Tips For Living on an Extremely Low Income

but not always. Sometimes when you have an income problem, you need to live and process in a different way just to get through the season you're in. Yeah, and when we ask what do our listeners want to hear more on, this one does come up of Okay, we we've heard about frugality, and we've heard about how to make the most of your money, but what happens when you're on an extremely low income. We've got a couple of things to say to that that you'll hear throughout

this episode. But also I just want to highlight, at least for me personally, I have been there. So this episode I think is pretty near and dear to my heart because I have felt the pinch of a very low income, and I'll share more about that throughout this episode. So I know that there is empathy for you in this place and hopefully some very tangible tips and also

some encouragement and motivation for you. Yeah, neither of us come from a lot of money, and so both of us going out on our own started out with very low incomes and so well, I've personally never been on government assistance. Still, being on a low income is something that's near and dear to our heart because we understand that it doesn't come with the same possibilities and accessibility

as having enough to dos. So we want to empower you and encourage you in ways that you can live now and make it through now and get stronger now, and also improve where you're at, you know, not just cut your grocery budget and stuff like that. So we want to give you some really relevant tips that are going to be really relevant for you in particular. But first got to give love to our sponsors, The Frugal

Friends Workbook Flash Sale. The Frugal Friends Workbook Flash Sale So Frugal Friends work Book is a digital workbook with six week long challenges that turn improving your finances into a game. You get sixty pages of teaching and implementation guidance on topics ranging from decluttering and increasing your income to having healthy conversations about money. And while it can be completed on your own, it is created to be gone through in pairs or small groups. That's why every

purchase comes with two downloads. So head Difrugal Friends podcast dot com slash Workbook to learn more. And this week only, you can get the workbook for forty percent off. That is the lowest we've ever offered it for and will be the lowest. So if you've been thinking about this and considering it, now's your chance. No code needed, just Frugal Friends Podcast dot com slash Workbook. You get the

last day to get that, so do it today. If you're listening on January, Yes, and today's episodes also brought to you by New Year's resolutions. Remember those the goal you made a month ago to do this or stop that. Studies show that people give up on their resolutions by the end of January, but your resolutions want you to know that you don't need a new year or even a new month to recommit. You can get back on track today and when something else comes up forgive yourself,

recommit again, and get better as you go. New Year's resolutions. Don't be making the same one next year because you've already accomplished it. So clever New Year's Resolutions, Thank you, Thank you for sponsoring. Before we get into the articles, we have an interview with Sarah Wilson, better known as budget Girl on YouTube budget girl dot com and that's episode seventy four, and she was able to pay off thirty three thousand dollars of debt on a twenty dollar salary.

So if you are living in that arena, I think you will get a lot out of Sarah's interview. That's one of our most popular interviews, so definitely put that on your listen next in your playlist, But we want to kind of do a non interview type episode that is kind of packed with tips too. Yeah. I think she's a great person to follow. It's a great episode

to look into. And I'm excited about this first article that we're also going to be talking about together Jen, because this is a woman that we also interviewed, maybe not specifically on living on a low income, I think maybe more going the perspective of raising young children on a one income salary, so still very relevant content, so check her out. But this next article comes from Caroline Vencil. Caroline and her family of five left on a seventeen

thousand dollars a year. They were family of four at that time, but now they are a family of six and they still only live on one income. But for a very long time, Caroline was a teen mom and they lived on her husband seventeen thousand dollar a year income, which I think, Jill, that was, I mean similar to your income at one point. Yeah, I got Eric's permission, Eric's husband to share. I asked him just before this episode. I'm like, hey, we're talking about living all the low income.

Can I share this? And He's like, yeah, totally, but thanks for asking. And this is pretty recent for us to In two thousand eighteen, our take home pay was eighteen thousand dollars. So when I say I can commiserate with the pinch and the difficulty, like, I mean it, and thankfully we had a place to live and we had food and we were provided for and it was not easy and it required creativity and all of the things. But when we say like, yeah, we get it, we've

been there, Like we're not saying we get it. We've been there, like we've made fifties sixty grand a year, like eighteen thousand dollars in two thousand eighteen take home pay. So oh, I can relate to a lot of the things that Caroline mentioned in this article, and I think yeah can also comment on some of the things that worked for us. We did not, thankfully stay in that place.

