Is Hygge The New Frugal?

we are happy to oblige on that. This sounds like an amazing concept that in Florida, it's not fully a thing, it's not as necessary, but we can still embrace sit in many ways. And again, our listeners tune in from all over the world really and definitely all over the US. So oh, it's such a lovely concept put into practice is a great lifestyle and as with many amazing things, pairs beautifully with frugality. And we're going to talk more about that absolutely. But first, this episode is brought to

you by blankets. Do you love blankets but your partner keeps stealing them from you at night? Do you love blankets so much you are stealing them at night? Do you walk around wrapped in a blanket that's clearly inconvenient compared to a sweatshirt, but you don't care because you are a blanket lover. If you're a blanket believer, then you're gonna love the Savings Connect account at c I T. C I T is currently offering a three point six a p y savings account that covers your emergency and

sinking funds. Again some of the crazy inflation right now, and there are no hoops or arm holes to jump through like a sweatshirt. A minimum deposit of a hundred dollars is all you need. So if your savings account is sounding like a bedsheet right now, had to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash c I T to get what we think is the best and coziest high old savings account out there no hoops to jump through like

that neck hole or armholes, and slash short. I do have shawls that I don't need anymore in Florida, but I love them in the North because it's essentially like wearing a blanket only sold and advertised as clothing because it just has like one slit down the middle to be worn like a shawl, but it's a blanket. But like when you need to do anything with your arms. It's like where does the where does the front park go?

It's just different where you put it. It's just dang, Like can you need to do anything when it's super called out? You just wrap yourself in a blanket or shawl and like you wait, just cross your arms underneath your shawl, and that's how you live in the winter. I can't believe, I mean crocs came back around. I'm waiting for snugg ease to come back around because I have a Snuggie and it is convenient and I just I just like the function and the form. I think

it's beautiful and practical. Anyways, and this is right on topic truly with Huga. I mean, it's more than just blankets and shawls. But you know, we're getting there, We're circling, we are we are getting into there. So if you are like on par with this conversation and you are excited for this episode, we do have a few episodes that you could queue up after that will just feel like a cozy embodiment of our podcast all around you. We got e so to thirty seven, which is Cokibo,

the Japanese art of mindful budgeting. I feel like we've mentioned that episode quite a bit lately. We're so proud of it. I love it. And then episode sixty nine create a fulfilling minimalist lifestyle. I definitely do love the there's I feel like there's a little bit of maybe congruence with minimalism. It's definitely Huga is definitely not minimalistic, but it is simple and I think you could make it your own version of minimalists. So those are a couple of good ones to cue up after. But let's

talk about hugality and frugality and fruga that's beautiful. Yes, this first article comes from a GOP investing and it's titled Huga How the Danish art of cozy aligns with financial independence. So we are going to kind of use the terms and ideas of financial independence somewhat interchangeably with frugality. They're not always all the same, but certainly this is talking about the ways in which practicing this kind of art of cozy can really align and is quite congruent

and can help in financial goals. Financial independence, a frugal lifestyle, it all kind of blends quite well together. And so for those who aren't familiar, we said the word huga many times because it's just fun to say, and assuming you're familiar with this idea, but if you're not. It is a Danish word. It does not look like you'd pronounce it huga, which I think is probably why we keep saying it over and over. The first time that I saw this word, I was like, highis okay, But

it's not. It's huga. And it is the quality of cozy, e nous and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well being. So in general, just kind of this idea of at peace inside oneself, this coziness. It's kind of a way of life, a lifestyle. Certainly, there's some very tangible things that we'll talk about and that these articles talk about that can bring about a sense

of huga. But it seems to be from what I'm reading, what I've learned, what we've chatted about, even on some other different episodes, is that it runs a whole lot deeper than that. That it's almost this mentality mindset shift. Certainly, in the winter this concept becomes a lot stronger. It's one of the mindset shifts that I have seen, at least for a lot of folks in the north who experience a very typical kind of cold winter wanting to not approach it like, oh, let me just wrap myself

in a blanket and wait the one out. As much as I like to joke about that, that's not the best attitude to have. And so how can I embrace really every season and the beauty of every season and engage in it in a way that is life giving, joyous, breeds contentment and and I think we love to talk about this, particularly in the winter, because we like to associate cozy feelings with the winter time. Cold doesn't always breed cozy, So how can we breed cozy in the

way that we're choosing to go about life. So that's a little bit of a precursor definition idea of what HUGA is. When do you think John I like it in that it embraces It really emphasizes embracing the season. And that's something we try to get across, is really recognizing the season that you're in and not fighting against it.

