Speaker 1: Episode two seventeen, Minimalist living in an RV to pay
Speaker 1: off fifty six thousand dollars of debt. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity,
Speaker 1: rice and liver with your life. Here your host Jen
Speaker 1: and Jill. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name
Speaker 1: is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we have
Speaker 1: another special episode. If you were with us last week,
Speaker 1: you will be familiar with this format. But there are
Speaker 1: no articles today, no guests, just me and Jill staring
Speaker 1: at each other too. Yes, for those of you long
Speaker 1: time listeners, you know that we often do not record
Speaker 1: in person, despite the fact that we only live fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes from each other. It's just easier. It is hawwardly
Speaker 1: resistance is what we take. But today we are in person,
Speaker 1: and so it really feels like a real interview. I
Speaker 1: don't even need my computer in front of me. I've
Speaker 1: got a mic. It's not even plugged into power, so
Speaker 1: maybe it'll die. My shoes are off, I might sit
Speaker 1: cross legged. Perfect. Well, it's your debt free stores, so
Speaker 1: I shouldn't mess it up. Yeah, I just have to
Speaker 1: answer questions. Perfect, But first, before we get into that,
Speaker 1: this episode is brought to you by free tickets. Events
Speaker 1: are always better when the tickets are free, and the
Speaker 1: best when you get to go backstage and hang out
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Speaker 1: And if you're legitimately cool, you marry the drummer. And
Speaker 1: while we don't have any spare drummers for you, we
Speaker 1: do have free tickets. So our two thousand twenty two.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I said it like that. Frugal
Speaker 1: Living Summit is coming to a computer or phone near
Speaker 1: you June. The theme for this year is the Spending Symposium,
Speaker 1: and we will be sharing twenty never before heard interviews
Speaker 1: with experts diving deep in to why we spend impulsively,
Speaker 1: how to stop, how to spend our money better. Registration
Speaker 1: is now open and it's completely free, and with your
Speaker 1: free ticket you'll get exclusive discounts for the Spending Mastery Bundle,
Speaker 1: which includes all of the recordings and a bunch of workbooks,
Speaker 1: e books courses from our speakers. It's lovely. Head to
Speaker 1: Frugal Living Summit dot com to get your free ticket
Speaker 1: and check out everything we'll be doing June. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be so fun. I'm seriously so excited for this.
Speaker 1: It feels like summer camp for Jen and I and
Speaker 1: the opportunity to hang out with all of you. I mean,
Speaker 1: do it get your ticket pleasing out with us? Yes.
Speaker 1: So if you love debt payoff stories, definitely check out
Speaker 1: last week's It is episode two sixteen and it is
Speaker 1: my debt free story. But you can also check out
Speaker 1: a few peripheral episodes. Episode one one we talk about
Speaker 1: minimalist budgeting. We'll talk a little bit about that today.
Speaker 1: And then episode one seventy two decorating your home on
Speaker 1: a budget because Jill's RV is was probably the cutest
Speaker 1: thing ever. You're both of your trailer in your RV.
Speaker 1: So those are some peripheral episodes. We have a lot
Speaker 1: of debt payoff stories. Just take a browse through the
Speaker 1: app that you're on. But let's get into this really
Speaker 1: special time together in the hot seat. All right, So, Jill,
Speaker 1: first question for you, how much debt did you pay off?
Speaker 1: What was it from? And what were you making roughly
Speaker 1: while you paid off? Because it did take you quite
Speaker 1: some time and I know your your income change throughout it. Yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: So just to give a little bit of an overview.
Speaker 1: We began paying off debt in two thousand thirteen, and
Speaker 1: we made our final payment on our debt in February
Speaker 1: to any twenty, just before the pandemic. I mean what
Speaker 1: at our house. Yes, we were parked in our trailer
Speaker 1: in your backyard and made our final debt payoff and
Speaker 1: we celebrated, which was so great. So for those of
Speaker 1: you who aren't doing math in your head right now,
Speaker 1: that's seven years to pay off debt. And it was
Speaker 1: a combination of a few different types of debt. And
Speaker 1: I will say this, we collected debt throughout our debt payoff.
Speaker 1: That was intentional and it has led to a lot
Speaker 1: of the things that we can now enjoy. We don't
Speaker 1: want to continue collecting debt, but it was necessary for
Speaker 1: our journey. So I just want to make that kind
Speaker 1: of distinction. It wasn't as if we had this experience
Speaker 1: where suddenly I realized my finances and I'm going to
Speaker 1: get everything in order. I was very aware, but trying
Speaker 1: to be creative with how do I get at my
Speaker 1: financial goals in a way that feels good to me
Speaker 1: and will create as much freedom as possible in the
Speaker 1: least amount of time as possible. So one of the
Speaker 1: debts was a thirty two thousand dollar a student loan debt,
Speaker 1: and then the other debts were mostly private loans for
Speaker 1: our motor home at one point, our trailer at another point,
Speaker 1: and a vehicle for Eric's business at another point, so
Speaker 1: essentially vehicles, but those were also houses for us to
Speaker 1: those three vehicles were also homes, so that was the
Speaker 1: combination of that fifty six thousand dollars of debt. When
Speaker 1: Eric and I got married, I was actually still in college.
Speaker 1: I was wrapping up my undergrad degree. So we got
Speaker 1: married very very low income. He was working for himself,
Speaker 1: he had his own electrical business, lived off of that income.
Speaker 1: Then when I graduated, I of course graduated with debt,
Speaker 1: thank you the university system higher education, and went right
Speaker 1: into social work field, making twenty six thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 1: To me, that was I knew it was low, but
Speaker 1: it was something I was so accustomed to not having money.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm coming out of college, didn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of money, so I was pleased to have a
Speaker 1: regular paycheck, But twenty six thousand dollars even ten years
Speaker 1: ago that was below poverty line, that was not that
Speaker 1: was not enough to even cover the basics. So frugality
Speaker 1: was necessary for me just because of my circumstances. And
Speaker 1: Eric had variable income. He was still just starting out
Speaker 1: his business, so I would say our take home pay
Speaker 1: combined was low thirties. So to have thirty two thousand
Speaker 1: dollars of school loan debt felt like so much. I know,
Speaker 1: in some ways it's peanuts compared to what students are
Speaker 1: graduating with these days, but at the time that was
Speaker 1: above my annual salary, so that it really did feel
Speaker 1: like a lot, and I knew I wanted it gone.
