21 Awful Money Habits That Will KEEP YOU BROKE!

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: 21 Awful Money Habits That Will KEEP YOU BROKE!

Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Date: September 16, 2025
Episode: Frugal Friends Podcast — Backyard Ventures, Episode 21

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode focuses on the 21 (plus a bonus!) most damaging money habits that can keep people stuck in a cycle of financial stagnation or “being broke.” Jen and Jill blend practical frugal wisdom with humor, real-life stories, and listener anecdotes, aiming to help listeners break free from harmful spending and saving habits. The conversation is candid, relatable, and designed to empower listeners to build intentional, sustainable money habits—whether saving, paying off debt, adopting minimalism, or just seeking to avoid living paycheck to paycheck.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Habit by Habit Breakdown

1. Procrastina-Spending [03:32]

• Definition: Shopping or spending as a way to avoid actually doing an intended task.
• Examples: Buying journals but never journaling, or buying workout gear but not exercising.
• Quote: “It’s shopping instead of doing it.” — Jen (04:06)

2. Saving What’s Left Over [04:46]

• Why It’s Harmful: Waiting until the month’s end to save guarantees nothing will be left.
• Solution: Automate your savings as the first action after payday.
• Quote: “Saving is not natural, it’s intentional. And it’s a habit we have to put on autopilot and do first instead of doing later.” — Jill (04:50)

3. Not Investing Early [05:16]

• Point: No one regrets starting to invest early—waiting costs you compounding returns.
• Advice: Start with small amounts but start now.

4. Not Actually Investing (Just Funding Accounts) [06:04]

• Many put money into retirement accounts (like Roth IRAs), but don’t actually select and invest in stocks or funds.
• Relatable Moment: Both hosts admit to making this mistake.
• Quote: “I thought I did the thing, like I opened a Roth and I put money into it. No, I... did not actually then go and tell it what to be purchasing, where to be investing it.” — Jen (06:54)
• Tip: Check your account; make sure you’re holding actual investments, not just cash.

5. Maxing Out Credit Utilization to 30% [08:10]

• Big myth: Keep utilization well under 30%—ideally pay it to zero monthly for best credit-building.

6. Pointless Lifestyle Creep [08:33]

• Nuance: It’s not “bad” to have life get nicer as your income increases—unless it’s driven by comparison or expectation.
• Funny Quip: “Intentional creep. Be the creep. I don’t know.” — Jen (10:13)

7. Lack of Spending Awareness [10:23]

• Tracking is about collecting data, not self-shaming.
• Practical Tip: Do a 90-day transaction inventory to identify blind spots and impulses.
• Quote: “We do not track to shame ourselves into obedience… We are aware and we are tracking for data.” — Jill (11:34)

8. Avoidance [12:18]

• Ignoring financial problems or “money anxiety” makes things worse.
• Real Story: A listener went from avoidance and debt to being a certified financial educator.
• Quote: “I constantly avoided checking my bank account because I had so much money anxiety and I just kept digging myself into this hole of debt…” — Listener (13:02)
• Hosts’ Reflection: Money is often made to seem complex by those trying to pitch products/services. Ignore the noise; basics are simple.

9. Emotional Spending [15:00]

• Spending as a coping mechanism leads to regret and imbalance.
• Tip: Awareness and tracking habits bring patterns to light.

10. Buying Your Status [16:17]

• Luxury items: Fine if affordable, but not worth sacrificing financial peace to “look successful.”
• Wisdom: Paraphrasing Warren Buffett—wealth in life is about people who love you, not possessions.

11. Ignoring Your Emergency Fund [19:14]

• Not building a rainy day fund sets you up for unnecessary hardship.
• Practicality: Start with $10/week if needed; high-yield savings accounts are best.

12. Overspending on Housing [21:26]

• Moving into a pricier-than-necessary apartment/house chips away at long-term goals.
• Listener Story: Increased rent by a couple hundred dollars per month creates large missed opportunities for investing.
• Bonus Tip: Always negotiate—especially when signing a lease.

13. Financing Cars to Build Credit [24:31]

• Don’t keep trading in/up and rolling over debt.
• Build credit with other means (credits cards, rent payment cards) to avoid constant interest on depreciating assets.

14. Not Planning or Goal-Setting [25:58]

• Personality Shoutout: Planners vs. YOLO spenders; need for a shared plan with partner.
• “Your financial plan doesn’t have to be set in stone… But if you operate without a plan, you will be inefficient.” — Jill (26:26)

15. “Affording” Stuff vs. Valuing Stuff [27:12]

• Just because you have cash doesn’t mean you should buy—can lead to excess clutter and lifestyle inflation.
• Hosts’ Experience: Buying for the sake of buying leads to more “creep.”

16. Trusting Too Easily — Falling for Scams [28:39]

• Financial fraud is rampant and scams keep getting more sophisticated.
• SEC returned $8.2 billion to harmed investors in 2024, mainly due to crypto fraud.
• Tip: Always be skeptical—even with people you know.

17 & 18. Chasing Too High / Not Chasing Higher Salaries [31:44] & [33:34]

• Both extremes are harmful:
  • Chasing more money won’t fix bad habits.
  • Settling for less because you’re “frugal” or “content” can stunt your growth.
• Encouragement: Find balance—seek advancement in skills, pay, and wisdom.

19. Overcomplicating Finances [34:58]

• Simpler is better—avoid day-trading, unnecessary side hustles, or thinking extreme complexity is required for financial success.

20. Not Updating Finances Regularly [35:59]

• Check-in at least yearly—goals and habits change, so should your approach.

21. Self-Blame and Financial Regret [37:30]

• Beating yourself up for past money mistakes only slows progress.
• Quote: “It doesn’t matter anymore… The debt’s already done. Why are we going to keep living in the past?” — Jen (38:11)
• Reframe regret as a learning opportunity. Growth comes from moving forward.

