The Best Money Hacks w/ Lisa Rowan

and we get it because we love it too. We think Lisa is amazing. She actually lives close by to us. We get to spend time with her sometimes and in person and in audio she is fantastic or books fantastic. There are some particular tips in this episode that we continue to get people reaching out to us saying I tried this and it worked and we're still celebrating with you. Also, just to put this, you know, at the top of your list again, we think this is worth it. Absolutely.

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I say it all the time. So this episode is also brought to you by the ten minute YouTube video I watched with all of the Sapperstein's best moments from Parks and Reck. So money, please give me money. It's just easier. I say that all the time to love her character so so much. It's such a strong, strong character. And if you're also over on YouTube, check out our Frugal Friends videos on YouTube. Listen to us on YouTube

so that we can make money. Please money. We don't make any money from YouTube, but maybe one day we will. If you start listening to us YouTube, we might Yeah. So true. Okay, So if you want some more money hacks, if this is something hacking is really what you're into, here are a few other episodes to queue up to play after this one. The first one is episode one fifty,

travel Hacking for Beginners. I go through my entire five card strategy for travel hacking for beginners, and this is the perfect time to start with that strategy, let me be clear. The second one is episode eighty all the way Back into the Archives, and that is house Hacking with Craig cure Lap. He is like the house hacking king. I think that one of the first ones I will say. But we interviewed him all about house hacking, so basically getting other people to pay your mortgage for you. Really

really good concept, really good episodes. So episode one fifty, episode eight Q those up to play next. But for now, let's talk about money hacks with our really really good friend Lisa Rowan. Let's do it. I'm so excited about your book. I have flipped through it. Not gonna lie flipped through it because it's technically not even out yet, um, but it is overwhelming. How many amazing tips you have, so I want to I want to talk to you about those. Yeah, you have forty seven tips alone for

curbing mindless spending. I'm curious what are your favorites? Oh gosh, what did I give you on that list earlier? There? So we needed her to cut, you know, pare it down. Um. I was asked for cliffs notes today because it is sort of a hefty book. It's one that will weigh down your handbag when you're carrying it around, or when you're carrying around the copies of the manuscripts you've put out to edit it. Uh several times. It's it seems almost like a reference, like you should have a dictionary

and an encyclopedia and your money Hacks book. It's it's it's something that I would want to reference often. Yeah, and you know, just like my dictionary and encyclopedia. Yeah. The encyclopedia, though, is way more expensive than the Money Hacks book and encyclopedia. I believe you have to sign a contract for like fifteen years to receive encyclopedia. So

this is a way lower investment towards your frugal life. Um, and it is it's meant to be a quick reference, and it's one of those books that I envision a group of friends passing around all the time. Um. Hey, like I got a lot of you know, good tips out of this chapter, Like you're working on paying down debt, or you're working on your budget, so you know, take a look at this and then pass it on to

the next person who needs it. Uh. And it's one of those you can come back to and flip through again and again and maybe pick up something new for where you are in your life. Yeah. I picked up a few things. So the first one that you said was your favorite, UM was reconsider whether membership is worth it? Tell me about the Ladies. Ladies, I feel like I am getting subscriptioned out in my entire life. I don't

even know it's a subscription anymore. That's how much they've disguised them, right, especially now that during the pandemic and I'm home all the time. It's everything is a free trial and then some sort of ongoing cost, right, whether it's uh, like a streaming service, or it might be something where you get products in the mail. For example, I recently did my first order from a company whose name I won't mention, but you can probably guess they

sell like household products. Uh, and you can buy stuff regular style and pay for shipping whenever you want it. But the thing they want you to do during your free trial is gets sucked into whatever, Like the Elite status is where for like twenty bucks a month, all of your shipman's free. I don't need. I don't need shipments of paper towels every month because it's just me and my cats at home. I don't need premium service for household items. And so I love that we're disrupting

the way that we shop. We're disrupting the way we pay for things. We have more choices than ever before. But if you're not watching where you're spending your money, these memberships are really going to start adding up all the subscriptions, memberships, shopping services. And I will admit that this is the biggest part of my own budget. When you look at you know, when you go past the necessities, the biggest chunk is like monthly memberships. A lot of them.

