How to Save Money on Transportation Costs

talking about how to save money on transportation. This is a request we get a lot for this episode topic, and we did an episode on transportation as it relates to cars and car maintenance. That's episode ten. So if you're just trying to save money on getting your car around, head back into the archives and listen to that one. It's true cost to own a car, Ways to save on maintenance, how much car you can afford, stuff like that.

Today we're talking we're going to talk about cars. We're gonna talk about other things too, So before we get into that, how are you doing today, Jail? Oh? Wow, you're throwing the curveball, do you? I do? You thought I was going to throw to sponsors, but I was. I'm doing that. I'm feeling good. The sun shining, Yes, I'm looking at your face, which is also like the sun. How are you. I'm so good, I'm I'm so excited to get into this episode. So now let's get into

our responsors. Do it also brought to you by consolidating, whittling down anything and everything and to manageable, manageable tasks, bite sized pieces. Want to eat your veggies but you hate how they taste, Consolidate it in a juice. I want to go a lot of places, but don't want to waste gas. Consolidate it in one trip. Consolid eating, just mash it together. It's better that way. M I feel like you it's not juice, but like a smoothie, you should put the veggies in a smoothie because then

you're taking out all the fiber. That's what I meant. It's something you drink, So it's a juice to me for sure. Anyways, blended, blended, consolidated in your blender. Yes, come packed it fantastic, fantastic. So we are going to talk about saving money on transportation. Car payments are a huge burden on a lot of people. I think car dealerships make it sound like you can afford cars regardless

of how much they cost, which doesn't seem ethical. But that's neither here nor They're neither here nor there whether this is an ethical, moral issue or not, right, So we're exploring that at and we are just talking about different ways that you can combat the culture that says you need a car to drive and if there are two adults in a home, you need two cars, maybe more, who knows. So yeah, we're gonna talk talk about alternatives.

And our first article is UM from Families for Financial Freedom dot com and it is thirty Frugal Friends, Love all the f's and that one all the fs and it's thirty five ways to slash your transportation costs. What did you think about this one, Jill? I like the categories that they break it down into of how to save on transportation costs one saving when buying a car, to saving on commuting and travel, three saving on maintenance and repairs, and four saving on auto insurance. So within

these four category it gives some tips. So I liked that wherever you find yourself needing to kind of reduce some spending, they've got some tips for you. Yeah, So the first one is we'll talk about save money on the costs of buying a car UM and I'm feeling this one particularly personally. So I bought a car. I paid cash for a Hunday Tucson Um in February of last year, so almost a year ago. And I was

set that I needed. I was bringing a child into the world, and so I needed a nearly new compact SUV and that is what my mind said that I needed. And I put down eighteen thousand dollars after dealer fees on this beautiful Hyundai Tucson Um. But I'm finding now that I didn't need to spend that much money to like trans port my child. I I was definitely in this pregnancy place of like wanting the safest, newest thing,

and it's and I mean, I'm not perfect. I can get like anybody else and just make these purchases that I look back on and say, why did I spend so much money when I could have I could have spent half. I could have spent half that, so I would have been more comfortable sticking around twelve and not getting as many features as I did. So Number one is by a smaller or otherwise more economical car, so that that when I'm feeling personally right, yeah, I wrote

that one down too. I think that's in the future for Eric and I, of we have a we have a mid sized suv right now, mostly because we need it to haul our home around, so we can't not have a vehicle can pull the weight of our home. But as far as another car goes, if we need another car, which that's going to come up in this conversation, would be a smaller one. We don't need to have this massive thing going down the road at seven miles

a gallon. So that's fuel efficiency I think is becoming more and more important to me, especially as Yeah, if you drive a lot, if you live in the middle of nowhere and you drive a ton, that's a really important consideration. Yeah, I guess. I guess mine is actually more of number two, which is by less expensive car to save money, but they both. Yeah, yours is definitely more the economical side, but it's practical for you right now.

And different cars are appropriate in different seasons too, So I can see myself very soon in the future buying a minivan. And I wanted to avoid buying a minivan, and that is how I got this Tucson. And now I'm thinking I should have just done it. I had too much pride, and it costs me more money, and that is and I live with that now. Yeah. Yeah, And I think the rest of these tips within this category are kind of pointing to the same thing, but I'll focus on number three, which is commit today to

never have a car loan again. And so we recognize this is easier said than done. This is a foreign concept for a lot of people of why not just pay the two fifty two six dollars a months depending on where you land with your car, then shelling out a whole ton of money. And the reason is because over time you lose money on that thing of paying interest, not just owning it, not not having that to be able to sell you You're losing money on that transaction.

So where you are able to save up and start economical of maybe you're able to buy a two thousand dollar car, beat that thing into the ground. It owes you nothing, you only spend two thousand dollars on it, uh sell it for parts, and then bootstrap your way up to that vehicle that you want that's ideal for your family. There's a lot of other ways to to look at this and encourage you to read this article.

