Episode four sixty three Holiday Anti Hall ten things We're not buying this season.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your hosts Jen and Jill.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we are talking about things we're not buying. We're giving you permission to not buy and giving you permission to make your own list of things that you're not going to buy this season, because it is a list everyone should have.
We've got so many lists going on this year, so many lists we need to check twice. This one, this one's a good one.
For every shopping list you have for the holidays, you should have an equal not buy list. Anti hallless Anti. I love the time, Yes, so you can be confident in the things that you are buying because you are certain in the things you are not.
I think it really does help us to focus on not for the whole time, but to really know what am I not going to spend money on?
It.
It does make me feel a lot more confident about the things that I am going to spend on. So this is just really good practice for values based spending. What you Know is what our book is all about. By what you Love Without Going Broke, By What you Love book dot com.
You're jumping the gun because this episode is brought to you by the word. The one thing that you should be adding to your hall list is by what you Love Without Going Broke. It is our book that helps you define what you value and love and offers the solutions and tips to say no to what you don't, so it helps you make that no byless. It also helps you stick to it and be freed of the guilt and shame that comes after the holidays when you've
bought things that you don't actually care about. So if you want to free yourself from that, go ahead and pre order it at buy what you Love book dot com and you'll get access to our December and January live classes that are exclusive only for pre orders. In December, December twenty ninth, we are making a full year meal plan. We are helping you walking you through making that three hundred and sixty five day meal plan, and then in January we are going to walk you through making a
twenty twenty five spending plan. So these are going to be fantastic live classes that we're going to walk you through all the steps to do this. So buy what you love book dot Com pres.
Even their best for the end of the year and the new year. I'm you're excited about those lives. Yeah, you can tell we're excited about this. We're getting so close to the book being published that I know we're just so thrilled that you can hold it in your hands. But now we're going to talk about things you're not going to be spending on, what we're not spending on. But we did ask you all in the friend letter, because we put a poll at the end of all
of our friend letters. If you're not receiving that Frugal Friends podcast dot com just Forrugal Friends Frugal Friends podcast dot com, it'll pop up. So we asked you what's the easiest thing to say no to spending money on around the holidays, And by a landslide, you all said decorations fifty four not you all. Fifty four percent of you said decorations, that's the easiest thing to say no on. But second was travel. So it sounds like a lot of you find it easy to stay put for the holidays,
which is good. Travel can be very expensive and airlines especially hike up prices around the holidays. So if you're able to stay put and not travel, that is definitely a safer.
Yeah, that's what everybody was saying. Travels too expensive around the holidays, and you know, pets are more expensive to board around the holidays.
Yeah, and it could be really stressful too, flights get canceled just so many more people are traveling. The other things that we listed that not many of you be not many of you responded to was extra food and activities. So I'm going to take that to mean we do like spending on extra food and activities. Yeah, which Jen and I will share on a little bit ourselves.
We've done. We do a Black Friday episode every year. It's our annual kind of anti consumption not anti consumption, but like alternative consumption inspiration episode. Uh so we've you know, under consumption, under consumption Core, so you can you can check out those, and then also our other holiday episodes like four fifty six How to have a Frugal Holiday Season, and then way back in the archives to one eighty four Tips to prepare for holiday sales early. So all
of that is great, it's Black Friday. Our biggest tip is get the deals that you have been waiting for and planning for, and do not let the holiday sales season sweep you up so that you sneak in a few impulse buys just because they're a good deal. Do not do that.
So we're primarily going to talk about Jen and I are just going to volley back and forth on the things that we're not buying this holiday season. But in preparation for this episode, I did find an interesting article titled how much do Americans really spend on Christmas? And what is everyone buying? Comes from Wharton Women and there
were some really fun statistics in here. Now this was written into twenty twenty two, so it's not the most time day up to date, thank you, as maybe we would want, but we can still see the trends happening.