So if it is cold out side, to not try to force, you know, a vacation to somewhere where it is blizzarding, you know, that's a very that can be a very big let down when you get to the airport and find out all of travel has ceased to said location. You know, sometimes those things aren't avoidable. But like really embracing the season and what the season calls for and and making the most of it, and I

think we can. It's HUGA doesn't have to just be like a cozy thing, like cold cozy, but it can really be a embracing of any season and trying to recognize, Okay, my children are young, and I'm in this season, so how can I make the most of this for this several months they're in school for this several months they're out of school for the two weeks you know before Christmas, Like just recognize and see in our life and trying to live into the best that they have to offer.

So that's kind of what this concept has inspired in me. Yeah, And so they go into characteristics of HUGA that align with financial independence. There's just four of them, so let's go through all of them. Yes, So the first one is attempting to spend less money, which is something that we are clearly all about. Not attempting to spend no money, attempting to spend less money. So the author says, Huga

is about enjoying the simple things in life. So instead of paying for expensive forms of entertainment, who seeks to take advantage of the things we already have, no need to go over the top to have a fun evening, why not just invite a few friends over for a polux. So that's what this says, and that's super a super important. Like it's it's about enjoying the simple things in life most of the time. And sometimes it's awesome to spend like spend willy nilly, spend extravagantly to have good times,

to have those expensive forms of entertainment. But the more you do that and the more you rely on it, the less fun they actually are. They because you take

them for granted, they become just ways of life. But if we are looking to really embrace the simple things, embrace what we have, and enjoy this contentment and gratitude, then not only do we spend less, just as a result, in the times where we do spend money for a vacation or a party or a dinner, we enjoy it more or we feel more free to spend and less guilt in spending, and we actually have more to spend. So there's just so many benefits of doing a predominant

focus on the simple things in life. Yeah, I think Huga and frugality are pointing towards contentment, and where there is contentment, there's not as much of a need to spend.

A lot of times are spending can come from a place of discontentment or our revulsion to getting on a budget or trying to stick to a spending plan can be that it feels super restrictive and I don't want that, And we're focusing on maybe the negative things about what we think it's breeding, rather than looking at what could this season hold for me and what ways could I lean into the beauty of what this is creating for me?

Some of the deeper reasons for embracing this, Like again, this was so much my experience in the north, and I did I just left it. I did just escape it. So take this with a grain as salt. But my mentality so often was just I cannot stand the cold. I got unreasonably angry just at being cold, and I'm not I'm like using myself as like a bad example, like bear in sting Bears, what not to do? Like what if I would have embraced saw the good parts

of that season. What if I would have focused a little bit more on Like number two says, this is my segue, a focus on relationships. What if I would have been more intentional about spending time with people. Yes, you can't be outside, you can't necessarily do all of the fun things when it's below freezing, But what if we would have been able to have fires together or do chili nights once a week or something. Sometimes I

tried that. I think this is the idea with with Hugat and frugality, of focusing on the things that matter. And some of that is identifying what are my values, what is important to me and pursuing that And usually for many of us, it is going to be relationships. And we all don't need to be extroverts for that to be true. For us, it can be our very closest friend or friends, our spouse, our children, our family, and could there be ways to spend time with people.

And usually when we're doing that, we're not spending as much money either. It can help us on some of these financial goals. It can help reinstill some of those deeper wise, for maybe some of the sacrifices that we might be making financially for a greater long term goal. Yeah, there is never a convenient time to connect with people, Like there's never a time where you're just gonna be like, oh,

this is a great time to prioritize my relationships. And that's why so many people in their thirties and forties have really great friend groups because they recognize that time that time does not exist and it becomes harder to main maintain relationships the older. We get that is the norm. But I love how this emphasizes taking the season where not a ton is going on. Uh, there's you know, we just got off of the holiday business where everything

was going on. Soon it will be spring and a ton of things will go on, but for the most part in the winter, there's not as much going on. And and that is definitely locational, Like in Florida. Uh, there is a lot. There's way more going on outside this time of year than there is in the summer. But still I think there's definitely still more going on

in the summer than there there is right now. Shorter taking advantage, yeah, taking advantage of the nights that start earlier and the fewer events to really invest in relationships. This is the time and this is what you're going to wish you had spent your time on looking back,

