← Frugal Friends Podcast
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- [00:03]
Capital Group Announcer
If you're early in your career and looking for insight, inspiration and honest advice, listen to the Capital Ideas Podcast. Hear from Capital Group professionals about leaning into the differences that make you unique, making decisions that last, and what it means to lead with purpose. The Capital Ideas Podcast from Capital Group. Available wherever you listen. Published by Capital Client Group, Inc.
- [00:30]
Jen
26 Frugal Habits to Save Money in 2026.
- [00:39]
Jill
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where.
- [00:41]
Jen
You'Ll learn to save money, embrace simplicity.
- [00:45]
Jill
And live a richer life. Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill. Habits are the key to sustainable frugal living. And sure, we all want the same sexy, extreme frugality, the sexy extreme saving tips to get there faster. But the reality is, extremes don't work.
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Jen
Yeah. So today we are going to give you 26 frugal habits that both move the needle and are easy enough for you to incorporate into your life so that you can actually reach your financial goals. Welcome, Frugal Friends. I'm Jen.
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Jill
I'm Jill.
- [01:22]
Jen
And we wanted to start this episode out with an important disclaimer I see here. Making a goal does not get you to your goal. I don't know if that was not clear, but in January, I think a lot of the content and the rhetoric and what we're seeing is all about goal setting. Like, we make these really lofty goals. We want to change all these things, but that's not the point of having a fresh start, having a reset. We love that January gives us a fresh start for all these things. And we think goals are just like the tiniest part of it. It is truly the habits that will get you anywhere you want to go. And your goals can and will change. And so that's why we think it's so important to focus on the habits once you have the goal.
- [02:18]
Jill
Yeah, we have to take action in order to actually see progress towards these goals, goals that we've set, which is why we've made a list of 26 options. And truly these are options. We are not doing all 26 of these. We don't think you should do all 26 of these. But we want to give you a lot of examples of the types of habits that you can be setting in 2026. So you can pick what feels right for you.
- [02:42]
Jen
Unless your goal is to make a goal, then, like, see you in 2027. Like, you've done it, you've done it. You don't need these habits.
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Jill
You already did the action.
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Jen
Yeah. Let me know in the comments how that works for you. Cause I would Love for that to be my goal. But instead I'm gonna be working on habits. And that's where I'm gonna be setting my intentions in 2026. Cause I truly need this as well.
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Jill
So we've broken it down into different sections. And the first section is gonna be all about food. Where can we make the biggest impact?
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Jen
Girl, you knew we were starting with food, we hungry. You knew we were starting with food.
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Jill
We mostly hungry. Okay, so the first one is to plan meals around what you already have. We've talked about this in a lot of recent episodes. You can call it reverse meal planning. Shopping your pantry first. Put all kinds of words to it. Just look at what you already have in your fridge, fridge, pantry, freezer, and plan out your meals for the week around that. If you do this one thing, it could save you 600 to $12,000 a year and just ultimately help you to be able to use up what you already have, reduce food waste, and get more creative with what's already in your house. And there was a week that I didn't actually have to go grocery shopping because I already had so much on hand already that I just needed to implement a little bit of creativity, a little bit Internet research to realize, oh, here's all the meals that I can make around, you know what my pantry staples, and some of the frozen veggies that I already have.
- [04:19]
Jen
And I love what you do is you take a picture of what's inside the fridge, what's inside the freezer, what's inside the pantry, and then you will go to the office. And then on your lunch break, instead of scrolling, you'll look at that so that you can shop from a visual so you don't have to be at home when you're doing it. Next is to keep three to five emergency meals at home. So these are like pre made freezer meals. You know, I love a meal prep. And so I will like a pork tenderloin. I'll get a three pound pork tenderloin. I'm not gonna eat all that in a week, but I will cook it all and then I'll freeze half of it and that way I have it immediately like cooked. And last time I went to Publix, it was actually bogo. So I've got a raw one in the freezer and then I also have half of a cooked one in a freezer. So it's like different. Like if I'm really in need of an emergency, it's there. Or if I want to meal plan it, it's There. So having these at any given time things that you already have on hand. We actually have a list with recipes of 15 emergency meals that most of which we both keep on hand. So you can get that frugalfriendspodcast.com meals if you want some inspiration for your three to five emergency meals. And this will just keep you from going out to eat less when it's good and when it's quick, when the barrier to entry is lower to eat a good meal than it is to go out. We typically eat at home.
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Jill
Number three, grocery shop. Once per week or less if you can swing it. But if you're going to the grocery store multiple times a week, then a goal for you could be, let's say limit down to one time per week. This is going to save us for so many reasons, but mostly impulse buys. We could save 50 to $100 a month, honestly, just because we're not at the store. More often throughout the month having opportunities to yeah, I may only be there cuz I had forgotten eggs, but then I'm also walking out with another bag of trail mix and who knows what else. So fewer trips means fewer decisions, means fewer impulse buys. If you implement some of these other things like shopping your pantry first, then you're less likely to need to keep running out to the store too.
