Frugal Fitness | Workout On A Budget

pizza in my mouth. No, I'm just kidding. Getting fit, not getting fit, being fit and living it and enjoying it. Yeah, the enjoyment part is what has been so amazing for me. I've been in and out of various forms of exercise and working out, but never found anything that was sustainable until now. I have been exercising regularly about four or five days a week since Marche, so over a year now and so and now I've crossed this threshold of

not just oh that, it's determination and discipline. I actually feel as though I can't go without it. So it's going to be harder to knock me off the wagon than to keep me going, which feels amazing. Again, never thought that I'd be that person. So this episode is really exciting to me. And I hope that we can

do multiple things here today. Encourage those who have not yet found what works for them and give some ideas, and for those who already are in a rhythm and a routine but maybe struggling financially to figure out how this fits in, or just encourage you to keep going. If you found both things, you're you're doing it, and it works with your budget, then we're just here for you and you can jam out with us. But those

are the different things that I'm approaching this episode with. Yes, but first, this episode is brought to you by National Disc Golf Day. Looking to get outside but don't really want to move a lot and regular golf is too rich for your blood, try disc golf. It's the frugal version of golf that is nothing like the sport. I'm not sure if you'll like it. Are you a dad?

You'll probably like it. Tomorrow is National Disc Golf Day, and without a doubt, my husband Travis will be out there throwing one of his one and thirty three discs. That's an estimate, but I'm pretty sure it's very close to accurate. And are you not a dad or lack basic hand eye coordination, Well, then we also have a solution for you. You can listen to the Frugal Friends podcasts or read our Modern Frugal Living e book. We've got over two hundred ways to save money and a

whole section on frugal fund and frugal wellness. So you can head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash e book to get your free book. Again, that's Frugal Friends podcast dot com Slash e book. You can even scroll through it while you're throwing disks tomorrow if you took a hard left turn, either play disc golf or read either one. Wherever you find yourself, there's something for you.

They both have a similar amount of physical activity, so they are opposite to what we will be talking about today. Travis does love disc golf, and he is a and he even got to the point of we had this conversation last night wearing polos because apparently that's one of the uniforms you can wear, but Jen hates polos, so they might be going mysteriously missing. He can have the disks, but he can't have the polos I and that's yeah, that's a I won't even go into it, but that's

a hundred percent of rule in my house. So today we're talking about working out and I have worked, I have been. Jill and I work out differently, but we both work out quite a bit four to five days a week, and we're excited to kind of juxta position. I don't know, combine. I don't know. I'm doing this thing with my fingers. That's combining. We have. This's the same thing, but different approaches, and when we're excited to

get both sides. Because mine is not what you would consider frugal, but because I use it so often, it's definitely one of my core values. So wherever you're at, you're going to find permission here. Yes, absolutely so. If you want another good fitness episode to cube, we have not done one of these in almost two hundred episodes. Our last one was episode thirty eight, where we talked with Amanda Walker from Feel Amazing Naked on Frugal Fitness. So head scroll all the way back to thirty eight

and you will see our last fitness episode. And I can't believe we haven't done one that in for how much it's a part of our lives is kind of in we just kind of keep it separate. We're not going to talk about bad aspect over there, right, and we do. I I have planned a episode on diet culture and what diet culture costs us, especially as women, but for men as well, So this will be an episode to queue up after that one whenever we do record it. But I think it's it's important to separate

fitness from like losing weight. So that's not what this episode is about. It's not about like getting fit or getting in shape, but really incorporating fitness into your life. And that's kind of This first article is ten ways all kinds of exercise can save you money, and that's really why we love fitness. We're doing it not to not for a certain image, but to be able to spend all the money that we save so that we live as live as long as possible and spend as

much money as possible. Yes, So this first article comes from vantis Life and it talks about ten ways that all kinds of exercise can save us money. And I will say that this article is primarily advocating for the why behind exercising. So I don't think we need to spend a ton of time on here, but I know some of us might still be in that phase of what I feel okay or I look okay, or I don't have time for this. It just hasn't been important

or a priority. And so this is kind of giving a few reasons of here are some things you might have not thought about before that could be a motivator for getting into a regular rhythm or routine of exercise. And I also want to reiterate at the start of this, there's some things in this list of ten that are just meant to me or we may not even talk about because I just we don't have to talk about.

Also don't even totally agree with all of them. There can be a lot of shame wrapped up in exercise and fitness and body image and weight and b am I and that is not what we're talking about here today. Yes, there are some health and medical benefits, but I am not going to harp on that because I know that there are a ton of medical issues health concerns that have nothing to do with whether or not you exercise. And you could be as healthy as possible and still

face medical concerns. So I really want to be so careful here and especially for you know, those of you listening in. This is not our aim to create shame in this conversation, but motivation, freedom, permission to find what works for you. Hopefully we can give you some ideas, but there's a lot. It was even hard to find articles that aren't gonna kind of create a hierarchy around

what someone's weight is. And so I don't even want to go there, just fitness and health, not going to talk about how you might be able to get a better job because you look better, Like, no, that's not no that Yeah, there's some we're not going to talk about. What's the first one you will talk about? Chill? Yeah.

So one that stood out is that by exercising and aiming at a lifestyle that is aimed at well being could reduce life insurance costs, and I have found for me personally, has also reduced health insurance costs as well.