I love a lot of them. I don't really need. It's time to cut those out. Yeah, it's what every company is trying to get us to do because they recognize that's where the money is either by people not actually taking advantage of the membership or they're just making boatloads of cash on these products that aren't actually that expensive.

I mean there's tons of ways. But yeah, and in some ways, if we find the ones that are good for us and and we really desire and it really impacts our life in positive ways, and fine, but to membership every single thing is just ridiculous. Yeah, it's twenty commitment is overrated. But it's a marketing tactic that the businesses are seriously using. And businesses that weren't subscription based models before are becoming subscription based because it is more lucrative.

So just acknowledge that that is a marketing tactic that people are using to get more of your money. Yeah, and just because a company makes it hard to cancel doesn't mean you should stop trying. And then as sometimes like I hate the phone, sometimes you just have to call and you just have to keep using the line over and over. I would like to cancel. A lot of them are not that bad now, but you gotta stick to your guns because it's it's your budget. Every month.

I've started to become a sleuth in like more getting tactics and not that I'm really like an expert at all, but I think mindfulness has really helped me like to kind of press pause and be like, what what do they What did they just do to me? I just got an email today from UM some website wanting my money. But essentially they were like, you're the first in line for this deal. And initially it like got me like, like the subconscious level was this, Oh, first in line.

That means I've got to move quickly. That means I've got to do this thing now or i might lose my spot, you knowing my my thought immediately goes to what's it like to be the first in line at amusement park? What do you do with that? Obviously I did not, I didn't even click on it, but it's helped me to realize like, oh, they actually want me to feel something right now, and they're not actually going to give me a deal. Delete. Yeah good girl, yeahs claps um. I I liked a few other ones in

this Mindless Spending chapter. Uh, I'm partial to number two, number thirty five, which is essentially due and No Spend challenge and you have tips on how to prepare UM and how to get through one. So that's really great. But then also Hack thirty eight hit the gym. I used this one a lot to do something instead of spend money. When we were paying off debt, I did

a lot of running and I also started well. I had a CrossFit membership and I kept it throughout our debt payoff up until the very end, but I didn't I didn't quit at that point because of the money, and then I got it back like nine months later. So I really love that one. And even if you're spending money on that every month, I feel like it gives you something to do at a time where you would otherwise maybe go spend money, um, and it's just

the healthier way to spend your money. Yeah, gen will remember the days when I used to go to the gym right after work when we worked in the same office, and you know, the clock would hit five, and I wanted to be in the gym because I wanted to get it done, because I wanted to go home and

eat dinner. But it also gave me a routine that provided the consistency I needed to stay in the right direction right if I knew exactly where I was going and when work ended at the end of the day, then I knew, Okay, I'm going to the gym and I'm going home. I'm not going to dilly dally stop and have a drink with a friend go to this little shop to see what they have before they close

for the evening. You know, it just gives me those like lily pads to hop through my day so that I'm not letting myself sort of get distracted by other things like mindlessly scrolling and shopping when I don't need that. Plus, i mean, look, when you feel good, Like how often do you feel great and you say, you know what

I want to do right now? Shop online? Like No, when you've got those endorphins rushing through your body after a trip to the gym, I mean, you probably just want to sleep immediately, but you don't necessarily feel that need to like sit down on your couch and immediately start like checking through your sale emails exactly. And the same can be said for uh for negative routines too.

If you have a routine of like leaving work and stopping to get dinner, then you can replace that bad routine with a more positive routine and just yeah, give yourself those lily pads to jump on. Don't try and take away bad things, rather replace them with better things. Yeah, and like you said, you know, the gym is not a free place unless you work out a the Like, what are the things the adult playgrounds that they have by the park, they have all the calispanic equipment they

do have those. I mean you could use those. Those are actually pretty legit here. Yeah, those are the scene there next to a beach. Everyone has muscles in a town except me. But like, you could go to one of those. But even if you're spending money on exercise, whether it's through an app, through a traditional membership at a gym, you you are sort of like multiplying your benefit. Right, you have a place to go. It might have a social aspect for you. You're getting those mood boosting benefits.

