Loading summary
Transcript170 lines
- [00:06]
Jen
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.
- [00:20]
Jill
This is an episode that we aired a few years back, and since we know y' all aren't going back into the archives digging for our episodes. I know you love us, but you don't love us that much. So we resurfaced them for you so you can know what was good, what other people really loved. And this was. This was a banger.
- [00:38]
Ingrid
This was one of our most downloaded episodes two years ago. So I'm excited to share it with y' all again.
- [00:43]
Jill
But first, this episode is brought to you by Whistle Tones, described by some as bright, thin, edgy, and up to two octaves higher than normal singing range. Kinda like our book Buy what yout Love Without Going Broke. It's got a bright cover, it's thin, meaning it's a short, quick, power packed read. And it's edgy mostly because we're women making personal finance education fun.
- [01:11]
Ingrid
Wow.
- [01:12]
Jill
Yeah, I said it. If this sounds like the type of book you need to shed the shame of budgeting and learn new ways to look at and manage money that can last a lifetime, then head to buywhatyoulovebook.com whistle tones hats off to Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande for becoming experts in this rare craft of high pitched singing.
- [01:34]
Ingrid
Somebody called me sassy the other day and I said, I'm not sassy. I'm straightforward.
- [01:40]
Jill
And to your face. They said that, sir?
- [01:43]
Ingrid
Yes.
- [01:43]
Jill
Like a YouTube comment?
- [01:45]
Ingrid
No, like a man said to my face in words with his mouth. And I was like, well, not every woman who's straightforward is sassy.
- [01:57]
Jill
Did he then ask you to smile more?
- [02:01]
Ingrid
No, I guess I was too sassy for him. He was too afraid. But you know who's not sassy is Ingrid Jensen. She's just straightforward about how decluttering will help you in all areas of your life. And this was a really good episode. So let's not waste any more time. Let's get into it. Ingrid. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. We are so excited to have at least one half of the Declutter Hub with us today. So thank you so much for hanging out with us.
- [02:40]
Jen
I love it. Thank you so much for having me. I, I'm, I'm delighted. I. I'm Dutch. I love saving money. So being frugal is completely up. So I'm like, yes, let's talk about money. We should not be shy about this. And I think Dutch people anyway, are quite direct about talking about stuff anyway, so maybe, maybe that's a good thing. I don't know. But I appreciate you having you invited me. Absolutely.
- [03:07]
Jill
You're not afraid to jump into the hot topics of decluttering and finance, which is so excellent. We know this is such a well loved topic of our listeners and we're so, so looking forward to hearing what you have to say on the topic because you are far more expert than we are. So thanks for being here.
- [03:28]
Jen
Yeah, you're welcome. You're welcome.
- [03:30]
Ingrid
So I know you've spent a lot of time working with clients and decluttering, so can you start us off with how have you seen clutter negatively impact people's finances? What's the correlation there?
- [03:44]
Jen
Oh, wow. Okay. That, that, that could be a whole podcast in itself, Jen. Because clutter impacts people's lives tremendously. I mean, not even money alone. It impacts children and partners and family and family life and spending and shopping habits. I mean, money has a massive impact, I think, on people's lives. And having a lot of clutter, of course, costs a lot of money. But, and that's definitely what I wanted to talk about in this podcast is like, how can decluttering help you save money? Because I've seen the impact of people who have a lot of clutter, not only on their lives, but also on their finances. Because, you know, you see a lot of over buying, a lot of over shopping, a lot of just out of control paperwork. So people have no idea where they are, what the status is, how much money they have, what they are spending their money on. I mean, because the clutter creates, create so much chaos in people's houses, but also in their heads, in their minds, it all becomes this, like this blurry mess. And then the overwhelm creeps in. And when people start to be overwhelmed and they start to kind of panic a little bit, and then it's panic stations all around and then you can't see clearly anymore. So you're like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just surviving here. And it can really kind of spiral into even more clutter. And what is very interesting is that people who have a lot of clutter, sometimes you would think they would spend less money because they have a lot of clutter. But what we actually see is that they spend more money because they can't find what they have amongst all their clutter. So they have to keep buying stuff over and over and over again because they actually can't find it. And an excellent example of that is, strangely enough, underwear and socks. So a lot of families who have one, two, three children or a larger family or even just two or three people in the house, if there's a lot of clutter and the laundry gets behind because the laundry is amongst all the chaos, then you don't know anymore what's clean, what's dirty, what's half worn. So there's a spiral of clothing everywhere. Let's just buy a new pack of seven pairs of underwear because then at least we know that we're covered for this week, while actually there's probably 150 pairs of underwear in the house somewhere, but nobody knows where they are, so they keep buying it over and over again. And you actually then perpetuate the clutter. And the more clothes you have, the worse it gets. Which sounds so crazy because you would think if you have more clothes, you solve your problem, but it's actually the other way around.
- [06:42]
Jill
That's amazing to me that it'd be underwear and socks.
- [06:44]
Ingrid
Like, that's the thing.