Speaker 1: But of course, like we said, we had other debts
Speaker 1: that we had, so we went from making about within that.
Speaker 1: That's said, those seven years a combined thirty thousand two.
Speaker 1: There were years when we probably saw a combined sixty thousand,
Speaker 1: but pretty low income through those seven years of debt
Speaker 1: payoff as far as a combined income goes. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: did Eric feel like about the debt because he didn't
Speaker 1: have any student loans or anything, and at that point,
Speaker 1: like you hadn't acquired an r V or trailer or anything,
Speaker 1: so like, what was his kind of response or I
Speaker 1: can't totally speak for him, but I'll try. I'll do it.
Speaker 1: I'll try. I think he this is gonna sound so conceded.
Speaker 1: I think he was just so on board for like
Speaker 1: the whole package, the package being me. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think I'm sure he would have preferred that I
Speaker 1: didn't have debt, but I think it was peripheral to
Speaker 1: the life that we wanted to have together, and he
Speaker 1: was on board with, yeah, I want to help you
Speaker 1: pay this off. I think his he was angry at
Speaker 1: the college system and yeah, why is this a thing?
Speaker 1: But forever and always, and this will probably come out
Speaker 1: as we go through this story, we've both been so
Speaker 1: supportive of each other's endeavors, and I think that is
Speaker 1: some of the reason behind our unusual journey throughout debt,
Speaker 1: freedom and some of our non traditional housing situations. So
Speaker 1: much of us choosing that was to support one another
Speaker 1: in our endeavors, but in a way that created space
Speaker 1: and freedom for us as a couple. So he was
Speaker 1: on board for paying it off, equally didn't like it,
Speaker 1: didn't blame me for it, was glad that I was
Speaker 1: able to pursue the degree that I wanted was able
Speaker 1: to put that degree into action and care for the
Speaker 1: populations that were important to me. And thankfully he didn't
Speaker 1: have any he didn't have any debt, he didn't go
Speaker 1: to undergrad so it was just that that we had
Speaker 1: to pay off. So he was on board. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you also cash flowed your master's degree during the seven years. Yes,
Speaker 1: that was not a debt that we acquired, And that
Speaker 1: was one of my parameters. I said to myself and
Speaker 1: others if I were to go back to get my masters,
Speaker 1: because it was lingering for me within the field of
Speaker 1: social work. It's a good idea, it's I think it's
Speaker 1: always a good idea to expand your skill set and
Speaker 1: experience and understanding, and certainly within this field it's helpful.
Speaker 1: So it was always on my radar. But I said
Speaker 1: to myself and others, I will not get my masters
Speaker 1: if it means me going into debt for it. It
Speaker 1: just was something I hate it. I I abhorred the
Speaker 1: feeling of owing tens of thousands of dollars and thankfully
Speaker 1: we were able to make that happen, so that that
Speaker 1: happened in two thousand eighteen, that we cash flowed my
Speaker 1: master's degree, and we were able to do that because
Speaker 1: we were living in a motor home at the time. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: so let's talk about the motor home and the trail.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about all of the non traditional methods you
Speaker 1: used to not only pay off your debt but also
Speaker 1: cash flow a master's degree. Yeah, so this the idea
Speaker 1: first began. And it's neat because Eric and I just
Speaker 1: celebrated ten years of marriage and we went away on
Speaker 1: a really beautiful vacation and we were able to process.
Speaker 1: We kind of wanted to look at big picture of
Speaker 1: our lives over the last ten years. And I even
Speaker 1: talked with him about this. So what is fresh in
Speaker 1: my mind? How did we decide to do that? How
Speaker 1: it makes sense now just looking back. Oh yeah, we
Speaker 1: did motor homes, But how in the world that that
Speaker 1: even become a thing. And it really was for low
Speaker 1: cost living. A lot of people when we say we
Speaker 1: lived in a trail tailor or a mobile home, they think, oh,
Speaker 1: you must have traveled the world you did all not
Speaker 1: the world, you do all the nation, you did all
Speaker 1: these things, and that wasn't the reason for it. I
Speaker 1: recall Eric and I were living in an apartment at
Speaker 1: the time, and he we went on a vacation with
Speaker 1: his family and we were at a lake and rented
Speaker 1: a pontoon boat, and he and his dad were looking
Speaker 1: at Facebook marketplace for other boats, and within his Facebook
Speaker 1: marketplace boat search, like, oh, could we ever buy a
Speaker 1: boat and fix it up and have something fun to
Speaker 1: do as a family, he came across a motor home
Speaker 1: and was scrolling through and kind of thinking, Oh, that
Speaker 1: would be like a fun vacation and a fun way
Speaker 1: to camp, and then kept looking at it and saying,
Speaker 1: this has everything you need. We could actually live in
Speaker 1: one of these. And I had I had already been
Speaker 1: floating the idea of a master's degree, wanting a master's degree,
Speaker 1: but looking at our finances and saying I couldn't do that.
Speaker 1: I couldn't get my master's degree, and not in a
Speaker 1: further debt. There is just no money for us. And
Speaker 1: not to mention, if I get my master's degree, I'm
Speaker 1: going to have to really scale back with work. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to have much time to even be earning
Speaker 1: income while I'm spending money. And so that's when the
Speaker 1: idea just kind of set in of let's see if
Speaker 1: we could do that. And for Eric and I we
Speaker 1: do move quickly when we say something and we kind
Speaker 1: of get the idea in our head then like we jump.
Speaker 1: So I probably within two weeks of that Facebook marketplace
Speaker 1: motor home, we had a motor home and we were
Speaker 1: beginning to renovate it and making moves to moving into
Speaker 1: it and so again for the low cost of living,
Speaker 1: and it really did provide that for us. And I
Speaker 1: will say what actually allowed for us to cash flow
Speaker 1: the Masters was the eventual sale of that motor home.
