Speaker 1: Episode one is episode thirty six, Minimalist Budgeting. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
Speaker 1: embrace simplicity, rights, and live with your life. Here your
Speaker 1: host Jen and Jill. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Jen, my name is Jill, And Happy
Speaker 1: New Year. It's one We've been waiting for this for
Speaker 1: a decade. The entire decade, the entire decade. Man, you
Speaker 1: remember how hopeful we were at last year's New Year's episode.
Speaker 1: I can't even remember that. We had joy in our
Speaker 1: hearts and hope in our eyes. We have no idea
Speaker 1: what was what life was like back then, BC, But
Speaker 1: we've made it. I got you. Yes, we made it,
Speaker 1: and we are celebrating today this first day of the
Speaker 1: new year that just happens to be a Frugal Friday,
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends Friday, with a rerun of one of our
Speaker 1: most popular episodes on minimalist budgeting. Yeah. I mean we
Speaker 1: all need it. COVID, no, COVID, you name it. We
Speaker 1: need to know how to budget, and my goodness, if
Speaker 1: we can make it as simple as possible, that's even better. Yes,
Speaker 1: so the year of doing less but achieving more so
Speaker 1: doing more things that are efficient and effective. So this
Speaker 1: just seems like the best time to start out with
Speaker 1: the basics. Let's talk about some budgeting. But first our sponsors.
Speaker 1: We've got for yeah, the Frugal Friends Workbook. If you
Speaker 1: want to do better with your finances this year, but
Speaker 1: you already know you're not gonna turn your life all
Speaker 1: the way upside down and do it, then check out
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends Workbook. It's a digital workbook with six
Speaker 1: week long challenges that turn improving your finances into a game.
Speaker 1: In addition to the challenges, you'll get sixty pages of
Speaker 1: teaching and implementation guidance. And while it can be completed
Speaker 1: on your own, it is created to be gone through
Speaker 1: in pairs or small groups. That's why every purchase comes
Speaker 1: with two downloads. You heard that right, that's two for
Speaker 1: the price of one. Folks. Head to Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash Workbook to learn more and use the
Speaker 1: code taco bell all one word taco bell and you
Speaker 1: get ten dollars off the regular price. Yeah, some things
Speaker 1: have not changed in the new year. Something shouldn't change, right,
Speaker 1: And this aisodes also brought to you by no spend challenges.
Speaker 1: So I have a best selling book on Amazon titled
Speaker 1: The No Spend Challenge Guide, and before Frugal Friends, that
Speaker 1: was the thing I was known for. So to say
Speaker 1: I am a fan of what a no spend challenge
Speaker 1: can do for your saving and spending is a massive understatement.
Speaker 1: I am absist so a no spend challenge. It's a
Speaker 1: block of time that forces you to step back from
Speaker 1: your money routines and habits and all the things your
Speaker 1: brain has been falling back on, and gives you the
Speaker 1: opportunity to make changes. You will hate it, it will
Speaker 1: be the worst, but you will learn so much about
Speaker 1: yourself and your spending and over at Modern Frugality. I
Speaker 1: am hosting a free, live, seven day no spend challenge
Speaker 1: where you will get trainings, insights and accountability for seven
Speaker 1: days straight on a no spend challenge. And it starts today,
Speaker 1: January first, and you can join any time over the
Speaker 1: next seven days and you'll get access to everything in
Speaker 1: the group. But let's start today if you haven't already
Speaker 1: spent money. If you have, that's fine, you can still
Speaker 1: join us. But let's start off with a spending detox.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna be there every day for the next
Speaker 1: seven days to help you along. Um So, to get
Speaker 1: access to everything, head to Modern Frugality dot com slash
Speaker 1: challenge and I will see you in there later today.
Speaker 1: So let's get into learning how to budget and then
Speaker 1: go hang out with Jen and learn how to not
Speaker 1: spend money. Yes, I love that. Today we're talking about
Speaker 1: something that's so crucial to all of the things that
Speaker 1: we talk about. And it's like this underlying thing that
Speaker 1: you've got to have playing in the background. It's like
Speaker 1: background music, it's and if it's not there, it's like
Speaker 1: words silence all the time, or like a house with
Speaker 1: no foundation. Yes, that's a better way to put it, Jill.
Speaker 1: It's condemned. You can't live in it. Yes, And that's budgeting.
Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about why even if you're frugal,
Speaker 1: you still need a budget and how you can find
Speaker 1: the right one for you and how you can stick
Speaker 1: to it because really that's the problem. Yeah. So we're
Speaker 1: going to start with our sponsors that we'll hope you're
Speaker 1: budgeting in for, and then we'll move on to our articles.
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Speaker 1: And we've partnered with this awesome service to offer listeners
Speaker 1: first their first three weeks of meal plans for free
Speaker 1: and then off any additional services. So to get these deals,
Speaker 1: head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash c s
Speaker 1: c s like cook smarts and use promo code frugal Off.
Speaker 1: But those three free weeks are going to be right
Speaker 1: at that landing page. You'll have to Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash c s Enjoy yourself. Some meal prep
Speaker 1: already taken care of. Okay. Also, speaking of meals, this
Speaker 1: is brought to you by leftovers. It's every child's least
Speaker 1: favorite word, but it's the budget friendly way to eat.
Speaker 1: So didn't finish your meal at the restaurant, Get a
Speaker 1: doggie bag eat it tomorrow. Did you make way too
Speaker 1: much food on Christmas? Eat up those leftovers today. It
Speaker 1: hasn't gone bad yet. Don't worry about the fact that
Speaker 1: you ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just think
Speaker 1: about all the money you're saving leftovers. It's turning your
Speaker 1: brain off and fill in your belly with whatever's in
Speaker 1: the fridge leftovers. I did not read this on the show,
Speaker 1: notes and I you just watched me eat leftovers Jill, Yes,
Speaker 1: from the Thai restaurant. Which those are the best kinds
Speaker 1: of leftovers. When you've got something from a restaurant, you're
Speaker 1: actually looking forward to it. The worst kind of leftovers
Speaker 1: is like fish from yesterday that you didn't even like
Speaker 1: the first time around. Yeah. I just make sure that
Speaker 1: when I cook fish, then I know it's going to
Speaker 1: be eaten like leftover. It's gonna be okay, cold like
Speaker 1: I could do like a cold fish salad. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the secret to fish leftover fish. Thank you for that secret. Yes,
Speaker 1: And and that's it. That's all we have for today.
