Speaker 1: Episode four ninety six Tips to succeed with your low
Speaker 1: by year and combat over consumption.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live at your life. Here
Speaker 2: your hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and today we are motivating you
Speaker 1: and giving you some hacks and tips to continue with
Speaker 1: your low by year. Even at the beginning of the year,
Speaker 1: if you said this was going to be a no
Speaker 1: by year, or maybe you tried to do no spend January,
Speaker 1: even the no spend February that we did with our
Speaker 1: listeners and our newsletter subscribers over on the front letter,
Speaker 1: even if those did not go the way you thought
Speaker 1: they would go first, that's normal. That you're not alone.
Speaker 1: So we want you to remotivate yourself. First quarter of
Speaker 1: the year is almost over, and let's have the other
Speaker 1: three quarters of the year really strong.
Speaker 3: And I think, honestly, a no by year sounds pretty unrealistic,
Speaker 3: but I do really love the idea of a low
Speaker 3: by year, or just aiming at under consumption or the
Speaker 3: opposite of over consumption that we can be so sucked
Speaker 3: into when we're not thinking, we're not mindful about where
Speaker 3: our money is going, and so we're hoping that this
Speaker 3: can kind of help you with that. But first, this
Speaker 3: episode is brought to you by All in One. Like
Speaker 3: a fanny pack that doubles as a belt, or a
Speaker 3: hat that's also a hairtie, or a cup that can
Speaker 3: be used as a plate. To what whenever you can
Speaker 3: jam like fifty desirable things into one handy dandy accessory.
Speaker 3: We're here for it. Kind of like our book Buy
Speaker 3: What you Love Without Going Broke, It's an all in
Speaker 3: one guide on how to save money, spend better, and
Speaker 3: feel confident about your finances, how to practice values based spending.
Speaker 3: It's the last thing you'll actually need to buy this
Speaker 3: year because it's just that good. You can use it
Speaker 3: for bedtime reading, use it as your journal, wear it
Speaker 3: like a necklace, use it as a coaster and a plate.
Speaker 3: Get the all in one Buy what you Love Without
Speaker 3: Going Broke wherever books are sold.
Speaker 1: It just got more unhinged as you went on. Started
Speaker 1: real good and then just devolved. But I didn't hate it.
Speaker 3: Because you don't just need it for all of your
Speaker 3: finance tips. You could also just like use it for
Speaker 3: all of your accessory needs.
Speaker 1: I will push all in one, I will push back
Speaker 1: on it's the last thing you'll need to buy this
Speaker 1: year because it is March, so I s buy it bye,
Speaker 1: good bye, one or two more things for the rest
Speaker 1: of the year. But that's just good. That's just where
Speaker 1: we differ. It's okay. We're allowed to have different opinions.
Speaker 3: We are not the same.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So if you want to queue up a
Speaker 1: few episodes for after this, episode four forty how contentment
Speaker 1: leads to better spending with Shannon Ables is a fantastic episode,
Speaker 1: and then also episode four thirty six under Consumption Core
Speaker 1: one oh one. Again, I know the numbers are pointless,
Speaker 1: you guys keep telling me, and I keep saying them,
Speaker 1: But just search for the title of the episode and
Speaker 1: you'll find it.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: So let's get into our article today, seven low by
Speaker 1: year tips for maximum success and lasting change, and it's
Speaker 1: from the Simple Balance dot com, so.
Speaker 3: To get into a little bit about kind of what
Speaker 3: it is why you do it, and they also reference
Speaker 3: how a no by year is much more difficult than
Speaker 3: a low by year, but it's essentially choosing to really
Speaker 3: take inventory of your spending and decrease it as much
Speaker 3: as possible. And so in order to do that, these
Speaker 3: are some of the tips that they are talking about
Speaker 3: can really set you up for understanding and implementing. And
Speaker 3: the first is that you really do have to find
Speaker 3: your reasoning for doing a low by year. Any time
Speaker 3: that you engage in something that is a bit of
Speaker 3: a challenge, we need to know why are we going
Speaker 3: to do it? Because twelve months is a really long
Speaker 3: time to stick to anything. And you know, if you're
Speaker 3: even just hearing this concept for the first time and
Speaker 3: you're like, oh, but it's you know, halfway through the year.
Speaker 3: You can start a low by year at any time point.
Speaker 3: You choose the twelve months that it's going to happen in,
Speaker 3: but determine what the reasoning is for it. Whether that
Speaker 3: is to just understand you're spending a little more, to
Speaker 3: decrease the amount of consumption that you're doing, or maybe
Speaker 3: it's to help contribute towards another financial goal. We know
Speaker 3: a lot of you from the Mega survey that we
Speaker 3: did are wanting to pay down debt, and so something
Speaker 3: like a low by year can really help to free
Speaker 3: up some more cash to be able to throw towards
Speaker 3: debt or help you to max out a roth ira
Speaker 3: or pay for that vacation in full that you've been
Speaker 3: wanting to take for a really long time. But you
Speaker 3: definitely need to know why am I doing this? Like,
Speaker 3: don't just do it because we're saying like it could
Speaker 3: be a cool thing to do. It's gonna feel really
Speaker 3: overwhelming if like you don't have it tethered to anything.