So fast forward to and we are bringing in a lot more money than that, and a lot of that took intentionality and took a lot of different efforts on our parts to not stay in that place. So that's another piece that I think we're going to talk about on this episode today of are there ways to not

stay in this place? We understand some of the different dynamics that would lead us to be in a place where we are living below the poverty level, but also shifting mindset, finding opportunities, honing in skill set to not continue to find ourselves in this place year after year. And again, that looks different for everybody. And I'm not saying that you have to aim at being a millionaire or even making six figures, but living below the poverty line is not a place that we want to set

up exactly. But Caroline goes into detail about the things that she and her family did while they were living on seventeen thousand a year to make it through those multiple years that they had to do that. So the first thing that she goes over is they had to prioritize and so this one is really really important. What needs to happen. Do you need a new car or is the one you have doing just fine? You just like a new car or even smaller? Do you need the full price brand name products or can you go

for the generic or maybe even make it yourself? So there are a lot of things, or even I would go and step further and be like, do you really need the products that you are buying? Or can you skip a week, skip a month, or do without get creative and skip it. Caroline says, we learned pretty quick that if we want to displurge, we need to plan ahead for it. So but if splurging meant that our grocery budget would take a hit, we would opt for

a night of frozen pizza and Netflix. So I think that's it's really important to point out that you don't have to be living on rice and beans, beans and Rice, Like, you can have little treasures, but A you have to plan ahead for them and budget for them, and be they have to be proportionate to the income you have coming in. You know, a night at Carrabas may not be in your best interests in this season of your life. And it's different for everyone. The things that people tend

to get tripped up on are different for everyone. So you just have to be aware of, Okay, what are the things that I like that I'm over spending on and how can I still incorporate them into my life but do them for cheaper, less expensive? Yeah? And the next one, I think it connects with the prioritizing aspect,

and that is live below your means. Okay, So I just I need to pause here because I know that that, like even inside me, it gives me this like cringe defense mechanism, like pops up of like what are you talking about? Live well my means? If I'm making eighteen thousand dollars a year, twenty thousand dollars a year, Like, no, this is not possible, and so yes, I want to acknowledge that. So depending on where you find yourself on an extremely low income, what that means for you in

the area that you're living. But I still want to highlight this concept of not approaching it from what all can I buy? But where can I cut? And recognizing that sometimes okay, so I'll speak for myself. When in this place of being very tight financially, whether it was making eighteen thousand in a year or maybe thirty thousand in a year doesn't matter at all, felt pretty tight

to us. I had this idea on the back of my head, like this is so difficult, this feels like such a pinch, like I deserve something here for all my hard work, for like how much I've sacrificed for how little I actually get to have in life. And that would mean that sometimes I would blow my budget on certain things. And this is I know that a lot of financial people will talk about cutting coffee and everyone's like, that's not gonna make you rich, and it's like, no,

it's not. But for when we're living on extremely low incomes, that can quickly derail a budget if we are thinking that we're just going to treat ourselves in this way or that way, or it might lead us to a mindset of making payments, and so we might get a nicer car than what we can actually afford because we're just making payments, and so recognizing where our mindset is at and shifting to a mindset of how can I approach this as if I'm going to spend less than

what I'm bringing in, and even if you can afford, even if you do get a little bit extra money that you weren't anticipating in instead of maybe going out for a nice dinner, that might mean how do I put this aside for savings or how do I pay off a bill? Again, it's not easy. It's not a place that we want to live for a really long time. But I think approaching it in this way and also approaching it in a way of how do I not stay here can help us make those sacrifices along the way.

If this isn't forever, and that's another thing we want to emphasize that it shouldn't. Your mindset shouldn't be I'm going to live on a low income forever. Even if you are in a job or position that is historically low paying, that doesn't mean that you have to be living on a low income forever. Jill is in a profession that is historically low paying social work rights going to call it out. I'm a social worker, yeah, and still prioritized increasing her income. And so this is a

big mindset asp to this too. You are living on a low income right now, but you are not a low income person. This is separate from you. And so this is a season that you are in in life. And I think even when you start to separate yourself from that mindset, it becomes easier to actually live below your means because you're you're living below your incomes means, not necessarily living below your means like it's like it's forever.

Because when you think it's forever, and when you see no way out, that's when you start to overspend on three, four, six, eight dollar purchases because you need something to hold you over, something to reward yourself, because you see no way out of this low income trap. But when you start to separate yourself from this and start to put your attention and focus on getting out of that and just seeing this as the season that it is, you can say, Okay, I can give up all this stuff for however long

it takes, because I won't be here forever. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so we're gonna be weaving in some of these mindset shifts along with tangible tips. The next one on this list is a more tangible tip of what do we do when we are in those places of low income and maybe it's going to be a few years before we do even see a way out shop only discount nearly. Make this a rule across the board for yourself.