- [06:46]
Jill
That's what people are buying a ton of. But I could absolutely see this. I particularly will recognize this in my own self when it comes to food, because we can have clutter in a lot of different ways. Clutter in our pantry. So then we don't know what we have. So then we're buying more. I, classically, for a while, was constantly buying shredded cheese, mostly because I wasn't checking my freezer before I would go out to the store. Store. And then I just had so much shredded cheese just up to my eyeballs because I wasn't. I wasn't organizing, I wasn't looking, I wasn't planning ahead. And a lot of times when we feel chaotic or our environment is chaotic, we're not as motivated to be planful about what it is that we're buying, how we're spending what we have on hand, or taking care of it.
- [07:34]
Jen
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's definitely what I want to talk about as well, is that meal planning that will definitely come back.
- [07:42]
Ingrid
Yeah, I didn't think so much about the, like, the bills. Like, the forgotten bills. Cause, yeah, I will do that when there's like. And then build this pile of paper clutter, and I'll have a bill that I mean to pay and then totally forget about it in all the paper clutter. And so, yeah, it's not just the buying stuff. It's also forgetting to pay stuff.
- [08:04]
Jen
Yeah. And then, of course, you incur a fee we're gonna talk about that for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
- [08:10]
Jill
So let's start to talk then, Ingrid, about the positive correlation between decluttering and the positive benefits that that has on finances. What have you seen there?
- [08:21]
Jen
Oh, amazing. I mean, one of our members in our membership, she started doing her house. She followed our process, she followed our plan. And one of the later steps in our membership is you have to do your paperwork. You go through your paperwork, you don't start with that because it's really hard to do. You need to get other areas in your house under control first, but at a certain point, you're ready to do your paperwork. She did then found out she could finally find out her insurance documents for her car and her holiday and her house and her. And she just did a price comparison on a car insurance and saved £450. And she was like, I've actually just paid for my membership. Now, how is that possible? Just because she was more organized, she was able to do that price comparison that saved her so much money. I mean, I've seen it with clients time and time again because I both. We have. I have the membership with Leslie as the declutter hub, but I also still work with clients one to one in their homes. And the amazing things that we find, I mean, even in cash, you know, in coins and paperwork and change and other currencies from when they've been on holiday, and pots and little trays of little change that we've, you know, in pockets and everything. It's. It's amazing. So it's really, really satisfying. Vouchers, you know, from presents that people have been sending over Christmas or birth, they send a voucher in the card, the card gets mislaid somewhere or vouchers or a little, you know, credit card type with, like, some money or to spend in a certain shop, get put somewhere and not in people's purses, then it get lost somewhere in the house. It's very satisfying.
- [10:05]
Jill
Oh, I love.
- [10:06]
Ingrid
I love finding a gift card. Yes. Money and gift cards. I love finding both.
- [10:14]
Jen
Yes. Yes. I recently found a very expensive bracelet that my client had lost. And we're not talking about a couple of hundred pounds. We're talking about a serious, beautiful diamond bracelet. And she misplaced it. She put it in a safe place, and then I couldn't remember where her safe place was.
- [10:30]
Ingrid
So she actually story right. Always. I put it someplace where I wouldn't lose it. Then I lost it.
- [10:36]
Jen
Yes. Same with some. Actually some jewelry as well, some golden jewelry from another client that actually at some Point she was like, I, I, it's been thrown away. Or maybe, you know, I have had builders and people and cleaning people in my house. Maybe, maybe they saw it and they took it, I don't know. And then we removed something and suddenly, boom, there it drops out. Well, we did the happy dance, the two of us, because, you know, those are the important stuff, you know, the special occasion jewelry and things like that, you know. But I mean, some people, you know, when you find 10 or $20, they're super happy, you know.
- [11:14]
Jill
Yeah. And it sounds like there's an inverse happening here too. Not only is there the possibility of finding money as you declutter, but the inverse of the negative impacts of having clutter. It's, it's the opposite then that. Then you know where things are and your bills are paid on time and you're not buying extra of these different items and you're not feeling as chaotic, so you're making wiser decisions. There's so many things I'm hearing you say of having less clutter. That doesn't mean that our houses are going to look exactly the same to one another. But whatever less clutter is to us can really help our budgets.
- [11:52]
Jen
I think what's really important, I think that's a very big part of our message, is that there's not a one size fits all. We don't expect that even our members have houses like we have, because everybody's got a different type of house. Their sizes is different, the amount of people in their families different. Some people like more stuff around than others. You know, some people are just. I mean, I'm a professional organizer, but I'm not a minimalist. I, I still have picture frames and books and stuff, but the difference is that I can find everything. I know, I think just about a 99.9% of stuff that's in my house. I mean, we had a repair on our fridge at one point, and the, the fridge guy, the fridge rec. Bearman asked me for something. He went, do you happen to have a soldering iron? And I went, I do, and I know where it is as well. And you're like, he nearly collapsed the floor. He was like, what? I'm like, it's in my garage. I think if I have, if knowing my husband, it's in one of these two or three drawers. And lo and behold, he was gobsmacked. So, you know, it's very satisfying to be able to find everything and know what you have. Yeah.
- [13:07]
Jill
Finding money and knowing where your things are.
