Speaker 1: Episode to how to save money on food take out. Addition,
Speaker 1: welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 1: save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liberal with your life.
Speaker 1: Here your host Jen and Jill m. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill,
Speaker 1: And this is the second time we're recording this episode.
Speaker 1: So I forget the banter we had the first go around,
Speaker 1: but I think it went something like, I love take
Speaker 1: out and I eat it at least twice a week.
Speaker 1: It's it's better the second time, kind of like those
Speaker 1: leftovers of take out that you keep in your fridge
Speaker 1: and it can just simmer and marinate a bit more,
Speaker 1: and it's just sometimes it's better the second day. Chipotle
Speaker 1: is not better the second day. True, the lettuce gets
Speaker 1: real wilted. Yeah, you'd think here we are four and
Speaker 1: a half years in. You've heard us do this before.
Speaker 1: We're probably in the double digits now. Technology issues still happen,
Speaker 1: So here we are recording again. Okay, guys, I got
Speaker 1: a new computer. I bought it. This episode had cost
Speaker 1: me so much money, but we're not here. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm going to need to save a lot of money
Speaker 1: on my take out for the next year. Uh. And uh,
Speaker 1: I'm here for this episode even more than I was
Speaker 1: the first time we recorded it. Yeah, you know, there
Speaker 1: were some retractions in the previous episode. I'll tell you
Speaker 1: when we get there. So I'm kind of glad for
Speaker 1: this next one. I'm like, oh, I can correct that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh So we're gonna need these sponsors even more than
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Speaker 1: But this episode is brought to you by Hurricane Ian relief.
Speaker 1: Uh So, our neighbors to the south were just I
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Speaker 1: episode that we recorded, we didn't yet know what was happening.
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Speaker 1: now in recording this episod, so we have seen what
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Speaker 1: super sobering and wanting to help, Like we have family
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Speaker 1: There's no emergency responder or I'm sorry, only first responders
Speaker 1: are allowed into that area right now, and it's really
Speaker 1: hard to get to even so the best thing to
Speaker 1: do at this point is send money. You know, a
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Speaker 1: match that money that that you all also donate. Thank
Speaker 1: you for your care for us. Yes, uh, so let's
Speaker 1: talk about take out. We'll move, We'll move from that
Speaker 1: sobering experience to one that's hopefully a little lighter. Um.
Speaker 1: Hopefully your take out spending doesn't sadden you as much
Speaker 1: as hurricane devastation. Hopefully it is a source of joy
Speaker 1: for you, or it can be a source of joy.
Speaker 1: Getting take out can be something that's exciting that you
Speaker 1: don't have to feel guilty about and you just have
Speaker 1: to do a little prior planning. Uh. And so, if
Speaker 1: you are geeking out about how to save money on
Speaker 1: food in general, a few other episodes to queue up
Speaker 1: would be episode to fourteen how to Save Money on Groceries,
Speaker 1: where we dive into specifically groceries, and then episode ninety two.
Speaker 1: I think we did a really we did an updated
Speaker 1: version of this one, but it's the same episode, Episode
Speaker 1: ninety two Reducing Food Waste with Dick Kicking Mom. She
Speaker 1: is fantastic and had some really great tips for reducing
Speaker 1: the amount of food that you throw out. So let's
Speaker 1: get started. We're gonna divide and conquer. So our first
Speaker 1: article is going to be about meal delivery, so like
Speaker 1: takeout delivery, which seems to be a really more popular
Speaker 1: way to do take out. And then the second part
Speaker 1: is going to be just on takeout in general, so
Speaker 1: it's going to have some delivery in there, but like
Speaker 1: mostly just take out in general where you're whether you're
Speaker 1: picking up or having delivered. So what did you think
Speaker 1: about this first one? Five meal deal delivery tips to
Speaker 1: save money? So this is this was my retraction from
Speaker 1: the first go round of recording this episode. It I
Speaker 1: love this article. It actually comes from a restaurant in
Speaker 1: Australia called Cousina Dolce, but I originally thought that the
Speaker 1: restaurant was in Nada, so correction, it's in Australia, non
Speaker 1: Canada to that. But I love this because it's written
Speaker 1: by a restaurant telling you how you can save money
Speaker 1: on meal delivery. And it's not from someone who's trying
Speaker 1: to undercut local restaurants, but a restaurant themselves saying, here's
Speaker 1: the best thing that you can do if you're trying
Speaker 1: to get your food delivered to your home and save money.
Speaker 1: So the first one is to avoid using third party
Speaker 1: sites or apps. You will hear us talking more about
Speaker 1: these third party apps throughout the episode, So we're not
Speaker 1: saying cut this out entirely, but if we are talking
Speaker 1: about ways to save on takeout delivery, this is gonna
Speaker 1: be a really primary key way to do that because
Speaker 1: what we're seeing happen, and I'm sure all of us
Speaker 1: utilize delivery food delivery throughout the pandemic, we saw a
Speaker 1: huge uptick in that. But what has happened is those
Speaker 1: third party sites do charge the restaurants a portion of
Speaker 1: their sales. It's not as if we're just paying some
Speaker 1: money to the third party site. They're also charging the restaurants.
Speaker 1: So whatever it is that you've purchased from the restaurant,
Speaker 1: they need to then pay a percentage to that third
Speaker 1: party site. So now the response of the restaurants has
Speaker 1: been we need to up the price point for our
Speaker 1: menu items that we put on the third party sites.
Speaker 1: I'm sure many of you have noticed when you go
Speaker 1: into these sites, as would be like your Uber eats,
Speaker 1: your door Dash, your Postmates. Oftentimes now restaurants have different
Speaker 1: menus and higher prices on their menu items on that
Speaker 1: third party site, and then you're paying the delivery fee
Speaker 1: and the tip and all of that, And we do
Speaker 1: encourage that if you're using the service, tip the people.
Speaker 1: But the best way would be to go through the
Speaker 1: restaurant themselves if they offer that. Many restaurants do offer delivery,
Speaker 1: and oftentimes that means you can order off of their
Speaker 1: menu at their prices. They don't have to up charge
Speaker 1: if they're not paying a third party for it, and
Speaker 1: then that that money saved can then go towards, you know,
Speaker 1: the the tip of the restaurant, the tip of the
Speaker 1: driver from the restaurant. So that's a great way to
Speaker 1: support the local restaurants to save some money ourselves, but
Speaker 1: then also be helpful for the restaurant themselves. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: we're definitely like not against the third party apps. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you just got to use them. Sometimes there is no
Speaker 1: restaurant with their own delivery around you. So we get it.