You're going to be super tone. Like you know, you can spend money, but multiply the benefits of that you didn't have if you weren't exercising. That's my pitch for exercise. It doesn't matter what your goal is as long as you just like do the thing. Yeah, and then you can make real life friends at that gym. Yeah, but

don't get too close to them, right. So Chapter three UM is called Get Debt Free, But there are actually a lot of great credit building hacks in there, and I get it, like credit is like a gauge for your debt responsibility. UM. I especially liked the one UM where like have your landlord submit your rent payment through an online service. That one's great if your landlord doesn't already do that. UM. Lisa has a few resources listed

in the book. I forgot they are, but they can literally just sign up at these services online and submit your payments and that can help build your credit UM without getting a credit card. So that one was great.

You know. The thing that we're seeing UM in these very recent years is that a lot of younger people are less likely to sign up for credit cards than they used to be, maybe in the nineties or the early o os when we were coming up as adults, and they still need to build credit because down the road, if you want to make a big purchase by a house, UM.

You know, sometimes you get your credit checked for a job, and you want to have a good score, even if you don't want to, you know, increase your chances of getting into debt. So if you can do something like have your landlord report your rent. You're gonna be trying your best to pay your rent on time every month, so you may as well get some credit for it. I will say Chapter three was the easiest one for me to write because I have had my own issues with debt in the past. I have clawed my way

out of that hole. I never want to be in there again, and so I feel really motivated to tell people a lot about staying motivated to pay off debt, strategies for doing it, and also the strategies for maintaining a healthy credit over your life. Credit is something we we haven't talked about much, and I would love to do an episode on it because it is very misunderstood. UM. So, you had so many great tips in there. What was

maybe your favorite tip from that chapter. One of my favorites that I didn't know a lot about before I wrote the book was that you can send what's called a good will letter to your creditors if you have had UM bad behaviors in the past with your UM with your debt, so if you have missed payments, if you have gone over your mac's limit for a credit card, if you UM. You know, I didn't pay a loan on time and you're falling behind. It doesn't work for every kind of debt uh, and your mileage is going

to vary from creditor to creditor. But you can send them a letter of good old fashioned formal letter where you basically apologize and you admit that you've done things wrong in the past and you're taking action to fix it from here on out. Some of it is easy. You're gonna say, oh, you know, I lost my job for six months, I fell behind, I have stable employment, I am saving you know, here's what I'm doing to

remedy the situation. UH. But in a lot of cases, they will maybe remove uh late marks from your account, from your credit report, they may waive some late fees. There's no guarantee and it, you know, it depends on sort of what's happening with your creditor and sort of the economic landscape. But it's one of those things where it may take you an hour or two to put together a letter, edit it, send it off like actually

in the mail. You're probably gonna mail it, but it could, you know, weeks later, have a benefit that really, you know, gives you a return on your time. It is one of those situations that I think we often don't consider to ask. I mean I hear that across the board, not just when it comes to debt or building good credit, but just asking. It's similar to negotiating of hey can I get a better rate? Hey can you forgive me? Hey?

Can I get a raise? Whatever it is like, just ask put put a few minutes into drafting a letter, making a phone call, doing something. I think we can think our hands are tied while they just they send me this letter or this email and I can't do anything about it. But reality is you might be able to if you if you put some time into it and ask yeah yes. And you can find templates UM for goodwill letters on Google. Just ti, I mean search goodwill letter template UM and you can find them on there.

And definitely, if you've already paid off the debt but there's still negative dings on your credit report, UM, then definitely send a goodwill letter to hoever that creditor is because more than likely they will UM, they will take it off if you've already like settled the debt or paid it off. So I love that one. UM. And then also there's claim you're missing money. Can you tell

me about that one, Lisa. Okay, So this is one of those tips where I've written about it before, but um I didn't understand the benefit of it until after I was working on the book. So I will tell you the tip and then I'll tell you how amazing it can be. So, every state has a fund that money goes into when it goes unclaimed by the person that belongs to. This could be all sorts of money. It could be your security deposit for your electric bill,

for the apartment you lived in five years ago. It could be a last paste up from a job that you left and they didn't have your forwarding address. It could be in some cases in old four oh one k that's just sitting there. Maybe some stock got sold and you have old investments. And you can go on your state's directory, look up your last name, and I mean your first name would also help, but you know,