So they talked about how in twenty twenty one, US holiday shopping generated eight hundred and eighty six point seven billion dollars in sales, which is a fourteen percent increase from the previous year, and how the average American had planned to spend eight hundred twenty six dollars in twenty twenty two, specifically on gifts, food, and decorations. Of that eight hundred something dollars, five hundred dollars of it was spent on gifts for family, with the most popular being toys, clothing,
gift cards. And it also listed how one surprising area of spending is on pet presence, saying that the average American pet receives around fifty dollars in gifts. And this is the clincher. This really made me chuckle out loud. So thirty four percent of Americans will purchase gifts for their dogs. Well, twenty two percent purchase gifts for their cats. So that's interesting dogs just dog owners want to give
gifts to their pets more than cat owners do. Meanwhile, only nineteen percent of Americans purchase gifts for their in laws. Wah wah wow. So we are buying more gifts for our pets than we are for our in laws. Isn't that something?
Yeah? So what I thought was interesting, So I did some I looked for some updated statistics, and what I look to see is is the amount of spending going up with the rate of inflation or is it outpacing inflation?
Which we had talked about in a recent episode as well. But it is very interesting.
So, and we have said this before and it still rings true. In twenty twenty three, which is last year, the rate of inflation in the US was three point four percent, right, So we're looking is consumption increasing or is it just prices are increasing? And holiday spending increased at three point eight percent, So consumption is increasing at a faster rate than the prices. So we are buying more. And so that's what we really want to look at.
We want to be able. Yes, we're going to spend money, but we don't want to consume for the sake of consumption. And so that's why we want to normalize these no buy lists and just make sure that we are getting everything that we want and not what the retailers want us to want.
Yeah, not for the sake of deprivation, but for the sake of really identifying where is my money going to be best spent because I don't have to buy all of the things.
All right, Jill, kick us off. What's the first thing that you are not not buying this holiday season and what are you doing instead?
Well, I'm not buying wrapping paper. And that's in part because of another thing I'm not buying, which is gifts.
However, boiler.
There probably will be some gifts that I give that are DIY or low cost or just as I as the mood strikes. But I have plenty of wrapping paper already, so that's part of it. Not all of it is holiday themed wrapping paper. Do I care? Does the recipient care? No? But also with different you know, packages that might be coming in the mail, just related to everyday expenses that
we get delivered. There's usually brown paper that can be utilized, or bags from takeout over the over the past year that I still do keep because they're just brown usable paper bags. So these are the things that I use to wrap my gifts.
Yeah, I do not use themed wrapping paper. That's my solution. I have one where don't.
Even buy themed wrapping paper, by the kind that you can use all year round.
I don't need to have a Christmas paper, a birthday paper, a baby shower paper, and whatever else, a wedding paper, right, I have one neutral roll of wrapping paper and that's what gets used for everything. I love that, yeah, whether it's Christmas or not. And it also cuts down on clutter. I don't have to use one of those wrapping paper roll you know, plastic containers, or figure out where I'm going to keep all my rolls of wrapping paper. I have one. It is in my closet and I pull
it out when I need it. And honestly, mostly I will reuse bags. Yeah, like, anytime I get a gift, I have a whole container. Are you really a millennial if you don't have a container full of gift bags and use used gift bags and used tissue paper? Oh yeah, yeah, so that's most that I will use that mostly for birthdays and stuff because those are usually kid themed, but for adult things. Yeah, I have this one wrapping paper.
I love it. What else is on your list?
So the first thing on my list is an advent calendar? There are advent calendars have gone why a glow up? So it used to just being like a little toy or a chocolate and now you can.
Get books, meats and cheeses.
