The Top 10 Benefits of Frugal Living

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast – Episode 486: The Top 10 Benefits of Frugal Living

Release Date: February 18, 2025

In Episode 486 of the Frugal Friends Podcast, hosts Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni delve into the myriad benefits of embracing a frugal lifestyle. This comprehensive discussion not only highlights the practical advantages of frugality but also explores the deeper emotional and psychological rewards that come with mindful spending. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key points, insightful discussions, and concluding thoughts from the episode.

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1. Introduction to Frugal Living

Jen and Jill kick off the episode by setting the stage for an exploration of frugality beyond just saving money. They emphasize that frugal living is about aligning spending habits with personal values and fostering a more intentional lifestyle.

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2. Finding Joy in Creative Problem Solving [05:51]

Jen: "Creativity is a higher need. ... When we have a frugal mindset and we are looking to steward our resources, well, then we get to solve problems creatively."

Frugality encourages individuals to think outside the box, finding innovative solutions to everyday challenges without relying on excessive spending. This creative approach not only saves money but also enhances personal growth and self-fulfillment.

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3. Exercising Creativity and Patience [08:29]

Jill: "Exercising more degrees of patience and not just making the purchase ... sparks creative problem solving."

Instead of succumbing to impulse buying, frugal living fosters patience and resilience. By creating a deliberate pause before making purchases, individuals develop stronger problem-solving skills and reduce unnecessary spending.

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4. Connecting More Deeply with Your Values [10:51]

Jen: "When we can know those values, we can put those at the focus of why we're spending money versus chasing stuff that is marketed to us as fulfilling that needs."

Frugality helps prioritize what truly matters, allowing individuals to spend in ways that reflect their core values. This alignment leads to a more meaningful and satisfying life, free from the distractions of consumerism.

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5. Rediscovering Simple Pleasures [12:47]

Jill: "When we are less accustomed to just buying and consuming, we give ourselves space to recognize that some of the best things in life truly are free or at least super affordable."

Embracing a frugal lifestyle enables individuals to find joy in everyday moments. Simple activities like sharing a homemade dinner or enjoying a nature walk become more fulfilling, fostering a greater appreciation for the present.

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6. Feeling the Freedom of Financial Security [18:11]

Jen: "Every dollar that you don't spend ... allows you to do what you want to do with it."

Financial security is a significant benefit of frugality. By minimizing unnecessary expenses, individuals gain greater control over their finances, leading to enhanced flexibility and the ability to pursue personal goals without financial strain.

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7. Strengthening Relationships through Shared Goals [21:02]

Jen: "Frugal Friends is in existence because of this."

Shared frugal goals can strengthen bonds within communities and relationships. Collaborating on saving strategies or participating in collective frugal activities fosters a sense of camaraderie and mutual support.

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8. Learning to Appreciate What You Have [22:30]

Jen: "When your focus shifts from what you don't have to what you have, you naturally buy less."

Gratitude and contentment are cornerstones of a frugal lifestyle. By valuing existing possessions and experiences, individuals reduce the urge to accumulate more, leading to a more content and less materialistic life.

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9. Discovering Your Inner DIY Guru [25:53]

Jill: "Frugality and DIY projects can go hand in hand."

Frugality often inspires individuals to take on DIY projects, whether it's repairing household items or creating home decor. This not only saves money but also cultivates new skills and a sense of accomplishment.

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10. Enjoying the Charm of Minimalism [28:31]

Jen: "Frugality does naturally encourage a bend towards minimalism by prompting you to buy less, then you naturally own less."

Minimalism, a natural extension of frugality, leads to simpler living spaces and reduced clutter. This simplification can decrease stress and increase the overall quality of life by focusing on what truly matters.

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11. Connecting with a Like-minded Community [31:20]

Jill: "We have our Frugal Friends community on Facebook... It can also be the launching point to include people in your community."

Building connections with others who share frugal values provides support, inspiration, and a platform for exchanging tips and resources. Such communities enhance the frugal journey by fostering a sense of belonging and collective growth.

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Listener Story: Bill of the Week [33:56 – 35:20]

A heartwarming listener story from Marie in Alberta illustrates practical frugality in action. Marie shares how she taught her young sons the value of budgeting by saving for desired items and understanding credit card responsibilities. This story underscores the importance of financial education and responsible spending from an early age.

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Final Thoughts and Encouraging Participation [41:58 – 55:10]

Jen and Jill wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to participate in their Mega Survey to shape future content. They discuss upcoming YouTube projects aimed at expanding community engagement and providing visual content to complement the podcast. The hosts also highlight the positive feedback from their book, "Buy What You Love Without Going Broke," emphasizing its role in inspiring intentional spending aligned with personal values.

Notable Quote:

Jen: "It's not about wanting less, but wanting different." [44:07]

This encapsulates the essence of frugality as a positive and empowering lifestyle choice focused on meaningful and intentional consumption.