versus trying to spend money on something by yourself. I think that's when we get when we're alone, it's easy for us to you know, browse Amazon or go to t J Max and YadA YadA, but we don't, you know, pick up our phone as much when we are with people. So consider or that. The next on the list is being mindful. So WHOGA is all about slowing down and taking time to relax. Obviously that definitely breeds more time

for relationships and more saving money. And I love how he says it's about savoring the moment and enjoying the simple pleasures in life. That's the reoccurring the theme I think with this, And they say financial independence is also a mindful way of life. It requires you too, he says, question you're spending, but honestly, I think it requires you to just be aware of your spending. And to be aware of this might be like too overdic dramatic, but

like the trajectory of your life. So looking back and being like what have the last several winters held, How did I use them? And and what did they look like? And am I okay with that? Am I happy with that? Is that a pattern I want to continue? What would I like to change about it? And I think that's really what being the huga being mindful philosophy is is just being not having rigid rules for what you have to do. Is you have to get a blanket, I have to get a candle. I have to sit in

front of a fireplace. I don't have a fireplace. I have to go get a fireplace. And I don't think it's that. I think it's it's being mindful of Did I like the way molass winter looked? Yes? All right? What did it include that I liked? How can I recreate it? How can I emphasize it? If I didn't like it? What didn't I like? What can I say no to this year? And what can I add to

replace it with that I like? More? Which is very similar to what we can do with our finance is as we look back and review our spending, how did my spending go in the last three months? Do I like that? Does that feel aligned with my values? What do I want to keep? What do I want to change? Again, there's a lot of alignment here, and I think wherever we can have some level of control, autonomy, influence over the ways in which we engage in this season, let's

do it. I think I've mentioned this on the podcast where we were like, oh, let's have an episode about Huga. It really became apparent to me that our lives are not set up around agriculture, and so we can't or we're we're not as accustomed to really slowing down in the winter as much as we would if we were really dependent on the land when the summers were go fast and furious, make the most of the daylight, but

then truly rest in the winter. So much of our lives demand the same thing every day, six five days of the year, and we've completely left the concept of leaning into the different seasons and what they might be making room for. And I'm not saying, oh, let's all just like leave our nine to fives and go work the land. But what do we have control over, control and influence over. Are there ways in which we might be able to let off the gas pedal a bit

on our schedules in the winter. Are there ways in which we can be engaging in some celebratory new life things in the spring. Are there ways in which we can embrace some of the business of the summer and go in that kind of rhythm rather than fast furious all the time, doesn't matter what season. It is that, I think is what can breed some of that discontentment, the exhaustion, the and it's why Huga is so appealing.

And so with all of that said, the fourth thing on this list is that who really encourages just being casual? And I think to the way that this aligns with frugality, the pursuit of spending less money, spending time with friends, contentment. Of course, it's in some ways the antithesis or at least not super aligned with the need for high end items, super luxury brands, expensive just for the sake of being expensive.

It can kind of create this more casual attitude and approach to life, this kind of comfort, coziness in relationships and lifestyle and outlook, and that kind of casual attitude can carry over into a benefit for our finances as well. Again, contentment and and all of those things we just start don't have a need to put on this front of key being up with the Joneses are having all of the nicest, most luxury things. Yeah, and it doesn't mean

you cannot have any nice luxury things. If there is something that you really enjoy having that is designer, that is more premium, that is aligned with what you value most, then that is awesome, that is cozy. But there is no requirement or pressure to have premium luxury everything. There's there's no pressure and and for me, that's a little bit of being casual is that the pressure to be something you are not is taken away and you have

full permission to be you. However, whatever degree of luxury that is, maybe it's very luxurious, maybe you are maybe you are just like a boogie person and you love luxury, and that is you and we are here for that, and you be you, and you have the permission to be the casual that you define as casual. Thank you, John, Yes, because I know you're boushie chill, not in the way, but yes, in some very specific ways. Yes, I'm learning that and I'm going to embrace it. Thanks for them. Premium,

you are premium. So the last one on this list is feeling safe, secure, and unstressed. So that's I feel a really perfect segue, and the author says, in order to achieve who Go, one must feel safe, secure, and unstressed by life's demands. And we're always saying that frugality is being a good steward of your resources, and that's obviously money, but also time and schedule and physical space and mental energy. And that's really what this is saying.