Speaker 1: So living in it provided us as a place to
Speaker 1: live without high rent or utilities or really any of
Speaker 1: the other like expenses of time and resources, which was amazing,
Speaker 1: just the simple life. But then we renovated it and
Speaker 1: we were able to sell it at a profit, which
Speaker 1: is really what allowed us to be able to do that,
Speaker 1: and we were able to sell it. And another unusual
Speaker 1: living experience that we had was we house sat in
Speaker 1: a log cabin for a couple who was near retirement
Speaker 1: but they wanted to keep their home, but there was
Speaker 1: an opportunity within his work to be able to go
Speaker 1: to Ireland and they didn't want the hassle of tenants
Speaker 1: but they wanted someone to care for their homes. So
Speaker 1: we were able to live there, sell our motor home
Speaker 1: and not have living expenses, and pay for my master's degree.
Speaker 1: So the stars aligned in a lot of ways. But
Speaker 1: we also were moving and Shaken were running our own
Speaker 1: businesses in the background of me getting my masters and
Speaker 1: really putting ourselves out there for does anyone have things
Speaker 1: that we can do in a non traditional kind of
Speaker 1: creative way. So it is attainable, I think for people,
Speaker 1: but you do have to be a specific type of
Speaker 1: person to be able to live in someone else's home
Speaker 1: for a year and all that can come with that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you do have to put yourself in a certain position
Speaker 1: in order to like some of I think the house
Speaker 1: sitting one was kind of like a lucky break. You
Speaker 1: just like right place at right time, but you have
Speaker 1: to put yourself in that right place at that right
Speaker 1: time in order to get lucky. And so there are
Speaker 1: so many unique stories out there that are only stories
Speaker 1: because the people put themselves in a position to to
Speaker 1: be able to take advantage of an opportunity that came up.
Speaker 1: And so maybe how sinning isn't an opportunity that comes
Speaker 1: up for you if you're listening to this. But the
Speaker 1: more you put yourself in non traditional situations, the more
Speaker 1: non traditional opportunities come up for you to take advantage of.
Speaker 1: And thankfully the Internet does provide a lot of those
Speaker 1: types of opportunities. Like, yes, this was this was an
Speaker 1: opportunity within our network, but there are also all sorts
Speaker 1: of people looking for house sitters for various degrees of
Speaker 1: amounts of time that they're away for, So this could
Speaker 1: also be searched out. You don't have to wait for
Speaker 1: it to follow your lab Yeah, what were some of
Speaker 1: the logistics to living in the r V and then
Speaker 1: the trailer? So like where did you park? How much
Speaker 1: did it cost? Like what was the cost of the
Speaker 1: r V compared to what you sold it for? Stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Sure, parking r vs is one of the
Speaker 1: most challenging aspects of living in a motor home or
Speaker 1: a trailer, and so whenever someone asks us about this
Speaker 1: and they're tossing around the idea, my recommendation is nowhere
Speaker 1: you're going to park at first, before you sink thousands
Speaker 1: or tens of thousands of dollars into this, have a
Speaker 1: place to put it. Thankfully, we were able to find that.
Speaker 1: But I'm not going to say that that was easy
Speaker 1: or that we didn't have to move around a bit
Speaker 1: to make that possible for ourselves. I think people are
Speaker 1: becoming more and more open to having r vs parked
Speaker 1: on their property. But National Lampoon's Christmas vacation did not
Speaker 1: give a great look for our V years, and I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people have that image in their
Speaker 1: head and you're going to do what and you're gonna
Speaker 1: live in it and you're not just gonna camp? And
Speaker 1: where does your waste go? And I don't think I
Speaker 1: want it. But thankfully we had enough other non traditional
Speaker 1: thinking friends and even people on the Internet who were
Speaker 1: willing to let us park on their property. So we
Speaker 1: did a variety. We had our trailer or RV parked
Speaker 1: at friends houses at some points for short terms of time.
Speaker 1: We had it parked in your backyard for a short
Speaker 1: period of time. There are some RV parks that would
Speaker 1: allow year round rent, like lots rental spots that you
Speaker 1: can have. That's not always the most cost effective, and
Speaker 1: especially if you're like us who lived in the North,
Speaker 1: usually you can only find a space for six to
Speaker 1: eight months out of the year. You got to go
Speaker 1: someplace else for the winter. So those are some of
Speaker 1: the barriers. But one of the best situations that we
Speaker 1: ended up finding when we were living in our trailer
Speaker 1: was we rented out an office space which was a
Speaker 1: previous barn that was renovated to be an office on
Speaker 1: someone's property in the farmland of the suburbs of Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: and they just happened to be open enough with us
Speaker 1: to bowl. I don't know they were. They chose to
Speaker 1: allow us to park on their property, which was amazing.
Speaker 1: So we both rented out the office space because both
Speaker 1: Eric and I worked remotely, and then we were also
Speaker 1: able to park our trailer on their property so we
Speaker 1: could live there and work there and very unusual. I
Speaker 1: think it was great that they were open to that.
Speaker 1: But things like that we've been able to find, and
Speaker 1: I would say Ace Book Marketplace was helpful for us
Speaker 1: in identifying places that we could park the motor home
Speaker 1: and be able to meet with people and chat with
Speaker 1: them and explain to them what we're doing, why we're
Speaker 1: doing it, the type of people that we are. We're
Speaker 1: not gonna be partying, We're not going to be up
Speaker 1: late at night, We're gonna be doing weird stuff on
Speaker 1: your property. Like we promise we're professional adults, but this
Speaker 1: is what we're doing. And would you be willing to
Speaker 1: let us have your hose in your backyard? Yes? So
Speaker 1: what would you say the monthly cost was for like
Speaker 1: living in an RV. That's really gonna depend, but I'll
Speaker 1: give a generalization. So we paid anywhere from a hundred
Speaker 1: to a thousand dollars to park our trailer monthly. The
Speaker 1: higher end of that spectrum was, of course, when we
Speaker 1: were at the office space where we were both renting
Speaker 1: an office and we had our motor home park there.