Lightning Round: “A Broke Habit I Left Behind For Good” [45:59]

• Jen: Stopped thinking “cheapest is best”—now, quality is worth extra cost.
  • “I spent a lot of money this weekend replacing cheap stuff that literally…it was just sitting in my closet, taking up space.” — Jen (46:25)
• Jill: Stopped buying things just because they're inexpensive (thrift stores, yard sales). Less clutter, more value.
  • “I was only valuing it based on the money. ‘Look at all the stuff I got for $10’—but then it was just stuff I got…” — Jill (47:31)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Awareness:
  “We do not track to shame ourselves into obedience…” — Jill, [11:34]

• On Emergency Funds:
  “No one is irreplaceable at your job.” — Jill, [20:31]

• On Investing:
  “No one has ever said, ‘I wish I started investing later.’” — Jen, [05:16]

• On Status:
  “Status means nothing if you don’t have financial peace.” — Jill, [16:17]

• On Scams:
  “Scammers are not dumb, they're actually brilliant… they're using AI voices of people you know to call and get you to send money…” — Jill, [29:43]

• On Regret:
  “We can flip the script, change the narrative, and really change how we feel about something. The perspective… can provide that pathway forward.” — Jen, [39:30]

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Listener Stories & Testimonials

• Negotiating Medical Bills: [41:35]
  • Kate from New Jersey saved over $600 by negotiating a 30% discount on a medical bill, a tip she learned from the podcast.
  • Hosts’ reaction: “That episode was so good, I think it should be required listening or watching for everyone.” — Jill, [42:48]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Introduction/Main Theme: [00:40] – [01:44]
• Awful Money Habits List Starts: [03:32]
• Listener Regret Story (Avoidance): [12:18]
• Status/Luxury Spending: [16:17]
• Emergency Fund Advice: [19:14]
• Overspending on Housing/Negotiation Tip: [21:26] & [23:24](Negotiation tip and personal story after outro)
• Scams & Fraud Warnings: [28:39]
• Competing Salary Goals: [31:44] & [33:34]
• Lightning Round — Personal Habit Changes: [45:59]
• Listener Bill of the Week: [41:31]
• Housing Negotiation Story (after outro): [51:23]

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Tone & Language

• Genuine, fun, conversational, and encouraging
• Honest admissions of past mistakes (“this happened to me too”), real-life listener testimonies
• Frequent playful jabs at each other, with an emphasis on practical, actionable tips

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Conclusion

Jen and Jill use humor, vulnerability, and actionable advice to break down the most common financial habits that keep people stuck. By blending “real talk” with tactical how-to’s—and peppering in personal and listener stories—they make frugality accessible and shame-free. Whether it’s automating savings, remaining skeptical of “get rich quick” schemes, or simply giving yourself grace over past mistakes, the episode is a toolkit for finally breaking the cycle of “being broke,” with plenty of laughter and memorable wisdom.

If you want to go deeper:

• Check out their referenced book: Buy What You Love Without Going Broke
• Listen to related episodes (medical bills negotiation, hobbies, frugal swaps)
• Visit the Frugal Friends website for extras and discounts

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For newcomers:
You’ll walk away with a clear, actionable understanding of which habits to change, why they matter, and that you’re absolutely not alone in your financial missteps—or your journey to fix them.

Transcript

[Jen]

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[Jill]

Audible.Com wondery 21 awful money habits that will keep you Broke 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. Hey Frugal Friends, I'm Jen. I'm Jill and wages are stagnant, inflation is inflating, but these are not the reasons most people are quote unquote broke.

[Jen]

Yeah, we're talking about all of the different behaviors that might actually be some of the real reasons. So when the median annual income is between 60 to 62,000, we believe that there is reason for all of us to be able to get by. Not be broke at least.

[Jill]

Yeah, we're not saying this is why you're not rich or this is why you're not wealthy. This is why you can't overcome the situational forces that are around you that may be limiting your income earning potential. No, we just want to help you not be broke and potentially even buy what you love without going broke. So we're talking about all those money habits today. But first, this episode is brought to you by your Food at Home. Yep. I'm so sorry. Here's a bonus Awful money habit so you can really count. 22 Getting takeout when you have food at home, meal prepping ingredients, buying pre cooked chop ingredients or pre making meals can help you eat out less and limit throwing away all that food you have at home because you would get in too much takeout. And you can organize all of that stuff in one place in our new Meal Planner Spreadsheet. This Meal Planner Spreadsheet has everything you need to keep your meal planning and prepping organized. There is a favorite recipe tracker, pantry, fridge and freezer trackers, measurement conversion sheet and our favorite 1000 meal ideas. I just finished the list and there is exactly 1000 plus some recipe blog like ideas where you can find those. We couldn't link to the actual recipe, but if you search the recipe at the linked blog, you'll find it.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

So you can find [e-mail] meal planner. Check it out and head to YouTube in the description for a 30% off code.

[Jen]

Ooh, fun. We love a discount. Yes. All right, we've got 21 of these awful money habits to get through, so let's jump in. The first is procrastina spending. You've heard of this one. It's where we spend on the thing before actually doing it or shopping to avoid doing the thing. It's buying the journals, a bunch of them. And not ever actually journaling. It's buying all of the exercise equipment and not actually exercising. You fill in the blank on whatever it is it's doing. It's. It's shopping.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Instead of doing it.

[Jill]

Or maybe you just like need to clean and you don't want to clean, so you just sit down and you scroll Amazon and you shop. This is such a bad habit. And figuring out other little habits that give you either the same dopamine hit or better yet, just getting the thing out of the way, doing the thing and then moving on. Much better habit. Next is saving what's left over. So we can get into this habit of saying like, I don't have, I don't know how much I'll have left at the end of the month to save, so I'm just going to spend and then I'll save whatever's left over. And the thing is, you never save what's left over because it is just a natural phenomenon that our spending and our lifestyle inflates to what we have coming in. It's not bad. It's natural. It's just what happens. So we have to save first. Saving is not natural, it's intentional. And it's a habit we have to put on autopilot and do first instead of doing later.

