Speaker 1: Episode three eighteen, Frugal Living Tips for Summer.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live your life. Here your hosts,
Speaker 2: Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and we are still in the
Speaker 1: summer slow down where we are releasing one episode per
Speaker 1: week through July.
Speaker 3: And now we talk it like we're NPR hosts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it just feels gentler, It just feels like rest.
Speaker 3: It has been. Maybe people have missed us, maybe they haven't.
Speaker 3: We'll be back at two episodes again very soon. But yes,
Speaker 3: we in the summer right now.
Speaker 1: We are in the summer. So so today we'll be
Speaker 1: talking about frugal living tips for so, how summer can
Speaker 1: trigger more spending, how to stay on the budget that
Speaker 1: you may or may not have set for summer, and
Speaker 1: then some ways you can take advantage of this unique
Speaker 1: season to have frugal fun and save money in unique ways.
Speaker 3: But first, our sponsor this episode is brought to you
Speaker 3: by Hot Girl Summer. It's my new favorite phrase. I'm
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Speaker 4: People are gonna get confused when they dipe that in, like, wait,
Speaker 4: what is this?
Speaker 3: It's they find your old four oh one k's and
Speaker 3: they help you roll them over so you don't lose them.
Speaker 1: If you have quietly quit or loudly quit and you
Speaker 1: have a four oh one k that you need to
Speaker 1: roll over and you don't want to do any work
Speaker 1: this summer, then yeah, definitely Frugal Friends Podcast dot com
Speaker 1: slash capitalize. Yeah, that was a great tie in, Jill.
Speaker 3: Thank you fantastic. Yeah, I've done a lot of work
Speaker 3: in your absence, so you just I know, I was.
Speaker 1: Thinking the other day that maybe I should listen to
Speaker 1: the episodes that I wasn't on, and then I was like, nah,
Speaker 1: all right, speaking of episodes that I was on. If
Speaker 1: you are looking for some more summer fun episodes to
Speaker 1: queue up after this one, then episode three oh six,
Speaker 1: uh Fruit Friend's Summer book Club, we talk about four
Speaker 1: personal finance reads that you should have in your beach bag.
Speaker 1: And then episode one fifteen Frugal yard maintenance and landscaping,
Speaker 1: because lord knows, if you miss a day of yard
Speaker 1: maintenance in Florida in the summer, you have reverted to
Speaker 1: the jungle like you have. Nature has found a way,
Speaker 1: it has taken back its property and you live in
Speaker 1: the jungle. So episode touse, I and I have been
Speaker 1: to my house and that's how it goes. That's how
Speaker 1: it goes here. So those are a couple good ones,
Speaker 1: but this one is really summer specific. So our first
Speaker 1: article is from Better by Today from NBC News, and
Speaker 1: it is summer can trigger over space, try these tips
Speaker 1: to stay on budget. What'd you think of it, Jill?
Speaker 3: I think it's helpful because this is so this first
Speaker 3: article to me is that look at, well, what are
Speaker 3: the pitfalls where do we end up spending more as
Speaker 3: a result of it being summer? And I think knowing
Speaker 3: the pitfalls can help us to become equipped. I think
Speaker 3: the second article is going to be giving more tips
Speaker 3: on how to save. And this is the knowledge the
Speaker 3: foundation of where do we tend to overspend so that
Speaker 3: we can feel equipped to actually implement. So I think
Speaker 3: helpful in that regard for me to realize, oh yeah,
Speaker 3: I do do that. Oh yeah, that's where prices on
Speaker 3: certain things can increase in the summer, and just a
Speaker 3: greater awareness of myself and my own habits seasonally that
Speaker 3: I can then feel prepared to make more intentional decisions around.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's not about not spending. We want you
Speaker 1: to embrace the season. I've been watching a lot of
Speaker 1: HGTV since it came onto HBO Max, and I got
Speaker 1: this really great piece of wisdom from the couple that
Speaker 1: hosts Hometown and she said that somebody else told her
Speaker 1: you only get eighteen summers with your babies, Like, if
Speaker 1: you've got kids, you only get eighteen summers. And when
Speaker 1: I thought about that, I realized, oh my gosh, eighteen
Speaker 1: is not a lot, and so I really want to
Speaker 1: embrace this summer season. I want to make this one
Speaker 1: of eighteen count So it's not about not doing anything
Speaker 1: or spending as little as possible this summer. It's about
Speaker 1: being equipped with the knowledge to choose and not fall
Speaker 1: into any of your spending.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been really thinking about that a lot for
Speaker 1: the past few days.
Speaker 3: Mama little too now, Just I know, caring for these cuties, I.
Speaker 1: Know, I know. So all right, let's get into these
Speaker 1: some of these pitfalls and then how we can get
Speaker 1: back on track.
