Frugal ways to stretch everyday products with hopeware.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity and life.
Here your hosts Jen and Jill.
Mmmmm, Welcome to Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we are talking with our good friend Hope, where she's back on the show she hosts. She and her husband host the popular YouTube channel under the Median Great title, and we just love nerding out about frugal living tips with her. So if you also nerd out when you hear frugal living stuff, this is the episode for you.
Don't worry. Never in this episode do we talk about how to squeeze toothpaste from the toothpaste container, although now I just did. Now you just heard it. If you open this episode expecting to hear squeeze the tooth fiaser on the bottom and get all of it out of it, but we do talk about why you.
May want to yeah yeah, First, before we get into that, this episode is brought to you by video, So we may or may not be recording the video of this. Well, we are recording it. We may or may not be showing it to you. You may or may not be seeing our faces on YouTube right now.
It's all a lot. We're all we're trying all.
New things all the time over here, and so if you want to know if we're showing our faces on this episode, you're going to have to head to the Frugal Friends YouTube and subscribe. We have a goal of getting a thousand new subscribers per month.
It's a big goal.
It is such a big goal, right, probably not going to hit it, but you can help us hit it if you have not been to Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash YouTube or YouTube dot com slash Frugal Friends, that's actually sure, no yeah, and hitting that subscribe butt, smash the likes, son smash the subscribe button.
One of the things that I love about our Frugal Friends community is that when we say we have a goal for xyz, you all make it happen. But it's not until we say here's our goal, here's what we want to see happen. So it's why we're sharing it with you because apparently when we tell you this is what we want to do, you all show up for us and show out.
You hit subscribe and then you go to your partner or husband's phone and you subscribe from their YouTube. Yeah you do.
And then from your siblings phone, your friend's phone, your co workers, subscribe on theirs, your roommate. You do it up. And so that's what we're asking from you today, especially the ones who really need the extra financial assistant. If you just like did that, that's a public service. Don't tell them it was you. And then they just open up their YouTube app and they get killer content straight to their phone because you've subscribed it for them. Okay,
you know what they need. Best friend alert.
So yeah, we're on YouTube now, YouTube dot com slash frugal Friends please. All right, So we do very few kind of frugal living nerd out episodes, but this one with Hope is special, and we're talking about a topic that.
We normally don't like to indulge.
It's, you know, it's the cutting the toothpaste too of the back and squeezing it at the end sort of thing. But so we actually didn't mention that at all in the episode. I think we just talked about some really helpful hacks to reframe our mindset around this traditional idea of regality.
Yeah, because it's not a race to the bottom. We don't ever want to lean into that level of extremism. But also to recognize that when we learn to stretch our products, it also connects us to our level of consumption, which we are here for understanding how much am I consuming, what am I throwing away? And where can I be more mindful? And Hope is here to help us with that.
So without further ado, Hope she is the host of under the Median and she teaches busy people practical frugality skills so they can learn to budget, hey our debt and live the life they really want. They raised four sons debt free, including purchasing their hurrent home with cash when their income was about forty thousand dollars a year. So let's get into our chat with Hope.
Let's do it.
Hope, welcome back to the Frugal Friends podcast. We are so delighted to have you back.
Thank you.
I'm so excited to be here.
This is an exciting topic to talk about. I think that this is probably a classically frugal episode title, and we're here for it because we think that you're going to give us some fresh takes and some new things to just consider. So let's get into it. Let's talk about household products. How can people make everyday household products just last longer? What's the overview? I also want to know your favorite ones too.
Okay, so we'll get into that. But the first thing that people need to figure out is how long stuff is lasting them, because we get in to this buy, use, replaced cycle and we just do that over and over again, right, never stopping to think, she am I buying this a little more often than I actually have to. This happened to us. We are huge fans of real maple syrup. We want the real stuff on our pancakes.
I'm just saying.
Same.
And so we realized after a while, it's like, every time we go to SAMs, we're like, we out of maple syrup, and the answer is seemed to always be, yeah, we need more. And I was like, I think we need to figure out how long this bottle of maple syrup is lasting us. So we got into the simple habit of writing with black marker when we opened it. We'd put the date on the container, and we realized that thirty two ounces of maple syrup was lasting us thirty days, and we were like, that seems like a
little a lot. We should figure out how we can buy this product, still use it, but make it last longer. And that, honestly, that event was how we got onto this whole cycle of how can we make this last longer? So figure out how long it's lasting you in the first place.
On that note, my mother in law, she is like an honorary special guest. She comes up quite a bit
because she is specifically about maple syrup. So for years, maybe even decades, she will take maple syrup and put it into smaller bottles so like the bottles from cracker barrel that they'll serve you with your breakfast, and fill up those tinier bottles and serve those individually to people because she makes breakfast and just food in general for a lot of people, realizing that a lot of the waste that was happening with expensive maple syrup was just
people pouring too much onto their plates and then you can't put it back into the bottle once it's on the plate, So giving people just smaller portion so that they were more aware. Rather than a big bottle, people are just dumping it and then you're not even eating at all. So I don't know if that was the case for you all, but right, yeah, So with a tinier bottle, then you can be more aware of how much you're using. And she says that that exponentially changed
how much syrup they were using. They were still getting enough, getting what they wanted, it just wasn't all over their plates and then in the trash can eventually.
