Grocery Saving Strategies That Will Cut Your Bill in Half with Gina Zakaria

of Frugal Summit. If you were around with us in two thousand and one, we host our first live summit, and last year we host another one. But this is from our twenty twenty one summit, and it's from our good friend Gina, who if you have spent a millisecond on TikTok you will know her as Saving Whiz. She is a fantastic person and so full of so many grocery saving tips, so many when we need them, we always need them, We need them repeated, we need new ones,

we always need them. Yes, Jeema's got them, and so we. This was one of our most popular sessions from the summit, and so we're sharing it with you today because my time is limited and every episode I get before I give birth is precious, and this is a precious episode. I think it's yeah, packed with a lot of goody goodness that we all need. But first, this episode is brought to you by the drive Through. Have you ever

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and overall becoming a more mindful consumer. If that sounds interesting to you, whether you have a non sleeping newborn or not, head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Makeover to start your free three day challenge to it all right, So, our grocery saving food episodes are some of our favorites because we really do feel like food, housing, transportation, food are three like big ones, but you don't make housing and transportation decisions that often. They're more like yeah,

hopefully those are very few and far between. They do give you a lot of bang for your buck though. Groceries, on the other hand, are every week. Food is every day, and so that is why we spend so much time talking about it because that is really a low barrier way to really transform your expenses. As we love to eat and we love food, I mean I am eating.

Oh isn't it sad when you think you're going Yeah, if you thought and it's all gone, okay, Well, that's how much We love food, so we have a ton of episodes on eating healthy, saving on groceries, you know, etc. Etc. A few of our grocery specific episodes are episode two fourteen, how to Save money on Groceries, Very plain, very Simple, and Episode seventy Grocery store Sales Cycles to know about. Those ones go in tandem. So this one is a really good one. Like I said, if you have spent

a millisecond on money saving TikTok, you know Gina. She is saving whiz and she's passionate about helping people find their sweet spot in spending and saving by being more frugal. And she is truly of values based advocate and it's her mission to teach others how to maximize life while saving money. She has appeared on numerous talk shows, personal finance publications. She's been in the game for a long time, y'all, and she's just a great person. Love her. Let's get

her tips, let's collect them all. They're so good. Gina, thank you so much for coming onto the Future of Frugal Summit. We're so happy to have you here. I'm so happy to be here. Food is one of my favorite topics, and it's also one of the favorite topics of our listeners, and I think those who are engaging

in the summit. I mean, we have to eat food every day, so I'm really thrilled to be talking about this topic with you and have enjoyed looking through your blog and some of the content you've already put out. I noticed on your website you've got a whole category just for food, and that's so fun for me to click on. So thank you for all your work in this space, and we're so delighted to hear more on what you have to say about this. Yeah, it's definitely

one of my passions. I feel that we often neglect the food category when we're thinking about budgeting, and it's such a major piece of our lives, so that's why I talk about it so much. Yeah, and I found you on TikTok. I mean I knew of you before, but then I got on TikTok and then saw that you have quite the following. Everyone following you for food stuff. So for those of our listeners and watchers who aren't on TikTok, tell us a little bit about you and

what you do. Sure, I'm a personal finance educator, so I have a blog, a podcast, and basically what I do is I teach women how to manage their money so they can live with less, not as far as the type of things that they have, but they can live on less money and still have a fully fulfilled life.

And I think that that's really important because a lot of times we look to constantly try to make more money, find ways of making more money, but we don't look at how we can actually use the resource that we get now and stretch it so that it makes sense for our lives and be able to enjoy our lives thoroughly and not feel like we're strapped with cash. So that's what I do. I try to empower women in learning more about money so that they can really manage

it the way that serves their lives better. That's excellent. In all of these categories, it sounds like you're not just food, although we're talking about food today, right, there's so many different categories that you explore with people that really equips because we're whole people, We're not just one aspect. And so I think it's phenomenal to have these platforms and your voice to be able to help guide in

that process. And it sounds like at any level of entry, right, regardless of budget or LOCATIONED be able to identify what's going to work for me, right right. It's so personal and it comes down to your preferences and what you see your life like and what you want it to be. So yeah, I love that we can tailor it to our needs and it's not just some cookie cutter approach. Yeah, we love, love love fat. So I wanted right off the bat, I'm really burning to know the answer to

this question. Not because I love bashing things, but um, I really want to know it. But maybe maybe are there any savings hacks that you like see over and over that you think are like grossly overrated? This is going to be a really unpopular opinion. That's why Jen