Speaker 3: Yes, So the first is talking about assessing your financial situation,
Speaker 3: So being able to take a look at where is
Speaker 3: my financial life, checking your credit score, looking at your
Speaker 3: spending plan or your budget, whatever word you choose to pick,
Speaker 3: looking at your debts and expenses. Because we can sometimes
Speaker 3: approach summer in this kind of extended vacation mindset. Usually
Speaker 3: this is where we are actually going on vacation. But
Speaker 3: then if you've got kids and they're out of school,
Speaker 3: or even just your work is shifting a little bit
Speaker 3: because it's the summer and everyone around you is going
Speaker 3: on vacations and getting tands and going to the beach
Speaker 3: on the weekend, and there's just a we can feel it,
Speaker 3: even if we don't have kids or don't work in
Speaker 3: an academic setting, there is a shift that happens in
Speaker 3: the summer. And so I think one of the ways
Speaker 3: that we can be prepared for this extended vacation mindset,
Speaker 3: which can lead us to spending more than maybe we
Speaker 3: would have wanted, is getting a good grasp on what
Speaker 3: is our financial situation currently? What do I need to
Speaker 3: be aware of so that I can make the best
Speaker 3: postible decisions. That doesn't mean deprivation, and as Jen already mentioned,
Speaker 3: doesn't mean not spending, but having an awareness of all
Speaker 3: of these aspects of our financial life, our financial health,
Speaker 3: is going to help us feel a little bit more
Speaker 3: freedom to maybe do some of those things that we
Speaker 3: might want to do in the summer. So just taking
Speaker 3: inventory across the board, this could be a really good
Speaker 3: time to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is the hardest time to do it, I
Speaker 1: would say this. And then the holiday seasons are the
Speaker 1: are the seasons where people care about their finances the least.
Speaker 1: So if you're actually listening to this episode, ten out
Speaker 1: of ten you are doing the most right now, So
Speaker 1: be encouraged in that you are doing the most, so
Speaker 1: pat yourself on the back. But it is kind of
Speaker 1: important to do this before you go into the thick
Speaker 1: of summer. I know in Florida where we've already been
Speaker 1: in the thick of summer for a month, but the
Speaker 1: rest of the country is just getting into it. So
Speaker 1: do it now. It's not something after you do it
Speaker 1: if it's not as good as you thought it would be,
Speaker 1: or if it's as bad as you thought it would be.
Speaker 1: It's not like a you can't spend money the rest
Speaker 1: of the summer sort of thing. But it'll help you
Speaker 1: say no more easily to some of those smaller expenses
Speaker 1: that you might have just you know, throwing your hands
Speaker 1: up and said, well, it's summer. I'll figure it out
Speaker 1: in the fall. But if you assess it now, then
Speaker 1: when you get back on your track in the fall,
Speaker 1: or whenever you get back on your track, it'll be
Speaker 1: a lot better.
Speaker 3: Well, especially because if you do have kids, back to
Speaker 3: school is right around the corner. And sorry, don't hate
Speaker 3: the messager. Also, the holidays are coming, and the better
Speaker 3: we can do now, the better for her. Don't hate
Speaker 3: the message, so sorry and bring in the truth.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for her. It's summer,
Speaker 1: enjoy summer, and just make yourself aware. So then the
Speaker 1: next one kind of ties into that. It's to knock
Speaker 1: out any small debts you can to increase your net worth.
Speaker 1: I would say, if you've got any small debts, small
Speaker 1: credit cards that you can knock out before summer really
Speaker 1: gets going, or at least before back to school, then
Speaker 1: this is the time to do it. If you've got
Speaker 1: a little bit of savings. A lot of our sinking
Speaker 1: funds are for summer and holidays. So if you have
Speaker 1: used your sinking fund and you have a little leftover
Speaker 1: or anticipate having some leftover, then don't tempt yourself to
Speaker 1: spend that money willy nilly. Put it towards a small
Speaker 1: debt and get that money working for you. Don't you
Speaker 1: know if you've budgeted two thousand for a vacation and
Speaker 1: you've saved twenty three hundred, don't I mean maybe you
Speaker 1: can treat yourself with an extra hundred and then put
Speaker 1: two hundred towards a debt. Something like that.
Speaker 3: Number three on here is plan for each activity that
Speaker 3: they mentioned impromptu anything is basically your budget's worst enemy.
Speaker 3: And we talk about this with any type of spending,
Speaker 3: even if we're just out at the store, we're at
Speaker 3: home goods, and we're just we've not planned for it.
Speaker 3: And especially when it comes to summertime when everyone is
Speaker 3: doing the activity, it's not just you going on a
Speaker 3: shopping spree and impulse buying. It's an impromptu, let's say,
Speaker 3: activity with the entire family is going to be even
Speaker 3: even more money than just one person doing an impromptu thing.
Speaker 3: And so I like how they're saying it's not to
Speaker 3: live life entirely void of spontaneity, but recognizing that some
Speaker 3: degree of planning ahead, having in mind what you're willing
Speaker 3: to spend on different things, what's actually valuable to you
Speaker 3: to do this summer? Not just doing the thing because
Speaker 3: it's what everybody else is doing, but thinking through what
Speaker 3: do I actually want to get? If this is one
Speaker 3: of eighteen, If you're adopting this mindset that Jen is
Speaker 3: talking about, then what's actually important to do? And how
Speaker 3: much is it worth to me to spend on these
Speaker 3: different things? Is there a way to do that for
Speaker 3: a decreased amount, or are there opportunities to do free
Speaker 3: things that are actually more fun to me than going
Speaker 3: and spending tons of money on this. So just being
Speaker 3: aware because sometimes we can think, oh, yeah, yeah, I'm
Speaker 3: not going to spend too much, and then we realize,
Speaker 3: oh my, I've just put one thousand dollars on my
Speaker 3: credit card that I didn't realize and then whatever, I'm
Speaker 3: on vacation, and then the whole thing becomes this hairy,
Speaker 3: out of control thing. The more we can plan ahead
Speaker 3: and think through, all, right, what are these next eight
Speaker 3: weeks going to entail? How much money do I think
Speaker 3: it's going to cost? What am I willing to spend,
Speaker 3: what am I prioritizing, what do I value? We're going
Speaker 3: to come to the end of the summer a little
Speaker 3: bit more pleased with ourselves than if we're just not
Speaker 3: thinking about it at all, not being at all intentional
Speaker 3: with what we want to get out of the summer.