Speaker 1: That's that's your necond. Just those sponsors have fun, Okay,
Speaker 1: I guess we'll talk about budgets. Let's do it. Okay.
Speaker 1: So our first article is going to put down that
Speaker 1: foundation for the foundation. It's like smoothing out the dirt
Speaker 1: before you build a house. Is that what they do? Yes? Yes,
Speaker 1: you know so much about building homes. Well, because there's
Speaker 1: one down the street that they're they've smoothed out the dirt.
Speaker 1: Moving out the dirt, that's all. You've got to make
Speaker 1: sure that you're doing right. So what we're doing, it's
Speaker 1: smoothing out the dirt for your financial house by telling
Speaker 1: you how budgets equal freedom not restriction. And this is
Speaker 1: an article from Savvy Savers Academy and I loved this
Speaker 1: one because it took me so long to figure this out. Jill,
Speaker 1: is this something that you just knew or to take
Speaker 1: you a while to? Um? No, Jen, I was not
Speaker 1: born knowing everything. I know. That's a bit confusing sometimes
Speaker 1: I always have to because where did she learn things?
Speaker 1: But yeah, I had to learn them so yeah, for
Speaker 1: me to the word budget used to mean restrictive and
Speaker 1: meant you can't spend money. I don't really know how
Speaker 1: that frame of reference or perspective comes about. I don't
Speaker 1: know who started it really, like why we think budgets
Speaker 1: are restrictive or they mean that you are boring and
Speaker 1: you're always saving. But that's yeah, I had to learn
Speaker 1: that that it was actually freedom for me. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I love planning, so it was never the idea of
Speaker 1: making a budget was never up like boring or dreadful
Speaker 1: to me. But whenever I would mess up and you know,
Speaker 1: fail the budget, that is when I felt that it
Speaker 1: was really restrictive and I would get all these negative
Speaker 1: feelings about it. That's true, Yeah, because you don't always
Speaker 1: do it perfectly the first time. Surprise. I don't do
Speaker 1: it perfectly anytime. Let's be honest. I've been budgeting for
Speaker 1: I might be like award winning, like World's World's Worst budget,
Speaker 1: or I might win that award award. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: have been doing it for I guess three years now.
Speaker 1: We've been Yeah, Travis and I've been married over three years,
Speaker 1: and we started budgeting together as soon as we got married.
Speaker 1: And I mess things up every single month. The only
Speaker 1: times that I get close two like doing a perfect
Speaker 1: budget are when I do a no spend month. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even then, I don't always do perfect no spend months, right,
Speaker 1: So I'm still messing up. So if you're listening, you're
Speaker 1: in good company that we are not perfect and we
Speaker 1: mess up, but we keep going. That's the important thing. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's the only thing, honestly, is to just keep going.
Speaker 1: Because as long as you're aware of that fact, like
Speaker 1: a budget can equal freedom, And she doesn't really she
Speaker 1: has some really good points on on doing that, and
Speaker 1: so her first point is that a budget is nothing
Speaker 1: more than a plan for your money, and so, like,
Speaker 1: I've always gotten that, but for a while I felt
Speaker 1: like I had to make somebody else's plan. Like I
Speaker 1: would look at my budget and I would feel guilty
Speaker 1: about how much I was spending on coffee, and so
Speaker 1: I would say, oh, normal people only spend four dollars
Speaker 1: a month on the days, and that's not my budget,
Speaker 1: that's somebody else's budget. It doesn't like coffee and accidentally
Speaker 1: buys a latte once a month, like, that's not me. Um.
Speaker 1: I think it's a good point. I get caught up
Speaker 1: on that a lot, especially pertaining to food. You'll see
Speaker 1: this is a theme throughout all of our episodes, just food,
Speaker 1: and my food budget always seem to be pretty high.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people can get caught
Speaker 1: up on this because it is a pretty variable thing,
Speaker 1: but it always needs to be in the budget every month.
Speaker 1: And I do see people constantly, whether they're in our
Speaker 1: Facebook group or just on Facebook, people posting what's everybody's
Speaker 1: food budget. I think that's one that we compare to
Speaker 1: each other a lot, and it ranges Holy smokes, because
Speaker 1: it also depends on whether or not you include going
Speaker 1: out to restaurants wrapped up in your food budget or not,
Speaker 1: which I think is one of the ways that we
Speaker 1: can think our food budget is a lot higher or
Speaker 1: a lot lower than somebody else's is based on whether
Speaker 1: or not they include restaurants. But that's another topic. But
Speaker 1: then it's families, or it's single people, or it's working
Speaker 1: or are you at home? So I think anyhow, what
Speaker 1: you're saying here is creating a budget that is for you,
Speaker 1: that makes sense for you, that it that is realistic,
Speaker 1: because yeah, my food budget is five dred a month.