- [13:10]
Ingrid
Oh, my Gosh, yes. All right, so let's dive into the real nitty gritty fun stuff that everyone's going to love. So most of our listeners are listening to us. To improve their spending, improve their financial life, lower their spending. So if someone wants to declutter with that in mind.
- [13:30]
Jen
Yeah.
- [13:31]
Ingrid
Where are they going to start? What are your best tips for. For that?
- [13:35]
Jen
Okay, no, there's. Of course you need. I'm going to give you some overall top tips first, and then I'm going to dive into some more meaty kind of ideas. First of all, you need to start small. So don't go, I'm going to do a whole room this weekend. It's too much. If you have a lot of clutter, start small. Start with one drawer, one cupboard, one shelf. Start somewhere that's easier. So don't go. My worst room in my house is my spare bedroom because that's my dumping ground. Let's start there because it's probably one of the hardest rooms to do because it's got stuff from everywhere. So you need to start somewhere easier. Normally, a kitchen is an easier place to start for several reasons, unless you are a. I want to be a Michelin star chef. The kitchen has mugs and glasses and Tupperware and pots and pans. And so it's not so emotionally challenging to do kitchen items. And the kitchen already has small cupboards, while a bedroom has a big wardrobe, which immediately can feel quite overwhelming. And a kitchen has already small cupboards. So you can go, I'm gonna just do the cupboard that has my Tupperware or the drawer that has my cutlery. And it's already kind of. You break it up this way. So really helps. You need to start small and you need to start easier and you build it up. But if you want to save money, and that's what we all want to do is also in the same time, if you're thinking, okay, yes, I need to do lots of stuff in my house. Start using up what you have. Let me explain that we all. And I think, well, lots of us have lots of toiletries, lots of cleaning products, lots of makeup, lots of perfume, lots of laundry, cleaning stuff, and all of that kind of thing. And we buy loads and we stick it in cupboards, and then it doesn't fit anymore in the cupboard where it normally lives, so we create an overflow somewhere else. And then we forget what we have. And then we have our standard shopping list and we think, oh, yeah, I need to have bleach today or I need to get cleaning spray or whatever and we buy a new one and before you know it, you've got four, six, eight of the same thing all sitting there costing you money. And that goes for everything. So start to gather these things, like with, like, get it all together, look at what you have. Don't go, oh, just. I'm just going to take my one cupboard. No, if you're going to go, oh, I've got some cleaning stuff in that cupboard as well, and I've got some in the other room and there's some in the upstairs. Get it all together and see what you have. Because it's incredible what we have, honestly, the amount of stuff we see.
- [16:32]
Ingrid
That's so smart. Yeah, that's so smart. Because I have cleaning products under every sink. I just realized that just now.
- [16:38]
Jen
Yeah, yeah. And that's okay. But the thing is, what sometimes happens is that cleaning products that you don't really use in that room end up in that cupboard and then you forget because you're not looking for that cupboard there. So you just need to do a bit of a little sorting time is gather it all together, walk around your house and go, right, let me get it all together and let's look what I have and use it up. Because it will go out of date. We can't keep all this stuff forever. You know, there is some sort of shelf life now we can debate about, you know, how long can you use a bleach from five years old, you know, I'm sure. But it's all sitting there being lost money. So you can really lower your current bills. If you're struggling at the moment by just kind of going, let me just use it all up. And you can then make a bit of an inventory of those toiletries and that cleaning products and those craft items and the stalks and all of that, the gathering, like, will, like, will really help you to see the volumes of stuff because that will then help you with. Number two is stop buying what you already have. Because you have lots of stuff. You can shop from your own house for a while and that way you can save lots of money. Because we change how we feel about things. We like a shampoo, we use it for ages and suddenly there's something new. We think, oh, that's nice. But we still have three or four of the old one that we then don't go back to and that keeps cluttering up our cupboards. And then we can't put the stuff away that we actually want to buy, so we create a space somewhere else. So Start by shopping from home. And when you do this, you create awareness. And awareness will help you change your clutter mindset because it will change the way you look at your shopping list. And when you walk around and we're not so easily tempted then by all the marketing that happens in shops where they have like a nice music card and they've got nice displays and we think, oh, that's a new product, I need to try that and we can go, hold on a minute. But I've got something similar that I've bought already in my house. I need to finish that up first.
- [18:52]
Jill
Yeah, it might not be as exhilarating to use what you have at home, but it's certainly gonna save money. It's gonna build that contentment, that different mindset that may not be just for a time of wanting to save on finances, but just long term, not being wasteful.