start with your last name. You might look for your whole family while you're there, and there are plenty of you take your pick and you can find out if there is money that is owed to you through one of these state funds. It's not just where you live now. It's where it's any of the places that you've lived in your life. So if you've moved around, you might

need to check a few different states. But you could find that you get a not insignificant amount of money that just gets cut as a check that you get in the mail, as long as you prove who you are with some identification and you know some evidence that you had that job or had that old account or

something like that. Um. But this was one of those things where I've never found myself in any of these systems, probably because I'm super tight bay and I always hunt down everyone for my security deposit, like give me my money, I need to buy wine. So I've never benefited from

this personally. But I had a friend come to town a couple of months ago after I had mentioned these unclaimed money websites for different states, and she told her parents about it, and her parents found thirty five hundred dollars that belonged to her dad from some old investments through a company that got sold to another company that got sold down the line. It was money from probably years ago that he just lost track of. It grew in whatever out then it went into the state fund.

It was just sitting there, and they took it and planned a vacation with it. Have they taken that vacation, No, because things happened, But they were able to make really

fun plans with the money that they found. So the reason that I put this tip in the chapter about paying off your debt is because when I like, when I find a lump sum that I get either as a gift or as a refund or maybe a class action settlement, I like to take that little pocket of money and put it towards any debt that I have, whether it's a credit card balance or I still have

some student loan debt. So I like to take that that found money and put it somewhere that I feel like it's doing the most good for the long term for me. So check those state databases and see. If you google missing money, it'll it'll come right up. Unclaimed money, Google your way to some funds. It's a real thing.

I learned about this through my mother in law, and she has she's actually gotten money that way as well, just some people who left her money in their will, but they weren't able to get it to her somehow. And yeah, she had money waiting for so it's it is a real thing. Um. And like you said, Lisa, maybe not not everybody is going to find money, but it's worth spreading the message because chances are you or your parents or a friend could benefit from it. Yeah.

And if you're you know, if you're looking for something to do at home that is not shopping online, you could just go and put all your friends and family members names and then these websites and to see what comes up. It's like a fun time hunt. You don't have to leave your house for a friend to be like, give me ten percent and I'll give you information exactly

some fine gifts. Nice well to Lisa. Speaking of making money, and we know, okay, it's good to learn how to save and actually reining in that discipline is fantastic, how to not spend, how to save, how to get out of debt. But they're also comes a point where just earning more money is a part of the equation with continuing to be wise with finances and be able to continue in our debt payoff journey and reach other financial goals.

What are some of your favorite tips for earning more money? Yeah, so there are I think two that I have in the chapter about earning more money that I think are some of my favorites. One is to get a mentor, And it's one of those that's a real it's a it's a soft to do. There's no immediate money that you save, our money that you make, but over the long run you're going to see some benefits. I don't necessarily mean to get a mentor that is necessarily a

financial advisor. What I'm thinking about is in your career, you need someone who's going to be an advocate for you. Because how often have we been told that we need to negotiate more when we're getting paid for the work that we do, and um, how often have we realized that, like we're really bad and negotiating in favor of ourselves. Like it's easy to tell a friend you need to ask for more, but it's really hard to tell yourself, oh,

I am worth more. So, if you can find a mentor in your industry, whatever it is, who is willing to sort of coach you through career transitions as you go, it can help you when you are considering a new job offer, if you're considering taking a different job in a similar field, if you're trying to learn new skills that can earn you a higher salary. Having someone to use as a sounding board throughout your work life is so valuable just to be able to have a person

who's in your corner. You know, you don't need to have all of the answers, but simply by being able to speak with someone who really cares about you and about your success, about the challenges you're coming up against and how you can overcome them and succeed with the long haul. Is is really valuable in something that I

found a lot of success with. Well, yeah, mentors are the direct like the success I've had in my career and my like finance writing career has been a direct correlation from like how many mentors that I've had, like in a given time, Like the more people I have UM that I am like in contact with and not like networking, but like in relationship with UM, the more

successful I am. So it's it's, yeah, one of those soft UM hacks that you can't really define like how lucrative or how much it will benefit you monetarily, UM, but it is definitely essential to getting a head faster. Yeah, And like Jill was saying, you don't know what you're going to get until you ask, Like, there's always something that you can can ask for and not feel skasy because you're mooching off someone. But it's about you know, reaching out to people from past companies that you worked