liked asking those questions. Well, for me, it's really couponning because I feel like it's such a hindrance for someone who's starting out who thinks that the only way they can really save on groceries is if they sit for endless hours clipping coupons, or that they have to get online coupons to save money, and there's so many other ways of saving money in your grocery bill that has nothing to do with couponning, so I feel like it's

a little overrated. Yes, you can save money with couponning, but there are absolute ways that you can do it without ever having to clip a coupon. I don't think i've clipped a coupon in several years, whereas when I first started, I felt like that was almost like a requirement, And now I don't feel that way because there's so many other ways that you can save massive amounts without having to clip one single coupon. It feels antiquated too.

And I believe that couponing probably did help maybe our parents' generation when it came to food, But the way that we're shopping is is a lot different in so many ways, and it's not as necessary not to mention. Yeah, just like the environmental impact on all that paper that's circulating, and then the amount of time and energy and attention that it takes out of our day actually sit down and look at Okay, well what coupons do I need and get the scissors out. It just all You're right,

it feels overwhelming. That's a barrier to me, for sure. Yeah, I know it, but yeah, I'm in the same boat I feel like rebate apps are the new cuponding. Those also like take too much time for me. I see them all over the place and like I just can't. Yeah,

I totally hear you. I totally hear you. And there's also this notion that when you coupon, everyone thinks automatically to the extreme couponners, so they think that they have to like stock up on everything they have a coupon for, and it's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, don't stock up on things you wouldn't normally buy anyway, because then you're not saving anything. You're saving twenty five sense on something you think you're saving, but you've actually spent seven dollars

on something you wouldn't have purchased anyway. So it's this idea that couponning has to be you know, I have to get the sale otherwise I'm missing out somehow. And you've had to allocate an entire room of your house for twenty large laundry to turgin bottles and canned guns and all this stuff, like the what's required to really

coupon is not for me. Yeah, I do love the cuponers who will stock up all that, like, enjoy it and then they will just donate like their whole haul, Like they can spend fifty dollars on all of this stuff, like a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff, and then they donate it. I love seeing those people. I am not one of those people, so not for me, I hear you. I'm the same way. I love I love watching them donate so many things. But yeah, I'm definitely

not one of those people either. So then, Gina, if it's not coupon NG, if we don't have to become an extreme couponor what are some of your favorite tips on ways people can significantly save on their grocery bill. The first thing, I think it's setting up a routine of checking what you have on hand and paying attention to what really is on sale so you get weekly ads. And if you don't get weekly ads, there are ways

that you can get your local weekly ads online. But the idea is to look around what you have that's available to you at home and what you can combine with sale items to create a menu that's budget friendly without requiring you to go get special ingredients. So I always tell my students, the first thing you want to do is look at your weekly ads before you started

to create your menu. Then look at what you have on hand, and then the third step is writing out your shopping list, and then step number four is creating your menu. Because a lot of times people think, Okay, I want to save money, so I want to create

a menu first. Well, if you create a menu first subjecting yourself to the prices of those ingredients that are now and they might not be on sale, so it's much easier for you to create a menu around what you have on hand and what you're planning on purchasing. So much work at the forefront, which is always what is said, right like, we've got to be planful if we want to save money. But yeah, there's no way

around it. I think of these are excellent steps and it does, yes, if we want to significantly reduce the cost of our grocery bill, it's not just going to happen. I can't just hope for it. There does require some intentionality ahead of time. But that's such a good tip because I think I'll often do it the way that

you just said not to do it. What do I feel like I want this week and then try and figure out ways to get that frugally, which works sometimes, but you're right, I am then at the mercy of whatever the cost of those items are that week. It does still see started that I can't get out of that work that work ahead of time. Yeah, no, it totally does save a lot of money to do it either way, whether you plan a menu or not, if you do the menu first or the shopping list first.

But I think it really optimizes what's on sale when you choose your shopping list first. Here's the thing, though, it doesn't really take a ton of time. You're talking about maybe five ten minutes. I mean, I sit with my weekly ad and I usually go on live on TikTok when I'm doing this, so they can see how I think and my process of how I compare prices.