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Conclusion

Episode 486 of the Frugal Friends Podcast offers a rich and insightful exploration of how frugal living extends beyond mere saving. Through creative problem solving, deeper value alignment, rediscovery of simple pleasures, and building supportive communities, Jen and Jill illustrate that frugality can lead to a more fulfilling and intentional life. Their thoughtful discussions, paired with real-life listener stories, provide a compelling case for adopting a frugal mindset and reaping its numerous benefits.

Listeners are encouraged to engage further by participating in the Mega Survey and exploring additional resources such as their book and upcoming YouTube content.

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For more insights and tips on frugal living, subscribe to the Frugal Friends Podcast on your preferred platform and join their supportive community on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript

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[Jen]

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[Jen]

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[Jen]

It'S your inner child calling and they want churros, a new toy and a new adventure. Or maybe five with the bestest besties on earth. Find your moment at Walt Disney World Resort. Episode 486 the Top Benefits of Frugal Living.

[Jill]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace.

[Oracle Representative]

Simplicity and live a richer life.

[Jill]

Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.

[Jen]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast. My name is Jen.

[Jill]

My name is Jill and who better.

[Jen]

To talk about the benefits of Frugal Living than the Frugal Friends Podcast.

[Jill]

You know we got a list of all those bennies.

[Jen]

If you are interested in Frugal Living and are questioning whether you want to identify as Frugal frugal, then we're here to give you the bennies. Talk about why this is the lifestyle that we love and that we think you will love as well.

[Jill]

But first, this episode is brought to you by none other than Bennies. We love benefits like pto, amazing healthcare coverage and extra money. But if you're not getting those kinds of bennies, get the reward of helping us decide the future of Frugal friends. Take our 10 question mega survey and help us know the types of topics that you want to hear more of. Give us a better understanding of who exactly we're talking to because we've been doing this now for coming up on seven years. So it's good to get a new pulse on our audience and kind of know where you all are at so that we can make content that will be tailored to you. So get those bennies. Frugalfriendspodcast.com megasurvey or subscribe to the Friend Letter where we're also sending out the Mega Survey. You can get [e-mail] yeah, mega survey.

[Jen]

And even if you think we've probably done an episode on it before, still at the end, the last question of the Mega Survey is Episode ideas. Our average listener has a lifespan of two years with us before they move on to bigger and better things. And so we like to recycle topics every two years so we want to know what you want to hear. So frugalfriendspodcast.com megasurvey and let us know if you are really interested in transforming your lifestyle into a frugal lifestyle. Here are a couple episodes to queue up after this one. Episode 337 how to Adopt a Frugal Mindset and Episode 310 Frugal Living Tips from the Great Depression. Two very good ones. You can search for those in your podcast player. How to adopt a Frugal Mindset and Frugal Living Tips from the Great Depression. Just add Frugal Friends at the end and the episode will pop up even if the episode number does not.

[Jill]

So we're gonna go through just this one article that comes from this evergreen home and it's titled why Frugality is actually more fun than just spinning, Spending whatever you want. And there happen to be 10 things. So we are just going to list off all 10 of them. Although I will say we'll have our own spin to add to some of these as we go through it.

[Jen]

Yes. So let's start out. The first one is finding joy in creative problem solving. So this is something we talk a lot about on the show is creativity. And it's because when we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, these are our human needs. These are the things that motivate us to do anything and to make a lot of purchases. These are the needs that motivate us to make purchases. And at the very top, the highest need, the one that gets forgotten about the most, is self actualization. And that isn't just some transcendent like, I'm finding purpose and I'm meditating all the time. Self actualization is the feeling of being an individual, that you are living a uniquely authentic individual life. And part of that is creativity, spontaneity and purpose. So creativity is a higher need. And so we don't give ourselves a lot of options or opportunities to be creative. And when we desire that, we think we have to buy like craft supplies to be creative or innovative. And some of that can actually come from solving problems. So instead of just heading straight to Amazon to solve a problem, you can start by asking, how can I solve this problem with what I have? How can I solve this problem without spending at all? Like getting it for free? So buy nothing groups, you know, free resources, all of that. How can I solve this problem without spending much? So secondhand, Facebook, marketplace, Craigslist, what have you. And then after you go through those filters, it will be a barrier. It's not the most convenient, but it's not inconvenient to just look at those options first to get creative with how you're going to solve the problem. If none of those works, the problem still exists, then we can go to the store, to Amazon, stuff like that. But when we have a frugal mindset and we are looking to steward our resources, well, then we get to solve problems creatively. And that's meeting a higher need. And when we get creative, that results in less impulse spending to meet that need.