with and staying in touch with people. It's about making the ask to say to someone, Hey, I have some questions you know at this point in my career. Can I run them by you for a half hour. Don't ask anyone if you can pick your brain just like pick different language to ask that you know that. Yeah, it's not about brain picking. It's about forming. Like gents, at a relationship where you're going to have you know, you're gonna have some back and forth. You're gonna you know,

be able to just chat with that person. You may not always know what you need at that point, but just by having someone who's an advocate for you, it's it's going to benefit you and your earning potential. Nice. What was your second tip speaking of earning potentials? So, I have a favorite tip specifically about side hustles. And I am a person who has I overside hustled my way through my twins. I have always had two or three jobs at a time, if not more. I've always

worked nights weekends. It's um, it's not that I like working that much. I just like making money and feeling stable. But as i'm you know, I'm now in my mid thirties and I don't exactly have the energy that I used to, And I'm learning that you can survive just about anything if you only know you need to do

it for a season. So if you're someone who maybe hasn't had a side hustle for a long time, maybe you're just used to, you know, having your day job and your usual responsibilities at home, try a side hustle for a season. You know that you're gonna be really crazy busy for that maybe like six to twelve weeks. But then after that busy period, you're done. And I think by having that mindset that this is just temporary,

you can bust your butt to get through it. You're gonna be tired, but you know there's an end in sight. Instead of knowing that maybe you have to, you know, go work, get chicos every night after work indefinitely, like I did when I was twenty two. You know, I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. So I quit chicos UM. So if it's if this actually really helps, if you have a skill or a talent that sits a season. Um, there's someone that I

followed that Jen and Joe. I think you know who makes pies at the holidays and sells guys um specifically, and people know every year that the pies are coming right, so they get in their orders and you know, they

get ready for their baked goods. If you're someone who likes to do yard work, UM, but you know doesn't want to do it all the time, maybe you can break leaves in the fall and that's your thing where your neighbors know that you want to spend that time outside, or you want to do something maybe with a teen, or just get your team out of the house first season,

tell them to go to the side house. But just by focusing on one season at a time and just doing something for a short period of time, you can get a quick influx of cash and then make decisions for how you're going to use that for the rest of the year, and you can plan based on that. Such a good reminder that we don't have to do anything for forever, So doing something for a time and

that really does. Just that perspective helps us to get get through something or or even make the most of something if you're not having this mindset of I've got to do this thing for the long haul. Yeah, Like I know nurses will do there's flu shots, um like pop ups during flu season, um, and nurses will do that as a side hustle, just because it's exhausting to do more nursing, uh, as a side hustle. So yeah, there's always there's a lot of times there's something in

your industry that you can do seasonally. And if you're doing something in your industry or with your unique skill set that's also often more lucrative, then like delivering groceries, are driving uper right, use the skills you already have and maximize the income you're able to make in that limited amount of time. Mm hmm. How about the last chapter, planning for the future. What do you have for us for that? Oh my god, what did I tell you I have for that one? It's all a blur. Um, Well,

you told me liked save for graduate school. I feel like that's personal. That's no, it's not, it's not even and wait until I tell you I mean it is important to say for graduate school. If you intend to go to graduate school, I am sixty hundred dollars away from being graduate school. Define. That isn't even that isn't even my bill of the week. But no, my tip

about saving for grad school is actually about plans. So I didn't know until I was writing this book that you can start a five nine plan for yourself yep. Or you can start one and you know, not have a beneficiary named, and then decide that it's going to be for you. So you can get some tax benefits by having a five plan to save a way for tuition. And it doesn't necessarily have to be for a formal

graduate program. If there's a job training program that you're eligible for, if you want to go back for a certification. Any legitimate education expense can be covered by a five nine.

So if you anticipate that you or anyone in your family may be going back to school to get some additional education of whatever kind in the near future and the next you know, five, ten, fifteen years, it's worth putting aside that money in a five nine that you like to be able to have that to draw from later um with some you know, smart savings nohow m hm.

