necessary.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like mulch on the ground, very minimal everything,
Speaker 1: and I love that idea. I did this on a
Speaker 1: smaller scale um with my fridge, and it was inadvertent
Speaker 1: because we had to clean the fridge front face and
Speaker 1: we took off all of the magnets and pictures and drawings,
Speaker 1: and then I only put back what I thought really
Speaker 1: needed to be there. And it's something I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: done just like looking at it just taking things off.
Speaker 1: But I had to take away everything and only intentionally
Speaker 1: put back what I wanted. And what a great way
Speaker 1: to look at things to always just have the mindset
Speaker 1: of Okay, let's strip everything away and we only put
Speaker 1: back what matters, and and that's a lot easier than
Speaker 1: trying to just like take things away slowly or nitpick away. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like allowing the holidays to jump start that for me.
Speaker 1: So I decorate for Christmas every year, and then I
Speaker 1: feel like I experience what you're describing. When I take
Speaker 1: all of the decorations down and I repack everything up.
Speaker 1: It almost gives me fresh eyes from the space of
Speaker 1: oh yeah, I do like it so much more when
Speaker 1: there's not as much stuff, and then the things that
Speaker 1: I choose to put back into that space are much
Speaker 1: more intentional, and so I think even grasping onto some
Speaker 1: of these typical rituals and routines throughout our year can
Speaker 1: help us to see how we want the space to
Speaker 1: look and be and what's most important to remain. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right. The last one for me is I notice
Speaker 1: and appreciate more of the small things in life. And
Speaker 1: this is super important. There are so many small things
Speaker 1: that we try to ignore, um like by being on
Speaker 1: our phones or just focusing on like big things. But
Speaker 1: like she's saying, before decluttering, I was distracted by all
Speaker 1: the stuff, didn't see the small things in life that
Speaker 1: really added value. Now I make sure to take note
Speaker 1: of small things. With gratitude journaling, she spends five minutes
Speaker 1: writing all the things she's grateful for for the day.
Speaker 1: I really am a huge advocate for just one sentence journaling,
Speaker 1: Like one sentence every day something you're thankful for or
Speaker 1: something that happened, whatever, But just like one sentence a day,
Speaker 1: that's it's all. You need to have three sentences in
Speaker 1: a year. How great is that? That's awesome? I like that,
Speaker 1: super attainable. And the last one on this list is
Speaker 1: my mental health has improved, so for this article, they're
Speaker 1: saying that minimalism has absolutely freed up mental space, noticing
Speaker 1: that sensory levels are more stable, and just an overall
Speaker 1: again I think contentment. It sounds like for her minimalism
Speaker 1: has helped her focus in on her self care routine.
Speaker 1: So again, when we have minimalism, simple ways of life routines, schedules,
Speaker 1: it does give us time and money to put towards
Speaker 1: the things that actually matter. And so some of that
Speaker 1: can be how we choose to care for ourselves doing
Speaker 1: things that are life giving, enjoyable, beautiful, and that absolutely
Speaker 1: has a positive impact on our mental health. So I
Speaker 1: would agree this is another peripheral impact of minimalism, and
Speaker 1: I love that she highlighted this. Mm hmmm. So our
Speaker 1: next article is how minimalism can help or hurt your finances,
Speaker 1: So this is we're gonna kind of breeze over this
Speaker 1: a little bit more, but we're just we're going a
Speaker 1: little bit deeper on the money aspect. And this is
Speaker 1: from the Balance and it's written by Alla Linton, who
Speaker 1: I actually know. So I'm excited to go through this one.
Speaker 1: What do you think about it, Jill? I love this
Speaker 1: perspective of saying how it can help your finances and
Speaker 1: how it can hurt your finances. I think there are
Speaker 1: ways that minimalism is very congruent with frugality, and there's
Speaker 1: times when it can maybe be an offshoot of it.
