2026 Frugality Reset: Fix Your Spending in 30 Days

Summary

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Frugal Friends Podcast: "2026 Frugality Reset: Fix Your Spending in 30 Days"

Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Release Date: March 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

Jen and Jill deliver a practical, encouraging roadmap for anyone whose spending habits are derailing their financial goals. Rather than advocating for deprivation or drastic no-spend challenges, they introduce a relatable five-step “Frugality Reset” designed to help listeners regain control of their finances – within 30 days, and without giving up all enjoyment. Laced with personal anecdotes and plenty of laughs, the episode focuses on building practical boundaries, boosting motivation, and banishing shame from the process of resetting financial behaviors.

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Main Discussion Breakdown

1. Awareness Reset

(Begins ~02:32)

• Purpose: To regain control, first recognize where the money is leaking.
• Action:
  • Perform a “mini transaction inventory” by reviewing the last 30 days of your spending.
  • This snapshot helps spot habitual leaks: convenience (being tired), identity (spending to fit in or for status), or emotional triggers (happy/sad/esteem boosting buys).
• Attitude:
  • Approach this as a “fact-finding mission,” not a self-judgment session.
  • Quote (Jen, 04:59):

    “We are simply fact finders on a mission to find data. And that data happens to be our own spending habits. But we put that aside because we just really need to know the numbers.”

  • Shift mindset from “I’m bad with money” to “I’m on autopilot and need to regain awareness.”
  • Quote (Jill, 06:04):

    “We hate the term I’m so bad with money. That's a cop out. We don't believe that's true... We need to figure out where we’re on autopilot and fix that.”

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2. Environment Reset

(Begins ~07:17)

• Philosophy: Success is more about boundaries than sheer willpower—make the good decisions easier.

• Digital Environment:

  • Unsubscribe from marketing emails, text promos.
  • Alternative: Use email services like Unroll Me to consolidate promotional emails (Jen, 08:25).
  • Remove saved card info from online retailers for purchase “friction.”
  • Consider moving money to harder-to-access accounts (like high-yield savings) to reduce impulse spending (Jill, 10:07).

• Physical Environment:

  • Rearrange your kitchen or pantry to make food more visible and reduce duplicate grocery spending.
  • Try a “pantry challenge”—eat what you have before shopping anew.
  • Use phone notes to track what’s available (Jen, 12:56):

    “I have a note just for lists of breakfast snacks, chicken dishes, and like other meat dishes. And I just added a few things to that list based on what was in my fridge and my freezer…”

  • Apply similar resets to other “spendy” domains: home décor (rearrange instead of buying new).

• Mindset Reminder:

  • Boundaries > willpower. Don’t glorify making good choices under chaos—set yourself up for success by making the good choice easier (Jen & Jill, ~14:19–15:59).

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3. Big Expense Reset

(Begins ~18:16)

• Concept: Step beyond $5 savings to question large regular expenses: housing, transportation, and food (“the big three”), plus insurance/medical.
• Action:
  • Periodically reassess if your rent, car payment, insurance, and grocery spending still align with your values and goals.
  • Use creative alternatives (downsizing, refinancing, medical sharing plans) where feasible.
  • Share experiences with switching to one car, using medical cost-sharing, or living in a motorhome as financial boosters.
• Notable Quote (Jill, 23:59):

  “Asking these sorts of questions... has been the biggest catalyst, the biggest driver... to anything successful that has happened for us financially is questioning these larger expenses.”

• Philosophy: No shame if you can’t change everything—just review annually and experiment with creative alternatives, not deprivation.

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4. Motivation Reset

(Begins ~27:12)

• Understanding Motivation:
  • Motivation is fleeting; willpower comes and goes. Focus on building momentum with small, sustainable actions.
  • Replace guilt and shame with positive reinforcement.
• Jen’s “Motivation Lie” (29:00):
  • Social media and inspirational content can distract from actually taking action.
  • Quote (Jen, 31:08):

    “Motivation does not come through following all these motivational accounts... It comes through acting. So get off social media and start going.”

• Staying on Track:
  • Listening to financial podcasts daily (like Frugal Friends!) is a sustainable way to stay motivated.
  • When in a rut (e.g., with cooking), add fun to the routine—meal kits, a treat trip to Trader Joe's (Jill, 33:33).
• Distinguishing Motivation from Shame:
  • Avoid “tough love” that shames you into action; instead, connect with your long-term goals and visualize your future self (Jill, ~32:47–34:57).

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5. Glow Up, Not Down

(Begins ~35:42)

• Reframing Frugality:
  • Frugality should be about “glowing up”—enhancing life—rather than depriving yourself.
  • Add:
    • One income lever (side hustle, overtime, etc.)
    • One automation (autosave, transfer to retirement)
    • One friction (removing cards, unsubscribing), or
    • One small, free luxury (special mug, peaceful moment).
  • Jen:

    “If you’re going to call something stupid, don’t call yourself stupid. Call all the toys on the floor stupid.”

• Community Engagement:
  • Collect and share “free little luxuries” as a resource in the YouTube comment section.
  • Encourage laughter and camaraderie—even about cleaning up after kids.

