Episode four thirty six, under Consumption Core. One oh one.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your hosts Jen and Jill.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill. And today we are doing something we don't do very often, but we are talking about a trending topic that we want to keep trending or by the time this episode comes out, it may not be trending anymore. It's under Consumption Core, and today we're going to talk about what it is, why it's gaining popularity, why you should care about it if you are already practicing it, what you can do to spread this message.
To be fair, I don't really care whether or not people keep talking about it on social media. I'm more so care about out whether or not we're incorporating practices into our lives that are going to benefit us, benefit our communities. It's cool when something like this becomes highlighted and featured and in some ways applauded. I know that there's holes to poke in it, but I think that a lot of what we've talked about on this podcast.
A lot of what you listeners have really held up as far as frugality goes, is highly connected to under consumption course, so I feel like a lot of us can just feel like validated in it. But I think, yeah, there's a lot we want to say on it, and we'll get there. We'll poke the wholes, will elevate what needs to be elevated.
This is a one oh one and a two zero one because we recognize that as a Frugal Friends listener you are already doing most of this, and so here's what you can do next if you want a next step too.
But first, this episode is brought to you by none other and deinfluencers themselves, the people who don't care if you follow them because they're just out here living their lives, not aesthetically drinking from whatever cups they can find, using mismatched towels, wearing shoes they bought three years ago, and encouraging you that your enough is enough. They're pushing against
over consumption and showing us how. And if you need to be influenced by some de influencers, you should probably attend the Virtual Get Organized Summit that's running the week of September ninth. They've got over one hundred speakers including Ears Truly, Joen and I are on this virtual summit with over one hundred speakers talking about home spaces, well being, managing day to day tasks. It's all the de influencing and contentment creating inspiration that we need to reduce our consumption,
maybe even our spending. So if you want to attend this virtual conference for free, go to Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash go hq. You'll get to see our smiling faces and so many other smiling faces. This will be like the right next step to this podcast.
That's absolutely yes, Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash g o hq, and it's free to attend all week, all one hundred sessions. So if you are interested in under consumption Core, then here are a few other episodes from us that would be very good to check out. We've got Deinfluencing Yourself from social media with Paige Pritchard. She's overcoming overspending on TikTok and Instagram. That's episode three sixty eight. And then our Minimalist Skincare Routine was our probably our most recent
minimalism episode. That we did, but this is it ties very closely into this TikTok trend. So that's episode four eighteen. But let's get into our headline today, and it is from L Magazine, and it's is under Consumption Core really as virtuous as it claims? A spicy title, but the subtitle is is it really under Consumption Core or are we just dot dot dot normal?
Yeah? I didn't. I when I first read the title of this, I'm like, Oh, there's holes to poke in under Consumption and like under Consumption Core, which it was interesting to kind of hear both sides and how people are receiving this, which will definitely go through. But I think with anything, as you and I were talking before we hit record, there can be this righteous self righteousness that comes with probably any trending thing or anything that
kind of can come across as virtuous, including frugality. We can put ourselves on a pedestal thinking, look at us, we're doing it all right, whatever it is that we're doing, we think we've got it right. I think that that's primarily the hole that they're kind of poking in this, But we still believe that there's so many amazing things about under consumption beyond just elevating ourselves personally, but like what it does to our lifestyles and our community and
all of that. But it's worth going through.
It, Yeah, definitely. So first up, what is under consumption core? So, in short, under consumption core refers to only buying what you strictly need and then using it up or wearing it and re wearing it until it needs to be mended or replaced. And so obviously it makes me think of this the saying use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without, which I think comes with a negative connotation sometimes or a self righteous connotation like you were saying, Jill's. It was used by our
elders to say like you don't need that. You know, anytime you want something, you don't need it, Use it up, where it out, make it, do do without. But I think it's important to note and what I love about this article's specifically is do without is the last. Do without is the last of that we use it up is first we use We look at what we have. And this was created in the during the Great Depression, the saying so obviously they didn't have a lot, so they were doing without a lot and that's why this
phrase has so much connotation with deprivation. But the first part is to use it up, wear it out, and those are those are repurposing things. Those are really positive. You know, we're looking at the wealth around us and we're getting creative with how we use it. We're wearing it out. We're using products up in their fullest capacities.
