Speaker 1: Episode one fifty seven, Eco Friendly Frugality. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights,
Speaker 1: and liver with your life. Here your host Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: M m m m m m m m. Welcome to
Speaker 1: another episode of Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and today we are talking about
Speaker 1: the intersection of frugality and environmentalism. And for some of
Speaker 1: you you're like, yes, I've been here with you for
Speaker 1: several years. And to other people you're like, how I
Speaker 1: can't afford reusable plastic silicone bags. I can't afford to
Speaker 1: be an environmentalist. What are we doing these wax sran rap? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we're here to like totally open up the intersection
Speaker 1: between these two why they belong together and why they
Speaker 1: are attainable together, and how to do it. So that's
Speaker 1: what we're talking about today. Yeah, there's space for all
Speaker 1: of us wherever you find yourself on this spectrum, So
Speaker 1: happy or here. But first, our sponsors the Emergency Fund,
Speaker 1: whether it's five hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, fifteen thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm on a game show I put
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Speaker 1: you're laid off, you're unable to work, or for any
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Speaker 1: So again that's Frugal Friends Podcast dot com slash a
Speaker 1: x O s get that emergency fund. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: also brought to you by reusing it sits between reduced
Speaker 1: and recycle on the cycle of stuff kind of how
Speaker 1: Jill notice I reused my sponsor from a hundred and
Speaker 1: ten episodes ago for this episode and made me change it.
Speaker 1: I also reused an article I made her find another
Speaker 1: one because I had to write a new sponsor, and
Speaker 1: I can't do everything. You know, reusing good for stuff
Speaker 1: bad for content. I guess this feels like so much
Speaker 1: more than about the sponsor. It's like simultaneously a dig
Speaker 1: at me while also yeah, just a good sponsor promoting
Speaker 1: reusing for sure and the congruent though, Jen, you're sustainable
Speaker 1: in your content. Really it's the same message you wanted
Speaker 1: to say a year ago. Well, if you're wondering if
Speaker 1: we've changed our ideas about environmentalism and frugality from in
Speaker 1: the last two years, we haven't. Obviously are still true.
Speaker 1: Episode forty eight is why frugality is environmentally friendly. So
Speaker 1: I reuse without realizing it my sponsor and the first
Speaker 1: article for this and so I'm glad, thank you Jill
Speaker 1: for noticing that so that we can give people some
Speaker 1: unique perspective for this episode. But if you are interested
Speaker 1: in what those are, because obviously they're good, like if
Speaker 1: I'm reusing them and didn't even know the woods, oh gosh,
Speaker 1: well yes spoiler alert it was from Frugal Woods. So
Speaker 1: episode forty eight for that, And then you can also
Speaker 1: check out episode one oh three is our episode on
Speaker 1: a frugal zero waste lifestyle, So this one will be
Speaker 1: a little different from those, but if you're interested, definitely
Speaker 1: add those two to your plane. Next, well, let's get
Speaker 1: into this article that is new and fresh to us,
Speaker 1: but Jill found it's not recycled content. This is new
Speaker 1: but still sustainable. It comes from Brightly. They actually also
Speaker 1: have a podcast, so this is very meta in that
Speaker 1: these are show notes for another podcast episode, so feel
Speaker 1: free to check them out too. But talking about making
Speaker 1: sustainability affordable, what did you think about this article? Jen?
Speaker 1: Since I had to find it since you can't do
Speaker 1: it all, I loved it. I love it when we
Speaker 1: go through other podcasts show notes actually because people listening
Speaker 1: to this already like podcast and so if we can
Speaker 1: find another one that maybe we'll just expound on some
Speaker 1: of the concepts we bring here. I love that. So
Speaker 1: this one has a lot of tips. But then I
Speaker 1: also loved the first section called is sustainability just for
Speaker 1: the wealthy? Because that is a big argument when it
Speaker 1: comes to um really frugality in big picture, because a
Speaker 1: lot of people believe that frugality and sustainability and eco
Speaker 1: friendly living is actually reserved for people of privileged people
Speaker 1: that actually have money to save money to buy more
Speaker 1: expensive products, and so that is something that we are
Speaker 1: trying to It's a myth we're trying to debunk and
Speaker 1: show that any eco like economic standing can practice frugality,
Speaker 1: can practice sustainability. Everyone's just going to be doing it
Speaker 1: to a different extent. I will say at this point,
Speaker 1: it's not unfounded, right this this concept must come from
Speaker 1: somewhere of that costs money. It's not as if we're
Speaker 1: pulling that idea out of thin air. It is true
Speaker 1: that you could buy products that advertise themselves as eco friendly, sustainable, reusable,
Speaker 1: that are very expensive or that just look really pretty,
Speaker 1: and then they're also sustainable and environmentally friendly. And we're saying, yes,
Speaker 1: that is a way of going about being environmentally friendly.
Speaker 1: It's not the only way, and in some cases it
Speaker 1: is not the way at all, even though it's advertising
Speaker 1: to be. So there are just advertisers and marketers out
Speaker 1: there who know that we value these things, and we'll
Speaker 1: try to make their product look that way even though
Speaker 1: it's not helping the environment or it's not even that sustainable.
Speaker 1: So that's where some of these concepts come from. But
Speaker 1: we want to position this topic in the framework of
Speaker 1: frugal lifestyle, that they can partner together, they're not mutually exclusive.
Speaker 1: And I like some of the arguments that she makes
Speaker 1: at the beginning of this article or her show notes
Speaker 1: for her podcasts talking about environmentally friendly, being environment mentally friendly,
Speaker 1: and sustainable. It doesn't have to be beautiful. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of times our concepts of it come from
Speaker 1: the Graham Instagram. For those of you who are not
Speaker 1: a savvy's Jill, I don't even know how to work Instagram.