Steward your mental energy well, steward your schedule well so that you feel unstressed by life's demands. Uh, steward your time and your physical space, your presence so that you feel safe and secure. And you are never going to get it perfect, Like there is no perfect season where it's like, oh yeah, I just felt safe, secure and unstressed all season. That is never the goal. The goal is to make decisions with this in mind. And if you can make your decisions based on do I does

this make me feel more stressed? Does this give me anxiety? Then I'm gonna I'm gonna walk away. I'm gonna say no, and uh, I'm gonna choose huga, I'm gonna choose cozy well. And that's a tricky thing of this whole conversation, too, is that we are coming to a point of putting pressure on ourselves to be able to rest well too.

So yeah, well, I'm starting to see more and more reels kind of identifying this, like the pressure to be a good mom, take care of the house, make some meals, have like do crush your job, and take care of your mental health and exercise and like all those things are really lovely things, but it's like it's almost this additional to do piece of and and are you resting and are you getting enough sleep? And it's like this added pressure and I think that's what we're saying. Yet

you're not going to do it all well. And there is a reality. I love that this article points this out. They describe that effort does need to be made to attain this lifestyle or even feelings of hooga. Similarly with reaching financial goals or even financial independence, whatever that definition is to you, that none of these things are going

to be possible without some preparation or effort. There is a reality to there being some degree of labor, effort, preparation, intentionality for rest, for this mentality of coziness and contentment for financial goals. And I think it's important that we recognize that because sometimes we think like I should just be this all the time. It should just be relaxed and unstressed all the time. And I appreciate that the article is pointing out, No, it's not done perfectly. It's

not happening all of the time. Sometimes there's effort that comes before this experience. If you're having friends over and you're doing a pot luck, there still is going to be the reality of prepping the food and making space for them to sit, and thinking about community, hating with everyone, and and and accomplishing all of your other tasks that you have space to be able to fully focus on

the people right in front of you. So there is there is no perfect magical thing where this all comes together, but I can appreciate this. There is a mentality though, that we can be aimed at and making efforts towards and then getting rid of the fluff all the other stuff that can unnecessarily stress us overwhelm us. And I think some of this mentality is going to help to be able to identify that what's the fluff? How can we get rid of it? Yeah, I hate those reels

and TikTok's that tell me what self care is. And I'm like no, and they're like, self care is like not a bubble bath in wine, and I was like, don't you yuck my yum? Like I love wine. I don't know if that's the right phrase. I it's whatever makes me feel good. Like whatever to an extent helps me dissociate from reality, but be also helps me process it so that I can re enter reality with more better perspective, more better Yeah, so we all have defind what our self care is, but it doesn't have to

be this stressful additional task. Absolutely. So let's talk about frugal ways to bring Houga into your home because sometimes when we talk about these cool concepts like minimalism or sustainability, were like, oh, they're so expensive to maintain or start, but it's not the reality. Like yes, on Instagram, the beautiful curated posts and articles and you know magazine layouts, those are obviously expensive to recreate. But in reality, these

are concepts, These are not products. So there's always going to be a frugal way to incorporate them. And that's what we're going to talk about in this next article. You're so this one comes from the Lady prefers to save and the two is a number two, just to keep it spicy. It's nine for the ways to bring Juga into your home. We're not going to go through all nine, Jen and I are just picking our favorite three.

But one thing I will say before we jump into our favor three is I appreciate that all of these tips are not Most of them really aren't like super tangible. It's not do this and save money and experience huga. It is again more attached to the deeper meaning of Uga and some of the things that we've identified with frugality and some of the mindset and ways that we

can be approaching life and perspective. So they don't seem like maybe tips off the bat because they're not like life hacks, but they are still where we usually begin is what are what's my thought patterns? How am I engaging with life at this moment, and what could be shifted and changed in this environment. So that's my disclaimer about these pieces. What did you think of the article? Jen? Yes, no, I felt the same way, and I um I very

much liked that it got to the core. I love this quote from the author of the Little Book of Hookah, the Danish Way to Live Well, and it is live life today like there is no coffee tomorrow. And I don't fully understand the quote or why it's so important to make it like an actual graphic out of but I do maybe it's just like drink all the coffee today, like there will be no coffee tomorrow, and that is the way I want to live. That is truly the

life that I want to lead. So on that, on that note, um, I loved I just I just want to start out with the very first one on here, make your house a home. I absolutely have always agreed with this, even before I knew how to say huga, because the more your house feels like a home, even if you're an extrovert, you're gonna want to spend more time there, and you're you're going to want to have