Yeah, and the other thing you can do, which is one of the things that we did, You just take a serving spoon, which is it's a tablespoon and it's not really it's more than a tablespoon. We all know that, right, And you pour your maple syrup into there first, because then it's on the spoon and it hasn't touched anything.
You drizzle that over your pancakes, and you'll figure out quickly whether you're using more or less than that, because if it's less, if it's on the spoon, you can just put it back in the bottle because it hasn't touched anything. Right, So serve, and that's one of the things that we tell people all the time. Serve only what you expect your guests to eat or what you expect your family to eat, eat. This is more like family time right where you're you're serving them instead of
serving them the whole chicken. You're taking meat off the chicken, putting that meat on the table that you expect your family to eat. Because you put that whole chicken, I raise four boys, It's gonna be gone.
It will be cleaned down to the bone. There would be nothing left.
But yeah, you get hood and put your leftovers away if you're if you've made four portions, put two portions in your to go containers before.
Yeah, that is And people.
Think it's so this is like when you're thinking about in terms of money, you're like, oh, but this is like pennies and dimes, But like if you think of it in terms of health, like your pennies and dimes, and you're like, calories, I'm not into like restricting calories or counting calories for the sake of doing it, but like it adds up. Yeah, and they don't get feeling ill when you eat too much afterwards, right, and we can avoid that by just knowing what we're.
Putting in our bodies. You're just so much more awareness. I love what you're describing. Just know how much you're consuming first. So then once we do know, okay, I here's how long this product is lasting me, but I want to make it last longer. What are some things we can be considering for that.
Okay, So, of course you can serve it less often, you can serve less of it. But here's a really interesting idea morph that product into something else. So let's just say you know that those cheesy rice side dishes you can buy. Let's just say you get some of those cheesy rice dishes and they are on sale. You
get a banging good deal on them. You open that rice dish and you look at the number of servings on the back, and your first words are like, you gotta be kidding me, Like, you're going to eat more than that?
Right?
Their serving size is like, no, no human being unless the five is going to eat that amount of that.
Cheese tablespoons of rice.
I'm like, really for real, I don't think so. So what we started doing is figuring out how can we morph that side dish into something that is more of a main dish. So you add more rice, you add vegetables, you add some protein, you add some.
Things to that.
You use that as the base instead of the actual dish. You add things, do it to make it into a main dish. You can also add this works really well. You can add broth, vegetables, things like that, and you're gonna make it into a cheesy rice soup instead of a side dish.
Yes, because then you really only do need two tablespoons of rice.
That's the only way that you need.
Only way you do this, Jill with like our Hello Fresh deliveries that we get at stretching.
Those, Oh, I sure do. Yeah, whether it's adding in more of the protein or more of the vegetable. Everything you're saying, whether it's the start, the start, the veggie, the protein, just add a little bit more, make a little bit more, freeze half. Yeah. I love the I love the food focus that we're taking at the beginning of this too. Yeah, we all need the tips.
Let's go to like like something that's not edible, all right, Yeah, let's morph soft soap into foaming soap. Get a foaming soap dispenser. Ask one of your friends who's gonna throw it out in the garbage to save it for you. Right, you don't even have to buy one, So you got your dispenser. You're gonna go find the least expensive huge the refillable bottles, the refills of some sort of soft soap product. Fill the bottom of that foaming soap container one fourth of the way full of the soft soap.
Three quarters is water. No, we mix it up a little bit.
That's what the soft soap is. But here's something else I just found out, and this is very cool.
You can use you know, the shower gels you can get well, they have like thickening agents in there that it's like soft soap, only they've got a thickener in there. You can use that shower gel instead of soft soap, and you can do maybe two or three tablespoons in
the bottom of that foaming soap container. And you need to use really hot water instead of top water because it breaks up that emulsifier or whatever it is that makes the gel stuff gel and it will disperse into the water and it will make soft soap foaming dispensor, you know, this foaming soap out of your shower gel.
So when you find those things, like on a really good deal, you can get it.
Yeah. Again, what I'm liking about these tips, similar to what you said Jen about the food pieces, is not only can it help us a little bit with our wallets, but it can also help us nutritionally. Same thing here.
Not only can it help a little bit with how much we're spending month over month on these types of products, but it also helps the environment to not be purchasing as much plastic, to be able to buy that soap in bulk and have that big soap dispenser, that sh shower gel be able to last us potentially months and months if we are cutting it with water the way
that you're saying, and using a foam dispenser. So there can be multiple reasons that people come to wanting to make the stuff that they have last longer when it comes to kind of over consumption and waste, how much we're throwing out, how much plastics we're using. So yeah, that's a really helpful one.