Speaker 1: But if it it, just check check before you go
Speaker 1: straight to Uber eats, your Postmates if you know where
Speaker 1: you want to go. Second is to take advantage of
Speaker 1: cash back on your credit card. So this is like
Speaker 1: a little bonus. I don't view credit card rewards as
Speaker 1: a way to save money. They are a bonus if
Speaker 1: you are saving your you want to focus on saving
Speaker 1: money first, because credit cards can oftentimes get us into
Speaker 1: this place where I'm getting cash back, I'm getting a reward,
Speaker 1: so maybe I'll spend a little bit more so I
Speaker 1: can get more rewards. That is a that is a
Speaker 1: downward spiral. Uh. If that is your mindset when you
Speaker 1: are using um cash back rewards and travel hacking, this
Speaker 1: is not the mindset we're looking for. We're looking how
Speaker 1: do I optimize and still get the best deal, the
Speaker 1: best price for what I really want, and then I
Speaker 1: can add a little bit more by choosing the right
Speaker 1: credit card, because different credit cards will offer different cash
Speaker 1: back for either meal delivery like third party apps or
Speaker 1: just buying from restaurants and je neural so you can
Speaker 1: have so like the Chase Freedom flex I believe it's
Speaker 1: called it is um a really great starter credit card,
Speaker 1: highly recommend to anybody trying to get started with travel,
Speaker 1: hacking or building credit in general. And it is a
Speaker 1: no annual fee. In every quarter they do a different
Speaker 1: five percent cash back and sometimes it's on delivery app,
Speaker 1: sometimes it's on restaurants or dining out in general. So
Speaker 1: you can look at that, look at what the next
Speaker 1: quarter is going to be and if it's if you're
Speaker 1: going to be buying take out anyway, using that card
Speaker 1: to do it, and then you get five percent cash
Speaker 1: back that you can use on your bill or for
Speaker 1: gift cards or whatever. Five tends to be. It's about
Speaker 1: it's high range for cash back. Usually you're gonna see
Speaker 1: one percent UM. If you're paying attention and the card
Speaker 1: is prioritizing restaurants or delivery apps, you could see two
Speaker 1: or three percent. But that's why it's like a bonus,
Speaker 1: it's not we're not focusing on it really, so you
Speaker 1: can take advantage of that UM or you can use
Speaker 1: like a program like a rebate a rebate app, but
Speaker 1: like josh uh it's a an app where if you purchase,
Speaker 1: you link your credit card so you can use a
Speaker 1: rewards credit card, link it to Doosh and some of
Speaker 1: the restaurants that are are in Josh that are connected there.
Speaker 1: You get an extra five cash back in there too,
Speaker 1: so you can kind of like double it up. Um.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, so just look at your credit cards.
Speaker 1: Don't consider it a way to save money. Consider it
Speaker 1: just like the icing on top. I love that perspective
Speaker 1: to look at it like a bonus. If you're already
Speaker 1: planning on getting take out, this is something to check into,
Speaker 1: not a reason to make take out an entire lifestyle
Speaker 1: because I'm quote unquote saving money. Yeah, and you can
Speaker 1: also some of the credit cards will have complimentary year
Speaker 1: trials to or thirty days or something to like a
Speaker 1: Postmates plus or a grub Hub plus or you know
Speaker 1: whatever the Uber Eats equivalent is. So also check to
Speaker 1: see if your your credit card offers that as a
Speaker 1: feature too, or if you're kind of trying to decide
Speaker 1: which credit card to get, you can kind of look
Speaker 1: at the one who's offering what when, Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: that could lead you there. I know Chase Sapphire Reserve
Speaker 1: offers that. I believe it's with Uber eats. The zero
Speaker 1: zero dollar delivery, so they take care of that. I
Speaker 1: think my Bank of America card does grub Hub plus
Speaker 1: for a year. Yeah, yeah, so look into it if
Speaker 1: you're not aware. Sometimes we get credit cards based on
Speaker 1: one main key factor that we're excited about, and we
Speaker 1: kind of miss some of the peripheral bonuses that they give.
Speaker 1: So definitely look into what the bonuses are if you
Speaker 1: do use credit cards. Yeah, take as much from the
Speaker 1: bank as possible and give them nothing like, take as
Speaker 1: much as possible while giving nothing in return, and that's
Speaker 1: just a bonus. My motto with credit cards, yes, exactly,
Speaker 1: make them wish they never approved you, yea, make them,
Speaker 1: make them regret it. Number three on here is choose
Speaker 1: pick up instead of delivery. So obviously this is more
Speaker 1: of how to save just on takeout, and of course
Speaker 1: it's a way to save on delivery if you're not
Speaker 1: getting it delivered and you are being your own delivery driver.
Speaker 1: I will say, for me personally, this is my big
Speaker 1: reason for getting take out is getting it delivered. Oftentimes
Speaker 1: I will go to a sit down restaurant or I'll
Speaker 1: cook at home, and if I'm getting take out, it's
Speaker 1: usually because I just don't want to leave my home
Speaker 1: so that that's like, you know, it's difficult for me
Speaker 1: to say, oh, yeah, I'm going to order it, but
Speaker 1: then I'm going to get in the car and go
Speaker 1: pick it up. But this is the best way to
Speaker 1: save on takeout by not sitting down, not not paying
Speaker 1: for the delivery, but getting it yourself. What I have
Speaker 1: seen can work for me is if I can think ahead. Uh,
Speaker 1: and I'm already out, so I know, Jen, you and
Speaker 1: I will do this when we get together. We will
Speaker 1: often get take out when we get neither one of us.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we will cook. It's like, all right, what do
Speaker 1: you got? What do I got? Let's I'm a piash
Speaker 1: it together, get delivery. I am a pick up person,
Speaker 1: and I love that about you, and it's just not
Speaker 1: true for me. But if we can think ahead and say, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm on my way to your house, let's pick a
Speaker 1: restaurant that is en route, and and let's get the
Speaker 1: order in now. I'll leave in ten minutes and I'll
Speaker 1: pick it up along the way. That's perfect rather than
Speaker 1: just showing up at the other person's house and then
Speaker 1: making the order and then you've got to send someone out.
Speaker 1: So if we could just implement a little bit of
Speaker 1: forethought that helps in this and if not, you know,
Speaker 1: Jen and Travis come over and Travis is always willing
Speaker 1: to go pick up that food, and I love that
Speaker 1: about him always. We are pick up people because we
Speaker 1: you do save a hefty amount, like a hefty percentage
Speaker 1: of your purchase by picking it up yourself. And you can, um,
Speaker 1: you know, do a single Well, you can't tip the
Speaker 1: restaurant when you order delivery. You're tipping just the drivers.
Speaker 1: You're not tipping the people at the restaurant putting your
Speaker 1: meal together. So if you can cut out that middle
Speaker 1: may and then you get to you know, just tip
Speaker 1: one person. Uh and and yeah, and just have your
Speaker 1: food be there before it's ready so you can bring
Speaker 1: it straight home so it's still hot. Like I know
Speaker 1: sometimes when I ordered delivery, it's not super hot by
Speaker 1: the time it gets to me. Uh So I think
Speaker 1: it's just a quality thing as well as saving money
Speaker 1: for me. But yeah, we are always willing to pick
Speaker 1: up because we also, I mean, having a young child,
Speaker 1: the idea of sitting down at a restaurant is often torture.
