Speaker 1: Episode three oh four is episode one seventy five Psychological
Speaker 1: Hacks for sticking to your budget. Welcome to the Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends Podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity,
Speaker 1: and liver life.
Speaker 2: Here your host Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and we are excited to bring
Speaker 1: you another rerun in the lead up to my delivery
Speaker 1: rerun and giving birth again.
Speaker 2: Yes again, we're doing a do over. Yeah, we kept
Speaker 2: the first one. Kai, he's great, he We're so good.
Speaker 1: We're doing it again. We're going to replay just like
Speaker 1: this episode. You guys loved it so much, we are
Speaker 1: playing it again for everyone who didn't have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to hear it two years ago. So and in these
Speaker 1: last two years, you guys have really made it clear
Speaker 1: that the psychology behind action is really what you like
Speaker 1: hearing from us, and it is what we have brought
Speaker 1: into a lot of episodes. So that is kind of
Speaker 1: thanks to this episode.
Speaker 2: Yes, but first, this episode is brought to you by
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Speaker 1: Okay, two things. First, monkeys were jumping on the bed and.
Speaker 2: The little one said rollover, roll over, and so they
Speaker 2: rolled over and they fell out of the bed and
Speaker 2: they bumped their head. Are those two different songs? And
Speaker 2: in the bed and the little one said rollover, But.
Speaker 1: They're two different songs. Two different songs. Yeah, those two
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Speaker 1: definitely utilize Capitalize. It's free and it will help you
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Speaker 2: We're gonna just circle back to this monkey's in the
Speaker 2: bed and the other beds we cannot take up more time, Okay,
Speaker 2: we will later figure this out.
Speaker 1: If you are interested in the psychology behind action of
Speaker 1: sticking to your budget, then we have several other really
Speaker 1: great episodes that we've aired since this originally came out.
Speaker 1: So we've got episode two seventy three, why you keep
Speaker 1: self sabotaging your budget and how to stop. And we
Speaker 1: say budget but really just because that's a term that
Speaker 1: most people relate to. This is really any action or
Speaker 1: really more specifically your spending, because it's not your budget
Speaker 1: but like dictates your success, it's your actions. So and
Speaker 1: then also episode two twenty six, Save Smarter, not Harder,
Speaker 1: how to stick with your financial plan. That was another
Speaker 1: one of y'all's favorites.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these are all really great.
Speaker 1: Yeah they are so que those up two seventy three,
Speaker 1: two twenty six, listen to those next and without further ado,
Speaker 1: roll over, don't pump your head. So we have a
Speaker 1: few kind of bigger named articles today. Sometimes we try
Speaker 1: and get the really good juicy like smaller blogs that
Speaker 1: can say whatever they want. But today we're sticking with
Speaker 1: a Forbes and a vox dot com. So this first
Speaker 1: one is from Forbes, and it's it's short, but it's good.
Speaker 1: It is cognitive science tips for sticking to your budget?
Speaker 1: What do you think of this one, Jill.
Speaker 2: It's great, Like you said, it's short and sweet. And
Speaker 2: to give a little background too on why Jen and
Speaker 2: I like to look at this topic because I'm sure
Speaker 2: if you've been listening to this podcast long enough, you've
Speaker 2: heard some of these themes come out of Emotionally, Yeah,
Speaker 2: cognitive pieces behind the decisions that we make, and again
Speaker 2: we are whole people. But also my background isn't mental health,
Speaker 2: so this is definitely something that I went about. This
Speaker 2: is the beautiful blend of our friendship. I think of
Speaker 2: talking about finances and how all that intersects with our mental, emotional, relational,
Speaker 2: spiritual health as well. So that's just a brief background
Speaker 2: on why are they talking about psychology, But again because
Speaker 2: it's matters. That's why our.
Speaker 1: Brains are the ones that spend. We don't go into
Speaker 1: things just like Nope, nobody makes us spend money on
Speaker 1: most things. Like we decide to spend money, and sometimes
Speaker 1: we spend money and we regret it. We spend money
Speaker 1: and things we don't want and we're.
Speaker 2: Like, why did I do that?
Speaker 1: Why can't I stick to a budget? I made the budget. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and these are the reasons why. Yeah, this is what
Speaker 1: we're looking at.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that the article started out by talking about
Speaker 2: some of the overspending that we've been seeing through the pandemic,
Speaker 2: So it's even relevant. I mean, it's always relevant of
Speaker 2: we as humans can struggle with overspending, but particularly through
Speaker 2: the pandemic. I think there was a lot of what
Speaker 2: they term some comfort spending, which we turn to, we
Speaker 2: turn to any level of coping mechanism, and for some
Speaker 2: of us it can bring just that feel good thing
Speaker 2: to buy something that I want to have, some instant gratification,
Speaker 2: something new, something cool, And so recognizing that and kind
Speaker 2: of where that comes from is part of this part
Speaker 2: of the cognitive science behind why we spend. And so
Speaker 2: we'll just go through all of the things that they
Speaker 2: list might be leading to overspending or not sticking to
Speaker 2: budgets or not sticking to our goals, because I think
Speaker 2: all of them are useful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I like that it refers to it as
Speaker 1: cognitive science research because we don't always I mean, we
Speaker 1: don't think of our spending and our budgeting in terms
Speaker 1: of cognitive science. So I love and I'm like a
Speaker 1: geek for stuff like this too, So I love that
Speaker 1: the first one was recognizing and combating decision. So decision
Speaker 1: fatigue refers to how carefully analyzing all the various pros
Speaker 1: and cons takes effort. We make thousands of little micro
Speaker 1: decisions a day, and every decision you make wears you
Speaker 1: down little by little. After you make choice after choice,
Speaker 1: and by the end of the day, our willpower reserves
Speaker 1: have dried up, and that is decision fatigue. And so
Speaker 1: that's why a lot of times you can find yourself
Speaker 1: very successful in sticking to a diet or sticking to
Speaker 1: a budget or something for the first two thirds of
Speaker 1: the day. But it's that last third typically when we
Speaker 1: get to dinner time where it becomes really hard and
Speaker 1: all of our progress goes out the window. That is
Speaker 1: in part due to decision fatigue, and that's why we
Speaker 1: say you have to set yourself up for success after work,
Speaker 1: that's the most important part. That's where the meal planning,
Speaker 1: the meal prep and all of that comes into place.
Speaker 2: I think the same can be said throughout a week too.
Speaker 2: By the time we reach Friday, we can be exhausted
Speaker 2: and everything can go out the window on the weekend,
Speaker 2: so you name it. We have and another way to
Speaker 2: term this would be capacity. We do not have unlimited emotional, relational,
Speaker 2: mental capacity, and at some point we're going to reach
Speaker 2: our capacity. There's land mines all over that. Sometimes we
Speaker 2: do well to discover that before we hit one of
Speaker 2: those land mines, and sometimes we don't. End it leads
Speaker 2: to overspending. But recognizing we're not unlimited and how to
Speaker 2: put in some of these helps along the way for
Speaker 2: us so that we can be operating within our capacity.
Speaker 2: That's going to be one of the things that's going
Speaker 2: to help us towards those those financial goals is recognizing
Speaker 2: decision fatigue and knowing then how to handle it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, I mean that's a big reason why you see,
Speaker 1: like you know, the tech billionaires, the Steve Jobs and
Speaker 1: those people like wear the same thing every day is
Speaker 1: because they've been taught this decision fatigue by whoever their
Speaker 1: mentors are, and they just take different decisions off the table.