But speaking of the environment, here's something. Dryer sheets. Yeah, I don't know them, don't even use them.
Instead, when you take your laundry out of the washer, put it in the dryer. Throw in a clean dry towel. If you want it to smell good, put a few drops of essential oil on that towel. Put it in, and your your clothes will dry thirty to forty five minutes earlier. About thirty minutes is what we found thirty minutes before. They because that dry towel works like a like almost like a dry sponge wood. It like wicks up that water, and in doing that it helps cut down on the static clean.
It is shocking. I don't do this as often as I should, but I'm glad you're reminding me of this because there have been times when I'm washing like bedding or towels, things that kind of take a long time to dry. I've thrown in a hand towel, a dry hand towel, and it seems to go so much faster that I have ever such a good hurt.
I use like the wool balls yea, which like I guess, help but you but do you think, like are you saying full sized towel hand howel better than woolballs?
I handtell, but I have the wool balls because a friend of mine who like raises her own sheep, she with her own sheep balls.
She made me woolballs.
Very coop, I know that awesome. Well there you go.
It was a great gift that was like so excited.
I'm definitely just.
I do you know what?
I dry out on the line as much as I can, though I have to say my dryer lives a very lonely life for the most part. But there are times you just need a dryer.
Yeah, okay.
So on the topic of laundry, using laundry detergent has always been something that I think I might use too much because I think I might overfill my washer. I would love to get your perspective. I hate I don't want to ever underfill it because I don't want to like waste money or time. But then I think I might be kind of like doing myself a disservice. What is your research show? Because I know you've done it.
I do.
This is such a fun topic because people do use way too much. If you were and that's one of the things I tell people. You want to make it last longer, look at what the manufacturer says and use less because because because look, let's just face it, they're not philanthropical people. They are there to make money. They want to serve, they want to sell you more to Jergent. But here is this is the acid test.
Are you ready? Try this and you will believe me?
You know, those little pods that we all love because they're so convenient. Like screwed, I don't even have to like measure this deturgent. I'm just gonna throw one of these pods and I'm done. Yes, break open one of those pods. Look at how much detergent is actually in one of those pods. It is not it's about a tablespoon. Maybe you don't need any more than a tablespoon. Maybe two tables spoons if you've got a great big heap and load of laundry in there, but don't use any
more than that. And keep a measuring spoon, a real measuring spoon, not like a serving spoon, because that's more than a tablespoon.
Keep a measuring spoon. Measure it out because so you'll know you're using the right amount.
And how much do you fill your washer? Would you say it's better to do like a quote unquote more than what they recommend phil to like use less water, or do you really do a half fill and do two loads?
I do three quarters of a fill.
Okay, I feel it.
It's more than halfway, definitely, but I will say that then we're kind of split the difference people, So we do the research and think we're going to do this and see how it works. So we do three quarter fill with clothing and then the small amount of detergent, and then our washer lets us do like a like a water cycle that has a little bit more water in it to make sure that everything gets clean.
Is that a towel cycle, because I've heard the towel Oh the tel cycle?
Does it gets on her deep water cycle or something like that?
Okay, good to know. Yeah, yeah, you definitely don't want to overfill a washing machine because that is going to cost you far more in the long run if you like make it go off kilter and.
Like they really struggle, like you're stuffing it in shore. But I'm definitely going like I'm going three quarters of the way. Like yeah, I talk to like Tide and the ge people like at conferences and they're like halfway all the this much detergent and I'm like part of me just like I don't have time, Like if I do two loads at three quarters the way, I get to eliminate one load. Yeah, from my you know weekend, That's what I'm gonna do.
Yeah, yeah, I agree, But I will say, don't you feel like it makes a difference, the difference between half and three, like what you're.
Putting in there, like towels.
Towels are really dunce, They're really heavy, and I'm thinking that's hard for that poor little washer to like move all those towels around. So if I were going to err on the side of caution, I'd go with a half a load of towels rather than a half a load of like I don't know, like fluffy things like undergarments and things like. I feel like that can be three quarters of a load.
Yes, I'm glad that we've scientifically decided this. You in So, this episode is kind of inspired by a video you did on stretching household problem products and you talk about you get a big thing at castile soap Doctor Browner's. We love Doctor Browner's casteel soap, and you said some diy things that you do with it, and you stretch it into different types of products. I think that's a really good Like using one product and making it into different types of products is also a way to stings.
Can you tell us your favorite ways that you use that castile soap?