[Jill]

The second reason listed here is that you get to experience the thrill of the hunt. And this is the one I'm going to kind of reframe for us a bit. Because the thrill of the hunt is one of the top five reasons that we give for why we impulse spend that we are searching for the best deal, the clearance item, the hidden treasure. And so we do acknowledge that that is fun. But I want to Call this second one more like Exercising creativity part two, where if we are decreasing our overall level of consumption, our level of I'm just going to immediately buy to solve a problem. But instead we create some space or friction between us and a purchase, which is a lot of what can happen in living a frugal lifestyle. Then we can exercise more degrees of patience and not just doing the thing, making the purchase, putting it on the credit card, but we are causing ourselves to need to wait, which will then spark some of that creative problem solving of what could I do instead? What is the need that I'm experiencing? And so I think there's a lot of just resilience and quality characteristics that are built up in ourselves when we reduce our level of consumption. But also not to discount that it will require at times research degrees of hunting. And there is a thrill to waiting, searching for, researching, and feeling really confident in the purchasing decisions that we make. Yes, there is a high. I'm not going to deny that I'm not going to encourage people to chase that high, to chase that hunt, but just know that it is a part of a frugal lifestyle that can happen. But we don't want it to turn into like a hobby, a spending habit that we're just like always hunting at the thrift store and yard sale. Like I used to do before I lived in a motorhome and couldn't bring a bunch of stuff back into my house. So more so looking at it from the perspective of what does waiting build in me, what resilience, problem solving, patience am I learning through this process?

[Jen]

Yeah, I think hunting is another of those self actualization. It creates self sufficiency and it also breeds self confidence and self esteem because you're like, I am smart enough to find these deals and gather them. And that's another one of those higher needs is self confidence and self esteem. So I think it hits two of those, which is why we love it so much. So the next one is connect more deeply with your values. And it's essentially the topic of our book Buy what yout Love without going Broke is how do I identify what I value in the first place? And we use Maslow's hierarchy of needs as kind of a baseline and realize that our biggest higher values on that hierarchy that we are searching for are family, friends, faith and fulfilling work. And they transcend a lot of those top higher needs. And when we can know those values, we can put those at the focus of why we're spending money versus chasing stuff that is marketed to us as fulfilling that needs. So I love that they start this section off with In a culture that equates spending with success, frugality helps you step back and ask what really matters to me so that we can choose our higher needs over wants. And then it's easier to prioritize quality over quantity and stuff. And you will naturally find that your life aligns more closely with these things we're all going to say are our highest priorities, but when we look at our transaction inventory, our inventory doesn't necessarily say that they are our highest priority.

[Jill]

Number four One of my favorites of the benefit of a frugal lifestyle is that it allows us space to rediscover simple pleasures. That when we are less accustomed to just buying and consuming, we give ourselves space to recognize that some of the best things in life truly are free or at least super affordable. They give examples of a homemade dinner shared with loved ones, a quiet walk in nature, a night spent stargazing. For me, I've really enjoyed daily simple Luxuries is what I've been calling them. Anything from just plating my food at lunch, making my food on my plate look aesthetically pleasing, to making myself a nice cup of tea, or doing some really restful exercises or stretches. I'm realizing that the things that I need that kind of keep me going and maintaining are the little things that I can engage in in routine, small bursts, tiny practices throughout the day that these are the things. I mean. Yes, it's fun to go to an awesome concert and a crazy vacation, but life is lived in the day to day and sometimes just the mundane. But if we can find simple pleasures in the day to day and mundane, then we're not so much looking for the extravagant luxurious vacation. We can still take them. But it's not like our whole lives are wrapped around that. Our are wrapped around what's happening in my life in the present moments.

[Jen]

Yeah, day to day, definitely.

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[Jen]

The next one is feel the freedom of financial security. And so often frugal living has been positioned as something you either do out of necessity because you don't make a lot or something very well off people do so they can save so much of their money and retire early. But we have always tried to argue that frugality doesn't necessarily pin you into either of those extremes. But it really is a feeling of freedom and liberation. Because every dollar that you don't spend, every dollar you don't give to Jeff Bezos, you get to do what you want to do with it, what you and again, align it with your values. So whether that is you want to spend more time with your family and friends. So maybe that means you want to reduce your workload, you want to go down working 20 hours a week instead of 40. Well, the more you invest, the more that money can grow for you and you can live off the dividends. And the fewer things you buy, the lower your budget needs to be, the lower your income needs to be every month. And so it just gives you so, so much flexibility to choose what you want to do or to react better in a higher place of power when things happen to you that you can't control. And honestly, that's what's going to be happening more often than not. We know things we can't control are going to happen to us. So how can I put myself in a position of like, control to control as much as I can and retain as much power as possible?

[Jill]

These are things that can kind of seem impossible, especially if we're in more of the middle income earning category, where how would I possibly experience financial security? It can be one of the reasons that people turn to a podcast like ours. But it has been amazing to hear all of the stories, I mean, a lot of them just through the bill of the week, callers talking about small changes that they've made. I would say probably about 50% of our callers, if I were just like choose a number off the dome are something about. I negotiated this bill, I changed this, I dropped this subscription and it allowed me to put 20, 50, 100 bucks more to XYZ goal. And now I have an emergency fund and because of that I was able to pay for the car that just broke down or just. The reality is that yep, there is a lot outside of our control. But also small changes towards progress can, can become cumulative.