And this is something you see a lot in this TikTok trend is people opening makeup containers that are no longer like pumping out any and when they open them up, there is still a week's left of product in there. I know, you know, for most of us, when we're at the end of our soap, we're putting a little water in it. And yeah yeah, so like so these are really good things. And the make it do or
do without those those are last case scenarios. And that's a lot of like what we're talking about within and buy what you love without going broke. The reason we say it's a values based sending, spending includes sacrifice, but not deprivation. It's because sometimes in our you know, in our hearts, we want to go out and buy the new thing, Like that's what we would rather do, but we sacrifice that motivation, that desire to use up and
wear out, and it's not being deprived. We can still go out and buy it once we use up and wear out. We don't have to immediately immediately jump to make do or do without.
Yeah, I like the order of that. I have been finding myself mostly in a joking manner, but I have been using the phrase waste not, want not like a ton lately with eric with friends. I'll just say it again, usually to be funny, but maybe it's connected to this trend that's happening. And I think with all things, there's a way to do it sustainably and well for ourselves, and there's a way to do it super extreme that's
not necessarily going to lead to well being. And I even think with this under consumption trend, you still have higher levels of consumption because to get into that bottle and get the rest of the product out, they're selling more products to scrape out the rest. Like I think I've seen, you know, a special type of tool that they're selling now to scrape out the rest of the
foundation or the cream or whatever it is. Like there's also a way to end up doing this where you're still mindlessly spending and consuming products that maybe something else that you had in your home could have been useful. But at its core, I think it is this low waste, somewhat minimal, simplified, frugal stewarding all resources well kind of approach. But of course there's always all sorts of ways that
we can approach this. A way to do it that's going to be have some longevity to it in a way in which it does because it's not trendy anymore.
There's a quote in this article that I really loved. Under consumption core doesn't necessarily equate to foregoing luxuries or even being all that thrifty. It simply means using the things you've bought until they're finished. Yeah, and I thought that was like great, because frugality is not being cheap, right, it's simply using what we have, being good stewards of our money and our physical resources, our physical products.
Yeah. The trend itself seems to have somewhat originated on TikTok, although this is not a new idea, but as far as the term under consumption core as a trend did originate with TikTok, mostly with people again using up products, re wearing things, making it okay to wear clothing again, wear it till it's absolutely worn out. These types of things. People showing kind of their non esthetic houses. I'm sure we've seen everywhere, So this is where that has kind
of been happening and trending. But again it's not none of it's new.
Yeah, I think this highlights just another It's another round in the cycle of people being interest in consuming less because for so long the narrative has been earn more so that you can consume more. Don't focus on controlling your consumption, focus on controlling your income so that it supports your consumption. And I think there's there's part of it is a fight like push back against hustle culture. That that's that mentality promotes hustle culture. And part of
it is against inflation. I think a lot of the news outlets are saying this is a response to inflation, which yes, I do think that ties into it, but I think inflation has been more of like an eye opener to to just how unsustainable these fast fashion hauls and these grocery store halls and these nice car tours and nice aesthetic house tours are for people that are not in the business of social media. So this is fine for people who are literally showing off their house, cars,
groceries for a living. These are almost tax write offs for their business right, But for the rest of us, it's not sustainable. And so I think this is just you know, we had loud budgeting earlier this year, we had d influencers. Now we're going with under consumption core and there will just be cycle after cycle of this because people are fed up with the overconsumption that the traditional narrative has been touting.