So if you need clothing, you need some furnishings, you need you name it secondhand, so Goodwill, go to Facebook marketplace. Of course, we are only talking necessities like my shoes are completely worn out. I need a new pair of shoes Goodwill. And again these are tips for extremely low income earners. Remember this is this is who we're talking to right now. That these are the spots that you need to be going to to find a discount grocery store. And if you don't have one in your area, look

for by nothing groups. Look for farmers markets for swaps like what do they call those where you can like work at a farm and also take home some of the produce. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you. Find a co op. Find a way to cut cut cut your grocery bill. If you've not found in if you've not done all the yet. Yes, all the is your best friend, and so are by nothing groups, discount grocers, and of

course scratch indent places. So you know this is definitely getting into some more like if you own your home and appliance breaks, holy smokes, scratch indent. If you actually need to replace something or build up skill sets problem solving YouTube d I Y fix it yourself is also your best friend. Look into fixing that thing first, or figuring out how to go without, or check your buy nothing group for the thing that you need before you

jump to purchasing or replacing. I would say, wash your clothes by hand before you move to how do I buy this new washing machine? When we are living bare bones, our mentality needs to be bare bones at that point, with the focus on how do I not stay here? Tell them about your your scratching dent appliance. Oh yes,

so Eric and I just moved into a home. We were able to purchase a home this past year and the fridge needed replacing, and so we went to Sears outlet has scratch in dent, So let's look for one in your area. This if you're in need of this, But there's a big old den on the front door of this fridge, and so we got like a sixty to seventy discount off of what this refrigerator would normally be. And so I just so we bought it because there's

nothing else wrong with it other than cosmetics. And I just got a magnet chalkboard for the front of it. And now it also forces me to meal plan, so you don't even notice the death anymore. I put up this black magnet a meal plan, so it's like a win win win across the board because now I'm more plan full with what we're going to eat, which also helps me to save money. And I got a really dope appliance for super inexpensive. I love that story, and

I love your refrigerator. And one more thing on shopping discounting secondhand, thrift stores are not just for clothes. You can get almost anything from a thrift store, and thrift stores aren't your only way to get secondhand stuff. I love shopping eBay. We got so so much stuff, and I almost love eBay more than thrift stores because it takes a long time for me to search in a thrift store. I don't love shopping, so I don't love

searching for things in thrift store. But if there's something I know I need and then I can instantly go on eBay and search for its secondhand and it comes up and I get it. Like we did this recently. We bought a sleep sack for when Kai was an infant um to help him sleep through the night, and it was forty dollars new. It was thirty dollars at our baby consignment shops founded on eBay for twenty So

I love eBay for that. When you need to buy something that is hard to find at a thrift store, still look for secondhand first, because literally there's almost nothing that we buy firsthand now. And I want to point out, like Jill and I still do these things because these are habits we cultivated when we didn't make a lot of money. So if you adopt these habits now, later on you can pick and choose what you want to take with you and it's going to free up so

much of your income later on. And connected with this again, I want to highlight that if you're living on an extremely low income, purchasing items is not something you should be doing, all right, And this this ties in with the next tip, which is rethinking necessities. When you're living on a low income, you are really focused on the basics transportation to your job so that you can make money,

food shelter bills. That's it. And if that sounds tough, yeah, it is, and it is a reason and a motivator to be creative and look for ways to not stay at an extremely low income. But while you're there, you need to be rethinking necessities. So this means even down to paper towels, Do I really need to buy paper towels? Or can I be using rags? Can I be making use of reusable items? Do I really need to be

buying detergent for a month? Caroline gives us an example fifteen dollars for detergent for a month versus twelve dollars to make your own for the whole year, and she has a link to how to do that, how to make your own detergent. So this is the type of mentality that we need to be taking on of. How can we reuse, how can we d I y, how can we make our own and how can we make spending and buying things outside of transportation food shelter bills

very very minimal? Yeah, And this like might sound like, uh no, I don't make a lot, but at least I make something. I'm not destitute. I need to have like some luxuries. But if your focus is on bettering your life, bettering your financial situation, which I assume it is because you're listening to this podcast, your interest did in it, you're interested in doing better, then these are things that you're only going to be doing for a little time, like a short amount of time, maybe a

few years. And that seems like a long time while you're going through it. I understand two years seems like four ever when you're in it, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that long. So if you are and it can be, it can be really ego deflating when you don't have enough money and you're living like trying to, you know, wash your clothes without a

washing machine like that sounds deflating. But if you separate yourself from the situation and from what you are doing and realize you're not doing it because you have to, you're doing it because you're better in your situation. This is what you have to do right now to do that, then it becomes mentally a little easier. Yeah, It doesn't mean that you can't have any joy or fun in the midst of this either. It's as if I can't spend any money, so I just need to be downtrodden.

