Real People Share How They Save Money on Groceries

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Real People Share How They Save Money on Groceries
Released: April 17, 2026
Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jen and Jill dive into real, practical strategies for saving money on groceries, featuring tips and hacks gathered from real people—listeners and viewers like you. Unlike influencer advice, these approaches are tested, attainable, and rooted in genuine life experience. With good humor and a focus on community, the hosts explore how to lower your grocery bill, meal plan for savings, bust some grocery shopping myths, maximize deals, and use food frugality as a path toward richer relationships.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Start with What You Have: The Power of Inventory-Based Meal Planning

• [03:13] Real Hack #1: Regularly check your fridge, freezer, and pantry to plan meals based on what’s already on hand instead of starting with grocery store inspiration or recipes online.

  • Quote: “It’s not just us. It’s what the people are doing—shopping your fridge, freezer, and pantry before you shop the grocery store.” – Jen [03:51]
  • This method often leads to only needing a handful of grocery items (e.g., milk, produce, or missing ingredients).
  • Result: Less waste and a much lower grocery bill.

• [05:14] Jill’s Experience: “Because of incorporating my meal plan to what I already have, I spent my $53 on groceries for the week, and I got a meal plan for it.”

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2. Ditch the Rigid Budget? Not Always a Bad Idea

• [05:58] Real Hack #2: For some families, not sticking to a hard-and-fast budget actually prevents extra grocery runs and takeout—ironically saving more over time.

  • Notable Speaker: Money Saving Expert 3 explains that honoring your actual food needs (planned in advance) can prevent eating out and help you stick with at-home meals.
  • Quote: “Last week we spent $315 and we did not buy dinners out once. We didn’t buy any coffees out, we didn’t buy any drinks out. This has actually saved us so much more money.” [06:49]

• [07:13] Jen’s Take: Focus on avoiding eating out rather than hitting a specific grocery budget number. Let your actual meal needs (and substitutions) drive the list.

  • “My goal is not like to meet a certain monetary value on a budget. Like, I am tracking my expenses … [but] my goal is to not eat out.”
  • Tip: Know your substitute ingredients and plan for them ahead of time.

• [09:50] Caution from Jill: “That tip has to be married with other tips ... We can go in without the math leading us primarily. But it’s gotta be paired with these other rules.”

  • Meal plans, shopping your pantry, using overlapping ingredients, and not making random, disjointed meals are key.

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3. Myth-Busting Bulk Buys & The Aldi Advantage

• [11:52] Aldi vs. Costco (Meat Shopping Tips):

  • Some listeners scored huge deals on name-brand or high-quality meats at Aldi by shopping early in the day and looking for 50% off stickers. These markdowns often rival or beat even bulk club prices.
  • Quote: “Aldi is the best. Stop being stuck on name brands. Buy their meat, stock your freezer. There’s my TED Talk.” – Aldi Shopper [12:37]

• [13:48] Weekly Store Promotions & Circulars:

  • Many stores have great weekly sales (BOGOs, markdowns), not just Aldi. Check grocery store websites or apps for deals—every store announces them!
    • Quote: “Every grocery store is always going to have their discounts advertised. Huh?” – Jill [15:03]

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4. Shopping Across Multiple Stores & The Scrounge Night Plan

• [19:03] Real Family Practice:

  • Plan for 4 meals (with leftovers for two nights), one eat-out night, and one “scrounge” or “fend for yourself” night.
  • Shop at Aldi first, then supplement at another store as needed.
  • Quote: “If you’ve come to our house at the end of the week, we are pretty bare bones.” – Family Meal Planner [19:41]

• [23:13] Calendar-Based Meal Planning:

  • Plan meals alongside your actual schedule (busy nights, nights out, hosting, etc.) for maximum effectiveness.

• [24:05] Embracing Scrounge Night:

  • “Fend for yourself” means everyone digs into what’s left. “Make it good enough that you will choose the scrounge night over takeout.” – Jen [25:01]

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5. Pantry Challenge: Eat Down Before You Restock

• [25:53] Pantry Challenge Insights:

  • Force yourself to use up existing pantry, fridge, and freezer items—even if it means getting creative or making substitutions (e.g., chia egg instead of regular egg; swapping ingredients; rethinking meals).
  • Quote: “The whole idea of this experiment is to realize that I can just make do with what I already have.” – Pantry Challenge Influencer [26:46]
  • “If the Internet did nothing else … but provide us with food substitutions, it would do all we ever needed it to do.” – Jill [28:35]

• [29:43] How Long to Challenge?

  • Even one week can be a powerful exercise. Adjust for family needs but try limiting purchases to essentials only.

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6. Grocery Savings Serve a Deeper Purpose: Building Community

• [32:47] Relationships Matter:

  • Saving on groceries isn’t just about money; it’s about freeing up resources, building deeper community, and sharing meals at home.
  • “A lot of people my age say they need to spend money to build community, but you don’t need to go out to eat, get drinks, and go to arcades to build friendship. I actually think it’s easier to build deep connection when you’re just sharing a meal together at a person’s house.” – Pantry Challenge Influencer [33:10]

• [33:33] Hosting and Potlucks:

  • Potlucks and inviting people over make meal planning easier, cheaper, and more fulfilling.