[Jen]

Number three is not investing. Literally. Not a single person that we've ever met has said, I wish I would have started investing later, or I'm GLAD I waited 5, 10, 15 years to invest. Time in the market is what builds wealth. Especially if you are one of those median income earners. Your. Your ability to build that wealth is going to dep on you starting earlier. Even if it's small amounts. A lot of times we will wait because we think I just don't have enough now. I'm going to wait until I do have enough and can really throw chunks at this. It would be far better for you to do 20, 30, 50, 100, build your way up and start now. It's the best time.

[Jill]

This next one kind of builds upon that. And this one is such a sad, sad habit. So you build the habit of investing, but you're not actually investing. Kind of like this creator right here. I'm 27 and I have collected many regrets throughout the years. I'm doing pretty well. I mean, I have. I'm not rich by any means, but we're getting there. When happened before the times of me being a financially literate girly, I didn't realize that you had to invest the money once you put it into a Roth ira.

[Jen]

Nobody told me.

[Jill]

My parents didn't tell me.

[Jen]

My parents don't have Roth IRAs.

[Jill]

I don't think looking at a difference of four years if invested for 40 years versus 44 years, I lost, I don't know, like a little under $3,000 in investment returns. And it was such a joy moment when I realized that the money was just sitting there. Like, I think I was actually so genuinely angry for days after figuring this out.

[Jen]

This happened to me too. This, this was me.

[Jill]

It so many people. It's so sad.

[Jen]

But like I podcast about personal finance and I just had no idea. I thought I did the thing, like I opened a Roth and I put money into it. No, I, I only did half of that. I did not actually then go and tell, tell it what to be purchasing, where to be investing it. And if you're questioning, I don't know, did I do that? Check it. Double check it.

[Jill]

Yeah, check to make sure that it is invested in some kind of index fund, mutual fund. You'll see letters like, like a VTSAX or an FZRO or something and that, that will be the actual investment. The Roth IRA is just the tax advantaged account that the investments sit in to make the growth tax advantage. You do have to buy something and you can automate it. That's. You can totally set that up to automate to Dubai. You don't have to both set up the transfer and the automation. It's kind of like, you know, two in one. But you do have to to do that.

[Jen]

The fifth habit is keeping your credit utilization at 30%. A lot of people still think that this is what they need to do in order to build credit when really you want to keep it under 30%. And truly paying off your credit card every single month, bringing it down to zero is actually the best thing that you can be doing for yourself financially.

[Jill]

Yeah, paying bills on time every month. That is what will really bring your credit score up. So if you can keep it at 0% and pay the bill on time, you're putting stuff on the card and you're paying it all off on time every month. That is truly how you build credit without paying for it. Next is pointless lifestyle creep. So lifestyle creep isn't bad like we said at the top. Like our life inflates to the money we bring in. In and that's not bad as long as we're saving off the top. But creep in just because you see someone else creep or time has passed and I'm older so I guess that means I'm expected to.

[Jen]

To creep or I'm just creepy.

[Jill]

Yeah, that. That's the pointless lifestyle creep that we're talking about. And that can come so much from social media. What we see on social media just inadvertently creeps our lifestyle up and up because it's this bandwagon effect. We see other people doing it so we assume our lifestyle because they look like us. Our lifestyle should emulate that. So creep because you want to or because your body is in pain if you don't. So like getting a new bed because your back hurts from sleeping in an old bed. Stuff like that. That, that's the creep we want to see. Not because you caring for yourself, not because just like you assume, oh well, I guess it's time.

[Jen]

Care for the creep.

[Jill]

Intentional creep.

[Jen]

Be the creep. I don't know.

[Jill]

I don't.

[Jen]

It worked in my head.

[Jill]

You let us know in the comments how you creep. How creepy are you?

[Jen]

Number seven is not having any spending awareness. So if you've ever tried to lose weight, you know that you have to track what's going into your body so you can compare it to the energy going out of your body. We were just talking about this. You've got a whole app for it and so I. Ideally if it's higher or lower then then you need to be slightly lower. The same idea with our money. We need to have an awareness of where it's going so that we can make those adjustments. So this isn't the same as a budget. A budget is making a plan for it that's still good. We want that. But it's not building necessarily an awareness. We Recommend Doing a 90 day transaction inventory in order to build that awareness of what are my habits how am I spending? Where is my impulse spending happening the most? And how can I make these different changes so that I can make a budget or a spending plan to kind of match, rein in what I want to reign in, maybe even expand where I want to be able to expand? This is such a crucial point. It's a big thing we talk about in this book. So if you want to learn more about how to do a 90 day transaction inventory, definitely read buy what you love without going broke.

[Jill]

And this is the most important part of this is we do not track to shame ourselves into obedience or whatever we think obedience or ideal spending looks like. That's not what we're doing. We are aware and we are tracking for data just so that we can see see what's happening to make sure that it's below our expense, is below our income and we want to have that savings off the top. So we want to make sure that once we save, our expenses are not just underneath our income, but also underneath that savings threshold too.

[Jen]

Yeah. The more data we have, the more pointed we can be with our strategy.

[Jill]

Next is avoidance. So ignoring it and hoping it goes away like this creator. I have so many, many regrets in life and I've been too ashamed to talk about them in the past. But here are some of my most cringy mistakes that I wish I could go back and fix. I'm just going to start talking and let them out in one big dump. So here it goes. Despite having scholarships that paid for my education, I still took out a bunch of student loans in order to just focus on my training. I did work extra jobs to ease this a little bit, but by the time I was in grad school, I was so, so burnt out and burning through my money so quickly that I opened a credit card because I didn't have a better plan and I didn't even research it. I just used the bank I had at the time. I constantly avoided checking my bank account because I had so much money anxiety and I just kept digging myself into.