Go back to episode ten. We're not going to linger on this idea for long, but just know that not having a car payment is one of the biggest things you can do in saving money. Here best the best way to save money on car expenses is to not have a car payment. So so we'll enter into the next section, which is save money on commuting and travel. So this next one is to drive less to save money on gas and the mileage, increasing your mileage which

decreases your resale value. There are just multiple reasons to be conservative with how often you're driving. Yeah, and this would mean if we were to make this more tangible consolidating back to our sponsor um. But okay, you need to go to the grocery store. Don't just run out to the grocery store randomly. Consider when else are you going to be out and about and passing a store,

And can you buffer in some time? Can you utilize the groceries that are in your pantry currently so that you can wait a day until you can stop by the store on your way home from work or on your way out to that event or activity. It also might mean shopping online a little bit more of what can you yet deliver to your house? That is going to save you some of these random trips out to

the store. And I know we'll get into it at another point, but do you have a store within walking distance or biking distance and can that be a solution for some of these random errands that you need to run. Yeah, sometimes we take for granite the value that walking like

has um if you are able to do it. Getting outside when the weather is better, maybe not like today or tomorrow, but when the weather is nice to actually like be outside in the sun, pause from working for twenty minutes and and take that time to soak up that vitamin D. Is is really essential and can also save you money on transportation. M And this is connected to looking at so many other areas. And again we're always going to start with tracking first of all, where

are you going? Do you need to be going to those places? I mean the idea just came to me now, although it's very specific, but you know, we don't have a gym member ship anymore. So it's caused us to be more creative in how we exercise. But it's also saved on our driving. We're not going out a couple evenings a week to get to the gym. Instead. You know, Eric's bike riding and I plan to start running. They accountable.

Are there other things that you can be doing? You know, we live twenty minutes away from the nearest gym, so that's extra expense not just the gym membership, but the driving there that we can so easily just forget about our gas bill. But that's that's something to consider. How can we reduce that? Yeah, so there's an example. But yeah, no, that's I mean, that's great. Another big example, UM would

be commuting to work. If you can minimize that. I know you're thinking, like, I have to go to work, that's the one thing I can't cut down on. UM, but that one's the biggest. So we're all about like shaving off a few of big things and then you don't have to worry about so many of the small things. So ask your ask your boss or supervisor if you're able to tele commute one or two days a week. UM, if you are looking for ways to like propose that.

The four hour work week by Tim Ferris uh lays out step by step how you can approach that and and start to work remote. So and that's a big, big money saver. That's a good idea. Yeah, maybe your job can't fully become a remote job, but could it be one to three days a week that you work from home. I know a lot of people who have made this happen. If you just start to think outside the box. Sometimes we can get in this rut of thinking, no,

this is how it is. No one would be open to it looking any different, but you might be surprised. It's yeah, it's two thousand twenty guys. A lot of people work remote and it increases, and you can there's so many benefits increases productivity, it increases employee happiness, and so there are so many valid reasons you can give to your employer, especially if you're commuting like forty five minutes to an hour for something that you could be

doing remote one or two days a week. Maybe you don't have to worry about trying to bike to the grocery store or something because you're shaving so much off of that. Yeah, and not to linger on this topic for too long, but I just made the decision to move to all telehealth mental health counseling, and I didn't think that my supervisor was going to go for it, but when I brought it up. She was open to the idea, really excited about having another platform for clients

to be able to receive help and support. And not only that, not only is it potentially opening up our client base, it also allows for her to bring in another therapist into the office, So it's actually creating opportunity for more revenue for the office. Where I thought she's not going to go for this, I'm just gonna like quit, I'm going to leave this practice. Turns out no, there's so many options here and actually greater opportunity for the

for the company. So anyhow, it's worth the conversation. Yeah, and if for some reason you can't do that, maybe you look for another job where that's a possibility UM, or maybe you start to create your own business UM outside of that, so you can create your own sources of revenue and you don't need that job anymore. There are options you don't have to have, UM. You don't

have to be driving hours a day for work. UM. There's definitely a lot more opportunity now than there's ever been, so be creative and of course consider car pooling if you know even one of your friends who works in a similar area, or you want to get on a ride sharing app where you kind of switch back and forth between who drive. Certainly you're going to give up some level of flexibility, but it could be a fantastic

way to cut costs in this very expensive area. Transportation is one of the pillars of the biggest areas that we spend money, so could make a big difference. So another option is to use public transportation. So that is of course going to save you a significant amount of money.