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7. Lightning Round: Repeat Recipes & Versatile Meals

• [42:31] Bowls on Repeat:
  • Both hosts rely on bowl-style meals for flexibility and using up random leftovers.
  • Favorites: Korean beef & rice bowls, salmon bowls, burger bowls (veggies, proteins, sauces). “Big bowl energy.” – Jill [42:44]
• [44:13] Jen’s Buffalo Chicken Bowl:
  • “It’s just chicken and rice, buffalo sauce, and like, a tablespoon of reduced fat cream cheese. ... Mix that up. That’s like a creamy buffalo.”
  • Also making protein-packed muffins with ground meat and experimenting with substitutions.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Meal Planning:

  • “Shopping your fridge, freezer, and pantry before you shop the grocery store.” – Jen [03:51]
  • “It’s a lifestyle to save money on groceries.” – Jill [05:14]

• On Substitutions & Pantry Challenges:

  • “The only way the Internet has truly helped me, has truly saved me in a moment of need, is substitutions.” – Jill [29:32]
  • “Do a pantry challenge in whatever way you can do it.” – Jen [30:08]

• On Building Community:

  • “You don’t need to go out to eat, get drinks and go to arcades to build friendship. I actually think it’s easier to build deep connection when you’re just sharing a meal together at a person’s house.” – Pantry Challenge Influencer [33:10]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-------------| | 03:13 | Meal Planning by Shopping Inventory | | 05:58 | Pros/Cons of Ignoring Grocery Budgets | | 11:52 | Aldi Meat Shopping Hacks | | 13:48 | Using Store Circulars & Apps for Weekly Deals | | 19:03 | Family Meal Planning (Four Meals + Scrounge Night) | | 23:13 | Calendar-Based Meal Planning | | 25:53 | Pantry Challenge (Eating Down the Pantry) | | 32:47 | Building Community by Sharing Meals at Home | | 42:31 | Lightning Round: Repeat Meals & Favorite Recipes |

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Conclusion

Jen and Jill collect and reflect on actionable grocery-saving wisdom from real people living in today’s economy—not elite couponers or influencers, but everyday families, singles, and partners doing their best. They emphasize that meal planning grounded in your actual inventory, strategic use of deals and discounts, creative substitutions, and a willingness to ditch perfection for progress can radically reduce food waste and food costs. Moreover, shifting your approach to groceries can nourish not only your bank account but your most important relationships—with yourself, your family, and your wider community.

“People are more important than money ... They are our deeper why. And we believe that with food as well. We want to build relationships.” – Jen [31:37]

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Episode Highlight

“If the Internet did nothing else ... but provide us with food substitutions, it would do all we ever needed it to do.”
— Jill [28:35]

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Frugal Friends Podcast: helping you save smarter and connect deeper—one grocery bill at a time.

Transcript

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[Jen]

Real People share How They Save Money on Groceries.

[Podcast Host Jen or Jill Introduction]

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

[Jen]

Me shopping for groceries now is like one of those bad middle school math problems, right? If mark goes to five stores, spends seven hours to save $12, earn 13 gas points and four Monopoly game pieces, how many years did the stress just take off his life?

Welcome, Frugal Friends. I'm Jen.

[Jill]

I'm Jill.

[Jen]

And you guys loved our episode on how real people are saving money in this economy. So we're back with another, but this one specifically on how real people are saving money on groceries. Not influencers, not moms with cooking blogs and not us, but real people out in the out in the world saving money, lowering their grocery bill.

[Jill]

And if you love food, subscribe to our YouTube channel for no other reason other than you love food. And maybe you love us, but maybe you also love goals and helping other people achieve their goals. Because we have one. And it's to reach 10,000 subscribers by the time it's Jen's 10th birthday on May 9th.

[Jen]

It's my 10th birthday and I'd love to reach 10,000 subscribers.

[Jill]

Yes, we're all about the tens right now. So her birthday is May 9th. That's the deadline.

[Jen]

That's what you can get me. So grab your friend's phone, grab your Mom's phone, open YouTube, hit subscribe. Everyone's got a couple subscribes in them, so I really think we can do this. And so with that, let's get into these money saving hacks. We got quite a few for you, starting with this one.

[Money Saving Expert 1]

Okay, this is my number one hack for saving money on groceries is every single Monday or honestly, sometimes Sunday night, I sit down, go through my fridge, pantry and freezer, come up with some meals that I can make for my family for the week and write all of them down. See if I need anything from the grocery store. Usually I need milk and some produce or some odds and ends that I need to finish or complete or make a meal. And that is truly the best way to do it.

[Jill]

Couldn't not agree more.

[Jen]

I don't think we can say this more times without it being annoying. But, like, it's what the people are doing. It's not just us. It's what the people are doing. Shopping your fridge, freezer, and pantry. Before you shop the grocery store and

[Jill]

before you get all sorts of rando inspiration online about the things that just sound good to you, here's the thing. I love that for inspiration, when you're in a rut, when you don't know what to cook, when you're having trouble cooking at home, that's where you start. Start scrolling, See what inspires you. That's beautiful. But you came to this episode to learn how to save money on groceries.

[Jen]

You didn't come here to learn how to cook. You didn't come here to learn how to host a dinner party for your friends or cook a beautiful dish.

[Jill]

Yeah, that's not where we're at.

[Jen]

It's not what we're here for.

[Jill]

We're just trying to cut the food spending. And if that's the primary goal, then we're getting our inspiration and our recipes based on what's in the house already. This is my number one hack. Can you even call it that strategy?

[Money Saving Expert 2]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Lifestyle. It's a lifestyle.

[Jill]

It's a lifestyle to save money on groceries, and it really helps me. What do I already have in the freezer? Oh, I got some chicken. I got some ground beef. What are we gonna make with it? That's when I go to the Internet. I just did this for this week, and because of incorporating my meal plan to what I already have, I spent my $53 on groceries for the week, and I got a meal plan for it. I know, like, I will be fed. This isn't me. Then also eating out a ton. 53 bucks for the week. It works.