So Castile soap can be used for like you can do dishes with it doesn't take very much bike away casteel soap to do dishes. You can do laundry with it. You can make I've used the castile soap to make the soft soap with the foaming thing. I've used it for that. And if you want it to smell good, because I get the base like just basic, like there's no sun in my castile soap, you can just put a few drops of essential oil in there and make
your your foaming soap with it. That is actually something that we work pretty hard at is figuring out what are the basic products that we need to use that we can morph into a whole bunch of different uses. And those are the products that you want to take a look at.
Yeah, I can appreciate how sometimes when we are aware of our consumption and how to make products stretch, that it can then lead into diy in your own stuff when you start to realize, oh, man, I've got a product for cleaning my floors and for doing the laundry, and for washing my hands and for washing my body and for washing the dishes. And it's like, I wonder if I were to understand the ingredients of these things and how much crossover could there be here and turns
out a ton For me, it's baking soda. So I will make my own dish washing detergent, laundry detergent, and so baking soda is a common ingredient in both of those things, but also a deodorizer. So I every couple of months will sprinkle baking soda on my bed, like on the mattress, let it sit there for a while, and then vacuum it up. It's kind of a way of like deep cleaning your mattress or upholstery, getting out odors from different places. There are times I've needed it
in the car. I think somebody had spilt coffee, and so that was the thing we first put into the car. Are before we were kind of like, yeah, dealing with the stain. But to your point, there are things that we can do that even that's kind of the next step, but learning to stretch the products, but then also learning what are the components of the product itself, and is there a way that I can just get that ingredient and stretch that ingredient in all these different ways.
And that's one of the things that I hear from people. It's like, well, I want to use natural ingredients. I don't want to use these products that have all of these additives in it. But I feel like that those products are more expensive, and I think you're right. So you look at basic ingredients like a vinegar, like baking soda, and you figure out how can I use those in such a way that still gets things clean or still
does what I need it to do. Like if you know how when your drain start to smell kind of yucky like your kitchen drains, you put baking soda in there and then you follow it up with vinegar, you know, and you get that lovely like foaming reaction and it goes down your drain and it deodorizes your drain.
You do that about once a month.
It's very cost effect and very inexpensive to do, and it keeps your drains running a little more freely and they smell they smell better, right, yes, And so you figure out how to do those things with basic products. So I don't think, you know, And I so I love the idea of doing things that are green in nature,
I really do. But it's like a double wind when you could do things that are green in nature and they also keep some green in your back pocket where you're saving and saving the planet at the same time.
Right, it's a double bed.
We love it when they go hand in hand. So, speaking of tracking how much you're using, how might somebody know if their consumption is maybe a little too much? Like, how do we even determine the metric for how long my laundry detergent should last me, or how long my cleaning product or hand soap should last me? How would they know?
Okay, one of the things to do is to make sure that you're using it in a way that is consistent with saving money. Here's an example.
Body wash.
We all love it, right, because it just feels very It feels very much like we are indulging in a SPOS scenario because we've got body wash. I love that, but people like squeeze it directly on their body, and you shouldn't do that. You can take a loofa going once again. You get an expensive Lufa and it goes with that spawl like experience because we want that at home without paying for it. And you only need a quarter size dollup on there or your sponge or your washcloth.
You're start at the top of your body work your way to the bottom and that quarter size dollup, believe it or not, is going to be enough. We underestimate what we use consistently. But when you systematize how you're using it and what you're using the amount you're using, then you can easily figure out where you're overusing or if you are.
Yeah, we always just err on the side of more, right, Like it's always especially when we get older, and like nobody has really taught us how much soap to put on a loofa or if they did, it's went one time when we were five. Like, we're all just making it up. So when you don't know what to do, you just add more.
Not to mention, when the pre portion sizes of a pump of hand soap or a pump of shower gel is determined for you already, then you just think, well, that's how much I need. But really, like a half pump or a quarter pump of some of these products really are enough. I know you talked about that in
your video. I love for you to go say it to us, to hear about how much hand soap you actually need, how much shampoo or conditioner you actually need to kind of help us get a sense of are we utilizing too much?
Right so hand soap, it's like half a tea spoon or something. It's not very much at all with hand soap. One of the things that we have done is like, especially, let's just say you have kids who are helping you do dishes, and we do dishes by hand.
We've never had a dishwasher. I know, I raised four boys with no dishwasher.
Congratulations, I know it.
I feel like I need so much to ord a reward trophy our kids helped us with dishes. If you put your dish soap into one of those empty soft soap containers and you measure how many pumps, because you need less than a tablespoon of good soap to do a whole load of dishes, how many pumps is that? Because it's easy to put a label on the side and say, when you're doing dishes, two pumps is plenty.
That's all you're going to put into whatever you're putting it onto to fill that container that you're using to put the dish dishwater in. And so something like that helps with knowing this is how much shampoo I need.
The other thing is.
Do you really need to wash your hair, your whole head twice. Do you need to wash your hair once with that shampoo and then maybe you just need to do the tips of your hair for the second time, or do you need to do it a second time at all. I'm all about, like, try something out. If you don't like the results, you can always go back to washing your hair again twice.