It's going to obviously eliminate a car and payment, but it's also going to eliminate auto insurance and gas and maintenance and all the other things that come your friends asking you to give him a ride to the airport, like, it's going to eliminate all that. But there is the unfortunate reality that public transportation is pretty inconvenient. You have to watch the bus stop, you have to wait, you

have to make sure you're there on time. Um, so they're inconveniences on the surface, but they're actually I think they're beneficial in the long run. I can't say this because I've never used public transportation as a my primary mode of transportation, but it allows you to create a more disciplined schedule and it frees up a lot of your transportation money that you can be more free in getting ubers and lifts, which is the next part on

the list. So we are very conservative with our ubers and lifts because we have cars, but you can, if you like, drastically cut down on your car expenses. You can take more ubers and lifts, and that's I mean. And then you don't have to pay for any parking when you get there or whatever, which that could even

open up. You know, as we explore all the pros and cons of this, what kind of productivity you might be able to have because you're not the one dry iving So on these public transportation rides or through ubers and lifts, are you able to work on your side hustle, or get some work for your day job done. It could some of the pros that we may not typically think of could outweigh the cons of waiting, sitting and all of that. And I love what you said about it.

Could create more structure, could really help with boundaries within work of No, I have to leave at five because I have to catch the five fifteen, So yeah, I like that. Yeah, so and hopefully like your schedule is conducive to that kind of structure. You want to make

sure that that's like doable for you. But yeah, I would say challenge yourself if you if you're willing to, if you're near UM, if you have a good public transportation system, a monthly pass for public transportation is very affordable, and give yourself a month. See how it goes. Challenge yourself to a month of public transportation and see how it fits in your lifestyle, and see if you can challenge yourself to maybe a year without a car, um and see what that does. Nothing we say here has

to be a permanent lifestyle. It can all be fluid. You hear that, Eric, He will hear it. He will be editing it. Yeah, he will. I'm talking to him in his ears as he edits. So that is number nineteen. If you really want to save money, try one vehicle. Listen, we are practically a one vehicle family. We just have a second vehicle sitting in the driveway that is not being driven because it needs some repairs on it and

it's dangerous to drive. And then he's like, I don't know if I want to put the money into it. It's not that expensive. But he's like, or do we just want to get a new car? But I'm like, or have we not driven that car in three months? And we're fine. This is getting a little bit personal now, but honestly, consider it, and it's all personal. Consider it. Consider one vehicle. Do you have to? Certainly, again, it's sacrifice and it's only for a certain season of time,

but that could really slash some costs. Yeah, that's another pride thing in my mind. Like we could be a one car family because Travis works at night, I work from home during the day, and we always have a car sitting in front of our house and we we I mean, yeah, there's no reason we should have two cars.

And then based on the savings of that, would it make sense for the one to two times every other week that one person needs to get out of the house, can they Can they get an uber or lead public transportation? And it's fine to spend the money on that because of what you're saving on maintenance, repairs, insurance. Yeah, yeah, man, it's so true. Can you help me convince him? Is this also a how to talk to your spouse? Start a podcast, make your husband edit the podcast that you're

constantly in his ear about this thing. I wish I could help you, but I'm like, and Travis doesn't want to go down to one car, but I look at it, I'm like, man, we could really do this. But Travis loves cars and he always wants to get a different car, like they're really cheap, but he's always looking for something else to get. And I'm like, one car until it gives out on me, and uh, unless I'm pregnant, and then it's like even this shiny thing unless I'm pregnant. Yeah,

you've had one child. You talk about it like pregnancy is a common occurrence for you, unless this is an announcement. Know, I'm thinking, I'm thinking so rationally right now, Jill, you know I'm not breaking um, so good point. Um. So yeah, it's uh, definitely something to consider, and again doesn't have

to be permanent. It can be fluid. So if you're trying, if you're in a season where you're really focusing on your finances, then you can make sacrifices for those goals and then once you've achieved them, you make other goals and those don't involve only having one car, So there you go. So then when it comes to saving money on maintenance and repairs. I mean, first of all, just

prevention is always going to help. So doing the regular maintenance of oil changes and tire rotation and the simple things that are inexpensive that will help your vehicle have long Janet, don't beat cheap. Spend the money to get quality work done on your car, like not your neighbors friends, brother in law who can quote unquote like fix your transmission. Like I'm not on the big stuff now, but certainly your neighbor's brother in law's brother twice to remove is

going to change your oil. Let him have at it. Yeah, I mean we found so Travis can change oil, but he's found it costs just as much to do it himself, and it would be to go get it done because you have to you know, dispose of it somewhere and you have to get the you know, all the oil and train stuff. So it's the oil in itself just is not that cheap. But when you're individual, like when you're buying small batches of oil, it's more expensive than

these places behind the big batches of it. So yeah, yeah, don't don't be cheap, and don't use the dealer for car repairs. So que sometimes they offer really good deals, but generally, if you're not getting a really good deal, uh, don't don't go. Don't let them fool you into saying that you need to go to the dealer. Because you don't, you are free to go wherever you want. Yeah, and