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Positive Spending Identity (06:42, Jen):

  “If we can change our mindset…it makes this awareness reset a lot more approachable.”

• On Creating Boundaries (14:19, Jen):

  “Boundaries are better than more willpower…Set ourselves up to make the better decision easier."

• On Motivation vs. Action (31:08, Jen):

  “I was taking action in the summer, and I was watching motivational content in the fall.”

• Listener Call-In: Meg’s Bill Story (39:57)
  • Paying off medical bills for her third child and redirecting those funds to accelerate a minivan payoff—a celebration of financial progress and adaptable planning.

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Lightning Round – Personal Resets

(~44:54–47:50)

• Jen:
  • Deleted Instagram and Facebook, even sacrificing Marketplace, to reclaim time and focus.
  • Quote:

    “What impact does it have on me what these strangers who I'll never meet are like in real life? I don't need to be doing this.” (46:43)

• Jill:
  • Trimming subscriptions and doubling down on weekly meal planning—not a major overhaul, just thoughtful realignment.

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Key Takeaways

• Resetting your spending doesn’t require deprivation or all-or-nothing challenges.
  It’s about awareness, boundaries, examining big expenses, redefining motivation, and finding joy in small things.
• Shame and guilt are roadblocks, not fuel for change.
  Recast setbacks as moments for curiosity, not self-criticism.
• Frugality can be positive, creative, and even luxurious—choose “glow up” strategies that add to your life.

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Important Timestamps

• Step 1: Awareness Reset: 02:32
• Step 2: Environment Reset: 07:17
• Step 3: Big Expense Reset: 18:16
• Step 4: Motivation Reset: 27:12
• Step 5: Glow Up, Not Down: 35:42
• Listener Bill of the Week: 39:57
• Lightning Round (Hosts’ Personal Resets): 44:54

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Episode Tone & Extras

• Warm, humorous, non-judgmental, relatable.
• Emphasis on flexibility, grace, and self-compassion throughout the 30-day reset.

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For Engagement

• Share your personal reset methods or “free little luxuries” in the YouTube comments.
• Listener bill stories encouraged at frugalfriendspodcast.com/bill.

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This episode leaves listeners feeling empowered to reboot their finances—one thoughtful, shame-free step at a time, with plenty of laughs along the way.

Transcript

[Capital Group Narrator]

What does leadership really look like? On the Power of Advice, a new podcast series from Capital Group. You'll hear from athletes, entrepreneurs and executives who've led on the field, in the boardroom and in their communities. It's not about titles, it's about impact. Discover what drives them and the advice they carry forward. Subscribe and start listening today.

[Jen]

Published by Capital Client Group Inc. Frugality reset. Fix your spending in 30 days.

[Podcast Host Intro]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a richer life. Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.

[Jen]

Welcome Frugal Friends. I'm Jen.

[Jill]

I'm Jill.

[Jen]

And if you've been trying to reach your goals but spending has been just putting a block, you make these really good goals, you make this really good budget. You've got debt, payoff and investing all on there. And then you get down to spending money and it's just not working. This is for you. This is the reset you need. Hmm.

[Jill]

We're not talking about a no buy year. We're not talking about deprivation. A realistic frugality reset can start today. And that's what we're gonna be walking you through. You don't need a higher income, you don't need extreme budgeting. You don't need to give up everything you love. We're gonna kind of walk you through our five step process that you can do and truly experience a total reset of your money.

[Jen]

Yeah, and don't get us wrong, we love a good no spend challenge. No spend month. We have a great episod episode on that that we'll link to. But you don't always need that. That's not always what you need. Sometimes you need something a little bit different and we think this is that different. So we've got a five step frugality reset that's really going to focus in on your spending and it's really, it's something you can do while you do a no spend challenge, but it's also something you can do if you don't feel like you're ready for one or you just don't. See, see a 30 day window coming up where this might be appropriate or a no spin challenge might be appropriate for you.

[Jill]

So if you're mainly just here for motivation, you just know you need to get back on the wagon. Step four is for you. And most people do skip it.

[Jen]

Yeah. So let us get started with our first step, which is an awareness reset. And so for this we want you to do a little mini transaction inventory. A 30 day transaction inventory. We're doing a mini because we're hoping that you're doing a full transaction inventory once or twice a year. And so this is for a reset. And when we say like if you feel like you need a reset, I think a lot of people are going to need a lot of resets. This is not a one and done thing thing. Motivation is fleeting. I think our idea of our own capabilities and our own success like can be skewed. We might be like making some progress but feel like life. We're taking like two steps forward, two steps back, one step back. Like that can really skew our perception. And so this is really a perception reset for us. Something that you can do anytime you feel like you're falling off the wagon or you have fallen off. So a 30 day spending on it, just a little mini, a little mini 90 day transaction meaning you're looking back

[Jill]

at the last 30 days of spending. You're not inventorying for 30 days, just making that clarification. So as you look back at everything that you've spent money on in the last 30 days, we want to be looking for the leaks. Where is money just kind of seeping out without us totally being aware of it. And some common leaks could include convenience. Where am I spending just because I'm tired and this is convenient identity spending. Am I able to see that any of these transactions might have more to do with me and wanting to feel a sense of belonging or wanting this purchase to define me a little more versus the thing itself? And emotional spending. There could be other leaks for you. These are just some really common ones that, oh, when I'm really happy or I'm really sad. Yeah, I do this when I'm looking for, you know, an esteem boost. I do this when I just want convenience. So you identify what, what your leak is. But that is one of the main things we're looking for as we're looking back at that 30 days.

