Episode four forty six, How to Vote with your Dollar with gg Gimja.
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 with our friend Gigi. I actually met her. I mentored her for a session last year. She was not even a beginning podcaster, but she was growing as a podcaster and I listened to her show, which is now called Progressive Pockets, and I was just floored. I wanted everyone to hear her show. She's so knowledgeable about the ethics of behind money, and I just I'm so excited to share her with you guys today.
She's a gem. This is the first time I got to meet her. I know you've had background with her, but I really enjoyed talking with her and hearing her just kind but actionable perspective. I think some really good tips for anyone at any stage of the process and figuring out where's the best place to be spending our money. So I'm excited for this one. But first, this episode is brought to you by making me happy. It's pretty easy to do either by handing me a hot dog.
Or pre ordering our book.
And if you don't live close enough to me to throw me a dog, then pre ordering the book is the only other logical solution. It's a great investment for you and a friend if you want to give it as a gift. We believe we've shared some super valuable ideas and action steps that will help you spend better and feel really confident about your money for the rest of your life. Because we're talking about principles that you can apply at any stage and season of life.
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All right, So today we're talking with Gigi Gimja. She's the host of the Progressive Pockets podcast, and we wanted this episode at the beginning of October, at the beginning of what is to be a very tense season in America, to really like ground us with some foundational truths. When a lot of things feel out of your control, we want you to know that there are still some things
that are in your control every single day. So we want this episode to be encouraging not to feel overwhelming, like there's one more thing that you have to do, but to really say, like, there's a lot of things going on right now that I don't have control over, but I can do this one thing that I know will be a step in the right direction, even if it feels like other things are not going in the direction that I may want them. So that is our heart with this episode, and there's no better person to
talk about it with than Gigi She taught. Her podcast is about social impact and personal finance. It explores how everyday people can make the most of their financial choices such as spending, donating, banking, and investing, to align with their values and contribute to building a better world. And it's not just through buying that we can contribute to the or we can contribute to the progress or the regress of what we want to see in the world.
We can also do it through banking, investing, and donating. So you can pick all of them one of them. There's a lot of freedom in this episode. We hope you feel that.
Let's talk to gg.
GG Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. I am so excited to have you with us today.
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
We talk so much on this podcast lately about values based spending, and we've kind of taken it from this perspective of our personal values, our family values, but I'm really looking forward to hearing your perspective on how we can bring that out to a more macro level of our community values and our values as just a human being and the things that the causes that we're passionate about.
So thank you for coming to talk to us about these things.
Are you kidding? This is my favorite thing to talk about.
I love it. I love it. Okay, So let's like lay some groundwork when we say voting with your dollar, how can we use that as like what does it mean? And how can we think of it as like a as something that is like positive and foundational versus something that is maybe like scary or entertainable.
Yeah, so using your money in a way that lines up with your values and your beliefs, that's exactly what voting with your dollar means. And I do remember your episodes. I'm a listener of rer Gal Friends. I remember those episodes where you talked about values based spending. I loved it. You talked about starting with an understanding of what it's important to you. I've heard you both talk about family, friends, fulfilling work, faith as being core values, and I can
certainly relate to those. So what I'm educating people on with progressive pockets is that we also have community values, things that we care about. I have loved ones in California. They're really worried about the environment because they're looking at the wildfires, and they're looking at the droughts, and they're also concerned about homelessness. I have loved ones in Florida, where you guys are, and especially those who are in Miami.
They're really worried about the climate in another way, and it's even starting to affect what neighborhoods in Miami they're thinking about moving to, So they're also worried about the environment. I have friends, a really good friend from Indiana, and the thing we were just recently talking about, for her, what keeps her up at night is animal welfare. So for me, I'll bring it to myself. One of my values that I think a lot about is the well
being of women and girls. So we all have community values, certain things that we want for society, and those are sometimes shaped by our lived experiences or the things that we learn as we're growing up. And we all have ways that we use our money. So let's take a minute to think about all the different ways we use money. Definitely, we spend it right, we give some of it away, We donate our money. We save some of it for a rainy day, or maybe for some big goals that
we have in the future. If we can, we say, we invest some of it so we can someday retire. And so when you think about this, all of the ways that money is flowing in and flowing out of our wallets, we start to see that we're leaving a mark on the world. Where we decide to shop has power. Where we decide to donate our money has power. Where where we bank, where we invest, where we donate. All of these things have power. And what I love talking about this stuff is it takes back some of that power.