Speaker 1: I put out a week of clothes for my son
Speaker 1: on Sunday, so in the mornings I never have to
Speaker 1: wonder what he's gonna wear. It's already like stacked there
Speaker 1: by his bed, and so what are It's not just
Speaker 1: meal planning, but like look at your life and figure
Speaker 1: out what are the things throughout the day you can do,
Speaker 1: especially after work, that can take decisions off of your plate.
Speaker 1: No decision is too small to be taken off your plate,
Speaker 1: because we're looking all the way down at micro decisions,
Speaker 1: and so the fewer decisions we have to make, obviously
Speaker 1: the bigger ones take more effort, cause more fatigue, but
Speaker 1: we're even looking at taking some of those micro decisions
Speaker 1: off of our plates too. So that's a big thing
Speaker 1: to be aware of in your life. And look at
Speaker 1: what are the things I can plan ahead for on
Speaker 1: Saturday or Sunday take those things off of my plate,
Speaker 1: Or what are things I can be doing Wednesday Thursday
Speaker 1: to take decisions off my plate Saturday Sunday. If that
Speaker 1: is where you struggle more with with your overspending.
Speaker 2: I've noticed I do so much better eating at home
Speaker 2: if I just have a written list of the food
Speaker 2: that I can eat for lunch and dinner. It doesn't
Speaker 2: even have to be a full on Monday, I'm making this,
Speaker 2: but to even have it written down of you have
Speaker 2: these options available to you between your fridge and your
Speaker 2: freezer and just seeing it takes out, yeah, some of
Speaker 2: that decision fatigue and where I might then just go
Speaker 2: and say let's just order out. Well, no, you have stuff.
Speaker 2: Here's what it is like. Those simple things are helpful.
Speaker 1: That's so great, and that's great for people who like,
Speaker 1: quote unquote hate planning or hate a rigid meal plan.
Speaker 1: If you just make a list, these are the things
Speaker 1: that I can make and just pick one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. The next one on this list is to
Speaker 2: not be tempted with introductory offers. So the cognitive science
Speaker 2: part of this would be the things that are appealing
Speaker 2: to us that look good and shiny, and marketers know
Speaker 2: this of how can we rope people in too overspending.
Speaker 2: They're primarily talking about credit card companies and how they
Speaker 2: will often offer this really low or zero percent apy
Speaker 2: financing only to get you out with very high APRS
Speaker 2: in the future, and that might not be the case
Speaker 2: maybe for all of our listeners. Maybe it's something else,
Speaker 2: but I feel like this could be applied across the board.
Speaker 2: It's not just credit cards trying to rope you in.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is where we could think subscriptions, Oh
Speaker 2: xyz is free for the first seven days, but then
Speaker 2: they all they get you to input your credit card information,
Speaker 2: so then they're automatically charging you after that and we
Speaker 2: forget to go back in and cancel. So just being
Speaker 2: aware of the fine print in any situation. Of course,
Speaker 2: our eyes can glaze over with fine print, but that
Speaker 2: shouldn't be a reason that we find ourselves overspending. We
Speaker 2: really need to have a better handle on what is
Speaker 2: this really offering? What's the catch? Will is this actually
Speaker 2: useful and valuable to me? Will I actually take advantage
Speaker 2: of this? Or am I falling for a marketing tactic
Speaker 2: right now? Yeah?
Speaker 1: What this one made me think of, we're lost leaders.
Speaker 1: So companies, yeah, offering you the free seven day trial,
Speaker 1: or offering you the free ice cream if you come
Speaker 1: into the store, the five dollars chicken at Costco, and
Speaker 1: so these are things that will get you into a
Speaker 1: store or onto a mailing list that don't even make
Speaker 1: the company money. But when if you take an action
Speaker 1: with a company, you're warming up to that company, so
Speaker 1: it becomes easier for you to walk through the doors
Speaker 1: again or to open another email. And so the more
Speaker 1: you do those micro actions, those micro interactions with a company,
Speaker 1: the more comfortable you become and the more likely you
Speaker 1: become to spend money with them. And so while free
Speaker 1: stuff is great, we highly highly recommend free trials and
Speaker 1: getting what you can from companies. Don't be temp like,
Speaker 1: don't take those for granted. Those are marketing tactics, and
Speaker 1: so they also bank on the concept of reciprocity. So
Speaker 1: if I do something for you, you're more likely to
Speaker 1: do something for me. And so know that that's a
Speaker 1: marketing tactic. You're not obligated to do something for any
Speaker 1: company no matter what they've given you. It is their
Speaker 1: choice to do that. And so with these introductory offers
Speaker 1: a marketing tactic. Just be aware of what the tactic
Speaker 1: is so you can be more empowered to overcome it.
Speaker 1: So the last one on here, like we said, real
Speaker 1: short but real, I mean packs a punch, is to
Speaker 1: avoid envy inducing social media channels. So that's your friends
Speaker 1: on Facebook, your Instagram, influencers that you love to follow.
Speaker 1: Social media can be such a great place. It has
Speaker 1: brought such relationships together as my husband and I, as
Speaker 1: Jill and I, but it can also be a really
Speaker 1: dangerous place and cause a lot of envy and just
Speaker 1: like wishing not people are not even being malicious when
Speaker 1: they're doing these things. They're just very excited for themselves.
Speaker 1: And you're over here like I'm trying to reach a
Speaker 1: goal and that's out of my budget, but I want
Speaker 1: that jacket so bad.
Speaker 2: But look at how fun that vacation' looks. Yeah, I'll
Speaker 2: even add to this. Social media has just become a
Speaker 2: big old ad. Most of what you're seeing as ads,
Speaker 2: if not like blatant ads where you know this is
Speaker 2: just a sponsored post. But even a lot of those people,
Speaker 2: sometimes your friends are selling something, whether they themselves are
Speaker 2: selling something, or they have partnered with a company selling something.
Speaker 2: Whether some of those people that you're following on Instagram
Speaker 2: that you think are like living a really cool RV lifestyle,
Speaker 2: they're trying to sell you something they've partnered with somebody
Speaker 2: check it out in their hashtags, like as fun as
Speaker 2: those pictures are to look at. I would venture to
Speaker 2: say only about five percent of people are you actually
Speaker 2: just keeping up with what's happening in their lives, and
Speaker 2: they're not actually an ad for you. And even then
Speaker 2: if they're posting just about their lives, chances are they're
Speaker 2: posting the best part of their lives that could be
Speaker 2: envy inducings. So no matter what you do, that scroll
Speaker 2: is just trying to get your money, so beware.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is it is dangerous. And I have definitely
Speaker 1: purchased things that I've seen on Instagram and TikTok. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm not beyond it. And we're absolutely not against marketing
Speaker 1: or the cool things. I mean, TikTok taught me pesto
Speaker 1: eggs and you know, like praises because that's delicious.
Speaker 2: But pesto eggs, Oh.