Speaker 3: So think about what are we going to be doing,
Speaker 3: how much is it going to cost, what's reasonable, and
Speaker 3: you're more likely to stick to it if you've got
Speaker 3: a plan in place versus not even thinking or looking
Speaker 3: at it at all.
Speaker 1: Or if maybe you're just setting a budget for the
Speaker 1: whole summer. It's like I'm going to spend one thousand
Speaker 1: dollars on activities this summer. Break that down either week
Speaker 1: by week or activity by activity, because not every outing
Speaker 1: is going to cost the same. Some will be twenty
Speaker 1: dollars outings and some will be two hundred dollars outings.
Speaker 1: So break it down by activity and know that while
Speaker 1: this eighteen summer mentality is good to get you in
Speaker 1: being intentional with your actions, know that this isn't the
Speaker 1: last summer. Well hopefully it's not the last summer. You're
Speaker 1: still going to have more summers, so don't do so
Speaker 1: much now or let your spending get so out of
Speaker 1: control now that ten summers down the road you are
Speaker 1: in a financial crisis and cannot embrace the summers in
Speaker 1: the future, So you can spread out activities. You don't
Speaker 1: have to do everything this year or next year, so
Speaker 1: just be intentional with how you want to spend your
Speaker 1: summers in the future and that can kind of put
Speaker 1: some of your spending this year into perspective. So the
Speaker 1: next one is also plan and budget, but for non
Speaker 1: fun summer expenses as well, so we all know that
Speaker 1: that's the cost of blasting your AC unit not stop, NonStop,
Speaker 1: But it can also be five dozen weddings or bachelorette
Speaker 1: parties or all of the other stuff that is not
Speaker 1: typically your idea that you're not like putting down on
Speaker 1: your summer buck get list. So think about all of
Speaker 1: the things that increase in expense. And you can do
Speaker 1: this really easily by going back to your transactions for
Speaker 1: your credit or debit card for last year and see
Speaker 1: going through July and August and seeing, Okay, what did
Speaker 1: I spend like last July and August? What should I
Speaker 1: be anticipating this year? And it'll definitely open your eyes
Speaker 1: to some things you forgot.
Speaker 3: And then the last one on here, number five is
Speaker 3: tune up everything you let go during the cold season. Now,
Speaker 3: I think this is still going to be climate location
Speaker 3: dependent or specific. I think that for those of us
Speaker 3: who live in the further south, this is not the
Speaker 3: time that we're doing all the home projects. This is
Speaker 3: the time when we are just trying to ink water
Speaker 3: and survive.
Speaker 4: But if you do live.
Speaker 3: In a place where it's just more temperate, this is
Speaker 3: the time when you are outside, You're doing the barbecues,
Speaker 3: you're doing all the things this would be a really
Speaker 3: great time to think about, Oh, should I do that
Speaker 3: thing on my car I've been wanting to do for
Speaker 3: a while. Is this when we do the exterior work
Speaker 3: on the house. This is when we're adding to the
Speaker 3: landscaping that we might want to be doing or fixing whatever.
Speaker 3: It could be a version of spring cleaning, although you
Speaker 3: still have time for that, and we've got other episodes
Speaker 3: on that too. And I like this for multiple reasons,
Speaker 3: not only the caring for the things that we own
Speaker 3: and finding the opportunities to do that if we are
Speaker 3: experiencing a bit of a summer loul, but I also
Speaker 3: like this because it is a bit of an activity
Speaker 3: that could also keep us from spending I know, Jen,
Speaker 3: you've talked about in the past instead of spending you like,
Speaker 3: instead of going out for in your debt payoff, was
Speaker 3: to make money.
Speaker 1: My favorite way to save money is to spend time
Speaker 1: making it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was my This feels like along those lines
Speaker 3: of instead of going out and spending a ton of
Speaker 3: money as a family on an activity outside of the home,
Speaker 3: is there something that the whole family could pitch in
Speaker 3: on in the home that you can do together that
Speaker 3: could still be a fun and memorable experience. It's ticking
Speaker 3: something off of the to do list. It's keeping you
Speaker 3: from going out and spending money that maybe you don't
Speaker 3: have a value for spending on. It's helping to preserve
Speaker 3: something for the next coming season. So I like this
Speaker 3: tip for multiple reasons, and this could be a good
Speaker 3: time to tune up fix things.
Speaker 4: Stay home, yes.
Speaker 1: Stay home. Don't leave the house if you're in Florida,
Speaker 1: just stay inside, all right. So next article is actually
Speaker 1: ways to save money. It's twelve frugal living tips for summer.
Speaker 1: And I liked a lot of the things on here.
Speaker 1: We're not going to go over all of them, but
Speaker 1: we're going to each pick our three favorites.
Speaker 3: So it was your first favorite, gen.
Speaker 1: I will go first, and this is my absolute favorite
Speaker 1: one on the entire list. Attend free events.