Speaker 3: So figure out like your reasoning for doing this and
Speaker 3: be able to kind of come back to that deeper reason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love the story that she tells. She says
Speaker 1: last year, her close friend lost eighty five pounds. He
Speaker 1: said he's tried for years to lose the extra weight,
Speaker 1: but never the motivation never stuck until he had a
Speaker 1: blood test where he thought he was pre diabetic, so
Speaker 1: it ended up being skewed results, But for two weeks
Speaker 1: before they told him the results were skewed, he thought
Speaker 1: he was pre diabetic, and those two weeks he had
Speaker 1: intent like that gave him the motivation that actually got
Speaker 1: his butt in gear. And so then he found out
Speaker 1: he wasn't pre diabetic, but he was then afraid of
Speaker 1: like becoming pre diabetic and so over the year lost
Speaker 1: eighty five pounds. And I think it's the same with
Speaker 1: us and our money. We can know what to do,
Speaker 1: quote unquote, why to do it, what we should be doing,
Speaker 1: but we have to have that, you know, that diagnosis
Speaker 1: moment to give us the internal motivators to stick with it.
Speaker 1: And that is the why we are talking about next
Speaker 1: is to think ahead about what you need to buy
Speaker 1: this year. Sometimes this can be because this can do
Speaker 1: more harm than good. So I don't there is some
Speaker 1: prep that should come with doing a no by year,
Speaker 1: But for a low by year, I think it's different.
Speaker 1: I don't think you need to prepare for a low
Speaker 1: by year. And so like if you're gonna need to
Speaker 1: repair a place of you know, a pair of shoes,
Speaker 1: it's it gives it. If you were doing a no
Speaker 1: by month, you could definitely wait a full month and
Speaker 1: not replace the shoes over that month. If you're doing
Speaker 1: a no by year, then it might kind of distort
Speaker 1: your thinking to say, Okay, I'm gonna need to replace
Speaker 1: my shoes this year, so I'll just buy them now
Speaker 1: so I won't need to replace them throughout, you know.
Speaker 1: Whenever that time comes over the year. As a runner,
Speaker 1: like I know, once I hit you know, one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty to three hundred miles, like depending on the shoe,
Speaker 1: I have to replace that. It is unhealthy for me
Speaker 1: to run on shoes that are worn down, right, that
Speaker 1: is a need. But with a low by year, we
Speaker 1: replace things as we need them, and that is acceptable.
Speaker 1: That's not a quote unquote failure. Even though I think
Speaker 1: on a no by year, I still wouldn't count that
Speaker 1: as a failure or an impulse purchase. And that's what
Speaker 1: we really We want to get out of the habit
Speaker 1: of finding a problem and uh just instantly solving it
Speaker 1: with money. So I think the preparing I like show,
Speaker 1: She says, think ahead, because this is what Jill does.
Speaker 1: Jill makes a list of the things she needs so
Speaker 1: she can be aware while she's at a thrift store,
Speaker 1: searching yard sales on Facebook marketplace. And it's not things
Speaker 1: that are now an emergency situation where I have to,
Speaker 1: you know, replace it right now. If I'm running, I
Speaker 1: kind of know how many miles I'm going to run
Speaker 1: each month and kind of when I'll need to buy
Speaker 1: new shoes. I can see that coming. So nine times
Speaker 1: out of ten, you're gonna be able to see it
Speaker 1: coming and you can prepare. But think ahead and think about, Okay,
Speaker 1: what are these things like running shoes that I know
Speaker 1: I'm going to have to replace sometimes sometime this year.
Speaker 3: And alongside with that, Tip number three is talking about
Speaker 3: deciding on your personal low by year rules. So similar
Speaker 3: to doing a no spend challenge, where you're deciding what
Speaker 3: are the limitations and constraints. What am I still going
Speaker 3: to be able to spend on? But what am I
Speaker 3: not going to spend on? Same thing? So, considering your
Speaker 3: own lifestyle, the things that are important to you, like
Speaker 3: Jen said, will you replace things that break? Maybe a
Speaker 3: rule for you could be that you're going to choose
Speaker 3: to spend on experiences instead of things. Will you consider
Speaker 3: limiting your eating out or takeout spending or is that
Speaker 3: something you want to keep the same. Are you going
Speaker 3: to change what you choose to do around the HU
Speaker 3: holidays at all? The author gives the example that for her,
Speaker 3: lo BI means that she's limiting the stuff she buys,
Speaker 3: not necessarily experiences, so she'll replace consumable items that run
Speaker 3: out and essential items that wear out, like running shoes
Speaker 3: that kind of a thing she does reference. You know,
Speaker 3: she has kids, so she is going to be buying
Speaker 3: Christmas gifts and Birthday gifts, but considering ways to be
Speaker 3: able to kind of scale back and be a little
Speaker 3: bit more mindful about the spending in those different categories.
Speaker 3: So you decide in advance what are the parameters that
Speaker 3: you want to stick to, And I think it really
Speaker 3: could be good to identify what are the areas where
Speaker 3: you are maybe spending the most, but you could rein
Speaker 3: it in and you're curious to see what kind of
Speaker 3: problem solving and creativity could happen if you say, for
Speaker 3: this year, this is what I'm going to choose to
Speaker 3: do instead instead of buying as much as I do
Speaker 3: from the target decor section or Amazon Late Night, I
Speaker 3: am gonna choose to only spend on experiences. So not
Speaker 3: depriving yourself either, but just being curious if I put
Speaker 3: this limitation on myself, what might I learn and how
Speaker 3: might that help me financially.