I think you'll agree with me when I say that billionaires shouldn't be the ones who get to shape our world. We have our wallets too, and you and I your listeners. We know more about what our community needs than some billionaire does. So when I talk about voting with our dollars. That's really what it's about. It's saying, here's what's important to my community. You know, maybe there's a shortage of affordable housing, or our neighborhoods are going to be at risk,
saying here's what's important to my community. We have a shortage of affordable housing, or our neighborhoods are going to be at risk of rising sea levels, or the women and children in my community aren't safe. So when I think about where I shop, where I donate, where I invest, where I bank, I'm going to be looking for opportunities here and there where I can flex my wallet in line with the type of world I want to build.
This is really lovely. I just want to take a moment to comment. I just love listening to you talk to you. I don't love it when people comment on our voices when it comes to our podcast, because usually it's negat feedback, but this is positive feedback. I'm just really enjoying listening need talk, and then what you're saying is so inspiring. I would just want to listen to some speech of yours, but here we are, we're having a conversation. So I'm going to ask you questions. I
love what you're describing here. Of all the ways that we spend money, they are decisions that we're making, whether or not we realize it, and we can be utilizing our money in a way that allows us to feed into and choose more of the things that are important to us. I also recognize for myself when I hear some of these things, recognizing that a lot of times knowledge leads to responsibility. It's like, Okay, how can I know all that there is to know about the back
end of companies and where the money is going? And how much can I really be responsible for knowing and choosing? And so with that, for your kind of average, I'm going to put myself in that category.
What would you.
Say are some of the more simpler ways of figuring out which where are the companies and the investment opportunities that align with our community values?
Oh? Absolutely, so shopping locally I want to start there. Shopping locally is an easy way to achieve a lot of those things at once. So we're supporting a local business which creates a healthy local neighborhood and local economy. We are probably then buying food that's locally grown and in season and so that's healthier for our bodies, and we're building relationships with a local shopkeeper and their staff,
so that is healthier for our community. And shopping locally can also be more environmentally friendly because we're not shipping things all over the country and the world. So shopping locally can be an easy way to achieve a lot of those values that someone might have in mind. It can be really fun to do this when you're shopping
for a gift. And the reason I say that is because, in addition to achieving all of those things that we talked about, you know, healthier for our bodies and our communities and the environment, now there's this extra thing of you have introduced a loved one to a local business, and that kind of multiplies the effect. But sometimes shopping locally isn't an option, right, Let's be real about that.
Maybe they don't have what you need, or you just don't have the capacity to shop locally right now, you are caring for aging parents or little kids, you're working seventy hours a week for whatever reason, some times you just can't shop locally, and that's definitely okay.
In that case.
I like to look at the labels when I'm shopping. For example, you might see a label it has like a B with a circle around it. Maybe you've seen that before. Yeah, so that's the label for something called a B corporation. It's it sounds intimidating, but it's not. What it is. A B corp corporation is a company that has legally promised that they're not just going to try to make money and make profits. They are also legally binding themselves to caring about a healthy planet and people.
So this is a really bold step for a company to go through to make this commitment. So I do look at the labels for that if you do have time, you know, if you do have time, I'm very realistic about this. There are score cards online that you can look at to show how well a company does on certain things. So, for example, maybe you're concerned about, like you don't want to buy products that where the company
used exploitative prison labor. There are score cards online where you can really quickly look up to see which companies are doing that, or companies that are exploiting black communities, or you can find I've even seen websites where if you're ready to buy a new car, you can kind of look at how green the various options are, or even you know, the other day I saw a website for real estate listings. If you're in the market to buy a new home and you want to look at
a more sustainable home that's for sale. You know, in the past, you kind of just had to build a new home yourself. But nowadays there's so many different things. And then the last thing, I'll suggest, this is kind of old school. So this is where the geriatric millennial in me comes out. Okay, so it's old school, but I like to pick up the phone and get in touch with a friend to kind of ask their opinions.