So being able to inform the life insurance agency or health insurance agency that you do exercise regularly and being able to give them some some blood pressure and that kind of a thing which can be positively associated with exercise could be a financial benefit to us as well a reason to be able to engage in this regularly. One that I like is that you will it says you won't need as many prescriptions UM, possibly because we have to realize that heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle related

illnesses are then are still the number one reason. Like there's still top of the reasons that people need prescriptions and UM and and pass away. So I think you can't prevent a lot of the different things they'll need prescriptions for with X size, But there are some things that are easily either diminished or helped with a regular lifestyle of exercising or just moving your body, so you can keep at bay a lot of these lifestyle induced

illnesses by just moving your body sustainably. The other one that I appreciated on this list is that exercising and forming a regular routine around fitness can encourage other habits that are beneficial to us in other areas of life. And I can affirm that even from personal experience, that as I work on growth in one area of life, I can often see a ripple effect and that works both ways. Also with non beneficial decisions that I make.

Sometimes there can be a vortex that sucks me into all right, well, I already did that, so I might as well just also make these other decisions that aren't the best for me. But it can work in both directions too. I have noticed for myself, now that I have found a routine of exercise, I'm also finding a routine of making smoothies for myself every morning that have a ton of amazing nutrients for me. And I'm getting outside more, which the sunshine and fresh air and seeing

nature is good for me. And just so and then and then now that I've got a morning routine, then I'm having more quiet time. It's just each one can play into the other. So when we work on one aspect, there can be a domino effect that happens. So that's a that's a really important why as we continue to improve ourselves we could see even more growth from there.

Well yeah, it's the same with money too, when you start getting hold of your finances and seeing, hey, I didn't think I could do this, but I'm proving to myself, I can you develop your growth mindset, you refine it, and then you start to work on other things and say, hey, maybe I can create a routine of fitness and healthy lifestyle. So it is worth trying new things just for the benefit of continuing to grow. So yes, I I love

that one too. Okay, so I don't like the one that says you can make more money at work, Like I don't love their reasoning, but I will say that um, working out does have beneficial effects for your brain and so you are more attentive and so this has really

been helpful for me as a business owner. When I work out in the mornings, then I have sustained energy and focus for the day and I can get more things done in my business and so I can, you know, get more done and hopefully that means make more money for my family. But this could also be something that

is beneficial in your career. If you are feeling fatigued at work, then this could be something that can maybe aid in in your efficiency getting your stuff done, so maybe you can get that promotion or raise that you're gunning for. And that ties into the other thing that they say on here that exercise and fitness can improve mental health, and I will absolutely affirm that as well. It is one of the low hanging fruits that we can be trying and implementing to our level of ability

and interest level to move our body. Sometimes with my clients, I'll just talk about body movement, because exercise can have this connotation to it that just feels so dreadful, almost like when we pull out the word budget, like all right, well, taking control of your finances or whatever you want to call it, making a plan body movement of some sort.

When when we exert energy and effort and when we get our heart rate up, it often can release the good hormones, the endorphins, the cortisol, which is going to be really helpful for our brains, especially if we're experiencing difficulty in our lives. That was something that I would say. I was also a personal experience for me, just going through the pandemic and having a hard shift in what my lifestyle looked like, not being on the go as much, and I realized I was really accustomed to a lot

of stimulus in my life. I was going, I was standing, I was just very active, and suddenly I am working a desk job. I am at my computer all day long, and I was noticing just ant syeness and not just feeling all this pent up energy, which ended up kind of coming out as anger and bitterness, and it became a non negotiable that I have to pay attention to my physical needs and exercise being one of those that.

It wasn't as if I could just be like, I don't feel like I need to exerc I don't want to like I had to, and I have noticed phenomenal results mentally, physically, emotionally. Again, it has tied into my whole personhood. So if anyone else out there can relate. If you're at a desk job and you're wondering what is going on inside of me, it could be that body movement is really going to make the difference for you, and it doesn't have to I will also say this,

dispel this myth. It doesn't have to mean an hour start somewhere. To this day, I still only exercise for about twenty minutes, but I'll tell you what it has been sustainable. I have not quit for a year and a half. Now I only do twenty minutes a day, but I feel phenomenal and I'm seeing the results that I want to see. So it doesn't have to look

like what it looks like for everybody out there. You can find what is sustainable for you, not these quick short bursts of yeah I did that for thirty days, Yeah, I tried that for ten days. We are more likely to do it if we're able to take it and bite sized pieces and build upon it if you want. But you don't have to start with the most massive goal. And this is such a cultural thing that we just think if we're going to do what, we have to go all in, we have to do an hour a day,

five days a week. And it's if you're going from zero days a week, you're not going to go. An hour a day five days a week is not going to be sustainable. An hour a day for three days a week is not going to be sustainable. Doing it daily, I will tell you, is much Doing it short times daily is much more sustainable than saying I'm going to work out for an hour two or three days a week. Because to create habits, we have to do them daily.