- [19:10]
Jen
Yeah, yeah, I think so too. And it's really nice to see when members and people in our Facebook group and podcast listeners start to make that change and go, it's so satisfying to use up what I have. We have so many half used items like have used toothpastes and you know when you go to like away and you, and you go to maybe a hotel or a nicer place and they've got these little toiletries and you're like, ooh, I'm going to take those home. And then we create, and especially people who travel a lot for work, I find containers full of stuff, use it all up because by it sitting there it's, it's not going to go anywhere. It's just gonna, long term it's going to go off and then nobody can use it anymore. So it's really nice to see we've got a, like a, create a use up container and you can do that both with toiletries, but also of course in the food and in the pantry and all of those things you can use just a use up container. And it's very satisfying. And people do start to get a buzz from, they're like, I've used something up or oh, I had seven of these and now I only have two because two is plenty because the shops are open 247 and I, I don't have to have seven in stock. Unless you like live in the middle of nowhere, nowhere and your shop was half an hour drive away, then you need to have some sort of pantry. But sometimes I see pictures on socials and I'm like, it looks beautiful, but why have you got so much stuff in your pantry? Why do you have five spares? Is one not enough? You know, you know, when one is empty, you get the next one. Why does that. You do you have to have six lined up? Because they might be in there for three years.
- [21:01]
Jill
Preach.
- [21:03]
Ingrid
Preach. I have fallen in that algorithm on Instagram and TikTok and I'm like, why? Why do you need three spares? Why, like, I get it, one, you need a spare. Why so many? It looks beautiful in your, like plastic containers that you had to buy to store all your spares. But why it looks. And then you wouldn't have had to buy all the containers.
- [21:29]
Jill
To me. Yeah, I love the. You're saving money because you're using it up. Like the Use up bin. I love that concept.
- [21:38]
Ingrid
Yeah, I love that too.
- [21:39]
Jill
But then while you're doing that, you're also decluttering because you're slowly but surely dwindling down this whole pile of stuff that you have. Putting it to good use, not wasting it. Also not buying more. It's like multiple things happening at once.
- [21:56]
Jen
I love that. Exactly. And what you then get. And that's kind of the next step that's happened. You start to shop intentionally. It's much easier than to make a list. You're shopping because you're filling a gap of something and you know, that can go with clothes as well. You know, if you go clothes shopping without a list, you know, it's, of course, you know, you can go, oh, I see a lovely top. It's going to look good on me. But we are creatures of habit, so we keep buying the same sort of thing over and over and over again again because we feel good in it, because we love it, we like it. But then what happens is, have we, for example, if we like, like a cardigan or. Here in the uk, we wear cardigans on a lot because it's chillier in this country. So we wear a lot of cardigans. And some people who love a Cardigan will have 23, some in different colors, some in the same, because they go to the shops and they go, oh, there's a cardigan. I like a cardigan, let me buy that again. Or if jeans or whatever it is that your go to item is. So you start to shop with gaps in mind. You know, it's the same when, when you look at your pantry, when you've used up what you have and you can see, ah, and you do, for example, use. Eat a lot of chunky tomatoes or something because you make pasta sauce and things. If, you know, okay, I'm going to go through a tray of those in the month. You can buy them an offer because then you have room to put them somewhere. But if everything is full, what happen? Things get put on top of the fridge and onto, on the floor and in front of something, and then a cupboard can't open anymore. And then suddenly, if a door can't open anymore, then it's lost, it's gone. And that's what we see, for example, in bedrooms a lot where there's a floor drop things. Floor drop. Or a chair drove. Or a exercise machine drove. Or a. The end of the bedrobe thinks the wardrobes are full.
- [24:02]
Jill
Yes, we love that one. That's okay.
- [24:06]
Ingrid
I will use that one for the rest of my life.
- [24:08]
Jill
Ingrid.
- [24:09]
Ingrid
Okay, the floor drove.
- [24:11]
Jen
Yeah. So what happens? Because the cupboards are full, all the hangers are full, the wardrobe is bursting at the seams. The clothes you that actually are wearing, washing, ironing, trying to put back, can't go in. So they get on a pile somewhere and then it ends up on the floor because the thing topples over. Or we find exercise machines with lots of clothes over them because the wardrobes are full and you can't open the doors anymore. And that's, I think sometimes what people find a little bit scary is that they say to us, but there's stuff everywhere. We want the declutter, we want to organize and tidy it up. And I'm like, but you got nowhere to tidy it too, because your cupboards are full. You need to at one point, and that's why it's again so nice to start in the kitchen because the cupboards are full. Smaller, you can go, let's empty this cupboard. Let's see what we have. Let's decide what we want to keep. That's what we're going to put back. And once we do a couple of more cupboards, then the stuff that's out on the kitchen counters can go somewhere. Yeah, there's stuff on the kitchen counters because it can't be put away.
- [25:19]
Jill
Oh, I so appreciate your focus on decluttering before organizing, because I think organizing that could happen in a day, maybe a weekend. But if you've not gotten rid of the things you don't use or you have excess of or really taken inventory, then it's just all going to topple over again in that very week. And we're not actually getting to the root of the problem. Like, organizing is great, but it sounds like as, as the next step beyond decluttering.
- [25:51]
Jen
And funny thing is that you say that because actually after the organizing, then comes the storage. So a lot of people say to me, and also, Leslie, what do I need to buy to get organized? And we're like, you're not going to buy anything. We first need to declutter what you have. There you go. It needs to find the right place where it lives, where it makes sense for you to look for that item. We can put it in a shoebox. It doesn't matter. It can be an empty Amazon box for if there's loads of those. The storage is the last phase in almost kind of making it look pretty and containerizing it more. The decluttering comes first, then the organizing. Where do I find this item? And then, okay, how am I going to find the right storage box? And. But what a lot of people do, they go, I'm so chaotic. I see all these beautiful pictures. I need to have containers to buy and put all my cereals and my rice and pastas in, because then I'm going to be organized. But actually, you have to be super organized to have beautiful pantries in, see through containers with labels.
