9 UNHINGED Ways People Save Money on Bills

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast

Episode: 9 UNHINGED Ways People Save Money on Bills
Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Release Date: August 12, 2025

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Introduction to Extreme Frugality

In this episode, Jen and Jill delve into the realm of extreme frugality, exploring unconventional and often controversial methods people employ to slash their bills. They acknowledge that while these strategies may not suit everyone, they resonate with those deeply committed to frugal living, even if others find them unorthodox or concerning.

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1. Sacrificing Personal Hygiene

Jen shares her personal experiment with the "no poo" method—opting out of traditional shampoo entirely ([04:48]).

Jen: "I stopped using shampoo... switched to the no poo method, which is meant to be really great for your hair."

While initially feeling good about her hair, she admits the method was more manageable because she was mostly at home with her children, making the less-than-ideal hair days less noticeable.

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2. DIY Cleaning Hacks Gone Wrong

The hosts discuss the pitfalls of adopting do-it-yourself cleaning solutions without proper research ([06:10]).
Jill highlights how some frugal hacks, like using hand soap for dishes or excessive baking soda in vacuums, can lead to ineffective cleaning or even damage appliances.

Jill: "Baking soda is super fine and it's not good for your vacuum cleaner. It will actually like break your vacuum cleaner."

Jen echoes the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of understanding the products and methods used to avoid counterproductive results.

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3. Living Without Air Conditioning

Featuring Steven Pasquale, the episode explores the extreme measure of foregoing air conditioning entirely during the summer months ([11:53]).

Steven: "I did not use my air conditioning once this entire summer... I just go to sleep with the windows open."

Steven details his strategies, such as keeping blinds closed during the day, staying hydrated, and utilizing natural breezes at night. However, Jen cautions about potential downsides, especially in humid regions where AC acts as a dehumidifier, potentially leading to mold issues and other health hazards.

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4. Extreme Minimalism: Selling Everything

Jen presents a satirical take on extreme minimalism by showcasing an overly simplified household ([20:31]).

Jen: "We're doing it. So extreme minimalism."

While intended humorously, the discussion underscores the challenges of implementing such a lifestyle in a family setting, questioning the practicality and sustainability of selling all possessions in pursuit of minimalism.

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5. The Reality of Extreme Couponing

The hosts venture into the world of extreme couponing, where Jen shares her experience saving substantial amounts on groceries but also critiques its effectiveness as a genuine frugal strategy ([25:11]).

Jen: "Couponing is not frugal. It's not a way to save money. It's a hobby."

Jill adds that while couponing can yield impressive discounts, it often requires significant time and storage space, potentially undermining other essential money-saving practices like meal planning and reducing food waste.

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6. Canceling Subscriptions on Unused Properties

Jen and Jill advise listeners to scrutinize and cancel subscriptions tied to secondary properties, such as lake houses, boats, or extra vehicles ([32:35]).

Jill: "With our additional properties, our summer homes... cancel all the subscriptions at your summer home in the winter when you're not using it."

This strategy helps eliminate recurring expenses that may go unnoticed, thereby streamlining budgets and reducing unnecessary financial drains.

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7. Implementing Irritating Money-Saving Tips

The episode highlights money-saving tips that often provoke strong reactions or disagreements among listeners ([37:00]).
Jill shares personal anecdotes about cutting costs in ways that received backlash, such as not paying for WiFi or opting for hand-me-down clothes.

Jill: "The fact that I try to buy gender-neutral clothes so that all of my kids can wear them... People are mad that my hair looks so good without extensions."

Jen emphasizes that societal discomfort with these methods often stems from resistance to unconventional choices, urging listeners to find creative and personalized approaches to frugality.

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8. Listener Story: Bill of the Week

A heartfelt segment celebrates Hershey from Southern Arizona, who proudly announces the payoff of over $130,000 in student loan debt ([42:42]).

Jill: "I paid off over $130,000 in student loan debt... it was a nice little treat to start off."

Jen and Jill commend Hershey's accomplishment, highlighting the importance of perseverance and strategic financial planning in achieving debt freedom.

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9. Lightning Round: Embarrassing Money-Saving Fails

In a lighthearted exchange, both hosts share their most unorthodox money-saving mishaps:

• Jill recounts her failed attempt to purchase a designer wedding dress online, resulting in wasted money and time ([46:33]).

Jill: "I ended up finding a dress... I wasted $99 on a fail."

• Jen discusses her experience renovating an RV to flip for profit, which ultimately led to financial loss and significant stress ([48:55]).

Jen: "We broke even financially... it was so upsetting."

These stories serve as cautionary tales about the risks of pursuing extreme frugality without adequate research and planning.

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Conclusion: Finding the Radical Middle

Jen and Jill conclude the episode by advocating for a balanced approach to frugality, termed the "radical middle." They encourage listeners to draw inspiration from extreme examples without fully adopting them, fostering creativity and personal tailoring in money-saving strategies.

Jen: "We want to create a community where people are rejecting extremes and finding their radical middle."

They invite listeners to engage by sharing their own frugal practices and to participate in community discussions, reinforcing the podcast's supportive and inclusive ethos.

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Final Thoughts and Community Engagement

The hosts wrap up by celebrating listener achievements, promoting their book "Buy What You Love Without Going Broke" ([51:35]), and encouraging subscriptions and reviews. They emphasize the importance of community in navigating the complexities of frugality, offering both extreme and moderate strategies to suit diverse lifestyles.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jen: "Couponing is not frugal. It's not a way to save money. It's a hobby." ([25:31])
• Steven Pasquale: "I did not use my air conditioning once this entire summer." ([11:53])
• Jill: "If the extreme tip makes somebody generally angry and you don't understand why, it's probably fine. It's probably good financially." ([37:07])

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Key Takeaways:

• Extreme frugality can lead to unintended consequences and may not be sustainable for everyone.
• Creative and balanced approaches, such as the "radical middle," are advocated for effective money management.
• Personal anecdotes illustrate both the successes and pitfalls of adopting unorthodox saving methods.
• Community engagement and personalized strategies are essential for fostering a supportive frugal living environment.