people over. It's going to be easier to clean, so you're gonna be able to have people over on shorter notice. There are so many benefits to making your house a home, and the author of this article says starting the path of hooga most often begins with a simplified interior design. And this is Danish and we all know Swedish minimalism design, so they're very interconnected. But I think the hookah of philosophy kind of isn't minimalist, but it is more on

the simplified version. So still having all the things that make our lives full, make our lives efficient, but keeping the interior design simple and the number of things to clean or tidy or manage, so keeping fewer knick knacks and not changing out your extensive home decore scheme every season, having boxes and boxes of decor I just think of did you know did Knee has like multiple warehouses where

they store their Christmas decorations? Christmas? Right, And so obviously we're not going to be on the same level as Disney, but like, you store your decorations more time than you display them if you're one of those seasonal changers. So it's just something to think about. Two, when you make your house a home and not a storage facility, you really do get to enjoy it more and you pay

for it every month, so why not? Yeah? And and for some people they love that that's what makes a house a home is having the various seasonal the core, but also keep track of how much stress it might bring to you. Do you might think you're that person only to find out, oh, actually, I I used to decorate crazy for Christmas. Like people would literally tell me, I don't know where to put my eyes. It looks

like like Christmas blew up in here. And I took it was like an actual quote from someone in my tiny apartment, and I was like, oh, yeah, you have entered into this version. Yeah, I know. So I thought that that was me. And now I'm at a place where my rule is that all my Christmas to core needs to fit in one plastic tub, and it does say, yeah, that is also my rule. Okay, So my next favorite

thing on here is learned to linger. Part of that is because of alliteration, but also, I think because it's a hard lesson for especially US US citizens to learn. Were so accustomed to rushing, eating, asked on the go. We get our identity from being busy, just constantly busy, and so learning to linger it not only values what's right in front of us, whether that's a person or a task at hand, it also gives ourselves some space

to think and be in the moment. We all know that that cultivates mindfulness and intentionality, which will absolutely carry over into our finances and breed benefit. But when we can learn to linger. We can also enjoy what's happening more and find contentment in that moment. And yeah, just not be so focused on what's next, what's next, what's next. And I'm saying this to myself too, because like, any meal that I eat is down in five minutes, and I blame the public school system for that. I blame

that you take like half a cup of food. There's like a half cup of food on your plate. Jill, Like, that's no. I mean, okay, maybe sometimes like I don't need a ton of food, but come with me to that burger place l cap. Eric is like kind of grossed out to go with me because I don't put the burger down. The burger is gone, I kid you not in two minutes. Burger, there's a couple of reads. It's yeah, it's super messy, so I don't want to

have to put down. Offended, Eric doesn't do the same thing. No, he's his mother's child and he takes like hours to eat his food. But again, I blame the public school because we got like twenty three minutes for lunch, and that included like going to your locker, dropping off your books, getting to the cafeteria, and back to your next class. So I've just been trained in eat your food in five minutes. Yeah, I also need to hear need this

reminder of learning to linger. I am the person and I was writing about this this morning, actually, like because I value like achievement and and finishing things and completing things. I complete something and then I'm already onto the next thing that I can achieve or accomplish without celebrating what I have just done, no matter like what the magnitude of it, whether it's big or small, I'm just always

onto the next thing. And it's not in my nature to linger or to celebrate, and that is I mean, I don't think that that's just reserved for people who have that core value, but it is this natural tendency for me, lingering is foreign and that is something I really need to pay more attention to in the seasons. So my next favorite is two Buy with Purpose. I love this. The author says the Danes are nothing if not thrifty, and they are one of the happiest, if

not the happiest countries in the world. They always rank up there, according to a European study that was referenced in one of these articles. Like, I don't know how long ago the study happened, but yeah, we were listed as the what that metric is there? You haven't? Yeah, they're happy. They're super happy, and it's not all because

of their thrifty nous. But they are still happy despite not like buying all of the things, Like they do not live this lifestyle or in this mindset where the next thing is going to make my life easier or better. They really strive to see better and improved outside of their purchase is so when they make a purchase, it has a certain purpose and not that purpose is not

to bring happiness. So they say favoring the idea that it's better to save up for that favorite furnishing in lieu of buying something they don't really like just because it's cheap. I feel like that's a personal attack on the old. And bring items into your home only if they are both beautiful and bring purpose and utility to you and your family's week. And I feel like we

don't usually combine the two. We either bring I mean, for me, it's either a it's either beautiful or it's purposeful, because if it were both, it would definitely be more expensive. But they're saying save up for these things instead of buying all the things that are maybe fifty of what you really want, when you could have of what you want,