But I also have a grocery price list template where I've allowed them to put in their grocery prices so they know what really is considered a sale, because sometimes you see things on sale and they're not really a sale. So they know their prices, and then it becomes like a five to ten minute process every week once just five to ten minutes, so it really doesn't take a lot of time. At the very beginning, it does because you're still kind of getting used to the idea and

how it works. But it starts to become easier and easier, and it really doesn't take a lot of time later on. Yeah, and I think it does save some time when you're trying. If you're just starting with a meal plan and you have all of these options, it can take a long time. But if you're starting with the sales, it really narrows down. So if like asparagus is on sale, then I know exactly like to google asparagus recipes, and so it saves even more time if you let that guide you. That's

so true, and it sounds like too geno. With what you're describing, we can decrease the amount of time that it takes, not only because with practice, but I would imagine also just recycling some of the recipes that we've seen work. And so in time, it's almost like the first year of teaching. Though I'm not a teacher, but I've heard the first year of teaching is a lot of leg work. But then after that you've got your curriculum.

Kind of that concept that once you've done this for a little bit, you can pull out and recycle and use old things that you've have worked in the past. You don't have to constantly reinvent. I love that it starts to be a rotation. You're absolutely right. Yeah, And then there's also grace for you in the you know, first year or so, when it's hard, Like you know that it's going to be hard when you start doing it. It's you're brand new to it. It's going to take

a little extra time. But knowing that you are actually creating a skill, and once you master that skill, then that saves you so much money for the rest of your life, and it saves you so much time. But and we've got people like Gina to motivate us, and I feel stuck. Just go on TikTok. I'm not on TikTok yet, but Gina, you might motivate me to get on there. Watch I tried. So the other day I

set a timer. Well, the timer was already set, and you have this TikTok where you set a timer and you clean your kitchen and you only do the amount that's in the timer. And I had like eleven minutes left on something I was baking, and I was like, and the dishes were there and I was like, Okay, let's see what I can get done in eleven minutes. And it got me to do all of my dishes, is it? So? Yeah, you inspired me on that you were able to finish all your dishes in eleven minutes. Well,

I had. It was just the big pots. The rest were in the dishwasher, so it was stuff I didn't want them to dishwasher. But yeah, I finished. Well, I mean it took me a smidgeon of extra time, but the bank had to cool, so I just you know, it was perfect. Anyways, I love about my dish washing. So for these changes that we're making to sustainably reduce our grocery bill, do you have any rules or tricks that help like solidify these new habits. Yeah. So the first thing that I do, like I said, is the

checking of the ads. My biggest rule is that I allow every person in my family to choose one of their favorite meals or one of the meals that they really want to have that week. And I know that sounds more like I'm choosing my meal plan, but what I do is I say, okay, this is what we have on hand, so you can choose from these things. So you have the freedom to choose, but within these limits. Because I know what I'm purchasing in the grocery store, I know what I'll have on hand, and so each

person gets to choose that recipe that they want. That way, every person in the family during that week will have something they're looking forward to, and it makes it easier

for us not to waste food. I think that's really important because sometimes we cook and cook and cook, and we have the best of intentions to eat leftovers, and if you don't have a system for actually using those leftovers or repurposing them, a lot of times they end up in the trash, and then not only have you wasted money, but you've wasted a valuable resource of food

that we all should be really grateful for. Right So, for me, it's making sure that my family is actually going to enjoy the meals that I'm going to make. That if I am making something, I have the intention that if there's going to be leftovers that I know I'm going to repurpose them or when I'm going to serve them next because they will be served, they're not

going in the trash. So it's this idea that stalking up is okay, as long as you're paying attention to preserving the food and you're not going to end up wasting it, or if you cook too much, you're not going to end up wasting it. So there's another thing that I do sometimes too, where I will double batch something like a roast, and then I'll shred it and I'll put it in a zip blog freezer bag and

I'll put it in my freezer for another time. I've saved on being able to get the roast on a really massive sale and now I'm not wasting it because it's ready for me when I need it. And I think that's really important. Just establishing systems where you're almost like constantly being mindful and planning ahead with everything that you're making now, I think that's really really crucial. I really like that tip. I don't know that I've heard this from other people, at least on our podcast as

it relates to food. Of having each family member take ownership really is what you're describing and responsibility, which is both contributing to the community, but also, as you're saying, it gives everybody in the family something to look forward to. So there's some buy in with what's for dinner, and not one person is bearing all the weight of what's for dinner, What's for dinner? Mom, dad, what's for dinner?