[Jen]

People will rag on frugality being like, don't worry about the $6 latte, worry about making $10,000 extra a year. Right? But that's easier said in a personal finance blog or book then it is done in reality. And when we pursue, pursue, pursue and we don't get that extra $10,000, it is possible and you should continue to pursue it till you get it. But the more you pursue it and do not get what you pursue, the less motivated you are to pursue it. So in tandem, we also need to be doing small things that boost our self esteem, that boost our self confidence, that make us feel like we're doing something. And these are the small things. Frugal living encompasses the small things.

[Jill]

It's so true. Because while we also are saying yeah, it doesn't necessarily need to be about cutting out the coffee, let's make some wise housing, transportation and overarching food decisions. But some of that mindset in theory can lead you to just not looking at your spending behaviors at all. You know what, instead of worrying about this habit that you have, just try and earn so much more money. And really we're not solving some of the core issues. So yeah, as always we take a both and approach. The next one on here talks about one of the benefits being strengthening relationships through shared goals. I would absolutely agree because Frugal Friends.

[Jen]

Frugal Friends is in existence because of this.

[Jill]

But even on a more micro scale this has happened. So we're a part of a book club, you and I, Jen. And we, of course the ladies in this book club know what we do. And it has led to us talking about our financial goals and just more money minded things which then causes them to feel more comfortable to talk about these things. And we now pick books based off of what's available at our local library. I mean it's such a small example, but I think we feel, at least, I feel really seen in this that it's a small shared goal that all of us want. None of us every single month want to be dropping 10 to $30 on the book that most Likely we won't keep on our shelves, but instead make use of a local resource and everybody's on board for it. And it just creates such a fun camaraderie, you know, not just because we're rallied around the library, although that might be your dream come true.

[Jen]

I love the lib.

[Jill]

But these small things that really make us feel like a sense of belonging. When we're able to talk about the goals that we have and we're able to problem solve together and let one another know about the resources available to us, we just can go so much further together.

[Jen]

Yes. Next is you learn to appreciate what you have, which is a very strong, good skill to have. So when your focus shifts from what you don't have to what you have, you just naturally buy less. Right. But then you also have this, you know, added benefit of looking to appreciate it. So this appreciation fosters contentment, which is a whole chapter in our book Buy what yout Love Without Going Broken. Contentment without Complacency. And so you are feeling more abundant when you. Gosh, there's just so much to be said mentally for when we are looking at our things and we put social media, you know, behind us and we just really focus on looking at what we have and being appreciative of it. Like writing it down like, I'm so thankful for this couch. I'm so thankful for this instant pot, for this stove and like really appreciate what you have and what it can do. Really looking to get creative with, how can I make this last longer? How can I have this for longer? How can I use more of the features of what I have so I can feel like I'm getting something new by using what I have? And then you learn to appreciate it more and it's just, it's a snowball. And then you buy less and you just are happier.

[Jill]

Yeah, it's a beautiful cycle. Gratitude leads to contentment, leads to more. Gratitude leads to more contentment. Like sometimes we can find ourselves in non beneficial cycles and patterns. This one is a beneficial one. And we can just start with gratitude and it will build upon itself and.

[Jen]

It goes into every other area of your life. When you start with your stuff, then it goes to your family and then it goes to the people around you, the people at work, and you become a nicer human being all around.

[Jill]

I found some great definitions. Just the definitions for these things are great. When it comes to gratitude, the definition is to be thankful for benefits received, which I think is so interesting. It's not talking about the Things you hope for, the things you think will happen, there's a place for that. But gratitude is literally talking about present, moment and maybe even past experiences. What up to this point have you received that there is to be grateful for, which can then lead to, as we've said, contentment in the definition of contentment is to be satisfied with your stuff, status and situation, which we know money touches all of those things. So if we can leverage gratitude to lead to contentment, we will find less need to spend on stuff, our status, improving our situation. We will be more creative in identifying how can I be more satisfied with each of these three categories? The next one is that being frugal can help us discover our inner DIY guru. There's a spectrum here.

[Jen]

Oh, absolutely.

[Jill]

Some of us more than others for sure. But frugality and DIY projects can go hand in hand and you have heard it from us over the years. With Jen's goal of learning how to repair clothing, I in the past have refinished furniture. Both of us have tried our hands at gardening to varying degrees, maybe even fixing, doing small repairs in your home. That's another one we hear often from our listeners is I decided to try to fix my toilet, my fridge, my leaky faucet, fill in the blank myself before calling someone. Not that we're opposed to hiring it out, but could it be a simple fix? Could it be a YouTube 15 minute video that I watch and I learned something new and I'm able to do this myself and I don't have to hemorrhage $250 that just didn't need to be hemorrhaged. Unless your priority is to save yourself some time and you're fine paying for that. So again, there is a spectrum here.

[Jen]

There is a spectrum, yeah.

[Jill]

But it is a beautiful thing to learn how to care for the things that we already have to learn more about maintenance too? We've done a lot of episodes on maintaining our appliances and prolonging the life of the things that we own, which is also degrees of diy.