[Jen]

Now that problem, I think, gets solved by our next video tip. This one might be a little controversial. A little spicy. I loved it, though.

[Money Saving Expert 3]

We're off to go do our weekly grocery shop. Now, this might sound controversial, but we no longer set budgets for our grocery shop. And this is why. Budget of like 200 or 250. I found that I might have stuck to that budget, but I wasn't getting everything I needed for the week and therefore I was having to do top up shops or I was buying meals out etc because I actually didn't have enough food at home. And so this is why we have now done it this way. And I'm going to show you because I just think it is so helpful and really, really useful. So the first thing I do is I make a list of all the things we order, already have or I do a check of our pantry and our fridge and like the cupboards etc so I can make meals from existing things so that we're buying less. All of our dinners that we make are very big in size and they're usually really bulked up so that we can have them for lunches the next day and work lunches, etc So I make a really rough list of dinners and then what I would need to buy for each of those dinners and I construct our grocery list. So this is all the things we need for the dinners, breakfast, etc and snacks. And I know we always might go over budget so I might be hitting the 300 mark for our weekly shop but last week we spent 315 and we did not buy dinners out once. We didn't buy any coffees out, we didn't buy any drinks out. This has actually saved us so much more money.

[Jen]

Preach, girl. That's how I do it. Honestly.

[Jill]

You hate a budget.

[Jen]

I hate, I hate a budget in that I am at the point in my life where I'm not. I don't have any like financial goals that I'm really trying to reach. I'm just trying to like survive. And so I, my goal is not like to meet a certain monetary value on a budget. Like I am tracking my expenses. We are, you know, budgeting, we're checking in on our spending every month. But my goal is to not eat out because I know that's the one thing I can do that will save me more money than following any grocery budget, right? So like that's the one thing I'm focused on not eating out. Whatever I need to do to eat the food I have at home is what I need to do. And I need to make sure that I have every single thing I need. Now does that mean I buy every ingredient, like obscure ingredient for like the thing I want to make? No, I actually just bought curry paste because there's been about four or five times I've kneaded curry paste and I've subbed curry powder and finally I was like, you know what I have proven to myself That I eat curry products enough to warrant getting curry paste. But like, I substitute so much. But I know what I'm going to substitute before I grocery shop. So that's not like an issue when I get down to cooking and I don't have what I need. So I'm like, oh, I'm going to just go eat out. No, the goal is just don't eat out. If I eat out, I want it planned and I want it like, like, I think Thursday I might get takeout at one of my favorite places and it'll be a game time decision. But if I do, it's obviously like, plan. I'm looking forward to it. That's part of, like, what I enjoy about getting takeout is that I'm, I've planned it on a night, I've got stuff going on. I don't want to cook. I don't really have time to cook. I have eaten at home all week. I can warrant this. And so kind of I'm looking forward to it and I feel good about it. So really my goal is just not eat out. That's it. And so I don't worry about the number I spend, spend at the grocery store because I am always shopping my pantry first. Fridge, freezer, pantry. And so that in itself is what's saving me money on groceries.

[Jill]

I think that tip is great, but it does have to be married with other tips in order for it to actually work. Because just to say, spend, whatever, so that way I'm not doing extra trips to the grocery store. That's not, that's not enough to actually help us save money. That might be enough to help us stay at home and eat solely at home, but I think it also needs to be paired with because we've made a meal plan, because we're shopping our fridge and freezer first because we're using overlapping ingredients. We're not making random different dinners every single night with wildly different ingredients. And it's just not going to save us money. We're going to, sure, maybe we'll eat at home every day, but we'll exhaust ourselves because it'll take us so much time. But we'll spend a ton of money too. So yeah, we can go in without the math leading us primarily. But it's got to be paired with these other rules.

[Jen]

And I definitely think this is like a 201. Like you have to be kind of getting into that rhythm, like to eat at home and not eat out at all for a week. Gosh, that sounds so privileged. But like, who of us. When's the last time you did that? But it sounds so bad. Like everyone should be doing that, but nobody does. But like, you have to figure out the rhythms like of your schedule and your emergency meals and your nicer meals. Like it is project management for sure. And it's a skill that needs to be built for sure. It's cooking is one skill, but you don't need to be a good cook. Not being a good cook is not an excuse, and we learned that in our last episode, is that you're an adult and you eat every day. You need to learn how to cook some things, but you don't need to know how to cook a lot of things.

[Jill]

Uh huh. And it doesn't need to be complicated things. It doesn't need to take a long time. Okay, next tip.

[Aldi Shopper]

I hate to break it to you, but Costco is not the best place to stock up on meat. I got almost 24 pounds of meat from Aldi today for way less than your normal bulk pricing. First off, let's bust this myth that Aldi's meat is no good. I've seen them pull some of their stuff out of literal Tyson boxes. You are just stuck on a name brand. It's 100% fine. We've been eating it all year and this haul cost me just over $50. We got a pound of lean ground beef, 10.9 pounds of chicken breast. They're never any brand. Raised cage free, no antibiotics, all of that good stuff. Almost seven pounds of chicken thigh, also the cage free. And almost five pounds of chicken tenderloins, also the cage free. This would have cost me over $100 even just at Aldi, let alone trying to go to like Kroger. But I got it even lower than that bulk pricing because I shopped for the 50% off stickers. These are like my holy grail at Aldi. They have saved me so much money. And you don't have to have a special membership. You just got to know how to shop. Aldi stores do this every morning. The sell by on these is tomorrow. So they go through their meat and they mark it down. I find chicken breast all the time, the thighs and the tenderloin less often. Beef is very rare to find markdown, but in order to get it, you just got to get there early. I know that's not always possible for everybody, but when it is, take the opportunity, go scope it out. It can save you so much money. Aldi is the best. Stop being stuck on name brands. Buy their meat, stock your freezer. There's my TED Talk.