shop around for mechanics. Be wary. There are some excellent mechanics out there, but there are also some mechanics who are gonna lie straight to your face about what needs to be done, especially if you look vulnerable. So protect those vulnerabilities by asking around for reputable mechanics. Certainly, you can pretty much trust reviews if they if they've got excellent reviews with a lot of information about their fairness

and ability to diagnose. That's such a big thing. You could have an expensive mechanic, but if he doesn't know how to diagnose your vehicle, you're going to spend a ton of money just on his time trying to figure out what in the world is even going wrong with it. So that might be an area to consider, possibly even paying a bit more for someone who's very good at problem solving and diagnosing, but might be a little bit more money versus someone who's just gonna like throw darts

at the wall until something sticks. But each one of those things is only a little bit of money. So ask around, asks, ask friends, look at reviews, and find somebody that you trust. Yeah, because you also want to go fast, because your time is money too. You don't want your car to be in the at the mechanics for two weeks, which is a common occurrence. You want somebody that can get the job fast, get you your car back, and you can get over this as quickly

as possible. Sometimes that involved most of the time, it involves spending a little more money, um, but it is worth the limited stress and inconvenience. M M. Yeah. We will move on to saving money on auto insurance. UM. So being loyal to an auto insurance company save you money. We have been with Progressive for um our entire marriage, so over four years, and we tend to get them to take some money off UM every six months. We we pay in six months increments and somehow Travis convinces

them to lower our policy every time. We good for him. Yeah, and there are his language We need a script. I don't know, he's just a nice guy, um. But there are scripts online to specifically negotiate auto insurance. I think one time we used their UM the thing that you plug into your car that tracks your driving, and we got the good driver discounts from there. And yeah, other times it's just like yeah, different things here and there UM. And we also have paid for cars UM, but we

still do full coverage. So it's cheaper because our cars are paid for, we don't have a loan out on them. But we do pay a little bit more for full coverage because our cars are I mean, my car is a little more expensive and I want to have full coverage on that just in case he doesn't really need it on his, but we have it anyway. We we feel better about it, and we're willing to pay for that feeling sure. And that being said, also continue to shop car insurance so and and the one doesn't exclude

the other. You can be loyal while still shopping. So shopping maybe just so you can know what prices are out there and use that as negotiation leverage in staying loyal and keeping your car insureance bill low. But that's also to say, don't think that just because you've got a great deal six years ago that you need to stick with that company if they're not continuing to give you a good deal in your car insurance and you're

finding better rates elsewhere, then switch right. This isn't This isn't your family dog that you need to stay loyal too. Is your auto insurance and trying to save money, so keep shopping yes UM. And also also something people don't think about very often, this goes for auto insurance, motorcycle insurance,

insurance of any type of for any moving vehicles. To maintain good credit UM, and that will also help you save money because they will run a credit check and to see if you pay reliably, and if you have a history of paying reliably, they will lower You can ask for a lower rate UM, and they tend to give it because they want more reliable customers. They don't just more customers. They want people that are going to stick around, pay every six months instead of monthly UM.

They just want people they know are going to stick around. And if you can be that person, they're fine taking a little bit off of your bill. Mm hmmm. Number thirty three. I like this one. I don't. I don't have kids, much less teenagers, but if you do have teenagers, stop paying insurance premiums for your kids. Consider having them pay for their own auto insurance. This could be a

fantastic lesson. It could feel like, oh, I don't want to put that burden on my child, but in the long run, to help them understand bills and responsibility and personal finance, you could be giving them a gift in this process while you are also saving money on your

own bills. And they will dent get in a car accident like a hundred percent of the time, they will get in at least one, and then they will see firsthand their insurance premium rise, and that will greatly reduce the number of second accidents that your teenager will get in. There you go, there's so many reasons. It's a ripple effect in positive ways. Yes, okay, well there's more tips on here, but feel free to check out the article yourself. We're going to move on. Yes, So our second article

is from dough Roller and it's another car one. Because there's only so many things you can say about try public transportation, use more lifts, like to work. Um. There's only so many times you can say that. Um. But you know most people are still going to use a car, So don't do it if you don't have to be creative as much as you can. Um. But then if you do need to get a car, here are six reasons to pay cash for a car. So we are ardent supporters of paying cash for cars. We do not

use car loans. Um. We really do practice what we preach, and so sometimes that means using alternative forms of transportation until you can get to the point where you can pay cash for a car. So yeah, so here are six reasons to do it and how to pay cash for the car. So what are the reasons? Why should why should we do this? So if you're asking, so why should you pay cash for a car? So you will spend less by paying cash. So when I bought my car last year, I spent more money than I