Speaker 1: So for us that was great because we were again
Speaker 1: running our own businesses, so a lot of that rental
Speaker 1: could be a business right off. And so we kind
Speaker 1: of more so factored that our lot rent was maybe
Speaker 1: more so around three hundred dollars, so let's say three
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. Utilities were never more than a hundred if
Speaker 1: you're talking water and electric that kind of thing, and
Speaker 1: then of course whatever you're going to spend on food
Speaker 1: and the rest of your life. But I would say,
Speaker 1: all in all, you're talking under five hundred dollars a
Speaker 1: month to be able to live in a tiny home
Speaker 1: like that, just because it is smaller what you have
Speaker 1: to heat and cool and utilize as much less. That said,
Speaker 1: the amount of time that it took to up keep
Speaker 1: a tiny home, and especially a motor home in the
Speaker 1: winter where you actually have to be concerned about pipes freezing,
Speaker 1: it did take more time and energy and know how
Speaker 1: and problem solving than I think the average person realized.
Speaker 1: Is it's not for the faint of heart. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: recommend just anybody do it, And to be honest, I
Speaker 1: don't know that I would have done it on my
Speaker 1: own if it weren't for Eric. He had a lot
Speaker 1: of that know how, ability to fix things in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night, to problem solved what might be
Speaker 1: going wrong with the A C unit or this or that.
Speaker 1: So there are things to consider with it. At the
Speaker 1: end of the day, I'm so pleased for the experience,
Speaker 1: glad we had it. But that is more so the cost,
Speaker 1: I would say, is the cost of time and in
Speaker 1: repairs and problem solving than necessarily the finances. So someone's
Speaker 1: up for that challenge. Then it was a fantastic experience. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the cost of the actual trailer in RV were
Speaker 1: offset by the profit you made because you did renovate
Speaker 1: the r V and the trailer. They were beautiful and
Speaker 1: from where they were too, like where they ended up like,
Speaker 1: you were able to sell for a profit because of
Speaker 1: the cost effective thing that you put into it. So
Speaker 1: that really did offset and that was the nice thing.
Speaker 1: Even though it's a vehicle, which is usually a depreciating asset,
Speaker 1: not only were we able to make a profit on it,
Speaker 1: but obviously recoup what we had initially paid and all
Speaker 1: the money that we put into it for renovation. So
Speaker 1: it almost in some ways for both of the times
Speaker 1: that we did it, in the RV and the trailer,
Speaker 1: it almost felt like a little savings account for us,
Speaker 1: knowing that we're gonna get this all of this money
Speaker 1: back and then some when we sell it. And so
Speaker 1: on the first RV that we had, I want to
Speaker 1: say that we made a profit of about eight thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: and on the trailer we made a profit of a
Speaker 1: little over ten thousand dollars. And that's not to mention,
Speaker 1: I mean that's the profit. So we also recouped all
Speaker 1: of the money that we had put into it. And
Speaker 1: so when we sold the RV that paid for my
Speaker 1: master's degree, and when we sold the trailer, that was
Speaker 1: our down payment on our home here in St. Petersburg. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: so we could talk about this all day, but we
Speaker 1: do have a few episodes on Jill's experience r ving
Speaker 1: and helping people figure out if it's right for them.
Speaker 1: So that's episode one thirty, how to live in an
Speaker 1: r VR motor home, and then episode seventy eight, which
Speaker 1: is how to save money by living in an RV.
Speaker 1: So definitely check those out if you want to know more.
Speaker 1: But I want to know, do you have any like
Speaker 1: tips for listeners who may be considering, like other forms
Speaker 1: of tiny living to save money or alternative housing. I
Speaker 1: would say do your research, so whether that's reading books,
Speaker 1: listening to podcasts, watching vloggers. That was really helpful for
Speaker 1: Eric and I. We chose the vlogging route. I like visuals,
Speaker 1: so following people who are already doing what you're doing,
Speaker 1: and hopefully finding the people who are going to be
Speaker 1: honest with you about it. Thankfully, a lot of social
Speaker 1: media can be quite transparent these days, so seeing if
Speaker 1: the ins and outs of what you think is going
Speaker 1: to be good still appeals to you, and even if
Speaker 1: you can talk with people who are already doing it. Thankfully,
Speaker 1: a lot of people have taken advantage of Eric and
Speaker 1: I in that way, like, hey, we're thinking about doing X,
Speaker 1: Y Z, and we have opinions on it. People can
Speaker 1: make their own choices, certainly, but I will be very
Speaker 1: forthright with you about the pros and the cons of
Speaker 1: tiny living and so again just knowing what that lifestyle
Speaker 1: is like, what it's going to require of you, the
Speaker 1: true costs. I think sometimes we can glamorize whatever our
Speaker 1: next step is going to be, but really sitting down
Speaker 1: and pricing it out and making sure that you're going
Speaker 1: to experience the savings that you desire to see that
Speaker 1: you've got the skill set to be able to do that,
Speaker 1: or at least the willingness time energy to learn how
Speaker 1: to do that thing. I would not recommend tiny living
Speaker 1: in the north with exposed pipes if you're not willing
Speaker 1: to be up at three in the morning heat like
Speaker 1: heat wrapping it, or you know, have an alternative place
Speaker 1: to stay if your pipes to freeze that kind of thing,
Speaker 1: and then if there's a way to be able to
Speaker 1: practice it. We have heard a lot of stories of
Speaker 1: people who think that this is a lifestyle for them.
Speaker 1: They change their entire life circumstances, sell everything, move into
Speaker 1: an RV and last for a month, and then they've
Speaker 1: got to go refigure out life again. So if you
Speaker 1: know our V life is specifically what you're considering, rent one,
Speaker 1: live in one or borrow of friends and and see
Speaker 1: if you can stay in it, pay them a saying
Speaker 1: it for a couple of weeks and really get a
Speaker 1: feel for if it's a lifestyle you're actually going to enjoy.
Speaker 1: Sometimes are idealized self is not the same as our
Speaker 1: actual self, So try it on size. So wise, I
Speaker 1: love that, yes, um, and I want to touch on
Speaker 1: a few more non traditional things you did to pay
Speaker 1: off that you had very non traditional side hustles that
Speaker 1: I've never heard of any other people doing. Like my
Speaker 1: favorite one was that you were bartenders at weddings and DJs.