[Jen]

And I think the main thing that we always tell people to think about when you're doing a 90 day transaction, Tori, or a 30 day mini is this is a data fact finding mission. We're not doing this to feel guilty or feel shame. We're not going into it like scared because you don't know what's, you know what's going to be there. Right? There can be a little bit of that. But we want you to do it so scared. And we don't want you to judge yourself or shame yourself while you're doing it. We are simply fact finders on a mission to find data. And that data happens to be our own spending habits. But we put that aside because we just really need to know the numbers. We really need to know where have we been spending to try to buy an identity that is not ours? Where have we been spending for convenience where we can get creative? Those are the things we need to find. We're never going to figure those things out if we're too scared to look back at our own spending. So that is super important.

[Jill]

We hate the term I'm so bad with money. That's a cop out. We don't believe that that's true. We believe that we're on autopilot and we need to figure out where and fix that. And even if you do feel bad with money, it's a scary skill. We can build that skill. Yeah, I was bad at riding a bike before I learned how to ride a bike, but I was able to learn that skill. So same thing here. Let's get that out of our language and start to find ways to build the muscle of being really good with money.

[Jen]

I do love that. Where it's not I'm bad with money or I was bad last month, it's I was on autopilot, I am on autopilot with my money. I think if we can change our mindset on that, it makes this awareness reset a lot more approachable. And honestly, anything we do with our money can become more approachable just by tweaking. When I say to myself, oh, I'm so bad with money or I'm so bad at this, I don't like it, I'm on autopilot and I need to like, regroup and get back into awareness.

[Jill]

Okay, step two is an environment reset. Now, we believe that we don't need more willpower, we need more boundaries. And that's something that we can implement for ourselves. We love simplicity. We think that it is the way forward in most things of life, especially with money. We don't think that to be good with money, it takes a just grin and barrett knuckle down to deprive yourself. No, it means set up some good and reasonable boundaries for you to play within. That's our view of things. So we're, we're not just talking about physical environment. We're also talking about digital environments, probably more digital, honestly, because we're buying things digitally. That is where we are. Impulse spending for many of us. So this is going to include unsubscribing from marketing emails. So going through your entire inbox and and looking at how many brands are you subscribed to, click that unsubscribe button. Pretty, pretty quick, pretty simple.

[Jen]

Something else if you're if you don't want to fully unsubscribe, which because I know I'm trying to find there are some things that I like to buy throughout the year. I want to make sure I'm buying when it's on sale. I will do Unroll Me and I've talked about for the entirety of the podcast eight years Unroll Me. It's free and it'll roll up all of your subscription emails into one email and you choose whether you open that email or not. So that is another solution. But also it's good to just unsubscribe from something and then when you think you're going to need to buy it, resubscribe. Usually you can get an extra bonus discount or something when you are resubscribing.

[Jill]

Of course if you're getting text messages you just reply stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Don't text me no more. Forget this number.

[Jen]

You a toxic ass. Stop.

[Jill]

Remove saved cards so if you've got platforms that you are shopping at regularly, Amazon remove that card. You are going to have so much more friction to some of those impulse purchases. If every time you've got to pull your card out this isn't going have

[Jen]

their card memorized, you are on another level. And think think about I don't know. Also that may involve getting a different phone case. If your cards are all right in your phone and you take out your saved cards, but the cards are just right there, you might need a different phone case. So something to think about.

[Jill]

Move money to a harder to access place. We love a high yield savings account. You've heard us talk about it. Our favorite is the one at CIT. They historically have the highest APY frugalfriendspodcast.com CIT that is where I keep my money. And when we are putting money away to savings that is earning a decent degree of interest at least to keep up with inflation. Not only is that good for us, good for our emergency fund, but we are less likely then to dip into the money or see oh I've got a ton of money in my checking account. Yeah sure, I can buy this thing. No, it's. It's popped over to a savings account and so it's harder to I've got to go in. I've got to move the money again wherever we can kind of create some of this friction that's going to help with some of this reset for the impulse spending, the emotional spending, the convenience

[Jen]

spending, that's happening also if you don't have a, if you have more than $5,000. So maybe it's your emergency fund or a sinking fund. CIT is doing an API boost on their platinum savings account. So that's frugalfriendspodcast.com Platinum. It's going to be 4.1% APY and

[Jill]

it should be as of this recording.

[Jen]

As of this recording, it's for six months and I believe it goes through. The offer ends April 13 from what I have in my email. So check that out. If you have more than 5,000.