should have. UM, But I could have I would have absolutely spent double that if I was just doing alone, if I hadn't been financially aware, I could have easily bought like a thirty five thousand dollar car because I was, you know, not thinking rationally, and and just send the payments on it. And we would have more than been able to afford that because we're debt free. But it was because don't ever ask a dealer what you can

afford don't ever, don't you know what you can? You know that, know that before you get there, and you know that by what cash you have in your statements account for the car. That's the easiest way to know that, pretty simple. Back to the the dais right, right. So I did a lot of research on how to pay cash

for a car. I wrote a blog post about it afterwards, and people made it sound like you could get way more discounts than you really could by paying cash, and I will debunk that myth, saying that you will get about the same discounts as somebody hanging out alone. Like people, the salesperson gets the same, not the same commission. I can't say that, but they want you to take out alone because they get more money. But they really don't care whether you pay cash or finance because they're getting

a very similar commission. So if you go in there knowing what you want um and what your budget is, then you'll get about five dollars off of a car. And that's whether you finance or pay cash. I didn't get any extra discount for paying in cash. They didn't even care. He didn't bat an eye when I said it was paying cash. He was just like okay whatever, So, yeah, I will I didn't experience, and I went in there very informed, and I do not I do not play the victim or the no you don't. I am a

shark or the baby on the hip. Yeah. And if I want money off, I ask for it. I'm not shy. Yeah, right, because they're going to get their money regardless. They might get a little bit more if you get a you know, more vehicle or you finance. But yeah, so still pay in cash. It's it's possible that that cash would would look nice to somebody, they say, particularly on a used car, But you should just do it for yourself. Yeah. If it's a maybe a smaller dealership, I think maybe you

can get a higher percentage off. But even if you're getting that's still about five bucks, whether it's you know, even if it's a less expensive vehicle. Um, yeah, but you will avoid paying interest, right because you're not paying car payments. If you pay cash, you pay for the value of that vehicle right up front. So that is an immense savings in the long run and a reason to pay for your car in cash. Yeah, And so they give the example if you borrow thirty two thousand

for five years. At six you'll have a payment of eighteen dollars a month, and that means you'll pay a total of five over five thousand dollars in interest over the life of the loan. Yeah, and five years is like a conservative like five years thousand dollars a year that you're that you're that's just going out the window because you want mind it on five car. Just light a thousand dollars on fire. And that's what interest is

for a car. It's a depreciating asset, right, Yeah, and then you can't even turn around and sell that vehicle for what you just bought it from. You light it on fire. Yeah. So yeah, Also, paying cash requires financial discipline, right, Like it's it would be easier to just go pay that car payment and not think about what it's doing or the fact that you're literally, like Jen says, lighting it on fire, but this is the bank and just

light it on fire. This is a good practice. It's a good muscle to uh stretch and become disciplined in to be able to pay cash. It's not easy, but when you develop this muscle more, it will spill over into other areas of life. It will have again that positive ripple effect that will only benefit you in other areas. And my goodness, think of how proud of yourself you will be, for sure. And I saved up that money and I bought that vehicle, and I own it and I can do what I want with it, and I'm

not lighting money on fire. Yeah, I still feel really proud about my purchase, as I don't. I regret it a little bit, but like I know what state I was when I bought it, so like I've got grace for myself, and I am proud that I was able to do that from where I came still paid cash. I got more than you wanted, but but I had

the cash to do it, so it was fine. And but I came from fifty dollars of debt just on my own, being single, two getting married and funding a wedding, buying a house, paying off all of our combined debt to the point where I can buy a car in cash. And then the next month I got laid off, y'all, Like I bought this car, and then I got laid off the next month and lost my weeks pregnant. And I didn't I didn't bad NYE, because I paid for my car in cash, so as you didn't have this

massive car loan payment that you had to make. That's great, so so do it. It may people say like it's such a low interest rate, YadA, YadA, YadA YadA, But there are psychological effects in the choices you will make. If you start from a place of I will pay cash, um, that will save you so much money in the long run, versus if you're starting from the psychological place of I will get a loan for this car. Those are two

different headspaces. One will get you a car, it'll probably be reasonable monthly payment, it will be fine, used, whatever, And the other one will save you more money hands down, which forces you to make an assessment of what is most important to you. This is number five on the list that paying cash for a car because you feel it, because you've saved up for it, because it's a big chunk of change to hand over all at once, helps you identify, well, how important is this car to me?

