How to Start a Cook at Home Challenge This Month!

It's not just a spewing information, but you can actually take action on what we're going to be talking about today. I'm so excited. Yeah, I really like the content of this one. I'm looking forward to getting into it. We've talked a lot about food, but I think this is another spin on it and a more fun way to be able to do the thing that seems to be

really difficult for all of us. Yeah, because I'm all about like, if you're not good at something, just dive headfirst into it and fumble along the way and don't hire it out, you know, dive head first, don't hire your cooking out. Just do it and figure it out and make spaghetti until you figure out how to do a carbonara, which I've never done, but maybe by the end of this, I will maybe we'll see there could be new things on the horizon. When you dive straight in,

something else you can dive right into. Was our sponsors. Today's episode is also brought to you by Stainless Steel. Are you sick of your eggs sliding gently off the pan only to realize the nonstick coating has come off with them? Have your plastic utensils seen better days? Try stainless steel. It's virtually indestructable to all the bad things you can do in the kitchen. All you have to do is remember to oil the pan once it's already hot,

not before. But it won't judge you when you forget stainless steel when it's time to adult in the kitchen. That's amazing. I also that that was It was funny but also helpful because I did not know that you wait for the pan to get hot and then put your oil in. Yeah. I've watched a lot of the Food Network channel while on maternity leave, and and yes that is a cardinal rule. I guess wait till it's hot. I hate the sound of metal on metal, so when I cook with stainless steel, I have to use like

a wooden spoon or a rubber spoon. Yeah, but otherwise it's good stuff. Yeah. Same with your cast iron. You shouldn't use metal on your cast iron. That's another thing I learned from the Food Network. Use a wooden spoon makes my teeth feel funny. Yeah, okay, alright, let's get into these articles. Yes, I'm so excited. We are at the end of September right now, but whenever you're listening to this, we want to challenge you to cook at

home for thirty days. And not only is it going to save you money and be healthier, but it's also going to hone your cooking skills. So this first article is from Mind, Body Green, and it's one of their chefs actually did a thirty day cook at home challenge and found that it helped her in all these things. And I just loved everything she wrote. So that's where we're going to go through. First. This was a really excellent article. A lot of times I skimmed through articles,

this one actually hooked me. I read the whole thing, even even the paragraphs before they give you all the tips that you normally just you know, skip to. I read the paragraphs because she's a really good writer. But also what she had to say about this did really inspire me and motivate me. Now, she went real deep into this cooking at home challenge, where it also meant that any level of prepared food like she was even

making her own pasta, wasn't doing jarred sauces. So we don't have to go that deep into it, but that's what she did. Yeah, she is a chef, so hers wasn't to save money. It was to reconnect with cooking because she found that she hadn't been cooking for herself because she was cooking to make a cookbook and that

was her job. It did end up saving her money, but basically some good things and so to motivate you all who are listening to kind of share some of those things, but obviously will link the article in the show notes you can check it out for yourself. But one important thing about cooking for yourself that they pointed out, and it's a good reminders that you get to control every ingredient when you're cooking at home, and so making

your own food give us voice and choice. I know that sounds really dramatic, but it's an important thing for us just as humans to have. But then to think about what we're putting into our body. We get to decide what those ingredients are. We may decide that they are processed ingredients. Okay, fine, but at least you know you've chosen that rather than just what's given to you in prepared foods or at restaurants. So I thought that was a really inspiring thing to say, Yeah, I want

to choose. I want to be able to go to the grocery store and decide which let us looks most appetizing to me and get that rather than just take what's given to me. Yeah, And she also like included So their rule was you could buy pre prepared whatever you needed, like an extra equipment to make so they didn't make their own tortillas or wine or anything. So if you're trying to save money, maybe you are cutting

out the more expensive things. But I liked that she said with any new die it over restricting is an express route to failure. So while I love her story, you don't have to do it exactly like she did it. Think of what you're already eating, like she was eating cookies and stuff. She didn't cut out cookies, like even though she's like a health and fitness. Like writer and chef,