And another tip for five twenty nine is that you don't have to invest in the five twenty nine in your state, So like we here in Florida actually have a prepaid program, which in theory should be a horrible investment, but if you did that twenty years ago, you'd be like bank but where it's so if you want to invest in a five twenty nine, like we invest in Utah's nine because it's I mean it's Florida doesn't have one.

Um New York also has a really great five twenty nine plan, so you don't you're not restricted by the state you live in for five twenty nine. And so we didn't choose the Utah one, even though it's a great one after I did my research, but we have one. We have a five twenty nine through College Backer, and so College Backer chose um Utah's plan. So that's how

we do. Because interface, the way that you invest in the five nine is also really important because if you choose one that's got a really confusing interface, it makes it hard to invest, it makes it hard for family and friends to to give to. So College Backer has a really user friendly interface and uh and yeah, and you can use it like I'm investing for Kai's college, But if I wanted to use it, I could just

switch myself to the beneficiary. And if Kai doesn't want to use it, I can just switch it to his kids are if I have any other kids. It's very versatile. Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely. I am a person who's thinking ahead for what it's going to cost when my small nephews go to college and uh, you gotta you gotta stay early and often for those youngsters. What a good and oh, I mean, look, it's all gonna it's all going to come back around to me because when I'm older, going

to take care of so clearly my sister. My sister has four kids. I'm like asking my husband which one should we invest in most that we think will care for us coming up? Yeah, when we let you get all sugared up when you come over to our house like that, we do that all we do that because we're planning. We're expecting that to pay off. Oh my gosh. Do you know what else is the best payoff? Ever? Oh? I think I know it pays dividends, dividends on dividends.

It's them that's right, it's toime 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. Lisa, girl. You know what time the week it is. You are no stranger. Every week we ask our listeners for our guests to give us their favorite bill. And you knew you walk

into Let us have it. My bill of the week is a bill that is like snapping back, like a rubber band, but in the best way. Hear me out on this snap backs, snap backs. In the before times, my mother and I booked a cruise to Alaska, and we were very excited about this trip. And we've never been on a cruise either of us. My mom has been like zero places. And we're so excited and then as as one does, they cancel their pandemic air cruise.

So we had booked all of this through a travel agency and we were going with a group through my mom's church, and we made our payments on the schedule. We were like, you know, like every time we made a payment. We're like, yeah, like we're almost done paying off this trip. Then it all got canceled and the travel agency make sure that we get our money back, either the money we paid to them or that we

paid directly to the cruise line for excursions, etcetera. We think all the money's back until we realized there's missing and we're like, what is that money from? Like, what what's that extra turns out it's for the nonrefundable plane

tickets that the travel agency booked for us. And I hear the word nonrefundable plus pandemic, and I say, give me a minute, because the travel agency is like, sorry, they're nonrefundable, Like we can't you know, there's nothing we can do for you, And I'm like, I'm about to chit chat the airline, wouldn't you know. Through the power of not talking to a single person, I got to

do this all online. I got to put in this request without giving them any details about why our flights have been canceled on our behalf by the travel agency. They agreed to refund our dollars. So I'm getting the bill back and it's going back into the travel savingspot that we made of all of our refunds. We're not going to get much interest on that money because you know, but and when the time comes to book this trip, we can pay it all on one lump sum because

we were able to get all that money back. So the thirteen hundred dollars that I was just like, I was just dreading having this credit on an airline that I didn't know if we were going to fly again. That's like, but like, what are you gonna do? But just by asking, like you said earlier, we got that some people would just accept their lot in life and say, well that's the policy, not for us, for a friends, no push back. I'm here to tell you to say no, thank you. What else can you do? Snap? Or you

better make this right because I'm big time. As I'm punching in my ticket number on the refund thing, I'm like, I hope they you give me my money. But it was powerful. I am. You don't passionate, I am, but