What kind of car do I actually need versus what I want? And is that more important compared to other goals such as maybe getting out of debt, whatever kind of debt it is saving for retirement, paying for kids college, whatever it is. It can help you really identify what is the best decision for us with this car when it's actually costing you something right out the gate. Yeah, So,

how how do you pay cash for a car? Especially if you're in a place where you've bought too much car and you are trying and you're listening this trying to reduce your transportation car and maybe maybe you're even underwater in your car, meaning that you owe more than your car is worth. The first place is to get

real about what you can afford. So you may need to take into consideration those alternative transportation methods we talked about earlier, and you may need to sell your car and get enough money and maybe take out a small personal loan for the difference and be what be a one car family for a little bit until you save up some money. You may need to do that public transportation until you have the money to pay for a car in cash. So these are the areas where you

can use those alternative transportation methods to your advantage. That's kind of how you know that you need you need to use one is if you're in a place like that, Because the the best the best way to save on a car, like a transportation cost. If you're underwater, you have too much car, get rid of the car, just get it of it. So and maybe you don't use public transportation, but maybe you have to get like a really cheap sedan and take out a loan for that one.

But don't try to finagle your way around the elephant in the room, Like take the elephant out. Yeah, let the elephant be free freethe acknowledging that it's there to somebody else who's going to take out a loan for for your car. Like, but if you don't, you shouldn't have a loan for your car. I like this idea too, of selling your existing car to buy a cheap one. In the meantime, right, if this is a way to bootstrap your way back up to where you actually want

to be, consider selling the vehicle you already have. Look at what you have and what kind of financial power that might be able to give you. So, if you've got a car that is worth thousand dollars, sell that thing and go buy yourself a five thousand dollar vehicle cash. Yeah, that's so true, And it's it's unfortunate that sometimes you will have to take out a small loan if you're underwater and you need to pay back the rest of it.

But it's way better than wasting more time like making payments to a car that's depreciating and it's taking up too much of your budget. So meditate. Meditate on that when you're thinking about it. So nuts and bolts of paying for a car in cash, because I really wish I had this information. When I went in to do that, I brought in several debit cards and a credit card. I had the cash in the bank, but really I

didn't know. I thought I was just going to be able to put some of it on a credit card and the rest of my debit card, and I didn't realize that I needed to call my bank and raise the limit on my card. And even when I raised my limit, um, it still wasn't enough to cover the car. I put like two grand of it on a credit card so that I could get some get a bonus.

It was a new credit card and I wanted to get the welcome bonus, so I did that really quickly, and then I had to actually wait until the next day to do the rest of the transaction because I had hit my daily limit for my debit card. So if I could go back, what I would have done is I would have done the same thing with a credit card. I would have taken out a new one

with a welcome bonus. And this is assuming that you're this is a huge this is like a big purchase for you, and maybe your debt free at this point, and assuming that credit cards is something that you are able to use wisely, and and that's a part of your friend right and if it's not, you can still pay cash and not need to go the credit card route. And was no extra um like three added for paying with a credit card UM, So that was another reason

I used one. If there had been a three percent added, I would not have used a credit card at that dealership, but I just took it to my advantage um to use that. And then I would have brought to debit cards from two different main accounts, because we have multiple

bank accounts. So I would have brought the one that I had used for my that I had stored my my sinking fund for the car um, and then I would have brought my regular checking account one and just transferred money over there the next day, so that would have cut down a lot of my frustration about like how am I going to take this car home? Um? So? And then there are there are other ways you can do it, like wire transfers and stuff, but those costs

a little bit of money. This was completely fee free for me, So that's a That was another important distinction. And I actually asked the guy. I was like, what if I had financed this car and just paid it off in a week or so, Like, what would that have cost me? Because the first month or so you're not charged in any interest. So I was like, what would that have cost me extra? Um? And he's like hundred bucks. So in the end, if I had to finance it and just pay it off the next week, um,

it wouldn't have been that expensive. But again I saved a hundred bucks. If for some reason, you're the fees for whatever reason, banks are charging you a hundred bucks to pay in cash, I don't know how that would be, how that would be possible, But if something like that happened, rest assured you could just finance it and pay it off with before the first interest payment hits UM and should just be able to give you a money order if you want to go that right. Sometimes people charge.

Sometimes banks charged for money orders though your own banks, Yeah, some of them do. Yeah, it's they charged for everything, so you shouldn't run into that problem. But that is um what he told me. So those speaking of something with no problems, oh, that would that would be something we've got down. It's 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 paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Uff build buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hey, frugal friends, this is Jasmine and I'm calling with my bill of the week. My bill of the week is a seven and ninety dollar bill from the Jeep dealership because a part in my husband's car broke down and we have to get it replaced. But the reason it's my bill of the week is

because we have that money saved. We were able to beef up our emergency fund just a little bit over the past couple of weeks, and so now we are prepared to pay that bill. We don't have to put it on a credit card. We don't have to stress about it or worry about it, and it feels wonderful. Thanks for all you do and for all your frugality. Have a great day. You guys know that we do not listen to these before we plan them. It's so crazy, Jasmine,