she was still eating cookies. She just made sure to make them at home, and that inherently she ate fewer cookies because she had to make them to eat them. But think of like what you're already eating, and just try and incorporate that into what you're making. So don't try and do I love that she didn't try and change too many things up like her one big change

was just cooking at home. And so for her in this process, another discovery that she made is how much it caused her togetherness, not only with her husband, who

it sounds like, partnered with her in this. So that is a key aspect of this, and we'll talk about that, like finding a buddy to do this with a Also it caused them to host that when they were invited out, they would explain the challenge that they were doing with their friends and said, yeah, so we're not going to join you out for dinner, but you're welcome to come over here. And so what she found was she was hosting midweek which she might not normally have done, and

her friends just pitched in. They both arrived at her house at the same time. She didn't put the pressure on herself of creating this elaborate meal, but prepped the meal together and enjoyed that time not just cooking together, but then also eating the meal and so realizing the togetherness that it afforded for her, and even what that

provides for our health. Like if we think about ourselves as whole people, mind, body, soul, all of these things, it's feeding that of cooking together, eating together, enjoying extended time around the table, that it really nourished all of these parts of her. Yeah, and let's be honest with we took the same amount of time on a weeknight to arrive, prepare the meal, eat it, and clean up as it would have been to go to a restaurant.

Pick a restaurant, go to it park, decide what you want, maybe, wait for seating, wait for the food and all that. So I think sometimes we deceive ourselves and we're saying we don't have enough time to have people over and cook, But in reality it took about the same time and was more intimate and more nourishing, Especially if we can break down expectations of what it's going to be to have people over. It doesn't mean that the meal is all prepared and you're like Mary Poppins pulling it out

of a bag. No one saw it happen, Where did it come from? Like, they can be a part of the process and it doesn't have to be elaborate. I know good friends of ours had us over recently and we did d I Y pizzas. So they had made the dough ahead of time and that they had in their freezer to pull out for events like the US And then they had just a bunch of edgies in their fridge or bring your own veggies kind of a thing.

And we all made our own and popped them in the oven and sat around and chatted until each one of our pizzas was done. It was just, yeah, a really creative way of enjoying some healthier pizza, but also more time together too. I mean, restaurants can be loud, you don't engage as much with one another. Yeah. I love how Mate pizza. It's so delicious. I love her quote she said, there's eating and then there's nourishment, and

I'll take the ladder any day of the week. Just such a great summary of what just the peripheral impact of eating at home, cooking, inviting people over can do. That goes beyond just like shoving food down our throats,

even if it is healthy food. Yes. Another quote that I liked from this said, after spending years interviewing hundreds of the world's best doctors and reading thousands of studies, many of whom and which contradict each other, I found that the most universally agreed upon health tip is to stress less. No matter what we're eating, if we're eating it together, we're healthier. You can see that. Jill and I feel the same way about eating, like we really love we love it as like its social aspect. I

think cooking it just adds an element to that. I've also found too that as as friends have been vulnerable enough to like let me into their cooking process and vice versa, I've learned a bunch so for me, I even prefer this. Like Jen, when I was there visiting you in Florida, I learned about massage and Kale. I did not know that that was a thing until we were cooking together and You're like, no, this is what

you do, and I'm like, what just happened to this? Kale? Well, I learned how to massage Kale from having lunch at another friend's house and she made the salad with massage kale and that's how I learned it. And so it's just it's so so good. And so we talk a lot about like sharing relationships with friends over meals. But this can be the same thing with families. If you've got children that you want to connect with more, dinner

time is when you do it. And sometimes being in a family can be really isolating, Like I know right now having a three month old, I'm like feeling that isolation pretty intensely at times, and just having friends over for a meal or going to somebody's house is enough to kind of bring my spirits up. So like that's a great way if you're feeling the isolation as a as a new parent, or as a frugal person who's not spending as much money, this is an amazing way