Speaker 1: It's like not even for the elder millennials. I don't
Speaker 1: even understand it anyhow. It doesn't have to look like
Speaker 1: how we've imagined it. It's similar to I think minimalism
Speaker 1: that or simple living. We often have this like idea,
Speaker 1: this picture in our heads of what that looks like,
Speaker 1: and so we kind of want to debunk some of
Speaker 1: that that it doesn't have to be beautiful. It can
Speaker 1: be beautiful if we wanted to be, but doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be grammable. I also really like the argument that
Speaker 1: this makes. I hadn't thought about it in this way before,
Speaker 1: but being environmentally friendly it doesn't necessarily mean that we
Speaker 1: have to purchase the products. It's not like a race
Speaker 1: for what products are most friendly, but where is the
Speaker 1: least impact. That was a total mindset shift just reading
Speaker 1: this article for me, Like, it's not about collecting all
Speaker 1: of the products that say they're friendly for the ecosystem,
Speaker 1: but where do we have the least amount of impact?
Speaker 1: And I think that's where we see the most frugality
Speaker 1: and less spending. Absolutely, I loved the quote from the
Speaker 1: Frugal Woes article we covered last time is that you
Speaker 1: cannot buy your way to green. That is not the
Speaker 1: way to be environmentally friendly. It is when you maybe
Speaker 1: have to buy something and you intentionally want it to
Speaker 1: be less impactful. Um, there are definitely other ways to
Speaker 1: know about it than buying new products. We'll get into that,
Speaker 1: but you cannot buy your way to green. It's really
Speaker 1: a lifestyle that comes on what you more so what
Speaker 1: you don't do versus what you do. It is so
Speaker 1: interesting to me how sustainability has become this thing that
Speaker 1: we think is connected with privilege and wealth, because the
Speaker 1: resourcefulness that it actually requires is something that I think
Speaker 1: we've learned out of the Great Depression, or when we
Speaker 1: look at countries or cultures that are developing or not wealthy,
Speaker 1: like that's where we find the true tools for sustainability.
Speaker 1: So it's quite mind boggling to me even that it's
Speaker 1: become something so different than that, which I guess we
Speaker 1: can thank advertisers and marketers for that one absolutely, because
Speaker 1: I see when I think of minimal um or simple
Speaker 1: living or environmentalism, I think of the white wall with
Speaker 1: the white table and the Swedish chair and all of these. Yes,
Speaker 1: and all of these things are quite expensive because they
Speaker 1: are trendy um, but that's actually not what real life
Speaker 1: minimalism and environmentalism looks like. It is not actually beautiful.
Speaker 1: I mean, I love my cushy brown couch from Goodwill,
Speaker 1: like I think it looks great, but it does not
Speaker 1: look as good as my old couch that I bought
Speaker 1: new um, but was extremely uncomfortable. So yeah, it's not
Speaker 1: you're not putting my living room in a magazine. But
Speaker 1: it's very minimal and I think nine out of ten
Speaker 1: items were bought used, So that's yeah. And so where
Speaker 1: frugality meats environmental friendly is um? I made up that word?
Speaker 1: Is this work with what you got mentality? It's not
Speaker 1: a how do I go out and purchase something that's
Speaker 1: going to be friendly. It's how do I make the
Speaker 1: least amount of impact and work with what I already
Speaker 1: have and what can I not buy? What are things
Speaker 1: that I can do without so that I can just
Speaker 1: avoid it all together. So let's look at some of
Speaker 1: the tips that they give for here um And this
Speaker 1: first one is a personal favorite of mine and I
Speaker 1: just had a conversation with somebody in my Instagram d
Speaker 1: m s about this, uh this past weekend actually, and
Speaker 1: it's buying clothing second hand and also selling on thrift aaps.
Speaker 1: So when you have clothes that you want to get
Speaker 1: rid of, instead of just hauling them off to Goodwill, uh,
Speaker 1: they already get way too many clothes. If you can
Speaker 1: the better stuff, selling it on thrift apps like posh
Speaker 1: Mark is a great one. You can also send things
Speaker 1: to threat up there. It's not as great, you don't
Speaker 1: get as much money back, but it's a lot easier
Speaker 1: if you don't have the time. So I love buying
Speaker 1: clothing secondhand. It's something that I almost strictly buy clothing secondhand.
Speaker 1: But I was talking to somebody on d m s
Speaker 1: about store credit cards and I think store credit cards
Speaker 1: are the worst credit cards and you know, I love
Speaker 1: credit cards rewards, and I think store credit cards are
Speaker 1: the worst because not only do they have the highest
Speaker 1: interest rate and some of the worst rewards, but they
Speaker 1: actually cause people to impulse buy more from these stores
Speaker 1: because they have this kind of like sunk cost feeling
Speaker 1: because they have these discounts. So and they're like, well,
Speaker 1: I have these discounts and I'll lose them if I
Speaker 1: don't use them, YadA YadA. Or I have a discount,
Speaker 1: I'll buy more to make my discount worth more, which
Speaker 1: I think is horrible. Um, and I don't. I mean,
Speaker 1: we overspend so much on new clothes. And the girl
Speaker 1: I was talking to you like disagreed with me. But
Speaker 1: it is you have to pick and choose the things.
Speaker 1: I guess the hills you're going to die on for
Speaker 1: for what you want to do, what works in your life. Um.
Speaker 1: But for me, buying clothing secondhand is just like a
Speaker 1: no brainer. I have not even bought clothing. I can't
Speaker 1: remember the last time I bought clothing, which feels so good.
Speaker 1: I used to be so addicted to buying clothes. Living
Speaker 1: in a motor home ruined me that way. I had
Speaker 1: to Um, I'm in the process of buying a new
Speaker 1: bathing suit because I haven't bought one and maybe like
Speaker 1: five years, and I do want to buy that new.