Speaker 1: Some family of five could look at that and be like,
Speaker 1: that's astronomical. I only spend two hundred. Okay, Well, where
Speaker 1: do you live? Do you cook every day? Do you
Speaker 1: never go out to restaurants? Like? Yeah, just give yourself
Speaker 1: freedom with that and and be aware of the comparison game. Yes,
Speaker 1: and your budget doesn't have to be perfect from the
Speaker 1: first time you make it. So maybe your goal is
Speaker 1: to only spend four dollars a month on coffee, and
Speaker 1: you're a saint and you spend fifty dollars right now,
Speaker 1: So maybe next month, your your budget for coffee is
Speaker 1: forty and then it goes down to thirty. And it's
Speaker 1: a process. Um Like, your budget is your your money plan,
Speaker 1: and it's got to be workable for you. And also
Speaker 1: if you have a spouse who may not be as
Speaker 1: on board as you, or maybe has different priorities that
Speaker 1: you don't understand, than the budget is both of your plans,
Speaker 1: and you've got to have grace for each other. It
Speaker 1: can't just be your budget, it's both your budgets. Both
Speaker 1: your budgets, both your budgets. Yeah, speaking of giving freedom,
Speaker 1: So just to continue to keep laying this foundation and
Speaker 1: brainwash everybody into our way of thinking for sure, so
Speaker 1: and thinking of budgets as money for things needed and
Speaker 1: a plan for things wanted, and having the freedom to
Speaker 1: spend when you want to spend, save when you want
Speaker 1: to save. So like, imagine this that you have budgeted
Speaker 1: all year round for vacation. What that might mean is
Speaker 1: that you've put away two hundred bucks a month and
Speaker 1: now you've got all this money sitting an account for
Speaker 1: this very purpose of going on vacation. It's what you've
Speaker 1: been setting it aside for um one, you will have
Speaker 1: no problem spending that money on vacation. That's freedom. That's
Speaker 1: like I know that I have that money that's sitting there,
Speaker 1: and I am able to spend it versus how a
Speaker 1: lot of times we can do things of Okay, this month,
Speaker 1: I want to go on vacation because it's the summertime.
Speaker 1: And how am I going to do that? Go into debt? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I put it on a credit card. That's not freedom,
Speaker 1: that's called debt. Yes. So that's that's the freedom that
Speaker 1: the budget gives you. It's the freedom to spend on
Speaker 1: what you really want to spend on. And that's what
Speaker 1: we always think of frugality as is spending money on
Speaker 1: the places you want to spend it and not accidentally
Speaker 1: spending it just wherever your feelings that day take you.
Speaker 1: So the budget helps is a tangible way to help
Speaker 1: you do that. You're still in control. You decide what
Speaker 1: you do with your money, how that's spent, where that's spent.
Speaker 1: So it's only as restrictive as you make it or
Speaker 1: as your paycheck makes it L O L correct. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And we'll talk about some budgeting like methods later on.
Speaker 1: And they're another thing that can trip people up with
Speaker 1: budgets is if they are making a low income, not
Speaker 1: all of the budget. You know, things that are touted
Speaker 1: on the internet work for every size income. So no, not,
Speaker 1: it's not one size fits all or a variable income,
Speaker 1: which is me all of the time in that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we work for ourselves, so we don't always know what's
Speaker 1: coming in and there are solutions for us. So don't
Speaker 1: make that an excuse that you can't budget. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: so one of the things that I had to come
Speaker 1: to terms with when I was budgeting or or really
Speaker 1: laying the foundation of my budget is learning that budgets
Speaker 1: are flexible and they can be flexible. And that's one
Speaker 1: of the things that takes the rigidity and the restrictiveness
Speaker 1: out of it. Because there are sometimes where I would budget, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty dollars for coffee, and then I would
Speaker 1: get invited last minute by a friend to get coffee
Speaker 1: and I was already at my limit, and I would add,
Speaker 1: you know, five dollars to the coffee budget and take
Speaker 1: five dollars away from another budget. And that is the
Speaker 1: beauty of the budget, because you made it, it's your budget.
Speaker 1: You can do that. And if you fail and you
Speaker 1: don't take from another section and you just go five
Speaker 1: dollars over. Then adjust that for next month, like it's
Speaker 1: not this is the budget for the rest of my life,
Speaker 1: it's this is the budget for this month. Then make
Speaker 1: another budget and just keep working at it. Yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: you don't progress as quickly as you wanted to in
Speaker 1: making you know your ideal budget. And that's okay, because
Speaker 1: you're still doing better. And some some months you will
Speaker 1: not do better. They won't be better than the month before.
Speaker 1: But that just happens, and it's you. You go through it.
Speaker 1: You walk through it, and uh. And then the next
Speaker 1: month starts and you start over and it's a good, fresh,
Speaker 1: clean slate and you rest easy. And the fact that
Speaker 1: all your dirt has been smoothed out, yes, because you
Speaker 1: have the mindset of a budget or you got that
Speaker 1: smooth dirt mindset. That sounds weird. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: say that anymore. I like it, so yeah. And and
Speaker 1: then she challenges us. She has like a little challenge
Speaker 1: in here and says, if you haven't been keeping track
Speaker 1: of your money, go back through your bank statements and
Speaker 1: credit card statements and see where your money has been going.
Speaker 1: You might be in for a complete shock and how
Speaker 1: much you spend and where. And I tell everybody this
Speaker 1: that I do budget coaching with and they're supposed to
Speaker 1: go through at least three months of their statements to
Speaker 1: see what they're actually spending on these things before they
Speaker 1: decide what they would like to spend on these things.
Speaker 1: So that is a really great challenge and exercise if
Speaker 1: you have maybe fallen off the wagon and you want
Speaker 1: to get back to budgeting, and you might be surprised
Speaker 1: that you are not spe ending as crazily as you
Speaker 1: thought you were. Um that that happens a lot. Tracking
Speaker 1: spending is a great place to start, regardless. So just
Speaker 1: to know, well, what is realistic to spend and are
Speaker 1: there areas that I could cut back or areas that
Speaker 1: I want to add to. So that that's a good
Speaker 1: way of knowing, well, what what I what number do
Speaker 1: I even put here? How much should I say I'm
Speaker 1: going to spend on food? That can help with some
Speaker 1: of some of the avoidance of failure. Yeah, let your
Speaker 1: past tell you how you should start preparing for your future.