Speaker 1: What are some of the other side hustles you've done
Speaker 1: over the years to just bring in extra cash. So
Speaker 1: Eric and I were DJs first and did that together.
Speaker 1: He would do the music, I would m C. Then
Speaker 1: we had a renovations business together, so he not only
Speaker 1: did he have his own electrical business in the past,
Speaker 1: but he is skilled at all of the trades, so
Speaker 1: he did a lot of I knew how to do
Speaker 1: a lot of different construction work types of things, or
Speaker 1: mary capable, and I'm very capable. And you can make
Speaker 1: money with able, get the best of both worlds if
Speaker 1: you can. And I realized that I really enjoy working
Speaker 1: with my hands as well. I'm not as much of
Speaker 1: a skilled laborer as Eric is, but I can do
Speaker 1: a lot of the finish work, the painting, the cocking,
Speaker 1: the nail filling, the design, although he's good at that too,
Speaker 1: so and we enjoy working together. So we did that
Speaker 1: for a time and that was actually the side hustle
Speaker 1: wall I was in my master's program full time. That
Speaker 1: allowed me the flexibility but still being able to make
Speaker 1: some money. And then we were bartenders. We built our
Speaker 1: own portable bar and created cocktails around different people's weddings
Speaker 1: and brought our portable portable bar and served up drinks
Speaker 1: and had a blast with that too. And then Frugal Friends,
Speaker 1: I mean honestly, Frugal Friends has been a side hustle
Speaker 1: bigger than what a typical side hustle would be. But
Speaker 1: these are some of the things, and I think they
Speaker 1: sound like they span the gamut, but really it has.
Speaker 1: Oh there was also a time that I sold plants.
Speaker 1: It was a short, a short, little season, but I'm
Speaker 1: like his mom had a ton of plants in her
Speaker 1: property and she was constantly looking to give them away.
Speaker 1: And I enjoyed plants, and so there was a season
Speaker 1: where I repotted plants and put them on a trailer
Speaker 1: in a front yard alongside the road. I just like
Speaker 1: whatever I could see as low hanging fruit to bring
Speaker 1: in money. And so despite the fact that it's maybe
Speaker 1: a lot of variety, it really had to do with
Speaker 1: what do we see in our tool belt, what's already
Speaker 1: in our hands, what's the low hanging fruit. And so
Speaker 1: for the djaying, Eric already had music equipment because he's
Speaker 1: a musician, and so this is an easy thing to do.
Speaker 1: We have weekends available, and yet it still allows us
Speaker 1: to be together because that we enjoy being together, and
Speaker 1: our work lives took us apart from each other a lot,
Speaker 1: but yet we needed increased income. So that was a
Speaker 1: really nice blend for us to have fun, party, play music,
Speaker 1: make money, be together and have a side hustle and
Speaker 1: then you know with the renovations that that's a skill
Speaker 1: set we have, and the bartending it's a skill set. Yeah.
Speaker 1: We we basically just like to party and how can
Speaker 1: we make money doing that? So I think as far
Speaker 1: as if there's a tip somewhere in there, it's so
Speaker 1: we don't have to reinvent the wheel. It doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be let me, just what is someone else doing?
Speaker 1: How can I do that same thing? Just what's in
Speaker 1: what's in your hand already? What do you what are
Speaker 1: you good at, what do you enjoy doing? What feels
Speaker 1: life giving? What is something you don't mind doing? Might
Speaker 1: even spur you on in your day to day nine
Speaker 1: to five job provides an outlet that is completely separate
Speaker 1: from what you do. It doesn't always have to be
Speaker 1: ruined to what your nine to five is. It could
Speaker 1: provide a different look at your personhood. And that's what
Speaker 1: those things were completely separate from social work and trauma.
Speaker 1: It was completely separate. Absolutely. That I think that's so
Speaker 1: wise is to look to be paying attention enough to
Speaker 1: see what's already in front of you. And you did
Speaker 1: that with your living situations, with your expenses. You did
Speaker 1: it with your income you were just always aware of
Speaker 1: how can I get creative with what's available? And you
Speaker 1: were so successful because of it. Yeah, so knowing that
Speaker 1: if you had to do it all over again, would
Speaker 1: you change anything. It's been such a journey, and thankfully
Speaker 1: I don't live with regret. I'm I'm pleased and grateful
Speaker 1: for that that there's nothing that I would look back
Speaker 1: on and say I wish I wouldn't have done that,
Speaker 1: all right. I think every experience that I've had has
Speaker 1: lended itself to the next, and I have gained an
Speaker 1: incredible skill set and variety of experiences in my life
Speaker 1: and it feels full and rich, and so I'm grateful
Speaker 1: for that. That said, if there were anything that I
Speaker 1: might change or maybe would have said to myself in
Speaker 1: the past, again, not a regret, but a message to
Speaker 1: my to my younger self and maybe anybody else who's listening.
Speaker 1: I do wish that I had gotten ahold of the
Speaker 1: permission earlier on that I had to make changes in
Speaker 1: the work that I set my hands to, or what
Speaker 1: might be available to me, the freedom and permission to
Speaker 1: think outside the box in what I'm currently doing. I
Speaker 1: think very specifically to that first job that I had
Speaker 1: out of college. It was actually the internship that I
Speaker 1: had that they just hired me on and I kept
Speaker 1: going with it, and that felt simple to me, and
Speaker 1: it was. It was very, very difficult, for lack of
Speaker 1: a better word, and I'm grateful for that experience. I
Speaker 1: do think it formed me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: But I also think I could have stepped out sooner
Speaker 1: if I had known the freedom permission that was available
Speaker 1: to me. I felt stuck, I felt trapped. I felt
Speaker 1: like I couldn't do anything different, and this is what
Speaker 1: my finances are going to look like for the rest
Speaker 1: of my life, Like I don't how could I possibly leave.
Speaker 1: I worked at a residential facility for adolescence, and so
Speaker 1: what mainly kept me there was my heart for these kids.