Meats and cheeses, beer, wine, whiskey, every coffee like there is an advent. I got a hot Sauce Advent calendar one year did and I actually loved it, you know, I I loved buying that, but I'm not going to buy it again because I literally kept that all of those little hot sauce bottles the full year. It took me forever to get through them. So I'm just not
gonna do it. If I want to celebrate the Advent, if I want to celebrate the twenty five days leading up to Christmas, there are a lot of Princibles that you can download for free and really have the same experience. But for printer ink, I mean, if your dig's doing the black and ink and you know, not really fancy printing, does come out to less expensive and less clutter than
all of these Advent calendars. Because if you want wine, buy a bottle of wine, you know, like you're not going to have you should not have two glasses of wine every night for twenty five days in a row, right.
I mean, I'm not going to tell someone how exactly to live their lives.
I just I think that's what I think, and maybe it's not what you make.
Decision you're going to make is not just buy.
The bottle of wine, buy a couple of bottles of wine.
Yeah. Uh so the next thing I'm not purchasing is decor. This has been such a shift for me over the years, because I do love this season, and I have definitely equated really getting into the spirit as purchasing all of
the decor getting new things to update. And I think I've realized over the years, as I've kind of had to have less living in a vehicle or moving or living in someone else's home house sitting, that it just didn't make sense for me to have bins and bins and bins of things, and that it is still just as special the few things that I have really curated from thrift stores and yard sales and family members, Like I now have the things that I love and I put up that all fit into one plastic bin, and
I really love them. Yeah, they're familiar to me, They're not necessarily new and exciting. But I've realized I don't need that. I do have decre it helps me feel like we're celebrating, but I don't need to buy anything new. So it's been interesting. I've kind of dropped that I used to really love going up and down the aisles when they put out all of the Christmas stuff, but now I'm like, I don't need to look at that.
I got stuff at home, and that has taken time, but it's been interesting to watch that shift just in myself. There are times that I get tempted for like, oh, look at that beautiful holiday wreath, and then I'm like, what is that going to do for me? I don't even leave my house. I'm not going to see the wreath on my door ever, and it's gonna cost me eighty dollars because reaths are expensive. I don't need that. Yeah.
I take the same approach with decor, just keeping it simple. I got a new tree last year. So last year I set up my old reusable tree and it was just tilting like like a Charlie Brown Christas.
It was like very adorable. Actually, I kind of loved how dilapidated it.
Was well and that we are the frugal friend. Yeah right, And that was my only like, but we were in the middle of a renovation and I was like, this is appropriate for the setting. But after Christmas, I took advantage of the sales to get a tree half off.
So I really went in and I got a very good quality, large tree for our new renovated space first Christmas in the you know, with the renovation done, and I got it for half off, and so that's really where I'm leaning into instead of buying a lot of different decor I just bought a very quality, reusable tree. If you keep them. It's debatable, like how long to keep it? At least five years in order to offset the kind of the impact, the carbon impact versus getting
a disposable, not a disposable like a real tree. Some people say ten, so five to ten years, and I definitely have the other one for over five years. So this is going to be the first year we are using the new tree. And I just got some extra lights also on sale because it's a bigger tree, and that's gonna be my decoration, Like it's just going to be that tree, and I love it lovely. So my next one. I don't know if this is going to be controversial, but I am not spending any money on
ELF on a shelf. I don't own one. And it's not just the cost of the ELF because you could get those for free. It is actually the cost of everything that the ELF does throughout its tenure, Like it is the cost of time when you are because the are you familiar with ELF on a shelf?
Yes, I am, I actually have one. Yeah, it's just very funny because you don't have kids. But my mother in law got me a tropical themed elf on a shelf, which is really cute.
Okay, yeah, don't get that for people. Yeah, it's the like making snow angels in flower and then you have to set that up and then you also have to clean that up, and then the cost of flower is negligible, but it's it's the time cost. Yeah, and then you're also searching the internet for ideas because you want to do different things every year, so it's a mental cost, it's really And then it's this weird thing. This elf is watching you and it's also being naughty, but you
can't be naughty because it's watching you. It's a spy, you're right, and we don't do the ELF's boss that guy. We don't do that in our house. So it just doesn't make sense.