Which is what makes me so excited for the timing of our book by What You Love Without Going Broke, because I think all of this ends up leading to okay, but how exactly because just using up the last of my moisturized or what is that really doing? But I think there's a deeper message here that I don't think social media has truly tapped into yet that our book does address, and that is getting to the core of why we would do these things and creating that pause
of do I really need these things? What is meeting the core of my needs and my values? They asked that question in this article, Do I really need four concealers, a cream and a powder blush, three pairs of sneakers, two coats, ten handbags, Like do I really need the amount of things that I have been impulse purchasing that has been sold to me as what will help me to belong, make me feel good about myself, make me feel like I'm fitting in, or can I choose a
different path? And is there potentially greater levels of contentment on the other side of that? And we would say yes, if pursued rightly pursued in this sense of figuring out who you are, what matters to you, doing some of that foundational work, and then allowing your actions and you're purchasing to inform that. Absolutely, I think there's greater levels
of contentment less stress on the other side. But I think right now the trend is just focusing on the actions and not entirely the reasoning behind it, and for it to last, we need to make that connection. But it's a great start and it does open up that conversation for how do we make that connection between me choosing to consume last and it not just being because high inflation, but because I actually see benefit in my life. I see long term implications. I see that I'd be
able to reach other financial goals sooner. I see that I have a greater understanding of who I am, and I'm able to live into those things, and I'm able to respond to my needs better because I'm not clouded by all of this other information.
Yeah, there has been some push back on under Consumption Core, saying that some of it is just normal living, and that people who are saying that this type of living is core, like under Consumption Core, are kind of in privilege. Yeah, so I think there's definitely both sides to it, right.
You know, You've got the Olsen twins carrying around They're famous for carrying around these high end bags that they've been carrying for you know, over a decade that are kind of they get dirty and you can tell they get them clean because of the paparazzi photos, Like this is the same bag, just over and over for ten plus years, but sometimes it's not cleaned and it's seen as like this. Jill, you wrote this on the outline the cause play of poverty.
Well that's what the lsin I know this article highlights, you know, just like the Olsen Twins who wore out their luxury handbags, but that was previously pushed against because there has also been this trend amongst uber wealthy celebrities of coseplay poverty and the like high peasant look, where these very wealthy people, in an effort to try to connect with their followers and other consumers, are looking as if they don't have a lot of money, like giving
the impression and idea that they can't afford a certain lifestyle, trying to, I guess, make themselves seem a little bit more relatable even though they're not. Like it's this. There's been this pushback on that tension, so I think that this can highlight that, but I don't think that that's what true under consumption is. Is like a putting on of something, and I think the pushback of isn't that
just normal living? But at least we've got people who are showing that as a regular lifestyle rather than the alternative of the fancy cars, the ten step skincare regimen, the super beautiful on trend clothing, the home that is always updated with like crazy light fixtures, and this is what If that's all that we're seeing, then that is what can become normal. I think this under Consumption Core is helping to tether it and bring it back to that's actually not normal, and you don't have to aspire
to that, especially if it's not what you want. There can be another way of living that is just normal, and that's fine.
And I think I don't think calling it a normal way of living is really a like condemning of it or a criticism, like we want more authenticity on social media.
That should be praise, that shouldn't be critical size. So when you see this, also know you're seeing it from a lot of very young people who may not have the bills that a mom with two kids has, right, So you need to also understand when you're seeing these things that a lot of the people, not all, but a lot of the people creating this content are in a different life stage too. All they're seeing are these fast fashion halls and the like, and they're pushing back
and that's awesome, and let's encourage that. Let's not criticize it, and let's just do more to normalize authenticity and not being the esthetic perfection that social media so often demands. So let's talk about some tips and ideas on how to practice under Consumption core and then also for my two OHO one girlies who are like, I'm already doing like ten out of ten, let's talk about what we can do to benefit to capitalize on this outside of ourselves.
Yeah. I love the intersection here with minimalism, sustainable living, low waste, frugality, and so none of this will be entirely new, but it is a way to participate and lean into this further, like doing a minimalist wardrobe challenge. There's so many out there. Google it. One of our favorites is Courtney.
Carver's the three three three mm hm.
So it's well, the three three three three three of everything, right, it is.
Three thirty three it's like thirty three items every three months.