[Jen]

This hole of debt because I did.

[Jill]

Not want to deal with it. I created so many problems for myself just because I thought getting financially literate would be so much more complicated and frustrating. Fast forward to now. I have zero credit card debt. I am a certified financial education instructor and I decided to help other young artists and self employed creatives get financially literate so they can avoid these mistakes and stop feeling so stressed out. Yeah, and I think that's so common for I don't know if it's just Overachievers. But like we get scared of not understanding finances because people make them seem complex. I think it's like in the news we just, we think what's happening in the news and stock market and the economy is like that's personal finance. And that's absolutely not. And so we think it's confusing. So like we being overachievers just do more. We do more, but then that more is not efficient because we're not paying attention to the data. And so we just ignore it and we keep working and hoping we can just like figure things out if things just fall into place because we're working so hard, but we're ignoring it and kind of hoping it goes away that way.

[Jen]

Yeah. And almost a full send on some of these decisions. Like, well, I already ripped off the band aid, so why stop now with the, these spending behaviors.

[Jill]

Yeah. And a note, if somebody is making things seem complex on the Internet, they're probably trying to sell you something. So if you've seen a creator talk about something personal finance related and it feels hard to understand, like they're the only ones that can teach it to you. They're trying to sell you like a course or a product. It's, it's really not that complicated unless you're trying to get into like analyzing stocks like and you, I mean you shouldn't do that unless you feel confident in personal finance. Otherwise they're trying to sell you something. It's, it's not that, it's not that complicated.

[Jen]

Number nine is emotional spending. So we are emotional beings and we range in the spectrum of emotions that we can experience on any given day. And so this could be spending to cope. This could be spending out of feeling stress to forget because you're angry, because you want to celebrate. Any of it can be non beneficial to our finances. And it's not to say I can only ever be logical. That's not realistic. We are emotional. But I think recognizing when our emotions are negatively impacting the spending decisions that we're making because a lot of times when we are in a more extreme emotional state, it can kind of hijack our ability to make some of those more rational, beneficial decisions. And so having an awareness of ourselves, of the, of our spending like we talked about already can help to equip us to make some of those better decisions and not consistently find ourselves overspending over consuming because of an emotional state. And that 90 day transaction inventory is one of the things that will highlight what are the types of emotions that trigger the spending. So that then you can have a good strategy on how you're going to interrupt that pattern.

[Jill]

Next is buying your status. Luxury cars, designer clothes, McMansions, private schools. They're not bad if you can easily afford them. But status means nothing if you don't have financial peace. I think Warren Buffett, who is the 10th richest man in the world, he's worth over a hundred billion dollars. He and I get this is easy for him to say, but at the end of your life, he said it's not going to matter how much money you have or the things you have. What is truly going to matter is the number of people who love you. Like that is what is truly going to be the wealth in your life. And so if you need to buy status to get the attention or respect or of people around you, then that's not the right group. Now if you can easily afford these things, cool and you like them, cool. But buying status is never worth it in the end.

[Jen]

The funny thing about thinking you'll do something later is that it never gets done. Purchasing life insurance can be one of those things. But you know, it's important to get that safety net in place for your family. And and thanks to fabric, they make it fast and easy. So you can check it off your list.

[Jill]

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[Jen]

Once I finally dug into getting life insurance, I was pleasantly pleased by the pricing. Fabric has flexible, high quality policies that fit your family and your budget. We're talking million dollar coverage for less than a dollar a day.

[Jill]

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[Jen]

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[Jill]

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[Jen]

Please don't put this off. Secure your family's future with Policygenius. Head to Policygenius.com to compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save. That's policygenius.com number 11 is ignoring your emergency fund. So just thinking, no, thanks, I'm not going to build that because you know what? It takes a long time and it's not sexy and it's not that fun. But we do need to have at least three to six months worth of living expenses saved up. The latest quarterly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a net loss of over 200,000 jobs, which tells us that people are being laid off without warning. I hope it's not you next. But no one is irreplaceable.

[Jill]

I know several people in the last quarter with really secure jobs who were laid off unexpectedly.

[Jen]

We are not trying to lead with fear here, but it is a warning to be as prepared as possible that if we can kind of see some of these potentials, that some of these what ifs and cushion ourselves a bit, that's going to bring a lot of peace of mind so that when these catastrophic things happen, we know, we already thought about that, we prepared for that.

[Jill]

Whenever you save something and you start to get into that bad habit of, you know, spending it because it's there and it's, you know, you know, it's your emergency fund, but it's there and you can always save it again. Remember, no one is irreplaceable at your job.

[Jen]

I mean, we're kind of, you better not replace me, because no one is irreplaceable at that point. She said what you said, though. And the best place to keep an emergency fund is in a high yield savings account. We're going to link our favorite in the show notes, and you can start with as little as $100. And so that is an opportunity for you to be automating that savings, whether it's even as low as $10 a month. We would say $10 a week would be a great goal. But that money can then grow interest. So you're not even needing to put all of the money into it. It's going to make Money, right? Interest. Not a ton of money, but it's.

[Jill]

Going to keep up with inflation. And that's all you want your emergency fund to do. It's not your retirement account. You don't need it to earn income for you when you retire. You just need it to keep up with inflation for emergencies. Next is overspending on housing. I feel like every time somebody buys a house or rents a new place, they have the best of intentions but then end up like this creator. Here are my two biggest financial regrets as a 25 year old living in Chicago. Number one, moving to Chicago. No, I'm just kidding. So my first biggest regret is spending too much on rent. I recently signed a lease for a $2,500 a month apartment. But it's never just $2,500 a month. You have to factor in utilities, application admin fees and move out costs.