Speaker 4: Yes, I left that one for you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I love just perusing Facebook events and seeing
Speaker 1: what's going on. I just and I'll show up. If
Speaker 1: it's a church i've never been to is putting on
Speaker 1: something free, I'm there. If it's a club or a
Speaker 1: civic center that I'm not a part of, I'll show up.
Speaker 1: If it says I can. Yeah, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: crash your birthday party, but I might if it's a
Speaker 1: public event and it's free. So I and there are
Speaker 1: so many free events in the summer. It's for most
Speaker 1: of the country it's the best time for free events.
Speaker 1: Not as much here we're more spring and fall, but
Speaker 1: everywhere happening it is summer. Yeah, it is actually still happening.
Speaker 3: What's the most recent free event you went to.
Speaker 1: Gosh, I haven't done much lately, but I oh Easter.
Speaker 1: I searched for free Easter egg hunts and we try
Speaker 1: to hit up several. So we went to a free
Speaker 1: Easter egg hunt downtown Gulfport, this big field. It was
Speaker 1: very fun.
Speaker 3: And you also told me about something recently hosted by
Speaker 3: the local fire department and they were giving out free.
Speaker 4: Hot dogs with that. Was that? Okay, Yeah, I'm bummed.
Speaker 3: I didn't know about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so the fire department for some reason, they love
Speaker 1: hot dogs. Yeah, and well they weren't on sticks, but
Speaker 1: they love giving away free hot and they were there,
Speaker 1: and then they were also at a Halloween like free
Speaker 1: trick or treating event that they did at their They
Speaker 1: did a hunted firehouse and they gave out free hot
Speaker 1: dogs there too, So I love free events. Check them.
Speaker 1: Event bright is a very good one. Facebook Events obviously,
Speaker 1: and your newspapers, your local websites, Instagram for local organizations,
Speaker 1: all great places to find free events.
Speaker 3: Adjacent to that low cost things to do. I love
Speaker 3: scouring groupon locally for you can usually find discounted museum
Speaker 3: tickets or restaurants or just kind of whatever the activity
Speaker 3: is in your area, whatever there is to offer. Usually
Speaker 3: there's multiple options on groupon for even getting discounted family
Speaker 3: tickets for things like that.
Speaker 1: And you can get free tickets to museums and stuff
Speaker 1: at your library. Yes, so check there too.
Speaker 4: Yes, Okay.
Speaker 3: My one of my favorites on this list is number five.
Speaker 4: Hit the beach.
Speaker 3: Everyone knows you can go to the beach, like this
Speaker 3: isn't anything.
Speaker 1: Everywhere can go to the beach, shattering.
Speaker 3: No, not everyone can, but usually people have at least
Speaker 3: a lake near a lie, a body's a body of water. Yeah,
Speaker 3: hit even if that's your bathtub, go there. I love
Speaker 3: it because this is a full day activity in my opinion,
Speaker 3: where you can be yoh, food, snacks, toys, chairs, and
Speaker 3: you can spend an entire day relaxing near the water
Speaker 3: for free or low cost. I know a lot of
Speaker 3: times when people go to the beach, the beach is
Speaker 3: up near us in the north, you had to have
Speaker 3: beach tags, which I think is ludicrous. I love that
Speaker 3: Florida doesn't do that. But parking can be expensive, so.
Speaker 1: We'll have that charge twenty bucks for parking.
Speaker 3: Yeah. One of the things I would say to that
Speaker 3: is look into state parks in your area where there's
Speaker 3: just a flat rate fee rather than an hourly fee.
Speaker 3: So there is a state park on the water near
Speaker 3: US where it's an inexpensive flat rate fee for the
Speaker 3: entire day rather than the hourly. So even if it's
Speaker 3: a beach you're unfamiliar with, do a little bit of
Speaker 3: research ahead of time so that it can be as
Speaker 3: close to free as possible for you. Carpool go with friends,
Speaker 3: watch each other's kids have fun.
Speaker 1: I personally like going to hotel pools. If you know
Speaker 1: who to talk to in the hospitality industry, you can
Speaker 1: figure out which hotel pools allow non guests to go
Speaker 1: there and it's yeah, there's definitely a few in our area.
Speaker 1: So check around. Do some research to see if there's
Speaker 1: any pools in your area.
Speaker 3: Well, and a lot of hotels will even give you
Speaker 3: day passes, and that's even something I think they sell on.
Speaker 3: Groupon two is like a day pass where you could
Speaker 3: even use the spa, use the pool, have access to
Speaker 3: their amenities for a flat rate day fee.
Speaker 1: But hopefully you don't have to pay because those things
Speaker 1: can get more expensive in the summer. True. My next
Speaker 1: favorite one is Number three is to cook outdoors. So
Speaker 1: I love this. If you want to get together with
Speaker 1: friends instead of going out to eat, have everybody bring
Speaker 1: something to grill. This is the time when it is
Speaker 1: totally okay to invite people over to your house if
Speaker 1: you haven't cleaned it, because you're gonna be outdoors. You're
Speaker 1: gonna be cooking outdoors. You're gonna be chilling outside. You
Speaker 1: get your mosquito nets, your spray, your lights, your zappers,
Speaker 1: and hang out outside. It's perfect and enjoy a sunset
Speaker 1: and a cocktail with your people and spend like ten
Speaker 1: dollars on something from the grocery store instead of you know,
Speaker 1: forty dollars for the family to go out to eat somewhere,
Speaker 1: and you can have more people. There's no weight to
Speaker 1: sit down like it's just all around better and get
Speaker 1: with your friends and be like this week, everyone's coming
Speaker 1: over my house. This week everyone's going over to your house,
Speaker 1: and just create a whole schedule of togetherness all summer.