There are plenty of free things that you can enjoy and so go on walks, find beauty in your surroundings, get together with friends in a way that doesn't cause you to have to spend money. There are still things that you can do. It just really needs to be with the mindset that this this needs to not cost financially, it needs not cost me anything absolutely. And then I like that she says, hand me downs will be your

way to upgrade. We do this if I like with my office chair, I was sitting at a dining table chair uh, and then found a chair actually found it on the side of the road in front of my friend's house, so I knew where the chair came from and upgraded that way, and then upgraded to a little better chair found on Facebook marketplace. So like, the first upgrade was free, but I did pay for the second one, so it's yeah, upgrades don't necessarily have to be new. Yeah,

this was my life saver. It was amazing, gen Like, how many how many really cool things Eric and I had even in our times of living financially below the poverty line, because we would get hand me downs, pick up things on the side of the road, find free stuff you name it, or fix something up that somebody didn't have any use for anymore and just had some

really cool stuff. And I gotta say I had a rule for myself, like we did not buy anything even if I needed new I mean, I didn't never really need new clothes, but you know, I would never buy new clothes. I wasn't doing those things, but I would somehow still get new things because friends were cleaning out their closets and they always knew to like ask me if if I wanted to dig through it, because I

always did so shout out to Chelsea. I saw much of my wardrobe was given to me from my friend Chelsea, and that was fun too. And yeah, a great way to be able to make use of other people's things that they might be getting rid of. And Caroline talks about paying people for their old stuff. That's great if you can afford it, but if people just know that, Hey, before I take something to the thrift store, like maybe I'll check with so and so and see if they

want it, Like, go for it. Let your friends know that, Hey, let's let me know before you're getting rid of your clothes or you're such and such, like I'd be interested to pick through it. If that's not too ego deflating for you. That was something that was super helpful for Eric and I. Yeah. But if you are in the mindset you're a frugal person, not a charity case, like you can be like, hey, guys, I love the free stuff, let me know what you're getting rid of, instead of

like I really need this, and that's more deflating. But you're listening to the show. You're a frugal person, you love free stuff, so your friends know it. Yes, live in this. Did you have anything else, Jill? Because we have to there's so many good things in this article, but we do have to move on to the next one. I just like the tip of just make your own everything. I think that's a really good way to shift some things in a tangible tip when you're living on a

really low income of what can I make? Can I make my own snacks? Can I make my own bread? Can I make my own laundry? Detergent? Do I have to have like soap, body wash, shampoo bar, soap conditioned, or like or can I just have like one thing for all of that? So just really really paring down on the essentials and even cutting bills. Find out where you can cut your bills. And then beyond that, Okay, the things that I do need, can I make it myself? These are the places that are really going to hone

in our budgets. And then the last thing that I'm going to say is her very last paragraph, is except that this is where you are. So this was the biggest factor for them. They had to stop trying to live well, I'll just read it. We had to stop trying to live above our means and just accept that we didn't have the money to spend like other people did. By accepting this, we were finally able to stop working

against ourselves and reach our goal. And she says, if you're constantly looking for the next, bigger, better thing, life is going to be hard. The sooner that you accepted this as your life, the better. Once you're content right where you are, you can actually start to enjoy this

life that you live. So and that doesn't mean that she stayed where she was she makes a lot more money now, but this is where they lived for several years with children, and but they were even able to buy a house on this income, So they live in a low cost of living area. But it is totally in your capabilities to live here and to progress from here, and I would encourage anyone interested in taking a deeper

dive check out this article. She also talks about some of the things she wished she had done on a low income that were available to her, but she didn't even know about it. So if you are in this place and you're kind of like, what other options do I have? What walls gonna be pushing on? She talks about different side hustles that she wished she would have gotten into, certain d i y things she wished she would have done to cut costs, particularly as a mom

on a low income. So definitely check her out. Yes, So our next article is a little transition from how to live on the low income and it's too how to pay off debt on a low income. And so that is going to it's gonna look so different for everyone. And I'm not saying that paying off debt should be your ultimate goal if you're on a low income, but it's certainly not collecting debt that but sometimes you're at a place where paying off debt is right. You just

need to get current. Like our recent conversation with Lydia Sen, she was talking about the baby stuff nobody talks about, is like getting current, and sometimes that takes some time, so that maybe where you're at, but as you work on getting better than maybe paying off debt is your goal. So this one is from wy nab Or you need a budget dot com and it's going through somebody's budget who wants to pay offs twi dollars of debt with

a thirty five thousand dollars per year income. So you can see big difference where Caroline was making and this couple is making thirty five. So what did you think, Jill?