I used Twitter. Don't mess with me airline. Yes. When we had our friend Danielle to see her on and Uh, she was talking about how if you have booked travel and it has been canceled, explore your options and you don't know if you don't ask, keep asking yes, And now it's time for I wasn't even there for that one. I was just we weren't even there. Oh yeah, you were someplace else. You were hanging out with Thunder the thunder,

be the Thunder. That's the Tampa Bay Lightning's fan theme. Actually, yeah, to be the thunder. So that's what I was doing for today's Lightning round. We're talking about areas where we are currently cutting back on spending and how Lisa, you are honored guest, and we would love for you to go first, y'all. Y'all in these trying economic times, the place I'm trying to cut back is perishable food waste. I really hate when I don't get to the fresh

food before it goes bad. And so during these times when I'm spending more time at home and spending more time looking at the inside of my fridge, I'm trying to find ways to maximize the use of the produce I bring into the house and any other fresh foods. So I am technically a house of one, and so I have found in the past that it's hard to go grocery shopping once a week and always have the

food last and stay fresh. You have the lettice, wilts or something starts to grow, mold or other things that fruits and vegetables do that is not conducive to me eating them and enjoying them. So during UM the you know, we're not really in quarantine anymore, but like mentally, I'm still in quarantine. So I've been trying to make um one one pot meal every week where I see how I can maximize the ingredients that already have in my fridge. I am making sure that I have salad ingredients that

I like and can get through quickly. Like I may spend a little more for some of my ingredients sometimes to get them in a smaller package, but I know they're not going to go bad by the time I get to the end of the week. So that is something where I am probably going to be on this quest for my entire life. I still have feelings with guilt when I see a wilted piece of lettuce in my fridge, but you know, we are not perfect. It is always a journey, and um please come over to

my house and make a salad. Jill makes great salads. Be there. You're welcome. Yep. All I do is like usually cut up cucumber on lettuce. But um, Gen's easy to please and I love her for that. UM So I have Actually I am trying to cut back on fast food. It has been a bad habit I've picked out picked up since giving birth. UM drive thrus. We're kind of like when I would when Kai was an infant and the only place he would sleep is a

car seat. I would drive around and I would find myself and drive throughs because he's asleep and I can't get out of the car. So it's this bad habit um that I picked up last year and it's kind of carried over into this year. So I would really like to as much as I love talk about i'd love to eat less of it um and other fast food restaurants. I was never a big fast food person, like it was really it's really just in the past year. Um So it's I mean, it's embarrassing, but I'm I

want to like put it out there. We're all here, we're all here for you. You're fine until you started eating meat again and then it got out of control. Okay, So yeah, I was a vegetarian for ten years, so I didn't have a lot of fast food options, so it wasn't like whatever still ate French tries all the time. Don't let her fool you. That's true. I don't even eat the French fries now. Really it's like the burgers and the burritos. Yeah, but look, you got it. You

gotta put it out there. You've got to tell people about your goal, the thing you're working on. And if you cut back on how often you get fast food, then you're gonna appreciate it more. When you do, I just appreciate it more. I just preached hard to the choir right now. Like Jed, I'm pretty sure you wrote that book. Lisa is also pointing at us with a nail file. I don't know when that came into the picture and what you were doing while we're podcasting that

I appreciate. It shouldn't be filing my nails while I'm on a microphone, but it is. That's to habit. I've picked up that nothing except my dignity. Oh well, so do save us? Similar to you? Both mine is food related. Gosh, we we do. We gotta, we gotta rein this in And if anybody has been listening to this podcast for any amount of time. You know that I, Jill, have just a saga worth of a journey, like you could write a book abow like my approach to food currently though,

and I'm very excited about it. So here's what's happening. I am seeking to cut back on my takeout. So I'm not really like I don't spend typically a ton of money on fast food, but I do with take out, and especially with COVID. It's been my guilty pleasure, not even that guilty. I've been actually making it seem quite um heroic if you will, to be supporting local business through this pandemic where small businesses are suffering. So uh yeah,

and then I reaped the benefits of food. Anyhow, we are now fully moved into our home and I have no more excuses. But we did buy a grill, and so here's what I'm realizing. I can cut back on my buying of takeout if I can also enjoy the experience of eating and cooking. And so grilling is like the best hack ever, and I'm pretty sure we're going to do it every night. Check back in. But we

just got a fantastic meal over my lunch break. I started marinating chicken, and then I just diced up some sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and it all went on the girl and it all tasted fantastic, and I was like, all of that was ten dollars and it's gonna be about three more meals. Nice for me is yes, making an experience and something fun, something that I actually look forward to, Like, I think grilling is fun. Hopefully the