to reconnect. So I think it'd be really helpful to go through some of these How two's that the author gives in this article of all right, what what does this look like? If we're going to engage in a thirty day challenge, it can bring out the competitive side of us, which might be a motivator too. So we'll go through this and the first one that she mentions is set a realistic amount of time. So don't say you're only going to cook at home for a year

if you've never done anything like this before. Uh, you could use her example as a guide of thirty days. If that even seems too overwhelming, try two weeks. Whatever it is that's going to be realistic. Don't try and set yourself up for failure, because that's never gonna That's never good for anybody. Yes, her next one is decide what homemane means to you. She included bread, tortillas, wine in her Okay list, but she made her own sauces, So figure out your level of cooking comfort and do

what feels good for you. Like I'm super busy sometimes, so on those nights, like I'm not going to make my own sauce even but some Italian person might be really confident in sauce making and throw all those things in the pot and go. So you just have to figure out what your comfort level is and decide what your homemade is. She also says to find a buddy.

So for her, she did the challenge with her husband, but it could be a friend or coworker, or family member, which helps make it more enjoyable, but also helps it become more of a challenge when you're doing it together with another person. I don't even being able to set it up competition wise between you and a coworker, even if you're not doing it in the same kitchen. It could be swapping story sharing recipes ideas. All these things

can be really beneficial. And then you have like a set person that if you want to hang out with, you both know you're not going to go to a restaurant, so you can go over to the other person's house and like eat food. So that's really cool. Um. And the next one is hold yourself accountable. So she documented her challenge on her insta grand account. Um, and she has beautiful food photography. I probably would not do that,

and I do not have great food photography. But she invited all of her followers to join in, and we're inviting you to join in. So figure out where you want to document yours on Facebook or Instagram, Twitter. I'd probably do it on Twitter if I still use Twitter,

It's probably safer. I love how people are using our Facebook community group as a place to be able to hold accountable there's some people who are doing a no spend challenge currently and are updating on what they're doing instead of going out and spending money, And it's engaging other people and giving some great ideas of what you

can be doing. So we absolutely encourage that. Yeah, and we'll probably make a thread for you guys to share what you're making in the month of October so people can get ideas, tips and just share their experiences with trying to cook at home for a month. Yeah. And finally, the last tip she gives is don't put other restrictions in place, meaning don't make this the time that you're also trying to cut out sugar or any other type

of diet thing that you're trying to do. This is more a practice of learning to cook at home and warding off some of the temptations to just go get a quick meal that isn't going to be the cheapest or healthiest or whatever. Just kind of training yourself to cook at home, but not putting all kinds of other rules in place. Again, don't set yourself up for failure.

I love this one. And she even said without even trying to eat healthier, she lost weight just from knowing the things that went into her food and putting them in there herself, and she saved money. It doesn't sound like that was the goal for her. It probably would be for for myself, but she it sounds like from her what she ate that they were probably more expensive and green, but she's still saved money. So I'm sure that for us frugal folks, we will be sure to

save money if we endeavor to do this challenge. Yes, So now more on the cooking side. Our next article um is from help guide dot org and it's called cooking at Home. And so there's the big barrier to entry for people cooking at home I think is skill level and time. This article kind of speaks to both of those and had a lot of great information in it. Does Oh my word, it just kept going. I thought that the article was going to end, and it didn't. It kept going so long. Yeah, I think it's really

important for us to go through the obstacles. But I do want to mention here that they've got a great section of listing out all the benefits of cooking at home. So if motivation is a struggle for you, definitely check this part out because they go into health benefits, emotional and social benefits, and just great lists in the midst of that of how much it can be really good for us to practice this. It doesn't mean that, oh, now now that we've done this challenge, we have to

cook every single meal at home. No, that's not realistic. We will go out sometimes, but just to be aware of and a little bit more mindful in the decisions of where we're eating, what we're eating, and the benefits that can go along with eating at home. So check that out. It's it's a little bit of overlap with the previous article, but some really specifics on what you can receive emotionally, socially, health wise by doing this. Yeah,