We have to do them over and over and over, and so it is much more If you want to work out fifty minutes, it's you're going to stick with much more if you work out for ten minutes a day, five days a week than one fifty minute. Uh, workout once a week. It's just how our brains work. It's it's going to be you're going to stick with it longer. And it it seems counterintuitive, like it seems like once a week is more sustainable than five days a week,

but it's absolutely untrue. Our brain creates habits based on the number of times we do something, not the length of time that we're doing it. So yeah, I mean, the the sustainability portion is really the most important part, and that is what's going to really get you the money saving benefits of fitness. And and I'll add so I do cross fit, which is not a cheap way to work out. It is arguably, besides getting a personal trainer for every workout, one of the most expensive ways

to work out. And I have to like, I'm not a great fitness person. I'm not. I can't do a pull up. I can barely do a push up. My body was not made for strength, but it was made for making money. It was made for talking about money for sure. Um, and so I will try and do these things that my body just really isn't made for because my pride tells me I should be able to do it. And uh, and I really do cross fit for the community. I love the community aspect of it.

I'm not looking to compete or anything. I just love the community. That's a core value of mine. And that's why I've been able to stick with this fitness because I found a way to tie it into my core values. Fitness in itself not a core value of mine, community though very core. So I can't do what Jill does is work out every morning alone. I'd never I'd never

sustain it. But I have to say, if I'm doing something that's maybe not agreeing with my boddie, like I work out to feel good and to extend my life, and if I'm doing something that could injure myself, like going from zero days a week two cross fit every day, like going from zero to a hundred, that can cause injury. And so don't don't trick yourself into thinking you have to go all in, because that could be get you the opposite of results of what we're looking for. We

are not looking to injure ourselves or to do too much. Um. We're looking to do just enough, just just enough, just enough, just enough. So let's get into some of the actual tips on what fitness exercise could look like. And hopefully this will get some brainstorming going for all of you on what's going to make sense for you and how we can cut costs in this category. So this next article comes from Snacking and sna akers love some liberation

and talk about how to exercise on a budget. They give twenty tips, but we're gonna pick our favorite top ten tips in here, and of course check out the article if you want to see all twenty that they list out. And I know number one is your favorite, Jill, so number one is my favorite. Sit back, Sit back and let Jill just go. So this is what has worked for me finding free workout videos online. As Jen

has already mentioned, I'm not a public exerciser. I don't mind if people join me or watch me, but I can be self motivated to do this on my own. And I really loathe having someone yell at me while it's happening, whether you're yelling positive things or oh oh it might not. It might be positive things, right, you can do it, keep going. You got this ten more reps. I don't need that. I don't need you talking to me.

And it's totally fine. It's so funny. I exercise with my one friend Leanna, and she and I have some similar personality traits, but she is definitely very fit. And we were doing wheelbarrows at one point. We were exercising as a group, so outside of my norm but you know, I wanted to be with the people that I cared about, and she was holding my feet while I climbed up the asphalt with my hands, you know, like a wheelbarrow, and she's like, okay, you got this jail, You're almost there,

and I just paused. I knew that I was exerting a lot of physical energy just to stop there, but I just stopped with my hands on the asphalt it didn't keep going, and said I don't need that. Please stop. She's like, o hey, I forgot. I forgot. Okay, we're good. So so for that reason, working out at home doing YouTube videos works for me. I will also say that I have had enough exposure to exercise throughout my life that I understand proper form and I understand breathing. I can.

I know that for a lot of people there is still that learning process, and so having a coach be paying attention to what you're doing, whether or not you are in proper form or reminding you to breathe is very helpful, very important, very necessary. So that is something to consider. If you are a beginner, you you at least want to consider the workout videos that are going

to coach you through it. Hopefully have a mirror in front of you, or consider going to a gym at least to start out, or have a friend who kind of knows what they're doing be able to coach you through that, because learning proper form is going to be helpful for not injuring yourself and making sure you're doing

it correctly. But once you've got that down, if you are, if what I'm saying is resonating with you, you don't want the encouragement, you don't want a ton of people watching you, and you understand proper form, then I think that's where the free workout videos online can work for you and for me to cutting out as many barriers as possible. I don't want to have to drive to a gym. Eric and I used to have a gym

membership years ago and it worked for a time. We probably did it pretty regularly for two months, but eventually something knocked us off. It felt like too much to get dressed, get in the car, walk in, figure out what we're gonna do, what is our plan while we're there, come back shower. It was our evening. Whereas this a workout video online the first thing when I wake up, it really doesn't take up much of my day. So there was that factor too where I didn't want to

also have to wake up super early. I just wanted this to blend into my normal lifestyle, and this is what has worked for me. So the article gives a few online people that you could follow that they recommend, and I've I've heard this from others and I've even checked them out myself. So I will affirm Fitness Blender can be a great one. Yoga with Adrian people love. I will also say yoga is a phenomenal form of exercise, particularly for those who are wanting to engage in physical

fitness for mental health reasons. Yoga has some phenomenal benefits in the body movement, stretching, mindfulness space that if that's where you're coming at this from, you've got maybe a lot of trauma background or depression or various mental health concerns, yoga can be a really great place to start and have a lot of great benefits. I've got my favorite, but I know that this is going to come up in the lightning round. So I'm wondering if I just

save it for the lightning round. Maybe Okay, save it, because then it'll keep people listening because I've got a lot to say. She does have a lot to say on this. I I mean so, and I will say, coming from the other end of the spectrum, I hate YouTube video workouts. I will put I tried it. I even I got a an exercise bike during the pandemic, not a peloton. I got one on Facebook market place because I was like, I'm not sure if I will like this, but I want to try it, and so