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Jen
I went to the grocery store, I never go to the grocery store, but I went to the grocery store for that bogo pork tenderloin and like bogo chicken nuggies and I walked out with $100 worth of and it gets the best of us. A lot of bogos, a lot of bogos, a lot of good deals, but a lot of money spent that I wasn't planning to spend. And that's the struggle.
- [07:05]
Jill
That's how they get you in there.
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Jen
And that is how. And that's why shopping your pantry is so important. Because then you have to use those things that you've already like impulse bought and got a good deal on in the past. We actually have to utilize those things. Next is eat the same breakfast and lunch most days. Oof. We both have pretty consistent, consistent sames for at least breakfast. And then for me, lunch, I will eat this spicy chicken tendies with some low fat ranch and a tortilla, little romaine if I've got it. If I don't, I go without. That is my lunch easily three days a week. And if it's not that, then it's leftovers. And then for my breakfast, some Greek yogurt with a little bit of protein powder, honey, frozen fruit, like frozen strawberries or frozen mixed berries, because I'll make it the night before. So by the morning, they're all good and mushy and beautiful and ready for me to eat.
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Jill
Find what you like and realize that you don't actually need that much variety.
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Jen
You don't.
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Jill
It's fine. Number five, view eating out as entertainment, not food.
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Jen
I mean, it is food, but it's so. But the eating out part is entertainment.
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Jill
The food. You wrote this one for me, did you? You coming at me right now? This could save you over a thousand dollars a year, Honestly, Easily. With how much money it is to go out, it's insane. So we really do have to start moving dining out into the entertainment category.
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Jen
So true. It's not a bad thing to eat out, but it is entertainment. And it's. I say this all the time. Like, the more you do something that's quote unquote special, the less special it becomes.
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Jill
Yeah.
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Jen
So, like, Travis and I went out to eat Saturday night. My mom took the kids, and we had a. We had a gift card to Bascom's. Have you heard of that place? It is a very fancy steak restaurant.
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Jill
Yum.
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Jen
Yes. But each entree is $50. So, like, that gift card covered one plate. We still ended up paying, like, over $100 with tips for our entire meal. And, like, we didn't feel bad about it because we've actually never been there. And we've maybe been to a nice restaurant like that like, twice in our entire relationship. This is the third time. And so it was entertainment. Like, I really soaked in every single part. Like, from where we were sitting to the view of the bar to all the other people, the Christmas decorations. Like, I wanted to soak in everything.
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Jill
You had a night out.
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Jen
I was like, I'm never gonna coming back here again. There is no tax bracket that can get me back in here again. And so it really made it special.
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Jill
Yes.
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Jen
Yeah.
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Jill
Beautiful. Number six, lower the barrier to cooking, my friends. Let's make it easy. We don't have to be a chef in the kitchen. Okay. We could just be a cook. It's fine. Yeah, you could save 40 to $100 a month just because you will be making food at home more often. Even if you spend a little bit extra on your pre cut produce. If you get a rotisserie chicken, I mean, certainly get the frozen veggies, that's just going to be cheaper. And fruit, and it's already chopped up for you. There's so many reasons to do that. Know that it's okay to get some of the convenience and efficiency items. If it means that you're going to eat it, you're going to eat at home, and, and you're going to be cutting out food waste and cutting out financial waste because of it.
- [10:53]
Jen
Okay. Our second section is housing and utilities. And these are like quiet monthly drains. So we've got for our renters, negotiating rent or renewing early. And as a landlord, I have had tenants negotiate with me. I'm very receptive to it. And I, you know, as long as you're not mean or rude, like, it usually works with me. And so I like, no, I'm not the only landlord like that. Never be nervous to, to negotiate and do it in a kind way, people.
- [11:26]
Jill
Even before you sign your lease, you can negotiate. We negotiated our rent, we cut $500 a month off of it. And also recognize that every renewal, rent prices go up and down in any given area. So even though you, you know, you may have been living somewhere for a couple of years, it is possible to pay less at your next lease renewal depending on what, what rental prices are going for in your area. So it, it's worth it to look that up and do negotiation.
- [11:54]
Jen
This next one is one of my favorite. And I look at you guys all the time in the eyes almost every week and I tell you, make the call. So number eight is to negotiate Internet, phone and home or rental insurance annually. Annually. Make the call. Because you hear every bill of the week, it seems like at least once a week, it's somebody saying, I made the call and I got my bill lowered. Like that is what we are hearing so often. And so that's number eight, making the call annually. Just getting in that habit.
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Jill
Number nine, DIY some of your small home repairs and do it immediately, do it as soon as possible. This, this varies in savings. Obviously it can be hundreds, potentially thousands annually. So if you notice a leak, if a filter needs to be replaced, putting weather stripping around doors and windows, things that are going to keep the functioning of the home and maintain your appliances, clean them. These are the types of things that we need to have scheduled for us to do, similar to making the call, which is one of the reasons that we have our annual finance planner available, we'll have that linked in the show notes as well. If you're like, I don't know what to be replacing and repairing and who to be calling. We got you. We got the list. Yeah. And the timeframes in which you need to be doing them. But That's, I can't stress this enough that just doing the small things on a regular basis is going to help with longevity.