let's let's go over these obstacles. Yeah. So the first obstacle, which I have said before and it has been true, mind you, but I think we've all said this, and that is I don't have time to cook. So, yes, we've all been there, and I'm not gonna lie. It is time to plan, shop, cook, eat clean. That's a lot of things that you have to do rather than just like going through the drive through or grabbing some take out. But some of the ideas that are given here to kind of get over this obstacle are to

shop online. So whether you've got lunch break at work or a little bit of time in the morning, rather than jumping on Facebook, put together in online grocery order and get it delivered to your door. So that cuts out that piece, oh my excuse is getting chipped away at slowly but surely. Also another way to get over this obstacle is to get friends and family involved, so trade off some of the shopping or clean up duties.

So if you cooked, maybe your spouse or your child can clean that night or put it in put it in this thing for the next day, you know, and to be able to multitask too, so if you are on the phone or you want to catch up on some you know, audio book or whatever, to be able to do that wall you are cooking, so that you kind of feel like you're making the most of your

time and not just quote unquote wasting it cooking. You can try a cook at home delivery service to It's definitely not going to be your most frugal option, but it could help get your feet in the door because they already do the grunt work of meal planning and then the shopping. So that does cut out even more. And to use fresh ingredients so it doesn't have to even mean that you are putting things in the oven

or on the stove. Consider just doing salads or raw foods so that it's not taking up a whole lot of time. Yes. Um. And also, if you wanted to try the first part to shop online if there's a Walmart near you, which probably there is, you can use Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Walmart. You get ten dollars off your first pick up. So try that. Yeah, try that, and uh see if that helps with the time issue. And you can go through ebates when you

do it too, Yes, you can. Yes. So number two, it's cheaper to eat fast food, which actually I've been eating a lot of fast food lately just to get out of the house and get my baby to stop crying. And it is not cheap anymore. It's not. It's like, gosh, things that used to be like fifty cents are now like four or five bucks, So it says. A study from the University of Washington School of Public Health revealed that people who cook at home tend to have healthier

overall diets without higher food expenses. Another study found that frequent home cook spent about sixty dollars per month less on food than those who ate out more often. And third potential obstacle. I've said this one too, I'm too tired to cook at the end of a long day. I get that. Let's prepare for that. Let's assume on Tuesday night we're gonna be tired. So what might we be able to do on the weekend? So or in

the morning. So, so here's some ideas for that. One Loading up a slow cooker or a insta pot with some meat and vegetables in the morning so that when you come home it's basically ready for you. You can take it out of the slow cooker and and eat it. You're so tired, but look, dinner's made. Also consider making meals in bulk, so freezing things, but also if it will last in the fridge, doing that pre chopping stuff so that all you have to do is throw it together.

You don't have it doesn't require a lot of energy. Another idea to also some future thinking and prepping ahead of time, but cooking your main protein once a week so that you're not every single night making something new. But you know, slow cooking a chicken or roasting some turkey or or whatever kind of meat it is. That then you can use throughout the week in some quick throw together things such as soup, salad, sandwiches, burritos, pasta dinners,

rice dishes, all these things. You can kind of spread that meat out over a lot of different dishes that don't take long once the meat is made. Yeah, that also saves money because meat is our most expensive part of the grocery bill. So if you're getting a whole chicken, you're saving more per pound, you're eating less meat throughout the week, and you can incorporate more affordable protein options. So that's a great suggestion. So number four is one that I have used often. It's I don't know how

to cook. That should get us out of cooking, right. If I don't, I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to clean the bathroom, can't. So here are some tips. Um, it's usually perfectly okay to skipping and radient or substitute one thing for another. I do that all the time because there's no way I'm getting these obscure spices or these vegetables that I can't get from all d or anything like that, So I

I substitute and eliminate things all the time. You can look online or buy a basic cookbook for simple recipe ideas, and we'll throw some out at the end, but don't try and make elaborate meals every night of the week or even a lot of the week. Like you don't know how to cook, you can still do it cook at Home Challenge. It's just going to be a lot

more simple than the things you're seeing on epicurious dot com. Yeah. Well, and I think services like cook smarts can help with that because they already give you ideas of like That's one of my biggest obstacles is just the creativity of what do I even make? How do I make it? How can I utilize things for multiple meals? And cook smarts does all of that, which is fantastic, and they're still running running their deal for for first time users.