[Jen]

And then we've got enjoy the charm of minimalism. So this is less stuff means less stress. And so minimalism, I would say I'm back and forth on it. I think minimalism as we traditionally know it can be a little bit extreme and it can create judgment. Right. If you're not the perfect minimalist, like I posted a reel once on like my minimalist home and I think it was pretty minimalist. But somebody was like, oh, she's got all those tchotchkes in that china hutch. She's not minimalist. Even though that's the only place in my house that I have tchotchkes. That was my tchotchke hutch. So for me, that's minimalist. And to think that to be a minimalist you can't have any tchotchkes is insane. You could have. Even if you're a collector of something. Say you're a collector of trolls, which I saw a recent reel of. And this woman has like thousands of troll dolls.

[Jill]

Whoa.

[Jen]

But I didn't see any other collections of any other things, any other tchotchkes. Just a full basement of troll dolls. And, you know, good for her.

[Jill]

What she valued and good for her dove her in. Yeah.

[Jen]

And she also said in the real, I am ageless. And I said, yes, you are. But so, yeah, minimalism, I'm more minimal ish. But I think we really put that in an extreme. So. But it is charming. Like, I will agree. I love the word charming. So frugality does naturally encourage a bend towards minimalism by prompting you to buy less, then you naturally own less. And I think this is a harsh truth of decluttering. So much of decluttering is a marketing. Like, it's. I don't know if it's marketing, but so much of it promotes organizing, which is just telling you to buy more stuff to organize with. So I would say, if you like, decluttering is pointless if you don't first get at the root of why you're consuming. Right. We can all agree on that. So minimalism is just a mindset that will help you consume less and maybe give you an extra reason to consume less. It plays on simplification. So there's just a lot of good stuff around it as long as you separate it from that extreme view of minimalism or that minimalism has like a set guideline of any that it should look like anything.

[Jill]

That's the thing. Yeah, I haven't totally departed from that word. I just think that it can be so flexible in what it looks like for people and that primarily we're advocating for just less clutter and more simple spaces and schedules. The final benefit of frugality, which we've kind of alluded to already, but also one of our faves is that it can connect us to like minded community so we can find people who share our goals. And that can include joining a buy nothing group or swapping tips with friends, or following frugal living podcasts or blogs, or reading the books and These communities can be super supportive and inspiring. It's one of the reasons that we wanted a listener segment as part of this podcast from the very beginning that we recognize we don't have the corner on frugality. We want to hear from you all, learn from you all. It's why we have our Frugal friends community on Facebook. It's why we invite you to engage with us on Instagram. And yeah, a lot of these are digital ways of connecting, but we experience a lot of support and motivation through this. And it can also be the launching point to including people just in your community to be able to listen to a podcast together and chat about it, or read a book together and discuss or do more frugal, low cost activities just to be able to share with your friends your low consumption journey and inspire one another. There's so much benefit to community, especially when we can learn to leverage it towards growth and the things that we want to be accomplishing. We can just learn so much more together.

[Oracle Representative]

Yes.

[Jill]

You know, speaking of learning, where I do think we get some learning and just some fun tidbits.

[Jen]

And a true benefit of frugality is having one of these to call in every week.

[Jill]

Oh, the bill of the week.

[Oracle Representative]

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.

[Jill]

Your car died and you're happy to.

[Oracle Representative]

Not have to pay that bill anymore.

[Jen]

Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week.

[Oracle Representative]

Hi, this is Marie from Alberta, Canada.

[Jen]

My favorite bill of the week was when My sons were 9 and 10 years old. We had been teaching them how to.

[Oracle Representative]

Budget since they were very little. And they would, when they wanted to.

[Jill]

Buy something, we would put money away.

[Jen]

And we'd make a chart. This is how much money you have left.

[Oracle Representative]

This is where you are. And then when they finally got to the amount that they needed, we'd go to the store and we'd buy it.

[Jen]

Then they wanted to learn about a credit card.

[Oracle Representative]

So we said, okay, let's go. We went to the store, we said.

[Jen]

When you let's pick out something, they picked it out.

[Oracle Representative]

So I said, you don't have to pay now, but when the bill comes.

[Jen]

In, you have to pay it well.

[Oracle Representative]

They were very happy.

[Jen]

So we went home. And then a month later, the bill came and I said, okay, boys, it's time to pay the bill.

[Oracle Representative]

And they looked at me and said.

[Jill]

But mom, we finished our video game.

[Oracle Representative]

Why do we have to pay that bill. And I said, that's the lesson of a credit card. It doesn't matter whether you are still.

[Jen]

Using the item or not.

[Oracle Representative]

You put it on the card and.

[Jill]

You have to pay it. That was the best lesson they learned.

[Jen]

Because they have been great with credit cards ever since.

[Oracle Representative]

Thank you for all you do. I love your podcast.

[Jen]

Bye bye. Oh, wow, Marie, what a great lesson.

[Jill]

I love this.