[Jill]

I actually did not know this. Neither did I because I only ever go to Aldi on like Sunday evening.

[Jen]

And that's when everybody goes to Aldi.

[Jill]

That's when everybody goes to Aldi. It's what works for me. But I'm going to try and go in the morning. I'm going to test it.

[Jen]

This theory, I feel like. So everybody shops Saturday and Sunday, right? So Monday morning, probably worst time to go by Wednesday, Thursday, Friday mornings. I bet you can find some.

[Jill]

Oh, I'm going to try it.

[Jen]

Like if you have Fridays off or I don't know, you're, you know, work from home, have the opportunity. Yeah, try it, try it. And let us know in the comments if you find any 50% off meat. Because I have found 50% off meat at Aldi. For sure. They do do this.

[Jill]

Well, it reminds me, and I'm sure we all know this, but we probably all need a reminder that stores also just put things on sale weekly. That we can also make our grocery budget based on what's on sale by checking the circulars there. So we live near Publix and I was just checking their Bogos and they actually have buy one, get one free chicken breast this week. So there are. Even if you don't live close to an Aldi, it's worth checking your local grocery store for what is going to be steeply discounted. And how can I plan my grocery budget around that? This is a side story that I found very funny. My friend's husband, we were talking about Publix Bogos and he was like, oh, wouldn't it be so great if they had an app or something where you could know where what all the deals are. And my friend and I just looked at each other like, like that is what all grocery stores have and they've always had it. And it's not always been an app. It's also been called a circular. And it is how everybody has always made their grocery budget since the beginning of grocery stores.

[Jen]

But he didn't realize, he thought you just, you didn't know until you walk in.

[Jill]

Or, or that you could like Google Bogos. But. But didn't realize that every single grocery store is always going to have their discounts advertised. Huh?

[Jen]

He didn't know that.

[Jill]

He didn't know that. He's not the one who has ever had to grocery shop or make the meals or worry about the discounts.

[Jen]

Maybe here's an extra tip. You need to put that on your partner once a. At least once A year. That needs to be something your partner does and they're gonna mess it up and you're gonna have extra things. But you got to be free and let loose and let that happen if they're going to get better.

[Jill]

I'm saying it because maybe we don't all know that. You can download your local grocer's app and be in the know on what's on sale. So once you've shopped your fridge pantry, freezer, then we're also incorporating the deals and discounts.

[Jen]

Yeah, I love just like getting on here and kind of just check in. Just the publix and yeah, just, just seeing if there's anything I want. Now this is the time where if you like to make some impulsive grocery purchases, your bow goes, this is where I would do it. And you can restrict yourself in a way like it creates a barrier that's like, okay, I'm not gonna make this impulsive decision unless it's a bogo. So there you go. And then if you don't like it, you have two of them. So that's a risky run. But for a bogo I'd do it and I have done it.

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[Family Meal Planner]

Three things that we're doing to save money on groceries. Especially now that we're down to one income. We were doing this before, but it's really important now. And this is revolutionary. But I love seeing what other people are doing, so I figured why not share ours too. So starting with meal planning. We meal plan every week and we make sure to have four meals, one of which will have leftovers I could serve for two nights. So usually like pasta, lasagna, soup, like something like that that will still be good for a second night and have enough that guarantees that we're gonna have five meals. And then usually we'll like eat out one night, eat at my parents and then the last night we do like a scrounge night where it's really just like exactly what it sounds eating what we have. So my husband will eat something different or I'll eat something different or I'll have girl dinner or we'll just like out hang, heat up something. So anyway, the seventh night is usually a scrounge night. Number two, we open every single cabinet when we're making our list. I once saw a video that said they like touch every item. We don't do that, but we definitely look that way. We're not buying extra of things. That way we know exactly what we need and it goes on the list. And you know, we do have extra things that we don't get to. But if you've come to our house at the end of the week, we are pretty bare bones. Number three, my husband does the grocery shopping and he goes to multiple stores. We're with Aldi. We try to buy everything we can at Aldi, but if you're an Aldi shopper, sometimes they just don't have things. So he starts at Aldi, gets everything we can for a cheaper price, and then what he can't get are just things that we like better he gets from the grocery store. Ultimately, it takes more time, but it's worth it for the savings.

[Jill]

My edit to that. I mean, beautiful. Love it. Build your meal plan around what Aldi has.

[Jen]

You can. Because they have. They have a circular and it's online.

[Jill]

The type of thing you can know what the store sells and at what prices and where the discount.

[Jen]

Here's the thing. Why do you need more food than what Aldi sells? Why? I mean, maybe every once in a while, maybe once a month. Yeah, but like on a weekly basis, you shouldn't need more than what Aldi has.

[Jill]

Don't plan meals with ingredients that Aldi don't have.

[Jen]

There's an extra tip right there.

[Jill]

I mean, it is a bummer. When they run out of the yogurt that I want and they didn't have bananas recently. That's a different story. I do get it.

[Jen]

And that's because you go Sunday evenings, Jill.

[Jill]

On Thursday morning.

[Jen]

Yeah. If you would go like. Well, we record on Thursday mornings. So if you would go on a Wednesday morning, then you could get your half price meets and they would be in stock with everything.

[Jill]

So true.

[Jen]

And you have that flexibility because you are the boss.

[Jill]

But you know what I did? I just did. Without bananas.