and that will help in the minimalism too. I think sometimes when we can't get what we want, it can lead to that spending like I can't buy that, but I still want to buy something, and then it's not actually what we want, and then in the long one we might end up spending more because we then had to replace that thing over and over because it never was what we truly had our sights on, rather than

being patient and saving for it. It's just a different mentality, a different approach to it, and definitely a hard one to get to when you're living on a very limited income, because we very much we underestimate what we're able to save for and sometimes feel guilty if we say for something that I feel guilty and actually buying it because you feel, oh my gosh, I've just saved this amount of money. I should be putting it towards something like good,

not just this like robot vacuum. And so it is a tough mindset to get out of if you've lived in this paycheck to paycheck cycle. But I would just say, give yourself permission to save a save for good quality things and then to buy them when you do, and because you will in the long run spend less. Then if you're in the twenty dollars here, twenty dollars their mentality because like, oh yeah, I can afford twenty. I can't afford two hundred or four hundred, but I can

afford twenty. And then you're and you end up with all of this crap that in two years you don't use, want or need. But if you'd spend you know, maybe the two hundred on the robot vacuum, maybe you love it still in two years. I don't know. It sounds like personal experience. Yeah, all of this is all right. I'm just gonna pick one more on this list. I'll probably mention the third in in you know, the lightning round. But share. Oh and I'm just going to read this

whole paragraph that they talk about wisdom sharing. In a HUGA home, experiences are shared. Guests bring food, hosts allow help in the kitchen. The family entertains one another. Every thought, idea, and expression is equally validated. No one needs to internalize sentiments or tear others down to make their points known. Coziness is knowing your opinions, customs, beliefs, and traditions can be safely shared. There. It is folks and friends and

my frugal friends. How beautiful of a sentiment is this for both HUGA and a frugal lifestyle and approach? And I will say that this is something I didn't know that it was aligned with HUGA, but something I've embraced more and more in having my own home and I am becoming used to hosting. I didn't do that before because I didn't have a large space, and so I, certainly in the beginning, was one who thought I had

to do everything. My guests need to just sit there, and I need to act like I'm Mary Poppins just pulling things out of nowhere, and it needs to look effortless, and they need to like not see me when I'm working, but it all needs to get done, and that doesn't work spoiler alert. And I have now shifted over into this allowing people to do things when they asked me what can I do? Yeah, you can strip your sheets,

Yeah you can help me peel the potatoes. Sure, you can water my plants like and it does actually breed this greater sense of connectedness and bonding where I think my guests truly then do feel more at home when I invite them into some of the asks of of being in my home, of me hosting, And it takes a greater weight and pressure off when it feels shared, and there's not this kind of truly when we approach hosting in that way, it's an imbalance of power and

that's not necessarily going to make people feel at home. And and of course I'm talking about guests that I have that stay overnight, but this is also when guests just come for dinner or they come for dessert. The ability to have these shared experiences and then to take that even further where it's talking about an ability for all opinions and belief systems and traditions to be valued equally.

And to me, that also says age groups. You know, when we're hanging out with children, I think this juga idea comes into play of listening to what do the children in the household have to say and what do they want to share, and placing value and dignity on their human entity and their experiences. And I think This is so true, especially within the personal finance space and

within our kind of frugal community. Something we try and practice is not tearing others down or judging others for the ways in which they may choose to spend their money, for the different values that we might each have, Like you've said, gent, Yeah, some of us might be a little bit more bougie and some of us might be a little bit more casual, and there's space for all of that. So I think that ability to kind of share here's my approach to frugality, and yes there's space

for you. Oh I love it. There's so much alignment here between these different concepts. Absolutely. And then the last one I'm going to do just real quick is uh is light candles. And this is because we all have candles that are just sitting around not getting lit. And the other day Travis said, well, don't you want to like preserve that candle? You don't want to use it all up? And I was like, that's what I bought it for. It's a pumpkin candle and it's just not

pumpkin season all year round. I'm gonna use this candle up in this season. So if you have candles, use them. But if you have everybody also has spa things that they got his gifts or just ended up with somehow, use them. Just use this stuff that you've been saving for a special occasion. It's it's the special occasion today is specialist shoka is it's the special simple occasion. Well that's great, Jen, because that was going to be my third one too. That is like the one very tangible

time I wanted. Actual list is lighting a candle and it really does bring about this sense of coziness and it could save you a little on electricity. Maybe think about it, um or if you don't have a candle, you know, utilizing some of those white led Christmas lights throughout the year. We love using just low lighting in our house. It just is cozy. It's still lighting. We can still see our way around. But when the day is done, we don't have task lighting on in our home.