Speaker 1: They may not align perfectly, or it depends on kind
Speaker 1: of how we approach frugality, but I think this is
Speaker 1: worth looking at. That it doesn't always mean that we're
Speaker 1: going to save money. It can and absolutely mean that,
Speaker 1: but I love this additional perspective and almost a warning
Speaker 1: of potential pitfalls. I see this article as so, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's worth looking at both how it can
Speaker 1: help and how it can hurt. And so they start
Speaker 1: off with how how it can improve our finances, and
Speaker 1: so for starters, minimalism does discourage excess, So it does
Speaker 1: give this rejection of over consumption and encourages us to
Speaker 1: limit possessions to the essentials, which is going to automatically
Speaker 1: mean buying fewer things, spending less money on maintaining or
Speaker 1: replacing belongings. So when we just don't need as much,
Speaker 1: don't buy as much, then that of course is going
Speaker 1: to have a good benefit on our finances, just because
Speaker 1: in general it discourages taking on more, owning more, and
Speaker 1: instead having less. Yes, it says minimalism courses you to
Speaker 1: prioritize your spending as well. So many people incorrectly assume
Speaker 1: minimalism means having an aversion to buying. While this indeed
Speaker 1: could be one approach, minimalism is less about avoiding spending
Speaker 1: and more about spending intentionally, which is literally all we
Speaker 1: talk about on this show. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: So you just have to think twice about what you buy.
Speaker 1: You have to have. You have to do the hard
Speaker 1: work of figuring out your core values, figuring out your
Speaker 1: partner and your children's you know, values, and making sure
Speaker 1: you're spending aligns with those. And the what I will
Speaker 1: spend on list is just as important as making a
Speaker 1: list of things I won't spend on. So that's also
Speaker 1: an important list to have. So things that you have
Speaker 1: spent on in the past that you have identified do
Speaker 1: not you know whether it bring you joy or fulfill
Speaker 1: your values or whatever that you make a conscious decision
Speaker 1: not to spend on in the future. For me, that's beer,
Speaker 1: I and an iced coffee, So I love drinking things.
Speaker 1: Coffee and alcohol are or you know, things I enjoy,
Speaker 1: But when I would go out, I would go maybe
Speaker 1: getting iced coffee because it's cheaper, or I would go
Speaker 1: to a bar and get a beer obviously it's cheaper.
Speaker 1: I do not enjoy these things. I have decided I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't like beer, I don't like iced coffee. Um,
Speaker 1: I would prefer an iced latte or a cocktail when
Speaker 1: I go out. These things are more expensive, but I
Speaker 1: have prioritized them because I value the experience more and
Speaker 1: I will go out less if it means I can
Speaker 1: enjoy the time I have out. So like I have
Speaker 1: put things on my I will not buy list. And
Speaker 1: now that I know, I can plan better and I
Speaker 1: can experience better times because of it. I appreciate that
Speaker 1: knowledge of self. I think that comes in this whole
Speaker 1: journey of minimalism and frugality, being curious with ourselves, knowing
Speaker 1: ourselves better, setting parameters around what's life giving and what's not.
Speaker 1: It's all part of this. The last thing on this
Speaker 1: list as far as how minimalism can help our finances
Speaker 1: is that minimalism does encourage simple living. Like everything we
Speaker 1: talked about in the previous article, it's not just about
Speaker 1: having less, but can in some ways be about doing
Speaker 1: less or only engaging in activities that are fruitful, beneficial,
Speaker 1: life giving and maybe dropping costly commitments or activity. So
Speaker 1: it's not just about things. It can also be about
Speaker 1: experiences that we pay for, and it can help our
Speaker 1: finances when we really get in touch with what are
Speaker 1: the experience as in activities that I actually want to
Speaker 1: spend on, and only spending on those things is going
Speaker 1: to have a beneficial impact on our wallets as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, so let's move on to how minimalism can
Speaker 1: hurt your finances. And I actually think that this is
Speaker 1: more like how minimalism can hurt your heart or your
Speaker 1: pride more so than your finances, honestly, especially for this
Speaker 1: first one. So it says quality comes with a price.