Speaker 1: It's you use instead of oil, you use pesto too,
Speaker 1: and you put the pesto in the pan and then
Speaker 1: break the egg on the pesto. Yeah, and then you
Speaker 1: put it over some sour dough. Sometimes people have put
Speaker 1: like avocado or ricotta. So it's it's delicious and you
Speaker 1: just have to make sure it's in your budget. Like
Speaker 1: that's what we're talking about. Spend with your values, Spend
Speaker 1: on what you want to spend on it. Just make
Speaker 1: sure it's what you really want to spend and not
Speaker 1: what you feel like you should spend or you feel
Speaker 1: like you want to spend. Don't trust your feelings. Trust
Speaker 1: your values.
Speaker 2: Do the scroll, just make sure it's mindful. M hmm. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: And basically, I think in summary with this article, they're
Speaker 2: saying they're advocating for us understanding our own thoughts and
Speaker 2: feelings behind what might be leading us to overspend or
Speaker 2: not stick to our quote unquote budget. It could be
Speaker 2: a variety of things. It could be that our budget
Speaker 2: isn't realistic, or we do have a tendency to buy
Speaker 2: when we're sad, you name it. But we're not going
Speaker 2: to actually be able to change our behaviors if we're
Speaker 2: not looking at the thoughts and feelings leading to that.
Speaker 2: So a little bit of mental health counseling background for you.
Speaker 2: Many of you will be familiar with this concept. It's
Speaker 2: a cognitive behavioral therapy CBT for short, concept that our
Speaker 2: thoughts lead to feelings lead to behaviors. This cycle thought. First,
Speaker 2: we have the thought, which then gives us some sort
Speaker 2: of feeling or emotion inside of us, which then leads
Speaker 2: to the behavior. And a lot of times we will
Speaker 2: try to hit something at the behavior level and it
Speaker 2: totally misses the mark. We have to understand what comes
Speaker 2: before it. If we're going to want to change the behavior,
Speaker 2: So taking some steps backward and saying, well, what was
Speaker 2: the thought that I had here? Even drawing it out?
Speaker 2: I will have folks in my counseling sessions actually draw
Speaker 2: it out. What thought did you have? Then? What feeling
Speaker 2: did that produce? Then? What was the behavior? And if
Speaker 2: you want to seek to change the behavior, you're going
Speaker 2: to have to interrupt it, hopefully at the thought level.
Speaker 2: It can be interrupted at the feeling level too, but
Speaker 2: ideally we get to the point where we can snatch
Speaker 2: it at the thought level, adjust the thought around, which
Speaker 2: then will change the feeling and it will change the
Speaker 2: behavior into something more evantageous and beneficial for us.
Speaker 1: I hope you got that. If you didn't catch all that,
Speaker 1: then you know, go back fifteen seconds because that was gold.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jin, thank you.
Speaker 1: All right, So let's move on to our next article
Speaker 1: from Fox dot com, and it's five sneaky mental tricks
Speaker 1: to spend less while shopping And I liked every single
Speaker 1: one of these and all of the little graphics that
Speaker 1: go with them. Fox just really does it. So, Jill,
Speaker 1: what did you think of this one?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It was a visually pleasing article. And they use
Speaker 2: the term behavioral economics. So for those of you who
Speaker 2: want just more research and more on these kinds of topics,
Speaker 2: these are the types of things you can be searching for.
Speaker 2: What does behavioral economics have to do with this? What
Speaker 2: does cognitive science have to do with this? Those are
Speaker 2: some good keyword searches.
Speaker 1: Richard Faylor is a really good author of behavioral economics expert,
Speaker 1: so anything by him it will be good.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And so they sort this article out by saying
Speaker 2: that behavioral economics can teach us a lot about why
Speaker 2: we tend to neglect our budgets or overspend. One theory
Speaker 2: that can stick out from behavioral economics is the present bias,
Speaker 2: meaning we will often value the present gratification over the
Speaker 2: long term. They reference the marshmallow research Yes test, that's
Speaker 2: the word thank you, which I don't know if you've
Speaker 2: seen it, Jen, I think there's that magician Magic for Humans.
Speaker 1: I use that one all the time.
Speaker 2: It's so good. I mean, first of all, it's just
Speaker 2: such a fun show. If you haven't checked it out,
Speaker 2: check it out Magic for Humans. And he does this
Speaker 2: test with like toddler and young kids, which is just
Speaker 2: so funny of offering them a marshmallow now or two
Speaker 2: marshmallows later, and some of them you can see, it's
Speaker 2: so cute, they like hold out and then others are like,
Speaker 2: I want this thing now, like they eat it, but
Speaker 2: then they try and hide the fact that they ate it.
Speaker 2: But we're no different from those toddlers trend. Yeah exactly, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that we even though we can rationally say it's going
Speaker 2: to be more advantageous to me and my future self
Speaker 2: if I let this thing grow and have greater benefit
Speaker 2: in the future, but I want my marshmallow right now.
Speaker 2: I want this good thing right now, because we do
Speaker 2: we favor our present selves over our future selves. I'm
Speaker 2: not my future self right now. I'm my present self
Speaker 2: right now, and I want to treat myself. And so
Speaker 2: just even recognizing that can help interrupt some of those patterns.
Speaker 1: That show is so great uses a lot of these
Speaker 1: psycho logical techniques.
Speaker 2: That is magic. You have to know people and human
Speaker 2: behavior in order to trick that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So another one of my favorites of his is that
Speaker 1: he's talking to people and he's like, I can guess
Speaker 1: which actor you're thinking of, and so he has he
Speaker 1: says this and like nah, and he has a conversation
Speaker 1: with them and then asks them to think of an actor,
Speaker 1: and he shows them what he's written down before he
Speaker 1: even started the conversation, and without fail, all of them
Speaker 1: say Tom Hanks. And he wrote down Tom Hanks. And
Speaker 1: the reason he was able to get them to all
Speaker 1: say Tom Hanks is because throughout the conversation he was
Speaker 1: just dropping particular words or concepts or ideas from different
Speaker 1: Tom Hanks movies, So like Castaway toys, story, all of
Speaker 1: these things to make them think of Tom Hanks movies.
Speaker 1: And so it was so crazy because that's also a
Speaker 1: marketing technique. So luxury marketers will use in their marketing
Speaker 1: more luxury focused words verbiage to make you feel like
Speaker 1: you deserve luxury, like that's what you are accustomed to
Speaker 1: and can afford, whether it is true or not. So
Speaker 1: that's also, yeah, marketers use that all over the place.
Speaker 2: We've got to combat these magic tricks with our own
Speaker 2: magic tricks. I know you said it's not about tricks,
Speaker 2: but it might be.
Speaker 1: It might be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tricks are for kids and maybe for adults.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so let's dive into somebody's tricks. The first one
Speaker 1: is to never go shopping without a list, And this
Speaker 1: might seem so old fashioned, but it is so effective,
Speaker 1: and it's not like a cash envelope system that's like
Speaker 1: very inconvenient. Shopping with the list is very convenient. It's,
Speaker 1: you know, not the most convenient, but it is still convenient,
Speaker 1: and it just helps you so much to avoid impulse buies.
Speaker 2: Not only does it help impulse bies, it helps me
Speaker 2: when I'm at the store not forget something and have
Speaker 2: to come back to the store. So as I run
Speaker 2: out of something, I just have a running list on
Speaker 2: my phone. And actually Eric and I are taking it
Speaker 2: to the next level where I'm making a checklist like
Speaker 2: a Google Sheets checklist or a Google checklist. I guess
Speaker 2: is what it is, and then I share it with him.