We light candles, we plug in the Christmas lights, we do the under cabinet lighting. Just the low lighting brings about coziness. And you know what else brings coziness all year round. There is shared space here, no judgment. All are welcome. Yes, it's a warm blanket of love, the double 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 bills Buffalo Bills, Bill Clint, this is the Bills of the week. Hi, Jenn and Jail, my frugal friends. I'm calling you from West Michigan, where it's quite silly right now. I just listened to your winter episode and just wanted to say how much I really enjoyed that cozy truly speaks to the soul. My bill of the week is my grocery bill. It's my bill of the week because I really love

spending money on food. I love food, I love eating food, and recently I've been making a lot more meals and trying to deal prep even doing some freezer meal prepping. So I'm just really excited. And when I heard you guys needed some more bills, I knew I had to call. Thank you, love you Ball for all that you do. Or You guys are awesome. You're very motivational and I love listening to you. Please keep with the food episodes. Bye yay, thank you from West Michigan. This is amazing

and how timely we did not plan this. So that winter before that winter episode you're talking about is also where we mentioned, oh, we need to do a hookah episode because of what we chatted about there. And here we are. Here we are and I love food too, So we are going to keep those food episodes coming because we're not going to stop eating. Yes, thank you so much, Lindsay. I am so appreciative of you saying that, because yes, food, we'll never get enough food episodes, will

never stop doing them. I think our next one on the docket is is a replay and then we're gonna maybe talk about systematizing like meal prep, so there will never be enough food. And there's a reason why bears eat and hibernate in the winter, you know, there's it's it's just natural, That's what I'm saying. I'm about to do that. What's in our control? How do we lean into the seasons and what they might be demanding of us?

Are giving room for it's ace for and it is eating more, and it's eating hearty meals, and it is definitely for bread and butter this season in particular for me, I am definitely embracing bear status and I am eating, I am napping, I am not shaving. I'm just kidding,

but I am embracing it. And if you all out there also love food and you're just so stoked about your grocery bill, you're that helps you prepare freezer meals, or you're experiencing bear status, Bill bear status or anything else you know the Drill Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill. Leave us your bill, We are here for it. And now it's time for I love how you just went in there, but we still do have a commercial. Okay, hang around, here we go, and now it's time for

lightning round. That's my bad. I just get so excited. I know, I know. So today in our vulnerability segment, we're going to talk about how do you currently make life more cozy? And Jill, you are for sure cozier than I am, so this feels like a mission for me.

Cozy is also similar to the idea of making things feel special, so I kind of used that interchangeably with this concept of how can I create and breed fun, enjoy and life giving cozy things and that is that's a daily effort, every single day, and it is simple things. I think I have really leaned into the reality that it doesn't have to be that I wait for one week long vacation a year to truly enjoy life. There are things every single day, very simple things that can

make life just feel so special. And and and some of that is ritualistic things. So coffee each morning is a ritual for me. It's not just this grab and go, gulp it down, run out the door, mostly because there is no running out the door. I work from home, so we're just saying this morning, Jill never leaves her home. Yeah, I have to drop Kai off at daycare by morning, so I leave my home daily. But but coffee, coffee is special. And Eric and I we might have mentioned

this before. We don't have a micro wave, so we make our coffee in a thermos because we realize that's the only reason we ever had a microwave was just to reheat our coffee. So instead of that, we just make it in something that will keep it warm. Well. When we first pop the thermos, it like makes this like champagne popper sound. And so I've leaned into that and so every morning when Eric and I pour our coffee, we like, we like cheers to something, like we pop it,

or like to we make a speech. What's the what's that term a toast? A toast, a toast, that's what it is. We like to whatever, and it might be like to a beautiful day, to the sunshine, to whatever might be happening that day, Like to whatever, and then and then pop it and pour the coffee and cheers. And we do cheers, Eric and I with any kind of drink, well cheers our coffee will obviously cheers our wine. We cheers. We just cheers. If we're eating together, we cheers.