[Jen]

That's a good one.

[Jill]

Have chills right now because we were just talking about how this community teaches us things and we learn and we're supported and encouraged and yeah, I'm learning a good approach.

[Jen]

What a good. Yeah, so much better than just teaching kids credit cards are bad because that's what my parents taught me. And guess what I did as soon as I turned 18. The second I turned 18, I went out and got a credit card and immediately maxed it out because I thought I was smarter than my parents.

[Jill]

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm hearing from her too, that it's not just about don't ever have a credit card. But like, here's the realities of it and for some of us, yeah, that does work. I recognize that. Okay, I didn't pay for it then, but now I'm gonna pay for it now. You really drove home that lesson super well. Well done, Marie. Thanks for sharing about your boys. If you have a bill that you wanna submit, if it has to do with financial education and literacy or bills that you did pay a little later, bills you paid, Bills you don't mind paying. You know what we want? Frugalfriends podcast.com Bill. Leave it for us.

[Oracle Representative]

Get in the zone. AutoZone. Welcome to the A to Z Savings Event at AutoZone. Thanks. I need to change my oil. So how much is an oil filter free when you buy five quarts of oil? Right now we have a special on Valvoline Advanced full synthetic or high mileage motor oil. The oil filter is free with the Valvoline Advanced full synthetic or high mileage motor oil. Yep. The free oil filter is part of the A to Z Savings event only at AutoZone. Get in the zone. Auto zone restrictions apply this President's Day.

[Jen]

Upgrade the look of your home without breaking your budget.

[Oracle Representative]

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[Jen]

Tired of restless nights at Lisa? They know good sleep is essential for mental, physical and emotional health. From memory foam mattresses to hybrids that keep you cool all night long, Leesa's mattresses offer exceptional comfort and support with free delivery and 100 nights to try out your mattress in the comfort of your home. Go to leesa.com today and get 20% off all mattresses and two free pillows. That's L E-E-S-A.com and use code iheart for an extra $50 off your purchase. Remember, no matter who you are, there's a Lisa just for you. Every day, our world gets a little.

[Jill]

More connected, but a little further apart.

[Jen]

But then there are moments that remind.

[Oracle Representative]

Us to be more human.

[Jill]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Oracle Representative]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Jill]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of. At Ameca, we understand that looking out.

[Oracle Representative]

For each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human, Amika. Empathy is our best policy.

[Jill]

And now it's time for the lightning round.

[Jen]

All right, what's the most rewarding part of living frugally for you? So getting. For me, it's getting to do the work that we do. We do not make a ton of money because we don't sell coaching. We don't sell like high ticket courses or memberships like most of the digital creators that are doing this full time. They live well, no, all of them, they live off of brand deals that sell you products and high priced digital things, you know, like so. And none of these are bad, right? They're great. But we want to, we wanted to bring you a book, the buy what you love without going broke. And so we wanted to really focus on getting that into the world and promoting it. And advertisements do support this show. So we appreciate your grace in listening to them or at least, you know, skipping through them and not sending us angry emails. But we don't make a ton of money through it. But because we live frugally, we can do this show and make our measly salary. And my husband was able to quit his really demanding, exhausting, emotionally and physically exhausting job to take a $20,000 pay cut and work at a job he really enjoys and has a very good schedule. And both of those were able to happen at the same time because we were living on, you know, one salary to begin with.

[Jill]

Yeah, I mean, I'll. I'll say something different, but I would agree with what you're describing. And same. And it should have been one of the top 10 reasons is just the more flexible lifestyle.

[Jen]

It's that financial freedom.

[Jill]

Yeah, that's true.

[Jen]

It's that flexibility is the real. It's. Yeah, that flexibility to save as much as you want or. Or do the work you want. You know, all that learning to live.

[Jill]

Off of less without it being deprivation, and utilizing the seasons when there is maybe a little bit more to stash away, not just spend it all, can allow some of that flexibility to say, you know what, actually, I'm gonna choose a pay cut, and that's actually gonna be really great for my wellbeing. And maybe it's not for forever, but. And we've heard so many of our listeners say that too. It's not just always about earning more. Sometimes it's the permission to earn less if that's going to be best for you at this time and yet still living a full life and not actually sacrificing too much in the process.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

So while I would say same, I'll choose something different. The Ed, I think less consumption leads to less overwhelm. Certainly for me, but specifically as it relates to doing this podcast, I think I've said recently how I'll bemoan the fact that many times people who don't necessarily listen to the podcast, but know I have a podcast about frugal living will assume what that means and how that can become laborious. For me, of, no, it's not about couponing or getting shirts for the lowest possible price, meanwhile exploiting other people's labor. Like, it's not about that. The positive side of it is that, yeah, people know that I'm going to be kind of mindful of my resources, and those who know me well are super accepting and supportive of that. Where I do feel a true freedom and license to not partake in some of the typical things that people partake in. And thankfully, because of the field that I'm in, people don't give me too crazy of looks for that, although I can deal with that. But that's the flip side of it that I feel absolute license to just say no. I'm actually not gonna get a second car and I'm not gonna go out to a restaurant five days a week and I'm not going to continue to just buy things on the Internet and have a package at my door every day. And I'm not going to be easily influenced by Instagram ads and I'm going to curate the things that I'm scrolling through. And I think over time it has accumulated to just less overwhelm with that permission too, that I can live life differently. I don't have to say yes to all of the things that other people are saying yes to. I get to say yes to the things that I decide and I just feel so much less chaos inside me.