Speaker 1: Next is to declutter your social media. So the author says,
Speaker 1: I was tempted to say limit your social media, but
Speaker 1: that can be a huge source of information connection, community,
Speaker 1: and we agree with that. So one of the things
Speaker 1: I think like social media is seasonal, so I think
Speaker 1: taking each season and this isn't just like weather seasons,
Speaker 1: but if you're entering into a no by or a
Speaker 1: low by year rather, then it's time to not just declutter,
Speaker 1: but recurate, recurate your social media. So for us, we
Speaker 1: just published by what you Love without going broken January.
Speaker 1: During the launch period, I was following a lot of journalists,
Speaker 1: a lot of book reviewers, a lot of book related things,
Speaker 1: a lot of people who could teach me and potentially
Speaker 1: help me with our book launch launch specifically. And then
Speaker 1: once that season was over, I went through and I
Speaker 1: stopped following all of those people, not because they did
Speaker 1: anything to me, just because I wanted to see different
Speaker 1: things in my feed now. So I want to recurate
Speaker 1: for a new season. And that's definitely what you need
Speaker 1: to do in this new season. So any any influencer
Speaker 1: whose main job is to get you to buy things, fashion, skincare,
Speaker 1: all the little things, diy crafts, all this stuff. Take
Speaker 1: out that stuff and then you can slowly start to
Speaker 1: add new people in as you discover them. That will
Speaker 1: help you with this with your motivation and ideas and creativity,
Speaker 1: for the low Bui.
Speaker 3: I love the recognition that no decision we make needs
Speaker 3: to be permanent, like the curating your social media can
Speaker 3: EBB and flow. You can decide what's going to be
Speaker 3: important for me to be digesting and consuming when it
Speaker 3: comes to digital content right now, but I have the
Speaker 3: permission to change that in a few months from now
Speaker 3: if I choose to. So, I think that can help
Speaker 3: when we do audits like this, as knowing I'm going
Speaker 3: to make a decision now I'm trying it on for size.
Speaker 3: I'm doing an experiment. I can always change my mind
Speaker 3: and shift up who I'm following. Okay. Number five is
Speaker 3: to create wish lists. Jen already mentioned that this is
Speaker 3: something that I do on an ongoing basis is create.
Speaker 3: I have a running list within my phone in the
Speaker 3: notes app of things that I want to buy. So
Speaker 3: if I see something cutesy or have an idea that
Speaker 3: of something that I want to add to my kitchen
Speaker 3: that I think would make my life more efficient, kind
Speaker 3: of the things that none of it's urgent, it's not
Speaker 3: an emergency, but I think I'm gonna want this, I
Speaker 3: put it on a list. And so she's describing this
Speaker 3: too having a place to go with the desire to
Speaker 3: spend is really helpful. Writing something down physically on a
Speaker 3: list like this can give you a bit of that
Speaker 3: dopamine release that we're looking for in the purchase, but
Speaker 3: without actually needing to spend the money. So it allows
Speaker 3: that desire to have an outlet. But it doesn't mean
Speaker 3: that we have to follow the desire all the way through.
Speaker 3: It also doesn't mean that we never get to buy
Speaker 3: that thing. We can always revisit that list and see,
Speaker 3: is this something that I still want? If not, delete it,
Speaker 3: If it is fine, keep an eye out for it.
Speaker 3: And for me, it specifically allows me the opportunity to
Speaker 3: kind of go through the filtering that Jenna and I
Speaker 3: have really been loving of figuring out how can you
Speaker 3: get it for free? How can you get it for
Speaker 3: a deal? And so when I have it on a
Speaker 3: list and I'm able to revisit it, then I'm able
Speaker 3: to see, all right, is it at this thrift store?
Speaker 3: Is it on Facebook? Marketplace? Can I find it on
Speaker 3: a buy nothing group as I'm scrolling and I can
Speaker 3: kind of reference back to that list I've created.
Speaker 1: Next is to unsubscribe from store emails and delete apps,
Speaker 1: And this is another one that is curating. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like it's kind of decluttering but kind of curating.
Speaker 1: So normally we would say you don't have to unsubscribe
Speaker 1: from emails. You could just do like an unroll me
Speaker 1: or a unrolled dot E is a like a browser
Speaker 1: extension that rolls up all of your emails into one
Speaker 1: like your promotion emails into one email a day, or
Speaker 1: make a folder where all of them go to that's hidden.
Speaker 1: But if you're doing a low by year, that is
Speaker 1: a unique scene, or if you're doing a low by
Speaker 1: season that is unique. In that case, we need to
Speaker 1: look at our spending triggers and sales. For a lot
Speaker 1: of us are spending triggers, So unsubscribing for this season
Speaker 1: from all of them, and then after the season's done,
Speaker 1: you can resubscribe to the things that are important to
Speaker 1: you and like put them in the unroll me or
Speaker 1: the hidden folder so they're there to have the sales
Speaker 1: if you want them. But this is a unique season.
Speaker 1: So this is where I would say, and it's it's
Speaker 1: longer than a no spend challenge, right, So if we're
Speaker 1: in a thirty day no spend challenge, you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: need to take the time to unsubscribe from everything, because
Speaker 1: in thirty days it's over, and that's where the low
Speaker 1: spend is unique. It's a longer season, so it requires
Speaker 1: a little bit more curating for sustainability. So unsubscribing from
Speaker 1: store emails yes. Deleting apps yes. Again. Once you come back,
Speaker 1: then you can just you can delete all of them
Speaker 1: and re download what you want as you want it.