- [27:12]
Jill
And what happens with those anyhow is typically the item, the food item doesn't all fit into the beautiful containers. Then you've got the container with the item on display and the box and the plastic, it's somewhere else, too. And you're just creating like doubles, triples, quadruples of everything. Might as well just keep it in the box.
- [27:33]
Ingrid
It's a vicious cycle.
- [27:34]
Jen
It is. And you create a lot of work for yourself as well. And I. I'm not afraid to say, Jen and Jill, I am a professional organizer. I do not have containers for my cereals. They live in my original packaging, you.
- [27:48]
Jill
Know, because you heard it here first.
- [27:51]
Jen
I know, I know. And it was interesting because Leslie the other day said to me, I think my life is getting a bit calmer. I. I'm considering buying some containers because I think I'm ready for this now. My kids are all grown up. I feel like I'm yelling so funny.
- [28:07]
Ingrid
And I'm like, I think I'm ready for containers. Because for me, oh, yeah, definitely not.
- [28:11]
Jen
I don't want to spend that time. I just find other things more important. So for me, the container comes last. But, you know, we might have some listeners who are like, I'm tuning out now. I can't listen anymore.
- [28:24]
Ingrid
No, I think everybody is going to resonate or the majority will resonate with this because we are all about the, like, the simplification of things. And Sometimes organizing can feel complex. Decluttering we get, that's simplifying, but it's. And I like say this all the time. I hate the show on Netflix from the Home Edit because it stresses me out. Because it is really just shifting things into pretty plastic containers like that is really complex. So I feel like you are giving people permission to simplify. They're decluttering and even doing a slow build by maybe like just first focusing on one room in the house, smallest drawers in the house. Focusing on just using up first is to like giving permission to focus on one thing at a time and really simplify the process. So I love it.
- [29:23]
Jen
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And it's, I think in the beginning people don't think about all the money they're going to save. They don't see that as a big reason why they want to declutter. They just want to have less overwhelm. They want to have less chaos in their head in their house. But later, what they see is the benefits with money, with better time management, with being far better on what priorities are longer term goals. Because when you have a lot of clutter, life can be very stressful. When you have to find your keys and your phone all the time and when you have nothing prepared and you have to think at 10 to 6 in the evening, what are we having for dinner tonight? And then you're missing a couple of ingredients, it gets very, very stressful. And once you start to break through slowly but surely through that clutter a little bit and go, actually, wow, I'm going to think about what we're going to have in morning, what we're going to have this evening. So I have. That's already. Can be a massive win. And then the next step can be actually, instead of shopping every day and driving past the shops, I'm going to try and only go two or three times a week. Wow, I'm saving so much time all of a sudden. Then I can do some other things and then, wow, I'm going to try this whole meal planning thing. So it's. You can't, you know, run a marathon when you've never even walked around the block yet. That's why the starting, smallest critical in decluttering, you can't go overnight and change all of these habits that have been ingrained in your life for such a long time. You can't all change it at the same time. And that's why we always talk about breaking it down all the time. And even when I'm going to do my Kitchen. Okay. Make that even smaller. I'm going to look at my glasses today, or when you're doing your wardrobe. Today I'm looking at my trousers, and tomorrow I'm going to look at my tops, and next week I'm going to look at my T shirts, and then I'm going to look at my pajamas or whatever it is. Keep breaking it down and going, I'm going to do all of the wardrobes. It can be too overwhelming. And then people run out of steam. And then they're like, oh, and I didn't finish this job. And then it becomes a negative experience. You're better off going, I'm going to set aside 20 or 30 minutes. I'm going to do a couple of bits and go, go, me. I actually did it. And then it's a positive experience. And you want to come back to something when it's positive, but when it's a really negative experience, oh, I'm gonna do my whole room. And after one and a half hours, what have I done? The place is even more messy than when I started. And this is all gonna go wrong here. And. And then it's like. And how do you come back from that?
- [32:10]
Jill
Yeah. Do you know what's always also a positive experience? And just like a walk around the park.
- [32:18]
Ingrid
Yeah. You don't have to start small. You can dive straight in. The bill of the week.
- [32:34]
Jen
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.
- [32:55]
Ingrid
Ingrid. Every week we ask our listeners and our guests to share with us their bill for the week. We leave it very vague to give you a lot of freedom in this, and I know you've been thinking about it. So let us know what your bill is.
- [33:12]
Jen
My bill is the restaurant. There is a restaurant chain here in the UK that's called Bills. Oh, my gosh.
- [33:22]
Ingrid
What do they serve? And are they good?