I got one. And I tried one video on YouTube that was very highly rated, had a lot of views. It was not the YouTube video, it was me. I just I don't like working out alone, and so I love being yelled at and I love yelling at people all of the encouragement. And so the only thing there's two things that have really gotten me to stick with my fitness routine and make it a routine not just

a sporadic thing I do. And that's the community is number one with CrossFit Number two is number two on this list running or walking, and I can even say that has to do with the community as well. While I do run, I'm getting out of running because it's not been kind to my knees and hips. Again, my body is not built to move. Uh. So I'm walking though, just as great and you can do so much. I mean, people really do underestimate the benefits of walking. And we

actually somebody reached out to us with a podcast. He has a podcast on walking, and I will look this up the next time Jill is speaking and share it. I think it's Walking is Fitness from Dave Paul, and he just records every day that he walks. He records a ten minute podcast and he walks for ten minutes a day and it's had so many health benefits from him. So if you want to walk ten minutes a day, check out Walking is Fitness by Dave Paul. He did not pay us to say that, but so it is free.

And they do say I saw this really funny reel on Instagram which is so true, and they're like pick up running. They said it'll be cheap. They said, all you need is a pair of shoes. They said and then behind him he has like oodles of running stuff like shoes and gels and compression socks and shorts and and it is funny but that you don't have to get all that to start. I also have a friend

who wanted to get back into running. We used to run and half marathons together, and he he got out of it, but wanted to get back into it, and instead of just going for a run, he bought new clothes, new sneakers, new everything. Still has not gotten back into the actual habit of running, and so so often we will buy all the stuff as a procrastin nation to especially work out. I mean, that is really the number

one thing I see. People will buy all this new stuff to work out, and it's one of the reasons I was so hesitant. Like at CrossFit, a lot of people have their own jump rope or um like back, like all of these different things. But the gym does provide some you know, all of everything you need, and so I wouldn't get I wouldn't even get cross fit shoes. I just used running shoes for the longest time and used all the gym equipment, and I avoided doing it

for so long time. Such a long time, I was like, I'm not going to be one of those people that buys things to procrastinate doing the work. All that to say, running and walking are fantastic ways to exercise. Do not require anything but a good pair of sneakers which you will spend d hundred fifty bucks on and will last you for a few years. And it has great benefits too, because usually that means it's getting you outside. So hopefully regardless of the weather, we can be prepared to get

outside and walk. But there's some phenomenal mental and physical benefits to being out in nature. Breathing fresh air, seeing trees, looking at the horizon line, getting sunshine in our eyes, Vitamin D in our bodies. There's just the combination of things that can happen when we exercise, not even to mention playing sports. That's exercise, and that's also play, which also has some phenomenal benefits for bonding with other people. It's relational that releases some of those good hormones that

are fantastic for our brains. When we're able to pair exercise with play, there's so many things that we can do that hits multiple things. It's like a it's like a two for one or a three for one. We love a bogo. Yeah, I mean, so I'm an Angiograham three, So I and I don't I hate. I don't label myself like that. But if you understand, you understand. And so I love accomplishing things. Running gives me that accomplishment

every single time. When I set out to do a three mile run and I finish it, I've accomplished something for the day, I feel like I've done the day. Or when I did a half marathon back in February, that was a huge deal to me to complete the training for that and complete my first half marathon in seven years, like it was a real huge accomplishment for me.

So if you're somebody like that and you are not feeling as many accomplishments out like in your regular life, doing something like running, I think is a fantastic way to feel those two to fill that core value in yourself. Number three on this list, which I also support wholeheartedly, especially for those just starting out and try and figure out or do I begin, is finding free training plans online.

This is actually where I began. It was my entree way into a regular routine of just finding an infographic, there's so many. Whether you look at Instagram or Pinterest or just search Google for a thirty day challenge, usually it'll give you a rundown of what to do each day, and oftentimes it's something that you can do at home.

Certainly if you do have a gym membership, then it's just a template, because just having a gym membership often doesn't give us what we need to do once we're at the gym, and who knows if we're doing like the best things for our body or doing things in a rhythm that makes sense, right, So if we're doing this regularly, we don't want to be doing the same thing every single day. We want to focus on different groups of different muscle groups and our body and and

something that's going to be sustainable. So just knowing where to start. A lot of times those info graphics have to do with sit ups, push ups and jumping jacks, and it's a whole combination that can build on itself. But to build that habit, so that was my entry point. It was fantastic and I think it's something we can implement whether we are working out at home or if we're going to a gym. Yes, definitely. So my next one is number four. So number four is to explore

town and city resources. So a lot of cities offer like fitness classes or or incentives for their citizens to get moving because that reduces costs for the city if there if their citizens are healthier, their hospitals are less overrun, so they have an actual financial incentive to offer these things. And some are some are free, but some costs just a little bit of money. I think if you can find anything fitness related for under ten dollars ten dollars

or less, I think, me that's a good deal. And I it also meets like my values of like finding community and getting out and getting invested in the community. So for me that would be worth the money. But especially if you don't have a gym membership and you choose these you maybe do one or two um like a month, then definitely worth it. But so I know our city has um free yoga once a month. Oh my gosh, you can find so much yoga in our city. There is a free yoga class every day of the

week from someone. So they say, for example, the city of Boston offers a free daily virtual fitness class, or it did through APRI that had classes like afro beats and strength training and zoomba. I here's the thing about me. Did I mentioned my body was not created to move?