Speaker 1: And I even say this for a no spend challenge,
Speaker 1: it's still helpful to delete apps even for thirty days,
Speaker 1: because I think those really can be I feel like
Speaker 1: I look at my apps on my phone screen more
Speaker 1: than I go into my email. That could be flip
Speaker 1: flopped for you. But deleting apps will keep you from
Speaker 1: easily being able to order something online. And with the
Speaker 1: last one, she says something when the Amazon where the
Speaker 1: siren call of the buy now button is so powerful,
Speaker 1: lists are an equally powerful way to fight the temptation.
Speaker 1: Another powerful way is to delete the Amazon app off
Speaker 1: your phone. So it's not saying that you can never
Speaker 1: use Amazon the whole low bye, unless that's one of
Speaker 1: your rules. I don't think any particular retailer has to
Speaker 1: be eliminated for it to be a low by. It's
Speaker 1: very much up to you. But keeping the Amazon app
Speaker 1: and the easy access off your phone that is helpful
Speaker 1: to succeeding. We just want to create as many barriers
Speaker 1: as possible because the technology and the success of these
Speaker 1: companies is through how easy they make it to impulse
Speaker 1: buy and how fast, like fintech companies make frictionless payment,
Speaker 1: we need to fight back by creating friction and creating barriers,
Speaker 1: creating inconvenience.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love the parameter for a low by year
Speaker 3: of not purchasing replacements until they're needed. I think a
Speaker 3: lot of times when it comes to store sales, that
Speaker 3: can be what happens is, oh, well I heard about
Speaker 3: a sale. I'm eventually going to need this thing. I
Speaker 3: don't write now, but I might as well take advantage
Speaker 3: of the sale now. I'd be curious what happens for
Speaker 3: us if we don't know that the sale is happening,
Speaker 3: and we only go onto that store's website to purchase
Speaker 3: the replacement, and maybe we discover, oh, there is a
Speaker 3: sale going on, or we could look up when do
Speaker 3: we think the next sale is going to happen? Can
Speaker 3: I wait that much longer for the replacement? But that
Speaker 3: would be an interesting, I think rule to create of
Speaker 3: not like pushing back against some of like the hoarding
Speaker 3: tendencies of collecting the thing so that you have it
Speaker 3: for a raining day, but really pushing it more to
Speaker 3: the limit and only getting it when you need it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when I when I need something, when I know
Speaker 1: I'm going to need to replace something, I will maybe
Speaker 1: put it in my cart or tag it or put
Speaker 1: it or like save it somewhere and for a few
Speaker 1: weeks watch to see if there are any sales.
Speaker 3: Oh, that'll happen.
Speaker 1: And if there are no sales, I buy it at
Speaker 1: full price without guil, like I'm not going to. I
Speaker 1: save a lot more money by not in pull buying
Speaker 1: just random things on sale and not using them because
Speaker 1: they're not as good as the thing that I really wanted.
Speaker 1: I would rather just buy the thing that I really
Speaker 1: want at full price.
Speaker 3: Number seven, last, but not least, is come up with
Speaker 3: a list of activities to replace shopping. This one cannot
Speaker 3: be understated. We need this. This is the lifeline.
Speaker 1: I'd say this is the most important thing because so
Speaker 1: much of our shopping comes from stress. From unhealthy, unhealthy
Speaker 1: or absent coping mechanisms, boredom and just like jumping to
Speaker 1: spending like as an activity to avoid boredom.
Speaker 3: And we talk about it's not about deprivation, and there
Speaker 3: could be some sacrifice here, but we don't want this
Speaker 3: to feel like an unreasonable, unbearable kind of challenge to
Speaker 3: be giving ourselves, but rather embracing some of the creativity
Speaker 3: that that can happen, and finding alternative ways to cope,
Speaker 3: finding alternative ways to experience that dopamine release that we're
Speaker 3: looking for, and potentially even learning more about ourselves and
Speaker 3: finding the things that actually are even more fun than
Speaker 3: spending money. And maybe we wouldn't have realized that if
Speaker 3: we hadn't have given ourselves this opportunity. I love some
Speaker 3: of the examples that she gives. She describes that in
Speaker 3: her home, if she's tempted to buy something new, she rearranges.
Speaker 3: I love this idea when it comes to, you know,
Speaker 3: if buying home decor is a huge one for you,
Speaker 3: In particular, creating a different kind of aesthetic with the
Speaker 3: things that you already have can really bring a nice
Speaker 3: refresh to the place. If she's tempted to buy something
Speaker 3: for her wardrobe. She does the laundry. Now that one
Speaker 3: doesn't sound maybe like as fun that instead of buying,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go do a chore, but it helps her
Speaker 3: to remind herself of all the clothing she does have,
Speaker 3: and you do get the reward of completing a task
Speaker 3: having clean, where ble clothing. If she's tempted to buy
Speaker 3: a book and can't and access it right away, instead,
Speaker 3: she'll order it from the library or download a sample
Speaker 3: of it on Kindle and wait patiently for the book
Speaker 3: to come in, although I will also say if you
Speaker 3: have Libby or Hoopla, you don't even have to be patient.
Speaker 3: You could just get the book off that app either
Speaker 3: as an ebook or an audio book, and they can
Speaker 3: also communicate with a kindle. You can send it to
Speaker 3: your Kindle from Libby or Hoopla, depending on the book.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you are going to have a weight period on it,
Speaker 3: but if you ordered a physical copy, you absolutely would
Speaker 3: be waiting at least a day or two for it
Speaker 3: to come in. Anyway, so love that.