you are on our wavelength. Oh my gosh, you are everything so funny paying cash for your car repair bills in your bank account because you have an emergency fund, because you have prepared for this. You're not caught off guard by these unverst seen charges. You are ready for it. Yes, it's so exciting. Well done. I love that. Oh my gosh. As soon as she said Jeep, I was like, no, come on, what are the odds? Well done, Jasmine, I mean that bill sucks to have, Like I'm sorry, is

nothing to sneeze, but well done for having it. An emergency fund, that's what it's for, so it can take the sting away from a really big bill, a really big expense. That's why you have them. If you are reading our minds, then please leave us a bill at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill and uh let us give us a perfect bill for our next episode. Yeah, just anticipate with the episode is going to be about,

and leave us a bill on that. Yeah, and we will not listen to it until the second we we play it while we're recording, and then we will have the same reaction. Oh, it's amazing, that's awesome. Alright, it's time for Jill's favorite part of the week. It's time for the thing. Alright, guys. So I have mentioned a little bit about my car and that story. I had not bought this car when we recorded the first episode. Um about transportation, So getting a lot more of my

story here, um. But our Lightning Round is just how we get around? Get around? Too many more stanzas of that, because it sounds so much like the original song. I don't know the origin the song. Isn't that the Beach Boys? I get around again? Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, stop, I'm not authorized. We're gonna have to pay money for that. Okay. So how how we get around? How I get around? So I have my two thousand, sixteen Hunday to Son. It's a limited It's got like those leather seats and everything,

and I bought it. So I bought it in the mindset of I need a safe card to get around. But it was a killer deal. So it was definitely worth mid twenties. And it was listed for sixteen. And it was definitely a fluke because when we went in there, it was listed for eighteen by the time we got there, and I was like, no, no, I took a screenshot and this is what it was listened for. Yeah, I'm I'm a shark. And uh so then I was like, I'm going to take this home today, but only if

you give it to me for this price. And thus he gave it to me for that price. But then after dealer fees and everything, it was eighteen. But um, but it would have been twenty if you hadn't have been such a shark, for sure, for sure. So yeah, I think that was another reason why I jumped on it so quickly, is because it was such a good deal, and I plan on whenever I sell it, to take the money and to just get a minivan. With that amount of money, I'm not gonna put any more towards it,

So that's that's the plan. And then Travis Um paid cash for he currently who knows by the time this airs, um he currently has a Toyota Tundra. I don't even know what the year is, but he paid about five grand for it, so it's not super new and uh, and he loves so one of the reasons we have two cars is just because he loves buying cars. If we were a one car family, Lord knows what our car would be because he's all about like trucks and things. Um. So Kai, you're sitting in the mid the truck today,

he was strapping and we got some ratchet straps. Yeah. And he also has a motorcycle UM, which he does not have insurance for. But all of our vehicles are paid for in cash. I think the motorcycle cost about two thousand dollars when he got it. But Travis also he embraces alternative transportation UM a lot better than I do. If he's going to the store for something, he will

ride his bicycle there or he will walk. I went to the hospital last April because I had a seizure while I was pregnant, and he got a ride to the hospital in the middle of the night, actually from our Airbnb guest at the time. And when he was leaving the hospital to go get the car, he actually ran. He went for a run from the hospital to our home, which is several miles away, instead of like getting an uber or something. He just used it as an opportunity

to exercise. UM. So so yeah, he really embraces um alternative transportation and uses it as a way to experience the world, to exercise, to to all of these things. So he just used transportation differently. UM and I really admire that about him. So sweet. Will he listened to this? He will? Good? Hi, Travis. So I get around in a vehicle. We live in the middle of nowhere, so unfortunately there are no buses, trains, or other kinds of

automobiles coming out to where we live. That's okay, so we have to have cars if we want to go anywhere. And we have a Toyota four Runner, which we love. Are found it through Facebook marketplace, so we bought it privately. It's used. We paid fifty six hundred dollars for it, which is unheard of for Toyota four Runners because they are the best vehicles out there. Uh. And we've just been thrilled with it. We've got it because it's what

we can pull our home around with. Um. But it's also just really nice to be able to have a vehicle that does well in the snow, since we do get snow. You've heard me say this before. I live in Pennsylvania, and with my job sometimes I can't just have a snow day. So we love that, love that we got it used, love that we paid cash for it, We got a great deal on it, and it has done us very well. And I've mentioned this before. I believe in episode ten we've bought all of our vehicles cash,

privately used. We've not even bought used vehicles from dealerships. There's nothing wrong with that. I get that everybody is at their own level of comfort. However, when we do this, we will test drive them to our mechanic, so we will take it before we even buy it during the test drive, uh and have them check it out for us first and give us the yea or nay on it. So that really helps increase our level of comfort in

purchasing the vehicle. It helps that Eric has a lot of knowledge on vehicles and how much things costs, and can do some repairs himself. And then we've got a Pontiac vibe that we actually got through a trade. Some very great friends of us of ours, Kevin and Chelsea when my husband he did their backsplash and kitchen floor, and in return for the labor costs, they gave us their car. So that, yeah, that was a nice trade.