I like this article because it gives you real time examples of where is the money going, what is the plan, and not that this is going to look like everybody's situation by any means, but it does give us some ideas of how we can go about tackling this because and the reason we're including this in this particular episode is because this is a reason for a lot of

people to not pay off debt. I don't make enough money, and so we're kind of pushing back on that a little bit to say, well, maybe you can't pay off six figures of debt in five months while you make a thirty five tho dollar a year salary. But what can be done and what creative ways can we be looking at this? So I like the real time example of here's how much money they bring in. This is where the money goes. This is the plan for how

they're going to do this. One of the things that stood out to me and just looking at their budget is where they really cut back extremely However, and the article does highlight this, it is for a time. This is not for forever. This is for a season to

be able to get out of debt quickly. So they made some drastic life changes from extremely limiting entertainment, if not having nearly zero and entertainment, I mean they are paying for like Netflix and Hulu on this example budget, but there's no gifts, there's no presence, there's no vacation, there's no birthday parties like and that is extreme and that seems like Bob Humbug type stuff. However, they continue

to highlight it's for an eighteen month period. They're not going to forever and always not do Christmas presents, Birthday presents, no vacation. It is for this time so that they don't have to stay in this rut of making a low income and having the burden of debt, so cutting back really extremely for a season. Yeah, this article was super convicting to me because I had a thirty five thousand dollar income before I met Travis, and I had fifty dollars of debt, and I thought I will be

in debt forever. There's no way I can get out of this. Thirty five thousand is too low. And to see a budget that has this couple paying it off in eighteen months, and realizing I could have done it in three years, like I could have done it in three years, and I just didn't know. When I say that, I'm like, man, there are how many other people are out there making thirty five thousand dollars and in the same place I was, And if you're really like gung ho about it, you could be done in three years,

not forever. And part of that was like I didn't want to waste the rest of my twenties paying off a debt, but then I was like three years from then, I would have still been in my twenties. So it's just it's crazy. Your mind will say you can't do this, like this is impossible, it's too big, but the numbers say it's possible if you follow the numbers. A magno

must steak. This is bare bones. It does. There's like there's little things that are laughable on this budget, like why spend You know they have both Netflix and Hulu, but yet they're cutting out like so many other things, Like they've only got ten dollars for medical expenses, and so I'd be like, well, cut out at least one of those TV subscriptions. And then it's also funny they have his and her spending. His spending is a bit more than her spending, So I don't know about this one.

Are their names Jenny and Aaron, But um, yeah, a good example of kind of all right, where can we put this money? Certainly their mortgage is very low, their water and electric bill are very low, so certainly this is dependent on what your particular expenses are, how much money you're bringing in. But to show you ultimately, my takeaway on this is this is bare bones. We've got to go so bare bones, and we've got to get really creative on how to cut to be this bare bones.

And I think it goes back to Caroline's article of they're probably d I y ing a lot. They've really cut their grocery budget. They're definitely eating at home a lot. They're not going out, they're not doing any of the extras um. They're not spending money on gifts or presents or even any version of luxury items for themselves, including

just a small coffee. It's not happening in this budget. Yeah, some of the things that we can get into the nitty gritty on this, so like they have to fifty paychecks per month, health insurance and retirement contributions are withheld so they don't appear in the budget, as well as some four oh one K loan payments are also withheld.

Something that I found really interesting in the budget is that this couple is giving to charity every month in like significantly, they're given three hundred dollars a month you in tithing and other charitable donations. And so this is something that they have prioritized. Like you can see everything else, there's no like no birthdays, no anniversary, no date nights, no like gifts, no nothing, and then but three to charity.

So there is even room in this budget for wiggle room if that's not something you're going to do as much. So it's not like they're maxing out their budget on just their bills, like there is there is room in this budget. Something else that did stand out to me is that they are setting aside money monthly to kind of go into a pot for different spending. So the one thing is weekend fun. So they are putting ten dollars a month aside for weekend fund. So that certainly

doesn't mean that they're having weekend fun every weekend. That means maybe once a quarter they've got forty to fifty bucks to spend on a weekend, or you do small things you're in there, but that there is still small amounts of money that they are setting aside that they can pull from that would be minor luxuries, minor rewards

in this process. So I think that is something worth considering, even setting aside a few bucks here and there that you can utilize for those times when you really do need just a little bit of a pick me up. For all of the work and sacrifice that you're putting in. Yeah, well,

I think it's essential while you're paying off debt. I recommend that people create milestones within their debt payoff and have it be a milestone you can reach at least every other month to every three to four months, and you're saving every month, and then when you hit those milestones, you get a reward that's proportionate to the milestone that you're hitting, and you take it from that fund. So then again you're planning for it and advance. It's also

something that you're working towards. You know it's on the horizon, and so you work towards it to get to it, maybe a little faster because you really want whatever that reward is. So it's essential to be doing something like that. But when you plan for it, it it stops being one of those things that, oh my god, I'm so bored, I haven't done something in so long. Let me spend forty dollars to do this, and then you bust your budget, you feel guilty, and it starts being something like, oh

my gosh, I can't wait to do that. It's forty dollars, I can't wait to do it, and then you do what you feel good about it, and you spend the money and you feel good about it. Yeah. I also like with this example of paying down debt on a low income is the process then that they lay out, so not just the budget that they're going to be