You can't.
But if you try it out and think, you know what, my hair still stays soft. I still can go three days without washing my hair. I'm satisfied with that. You don't need to go back to because I am so. I use expensive shampoo. I use a shampoo called Better Not Younger. It's formulated for people over the age of forty forty five. I love this stuff passionately, but it's expensive. It's thirty dollars a bottle. But on Black Friday they put it on special every sing year. The year they
have fifteen dollars a bottle. I buy enough for a year, but I know, because I'm still paying fifteen dollars for a bottle shampoo, I know how many squirts of that shampoo I need to use to get it to do what I want it to do.
For my hair, and I'm using their conditioner, and I'm using.
It mainly on the bottom part of my hair and not the top of my hair. You got to figure out how you want to put that product on your body and what really needs it. Here's something else people don't realize. There's a really good reason that you should apply all of your moisturizers to your body right after
you've taken a shower or a bath. Because your skin is the pores are open, and it's your skin is still slightly moist it will receive that moisturizer a lot more effectively than if you're doing it like right before you go to bed or something where you've taken your shower two hours before that. So right as soon as you step out of the shower, have those products in there, have them available, and apply them right out of the shower. They'll work more effectively.
This is the skin fluencing that we need. Yeah, not the twenty five step shower roots, but like the tip that's like put your lotion on right after you shower. Friend, do that and it a less will go further. And I love your tip on, Like, try it, see if it works, and if it doesn't, you don't.
Like.
I was trying the curly girl method of not shampooing your hair for extended periods of time.
What's extended, what's extended? Be real? With us? I would wash. I would wash my hair once a.
Week, okay, but like, I have very thin hair, so like I couldn't get away with more than that. And honestly, after a while, I realized I couldn't get away with that either.
My hair is just too thin.
Fine, you're fine, Fine, Fine, it's fine. And I had to go back to washing my hair two or three times a week because I was looking at my hair every time, and I was like looking.
You know, I probably interacted with you in this time and I didn't notice. You were probably okay, you were probably fine. I was probably fine.
But I think what's important is that I liked it better when it was shampooed versus when it was not, So I chose to go that route more. But I did try it, and I use very expensive conditioner and shampoo. So what I have started to do now is I will shampoo the roots and condition the tips like.
Half in half. I feel like, when in doubt and I wish that this rhymed, it doesn't if you'll figure it out at some point when in doubt, use a oh here we go when and out? Use a piece sized amount. Yes, true everything, Yes, start there. Just start with a peace size and then figure it out. But honestly, and I have fine hair as well, but a piece size, maybe slightly more than that, is all I need for
conditioner like that stuff goes fast. When it comes to the creams that I'm putting on my face, that's all I need. And the company that I buy my skincare from is often reaching out to me relentlessly. Isn't it time to renew D No? I only have to buy my skincare stuff twice a year, and it lasts me. I'm using it every day, but I don't actually need
that much. So I'm able to buy, you know, quality stuff, but purchase it less often because I know what is actually enough, and usually it's a piece sized amount.
Same. I use the retinal bottle, says us, in the morning and the evening, and I'm like, I know, retinyl makes you more susceptible of the sun. No, thank you, So I just do it in the evening. HM last twice as long.
It's all about being informed. Isn't it. It's like you're reading and research and researching and.
Figuring out where you lie on it and issues and doing what works for you. But I want to bring up two controversial things since we're yes, we love it hot take number Number one. Controversy is that you cannot be frugal and buy quality products at the same time. So wrong, so wrong. I love my real maple syrup. I love my expensive shampoo and conditioner. I figure out how to get it at a price point that I'm willing to pay. I figure out how to stretch it to make as long and last as long as I can.
And that might come down to saying, okay, so I'm going to use this instead of every time, I'm going to use it every other time. Or it might be instead of washing my hair every four days, I'm going to go every five days or every six days. So you figure out how to get what you want at the price that you're willing to pay. And that is for Gelly, it's putting money toward things that are most important to you.
Yes, I buy my artificially my expensive, artificially flavored coffee.
She loves to in my face. I can't stand that for you, I mean for me. I can't stand it for me. I guess it's fine for you.
Love.
Okay, what's your second hot take?
Okay, the second controversial thing is thinning products. When you get to the end of them, what is it? I mean, because we all remember our parents pouring so much water into the ketchup bottle that they're like, put this on your hamburger.
It's like it's like going all over the place. You're like, Dad, this is just not working.
He's like, I just we're getting another another serving out of this ketchup bottle. And so we tend to think of thinning products as being something that's cheap and not frugal. And I would argue that there's a way to thin products to make sure that you are cutting open that package, you're getting the most out of it without it being cheap, instead of.
Frugal, without winding up on some TLC special For my hand soap dispensers.
Right now, I have the backups on deck, but I'm like, I'm going to just put a smidge of water, use them all up, make sure it's all good again.