Here's the thing. We are listing off the things we are not buying. But please know this is not a personal attack for those of you who these are on your buy list. We're just helping to give you ideas for you have permission to put other things on your no by list because you may make different decisions. Elf on a shelf. For some people, the energy expended is what's fun, and you don't have to purchase all this extra stuff to be able to look at.
This one though, This elf on a shelf went on a quote unquote shopping spree and these are custom little Amazon packages, say elphas on and he is covered in packages. Oh my, I just And there's one where it took a picture next to sleeping child, like the elf is watching you sleep. There are so many wrong elf spaghetti like it's funny in the movie. But then you just waste all of that candy and pasta there, there's.
So much it just it just you. You can't you don't want to engage. I get it.
Yeah, so that's I'm not engaging in that cost.
Yeah. The next thing for me is gifts. I'm doing it again, friends, I loved last year. Last year was my quiet grinch Christmas, and it might not be as quiet this year, but it still might be a little grinchy without without gifts. That doesn't mean that I don't love and care for people and will plan to show value to them, maybe even write encouraging notes and cards to people. But I don't need the pressure of just
buying for the sake of buying. I do love to give gifts that feel thoughtful and what the person's gonna want. So if I come upon that, then I'll do it. But I'm not just gonna make a list and try and pull ideas out of thin air for what I could possibly spend twenty dollars on for this person. And I also realized so last year when we did our Quiet Grinch Christmas, Eric and I did say that we
would get gifts for each other. So it was kind of like we blocked out the rest of the world and then we're like, okay, but for you, I like, but you I like. Here's the thing. We both returned every single gift we got for each other.
That's it's so so you return them because of the products. Travis and I are horrible gift givers to each other. Just we don't like the things that each other gives. Yeah, and so that's why we don't get don't do each other.
Yeah.
I get gifts for me, he gets gifts for himself.
Yeah. I don't like. I don't need that. So I would much rather just enjoy good food, have some relaxing times, maybe do activities. So I'm already jumping the gun on what I will spend on. But y'all know me, we're just not doing gifts except for their I may make the caveat of for adults. It's very possible, depending on where we find ourselves for Christmas, that i'd give gifts to kids. And I know you and I do that differently. There's been times where you're like, kids aren't getting the gifts.
They get enough stuff. I'm getting gifts for the adults, and I respect that, But for me, I usually choose, if I'm not doing gifts, I'll at least do it for the for the children. For the children.
But the children, yeah, now I will only so I will get my own children gifts. I'm talking about other people's children. I'm not buying them gifts.
I got nieces and nephews. You know I need them.
You don't have children, so those are basically your children.
They are my children.
But yeah, so we'll do a few gifts for Kai, maybe one for Atlas because he's not even two yet, but we're and maybe we'll go in on a gift for my in laws and my mom, and that's it. Nobody else, nobody else get gifts and that's and they have to be okay with that, and they usually are. Now I'm nobody has ever complained him face uh and they still talk to us.
Yeah, pleasantly, well done. Yeah.
So my next one is holiday themed products like cups and toys. So any of the regular toys or things that we might get anyways, but holiday themed, which means they're kind of only relevant for a day because you're getting them on Christmas and the next day Christmas is over, so they are relevant for one day and even within the season. Like Starbucks has the free holiday cups yesterday. If you order a drink, why would I get a
holiday cup. It's only relevant to use for a month for the next six weeks, Like, and then what do I do with it? I put it on a shelf. I already have a cup. I'm fine. Yeah, So, whether it is free or like a collector's edition or whatever, No, we don't do anything that has a lifespan, just like wrapping paper. It's got it's not evergreen, which is not a great term to use when we're talking about the holidays, but evergreen means it's usable throughout the year, whatever season.
Then it's just not worth it.