[Jill]

Another physical environment that you can rearrange reset is in your kitchen. So making sure that your pantry items, the items in your fridge and freezer are visible and accessible. I think so often our grocery spending can creep up because we just don't know what we have on hand. We forget about things or we're not not implementing some creativity and figuring out how do we use up what we already have on hand. So part of this reset, if that's a big one for you, if one of your biggest leaks is food spending, then during this reset you might want to consider doing a pantry challenge. Whether you want to do it for a week or a full month, it depends on how much you have on hand. But really that means eating meals that are already on hand. So very minimal purchasing from the grocery store, if at all. For many of us, we can make full meals out of just what we already have on hand. If we've got the pantry staples already, we've got some rice and beans and pastas and sauces. And then in the freezer we've got some meat in the fridge or even veggies. Like figure out what you can make with it before you go to the grocery store.

[Jen]

Yeah, that is what I am doing right now as we are recording this in February. Actually I just put a note like a couple things in my notes app. You guys know I have a note just for like lists of breakfast snacks, chicken dishes and like other meat dishes. And I just added a few things to that list just based on what was in my fridge and my mostly my freezer because I have these chicken meatballs. So I'm like, okay, I'm just going to. And I have marinara. So I'm just going to get some hot dog buns to do chicken meatball subs. I have like pre made chicken tikka masala that I had gotten in bulk from costco that I still have left. So I make some rice to go with that. I have some brats, I have some chicken nuggets. So like I have these things in my freezer that have been there for a little while and I'm starting to write them down so that I can use them. And usually my goal is literally to have 90% of everything already on hand and only have to buy one thing from the grocery store. So for the meatball subs, I'll only buy hot dog buns, shrimp tacos, I will only buy cabbage, like a cabbage slaw. So stuff like that, keep the notes in your phone on hand.

[Jill]

I've also noticed too sometimes like if your thing is decor or you just like to buy things for that emotional boost that dopamine hit, before doing that, do a little rearrange of your space, like rearrange your living room or your bedroom or use what you already have on hand to decorate a certain spot in your home. That could give you the the release that you're looking for without needing to spend any money. So a lot of this is just implementing the creativity. But before we pull out the credit

[Jen]

card and spend the yeah, and just remember another mindset like thing to keep in mind. Boundaries are better than more willpower. You don't need to do another 75 hard or these social media challenges to like build your willpower or like just like buck up and yes you. In the end you have the power to decide whether you are going to do something that gets you closer to your goal, keeps you where you are, or sets you back. Most of the time you have that choice. But if you can set up your environment to support the more logical choice, the better choice, then it's then that's what we should be doing. Make the better choice easier. Why do we like to make it so complex and hard for ourselves? We think we're better because we make the right decision amidst chaos. No, that just makes us tireder, more exhausted. Set ourselves up to make the better decision easier. And that's with an environment referral.

[Jill]

Because we are going to go with the path of least resistance. Always a cognitive bias that we are drawn to. So make it simpler for yourself, play

[Jen]

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[Jen]

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[Jen]

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[Jen]

All right, next step and you can do these weekly but you can also do them like day to day. So it can be a full 30 days but it could also probably just like be a week. It's up to you. But next is a big expense reset. I think so often we get stuck looking at the the one to five dollar range of savings or one to fifty dollars right. Like we're stuck on these really small things like how how can I stop myself from buying the $6 latte in the end that's $6. Like $6 ain't nothing. But I think we're a big source of our like what sets us back and keeps us feeling like we're not saving is our big expenses and we call them the big three. So it is housing, transportation and food. So we cannot always change these things. But it is good to look on them and inspect them periodically so we make sure that they are aligned with their values. See if there's any way we can get creative with them, et cetera, et cetera.

[Jill]

There's also a sneaky fourth big expense which is medical and insurance.

[Jen]

Insurance in general. Yeah, but I would. Medical for sure.

[Jill]

Yeah, yep, absolutely. Insurance in general. And we do believe that it is worth paying for. Like both you and I have life insurance. Thankfully, because of our age and our health, we're able to get that really inexpensively and there's more and more companies that allow you to do that inexpensively. But when it comes to medical care and medical insurance, this can be the biggest, not just leak, just absolute drain for so many of us. And this isn't going to be the option for everybody. But it could be worth considering a medical sharing plan rather than if you are a person who's kind of paying of pocket for your health insurance premiums, this could be a good alternative. If you are, if you, if you're not managing kind of a chronic health situation, if you don't anticipate having a lot of medical needs in the upcoming year, this could be a great option for you. It's something you and I both use and, and it does allow us to save a significant amount on medical insurance costs.

[Jen]

And there are different options. Like what we use is not insurance. So again, it's not going to be right for everyone. But we have used it on hospital stays and doctors visits and it does work. So I personally use Liberty Health Share. I used it for a full pregnancy and emergency medical care in an ER in a hospital and it paid what it said it would pay both times and it was so easy to use. You have one that's a little different?