We all have that friend who does all the research, right, I know, if I'm going to buy I mean it's a separate example, but if I'm going to buy a laptop, I know which friend to call that has done all the research and definitely made a spreadsheet and can in five minutes help me make a decision. And I mean, I'm happy to be that friend for people too. I love, you know, reading about this stuff, talking to experts researching it. So I'm happy to be your friend and you can,
you know, definitely send questions to me. Anytime as all.
Yeah, the friend thing was actually the first thing that I thought of, because I so, I, like you said, don't have a lot of time to purchase products locally, but I will purchase services locally. So I'll try to avoid franchises and chains and maybe places where I don't think they will pay their people as much. They're the
easiest things to find. I try to avoid the easiest things to find by like asking friends on Facebook and texting friend like group chats to see like their recommendations for people that are maybe harder to find, but like in business for themselves, so like having worked for a local business, a local service business like those are just as important to support versus like the big you know, big service like franchises. So it's not just products, it's also services. And that's how I do it. Is just
like friends. And I had a friend who I was thinking about getting my car detailed because I was looking at it and the milk stains are everywhere, and I was like, I don't think I have the mental capacity to clean this. Uh, And then instantly she's posting on Facebook a couple hours later about how she just got her card detailed because her dog vomited in it, and the guy did a great job and he said he's slow like business wise, and I was like, oh my goodness,
this is it? So like also being the person who is sharing like people in your community, maybe you can't purchase a service from them or a product from them, but sharing is as a helpful way to help others figure out how to keep money as locally as possible.
One hundred percent, I am picking up what you're putting down. Yes. Amen.
So for someone with a tight budget, how can we make conscious purchasing choices? Because for a lot like it's very easy to think that being able to you know, quote unquote quote with your dollar or being able to make better purchasing options is for uh, it's a privilege, right And to an extent that's true. It costs more money to buy products from certified B corp companies, So how do we, as people of limited means, how can we venture into that or do the most with what little we have?
Yeah, And you know, it's it's funny because it's something that you've talked about before on your show. I've heard, you know, other guests talk about the funny thing about being frugal is that it's often the better environmental choice too, and it's so funny how that is. You know. So I've found that when I'm buying things, I try to buy them used if I can. If I need to buy something new, then buying something that's more durable, that's higher quality so that I don't have to replace it
as often. And it's funny that that's more frugal, but it's also more environmentally sustainable too. And then beyond shopping, there are other ways we can use our money to build up our communities without spending a dollar. So let's say you're saving for something that's important to you. Maybe that's why you're on this type budget. Is you're saving for your first emergency fund that can take. That can be an amazing feeling.
To achieve that.
I remember when, after years of really focusing on it, I was able to create my own emergency fund. And you know, I did the math how many months of living expenses I needed, and it removed a lot of stress from my life. You know, if your card needs a repair, if you lose your job, if you have a medical like a dental emergency. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but I'm willing to bet that. You know,
having an emergency account can change your life. You know, you could probably lower your blood pressure and probably get better sleep. But here's what I wanted to say about that is not only are you improving your life, but you could improve somebody else's life too. And that comes in when you're thinking about where you stash that money, or maybe in your case, you're saving up for your first home and and saving up your down payment or something.
But it's very powerful where we decide to put that money. You can put that cash in a big bank, you definitely can. And there are some banks that are doing good things with our money. They are funding affordable housing in our communities. They're making loans to small businesses and people that typically don't get the funding. But it's a good idea to check and just know what your bank is doing. There's a website that I use called mightydeposits dot com and I like it because you can kind
of get like a scorecard on your bank. Because what some banks are doing with our cash, I mean, it's not just sitting there. Some banks are funding politicians or organizations that might not match up with your values. And some banks are not fair lenders. You know, they discriminate against certain communities when it comes to giving mortgages or small business loans. And so what you can do is
you can think about where am I banking? And if you're not ready to move all your money over, maybe it's the cash that you don't really touch on a regular basis, like your emergency cash savings or your down payment on that first home. Because there are some banks that you can also choose. Let's say you want to get away from the big banks, you're ready for that step. There are nonprofit banks that exist. There are community banks. They're incredible. Your money is just as safe as it
is with a big bank. It's still FDIC. It ensured you are not going to lose your money. But they are nonprofits and so what they're doing with your money, their responsibility is to protect your money and to make it accessible to low income communities for example. It's amazing. So if you're looking for one of those, all you have to do is look online and you're going to look up something called a CDFI and that stands for
a Community development financial institution. So even without spending a single dollar, you can still be flexing some power with your cash.