That's yeah, I thought it was thirty three items. So that includes I think even accessories. You can come up with your own whether however many items you want to identify that you want to be wearing, and it's a practice of really being creative with what you have in your closet, but also being okay with wearing the same thing multiple times, people seeing you in the same clothing and kind of building up that confidence that this is okay.
I don't have to have new clothing constantly. I don't have to be contributing to the fast fashion world and just the high turnover of yeah, clothing and textiles. So that challenge and can help us really identify what do I really love wearing, what do I feel best in? So we love a good minimalist wardrobe challenge.
Yeah, And one of the things that some of these girls are doing is are showing pictures of the same outfit styled in different ways. So this is something you don't even have to do on social media. You can do just on your phone. And it's actually a very good idea to do on your phone is to take pictures of all of your outfits, all the ways that you can wear one piece of clothing, different ways you
can style the same outfit so they look different. That way, when you walk into your closet and you're like, I don't know what to wear, you can go back into that folder on your phone and you can just look through and get ideas and see what have I not worn or styled in a while. And so that's a really great way to make to keep cycling through all the options in your closet. And we also love, you know,
getting your colors done. If you're not a black and white girly, you don't only want to wear black, white, gray, and beige. To have your colors done online or in
person and see what colors look best on you. If you want to wear yellow, but some yellows look bad on you and some yellows look good, then you probably just need to get your colors done to identify what shade of each color is best for you so you feel the best and that can help you create this minimal wardrobe that you feel good wearing one hundred percent of, not just twenty percent of. So next, I mean they're also doing diy upcycling projects. So this is really great.
When you get tired of something, instead of sending it straight to the thrift store, think about how you can upcycle it. So one of the girls used avocado skins to dye a shirt, a white shirt and it turned out pink and yeah, so she was just boiling a bunch of avocado skins on the stove with this shirt, which I assume would be one hundred percent cotton, because you have to get a synthetic dye for polyester, so just know you need different dies for different fabric types.
But she was just doing it on the stove and the shirt came out pink somehow. Right. So, if you're tired of something before you put it in the thrift store, which is, you know, kind of like one step above the landfill. Sometimes you send it to the thrift store and they put it in the landfill for you, and it's just this delayed throwing away. Sorry to break it to you, but think about can I upcycle this or repurpose this in a way that I can save it from the landfill for a little longer. But it still
feels new to me. I don't feel like I'm making do because that's one of that we don't want to just make do and do without. We want to really reuse. I love, Jill your reuse of your your lamp, your your light fixture, light fixture.
Yeah. Recently so I had gotten this free pendant like hanging l It's very large from a previous work and we've held onto it for forever and wanted to use it in our living room, but it didn't quite match the rest of it. It was silver and the rest of our stuff is more like gold and black, and the wood tone wasn't quite right. But we also couldn't find another lamp that we liked for a reasonable price, or like a pendant that we liked for the living room.
So we ended up just spray painting the metal black and got wall not veneer to wrap around the previous wood and just pollyed it and hung it up. And how it happened matches so good everything. Yeah, and that cost us like ten dollars. So sometimes upcycling might cost money. But then we didn't get rid of a perfectly usable, actually great size, like as far as its form goes.
And you would never have gotten something like that for ten dollars, even on Facebook marketplace.
Yeah, you wouldn't have.
And you still you bought something new to repurpose it. So this isn't always this doesn't involve one hundred percent thrifting.
Yeah right. My old coffee table became the backdrop for the Frugal Friends studio. If you watch us on YouTube, you can see I think, well, no, would we have this on YouTube? Maybe not on Instagram, you'd.
Probably see it sometime.
Yeah, I'm a big fan of upcycling. I'm also a big fan of the thrift store. So if you are a person who you really do enjoy shopping occasionally, or you actually do need a wardrobe refresh, do a thrift store.
Hall first day.
Yeah, go and see whether it's a consignment store or a thrift store, anything second hand. You can find some really great stuff. And I will say, because this is becoming more and more popular, it's it's not as often you can find store. So I know, Jen, you're not a huge thrifter. You don't like digging.