You get your first three weeks free for Friends podcast dot com slash cook Smarts. Yes, and I've just started back using them because my life is just too crazy right now to meal plan and I have been using a lot of things in my cupboard that you would think I would have to meal plan for the things in my cover to use them. But actually, I don't know how they know that I have these things in

my cover that I'm not using. I've been using them with the meal plan, or I've been I've been able to substitute things that like one time they wanted apricots, but I had peaches that I needed to use, So peaches it is. So it's it's really great. Something I've even found is that when we engage in challenges like this where we're going hard and heavy for a short amount of time, it's almost like a crash course or like a greenhouse effect of these barriers that used to

be barriers. I'm recognizing, Oh that's simpler than I thought, or oh, I'm gaining more tips than if I just did this one off every now and again, and it is kind of really cumbersome because I don't know what I'm doing. I'm fumbling around, But kind of a crash course like this is really helpful to even see that, oh, I'm learning these flavors or new techniques, and now it does feel more attainable to do this a couple of times a week going forward, even once the challenge is over.

So yeah, even don't be afraid to let this process teach you new things or or help you in getting over some of these obstacles. Another obstacle is just simply I hate being in the kitchen. Don't put me in there. I don't like it. So if you hate the idea of just being in your kitchen, well, I mean, first of all, this is an on the list, but I would say, like, make it pretty, like maybe put some nice flowers or a plant, turn on the lights, you know, wipe down the counters, make it a space that might

be a little bit more appealing. But they also recommend playing your favorite music or having a nice glass of wine while you're cooking, dancing around as you chop and peel. But that does make a difference for me. I know that if I'm making it an event that i'm doing, rather than just like, quick, get this done so I can get onto the next thing, is much more enjoyable. So and then they also say, or listen to an

audio book or a podcast. You could listen to us this podcast as you cook, which how fun would that be? And feel like you have rugal friends cooking with you. Yeah, lose yourself in a good story with an audio book, whatever the case is. You know, make it easier on yourself. Don't. Don't make it something that you have to push through. But the things that you enjoy, incorporate it. Taste test

while you're cooking, eat while you're cooking. Who doesn't like that? Yeah, just make sure it's like not raw eggs or look at those raw beef. I feel like Osha is going to make us put a disclaim around that, all right. And then number six, the last one is even if I cook a healthy meal at home, I can't get my family to eat it, which is Yeah, that's a big one. So over time you can wean your family and yourself off the taste of take out and packaged food.

It takes time, it's not easy. It's like some kids are just bullish about chicken nuggets, so they recommend start small. So maybe you do need to just cook once or twice a week to give everyone's taste buds a chance to adjust. Young children love to cook and find it fun to eat what they've helped make. So if you can incorporate sides or something that your kids can be a part of making, that's a huge step to get them to eat it and the childhood impulse to imitate

is strong. So the more you're kids see you eating healthy food, the more likely they are to follow suit. So it's just about repetition and participation. And this could also mean so yeah, that those are great tips for younger kids, but I'm even thinking like teenagers or spouses who have palettes that only want French fries all the time, love you eric um, that could mean practicing copying some of those things but in a little bit healthier way.