Speaker 2: So if we're at the store together and we really
Speaker 2: want to be efficient with our time, we both have
Speaker 2: access to the checklist and we're able to check it off,
Speaker 2: so we're able to keep up with each other knowing, oh,
Speaker 2: he already got this. I don't need to text him
Speaker 2: or call him and let him know I already got
Speaker 2: the toilet paper, headed to the frozen food. It's like,
Speaker 2: I know, wow, my phone. We're trying to hack our
Speaker 2: whole lives. But it helps, yeah, to be when you're shopping.
Speaker 2: It helps to not forget things, and then it helps
Speaker 2: keep you from buying things you don't need.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be effective. Like when Travis will go
Speaker 1: to the grocery store just randomly for something, He's like,
Speaker 1: you need anything from the grocery store and like, I
Speaker 1: don't know. Yes, you can share a list and then
Speaker 1: you know exactly what you need at the grocery store.
Speaker 2: The next one on this list is to double check
Speaker 2: that you are in fact getting the best value. So
Speaker 2: this could mean you are at the store, you see
Speaker 2: something that is already on your list and you want
Speaker 2: to know. The first thing could be, well, I'm just
Speaker 2: going to go get this, but we would strongly encourage
Speaker 2: you to do a quick search on your phone, thank
Speaker 2: goodness for smartphones, and make sure that that is the
Speaker 2: best deal that you can purchase it for or even
Speaker 2: if it's possible that you could get that thing used.
Speaker 2: So just make sure even if it's on your list,
Speaker 2: you know I need this. This has been something I've
Speaker 2: had my eyes on for a while. Make sure that
Speaker 2: the store that you're at is going to give you
Speaker 2: the best deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that. They mentioned bulk shopping. People tend
Speaker 1: to overspend and wearhouse stores, and bulk shopping is not
Speaker 1: the enemy. You just have to make sure a you're
Speaker 1: not buying bulk for the sake of buying bulk, because
Speaker 1: it typically is a better deal, but you have to
Speaker 1: make sure it's only on things that you really need
Speaker 1: or will benefit from buying in bulk. And then also
Speaker 1: actually do check the price per unit, because if it's
Speaker 1: just a few cents, it may not be worth buying
Speaker 1: in bulk, especially if it's something that's perishable. So this
Speaker 1: is really something to consider if you are a bulk
Speaker 1: shopper or prefer bulk buying.
Speaker 2: Yes, I had noticed I recently did that the bulk
Speaker 2: price on just some window cleaner was so much better.
Speaker 2: I would say it was like thirty percent less expensive
Speaker 2: than if I were to have bought like two bottles
Speaker 2: of window cleaner. And it was actually preferred for me
Speaker 2: because I have my own spray bottles. So now this
Speaker 2: could just act like a refill for the entire house,
Speaker 2: rather than needing to get individual bottles from the store
Speaker 2: and keep them in the different rooms bathrooms, kitchen, laundry
Speaker 2: room throughout the house, just refill it with that, And
Speaker 2: it's also reducing waste because now I have one container
Speaker 2: rather than three containers that I've bought. So yeah, sometimes
Speaker 2: it is just even when you're at the store, even
Speaker 2: if it doesn't mean I've got to go to a
Speaker 2: different store, are you getting the best value? Which, like
Speaker 2: you said, are you using it too? We don't just
Speaker 2: want to become hoarders because it's a better price.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. So the third on this list is to don't
Speaker 1: shop when you're feeling emotional. So this is so huge,
Speaker 1: I'm going to just read this first line right here.
Speaker 1: More than seven to ten people consider their finance as
Speaker 1: a source of stress, according to a Capital One survey
Speaker 1: of more than two thousand respondents in the US. If
Speaker 1: you're among them, be especially conscious when you're spending, since
Speaker 1: your emotions may further cloud your judgment. Isn't this that's
Speaker 1: a vicious cycle. Money makes us stress, stress makes us shop,
Speaker 1: shopping reduces our liquid cash, and then it's and then
Speaker 1: all over again stressful.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it is a vicious cycle.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think one way you can combat this
Speaker 1: is to again be prepared so you don't have to
Speaker 1: make as many decisions when you're stressed, because that increases
Speaker 1: decision fatigue exponentially. So make a list of things self care,
Speaker 1: things you can do when you're feeling different types of emotions,
Speaker 1: so not just negative emotions, but positive emotions too, because
Speaker 1: sometimes we can shop to celebrate, but what are the
Speaker 1: things that you're going to do when you're feeling sad,
Speaker 1: What are the things you're going to do when you're
Speaker 1: feeling mad, What are the things you're going to do
Speaker 1: when you're feeling like really joyful or happy, And so
Speaker 1: you have things to do other than shop to celebrate
Speaker 1: or deal with these emotions. And they don't have to
Speaker 1: be like, you know, schedule a call with your therapist.
Speaker 1: They don't have to even be effective, but just something
Speaker 1: you can do real quick, instant gratification, like so that
Speaker 1: you're not running to the store to you know, blow
Speaker 1: off steam or whatever with an emotion.
Speaker 2: And already having a list for when you're in the
Speaker 2: moment again helps remove some of those barriers of decision
Speaker 2: fatigue or being able to problem solve that in the
Speaker 2: moment when you are excited or you are sad. So
Speaker 2: just having a list, even though it's very simple, it's
Speaker 2: like I know these things already, just having them in
Speaker 2: front of you, something you can look at. Okay, what
Speaker 2: thing on this list can I do? You're more likely
Speaker 2: to do it if the barrier to that entry is
Speaker 2: taken away.
Speaker 1: And it can eliminate some guilt too, I think, because
Speaker 1: we want to be we want to be efficient, and
Speaker 1: we want to be like healthier in all these areas.
Speaker 1: But when you're trying to change a habit, and this
Speaker 1: is you know, not a habit, but this is similar.
Speaker 1: When you're trying to change a habit, you need to
Speaker 1: replace it with something that's equal in kind of level,
Speaker 1: so to speak. And so if you are turning to
Speaker 1: shopping when you have an emotion, you need to think
Speaker 1: of something that's on the same level as that. Not
Speaker 1: necessarily like when I'm you know, celebrating a raise, I'm
Speaker 1: going to give a thousand dollars to charity, that's a
Speaker 1: different level. You know, you need to think of something
Speaker 1: small that's on the same level as shopping that you
Speaker 1: can replace shopping with. So we're not trying to make like,
Speaker 1: you know, become leaps and bounds better people, just a
Speaker 1: little something that's on the same level as shopping to
Speaker 1: replace that emotional outlet with.