Speaker 1: I was very angry at the system, but the kids
Speaker 1: kept me there, and so there's there's a tension in
Speaker 1: that certainly. But I think I wish I would have
Speaker 1: realized earlier on that I don't have to care for
Speaker 1: others at the sacrifice of myself. That I can still
Speaker 1: matter in the work and there are other ways that
Speaker 1: I can care for people where I'm not stepping over myself.
Speaker 1: Exhausting myself, sacrificing myself, unnecessarily burning myself out. I wish
Speaker 1: I would have made a move sooner. Yeah, And there's
Speaker 1: such a culture in any any work like social work,
Speaker 1: any human facing work in that context that says you
Speaker 1: should come second and you should make like very little money.
Speaker 1: And I think you can transfer that to a lot
Speaker 1: of other like professions and maybe even families where they say,
Speaker 1: this is what you know, this is what mom made,
Speaker 1: so this is what I'm going to make, or this
Speaker 1: is just what we do and and stuff, and this
Speaker 1: is how the profession is. So not even knowing that
Speaker 1: there's more beyond, but once you find out, giving yourself
Speaker 1: permission to take action on what you know. And there's
Speaker 1: something to be said for gaining experience. I don't think
Speaker 1: that I could have stepped into from just graduating college
Speaker 1: into the role that I now hold, Like it does
Speaker 1: take experience and a growth of skill set and knowledge
Speaker 1: and understanding to be able to step into higher paying roles.
Speaker 1: But even still at that point, the organization didn't rely
Speaker 1: on me spending sixty hours a week making twenty six
Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year like that's ludicrous, And I was
Speaker 1: being taken advantage of. But I couldn't see out from
Speaker 1: under that that just water that I felt what I
Speaker 1: was underneath and drowning in. And once I realized, I
Speaker 1: think I kept waiting for something to change, but nothing
Speaker 1: was changing, and I felt this like deep heart cry,
Speaker 1: like I just want out of the situation. This feels suffocating.
Speaker 1: And it was also in that very moment that I realized,
Speaker 1: I can leave. I can choose to leave, I can
Speaker 1: I can do anything else creative. I don't have to
Speaker 1: wait for some thing else to come into place. And
Speaker 1: I get it that the best time to look for
Speaker 1: a job is when you have a job. But there
Speaker 1: were a few things that I was able to kind
Speaker 1: of line up to give me more security in stepping out,
Speaker 1: But other things can shift and change around. It's not
Speaker 1: worth us killing ourselves to be in a job if
Speaker 1: it is really sucking the life out of us. And
Speaker 1: that is in a lot of ways, the non traditional
Speaker 1: living that we chose. We did that so that there
Speaker 1: could be freedom for Eric to choose what he wanted
Speaker 1: to do, for me to choose what I wanted to do,
Speaker 1: even when we weren't making a lot of money. To
Speaker 1: make space for each other in that way. Yeah, something
Speaker 1: else that we choose to make space for every week
Speaker 1: is the bill of a week. That's right, it's time
Speaker 1: for the best minute of your time. A week. Maybe
Speaker 1: a baby was born and his name is Williams. Maybe
Speaker 1: you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and
Speaker 1: you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week. So this week we will play one
Speaker 1: of our listeners bills this week. But also, Jill, we
Speaker 1: would like you to share your bill for the week. Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: I'll just go with a bill that I don't mind paying.
Speaker 1: And that's my bill for gum. I don't get, not
Speaker 1: what I was expecting, but I'm not surprised. I don't
Speaker 1: get a monthly bill for gum, although I do get
Speaker 1: gum monthly, so it feels that I've got like my
Speaker 1: own personal subscription. I love gum. You can't talk me
Speaker 1: out of it. I eat, I eat a lot of gum.
Speaker 1: Might go to these days, and for a while now
Speaker 1: has been extra peppermint. I want to say it's not
Speaker 1: Spearman's not enduring pack um. No no, no, we're not.
Speaker 1: We would gladly accepted if you want to take a
Speaker 1: deep dive, that's what I spend my like dollar fifty on. Yes,
Speaker 1: well yeah, I'm not surprised, but also yeah, good for you. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's let's hear one from our listener. Hi, Jim and Jill.
Speaker 1: My name is Dianna and this is my first time
Speaker 1: calling for the bill of My husband and I are excited.
Speaker 1: We have been planning a trip to Disney World for
Speaker 1: our kids next year. After listening to one of your episodes,
Speaker 1: I decided to look into the Disney World credit card
Speaker 1: and found that they were doing zero percent interest for
Speaker 1: six months and if I paid for our trip using
Speaker 1: the credit card, I would get three off. So I
Speaker 1: did that and it has been officially six months later
Speaker 1: and our trip is completely paid for without any additional
Speaker 1: and are stoning the card. Another feature of the card
Speaker 1: was we got free door dash delivery, so my husband
Speaker 1: I have been using that one to two times a
Speaker 1: month as a date night in and once the kids
Speaker 1: go to bed, and that has been a great feature
Speaker 1: of the card. UM. I really appreciate all of your podcasts,
Speaker 1: um the fun that you have during the show makes
Speaker 1: me smile, and I love hearing all of your tips
Speaker 1: being frugal and what the entails for you know, a
Speaker 1: happy life, keep it going, and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: hear more. Thank you. Oh yeah, I love that these
Speaker 1: Bills of the week are also turning into just like
Speaker 1: many encouragement sessions, just like kind words that people are
Speaker 1: saying to us. I'll take that. So heartwarming. But also
Speaker 1: the way that you've hacked this opportunity with a Disney
Speaker 1: credit card. We're not endorsed by Disney, they make it,
Speaker 1: but again, i'll take your mom at me. And that's
Speaker 1: the thing. I think credit cards really can be used
Speaker 1: in our favor if we can be wise about it,
Speaker 1: if we know how to take advantage of the perks
Speaker 1: and not allow them to take advantage of Yes, So
Speaker 1: the way that you're utilizing this opportunity sounds so amazing.
Speaker 1: That you were able to have a really wonderful trip
Speaker 1: with your family and then regular dates with your husband indoors,
Speaker 1: not indoors at home, I mean maybe outdoors at home.