Speaker 1: Or if you really want it and want to keep it,
Speaker 1: run down to your local bookstore and get.
Speaker 3: It so you could commit to walking more watching some
Speaker 3: of the shows on the streaming services you already pay for,
Speaker 3: finding a new recipe to cook, calling a friend. One
Speaker 3: of the things we talk about in our book by
Speaker 3: What You Love Without Going Broke is having congruent sized
Speaker 3: alternatives to the thing that you were doing, like the
Speaker 3: ways in which you were spending, so kind of the
Speaker 3: small medium big sized alternatives. So if you know scrolling
Speaker 3: on your phone at night and buying things from Instagram
Speaker 3: or Amazon is kind of yourmo when it comes to
Speaker 3: impulse spending, then something you can do instead late at night, right,
Speaker 3: So like going for our run isn't going to be
Speaker 3: a great alternative if it's eleven thirty pm. Instead, maybe
Speaker 3: you've got a list of funny videos that you want
Speaker 3: to watch. There's a comedian that you enjoy following, or
Speaker 3: you journal, or you play a game on your phone,
Speaker 3: something that's similar in size to that thing. If it's
Speaker 3: going out and shopping with a friend and you enjoy it,
Speaker 3: maybe like as an activity, then maybe it's something kind
Speaker 3: of congruent with that, where you are going out for
Speaker 3: a walk, meeting up with a friend to do that thing,
Speaker 3: or packing a picnic lunch. Something that's going to feel like,
Speaker 3: it gets you a version of what it is that
Speaker 3: you're looking for to the same size of it.
Speaker 1: Yes, I one of my like, I just had this idea,
Speaker 1: and I want to pose this challenge. Maybe this is
Speaker 1: the challenge for April. Oh, instead of scrolling, text your friend,
Speaker 1: text a friend a meme a different friend every day,
Speaker 1: thirty friends in thirty days, thirty memes, ooh, and strike
Speaker 1: up a conversation. Sometimes they'll text back. Sometimes they won't
Speaker 1: because they're busy, you know. But sometimes you might get
Speaker 1: a meme back or GIF.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just send them an audiogram. Those are fun.
Speaker 1: That's scarier. It's fun though it's it could be fun.
Speaker 3: You want next level challenge?
Speaker 1: Okay, if you want next level challenge, But if you
Speaker 1: are like me and you're not like great at reaching
Speaker 1: out to people, I think community and relationship is a
Speaker 1: far better solution to our anxieties and our stress and
Speaker 1: all the things that we sources of stress, shopping that
Speaker 1: we have. I think that thirty memes to thirty friends
Speaker 1: in thirty days could solve all your problems. And I
Speaker 1: just thought about it like thirty seconds ago. But I'm
Speaker 1: committed to saying on the record I believe it will
Speaker 1: change your life.
Speaker 3: In addition to your low by year, you also have
Speaker 3: an April challenge.
Speaker 1: I'll try it.
Speaker 3: Do you know what is not a challenge, but something
Speaker 3: we also love when people try.
Speaker 1: It's it's the only like audio message that feels safe
Speaker 1: to me. All other audio I honestly I would never
Speaker 1: I respect people who do, but I couldn't.
Speaker 3: That's because you're a podcaster. I know, literally only do
Speaker 3: audio cramps. It's how you make your money, it's how
Speaker 3: you hit your house.
Speaker 1: I get it. I'm a conundrum.
Speaker 3: Wow, the bill of the week.
Speaker 2: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 2: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 2: is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
Speaker 2: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 2: that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's bills, Buffalo.
Speaker 2: Bills, Bill clion, this is the bill of the week.
Speaker 1: Hey, frugal friends.
Speaker 4: My name is Ruth, and I was listening to your
Speaker 4: episode about the car and the minivan. And we have
Speaker 4: an eleven year old Toyota Corolla with fewer than one
Speaker 4: hundred thousand miles on it. But every once in a while,
Speaker 4: I started thinking, you know, oh, I would love I mean,
Speaker 4: i'd love a backup camera, but you know, I want
Speaker 4: a new car or something. And recently I started saying, Okay,
Speaker 4: I'm going to start making myself pay a car payment
Speaker 4: into an account. So now we have a car payments.
Speaker 4: Five hundred dollars goes into a savings account every month,
Speaker 4: so that, yeah, maybe when we have the price of
Speaker 4: a new car in cash, we can go ahead and
Speaker 4: do that, or if we get in an accident, we'll
Speaker 4: have something for a down payment beyond that. But it's
Speaker 4: a little way of my saying, okay, you know what
Speaker 4: I'm preparing for that. I'm preparing for that new car,
Speaker 4: but my current car works perfect now. And uh yeah,
Speaker 4: it's a it's a bill that I'm paying to myself
Speaker 4: and hopefully that'll save future us some money.
Speaker 1: That's it, Yep, that's it. That's how you do it.
Speaker 3: That is how you do it. You got it. That
Speaker 3: figured it out, Ruth Rut.
Speaker 1: Maybe Ruth Rut, thank you. Uh, And that is honestly
Speaker 1: how you do it. When you decide you want another car,
Speaker 1: then you start saving for it. And if you need
Speaker 1: a new car before you've saved all the money, you've
Speaker 1: got the down payment. Otherwise, when you hit your goal,
Speaker 1: you get to reward yourself with a new car, whether
Speaker 1: you need it or not, right or you just let
Speaker 1: it sit there and wait for your car to do.