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Jen
And YouTube. YouTube has all the right stuff for DIYers. It's so good. Next is maybe less of a, like, action habit, but more of like a maybe mindset shift habit, but it's renting out space in your home, either short term or long term. So Travis and I for two years rented out a room in our house before we had kids. And that was just kind of like a mental shift to be like, okay, I know, like, we're going to do this regularly. We're going to clean the house, we're going to have people, you know, in and out. And we had great experiences. We, we did it in 2018, 2019. So, you know, I don't know how people are in 2026, but I don't know if they're that different. So this is great. But you don't have to just do Airbnb. You can do kind of maybe like house sitting for other people. You can let somebody park their RV or their trailer on, on your property for a short of time. But just getting into this mental, like, exercise of like, how can I optimize what I have to earn income without doing really any extra work?
- [14:46]
Jill
Peer space. You can rent it out hourly for parties. Eric and I did that. So tons of stuff. All right, section three is all about transportation. So number 11, drive your cars longer than normal. All right, I know that the average person, average American, may keep their car for five to six years, but the average car actually lasts about 13 to 14 years. What are we doing? Honestly? I know what we're doing. We're getting the car paid off and then we're getting all the mailers and all the deals that are happening and they're saying, come, trade it in, get the next upgrade. And then that's what we're doing. But we don't need to do that. Just keep your car, Keep your car.
- [15:27]
Jen
Longer, slightly, not like till it dies. You don't have to keep it. You could, but like if you're buying a three year old car and then keeping it for eight years, so that's 8, 9, 10, 11. That car still has three good years on it and you can sell it for a couple thousand. Right. And you're making back some money and saving the money, you would have been changing out your car more frequently. Yeah.
- [15:56]
Jill
With a depreciating asset like a car, the longer you hold it, the more you're getting out of it. The last time you hold it that obviously like the more money you're spending. So if you're getting new cars every five to seven years, you are potentially, you know, spending three to six thousand dollars more annually than if you had just waited a couple more years.
- [16:16]
Jen
Next is to shop car insurance annually. And so this is again another make the call kind of habit. And doing that setting that cat lender reminder again in our, you know, annual finance planner. We've got that, but it will save you three to eight hundred dollars a year. And there's so many options for doing like usage based car insurance and all of this stuff. It's just so worth it to annually check rates for car insurance and negotiate down if you can. We're at the stage of life where we're defining our personal style, figuring out what actually looks good on us, and at the same time wanting quality pieces that last. I don't want a closet full of trends anymore. I want staples I can reach for again and again. And that's why we've been loving quints.
- [17:04]
Jill
Quince really has the staples covered, from soft Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel designer without the markup to 100% silk tops and skirts for easy dressing up to perfectly cut denim for everyday wear. It's all made to last season after season. And their Italian wool coats are real standouts. Beautifully tailored, soft and built for years, not just one winter.
- [17:27]
Jen
You can tell the quality right away, the stitching, the fit, the fabrics. My cashmere sweater has gotten so much wear and is holding up incredibly well. I also love that everything is made with premium materials in ethical, trusted factories without the luxury brand price tag.
- [17:42]
Jill
Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Don't wait. Go to quince.com frugal for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com frugal to get free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com frugal life.
- [18:01]
Jen
Comes at you fast. One minute the home office works just fine and the next you're realizing it might need to become a nursery. Or you're finally ready to trade a long commute for a bigger backyard. When someday becomes now, you need the right tools. And that's why I recommend realtor.com realtor.com.
- [18:18]
Jill
Is the pro's most trusted app and it makes the search feel less overwhelming. They have over 500,000 new listings every month, so you're actually seeing what's out there as it hits the market, it's less endless scrolling and more clarity.
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Jen
And the matchmaking tools really matter. When I was looking for a home that checked specific boxes like space to work, good light and room to actually live, realtor.com made it easy to filter, search and focus on homes that truly fit what I needed.
- [18:44]
Jill
Find your next dream home. Start searching now. Download the realtor.com app today Pro's most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings from July 2024 to June 2025. Section 4 is all about shopping and selling spending systems. So our next tip number 13 is use a 24 to 48 hour rule for your non essentials. This is essentially helping us to cut down on our impulse spending. This is a massive leak for many of us is just spending money we were not intending to spend. And so what we can do is to set that 24 to 48 hour rule. We can create a wish list instead of putting that item actually in the cart on the website. And anytime that we want something we're scrolling, we see something we want. We're boredom shopping, we see something we want, put it on a list. A note in your phone that you can revisit after 24 to 48 hours. Do you still want it? Is it still gonna make your life more efficient? Does it solve a problem that you actually have? Fine, do it. Honestly, I think there's more questions to be asking. Can I get it for free? Can I get it low cost? Can I a deal? Okay. Can I spend on it guilt free? But creating that pause is going to help us to be able to ask these questions and reflect on. Do I actually want to be spending money on this?