I oh, my gosh, so horrible at zoomba, hate yoga, like so many of these things that you have to have coordination for I am horrible at and do not enjoy, which is why like I'm in I'm in the CrossFit gym, just like lifting heavy barbells, because that the only thing I am capable of. Um, I'm not even a good runner. I'm a very slow runner. I have to run in intervals like I have to. I run for a minute and a half and then I'll walk for thirty seconds.

That's how I did My entire half marathon was intervals like that, thirteen miles. So like, I'm not created to move well. And I think one of the reasons I do, and one of the reasons I so enjoy fitness is because it gives me something to achieve and overcome and feel proud of myself about. Because there's a lot of things I'm good at, and like you know law of diminishing return, and you know you can only like the

things you're good at once. You achieve something, then that's no longer like you know, I guess maybe that's not a lot of diminishing returns, but like it's not as happy. He doesn't give you as much happiness. So like I have to find things. It's always good to find things that you're not naturally gifted at, because even small accomplishments are like huge to you. And that's what fitnesses for me. I'm so bad at it that like every small thing that I do is like, yes, I'm so excited. Like

I climbed a rope yesterday. Like I did a rope climb in the workout, which I've done rope climbs before, but it was the first time I've done them. I did four in a workout. Normally I just do one and I'm done, But I did four yesterday. To people who are good at fitness, nobody cares. But I'm just like I did four rope climbs after ten years of cross Well, I think that's why you've got You've got personal best and we can celebrate the accomplishments that we

know are a big deal for us. And there's freedom to find what works for you. I would never find myself in a cross fit membership or across fit gym, or doing what you're doing, and you would never find yourself working out at home or doing yoga. So like to each their own. So number eight on here related to saving money on fitness things correlated to what Jen said about sometimes we have this goal in mind or this fantasized self, and we just start purchasing the things

in order to do that. Please try to resist that temptation. And when you do need to buy something, Number eight shop second hand. You've heard us talk about this before, and also for exercise clothing. For me, when I began, I wanted to show that I could do it first before I wouldn't invest any money into it. Chances are you have what you need at home to be able to exercise in. It might not be instagram worthy, you might not be coordinated in colors, but it doesn't have

to be fancy. We were sweating in it mostly so being able to identify what do I already have in my closet and then okay, once you've done it for a bit and you're realizing I might need to add this to my wardrobe if I'm going to be doing this regularly. Look at the thrift stores first for what it is that you need, or ask friends if they've got extra really you you don't need like ten exercise outfits, probably two will do it, So be realistic about that.

But I love that tip shopping secondhand always. Yeah, still to this day, after ten years of working out consistently, most of my active wearies secondhand. I will get it either at goodwill or on threat up. And the only things that I buy new are bras and shoes and socks, shoes, socks, and bras. But I will wear my socks out until they have no elastic left in them. I am actually still wearing socks that don't have elastic left in them. I just can't wear them when I run. But if

it's just a weightlifting day, I'll wear them. But yeah it is, and I will reiterate it again. Do not shop to procrastinate what you are trying to do, because that is the biggest thing I see in fitness. People will shop. They will buy all the things they need and then never use them. So don't buy the things you need until you've proven to yourself that you will actually do it with what you already have, and then you can reward yourself with the you know, with better

quality things. The one thing I would say is it shoes. If you're going to be doing long distance running, you do need good shoes because not running in good quality shoes will backfire on you. But you don't really need to worry about that until you start getting up in mileage. UM. The next one is kind of tied into the exploring your city resources. Lots of great free city resources like

trails and stuff, but also browsing Facebook events. That's how we find a lot of the running groups that we do. Right now, I'm looking to get into cycling, so I'm browsing Facebook events for cycling, and you can find more casual things on Facebook then on things than like meet up and meetup dot com and like specific forums. So if you're a beginner, I really recommend like Facebook events for that because they're more frequent than maybe the city

would offer and they tend to be more more casual. Um. There are some that are like pretty advanced, but they don't I tend to find like the more advanced ones don't have Facebook events. So yeah, I love Facebook events for finding that. Fitness classes, road races, yoga, guided trail walks, the even list, so Facebook events for sure nice. I also like number nine that talks about engaging in body weight exercises. I am a huge supporter of this, especially

if you're going to be doing at home exercise. You are absolutely able to get in shape, experience wellness and well being without purchasing all of the things. Your body has enough to be able to engage in exercises, even at a variety of skill set levels. There are ways that you can make body weight exercises more challenging. And I love this because I think that it creates longevity, sustainability.