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For More Information:

• Book: Buy What You Love Without Going Broke (buywhatyoulovewithoutgoingbroke.com)
• Podcast Website: FrugalFriendsPodcast.com
• Follow and Subscribe: Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

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Stay tuned for more insightful episodes where Jen and Jill continue to explore practical and entertaining ways to embrace frugality without sacrificing quality of life.

Transcript

[Jen]

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[Jill]

Searching for a romantic summer getaway Escape.

[Jen]

With Rich Girl Summer, the new Audible original from Lily Chiu the exquisitely talented Philippa Hsu. Returning to narrate her fifth Lily Chu title. This time Philippa is joined by her real life husband Steven pasquale. Set in Toronto's wealthy cottage country, a.k.a. the Hamptons of Canada, Rich Girl Summer follows the story of Valerie, a down on her luck event planner posing as a socialite's long lost daughter while piecing.

[Jill]

Together the secrets surrounding a mysterious family.

[Jen]

And falling deeper and deeper in love.

[Jill]

With the impossibly hard to read and infuriatingly handsome family assistant, Nico.

[Jen]

Caught between pretending to belong and unexpectedly.

[Jill]

Finding where she truly fits in, Valerie learns her summer is about to get.

[Jen]

Far more complicated than she ever planned.

[Jill]

She's in over her head and head over heels.

[Jen]

Listen to Rich Girl Summer now on audible. Go to audible.com richgirlsommar9 Unhinged Ways People Save Money on Bills 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. Welcome Frugal Friends. My name is Jen. My name is Jill and today we are talking about something some extremely frugal things you can do to save money. And they may not be for everyone, but if you are truly committed to this lifestyle in a way that others might view as weird, unsafe.

[Jill]

Sanitary, insanitary.

[Jen]

Then they will be for you.

[Jill]

You could do these things.

[Jen]

In fact, you may want to comment under this video of maybe some ways we forgot to mention.

[Jill]

But first, this episode is brought to you by Hinged, not the dating app. Just the opposite of being unhinged. At least with your money. Sometimes it's fun to be unhinged in other ways, but with your money?

[Jen]

Nah.

[Jill]

If you want a little bit of guidance and tethering to keep yourself on track with your finances, you should get our Mobile Optimized Spending Planner spreadsheet. It's the perfect amount of Hinged for those of Us who wanna just track our money from our phones, but we don't wanna spend money on a budgeting app monthly. Ours is beautiful. It has all of the tabs that you need to budget monthly. It allows you to see your financial picture all in one place, like your annual picture at a glance. Tabs, numbers, even has perks like an opportunity cost calculator, formulas and other fun things.

[Jen]

Colors.

[Jill]

Yeah, colors. Math done for you.

[Jen]

Graphs, pie charts.

[Jill]

Yep, yep. You've said all the things.

[Jen]

That's it. That's all it has. Yep.

[Jill]

Frugalfriendspodcast.com budget the right amount of hinged. And now let's talk about being unhinged.

[Jen]

Let's talk about it. All right. You guys love extreme frugality. You don't want the radical middle, which is taking these extreme things you see and taking the things that you just don't want to do at all and finding somewhere in the middle to save money. You guys don't like it. You don't like the radical middle. That's why we call it radical.

[Jill]

Because nobody likes it or you do like it. It's just not what you want to be entertained by. You want to watch the wild, unhinged ways that people are saving money.

[Jen]

You're voyeuristic.

[Jill]

And to see if maybe there's a little bit of something for you or to see if maybe you are unhinged, if you're doing the unhinged thing.

[Jen]

So we found nine of your people. We found them online and we're going to bring them to you today so you feel less alone and more justified in your unhingedness.

[Jill]

So one way to practice extreme frugality first is to sacrifice your personal hygiene.

[Jen]

Extreme frugal things that I've done to save money. So the first one is I stopped using shampoo. And this wasn't just like, I, I didn't wash my hair. I actually switched to the no poo method, which is meant to be really great for your hair. And to be fair, my hair did feel good, but it was only any good because I was like mostly at home with my kids and nobody saw me on the days when my hair looked grim.

[Jill]

So is she still not using shampoo?

[Jen]

I think she stopped.

[Jill]

Okay. She realized it wasn't for her.

[Jen]

Here's a fun fact. I did the no poo method for quite a bit because notice I don't like it. Okay. You'll notice that she has straight hair and this method is actually for curly haired people because the corkscrews don't allow moisture to travel to the end of the hair. So it's supposed to help with moisture and hair like something. And all I found was that it made my up here greasy and still wasn't like getting to the bottom. It just kept up here. So I did start to shampoo my hair twice a week.

[Jill]

Well, I think that's. That would be the radical middle for those of you who are here for something not so extreme that you don't have to shampoo your hair every day. It is better to not regardless of what kind of hairstyle you have doing it a couple of times a week. I don't think it's going to save you significant amounts of money. But it is a thing.

[Jen]

The same with laundry is you don't have to wash everything. Right. Like after only wearing it once.

[Jill]

You also don't have to use the recommended amount of detergent. Their manufacturers are usually telling you to use double or triple the amount that you should actually be using.

[Jen]

But should you stop washing your hands altogether? No. Should you? I saw a really funny video. I wish I could include it, but I think it had copywritten music in it. But she was joking about how the family had one bowl. They were an extreme like frugal family and they had one bowl of water for everyone to wash their hands. And it was just had a bunch of dirt in it. And she was just like, we save money on water by just all washing our hands in one bowl.