Speaker 2: And I appreciate the spectrum that you described here because
Speaker 2: I'll be honest to hear this line when I first
Speaker 2: read this article. There's a part of me that wants
Speaker 2: a little bit of pushback on this. You know, don't
Speaker 2: shop when you feel emotional. Almost we can use this
Speaker 2: word emotional in a very negative way. It often is
Speaker 2: associated negatively, like you're just being emotional. You know, it's
Speaker 2: a way to kind of discount people. And so I
Speaker 2: like that you describe jen the spectrum either when we're
Speaker 2: happy or sad, and we know that there's other more
Speaker 2: complicated emotions than those two, but that's, you know, a
Speaker 2: little bit of the spectrum. I would maybe offer an
Speaker 2: alternative vernacular to this of maybe feeling emotionally vulnerable. So
Speaker 2: in a position where you know, I, because of X
Speaker 2: y Z again, whether happy or sad or somewhere in
Speaker 2: the middle, I am more vulnerable to making some of
Speaker 2: these decisions that might derail some of my goals or
Speaker 2: things that are actually going to be benefit me. Knowing
Speaker 2: our vulnerabilities will help us to be able to protect them.
Speaker 2: There's nothing wrong with vulnerability. Vulnerability is beautiful. It's part
Speaker 2: of the human condition, but knowing and recognizing our vulnerability
Speaker 2: and being able to care for ourselves in the midst
Speaker 2: of it move towards protection of vulnerability. I know I've
Speaker 2: said this SoundBite before, but I'll say it again because
Speaker 2: I think it's relevant here. Vulnerability without protection leads to exploitation.
Speaker 2: I'll say it again because I do think that this
Speaker 2: is something even worth like writing down. Vulnerability without protection
Speaker 2: leads to exploitation, meaning that if we don't move to
Speaker 2: protect these areas of vulnerability inside of ourselves, they will
Speaker 2: be exploited in us. An example of that would be
Speaker 2: I was sad there was no protection for me. I
Speaker 2: went to the coping mechanism that most made sense, and
Speaker 2: I spent my entire grocery budget for the month. Right,
Speaker 2: that would be an exploitation. There's other areas that we
Speaker 2: can talk about related to that, and of course there's
Speaker 2: so many deeper implications, but as far as talking about
Speaker 2: our budgets, this still remains true. And again, it's not
Speaker 2: about removing our vulnerability, it's about moving to protect it. So,
Speaker 2: like you said, Jen, creating that list of go to
Speaker 2: things that we can do happy or sad that are
Speaker 2: going to be beneficial for us that are not going
Speaker 2: to derail us from our hopes, goals and dreams. When
Speaker 2: we're in those emotionally vulnerable states.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, so so much wisdom right there. And that's exactly
Speaker 1: where my head went when you started. I was like, yes,
Speaker 1: the vulnerability without protection leads to exploitation, and it is
Speaker 1: so relevant here, all right. So number four is to
Speaker 1: sleep on it before purchasing large items. And so this
Speaker 1: is just a good rule of thumb. I remember a
Speaker 1: few months ago, by the time this comes out, I
Speaker 1: was for something for my business, got a really big
Speaker 1: price tag for something, and it was very stressful because
Speaker 1: I thought I needed it. I thought that it was
Speaker 1: the only way forward for me, but it seemed very
Speaker 1: out of my budget, and so I had to sleep
Speaker 1: on it. After I cried quite a bit about it,
Speaker 1: and then I slept on it. And then I was
Speaker 1: I slept off that decision fatigue, because I'm sure a
Speaker 1: lot I know. I was exhausted when I went to
Speaker 1: sleep because I had all of these micro decisions running
Speaker 1: through my head about this purchase that I thought I
Speaker 1: should make. And when it's for your business, you can
Speaker 1: kind of justify it a little bit more than when
Speaker 1: it's for yourself. But yeah, I think it might be
Speaker 1: the same for kids. So I went to bed, and
Speaker 1: I woke up the next day and I was much
Speaker 1: more level headed about it and ended up thinking of
Speaker 1: or reaching out to find alternatives that were more affordable
Speaker 1: for me and went with one of those. But I
Speaker 1: didn't that reaching out to find alternatives wasn't even on
Speaker 1: my mind when I was so stressed. So for sure,
Speaker 1: sleeping sleep is sacred. I love sleep, do it.
Speaker 2: Sometimes sleep is the best thing we can do for ourselves. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I won't get two into the weeds on this,
Speaker 2: but when we are able to enter into that RAM cycle,
Speaker 2: the rapid eye movement, it's like the specific and deepest
Speaker 2: point of sleep in our sleep cycle that we have,
Speaker 2: and it is necessary for actual rest of our bodies
Speaker 2: and like rejuvenation of things. When we're able to get
Speaker 2: into that RAM cycle, it does help. The reason that
Speaker 2: we can wake up and think more clearly is for
Speaker 2: what can happen in our brains as we sleep. Again,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to get two into the weeds or
Speaker 2: the science behind it. Just know that sleep is helpful
Speaker 2: for our thought patterns, our memory, formation it sleep allows us,
Speaker 2: specifically when we're in that RAM cycle, to be able
Speaker 2: to put things in correct files in our brain. So yes,
Speaker 2: for many, many reasons, it's good to be able to
Speaker 2: sleep on it and wake up refreshed and rejuvenated. We're
Speaker 2: not going to make the best decisions when we're sleep deprived,
Speaker 2: but especially if we're feeling really uncertain about something. Usually
Speaker 2: there's nothing so urgent that we can't put a night
Speaker 2: of rest in between us and our final decision. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: and the final one on this is number five. To
Speaker 2: say no to sales unless the item is already on
Speaker 2: your list. So we already did allude to this, but
Speaker 2: you are not saving money if you're spending money. It
Speaker 2: doesn't matter how inexpensive that item is, how on sale
Speaker 2: it is compared to what it typical goes for. If
Speaker 2: you don't need it, if it's not on your list,
Speaker 2: if it's not something you've had opportunity to sleep on,
Speaker 2: say no to it. No red yellow sticker is alluring
Speaker 2: enough to get you away from your savings and spending goals,
Speaker 2: So absolutely lost something.
Speaker 1: Isle of shame shoppers all defines it's so dangerous looking
Speaker 1: in the mirror.
Speaker 2: Again, if it's something you needed of I already needed
Speaker 2: a beach chair. Thank you all defines for giving me
Speaker 2: one the far less expensive than I thought that I
Speaker 2: would ever get it. Fantastic, but no, thank you. Shee's
Speaker 2: its explosions. That was never on my list.
Speaker 1: Jesus explosions. It shouldn't be on anybody's list.
Speaker 2: It does sound good, though, but I already have cheddar
Speaker 2: goldfish at home.
Speaker 1: Oh snacks, Yeah, I mean. The marketers again will use
Speaker 1: this tactic. They will use percentages off versus amount of
Speaker 1: money off because percentages can be higher than amount of
Speaker 1: money and studies have shown that if something is, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty percent off versus twenty dollars off, even if twenty
Speaker 1: dollars is a higher percentage, people tend to go with
Speaker 1: the twenty percent off. If things are similar because we're
Speaker 1: just a custom to, or even thirty percent off, thirty
Speaker 1: percent off is less than twenty dollars off, people will
Speaker 1: still go for the percentage one because it's a bigger number,
Speaker 1: and so the store makes more money because they're giving
Speaker 1: you less than twenty dollars off. You think you're getting
Speaker 1: a better deal because you see that thirty number. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just not true. If you didn't need the item,
Speaker 1: if it's not on your list, you are not saving money.
Speaker 1: And I'm so sorry. There are some people out there
Speaker 1: that just love to find a deal like that is
Speaker 1: their like their core values. They love to be on
Speaker 1: the hunt. But you can figure out you don't have
Speaker 1: to give up that value. Just think of another way
Speaker 1: to live it out. It doesn't have to be in
Speaker 1: purchasing things, at least for yourself. There are tons of
Speaker 1: things you can hunt for, so get creative.