Speaker 1: That's kind of a place where I will draw the
Speaker 1: line and uh, but it is really hard. There's so
Speaker 1: many choices when you're at a thrift store, Like most
Speaker 1: of the things you hate, I hate, so there's just
Speaker 1: like a few choices for me. But when you have
Speaker 1: when there's my size and everything, there's just too much
Speaker 1: to choose from, and it's all like triple the price
Speaker 1: that I'd normally pay. So it's difficult there as well.
Speaker 1: So your mindset kind of changes when you switch over
Speaker 1: to rictly second hand. When you start to buy like
Speaker 1: new things, you definitely overthink. It makes it harder to
Speaker 1: buy on impulse. So that's nice. Well yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you're anything like me, if I'm going to buy new,
Speaker 1: then it better be a quality product that's going to
Speaker 1: last me for a very long time. So yeah, it
Speaker 1: is a bigger commitment than sobsolutely. I like this other
Speaker 1: tip that she gives on here, and this is not
Speaker 1: one that I've seen on many articles or here talked
Speaker 1: about often related to this topic, But to use up
Speaker 1: what you already have before replacing it with something that
Speaker 1: is eco friendly. So let's say you are realizing, oh,
Speaker 1: I want to be aware of the impact on my
Speaker 1: environment and within my household. That can sometimes lead us
Speaker 1: to throwing away all of our products that seem non friendly,
Speaker 1: when in reality that is going to also not be
Speaker 1: great for the environment to throw out all of these
Speaker 1: chemicals and plastics so that we can go out and
Speaker 1: buy new stuff that is advertising itself as eco friendly.
Speaker 1: So they're arguing, Okay, maybe make sure that your next
Speaker 1: purchase or even just make your own what I'm thinking
Speaker 1: cleaning products, really before doing that, use up what you
Speaker 1: already have that's going to be better for the environment anyhow.
Speaker 1: And then I also like what they talk about with swapping.
Speaker 1: So if you find a product that it doesn't really
Speaker 1: work for you, rather than throwing it out, seeing if
Speaker 1: anybody else in your community or your friend group could
Speaker 1: use it or swap it, there are apps platforms where people,
Speaker 1: even if you don't have someone within your immediate circle,
Speaker 1: you could swap products with. There's one in particular, I
Speaker 1: think it's related to like beauty products, where you can
Speaker 1: swap makeup. Ali is a community of women where they
Speaker 1: review products and swap products that they might be displeased with.
Speaker 1: So that's one example, and feel free to look for more.
Speaker 1: But I think that's an excellent way to not just
Speaker 1: throw stuff out even if it's not working for you
Speaker 1: or it's not what you want. This is a place
Speaker 1: where frugality and minimalism and environmentalism environmentalism kind of like
Speaker 1: come to a head where they don't just align perfectly,
Speaker 1: because in minimalism and simple living, you just want to
Speaker 1: get rid of all of it. But if you want
Speaker 1: to be kind to the environment, it's better to use
Speaker 1: up some of that instead of getting rid of all
Speaker 1: of it. So maybe if you're finding yourself in this
Speaker 1: weird place, think about what you're actually going to use,
Speaker 1: what you could use, and then maybe keeping enough for
Speaker 1: the next six months, nine months, a year or whatever,
Speaker 1: and then getting rid of the rest. But make sure
Speaker 1: it's stuff you know you will use, not just things
Speaker 1: like I hope I can use this or I could
Speaker 1: use this. It's far better to offer that up and
Speaker 1: you're buy nothing group to somebody who will actually use
Speaker 1: it than it is to have the hope and dreams
Speaker 1: of of using it. Because even if it's sitting in
Speaker 1: your closet. Yeah, I mean it might not be in
Speaker 1: a landfill, but it's still doing the same thing, so
Speaker 1: so be aware of that and related to that concept.
Speaker 1: Another tip on here if not seen before, is trying
Speaker 1: samples of things before splurging on clean products, whether it's
Speaker 1: a beauty product or a cleaning product, any type of product.
Speaker 1: See if you can try a sample first to be
Speaker 1: aware of whether or not you like it or it
Speaker 1: works for use that it's not another thing that gets
Speaker 1: thrown out. Yeah. This is so you could maybe ask
Speaker 1: at a salon or a place that sells beauty products
Speaker 1: for a sample, but you can also ask friends be like, hey,
Speaker 1: does anybody use this? I'd like to try it and
Speaker 1: see if anyone will offer you up just a little sample.
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem weird to me. And Facebook or Instagram
Speaker 1: could be a really good place to find a friend
Speaker 1: that can offer you a sample. Yeah, you're buying nothing groups, Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely nice. Anything else on this article for you, Jen,
Speaker 1: I really liked the get d I y around the house,
Speaker 1: so definitely not like taking on things that are out
Speaker 1: of your realm, but kind of getting creative with what
Speaker 1: you could so she recommends, like this girl on d
Speaker 1: I Y, she gets crafty around the house. She recommends
Speaker 1: d i Y networks tips to renovate your home sustainably,
Speaker 1: but she recommends like washing clothes and cooler temperatures, which
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why that's on here, Maybe I'm reading
Speaker 1: it wrong, but like turning off the lights when you
Speaker 1: leave a room, unplugging electronic items, which is all great.
Speaker 1: I don't understand how it's like d I Y, but
Speaker 1: they're all good recommendations. So for me, when I think
Speaker 1: about getting d I Y, it's like, so our windows
Speaker 1: were letting out heats or energy bill was like through
Speaker 1: the roof. So we actually considered replacing some windows ourselves.
Speaker 1: And we would have done that, we had too many
Speaker 1: windows that needed replacing, but it is something we looked into.
Speaker 1: It's like, how can I lower my electric bill, lower
Speaker 1: my impact on the energy grid, and save some money.