- [33:25]
Jen
Yes, it's really nice. The restaurants can be quite a bit quirky from the inside. It feels a bit. I mean, I haven't been to one in a while, but, you know, because it just hasn't happened. You know, we've had a whole time that we couldn't go anywhere. But the Bills that I went to were quite quirky from the inside. It had to feel a bit of an Italian, Italian feel with, like, Jars with olives and like garlic things. And it's like a bit of a shop that you can buy some stuff as well. Busy, not posh, but good food. So. Yeah, that's my Bill.
- [34:01]
Jill
Oh, that's a great bill, Ingrid, where you have paired the name of Bill with food. That is.
- [34:12]
Ingrid
And some of our favorite food like garlic.
- [34:15]
Jill
Garlic olives. I'm imagining there's bread there. All that I need to know.
- [34:21]
Jen
Wow.
- [34:22]
Jill
Yeah, yeah, Amazing. Oh, if you all listening happen to have restaurants and food or a person named Bill around your vicinity and you just want to call in and tell us about it, you know the drill. Frugalfriendspodcast.com Bill, leave us your bill. We're just, we're ready to be shocked.
- [34:41]
Jen
And surprised if you ever come to the. To the uk, Jen and Jill, we need to meet up in a Bill's restaurant, I think.
- [34:50]
Ingrid
Oh, my gosh. My new dream.
- [34:52]
Jill
Yes, absolutely. And now it's time for the lightning round. We're really produced over here heavily, highly edited and mouse noises.
- [35:11]
Ingrid
So lots of budget for sound effects. High, high budget. So today's lightning round question that we're all going to take a turn in answering is what's the most embarrassing thing you've discovered when decluttering and Ingrid, this can be for you or decluttering someone else's. You don't have to say names. The only you can be anonymous. Jill and I will obviously not be anonymous, but. Yeah, what's the most embarrassing thing?
- [35:42]
Jen
Oh, I don't know if I can tell. We do find interesting things. I always say it's a good thing I grew up very close to Amsterdam and that my parents are both from Amsterdam and the. The red light district. So I'm not easily shocked. But I have found a thing or two. And one time I opened a bedside drawer and I went, that's not for me. And I closed it again.
- [36:14]
Jill
There's not enough gloves in this world for me to interact with that.
- [36:20]
Ingrid
There you go. They're just. They're living their lives. Oh, man.
- [36:25]
Jill
What about for you, Jen?
- [36:29]
Ingrid
So I think so it's not embarrassing, but I couldn't think of really anything embarrassing. And maybe that's just because I probably have said everything about my life on the show already. But I think the growth. Like when I clean out my packet drawer in my kitchen, sometimes I will find a packet that has like opened and it has made all the other packets gross.
- [36:57]
Jill
Like a condiment packet.
- [36:59]
Ingrid
A condiment packet, yeah. And it's never a Taco Bell hot Sauce. It's always like a ketchup or something sticky. And it's like, ugh, now I have to rinse all my packets.
- [37:11]
Jill
No, you don't. You rinse your packets off. Wow.
- [37:15]
Ingrid
It's not a lot. It's not like the whole drawer is full of packets. It's, you know, like they could all fit in a gallon size bag. So it's not like a, you know. But I love them. They're mostly Taco Bell hot sauce packets.
- [37:28]
Jill
For any new listeners, Jen keeps all of her extra condiments from these fast food restaurants and what, reuses them just however you want.
- [37:40]
Ingrid
I don't reuse them. I use them once.
- [37:42]
Jill
Jill.
- [37:44]
Ingrid
It's like for the. I don't, I don't have like two ketchup bottles, right? I have one ketchup bottle and when the ketchup runs out, if I need a little extra, then I go to the packet drawer and I'll get the extra ketchup, you know, when I'm in a pinch. And then I'll just buy more ketchup. So that's kind of what I use it for.
- [38:03]
Jill
Not putting things to waste, I suppose.
- [38:06]
Ingrid
I love, obviously, Taco Bell hot sauces. And I don't like, I get enough of those that I don't have to buy them in the store. But there's also. Wendy's has this ghost pepper ranch that you cannot buy in stores and that I specifically will ask for extra of and save. So those are really. Those are the main ones.
- [38:27]
Jen
Yeah.
- [38:27]
Ingrid
So that's me. That's me. And maybe that fact right there, that story, that dissertation on packet drawer accumulation and maintenance, maybe that's the most embarrassing thing.
- [38:42]
Jill
Potentially.
- [38:44]
Ingrid
Potentially. Jill.
- [38:47]
Jill
My middle school journal. I was decluttering at one point in the midst of a move. Moves are great for that if you allow it to. I know some people just throw everything and move it to the next spot and it just gets shoved back into the closet. But I have taken opportunities when we've moved to get rid of, sell, be kind to myself when we land in the next spot. And at one point I came across one of my middle school journals and it was just cringy. I just felt so deeply embarrassed, embarrassment to my core, that it wasn't this keepsake for me. I definitely threw it out, if not like shredded it before throwing it out. Because I'm like, no one should ever read this, ever. I never want to read this again. I don't ever want anyone else to read this. It was just cringy.
- [39:39]
Ingrid
Oh, My gosh.
- [39:40]
Jill
So that was embarrassing for me.
- [39:42]
Ingrid
What was the most important thing to you, to middle school Jill, that you journaled about?