- [20:13]
Jen
Yeah. Next is to unsubscribe from retail emails, app notifications and texts. So I don't think these, I don't think marketing emails and stuff are inherently bad. But if your biggest struggle right now is impulsive spending or one of your biggest struggles is impulse spending, then you do need to get all of them out of your life for a season, probably for a couple years. And then once you have, you know, created these other good habits, then you can start to infiltrate them back. But you'll save hundreds of dollars per year by just not seeing the sale emails, not getting the sales texts, not getting the app notification. Delete the app. Okay. Like if you need something, you can go to the website on your desktop or laptop. So for a little while, get those things out of your Life, if that's something you struggle with.
- [21:08]
Jill
Number 15, decide where you will spend on guilt free. This one's a little exciting. It's a little more indirect but super powerful in that we're not just about restriction. We never have been. We spend money. We think spending money is great. Good. We should, we all spend money.
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Jen
Yeah, you earn it, spend it. Uh huh.
- [21:29]
Jill
We just have to know where we actually want to spend it. So being able to identify. Yeah here I want, I do want to be able to spend on you know, fitness things or quality food but I'm not going to spend on decor or clothing or luxury handbags. You get to decide what the list is. But knowing exactly what we're saying no to because it's not fulfilling us and any way then does free up. I can spend guilt free on this. And it's going to lead to less impulse purchases long term because we know that it's not ultimate deprivation. We are allowing ourselves some of these purchases so it's far easier to cut out all this extra spending.
- [22:15]
Jen
And these sections, these can be seasonal too. So like maybe I'm giving myself permission to spend guilt free on clothing for the next three months and then that time is done. My guilt free spending has always and will always be iced coffee. But I do most of my iced coffee at home. So when I'm out and I want a little treat like once a week I will get my iced coffee. And it's special, keeps it special. Yeah. Next is buy used for high turnover items. So you can save easily 30 to 70 plus percent on used items. And some things I get, yeah, you don't want to buy used but like high turnover things we can always buy used. So we're talking kids items, especially tools. Tools that are like really high quality, well made. We can do furniture, high quality, well made furniture, refurbished tech. You go to a place like back market or you get the refurbished like from the company, you can save 30% and I mean you can even do that for yourself. But if you're buying tech for your kids especially, they don't deserve anything new. No. What they do they latest model, what did they do?
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Rachel
Huh?
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Jen
Did they save for it? No, you did. So they deserve refurbished.
- [23:49]
Jill
Number 17 Keep a running list of need to replace items. So this can really help us to avoid panic purchases. Panic buying because oh no, we ran out even though we saw it coming. We saw it coming.
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Jen
Okay.
- [24:04]
Jill
So it helps us to replace intentionally instead of urgently. So this is from every. I would consider this. Everything from small appliances to the shampoo you start to see that something is running low, add it to the list. Add it to the list. And then as you're out, and you can then keep an eye out for deals, then you can know, yeah, this is on the list. We need to buy it, need to replace it. Even the filters for your fridge, whatever it is, this will help us stay on top of it without needing our brains to be working overtime. We just. We got a list for it.
- [24:38]
Jen
Yeah. All right. Section five is subscriptions and recurring costs. And this next one. This is a really good habit. So if you tuned out, come back for a second. Because we have all struggled with this. We have all failed and fallen short of the glory. Cancel before the free trial ends. Cancel immediately. That's the habit, right? You sign up for that free trial, and then you go immediately into your settings and you cancel. That company is typically still required to give you the full amount of your free trial. Right? And if they don't, it's not a company you want to be paying for anyway. You just got to get out of there. But immediately, don't wait until the end. Go in and immediately cancel and then use out that free trial. And then if you want to, they'll probably send you a deal, like a recapturing deal for it. So try it out. But, yeah, man, we need to stop paying for free trials.
- [25:43]
Jill
We sure do. Number 19. Rotate your streaming services. Don't get mad at me. I'm just the messenger. Okay, but we don't need all 10 of them. How many are there now? There's so many in the world. Trapped us.
- [25:59]
Jen
I logged in to. What is it? Not Paramount. Peacock. And I had Peacock, and I canceled it immediately after. I was like, okay, I'm gonna do it for the year now. I'm canceling. So immediately at the end of the year, it's not gonna renew me. I was smart, but then I logged in recently, and I was like, oh, I'm done. I don't have access to it. I can't watch SNL. I didn't get it before.
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Jill
Swatch clips on YouTube.
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Jen
Yeah, you watch the entire episode on YouTube or on, like, reels. Yeah, but. Yeah. And I was like, oh, it's bum. But I still have hbo, Peacock, and Netflix.