[Jill]

And we all have E. Coli.

[Jen]

Yeah, right. Yeah. So that is not. If somebody is sacrificing their personal hygiene. Probably not the way to do it, but maybe you can sacrifice a little sterility. Yeah, let's call it that. So the next way that you can be extremely frugal and join our extreme frugal cult. We'll talk to you with initiation later. Is to just sacrifice cleanliness in general. If you're on our YouTube channel, you'll be able to see this. But for our podcast listeners, right now we are playing a video that had copywritten music of a woman who who is has an inflation frugal hack. She is putting dawn into a cup and then putting some alcohol or vinegar and making her own dish. What she has described as putting it on a sponge like it's dish soap. But the funny thing is is that this dawn is antibacterial hand soap. And what a lot of people have done in videos like this are mistaken dawn dish soap and are washing their dishes with dawn hand soap. And so essentially these people are out here giving you these Inflation frugal hacks in parentheses that are actually DIY fails. So I've seen like people commenting on the baking soda, like just use baking soda on all this stuff and then vacuum it up. And then people in the comments being like, don't do that. Baking soda is super fine and it's not good for your vacuum cleaner. Like it, it will actually like break your vacuum cleaner. So like you're saving. I have too. You're saving money with this quote unquote frugal hack and then breaking something actually expensive and ending up spending more money or.

[Jill]

I don't know, I'm. I question that there might be a distraction on the baking soda thing. Yeah. And I actually don't know all the differences between dish soap and hand soap, but I'm going to guess that dish soap already or is, is more concentrated. So to dilute hand soap is going to make it even less pot potent. But it's not as if you can't use hand soap on your dishes.

[Jen]

Yeah, but so just not fully reading the directions or not researching these quote unquote hacks before you do them. So maybe we're wrong too. Maybe it's perfectly fine to wash your dishes with hand soap or vacuum up baking soda. Let us know in the comments if we're off base. But like, nobody really can get a straight answer because we're just seeing all these random people on social media doing all these random hacks. And how do you know what actually works? And so there are some things that do actually work. Like that Dawn Power Wash hack where you are putting dawn into a thing with some alcohol and you're making your own Dawn Power Wash. Oh, that is an actual hack for making Dawn Power Wash.

[Jill]

Okay.

[Jen]

Right. But you're like literally just making one thing into a different version of the same thing, so it feels a little safer. But like other things you could do could be really problematic, right?

[Jill]

Yeah. Like different cleaning products could end up creating a chemical that is not good for you or might ruin your stuff. So yeah, not doing proper research on this can hurt you in the long run.

[Jen]

Definitely. When you think you can think that you're cleaning something and you're doing nothing.

[Jill]

But the third way that you could.

[Jen]

Is a way to save money.

[Jill]

Though the third way you can save money in an extreme way is to obviously go without a C. The nbd. Just don't just be hot.

[Steven Pasquale]

I did not use my air conditioning once this entire summer. If you don't believe me. This was my electric bill for the month of July. I know. Call me crazy, but this is how I manage the hot summers without ac. So I go to sleep with the windows open. We'll talk about that later. So when I wake up, I close all the windows and I close all the blinds and curtains to essentially insulate my apartment and keep the heat out because there's not sun warming up my apartment. So this was a work from home day. I just make sure that I drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. But honestly, by the middle of the day, it gets pretty hot. This day was actually an 82 degree day, which is not too bad. But my apartment definitely gets hotter than that. So sometimes I have to revert to not wearing much clothing because I have to stay cool. But on days it's really bad. I go to the library, actually, because they have free air conditioning. So later that day, I got home from the gym and I just opened everything up because luckily, the way my apartment is situated, it actually is shaded by the later part of the day. So I get a nice breeze. At night is the most challenging because I think we all know it's really hard to sleep when it's warm. So I keep all my windows open, I get a nice breeze, and obviously overnight it's the coolest part of the day. So I just utilize that to my advantage. It's like a natural ac and I just go to sleep. And I don't sleep with any blankets because again, it's hot and I don't really need to. So I just cuddle my pillows. So, yeah, that's how I got through the summer without using. Using ac.

[Jill]

Just be miserable.

[Jen]

I don't want to hear you say you can't do something. If this guy can go through a whole summer without ac, I don't want you to say that you can't do something. You can do anything.

[Jill]

Granted, he's this. He showed a Connecticut summer.

[Jen]

He lives in Connecticut. Let's be honest, we live in Florida.

[Jill]

So you should actually get cooler. But speaking of doing one thing to try and save money and it potentially really causing other issues, especially for those of us who live in the South. The AC can act as a dehumidifier. It does act as a dehumidifier to keep mold away. So if someone were to do something like this in a very humid area and not have any sort of control, air control, then you could wind up with mold issues. Yeah, that's gonna. That's gonna cost you so much more for mitigation and health. Even if you're in a Rental and you don't have to pay to get the mold gone. It's definitely not gonna be good for your health.

[Jen]

Oh my gosh. Yeah. If so this guy is a renter and so if his landlord saw this and could potentially like kick him out if he believes that this is going to damage his property or her property. So yeah, might. Might not want to put it on the Internet your unhinged things. So alternatively, in the winter don't use your heat instead in just install a. You know, install the wood burning stove. Yeah.

[Jill]

Oh, easy. Okay, done.

[Jen]

This is how I keep my family warm in an evening without having to put the heating on. Having a log burner in any house that we own is a non negotiable. It would either need to already have one in or like this one we would be able to install in an existing fireplace. Yeah, I kind of buried the lead on that one. Maybe we should have cut out where I said that.

[Jill]

It. It's wild to me that people will act as if a wood burning stove doesn't cost you any money.