It's well, what do you want this week? And it can take some of the burden off of you and create a bit more of a shared experience, responsibility, ownership, making sure there's less food waste. My goodness, it ticks off so many pieces here For me in my household, it's just me and my husband. But I really like that idea, especially for larger families. It's excellent. Yeah, and we do have so many people with larger families and we don't get a lot of insight because we don't

have like older kids or Jill doesn't have kids. So that's great. Yeah, it makes a big difference because that's one of the things that I can't stand. I you know, I talk about food a lot, but I'm not really like a kitchen person at all. I'm not someone who actually enjoys cooking a lot. So for me, it's like, I have to think about these five meals and that drives me crazy sometimes because I don't I don't know

what to make a lot of the times. So I started to create this because they would say what's for dinner? I'm like, what do you want for dinner? Like you tell me? So then we started to create this routine. And so it's been a few years now and ever since my kids were little. My kids are now nineteen and fourteen, But when they were little, like I'm talking about like four or five, I'd start asking and they would get so excited because they got to be part

of the whole like planning stage. So yeah, it definitely really at any age, I think they might just say peanut butter and jelly, but hey, why not ye diner? That's easy, give some ownership, which is just like great parenting. And then also it saves you a little more time in the meal planning because that's fewer meals you have to think about exactly. But also, Gina, thank you for sharing how you don't feel like a guru in the kitchen. I think they call them chefs? Is that what they

call them gurus in the kitchen? I think that that makes it so attainable and accessible for those of us who feel similarly, I would imagine the majority of people would say that. Of course, you've got some people who love to cook, or even some who love to cook, but only when they have the time to do it, and that's usually few and far between. So to be able to say, yeah, I write about it, I talk

about it, I have to TikTok about it. But it's not like this is my favorite thing, but it has to be done, and here's a way that we can do it in an attainable way. I think it just creates freedom that we don't have to be in love with this process, but there is a way to do it in an enjoyable way where we get good food, good nutrition, which if I can also just plug again, Gina, You've got some awesome recipes for like vegan and keto

and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, regardless of our food nutritional journey, we can make this happen if we can introduce some creativity to it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Do you have any, Gina, go to recipes for when you're just not feeling like cooking, which it sounds like happens sometimes for you. Yeah, yeah, no, I do my favorite things.

Like I said, I'm not a kitchen girl, So my favorite things are to find ways of spending the least amount of time in your kitchen so you get the most bang for your buck, right, And my favorite thing to do is to take a Saturday where I have like maybe two hours of time. You don't really need a lot of time, but I'll cook like two or three meals during that time and usually they'll have almost the same basis. So I love my favorites are stews

because they're very low maintenance. You put everything in, you don't have to worry about it, and it just kind of like simmers and gets delicious, and you can do other things, like I'll put a timer on my kitchen or on my phone in my kitchen or on my phone, and it's like set it and forget it. It's almost like the slow cooker, except that I don't know it just it thickens more and it becomes much more like married together. So stews are my number one, and then

number two are cast role dishes. I think they're super underrated. Back in the day, our parents used to make cast roll and family style dishes all the time, and I think we've kind of steered away from that, and I'm trying to bring people back in because the fact that you can stretch out your proteins, which are the most

expensive component of your grocery list. The fact that you can stretch them that way and be able to feed your family really well on a pound of meat is so vital to your grocery bill savings, right M. I think it's the word association. Yes, we talked about this on one of our podcasts. Like cast roles. I don't know why I have such an aversion, and I think it's mostly the word. But if you were to feed

me a cast role, they're usually pretty good. Usually they've got some cheese in it, and then you have some tasty meat. I think our generation has moved to calling it like sheet pan dinners or one pot met them as bass in front of Jill because I just are good. I love that word. I'm gonna have a bake. I'm gonna do a pan. Cast Roles sound very old age and not not very appetizing. You're absolutely right. Let's call

them bakes, we call them. Bring it back the future, unrugal is going back in time, which is so many things right. Fashion upon the past, technology rolls upon the past. I mean, let's be real. Clubhouse is a regression and technology. Yeah, we love it. Yeah, So conference call and let's like make it right okay. Yeah, so let's bring bad cast rolls and let's call it a clubhouse bake. Sure that specifically that clubhouse bakes to talk later on today. Yeah,

let's do it. Let's put it down. Yeah, yeah, sound delicious. Well, we know what's you know? I do. I love a good bake. It is very easy. So now that we know what the future of cooking is going to involve the bakes, we're asking all of our speakers this. We'd love to know. Gina, Like, what do you hope the future of grocery shopping includes for people? I'm My hope is that people feel empowered by just making small, tiny