[Jen]

All in all, this is going to.

[Jill]

Be around $2700 a month over a 14 month period. Feel like I would have been better, you know, spending somewhere around $2,000 a month and saving that money and investing into the stock market, which is going to lead right into my next biggest financial regret, which is not investing early enough. I started investing consistently around 23 years old and I really just started getting into it over the last few months. I invested a little bit when I was 19 or 20 years old. I invested like $3,000 into a Robinhood account. I checked it a few weeks ago and it had doubled. It was like $6,000. A big part of that is because I got lucky and I put a lot into Nvidia. But I believe this just showed me how powerful investing really is and how much this can compound. Don't get me wrong, it was like a five or six year period, but still, this is a long game, it's not a short game. Yeah. And that just ties it back to what we said earlier about nobody wishes they had started investing later.

[Jen]

No one's ever gonna say that.

[Jill]

And that that is one of the biggest drawbacks to choosing something just a couple hundred dollars more expensive than the less expensive version is that you take out that opportunity cost that you could have been investing.

[Jen]

And here's the thing, I love how he gave the example of it's only a couple hundred dollars could have meant so much to him in the stock market. And this is like tip 12B. So you're getting even more than 21 tips, not negotiating. I think if you do even find a place that you like, there is opportunity to negotiate that price down. Buy a couple hundred dollars and if you were already thinking, oh I can afford this, then just use that money to put aside towards investment towards the emergency fund, whatever that may be.

[Jill]

There's always an opportunity to try to lower your expenses somewhere if you. And it's never useless, it's never wasted. Just putting a little effort into that. Because every dollar extra that we can save above our regular and reasonable expenses. We're not trying to live in squalor here. We're not trying to rent apartments that are dangerous or unlivable. Right. We're just trying to find a couple hundred extra dollars to, to put towards growth and security.

[Jen]

Number 13 is financing cars to build credit. A lot of people will think that this is what they have to do in order to get better credit.

[Jill]

Keep doing it like over and over, right?

[Jen]

And even once the car gets close to being paid off, just financing another car, like no, you could have drove that paid off car. It could have been like your car for at least another five years. So we would say build credit by paying off your student loans. Build credit with cards like the Built credit card where you can pay your rent. If you're curious about that, join built or yeah, join built.com frugal B I L T I L T. Yeah, we've also got the links in the show notes as well. Or getting a beginner friendly credit card like the Chase Freedom card. There are plenty of ways to build credit that aren't going to cost you so much money in interest on an extremely depreciating asset. So if you are able to pay off your car sooner, not constantly be rolling into another car payment or being able to save up to buy a used car cash, I know that's not as common these days. It's like a little bit unaccessible. But if it's a possibility for you that that's going to be better than financing as well.

[Jill]

Building credit is important, but you do not have to spend money on interest or on services to build it.

[Jen]

Oh that's, that's the real way of saying it right there.

[Jill]

She just summarized the next bad habit that will keep you broke is not planning or goal setting. And so I can't relate because I love planning. Oh my gosh.

[Jen]

Templates, spreads, I love it.

[Jill]

Planners, gosh, I love thinking about the future, hate thinking about the present. Computer, don't want to be here. Phone, love planning. But some people, they really yolo fly.

[Jen]

By the seat of their pants.

[Jill]

And that's a great personality trait but a horrible habit for your Finances, your goals can change. Your financial plan doesn't have to be set in stone, it shouldn't be set in stone. But if you are operating without a plan that is based on goals that you have, you are going to be working inefficiently. And inefficiency leads to overworking and not getting to where you want to be. And so you really do need to sit down. And especially if you have a partner, a long term partner, you guys need to sit down together and talk about your goals and create a shared plan to be getting there.

[Jen]

All right, number 15, y' all better be sitting down for this one because this one, it might hurt.

[Jill]

Okay.

[Jen]

Buying things just because you can afford them, just because you're not going into debt to buy something doesn't mean that you don't have a spending problem.

[Jill]

Problem.

[Jen]

So this is something we all gotta look at a little bit.

[Jill]

So let's bring it in and really do some self reflection on this one.

[Jen]

Even if it's secondhand or on sale or you just got paid, it can still lead to a lot of clutter, a lot of consumption that's going to do more harm than good for your money and your lifestyle. Creep. This is how we become a creep and identify what you value, what you actually want to spend money on. Not just, oh, I can afford it, so I might as well just collect it.

[Jill]

Yeah, it's you, you have to, it's, it's good to spend money like it's, it's good in this economy.

[Jen]

Great. We don't have no problem.

[Jill]

We don't have a problem with it. But it should be on what you value and it should get you closer in a way that gets you closer to what you truly value. Want, which I don't think is stuff. It might have something to do with the love thing, I think the people and the loving.

[Jen]

Yeah. And we have like that, that does cost money, right? You can spend there.

[Jill]

Yeah. So that might be where you want to spend the next one. And if you're not with us, come back. Come back full. I need full mental capacity. If you're distracted, come back to me now. This next habit will keep you broke. And it's trusting people.

[Jen]

I saw it on the outline, but.

[Jill]

I was still like bracing myself, what's.

[Jen]

Gonna keep me broke?

[Jill]

But what if one of these tick tock sugar daddies in my DMs really.

[Jen]

Did want to send me $5,000 a.

[Jill]

Month and I'm just deleting them?

[Jen]

She's not wrong.

[Jill]

Right? What if what right but we all know that they're not. So in, in 2024, the SEC filed 583 enforcement actions and returned more than $8.2 billion to harmed investors from financial fraud. And I will say a majority of that was from crypto fraud.

[Jen]

So are you getting this? Are you hearing this?

[Jill]

8.2 billion.

[Jen]

And you know that that's not everybody getting their money.