There's an ease of entry knowing that I don't have to go out and get all the clothing, all the gear, all the weights, all the exercise stuff. We can exercise, and we can exercise long term without ever introducing those things into a part of the routine. You absolutely can and some people do and they love it, but also know that it's it's not even just for beginners to be able to do body weight exercise. One of the things that appealed to me in this sort of exercise

is the fact that my life looks different. I travel a lot. Obviously, the pandemic squelch that, but it is starting in an uptick again, and I needed to find something that I could do on the road. I needed to find something that I could do regardless of the

environment that I find myself in. And body weight exercise reduces a lot of those barriers where I could find myself in a hotel room or someone else's house and there are no excuses I can do it because it doesn't require me to have dumbbells and jump ropes and all sorts of machinery or treadmills. You can use your body and get a really good sweat. Yeah, definitely a body workouts are my least favorite because they are hard. They are definitely going to give you the what you need.

And So continue on with my trend of finding group fitness because that's all that I do so six is to find cheap fitness classes on deal sites. So when I was in college, I found a city pass for like a gym pass on group on that gave you like one class at a bunch of different fitness like gyms, different types. And I got to try so many different types of fitness classes and I found one that I really liked. Um and so I kept with that, but I didn't waste money trying to get all of these

trial um like memberships. I didn't waste time with a bunch of different week or month long trials, and it was really affordable to try all these different fitness things. Uh So this group on I think still offers these and I think you will be surprised how many different things they offer. I know our CrossFit gym, I think is on one because I've seen people come in for one class and never come back. I don't know, and I've talked to them and it was because they had

this past, not because they didn't like the CrossFit. So yeah, it's a highly recommend it's fun. The last one on this list for me is number sixteen. Consider working for a free membership. I'm sure you've heard us talk about this before, but it's worth highlighting again. Many places will offer a volunteer program where if you clean the gym for or an hour a week, you get your membership for free. A lot of times yoga studios will offer that.

Of course, you could even take it a step further and look for a part time job if you want this to be a little bit of a side hustle for you at the gym that you enjoy, so you could not only get a free membership, but maybe even make a few extra bucks. So consider negotiating with the place that you're already a part of, or maybe the

place you want to be a part of. What could be done in order to have a discount or a free membership if you want to be a part of community, but paying the full price just might not be in the cards for you at this point. Yeah, I love

this one. You never know until you ask. If you are somewhere, everybody is looking for work like UM employees right now, everyone's hiring, and so you very well may be able to get say like, hey, I'll do this one job, you know, for an hour to a week for a discounted or free membership, depending on what the job is and how much UM the gym membership is. You don't know unless you ask, big or small, Jim, So take the chance. Don't be embarrassed, just ask if

ask if it's a possibility. So, yeah, I really like that one. I know, we had Mrs Frugal Woods on the show, and that's something she did to get her yoga membership is that she ran the front desk in the evenings to um you know, while everyone was coming in, and then she was able to do yoga for free. She just would come out come into the class like five ten minutes late. My last favorite one on this list no one will be surprised is number twenty. Find

an accountability buddy. So we all know there's strengthen numbers and accountability. I mean we know it in finance. It is just as important in fitness is to find somebody to work out with or to make friends at your gym or something. Just accountability relationships. Somebody that's going to motivate you to like show up in the morning when you don't want to, and that is so val and you could be that for somebody else. And you are going to motivate somebody to get out of bed in

the morning when they don't want to. So do not choose a friend, I think would be my biggest advice, Like a friend that's going to say, hey, let's just go get coffee instead and and hang out like that. Choose somebody that's like really focused on their fitness and really is using you as an accountability buddy as much as you are using them. Mutuality and relationship reciprocity. You know what else has reciprocity and keeps us motivated that I am in a deep relationship with and use to

my vantage the bill of the week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hi, Jen and Jill. This is Carrie from Alabama, and my bill of the week is a

two parter. Last year in my husband and I decided to be very aggressive in paying down our mortgage and we sent nearly two tho dollars a month extra, a lot of money, and that was my favorite bill because I love tracking the progress on paying off our mortgage quickly. This year, we have some home improvement things that we're going to do, so we have stopped those extra payments and we are putting all of that money into savings.

And that is the quote unquote bill that I am so excited to see grow uh and see us actually enjoy the house that we are so quickly paying off. Thanks for all you do, longtime listener, love your show,

amazing Carry congratulations. That is such an amazing point of life and your financial journey to find yourself in where you're able to throw extra towards the principal payment on your mortgage and see some amazing progress, but then have the freedom to shift as your needs and goals shift that you can now put that to savings and invest more in your home on renovations and just see even more value increase on the home that you're living in.

So excited with you for that double bill and being excited to put money in these different places that are going to benefit you long term, and you can enjoy the renovations longer by focusing a little bit upfront and paying down your mortgage but not waiting until you've paid it all off entirely. You actually get to enjoy these renovations for a longer period of time and while still feeling really good about the progress you're making on your mortgage.