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Jill
Wait, you just said you canceled Peacock.
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Jen
Sorry, Paramount Plus.
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Jill
Okay.
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Jen
They both start with P. I'm gonna.
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Jill
So it's not too many. There's too many.
- [26:47]
Jen
Well, here. Here's the thing. H. Hbo, I don't pay for. And I won't tell you why on the. On The Internet. Paramount plus comes with my Walmart.
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Rachel
Okay.
- [26:58]
Jen
Yeah. Plus subscription and then Netflix I pay for. But we actually pay Jess and Joseph to be on their family plan. Okay. It's less expensive for the higher tier. Right?
- [27:11]
Jill
Okay.
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Jen
So those are the ones we pay for.
- [27:12]
Jill
But if you just choose one, maybe two, rotate out. You can't watch more than one thing, thing at a time. Even though my husband does scroll and.
- [27:22]
Jen
Watch still, he's stirring in there because you've mentioned him.
- [27:27]
Jill
Here's me talking about him. This could save you 300, $600 a year. So just choose one thing.
- [27:32]
Jen
Get creative. Okay. 20. Downgrade your phone plan after you pay off your phone. And so you hear us talk about Mint Mobile all the time. If you did not catch our friends, the Frugal friends, talking about their experience.
- [27:48]
Jill
Not just our friends. They're our grandmas.
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Jen
They're our grandmas.
- [27:51]
Jill
The Franz are our grandmothers. Yeah.
- [27:54]
Jen
And they talk about their experience. Switching to Mint Mobile. You can catch that on our Instagram at Frugal Friends podcast. But it's. Yeah. When you finish paying off your phone, why stay with that carrier? And why you don't need to get a new phone as soon as you pay it off. Why would you do that? Take your phone that's paid off to an mvno, an mv. A thing like Mint Mobile.
- [28:20]
Jill
You know it. You know it. You know Mint Mobile too. Tell them we sent you. Here's the thing. You think you need unlimited and you don't.
- [28:29]
Jen
You don't. Oh, my gosh.
- [28:30]
Jill
Usage. My baby. My baby girl. Check your usage.
- [28:34]
Jen
It uses nothing. Text on WI fi. She doesn't even need a phone. She probably use an iPhone. I don't need a phone.
- [28:43]
Jill
I'll just walk out to my balcony and caca whatever I need.
- [28:51]
Jen
That's a little too far.
- [28:52]
Jill
Yeah, but here's the thing. Even the people who are out here using it a ton, chances are there's plenty of times you can connect to WI Fi and you're probably not using more than 10 gigabytes. So, yeah, okay. Section six is money habits that really can compound.
- [29:10]
Jen
This is our last section.
- [29:12]
Jill
You got no more sections in section 6. Number 21 is Automate Savings on payday. You know when you get paid. We all know when we get paid. And that is the day we pay ourselves in savings. So consistency every single time is going to be your best intentions. So set it and forget it. Don't make this be a thing that drains your brain cells needing to remember to do this. So whatever you can Pull out. Treat it like a bill. If it's $20, great. If it's $100, awesome. If it's more than that, do it. Automate it into your savings. We recommend a high yield savings account like the1@cit frugalfriendspodcast.com cit well that leads.
- [29:55]
Jen
Us into 22, which is use sinking funds for predictable expenses. And so the automation you will have to manually calculate how much you want to save each month, but then you can automate it. And you do want to use a sinking fund. Get in the habit of using sinking funds at a high yield savings account that's separate from your emergency fund and your regular checking. So it will be good for you to have a checking and savings account over here because usually your checking will have a low yield savings account attached to to it. And then you've got your high yield savings account for your emergency fund that you don't touch, you don't look at, you pretend it's not there. And then you have another high yield savings account with all of your sinking funds. And you can have as many sinking funds in there as you want. But that is one that you will look more at. It won't have as much money in it probably as your emergency fund, but you will be spending money in and out of there more frequently. And so yes, we love citizens. Frugalfriendspodcast.com cit and then you can also if you go to raisin frugalfriendspodcast.com raisin you can find a bunch of other high yield savings accounts, high yield money markets and kind of pick one from that list to have whatever has the highest rates at the time for your other savings account. Your other seeking fund number 23 pay.
- [31:25]
Jill
Your bills annually, especially when they offer you discounts. Many times paying something for an entire year rather than monthly could save you 5 to 15% for that bill. So this is certainly insurance, particularly car insurance subscriptions. Whatever bills allow you to pay for the whole year if you have it. If you've been doing some of those automatic savings and kind of living below your means implementing all these other habits, this is a great way to be able to pay something up front, not have to worry about it month to month and ultimately save yourself money.