Speaker 1: You get to choose, but if you don't have the money,
Speaker 1: you don't get to choose.
Speaker 3: And now you have the cash to negotiate that car
Speaker 3: purchase too. You may not even need to have a
Speaker 3: car payment once you get the next thing. You are
Speaker 3: doing this in a brilliant way.
Speaker 1: And the thing is your Toyota Corolla is never gonna die.
Speaker 1: It's never gone. It's yours forever. But if you have
Speaker 1: the money, then you can do whatever you want.
Speaker 3: Oh, we are so can you tell the things that
Speaker 3: light us up? I love that we're lit up about
Speaker 3: her paying herself rooting.
Speaker 1: People are walking by our office and they are distress
Speaker 1: by how lit we are.
Speaker 3: Ruth, you're doing, You're doing the real thing, and we're
Speaker 3: so glad to hear from you. If you all are
Speaker 3: listening and you're just so inspired by Ruth, and you
Speaker 3: want to share about things that you're setting money aside for,
Speaker 3: or things that you have paid off already, or just
Speaker 3: how long your car is running. Because we're also here
Speaker 3: for that. Or your name is Bill and you've had
Speaker 3: who knows how many amounts of vehicles in your life.
Speaker 3: We want to hear about that. Re welfriendspodcast dot com
Speaker 3: slash Bill. Leave us your bill, We're ready for it,
Speaker 3: and now it's time for.
Speaker 1: The lightning around show you what are your exceptions in
Speaker 1: your low by year? Uh? So, I mean, I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: I've never done like an official low by year.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 1: If I I feel like my life is low by,
Speaker 1: that's the thing. Lo BI is a buzzword, but it's
Speaker 1: also just being frugal. I want to like put that
Speaker 1: out there. I might be should have put that out
Speaker 1: there at the top of the episode, but now that
Speaker 1: we've come thirty minutes in, I just want to like
Speaker 1: wrap that up by saying a low by year is
Speaker 1: a frugal living lifestyle, So what are my exceptions? There
Speaker 1: are no exceptions. When you're spending based on your values,
Speaker 1: then your your values are not exceptions. Your values are priorities.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it was a very very good way of
Speaker 3: getting out of answering the question.
Speaker 1: Jill, your answer is just boring, So I wanted to
Speaker 1: have something interesting to say. But I would say that,
Speaker 1: so the things I spend on guilt free childcare, I
Speaker 1: still want to I said for years, five years at
Speaker 1: this point that childcare is my favorite money that I
Speaker 1: spend every month, and I will, yeah, continue to pay
Speaker 1: it for a few more years. Actually just like one
Speaker 1: more year. I think that's nice. Who knows, and then
Speaker 1: I might invest that money. Yeah, get back to investing.
Speaker 1: That'll be nice.
Speaker 3: You know, I value breaks. I think if I could
Speaker 3: summarize what I am willing to spend on its opportunities
Speaker 3: to take a break.
Speaker 1: That was not the answer I said, was She changed
Speaker 1: her answer.
Speaker 3: But it is involved in this. So what I mean
Speaker 3: by that is.
Speaker 1: Breaks for your car, because that is why you got
Speaker 1: a new car.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yea for safety reason, the safety versions of breaks.
Speaker 3: But I recently said to you that, yeah, I do
Speaker 3: not buy things products, tangible goods, but I will spend
Speaker 3: on food, travel activities. So for me, that's not going away.
Speaker 3: I feel like I have really understood what I enjoy
Speaker 3: spending on. That's what I'm going to be spending on.
Speaker 3: But it all kind of represents, you know, when I
Speaker 3: go out to eat, it's like a break from from
Speaker 3: being in my home, from being in the kitchen, from
Speaker 3: needing to exert energy and time to cooking. So I
Speaker 3: will pay for food out to go to an activity
Speaker 3: or to travel is kind of like a break from
Speaker 3: the everyday charade.
Speaker 1: That's kind of when I get takeout food, that's essentially
Speaker 1: what I am paying for. Like I will say, like
Speaker 1: I like travel and experiences too, Like I'm not a monster.
Speaker 1: I'm just at a period in my life where those
Speaker 1: things cost double or sometimes quadruple, and I can't afford that.
Speaker 1: So I'm not at a place right now where or
Speaker 1: not that I can't afford. I don't value it enough
Speaker 1: to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on babysitters and
Speaker 1: like traveling like tickets. So yeah, and I'm tired. There's
Speaker 1: sure there's free stuff, but I'm just tired. So that's
Speaker 1: why the breaks that I pay for are typically takeout. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my mom watched the kids on Saturday, and we were
Speaker 1: so exhausted. This is so embarrassing. We were so exhausted.
Speaker 1: We didn't have a plan. We just didn't have time
Speaker 1: to think of. Oh, we'd known for like a month
Speaker 1: that my mom was going to watch the kids on
Speaker 1: this night, because she watches them once a month, and
Speaker 1: we just didn't we didn't know what we were going
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 3: Wait, wasn't she going to take them to her place
Speaker 3: so you could be at home? You knew that you
Speaker 3: wanted that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she took them to Chuck E Cheese and then
Speaker 1: brought them home and watched them at our house. Like
Speaker 1: you know, while we were we were going to go out,
Speaker 1: oh okay, and we just didn't have a plant, so
Speaker 1: we ended up just doing chores until they said they
Speaker 1: were on their way, and then we left. We didn't
Speaker 1: know what to do, so we just got tacos and
Speaker 1: went to al D and came.