Yeah. The next thing for me is what I will term gimmicky activities. And this is really my own opinion on an activity. There's not really any exact metric for this,
but I will give an example. So the pier near us will usually have some sort of booth set up that's like a Christmas themed put put golf something and it's literally like fifteen feet long by ten feet wide, and they're charging twenty bucks to be able to walk through and do like three put put holes and then you can feel like you did something.
Or outdoor ice skating in Florida. It's not real ice and it is so hard to skate on. I was a competitive figure skater and I would never set foot on an outdoor rink in Florida.
Yeah. So these things that you can just very easily tell or money grabs. Yeah, I'm just not gonna do it. No, not here for it, not if it not if it feels gimmicky or the I want it to feel magical.
They're probably not going to do it this year, But in past years I've done the enchant you walk through Christmas lights. It's fifty bucks, which I.
Have been interested in. I've been curious about it. It seems like a very immersive experience, but yeah, the cost was prohibitive to me. And then they because they the year that they did it for the very first time was when I was interested, Like, what's this going to be about? I'm so glad I waited because all of the reviews on it were this place was packed. We couldn't do any of the activities it. You were waiting
in line for everything. I'm like, yeah, after if the people paid fifty bucks for that per person, Yeah, all right.
So the next one and I am already seeing I have been seeing ads for this for weeks on social media and it just angers me. Holiday pajamas. I live holiday themed pajamas and I've been seeing the social media post It's like, run to Old Navy, you need these, These are a great deal. I was like, these pajamas are relevant for six weeks and if I am going to it most times will wear the pajamas. If we get holiday pajamas, not because we bought them, they're they're
being worn't after the holiday. So why every holiday pajama set that we've ever gotten, we've been given and we try like it's just weird to wear them outside of the holidays, even though, like out of spite, I want to, But I'm just gonna buy matching sets because I do think Christmas morning matching jammys are cute, like I do have a heart. But we're gonna make sure they're ever green. Yes, now they're ever There are jammis that can be tor yeah for the next year.
Yeah, yeah, I support that.
But you do not need to run to Old Navy to take advantage of this six dollar pajama set.
Yeah. Why is it six dollars?
Right?
Like right, let's ask ourselves.
Why is it so cheap?
Yeah? Because the itches come for free. It makes you it makes you itchy my last one. And similar to what you were saying, I'm not buying special outfits. So like, we've got a holiday party coming up, I gotta get a I gotta get a dress. I've got to have a themed whatever I got close in my closet. They worked for me last year, yep, it'll work for me again this year.
All the I'm also seeing social media posts like holiday outfit haul and buying new outfits for holiday parties. No, don't need a new holiday party outfit. Nobody remembers what you wore to last year's holiday party, unless you truly made a scene, in which case I'm sure you have a second outfit. Just wear something you already have, that you've accumulated.
Here's the thing. You could choose something different from me, though, Like I'm just saying what I'm not buying. But if someone is like, I do need a new dress, and this is a great time to get one, and I've got plenty of places to wear it, wear it throughout the.
Year, you probably don't need a new dress. You want a new dress. If you've been wanting a new dress for a while and you've been waiting and there's a sale on the one that you've really wanted and you're gonna be able to wear it the whole year, then this is your moment. This is your moment to get it. But let's be real with ourselves. You don't need a new outfit for holiday parties.
We don't have to feel the pressure for it really is what it is. I think we can just feel peaceful.
You can just want something yeah, yeah, and get it.
Yeah. But sometimes the stress of feeling like you have to get something is more anxiety producing.
Yeah's I feel I forgot to mention the adult holiday pajamas, the onesies like Onesie holiday pajamas. You put those on for a picture and that's it. Who is sleeping in those? Those are hot?
Yeah, no, it's not practical. I get up at the night to go to the back. Welcome to your thirties. So we're not doing that.