Speaker 1: So it is we do it so little that it's
Speaker 1: not a big deal for us to go drive and
Speaker 1: we have so many places so close, so that's a
Speaker 1: unique thing for us. It may not work for everyone,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean I'm a huge advocate. I'm kind
Speaker 1: of all or nothing because if I'm going to get
Speaker 1: in the car to go out, like then I want
Speaker 1: that to be worth something. And to go sit down
Speaker 1: at a restaurants. I don't have young children. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: is a big difference between us, just that it is
Speaker 1: an enjoyable time when you go eat out at a restaurant.
Speaker 1: It is enjoyable for you, it is not enjoyable for
Speaker 1: But also I realized a long time ago that actually
Speaker 1: sit down restaurants aren't in my values. My values lie
Speaker 1: in not having to do dishes and not having to cook.
Speaker 1: And so for me, I don't need to have the
Speaker 1: experience of sitting down at a restaurant. So that's something
Speaker 1: even before we had Kai, that was something I identified
Speaker 1: that I don't need to pay the extra um to
Speaker 1: you know, have the drink and have the app and
Speaker 1: you know, have that whole experience. Uh two. And I
Speaker 1: just I'm perfectly fine with take out, and for me,
Speaker 1: I don't do take out a lot so when I
Speaker 1: do choose to do it, honestly, it's probably once or
Speaker 1: twice a quarter, and it's in my values and budget
Speaker 1: to say I'm going to pay someone to deliver that
Speaker 1: food to me because that's true convenience for me. So yeah,
Speaker 1: there's freedom. Choose what you want. Yes, save money how
Speaker 1: you want, save on the things that don't really mask you. Yes.
Speaker 1: Four is uh. They recommend to order in bulk, and
Speaker 1: I kind of I like the I like what they're saying. Again,
Speaker 1: this is a restaurant saying this. So but they say,
Speaker 1: if you are maybe one person, you can order two
Speaker 1: meals thinking ahead, ordering in bulk, and you still only
Speaker 1: do one delivery fee, but you get more food. I
Speaker 1: think a better way to save money would be too,
Speaker 1: and we'll we'll talk a little bit about this in
Speaker 1: the next article, but to maybe just order a larger
Speaker 1: portion of one meal or just the regular dinner portion
Speaker 1: of some thing, cut it in half, and if that's
Speaker 1: not enough to satiate you, then add some chips and
Speaker 1: salsa or something comparable, because most of the time might
Speaker 1: take out as Mexican, but just add something and then
Speaker 1: you have the other half of that meal for later.
Speaker 1: And most of the time that's going to be a
Speaker 1: fine choice. So that for me is bulk. They are
Speaker 1: also saying like bulk order like almost catering for gatherings
Speaker 1: and special events, and yeah, I mean if you're having
Speaker 1: something catered, I mean definitely. A lot of the times
Speaker 1: will include delivery already, so I don't know why you
Speaker 1: would have to worry about that with the delivery app,
Speaker 1: but you can also just pick it up, so true.
Speaker 1: I do love the idea though, of you order it
Speaker 1: one time, and even if you do get deliver, you
Speaker 1: pay the fees, you pay the tip, but you're maximizing
Speaker 1: the fact that you paid the deliver and you've paid
Speaker 1: the tip to get a good amount of food that
Speaker 1: might last you for a while. So it really feels
Speaker 1: like you made the most of the money that you
Speaker 1: spent and and maximized some of the convenience of it
Speaker 1: to potentially provide a few meals for the rest of
Speaker 1: the week. So I do like that idea. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: could be if the restaurant has some kind of family style,
Speaker 1: like you know, mega entree for multiple people, this could
Speaker 1: be the time to do that. Yeah, and I would
Speaker 1: if you're going to do that I would encourage to
Speaker 1: get the food that you know is freezeable, so that'll
Speaker 1: be you know, if it's from an Italian restaurant like
Speaker 1: your your eggplant palms, your lasagna's, things like that can
Speaker 1: freeze real decent. Just if you know you're ordering a lot,
Speaker 1: make sure that it's something that like that isn't Chipotle
Speaker 1: where you're gonna have wilted lettuce the next day. The
Speaker 1: types of foods that could sit in the fridge for
Speaker 1: a couple of days or be frozen so that you
Speaker 1: minimize the food waste. And last, but not least, a
Speaker 1: way to save on takeout is to not do it
Speaker 1: at all. Number five love that love. I love when
Speaker 1: the last one is just don't do it. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: way that they're saying don't do it is by making
Speaker 1: your own takeout, which is true. This is a great tip.
Speaker 1: It's not like we don't know this tip. So I'll
Speaker 1: say it again. We can prepare ahead of time for
Speaker 1: the days when it's super chaotic and we don't have time,
Speaker 1: we don't have energy, we just can't think straight and
Speaker 1: we can just grab food. That's why, that's typically why
Speaker 1: we're doing take out. So if there are times in
Speaker 1: our lives where we are just blessed with extra time.
Speaker 1: I don't know exact acly when that happens, but sometimes
Speaker 1: the stars aligned and you make extra food, freeze it,
Speaker 1: put it away for those days that you need something simple, easy,
Speaker 1: quick to grab. Sometimes I will even you know, we
Speaker 1: all know the okay, make extra entree and put that
Speaker 1: into the freezer. But even like a portioned out meal
Speaker 1: where in a little glass container you're doing the main protein,
Speaker 1: the side, the veggies into one one size serving glass
Speaker 1: container that's easy to pull out and reheat. As here's
Speaker 1: the meal, here's the takeout meal. Or if there's times
Speaker 1: when you've gotten take out in the past that you
Speaker 1: can freeze some of that and you know it's take
Speaker 1: out that you enjoy and it's already sitting in your fridge.
Speaker 1: So this is or your freezer. This is one of
Speaker 1: those think ahead, anticipate, know that this is coming, like
Speaker 1: like an emergency fund an emergence see freezer full of
Speaker 1: yummy takeout food, prepped and ready. That's how you save
Speaker 1: that's how you save money. Beautiful. Speaking of food, so
Speaker 1: we've talked about how to save money on the delivery,
Speaker 1: let's talk about how to save money on the actual bill,
Speaker 1: the food bill. So we've got eighteen ways to save
Speaker 1: money on restaurant, food, delivery, and take out. We are
Speaker 1: not going to go through all of them, but we
Speaker 1: will go through our favorites. And the first for me
Speaker 1: is to choose cheaper items and hear me out because
Speaker 1: we hate the C word cheap, not choose. We love choosing.
Speaker 1: So this one is so so weird to me that
Speaker 1: they give the example from ie Hoop and I'm like,
Speaker 1: why would you be getting take out from ihop? Eye
Speaker 1: Hoop is where you go when there is nothing else
Speaker 1: available to you at two am. That is why we
Speaker 1: go to eyup. That is why we love I hop
Speaker 1: or when you're on like a road trip in the
Speaker 1: middle of nowhere. Yeah, we do not crave iHub for dinner.