We add to the extra It might be pennies that you save, but I do think the practice of it, the mindfulness, the intentionality, the awareness of consumption is worth it. And to pick and choose what products you're gonna do that with. I mean, we don't want to be hurting ourselves like slicing open metal containers and digging in and
getting like wounds on our fingers. But for me, yeah, with the shower gel, because the pump doesn't go all the way down to the bottom, so you've usually got for me two weeks still of soap left in the bottle. That's that's two weeks. That's more than pennies. That's a couple dollars that I'm saving on that. And the hand soap and the shampoos and conditioners, laundry detergent. Absolutely, But then on some of these, I am not going to
add water to catch up. Oh my, that's a little too overwhelming, unless unless you're making like meatballs or something, or you're going to add it into that.
Big mac salad and you're adding some vinegar to the bottle to make a little make a little salad dressing. Yeah, let's get it to let's get it together. We always make a peanut sauce from the end of the peanut butter jar.
Say that, I'm not joking, just getting ready to do that.
If you're not making peanut sauce, peanut sauces at the end of your peanut butter jar, what are you even doing exactically?
And you call yourselves frugal?
You know what, We never waste. We always use every single one and it's why we're so behind.
And that's why we're so frugal. The villa of the week.
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Buck bills, butflow bills, bill claim.
This is the bill of the week. Okay.
Every week we invite our listeners and our guests to share with us their bill of the week, and we are always four to six months behind because we don't waste a single bill. We play every single one and we take one from every single guest, and we can't wait to hear yours.
Okay, this bill of the week tip goes literally handing glove with what we've been talking about.
Your energy bill lowering your energy bill.
Energy prices have been going up dramatic over the last twenty four months.
How can you lower that?
Now?
Here is something that we stumbled upon because we are huge, like we do everything we can to keep our electric bill, and we reached an impasse. I'm like, Larry, there's got to be something we can do. I'm pretty sure that there's an idea we haven't come up with yet. We came up with it, an energy diary. We keep a piece of paper right next to our microwave because that's
the thing. You turn that microwave on more than you do any other appliance in your house, right and we just recorded the date and what we used that energy for and how long we used it. So when I turned on my electric oven, which sucks energy like a vampire, then I knew how long it was going to be on and I was able to take that energy diary. Our utility company shows us our actual energy usage down to fifteen minute increments.
No I know, yeah, they do.
So I was able to match up the energy diary with my actual usage and figure out what I was doing that was costing me far more money than I thought. It was one of it was the electric and it tripled our electric usage during the time it was on. So we created a list. Then, how are we going to use the electric oven less?
What are we going to do.
We're gonna make sure that oven's full, We're going to cook multiple items, rolling going to turn it on twice a month. What else are we going to use? We did a video, this was a couple of years ago, where we tested four appliances. I got four squash that were about the same size and shape, and we cooked it and did a scientific study as scientific as we could be to figure out which appliance used the least
energy to cook. So we used our wall oven, which we knew would be the most expensive, a toaster oven, crock pot, and our instant pot.
Oh, I'm excited for these results. We are we are leaning.
Instant pot hands down.
Here's what we didn't realize. Wow, here's what we didn't realize.
They scare me though, No, I love.
Here's what people don't realize because they go, oh, it's gotta be it's gotta be your crock putt because it's SIPs energy. Yes it does, but it SIPs energy for four hours. Your pressure cooker uses that thousand watts of energy only until it gets up to pressure. Once it's pressurized, it uses zero. It dropped to zero, and that was why it used less than any of the other three methods.
That's how you avoid a hangover, to you take one shot for the party versus your friend who sip in the whole time. She's gonna feel bad tomorrow, not you.
This is how I did not think of.
Wow, a vice that you needed but you didn't ask for.
Okay, I know.
I think we didn't need it and we didn't ask for it. Okay, we've recorded three episodes today and this is the gens for she's on the microphone. This is so amazing that you did this, Hope, because I do think that this probably feels like more work for most people than what they're willing to do. But I think we often just assume what's taking the most energy we don't actually know, So I think as a practice to
figure it out, it's worth doing. But then also being able to learn from your research and your experiences to know, Okay, these are the things that are costing me the most. It's my it's my ac and heating and my water heater and my oven and how can I reduce those things that are that are draining the most. But also that instant pot little tip is super helpful for how can we cook more with our instant pot? And that's
how you save on your electric bill. Amazing. If you all listening have a bill that you want to submit to us, if it has to do with lowering a bill or a bill you don't mind paying, or if your name is Bill and you're paying bills or you're not paying bills, you're just you're just out here being Bill. Frugal Friends podcast dot com splash Bill. We can't wait to hear it, and now it's time for ready, Okay, Jill needs to scroll down so that I.
Can okay the question it's on the next page there.
It is.
What's something an everyday product you think people throw away too soon? Oh, this could be ananimate too Oh. Whenever you think they throw away too soon.