Speaker 1: I know how sacred the time is between when a
Speaker 1: child goes to bed and you go to bed, like
Speaker 1: that is sacred, So that's so awesome, Dianna. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: love travel hacking. I love taking money from specifically Chase
Speaker 1: Bank because I know that's where the Disney card is partnered.
Speaker 1: I just love taking money from them and not giving
Speaker 1: them anything in return. That's like one of my favorite
Speaker 1: things to do. So if you have a bill where
Speaker 1: you have taken something from a big bank and given
Speaker 1: them nothing thing in return, or just know a person
Speaker 1: that you met on vacation named Bill who knows you
Speaker 1: can leave us a bill at Frugal Friends podcast dot
Speaker 1: com slash Bill. And now it's time for righting round.
Speaker 1: So today are lightning round that Jill and I will
Speaker 1: both answer. Is one habit or practice you did not
Speaker 1: take with you after paying off your debt? So what's
Speaker 1: something you did while paying off debt that you no
Speaker 1: longer do? This isn't a habit or a practice. But
Speaker 1: the first thing that comes to my mind is stress,
Speaker 1: Like I didn't take stress with me post at least
Speaker 1: that's concerning finances. You have to have another answer to I, Well,
Speaker 1: but I okay, so I'll I could like that more
Speaker 1: tangible then I think some of the tenacity towards that
Speaker 1: debt payoff and what that required of us, So we
Speaker 1: don't feel the need to go as hard at side
Speaker 1: hustles as we did before. I'm not constantly thinking up
Speaker 1: how can I make money off of this, or how
Speaker 1: can someone pay me for this, or how can I
Speaker 1: spend the least amount of money on this thing even
Speaker 1: if I need it, And that has been that's been
Speaker 1: a really almost just a beautiful consequence of this and
Speaker 1: earning more income. So for me, my debt payoff is
Speaker 1: very interconnected with earning higher levels of income. So sometimes
Speaker 1: I don't quite know is what I'm experiencing because I'm
Speaker 1: debt free, or is what I'm experiencing because we've been
Speaker 1: intentional about earning more and making more and maybe it's
Speaker 1: a combination, but I have not I've not felt the
Speaker 1: need to tally up everything that I'm purchasing at the
Speaker 1: grocery store or do bare minimum with every single decision
Speaker 1: that I make. Uh. And some of that is just
Speaker 1: like moving out of scarcity mindset, moving out of literally
Speaker 1: financially being in poverty, which I'm so grateful for. So
Speaker 1: there's just yeah, in some ways, and it's a habit,
Speaker 1: it's a thought process. The way that I approach purchases
Speaker 1: how I think about them has shifted a lot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. That's a good answer, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Something else that you did not take is living in
Speaker 1: your living in a trailer. Yeah, I don't live in
Speaker 1: a vehicle a yes. Yes. However, we did live in
Speaker 1: our trailer for a bit of time post debt freedom,
Speaker 1: but yeah, that didn't last very long. We quickly sold
Speaker 1: it and used that money to buy a house, and
Speaker 1: that was It was never the intention for that to
Speaker 1: be a long term lifestyle. And I am definitely a
Speaker 1: proponent of non traditional living circumstances for a specified goal
Speaker 1: that we don't have to do these things. And I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people looked at us like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're the tiny home livers, Like that's what you did.
Speaker 1: You dwell in tiny homes and that's it. And we
Speaker 1: did for a time. It was a big part of
Speaker 1: our lives and what defined us. But we never intended
Speaker 1: for that to be this is what we're doing. Because
Speaker 1: all of our ideology and outlook is intertwined with this.
Speaker 1: It helped us a lot in that regard. But anyhow,
Speaker 1: freedom and that too, that you could do something for
Speaker 1: a time just to get at another goal. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: So for me, and this is gonna be a little controversial.
Speaker 1: It's not the same for jail, but for me, it's
Speaker 1: um Budgeting is a practice that I don't really do
Speaker 1: often anymore. And some people are going to be really
Speaker 1: offended by this. But I spent years figuring out how
Speaker 1: to lower my expenses, control my impulse purchases, raise my income,
Speaker 1: and I am still constantly aware of those things, constantly
Speaker 1: of where aware of impulse buying efficient ways to increase
Speaker 1: my income, not like short sighted ways. And so I
Speaker 1: am constantly aware of those things, and I do check
Speaker 1: my accounts monthly to make sure that nobody has hacked me.
Speaker 1: But I don't really budget anymore, and so there's pros
Speaker 1: and cons to that. I've never been much of a
Speaker 1: budget or even so when we did it when we
Speaker 1: were paying off debt, we did it very strictly every
Speaker 1: month because we needed to know to the penny. Our
Speaker 1: income was also lower and a lot more of our
Speaker 1: money was going towards a short term goal. And now
Speaker 1: that it is not, we are doing like renovations on
Speaker 1: our home, but we have kind of set up our
Speaker 1: lives and our lifestyles in a way that we can
Speaker 1: just live on one income and not care about the rest.
Speaker 1: I mean care about it, but like either invest or
Speaker 1: save the rest. So we just really focus on just
Speaker 1: spending and spending what we have because what we have
Speaker 1: is only half of what we make. So yeah, that
Speaker 1: is a thing that I did not take with me
Speaker 1: after And one of the cons is that sometimes I
Speaker 1: can get a little anxious about money because I do
Speaker 1: also love control, and I don't have control over every
Speaker 1: single penny. But I think the uh, it's not that serious,
Speaker 1: Like I have enough other things that I can control
Speaker 1: and have power in that. This is one of those
Speaker 1: things that I know, I'm confident in these skills I
Speaker 1: have created that I really just check to see if
Speaker 1: anybody has hacked my bank stuff. And we we travel
Speaker 1: act too, so we're always switching up cards and closing
Speaker 1: your locking cards, so like that kind of helps with
Speaker 1: the hacking too. You're not alone in what you're describing.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing more and more people say I don't budget,
Speaker 1: And I also think there's a spectrum to that. Just
Speaker 1: like people talk about retiring early, it's not for most people.
Speaker 1: It's not really retiring early and so whatever they define
Speaker 1: that to be. And so I think you're defining the
Speaker 1: way that you manage money. And I think in some
Speaker 1: ways that is what budgeting is. And because you have
Speaker 1: so much practice with it, this makes sense for you.