Speaker 1: Oh man, so wise, I'm going to put that on
Speaker 1: a T shirt. I believe you excellent. Yeah, so make
Speaker 1: sure before we go on and talk about budgeting methods,
Speaker 1: that you are in the right mindset to budget and
Speaker 1: you don't think about this a lot because it's it's
Speaker 1: just like something you have to do to get with
Speaker 1: your finances. But you will do it so much better
Speaker 1: if you are in the right mindset, and then the
Speaker 1: budget can be a source of freedom instead of restriction
Speaker 1: and assistance in accomplishing goals. Feeling like you've got a
Speaker 1: purpose to set your hands to, possibly something to unify
Speaker 1: you and your spouse or your family. Yeah, pack some
Speaker 1: excitement and fun into it and recognize that it can
Speaker 1: give you some things that are enjoyable in the midst
Speaker 1: of it. You can have a coffee budget. You don't
Speaker 1: have to feel guilty about going and buying coffee if
Speaker 1: you know I have this money set aside, I know
Speaker 1: I can spend this money. So coming at it from
Speaker 1: that perspective will help with some longevity in doing this
Speaker 1: and setting yourself up for success. Right, Because when I
Speaker 1: don't have a budget or i'm not you know, I'm
Speaker 1: not living in my true budget, I have anxiety about
Speaker 1: spending on anything even if I need it, and it's
Speaker 1: it's kind of crippling. To an extent because I'll put
Speaker 1: off purchases I need to make just because I'm I'm
Speaker 1: so anxious about spending anything. Um So, yeah, that's just
Speaker 1: that's me. And so the budget has helped me in
Speaker 1: that issue. Excellent, Yeah, ready to move on. I'm there,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. Let's do it. Good. Great, Well, our
Speaker 1: next one is from student Loan Hero and it's five
Speaker 1: simple budgeting methods to help you live your best life.
Speaker 1: And there's five. I'm sure you can find a list
Speaker 1: of a hundred budgeting methods, but I didn't even go there.
Speaker 1: They'd all pretty don't want to be some version of
Speaker 1: the same thing, right, I don't If there are more
Speaker 1: budgets out there, I don't want to know them. So
Speaker 1: that's what I can offer you. I can offer you five.
Speaker 1: This is enough, and they're all still pretty similar. So
Speaker 1: and let's be honest. This is a list of five
Speaker 1: and it only has four methods and you'll find out why. Okay.
Speaker 1: So the first one is the zero based budget, and
Speaker 1: that is definitely the most popular way to budget, especially
Speaker 1: for probably people that are listening to this podcast and
Speaker 1: other podcasts that promote paying off debt and saving a
Speaker 1: high portion of your income. And it's because there are
Speaker 1: no hard and fast um like ratios or percentages. You
Speaker 1: can save as much as you want, as high as
Speaker 1: it is on your list of priorities. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: tended to be the one that most of the people
Speaker 1: in our Facebook community group, the Frugal Friends community on Facebook,
Speaker 1: we're also using. Yeah, what most people, it's talked about
Speaker 1: a lot. I think it's the one that people would
Speaker 1: be most familiar with, m HM and just taking your yeah,
Speaker 1: basically naming every dollar, putting every dollar somewhere, and that
Speaker 1: that could be as much to savings in debt payoff
Speaker 1: as possible. So yeah, it's very detailed on how much
Speaker 1: you're spending and where exactly it's going. Yeah, And another
Speaker 1: thing I like about the zero base budget, it's actually
Speaker 1: an exercise in priorities because you list your income first
Speaker 1: and then your expenses. You list them in order of priority,
Speaker 1: and so there are a lot of things on your
Speaker 1: spending that maybe we just take for granted and we
Speaker 1: don't know we might be spending more on something that's
Speaker 1: the very bottom of the list and something that's in
Speaker 1: the middle, and so it can be very eye opening
Speaker 1: to how that you're spending on what you prioritize, so
Speaker 1: it's it's not just a way to you know, save
Speaker 1: your money, but also a monthly reflection on is my
Speaker 1: money going proportionately to what I prioritize. The next one
Speaker 1: is the pay yourself first budget. We had one person
Speaker 1: in our Facebook group us this, and it's actually what
Speaker 1: I'm using right now. So I'm a very lazy budget.
Speaker 1: And we definitely did the zero based when we were
Speaker 1: paying off debt because we were going, you know, really
Speaker 1: hard and fast on that. But now we pretty much
Speaker 1: just pay ourselves first. So we'll put um everything to
Speaker 1: our retirement accounts and all of our bills and a
Speaker 1: little extra to our mortgage, and we'll spend whatever's left
Speaker 1: over without any plan, just however you want to spend it.
Speaker 1: But this is also I mean, if you are already
Speaker 1: frugal and used to budgeting and you just like kind
Speaker 1: of are are taking it easy. I mean, granted, we
Speaker 1: are still saving like of our income, um, so we're
Speaker 1: not like taking it slow by any means, but it's
Speaker 1: a far cry from the fift we were putting towards debts.
Speaker 1: So it's it just depends on where you're at. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so this one is not as restrictive. It's not as
Speaker 1: focused on exactly how much you're spending in each category,
Speaker 1: but it is still placing money in the areas that
Speaker 1: are priorities for you, and it's not excluding saving at all.
Speaker 1: It's maybe more so focused on that. Yeah. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: definitely these first two are my favorites. Okay, then you've
Speaker 1: got the envelope system, which a lot of people are
Speaker 1: from fmiliar with and I would say is a great
Speaker 1: way for people to introduce themselves. Well, it's an introduction
Speaker 1: in some ways, but it's relatively intensive. I would say
Speaker 1: it helps you build those muscles of budgeting and seeing
Speaker 1: what it's all about and helping you stay on track
Speaker 1: with a budget. Um. So, I know that a lot
Speaker 1: of people will sometimes start here and then start to
Speaker 1: loosen the reins a bit as they kind of understand
Speaker 1: this whole process and how to do it. It's similar
Speaker 1: to a zero based budget, but in this system, you're
Speaker 1: doing most of it with cash, so you're actually feeling
Speaker 1: the cash will leave your body rather than just swiping
Speaker 1: or inserting a chip. And then when you know, let's
Speaker 1: say your grocery envelope is filled with your four fifty dollars.
Speaker 1: When that's gone, that's gone. And so it kind of
Speaker 1: helps you to to stay focused and stay on track
Speaker 1: with Okay, I'm only going to spend this amount, and
Speaker 1: to realize like what that amount actually looks like what
Speaker 1: it will get you. So I know, I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people love this. I did it for a time.