Yes, I think this is the most underrated way to make a big difference. And we even change when we refinanced our mortgage, made sure we refinanced with our credit union that we knew was doing good stuff in the community because we over fifteen years will pay them a lot of interest. And who's going to get that interest payment our community or a big bank. And so yes, I think this is and I'd not spend any extra money.
And actually our credit union had a lower interest rate than some of the other banks that we looked at, So like, this is such a powerful way to make sure money is your money is doing good things.
Yeah, absolutely, or you know, I mean I have to think that a lot of other listeners like me, you know, listeners of your show, have side hustles or small businesses, or you know, maybe they have some extra way that
they earn cash on the side. You know, that could be a time when you're setting up your bank account for that new side hustle where you go, you know what I'm going to go with a like a credit union, a community bank of some kind of nonprofit bank, and that way you're kind of setting up your side hustle, your small business with the values that kind of match who you are as a person. There's something I don't know, something really cool about that.
You've given such tangible steps like resources, places we can go, items to be looking up and then I love to gig how You've mentioned the various ways that we are engaging with our money, from giving to spending, to saving to investing.
Even amongst those, I'm.
Curious if you have thoughts on where would be the best place to start if someone was to put their first foot in front of the other. Is there one category that you think it like the barrier to entry is lower there for beginning to explore kind of using our money towards our values.
Hmmm, that's such a great question. I think probably the first thing I would advise is not to get I know there's a new way of saying this, but again, as an elder millennial, you know, decision paralysis. I think it's the main thing to not get overwhelmed with the research that you end up not making any changes at all. Sometimes we can fall down the rabbit hole and never get out of it. You know, we have a pretty
good idea. I'll use myself as an example. So giving was something that we did as a family sporadically here and there wasn't super organized, we didn't have like an annual goal of how much we were going to give. And at some time, at some point a few years ago, we decided now we actually want to make a goal. And that has been very, very satisfying feeling, because I think that having a looser grip on our money has
honestly made us have more of an abundancy mindset. And it's almost like we're proving to ourselves by helping other people that if we someday need help, we will receive it. So, you know, the next step for me was my investments, and I absolutely had decision paralysis. So I'm not a complicated investor. I'm not one of those you know, daily reading the newspaper making investment decisions based on that. I am not that person, and also that's proven not to
be the best strategy anyway. So I just buy index funds, your regular old index funds. And I had it in my heart that I wanted to kind of clean up my investments in terms of matching my values. So I wanted more like socially responsible investments, and I found one that was a good option. But then I made the mistake of holding out in case I found something better. You already know what happened. A month past, I had not invested the money. I was looking for something better.
Six months past, a year past, another year past, and finally I just had this realization of what am I doing. This is not getting a tattoo. It's not a permanent decision.
You know.
I can choose something that's good enough for now, and then I can change my mind and if I find something better, I can move that money anytime. I think that getting overwhelmed with trying to find something better can be the biggest mistake. So it kind of depends on where you are. For me, that's how I started, And then I think next for me was probably thinking about probably my banking and that was scary because I don't know, I just kind of thought, what a logistical.
Pain it is.
Yeah, but that's why I like the idea of starting with like something that you're saving for, like our emergency cash savings. We don't touch that all the time, Thank goodness. That means we're not having emergencies. I'm grateful for that. And then also with you know, like side hustles, like that that has been like an easier place for me to start, that's not as logistically overwhelming.
Yeah, that's so helpful, And I'm sure our listeners can relate to this a ton I can relate to it. At least I'll speak for me in the start. Start with whatever feels the most low hanging fruit in it, and do what we can to avoid feeling to overwhelm by it to the point where yeah, we're paralyzed and we don't do anything. Small things in the right direction, even if it's not perfection, can still be super meaningful. So receiving that message speaking of small things in the
right direction though, and that kind of permanent. But you're never gonna want to take it back.
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.
Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week.
Gigi.