[Jen]

No, we can't do that in our house. We have to have seven bananas at all times. Because when Atlas eats one banana, he

[Jill]

eats half the banana.

[Jen]

Seven bananas. Oh, yeah.

[Jill]

Okay.

[Jen]

And. But sometimes he'll only eat half the banana, but other days he'll eat all seven in one sitting.

[Jill]

Oh, my.

[Jen]

So it's like a. You never know what you're gonna get, you know, so you gotta.

[Jill]

You can't go on Sunday night.

[Jen]

Right.

[Jill]

But otherwise, I loved this. The four meals that we're planning and the breakdown of how they're using it. This is so attainable. Even if you're not a huge meal prepper, if you're gonna spend at least one night in the kitchen, make multiple things. It doesn't even have to take you that much extra time. But make a bigger batch, throw something else in the oven while it's already preheated. I just did this yesterday. I made chicken and cauliflower and also threw bacon in the oven while the rest of it was going. We grilled bacon for breakfast. Bacon for BLTs.

[Jen]

We grilled chicken. And I had Travis also throw some steak on there for steak fajitas later in the week.

[Jill]

Yes. If you heat it up, let's do it.

[Jen]

Just utilize all the space.

[Jill]

And here's what's also so realistic for many of us. We are going out, like, we're going over to somebody else's house or we're hosting people at our place. That is a part of the meal plan. And it can be. I've said this before, but I will make my meal plan with my calendar right in front of me, too.

[Jen]

That's what I.

[Jill]

So I can know what does this week look like? When do I have late nights at the office? When do I have a pocket of time where I can prep out more food than the rest? When do I need a quick grab and go? These things are so important to think about because otherwise we are just gonna be going and getting some takeout. Doing the convenience thing. But it is possible to have convenience. You've just got it from the grocery store. You've pre made it.

[Jen]

Something I took from this one is this ground night. I call it fend for yourself. That's when we don't have, like, something or we have a lot of leftovers. I'm just like, fend for yourself. Go with God. And everybody eats somehow, magically, everybody finds something to eat.

[Jill]

What do you end up grabbing for? What's. What's. How are you fending for your own self?

[Jen]

Okay, so this is something that I have been doing recently. You know, I love the spicy chicken tenders from. From Costco. So lately I've been doing, like, a hamburger, bunch of. With mayonnaise, some spicy pickles, spicy chicken tenders. And I've been doing, like, a makeshift chick fil. A sandwich.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

That has been my scrounge night. Go to my fend for yourself. Go to. And Travis also loves it. So sometimes we're like, well, I don't feel like making that or eating that. And so it just turns into an impromptu, like, chicken sandwich night. And then the thing we were gonna eat that night gets moved or something.

[Jill]

So that's also why it's so important to have these very easy backup freezer meals. Two to three that, you know, are a go to if. If something happens, you don't feel like cooking, you still don't have to do takeout.

[Jen]

Yes. So make it good enough that you will choose the scrounge night over takeout. And I also love the. The idea, the picture in my head of some influencer going through their cabinets and touching everything.

[Jill]

Yeah, the touching is ridiculous.

[Jen]

I. I want to know the psychology behind it. Like. Or are they just doing it just to be in touch with everything, literally.

[Jill]

Yeah, it, it might be. If I were to give it the benefit of the doubt, it could be that so much could be hidden and by touching things, you're kind of pulling things and looking.

[Jen]

I have more doubt than benefit that, that.

[Jill]

Oh, I don't actually. Or it helps you to take it in. I. I don't think it's necessary, but.

[Jen]

Wow. We've got an actual useful tip in this next video.

[Pantry Challenge Influencer]

This is day one of eating all the food at my house before I can go to the grocery store because I kind of want to move, but I do not want to take any of this with me. I'm going to my old lady friend's house for dinner and I had a lot of leftover frozen fruit from the summer. Normally I make a berry crisp and I was tempted to go buy oats for that, but I was like, I'm not allowed to go buy oats, please. So I made a cobbler. I've never done that before. So it's a little bit of an experiment. This is your reminder to make do with what you have. You don't always need to go to the store to buy the perfect ingredient. This is day three of eating all the food in my house before I'm allowed to buy anything else. Turns out that I like to buy pancake mix but not actually eat it. So today for breakfast we're having pancakes. I need to ration the three eggs that I have left, so I'm doing a chia egg instead of normal. I've never tried this before, but the whole idea of this experiment is to realize that I can just make do with what I already have. Honestly, those are pretty good. This is day four of eating all the food in my house before I can go to the grocery store. Today I'm going to a friend's house for dinner and I refuse to go anywhere empty handed. I definitely have enough ingredients to actually bake something, but I didn't have the time. So I always keep these huge chocolate bars on hand because they're very allergen friendly. The ingredients are really clean. So basically anybody can eat these. Once I'm done Having dinner at my friend's house. I'm sleeping at Barb's house for the next who knows how many nights because the snowstorm is coming and she has a generator. So I'm gonna bring some snacks to you with her. I've had these pork rinds in here that I bought for pool days last summer. Never ate them. I'll bring a bag of these crackers because she always has cheese. And I've had these really expensive chocolate bars that I got in New York City last spring that I've been too scared to eat because they're expensive. So I'll finally bring one of these and eat those.

[Jen]

Now, I said one tip, but I was being a little facetious because that is actually a compilation of financially, freely, that's her name. And I know I said real people. And she is an influencer, but she is a. I think a real person, so I'm hoping you will give me that. But a couple of her days of her. No, her pantry challenge, and I loved it because immediately on day one, a situation came up that a lot of us would just, like, go buy things for, and she didn't. She figured out she got creative on how to overcome the obstacles. Same with the chia egg or the flax egg. I have done that so many times before.