working off of, but a plan of action. And so they first describe how they're going to pay off to credit cards with savings, followed by using a little bit of the extra savings to pay down a final credit card, moving into focusing on the fourth credit card with the payments that they're going to make monthly, which moves into using a work bonus to pay off the credit cards, then work bonus and snowballing your monthly payments to pay down the car loan. Like it's actionable steps going in

consecutive order of one another. So they've even said, like, here's what we're gonna do from now until the end of the year. Here's what we're gonna do the first three months of the new year, here's what we're going to do through the summer. And it's kind of laid out in this way, which I think is a really great plan of action. In this person's example, they're apparently getting a three thousand dollar bonus. So I know that that's not everybody's reality, that's what they're able to work with.

But again, all of our situations are different, and what works for one is not going to work for another. However, we utilize all these examples to say, what is your story and where can you utilize creativity? Where might you have something that other people don't have that you can use to your advantage to get out of debt, or to reach a savings goal, or to increase your income. You know, I know for me, I often use the example of living in really non traditional housing that we

house sat for a little bit. We lived in a trailer. I know that that cannot be everybody's circumstances, but I'm going to keep highlighting it in case it works for somebody. But also to recognize there is wiggle room for creativity here. There are ways that we can say, well, is there a non traditional path that I can take that will

help me get out of this very difficult circumstance. So anyhow, all that to say, it is good to have a plan, and it is good to kind of put it in consecutive order of once this is done, what comes next, what's our plan for how we're going to get there? And then, as you mentioned, Jen, celebrate, you know, after you've done and accomplish each one of these steps. Do

something small. Doesn't even have to cost you anything. You can do something for free, but give yourself these little rewards as you accomplish each one of these steps along the way. Absolutely, and then the last thing I want to point out about the strategy is that it emphasizes putting the focus on one thing at a time. When you are trying to dig out of a big hole with a little shovel, that hole can feel overwhelming. All you see is the big number and you say, I

can't do this. And so what the key is is to focus on one thing at a time, one financial goal at a time, one milestone at a time, and just work towards that one milestone and ignore the bigger number and say, Okay, I may not get to it, but I'm gonna get to this one, okay. And then maybe after I do that, I take a break for a month or something, and then I get right back on track and I worked to the next milestone to the point where I'm not taking any more breaks anymore.

I'm just keeping going and going and going. But focusing on one thing at a time is a powerful psychological tool to make big breakthroughs. So that's the last thing I liked about this. But you know what else is a big breakthrough and something I like to move on to the bill of the week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're

happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's bills Boofalo bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week. Hey footbol friends, my name is Ellie. Here is real. Well, I actually got a promotion at my job, and my husband and I decided that we were going to celebrate later that night. We were getting ready and I randomly found twenty one dollar bills just laying next to my bed. It was a little random, just because we haven't used US currency in the past about two years,

but that's okay, I'll take it. That ended up going towards our day night, so we didn't have to dip into our date night fund, which was totally amazing and made me extra happy that day. Anyways, you ladies, keep up the good work. Thanks. Oh my gosh, what a gift from the universe. That's amazing. I love finding money that wasn't expected. But how great. There's so many layers in this one. That you were about to go celebrate a promotion, congratate, like that's what we hope for on

this frugal journey. But then even that you're celebration didn't really have to cost you anything because of this nice gift of US dollar bill currency that you found. What a way to just enjoy a night together and celebrating growth in your life. Congratulations, stoked for everything in your life right now. And yeah, we hope one brings you more promotions and more date nights and more random money. I wish that for everyone, listener, everybody random money. Yes,

you get you get the money. You get the money, not for me, though, you'll find the money. You'll find the money. Well, if you find a money, please visit us at Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash bill and tell us about it. Yes, we want to hear it. We want to hear about the money you found, the money you spend, the money you saved, all of it, especially the money you saved, and yes, and the money you spend if it's on paying down your debt. Trip.

Now it's time for lighting round, which turns into a song somehow always, So, Jill, you came up with Did you come up with this lightning round? No? I did? I forgot yourself. Well I forgot. I didn't ride the last lightning round till the last minute, and I didn't remember writing this one. I wrote these outlines last week. So that's where my head is at. But it's a good one. I'll bring on myself. You're sharing the key

to bringing yourself out of the low income trap. So as two people who have lived on relatively low incomes, like, I won't lie like thirty five dollars isn't super low, you know, but it's not average. So um, it felt so even though it wasn't as low now that I know more people who have actually lived on low incomes. When I was living in it, it felt low, and compared to my parents and my parents friends, it was low. So low isn't always a number. Low income isn't always