[Jen]

Well, I looked it up and to install one can cost like $2,000. Yeah. And that's if you have it already like hooked up to where, like where a fireplace would be. Right. Obviously that's what she. It has to have a place for her to hook up one. But.

[Jill]

Yeah, but, but to get. What if you don't have a ton of wood already on your property, which if you do and you've. And you're taking down trees. First of all, are you doing that on your own? Probably shouldn't be. Second of all, that's going to take so much time and energy even if the trees are down and you're just chopping it up. Time is money, baby. And if you're not doing that, then you're buying it somewhere and that can cost a lot of. Lot of money. And then to go without, then you're just. You're frigid.

[Jen]

Yeah, we're not doing that.

[Jill]

Right.

[Jen]

But. Well, you can do that.

[Jill]

You might. It's extreme.

[Jen]

You can't. Yeah. Just wear a sweatshirt. Okay. That's it. People are walking by and they're offended, but you'll do it. Cuz you're. You're excremed. Yeah. 1200 like 800 to $1200 to install a wood burning stove and then either the cost of firewood or the cost of time.

[Jill]

Yeah, but if you're extreme then you'll do it.

[Jen]

Yeah, you will save a few bucks. H Vac is the Most expensive thing when we're talking about our electric bill. So like doing some things that can save you money, especially on cooling and heating, that will be the biggest bang for your buck. Like you saw Bradley's energy bill was like 40 something dollars in the summer. Right. So most of our bill is going to H Vac. So making sure you are sealing, weather, sealing everything makes a big difference. You can call your energy company and they will come out and test and tell you where energy is leaking. And that's a free service that energy companies offer and so they may even give you some weather stripping.

[Jill]

Yeah, we did an energy audit with our local electric company and they sent us a whole kit for free of things that would help us to make our home more energy efficient, including things that we could put on the faucet to of kind, kind of diffuse the water a little more, not be using as much. They gave us some weather stripping. There was a, there was a whole bunch of stuff in the kit that helped us to seal up. That's the biggest thing both for heating and cooling is making sure your doors and windows are sealed up and then being a little bit more radical middle about where you are keeping the heating and cooling and wearing extra layers, that kind of a thing. But definitely not turning off your AC because it's not going to help to.

[Jen]

Keep down moisture or installing something that's going to need a lot of work that you may not be ready or willing to do.

[Jill]

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[Jen]

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[Jill]

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[Jen]

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[Jill]

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[Jen]

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[Jill]

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[Jen]

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[Jill]

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[Jen]

This might be my favorite.

[Jill]

Sell everything you own and buy nothing. We're doing it. So extreme minimalism.

[Jen]

All right, so today I'm going to be doing a tour of our extremely minimalist home for our family of five. This is our front door over here. And the front door leads straight into my husband and I's bedroom. We have our mattress right here. And then the kids bedroom is right next door. All three of them share the same bed. There's plenty of space for all three of them. We prefer not to buy any toys for our children. As you can see, they have their tablets. We have three of them. So there's no fighting. And they pretty much do that 24 hours a day. No restrictions.

[Jill]

Oh, my gosh. I really hope that this is satire.

[Jen]

This is. I. I will say that the comment said that is, like, not real. This is a joke. But it looks like they're moving into or out of that space.

[Jill]

It's a hallway, essentially.

[Jen]

Is not minimalism everyone's solution? Like, if you are searching in YouTube for, like, minimalism, your most viewed videos are always the ones on extreme minimalism. And the. The thumbnail is I buy nothing. We did a kind of a satirical episode on that is like all the things that we don't buy as like, you know, in frugality or something. And then on it we said, we buy something.

[Jill]

We buy some stuff.

[Jen]

We buy some stuff. But, like, that is what everybody wants. Everybody thinks that in order to have this particular lifestyle, that there is this aspirational level. And maybe you don't want to be at it immediately, or maybe you do and, or maybe you want to aspire to it. But in reality, the people who stick with frugality, the people who stick with minimalism, are not doing it to adopt frugality or minimalism as an identity. They're doing it to reach some other goal. And because frugality or minimalism supports that identity or goal, like a lot of people are trying to be minimalist because they think it's going to solve their problems. There's too much clutter. There's too much. So I'm going to become a minimalist and that's going to solve my, my consumption product, my, my clutter problem. And the same with frugality. I have an impulse buying problem. I have debt. I am going to, you know, watch these extreme frugality or frugal living tips from the Great Depression and that's gonna solve my financial problems. And it's just untrue.

[Jill]

Yeah, I do think there can be something to visiting these extremes. There is a reason we're drawn to them because we kind of wanna know what's the end of how far this thing could go so that we can find ourselves somewhere on the spectrum. But I think in a lot of ways it can give us this unrealistic goalpost of yeah, minimalism is good, but it's not going to be the, the end all be all either. But you know, it is. You know what's really gonna help you save money is to only buy things with coupons. Number six on our list. Whether you want it or not, whether you need it, want it, coupon it. We went extreme couponing today. Got $68 worth of groceries for 16. Got these pork protein shakes completely free. These San Jan's teas were $2 each, a B Gon free on aisle with a $2 rebate making them 50 cents for both. Bags of lesser REvil popcorn were $4.29 each and a bar, one coat, one free on aisle making them just $2.14 per bag. By the way, I'm going to tag Madison. Her account is how I learned how to do this. This is my first time trying it and it's so fun. Both of these drinks, the sun slip and the sip Joy had deals on aisle making them both completely free. These chocolate covered diamonds had a coupon on I for $2,50 off plus a dollar repay on Ibotta making them just 49 cents. These feel good snacks had a dollar off in the sprouts. App and then $2 off on which brought us on to two nine. The silk almond milk was on sale two for $7 for any kind. And then there's a $2 Ibotta rebate making it just $1.50. These perfect balls were on sale two for $6. Then there was an aisle coupon making it completely free. The Bubbies Mochi had a bunch of different deals that when combined brought it down to a dollar a box. These Clio yogurt bars had $2 off on aisle $1.50 off on Ibotta, making them $2.99. Lastly, we got the so good probiotic shot completely free on aisle. We don't typically buy stuff like this, so it was actually crazy to see that. This is originally $68. I definitely recommend that you give it a try and check out Medicine's account to learn how to do it.