Speaker 3: I love the BYO meat or BYO veggies. It takes
Speaker 3: such a pressure off, like I'll have the grill going
Speaker 3: and bring whatever you want. It's inexpensive for everyone. Oh
Speaker 3: I love that idea. Yes, okay. My next favorite on
Speaker 3: here is number six plant a fall garden. So my
Speaker 3: favorite this is fun because again it's an activity that
Speaker 3: can be low cost, potentially even free if you know
Speaker 3: how to leverage your by nothing group. Scour your local
Speaker 3: neighborhood community where there's tons of people trying to give
Speaker 3: away free plants, free seeds, or at a very minimal
Speaker 3: low cost. You do not have to get your soil,
Speaker 3: your seeds, your plants from Lowser home depot. There are
Speaker 3: plenty of other ways. Check out local garden clubs, local
Speaker 3: plant clubs in your area. Usually they'll have in the
Speaker 3: summer typically and then again another time, usually in the fall,
Speaker 3: a sale or a plant exchange where you can go
Speaker 3: and get some free things.
Speaker 4: So love that.
Speaker 3: And then this would be a really great time where
Speaker 3: I know sometimes we think the summer isn't the time
Speaker 3: to plant, but there are things, especially if you look
Speaker 3: up your zone, your climate, of what you can plant
Speaker 3: now to be able to harvest in the fall. So
Speaker 3: this could be a fun activity for you with the family.
Speaker 3: Ways to find free things. Even at yard sales, people
Speaker 3: will be selling plants. So I love this way of
Speaker 3: getting outdoors, learning more, growing food. There's just so many
Speaker 3: beautiful things too planting a garden.
Speaker 1: Right, if you kill all of your plants, like me,
Speaker 1: then I prefer to just buy what's in season, a
Speaker 1: lot of it, and then number eight preserve it. So
Speaker 1: that's either so either canning or freezing is so freezing
Speaker 1: is what I like to do. I like to get,
Speaker 1: you know, if there's a and this is kind of
Speaker 1: like side of the road stuff, Like we're not going
Speaker 1: into the grocery store and buying stuff. It's like the
Speaker 1: farms and the farmers we're going to not even the farmers'
Speaker 1: markets because I mean, I guess some times they're expensive now,
Speaker 1: but like the road or really not cute produce stands,
Speaker 1: those are the places where you get the good deals
Speaker 1: on bulk in season produce and you take that big
Speaker 1: bundle in your arms and you take it home and
Speaker 1: you prep it. You're slicing your dyson and either throwing
Speaker 1: it in the freezer, or if you can can it,
Speaker 1: if you can borrow canning supplies from someone, and someone
Speaker 1: in your community can teach you how to can or
Speaker 1: dehydrate or ferment. This is a really great way to
Speaker 1: pass down these skills from one generation to the next
Speaker 1: and create connections with people in your community or your family.
Speaker 1: And so it would be a really great activity if
Speaker 1: there's somebody around you who can impart that wisdom on you.
Speaker 1: So I love this one.
Speaker 3: I love the summertime for this. Remember there were seasons
Speaker 3: where strawberries were bountiful, and so we would do a
Speaker 3: U pick strawberry come back with so many, so many
Speaker 3: more than you can eat before they start to go bad.
Speaker 3: So you do have to utilize some of these preservation techniques.
Speaker 3: I know we would always make a pie or two
Speaker 3: and then can some of the others and dry some
Speaker 3: of it, and so it's just a really that's a
Speaker 3: really fun way to spend a day or two on
Speaker 3: this exact activity that you're describing, learning a new technique,
Speaker 3: giving yourself treats for the future, being able to enjoy
Speaker 3: the fruit of a strawberry summer come the fall. So yes,
Speaker 3: I love this for so many reasons. The next number
Speaker 3: eleven that I'm going to pull out of this article
Speaker 3: is use this time in the summer to repurpose something.
Speaker 3: This does kind of tie back into that last thing
Speaker 3: I talked about on the lat on the previous article
Speaker 3: of finding a project around the house to do, and
Speaker 3: it might not even be a maintenance project. It might
Speaker 3: be a more creative or hobby like project. This could
Speaker 3: include decluttering around the house, So walking around and looking
Speaker 3: at what do I even have on hand here that
Speaker 3: I might want to simplify or declutter, or what is
Speaker 3: it that I'm looking to purchase? But maybe do I
Speaker 3: already have something here that I'm unaware of that's hidden
Speaker 3: in the garage or up in the attic or shoved
Speaker 3: back into a closet that we can pull out and
Speaker 3: make use of. Or is there old fabric, old bedsheets,
Speaker 3: scraps of wood lying around that I can create something with.
Speaker 3: I do think that there's an aspect to the summertime
Speaker 3: that does as you've described, Jen this kind of summertime lull,
Speaker 3: we are maybe more prone to leisure activities or wanting
Speaker 3: to engage in drawn to to some of these the
Speaker 3: creativity that we might have, and I think leaning into
Speaker 3: that reality of the summer, the leisure, the creative, the hobby,
Speaker 3: the setting our hands to something new that can be
Speaker 3: utilized but doesn't mean that it has to cost us money.