Speaker 1: It ended up being that I didn't enjoy carrying all
Speaker 1: that cash around with me, and it was tough for
Speaker 1: both Eric and myself. I think I did a bit
Speaker 1: better with it than he did, but we ended up
Speaker 1: doing variation on the envelope system in that I then
Speaker 1: I just made up a card of what's what would
Speaker 1: I have put into an envelope, and then each time
Speaker 1: I spend out of that category, I subtract it so
Speaker 1: that looks like, you know, at the end of every day,
Speaker 1: or if I had time, right after a transaction happened,
Speaker 1: I would subtract it. So then I'd have like a
Speaker 1: running total on this little index card in my wallet
Speaker 1: that would let me know how much I have left,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't actual physical cash that and that that
Speaker 1: worked for us for quite a while too. If you're
Speaker 1: uncomfortable carrying around all that cash, But you still like
Speaker 1: the concept that was a bit of an alternative. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: And so I know the envelope system works really great
Speaker 1: for some people, Um like Allison of Inspired Budget, who
Speaker 1: we had on episode eighteen. She actually has some envelopes
Speaker 1: that she makes that have like cute little quotes on
Speaker 1: them and you can download them on her website, um,
Speaker 1: inspired budget dot com. But yeah, I also don't love
Speaker 1: the envelope system. Mainly we didn't use it while we
Speaker 1: were paying off the debt just because it was it
Speaker 1: was a little cumbersome. And Travis does not carry a wallet.
Speaker 1: He just carries his cards on the back of his phone.
Speaker 1: And um, yeah, he couldn't. He very frequently couldn't remember
Speaker 1: his wallet. That's why he switched to this method. So
Speaker 1: it was out of necessity. Yeah, And and I just
Speaker 1: wasn't really good at keeping track of cash, and I
Speaker 1: hate receipts and um all that. Oh, definitely using That's
Speaker 1: why using credit cards is a good like what we
Speaker 1: decided was a good way for us because we'd be
Speaker 1: using the debit cards anyway. UM, so we just use
Speaker 1: those for those cash reward bonuses. Um and and pay
Speaker 1: them off. I will say it was a good introduction,
Speaker 1: though I have moved away from that system, but it
Speaker 1: was very helpful to really get a rain on this
Speaker 1: and to understand it a bit more. So I would
Speaker 1: recommend it to start out with. But yeah, it's certainly
Speaker 1: not for everybody. Yeah, it's because it's difficult. So if
Speaker 1: you're trying to like get into it hard, hard and fast,
Speaker 1: this is I mean, everyone should try the envelope system.
Speaker 1: I think everyone has and you just have to decide
Speaker 1: for yourself if it's for you or not. Because it
Speaker 1: it dove tails well into the zero based budget um AND,
Speaker 1: which will go over next. And it's so it's not
Speaker 1: an exclusive budget, kind of an assist and so yeah,
Speaker 1: the next one then we'll go into is the fifty.
Speaker 1: So this is for people that love percentages. They just
Speaker 1: like like to know what is going to what, and
Speaker 1: they don't want to have to prioritize like the zero
Speaker 1: based budget UM you know, maybe they can't max out
Speaker 1: retirement accounts, they only want to put to their debt
Speaker 1: and savings. This is a good one, and this is
Speaker 1: where you can also find the variations that just the
Speaker 1: variations that are in other like accounts. You can you
Speaker 1: know six that Yeah, it's yeah, they're all just different percentages,
Speaker 1: So don't get caught up on the proportions. If you're
Speaker 1: not perfectly at fifty, it's fine, um. But essentially the
Speaker 1: breakdown is goes to necessary expenses, goes to discretionary expenses,
Speaker 1: and then goes to savings and debt payments. Yep. So
Speaker 1: again kind of similar to the second one we talked about,
Speaker 1: the pay yourself first budget. It's not a tight rain
Speaker 1: on exactly this is how much I spend. It's a
Speaker 1: little bit more fluid and like we said, you can
Speaker 1: change up those percentages for what works for you. But
Speaker 1: it is about prioritizing, um and putting you know, making
Speaker 1: sure you're getting money where you want it to go.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. But a little bit more fluid and flexible. Yes,
Speaker 1: And if you're not ready to prioritize all your expenses
Speaker 1: or maybe you don't have time for that right now, um,
Speaker 1: this is also a good just quick and easy way
Speaker 1: to divvy up your income and then you know, go
Speaker 1: from there. But it definitely recommend at least try dyeing
Speaker 1: the zero based method, which is our favorite, but is
Speaker 1: widely used and is literally better than no budget. Uh.
Speaker 1: And speaking of the no budget, that is the fifth
Speaker 1: method listed here. Uh, the no budget like they say,
Speaker 1: it's the no budget, the no budget. Men. Remember how
Speaker 1: I said there was only four budgets on this list.
Speaker 1: This is why. Okay, but I will say that I
Speaker 1: have used this method. I didn't know that it had
Speaker 1: a term to it because I also felt like it
Speaker 1: wasn't a real method. But I've been here. So as
Speaker 1: the name suggests, it's basically not spending money you don't have,
Speaker 1: which we should all the concept. We should all be
Speaker 1: grasping that actually by now. But if I could do
Speaker 1: that on my own, I wouldn't need a budget. So
Speaker 1: don't spend money you don't have, don't do it. You
Speaker 1: don't have money, don't spend it. You don't have cash
Speaker 1: in your hand, don't spend it. But basically this is
Speaker 1: starting from the place of paying your bills and if
Speaker 1: you have money left over, deciding where you want that
Speaker 1: to go. So honestly, this is where I've been sometimes
Speaker 1: given my different entrepreneurial pursuits or uh, not having a
Speaker 1: consistent paycheck. So and and there's there's other terms for
Speaker 1: this too, and maybe it doesn't exactly fall under this
Speaker 1: like no budget title, but for those who don't have
Speaker 1: a consistent paycheck, are not sure what's going to come
Speaker 1: in next month, and you don't know how much you
Speaker 1: can plan to put into savings or towards debt payoff.