So kudos to you. Carry Yes, And if you all listening, want to submit your bill of the week if it has to do with your mortgage, paying more on it cash following renovations, or literally anything else, even if it has nothing to do with money and just bill related bill puns. We're here for it. Visit Frugal Friends podcast

dot com, slash bill, leave us your bill. Now it's time for living round, Bob, all right, So for our lightning round, we are going to get more in depth about our favorite inexpensive way to stay consistent with fitness, to to stay moving our bodies. And Jill has been waiting for this one the whole fifty minutes that we've been here, So let it go, girl. This is a

classic save the best for last. Anyone who has visited me in Florida or who knows me, knows about my girl Pam, and that is how I refer to her. She is my girl Pam. She is my YouTube go to and she's very very popular, so many of you probably do know her, but I do feel as though I discovered her victual YouTube channel. Her name is Pamela Reef, so you can discover her on YouTube by typing in Pamela Reef ri i F. But she also has an

app that is just called Pam p Am Pamma. She's my girl Pam, and she is a beautiful German woman who is practically a robot. She definitely looks like she never breathes, and she does wear makeup when she exercises, so some of you might look her up and think, why do you like her so much? She fake? And I like her because I think she's the cutest and she doesn't talk to me all, which is some of the which is some of the critique that she gets that she's not really coaching you. It's music. You can

watch her. She's got the timer up in the top and also the name of the exercise that you're doing, so you can know what's coming up next. You can watch what she's doing at each exercise and emulate that. So again you do have to have an understanding of breathing while you exercise and good form. I feel like I have that. So my girl Pam is amazing and I get Pam handled most mornings and she's been fant hand Yes, Pam handled and it. It has created sustainability

for me. Her videos are mostly ten minute videos. Of course they're meant to be paired with other videos. Although I began with just doing the ten minute videos, now I'm in a rhythm of usually doing two videos. She's got an app where you can choose what what you want to focus on, whether you want a thirty minute exercise, or you want to focus on your your ab strength or your booty strength or whatever it is, your cardio.

Then she gives you a plan what to do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And that's what I need now that I'm doing it regularly. I couldn't just do arms every single day. That's not wise. So learning how to focus on different muscle groups of my body, and she just gives you the plan and aspects of her app are free. She's not paying me. I just am obsessed with my girl, Pam. And I've also loved it because if you're in our membership group.

I actually put this out to the group because I was struggling with hosting people so often interrupting my exercise routine, and I would do really well when I didn't have people in town, but whenever people came in town, I would also often push it to the side and received a lot of encouragement of just tell your guests this

is what's happening. They're welcome to join you. But it doesn't take me that long, so keep up with it and I've done that, and what I found is many of my guests don't care and they'll sleep in or they'll join me, which has also been so fun to introduce other people to my girl PAMs. Some have caught the bug and they are now watching her and exercising with her and realizing, oh, this feels so attainable. You get a good exercise and you work up an amazing sweat,

even just minutes will do it. And she's so cute to watch, and when she does talk to you, it's also so fun. She's so kind and she's been fantastic for me. So thank you Pam for doing what you've done. And when it's not Pam, it's play for me. Pickle ball, kayaking, biking, whenever I'm able to get outdoors move my body. Living in Florida has been fantastic for that because we are able to get outside practically year round, and it's something that I can enjoy doing with my husband and other

people that we host. So whatever I can collect that just feels enjoyable and attainable and sustainable. All the able bowles, that's that's what's for me. Yes, and I have heard a lot about Pam. So this is Yeah, I have never tried PAM, but Jill, Jill is convinced we should get an app because she loves Pam's apps so much. And I just want to be PAMs like ten years younger than me. And I'll never attain to PAM status, but I mean I'll watch her and I'll try and

emulate her. Yeah, well you look great girl. Thanks. Pam's doing it for you, she is doing it for me. It's really amazing. I've been like so many people have commented like your tone. I'm like, yeah, it's body weight, that's it, and ten to twenty minutes a day and that's it. Like that's it. It works. And I don't mean like your body looks great because your body has

always looked great. You you look great, like your your face and your energy when we record in the morning, like after you've been pamhandled, you are ready to go. So that's what I That's what I mean when I say, well, yeah, and I will say it's had a lot of benefits. Certainly, feel like seeing a physical tone to my body is honestly, like reason number five I keep going. I've had a

lot of back pain throughout my life. I fell off a swing when I was sixteen and like messed up my elbowe and ever since then have had a lot of back pain. And I was always told by chiropractors, if you keep your core strong, you're gonna have less back pain, and that is true for me. So I have decreased pain. I'm sleeping better, my energy levels are better, my work day feels better, I feel better about myself. I'm not as restless, I'm not as anxious, I'm not

as antsy. And it has only been ten to twenty minutes a day that I'm doing this, And so the last reason on that list is oh man, and then I get to see physical improvements as well. But for all the other reasons, I'm sticking with it. I am really, really amazed at what just a few minutes with consistency has done for me. I will scream it from the rooftop and thank you Pam for helping me find something that works for me. Nothing else has worked up until

this point. I could say the same about cross fit, that this is inexpensive ways to stay in shape, so I will revert to running. It has been through the years. It's how I started with my consistent fitness journey. Um. And it's what kind of keeps me centered um And while I am moving on out of it because my knees and my hips don't take as well anymore, it is what got me started. It's the most efficient way I found to get my rings closed on my Apple

Watch because it achievement focused. But I started with Couch to five K free free podcast. I don't even know when I started. If it was a podcast, I think I might have had to download it, um, But it is free couch to five K, and I used when I downloaded it, you couldn't have I think it's an app now where you can play your own music and they'll do the and you just have their sound over it. When I listened to it, it was his voice and you were listening to like very weird techno future touristic

music while you ran. So I think we have evolved. But couch to five K is how I got started running. And I still do intervals. So I run for a minute and a half and I walked for thirty seconds. That's how I do it. I'm not one of these go out and run six miles straight people, but it is my favorite inexpensive way to stay in shape. It's

what I did during quarantine. I got back into more running, and it's why I signed up for the half marathon, which was not cheap, it was not inexpensive, but it was this huge accomplishment for me that was worth every penny. And you don't have to do these races in order to run or to feel the accomplishment. Every time I get out there and I say I'm gonna run three miles, I'm gonna run four miles, and when I do it, I feel that accomplishment and it is so so great.