Speaker 1: And I'm sorry, you do serve a purpose, but they
Speaker 1: know where they live, they the category. They're not trying
Speaker 1: to be anything they're not. But if you do crave ihob,
Speaker 1: you're clearly not alone with this author. Um so he
Speaker 1: uses I assume it's a heat. I'm just gonna oh no,
Speaker 1: it's Amy Amy live Amy, all right, She's Amy lives
Speaker 1: in Central New Jersey. So Amy lives Jersey. I don't
Speaker 1: know what that means. But okay, So Jersey know exactly
Speaker 1: what that means. I'm I'm sorry, I don't um okay. So,
Speaker 1: near Amy's house in Central New Jersey, there's an eyehop
Speaker 1: where sandwiches cost around ten while hot dinners like chicken
Speaker 1: steak seafood costs between eleven and fifteen. And she says
Speaker 1: it's not a huge difference, but it can add up.
Speaker 1: So to choose the sandwich instead. I will push back
Speaker 1: on this because a sandwich meal is often smaller than
Speaker 1: a hot dinner like said chicken steak seafood, and so
Speaker 1: you are typically only going to get one meal out
Speaker 1: of it. Should you get the larger entree that costs
Speaker 1: a little bit more, Maybe you're getting the chicken entree
Speaker 1: that's fourteen, Yes, you're paying four more dollars, but you
Speaker 1: could get two meals out of that. Add chips and salsa,
Speaker 1: and then you've got two meals for seven dollars each.
Speaker 1: So and then you could I would say, maybe instead
Speaker 1: of choosing the steak or seafood option, maybe you stick
Speaker 1: to the chicken or the vegetarian option, and then choose
Speaker 1: like shop at the grocery store for your nicer cuts
Speaker 1: of steak, or go to some kind of butcher somewhere
Speaker 1: for your seafood. So you can still have your premium meats,
Speaker 1: but maybe you use not to do them from Eyehop
Speaker 1: and you choose something a little simpler. You are given
Speaker 1: great tips. I love the idea of getting your more
Speaker 1: premium cuts from the grocery store, making them yourselves, getting
Speaker 1: your chicken take out. I just can't. It's great tips. Jen,
Speaker 1: love what you're saying. I cannot get over this Eyehop thing.
Speaker 1: Though sea food. I am googling do I Hops seafood
Speaker 1: and like Also, the next question in line is does
Speaker 1: I have have Dr Pepper? Which like valid but much
Speaker 1: Dr Pepper. I just need to remind all of us
Speaker 1: that i HOP stands for International House of Pancake Pancakes. Well, okay,
Speaker 1: so pancake singular pancake pancakes, but sea food mm hmmm,
Speaker 1: who's going to the International House of Pancake. Let's not judge,
Speaker 1: Let's have a Di'm okay, So I'm not saying like,
Speaker 1: who's okay? I did just say that, I don't. Why
Speaker 1: is I HOP International House of pancakes, selling grilled talapia
Speaker 1: and sevich a. Also, yes they do. They're nine I
Speaker 1: Hops secret menu items. I'm getting deep into it. Patagonian
Speaker 1: prawn sevich a at the twenty four Hour Diner. Here's
Speaker 1: another thing, um, maybe unpopular opinion from me. I don't
Speaker 1: do seafood delivery to my house. Like that's just a
Speaker 1: rule of thumb for me. I'm not getting seafood delivered.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pick that up myself. I am going to
Speaker 1: pick that up myself. Good to know from me personally,
Speaker 1: it won't be from ie hob Yeah, I mean there
Speaker 1: is no shade on I Hop. Props to their marketing department.
Speaker 1: Do you know their loyalty club. You you get rewarded
Speaker 1: for your purchases in pan coins and it's the Inner
Speaker 1: How's and you put your pan coins in the International
Speaker 1: Bank of Pancakes and the pan coins quote unquote are
Speaker 1: like their their cryptocurrency for rewards. It's a brilliant marketing
Speaker 1: al whoever came up with it. I just I guess
Speaker 1: I would just say they're doing extra and good for
Speaker 1: them for going is doing it. Expect breakfast and pancakes
Speaker 1: from them. I would not expect sevich A. Yeah at all. Well,
Speaker 1: let's let's move on. This is not how to save
Speaker 1: money at I could be good be um, whose turn
Speaker 1: is it yours? Next? Okay, please do not talk about I.
Speaker 1: I won't. I won't, I won't. Okay, number unless she
Speaker 1: talks about it. But amy, So number three is split
Speaker 1: a dish. I do love this one because this is
Speaker 1: just how I typically live my life. Even if I'm
Speaker 1: going out to eat, I split a dish, but particularly
Speaker 1: with take out, if we're looking to save money, usually
Speaker 1: the portion sizes that restaurants give are much larger than
Speaker 1: one what one person needs realistically. I get it takeouts tasty.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we just we do. We gobble it all down.
Speaker 1: But if we can split the dish, whether that's with ourselves,
Speaker 1: with someone else in our household, a friend, a family member,
Speaker 1: whoever you're with, consider splitting it and obviously that like
Speaker 1: you can connect thoughts on why that would be less expensive. Uh,
Speaker 1: and especially if you are just one person. What you
Speaker 1: can do is you get that take out, you bring
Speaker 1: it home, and you immediately before putting it all on
Speaker 1: your plate or digging in with your fork, like, split
Speaker 1: it before you even begin eating. Put the other half
Speaker 1: into the fridge and you have given yourself an amazing
Speaker 1: gift for the next day, or or put in your
Speaker 1: freezer and you're being kind to yourself next month. What
Speaker 1: I will also do, since takeout is usually like a
Speaker 1: specialty thing for us, or even going out to a restaurant, Eric,
Speaker 1: my husband and I will often split. But then that
Speaker 1: we feel like that can give us some license to
Speaker 1: get maybe a smaller appetizer, something that's a little bit
Speaker 1: less expensive, but add some variety to the meal. So
Speaker 1: we'll split an entry, but then we'll get something that's
Speaker 1: like four or five, six, seven dollars. That's a nice
Speaker 1: appetizer that can also help to stretch the meal. So
Speaker 1: there's another little tip. Try my trick. Yeah, try it
Speaker 1: unless you have wildly different dining preferences, like so true
Speaker 1: Travis and I. Yeah, then you then you don't split.
Speaker 1: Then you split it in half. You say the other
Speaker 1: half for yourself for the next day. Split with yourself.
Speaker 1: It's still great. You split with yourself. I'm all about
Speaker 1: splitting with myself. That's how I live my life, alright.
Speaker 1: So the next one for me is to hit the
Speaker 1: grocery store and stay with me. So gosh, I went
Speaker 1: so deep into this the first time we recorded the episode.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know if I can get
Speaker 1: as deep and passionate with it. But so we love
Speaker 1: going to publics and just picking up some of their
Speaker 1: deli food and bringing it home. Sometimes it's even better
Speaker 1: than getting take out from a restaurant. So I love
Speaker 1: their non breaded wings. They've got really good sandwiches and
Speaker 1: pub subs, so that made sandwiches are good to uh, soups,
Speaker 1: all kinds of things. So here's my let's break let
Speaker 1: me break it down. Let's break down the grocery store hierarchy.
Speaker 1: We got three guess there is a hierarchy. There's a hierarchy.