Speaker 1: It's whittling down your your expenses like as low as
Speaker 1: you can get them, and knowing what needs to be
Speaker 1: paid every month, basically saying no to every and then
Speaker 1: saying no to everything else. This is where budgets can
Speaker 1: feel restrictive. But mind you, it's not because of a budget.
Speaker 1: It's because you're not bringing in a lot of money.
Speaker 1: So that's not the budget's fault. That's the paychecks fault.
Speaker 1: And so if you're in that boat, then start looking
Speaker 1: for some well being in your employment. Okay, so this
Speaker 1: would be your food, your gas, your medical expenses, like
Speaker 1: the things that you have, your your phone bill, you're housing,
Speaker 1: the things you have to pay off, and when you
Speaker 1: bring money in, you pay those things first and then
Speaker 1: but then it's looking over and saying, okay, we actually
Speaker 1: brought in more than what we were anticipating this month.
Speaker 1: We brought in more than our expenses. Now where are
Speaker 1: you going to put that? Then you can spend it,
Speaker 1: but don't spend it before you have it. And then yeah,
Speaker 1: can you put some of it towards extra debt payoff?
Speaker 1: Can you put some of it towards saving? Do you
Speaker 1: want to treat treat yourself to a coffee, whatever, but
Speaker 1: make sure you're paying your bills off first, so that
Speaker 1: this would kind of be the approach for those, like
Speaker 1: I said, who don't have that consistent paycheck that you
Speaker 1: can plan, like on the first of the month, I
Speaker 1: get X amount of money. Yeah, it's an interesting method,
Speaker 1: and like the writer says, you can't do this one
Speaker 1: if you don't have discipline, and you wouldn't want to
Speaker 1: do it with a credit card because the point is
Speaker 1: to you know, it's tied directly to your checking account
Speaker 1: and so you can make sure you're on track with
Speaker 1: your spending, because if you're not tracking, you're spending. At
Speaker 1: least your checking account is. Because don't worry, your bank
Speaker 1: knows how much money you have left. Even if you don't,
Speaker 1: they're not going to tell you you have more than
Speaker 1: what you actually have. Never never, they're not. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to tell you you have less either, So they're
Speaker 1: just gonna be there sitting with it and it's up
Speaker 1: to you to tell it where to go in one
Speaker 1: of these methods. Try. I'm all see what works for you,
Speaker 1: because budgeting is a lifelong journey, and just like you
Speaker 1: might not want to marry the first boyfriend you ever date,
Speaker 1: you might not want to stick with the most with
Speaker 1: the first budget you ever try, and have the freedom
Speaker 1: to tweak it to make it your own. Maybe you
Speaker 1: start with the envelope system and like me, you find
Speaker 1: out you don't want to carry your own wads of cash,
Speaker 1: then tweak it. Yes, I don't feel like you have
Speaker 1: to get stuck into like is this the right way
Speaker 1: of doing it? Who cares? Yeah? Who cares? It's your budget,
Speaker 1: it's your money. There's no no budget shaming here. There's
Speaker 1: never any any version of shaming here. Nope. So we
Speaker 1: hope that you will create the budget method that works
Speaker 1: for you and then tell us about it, and tell
Speaker 1: us about it in our Facebook group because we had
Speaker 1: such a great conversation about budgeting the other day, so
Speaker 1: much good input in our group. So if you have
Speaker 1: questions about budgeting or problems with it and you need
Speaker 1: more advice than what we're offering today. Definitely check out
Speaker 1: our Facebook group at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash
Speaker 1: group and there are just so many smart people in
Speaker 1: there that are willing to help and laugh with you
Speaker 1: and share gifts. Yeah, that's all I have for these
Speaker 1: That's all we need. Yeah. I know that you were
Speaker 1: thinking about if we needed more. I'm glad you decided
Speaker 1: we didn't. This isn't enough. Yeah, because I'm really ready
Speaker 1: to move on. Let's move on to the best time
Speaker 1: of the week. It's 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've paid off
Speaker 1: your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to
Speaker 1: not have to pay that bill anymore. That bill, Buffalo Bill,
Speaker 1: Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. Hey,
Speaker 1: Jen and Jail. This is Jocelyn, longtime listener, second time caller.
Speaker 1: I previously called with the Bill of the Week with
Speaker 1: John Stamus's son, Baby Billy. This time I want to
Speaker 1: give a shout out to my favorite Christmas movie Love.
Speaker 1: Actually that has two or three bills, depending on how
Speaker 1: you count them. The first one is Billy Bob Dorton,
Speaker 1: who plays the sketchy President of the United States who
Speaker 1: tries to hit on the Prime Minister's secret girlfriend. The
Speaker 1: second and third bills are the aging rock star Billy
Speaker 1: Mac played by Bill Nigh, who sings that fun Christmas
Speaker 1: on I Feel It in my fingers, I feel it
Speaker 1: in my toes, and got absolutely three bills in one
Speaker 1: Christmas movie. Amazing. Anyway, I hope everybody has a great Christmas,
Speaker 1: and thanks for a great podcast. So good, such a
Speaker 1: good bill. Yes, yes, yes, yes, thank you. Uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we're still waiting for something to compare to
Speaker 1: the duck bill um that somebody loved off for Jill.
Speaker 1: I will never forget that, yes um. But like all
Speaker 1: the bills, just they're good every week. So if you've
Speaker 1: got something bill related to share, please please please head
Speaker 1: to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill and let
Speaker 1: us know your bill. Make us laugh. We're over here.
Speaker 1: We never listen to these bills until we actually play
Speaker 1: them for the first time recording the podcast, so you
Speaker 1: will get our genuine reactions. Who doesn't want genuine, authentic
Speaker 1: reactions because that's all we have. We don't we don't
Speaker 1: prepare for these Yeah, that's what people want to hear.
Speaker 1: We're not prepared. We're never prepared. We prepared for the episodes,
Speaker 1: we do not prepare for the bill of the week.