[Jen]

Yeah, absolutely. So thank you so much for listening and I hope this is really if you're already feeling like a frugal person, I hope this has helped just to solidify you. If you're trying to find the appeal in frugality, I hope this has inspired you to take on this identity, to live this lifestyle. Because it's not until you truly like internalize it will you start to see it on the outside, I. E. In impulse, spending less and just having just like wanting. Not wanting less, but wanting different. And so we hope that if you want to learn more, you'll check out our book Buy what yout Love Without Going Broke. It will help you a lot in taking action in becoming more frugal and aligning your spending with your values. And we have loved reading your kind reviews of the book like this one from Patricia. It's five stars. She says. Gentle and encouraging. I really can't say enough good things about this book. It's such a gentle and encouraging take on the psychology of why we spend money and how our decisions surrounding money are either helpful or not helpful in reference to our personal goals. This is the financial book I wish I had read at the beginning of my journey with debt payoff and financial education. It has still come to me at a time when I needed a refresher course on why being intentional with my money matters. Both Jen and Jill from the Frugal Friends Podcast knocked this one out of the park. A fantastic read. I highly recommend.

[Jill]

Oh Patricia, this is so kind.

[Jen]

Thank you.

[Jill]

Such authentic words. I love reading the ways that it's landing with other people. If you all listening have purchased the book book and you haven't left us a review yet, please do so. It really helps us. And if you've not gotten the book, buywhatyoulovebook.com it's going to give you even more motivation and tips on how to live and embrace this frugal lifestyle.

[Jen]

Yes. See you next time.

[Jill]

Bye.

[Jen]

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. All right, so this doesn't have to be the topic of our entire after show, but I have not been able to stop itching my nose. So if you've heard in the audio, like a weird sound, it's probably me itching my nose. I just want to, like, reference that. I don't know why. It usually only happens when I drink wine. And I, I promise you I have not had wine right this morning.

[Jill]

Okay.

[Jen]

It is.

[Jill]

I believe you.

[Jen]

Well, it's 12:20 in the afternoon and I have not had any wine today.

[Jill]

It also happened to you when you drank hazelnut coffee that I had at my house. Oh, do you remember that?

[Jen]

Yeah. But I have not had any hazelnut.

[Jill]

Oh, but you did get coffee out today. I see a take up takeout mug on your desk.

[Jen]

Yeah, but I've had that coffee many. It's my favorite one from Caribou Cotton.

[Jill]

Take this away from me.

[Jen]

I, I, But I usually get a medium and I got a small today. Maybe that's the problem.

[Jill]

Yes. You're allergic to.

[Jen]

I'm allergic to a smaller size.

[Jill]

Oh, gosh.

[Jen]

I need to just get the big one. That's it. That's it. Maybe it's that I, I took one of those cup bowl things and maybe that has, like, cat hair or something on it. Maybe it hasn't been washed and somebody with a cat held it. That could also be the culprit. I think that's probably the most likely.

[Jill]

Scenario in case you're still here and you're confused. We have a new podcast studio.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Jill]

Out of both of our homes, we rent an office space at a co working facility. Facility. That sounds so intense. Co working building. And they've got a shared kitchen with these, like, cozies, like sewed fabric things.

[Jen]

For like a koozie. But for a bowl.

[Jill]

But for a bowl, which is awesome.

[Jen]

You put one and the sides are kind of stitched up so the pot holder does not lay flat. But the corners are up.

[Jill]

Yeah. So you can kind of hold something like a bowl, a warm bowl in your hands. And that's why it might have mystery cat hair. Because it's a shared space.

[Jen]

Yeah. So I'm gonna wash my hands after this and hopefully that will solve the problem. But let's talk a little bit about our mega survey. Oh, yeah. So if you are new here, every February we do a mega survey. And by mega we mean 10 questions. They are. Nine of them are multiple choice. One of them is short answer. Essentially, if you have an episode idea.

[Jill]

Mega, because we want a mega amount of you listeners to respond to, would really help us. Here's the thing. We get a lot of people, or not even a lot, and maybe that's part of the problem. We get a handful of people DMing us on Instagram about podcast episode ideas. And while I'll pull from that and add it to our sheet of podcasting ideas, they're all one off. And so I can't totally tell if. Is this something that is super niche that this one individual wants or would this appeal to the masses? Because the podcast is going out to the masses. Right. Not the individual person. And so something like this survey helps us to know what do the majority of people want to hear more of? Because we do have to tailor things to the crowd of people rather than just the individual. But collectively, we do believe there's probably a lot of similarities between you all. We just have to capture what that is. Because I also don't want to assume that my experience is everybody's experiences. Like just for Jen and I to pull topics out of thin air, thinking this would help me, we're still just the individual. We've got to make sure that our ideas are also going to fit your needs and keep you coming back for more.