Speaker 1: So that ended up not being a thing that we
Speaker 1: could do. But if it was just one, like one
Speaker 1: or two windows, we would have d i yed it.
Speaker 1: But so that's kind of the first thing that comes
Speaker 1: to mind, like thinking of what are things that I
Speaker 1: could d I Y to get a to become more
Speaker 1: eco friendly, but also like get a good return on investment,
Speaker 1: be and save money on well related to energy usage.
Speaker 1: I think it's worth checking if you live in a
Speaker 1: city or borrow some Some locations will even offer credits
Speaker 1: or benefits for upgrading to some of these more energy efficient,
Speaker 1: whether it's windows or appliances or I even know St. Pete,
Speaker 1: the City of the Sunshine City of St. Pete, Florida,
Speaker 1: will give you like seventy five dollars back for replacing
Speaker 1: your toilet with an energy efficient toilet, so I know
Speaker 1: that that's not just the St. Pete thing. Check with
Speaker 1: your city to see what the different credits or rebates
Speaker 1: might be for being more aware of your energy usage
Speaker 1: and finding alternatives. Yes, we have gotten to toilet rebates
Speaker 1: for replacing our toilets, and we got a rebate for
Speaker 1: the windows as well, so that was nice. We ended
Speaker 1: up not having to pay our energy bill. The rebate
Speaker 1: was so high we didn't have to pay energy bill
Speaker 1: for a month and a half, so amly that was great.
Speaker 1: So that's the last one on this article. Our next
Speaker 1: article is when I found that was unique to this
Speaker 1: It's from green foresters dot com and it's called sustainable
Speaker 1: living on a budget. And she says green living is
Speaker 1: not a luxury, and she gets right into it with saying, like,
Speaker 1: some people think living green is a luxury, and it's
Speaker 1: not always the case. Like years ago, people used to
Speaker 1: live very sustainably in order to be frugal. It wasn't
Speaker 1: the other way around. So, like we said, again, Jill,
Speaker 1: with these like people in developing countries, they live super sustainably,
Speaker 1: like and it's not, you know, to be frugal, um so,
Speaker 1: and I love it. It is. It's too you know,
Speaker 1: save on your resources and use what you have and
Speaker 1: make it extend and last longer. Yeah, it's resourceful. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And that's what we believe frugality is is being a
Speaker 1: good steward of your resources. And that's why we think
Speaker 1: being eco friendly is frugal, because we don't want to
Speaker 1: just be good stewards of our money, because what is
Speaker 1: it worth if you all you care about is money, Like,
Speaker 1: we also want to be good stewards of our time, um,
Speaker 1: of our material possessions, of our schedule, and our environmental resources.
Speaker 1: So that's why this is so important to us. I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed how this article paired both sustainability and frugality
Speaker 1: in very overt ways. So it gives a tip and
Speaker 1: then it explains why that tip is sustainable, and then
Speaker 1: another paragraph on why that tip is also frugal. It's
Speaker 1: so good it really breaks it down in some great
Speaker 1: ways for you know, making it simple for someone like me.
Speaker 1: Uh and yeah, just driving home this point again that
Speaker 1: green doesn't have to be considered a luxury. It may
Speaker 1: not look the way that we think that it looks,
Speaker 1: but it's definitely not just for the wealthy. The first
Speaker 1: tip that stood out for me on this was the
Speaker 1: making your own products. I know we've talked about this
Speaker 1: in the past, even on our cleaning episode. Really considering
Speaker 1: making our own, not purchasing, and in that way we're
Speaker 1: reducing the amount of plastics and packaging that we're buying
Speaker 1: and eventually throwing out. It can have a better impact
Speaker 1: on the environment because often when we make our own well,
Speaker 1: we obviously choose the ingredients that we put into it,
Speaker 1: but it's more attainable to choose ingredients that are more
Speaker 1: natural and more friendly to the environment, and of course
Speaker 1: that is less expensive if we're utilizing some of these
Speaker 1: more natural products that we might already have around the house.
Speaker 1: I know for me, I typically just clean with vinegar
Speaker 1: and water. Sometimes you can clean with lemon juice. Like
Speaker 1: we think that cleaning products are so complicated, but they
Speaker 1: really don't happen to me. Again thanks to the advertisers
Speaker 1: and marketers making us think that it's like little magic
Speaker 1: dust that's put into cleaning products, and no, it's chemicals
Speaker 1: that you actually don't need to get a good scrub.
Speaker 1: It's a little bit of elbow grease. I love this.
Speaker 1: I love YouTubers and TikTok like cleaning YouTubers and cleaning tiktoker's.
Speaker 1: I'm very obsessed. Like, give me a good time lapse
Speaker 1: of somebody cleaning their house and I will sit through
Speaker 1: it and their professionals and they use super simple homemade
Speaker 1: products like all of them. Like my favorite TikTok or
Speaker 1: she's like you, she uses Don power wash for everything,
Speaker 1: like everything like from bathrooms to kitchen. She's like, unless
Speaker 1: you're eating off of it, Don is perfectly good. And
Speaker 1: so now I've started, I will clean everything with just
Speaker 1: this two cups of water and a teaspoon a dawn
Speaker 1: and that is kind of my my go to everyday
Speaker 1: cleaning spray, and I love that's not necessarily like a
Speaker 1: make your own fully from scratch, but in some ways, yes,
Speaker 1: you are stretching that out. Honestly, like Dawn. This we're
Speaker 1: not sponsored by Dawn, but I have learned, like you
Speaker 1: can't use most things on granite countertops, like Dawn is
Speaker 1: pretty much the only thing that you should be cleaning
Speaker 1: granite countertops with. So yes, just to your point, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways that specifically Dawn can be used.
Speaker 1: Otherwise vinegar, yeah, don if you're listening, please the only
Speaker 1: downside to them. I learned this from my mother in law.