a number. It's a state of mind. A lot of the times it can be relative and sometimes we can look back and think, man, that that was really low compared to where I am now, or oh wow, I could have actually done more with that because it wasn't as low as I thought. Which leads me to my tip, which is mindset shift, where I think in getting out of this low income trap, I think this is a big component. It might not feel as tangible as we wanted to feel, and I talked about this in a

previous episode two. I think like mindset shifts we need to make that I would often tell myself, like my internal narrative was I'm never going to make a lot of money. I'm a social worker, my husband works for himself, our income is irregular, and we are always going to

be quote unquote poor. Granted, I have always recognized and hope that I continue to recognize that we have amazing family and friends, that we've not experienced homelessness, although some people might have considered me living in a vehicle to be that yeah perspective, But this thought that I'm never going to make a lot of money that was keeping

me stuck. It meant that then I wasn't working towards anything beyond that because I was just like, I'm just poor, and sometimes I viewed myself as a charity case, like well, yeah, people should give me free stuff, or if somebody gives us dinner, thank you, like I need that. And I did, granted,

but it kind of kept me in this place. And when I started to make the shift and started to realize, oh, this isn't a place that I need to up my tent, that I need to live out of, that really shifted some things for me that yes, I'm still a social worker. I'm still living in the field. I didn't switch to

being a lawyer suddenly. But I am making more money, and it is possible for me to make more money, whether it is I mean even maintaining my social work job but maybe doing some side hustles of things that I enjoy, or looking to cut expenses in ways that

I didn't think was possible, you name it. Mindset shift has been a huge one for me that it doesn't have to stay in this place and it doesn't mean that I have to change what I do or what I love to make more money, because I know that's a big thing too for people in low income careers like social work or teaching or any kind of human service profession. It's like I make a low income but I love what I do, or you know, you're not gonna be able to pull me away from these kids

or this population. I get it. But it doesn't mean that you need to be devalued in your financial earnings. It doesn't mean that you have to stay there and that is like the banner over you for the rest of your life. You can stay in the work that you're doing and find creative ways, whether it is inside hustles or whether it is equipping yourself further so that your income potential growth. Absolutely. Amen. Yeah, I mean I can't say much more than that. But again, I think

my answer is also mindset shifts. When I think of the biggest things that I have done to specifically earn more income when I was willing myself into it by trying to use just physical force, like my time and my body like most of you probably know. Like I tried that for two months when we were starting to pay off debt, and I worked myself into shingles, Like I got shingles at the ripe age of twenty six

from overworking. So it didn't work out for me. Just to like but sheer brute strength to increase my income. But when I started to familiarize myself with other people that we're making more money than me, then I started to see like, oh this person has and then then I then I got to meet these people, and I was like, these people are not more special than I am. They are not more educated, they are not more talented.

They don't work longer, they don't work harder, but they have found a way to make more by simply getting creative and believing a they are worth more and that there is more to be made even in their selected profession. For for me, I was making thirty five thousand dollars a year and I was an acupuncturist, and that's not a lucrative job. And I took a lot of investment in yourself. I mean, that's the equivalent of a master's

degree that you have to do that I did. Yeah, I got a master's degree, and that was the debt I paid off. And I, like a lot of other people that I'm sure it, got master's degrees for fields that did not give them the pay increase they thought they were going to get. And so I did that. But then I realized, like I had hit the cap for what I was going to make with acupuncture, and so it was a super difficult decision, but I decided to leave the industry to pursue a career in writing

that I saw could be much more lucrative. So it provided a small income jump initially, but I knew the room for income. The ceiling was a lot higher, and

in some cases for some people, no ceiling. But that was a really hard decision, and so now I'm so I very much advocate for people not staying in the jobs that they are in that if you want to raise your income and you don't want to work aside hustle, then look for another job in the same field, whatever, maybe a different city, maybe the same city that pays more, because raises are hard to come by. I was getting a three percent raise every year my at the clinic.

My boss was amazing and consistent with that, but three percent every year was only going to keep up with inflation, and I wanted to I was at the point where I was like, I know people are doing this, and I know I can do it, and I'm I feel like I've hit the ceiling. And that was me, Like it was really hard to leave something that I loved, but I was able to find something I loved even more. And honestly, when I quit, I didn't know. I wasn't

confident that I was gonna like writing full time. I knew I liked writing UM on the side when I was like, I could hate this, I could start doing full time and hate it. But I needed to take that risk and just see so that I wasn't wondering what if well, and I want to highlight for you too, because yeah, it's kind of different sides of a similar coin that you did leave your career, but that didn't

mean that you left it just to make money. You left it for also something that you enjoy and that helps people that you are encouraging others in their finances, showing people what's possible, giving tools, equipping others. So while I say you don't have to leave your field if you love it to make more money, it is also possible that maybe you're a multifaceted person and you have more than one interest and you can pursue something else that might be a bit more lucrative for you. And yes,

I will acknowledge this can take time. You know, I talked about how I made eighteen that we both my husband and I, so this is jointly. We made eighteen thousand dollars take home in two thousand eighteen, and that was partly the sacrifice in the investment that we made so that I could equip myself. So this is not going to be like snap your fingers and jump to stage fifteen. There are going to be steps that we have to take in sacrifices we make along the way.