Speaker 1: So we've got three tiers, and you can put whichever
Speaker 1: tier on top that you want. My top tier is
Speaker 1: our economy our economy tier. You've got your al D,
Speaker 1: you've got your Walmart. We do not put save a
Speaker 1: lot here. Save a lot does not get to be
Speaker 1: in a tier. It's not it's not in the hierarchy.
Speaker 1: Which over here to the side to hear later on
Speaker 1: why you're saying anybody has ever been have you walked
Speaker 1: inside a save at it feels like walking into an
Speaker 1: all day No, oh my god, don't insult al d
Speaker 1: people are the cup and save a lot on blast
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, So okay, so you've got your economy
Speaker 1: tier up top, you're all in your walm up. They
Speaker 1: have some good takeout stuff like you can definitely get by,
Speaker 1: and then you've got your mid tier mid tears where
Speaker 1: we where we live. Like if I want to get
Speaker 1: take out, but I don't want to go to a restaurant,
Speaker 1: I will go to my mid tiers, like my public says.
Speaker 1: I think I don't know what's beyond public. I don't
Speaker 1: know what's outside of Florida. I think a croker, I
Speaker 1: think that could be mid tier. I've never lived anywhere
Speaker 1: other places food liant, giant, anywhere with a deli. These
Speaker 1: are our mid tears. Our mid tears have a deli um,
Speaker 1: but they are not our bougie tier, which I put
Speaker 1: at the bottom um, which is our whole foods. So
Speaker 1: you're not gonna you're gonna gonna pay ten dollars for
Speaker 1: an apple kale salad a side of apple kale salad,
Speaker 1: not not a huge salad. So that's where we are
Speaker 1: at whole foods. But we're sticking with our mid tears,
Speaker 1: like our grocery stores that have a deli, the radical
Speaker 1: metal of the supermarkets. Yeah, it is an option where
Speaker 1: maybe you don't do your regular grocery shopping there, but
Speaker 1: you want take out, you don't have the budget for
Speaker 1: an actual for the restaurant take out, and here you are,
Speaker 1: there is your your mecca. You're welcome. This is my solution.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm I'm with you on this soapbox, Jen.
Speaker 1: If there's room for the two of us, absolutely for
Speaker 1: all of us, thank you. I think we forget about
Speaker 1: some of the pre prepared foods that grocery stores offer
Speaker 1: that can give us that similar convenience of takeout but
Speaker 1: for a lot less cost. One of my favorite and
Speaker 1: this would be more on that guilty pleasure side of me.
Speaker 1: You old options, but Publix for those of us in
Speaker 1: the South, has really great fried chicken and perfect for
Speaker 1: chicken and waffles. So on one of those days where
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't want to be spending a ton
Speaker 1: of time in the kitchen and also I want some
Speaker 1: comfort food chicken and waffles with the chicken. Fried chicken
Speaker 1: from Publix is amazing. And last time I mentioned, Walmart
Speaker 1: has these chicken these breaded chicken tenders frozen that are
Speaker 1: just like this peppery goodness. I don't know what's on them,
Speaker 1: but they are seasoned and they are also perfect for
Speaker 1: chicken and waffles. I have some in my freezer right
Speaker 1: now and also perfect. So I will the one caveat
Speaker 1: to hitting the grocery store. You gotta be with me.
Speaker 1: You've got to be laser focused. You cannot go in
Speaker 1: there for takeout and come out with eighty dollars of
Speaker 1: impulse purchases. It's counter intuitive. This would be a part
Speaker 1: where if you have a ninety day like if you
Speaker 1: could do like a ninety day free trial to like
Speaker 1: an instat cart Plus or like a Walmart Plus or
Speaker 1: one of those like free delivery things, this is the
Speaker 1: time to use it. There you go. Yeah, also included
Speaker 1: in some credit cards. But also I was just on
Speaker 1: like the t mobile Tuesday app and you get ninety
Speaker 1: three days of Walmart Plus with the delivery, so they exist.
Speaker 1: You gotta be but you gotta be laser focus. You
Speaker 1: gotta you can't walk out with impulse purchases, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1: If you do this. Okay, that's it, ma'am yes, ma'am. H. Alternatively,
Speaker 1: plan for it. Know that that your week is going
Speaker 1: to be hectic, chaotic added to your grocery shopping list,
Speaker 1: So get some of the pre prepared meals for convenience
Speaker 1: and cut out food deliver very take out that week
Speaker 1: because you've already gotten the pre prepared foods. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot options here, folks. All right, number six and seven,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna rip through these because we did too much
Speaker 1: time we did talk about yeah, and you're like tears
Speaker 1: of grocery stores so important. That was important. I'm here
Speaker 1: for it. So six and seven are just talking about
Speaker 1: delivery fee. So so I know we talked a lot
Speaker 1: about delivery already, but do check for what the delivery
Speaker 1: fees are on the different third party apps if you
Speaker 1: are choosing to go that route. It can be pretty drastic,
Speaker 1: like one site may offer two dollar delivery fee, whereas
Speaker 1: another site might be ten dollars. That's significant, So make
Speaker 1: sure that you've done some comparison, especially for your area,
Speaker 1: what the delivery fee is going to be, and of
Speaker 1: course look for free deliveries. Uh. Sometimes the first time
Speaker 1: that you sign up with an app, you get a
Speaker 1: free delivery, or they'll be running specials at various times.
Speaker 1: So if you are in one of those positions, or
Speaker 1: you're like, today's the day I need my meals delivered
Speaker 1: to my house, make sure you check those things. And
Speaker 1: I'm going to combine my last two. So check your
Speaker 1: mail and search online. So check this kind of combined
Speaker 1: because you want to check your email too, and your apps,
Speaker 1: but look for cupons, look for sales going on. So
Speaker 1: this this helps with two things. First, when you are
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what to eat or where to
Speaker 1: get take out from, if there are too many options,
Speaker 1: it takes too long, you eat peanut butter and jelly. Obviously,
Speaker 1: honestly not a bad not a bad idea, but using
Speaker 1: and committing to special discounts cupons will drastically cut down
Speaker 1: the number of choices you have from like a million
Speaker 1: to two or three. So that can be really helpful.
Speaker 1: I know that's always a struggle we have. Um you
Speaker 1: can also, I I have a I subscribe to Creative Loafing.
Speaker 1: So for for us in the Tampa Bay area, it's
Speaker 1: ceel Tampa dot com and they do kind of like
Speaker 1: fifty percent off deals where you can buy a forty
Speaker 1: dollar gift certificate to this restaurant for twenty dollars or
Speaker 1: a thirty dollar gift certificate for fifteen, so stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So that's probably my favorite way to cut down on
Speaker 1: choices and to save a lot at restaurants. And the
Speaker 1: way I stay on top of all these I won't
Speaker 1: have all the apps on my phone all the time.
Speaker 1: I will have the subscriptions though to the emails, and
Speaker 1: I put them in unroll me unrolled dot M, so
Speaker 1: that way it sends everything to in one email. I
Speaker 1: do not have the subject lines attacking me in my
Speaker 1: inbox every day get trying to get me to spend
Speaker 1: money at the restaurant. I can choose to look at
Speaker 1: that quote unquote roll up email daily or whenever I want,
Speaker 1: and it's and nothing is attacking me. So I really
Speaker 1: like that way. You don't have to like subscribe and unsubscribe.