novelty doesn't wear off. I think it will. You can grill all year round down here, you're gonna be living it up. Get dispatched, log at the apron, get the hot tub, get that. What's that other thing in your house? We're coming over for salad. What sad the bayou kayaking? We are some we are coming over. We're all in St. Petersburg right now, but none of us are together. You you would have assumed that Jill and I would record together when we started living fifteen minutes away from each other,

but we have not yet done that. You'll get we'll get there. I do love you. You are a real friend, yes, real life. But I have an like I have a toddler and and he's sleeping, and my husband's at work, so I can't leave the house. Real friends can say you stay in your home and I'll stay in mine, you know, like that's so true, and but eventually we should see each other in person. And I've only been here for a week and a half so far, so

you don't have to feel too bad. Yeah, Lisa, tell everyone where they can find your new book, Money Hacks. Money Hacks comes out September two. You can find it wherever books are sold. If you can't remember anything but my name, you can go to Lisa Rowan dot com and there is a link to where you can buy it online. Um, it's it's going to be everywhere. It's already available for preorder on Amazon. You can order it

right now. My both of my parents have and parents also have, and I'm like, several of you live in the same place. You don't need multiple copies of the books. But thank you when step parents pay off right, talk about ended families, right, So yeah, you can find it um for priord or now or wherever books are sold after September twenty two. Awesome, Lisa, thanks so much for

coming on the show and sharing these hacks. I know we only went over a few of them, but literally this book is jam packed with good hacks and it's way better than a blog post. It's just real good stuff. So uh definitely get your hands on a copy and reap the benefits and tell us about it in the

Frugal Friends community on Facebook. Thanks Lisa, Thanks guys. I hope, I hope that was as good the second time around as it was the first, because I love I love, love love Lisa, and I love sitting down with her. It makes me want to go hang out with her. She's so fun and knowledgeable and all of the things. So so glad we got to hang out with her again. Yeah, I mean not physically, like really, but like with you. So I'm to listen to her again. It makes me

want to hang out with her again. Yes, uh well as always, definitely tell us what what stood out to you. If you try any of these money hacks with success, let us know in the community on Facebook Frugal Friends community on Facebook, Let us know in our d M s, let us on Instagram, just you know, wherever you can possibly find us, let us know. We want to celebrate with you and thank you so so much for listening, and we want to thank you also for your kind

reviews on Apple podcasts like this one. It's from Brown in GMR and it's titled Genuinely Brilliant Happens to be five stars. Every episode is down to earth with practical information and really thought provoking ideas. Oh short and sweet brown and people thing. I think it's bron Wyn we provoke. Oh you're right, I'm sorry, braun Wins. We also want to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media.

That's a big way that you can help us grow the show so more people can hear these thought provoking ideas. So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're gonna add you to our monthly drawing. For every five tags and reviews we get every month, we give away fifty dollars for you to spend in the Frugal Friends shop.

So keep leaving us those awesome reviews wherever you listen to podcasts and sending the screenshot to reviews at Frugal Friends podcast dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social We'd love to see you there absolutely and we'll see you next week. By Crucal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian. I missed Lisa's birthday party? Do you want to hear. Um, Yeah, I was out of town. But do you want to hear what the theme was? Well, I guess it wasn't a it was a roller skating party.

I guess it was nineties themed. Everyone was wearing nineties esque clothing. She is fun. See I told you I did catch her fifth anniversary party of of living in St. Pete. That one was good. That one included Margarita's and so I feel like I got you know, between marks and roller skating. You know it was okay. I think the last time I saw her was her Bok release party, which was awesome. She's signed money Hacks for me. Yes, I have money Hacks right behind me in my bookshelf.

There's I have a three shelf bookshelf and only two shelves have books on them, and she has made the minimal cut. And yeah, I mean it's exciting when you have a paper copy of your book. You know, so many things are digital, but nothing can compare to that paper. Very excited. I need to order copies of my How stupid is this? I have re released The No Spend Challenge Guide, second edition, and I have not yet bought

an author copy of my own book. I have been so busy, and I'm going to do that as soon as we get off this call. In order, okay, buy my own book, The Things You Realize when you actually sit down and have a moment to think, all right, let's do it.