[Jill]

Applesauce in replace of eggs.

[Jen]

There are so many options. And so I just thought this was a great example of if you do have a lot in your pantry fridge, freezer, then maybe it's time to do a pantry challenge. And also snacks. She had snacks. She was bringing snacks. And, you know, we love snacks.

[Jill]

I'm going to say something really unhinged, and it's going to be a very hot take, and I'm going to say it. I think that if the Internet did nothing else, nothing else but provide us with food substitutions, it would do all we ever needed it to do.

[Jen]

Just didn't know where you were going. I was. So much anticipation.

[Jill]

Best use of the Internet, my friends. The Internet can serve you in no better way than to serve you substitutions when you are cooking in the kitchen.

[Jen]

I mean, and what is social media if not a substitution for real relationships? You know, like, it's all substitution.

[Jill]

It's not serving you there.

[Jen]

Yeah. It's not serving you anything real. So it might as well serve substitution.

[Jill]

I think the only way the Internet has truly helped me, has truly saved me in a moment of need, is substitutions.

[Jen]

I think a pantry challenge is a fantastic tip for saving money on groceries. And. And it doesn't matter how long you do it. I would say start with a week. See if you can go one week without buying anything from the grocery store. Now, if you have kids and you need milk or something, I get it, I have to get milk every week. But a lot of produce you can buy frozen and you probably have frozen produce. So you may not need to buy fresh produce unless you're like eating fresh fruit. Again, kids, they, they mess everything up in the best and worst ways. But so like, I get you have to do it within certain limitations, but I don't think that should keep you from doing a pantry challenge in whatever way you can do. This is a great exercise in getting to those next levels, like we saw in the earlier videos of like shopping without a budget, doing all that. This is a great experiment to get you to that level faster because you're going to have to use a lot of creativity. And I think Lee showed just like these really great examples of, I'm not going to go to a friend's house empty handed, but I'm also not going to buy something. Does that mean I don't go? No, I want to bring a berry crisp. I want to eat all of my pancake mix, but I don't, I want to ration my eggs or I don't have eggs or I want to eat my eggs scrambled with my, with my waffles and pancakes. Does that, you know, and then I'm getting creative. So the next, the final video is also from Lee. And I think it drives home the heart behind why saving money on groceries is important and why it's not just about saving money. I think we've been outspoken about, like, relationships and community and people are more important than money. Like, they are the reason we want to have money. They are our deeper why. And we believe that with food as well, we want to build relationships. And so often that just automatically translates in going out for coffee, going out for a drink, going out for dinner. But usually it's those times at home where we're sharing a meal together on the couch or at our dining tables that make community so much richer and deeper. And so I wanted to share this video from her that really drives that idea home and gives a deeper meaning to the why behind why we want to grocery shop.

[Pantry Challenge Influencer]

Well, everyone always says they want community, but it's not something you can just step into. It's something you have to build. So let's make a meal for a new friend. A couple months ago, I found out that a fellow widow for my Grief group, total tour car. And I imagined how lonely she must have felt sitting at home. So I made her chicken pot pie and I brought it to her house. I had never spent one on one time with her before this, but now we text frequently. We've had dinner together a couple times, and she's like a grandmother figure for me in Maryland. A lot of people my age say they need to spend money to build community, but you don't need to go out to eat, get drinks and go to arcades to build friendship. I actually think it's easier to build deep connection when you're just sharing a meal together at a person's house. So next time you have the opportunity to to build your community, I encourage you to take it. And I'm gonna go eat with my bestie Barbs.

[Jill]

I love it. And I couldn't agree more with what this allows us to do, to be able to host people, go over to other people's houses, get creative on the things that we're bringing. Kind of going back to the whole not wanting to show up empty handed, but not needing to necessarily spend money. I had made brownies one time. I had people over and I had made a box of brownies and I had leftovers, but it felt tacky to take like a half eaten brownie tray to this book club. So instead I cut them up into little bite sized squares and sprinkled some powdered sugar over top of them on this pretty little dish. And then they just looked like bite sized little chocolate.

[Jen]

It looks like you put extra work into them instead of putting less work.

[Jill]

Honestly, if you just make it bite size, it works.

[Jen]

It's little.

[Jill]

Yeah. I have people over for dinner once a week. We participate in a potluck once a week. Not only does that solve for just some of my meal planning things, but it fosters that relationship. And we spend so much more time together than if we were to go to a restaurant and get rushed out after an hour.

[Jen]

Yeah, we with, you know, sports and activities and stuff don't have the time to do something consistently every week. So we make it a point to like have people over or go over to people's houses like whenever we get the opportunity. So like in a couple weeks we are gonna have other like people with young kids who also have too many like baseball and sport things and all that to do consistent things. So we're like, you know what, we're just gonna have people over like one time. It's not gonna be consistent. It's just gonna be one time. No agenda. And I'm gonna give, you know, Tony down the street 20 bucks to, like, monitor the children outside so the parents can chat.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So, yeah, Tony is a girl. It sounds like a. Just Tony for documentary. Like, Like a man in a white tank.

[Jill]

He's already out there working on his motorcycle. Might as well just put him in charge of the kids.

[Jen]

Sorry.

[Jill]

I mean, not that Tony the man couldn't be a responsible babysitter, especially if

[Jen]

he's already outside working on his motorcycle, you know, but yeah, so, like figuring out, like, things and taking, you know, we've said it a lot. Like, get off of social media, which is a substitute for real relationships. And text somebody and invite them over and if they say no, you say no. Heart feelings. Blocked.

[Jill]

Just kidding.