Speaker 1: They can make sponges smell like when you use it
Speaker 1: for cleaning dishes. Long term, they really like make my
Speaker 1: dish sponges stink. Maybe you should switch to rags instead
Speaker 1: of sponges, which is another recommendation on this list. I
Speaker 1: think it's on this list where we go all the
Speaker 1: way down. Maybe Nope, it's but it is a recommendation
Speaker 1: on a list that I found is switching to those
Speaker 1: rags and just being able to wash them, you know,
Speaker 1: and then getting rid of sponges, which is kind of
Speaker 1: We try to do that as much as possible. We
Speaker 1: do have sponges and we do get rid of them.
Speaker 1: But some people can put a sponge in the microwave.
Speaker 1: I mean you can wash them for me. It hasn't
Speaker 1: taken the smell out to wash them. But people say
Speaker 1: put them in the microwave. But I don't have a microwave,
Speaker 1: so you can use my microwave if you want. No,
Speaker 1: I'm not going that far. I'll just do rags. The
Speaker 1: professional cleaning TikToker also uses the scrub daddy. That's the
Speaker 1: only sponge she uses. You don't know. I didn't like
Speaker 1: that one. They fell apart within two months. It had
Speaker 1: completely like disintegrated. Interesting. I was going to try a
Speaker 1: scrub daddy because then you can use the eyes and
Speaker 1: the mouth like small things just go right through them.
Speaker 1: I had no idea what face was for, and that's
Speaker 1: what it's for. I hate to break it to you.
Speaker 1: It just disintegrated. It fell apart. Okay, good to know. Rags.
Speaker 1: Just stick with cutting up old t shirts and sweaters,
Speaker 1: beach towels and rags. Rags for the wind, rags for
Speaker 1: the wind. Okay. The next one that on my tho
Speaker 1: is actually on the list. My favorite eat less meat
Speaker 1: and dairy, and this is a big reason why I
Speaker 1: was a vegetarian for ten years. And actually Travis and
Speaker 1: I have started talking about going back to a mostly
Speaker 1: plant based diet just because it's cheaper, because meat is
Speaker 1: always the most expensive part of our grocery budget, um,
Speaker 1: besides our boxes of r X bars. But I'm also
Speaker 1: not sponsored by them, but it's always the most expensive part.
Speaker 1: And I don't even really love meat. It's just something
Speaker 1: I'm trying to like get more pro teaen but I
Speaker 1: love protein powder, like protein shakes. So it's become this
Speaker 1: crisis in me. So it says, and I don't. The
Speaker 1: statistic is not cited, so I cannot confirm it, but
Speaker 1: it says in the article that animal products create eighteen
Speaker 1: percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than
Speaker 1: all transportation emissions combined. And I have heard that individual
Speaker 1: transportation emissions do not add up to a lot in
Speaker 1: the grand scheme of things. So if you're worrying about
Speaker 1: your commute and thinking we're going to tell you to bike,
Speaker 1: you don't have to do that unless you want, yeahs
Speaker 1: to exercise. But yes, but it is more so like
Speaker 1: industries that are contributing to these greenhouse gases. So if
Speaker 1: we buy fewer of the things, because money talks, we
Speaker 1: vote with our money. If we buy the things, companies
Speaker 1: are going to keep produce sing them and they're going
Speaker 1: to keep producing greenhouse gas emissions. But if we stop
Speaker 1: or severely limit what we buy, then we are telling
Speaker 1: them that this is no longer acceptable and we will
Speaker 1: choose to buy things with you know, net zero carbon
Speaker 1: emissions and stuff like that, or just that this stuff
Speaker 1: is an important to us anymore and we won't buy
Speaker 1: it in general. So that is super important and can
Speaker 1: be more powerful than maybe buying a prius. Interesting. I
Speaker 1: also like simple tip on here is b u i
Speaker 1: oh cups and bags. They're very simple, but we do
Speaker 1: use them on a very regular basis, and so strongly
Speaker 1: consider replacing those water bottles, those plastic purchasing water with
Speaker 1: just a water bottle, reusable water bottle. Certainly, bags when
Speaker 1: we're talking about going grocery shopping or any other type
Speaker 1: of situation and where you might need a bag, Certainly
Speaker 1: there's a lot of stores that will charge you for bags.
Speaker 1: So that's definitely a reason to bring your own. Shout
Speaker 1: out al da. But also to not have so many
Speaker 1: bags that you just throw away that all that plastic,
Speaker 1: So bringing your own can be super useful. I know
Speaker 1: I have found even the reusable cups being super helpful
Speaker 1: as I host people, Like if you've got a lot
Speaker 1: of people in your house, you've got a lot of kids,
Speaker 1: you just like to collect them, or a lot of
Speaker 1: people visiting, rather than giving them water out of plastic
Speaker 1: bottles that are constantly being thrown away or hopefully recycled
Speaker 1: at least. Yeah, consider a reusable water bottles. It is
Speaker 1: still shocking to me how many people use plastic bottles regularly,
Speaker 1: And I get it. Sometimes tap water just tastes gross.
Speaker 1: But if that's you, and you know that your tap
Speaker 1: water consistently taste gross, then think of a long term solution.
Speaker 1: And it may cost you a little bit more up
Speaker 1: runt then just buying a gallon of water or some
Speaker 1: bottles of water, but in the long run it will
Speaker 1: probably save you money and it will definitely help the environment.
Speaker 1: Consider water filters. I know we did a burkey when
Speaker 1: we were in the motor home so that we didn't
Speaker 1: have to keep buying water. We didn't even have space
Speaker 1: to store plastic water bottles even if we wanted that.
Speaker 1: But in that process I also learned that people will
Speaker 1: d I y their own Burkey water filters. If you
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm talking about, then well you can
Speaker 1: google it. But it filters water through charcoal and makes
Speaker 1: it tastes incredible, like we drove all over the place,
Speaker 1: and very consistent in water flavor, which I am picky about.