[Jen]

I don't don't typically buy stuff like this. That that's the problem. I have strong opinions on couponing. If you'd like to hear those opinions, leave a comment. Because I'd love to do a full episode on my views on couponing. But here's the thing. Couponing. And here's my hot take.

[Jill]

I'm locked in.

[Jen]

Couponing is not frugal. It's not a way to save money. It's a hobby. Ha ha. Couponing is a hobby. It's a fantastic. When you're viewing it like a hobby, it's fantastic because you're getting to exercise an itch to save money. And you could donate stuff, you could try new stuff. So it's really great in that way. But if it takes away from the actual strategies to save money on groceries for your family, which is meal planning, meal planning around seasonality and sales, meal prepping so that you follow through with that meal plan. Eating or repurposing leftovers so that you are not wasting food from your meal plan and grocery list. And then there's a bunch of peripheral things. If it is taking away from your capacity to do that stuff, then it is a waste of money. If you can do the heavy hitters and still have time to coupon as a hobby because you enjoy it, go off. Otherwise it's not frugal.

[Jill]

My heart is racing. That was a wild ride. Yes.

[Jen]

Thanks for taking it with me a ton. Wow.

[Jill]

We're done here. Jen yelled the most she's allowed to for one day and so I'm not.

[Jen]

A yeller, but I feel strongly about it.

[Jill]

It really does come across as a hobby and something that like, oh man, should I get good at that. But what you also need is a ton of storage for all of this stuff, your stockpile, to then adopt a taste for all of these new things. And what does that end up doing for your own health and nutrition goals, not to mention your money goals, because.

[Jen]

It'S all like fun stuff that you don't need, that you don't typically buy. It's never on. The things that are, are really nutritious that you really need because you're going to have to buy all those things too.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So this is something you need to do in addition to meal planning and prepping and all of that stuff.

[Jill]

I was going to say probably not worth it. Probably not actually worth it.

[Jen]

It is a hobby and we have an episode on hobbies coming up and how TikTok has ruined hobbies. But couponing will not be in that episode. There are enough hobbies that social media has ruined. But I would love to, if you want to hear me yell more, scream at you. Not going to scream.

[Jill]

But. But number seven, this one's, this one you should all be doing number seven. Absolutely.

[Jen]

One of. I mean, if you haven't been doing this, can you really call yourself frugal? No. Unplugging your appliances. All of them, after every use.

[Jill]

Every time.

[Jen]

I'm a quarter of a million dollars in debt. Here's some things I do around my house to keep my energy billow so that extra money can go towards my debt payoff journey. I always unplug electronics that I'm not using. I drink coffee about once a day. When I'm done, there's no point in keeping that plugged in for another 24 hours. So first, props to this creator for finding ways to save money to pay off that debt. And here's the thing, we won't go at this because it does save you money. But how extreme the average that you will save according to the Internet and deep research is about 100 to $200 per year. And that's if you are unplugging everything after every use while you're not using it. The creator, the no AC creator, he, he does this and he has a lot of videos of him doing this. He actually, when he goes out of town, just unplugs his refrigerator and puts any extra food at his parents house. But usually there is just eggs in the fridge, which it does. Your fridge has to work harder when it's not full. So it could be like shooting yourself in the foot a little bit. Because you might spend more for that overall versus just unplugging while you're on vacation. I don't know. Go off in the comments if I'm off.

[Jill]

Yeah, I mean, they're talking about unplugging computers, laptops, gaming consoles, phone chargers, cable boxes. Like there can be phantom load happening, drawing energy when you're not using it.

[Jen]

That is a thing.

[Jill]

But I gotta wonder, you know, unplugging washing machine, dryer, fridge, stovetop, I mean, that could just be hard to get to.

[Jen]

It's a lot of work for. For the payout that it gets.

[Jill]

And then how much energy, particularly with the fridge, does it then take to ramp back up to what you need it to be when you return? Yeah, you really got a way out. It's. It is extreme. You could do it. You should be doing it.

[Jen]

You can do it for a few, like, a few things. But I. I don't know if it's gonna be worth it to unplug your heavy appliances after every use just for. Especially the fridge. I don't know. Go off if you disagree. I would love to hear it.

[Jill]

Jen. Jen's feeling unhinged, actually, and she wants to see unhinged comments.

[Jen]

I want. I want to hear your unhinged comments. And I want to laugh.

[Jill]

And the nice thing about YouTube actually, compared to podcasting, and we're still podcasting, we love all of you audio listeners, but you can't comment. You can, but you can on YouTube.

[Jen]

There is just as much, if not more, unhingedness in podcasting. We just don't have it on video. Yeah, like there is. There should. You should need a license to get a microphone of. For something.

[Jill]

No, no, I mean commenting on our episodes.

[Jen]

Right?

[Jill]

Like, as a listener, you can do it better on YouTube.

[Jen]

If you have a comment and you listen to us on audio, Keep listening to us on audio. That's great. And if you have a comment on it, well, you can on Spotify. You can now comment on Spotify or comment on YouTube. So we would love to hear your unhingedness. This. This next one might be my favorite. It.

[Jill]

You go for it.

[Jen]

So number eight is an important way to save money. And it's cancel the subscriptions at your.

[Jill]

Lake house, which we all own.

[Jen]

Can't forget about the lake house.