I think that people throw away expired food or food that is pasted the cell by date way too soon. I mean, because I've looked at the FDA website right and they're like, the cell by date is the date it has to be sold by, not when that product is no longer fit for consumption. Now there is a point of course of which you should not consume something. But if you got a can of soup and it's you know, a month past the cell by date, eat the soup. People throw stuff out all the time, especially
medications or spices. Spices don't generally go bad. They lose potency over time and you might have to use more of that spice, but they don't generally like go rancid. So and you know what, and knowing where to keep things. Your tree nuts they belong in the freezer because the natural oils will make them go rancid. So maybe you're throwing away that two pound bag of walnuts because you just didn't store it properly. Put it in the refrigerator.
Put it in the freezer and it will last a lot longer.
And if you can afford two pounds of water, I.
Give us your friend. Wow, that's a nice tree nut, it is you do? You do love walnuts? We've talked about like our favorite nut in the past, and I think walnut was yours.
Yeah, it's just it's elevated. But it's like not Macedamia, right, it's you know, not.
As it adds.
So much flavor to stuff. But like, we're plant based, so the most expensive thing we ever buy is probably nuts. It just because you know, you know, beans and produce and rice in it, and they don't cost very much. But yeah, and I buy three pounds of walnuts at one time.
Wow, that's because you like quality. Yeah, good quality. That's a walnut chill.
I think people throw away their glass jars too quickly. Well, first of all, they shouldn't be thrown away. Glass is the one true thing that actually can be recycled, so I think if we are getting rid of them, make sure you're recycling. But also, there are so many uses for glass jars that we ought to just be Now. I'm not saying horde them, because there does come a
point where you just don't need them anymore. But I will use my glass jars to make my own salad dressing, store my DIY, laundry detergent, give cut flowers to friends, give sour dough starter to friends, store leftover foods in because glass is better than plastic for food storage, so better to not have to buy the stuff from the store, but to utilize those pasta jars.
And they have better lids than Mason jars. Yeah, Mason jar lids are the they Yes, they're the worst. The lids on these glass from food our hands down better.
Yeah. Organizing for stuff even not in the kitchen, like buttons or stamps or stickers or you know, if you're a crafty person, you you better be saving your glass jars. Okay, here turn chen. Wow. Yeah, I got a soapbox. Brought this one.
Love it.
I have a soapbox too. Oh no, and please tell me it's not flavored coffee.
I think people throw away in their ground flavored coffee too soon. I don't think it expires as quickly as people think it does.
And are you really saying this box?
I'm in November because I bought the Black Friday sale and I got it.
I got it in.
Bulk so that I could get not bulk, but I got enough to get free shipping.
I think you're talking to the wrong one here, because I'm pretty sure I remember Hope is a coffee snob.
I am absolutely coffee snob.
Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna.
I like I like me my flavored coffee. I gotta say I do.
Okay, Wow, If.
Jill doesn't appreciate flavored coffee, or if it's.
Pre ground.
Fire right now and I'm still drinking coffee that I bought.
Ouch. Yeah, but I think it's fine. She's hurting me with her words.
I do you mind the beans we grind our beans? I will say that.
But if we find a rock and good deal on preground coffee, you better bet that we are buying it. But you know, of course, where your flavored coffee needs to be stored. It's got to be in the freezer, my friend in the well, Yes, ma'am.
I will put If I get coffee on sale, I will put it in the freezer. But like we are not, I am making sure that it is being drank within like a month of it having been produced. She is so genuit fresh and so now I just lean in. Yeah, ah, love it. She loves to torture me. Hope.
Now that everyone knows you like nice things and you like to extend the life of your nice things, and they want more of that in their life, where can they find you?
All right?
If you are ready to consistently spend less and save more, you can find me at my website underthemedian dot com. Or we have a really really fun YouTube channel where we post twice a week and that's also under the Median on YouTube. Oh and I have a free I have a free guide I'd love to give to your
to your where viewers and your listeners. So I have a guide on how to lower your expenses and it walks through ton different ways you can and lower your expenses, different areas of your budget, step by stuff, instructions plus checklists. It's free and I will make sure that I give these guys a link and they can put.
It in the show notes.
You can also go to my website under the Median dot com and you'll find it all the way toward the top of the perfect page on the website.
Awesome, hope, thanks for being here. We appreciate it. We feel like we got the most from you. We stretched this conversation in twenty twenty five.
We're bringing guests on for us and everyone else just gets to benefit from our enrichment.
Yes, fastest forty five minutes of my life.
Yeah, because we just cut from the intro to the outro. If you're watching it via video, if we posted it.