[Jill]

Yeah, no, it's not. It's absolutely not. Financial fraud and scams are rampant. And scams are getting harder to recognize every year. Scammers are not done dumb, they're actually brilliant. They're not done either. They are getting better and better. They are using AI voices of people, you know, to call and you know, get you to send money to release your child who is not being held captive. Right. Like this is a real, this is a real scam that is really happening to people. And so not all of them are as extreme as that. But scams are rampant and so always.

[Jen]

Always be skeptical, always be on guard.

[Jill]

Always be on guard. Especially people on the Internet. But you don't know that even people in your real life because we've, we all know an MLM hun that's trying to get us to buy something or sign up for a life insurance policy. We don't need or you know, and we do need life insurance, term life insurance, fabric.com, frugal, I think something, something fabric partner. But that's not the only one out there. Term life insurance of any kind is good, you know, but yeah, it's, you need to, you need to be where we have, we try to do an episode like every six months on scams, like current scams. So we have a social media scams episode that we will link to and then also a make money online scams episode and our next episode. So if you're not subscribed, subscribe to the channel right now. And our next episode is also about scams about mystery shopping scams. So not scams, but it is about a mystery shopping scam and overall influencer scams that try to get you to spend your money to make how to.

[Jen]

Be more and more aware. We're becoming more and more complex. So we've got to be on guard to higher degrees. Number 17, chasing a higher salary. Listen up. More money without good money habits is just more opportunities to make poor spending decisions. We really can't out earn our spending. And so just chasing a higher number for the sake of the higher number is not actually going to be the solve that we're looking for. We would like to, to encourage people to chase wisdom, aggressively chase experiences that are going to help you to know what is beneficial for you. That is going to lead to greater degrees of understanding about yourself so you can aim at health in a sustainable way. That's the kind of thing that we need to keep progressing towards and not stay stagnant.

[Jill]

You know what's fun that's like more fun than watching gurus on social media is talking to someone in your real life who you have seen steward their money well and asking them questions about that, mistakes they've made, things they've done well. And you don't need to know how much money they make or any of those details. But like, if there's somebody you respect, then asking them questions.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And that, and we should be pursuing that as aggressively as we pursue more money. I think we should all be pursuing to be compensated more as we grow in experience and education and wisdom in our fields. I think we need to be compensated appropriately for that. And it does us more harm than good to not pursue that.

[Jen]

Which is number 18.

[Jill]

Yeah. Not chasing a higher salary.

[Jen]

We got both sides of the spectrum.

[Jill]

There's a balance. And we've got an episode on this one coming up as well. But we cannot stop chasing career and financial advancement because we should be content or we should be grateful or somebody else is better qualified or, or whatever. I'm, I'm frugal, so I don't need more. We will never tell you that. We will never tell you to stop pursuing career advancement or just advancement in.

[Jen]

Whatever your pursuits are, if that's what you want sometimes. And every season is going to be different. There are times that I have chosen to take less because of what it provides to me in other areas because of.

[Jill]

And we can do that because of frugality.

[Jen]

Right.

[Jill]

But that's not an excuse to stay stagnant.

[Jen]

Right.

[Jill]

And so even if, even if your chosen profession isn't super monetizable, like you're a homemaker, stay at home mom, or you work in nonprofits, like there is still opportunity for you to grow in whatever your passion is and whatever you are, it stage of life you are in right now and, and become better at what you do and command, you know, more respect. And it just feels, it's a wealth of confidence as well.

[Jen]

There's skill building happening in, in every realm and especially if we pursue it, we can build the skills and invest in ourselves in the way that we want to be. Number 19 is just overcomplicating everything. So we want to believe that doing more will get us better results faster. And that often can be so untrue. So it's actually doing the right things for us that can be, give us the better results that we're looking for. So not over complicating our investment strategy. Not, not, not thinking that we need to be day traders in order to actually be able to build wealth.

[Jill]

Not thinking we need to trade crypto. Crypto.

[Jen]

Not thinking we need to be having so many side hustles. It is okay to have a 9 to 5 and nothing else, especially if we are working on some of those skills and negotiating for higher salaries and that kind of a thing. It doesn't have to be complicated. It can be very, very simple.

[Jill]

Yeah, simple is, is the secret sauce. And then you just add things to enrich your life, like hobbies, like our hobby episode. You can check that out and figure out how people overcomplicate hobbies so that you don't have to. Number 20 is not updating. So not just doing all the stuff, all the good stuff, and then just forgetting about it and just getting out of the habit of doing it. So seasons change several times a year, so you need to be checking in with your finances several times a year, at least once a year to make sure you're doing what is still in your best interest, that your, your goals are the same or maybe they've shifted a little bit. So how's your, your savings plan and your investing plan shifting? Is it shifting at all? Do we need to reallocate in the portfolio? Which sounds complicated, complicated, but again, it's not complicated. I promise.

[Jen]

You can learn complicated.

[Jill]

So, and, and then also we can develop habits that we're not aware of. Habits are not always intentional. These things we're talking about, like saving and investing, those are intentional. But we can create habits that are not intentional. And so we need to be intentional about looking for those to see if it's something we want to keep doing or if we want to take it out to get back on track.

[Jen]

And last but not least, number 21, beating yourself up for past financial decisions. I think that people need to stop.

[Jill]

Being so hard on themselves for the.

[Jen]

Debt that they are in. And I tell myself this all the time because I will. I used to be constantly, like, beating myself up. Like, I can't believe how much credit card debt I got in and all this stuff. It doesn't matter anymore, unfortunately. Like, it's done. You bought the stuff you bought, you paid what you paid. Like student loans, car loan, Debt, house debt, whatever it is, the debt's already done. You already. You already did it. Why are we going to keep living in the past, keep thinking about what we did in the past?

[Jill]

Like, all we can do is move forward.