[Jen]

And so if you're still with us, this is not something we're talking about in the friend letter or at the top of the app episode, but we are going to be doing more YouTube this year. So you'll be able to see our faces.

[Jill]

Cats out of the bag. That's why you're itching.

[Jen]

But we're not. Yeah, because I'm nervous. It's not just so you can see our faces. Right. That's not why we're doing YouTube. But we want to create a YouTube series that will live in the RSS feed eventually, but it's going to be YouTube first. That is truly good for YouTube. It's good visually. And so one of those ideas is.

[Jill]

Oh, you're telling. You're telling it all.

[Jen]

Well, if you're still here.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Then you just.

[Jill]

We are only weeks away from it being reality.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So we want to do something similar to Ramit and Caleb Hammer where they are doing financial coaching with people. But Our spin on it is spending. Just looking at the way people spend money and helping people really think about what is the root cause of my spending. Is this overspending? Am I not spending enough here? And really helping people get a hold of their spending, Reframe what they think they need to be spending on or reframe what they don't think. There are just so much, there's so much convolution when we think about our spending. And as experts in spending psychology and social work, we want to help people navigate that. We want to take what the book starts and we want to help people progress after that and take really like real world, you know, examples and action. And so that is something we're hoping to do. If there's something you really like when you see YouTube videos about finance, please let us know in the mega survey.

[Jill]

Frugalfriendspodcast.Com megasurvey if there's something you don't.

[Jen]

Like besides being mean, we're not going to be mean. I know that you guys don't like. We don't like people being mean to other people in these things. Even for shock value, even for views, we're not going to be mean. So you don't have to put that. But if there's something you don't like that these other creators do, let us know so that we can steer away from it. Because we want to differentiate ourselves and we want to tailor for you guys and it be something you guys want to watch on YouTube, something you would stream and cast on your TV to watch. So let us know in the mega survey and we know the real ones, only the real ones are still here. And so you are who we want to hear the YouTube guidance on.

[Jill]

How fitting to be talking about this post this episode because I think it really is a expanded community engagement that we want to do in 2025 of hearing more from listeners. And actually that is some feedback that we've gotten over the years is more, I mean some of it has talked about debt free stories, but like more real listeners, more of the community. And we really feel like this is gonna be the way to capture that to allow us a different set of people that we can see ourselves in and, and glean some things, have our own takeaways as we explore other people's stories. Oh, I couldn't be more thrilled and excited.

[Jen]

We're very, very excited about the direction. And yeah, we're gonna do some videos that are just Jill and I too and they're gonna be chill like the show you know. So we're gonna try to bring you several different options, but we would love to hear what you're interested what you like on YouTube. What are you already watching? Who are you already watching? Let us know all the details so that we can watch them too. We can get inspired and we can just create really helpful guidance.

[Jill]

Yeah. So what you should be hearing is that there's no better time to have your voice heard and bear influence on the trajectory of the show because we are moving and shaking up some things. So let us know what you want, what you don't want for girlfriendspodcast.com mega.

[Jen]

Survey and follow us on YouTube if you haven't already. Frugal Friends.

[Jill]

Bye.

[Oracle Representative]

Get in the zone AutoZone welcome to the A to Z savings event at AutoZone. Thanks. I need to change my oil so how much is an oil filter free when you buy five quarts of oil? Right now we have a special on Valvoline Advanced Full Synthetic or High Mileage Motor Oil. The oil filter is free with the Valvoline Advanced Full Synthetic or High Mileage Motor oil. Yep, the free oil filter is part of the A to Z Savings event only at AutoZone. Get in the zone AutoZone restrictions apply. The Unshakables podcast is kicking off season two with an episode you won't want to miss. Join host Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business, as he welcomes a very special guest, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dyer. Hear about the challenges facing small businesses and some of the oh moments Jamie has overcome. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply JP Morgan Chase Bank NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 JP Morgan Chase & Co.

[Jill]

At.

[Oracle Representative]

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[Jill]

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[Oracle Representative]

And special occasion style in between features handcrafted details filled with love. Come see the magic in person. Book an appointment and sign up for diamond loyalty to save 15% on your first purchase, earn points towards special rewards and [e-mail] Tired of restless nights? At Lisa, they know good sleep is essential for mental, physical and emotional health. From memory foam mattresses to hybrids that keep you cool all night long, Lisa's mattresses offer exceptional comfort and support with free delivery and a hundred nights. To try out your mattress in the comfort of your home, go to leesa.com today and get 20% off all mattresses and two free pillows. That's leesa.com and use code iheart for an extra $50 off your purchase. Remember, no matter who you are, there's a Lisa just for.