Speaker 3: Is there something around the house that we can do,
Speaker 3: maybe something we've been wanting to try our hands at
Speaker 3: and we haven't yet Being able to create during this
Speaker 3: time I think is really fun, especially for those with kids.
Speaker 3: It's not homework time, it's not to dos and obligations.
Speaker 3: Is there something that your kids have shown interest in
Speaker 3: even that you could engage them with that is just
Speaker 3: fun and lighthearted and creative. I love this idea as
Speaker 3: an activity, and inevitably it's free. What do you already
Speaker 3: have on hand that you could be creative with? Repurpose,
Speaker 3: set your hands to.
Speaker 1: And you might have a long list of things that
Speaker 1: you want to do this summer and the ways you
Speaker 1: want to be creative. Pick one thing, pick one thing,
Speaker 1: and if you do it and you complete it, and
Speaker 1: there's still time in the summer to do another cool
Speaker 1: But the more things we put on the list, the
Speaker 1: fewer things we get done. So let's let's pick one
Speaker 1: thing and actually do it, be intentional, and make time
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 3: Speaking of so many different things that we're excited about
Speaker 3: that really inevitably leads to just one thing, it does
Speaker 3: just boil down to one thing making a priority connections
Speaker 3: to it being intentional.
Speaker 4: The bill of a 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 Williams. 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.
Speaker 4: Tough bills, but flow bills. Bill claim.
Speaker 2: This is the bill of the.
Speaker 4: Week, Hijen and Jill.
Speaker 6: My bill of the week is my tax bill. I
Speaker 6: was very stressed about my taxes for last year because
Speaker 6: I had worked multiple jobs with different types of pay structures,
Speaker 6: played around with multiple bank accounts to figure out what
Speaker 6: was right for me, and decided to declare residency in
Speaker 6: the state I've been living in throughout college. This is
Speaker 6: the most complicated my tax situation has ever been. I
Speaker 6: had anticipated that I was going to have to pay
Speaker 6: someone because Turbo Tax kept telling me I had to
Speaker 6: upgrade to upload certain forms. But miraculously I got an
Speaker 6: email from the university I just graduated from telling me
Speaker 6: I could qualify for free tax filing.
Speaker 3: Program based on my twenty twenty two income.
Speaker 6: Long story short, I did qualify and we'll be able
Speaker 6: to get my taxes filed completely for free.
Speaker 1: Thank you both for everything you do.
Speaker 4: I love the show. Yay.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh that as two people who really hate
Speaker 1: tax is not paying them or what they do for
Speaker 1: our country, but just like filing them. Congratulations. I'm so
Speaker 1: happy that you could have somebody else do your taxes
Speaker 1: for you. A gift. Oh.
Speaker 3: I feel this in some real ways because Eric and
Speaker 3: I have had very complicated tax situations ourselves, having moved
Speaker 3: states in a tax year and having a combination of
Speaker 3: W two's and ten ninety nine's. It just felt so
Speaker 3: chaotic and for us it's worth paying somebody. But I
Speaker 3: love that you were able to find a way to
Speaker 3: get free help, which I know is available. So I
Speaker 3: think even alerting people to that tip that sometimes there
Speaker 3: is free tax prep help out there if we qualify.
Speaker 3: I'm so glad that that was your situation. What a
Speaker 3: beautiful bill.
Speaker 4: Well done.
Speaker 3: Hopefully this next tax season doesn't feel as complicated for
Speaker 3: you are listening and have a bill that you want
Speaker 3: to submit. If it has to do with complicated taxes
Speaker 3: or finding free help or being a bill, visit Frugal
Speaker 3: friendspodcast dot com slash bill leave us your bill. We
Speaker 3: ready and waiting, and now it's time for.
Speaker 1: Set summer firewaks, summer fireworks, yes, the firework round. All right,
Speaker 1: So what are your frugal summer plans? This is what
Speaker 1: we are going to be doing this summer. I'll go first.
Speaker 1: I'm putting Kai in swim lessons. He actually just started them.
Speaker 1: He is four years old and the most terrified. We
Speaker 1: do not have a pool, so I have like I'm
Speaker 1: going in somewhere to get him swim lessons and it's
Speaker 1: painful to watch. He actually as his second one today
Speaker 1: and I am worried.
Speaker 3: But good for you because that is a it's a
Speaker 3: safety piece too. It's ye can lead to something fun.
Speaker 3: But I just think this is of utmost importance to
Speaker 3: prioritize for young kids is getting them equipped for being
Speaker 3: able to be in the water and know how to
Speaker 3: swim or at least float. It's so important.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think with the if things go the way
Speaker 1: they have gone, I might have to set them up
Speaker 1: for a second round of swim lessons. So I'm glad
Speaker 1: we started early so that Atlas is going to start
Speaker 1: daycarey very excited about that, very excited. They are your
Speaker 1: summer plans. These are my summer plans. But we are
Speaker 1: going to do a weekend staycation. So we're going to
Speaker 1: do a weekend in Orlando, just at a hotel that
Speaker 1: has a lazy river and cool restaurant on property, and
Speaker 1: take the kids and let them run around west people
Speaker 1: look around.