Speaker 1: But you can make your own out of like pots,
Speaker 1: big like cooking pots, and just buying the filter rather
Speaker 1: than the entire Burkey set up. So that's just a
Speaker 1: side tip for those of you who are particular about
Speaker 1: water but also care about not growing about out a
Speaker 1: ton of plastic. Yeah, So anything else on this list,
Speaker 1: Jill something that I've never seen before on an article
Speaker 1: like this that I think is just worth mentioning. I
Speaker 1: think it's interesting they talk about going for a more
Speaker 1: native landscape in your yard rather than paying a bunch
Speaker 1: of money for grass seed or plants that maybe might
Speaker 1: not be native. To do some research and work on
Speaker 1: developing a more natural to your environment and context type
Speaker 1: of landscape and lawn, which could lead to just greater
Speaker 1: levels of sustainability. It can yield better like crops of
Speaker 1: whatever plants you have in your yard is better for
Speaker 1: the pollinating insects and birds and animals and all of
Speaker 1: that if they're interacting with the vegetation that is native
Speaker 1: to your area. So yeah, I thought that that was
Speaker 1: an interesting approach and I think can certainly lead to
Speaker 1: frugality as well if you're just utilizing your own property.
Speaker 1: I know, for me in landscaping my new house, new
Speaker 1: to me, utilizing just things that are already on the
Speaker 1: property has been amazing, propagating some of the plants that
Speaker 1: are already here rather than going out and purchasing. So yeah,
Speaker 1: just a new tip, new to me tip, thought i'd share. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and looking for plants swaps in your area. I know
Speaker 1: we went to one of those recently and that was
Speaker 1: really fun. And you can find all kinds of native
Speaker 1: plants because those are going to be the ones that
Speaker 1: people are swapping because they have too many of them,
Speaker 1: So yeah, those are really easy to find. And then
Speaker 1: as you get deeper and deeper into the planters cove,
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is, but it's like their
Speaker 1: secret club, and as you learn more about plants, you
Speaker 1: can then give them as gifts. Talk about frugal sustainability. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: and people love plants. Most people do. You always tell
Speaker 1: me you're going to kill it. Um Sometimes of the
Speaker 1: time I do. But I have been successful with my plants,
Speaker 1: and I'm proud of that because it was likelihood that
Speaker 1: I was going to kill him and I have been
Speaker 1: able to. Granted, one of those is a cactus, so
Speaker 1: it loves not being watered and ignored. You know what
Speaker 1: kind of plant we haven't killed and has lived on
Speaker 1: for nearly three years? Three years? Three years. That's right.
Speaker 1: It's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born in his Aims Williams. Maybe
Speaker 1: you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and
Speaker 1: you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That bill Buffalo Bills, Bill Clint, this is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week. Hi, Jen and Jill, this is Sarah
Speaker 1: calling in for my bill of the week. Um. So,
Speaker 1: I recently started teaching with V I. P. Kid and
Speaker 1: all of my students in China pick American names that
Speaker 1: they go by, and today on my schedule, I have
Speaker 1: you guessed it A William So I will actually be
Speaker 1: teaching a bill this week. I hope you all are
Speaker 1: having a great day, and I love listening to the podcast. Yes,
Speaker 1: Jen and I are doing happy dances as we're listening
Speaker 1: to Sarah. Both of our hands fists even this up
Speaker 1: in the air, just pounding the sky. Yes, yes for
Speaker 1: that child and his wise names action. Did I hear
Speaker 1: that this was a side hustle? Yeah, I'm just a
Speaker 1: new job. Whatever it is, you're being resourceful in finding employment.
Speaker 1: I hope that it's going well. Anyone who have heard
Speaker 1: has taught with VI I p kid it has gone well.
Speaker 1: So and even especially if it's a side hustle, that's
Speaker 1: amazing and what a treat, fir side hustle. That What
Speaker 1: a bill of the week, Sarah. Let's see if our
Speaker 1: second bill of the week can top it. Hi, Jinn
Speaker 1: and Jill, this is Andrea UM and I'm calling about
Speaker 1: a bill that I received this year from the chiropractor
Speaker 1: and physical therapy office that I was going to while
Speaker 1: I was training for the two thousand nineteen Chicago Marathon.
Speaker 1: The bill came out to be five hundred seventy eight
Speaker 1: dollars and I was shocked because I thought that my
Speaker 1: appointments were fully covered by my insurance. UM I reached
Speaker 1: out to the patient advocates and they actually end up
Speaker 1: rerunning the bill and applying my maximum benefits, and the
Speaker 1: bill then came out to about fourteen dollars, but because
Speaker 1: the appointment dates were so old, they wrote that off
Speaker 1: as well, and so I had a zero dollar ballance,
Speaker 1: which was a huge relief and a huge win. And
Speaker 1: I just wanted to call in and let you guys
Speaker 1: know about it. Um. This just seemed like the perfect
Speaker 1: forum to express my joy. So thank you. And I
Speaker 1: love the podcast. Yes, that one was as good. I
Speaker 1: love hearing people who have negotiated medical bills. It is
Speaker 1: light in my life. How amazing just that you picked
Speaker 1: up the phone and called and went from five hundred
Speaker 1: something to zero dollars. How many of us have overpaid
Speaker 1: just because we didn't want the new sense of calling,
Speaker 1: or don't think we're going to get anywhere. Andrea, this
Speaker 1: is the platform to share and celebrate. Thanks for sharing
Speaker 1: your bill of the week if you want. And I
Speaker 1: hope that marathon went well. I mean, let's not glosser
Speaker 1: for that, like you ran the Chicago marathon. It's more
Speaker 1: about the bill. I acknowledge you, I see you. If
Speaker 1: you want to submit your bill of the week, whether
Speaker 1: it's about running a marathon or teaching a William visit
Speaker 1: forr girl Friends podcast dot com slash Bill, leave us
Speaker 1: here Bill. Today's bill is brought to you by another podcast.