Speaker 1: So one of the core tenets of minimalism is to
Speaker 1: prioritize quality over quantity. But with high quality comes a
Speaker 1: higher price tag and so that is not necessarily hurting
Speaker 1: your finances, it definitely hurts your budget in the time
Speaker 1: that you buy it. Overall, though, we know that buying
Speaker 1: quality last longer, produces less waste, and saves you more
Speaker 1: in the long run. Typically, so I don't think it
Speaker 1: hurts your finances, but it does. It hurts your budget
Speaker 1: in the month you are buying it, and I think
Speaker 1: it kind of hurts. It hurts me a little bit
Speaker 1: if I'm being honest to spend more for something of quality,
Speaker 1: even though I know that it's going to last longer
Speaker 1: and save more in the long run, even though I know,
Speaker 1: like it's still I don't know, it's a scarcy mindset
Speaker 1: that just like creeps up and saying like, oh, you
Speaker 1: don't have enough money to get the nice thing, Like
Speaker 1: you're not the nice thing buying person. Uh, you're the
Speaker 1: generic buying person. And that is I think more of
Speaker 1: a thing to overcome when we're talking about buying quality.
Speaker 1: I think it can great against some of the characteristics
Speaker 1: that can be true about us frugal folk. And but
Speaker 1: I will say too, I think only spending quality on
Speaker 1: the things that matter the most I think where it
Speaker 1: can hurt our finances, as if we start to really
Speaker 1: adopt this outlook of well, I'm minimal, so I'm only
Speaker 1: going to buy the nicest things, and then we just
Speaker 1: start doing that for even the things that we actually
Speaker 1: don't need it to be that quality or it's not
Speaker 1: actually that important of a thing to us. And I
Speaker 1: think that there are plenty of times where the middle
Speaker 1: of the road or even the lower cost option is
Speaker 1: still going to last long. And you can buy quality
Speaker 1: second hand. You can buy very amazing things that have
Speaker 1: already been used. So I agree and I disagree with
Speaker 1: this point. I still think it depends on the approach
Speaker 1: and what it is that we choose to buy quality with.
Speaker 1: In the long run, it can save us a lot
Speaker 1: of money, for sure. The next one on here, though,
Speaker 1: I appreciate at this point as it relates to minimalism
Speaker 1: hurting our finances. Purging can cost us. So one of
Speaker 1: the things were related to minimalism is decluttering. It's not
Speaker 1: the only thing, but they're they're saying that it's possible
Speaker 1: that we go overboard, get rid of things, and then
Speaker 1: discover that we did need something and we rebuy it.
Speaker 1: I can see some people falling into that trap, like
Speaker 1: we're going to throw it all away. It's a minority
Speaker 1: that is not the common approach. I've not the common approach.
Speaker 1: But the other thing though, that I can see as
Speaker 1: well happening that they point out is if you really
Speaker 1: embrace the Kamari method, where you only want to have
Speaker 1: things that smart joy. Sometimes this could lead to people
Speaker 1: getting rid of something to buy the better replacement because
Speaker 1: they're gonna like it more. I the whole thing with
Speaker 1: KonMari is that you're, of course you're keeping things that
Speaker 1: don't directly spark joy, but you have the you have
Speaker 1: the They are a means to something that sparks joy
Speaker 1: for you. And so I I think to blame it
Speaker 1: on the spark joy, you know. Excuse I just I don't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't want to throw the Kumari method under the bus,
Speaker 1: but I could see that if you have something but
Speaker 1: it's not exactly the way that you want it to
Speaker 1: be in order for you to keep it long term,
Speaker 1: it's possible that you'd get rid of it to buy
Speaker 1: its better replacement. We don't necessarily have to put KonMari
Speaker 1: into that equation. I could see that happening, Yeah, for
Speaker 1: myself or others, I could. But the joy, the sparking joy,
Speaker 1: isn't the thing like this. Does this thing? Does this
Speaker 1: iPhone spark joy? No? But it would if it was
Speaker 1: an iPhone A two. That's the wrong mindset to do.