- [32:04]
Jen
There is a caveat to this. Do not pay for an annual subscription that you do not know you will use for a year. It is always better to pay more month to month for a few months to figure out if you're going to actually save. Stick with using It I know so much money is wasted because we want to get that deal. We want to pay less. Right. We pick the annual plan, but we don't know we're not going to use it for more than six months. And so ultimately you spend more money. So when we're talking things about like insurance and stuff like that, we got to use it. We know we're going to use it. Pay annually. Things like apps, boxes, I don't know, all that stuff. Pay month to month for a little bit and figure out if it is something you want to do for a full year. Next is negotiate medical bills. Never ever get a medical bill and pay it before negotiating it or seeing if you can get some kind of care discount or forgiveness. So we always go back to our episode with Jared from Dollar for, who runs a nonprofit that helps people in eligible income brackets get care and forgiveness from a hospital. And if that's not available, then you can still negotiate even if you're not eligible for like customer care discounts or forgiveness. But you should never be just paying a medical bill initially upfront, full price, especially specifically hospital.
- [33:40]
Jill
I mean, even in that episode, even if you're not eligible because of how much you earn annually, it still is important to understand some of the terminology that you need to be asking for. So the types of bills and breakdowns and CPT codes and the types of errors that you can be looking for on a bill so that it's not even just about negotiating, it's also about making sure that the bill is accurate because it's something wild. Something like over 80% of the time there are medical billing.
- [34:10]
Jen
Yes. And experts agree. We've asked people and they're like, yep, that is correct. So definitely check out our episode on how to lower your medical bills. It is something, a skill, a knowledge.
- [34:23]
Jill
That everyone should have agreed. Okay, number 25, check. Track your spending weekly. We're not talking about obsessively, but it is really important for us to get a good handle on what our habits currently are, to be able to know what needs to shift here. Anyhow, where am I primarily impulse spending? Where are those money leaks that I might not have been aware of if I hadn't have been tracking regularly? And so this is a habit that I do think we could do for at least a solid year just to really get a sense of how we move through the seasons, what happens to our money at different points in time during the highs and the lows and the busyness or the boredom. So this really prevents that, that drift that can happen. It can help prevent unnecessary lifestyle inflation. It can help decrease some of our impulse spending. Just a quick 10 minute check in weekly to what have I spent on it also can help us identify if there's been any errors in charges. There's been plenty of times that I see, oh, that was double charged or no, I didn't buy that. Neither did Eric. Okay, we've got a look into this more so lots of reasons.
- [35:36]
Jen
Yes. All right. And 26. This is the last one and it might be the most important one. Pick one habit to work on and ignore the rest. Pick one. Not three, not five, not 26 or 25. Pick one. And this should be a habit that you enter into habit building for the rest of your life is to focus on one thing at a time. If you've heard me at all, you know that I love the book the One Thing by Gary Keller. Jay Papasan. Essentially, you don't even have to read the book. It's all summed up into like one phrase. And it's what's the one thing that I can do that which by doing makes everything else easier or unnecessary? So just focus on one thing that makes some other things easier or unnecessary. So maybe I'm trying to like, I want to pay off my debt and I want to save for retirement and all this stuff, but. And I can't increase my income right now, but I can decrease my spending. What's one habit I can pick up that's going to decrease my spending? The, you know, biggest bang for your buck is typically going to be found in food, housing or transportation. So you're going to want to pick up a habit there first. Work on fully flushing it out before you move to your next one. But when we have four pots on the stove, it is hard to keep an eye on them all at once. One of them is going to boil over. And if you cook, you know what I'm talking about. If you need to eat at home more, then you need to figure out what I'm talking about. Don't.
- [37:12]
Jill
But don't make it simple. Don't do four pots on the stove.
- [37:14]
Jen
Don't put four pots on the stove. You need to focus on one thing at a time. And it is sexy to make all these goals for ourselves in January and try to reach them all. And to try to do all these habits. Do this like 75 hard where you gotta work out twice a day. You gotta read 10 pages of a book, you gotta be outside for 45 minutes. Stop, stop, stop doing the sexy things. Stop doing the social media things. Stop doing what you see online and just focus on one boring thing.
- [37:44]
Jill
Yeah.
- [37:45]
Jen
Do that for a couple weeks. Really nail it. And then you can add something else.
- [37:50]
Jill
Because the sexy thing just leads to the sad thing. Let's be honest. You know, we think it's sexy and then we're sad.
- [37:57]
Jen
Never been spoken.
- [37:58]
Jill
Yeah.
- [37:59]
Jen
Yeah, that's how I think. I really.
- [38:01]
Jill
I landed on my buffer sticker just now because we think we doing it and then we get to the other side and we didn't do it, and now we just sad.
- [38:12]
Jen
No, he's sad.
- [38:13]
Jill
You know what? One thing I'm gonna focus on, though, and it is not sexy.
- [38:17]
Jen
It's never gonna make you sad. The bill of the week. That's right.
- [38:33]
Jill
It's time for the best minute of your entire week.
- [38:36]
Jen
Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.
- [38:39]
Jill
Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy.
- [38:43]
Jen
To not have to pay that bill anymore.
- [38:45]
Jill
Duck bills.