Speaker 3: I think most people use the word staycation to mean
Speaker 3: they stay in their home. Oh you just mean you're
Speaker 3: just going to go.
Speaker 1: Cit a goal. Yeah, I mean stay nearby. We're not
Speaker 1: going to fly anywhere. We're just going to drive an
Speaker 1: hour and a half.
Speaker 3: Explore your lat area.
Speaker 1: Yeah, to a hotel. We're not doing any theme parks
Speaker 1: or anything. We're just doing the hotel.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I do love that. I love hotels so much.
Speaker 3: Right for me, I am staying. But I know I
Speaker 3: say this that is.
Speaker 1: I mean, you got a legit vacation coming down a vacation.
Speaker 1: You just had a legit time away.
Speaker 4: Yes, I was aware.
Speaker 3: I went back up to the place where I'm from,
Speaker 3: visited friends and family. It doesn't it's not a vacation
Speaker 3: where you're doing excursions.
Speaker 1: And can Philadelphia, Pennsylvania be a vacation.
Speaker 3: No, not when the wildfires of Canada are making the
Speaker 3: air quality very unhealthy. There were two straight days we
Speaker 3: could not be No.
Speaker 1: Oh it was the way down there.
Speaker 3: Yes, all all the way from Canada still affecting the
Speaker 3: air quality. Wow, apparently the main expressway ninety five has collapsed.
Speaker 3: It's we're in Yeah, they're in a difficult that's the
Speaker 3: you sent me.
Speaker 4: And I thought it was a joke.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was sad.
Speaker 3: No, it is sad. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I'm so sorry. I know that's okay.
Speaker 3: Sorry, I mean it wasn't it was. It's all real.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So all that to say, like, no, Philadelphia is not
Speaker 3: necessarily like a vacation destination, but it is where you
Speaker 3: go to try and like encourage the people who are
Speaker 3: still there that life is worth living.
Speaker 4: And then you come back.
Speaker 3: To Florida and go to the beach. Okay, so I'm
Speaker 3: gonna say, but I'm going to go to the beach.
Speaker 3: I'm going to do that less expensive parking situation. And
Speaker 3: something I'm really excited about is trying some fun summer recipes.
Speaker 3: As I've learned to cook at home more and cut
Speaker 3: grocery costs, I have really leaned into what is the season,
Speaker 3: and what are some of the what's the produce that's
Speaker 3: currently in season, and what are some fun things that
Speaker 3: I can do with the food. Following people on Instagram
Speaker 3: has been really helpful for me with that to get
Speaker 3: inspiration to try new flavors and learn new cooking technique.
Speaker 3: So that's actually something I'm excited about doing right now.
Speaker 3: I've got a beat and Goat cheese salad on the
Speaker 3: menu this week. I'm making my phone dressing and yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm really I'm like salivating thinking about it. So find
Speaker 3: people on Instagram, find some fun summer recipes, cook at home,
Speaker 3: but make it enjoyable and related to the season. That's
Speaker 3: my encouragement. That's what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: I love the Budget Bites Budget Bites on Instagram. We
Speaker 1: already love her website and her recipes, but her Instagram
Speaker 1: is all pictures and videos of making the recipes and
Speaker 1: they're great inspiration. Yes, so we hope you are going
Speaker 1: to have a fun summer, more fun than watching your
Speaker 1: kid scream as the swimming instructor puts his head under
Speaker 1: the water. And thank you so much for listening. We've
Speaker 1: come to the part of the show where we remind
Speaker 1: you that we have a membership for our listeners who
Speaker 1: are paying off debt but really just want to be
Speaker 1: more engaged with how they're saving money. We do monthly challenges,
Speaker 1: we offer accountability groups, and we want to congratulate one
Speaker 1: of our members for a big win. This one's from Catherine.
Speaker 1: She says, easy way to increase my income This week,
Speaker 1: I started bringing breakfast to work instead of buying breakfast
Speaker 1: at work. I work at a hospital and we get
Speaker 1: fifty percent off of the cafeteria food and you can
Speaker 1: use payroll deductions to pay for a meal. Since I've
Speaker 1: started working there, I've always purchased breakfast, averaging about eighty
Speaker 1: dollars in payroll deductions each pay period. So this week
Speaker 1: I made oatmeal bars from scratch with things I already
Speaker 1: had in the pantry and brought yogurt. It should end
Speaker 1: up costing less than I would have spent at the cafeteria,
Speaker 1: increasing my take on pay. As long as I spend
Speaker 1: less than forty dollars at the grocery store for breakfast items,
Speaker 1: I'll make a difference.
Speaker 3: Oh, Catherine, this is such a good one because I
Speaker 3: could see how this would be so tempting, and really
Speaker 3: it is a great deal, especially when in a pinch.
Speaker 3: I love that your workplace is offering some discounted food,
Speaker 3: but still it's a cost, and you can still save
Speaker 3: more money by buying the things yourself, making it eating
Speaker 3: at home, or bringing it with you. So it's not
Speaker 3: as if this is a huge net wind. But you
Speaker 3: are talking what forty bucks every pay period, so that's
Speaker 3: pretty significant. You could add that to another activity or
Speaker 3: food out with friends rather than just like at the
Speaker 3: cafeteria at your work, that might be more valuable, more
Speaker 3: fun for you. So well done, Catherine, And breakfast.