Speaker 3: Out got groceries. Did you need groceries or was that?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 3: No one activity to go to?
Speaker 1: All al D closes at eight on Saturdays and we
Speaker 1: got there some fifty five. Oh right, So then we
Speaker 1: ended up getting home in enough time miraculously to put
Speaker 1: the kids to bed.
Speaker 3: Oh no, Jen is.
Speaker 1: My life and that is my life in a nutshell right,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: You know what I can do for frugal friends to
Speaker 3: contribute to our business is like come up with date ideas.
Speaker 1: For you guys.
Speaker 3: Wow, you just like have a list of like you
Speaker 3: don't have to because that is the thing you got
Speaker 3: to exert energy into taking a plan you're to do.
Speaker 1: So I think childcare is the best part of my
Speaker 1: day dropping off. And I won't say that public schools childcare,
Speaker 1: but that is also a good part of my day.
Speaker 3: It's also education that's good.
Speaker 1: I love our school, our elementary school. But yeah, so
Speaker 1: I would say that's mine, but yeah, I again, a
Speaker 1: low by year, I think is a concerted effort toward
Speaker 1: frugal living. I think you can view it as a
Speaker 1: more rigid kind of like a starter course, and then
Speaker 1: frugality is just a little bit more flexible. So if
Speaker 1: you don't jive with really rigid things and you want
Speaker 1: something that's a little softer, I think a low by
Speaker 1: year can be a concerted effort toward frugality. So thank
Speaker 1: you so much for listening, and we love, love love
Speaker 1: reading your kind reviews of the podcast and the book,
Speaker 1: and this one specifically on the book. It's from Anastasia.
Speaker 1: It's five stars. She says, Buy what you Love Without
Speaker 1: Going Broke is a down to earth read that feels
Speaker 1: like a chat with friends over homemade coffee. The authors
Speaker 1: meet each reader where they are on their own personal
Speaker 1: finance journey. This book provides a foundation that encourages its
Speaker 1: readers to assess their relationships with money and ultimately create
Speaker 1: their own roadmaps toward financial empowerment. Thank you, Anastasia.
Speaker 3: That's so helpful and such a kind review. We're really
Speaker 3: glad to hear that you feel seen in the book
Speaker 3: and like you're chatting with a friend. That's the feedback
Speaker 3: We hear a lot about the podcast, so it's really
Speaker 3: cool to hear that that came through in the book
Speaker 3: and that kind of regardless of where you are and
Speaker 3: your financial journey, there's something for you. I think that
Speaker 3: was also a hope in giving some of the foundational
Speaker 3: principles of how to spend money well that can be
Speaker 3: applicable at any life stage or season. So thank you
Speaker 3: so much for that beautiful review of the book. If
Speaker 3: this is a book that you have not purchased but
Speaker 3: it's sounding interesting to you, you can get by what
Speaker 3: you love without going broke anywhere that books are sold,
Speaker 3: and we so appreciate you also just tuning into this
Speaker 3: podcast and listening. If you've enjoyed the show, then please
Speaker 3: take a minute to leave us a rating and review.
Speaker 3: It really does help us, helps other listeners find us
Speaker 3: know if it's going to be right for them. So
Speaker 3: thanks for doing.
Speaker 1: That, absolutely, and we will see you next time. Grugle
Speaker 1: Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3: Okay Jen. Yes, yesterday you were a chaparl.
Speaker 1: I chaperoned the kindergarten field trip to the zoo. Yes,
Speaker 1: all the kindergarten classes went, and I actually went with
Speaker 1: my friend Kendra because our sons are in the same
Speaker 1: kindergarten class, and miss Kay knows that we're friends, so
Speaker 1: she put us in the same chaperone group at the
Speaker 1: park two. So yeah, we took. Here's this thing, there
Speaker 1: are seventeen kids in my son's kindergarten class. That seems
Speaker 1: like a lot, Yeah it does. And then there were
Speaker 1: enough chaperones that there were three adults for four kids.
Speaker 1: And in the three adults that were in our group,
Speaker 1: we each had our kid, so then we only had
Speaker 1: one girl who was not our own, just.
Speaker 3: A rogue, yeah, rogue child.
Speaker 1: And so you're like, wow, that is so many adults
Speaker 1: per child. And then you get to the zoo and
Speaker 1: you get to walking around and you're like always losing one.
Speaker 1: It seems like you needed one on one attention for
Speaker 1: all the kids. And meanwhile miss Kay is walking around
Speaker 1: with seven kids by herself and she's just like, hey, chill,
Speaker 1: like this is great, And I was like, I can't what.
Speaker 3: It's almost too many cooks in the kitchen because how
Speaker 3: do you know who's responsible for what kid?
Speaker 1: Well, it's enough kids where you should be able to
Speaker 1: see all four in your eyesight at all time, or
Speaker 1: at least you can see, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: other chaperones. And so it didn't feel like there were
Speaker 1: too many adults. It felt like there were too many children.
Speaker 1: You were still out numbered, right right, So yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was very fun though. I like the moms that
Speaker 1: I was with, and the kids in our group were
Speaker 1: very good. And we went and we saw tiger and elephants, drafts, rhinos, monkeys,
Speaker 1: all the types of monkeys, every single type of monkey.