- [38:46]
Jen
Buffalo Bills. Bill Clinton.
- [38:49]
Jill
This is the bill of the week.
- [38:52]
Rachel
Hello, Jen and Jill. This is Rachel from Palm Springs, California. This is a tale of two bills. The first bill is my student loan. After many years of being in an abusive relationship with my student loan company, I finally achieved pslf. I had been in the wrong repayment program for years, so many of my payments didn't count. There was a lot of confusing information and a lot of shady behavior. When you tried to reach out to your lender. After years of going through the back and forth of all the PSLF trauma, I decided that my child would not go through that. So the second bill is my son's college tuition. We started talking about school choice and not having student loans. When my son was in middle school, we intentionally chose a state school that I could afford. I'm an educator. Because of this, I'm paying tuition with cash each semester. Is it hard? Yes. But I am determined that my son will not have that noose around his neck and no debt when he graduates. Wishing good luck to all the parents with kids going to or in college. I encourage you to have a plan and communicate it with your child well in advance. Thanks, frugal friends. I love the show Rachel.
- [40:08]
Jill
Snaps for Rachel.
- [40:10]
Jen
Oh, good mom award.
- [40:11]
Jill
Yeah.
- [40:12]
Jen
Good mom award.
- [40:13]
Jill
Yeah. What you did was not sexy. That's why it's working out for you.
- [40:20]
Jen
Why it left you happy, sad.
- [40:25]
Jill
Such a wonderful long road of just fighting and figuring out the information and making your payments and now having the money to be able to pay for your son's college education, but making really, again, unsexy choices. And in state college with tuition that is relatively affordable. Those are smart decisions.
- [40:48]
Jen
There are sometimes we get so wrapped up and we want to do the most, most fun decision, we want to do the decision that seems most enjoyable and then we just live with the guilt later. But you made a decision that is inherently difficult, inconvenient, and probably not the most fun. And within you you have this feeling of accomplishment and this pride that cannot be bought. And that I think you really have to balance those feelings when you're spending money between enjoying it and then also creating opportunities to be proud of yourself. And you have done it.
- [41:30]
Jill
Long lasting impact. We're not just talking about a lowered, you know, car insurance bill, which is also great. We are talking about, as you describe, not having a noose around your son's neck of student loan debt. And those two of us who have had it, we know what that feels like. It feels so overwhelming. It is possible to pay it off. But what a gift. What a gift. Rachel, well done. If you all are listening, you have a bill to share. If it has to do with paying off your own debt, paying off somebody else's debt, making sure that we don't go into student loan debt, I mean, that's, that's huge. That's amazing. If your name is Bill frugalfriendspodcast.com Bill tell us about it. We can't wait. You know those systems that are technically there to help but somehow leave you more confused and a little poorer every time you use them? For us, that's what health insurance feels like. It's broken, it's tiring, and every month it can leave you wondering what you're.
- [42:24]
Jen
Really paying for, which is why we've been so interested in crowd health. It's a totally different approach where people fund each other's medical bills directly. No middlemen, no networks, no nonsense. We love medical sharing memberships because they offer such a straightforward and low cost alternative to regular health insurance.
- [42:44]
Jill
With crowd health, you get access to bill negotiators, lower cost prescriptions and labs, and even a database of vetted doctors. You pay the first 500 if something major happens and then the crowd helps with the rest. It honestly feels like healthcare before everything got so complicated.
- [42:59]
Jen
This year, explore your options. Join crowd Health to get started today for 99amonth. For your first three months using code frugalincrowdhealth.com that's joincrowdhealth.com code frugal. Crowd health is not insurance. You can choose differently. Join CrowdHealth.com.
- [43:20]
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- [43:49]
Jill
And now it's time for the lightning round.
- [43:55]
Jen
All right, what is one habit you're working on right now?
- [44:02]
Jill
Go for it, John.
- [44:04]
Jen
Walking 10,000 steps daily.
- [44:07]
Jill
This is a huge goal, actually. Now that I have, like, something to track my steps, I realize 10,000 is. That's not. It doesn't just happen.
- [44:18]
Jen
It takes intentionality. And I don't always get it. Like, it's a difficult goal, but it is the only thing that I am focused on right now. And so some days I hit it, some days I don't. But it is my singular goal right now because it just, it keeps me from like, boredom eating from boredom scrolling. Or I can like boredom scroll while I'm walking. It keeps me from even boredom shopping.
- [44:48]
Jill
That's so true. I have something else to do instead.
- [44:51]
Jen
It is this thing that I can do that's healthy that makes me feel proud that in the moment is inconvenient. It's not the most fun choice, but when I make it, then I am proud of myself. And I have a feeling that I could not have gotten by, like, vegging out or buying something.