Speaker 1: When you are doing the kun Marine method. It's like,
Speaker 1: does this iPhone spark joy? Like I get to take
Speaker 1: pictures and and do all this stuff, And yeah, I
Speaker 1: would like the newer one, but this one's okay. You
Speaker 1: know you will will upgrade when it's time sort of thing.
Speaker 1: I think the key there is okay, potential pitfalls in it,
Speaker 1: and just a reminder to remain tethered in our process
Speaker 1: of this that be realistic about what you're getting rid of.
Speaker 1: If you're uncertain if you're gonna want it or need
Speaker 1: it in a few months from now, then you put
Speaker 1: it in a bin, out of sight, out of mind,
Speaker 1: and then come back to it six months later. Did
Speaker 1: you need those things? If not, okay, then you're free
Speaker 1: to get rid of them. And and then just being
Speaker 1: realistic about the new things that you actually need to buy,
Speaker 1: not throwing all frugality, problem solving and sustainability out the window. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right. And the last one on the list is
Speaker 1: that simple isn't necessarily cheap, and this is similar to
Speaker 1: the first one, is that quality it does cost more
Speaker 1: than everything that's cheap. So they're saying, if you're pursuing
Speaker 1: simplicity in your physical life, then that will flow over.
Speaker 1: You want to live you know, more organically, sustainably and
Speaker 1: rethink what you drive where all of this stuff, which
Speaker 1: is great you should, but these things are more expensive.
Speaker 1: But the hope is that you are buying less of
Speaker 1: other stuff so that on the things you do care
Speaker 1: about you can spend a little more for. But again,
Speaker 1: it had like I, when I go to buy something
Speaker 1: that's more expensive, I could get it cheaper at lesser
Speaker 1: you know, lesser quality. I think, oh, I'm not the
Speaker 1: kind of person that drives the electric car. I'm not
Speaker 1: the kind of person that shops at the health food store.
Speaker 1: You know. It's kind of it has to be an
Speaker 1: identity shift. And I know not all will think this way,
Speaker 1: but it's like what I struggle with, but I do.
Speaker 1: I think I live more by the let's just eliminate
Speaker 1: as much as possible so that I don't have to
Speaker 1: make as many of these hard decisions. Um. And then
Speaker 1: I'm slowly kind of getting better at buying quality, buying sustainable,
Speaker 1: and then also kind of figuring out, Okay, what are
Speaker 1: the things I actually do need to buy and what
Speaker 1: are the things that I don't Because sometimes I'll go
Speaker 1: to the other end of the spectrum to be like, okay,
Speaker 1: now I'm okay with spending money on this, so I'll
Speaker 1: just go from spending zero on it to four hundred.
Speaker 1: And that's not either. I think overall, minimalism's ability to
Speaker 1: save us money and help our finances far and above
Speaker 1: outweighs minimalism's ability to hurt our finances. There are some active,
Speaker 1: intentional decisions we need to make in that um, but
Speaker 1: most mostly it's going to breed contentment and less purchasing
Speaker 1: of things. And that's the takeaway. But you know what,
Speaker 1: I never want to minimize and I always want more
Speaker 1: of mm hmm we that's right. It's time for the
Speaker 1: best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was
Speaker 1: born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off
Speaker 1: your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to
Speaker 1: not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo bills,
Speaker 1: Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: this is Lisa from New York and I am happy
Speaker 1: to say I have completed paying alimony. Whoo who done?
Speaker 1: Girls out there, get yourselves the prenup ladies, Lisa, I
Speaker 1: have to be honest. I listened to this one before
Speaker 1: because it was so short. I was like, oh, is
Speaker 1: this a real Bill of the week, because it's just
Speaker 1: like an accidental call. And I heard it and I
Speaker 1: laughed then and I laughed now, And I love this
Speaker 1: excitement and it's it's definitely a new one for us.