We may not have prepared you for the yelling, but I know you knew it was coming, and we want to ask you like we ask all of our guests and our listeners, what is your bill of the week?
Oh man? Okay, I just got back from visiting my parents, and I need to start by telling you that we are a frugal family. Okay. By the time I was twelve years old, I could teach someone the basics of comparison shopping and frugality at the grocery store. I remember saving to buy a backpack when I was in high school, and then taking such good care of it that I used it into my thirties. I started working. Yeah, I started working when I was around fourteen, at a lot
of jobs in high school. My parents were able to pay all of our household bills, so I had the choice of being able to save that money that I made, and I did, and I was able to save enough cash to buy barely what you could call a car and the textbooks for my first semester of college. So I'm trying to paint the picture here so you understand how funny this is what happened a few days ago this weekend. So I was getting my parents and they're driving me to the airport, and my dad takes an
exit before the airport. He pulls into this ATM to get cash, and I'm like, okay, Boomer, like, who still uses cash?
Right?
And he hands it over to my mom. She doesn't put it in her wallet. She's holding these twenty dollars bills. Okay. And then we pull into the airport. We get into the drop off lane and we're hugging and kissing goodbye. I'm crying because even though it's been twenty five years since I left home, I still cry every time I say bye to my parents. We're very close, and my mom hands me the twenty dollars bills and I'm like, what is this? And she says, your dad and I
discussed it last night. We want you to take this cash. And I'm confused.
What is this for?
She says, I know we raised you to be frugal, but we want you to have fun too. Now, I want to be very clear in saying I'm frugal. I am not deprived. I spend on the things that I value. So I'm going back and forth with them. We're in the drop off lane. The traffic control lady with the fluorescent vest is trying to get us to like move so other passengers can get dropped off. I'm trying to put the money back in my mom's wallet. She will
not take it. And so finally, you know, I'm getting embarrassed, and so I say, fine, thank you mom and dad, And I guess they can still read me pretty well because my mom looks into my eyes and she says, I can tell you're thinking about doing something responsible with this. I want you to do something frivolous with your friends.
Oh my.
And my dad, in one of those ways that only a day can really guilt. Tribute says, if you want to make us happy, you'll go and have fun with your friends with this money. So that's my bill of the week. I have some twenty dollars bills I have to spend frivolously with my friends.
Really yes, parforming?
Yeah, like I know, what are you now taking suggestions? I mean, one of my group chats right now, my girlfriends are talking about a new Fenti mascara, which apparently is like fifteen dollars a pop. So I'm like, okay, everybody can get a mascara. I think I'll have some twenty dollars bills after that, so I'm very open to suggestions.
Wow, frivolous I don't know, a petty maybe goes to and this shows how this shows how frugal I am.
I've recently begun really honing in the definition of for just to be resourceful, and I've noticed for me in particular, I want to squeeze as much out of my money. Even if I were charged with fun and frivolity like you were, it would still be how much fun blowing the decisions can I make with this How.
Many bad decisions can I make with this money? As many as possible?
One hundred percent. I mean, half of me wants to walk down the street with my friends and just hand out twenty dollars bills because how fun. I actually think that would be a memory we would have forever. It would be so fun. And then maybe for the other half we go to like I don't know, sweet Grain and get some lunch. I mean that, actually do I even have enough for that? Nowadays it's like twenty dollars a person to have lunch.
So one of you can eat through watch this is amazing. Gee, gee, my heart is warmed. Your parents sound like the salt of the earth, and I love I love the part about your father and I talked about this last night, Like it was a discussion that we're going to stop at the ATM and pull out cash and how much cash? And how are we going to tell her that she has to spend it on having fun. Like the whole thing, the whole scene is adorable story. It's a great bill.
If any of you all listening have a bill that you want to submit, if it's about your heart warming boomer parents, or about still using cash, or what you would do with a twenty dollar bill, or what you have done with a twenty dollars bill, or what you like to do as a person named Bill.
Don't admit to anything illegal on my podcast. Don't. I'm going to say that, don't admit to anything illegal here.
You can't protect you won't air it.
I can't. I can't promise from friends.
Podcast dot com, slash Bill leave it for us, and now it's time for.
All right today. I love it so cry love it? Okay, all right? What is one way that you like your favorite? Way you align your spending with what matters to you your favorite.