- [45:13]
Jill
Yeah, for me, it's eating breakfast daily. I was just not previously in a good habit of it. I used to just have a cup of coffee in the morning and that was that. Now I don't drink coffee anymore. And then I got in the habit of a smoothie. But in my own nutrition journey, I've realized that's not calories. Like, that's not enough to sustain me. And breakfast is one of the most important meals. Like, the most important meal really. So for me, it's like eating more, more substance in the morning. Yeah, but like you said, having a consistent. Like, I don't, I don't need variety with my breakfast. Like, lately it has been yogurt, granola, and then I put like hemp hearts on it, sometimes some berries and nuts and. And boy, does it sustain me. It's like I definitely notice a big difference.
- [46:13]
Jen
So. Oh yeah, breakfast is a wonderful meal.
- [46:19]
Jill
Yeah, I'm learning that I'm getting on Board.
- [46:22]
Jen
I know you're supposed to eat breakfast before you have coffee, but I have to like warm up to breakfast. I like have my coffee first and then I have my breakfast.
- [46:31]
Jill
People who drink coffee, I don't think none of them are waiting.
- [46:36]
Jen
No, we are not.
- [46:36]
Jill
Most people are out here drinking their coffee. It's what gets you out, then working out, then eating.
- [46:42]
Jen
My child, my children, one of my children will get me out of bed in the morning, but then I immediately go to the coffee machine. I don't go to them, I go to the coffee. That's our goals. We would love to hear. What is your goal that you are working on right now? What is your one habit? Not goal. Sorry, I misspoke. What is your one habit that you are working on right now? That one thing. Please let us know in the comments so that we can like rally with you and be excited for you. So thank you so much for listening or watching and thank you for your comments. Thank you for subscribing to the YouTube channel. It is so helpful. If you've read our book, buy what yout Love without going broke. Thank you for leaving your reviews there on Amazon and other places like this one from Emma. It's five stars. It says this was an incredible book and perfect for my financial goals. I'm a very impulsive buyer and I get a huge dopamine rush from purchasing, especially purchasing things I love. I'd slowly reduce spending and this book gave me even more ideas how to shift my thoughts on spending stuff. Not to mention how to reset our dopamine system. While I really find my monetary values align closely with Dave Ramsey, I like these ladies. What these ladies discuss. Finding different teachers for different seasons of life is true. So listening to them was a great way to learn new skills.
- [48:13]
Jill
That's awesome. Thanks so much Emma for reading the book. Thanks for all of you for listening. If you have interacted with us in any way. If you're watching, subscribe, comment. Tell us about your goals. If you've read the book, leave a review. If you're listening to the podcast, leave us a review wherever you're listening. These are all the free ways that really do help us keep coming at you with more free content.
- [48:35]
Jen
Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. So we're both taking flights in the next couple days.
- [48:53]
Jill
Yeah.
- [48:54]
Jen
As we record this, it is Christmas Eve Eve and we are going very.
- [49:04]
Jill
Different places on a jet plane.
- [49:08]
Jen
Yeah. Yeah.
- [49:09]
Jill
You are going to an all inclusive in Mexico without your children and I am going to Philadelphia.
- [49:18]
Jen
Also without my children.
- [49:19]
Jill
Spend time with children.
- [49:23]
Jen
You're going without children?
- [49:24]
Jill
Yes, I will be traveling without children.
- [49:26]
Jen
You will be traveling to children and I will be traveling away from children.
- [49:30]
Jill
Exactly.
- [49:31]
Jen
Yes. And I am.
- [49:32]
Jill
And that's how we balance each other out.
- [49:34]
Jen
I am worried about the flights. I feel like this time of year is just a. It's insane. Yeah. So I am worried.
- [49:43]
Jill
Do you have layovers?
- [49:45]
Jen
I do. Yeah, I do. So I have to use. Well, I have got the companion pass, so I had to book one more flight and use that companion pass on Southwest. So I had to have a layover. But leaving at 6:00am okay.
- [50:01]
Jill
Well, you'll get there at a decent time.
- [50:03]
Jen
Yeah, I will be at the airport at 6am the flight is at 8. 8. I think.
- [50:09]
Jill
So.
- [50:11]
Jen
Yeah. It's. We will see. I guess time will tell and by the time this comes out, we will know.
- [50:18]
Jill
But then you'll get there and. Well, what's the first drink you're gonna order?
- [50:24]
Jen
I don't know. I did. I had the most horrible time getting to Mexico a few years ago, but it was on the other side of Mexico and just. No, I was traveling alone. They canceled my first flight. So of course I missed my second flight. And I had to take two extra flights, got there at midnight, had no cash because I'd missed my car. And it was devastating.
- [50:49]
Jill
Yeah, that's. That's a little terrifying.
- [50:51]
Jen
And I'm on your own all alone. And I. It can't be worse than that. Whatever I experience on Saturday will not be worse with Travis then, right? I'll be with Travis. Like it will just. It won't be worse.
- [51:08]
Jill
Oh, I hope you have a blast.
- [51:10]
Jen
Me too. I hope you have a blast in Philadelphia.
- [51:15]
Jill
Me too. Yeah.
- [51:18]
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