Speaker 1: It's it's better than the debt free scream right now.
Speaker 1: I'm loving everything about it. It is a good idea
Speaker 1: to get a pre nup, especially if you are marrying
Speaker 1: later in life. Um, and it's not We actually have
Speaker 1: an interview coming up next month that we've already recorded
Speaker 1: that where we talked a little bit about this. But
Speaker 1: uh yeah. Also, to be the woman who owes the
Speaker 1: alimony is also something that I am obsessed with. Get it, Lisa,
Speaker 1: right now. It's um, it's great. I love this will
Speaker 1: go down as one of my favorite bills. It's short,
Speaker 1: it's it's jubilant, and I want I want more of it.
Speaker 1: I want more ands like this, And it teaches us
Speaker 1: all something, Well, if you want to submit your Bill
Speaker 1: of the week, if you've paid your last alimony payment,
Speaker 1: or you did get a prenup, or you did not
Speaker 1: get a prenup, or it has nothing to do with
Speaker 1: your maritalnbtuals. Visit propal, friends podcast dot com, slash bill,
Speaker 1: leave us your bill. You know this, and now it's
Speaker 1: time for people what frugal minimalism looks like for us
Speaker 1: because we want to keep it. We want to keep
Speaker 1: this minimalism real niche like, we're not just minimalists. We
Speaker 1: are frugal and minimalist. So that looks different than somebody
Speaker 1: who considers them themselves like a sustainable minimalist primarily or
Speaker 1: just a minimalist. So we all we all look distinction. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh so, Jill, tell me about what frugal minimalism maybe
Speaker 1: looks like for you. Oh yeah, For me, it has
Speaker 1: wrapped up a lot in contentment. I think I've learned
Speaker 1: this a ton. Tiny living taught me a lot of
Speaker 1: this because you couldn't bring more into the house. But
Speaker 1: I like your distinction there, Jen, because I think frugality
Speaker 1: could on one spectrum lead to hoarding, minimalism on one
Speaker 1: spectrum could lead to expense of and so the pairing
Speaker 1: of frugal minimalism for me, it means that I am
Speaker 1: making really intentional decisions with my finances and resources and
Speaker 1: and home and lifestyle. So because I'm I live frugally
Speaker 1: and minimally, it means that I'm not collecting things in
Speaker 1: my home just because they're inexpensive. And I know that
Speaker 1: for some people with just the frugal mindset, it could
Speaker 1: mean that like, of course, I'm gonna buy ten toothpaste
Speaker 1: because look at how much I'll save in a year
Speaker 1: onto the base by using this coupon. So that's not
Speaker 1: my approach, and and with that it has led to
Speaker 1: an extreme decrease in my thrift store shopping. Previously, I
Speaker 1: think I was just frugal, and when I paired it
Speaker 1: with minimalism, I realized that going to the thrift store
Speaker 1: and getting as many things as possible, even at like
Speaker 1: a steep discount don't wasn't actually serving me because I
Speaker 1: was filling my home with a ton of things that
Speaker 1: I didn't need and just kind of um caused me
Speaker 1: more stress and clutter in my house. So frugal minimalism
Speaker 1: means just not buying and not having a ton. So
Speaker 1: for example, like we only have one vehicle, That of
Speaker 1: course works for our lifestyle because both Eric and I
Speaker 1: work from home, so that's fantastic, But things like that
Speaker 1: where it's leading me to only have the things that
Speaker 1: I need in a really frugal way. Yes, I agree
Speaker 1: with so so much of that. I won't copy you exactly,
Speaker 1: but I do agree with everything that you just said.
Speaker 1: For us, I would say it looks like very minimalist
Speaker 1: decore in our house because and and not minimalist things.