And it's this sounds like a very curmudgeony episode, and maybe we are. They are, But like to your dirties, there are things that we do love and we just are defining what we don't like. I obviously I love the Chris. I spent one hundred and fifty dollars on a Christmas tree, on a very nice Christmas tree, and that thing was three hundred dollars originally. And some people would look at me and like, you spent one hundred and fifty dollars on a Christmas tree. That's so dumb.
It didn't even have lights on it. I bought more lights in addition to it.
Oh wow, So yeah.
Right, Like I spent money on that because that is my one Chris. I love Christmas trees. Oh my gosh, if you have a Christmas tree in your window, I'm looking through your window into your high means it gonna be me looking into your house. Like I just love Christmas trees and I love Christmas lights. I love driving around the neighborhood. My kids hate me. Kid and husband hate me because I'm always trying to take the long way home through the neighborhoods to look at the lights.
Not gonna do Elf on a shelf, but I will spend my time driving through neighborhoods.
Spending money on gas. I know I am investing to peep into your home. And snacks. I love a snacks too, not themed snacks, but like parties with snacks, and I'll pay extra for the pre made nice like snack from Costco or Sam's Club because I love it.
Okay, well, you're getting ahead of yourself. Tell us the last thing you won't buy.
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I said it. A gingerbread house kit. I gingerbread house kits always come out looking the worst, are they not? Always the worst? Because we're not good at construction right, and then the materials are poor, poor adhesives.
They don't taste actually eating them. You don't unless gingerbread houses are your thing and you've got your grandmother's recipe and it's what you do and you eat it because it tastes so yummy. That's have at it. But yeahs are I know a few people who like it's their thing, it's it's a tradition, and then they actually eat them and they taste good. But most of us out here, yeah, grabbing the kits off the shell.
Hit on the shelves. Yeah, unless you're working at the Grand Floridian Disney World and you're you know, have you seen the gingerbread house there? No, it's a gingerbread empire essentially, it's very famous. If you are in Disney World around the holidays, you can go to the Grand Floridian. You don't even have to pay for the parks, you just you can go. It's open to the public and they just have this massive, almost life size gingerbread house inside
the Grand Fluoridi. It's very cool. That sounds but that's it. Okay, Yeah, I did jump the gun. I'm so sorry, Jill. What are you buying?
I will most likely buy plane tickets. We will probably go somewhere this Christmas. Uh so it will be expensive, but I do put money aside for the holidays throughout the year and then I can decide how we want to spend that. So this year it will most likely be on plane tickets. It will absolutely be on nice food to share. That's that's an evergreen thing for me at the holidays. I really love getting some of the nicer meats and cheeses and spreads and accoutrement and just
if we want to order out. This is the time. This is when we do it. We really we really shine December and January really shining. I will also spend on like a fun or memorable event, not too many. Usually every year it'll be one or two that we decide we want to do and maybe it's just a concert if a band we like is in town, or maybe we even like drive a little bit to see a fun concert. That's what I'll spend on around this time. Anything else you would add to the list that you
will buy? I, besides the gas to go run around and peep in your homes.
I do love to buy a like a peppermint mocha or a hot cocoa and a paper cup. I am moving away from Starbucks. What what you're talking about? It?
Later? Yeah?
But oh wow, but yeah.
I do.
I do love to feel the warm cup in my hands and be walking around a beautiful place because we don't have snow, right, so Christmas lights are kind of our snow and.
Gotta find joy somewhere, and I love it.
I love light. Yeah, and I think that's kind of my biggest I do not carol, I do not sing. I do not do art or anything like craft, diy ornaments or any of that.
Yeah.
I'm kind of even one wondering if I will do ornaments on our tree.
Oh, I just it's just decorated with the light. Yeah, I'm undecided. So I do love the and I haven't ever done this, but the orange dehydrated oranges, I think they look so pretty. They do.
But I love multi colored lights, so I'm a multi colored light girl and a white light girl, right, so we're different girls. So I think it would beautiful on your tree. Also, your tree is smaller, so you could actually handle that many oranges.