[Jill]

Yeah, I have one through Zion and you pay per medical event a certain deductible amount alongside a very low cost monthly payment. And that's been a great option for me. We also know of an option that is both a medical sharing plan, but also qualifies as a high deductible plan allowing you to save in an hsa. So I'll link to that in the show notes if that's of interest to you. If you're like, oh, but I don't want to lose out on having an hsa. Those options like are starting to exist.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

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[Jen]

And so the ones that we use have like, like religious, you know, not mine actually. Okay.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

But there's also crowd health which is a supporter of the show and that is a totally neutral like crowd health sharing platform. So. Bunch of options. You got a bunch of options.

[Jill]

Yeah, that was a little bit of a side tangent, but when you're resetting these big expenses, that's worth looking at. That's going to be the alternatives. If you're like, I am spending $600 a month and I'm never using it, this might, that might be something to look into along with other things. We're not saying sell everything and just, you know, live off the grid. Like that's not what we're saying. But it is worth reassessing. Is it worth me spending this much for my car payment? Is this amount of house still working for me? Is this the rent that I am happy spending or am I able to find something a little bit less expensive? Are all of these kind of bigger expenses aligned with my goals? Am I more so paying for convenience or is it aligning with my values? Is my car payment blocking my ability to invest in retirement? That's, that's one we should all be asking. Honestly, car payments are getting so ridiculous

[Jen]

and we're not like anti car loan either, but like we personally will only have one. We have two cars. We've decided that's what we need as a family of four. But we're only going to have one car payment. So Travis is out there talking about different cars and I was like, well you got to wait until the van is paid off before you can get another car. And then we swept. So we're taking those good car buying actions when we are buying a car doing three to four years use looking [e-mail] so we get a reliable make and model, we're doing all the right things. And then we're also trying to be smart about how we take out car loans too.

[Jill]

Asking these sorts of questions I would say has been the biggest catalyst, the biggest driver. The thing that I can point to and say that was it to anything successful that has happened for us financially is questioning these larger expenses. It is what led us to be a one car family because that works for us. Right now we don't have, we don't have kids and we both work from home. So we're able to make one car work. It's what led us to live in a motorhome for a time that was not meant to be long term. And it Wasn't long term, but for the amount of time that we were able to do it. I was able to cash flow my master's degree, I was able to save up a down payment to be able to purchase a house. Like it just catapulted us being able to see save money on these biggest expenses. And it's ultimately what led us to sell the house that we had bought from the proceeds of selling the motorhome before that. And at each step just kind of. We are not high income earners, we are not independently wealthy. We do not have inheritances. And so for those of you who are like that, this is what you got to do. You got to question these things.

[Jen]

Making one decision that can lower your housing cost, your car costs, your insurance. Insurance costs can take a weight off of your shoulders. If you feel like you are carrying a heavy, heavy weight. This could be something that really makes an impact in that frugality reset. And I hear you, I hear you on the other side of this camera, on the, like on the other side of the microphone being like, Well, I live 30 minutes away from everything and houses are too expensive now and I have chronic healthcare conditions. I hear all of your excuses. It doesn't absolve you from doing this. Check every. At least once a year. Okay. And just thinking, saying I could get creative here, it wouldn't be easy. I wouldn't like it, I wouldn't want to, but I could get creative here. How long could I do it and make. And just playing around with the idea,

[Jill]

it doesn't mean that you'd have to make those decisions. Like, there are some very valid reasons and barriers to being able to do some of those things and respect that. But it's worth just seeing. What if I just toyed around with this idea? And again, we're not here for deprivation either. Like, living in a motorhome was fun for us. So that wasn't. Oh, no, you have to live in a vehicle now.

[Jen]

I just feel like you're the queen of this. Like, you have made your life work on like very low income at times. Very low income, very low, but very rich. Because you have questioned some of these norms.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jill]

So try it out. See what sticks. Okay. Number four is you were all waiting for it. A motivation reset. Again, that might be why a lot of you are here. It's just, I just need someone to light a little bit of a fire. It doesn't even need to be a whole fire. Just like a little tea candle.

[Jen]

Yeah, I need a little tea Candle. I fell off the wagon and I need somebody to lend a hand out. Pull me along on that wagon along the Oregon Trail before I die of whatever people die of in the Oregon Trail.

[Jill]

Dysentery.

[Jen]

I was going to say dystopia.

[Jill]

Same eventually. That's what we're dying of now. This is Oregon Trail 2.0. So here's the thing and we get you. I also need a tea candle. But we need it every single day. Motivation, like willpower, can be so fleeting. And that's why I have this struggle with chasing after motivation. It does serve a purpose. I'm not throwing it out the window. I just think it can be tough if we're solely relying on motivation, which is partly why we want to make things as simple as possible, as routine as possible, as low barrier to entry as possible. And some of the action that can more so build momentum is more what we need over motivation.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jen]

I think one of the biggest lies that we are told not just in social media, but in books, traditional media, everywhere is that motivation requires more action and so much of it is actually distraction from reaching your actual goal, which is motivation. So we are, we are just, just living our lives every day. Sustainability is so, so important. So it's really important to know the difference between motivation that works and motivation that will go viral on social media. So motivation should not make you feel guilty for not acting. So a little guilt is healthy. It lets us know that we're maybe not on the path we want to be on, but it's not motivation. Guilt and motivation not the same. It should not make you feel shame. So this tough love is not what we are after. It's short term and it is more detrimental in the long run. So people who like, who are like, like to be yelled at and be called stupid for doing the wrong thing, they're like, oh, it worked. It's not healthy. It is not healthy in the long run. And it's not actually motivation. It's shame. It's shame based distraction, which isn't sustainable.