Speaker 2: Just not people. Don't hunt for people.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, don't do that.
Speaker 2: You know. You know what's a better idea to do
Speaker 2: with your time?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that you can really channel your energy into
Speaker 1: whoever you are the bella.
Speaker 3: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 3: entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams.
Speaker 1: Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your card died
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: Best bills, but blow bills, Bill clan. This is the
Speaker 1: bill of the week.
Speaker 3: Hi, Jen and Jill, This is Laura from New York.
Speaker 3: My bill of the week is my target credit card bill.
Speaker 3: I finally paid it off. I got it in twenty
Speaker 3: thirteen and have always held a balance on it, sometimes
Speaker 3: even close to maxing it out, and since we bought
Speaker 3: our house last summer, I've held a pretty high balance
Speaker 3: on it, and my goal was to pay that off first.
Speaker 3: So I have paid it off and closed the account
Speaker 3: and opened a Target debit card because I still need
Speaker 3: that five percent discount. So super excited to finally get
Speaker 3: that one paid off and stop impulse shopping at Target
Speaker 3: all the time. Thank you so much for the podcast.
Speaker 3: You guys are awesome.
Speaker 1: Yes, Laura, we do not listen to these before we
Speaker 1: play them. I just for the million time. But it's
Speaker 1: so perfect, how so perfect.
Speaker 2: Congruent and relevant to what we're talking about, not only
Speaker 2: the decision that you made for yourself to pay it
Speaker 2: off and not have that lingering over you, but to
Speaker 2: set up barriers to experiencing this again in the future
Speaker 2: where you have debt on a Target credit card to
Speaker 2: connect it to the debit card, which is a specific
Speaker 2: tip and trick for Target. You can still get that
Speaker 2: five percent discount with a Target debit card. It does
Speaker 2: not have to be their credit card. So well done.
Speaker 2: Putting now a barrier in between you and where you
Speaker 2: know your vulnerabilities are protecting that vulnerability. Laura, well done,
Speaker 2: we're celebrating with you.
Speaker 1: Yes, if you want to submit your bill of the week,
Speaker 1: please visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill to
Speaker 1: leave us a bill.
Speaker 2: And now it's time for.
Speaker 1: So today we are talking psychology tricks we personally use
Speaker 1: to keep from overspending that kind of share some of
Speaker 1: our triggers and how we get creative in overcoming them. So, Jill,
Speaker 1: you have a list.
Speaker 2: I got a list, I got sent and tricks baby girls.
Speaker 1: Start start give them to me. Please.
Speaker 2: Well, for those of you who have listened for a while,
Speaker 2: you know that spending isn't necessarily my area of difficulty.
Speaker 2: I am between Eric and I. I am more the savor. However,
Speaker 2: that's not to say that I am immune to impulse buyes.
Speaker 2: So here we go. I do not scroll shopping sites
Speaker 2: for entertainment, so you're not going to find me on
Speaker 2: Amazon or cute bathing suit websites or even Facebook Marketplace like.
Speaker 2: I do not go on to Facebook Marketplace just for
Speaker 2: like a fun scroll to see what people are selling
Speaker 2: in the area. I go on if I'm looking for
Speaker 2: something specific. I didn't realize was a tip until like
Speaker 2: I just started talking to other people and realizing, oh,
Speaker 2: a lot of people will just like I'm bored or
Speaker 2: I'm procrastinating, let me look on my favorite site and see,
Speaker 2: like what kind of deals they got going on. So
Speaker 2: I just don't do that. I avoid it. I also
Speaker 2: just like avoid going to the store. So if that
Speaker 2: tip can help you, great, find something else to look
Speaker 2: up online. You know, it doesn't mean that you can't
Speaker 2: be on the internet, but maybe research something that you're
Speaker 2: curious about. I've gotten real curious about honeybees. So much
Speaker 2: interesting information there, So if you want to get started somewhere,
Speaker 2: just you know, learn more about honeybees. Also, my next tip,
Speaker 2: shop the perimeter of the grocery store. I stay out
Speaker 2: of the middle. The middle is where typically most of
Speaker 2: the unnecessary items are shopping. The perimeter gets me my fruit, veggies, bread,
Speaker 2: dairy products, and that's out. All I need to live
Speaker 2: off of meat. Yeah right, those are the basics. Those
Speaker 2: are the nutritional pieces that I need.
Speaker 1: But not your wavy lace.
Speaker 2: However, you will catch me getting some chips and getting
Speaker 2: some frozen pizza. Okay, I am still human. You might
Speaker 2: find me down those aisles, but in general, I'm just
Speaker 2: in the perimeter. That helps. Also, I do a review
Speaker 2: of my cart. I'm talking about physical shopping at this point.
Speaker 2: If I am physically shopping, I physically have a cart,
Speaker 2: I do a review of it before check out of Okay,
Speaker 2: is there anything in here that it just kind of
Speaker 2: like looked cool but now at second glance, like I
Speaker 2: don't actually need this thing? And so this this blends
Speaker 2: into my next tip, which is a self check. I
Speaker 2: do a do I need it? Can I make it?
Speaker 2: Can I find it less expensive? Those are some of
Speaker 2: my go to decision tree questions that I ask myself
Speaker 2: and a lot of times that can help me weed out. Also,
Speaker 2: I have found patients. Patience is a virtue. We know that,
Speaker 2: but if I can be patient on something usually that
Speaker 2: does allow me to have like get the deal, but
Speaker 2: also just to be looking around at all the different
Speaker 2: places for that thing. And because I've had a list
Speaker 2: as I'm out and about, I'm able to keep checking.
Speaker 2: Like when I say I have a list, I have
Speaker 2: a grocery list, and then I also have a here's
Speaker 2: what's on my radar to purchase for the home list.
Speaker 2: It does not mean I need it right now. It
Speaker 2: does not mean the next time I go to the store,
Speaker 2: I'm getting that thing. It's just a helpful reminder when
Speaker 2: I am at the store. Oh do I happen to
Speaker 2: come across this thing? Is it a good deal? Is
Speaker 2: the price point that I was hoping to pay for it?
Speaker 2: Just as an example, we've known the type of dishwasher
Speaker 2: that we want to get for our kitchen. It's been
Speaker 2: on our radar, but we know we don't want to
Speaker 2: pay full price for it, so we've just been keeping
Speaker 2: an eye on it anytime we're at Low's or home
Speaker 2: Depot or sometimes you know, we'll check out the dented
Speaker 2: appliances anyhow, long story short, we've just been patient and
Speaker 2: I caught it in the clearance aisleway in the back
Speaker 2: back of Lows for like sixty percent off, and we
Speaker 2: were able.
Speaker 1: To snag That was a steal for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's because we've been in our house for
Speaker 2: a full year and we're just waiting on the dishwasher
Speaker 2: we want. In the meantime, I've been the dishwasher got
Speaker 2: really good forearm strength because of it. And finally, here's
Speaker 2: my final trick is if I feel stressed, like I've
Speaker 2: learned to assess and evaluate and know what some of
Speaker 2: the signals inside my body mean. This might sound dramatic,
Speaker 2: but sometimes I can feel stressed, a little sweaty, a
Speaker 2: little uneasy inside myself when I'm about to make a purchase.