So rather than frying chicken, trying to grill or bread, you know, just breading it and putting it in the oven, or trying to make some French fries at home, still not going to be the healthiest thing, but far better than what you're going to get from a fast food restaurant. So even practicing or getting other people on board, like getting the buy in first of hey, this is something I really want to try and doing a challenge, Will

you guys do this with me? Can we find together ways that we can eat these things that we really love but in a bit more healthy or or less expensive, Even if you don't come at it with the word healthy, just yeah, that's expensive and we're gonna try and do this at home. We're going to try and do a challenge and get buy in that way. Yeah, you know what other ways we can get by with? Oh, I know we got buy in with this one. Yes, it's time for 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. That's built buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. All right, jenn and Jill, This is Melinda. I was calling to oh you that my bill of the week is that my husband and I recently went to the bank and paid off our house. After seven

and a half years of paying and saving. We've done it, so it feels good. Thanks congratulations, Melinda. Oh my gosh, reeing, I literally have goose bumps right now. Just how amazing that must feel the actual action of walking to the bank and paying the final payment. And you own your house like the largest living expense that we have. You own it now. So fantastic, Melinda. I'm so glad that we're the ones that you get to share that with

and celebrate with. I hope you're celebrating, whether that's cooking at home or maybe having a meal out. You would deserve it. I was literally talking about this last week and about paying off our house and we have a waste to go and so I know it can be done. And you're an inspiration, Melinda. Thank you so much for

sharing that. If you have a bill of a week to share with us, maybe you've paid off your house, maybe it's something a little smaller, like a student loan that's in the six figures, who knows, but you can. We would love to hear about it. Visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash bill and leave us a Google voicemail or speak pipe and uh we'll share it on the air. Yes. And now it's time for the lightning

It's time. It's that time. Yes, And we've talked about the importance of it, and we've talked about some of the barriers that come with it. So let's get down to some lightning strike strategies for how we're going to do this challenge this month. Yeah, let's get it done. Okay, So how you can cook it home for a month number one, prep some freezer meals and double some recipes that will freeze well. So this is where you can

use what you already have at home. I know I've seen some people do just pantry challenges of what do I already have that I can use up? So use up some of those things. Prep a ton of it, chuck it in the freezer, pull it out throughout the month.

And I know you've probably heard me talk about this before, but if you're a new listener, something that I love to do is cooking with friends in big batches and swapping some of those meals that you've made so that you have even more variety that you can be putting into your freezer, or do it separately and just and swap some of your freezer meals. Doesn't even have to be in a shared kitchen. So that's a really great way to pair some relational time with some cooking time,

with some saving money time, just all of it together. Yes, I had a day that I set aside and I made about twelve freezer meals, like before the baby came, and it's been so helpful on nights where I'm out of food, I don't feel like going to the grocery store and I have these freezer meals, and all I did I bought frozen chicken, so like it was cheaper because it was just going back from the freezer, So why would I buy fresh chicken and threw it in with all these like different things, And it was a

great help. The next strategy is repurpose leftovers so you can only eat one meal so many times before you just chuck it in the garbage. Because I literally always make chili and there's enough chili for like two weeks, and I don't know how it happens, Like I can't eat leftovers more more than like one or two times, two times if it's like really really delicious, usually just once. So figure out how you can repurpose your left overs. Putting things in a soup, making a fried rice, putting

stuff in pasta or a salad or stir fry. Lots of great articles on how to repurpose leftovers. Cook Smarts actually has a great infographic we can link to. But yeah, definitely figure out how to repurpose your leftovers, because nobody should be made to eat chili four days in a row. No, that's torture. Also, meal plan once for the entire month. So what this is coming out on September. That today is September, so you've got a couple of days to

meal plan for the entire month of October. And so that could be through on your own, right if you're if you're good like that, you could do that on your own, or you could use cook Smarts like we've already mentioned. And again you get your first three weeks free if you use the promo code Frugal Friends podcast dot COM's slash CS. So I apologize earlier I said you could use either okay, okay, so coogle Friends podcast dot com slash cs and they'll give you three weeks.