[Jill]

Then you're requiring something external to be shaming you to keep going.

[Jen]

Right. And then also it should not keep you in the same place that you started. So what I mean by that is I got. So I got off social media for a couple months last year and I had a really good healthy time in my life and then I got back on for like the last three months of the year and I'm back off now because I saw myself like getting too into it. And now with perspective on how the summer went versus the fall, Fall, winter. I realized that I was consuming all this, like, really positive content on social media, but I made way more action over the summer than I did in the fall.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Whoa.

[Jen]

The thing was, is I was taking action in the summer, and I was watching action, watching motivated, like, motivational content in the fall.

[Listener Caller Meg]

Whoa.

[Jen]

So motivation does not come through following all these motivational accounts and all these inspirational accounts on social media. It comes through acting. So get off social media and start going.

[Jill]

Yeah. Motivation, though, should, on the flip side, connect you back to the reason that you are pursuing this goal. Whatever it is, the reason why you started paying off debt or saving for retirement or building up your emergency fund, whatever it is that you want to be seeing with this reset, that that's what should be motivating us kind of that. That deeper reason for why we're doing it. It should also connect you with the future that you're building. Again, it's not just about debt payoff. What will debt payoff get you? What will investing for retirement get you? What are you envisioning for yourself and not somebody else's vision, your own? What can I actually see happening for me and my family? And what. What about propels me into this momentum? And it's gonna result in action? So finding the things that keep you engaged help to make it sustainable. I'm curious for you, Jen. Like, when was a time that you feel like you've. You've. Cause again, it's such a tricky thing to identify motivation. What is it? How do we get it? So when was a time when you kind of, like, fell off track and then got back on, how did you feel?

[Jen]

I think other than getting off social media, like, noticing that I was staying stagnant and being like, what has changed since the time where I felt like I was doing really good and then just getting off social media? I think also listening to podcasts, when I was trying to pay off debt, listening to financial podcasts daily is what kept me motivated. And when we had our mega survey, when we asked you guys why you listen to Frugal Friends, that was the main takeaway from all of you. You listened for, yes, some of, like, the tips and stuff, but mostly just to stay motivated, like, you know, the stuff. And you need to be told in different ways for different scenarios just to keep you going. So that, I think is. Is powerful.

[Jill]

Yeah. I know for me, what can often happen where I can lose Augusto is in the kitchen with cooking and something that typically helps me to build that momentum back up Again and gain some of that motivation is reinvigorating it with something a little fun. So maybe I get a meal delivery kit. I know we talk about hellofresh a lot. It is something we utilize occasionally, not all the time, but in one of those slumps, yeah, I'm gonna get a meal kit delivery or I'm gonna go to a grocery store. I don't often sh. For me, Trader Joe's is that like, it's more expensive. So I am gonna put boundaries around how much I spend, but it's gonna allow me to kind of do mix

[Sponsor Voice 2]

it up a little bit.

[Jill]

And that I feel like is the ultimate difference between shame based motivation and like future thinking and your why behind what you're doing kind of motivation. Because shame based motivation would say, you shouldn't have gotten that meal kit delivery. You should just get back in the kitchen and just start chopping onions.

[Jen]

Or guy that commented on one of our YouTube videos, he was like, there's something called a grocery store and there's something in your house called an oven. Learn to use them. And you know what I said, there's something called tact. Learn to use it.

[Jill]

That did happen. Reeling it back in. For some of us, it's been years and years and years and years, and we just, just need to reinvigorate ourselves. And so my version of motivation is, yeah, this isn't the least expensive that I can get it, but my ultimate goal is to keep going on the train of cooking at home. This is going to reinvigorate that. So done. So those are the kinds of things that we can consider for ourselves. We're not always looking for what's at the very bottom and the lowest, cheapest thing ever. No, we're looking for sustainability. We're looking for not shame based action.

[Jen]

Yes. All right, step five, last step, real short one. Glow up, not down. And we love this one.

[Jill]

I do love this one.

[Jen]

Because we hate that frugality is associated with deprivation. Frugality used to be associated with wisdom and creativity. And you were lauded for how. How frugal you could be because you were getting this full life without spending a lot of money. That's what frugality used to be. And we are reclaiming that. Frugality is a glow up, not a glow down. So this is how we're doing it. Instead of taking something away, which is what frugality and even you watching or listening to this may be associating frugality with, instead of taking something away, we want you to add something. So we're adding one income lever, maybe a side hustle or some, you know, overtime, whatever. Something one automation. So a auto save to your high yield savings account or auto save to your 401k457, whatever. One automation to set up your environment to succeed. And once friction. Maybe we're adding one of those frictions like taking your cards out of your. Of your computer. This is called a computer or phone to reduce impulse spending. Or maybe you're adding one little luxury that's free like having a cup of coffee in a cute little mug in the afternoon and, and just sitting there and ignoring your children as they are like running around you and not worrying about how, how like stupid the house is gonna look when they're done. If you're gonna call something stupid, don't call yourself stupid. Call all the toys on the floor.