Speaker 2: I have learned don't ignore that, don't just push through it.
Speaker 2: It's usually a sign I'm not at peace about buying
Speaker 2: that thing. I don't actually want to buy it. I
Speaker 2: feel so much more relief putting it back on the
Speaker 2: shelf and walking out the door. So just paying attention
Speaker 2: to that and not being like, no, no, no, I
Speaker 2: think I wanted I think I really want to buy it,
Speaker 2: and allowing that adrenaline to kind of move me towards
Speaker 2: the purchase. I've worked towards allowing it to move me
Speaker 2: away from the purchase, and I've not been disappointed yet.
Speaker 1: Nice. What about for you, Jen, Well, my list is
Speaker 1: a little shorter, so I used so when we were
Speaker 1: paying off debt, I definitely was triggered by the social
Speaker 1: media thing. We were newlyweds and a lot of our
Speaker 1: friends were newlyweds, and so you know, I mean, if
Speaker 1: you've been around newlyweds. You know what happens that two
Speaker 1: income household comes in and you getting new cars, you
Speaker 1: buying a house, upgrading your wardrobe, taking a vacation, And
Speaker 1: so it felt like all of my friends were doing
Speaker 1: that during the two year span that we were paying
Speaker 1: off debt, and so I was either get off of face,
Speaker 1: like either I leave or you leave. And I wasn't
Speaker 1: leaving because Facebook was all I had. So I had
Speaker 1: to unfollow quite a few friends that are good friends.
Speaker 1: They are still to this day, my very good friends.
Speaker 1: I just didn't want to see what they were doing.
Speaker 1: I didn't want it to be clear.
Speaker 2: Unfollowing on social media is different from cutting someone off, right,
Speaker 2: and really, don't.
Speaker 1: You no longer see those things in your news feed
Speaker 1: unless you intentionally go to that person's profile and you
Speaker 1: can turn it off and follow them again, which I
Speaker 1: do so because you know, I want them to see
Speaker 1: my vacation photos now.
Speaker 2: No, the life I've been able to have now that
Speaker 2: I'm deaf free.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but so I had to do that. I had
Speaker 1: no shame, and I still, I mean tell people like
Speaker 1: you can do that. That's an option. You can unfollow somebody.
Speaker 1: So if they follow you, they'll never know that you
Speaker 1: don't follow them. So that's a key thing that I've learned.
Speaker 1: And so now I don't use that method. But I
Speaker 1: I'm really cognizant of decision fatigue and helping my brain
Speaker 1: make the best decisions possible for as long as possible,
Speaker 1: because I have realized I'm lazy. Like, straight up, you.
Speaker 2: Are the least lazy person on the pool.
Speaker 1: When it's things I don't care about, I'm super lazy.
Speaker 1: If it's something I care about, like, I will work
Speaker 1: my fingers to the bone. I hurt my pointer finger
Speaker 1: last week, like no clicking on the mouse, the clicking one.
Speaker 1: It went numb last week, Jill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will work my fingers to literally because yeah,
Speaker 2: you were like you no longer feel the tip of
Speaker 2: my finger.
Speaker 1: And so if I care about it, it's fine. But
Speaker 1: if it's not something that is you know, aligned with
Speaker 1: my highest values, I am disgustingly lazy. Usually you can
Speaker 1: ask Travis. So I have to put as many systems
Speaker 1: in place to make you know decisions better. So one
Speaker 1: of the main things for me is avoiding physical clutter
Speaker 1: so that I can have more space for cognitive energy.
Speaker 1: That's a big thing for me, clutter. I grew up
Speaker 1: in a clean home because my dad was a clean freak,
Speaker 1: and when he died, the house just kind of went
Speaker 1: to like cluttered, horder ruin and so like I kind
Speaker 1: of have like PTSD from that, and that stresses me out.
Speaker 1: And so now I realized that, So my house is
Speaker 1: not always clean and uncluttered, but I have like fewer
Speaker 1: things in it so it doesn't get as messy and
Speaker 1: cluttered because I have a two year old, like, and
Speaker 1: you know, cleaning is not my core value. So I
Speaker 1: just put those barriers into place and bring as few
Speaker 1: things into my house as possible so that that level
Speaker 1: of mess and clutter never gets to a level that
Speaker 1: stresses me out and makes me like unable to make
Speaker 1: wise decisions.
Speaker 2: I think this is probably the case for a lot
Speaker 2: of people. I definitely am not going to say everybody,
Speaker 2: but our physical space does bear weight on our mental capacities,
Speaker 2: emotional capacities, relational capacities, and so even keeping a pulse
Speaker 2: on how your environment is impacting you and then what
Speaker 2: steps can you make to be able to free up
Speaker 2: some of that, because it is going to make a difference,
Speaker 2: and it's going to impact all of these other areas,
Speaker 2: so you're definitely not alone in that. That is a
Speaker 2: really helpful insight. I think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's I mean, that's the end of my list.
Speaker 2: That's a good one though, you picked the good ones. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I just say I shop the perimeter of the grocery store.
Speaker 1: I geek out on this, like spending psychology, like not
Speaker 1: all of psychology in general, but just spending psychology. I
Speaker 1: am a nerd. Yeah, I can research it and click
Speaker 1: my finger to the bone about it. Well, we hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed that one as much the second time around
Speaker 1: as you did the first time around.
Speaker 2: Jen, I hope currently, as this episode is airing, you
Speaker 2: are enjoying your your second time around of having a baby,
Speaker 2: maybe not more than the first time around, it equally
Speaker 2: as much.
Speaker 1: Enjoy isn't the word I would describe the first six weeks,
Speaker 1: but I hope I'm making it.
Speaker 2: Do you find that in those first few weeks slash
Speaker 2: months it is harder to not spend money? Like? Does
Speaker 2: this psychological trick thing play into what you need to consider?
Speaker 2: I think part of it.
Speaker 1: So this is actually a good point when you're talking
Speaker 1: about using psychological tricks or hacks or just the understanding
Speaker 1: of how your brain works. Your brain has to be functioning,
Speaker 1: and so that requires sleep, It requires rest. So there
Speaker 1: are seasons where you kind of just have to give
Speaker 1: in to the season. And we believe like you should
Speaker 1: be living in every season, not fighting against the season
Speaker 1: you're in. And the first six weeks after giving birth
Speaker 1: is no season to expect yourself to.
Speaker 2: Be making shooting on all cylinder, right.
Speaker 1: Yes, So if you are prepared with some of these
Speaker 1: going in and they're already like habits, they're automations almost,
Speaker 1: then yeah, like, I'm not going out and impulse buying
Speaker 1: crazy things when I'm tired and stressed. But if I
Speaker 1: can't get the baby to sleep and the car ride
Speaker 1: is the only thing, then best believe I'm gonna hit
Speaker 1: up like three different drive throughs and just get fries
Speaker 1: at all of them. And that is that's called self care, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's what we do. So, yeah, that's a good
Speaker 1: point to make sure that the season, if you want
Speaker 1: to take advantage of the things in this episode, you
Speaker 1: also need to be taking care of your brand mind. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And sometimes it's easier than other times. Sometimes there's
Speaker 2: just a reality to the season and you're not gonna
Speaker 2: be as on top of it. Mm hmm, that's okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So thank you so much for listening. We know
Speaker 1: many of you are working to stick to your budget
Speaker 1: so that you can pay off debt. We actually have
Speaker 1: a monthly membership for that where we do monthly money challenges.