Speaker 1: I would imagine that you have a very good estimate
Speaker 1: of your bills and you're spending because like I know
Speaker 1: you say I don't budget, but I'm sure if I
Speaker 1: asked you, what are utilities monthly? What's your mortgage, what's
Speaker 1: your discretionary spending? What about groceries? What do you typically
Speaker 1: spend on take out? Like you would probably be able
Speaker 1: to rattle that off within a five dollar range of
Speaker 1: act your that's very Um, I don't know if I
Speaker 1: can get five dollars. I definitely do know what our
Speaker 1: bills are and and all of that. And like, I
Speaker 1: don't think you should trust me if I'm on here
Speaker 1: with this podcast not being able to say that. I
Speaker 1: just like, but just to clarify for people, because I
Speaker 1: think I love the freedom that's being talked about both
Speaker 1: in your circle, your experiences and the choices you made
Speaker 1: as well as mine, but also the journey to get
Speaker 1: there that yes, credit cards can be awesome, but don't
Speaker 1: use them if their downfall for you. Yes, living tiny
Speaker 1: is awesome, but don't do it if you've got ten
Speaker 1: kids or like you live in Alaska at least in
Speaker 1: r V tiny homes are fine. Yeah, you don't have
Speaker 1: to budget, but as long as you've got a really
Speaker 1: good handle on your finances and you have budgeted in
Speaker 1: the past, you know what that means and you know
Speaker 1: where your money is going now. So there's there's freedom,
Speaker 1: but there's also a skill set and experience to be
Speaker 1: built it all as well. Absolutely well, everyone, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for listening. I hope there's something in my
Speaker 1: story that can encourage you and provide freedom to you
Speaker 1: and reach out if you've got more specific questions. If
Speaker 1: this is getting your own wheels, turning on some creative living,
Speaker 1: debt payoff for your just living on a low income,
Speaker 1: I feel for you. In celebration of our summit June,
Speaker 1: we want to share some of the comments you guys
Speaker 1: made about our event, like this one from Emily S.
Speaker 1: I found out this about this awesome summit from Sarah Wilson,
Speaker 1: so shout out to her. I'm also interested in real
Speaker 1: estate investing and home payment hacking. Found it really helpful
Speaker 1: hearing about how Sarah goes about getting tenants. Thank you
Speaker 1: for that interview. Yeah, thanks so much, Emily. We have
Speaker 1: so many great interviews lined up this year. That and
Speaker 1: it's all about spending, so we really honed in on
Speaker 1: that impulse spending, emotional spending, habitual spending, like all of
Speaker 1: these spending psychology topics, So we really want to help
Speaker 1: you gain insight and tools in this one area, so
Speaker 1: you feel like you've taken something out of the week
Speaker 1: that you will use moving forward. So thanks so much
Speaker 1: for listening. If you want your free ticket f R
Speaker 1: E E ticket to this year's summit, June had to
Speaker 1: Frugal Living Summit dot com and don't forget to check
Speaker 1: out the Spending Mastery bundle after you register. See you
Speaker 1: next week. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Would
Speaker 1: you let me park my dwelling in your backyard again?
Speaker 1: If it ever came to that abolutely Like I think
Speaker 1: some people might hear, like, oh, don't you're just going
Speaker 1: to mooch off of your friends and family if you
Speaker 1: live in a tiny home, But I think we really
Speaker 1: viewed it as an opportunity for community and connection. It's
Speaker 1: you don't always get to living in a city or
Speaker 1: even a suburb. You don't get that kind of intimate
Speaker 1: connection with friends as soon as you, you know, hit
Speaker 1: your thirties. And for us, it was a time where
Speaker 1: we could really be an intentional community for six weeks,
Speaker 1: sharing meals together, working side by side, but still having
Speaker 1: our own separate dwellings. And so for us it was
Speaker 1: a gift. And like, yes, you did pay us a
Speaker 1: little bit of like rent money for the land, but
Speaker 1: we you know, we also would have you know, given
Speaker 1: it for free because for us, and we're just that
Speaker 1: type of people to like, we rented at our guest
Speaker 1: room on Airbnb for two years because we liked meeting
Speaker 1: new people and having them in our home. Like that's
Speaker 1: just like a or value of mine is community in
Speaker 1: that sort of way. Shocker, right, So like for me,
Speaker 1: it was a gift. And I think if you can
Speaker 1: find other people in your life who have a core
Speaker 1: value of community, like you could be giving them a
Speaker 1: gift as much as they are giving you a gift. Yeah, likewise,
Speaker 1: it was awesome for us just because it was coming
Speaker 1: from the north in the winter, so that was a
Speaker 1: gift and being able to park on your property. And
Speaker 1: I know we've talked about this before, but I'll say
Speaker 1: it again. The pandemic happened while we were parked there.
Speaker 1: We came down February not knowing what was about to
Speaker 1: hit us, and then the pandemic happened, and the North
Speaker 1: was experiencing it more into a heightened degree than the
Speaker 1: South was in the very beginning, and so hearing stories
Speaker 1: of our friends talking about what it was like outside
Speaker 1: Philadelphia versus our experience in St. Petersburg, so we just
Speaker 1: stayed for a little bit longer, which was so nice,
Speaker 1: and still keeping distance from people, but because we had
Speaker 1: already been together when we had like this built in
Speaker 1: bubble and the sharing meals was even better, Like we
Speaker 1: still were able to have friends and hang out and
Speaker 1: grilled together. So honestly, the beginning of the pandemic hold
Speaker 1: some fond memories in that regard. It was really awful.
Speaker 1: A lot of other We went to Disney the week
Speaker 1: before it shut down, like unknown that was to come. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in a heartbeat, I would absolutely do it again. Um,
Speaker 1: But I also think it's just because you and Eric
Speaker 1: are like the best people's well, we practically did move
Speaker 1: into your backyard by moving down to St. Petersburg in
Speaker 1: the house fifteen minutes from you, guys. So it worked.
Speaker 1: You really convinced us, and we're here now and and
Speaker 1: that you know, and I'm forever thankful for that