Speaker 1: If you like podcasts, you'll definitely want to subscribe to
Speaker 1: Frugal Living. It's sponsored by Brad Steals, one of the
Speaker 1: longest running deal sites on the Internet, and it's chock
Speaker 1: full of savings hacks, financial tips, and stories on how
Speaker 1: to live better for less. They just started their second
Speaker 1: season and they're covering a variety of topics you can
Speaker 1: easily apply to your own lifestyle, like the best times
Speaker 1: to buy TVs or flowers, love flowers, and how to
Speaker 1: safely shop online to avoid scams because scams still happen.
Speaker 1: You'll even meet a food waste warrior who talks about
Speaker 1: dumpster diving Travis would like that, yes, and you'll hear
Speaker 1: from consumers just like you, as well as industry experts
Speaker 1: breaking down unique in different ways to shop smarter, which
Speaker 1: you know we absolutely love. Frual Living is hosted by
Speaker 1: Jim Marcus, an editor of Brad's Deals, and is available
Speaker 1: anywhere you listen to podcasts, So subscribe to join the
Speaker 1: conversation and learn something new about frugal living. Now it's
Speaker 1: time for round call a little bit subdued today, it's
Speaker 1: a little cloudy, it is so to day for the
Speaker 1: lightning round. Um, we're going to check in with the
Speaker 1: small changes that we said we were going to make
Speaker 1: in our zero waste episode, and also anything new that
Speaker 1: we may have implemented. It's fun to have these like
Speaker 1: check in episodes. We've been around long enough to have
Speaker 1: check in episodes. You can see if we do what
Speaker 1: we say we're gonna do. It's a little scary, yeah,
Speaker 1: because we actually forgot last week was our third anniversary.
Speaker 1: That was our third anniversary of the show. But we
Speaker 1: can celebrate it today. Goodness, we're so bad. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: we're happy to have been with you for three years.
Speaker 1: We're not gonna happy your anniversary region happy through your
Speaker 1: anniversary jail. Okay, so what are any changes you've may
Speaker 1: new or existing? So I still love my water bottle
Speaker 1: that has not gone away. I mentioned that in so
Speaker 1: many episodes past and it's still ringing true. You bring
Speaker 1: it everywhere, Yes they do. I'm still utilizing my selling
Speaker 1: skills I'm going back to that that episode where we
Speaker 1: talk about that and one of the new things that
Speaker 1: I've implemented. I have talked about this on the food episode.
Speaker 1: But as far as sustainability and less waste, I put
Speaker 1: any not any leftover fruits, any leftover produce, veggies, fruit, juices,
Speaker 1: you name it into my blender and make smoothies. That
Speaker 1: has been my most favorite newest sustainable hack as far
Speaker 1: as my groceries go. And getting nutrients into my body.
Speaker 1: And of course I washed my clothes on cold. That's
Speaker 1: like a no brainer for me always and occasionally I compost.
Speaker 1: I'm like in and out of composting these days. That
Speaker 1: sounds a lot like me. It sounds a lot like
Speaker 1: what I'm about to say, so reusable napkins and about that,
Speaker 1: hows have not bought any paper towels since the last
Speaker 1: time I mentioned it, So that's something we do have
Speaker 1: the need for some disposable napkins. And what we will
Speaker 1: do is that if we get take out, we just
Speaker 1: take the napkins from there and we save them. And
Speaker 1: we really haven't had to get paper towels because we
Speaker 1: just use the takeout napkins and it's not like we
Speaker 1: take extra we're only using what they've given us. We
Speaker 1: just we don't throw them away. Like when we're done
Speaker 1: with the takeout, if it's good napkin, we'll put it
Speaker 1: underneath our reusable napkins to use for later. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that has been going well. Still using a biodegradable toothbrush.
Speaker 1: So I haven't remember you talking about this. I switched
Speaker 1: to from plastic to bamboo toothbrushes. Yeah, so the actual
Speaker 1: handle of the toothbrush is compostable because plastic toothbrushes stay forever.
Speaker 1: Nothing about them is compostable, and so they every toothbrush
Speaker 1: that has ever been used is still in the world. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to do that one thing to kind
Speaker 1: of lower my impact. And so for a full year
Speaker 1: I've been using compostable toothbrushes, and actually my last two
Speaker 1: I haven't even gotten rid of. So now I have,
Speaker 1: like after three months of use, I put one in
Speaker 1: the spare bathroom, so just in case I need to
Speaker 1: brush my teeth in the spare bathroom, I have a
Speaker 1: toothbrudge there. And then the other one that I just
Speaker 1: stopped using actually is by the sink because I used
Speaker 1: it to clean some of Kai's shoes, and so now
Speaker 1: it's actually by the sinking case. There's like growdy stuff
Speaker 1: that I need a toothbrush to get into. How do
Speaker 1: you make sure you don't brush your teeth with the
Speaker 1: same toothbrush used to clean Kai's shoes. I don't brush
Speaker 1: my teeth in the kitchen, Okay, yeah, so the one
Speaker 1: I brush my kitchen brushing right, So the one I
Speaker 1: mainly uses in my bathroom, in my room, so that
Speaker 1: has been a great experience. I've been getting those on
Speaker 1: Amazon and very cheap. I buy four at a time
Speaker 1: and it's seven bucks. So that and mostly buying coffee
Speaker 1: at home, always using reusable mugs and water bottles. Kai
Speaker 1: keeps breaking my water bottles, so I have to keep
Speaker 1: using different ones. Um and this one I'm using right
Speaker 1: now is metal, so fingers crossed, he'd doesn't shatter that one,
Speaker 1: but yeah, that's um oh, and so here's here's one
Speaker 1: other thing. This is new. But so I've been doing
Speaker 1: a lot of TikTok and the main kind of video
Speaker 1: that I do is me writing on a notebook. But
Speaker 1: I feel bad every time I record the video because
Speaker 1: I have to use a clean sheet of notebook paper,
Speaker 1: and I literally only use it for the video. So
Speaker 1: I have started writing on a white board and it's
Speaker 1: not as I can't be kind of like as intricate
Speaker 1: as I was with the lined notebook paper, but um,
Speaker 1: it has made me feel better about wasting less paper.