I guess you'll have to have the YouTube to find out. Yeah, but truly, we also just finished up our interview with Hope and it was so fun and I really particularly love her focus on let's get an understanding on how much we are currently using. I think that's just a good practice. Whether or not you want to be cutting all of your stuff with water or not, or cutting open the toothpaste bottle, it still is good to know am I using the right amount? Am I using more
than I need? Because as with anything, when it comes to finances, and probably apart from that, just finding our enough is what we are all about. How do we determine what is enough for us? And when it comes to consumption, that is a great question to be asking ourselves. What is enough? Hand soap usage, condiment usage, laundry soap usage, mean just all of it?
Just don't know, yeah, exactly, Like how much condiment usage?
You know? How much is? Oh? I actually use way too much? Catch up? Like I realize it when I'm eating, I'll put a whole It's not even a doll up, it's a whole, big old squeeze. Got to save that. Okay,
we're going to save that anyhow. Thank the people. First, thank you everyone for being here for listening, maybe watching again for YouTube dot Com'sagvirugal Friends podcast, and also thank you for reading our book, because we're just out here doing the most, writing a book called by What You Love Without Going Broke, putting out podcasts, we're on YouTube. Thanks for writing reviews and giving us ratings on all of these platforms, particularly when it comes to the book.
Here's one of the ones that we loved from Kyle Burbank gave us five stars for the book. I absolutely loved By What You Love Without Going Broke for its unique approach to personal finance and focus on values based spending. The authors offer a friendly, non judgmental tone, making the book relatable and inspiring for readers. I also appreciated the radical middle sentiment that's truly missing in the financial space.
Although it may not provide in depth advice on certain topics such as investing, the truth is that you can get that anywhere. Ain't it the truth? O? Kyle. Instead, this is the perfect book for those seeking a more mindful and balanced approach to money. You can fill in the rest later. Ain't that the truth though? Kyle. For that reason, I not only highly recommend it, but would rank it among my favorite personal finance books ever. Kyle Wow.
I don't know how many other personal finance books you're reading, Kyle, but love to be at the top of that list. So grateful.
Thank you, Kyle, one of our our mighty but few male.
We're assuming we don't actually know.
Oh this is true. Kyle could also be a girl's name. I'm so sorry, but one of our mighty but few.
Book reviewers of the book.
So if you want to increase our reviews of the book, please head to Amazon and leave a rating and review, even if you didn't buy it there, even if you got it from the library. Head to buy what you loovebook dot com. We've got all the links to buy it. Bookshop dot org is the best, and instructions on how to request it from your library if your library system
doesn't already have it. And please leave a rating and review on Amazon regardless of where you bought it, and a rating and review on Spotify for the show if you liked the episode.
Yeah, make it mighty and many. That's better because of alliteration. Oh, here you go. We have a goal of getting five hundred reviews on our Amazon book by the end of the year. Ooh, she just made that Opption'm just throwing out at goals, because when I tell you goals, you all like love to it.
Just does this, she goes off the rails and love it. So yeah, leave us a review for the book. That would be great, and uh yeah, we'll see you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Cirianna.
Okay, okay, okay, I eat a lot of ketchup. When I'm eating something with ketchup, I'm so sad this is what we're talking about. What did you want to talk about? You want to talk about our goals, what we're doing with the business.
I just ketchup is kind of gross.
I for good love ketchup. It's so good. Hey, tell me about ketchup. Tell me about all your ketchup. It's so good. It goes so well with a few things. But I eat those things a lot, so well with a smaller thing. Okay, but truly, when I am eating a burger, fries, anything, but really that's what I'm hot hot dog mm I am putting a lot of ketchup
on it. I know that I'm putting a lot on because I see what other people are doing, like my husband, and he'll he'll put a true doll up like a tablespoon onto his burger.
That's more than a doll up. A doll is like a teaspoon. Oh m hm, let us know in the cor how I just the dollup A doll is, uh, yeah, so I will.
I will put a lot a lot more than that, and then I don't know where it goes. It just feels like it gets soaked into the bun or something. So then I'll also put more than a dollup onto my plate and I'll dip the burger into the ketchup. I know, jen, I know. And then if I've got fries, which I normally do, I I am putting ketchup more ketchup on my plate too to three times throughout the meal. Yeah, it's a problem. I like putting some ketchup.
If I'm doing like a big Mac salad, I'll make the big Mac sauce dressing and that has ketchup in it. I will put some ketchup. Like I'm not a monster.
I think I'm a monster when it comes to ketchup. I don't know.
I don't There would be somebody who just eats it all dry, no ketch fries, no ketchup on burger.
That is a monster.
You could be a very beautiful monster if you do that. I'm not saying you're not beautiful, especially if you're subscribed to our YouTube channel.
Oh you are stunning, you are.
If you do take ketchup with your goddess with your fries, goddess, beautiful goddess. And if you make moonshine take some fries and burger with her ketchup. Yeah, just a beautiful little glutton goddess. Only if you're subscribed, though you're not subscribed, monstrous with no other caveats.
Monster, monstrous. You are a violent monster. If you don't subscribe, even look.
Walk away.
Okay, smash that like button like and subscribe.