You know it's not exactly spending, but I guess it's still a money thing. I like to try to talk to other women about money, even though it's taboo, especially younger women. I'll I like to push myself to open up and talk about you know, how I think about financial security as a woman, or I've been in situations where I knew that a woman was being underpaid and so I had information about that. So I try to push myself out of my comfort zone to really talk
about this taboo subject. So you know, it's not exactly spending, but it is a money thing that I try to do.
Yeah, advocacy that is super important.
Then that's the like knowledge, parity and responsibility piece.
But you're doing it.
I'm trying to There will never be enough people, especially women, talking about money. I mean, we all got to get coffee and talk about what we're buying, what we're making, what we're investing in, to just demystify it.
There.
It's people are scared to talk about money because they're not experts. And if we just like put a kebash on that idea and you don't have to be an expert, you just share, share what you've learned. That's how Jill and I started this podcast. Share what we've.
Learned, don't Yeah, absolutely got the credad meals. But but see, and by the way, there are a lot of dudes talking about money on many podcasts do not know what they're talking about. So that's why it's important if there's shows like yours where Okay, maybe you're not the world expert on money, but you're an expert on your money and decisions you've made, and you're open and willing to share that with others. I think that's so important.
Yeah, absolutely, I love that for me, Jen.
So I already shared how we So we bank at a credit union, our mortgages at a credit well, one of our mortgages is at a credit union, and so that's probably my favorite way. But I will also say that my favorite, like my stick it to the man favorite way, is every time I say no to buying something because in my head, I'm like, I am telling that that company that the way they are doing things, this fast fashion, fast product turnover, cheap crap sort of system does not jive with me, and I will not
play into it. I am not a pond in your game. I am not going to fund your yacht.
Oh my god, I'm gonna stand up exactly.
So just not buying, not everything I buy a lot of stuff. But I love it that every time I say no, I feel good.
I have flip of mindset too, Like with a no, you're saying I'm not contributing to your yacht. That's that's fun for those of us who are spicy and feisty but have trouble in pulse purchases, like yeah, there's your there's your mantra, that's great.
Every time I don't every time I don't subscribe to Amazon Prime, I say, I'm not funding your spaceship. So that's also when people are like, why don't you have Prime, I was like, I don't need any more spaceships in my life.
Oh man. I felt that in my spirit.
Yes, okay, sorry, she'll go no.
It's so good. I don't have anything quite as fun as that.
But one of the things I feel, I guess i'll use this word a little proud of, is my husband and I just have one one vehicle.
And that decision, I.
Feel helps in many ways the community, the environment, but also our wallets, and so it also saves us a ton of money to only have one vehicle. It's rarely a sacrifice, thankfully, because we both work from home, but it does free up some money for other things that
we find important. And one of the things I've been realizing, because I do still keep a transaction inventory essentially as I go through our money every month, it is really valuable to me to give gifts to people and to be as generous as I can be with my money. And I think connecting those dots that some of these larger decisions I've made on housing and transportation is what allows for some of that generosity, which I'm so glad you brought up, Gigi. It's a topic we don't cover
all that often. We've done a few episodes on it, but I think is really important, especially for those of us who even feel as though we're on a tight budget or we want to be frugal, but kind of the ways in which we can still be generous where there are opportunities to give back, whether in time or money or other resources. So those are the things that feel like most life giving to me are the choices I can can make that create margin for giving to
other people with whatever resource I do have. So there we all have, gg So you've been a wonderful guest, and I know we all want more from you.
So tell us where we can find you.
Okay. You can hear from me every week on my podcast. It's called Progressive Pockets. You won't be surprised to find out that the website is progressivepockets dot com. And I guess I joined Twitter right at the exact moment that so many people were leaving, but I am there by Twitter account is Progressive Pockets if you remove all the vowels. And I really enjoyed talking with you both today. Thank you for inviting me.
Absolutely, Thank you so much.
I feel like a lot more empowered right now. I knew a lot of this, but it is easy to lose perspective when there's so much going on.
I think these are the reminders that we need to just do a check in. It's not necessarily something that has to be top of mind every single day, every minute, but keeping a pulse on Okay, is my money going towards the things that I say are valuable both to me and my family, as well as the things that I find valuable for my community, the causes that I want to be supporting. It's just a really good check in.