Speaker 1: You could use like elean electrical tape across it and
Speaker 1: put lines on it. I could. I think it's more
Speaker 1: the like dexterity with a pen versus a marker with
Speaker 1: my writing. So it's just gonna take some getting used to,
Speaker 1: but it is a chain that I just recently made. Love. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well done, Jen, Yeah that's it. Well that's all we
Speaker 1: got for you. Guys. Certainly hang out with us in
Speaker 1: our community on Facebook Frugal Friends Community group, and let
Speaker 1: us know what you're doing, whether it's checking in, being
Speaker 1: accountable on some of the changes you might have made
Speaker 1: over a year ago, or things that you want to
Speaker 1: be trying, or anything that we missed about how frugality
Speaker 1: pairs with sustainability. Love to see you over there. You
Speaker 1: love hanging out over there. Always have the best ideas
Speaker 1: in that group, I learned a lot, so I am
Speaker 1: interested to hear what you guys are going to say
Speaker 1: and thanks so much everyone for listening. We want to
Speaker 1: thank you also for your kind reviews on iTunes and
Speaker 1: Stitcher like this one. It's called personal Finance that is
Speaker 1: fun and easy to digest. It's from a Grand Treats
Speaker 1: just guessing it happens to be five stars. This show
Speaker 1: is great. The hosts are super relatable and make learning
Speaker 1: about finance really interesting. I love the guests they bring on.
Speaker 1: So far too in a short amount of time, I
Speaker 1: already feel like I've learned so much and been introduced
Speaker 1: to other people too. If you're looking for a personal
Speaker 1: finance that is easy to understand, this is it. If
Speaker 1: you're making it easy to digest with Baby Bird, you
Speaker 1: personal finance that is, and you are the Mama Bird
Speaker 1: Jill chewing it up, regurgitating it, just making it super
Speaker 1: easy to digest. So you can leave the meusing and
Speaker 1: at some point absolutely and go build your own nest.
Speaker 1: And if you like the people we have on, we
Speaker 1: have a surprise for you this summer, so stay with us.
Speaker 1: If you were like I don't know, if yeah, if
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm want to stick with those podcast,
Speaker 1: but I like the people they bring on definitely definitely
Speaker 1: stick with us through this summer. You're going to be
Speaker 1: in for a treat. But we want to also thank
Speaker 1: all of our friends who share these episodes on social media.
Speaker 1: So when you share the latest episode and tag us
Speaker 1: on Facebook or Instagram, we're gonna add you to our
Speaker 1: monthly drawing. For every five tags in reviews weekend, every
Speaker 1: month we give away a copy of the Frugal Friends workbook,
Speaker 1: So keep leaving us those reviews on iTunes or Stitcher.
Speaker 1: Send us a screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. That's how you'll get added into that drawing.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to tag us on social all the things. Yes,
Speaker 1: and we will see you, same time, same place, next week. Bye.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Okay, John, I
Speaker 1: know you have to leave, but you need to hear this.
Speaker 1: So my friend Sharon shoutout share and she was just
Speaker 1: here and she's going to be back again. Anyhow, her
Speaker 1: son was in his room playing She typically puts on
Speaker 1: a story podcast for him on her phone. He was
Speaker 1: playing Legos. That's how she left him. Then she walks
Speaker 1: by his room and here's my voice, and it's like
Speaker 1: what is he listening to? Turns out he had changed
Speaker 1: from listening to his story podcast mind you, he's like
Speaker 1: five years old to listen to the Frugal Friends podcast,
Speaker 1: and she was like, what are you listening to? He's like, oh, mommy,
Speaker 1: I like to listen to Jill and that crazy girl
Speaker 1: talks sometimes. I don't know, but I am basking in
Speaker 1: the glory of not being the crazy one, like like
Speaker 1: and even Eric was like, that's so amazing that he
Speaker 1: would consider Jen not the crazy one or the crazy
Speaker 1: one and not Jill. That's never happened to me in
Speaker 1: my life. I need to confront this person like the
Speaker 1: small person. No, you need to congratulate him because he's
Speaker 1: a five year old listening to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: Oh and then he knew his favorite episode was like,
Speaker 1: oh mom, wait, listen to this and goes like, picks
Speaker 1: this one episode, fast forwards it to this part where
Speaker 1: I go, I like to move and move it. I
Speaker 1: like to move it, move it. Apparently there's an episode
Speaker 1: where I do that. There's two episodes here. I do that,
Speaker 1: so we can listen to that. Oh my gosh, Sarony like,
Speaker 1: not your son, why I'm the crazy one. I just
Speaker 1: maybe we're both crazy. He just knows my name, like
Speaker 1: I like to listen to Jill talk, and maybe he
Speaker 1: said that other crazy girl. We might both be crazy.
Speaker 1: Maybe he thought I was Jill like so many people do,
Speaker 1: and he really thinks. You know, I don't know, but
Speaker 1: how when's the last time he saw? Just embrace this? Okay,
Speaker 1: he listened to Jill and the other crazy girl talk.
Speaker 1: At least he was listening. And he's going to be
Speaker 1: a financial guru. Just embrace it. I'm not exciting after shows.
Speaker 1: You were not crazy. Bye.