Yeah. Yeah, so it's a thin, thin one.
Maybe you'll be buying an orange.
Yeah, maybe.
You know what you won't be buying.
I never have to pay for this.
But it's always about it's always on the to have list, on the priority list, 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. Stuff bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton.
This is the bill of the week.
Hello Jen and Joe.
My name's Nissa and I live in Cusbe, Oregon, on the coast. My bill of the week is insurance related.
Waw whah.
I was perusing my peace stub a few weeks ago and I saw that I was paying a lot for life insurance through my work, and I said, no, that's not very fun. So I went outside my work bubble of the recommended and standard insurance and I got independent life insurance that is way, way, way cheaper, something on the order of twenty five percent of the original cost. So I am very happy that I went through my past ub and evaluated my payments that were coming out
of my paycheck every two weeks. So I totally recommend anyone to do this.
Just check it out, see what you've got going on, you know, make sure that you're putting the right amount into retirement count getting your right amount for insurance, and yeah, it was totally worth it.
I love you guys, thanks so much for your podcast. Bye bye Ooh.
This is something we should definitely talk about. You've hit on something very important because life insurance at work that is considered usually like a group coverage and it does not. It's very restrictive, does not cover a lot, maybe one year of your salary, whereas term life insurance from a third party not only less expensive but covers a wide breath more things.
Talked about that both.
That is so bringing this up you if you are paying for life insurance at work, you should be very critical of what it is you are paying for and if it sounds too good to be true, it is. I don't they all sound very bad in my experience that they're all very easy nos going with something like like Ladder or Ethos. You can go to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Ladder. Jill has Ladder, I have Ethos. They are term life insurance policies that are much less expensive.
And actually Eric has Ethos, like I got a better rate for him through Ethos than Ladder. But yeah, we have both.
But Ethos doesn't pay us Ladder does if you get.
A check, Yeah, Ladder, Ladder. I don't know what it was, but yeah, ladder was better for me.
Yeah so Frigle Friends podcast dot com slash Ladder. So one of the things I will say I like about ladder is that the reason it's called ladder is that you can't increase your life insurance payout and you'll obviously, you know, pay more monthly, but you don't have to start over with the term. So you stay on that twenty year term and just pay a little bit extra per month to be at a higher place. That's very
it's very flexible. So it gets you started. If maybe you don't think you can afford life insurance, it could have a really low barriered entry. But also you should be comparing life insurance companies because you don't know who's going to offer you the best deal.
Man. What a great bill, Lisa, And reminder and tip to all the rest of us, just take a look at your past ub see where that initial money is getting pulled out and where is it going to. And I'm okay with it.
That you are getting all the benefits that you should be getting, Like if you've signed up to contribute to a four O one K are you getting you know, are you getting the match is? Are they pulling the full however much you've allocated?
Yeah? Wow, Okay, what I like that little interruption to the rest of this episode. If you all are listening, you have a bill that you want to submit, if it has to do with a really great tip that you have a way that you ended up saving money, or anything else super vague and bill related. You know us, We love it all Frugal friendspodcast, dot com, slash bill. We can't wait for it, and now it's time for me around me all right?
What are you most looking forward to this holiday?
Jill m M.
I think the quiet pace last year went so well that I'm really excited to capitalize on that and really enjoy the things that make me feel nostalgic and really just comforted in this season. Really are the free things, like you said, looking at the looking at light displays, walking around the neighborhood, watching fun nostalgic movies, getting some special food, baking, cooking, getting together with friends, just the
like really simple things. I think I'm really recognizing that the simple luxuries of life are really so fun for me like I just love daily enjoyable things. I also love the big things, right, I love the big vacations you get to take, but they only have and every so often, and we do get to decide and engage in small little luxuries daily and they usually don't have to cost anything. Yes, what about you, jen.