[Jill]

We got hit with our biggest tax.

[Jen]

Bill, and I'm trying to lower our.

[Jill]

Monthly expenses, and I've already cut out $95. We have another house that's on a lake, and I deactivated our cable and.

[Jen]

Internet over the winter, since we, we weren't there much. But when I reactivated it, I only got Internet back. So that bill went from 150amonth to 95. So that saves us 55amonth. Oh, 55.

[Jill]

How did we not think about that? With our, with our additional properties, our summer homes.

[Jen]

With our summer homes, is to cancel all the subscriptions at your summer home in the winter when you're not using it.

[Jill]

Be frugal friends and think of the.

[Jen]

Same on your boats when you're not using your boat. Don't pay for things that you do.

[Jill]

On the boat or your yacht. I mean, I don't want to assume that it's just a. I don't want.

[Jen]

To call it a. I don't want to be ignorant.

[Jill]

You know, your RVs, your RVs, your, your extra vehicles, your sports cars, small planes. Oh, right, your small planes. Be aware of your hangar fees, how much it is to store it in the hangar. And those are things you can negotiate.

[Jen]

If you can store it in the backyard, why wouldn't you?

[Jill]

You know, and for a little extra money, if you have space for someone else to be able to park their plane on your property. Instant cash, instant money. Why are you not doing this already? Park other people's planes at your house.

[Jen]

If Bradley can go all summer without ac, I don't want to hear that you can't park your plane at your house.

[Jill]

In Connecticut. If Bradley and Connecticut can do a summer with no ac, surely you don't have to pay hangar fees.

[Jen]

In reality, canceling subscriptions is a really great way to save money. There are. We get. So we tell everyone to do a 90 day transaction inventory, find the leaks in your budget. Obviously the big things are most important. What you're paying for. Housing, transportation and food. Those are going to be your biggest leaks. But the small things do add up, right? Especially when you have a lake house. So doing a 90 day transaction inventory, figuring out what are all the things that I am spending money on, we have people all the time saying, I am paying for a subscription and my partner is paying for the same subscription. And we didn't realize that we were paying for the same thing twice. So.

[Jill]

Yeah, because you see the charge come up and you think that's accurate. Yes, I use that thing. But you might not notice that you're paying for it twice if you don't do something like a 90 day transaction inventory.

[Jen]

So definitely doing one of those at least once a year to figure out, okay, what are all of my subscriptions? What are the things that I was using that I'm not using. Getting over the sunk cost fallacy, especially with things like gym memberships or like coaching or, you know, therapy in some cases. I don't want to tell you not to go to therapy, but things that we want to use but are not using have not been using. They are great, could be great, but if you're not using them, they're not great. So we don't want to do this aspirational spending or this sunk cost bias that keeps us spending money on things we're not using in this season. Take a pause, cancel them and reevaluate for when you are in a season to actually utilize them.

[Jill]

You should subscribe to this, this channel though, because that's free. It doesn't cost you money. Please subscribe.

[Jen]

And like, no, it doesn't cost here. There is just no downside.

[Jill]

And subscriptions are not bills, by the way. I mean, they are bills. They do cost you money, but they are not your fixed expenses that you have to keep paying for. You can cancel them. All right, last but not least, my friends, here is how we save money in 2025. We just do things that make people angry in general. Yeah, generally angry.

[Jen]

If it makes somebody generally angry and you don't understand why, it's probably fine. It's probably good financially.

[Jill]

You're probably doing it right.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

I've been sharing my money saving tips on TikTok for a year and a half as a stay at home mom to four kids living on one really low income. And every single time I share a video, the video blows up, goes super viral. And what comes with a viral video is a lot of hate. So here are the money saving tips that get the most hate, number one. And the most hated might surprise you, but it is the fact that we don't pay for WI fi. People really believe that I am neglecting my children because we don't pay for WI fi and they don't watch Netflix or Disney plus but it saves us about 150amonth. So I don't care. Another one that got us a lot of hate was hand me down clothes for our four kids. And the fact that I try to buy gender neutral clothes so that all of my kids can wear them. This got hate is a crazy concept to me because are there people that really buy just brand new clothes for every single kid and never pass them.

[Jen]

Down, even if it's a perfectly good article of clothing?

[Jill]

Number three is the fact that I drive an old car to have a lower Car payment and eventually no car payment. Not really sure why this one triggers people. Is it because you feel like the realizing that your thousand dollar a month car payment is unnecessary? The one that's got me a lot of hate is that I don't pay for hair extensions and my hair still looks good. Great.

[Jen]

I love that one.

[Jill]

And people are just mad that.

[Jen]

People are just mad that my hair looks so good.

[Jill]

I mean, I love all those tips and I'm not angry.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And I, I actually don't think any of that's extreme.

[Jen]

Yeah, I, I think people on the Internet get uncomfortable when they see people doing things that they don't want to do. And so they project and say like this is so bad for your kids. And you can clearly hear in the background they are watching Snow White. Right.

[Jill]

So it's not like Disney plus somehow?

[Jen]

I mean. No, they're probably just watching a movie. You remember DVDs.

[Jill]

True.

[Jen]

You're. Do you remember those a lot? Yeah, you can get those at the library.

[Jill]

Yeah, yeah. And DVD players.

[Jen]

Yeah. Right.

[Jill]

If you don't have one.

[Jen]

Yeah. So true. Yeah. So like clearly making it through, still getting screen time. But like people don't want to think that they can do something outside of what they are doing. It's a, it goes, it rounds out this conversation of extreme frugality. People don't want to be extreme and so they'll project this. Well, I can't be extreme because of this and I, I can't do this extreme thing because of this. And then they'll totally write it off and, and just continue living the way they are living. And in reality there is this concept, I don't know if you've heard of it, it's called the radical middle, where you don't have to do the extreme thing, but the extreme thing can inspire you to get creative with what you are doing. We don't want to see stay stuck. We never want to stay stuck in what we believe is normal because social media is shifting what is normal. And to combat that, we have to get creative in how we're spending money and how we're saving money.