[Jen]

That's it. That's the only thing that we can do. And if we constantly keep thinking about, like, I wish I did this, I wish I did that, it's not gonna change anything. Like, why are we gonna be in that mindset? So if we shift our mindset and just think, okay, what am I gonna do to get myself out of this? What am I gonna do differently? How am I gonna change things now? Because you can't change the past. So let's worry about current, present time, and the future. Let's set ourselves up for success.

[Jill]

For the future. Yes.

[Jen]

These regrets are how we stay stuck. If this is what is taking up the most of our emotional mental energy, then we don't have the capacity that we need to actually make different changes moving forward. This is something that I feel so deeply. I shared my own story in the book Buy what yout Love without Going Broke. But I think we can just feel so bad about, why did I do that thing? But yet there's an opportunity to be able to reframe the whole thing and say, but what did that provide for me? I might make a different decision now, but I got the degree or I learned now about managing money. And this was kind of probably one of the only ways that I would have learned this. Or it got me that safe car, whatever it might be. We can flip the script, change the narrative, and really change how we feel about something. The perspective that we have that can provide that pathway forward to, okay, this isn't weighing me down as much now. I'm just full steam ahead on doing something different. Getting rid of this and showing myself that I'm capable of making more beneficial decisions and not living in the regret constantly.

[Jill]

I love the creator from earlier who said she racked up her credit card debt, she wouldn't look at her finances, and then she paid it off and became of, you know, a financial coach for other people in her industry to help. Like that can be, you know, yeah, it doesn't have to be. I'm bad at money, so that's how I'm going to be forever. You can have that hero story and make change not just for yourself, but for the people around you, too.

[Jen]

It's part of our story. And I think the more we can embrace our story and recognize that we were only capable of what we had achieved so far at that point in life, not expecting more of our 22 year old self than what we could have done. We can't expect, expect 36 year old decisions from a 22 year old. So this is my story. This is how I'm becoming. This is how I'm shaping it. Far better narrative. You know what's also a really good narrative that I weave in?

[Jill]

No regrets.

[Jen]

Never, never regrets.

[Jill]

This the bill of the week. That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.

[Jen]

Maybe you paid off your mortgage.

[Jill]

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.

[Jen]

Kate from New Jersey. And I've been listening to you for.

[Jill]

Years and I finally have a bill of the week today.

[Jen]

We got a $2,200 co pay for my son's medical bills. Unfortunately, he was just diagnosed with a kidney disease and we've been to four different hospitals in the last month. So I called and got a 30% discount that saved us over $600 on our first bill. And I learned that trick from you guys.

[Jill]

So thank you so much and I can't wait to go negotiate the rest.

[Jen]

Of the bills that'll be coming in soon. Have a good day.

[Jill]

Yay, Kate.

[Jen]

Yay. Your spirits sound so high given what you're going through. I'm so, so sorry to hear about your son. That's really devastating and sounds like it's taking up a lot of time on these medical visits that you just. That's not how you want to be spending your time. But I am thrilled to hear that this is not causing bankruptcy for you, that you've learned the tips and tricks to be able to lower medical bills. And this is not uncommon. To be able to reduce your bill by 30 to 50%. It's possible. We did an episode about this pretty recently.

[Jill]

30 to 50 standard that you can save off your medical bills. And that episode was so good, I think it should be required listening or watching for everyone.

[Jen]

There are four specific steps to go through in order to lower your medical bill. And we walk through those four steps. So definitely with experts with like and if you don't need it now, save it because you will need it.

[Jill]

Watch it now because everybody has a friend who's going to the hospital or taking their kid to the hospital. And it's good for you to have that knowledge not just for yourself but for the people around you.

[Jen]

If you all are watching or listening and you finally have a bill to submit, even if you've been listening for years, you've been listening for weeks. We'd love to hear about it. If it has to do with saving money on a bill or being bill, we love those frugalfriends podcast.com bill we can't wait to hear it.

[Jill]

Huge Savings on Dell AI PCs are here and it's a big deal. Why? Because Dell AI PCs with Intel Core Ultra processors are newly designed to help you do more faster.

[Jen]

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[Jill]

It's like having a personal assistant built right into your computer. Plus, Dell AI PCs can even extend your battery life. So no more panic when you realize you left your charger at home. That's the power of Dell AI, with intel inside helping you focus on what matters most.

[Jen]

And the best part? The deals. Right now you can snag a Dell AI PC like the Dell 16 plus starting at just $749.99. So if you've been waiting for the perfect time to upgrade your tech and take back your time, this is it. Head to Dell.comdealsToday that's Dell.com deals when it comes to clothing, you know we love quality over quantity. And since getting our colors done, Jen and I have both been on a mission to find closet staples. The kind that are polished, timeless and affordable without compromising quality.

[Jill]

And that's exactly why we're loving quints. They've got all the elevated essentials for fall. Think 100% Mongolian cashmere starting at just $50, washable silk tops and perfectly tailored denim. I just ordered their cotton scoop neck tank, earrings and a belt, and I'm already living in these pieces daily.

[Jen]

I've been on the hunt for a classic linen dress that I can style in a variety of ways that fits with my minimalist wardrobe. And Quince had just the one I wanted in the European linen scoop neck midi dress. It feels like such a luxury piece, but the prices don't absolutely destroy my spending plan.

[Jill]

Keep it classic and cozy this fall with long lasting staples from Quintessential Go to quince.comfrugal for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U I N C E.comfrugal to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Jen]

Quince.comfrugal and now it's time for the lighting round.

[Jill]

All right, what's a broke habit? Habit you left behind for good. And it is you no longer broke. Yeah. It's thinking, oh, there's my walking alarm. Got it. Got.

[Jen]

It's time to get up and walk.

[Jill]

It is that Jen, we're podcasting.

[Jen]

I know.

[Jill]

Well, that's why it's on silent. It is thinking the cheapest price is the best price. Oh, I left that one behind. For real.