- [39:47]
Jill
What was the biggest crisis thing about it? I don't know what this says about me, so analyze this if you want. I censored myself. As in I almost wrote as if someone else was going to find this journal and read it. And so I didn't. I didn't use my journal for my truest of true thoughts because I was always concerned someone else was gonna find it and read it. So it was almost like the embarrassing part to me is that I felt as though I couldn't use my journal to just write how I actually thought. So it sounded like I was trying to be this autobiographer about the things that I thought worthy of writing about. That's what stood out to me as the most important thing, is that I thought my life experiences needed to be censored for whoever might read like, you.
- [40:40]
Ingrid
Thought you were gonna be the next Anne Frank or you just thought your little brother was gonna find it in.
- [40:44]
Jill
The end, like a family member.
- [40:46]
Ingrid
That's reasonable. That was a reasonable fear for you.
- [40:52]
Jill
I don't know. I think I thought, oh, yeah, what if this finds itself in a cat? I think it was family. What if family ever found it? And then I think I also had this idea that I was really dramatic as a child and probably as an adult, that maybe someday this journal is gonna find itself, itself in a capsule and people a hundred years from now are going to read this and look back and, I don't know, just be.
- [41:16]
Ingrid
Moved by your words.
- [41:17]
Jill
Throw it out. All that's all there is to say. No one will ever read what Middle School Jill wrote. Yeah.
- [41:27]
Ingrid
Wow. Well, so if people want to read what you're writing, Ingrid, or hear what you're saying on your podcast, where can people get more from you?
- [41:39]
Jen
Couple of different ways. You can listen to our podcast. We've got the DeclutterHub podcast on any podcast player. Or just go to DeclutterHub.com and then you will find the podcast and you can listen or you can join our Facebook group. We've got a lovely Facebook group called the DeclutterHub Community. Emotions based Decluttering. Because we believe it's all about the emotions connected to stuff and not the stuff itself. You need to learn more about why the stuff is so hard. And it's not just as simple as let's get a bag and throw it all away. You need to learn from that. So, yes, Facebook Group and the podcast. Definitely excellent.
- [42:18]
Jill
Thank you so much, Ingrid. We've learned a ton from you and had some laughs. What more could we ask for?
- [42:25]
Jen
Well, it was absolutely a pleasure. And yeah, I mean, not enough time. I would have loved to have spent more time talking about paperwork and about meal planning and about say goodbye to that storage unit. But you know, it's all about paring it down just a little bit and hopefully that way you will get a better grip of this clutter in your house and make it. Make it a bit easier for yourself. You know, having a lot of clutter is hard work.
- [42:58]
Jill
I had forgotten about that lightning round until I relooked at it and remembered pulling out that old journal and being a little bit embarrassed when we.
- [43:13]
Ingrid
When you talked about your collection of wax fingers, we had a comment on the YouTube channel shout out to our YouTube channel that you should definitely go subscribe to. You will not see Jill's collection of wax fingers, but you would hear about it. We had a comment that asked you to never talk about it again.
- [43:34]
Jill
Did they really?
- [43:36]
Ingrid
Yeah. So I think this is just. It sounds reminiscent of that time of your life. It sounds like a pattern.
- [43:43]
Jill
They were being protective of me. Like for your own sake, don't ever talk.
- [43:47]
Ingrid
No, I.
- [43:48]
Jen
It was not.
- [43:48]
Ingrid
It was their protection. It was a protection for their sake.
- [43:53]
Jill
Do you think we lost their subscribers?
- [43:55]
Ingrid
No.
- [43:56]
Jill
Over it?
- [43:56]
Ingrid
No, I do not. But they just. This was just a request and it. And I replied and said I will honor it.
- [44:03]
Jill
But now here you are bringing it back up again.
- [44:05]
Ingrid
I'm so sorry, but this is the last time. It's only to bring it up because.
- [44:10]
Jill
We have to tell her I was an unhinged child and this is who I turned into. So if your kid is doing weird things, journaling about weird stuff and playing with candle wax, she gonna turn into her. You might expect her to be a podcaster.
- [44:25]
Ingrid
A weird adult, but a lovely adult. Completely lovely. So. So thank you so much for listening and I promise I will not mention what cannot be mentioned for the rest of the life of the podcast. I promise that to you. We love reading your kind comments and reviews. Whether it's on our YouTube channel of these videos or our book Buy what yout Love Without Going Broke. As we mentioned earlier, like this one from Georganne. Five stars. A relatable and entertaining way to learn about finance management. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this book from my favorite budgeting podcast duo. Jill and Jen have opened my eyes to so many concepts. Values based spending, being one of the big ones. I've learned that I can make the space in my life for the things I truly value. And with a little bit of planning and creativity, I can meet my needs without breaking my bank. Think I've learned a lot about the psychology behind what has driven my poor, impulsive spending habits in the past. I don't feel helpless anymore. With the tools I've been given, I feel like I'm in control. And as I mentioned before, they make it fun and entertaining. Love this book so much.
- [45:39]
Jill
That's so kind. We have received so many kind reviews on the book.