[Jill]

Yeah, I was so stupid.

[Jen]

I know where you're gonna. I know where you thought I was going and it's not there. It's more of just, you know, stupid how dirty this house is. And I just cleaned it this morning. Go there.

[Jill]

I'm gonna encourage you to take it as challenge. Not you, Jen. Although you could. You all my other friends who aren't shaming their children.

[Jen]

I don't shame my. I 100% do not do that ever.

[Jill]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jen]

Not even when I want to.

[Jill]

Finding as many free little luxuries as possible. That's just fun. That's just a fun reset luxury.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

I do.

[Jill]

And you know what? I want you all to love it too. And if you've got one, let's make this, this YouTube comment section like its own Reddit thread of the most enjoyable little free luxuries because we all need ideas and we need to collect them all and we need so many of them throughout the day.

[Jen]

Here's the thing. We don't have our own subreddit. And honestly, we don't want one. We want it to be right here. This is our little. This is our YouTube Little subreddit. Leave us your comments and also give me ideas on how to clap back at rude comment.

[Jill]

Also take a guess at when Jen is the one commenting on YouTube videos and when I'm the one commenting on YouTube videos. That's very fun. Sometimes we trade off mean. No, no, no, no. Yeah, no, for sure.

[Jen]

If there's a mean one, it was me who commented.

[Jill]

I mean, really, we don't get many mean commenters, so that's great.

[Jen]

You just leave all.

[Jill]

Awesome. You know what else is awesome? And we love These types of comments

[Jen]

and you leave them all for me and I share them with you.

[Jill]

The bill of the week.

[Podcast Host Intro]

That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week.

[Listener Caller Meg]

Hi Jen.

[Jen]

Hi Jill.

[Listener Caller Meg]

My name is Meg. I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I am calling about a bill that I was happy to pay and that I am also happy to no longer pay. So in December of last year we welcomed our third and grand finale baby Michael. We are very glad that he was here, but as we all know, babies are expensive. So we opted to pay some of our medical bills upfront in lump sums. But we then opted to pay the remaining using the healthcare system's interest free payment plans. So spacing out the payments over the course of December until October. Now we have finally paid off the last bill and we are happy to no longer pay that. What we're going to try to do though, now that we're accustomed to that money already going out the door, is just roll though that extra money into making additional car payments for the minivan that we purchased to accommodate three children. So we'll glad to not have to pay the medical bills. Glad that Michael is here and it'll be fun to hopefully pay down the car sooner rather than later. Thanks so much. Bye

[Jill]

Meg.

[Jen]

Woo. Bless. Bless. Another good thing you could do with that money. If your car payment is like under 5%. If it's over, you know, don't listen to me. But putting that money into an IRA or a 529 is great because 529s. Now if your child doesn't use them for school, they can be rolled over into a Roth ira because the unless you deduct, which I don't think you can deduct from a 529, I'm going to have to revisit the college planning section of our course. But if they're after tax contributions to the 529, which it usually is, then you can roll it into a Roth IRA for the child with like just no tax implications. But if you're not already maxing out your Roth or traditional ira, then that would be a really good way to save too because then your kids won't have to worry about you taking care of you and paying for all of your stuff when you're old which will be a gift to them in their very in the busiest times of their life.

[Jill]

Yeah. Well done, Meg. So thrilled for you that you've got a third healthy child, that that medical bill is all done with, and that you've got some really good intentional ideas about what to do with that money going forward. We are just cheering you on and if you all are listening and you just want to be cheered on, you just need someone in your corner to shout out your name and tell you you're doing a good job, Mag, you're doing a good job. Tie it in with a bill somehow, some way. We're gonna listen to it, we're gonna respond to it, we're gonna love it. We can't wait for it. Frugalfriends podcast.com Bill these days I'm all

[Sponsor Voice 2]

about quality over quantity, especially in my closet. If it's not well made and versatile, it's not worth it. That's why I love quince. They make high quality wardrobe staples using premium fabrics like 100% European linen, 100% silk and organic cotton poplin.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Quince works directly with safe ethical factories and cuts out the middleman. So you're not paying for brand markups, just quality clothing. Their 100% European linen is breathable, the cotton poplin is crisp and holds its shape and everything is built to hold up season after season.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

That Quince washable silk mini dress has become my go to. It's perfect for dressing up, dressing down or layering. It feels luxe and didn't cost what I thought quality silk would. Stop waiting to build the wardrobe you actually want. You don't need more clothes, just better ones right now.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Go to quince.comfrugal for free shipping and 365 day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. Now available in Canada too. Don't keep settling. For clothes that don't last, go to Q-U-I-N c e.com frugal for free shipping and 365 days return.