Speaker 1: I know that's like the first like how to save
Speaker 1: money unsubscribed from everything. No, sometimes you can save money
Speaker 1: on things you're going to buy anyway, and that's the goal,
Speaker 1: but it can also be a result in impulse spending
Speaker 1: very easily. So unrolled me has allowed me to stay
Speaker 1: subscribed to the places that offer me the discounts I want,
Speaker 1: but I choose when to see them. So I do
Speaker 1: love that one. It minimizes what's in your inbox too,
Speaker 1: cleans of that, and you can when you purchase online,
Speaker 1: so when you're doing some of this stuff virtually instead
Speaker 1: of calling in or going in, there are actually app
Speaker 1: specific and online specific deals that you can get. And
Speaker 1: you can even like where dosh is really good for
Speaker 1: shopping in store using your credit card. Um racket in
Speaker 1: off can offer cash back at certain places too, So
Speaker 1: frugal Friends dot Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash racketin
Speaker 1: um if you're not already on there, I think you
Speaker 1: can get right now like thirty bucks like of cash
Speaker 1: back UM if you use that link. So yeah, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of pros to using the online resources.
Speaker 1: My final tip on here is number fourteen, which talks
Speaker 1: about utilizing discounted gift cards. So, especially right now as
Speaker 1: we're approaching the holidays, many restaurants will offer their gift
Speaker 1: cards at a discounted rate. So let's say you buy
Speaker 1: a fifty dollar gift card for forty dollars, you're saving
Speaker 1: ten dollars on food bought at that restaurant. So whether
Speaker 1: you're getting gifts for other people or you're just getting
Speaker 1: these gift cards for yourself to use throughout the year.
Speaker 1: If you know you've got a restaurant that you frequent
Speaker 1: and you're going to be going to, or is a
Speaker 1: great spot to do take out from, this can be
Speaker 1: a really proactive way of saving money. You've also got
Speaker 1: your websites like restaurant dot com that does a similar
Speaker 1: thing where you can search restaurants in your area and
Speaker 1: purchase those discounted gift cards. You can also use sites
Speaker 1: like Raise and you can visit them at Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: podcast dot com slash raise. They give gift cards. Uh,
Speaker 1: you can earn gift cards through their website. So just
Speaker 1: thinking about ways that we can maximize that type of
Speaker 1: resource for saving money on some of these convenience things
Speaker 1: that we enjoy. Yeah, I think Raise might give you
Speaker 1: five dollars a bonus cash to use there. I'm not sure,
Speaker 1: but check out Ford's podcast dot com slash raise. You
Speaker 1: can buy discounted I've bought several discounted gift cards there.
Speaker 1: Um and if for some reason one doesn't work, when
Speaker 1: you try to use it, you can return it and
Speaker 1: that that's happened to me before and there's no problem. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, usually, I mean typically they work just fine. Awesome.
Speaker 1: You know what else works just fine every single time, mind,
Speaker 1: And it's always a great value the week. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.
Speaker 1: Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your card died
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's build buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill
Speaker 1: of the Hi, Jen and Jill. It's Kyle here from
Speaker 1: the United Kingdom. My bill of the week is my mortgage.
Speaker 1: So over the last two years, I've paid off over
Speaker 1: seventeen thousand pounds in credit card debt, which has meant
Speaker 1: that we've been able to get a better mortgage, and
Speaker 1: it means that we're moving to an island off of Scotland,
Speaker 1: so we're moving to our our dream home. And having
Speaker 1: that debt paid off is meant that I'm not worried
Speaker 1: about the mortgage bill that comes through every month. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that's my bill of the week. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 1: Thanks guys. Wow, Kyle, holy looks you have done. You
Speaker 1: are living the dream and isn't it crazy how significant
Speaker 1: paying off credit card debt can be to increasing a
Speaker 1: credit score and making the cost of loans more affordable.
Speaker 1: So even if you're not going in to getting more loans,
Speaker 1: it can lower the cost of loans you already have
Speaker 1: and and provide this like freedom for you. So well done, Kyle.
Speaker 1: Kyle from the U K. Move into an island off
Speaker 1: the coast of Scotland. If that just isn't the dream?
Speaker 1: And what a win win win win, win win win
Speaker 1: across the board. I'm so thrilled to have heard this bill,
Speaker 1: and I'm also uh, you know, just slightly jealous of
Speaker 1: what's going on there is um but also wow, you
Speaker 1: you put in the work. There's been a lot of
Speaker 1: intentional effort there. I didn't even know that one could
Speaker 1: aim at moving to an island off the coast of Scotland.
Speaker 1: And now I'm re readjusting all of my life plans.
Speaker 1: Thanks Kyle, Thanks Kyle for calling and listening. We love
Speaker 1: your bill. If you all sending have a bill, whether
Speaker 1: it has to do with lowering your mortgage and paying
Speaker 1: down debts, so you can move to an island in
Speaker 1: the UK. I mean, call us love to hear from you,
Speaker 1: but I know if it's just normal debt payoff, you know,
Speaker 1: just like your typical debt payoff. We also want to
Speaker 1: hear from you. Two you matter. Visit Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com, slash Bill leave us here, Bill, and now
Speaker 1: it's time for Wow you. I'm gonna have to clean
Speaker 1: my microphone after that. Yikes. Um, I'm getting out, you know,
Speaker 1: after that Bill of the Week. There's just a lot
Speaker 1: going on. Much Okay, we are resetting and we're here
Speaker 1: for this lightning round the Vulnerable part of the show
Speaker 1: where we today are talking about our favorite treat yourself
Speaker 1: take out food, and I think we've got two good ones.
Speaker 1: Jill doesn't agree with mine, but um, I love food.
Speaker 1: Jill doesn't love food as much as me. So anyways,
Speaker 1: that is so unfair. That's so unfair and just. And
Speaker 1: here's why I love food. I think, Oh, here we go,
Speaker 1: here's your salacious vulnerability. I think I'm more of a
Speaker 1: foodie than you are. You are more equality, You are
Speaker 1: more concerned with quality. I am more concerned with quantity.
Speaker 1: And this is why this is why Jess And I said,
Speaker 1: you're not invited with us to Vegas when we go
Speaker 1: see the Titanic exhibit because you would not find as
Speaker 1: much value in the all you can eat buffets. H Okay, yeah, no, yeah,
Speaker 1: none of that sounds good to me. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to Vegas for a buffet's no, what can happen? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a that's that's a weird thing. Like, I know,
Speaker 1: I think you talked about Titanic reenactments at every no.
Speaker 1: That was a Orlando. I can't keep talking about it.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that later. Anybody who's interested can hear
Speaker 1: about this later. I love food and and you get
Speaker 1: me talking about food. This is one of my favorite episodes.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm not mad that we had to record
Speaker 1: this episode twice, because you get me talking about food,
Speaker 1: and it's my best day. What what you're confusing, Jen,
Speaker 1: is my lack of value for dessert. I like, like,
Speaker 1: I can enjoy sweep things. I'll have a bite of it,
Speaker 1: I'll eat a piece of chocolate, but dessert is not
Speaker 1: where it's at for me. Now, don't get it twisted.