Speaker 1: We offer accountability groups, and we want to congratulate one
Speaker 1: of our members for a big one. This one's from Jessica.
Speaker 1: She says, back when you aired the episode about unclaimed money,
Speaker 1: I went and looked for myself, my husband and siblings.
Speaker 1: My husband got a bunch back previous military way back when,
Speaker 1: and got another check today for five thousand dollars and
Speaker 1: we needed it since we just paid for the boys
Speaker 1: summer camp.
Speaker 2: That's amazing, Jessica. It's your money. It's not like, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: there's like bonus money. It's money that's unclaimed for one
Speaker 2: reason or another. Sometimes it's money that has been like
Speaker 2: an inheritance, but they whoever was managing the will wasn't
Speaker 2: able to get it into the right hand. Sometimes it's
Speaker 2: just like a utility bill you overpaid for in a
Speaker 2: previous state and you had already moved and changed your
Speaker 2: address and they couldn't get it to you. Like, there's
Speaker 2: so many reasons, and I cannot tell you the amount
Speaker 2: of times we've heard from people like this worked for them.
Speaker 2: Every time we talk about it, someone news like, I
Speaker 2: wonder if I've got unclaimed money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had an insurance premium that was owed back
Speaker 1: to me. And it sounds like the military might owe
Speaker 1: some people some money. So congrats Jessica. If you listening,
Speaker 1: want to check out our membership, and I guess that
Speaker 1: Wind's not exclusive to just our members, but we're very
Speaker 1: glad that we get to chat with Jessica and hear
Speaker 1: about her wins. If you want to share your wins
Speaker 1: and have a few extra head to Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash club. Check out the Frugal Friends Club.
Speaker 1: We got courses, interviews, challenges, all kinds of good stuff
Speaker 1: and friends.
Speaker 2: See you next time.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. All right, Jill
Speaker 1: do yeah, two different songs Monkeys jumping on the bed,
Speaker 1: and then I guess you have one from monkeys rolling over,
Speaker 1: So you were right. I guess I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know what was rolling over.
Speaker 2: Five little monkeys jumping on the bed. One fell off
Speaker 2: and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor. The doctor said,
Speaker 2: no more monkeys jumping on the bed?
Speaker 1: Is the That is the song I know? Okay, I
Speaker 1: don't know. The one rolling over?
Speaker 2: How there were ten in the bed and the little
Speaker 2: one said roll over and roll over. So they all
Speaker 2: rolled over, one fell out. There were nine in the bed.
Speaker 2: The little one said roll over.
Speaker 1: Over, but there's an animal. Reference rolled over.
Speaker 2: And one fell out. There were eight in the bed.
Speaker 2: But what are they? What are they? What are they
Speaker 2: that roll over? I guess the book that I saw
Speaker 2: they were all just a bunch of stuffed animals. And
Speaker 2: I think the book that I had read did at
Speaker 2: least have a monkey stuffed animal. But look at that
Speaker 2: it has blended to become one nursery roome. Apparently in
Speaker 2: my head all leading us to capitalize where you can
Speaker 2: roll over your four.
Speaker 1: Wow, they should have really paid us to say that,
Speaker 1: because that was a lot of research we had to do.
Speaker 2: What happened in my mind, you're the pregnant one and
Speaker 2: I'm over here blending ten in the bed with what's
Speaker 2: the title of the other one? Five little monkeys jumping
Speaker 2: on the bed.
Speaker 1: I mean it seems, yeah, they're gonna fault you for that.
Speaker 2: They're falling, they're bumping their head. There's too many of them.
Speaker 2: They're chaotic. It's a very similar story. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: that I ever realized you've.
Speaker 1: Got ten of anything in a bed.
Speaker 2: Stop it, Okay, ten in the bed and then five
Speaker 2: little mon it's five monkeys. Five little monk is two
Speaker 2: two different songs. Yeah, I kind of don't fault myself
Speaker 2: for not knowing it was two different songs. And I
Speaker 2: kind of don't believe anybody who says like I knew
Speaker 2: all along, and I know all the differences between those
Speaker 2: two songs, like I.
Speaker 1: Told you that, okay, the one with a child.
Speaker 2: Okay, Oh, I am still confused, even with the troof.
Speaker 1: In front of you, confused because you don't want to
Speaker 1: be wrong, and you're not confused. You understand that I'm confused.
Speaker 2: By what happened in my head. And I'm like, still
Speaker 2: can confused that there's so many different nursery rhymes.
Speaker 1: In order for us to use the psychology, yeah and
Speaker 1: take advantage of the shortcuts that our minds allow us,
Speaker 1: we have to have full capacities.
Speaker 2: I don't think I'm well. I'm not well. I I
Speaker 2: don't know the difference between the monkeys.
Speaker 1: You are tired, you just had you just had guests
Speaker 1: leave your house, like you've had people in your house.
Speaker 2: At the time of recording, you all know Jenn's about
Speaker 2: to give birth. So we are stacking up these episodes,
Speaker 2: and we are recording this the day after the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: And I'm not gonna lie. I am from Philadelphia. We
Speaker 2: are Eagles fans, and I was painted. I was ready
Speaker 2: for she was.
Speaker 1: An Eagles fan, like a week ago.
Speaker 2: I was ready. You could have assumed I was ready
Speaker 2: for the Eagles to take home that ring. And you
Speaker 2: know what else it is My last name is the
Speaker 2: same as the coach of the Eagles this year, Nick Sirianni.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot. There's a lot going for me.
Speaker 2: There was a lot riding on this. I brought you
Speaker 2: a let us down. And my voice is nearly gone,
Speaker 2: and I'm tired and so confused.
Speaker 1: I brought you a condolence croissant.
Speaker 2: Tell tell them what you told me, Jen told.
Speaker 1: Okay, So there is four of you here, four Eagles fans,
Speaker 1: and I brought two condolence croissants because I did really
Speaker 1: feel bad. I'm not a fan of any team. Uh,
Speaker 1: and so I brought these croissants, but I only brought
Speaker 1: two because only winners get a full croissant. They had
Speaker 1: just had to split them.
Speaker 2: So that was you know, you're lucky that I took it.
Speaker 2: I took it on the chin. I was concerned though,
Speaker 2: that one in the group might not be as an amicable.
Speaker 1: She told me this, and I said, I'm willing to
Speaker 1: die for this joke. I'm willing to die to get
Speaker 1: the chance to say this one more time.
Speaker 2: They wouldn't have killed you. They just might have like
Speaker 2: pushed you over, not rolled you over, pushed you over.
Speaker 1: And from what I hear from Eagles.
Speaker 2: Fans, we love doing that. Yeah. I love diming poles,
Speaker 2: tipping vehicles.
Speaker 1: Setting things on fire, starting fires, whether you win or lose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's just a lot of rage and opportunities to rage.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think it's more about the rage itself than
Speaker 1: the football.
Speaker 2: Oh for sure, let's unpack that. Nope, see you later.