Doing things with my kids? Last year was the first year Kai kind of got fully into Christmas, so just finding some like things to do with him. He loves Christmas music. We were listening to Christmas music through February and just kind of seeing his face light up and enjoy this special season. And of course peeping in y'all's homes road tree and seeing your Christmas lights and nobody else is as excited in my family about that as me.
So are you bringing your binoculars for that?
But well, I won't need to if your tree isn't a good viewing.
Spot, don't make me have to bring my binocua.
That's what I'm saying. It's not on my list of things to buy, so please don't make me.
Thanks everyone for listening. We just love hanging out with you, and we also love reading your kind reviews like this one from Snickler four Phenomenal Friends. Five stars love this podcast. It is like listening to two non judgmental friends talk about frugality and all things money. I work at three am from home. In this podcast keeps me awake in the early mornings when the rest of the world is asleep and makes me feel less alone. Thank you for
all that you both do. Snickler oh four. I love the idea that we're hanging out with you in the early morning when everything is so calm and quiet, and then you got us yelling at you. I'm so thrilled get to hang Thanks for that. Yeah, kind words.
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Okay Jen tell Me about this disenchantment and with Starbucks. This is some hot, fresh off the press news.
Yeah, it is so apparently. Okay, I lived in Orlando for five.
Years, and we're going way back.
Yeah, this was back in I left Orlando in twenty twelve, and there was a coffee shop there that I loved, and I saw that after I left, they expanded and one of their busiest locations was forced to close, and apparently they were making way the landlord was making way for a Starbucks. And I can never I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of this because I am no longer in Orlando and or talking to a lot of people involved. But I it just didn't sit right
with me. I'm like, I've known this. Starbucks ruins local coffee shop economies. You know, it's nothing new. But part of my like justification was, well, if y'all made exactly what I like the same way every time I would drink your coffee, and obviously that's like the wrong mentality to have, and so that.
You know you're spending seven dollars, let's be real, right, drink you do you want to like.
It absolutely, And that was a justification, and so I think my I'm just at a point where I I don't want to support that anymore. I'm just kind of done.
Whoa cold turkey do you think?
Or yeah, I probably I still have some money left on my like Starbucks gift card and probably like a free drink, so it won't be cold turkey, But like once that money's gone, I'm just going.
To delete the app. Where do you think you'll go?
That's a great question. I love the blend, so I could go there, but I think like most of it will just probably be drinking coffee at home, which is what I already do, you know nine times out of ten. Anyway, it'll just be something new I have to navigate.
Yeah, wow, Yeah, a new journey, new year. Knew you.
Yeah, But I'm not that hard to please anymore. Like I can be happy with just a plain cappuccino and a raw sugar, you know. So I had to look at that too and be like, I only get the fancy drinks because they're available, but honestly, most of the time, I'm just happy with something very plain.
Do you think that this is going to be a foreshadowing for letting go of Target too?
If I have to go, I don't like to go into places. But if I have to go into a place I like Target, there's no comparable mom and pop competitor.
Yeah wow, I mean these were the things that really set you and I apart and made us different people. And now you're saying no more Starbucks and I don't even go into Target that often. What's happening? You were the Starbucks Target girly and I was okay, Well that I don't know. I don't know what I do.
That's my badgerate.
I don't do those things.
I went to Target a lot, like when I was postpartum, just to walk around and like feel the vibe. And same with Starbucks, honestly. So yeah, I am evolving, devolving. I used to not go to Starbucks and Target a lot. So maybe I'm just like reverting back to a simpler time in my life.
We're just all under consuming. Yeah.
So it's I feel better about it. Yeah, I want to. I want I'm always on a journey closer to buying as much secondhand as.
Possible, So not secondhand coffee I.
Can't, right, but local, local, and secondhand. And so that I'm just evolving on my journey finding my radical middle.
Wow. Wow Wow, Yeah, this is big news, folks, I know. And if you want other things from us by what you love, book dot com.
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Oh well,