Speaker 3: Cool for Kay to have you there, Yes, of course,
Speaker 3: did you feel like a fly on the wall. You
Speaker 3: got to see how he interacts with his friends or
Speaker 3: do you think he behaves differently when you're around.
Speaker 1: No, I think he I've been to his class before,
Speaker 1: so I kind of see how he interacts, but sometimes
Speaker 1: you can't always trust the words of a five year old.
Speaker 1: So they come home and they'll tell you stuff and
Speaker 1: you're like, did that really happen? Like, is Mac really
Speaker 1: copping all your goldfish? School? You have to bring three
Speaker 1: packs of goldfish? Like, is he running like a like
Speaker 1: a ring where he's taking everyone's goldfish? What's happening? And
Speaker 1: so just the way he says things, you don't know
Speaker 1: what's really going on. So, yeah, it was fun. It's
Speaker 1: always fun to see him, to see the faces of
Speaker 1: all the kids that he talks about to meet their parents.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, what did you learn? Is this kid actually
Speaker 3: like taking everybody else's food? No, you get to watch
Speaker 3: it in action.
Speaker 1: Mac is actually Kendra's son. So I know Matt like,
Speaker 1: I know him like, and he's feisty, But I don't
Speaker 1: think he's running like a goldfish redealing.
Speaker 3: Ring right right now? Maybe not. Maybe he's just consuming
Speaker 3: it all. Maybe he's in his over consumption of goldfish here.
Speaker 1: This is also possibility because Kai is like Mac loves goldfish,
Speaker 1: and I was like, does he is that why you
Speaker 1: asked me to put three bags in your lunch? Does
Speaker 1: he love them that much? But I think he just
Speaker 1: wants to be generous. Kai wants to be generous.
Speaker 3: I don't think or it's all a ruse or Kai
Speaker 3: just wants to eat that many goldfish, but he's using
Speaker 3: his friends as a scapegoat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's like, I don't want them, and I'm just like,
Speaker 1: then sometimes he is he does want them. I was like,
Speaker 1: you better want them. I just bought a forty five
Speaker 1: bag pack from Costco and I'm not giving them all
Speaker 1: to mac. So it's it is very fun to see
Speaker 1: all their little behaviors.
Speaker 3: Sean, what was your favorite thing to see at the zoo?
Speaker 1: I really like the the giraffes and the elephants are together,
Speaker 1: so you see them in the same their little serengetti
Speaker 1: type like, yeah.
Speaker 3: That's right. Yeah, Okay I have been to the zoo before.
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's really great. Penguins are really great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the kids get to feed the giraffes.
Speaker 1: No, they didn't feed any uh And honestly, after an
Speaker 1: hour and a half they were all wiped. It was insane,
Speaker 1: Like hour and a half of the zoo, they're yeah,
Speaker 1: done done. Why I have this amazing picture that Kendrick
Speaker 1: actually asks somebody walking by to take for us because
Speaker 1: it was so comical. But it was oh now it's gone.
Speaker 1: It's like if you don't save something in twenty four hours,
Speaker 1: it leaves your phone. But it's all of the kids.
Speaker 1: Oh no, there it is like just passed out.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, like they are yeah, oh I'm looking
Speaker 3: at this photo, and every single child is just like
Speaker 3: in the lap of an adult wrecked, just absolutely demolished.
Speaker 1: That was two hours in, honestly, and we still had
Speaker 1: an hour left to be there. You think the kindergarteners
Speaker 1: are going there from ten to one three hours? How
Speaker 1: are you gonna do everything? No, that was two hours
Speaker 1: in and they were wiped and we were like, we
Speaker 1: can we go.
Speaker 3: Now what a cute photo, I know. So yeah.
Speaker 1: That was the zoo and it was so chaotic, so fun.
Speaker 1: One time I chaperoned a trip to SeaWorld, not for
Speaker 1: like my kids. This was before when I lived in Orlando.
Speaker 1: I had a friend who was a teacher and she
Speaker 1: needed chaperones for her. I think it was it was
Speaker 1: either like eighth grade or like young high school. I
Speaker 1: can't remember. I think it was middle school and they
Speaker 1: went to SeaWorld and they needed chaperones and that was
Speaker 1: so fun. Yeah, like chaperoning middle schoolers at SeaWorld. They're
Speaker 1: just so chaotic. It was so good.
Speaker 3: So when that happens, like, do you are you able
Speaker 3: to just take Kai home with you straight from there?
Speaker 3: Do they go back to school for a little bit?
Speaker 1: Yeah? No, And I carpooled there with Kendra and another mom,
Speaker 1: and then I was going to take Kai home with
Speaker 1: me and so he came with us. And then one
Speaker 1: of the other moms her car like broke while we
Speaker 1: were there, and so we ended up taking her and
Speaker 1: her daughter back. So it was a mini van with
Speaker 1: four moms and two kids coming back. Yeah, amazing, that
Speaker 1: was fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so the other moms sent their kids just back
Speaker 3: to school.
Speaker 1: On the bus.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you only have so much space.
Speaker 1: It was. I gave Kai the option because he's usually
Speaker 1: really excited about the bus, and he was so tired
Speaker 1: he wanted to like just ride with me.
Speaker 3: So the other kids, good thinking. You got that mini van.
Speaker 1: It wasn't my mini van, it was right. Wow, I
Speaker 1: was just along for the ride. It was pleasurable for me.
Speaker 3: Amazing. It was like a fun day. So glad you
Speaker 3: were able to do that.
Speaker 1: Yes, it was so fun.