Speaker 1: I like food, but I'm here for that salty buttery, carbi,
Speaker 1: starchy bread. You love bread, thick with bread. You just
Speaker 1: love bread. No, I don't hate for you. I also
Speaker 1: like for you. I like the hot, saucy, spicy, buttery,
Speaker 1: thick food. And you know what that's found in the
Speaker 1: treat myself. Take out for me is Indian food. I
Speaker 1: don't know what it is. I will go to Indian restaurants,
Speaker 1: but for some reason, I have an association of Indian
Speaker 1: food is take out for me. We never got an
Speaker 1: Indian take out. That saddens me, probably because you couldn't
Speaker 1: never don't know how ham I go. I couldn't handle ham. No.
Speaker 1: I know I'm not a big ham fan, but they
Speaker 1: don't typically sell ham anyhow. I ate so much Indian
Speaker 1: food when I was a vegetarian, I ate it so often.
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about saving money when I get take
Speaker 1: out from an Indian restaurant like this is where I
Speaker 1: will say, we're getting all the things. We're getting the
Speaker 1: garlic non, not just the regular non. We're getting the samosas,
Speaker 1: the veggie ones and the meat filled ones, and we're
Speaker 1: getting all the sides and the yogurt and the chutney's
Speaker 1: and multiple types of curries and the rice and sometimes
Speaker 1: even the dessert because Eric likes these like little dough
Speaker 1: balls soaked in honey. There's a term for it. I'm
Speaker 1: forgetting Indian food, bringing it back home, doing the spread,
Speaker 1: lighting a candle, pouring a glass of wine again, all
Speaker 1: of that spicy, salty, buttery thickness. M m m. I'm
Speaker 1: hungry now, Yeah, me too. I also love Indian food,
Speaker 1: but my treat yourself takeout food is Thai food. I
Speaker 1: love a good medium spice pad tie with tofu or chicken,
Speaker 1: depending on the mood. I'm in with a tie iced tea.
Speaker 1: And if you've ever tried to make those things at home,
Speaker 1: then you know that it's tie iced tea is impossible
Speaker 1: to recreate at home? Are you kidding me? And then
Speaker 1: pad ti just cost seventy bucks a plate to make
Speaker 1: it home anyway, so you might as well get it out,
Speaker 1: and that is really We have this place on the
Speaker 1: beach that weill, you know, get the takeout from us.
Speaker 1: Lit it in half, immediately, put one half in the fridge,
Speaker 1: um and one half will fill me up. And I
Speaker 1: just love it with my Thai iced tea. Sometimes if
Speaker 1: they're sushi at the restaurant as well, which very often
Speaker 1: there is. I'll get myself a little roll to maybe
Speaker 1: a seaweed salad, that is, if I'm going ham So, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is my treat. You just don't like pad tie
Speaker 1: because you're like, are more authentic time because you've actually
Speaker 1: been to Thailand. I've been to the Thai restaurant. I
Speaker 1: love Thai food, Jen. I don't know if you remember this,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you do. The very first night we met,
Speaker 1: we went to a Thai restaurant. I know. We love
Speaker 1: to talk about those shots on the beach which did happen,
Speaker 1: and we shared we shared a plate of fries. But
Speaker 1: then after that we went to a Thai restaurant, Yes
Speaker 1: we did. I love Thai food, yeah, it's just one.
Speaker 1: The one thing I will not get from a Thai
Speaker 1: restaurant is pad thai. I think it tastes alfalfa and
Speaker 1: and like you said, I've had it in Thailand. Still
Speaker 1: don't like it. There. I'm here for all the curries,
Speaker 1: green curry, red curry, musclan curry. Love the way that
Speaker 1: they make the vegetables, a papayas salad that's spicy mm hmmm.
Speaker 1: If they do it right spice in my food, and
Speaker 1: I will get my food a little spicier so that
Speaker 1: nobody else in my family will eat it. I have
Speaker 1: a higher spice tolerance, and if I get it a
Speaker 1: little spicier than I get it all to myself yestion.
Speaker 1: And that's a different kind of tip, not totally a
Speaker 1: saving money tip, but keeping all the food to yourself tip.
Speaker 1: Increase your tolerance for the things that the rest of
Speaker 1: your family members don't joy. I did think of one
Speaker 1: more in the twenty hours since we recorded this last time.
Speaker 1: Um the saw the Halopino sausage roll from phrase I
Speaker 1: love love that uh with a Halopino sausage roll with
Speaker 1: a double chokate cake doughnut and a small cappuccino with
Speaker 1: one raw sugar m It puts me in a good place.
Speaker 1: And I'm supporting a coffee shop that like isn't too
Speaker 1: bougie for its breeches, because if I see one more
Speaker 1: bougie coffee donut shop in this city, I will cry.
Speaker 1: Initially I will scream, and then I will cry. So
Speaker 1: I just fe you. You love a fancy coffee shop?
Speaker 1: You do you? That is you? And I love just
Speaker 1: local they're all local, Jill. They're all local, and I
Speaker 1: especially like it if they roast their own get a
Speaker 1: nice light roast pour over or a cappuccino. I don't
Speaker 1: go often, but if I'm going to get coffee out,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be good and the environment is going to
Speaker 1: be aesthetically pleasing. Yeah, and Phrase is good coffee. It's
Speaker 1: not like Duncan, which some people love Duncan. I'm so sorry,
Speaker 1: but but yeah, so it's good quality and we're not
Speaker 1: to say I'm not sorry, so sorry for having opinions.
Speaker 1: Um I oh gosh, Phrase, And people know I love Phrase.
Speaker 1: I have a picture of Phrase sitting on my desk
Speaker 1: like an art and so the city loves it too.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a local treasure. I don't want to
Speaker 1: see it go out of business. I gladly support it
Speaker 1: with my money, and it supports me with its sausage rolls.
Speaker 1: I love that. Now that we've tempted all of our
Speaker 1: audience enough with all this talk of takeout, put it
Speaker 1: in your budget, afford what you value. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for listening everyone. Many of you do know that we
Speaker 1: have a private community where we do monthly money challenges
Speaker 1: it's a really fun way to kind of gamify our
Speaker 1: personal finance. We also offer accountability groups so you can
Speaker 1: know and be known by others that can help you
Speaker 1: in your financial journey, paying off debt, saving money wherever
Speaker 1: you're at. And we want to congratulate one of our
Speaker 1: members for a big win. This is so exciting to me, Vanessa.