changes that will really impact their grocery bill. So it's not about trying and I always talk about this, it's not about the huge steps that you take. It's really those small steps, the ones that you discount, the ones that you think, oh, that was a pun, the ones that you think are like, you know, twenty five cents here and fifty cents there's not going to make a big difference. But at the end of the week, it

makes a twenty dollars difference. At the end of the month, it makes one hundred or one hundred and twenty dollars difference,

all of those little tiny steps. So I'm really hoping that people take away the idea that there is so much power in just making small steps to really hone in your grocery budget so that it makes more sense for your family you're still feeding them very high quality meals, but for your wallet, you're able to get some of that money back that you can then use for debt or to save money or whatever it is that you

need in your life. And it always starts with these little things that we think are not going to make a big impact. So great. That's one of the reasons I love this question because I do think it's so full of hope and motivation and encouragement. I think in what you just shared there's a bigger picture message of you don't have to do this whole thing perfectly. It doesn't have to be a complete one eighty turn in

your finances or in your habits. But what's a one percent change you can make, Not to say that you're going to end there. Usually those one percent changes get built upon because it creates greater sustainability. You see what happens as a result of it, and it does propel you towards more, but not to begin there. We can begin at these small changes. I love that encouragement. Thank you for That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and

his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. And moving away from encouragement to just silly, Gina, do you have a bill of the week for us? Well, I initially thought it was something different than it is, So I'm gonna save it. I'm gonna say that the bill of the week is that I can pay only one hundred dollars

per week on groceries. And I live in La California, highest cost of one of the highest cost of living areas, right, And so the fact that I can do that with a family of four, I just want. And this isn't to boast. This is really to encourage and inspire someone else who may think that it's not possible. I'm here to tell you it is totally possible, and it's it's gonna fluctuate for every family depending on their needs in

their dietary restrictions. But if you can bring down your grocery bill even just a little, it'll make a big difference, right, So I wanted to share that with you because a lot of people are like, well, what do you spend on your groceries? Well, I spend one hundred dollars per month, per week, and sometimes I can get it even lower. And that is usually like, yes, I did it, and I'm still feeding it five times a week at least

some kind of meat dish. Yeah. And it's not like you're just eating at home twice a week and you're spending one hundred dollars on groceries. No, you're eating at home with meat five nights. Yeah. Yeah, so you're doing it. Wow in La, well done, How inspiring and thank you. And even though that's your weekly grocery budget, still the encouragement from you to say, just make some small, minor changes and pay attention to what that produces in the progress,

that's so encouraging. Thanks so much, Gina. Yeah. Happy. Where can people learn more about you and how you get your grocery bills so low? Well they can find me on TikTok because I'm always there. It feels like I live there and it's just Saving Whiz Gina. And then I also have, of course a blog called Saving Whiz. They can find me also on Gina Zakaria dot com.

All of those platforms will have resources for them and waits for them to start now, and you know it'll at least give them some encouragement to make small changes, because I think that's really important. But also they can message me so on Instagram. I'm not really on there, but I only go on there for my dms because people DM me all the time asking me questions, and I live for that because if I can help someone

one on one, I'm all for it. So they can DM me on Instagram, it's just saving Whiz and I would I'll respond, I'll help them out. So amazing. Thanks so much for what you bring to the table, the way that you're empowering women and bringing so much encouragement and support and awesome tips along in the process, and thanks for sharing that with us at our Future of

Frugal Summer Summit. Thanks Gina, thank you. It's my absolute pleasure. Yes, and you'll be able You'll to see all of those links that Gina just mentioned on this page and enjoy the rest of the summit. M that is as good the second time around as it was the first, which you can't always say about leftovers unless Gina's making them. I mean a lot of times leftovers are even better, like they've had more time to kind of marinate if

you're doing That's what this was. But truly, this hadn't played on the podcast before, only for those of you who are at the summit. So we're so glad that we can share Gina with the wider audience of you all. Hope you have something that you can walk away with. And if you do want more from Gina, since it has been a couple of years, she's got new stuff,

more stuff. Super Savers. Gina has a private saving community called super Savers, and there's an entire section dedicated to grocery savings to provide additional support and resources for anyone trying to save more money. So you can check that out at saving wiz dot com slash supersavers community. And thank you all for listening. It has been a blast.