[Jen]

Oh, good.

[Jill]

I spent a lot of money this weekend replacing cheap stuff that literally, it was past his prime. I was never. I wasn't wearing it at all. It was just sitting in my closet, taking up space because I literally couldn't wear it. It was like stuff peeling off. I would put my foot into the shoe and part of the shoe would come back out with me every time I took it out. Like, stuff like that. So it was time to replace the seven. I spent so much more money than I ever have in my life on not name brand, but quality, like 100 cotton, genuine leather stuff that I know is going to last me.

[Jen]

I can't wait to see the new gen. I'm like.

[Jill]

It'S not gonna be that new. But I mean, I have.

[Jen]

It was new clothing, right? Or is it spread up stuff or.

[Jill]

No, it's not. It's. It was brand new. Like, you haven't seen me wear a belt in a really long time because all my belt belts were like, shredding. So you'll see me in a belt again.

[Jen]

Wait.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Can't wait. Yeah, for me, it's collecting things just because they're inexpensive. Again, that. That one tip spoke to me. I used to do thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, you name it, I still love them. Don't get me wrong, they still have a place in my heart and in my calendar, but that was just a regular activity for me because I could get so much for like $10. And for me, I was only valuing it based on the money. Like, I only spent $10. Look at all the stuff I got. But then it was a lot of stuff I got. And, yeah, cheap, mismatched, didn't actually like it. Stuff that I had to end up cleaning. Right. Dust collectors, whether it was decor or clothing. And it. It just was clutter, physical and mental. And I'm. I'm not a good person because this is behind me now. It. It happened to me, it was because we ended up living in a motorhome that I could not do that anymore. And so my behaviors had to change. And then I realized oh, I actually like this life better. I like having things that I feel really good about owning even if it means I spend a little bit more money on em spending my time just collecting things because the price tag is low.

[Jill]

Yeah, well, yeah, thanks for listening to these steps and we mentioned a few episodes that are really good follow up follow up episodes to listen to or watch the medical bills, the hobbies, all those. So we will link to those in the description of the show notes so that you can keep learning and building better habits.

[Jen]

If you want even more ways to build better habits. We've got a great one about the Frugal Swaps too. That's a recent one. We'll link that one. Thanks so much for listening everybody. We are really One of our favorite activities to do instead of spend money is to read your kind reviews about the book Buy what you love without going broke.

[Jill]

Have you heard us mention it before?

[Jen]

Like this one from Sheila Land. Five stars. Great read. I have enjoyed listening to the Frugal Friends podcast for a couple of years now and was excited to read their book. It did not disappoint. Jen and Jill are like your best friends having an honest conversation with you about money. There is no judgment or shame, just ideas to help you have the best relationship with your money and how to make your best decisions. I am in my early 60s and found this book to be very helpful. Thank you Jen and Jill. It is really cool to hear from people in different age brackets.

[Jill]

Yeah, thanks Sheila.

[Jen]

Thanks for finding something useful. Useful.

[Jill]

That's so nice.

[Jen]

If you want to see if it's useful to you, buy what you love.

[Jill]

Book.com yeah and if you enjoyed the show, please leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify if you're listening there. If you're listening on YouTube, please like and subscribe. It really helps us grow the channel. If you're an audio listener, come on over to YouTube and just hit that subscribe button. The water's warm and get and go back to Spotify or Apple. As you know we're not trying to change you. We don't want to change you. But the every subscribe really does help us reach new people. We're looking to reach new people with this message of of the radical middle of values based spending. So and good money habits that don't leave you feeling confused or deprived.

[Jen]

See you next time.

[Jill]

Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

[Jen]

Okay Jen, it feels as good a time as any to share this story with the listeners. Speaking of negotiating, I didn't want to get too far into it, but as you all know, and maybe you don't, but I have shared it once already. Eric and I sold our house. We are now renters. We are no longer homeowners. And the housing. One tip in this episode was interesting to me. The reason I talked about negotiating is because in signing the lease for this place, we got a 2. 2. Because we couldn't downgrade that much from our house. We were like, we still need that second bathroom. Want that second bathroom. And the price was a price that we could reasonably afford with still money left over to save and invest. But I'm thinking if I could spend even less on this, that'd be great. So I told them, what if I paid you for five months up front and signed a two year lease at this rate, like I named my rate, which was $400 less than what it was listed at. And they came back because this is an apartment complex. And they said, we don't take upfront payment. It was too complicated. And we don't do two year leases. The longest we do is 15 months. However, we will honor that price and we'll give you your first month free. Which was shocking.

[Jill]

You got a good deal for how nice that place is.

[Jen]

I've never heard of a complex willing to negotiate, but I do think one of the best times is when you are signing the lease. You can still negotiate throughout the year, certainly at lease renewal, but the best time is when you are first moving into the place. And so not only did we get the price we wanted, but we kind of got it for a little less with that first month free. Because if you kind of, you know, space that out over the span of the lease, it kind of drops it by like 50 bucks a month.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So good negotiation that. I mean, and I was just sending it, you know, I'm like, if they say no, okay, but let's just give it a try. And they bite. And I'm so thrilled. I don't know how thrilled they are, but here we are.

[Jill]

So they're thrilled to have you. It's their honor. Your honor to have it.

[Jen]

Doesn't hurt to try. That's the moral of that story.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

What do you think makes the perfect snack? Hmm. It's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient. Could you be more specific? When it's cravinient. Okay. Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at am, PM or a savory breakfast.

[Jill]

Sandwich I can grab in just a.

[Jen]

Second at a.m. pM. I'm seeing a pattern here.

[Jill]

Well yeah, we're talking about what I.

[Jen]

Crave, which is anything from am, pm.

[Jill]

What more could you want? Stop by AMPM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. Am, pm too much good stuff.