[Jen]

Quince.com frugal welcome to Big Savings this

[Grocery Outlet Announcer]

week at Grocery Outlet, your extreme value headquarters right now. Sanderson Farms Boneless skinless chicken breasts are only 1.99 per pound and get 1 Doz large cage free eggs for only 99 cents. However you cook them up, you're saving big on fresh quality. Stock up on these family favorites today. These deals are only available until March 17 while supplies last selection varies by store. See weekly ad or in store for grade and size details.

[Jill]

Grocery Outlet bargain market. And now it's time for the lightning round.

[Jen]

Sh. All right, how are you resetting this year?

[Jill]

Woo. Go for it.

[Jen]

Okay.

[Jill]

I'm really loving the like, woo woo today. I think I need it.

[Jen]

We're Woo girls today.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Yes.

[Jen]

Okay, I'm gonna go back to the getting off social media. So what I did was I took Instagram and Facebook off of my phone. Facebook has been a little painful because that's taken Marketplace off my phone. I don't need, I don't need to be shopping on my phone like that. I can do it on my laptop if I really need it. So the apps are gone. They're gone on my iPad as well. I am logged into the Frugal Friends Instagram on my phone. So if I do need to see like a business or something only has Instagram, I can still see it. But all of our Instagram, like, it's all kind of like business related. So I'm not gonna get sucked into anything if it pops me back to

[Jill]

the Frugal Friends algo is like, yeah.

[Jen]

And we also don't handle the Instagram for Frugal Friends. That's Misty. Shout out Misty, who does all of that. And really I'm actually bad at getting videos to her so that she can do her job. And that's. That's my problem. But yeah, so I'm just totally off and I don't want to be scrolling people because I was watching these like YouTubers and I. And I was like, oh, I wonder what they're like in real life. And like, I'm going to Instagram to like check out their real life. And I'm like, oh my gosh, why am I doing this?

[Capital Group Narrator]

This?

[Jen]

What impact does it have on me what these strangers who I'll never meet are like in real life. And I'm just like, I don't need to be doing this. I don't. I don't need to. To be doing things.

[Jill]

Take up space with that.

[Jen]

That take up space. And now I have more time to do the things that I didn't have time for before.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So that has really been how I'm resetting 2027. And it's been necessary for me. I love that it's been necessary.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jill]

So helpful on so many levels for me. I'm trimming subscriptions and getting back into a routine of meal planning. Not back in, but just a greater focus. Like sometimes a reset isn't a total 180. It's just kind of a realigning. And that's what it feels like for me. So right now it's every Sunday is me meal planning and grocery shopping when it works out for me on that week. But yeah, it has been going pretty decent the last couple weeks.

[Jen]

Yeah, we would love to know how you are resetting. If you got anything out of this episode, please let us know in the comments on the YouTube video. And thank you for listening. We love reading your comments if they're nice. We also love reading them if they're not nice.

[Jill]

Jen actually loves to respond to the mean ones. Honestly, I think it gives her a little bit of joy.

[Jen]

I don't troll in my real life and this is the way I control online. I don't troll unprovoked. Also, if you've read our book Buy what yout Love without going broke. Thank you for reading that and leaving these really kind reviews on Amazon. Like this one from maybe happens to be five stars. I love their podcast so I had to read their book. Great information and I love that they both read the audiobook too.

[Jill]

I love it.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Thank you.

[Jill]

You know what? Short and sweet. Simple. We love that least resistance. If you want to leave us a review and you don't want it to take up hardly any of your time, make it simple. We love that. Leave us a comment subscribe. These are very quick things that really help us us. It'll keep us around longer. So thank you.

[Jen]

It will and help the message spread further and wider to more people who may lead leave negative comments and may feel my wrath one day.

[Jill]

See you next time.

[Jen]

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

[Jill]

We've talked in the past about reading off our like negative reviews.

[Jen]

Oh, our one star reviews.

[Jill]

Yeah, girl. Now we've got a whole other platform for people to be leaving negative comments. We should someday. Yeah, I maybe for our seventh hundredth episode.

[Jen]

Yeah, maybe for our seven hundredth episode. We will spoiler our six hundredth episodes next week. So do the math.

[Jill]

Woo. Another opportunity for me to woo.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Woo.

[Jen]

Yeah, I don't like to be mean to people. I like people to know that what they have said and the way they have said it is unacceptable. You like to clap back. That is what I truly if that is the definition of clapping back, it sure is. Then I'd be back clapping.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yeah.

[Jill]

Back clap.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Ew.

[Jill]

Ew.

[Jen]

I didn't like that.

[Jill]

I don't like how that sounds or makes me feel. We're ending now.

[Capital Group Narrator]

Some of the best lessons don't come from a classroom. They come from experience on the power of Advice, a new podcast series from Capital Group. You'll hear from CEOs, investors and founders about how they built careers, took risks and reinvented themselves. If you're starting your own journey, this is the kind of advice you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Published by Capital Client Group Inc.