Speaker 1: We still have a lot of toddler toys because everyone
Speaker 1: thinks a toddler needs multiple toys at every Christmas and Birthday.
Speaker 1: So we do have the toys. But I don't love
Speaker 1: decorating things, so I don't feel the need to try
Speaker 1: and be something i'm not and or do something I
Speaker 1: don't enjoy just because Instagram or hd h G t
Speaker 1: V tells me I should. So that's something that we
Speaker 1: keep very minimal and that means that I buy less
Speaker 1: home to core, and what I do buy is from
Speaker 1: a thrift store. I definitely I have a smaller like
Speaker 1: I don't love to shop for clothes, so I just
Speaker 1: have fewer clothes naturally. But one of the ways I
Speaker 1: limit that is that primarily only by clothes from the
Speaker 1: thrift store or from the threat up. So I think
Speaker 1: that's those barriers. I try to I think the commitment
Speaker 1: to shopping second hand first just naturally inhibits. It prevents
Speaker 1: me from going into stores that sell new things, and
Speaker 1: so that helps a lot. Yeah, I still make impulse purchases.
Speaker 1: Amazon is just really easy to do that, but I
Speaker 1: make a lot fewer of them because it's not the
Speaker 1: first place I go when I need something. Yes, uh,
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah. Well, thank you everyone for listening.
Speaker 1: We hope that this has inspired you in one way
Speaker 1: or another related to your finances, minimalism, how that pairing
Speaker 1: can look for you and let us know the benefits
Speaker 1: that you're seeing, whether that's in our Frugal Friends community
Speaker 1: group on Facebook, wherever you can find us Instagram, and
Speaker 1: we also want to thank you for your kind reviews
Speaker 1: on Apple. Podcasts like this one from veh L N
Speaker 1: one four one seven titled best Podcast for Values Based
Speaker 1: Living Happens to Be five stars. Jen and Jill are
Speaker 1: fantastic hosts for this amazing podcast. They highlight the best
Speaker 1: things about frugal living. The word frugal can have a
Speaker 1: bad connotation to it, but as someone who is naturally
Speaker 1: frugal and prefer simpler living, finding this podcast and this
Speaker 1: community has helped me solidify my values and has helped
Speaker 1: me live my life and embrace my frugality. The personal
Speaker 1: finance aspect also has helped me tremendously. Thanks Jen and Jill, amazing,
Speaker 1: so welcome. I'm so glad you you separated the frugality
Speaker 1: portion from the personal finance portion, because they are there
Speaker 1: are separate to an extent, and so I'm we're glad
Speaker 1: it's helped you with both. And we also want to
Speaker 1: thank our friends who share these episodes on social media.
Speaker 1: So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're
Speaker 1: adding you to our monthly drawing. For every five tags
Speaker 1: and reviews we get each month, we're giving away fifty
Speaker 1: dollars for you to spend in the Frugal Friends shop. Whooo.
Speaker 1: So keep leaving us those reviews wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: podcasts and sending the screenshot to reviews at Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: podcast dot com, and don't forget to tag us on
Speaker 1: social See you next week. My Frugal Friends is produced
Speaker 1: by Eric Sirian Jen. I have done so well with
Speaker 1: not like buying anything because I've been sick for an eternity.
Speaker 1: It does seem that way. I feel like I was
Speaker 1: sick the entire month of December, and you have had
Speaker 1: it January. It's been so long since we've been together
Speaker 1: in person, and that has been a travesty as well.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. But soon we will be reunited. But I
Speaker 1: still won't spend any money, absolutely mean, thankfully. I just
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of money. I have everything you
Speaker 1: need right here, honey, everything you need right here. Come
Speaker 1: content for that content in relationships. Mm hmm, amen style.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. We're a month away from Valentine's Day,
Speaker 1: actually three days away. Yeah, no, um, get you chocolates,
Speaker 1: Happy Valentine's Valentine's Day, keep it happy Galentine's Day. Yes,
Speaker 1: all right, enjoy