- [45:44]
Ingrid
It's been so heartwarming, so encouraging.
- [45:46]
Jill
Yeah. So thank you all for reading the book, for listening to this show, for watching us on YouTube. If you are looking for a way to support us, show us your love for free. Because we love that. We don't think you always have to spend money to show the people and businesses you love support. A few ways you can do that is by reviewing our book like Georgeanne did on Amazon is great because that's where people go to look at reviews, even if that's not where they're buying it. A big thing right now is to subscribe to our YouTube channel. That is like the highest tier for us in priority. And also reviewing the podcast wherever you're listening to the podcast. So three options. You can do all three of them. You could do just one of them. If you do subscribe, leave a comment on one of our videos to let us know that you did. We'll definitely respond to that.
- [46:37]
Ingrid
And if you get the book, let us know. It's available wherever books are sold online and we have instructions on the website for the book. Buywhatyoulovebook.com for requesting it at your library. I'm still requesting it at our library. Our library does not have it yet, so if you live in St. Petersburg, go request it at our library. There's strength in numbers.
- [47:02]
Jill
See you next time.
- [47:05]
Ingrid
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
- [47:18]
Jill
Okay, speaking of where the book is, where is it? San Diego airport.
- [47:25]
Ingrid
Was it in like now?
- [47:27]
Jen
Ish. Now.
- [47:28]
Jill
Well, when I. Yeah. So this episode comes out almost like mid July. But I was in San Diego mid June and it was there mid June. Wow. I was ecstatic. So I was in a small terminal within the airport. They only had one store with, you know, your grab and go foods and waters, one shelf of books. And I just strode in there on my own. Just cause when anytime I'm at the airport, I am checking the bookstores Sometimes I've been excited, right? Like, I saw it at the Cleveland Airport and now San Diego. So maybe only two of, like, the four or five airports I've been in since it was released. So not expecting it at all. I'm by myself, not recording video. No one's recording video of me. And I see it and I yelp. Eric is sitting over by the terminal, but headphones in. I literally run to him. Cause I'm like, I gotta share this with somebody. And I hit him, like, hard on the shoulder because I had just run. I was so excited. He had headphones in, so he wasn't looking to see me. So I hit him. And he just, like, turns, like, a little shocked, like, surprised eyes, kind of angry, a little hurt. He's like, you just hit me. Like, our books. Our books here. He's like, you hit me. I'm really sorry about our books here. Now you need to take video of me.
- [49:00]
Ingrid
Oh, my gosh.
- [49:01]
Jill
Yeah. So I posted a story, which was fun. And then we got a DM from some people in the San Diego area, wondering if we had just arrived there. They're like, we'd love to do a meetup if you can. And I'm like, no, we're on our way out. But they assured us that we have a very strong following over there. Wow. A lot of interested people. Reason to go back.
- [49:28]
Ingrid
That's so fun. I took Instagram off my phone, so I don't see any of this anymore. This is the first time hearing about it.
- [49:34]
Jill
Yes. I couldn't believe it. To still be. I mean, it was amazing to be in airports to begin with. That's usually a very hard placement to secure.
- [49:44]
Ingrid
It feels harder than Target because they're both book. SE section is smaller. And we are not in Targets.
- [49:51]
Jill
Yeah. Yeah.
- [49:53]
Ingrid
Which. So it's crazy. It is crazy.
- [49:55]
Jill
June.
- [49:56]
Ingrid
And our book came out in January and bribed nobody. We bribed nobody. You tend to pay to be there, but we didn't. And our publisher sure, sure didn't pay.
- [50:08]
Jill
Anybody to still be there six months later. Was.
- [50:11]
Ingrid
Nobody has purchased it since January.
- [50:14]
Jill
I know, though. There's a part of me, I feel.
- [50:16]
Ingrid
Like they send it back. Yeah, they would send it back if they didn't want it there.
- [50:20]
Jill
I think that people have purchased it because also there were five copies. Usually there's only like three or so. So that tells me people had purchased. And this was a restock. Your girl.
- [50:35]
Ingrid
People who love travel.
- [50:36]
Jill
Your girl signed all of them.
- [50:38]
Ingrid
Yes.
- [50:38]
Jill
So they can't send them back.
- [50:40]
Ingrid
They cannot send them back. Did you ask?
- [50:43]
Jen
No.
- [50:44]
Ingrid
Oh, you just signed them. Yeah.
- [50:47]
Jill
That's my girl.
- [50:48]
Jen
Why would you ask?
- [50:50]
Jill
It's our property.
- [50:51]
Ingrid
It's not our property. It's actually very much not our property. It belongs to HarperCollins.
- [51:00]
Jill
Well, yeah, I signed our book.
- [51:04]
Ingrid
Fantastic.
- [51:04]
Jill
Of course, now, if you get a book from the San Diego airport and it only has my signature. I mean, limited edition, am I right? But also, feel free to ship it to us. Us. And we'll get Jen's signature on it. Or we'll just send you a sticker with Jen's signature on it.
- [51:20]
Ingrid
Yeah, I'll send.
- [51:21]
Jill
I don't know. But reach out to us for sure. If you end up with one of those books, let us know.