And that's fun and that's special and that's cozy. I love lingering, speaking of lingering outside with my neighbors, if I'm able to see people during the day, because you know, I work from home, so I'm just trying to get some human interaction, stopping to notice tiny flowers, really slowing down as I'm watering my plants. Like that's a fun ritual for me, not like an obligation, but something that I like look forward to doing. So even some of these tasks, I will look for ways to make it fun.

If I'm feeling rushed or hairried and I'm cooking. Doesn't sound fun to me. I'll put music on and immediately that'll kind of just like change the space up, make it more cozy, make it relaxing, make it something enjoyable. If I'm washing the dishes and I want to, yeah, a similar thing, put music on. Maybe even use dim lighting, like, don't put on the task lighting. I'm only just use the under cabinet lighting. So it just feels cozier as

I'm washing the dishes. Again, very simple things. That's beautiful. Things great, and none of those things involved spending money. Yeah, not at all. That's sickeningly adorable that you guys, cheers to everything. You can come over and cheers with us. Jen, you just have to be here early enough for the thermis popping. That's early. I got stuff to do in the mornings. What about you? How do you make it cozy? So I love the morning cup of coffee in the mug,

like and that is definitely mugs are cozy. That is, it just takes a drink from being normal to cozy. And candles for sure, not so much blankets because it's already usually warm here. But candles. I do. I will run a candle to the very end. I love completing things. I love finishing candles. That's another thing. It's an achievement, it's a it's a task I can achieve, is finishing the candle. So I love that. I love lamp lighting, warm lighting. Stay away from the daylight light bulbs, just

stay away from them. Under three thousand and yeah, I think that's kind of where coziness ends for me. I love putting on the chill hop station on YouTube, which is just kind of like jazzy low fi. Or I play the Luminears radio on Amazon Radio on my Alexa. And those are those are my cozyes. Those are the I wear slippers at home because I'm an old lady

in my feet heart. Okay, where's my grandmother made for you? Okay, So I do have those, and I do love those, but my feet have gotten older since she gave us those, since you gave us those, and so now I have to wear special slippers with support. Yeah, I do love those slippers. Though Travis still wears his, so great. Thank him, and thank you all for listening. Many of you know we have a membership for our listeners. Many of whom

are paying off debt. Where we do monthly money challenges and offer accountability groups because we all know these big goals are not possible without some of that community accountability being no cozy couragement motivation. Yes, and we want to congratulate one of our groups a big win. Wendy said, paid it off again. Hey, I just wanted to share that they paid off my target card again. I let a balance sit on it for two months, but I cut up the card, paying it off and close the account.

Who yes, Wetty, Oh girl, congratulations Wendy. I feel like you just like pop in all the time with I did this great thing, and I'm like, yes, Wendy. So like some people are super here and then some people are taking it in and being like I'm crushing it, and we are here for both. Yeah, So congrats and then again thanks everyone for listening. If you want to check out our membership where we have all kinds of courses, interviews, challenges, and so much more. There's a lot to be discovered,

feel free to check it out. Frugal Friends Podcast dot com, slash club club you know how to spell that word, and we'll see you there. Yeah, see you next Time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni jen As. We were talking about minimalism in this episode and like knickknacks

and not wanting a bunch of knickknacks. It reminded me last night I had some version of a nightmare where I had to give a gift to someone, and I guess I was so flustered and didn't know what to give that I ended up giving like this knickknack is really what? It was kind of like a mini little statue, figurine thing, and I was so stressed about giving it because I'm like, this doesn't feel like a gift that I would give. They're just going to have to dust it.

I specifically remember, just gonna be a thing that collects. Does I do not want to give this to them? It was awful. Wow, that does sound like a nightmare. Oh my gosh. That shows you, like how embedded this like minimalist lifestyle has become and my desire to give. So yeah, you're like, you're very extra with the giving and you want to give really good gifts, and you do give really good gifts. Not in my dream, Not

in my dream last night. You should have seen me in the trash I was given to other people trash. I bet it was a really cute knickknack that they would have gladly dusted. It's interesting. It was actually similar to we have one figuring. I do have one figurine. It sits on my dresser and it is sentimental. It was. It's a figurine of like a silhouette of a man and woman that Eric and I got on her honeymoon. I don't know. I think we thought like look at us, no,

and we got this figurine. Um, it wasn't like it was something like that that I was giving to someone. But still it felt like this isn't for them, that's just going to collect us. This is not minimalist, this is not a good gift. Oh, it was so stressful. I'm so glad I woke up from that dream. I'm I'm glad you woke up too, and that you still have your silhouette of man and woman. I have to dust. Yeah, okay,