[Jen]

No, we're not blocking them. And we just move on to the next person. Like, we're not going to fear rejection. Like, if you're not in the place in your life where you can invest time in me, I'm not offended. I'm just going to find somebody who does have that time, you know, like, it is the best. It makes life worth living.

[Jill]

Do you know what else is worth living? And really very community oriented.

[Jen]

It make. You're saying it makes life worth living?

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Oh, wow, that's. I mean, I don't disagree.

[Jill]

The bill of the week.

[Podcast Host Jen or Jill Introduction]

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.

[Money Saving Expert 2]

Hi. So my husband and I decided to get our kids bikes to Christmas. My oldest, who's 5, has autism. We used a scholarship to get him a nice high quality heirloom bike to pass down to the younger siblings as they get older. But my daughter, who's three, we wanted to get her a balance bike. And I was looking at the nice name brands, but you know, kids grow out of those pretty quickly and I didn't want to pay full price, so I kept checking Facebook, Marketplace and Offerup and I just wasn't seeing what I wanted for a good used price. And then just a few days later, I stopped by a resale store with my children and I was just checking out all the toys just in case I saw something. And right after I checked out, I was walking up the store and I saw the bike I wanted for $25. This bike is like over a hundred dollars. New. And guess what? I went back. I told them. They literally put it in a black bag for me and threw it in my trunk while I was getting my kids in the car for $25. And that was because I dragged my kids to the store with me to see if I could save a few bucks. And I saved a ton of money. So yeah, I'm so happy about that.

[Jen]

Oh, Cecilia. Yes, girl. We got our Balance bike on Facebook. Marketplace. But yeah, it's. It is one of those things where they can be quite pricey, but they grow out of themselves so quickly that it's one of those things you can find secondhand pretty easily, whether at a resale store, marketplace, pawn shop, something like that.

[Jill]

Online. I think it's relay goods. It's like sporting equipment.

[Jen]

Shoes. That's running shoes.

[Jill]

What am I thinking of? Then there's a sports one.

[Jen]

We'll play it again. Sports.

[Jill]

There it is.

[Jen]

They have an online component, but they're

[Jill]

mostly in there's kids stuff. There is so many places to even get online.

[Jen]

Buy your kids anything new. That's my. They haven't earned it. They don't deserve it.

[Jill]

Maybe new underwear. You can get the new underwear.

[Jen]

New underwear and socks. New underwear and socks. That is the only new thing they deserve. And new food.

[Jill]

If you have a bill that you want to submit, if it has to do with getting an item less expensively or your name is Bill or anything bill related, frugal friends podcast.com bill we would love to hear it.

[Quince Spokesperson]

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[Jen]

And I got it.

[Quince Spokesperson]

I do enjoy the community aspect. Sellers can show pieces up close, answer questions, and help you figure out sizing. And you're almost never paying full price. We've been using Whatnot and recommend it for getting the things already on your buy list.

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[Jill]

And now it's time for the lightning round.

[Jen]

All right, what recipe is on repeat right now in your meal plan?

[Jill]

Lots of bowls. I am loving me some bowls because

[Jen]

big bowls, big bowl energy.

[Jill]

It allows for a lot of variety in whatever I happen to have in the fridge. You either do with it or you do without it or you find a substitution. So I've been loving Korean beef and rice bowls and that is all that it is. It's beef and rice. I really don't add much more to it. Maybe if I've got some cucumber, we're having that salmon bowls, that's another one where cucumber, tomato, kimchi, edamame. And if I don't have all of those things, then it's whatever I do have. Yeah, shaved carrot, just whatever veggies I do have are thrown on top of it. Burger bowls have been really fun, which I usually do. A bed of roasted potatoes and then the ground beef, lettuce, tomato. Make like a Big Mac sauce. I always got mayo on hand. You know, I always got mayo.

[Jen]

She. She doesn't just have mayo. This girl buys mayo in bulk and big. She has a mayo the size of your head.

[Jill]

Yeah, it's not this big.

[Jen]

It's the size of your head.

[Jill]

It's the size of your head.

[Jen]

Yes, it. 100%.

[Jill]

You know what? I make aiolis. And doesn't that sound elevated?

[Jen]

She's a big aioli girl.

[Jill]

Yes.

[Jen]

Yeah, she. She a big aioli girl.

[Jill]

How about you?

[Jen]

Bowls also. One that I have been loving recently is a buffalo chicken bowl. And what I will do is it's just chicken and rice, buffalo sauce, and like, a tablespoon of reduced fat cream cheese. And that's one bowl. Like, one tablespoon per bowl. Mix that up. That's like a creamy buffalo.

[Jill]

Mix it together. You just grab some chicken, you grab some rice, you grab some hot sauce and cream, and you just.

[Jen]

Yeah. Wow. It's delicious. It gives that, like, buffalo spiciness, but also, like, the creaminess of, like, a buffalo chicken dip, but, like, as a healthy chicken and rice bowl. Right, so. And then add whatever. Usually broccoli, because I'm a broccoli, Stan. But whatever vegetable I have that I need to, like, use up.

[Jill]

Yeah, Flip it. Yes.

[Jen]

That is a recent one. I made the jalapeno cheddar protein muffins from Jen eats good for probably every week for like, six weeks. So right now I'm a little off of them because that's so many cheddar

[Jill]

jalapeno protein I might be getting on them. I'm looking it up right now. They're very good cheddar protein.

[Jen]

Yeah. It's basically mostly ground. I use ground turkey. It calls her ground chicken, I think.

[Jill]

But there's meat in it.

[Jen]

Well, that's what makes it high protein.

[Jill]

Oh, I thought maybe you put powder in it.