But consider your options are and consider shifting your mindset to think outside of the box that I don't have to stay in this place, or if I do want to stay in the field I'm in and I'm only getting incremental salary increases, maybe consider moving to a different location or practice or business doing a similar thing. But you're more likely to increase your pay exponentially switching companies than staying with the same one and just taking the

standard pay increase every year. So there's lots of different things to consider there, but ultimately thinking outside the box, creativity, equipping yourself, considering location change, considering field change, all of these things can help us when we're on low incomes.

And two more things I want to say. The first is if you keep hearing suggestions over and over and over again about how to lower your expenses and increase your income, and to every suggestion you say, I can't do that, I can't do that, I'm not willing to do that. And to the point where you're saying I just can't get any useful information out of anybody, then you have to start to re examine, like is it the people giving you the recommendations or is it your

unwillingness to change for a season? Um, So that's like a hard realization. Yeah, you have to be willing to do things that you don't want to do for a period of time in order to better your life. And then because there is no magic, like, there's no magic any one of us can give to any person who's making eighteen thousand dollars a year, it doesn't exist, it doesn't other event and saying what needs to happen to move forward from this place? Yeah, And then one last

thing on my story. So I think when I recommend people switch their jobs, they're like, oh, but the job, you know, market is so volatile, what if I lose that job? Like I'm in a really safe job right now, I will say from experience, Yeah, it's possible you lose your job. I got fired from writing job a year after I took it, and which forced me into you got you got laid off. They had a mass layoff.

I was one of forty five people laid off. M I don't know what you do so bad as a writer that you would get fired, but um at a personal finance website. But yeah, and I lost it. And I took the skills that I had gotten from that job and implemented them immediately to start working for myself. So like, there are very few reasons why anything is a bad idea, Like any of these recommendations, Yes, there's could always be a downside to doing one, but there's

always an upset. I may have never gone full time into my business had I not been laid off. I mean I always wanted to, but I may not have had the courage too. And I'm not saying like everybody has to be self employed. That is not the path for everyone. But there are jobs out there. They do hey more, they are not finite, they are they are

out there and more and more. You know. One of the silver linings of this pandemic is how many companies have moved to online remote work, so that whole avenue I think is opening up more and more where people might be able to switch jobs more easily because spots that maybe aren't super local to you are starting to open up. Yeah opportunities. Yeah. Well, thank you for listening to our very passion filled episode and we hope that this helps you and you can improve your status in

thank you for listening. Thank you for your kind reviews like this one from Katie Mom. It happens to be five stars, she says, came across the Today and love it. You both are so my tribe Capsule Wardrobe and Fruit Galley. You had me at minimalism and saving more excited to listen to more podcasts you Yes, you are our trial. Thanks Katie Mom. We love all the things that you listed and we're excited to keep pumping out content on

these topics. We also want to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media, So when you share the latest episode and tag us on Facebook or Instagram, we're adding you to our monthly drawing. For every five tags and reviews we get each month, we're giving away a copy of the Frugal Friends Workbook, So keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or Stitcher and sending the screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social when you share. See

You Next Week by Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Mhmm, yeah. I would also be interested to hear anybody in our Furgal Friends community group on Facebook share what has kind of helped them, you know, anybody else in our community who has gone from a low income to making a bit more or cuts that they made. I think that it's helpful for us to hear from other people, know that others have been there but also found a way out of a low income trap. And I think it's

motivating to people who find themselves in that place. Especially for someone like me who thought I was always going to be there, it would have been helpful for me to hear some of these stories of hope. Really, that's what we need when we're in those places of just not having much, because it feels so trapping and suffocating, like I will never get out of this, because it feels like I've been here for forever. But then messages

of hope are so encouraging and necessary. I would also love to hear declarations from people who are on a low income or think they were on a low income and like seeing them like declare like this isn't me. I'm gonna like I'm going to earn more. I don't know whatever. You want to declare whatever you learned, and you feel like I need to just declare this somewhere. I need to put it on the internet for people who will understand it and I'm making a change, Like

Frugal Friends community is the place through you. Frugal Friends dot are, Frugal Friends podcast, dot com, slash group. We are there for this. We are here for this, and we want to hear all of the hope and declarations. Yeah, if there's a mindset shift that you think it's going to be necessary for you, that would be great. Put it out there into the world, into the internet, and we'll support you. Let us support you with gifts g I F Yeah, those kinds of gifts. Noise