And I think anytime someone can take us back to the basics like she did of here's all the ways we utilize our money, and at each one of these building blocks, there's decisions we can make that are really can be really beneficial and aligned with where we want our money to be going. I just and as you know, I just enjoyed listening to her. So that was a fun one for me.
Yeah, and so much flexibility, so much pick one thing and just start there and then move on to the next thing. Let's not get overwhelmed with all there is to do. Let's start in the lowest barriers to entry and then move on from there. But thank you so much for listening. We are so thankful for you, and we love reading your kind reviews. Especially loved this one from Ellen Sator It happened to be five stars. It's
called my weekly addiction. She says, Jen and Jill never fail to inspire me to dig a little deeper and do a little more for my wallet. With this help, I've watched my savings grow, my food waste diminish. I love the variety of topics and different ways I can think about aligning my spending with my values. Forgal friends
compliments my efforts and keeps me motivated. I love to listen to them while working on my side hustle bonus points for never being stuck and always making me feel connected about life and spending.
Thank you whoa, Ellen, those are some really great words. Thank you so much being so spensific about the things that you enjoy and letting us get a little bit of a glimpse of the specific ways this podcast has helped you. It's really cool to see that what we're talking about is actually helping you have more margin in your finances and diminish food waste.
That is great.
I love the variety of topics we cover too. That's very fun for me.
It isn't stuffy, You're right, Ellen.
Wow.
Thanks so much everyone for listening.
Thank you all for your kind of reviews, and if you've not left us a review yet, please do so. Wherever you are listening to this, it really helps us a ton and it's another way you can make me happy.
Hey, Yes, we'll see you next time. Gorugle Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Okay, Jen, we have to we have to tell our friends.
Oh, there's so many things. There's so many things. What do we have to tell them?
Okay, So you and I, as you know, hung out. Last night we went to a when I have books, Yes, yeah, we went to a book signing of our friend who lives here in Saint Pete near Us, who just put out her book.
Twelve Trips in twelve Months.
And we got to get a glimpse of our futures in about three to four months where we will be doing book signings. Please come, by the way, please come to those. Yeah, and oh it was so fun. And we bought a book on the company card, as we do.
Yes.
And when we were in line to purchase this book, Jen saw a sticker. It was some sort of turtle theme with a pun, some sort of turtle pun.
It was a turtle and it said shell. No, yes, right, it was so good. I love turtles. This is not a thing I share very widely, but I love turtles not just because of that meme with the little boy. I loved them way before and that was just annoying for me. But I actually do love turtles.
Yes, And this was a very cute, very punny little sticker and Jen so adorably grabs it season immediately falls in love, turns to me and says, can we get this too? Because I have now taken over the business finances, so I let people know whether or not they can have asking permission, and my immediate reaction is like, yes, of course, it's a sticker. Literally, at this same exact time, our eyes go to the stickers price, and we both remark at the same time, oh not for four dollars.
Literally what we said at the same time, oh not for four dollars.
We refuse, even when we're using the company card to purchase the thing. Both of us have no value for getting the sticker at a whopping four dollars.
Shell, No, it wasn't worth it.
Shell no, Shell no. And I don't know what price I would have paid for it anymore, like I don't know what I thought.
A dollar fifty honestly, that's yeah, I would have paid.
Yeah, I would have paid.
That, maybe even to twenty five, but four dollars.
But just I would have packed the fifty for sure.
There were so many things that culminated to just make this a hilarious moment where we both were on board with getting it we knew would be on the company cart, and our eyes went to the price of it at the same exact time, and we both had the same exact reaction.
And we didn't. We did not buy the sticker. We bought the book.
We did not buy the sticker. Could afford it? Yes, did we value it? Shall No, wasn't it wasn't worth it us?
And then we laugh about it.
We laughed very loudly, and I think we made some people uncomfortable.
Probably we didn't know what to do with us in a bookstore at night.
Yeah that's true.
Yeah, well but that was Yeah, that was a moment that I won't forget, shall know.
Yes, the frugal friends out in the wild, literally living out, practicing what we preach and really becoming one one person. Slowly but surely we we the same, We the same