Many of you know we have a membership for our listeners who are paying off Debt where we do monthly money challenges because we love gamifying stuff and making it fun. And there's accountability groups because we love community and we want to congratulate one of our community members for a big win. This comes from Joscelyn, who shared we started using Amazon on Subscribe and Save about seven years ago when we got our dog to save on dog food. It's taken me that long to realize that the save

part is a lie. Sure, we saved initially since I typically subscribe to cleaning supplies like tide Pods, hands Up, toilet bow Cleaner, and also Contact Solution and random other stuff that would get added to meet the five item requirement too ohnlock max savings. But then I just realized, well, I now have more cleaning supplies than I actually need, and the dog food is actually just five percent off,

not fifteen percent off. Maybe I just need to get dog food at chewey dot com and you can get much better deals on tide Pods with the target Circle app since there seemed to always be manufacture coupons in there. I know it sounds like I'm wrapping all these brands, but I'm not. I'm just reading Joscelyn's when for that, she does have like a question mark from there, She's like, maybe I need to go a Chewy dot com. I

don't know. I don't have a dog. We're not sponsored by Chewey or or Get or Amazon subscribe and save. But I'm so pleased for you, Jocelyn, and learning that you you don't need that that subscription. You don't need to be subscribing to all these things that keep showing up at your door. You don't need, Like, that's not the thing to automate. The thing to automate is your savings investing. We don't need to be automating hands soap to us. Why we say automate your savings because then

it gets done. When you automate your buying, it gets done. Yeah. So there are some things to not automate. There are some things to do manually. And yeah, that's awesome, Jocelyn. Congrats, thank you all for listening again. And if this membership sounds like something you need, like you have a realization to make, maybe now that there you don't be taking seven years you don't know, you have a realization you

might not know until you join. Yeah, and there's courses and interviews and challenges and games and fun and friends and Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club. Check it out. Just take a look see if it's something You can be on the website scrolling through what the club's all about before you join. Yeah, so just check it out. Dip your feet in the water. We're not going to force you. We don't force anything on anybody except for the bill of a week. We're never changing back. No bye. Yeah.

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni Jennam. Remembering also back to the midnight bowling that we referenced on a previous podcast episode. Was that to ninety back like six six episodes? Yeah, when we went midnight bowling. It's all we can talk about because it's like the most fun thing, that the most, it's most I've been out months. It's the most I will be out in months, the latest we've been out. Yeah, I felt so weird having plans

after nine pms. Same Anyhow, What I'm also remembering about our conversation then is how that band, that girl band, Dream Dream Dream. Yeah, I said I wanted to if I'm going to start my own then it would beat Dreams with a Z, but I really want to be in Dream. Yeah, and we just kind of realized time is on our side in some regard. If we wanted to start a girl band, we totally could, and we kind of do, because it's like, what all of our

outtakes and cloopers are is us singing. And we were just singing a Taylor Swift song to check our mics, which is what reminded me of Dream and all of the alternatives like that. We could name it Dreams Unrealized, Dream, Dream Deferred, oh Mares, which is just a cover band of Dreams songs and Evanescence songs, and that's it. Yeah, Yes, that was the good one. I think. Then I think I bowled a strike right after that idea. You yeah, you bulled your best frames thinking about our cover band.

It's what I want next, yes, And then even though neither of us can sing on tune. Yeah. So they did break up in two thousand and three, but I feel like, oh, they tried to make a comeback in two thousand and fifteen and didn't work. I don't think, you know, Yeah, they tried to be their own cover band of like their own songs, and it didn't work. Um a year later they disbanded again. But man, how to be like a person in a old like early

two thousand, like a heavy hit or at the time. Yeah, and they probably did not have great contracts, no, because they were like thirteen album agencies. What are they called record labels? Oh, bad Boys records is what they were signed to. Which does stink. It stinks for the artists because like they really did it, and they did it hard, and they did it well for a short amount of time and they probably made zero to little money off

of it. Yeah. Uh, here's to here's to making good decisions when you're signing contracts though, Yeah, do do your due diligence, do the negotiating. You don't think that you're entitled to negotiate for it anyway. Yeah, it's you don't know what you don't know, just ask for stuff. Yeah, when I are a lawyer, hire a lawyer because they actually do know what they're asking for. Others. Look how we turned our dreams of being a dream cover band into a tip stop it unlimited chips in the Torba.

If there's any musicians, hire a lawyer, look over the contract, will make sure moneys in your pocket and worst case scenario B Taylor Swift and just redo all of your music. I can, yeah, but still ask for chips.