Speaker 1: Here we go, she says. My husband and I have
Speaker 1: made major changes in our careers, resulting in a loss
Speaker 1: of three thousand dollars a month in our household income.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, we've been trying to reduce our expenses
Speaker 1: to avoid our new lifestyle, but with a little bit
Speaker 1: of creativity, we've really been enjoying ourselves. We usually visit
Speaker 1: one country per month with our daughters for our Culinary
Speaker 1: World tour, so visit is in quotes, kind of like
Speaker 1: away within their area to visit. This month, they're supposed
Speaker 1: to go to a Turkish restaurant, but it's Culture Days
Speaker 1: in Alberta and the Turkish Association and Minton is organizing
Speaker 1: a free Turkish brunch. The stars have aligned for you, Vanessa.
Speaker 1: I'm honestly so grateful for our new life. We make
Speaker 1: less money, but the benefits of this new lifestyle are huge,
Speaker 1: and here we go, we're gonna rattle off a few.
Speaker 1: I'm less stressed. I'm actually happy to go to work.
Speaker 1: I have enough energy to work out. I do my
Speaker 1: chores during the day so when my kids come back
Speaker 1: from preschool and fully present for them, I can catch
Speaker 1: up with friends who also have flexible schedules. The list
Speaker 1: goes on and on. When you talk about designing your
Speaker 1: dream life, it speaks so much to me. I can't
Speaker 1: believe a year ago we started the Value Based Challenge
Speaker 1: and it has had an impact greater than I expected.
Speaker 1: I could not be jumping out of my seat more
Speaker 1: in reading this to to myself and now out loud
Speaker 1: to all of you. I think you know we live
Speaker 1: in such a time where personal finance so much of
Speaker 1: that culture is his whole hustle culture and make more
Speaker 1: and earn more, and that can be awesome, and that
Speaker 1: is the right path for some. But we've also got
Speaker 1: this other side of the coin of figure out what
Speaker 1: matters to you, what money you need to make to
Speaker 1: afford that lifestyle, and find the freedom and flexibility. I
Speaker 1: think it's it sounds shocking to read we plan to
Speaker 1: take a cut in our salaries and here's what it
Speaker 1: has allowed for us. And we've been able to do
Speaker 1: that because of some of the frugal lifestyle things we've
Speaker 1: put into place. Like I I, it's like I couldn't
Speaker 1: summarize what frugality and the aim of frugality is more
Speaker 1: than what Vanessa has chosen for her lifestyle. So congratulations Vanessa,
Speaker 1: this is so inspiring. Yeah, it's never either or. It's
Speaker 1: choosing to afford a life you love on whatever money
Speaker 1: you make, and however long you work, that's the goal.
Speaker 1: However long, like many times, many hours per week, that
Speaker 1: is the goal. In Vanessa, you we are truly we
Speaker 1: always geek out seeing your progress. So thank you so
Speaker 1: much for sharing. And if you're inspired by this you
Speaker 1: want to learn more, check out our monthly challenge community
Speaker 1: at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club. See what
Speaker 1: kind of money games we have coming up next money games.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by
Speaker 1: Eric Syrian. Okay, Jen, I feel like it's worth recreating
Speaker 1: our post show show because you're telling me crazy stuff.
Speaker 1: Pick up where we left off about the Titanic dining.
Speaker 1: I'm not the only one that loves Titanic. Okay. So
Speaker 1: when I was at the gym one day, they have
Speaker 1: an icebreaker question, and it's what is like, if you
Speaker 1: could like a open a dream hotel, what would it be?
Speaker 1: And mine was a Titanic themed hotel where it's all
Speaker 1: first class and because we don't do classis m so
Speaker 1: we're all first and there is a recreate, a daily
Speaker 1: recreation of the sinking. And that's a little macab I know,
Speaker 1: but I just thought it was I love it, uh,
Speaker 1: And so I was like there and I told um
Speaker 1: our friends Jess and Joseph when they were at dinner
Speaker 1: UM the other night, and I was like, there has
Speaker 1: to be like that has to exist, not the hotel,
Speaker 1: but the recreation thing. There's so many Titanic exhibits, like
Speaker 1: four thousand artifacts floating around, you know, above the sea.
Speaker 1: There's got to be something, and there is right in
Speaker 1: our backyard in Orlando. You can go to the Titanic
Speaker 1: Exhibit and experience a first class dining like multi course
Speaker 1: meal with the Captain and the Unsinkable Molly Brown, and
Speaker 1: then at the end of dinner there's a recreation of
Speaker 1: the sinking using lines from the movie and at the
Speaker 1: end you can see if your person that you were
Speaker 1: assigned at the beginning of the night died only in Florida. Like,
Speaker 1: this is so chaotic and reckless. No it's not. Yes,
Speaker 1: what you're recreating someone's like worst trauma and slash death experience.
Speaker 1: When I watched it on YouTube, I did feel some
Speaker 1: type of way about that, like like you're sinking, like
Speaker 1: like it is. It's a cardinal sin. I think to
Speaker 1: like in a crowd yell fire right and like create
Speaker 1: mass panic. But that's like their plan, that's their dining
Speaker 1: plan is like let's and then like get people trampled.
Speaker 1: This recreation of moving you move in an orderly fashion
Speaker 1: with a band playing you out to the boiler room
Speaker 1: and then it's kind of taking you through like the
Speaker 1: events of the movie almost and and then women and
Speaker 1: children get to leave and men die at the end
Speaker 1: of the dinner. Yeah, this is just it's it's too
Speaker 1: much for me to wrap my mind around. Um, but
Speaker 1: I'm I'm glad I know about it. Like you know,
Speaker 1: the depths of humanity are always interesting to me, but
Speaker 1: also fun fact. Lesser known fact is I used to
Speaker 1: be a Thespian and I did plays, and I was
Speaker 1: in the community play one time of the Titanic, and
Speaker 1: I was this wealthy, young, pregnant woman named Madeleine Astor
Speaker 1: at boarded the Titanic as a first class passenger with
Speaker 1: her much older husband. I remember I knew it. I
Speaker 1: was like, that's on the tip of my tongue. It
Speaker 1: starts with an adel and in this community old rich
Speaker 1: husband in this community production. I was probably seventeen when
Speaker 1: I did this, and I played Madeline Astor, five months pregnant,
Speaker 1: and and you know, similar to real life, I was
Speaker 1: partnered with like a forty two year old man from
Speaker 1: the community played my husband. This was in a community play.
Speaker 1: Where did they find a four Like no, no, not
Speaker 1: high school, no community play. Yeah, yeow yeah. So that's
Speaker 1: my connection to the Titanic. I I recreated it in
Speaker 1: in a production stage production, theater production. You just want
Speaker 1: to recreate it over dinner for funzies, I mean that
Speaker 1: sounds bad. Um okay. I don't know if it's the
Speaker 1: most ethical way to spend your time, but I'm a
Speaker 1: big Titanic fan and interesting, Yeah, if you are a
Speaker 1: man and you attend the dinner with an infant you
Speaker 1: can at the end go I have a child, and
Speaker 1: then they let you leave, but all the other men die.
Speaker 1: I mean eventually everyone leave, right, yes, Jill, everyone gets
Speaker 1: to I don't know. It's Florida, I don't know. Loveless
Speaker 1: and I love it. I do love it. I love
Speaker 1: it for how reckless it can be sometimes. Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 1: I think we had our requirements.