[Jill]

Well, all or nothing. Thinking black and white, thinking. It is something that we can be drawn to those extremes, but it is not going to ultimately be healthy for us, for our growth, for managing some of the nuances of life and taking into consideration some creativity and ability to problem solve. And so yeah, there is something to some of these different extremes that we've talked about and what can we take with us and what can we leave behind what's going to work for us, even if it makes other people mad that we might choose to not have this subscription or pay for that type of personal hygiene, you know, care the, the eyelashes, the eyebrows, the extensions, whatever it might be. We don't have to say yes to those things. We can say yes to the things that actually serve us, that actually make life more efficient. We don't have to look to cut costs in every single possible way. We can find the things that are really easy no's so that we can say yes to some of these other things, which is one of the things we talk about in our book, buy what you love without going broke, buy what you love book dot com.

[Jen]

Yeah, so we really, we really want to create a community where people are rejecting extremes and finding their radical middle. So we do want to hear your really unhinged, extreme things that you won't do that you've seen other people do in the comments, but we also want to hear your radical middles. Like, where have you been inspired by something and chosen to move forward and accept, expand yourself, expand what you thought was possible and it helped you save money. So let's create that community in the comment section.

[Jill]

Do you know what also inspires me.

[Jen]

Every single week that we also want to see more of in the comment section? Well, not in the comment section, but in our community.

[Jill]

The bill of the week.

[Jen]

This is 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. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck Bills. Buffalo Bills. Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week.

[Jill]

Hey, Happy New Year, Jen and Jill.

[Jen]

This is Hershey from Southern Arizona.

[Jill]

So my bill of the week happens.

[Jen]

To do with my student loans.

[Jill]

So Since June of 2021, I've been.

[Jen]

Paying off my student loans.

[Jill]

And as of December 13, 2024, made my final payment and I paid off over $130,000 in student loan debt. So that not only made me student.

[Jen]

Loan free, but also made me completely debt free.

[Jill]

So that was a nice little treat to start off. 20. And I'm just going to take this momentum and start my own podcast. Maybe even dab into some financial coaching on the side and maybe get into some other projects, who knows? But I do want to say that I really enjoy your content. I think you girls are. Are silly and funny and real at the same time. So you know, keep doing what you're doing and, you know, maybe in the future we may collaborate. But I look forward to your content in 2025. Have a great day.

[Jen]

Peace.

[Jill]

Hershey, you can tell how behind we.

[Jen]

Are in bills of the week, but we get to every single one. And we're so glad we finally got to yours. Hershey, congratulations. You're debt free. And we hope that you have some kind of license that qualifies you to buy a microphone. Because in 2025, I mean, being debt free and paying off $130,000, that warrants you to talk about personal finance.

[Jill]

Four years, less than four years.

[Jen]

That's amazing.

[Jill]

More than six figures of debt. This is quite the accomplishment. And we are interested in how you did this. Hershey. We think you should talk about that on a microphone for other people to hear.

[Jen]

I think it's important to just remind us that it's not just like people with microphones that are. Are doing this. There are people all over the country, the world, paying off debt and getting their financial autonomy back.

[Jill]

I think it's a good reminder that we don't have to have a black or black or white thinking on this because $130,000 of student loan debt is extreme. That's sounds extreme. And it could feel like you could not ever accomplish this, so I might as well not try. But Hershey did it.

[Jen]

And three and a half years. Three and a half years is a long time to reach a goal like that. Yeah, it's hard for us to stick to anything for six weeks. To stick with something for three and a half years is. Is quite an accomplishment.

[Jill]

And thanks for calling us silly and cool and fun. We love that. If you all are listening and you have a bill that you want to submit, if it's about paying off your debt, we of course want to hear that and celebrate with you. Or if it's about your lifestyle as a person named Bill. Frugalfriendspodcast.com Bill. Leave it for us. We can't wait.

[Jen]

Yay.

[Jill]

And now it's time for the lightning round.

[Jen]

Pew, pew. Yeah. I'm glad we went to two episodes a week just so that we could keep up with the bills of the week.

[Jill]

So true.

[Jen]

Because it's August. Yeah, that was for me.

[Jill]

But keep leaving us your bills because we will get to them.

[Jen]

But just know if you don't hear yours right away, you can. We will get there.

[Jill]

Promise.

[Jen]

Okay, so for this lightning round, this is a safe space. What's the most unhinged or embarrassing thing you've done to save money. We want to hear it in the comments and we won't leave you hanging. We will also share. Jill, do you have one?

[Jill]

I do. I've shared this one a lot. So I'm trying to see if I've got something else. But we. We've got a lot of new listeners, so here you go. I tried to get a wedding dress.

[Jen]

Oh, yeah.

[Jill]

Online.

[Jen]

This was the right. That was the right one from China.

[Jill]

Now, granted, a lot of our clothing is from China, but there was a designer wedding dress that I found online that I really loved, but it was like $4,500. And that was in 2012. So that was a lot of money. And I was broke. And yet there was this other website that was like, we can make any designer dress for you. Just send us a picture and we'll do it. And I was like, this could be a scam, but I'm gonna try it. So I sent them the picture and they're like, of course we can do it. $100, two week turnaround. And I'm like, perfect. That sounds right. And I even had the idea there's a big chance that this is not going to work out, that this is going to arrive in the mail and I'm not going to like it. But if that happens, I'll wear my sister's dress. Nbd. Because I had tried her dress and I'm like, this will work. I'll wear her dress. The dress comes in the mail and did his. It actually came in a sleep in like a small package. My mom was like, I don't think this is going to be what you want. Somehow it did fit me, but they just shoved this thing in there. There are pictures online. I will pull them up. We'll get them to you. Somehow in the show notes of YouTube. You got to subscribe to YouTube to be able to see these pictures. And it was nothing like the designer dress. And I was very, very bummed. And then it was at that point that I realized I don't want to wear my sister's dress and I don't want to wear this dress. And I was in a pickle. I had to go find a dress. We only had a three month engagement, so I was down to the wire. I ended up finding a dress. I think it ended up costing like $400. So I wasted $99 on a. On a fail.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

Yeah. How about you?