However, I love shopping secondhandle, right.
But there are becoming more and more stores that are a little bit more boutique style with their second hand offerings that feel closer to a typical store. Okay, it's not crazy.
That I'm wearing right now. I went to was it label swap over in Tampa. Yeah, and that's where these are from.
Yeah, yep, so yert is thrifted that I'm wearing right now. We love a good thrift.
Store, and at this point Goodwill is selling at the same prices as these boutique consignments, so that you're better off just going to these individually owned, locally owned consignment store.
Yeah. I mean, it is true. I've been so pleased with some of even the boutique ones because they'll still do their stickers with their twenty five fifty seventy five percent off, they still have to move stuff through their store. So yeah, don't not get to tell you try it.
It's great. Yeah, try it, don't you know? Skip the spot day. Try a thrift day where you're just going all these thrifts and you're like balling on a budget shopping spree.
Still pretty woman, they actually need. I would say, make your list ahead of time and figure out what your wardrobe is lacking, especially if you have your colors done. Know what's going to look good on you. You know, even though you're getting it less expensive doesn't mean we need more of it. We still want quality over quantity.
Yeah, I have to remember when I say like pretty pretty woman in it, Like my idea of a shopping spree is buying like four things in one day. Yeah, if you're different from me, maybe don't pretty woman it.
When you use the word hall, it does give the idea that it's more than just like what you can hold with your I.
Once tried to do a hall video. I went out specifically to do a thrift hall video, and I honestly came back with four items from the day going to different thrift stores and again, like I'm not a you know, a hunter, So that's why it was a little hard for me. But I was like, I can't do hall videos.
That should be my job. I totally could do a whole video because I do keep a list of things and then if I give myself a day to go to a bunch of different places, I can usually really check off everything that's been on that list that's been building for like the last three to six months.
Yeah, so yeah, try try yourself one of those. So I love like repurposing, so using like old towels, cutting them into cleaning rags. This is probably my favorite thing to do. We're using like old jars, glass jars as drinking cups. I know people love to do that. And
using makeup until it's completely out. So one a big thing on TikTok is there's a way that you can, like I don't know, add water or do something to get makeup out and then kind of pack it in like scraps of different blushes and then just combine them
into one thing. I don't know how to do it, but it is a thing that I've seen people do so that they can use the little bits of everything in their makeup and then like, yeah, do carry use things that are not esthetically pleasing according to social media, dented water bottles, bags that maybe are a little frayed or stained. You know, you don't have to get like your clothes don't have to have huge stains on them. In that case, you can repurpose with some die you know.
So just think about what can I do to you know, youve.
Been doing mending too, Like I'll have a pile of mending. I have one right now, and once I get like three or four items that need to be mended, then that'll be like while I sit and watch TV.
That's actually one of our lives. The pre order incentives for the book that we are giving to any everybody who pre orders the.
Book buy what you Love book dot com.
Yeah, one of the things is on September twenty second, make your Clothing Last. This is a free class we're doing for everybody who pre orders the book. We're going to be talking about mending high qu quality fabrics, you know, tips for dying, you know the difference between like synthetic cotton, how to get the best. Maybe we'll even eat some avocados and try that avocado and be fun.
Should I save my mending for the group? Yeah, because we're gonna.
Do how to We're not just going to be talking about this. This is going to be like a visual thing. And I think, does this episode maybe come out? When does this episode come out?
We should go twenty seventh.
Oh so if you pre order this morning, you can catch our meal prep class, which is nice. Yeah, yeah, so you might miss that one, but the next one is the close class.