Speaker 1: Totally organic, totally alright. So we talked about the mindset,
Speaker 1: We talked about the ways to do it, the method,
Speaker 1: the mindset, the method. Come up with another m and
Speaker 1: here is the ways to be to stick to your budgeans.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's a good mindset method and means very good, spot,
Speaker 1: very good. So this is the means with which to
Speaker 1: stick to your budget monthly budget. And I mentioned that
Speaker 1: we had a really great conversation in the Facebook group,
Speaker 1: and so we took all of these suggestions from our
Speaker 1: community on ways that they will stick to their budget
Speaker 1: in order to help listeners take their advice and and
Speaker 1: we'll put a little bit of our own into there.
Speaker 1: But you've heard enough of our thoughts, so I know
Speaker 1: you're bored with us. Well, we'll move on anyways. So
Speaker 1: first tip um is from Sage and she gets paid
Speaker 1: on the first of the month, and we'll pay all
Speaker 1: of her bills in debt right away and then spend
Speaker 1: whatever's left. Even sometimes that's three UM, and so the
Speaker 1: key to her success in that is leaving her credit
Speaker 1: cards at home. That way she's only spending what's left
Speaker 1: and not more. Mia all So does the same method.
Speaker 1: They both do, zero based budget. Mia gets paid twice
Speaker 1: a month, so she'll set her bills to come out
Speaker 1: on each of her pay days. Nice. Yeah, so, and
Speaker 1: then she also keeps the last credit card she hasn't
Speaker 1: cut up at home. So those are really great tips
Speaker 1: and which can work with zero based or pay yourself first,
Speaker 1: which if your bills come out automatically online, you often
Speaker 1: can set the dates that they come out, So that's
Speaker 1: that's really smart. So Christine in our Facebook group, she
Speaker 1: uses two different checking accounts, so all of her monthly
Speaker 1: bills come out of one and then she uses the
Speaker 1: other for spending. So this would be good if you
Speaker 1: don't have the option of paying everything on like particular days,
Speaker 1: then you can kind of know which account is going where.
Speaker 1: So I thought that was a good tip, Oh for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Juvie uses is the mint app to track her budget
Speaker 1: UM and she likes the notifications when she's nearing her
Speaker 1: limit on a budget. UM apps are such a great
Speaker 1: way to bring your budget with you, and there are
Speaker 1: so many apps. I went through a bunch on the
Speaker 1: app store for an article that I wrote because I
Speaker 1: really wanted to find the best budgeting app UM that
Speaker 1: didn't cost an arm and a leg, because uh, every
Speaker 1: Dollar is really good, um Whitney and our Facebook group
Speaker 1: pieces every dollar Wine app is really good and Ashley
Speaker 1: uses that, but they cost money, and so I really
Speaker 1: wanted to find something similar to Mint that allowed me
Speaker 1: to customize my budget and to make a zero based budget.
Speaker 1: UM and I have started using honey Fi. It's a
Speaker 1: budgeting app for couples, but I've sure you can just
Speaker 1: use it, you know, if you're single to otherwise Mint
Speaker 1: what is an awesome alternative? And I like honey Fi
Speaker 1: because it alerts. You can share as much of your
Speaker 1: spending with your partner as you want, but we're totally transparent,
Speaker 1: so when one person spends, the other person gets an
Speaker 1: alert on their phone and you can put your budget
Speaker 1: right into there and see what each person spending. And
Speaker 1: it is it's a really great app. It's very similar
Speaker 1: to Mint, where automatically tracks your transactions, which is great.
Speaker 1: When we were paying off debt, I used every Dollar
Speaker 1: because of the manual transaction feature, like, it was better
Speaker 1: for me to manually input everything I was spending so
Speaker 1: that I can be more aware of it. Um, and
Speaker 1: now that I am spending more just on different things, UM,
Speaker 1: I like it to be automatic. Yeah. So yes, and
Speaker 1: those are great apps. We'll have links to all of
Speaker 1: these apps in the show, so check that out if
Speaker 1: you're driving and you can't write all these things down.
Speaker 1: So Sue from our Facebook group also reminds us. Good reminder,
Speaker 1: Sue to prioritize sinking funds into your budget so that
Speaker 1: you're not surprised by those often forgettable or unpredictable annual
Speaker 1: or bi annual expenses or just things that come up, um,
Speaker 1: going out to dinner for someone's birthday, or forgetting that
Speaker 1: you need to I don't know, pay for your kids
Speaker 1: field trip that month, or whatever the case. Maybe there's
Speaker 1: always something that comes up and and maybe it's not
Speaker 1: emergency fund worthy, but it's you know, pulling out of
Speaker 1: that fund. But I always forget about auto insurance because
Speaker 1: we only pay twice a year, because you save money
Speaker 1: if you pay it only twice a year, But then
Speaker 1: you also forget and then do you don't have auto
Speaker 1: insure or registration, same thing. Yeah, so licensed renewal that
Speaker 1: happens every four years. So there's all there's just always
Speaker 1: something popping up. Yeah, so it's always good to have
Speaker 1: like a general sinking fund for unforget unforgettable, unpredictable, forgettable
Speaker 1: deal things deals. I'm done, I'm I'm all talked out.
Speaker 1: I just talked too much. I get you, I'm tracking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and people always forget about the sinking funds. They always
Speaker 1: think they don't need them, and then their car breaks
Speaker 1: down or their laptop gets stolen or all these things
Speaker 1: that have happened to me. And yeah, so it's you
Speaker 1: don't take them for granted. You need an emergency fund,
Speaker 1: you need sinking funds, and and that's just the basis.
Speaker 1: That's the baseline. Good tips, everybody, Thank you, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1: And if you have any more tips on how you
Speaker 1: stick to a budget it Another one I used was
Speaker 1: like doing no spend challenges, and I think Leah and
Speaker 1: our group did that too. I forgot to put that
Speaker 1: in here, but that is also a way I learned
Speaker 1: to be frugal and spend less and like stick to
Speaker 1: my budget if I had a really bad month one month,
Speaker 1: then the next month I would do a no spend
Speaker 1: challenge so that I could kind of like compensate. Um.
Speaker 1: So if you've got any tips to help other people
Speaker 1: stick to their budget, please feel free to come out
Speaker 1: in the group. M That was refreshing. It was a
Speaker 1: good throwback. Yes, I love these throwbacks. When we were
Speaker 1: only in the double digits with our podcast number over
Speaker 1: a hundred episodes ago, we've recorded over a hundred episodes. Yeah.