So that I mean, while I talked about wanting to go down to one vehicle, this vehicle literally owes us nothing. We've had it for about five years. The repairs on it, how have been so minimal. It's been a fantastic vehicle. I mean right now it needs some minor repairs again, like we're talking eighty dollars. But yeah, so those are our two vehicles. We own them. That feels great. Yeah,

we have. Yeah, We've bought several vehicles for Travis from Facebook marketplace, including his motorcycle, and then the rest have been from dealers. Both of our cars right now are from dealer's mind was from a Hyundai dealer and his was from like a smaller um private dealer which actually went out of business shortly after. So but the car is fine. So yeah, either way can be can be good.

I definitely would prefer private and then just kind of like scheduling an appointment with a mechanic at the same time as your schedule to do a test drive that way, you can go real quick and and see him. But yeah, it just happened that I, you know, betrayed my better judgment and went to a dealer and we and we know how that turned out. So that that is her

episode on transportation. I hope that you've got some alternative ideas with I mean, we just know that most of our listeners are driving cars, and so we want to give everybody something they can get from from this episode. So yeah, that's what we've that's what we've always done, but we're also doing some new things. So we have retired our book club r I P book Club, but we are still giving things away because we just can't stop.

We can't stop. Um. We we want to thank you all for your kind reviews that you've left on iTunes and stitchers um to enter our giveaways, like this one from Hannah Brookie just Happens to Me by Stars and she says, I'm currently on my debt free journey and is to have helped me tremendously. I just started listening a few weeks ago, but the amount of information and wisdom they provide is incredible. Thank you both for being

so awesome and informational thank you how kind. We also want to thank our friends who are out there sharing this podcast with their friends because it just makes our community even bigger. So as a thank you, you are able to enter to win our new monthly giveaway. It's not a book anymore, so share this episode on Facebook or social media and tag us. That's the thing. You have to tag us, and we will pick one winner for every five tags we get at the end of

the month. Yes, so instead of books, we're giving away ten dollar Amazon gift cards. So you can still spend it on a book if you want. You can spend it on spark plugs. You can spend it on toothbrushes whatever, whatever you need, spark plugs or toothbrushes. Yes, so you can either enter by tagging like sharing this episode and tagging us wherever you spend time on social media. Um, but you can also still leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher and screenshot that and send it to

Frugal Friends Podcast at gmail dot com. So we're just adding a new way to win and there's no limit on you can just share us and tag us at your will. Yeah. Yeah, you can share and tag every episode you'll just be entered more times. Yeah, I mean once per month, but I mean every single month you can enter. Yeah, right, do it, thank you. But I mean, nothing's keeping you from sharing all of our episodes. Yeah, I mean, maybe we'll see how it goes. Maybe we

will let you enter four or five times. I don't know. We're doing this new new thing, new thing. We'll see how it goes. All right, Well, see you next week. That's it. Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Syria. All right, so you think I can convince Eric to I mean, like I said, that vehicle owes us nothing, but we wouldn't have to make the um you know, have insurance on it, Like these little repairs. Is there anything that he could want to spend a

couple hundred dollars on? Be like, hey, if we sell the car, then you can do this, right, Oh, there's always something he wants to spend money on. He would probably have to do the minor repairs to even be able to sell it. But then at that point then it's like, well it's working, then he can have it if he wants to go places. Mm hmm. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just really trying to hold off on buying a new vehicle. I know that's like on his radar as the next thing, not new. We've never bought new,

but new. And I'm just like, I can't help you because I can't stop Travis from getting new vehicles every few months. I can't. I can't. I can't stop him. Yeah, I think he's like, but I don't want to be stuck here because he doesn't commute. He works remotely, so and then some days I work remotely. But then if I'm out that he can't go anywhere. But then I'm like, well, but would it be less expensive to just uber somewhere? So test it out while you guys are down here exactly.

We've already practically been testing it out. He never drives it. Yeah, I should, like put should I should figure out a way to kind of see like when he like he I think he thinks he uses it more often than he does. Like I should put like a date on the in the vehicle or something, and like a seal like in some way to test, like when the seal of the door gets broken. Like, but now that you're

percent telecommuting to like, it's going to be different exactly exactly. Well, yeah, that there's the days that I travel, but I would be more apt to just like get an uber to the airport so that he's not without a vehicle for like the entire time I'm traveling. Yeah, I really think it's doable. Yeah, Okay, we're gonna say I'll keep you updated. Okay. I love that I'm whispering like as if this is gonna as if he's not going to hear this, let me know, let me okay, yeah, try and trick him

into it. It's not happening.