[Jen]

So I. So this is kind of like a fail. A making money and saving money fail. We wanted to renovate an RV to flip it and make money and did not do because we wanted to flip something and we didn't yet have enough money to do do a real estate like endeavor. And we thought if we could flip an RV we could bank some more money to get there. And so we bought. I was like go big or go home. So I found the biggest fifth wheel and didn't do a lot of research. I thought I did research but ultimately didn't. And we got it back and it took us over a year and it was so bad I thought I was getting a deal on it. It literally like when I think about it I have ptsd.

[Jill]

Like I've blocked it out of my head too. I remember this time of your guys life.

[Jen]

Oh my gosh. I spent the last year of my freedom because I was pregnant with Kai. I spent the last year of my freedom renovating this rv. And if I could go back I would have either done more research and gotten a smaller one that I could have. And we basically, it was so hard to sell. We basically broke even. We did not make money on the sale for between what we paid for it and what we paid to put in it that we broke even financially. So we lost money on all the time that it took to do this thing. It was so upsetting.

[Jill]

Eric and I have successfully renovated rv so it is possible. But you are right, we would not recommend doing a fifth wheel. So if that is something anybody's interested in doing, definitely start small. But if you're looking for other ways to save money fast, we've got an awesome episode about how to save $10,000 fast even if you earn less than $100,000. So queue up that one next.

[Jen]

Thank you so much for listening watching wherever you are. We love reading your kind comments and reviews. Whether it's on the podcast on Apple or Spotify comments over here on YouTube or on Amazon. About our book. Buy what you love without going broke. Like this one from Jesse just happens to be five stars. I don't know why we just keep getting all the five star ones on here.

[Jill]

It's like wow. It's like they're only leaving five stars. It's like five stars is the only option.

[Jen]

It says refreshing read. Lovely book by Jen and Jill. Really love their podcast and this book was a refreshing take on values based spending. I appreciate their approach to shame free questioning of analyzing your own actions through a psychological lens and coming back to living your values. Great read for someone looking for a fresh take on money.

[Jill]

Ooh, the Fresh take. I love that. Thank you so much, Jesse, for that kind review. If you've read the book and you love it and you want to leave us a review, we would love that. Leave it on Amazon. That's a great place where people search to purchase books or wherever you purchase the book. If you've already done that, then leave us a review on the podcast. Subscribe to this YouTube channel and buy the book. If you haven't gotten it, here it is. Isn't it so beautiful?

[Jen]

And we will see you next time. Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

[Jill]

There was also an unhinged thing that I did, but it wasn't as extreme as the wedding dress thing. I love that story that I just remembered where I needed more sense stamps and I was too lazy to go to the post office. I didn't live close to a post office. Like, now our office is super close, so it'd be easy to get stamps. But I went online and I noticed that they were selling stamps at a discount. I'm like, well, that's awesome. Yeah, I'm going to get those stamps at a discount. And then there were stamps that were even less money and at a discount. And I'm like, well, I'm no dummy. Those are the stamps I'm going to buy. And I looked and they were. What's the term? Ever everlasting Evergreen forever stamps. Yeah, they were forever stamps.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And then they come in the mail and I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before about these stamps, that all of them said postcard on them. And then I look up. What does that mean?

[Jen]

What does that mean?

[Jill]

It means that you can't mail anything other than a postcard with those stamps. Like, they are forever stamps. They are always the value of a postcard. And so now I've been locked in and I got so many of these stamps, I think I'm still working through them now.

[Jen]

You're going to be sending a lot of postcards.

[Jill]

All I can send to people are postcards cards now, or if I'm sending a regular card, I put two stamps on them. You're never going to get that money back. So I'm over now I'm. Now I'm overspending per piece of mail that I'm sending. To put two postcard stamps on my envelopes or make sure that whatever I'm writing can fit on a postcard. I thought I was so smart.

[Jen]

You have to be brief. Brevity is key with a postcard.

[Jill]

It's really helping me condense what I want to say.

[Jen]

Only what's most important and nothing personal.

[Jill]

Hi. Love, Jill. And you know what? Sometimes that's all you need to say.

[Jen]

Sometimes that's all you need. Simple is better. Just like subscribe like simplicity over extremes.

[Jill]

That's all you need to do. Shopify's point of sale system helps you sell at every stage of your business. Need a fast and secure way to take payments in person? We've got you covered. How about card readers you can rely on anywhere you sell?

[Jen]

Thanks. Have a good one.

[Jill]

Yep, that too. Want one place to manage all your online and in person sales? That's kind of our thing. Wherever you sell. Businesses that grow grow with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 a month [e-mail] Listen. Shopify.com Listen. Yes, Mr. Gecko, you're a huge inspiration to us all. But who was your museum? Oh, my dear old Nan. She imparted many wise words to me. She would say, never let the fame get to your head. Always remember who you are and let people get more than just savings. With Geico's fast and friendly claim support. I lived up to her advice and now anyone can file a claim anywhere and anytime. I miss her so much.

[Jen]

Did she go somewhere?

[Jill]

Extended quilting trip.

[Jen]

Get more than just savings. Get more with Geico.