Speaker 1: For those who have been along for the ride, thank you.
Speaker 1: For those just joining us, thank you. Also, thank you. Yes,
Speaker 1: welcome if you're joining us as a new g Anuary
Speaker 1: listeners so many do in January. Welcome, Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: what you get. Well, we want to just keep this
Speaker 1: gratitude thing going because we think it's a good thing,
Speaker 1: especially at the start of the new year. We want
Speaker 1: to thank our people who review us, especially those who
Speaker 1: leave us some kind and helpful reviews like this one
Speaker 1: from Hannah Mangum. It happens to be five stars and
Speaker 1: the title is in all caps dynamic duo, which I
Speaker 1: think like firecracker symbols on each side. Yeah, that's why
Speaker 1: I chose it for two. It's pretty legit firecracker symbols.
Speaker 1: Hannah says Jen and Jill are the best. Both my
Speaker 1: husband and I love listening to them and their fun
Speaker 1: twist to frugality. They make saving money fun. This year,
Speaker 1: we've started our journey to become debt free. On days
Speaker 1: when I just want to go to Target and buy
Speaker 1: decorative pillows or cozy socks, I queue up this pod
Speaker 1: to keep me motivated and focused on the goal. Thanks
Speaker 1: Jen and Jill for changing the frugal game. Yes, so
Speaker 1: glad to be with you. Glad that you have us
Speaker 1: to queue up to keep you from buying decorative pillows
Speaker 1: that just like up on the ground. Anyways, Let's be real.
Speaker 1: If I can save a decorative pillow from coming to
Speaker 1: your home, I've done my job. I feel so good
Speaker 1: about it. I love Target, but I love to see
Speaker 1: their revenue drop because of our frugal friends not buying pillows.
Speaker 1: That's where I'm at. I also want to thank our
Speaker 1: friends who share these episodes on social media. So when
Speaker 1: you share the latest episode and tag us on Facebook
Speaker 1: or Instagram, We're going to add you to our monthly drawing.
Speaker 1: So for every five tags and reviews we get every month,
Speaker 1: we give away a copy of the Frugal Friends Workbook
Speaker 1: that Jill mentioned at the top of the episode. So
Speaker 1: keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or stitcher, sending the
Speaker 1: screenshot to Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail dot com. Don't
Speaker 1: forget to tag us on social send us reviews. All
Speaker 1: these ways, enter you into the drawing for the Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends work book, and maybe send us sandwiches that'll enter
Speaker 1: you into I've just decided it's a new year and
Speaker 1: I can decide on new things. You want a sandwich,
Speaker 1: That's what you would do. It's the afternoon when we're
Speaker 1: recording this, so that's where I'm at. I'll take money anyways, Okay,
Speaker 1: see you next week, See you next week. Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Syria. Can I
Speaker 1: make executive decisions on the fly like that, I don't know,
Speaker 1: sandwich and I'll enter you into a drawing for the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends works Book. I'm all, and I know that
Speaker 1: I'm always gonna want a sandwich. I mean, we could
Speaker 1: have been a little bit more wise about it and
Speaker 1: asked for like a hot dog or something. I just
Speaker 1: can't kept that talk with Chris Hogan out of my
Speaker 1: head where he's like, cumulatively, what you guys want equals
Speaker 1: less than five hundred dollars, And I was, I have
Speaker 1: been evaluating my life ever since, Jill, I have really
Speaker 1: been evaluating my life. That's so true. Yeah, we're easy
Speaker 1: to please. Under promise, under deliver, frugal Franks. Under promise,
Speaker 1: under deliver. It's the frugal way. Nobody nobody is No
Speaker 1: one's disappointed or surprised. Oh yeah, that's my new Year's resolution.
Speaker 1: Under promise and under deliver. Well, that seems about setting
Speaker 1: expectations accurate. Do you have a new Year's resolution? Jen?
Speaker 1: Do you have time? It's a great question, it's a
Speaker 1: fair question. Usually this is a normal question. Unfortunately, all
Speaker 1: the things that I want my life to entail is
Speaker 1: completely out of my control, which I learned. I could
Speaker 1: say I want to travel this year, but ultimately I
Speaker 1: can't control whether or not that's going to be possible
Speaker 1: for me. So just stability. That's my resolution and goal
Speaker 1: is that I maintain mental, emotional and relational stability. I'm
Speaker 1: going to keep two hands on my desk and just
Speaker 1: stay physically stable. And that's the goal. How about you
Speaker 1: have you been an overachiever and identified some goals for yourself.
Speaker 1: I have the same New Year's resolution that I have
Speaker 1: every year. It's always to lose ten pounds. That's always
Speaker 1: every year. Yeah, so it's just like a tradition. Now,
Speaker 1: you know what we should do is maybe we should
Speaker 1: do this in the next episode. Listen back to what
Speaker 1: we said our New Year's resolutions were for and like,
Speaker 1: do do the gauntlet round of how did it turn out?
Speaker 1: I mean, it is archived at this point we have
Speaker 1: said things we've been doing this podcast for this is
Speaker 1: we're heading into our third year, three complete years. I
Speaker 1: don't want to be reminded of the juvenile I was
Speaker 1: in January and February when life was somebody might remind
Speaker 1: us they might do that for us. Please do if
Speaker 1: you're listening to this, yeah, please remind us what we said.
Speaker 1: And I was probably not bold enough to say that
Speaker 1: I need to lose ten pounds on the air at
Speaker 1: that time. I don't think you said that. I think
Speaker 1: we both said we wanted to read. I'm remembering that
Speaker 1: we both had reading goals, and certainly we had ample
Speaker 1: time to accomplish that after Now, I'm a realist before
Speaker 1: a year ago, I was hopeful, but now I'm a realist.
Speaker 1: Like I can't read books. I just need to get
Speaker 1: those that baby way it off. Okay, that's it. We'll
Speaker 1: check back in two. Check back in. Bye Benny.