[Jen]

No, it's. It's meat.

[Jill]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jen]

Yeah. Each muffin has, like, 16 grams of protein.

[Jill]

I feel like you gate kept this from me.

[Jen]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Jill]

You're sick of it. And this is the first time I'm hearing about it. Demerit.

[Jen]

I'm so sorry to demerit. I will add egg whites, and I will. It calls for, like, six eggs, and I'll do, like, three eggs plus the equivalent of, like, four egg whites. So that increases some of the protein, decreases a little bit of the fat. But I. I adjust as. As wanted. So those have been pretty popular with me grilling, like, any meat on the grill. Anything on the grill is just so lovely. So. Yeah, that's. That's mine's.

[Jill]

Wild. Did you use coconut flour?

[Jen]

Actually did. So I did. It calls for almond flour and coconut. But what I did was I would, I'd use a third cup of coconut flour. But I would, I would divide the almond flour between regular and almond. I would maybe do like half a cup of almond and a cup of regular. I forget what it calls for.

[Jill]

I don't have that. So I might, I might be trying with my substitutions.

[Jen]

Do it. I think there are some notes about almond flour is a one to one switch. Coconut flour might be a little different.

[Jill]

Is it just to reduce the gluten, do you know? Or is it.

[Jen]

She makes hers gluten free and I don't care about gluten.

[Jill]

Right.

[Jen]

So that's why I did regular flour. But I did have coconut and almond flour already. So. But I didn't have a lot of almond flour. So I'm like, no, I'm not. I'll use a little bit of it.

[Jill]

I have never seen a muffin recipe with ground meat in it. I am intrigued.

[Jen]

I don't think it's really a muffin or a biscuit as she says. And I would make it in my muffin tins just so I made sure like the proportions were pretty equal.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

But it is good. Like I don't know if I would call it a muffin or a biscuit.

[Jill]

How fun. I love this additional segment about these biscuits.

[Jen]

Yeah. Jen eats good. Has a lot of good recipes.

[Quince Spokesperson]

She sure does.

[Jill]

We trust Jen eats Good because mostly she shares your name and that's why we trust. But she's a double N. Anyone named Jen.

[Jen]

I'm a single. Nice.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Anyways, okay.

[Jill]

Thanks for being here and thanks for reading our book. Like this person. Noemi. No, Noemi. I don't know why I tried. I'm so sorry. I probably butchered it. But you gave us five stars after reading our book and thank you so much.

[Jen]

Thank you.

[Jill]

They said if you're not sure about buying this book, take my word and get it. You've probably come across a lot of get rich quick books or stop buying lattes to finally have money books. This book isn't that buy what you love without going broke is the perfect book for anyone who struggles with finding it in between with using money wisely while also living a fulfilling life. I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone. The authors of this book have helped me change my perspective on finances and its impact to all the things I truly value at heart. Buy the book. You won't regret it.

[Jen]

Thank you so much. We so appreciate that. If you want to check out the book, buy what you love book.com. we would love to see your review if you haven't already, then please subscribe to the YouTube channel. It's a free way you can support us and spread this message further and wider and so that we can get more reviews like Noemi, who has. Has changed her perspective on spending. And we love hearing that and we can't wait to see your comment, hear your review and chat with you one day maybe in person, which is, you know, really what we're getting at. Not poor substitutes for relationships online. Bye.

[Jill]

See you next time.

[Jen]

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

[Jill]

Okay, Jen, we have not addressed the elephant in the room and I'm shocked we haven't. And I'm so sorry for all of our viewers.

[Jen]

I don't know what you're gonna say

[Jill]

and I love that. I love your toes.

[Jen]

I honestly, like, never know what you're

[Jill]

gonna say and it's never as bad as you think. But you're always so scared.

[Jen]

Well, because I know the things you could say. Like, I know what you have said and what you could say.

[Jill]

We are matching. It was not intentional.

[Jen]

No, we. I walked in and like, you noticed it and I was like, this is stupid. And you're like, I'm not changing. I was like, I can't change.

[Jill]

Yeah. I wonder if anyone's gonna.

[Jen]

We are so, like, match on the YouTube video. Really weird.

[Jill]

The only people hearing this now are our audio only listeners.

[Jen]

So you have. And we do that. So now you have to go to YouTube and subscribe to the channel and tell us what we're wearing, how good

[Jill]

we've matched each other. Yes.

[Jen]

Please leave a comment on the video. Being like, no one's going to talk about how they, like, match each other.

[Jill]

What? What is this? Have they joined a cult now? Do they just have same uniform.

[Jen]

Same uniform.

[Jill]

What's happening?

[Jen]

Why are they always matching?

[Jill]

I could not believe it. And here's the crazy thing about it. I have worn this shirt maybe once so far this year.

[Jen]

I have probably this is the first time this year I've worn these pants.

[Jill]

Right. It was a decision because this is not a typical go to shirt for me. And I don't remember the last time I've seen you in that shirt.

[Jen]

Yeah, I don't wear this shirt often. It is probably one of the shirts I reserve for recording.

[Jill]

Is it quint shirt though?

[Jen]

No, this is Old Navy. Okay. I wear mostly my quince shirts because I. They're tank tops, right? And I predominantly. I flex and the sleeves fall off. You know, I don't know whether to be offended that you're laughing so hard. It just caught me so off guard.

[Jill]

That was just such a wild thing to say that you would. You wouldn't typically see.

[Jen]

Say something like that. Oh, my.

[Jill]

Yeah, that was fun. Gotta stick with tank tops. Don't want them sleeves to rip.

[Jen]

I know. I don't want to do it in public.

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