Um so yeah, I would say it's start with walking. Even start with walking ten minutes in the morning. You just have to get up twenty minutes early, five minutes to throw your clothes on, not even that if you sleep in your workout clothes, five minutes to put your shoes on, walk for ten minutes and come in and then get ready for your day. Like that's all it takes. In short. It doesn't have to cost you money, and it doesn't have to look like everybody else. Thanks so

much for listening, everybody. Many of you know that we have a private community where we do monthly money challenges and offer accountability groups, and we talk about all things fitness included. So we've got some great tips in the membership on that as well, and self care and food and tons of stuff. But we want to congratulate one of our members for a big win. Vanessa shared with us recently and she said, I spend a lot of money on traveling. It's one of my core values along

with my husband. That's also one of the reasons why we don't of pets, even though we like animals. I found out about Trusted House Sitters through one of the posts within the membership. I signed up last spring and I've already lined up a four day stay in August in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. The house is beautiful and the view is incredible. My daughters and I would be dog sitting two Golden Retrievers, my favorite dogs in the whole world, and a terrier. My daughters are going to

be over the moon. Vanessa, how amazing. Congratulations and being able to get after a core value travel, spend time with your family, engage with animals in a free or low cost way. And for sharing that tip, Trusted House Sitters for anyone who wants to check that out. Congrats Vanessa for getting creative and prioritizing your core value but still finding ways to incorporate other things that you value. That's what it's all about, and we are super proud

of you. Vanessa. Thanks everyone for listening. If you want to check out our monthly challenge community, head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club. You can see what challenge we have coming up next and engage with our amazing frugal friends. There. We got good group, good group. We'll see you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrianni Oh Jen. Do you get yelled at at CrossFit?

Do they do? They yell at you? Yeah? It's all encouragement though, and I do it to other people as well, and I love it. I absolutely love it. I love being yelled at. What kinds of things do you yell? Um? I'm like, you got this girl, great job, crush it finished strong? Love that like, yeah, I love I love that you do that and love it. So one time in college I was so many of you know, I

got married my senior year of college. To be fair, I was a little bit older of a college student because I took some time off in my undergrad journey but still young, still still married young, so I was married, commuting, just trying to wrap up my degree so I could

move on with my life. And because I had transferred universities so many times in my college journey, I had to take a fitness course that was one of and I had already taken a fitness course my my freshman year at the university I began in, but where I wrapped up my college education, they still required another just exercise course, which is laughable, but thank you liberal arts schools. And I chose a running course because it seemed like the most low hanging fruit, the least amount of like

an effort involved, but did have to run. Most people did this course whatever they chose their freshman year, so it was mostly eighteen year olds. I was twenty three at the time, which not a huge age gap, but at the time it felt big to me because also I was like a full grown, married adult just trying to check this off the list. And the professor, which I also use that term loosely, uh, because all he did was like walk out from the gym and say, yeah, you gotta run, uh meet you back here. You do

have to check in. You can't just go to your dorm room and and that's it. You got to come back. And he had a t a like a teacher's assistant, who took it upon himself to treat this course like a boot camp. I was just there for the credit. Did not need boot camp, did not need yelling, did not need anything but the bare minimum to get the college credit for this so I could be a social worker. So we start running, and he takes it upon himself to be running behind me, saying, pick up the pace faster,

you can do it. I mean it was both encouragement but also yelling and like telling me what to do. I stopped dead in my tracks. Similar to my story with me and Yanna. This doesn't go well for anyone who tries to do this to me. I said, this is not gonna work for me. It's not going to go this way. You can yell at other people. I'm just here for credit. You do not need to be telling me to pick up the pace or to keep going, or that I got this polase go after someone else.

I'm not your girl. He was so scared of me. Uh. He had never received that response in his life. And he did leave me alone. After that, I'm like, I just want to run by myself. I'm gonna do my thing. I will, I will accomplish the amount of distance that I need to accomplish. I will return to the quote unquote classroom, the gym, to the quote unquote professor. But you're not going to be yelling at me. And that's

size story. I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's always the assistant that takes it upon themselves to create an atmosphere of restriction and oppression. Yeah, like it was. It was super like power hungry about it too. It felt it felt harass e, Like, no, you're not going to be running behind me, watching me, yelling at me to pick up the pace and lift my feet, do this and that, Like, no, that's not what's happening here.

Go out there, some freshman. I'm sorry that happened to you, and I will never yell at you ever, Just never will. I can respond to encouragement in other areas of life, but obviously you can tell like what my pet Peeve is. I mean, he was a fine human being. We just weren't going to engage in that particular way. He was just not going to do that. You know, you train people how to treat you, and that day he received his own training. There you go, mm hmm