So that's three weeks down. Then you've only got one week to do on your own, or you can pay them money for everything that they just did for you. But you get off if you use the promo code frugal on anything you buy from that. So see what you will win, win win win, all right, And the last tip, don't be afraid of eating cereal for dinner, So have provisions to make a sandwich and omeline, case

of DS movie whatever. Some days you're just not going to be able to cook a dinner and you won't have leftovers for lunch, YadA, YadA, So just have provisions available that you can still quote unquote cook or eat at home and not take out from Chipotle. So cereal for dinners is nothing to be ashamed of. Hashtag lowering your standards, storry my life. That's pretty much a story of my life. Yes, all right, well, you guys, this

is we're coming to the end. But that's okay. There's still more you can get from us, like our Frugal Friends book club. So this month we are reading The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker. We're actually wrapping it up because it's the end of September, but still read it. It's fantastic because Joshua Becker is great and we interviewed him, so you can check that episode out too, all the way back there. But you can get new fresh stuff

from him from his book. Yes, and if you want a free copy of The Minimalist Home, um leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher. Screenshot the review and send it to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com. We'll select one winner for every five reviews we get each month, and you'll get a used book from Amazon, nice secondhand and Jen speaking of good reviews that could potentially win books, I was just scrolling through and found

a really fantastic review. That's just it's worth sharing, you know, for anybody who wants to wants to know what it looks like. So this one comes from Britt mp l s says thanks Self Care Podcast Suggestion. Hey, thank you for your podcast. I appreciate the accessibility of the solutions you offer. Also that you aren't littered with sponsorship that are sneakily trying to make me not be so frugal. Yes, yes, so uh, this one was sprinkled with some some links,

but only because it is actually saving you money. We're just we're just trying to share some helpful things and we're trying to increase that three dollars an hour, or we're trying to get to four, trying to make you know, closer to minimum wage off this pod. We're going, we're trying to increase with inflation. Yeah, So thanks for your review, guys. We love your reviews, especially when they are like that one,

you know, accompanied by five stars. It's great. Yes, and she also had it was much longer than that, and she recommended that we do a frugal self care episode which is on the list, so be prepared for that one. Be pre bread. And in the meantime, stay frugal, stay sweet, stay weird, and stay cooking, Yes, cooking, cooking, See you next. Sweet. Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Syria. Will he keep that in? Who knows? Job? Can we

take this opportunity to talk about episode sixty nine? Yeah? So all that happened. So I'm sitting at my computer trying to do some work, and I get a text from Chris Browning, the host of Popcorn Finance Good Friend, and he shows me a screenshot of his phone and it said got an extra episode of Frugal Friends. And all it said was up sixty nine. There are no subtitles needed, no nothing, just And at first I didn't

even think about the number. I just saw that there was an episode release when it shouldn't be really, and so I went in mostly what was concerning to you? Yeah? And and then I went in there and I rescheduled it. And then I realized after somebody posted in the Frugal Friends community group on Facebook that it was episode sixty nine, with no explanation coming at you on a Saturday. I think I think a lot of people were horrified and

a lot of people were ecstatic. I think I think that was probably one of our most polarizing moves we really I don't a man. All I had to say was that it is scandalous Saturday, because I had no other words. Yeah, I just said that, don't worry that Friday will be a more g rated title. Yeah. Yeah, And that's what that's what Eric gets for trying to be proactive. He was being so good about getting these episodes done so he could go and enjoy himself at

podcast Movement. And that's what at what happens, We horrify our listeners. No good deed goes unpunished. So yeah, um, well that was that was a fun yeah, fun thing. We all need a good laugh. Yeah, And it's ever it's I mean forever going to be memorialized up sixty nine in the Frugal Friends community, you know what. And it highlights the fact that we are the Frugal Friends. Right. We've got my husband editing doing the soundtracks, the sound

engineering producing it like it's all in house. So sometimes you get up sixty nine on Saturday because this is frugal. Yeah, I mean Eric is a professional, but he has a professional but he's doing it on Saturday. So yeah, if we make three dollars an hour, he makes zero dollars an hour. Yeah, goodness, bless his heart. YEP, someday. Sorry. Bye,