Speaker 1: Is the easiest thing to mail prop literally a dozen
Speaker 1: eggs going into like muffin tins, making little muffin cups,
Speaker 1: and bake and oatmeal like Sally's baking addiction, her one
Speaker 1: bowl baked oatmeal best best, It's so good, so customizable,
Speaker 1: And yeah, those things. I never get tired of them
Speaker 1: because I can customize them so many different ways and
Speaker 1: it's so easy. So congrats, Catherine. I think this is
Speaker 1: going to be a change that you will be able
Speaker 1: to stick with and we'll save a lot over the
Speaker 1: course of your working years. So if you want to
Speaker 1: check out our membership where we talk about stuff like this,
Speaker 1: head to Frugal Friends Podcast dot com slash club. We've
Speaker 1: got courses, interviews without any ad interruptions, challenges and more.
Speaker 1: It's fun in there.
Speaker 3: It's so fun. Yeah, Frugal Friends Podcast dot com slash
Speaker 3: club and we will see you next time.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni Jill. I have
Speaker 1: started losing my hair. Oh it is time. Yeah those
Speaker 1: hair Monday well, I mean yeah, it's different. It's a
Speaker 1: more higher volume of hair loss.
Speaker 3: I remember talking about this after Kai.
Speaker 1: M M yep, and it has started now three months
Speaker 1: after Atlas, and I'm hoping I have been taking collagen
Speaker 1: peptides for since Atlas was born. I'm hoping it will
Speaker 1: be less severe than it was with Kai TBD. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a growing It wasn't the hair loss that was
Speaker 1: difficult because I have a lot of hair.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say, you don't look like you're losing No.
Speaker 1: I could stand to lose some strands. It is the
Speaker 1: regrowth when your hair is half of your hair is
Speaker 1: the normal length that you want it, and then the
Speaker 1: regrowth just starts growing out like fuzz like half of
Speaker 1: your hair almost could be a mullet. But it's all over.
Speaker 1: It's not just in the front. It's a mullet. It's
Speaker 1: everywhere and also a party everywhere. It's it's a business
Speaker 1: air party at the same time. I mean that.
Speaker 4: Sounds like you.
Speaker 3: That sounds like actually the best representation of you. It's
Speaker 3: all business and all party. There is a separate Yeah.
Speaker 1: But as hair as a hairstyle, it doesn't work. So
Speaker 1: that's where I accumulated a lot of hats four years ago.
Speaker 1: That's why I wear hats now.
Speaker 3: Good thing, you're not going very far this summer, just
Speaker 3: in the summer growing your hair.
Speaker 1: Yes, I I'm hoping it won't be as bad, but
Speaker 1: we'll see. And I now also have a small human
Speaker 1: that can that points out like everything about me. Four
Speaker 1: years ago it was just me and now it's kai
Speaker 1: being like that's a lot of hair there's so or
Speaker 1: there's hair in the shower right now, Like we only
Speaker 1: have one shower, and so he's showering in our bathroom
Speaker 1: and there's hair like it's falling out in the shower. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he doesn't want to step in this shower because
Speaker 1: there is hair on the floor.
Speaker 3: And for him, like some strangers dunking him underwater. He's
Speaker 3: like gotta step on all of mommy's hair.
Speaker 1: Just everywhere on the hair. There's like a little bit
Speaker 1: of hair. There's some hair in the corner on the floor.
Speaker 1: That's brother. It's just traumatizing.
Speaker 4: One of his eighteen summers at.
Speaker 1: Home is like traumatizing. He's absolutely fine.
Speaker 3: Send him over to my house. We'll give him a
Speaker 3: hot dog on a stick. It'll be the true summer
Speaker 3: he needs.
Speaker 1: It'll be yeah, it'll be the summer he wants. For sure.
Speaker 1: He just wants a hot dog on a stick. And
Speaker 1: so side note, second story we went to I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give the full context of the story because
Speaker 1: it's hilarious, and then round it out. I had so
Speaker 1: Kai got pink eye. I guess that compounds the traumatization,
Speaker 1: and so I had to put drops in his eyes,
Speaker 1: and Travis was out of town, so he wouldn't willingly
Speaker 1: let me do it, So I had to put him
Speaker 1: in the car seat in the car, strap him down
Speaker 1: so that I could get his arms down and then
Speaker 1: get the it was. It really did look like I
Speaker 1: was traumatizing him.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, were there any neighbors watching? Like?
Speaker 6: What?
Speaker 1: No? Thankfully no. One time I had to do it
Speaker 1: in a dunkin Donuts parking lot because I bribe him
Speaker 1: with food in these instances. So one of these bribes
Speaker 1: was going to get a happy meal at McDonald's and
Speaker 1: he got a toy from the Little Mermaid and he
Speaker 1: got Prince Eric and it looks like Eric Eric.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, amazing.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to have him bring that toy next
Speaker 1: time we come over. Yes, him bring his Prince Eric toy.
Speaker 4: Oh wow, Yeah, he thinks he.
Speaker 1: Got an Eric toy. Yeah that's adorable.
Speaker 4: He's like, I didn't know you were a prince right.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to hear their conversation about it.
Speaker 4: But how confusing could that be for him?
Speaker 3: Like in order to get a toy that looks like
Speaker 3: my friend, I've got to get drops in my eyes?
Speaker 1: Like what is this world. I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1: You do the best you can't with what you've got.
Speaker 1: OH to be four Happy summer.