Cool, and we did want to make one final note. If you're like, I'm already doing all of these things, this is me, then I think the next step here is per ongoing permission giving to yourself and to others. Maybe don't be so shy about what you're doing, how it's benefiting you. Continue to normalize these things. If that means that you choose to share some of this on social media, so be it. If it means that you're
talking with friends about it and sharing the benefits. Again, not from a I'm better because I do these things, and I don't think that our listeners are that way, but from this vantage point of here's what has actually really helped me in ways that I've decreased stress, and the ways that I have really identify what truly matters to me, the skill sets that I've built as a result of this, These are the types of things that I think community is made for, where we can exchange
skill sets and ideas and encourage one another and just achieve things and go further than if we would have been doing this on our own. Like, we're not going to discover what we don't know without engaging with other people and learning from others about that. I mean, it's why Jen, you and I did this podcast. We enjoyed so much about the conversations we were having, the permission we were finding and talking about a traditionally taboo topic, and then Okay, how do we open this up for
more people? It's like that, find people that you can talk about this with and exchange ideas on how can we make things last longer? How can I under consume without feeling deprived? How might even under consumption get me closer to understanding myself better?
Yeah, and I think part of this journey might be chronicling it on your social media page. Instead of posting the perfect picture from brunch, you're posting a picture of your upcycled DIY project or a way you got creative in upcycling something or using something out. I just want to read two quotes from another article that I read
in prep for this episode. Firstus, by embracing this movie, we're not only promoting a sustainable lifestyle, but also building a community that values authenticity and creativity over constant spending. And that's what that's the mindset we want to cultivate in our communities. And by doing it ourselves, we give this unspoken permission for others to do it for themselves.
And then the other quote is under consumption core invites us to reclaim our power as consumers, and by embracing under consumption, we can contribute to a culture that values quality over quantity and mindfulness over impulse. What a good summary, And I think that is the core. That's the core that we're trying to get across in this episode is that we know a lot of y'all are already doing this stuff. So how can we be the voice and the light in our communities to keep this trend not
just viral but like sustainable. How can we encourage others to use up and wear out? How can we encourage people to view frugality as creativity and quality over the traditional you know, make do or do without.
There's another core to this podcast that we are super hardcore.
About and that we want all communities to be core about.
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 Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Dust bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton.
This is the bill of the week.
Hi, Jen and Jill. My name is Kelly. I live in Seattle. I've been here about a year and I moved from the Midwest, and my bill of the week is that for the first year living here in one of the most expensive cities in the US, I could only find part time work twenty hours a week as a contract gig. So I was paying for my own health insurance, not investing in retirement for an entire year, and just making substantially less than I've ever made. And the job market right now, let me tell you, is tight.
But thankfully, after like twelve months of trying, I finally got a full time offer somewhere and the pay is I mean, in my opinion, amazing. It's not like tech money, but it is really really stable. I'll have health insurance, I'll have benefits, and I'm just so excited to be able to feel secure again after a whole year of feeling really really shitty. Yeah.
Wow, Kelly, It's it's so real. And when we talk about authenticity, this is it. Like in personal finance content, this is this is not what they're talking about. They're talking about job hopping, they're talking about hustling businesses, side gigs, all this, but like this is real life, and so
congratulations Kelly. And I hope that if you're listening to this and you are struggling to find full time work, which we've heard from so many of you that the job market is just it's so hard right now, like we see you, and we hope this stuff helps you specifically and is not for like, you know, the privileged financial independence seeker that has mobility you know, in these things. But like I hope you feel seen, and I hope that you feel encouraged by Kelly's words that those jobs
are out there. Keep trucking, keep looking, keep expanding, and yeah, I just good luck to you and congratulations Kelly.
Yeah, I'm glad to hear you on this side of it. But I know that sounds like a really tough time when you were just in the contract work and not a lot of stability, not doing the things with your finances that you want to do. And I just want to also normalize that we do find ourselves in those seasons. So there could be people listening who they're not at the Kelly part of the journey where they found the full time work. And sometimes those seasons really do stink.
But I think there is an entire lifetime here, so it's okay to be in those seasons. It's not going to be entirely devastating for the long haul. And we're here for you. You have a support here. Yes, if you all listening, have a bill that you want to submit, if it's good news, if it's news in just the frenches of what is the economy in life right now,
we're here for it all. Especially we're here for all of you bills, people named bill, all types of bills for Friends podcast dot com, slash bill, leave us your bill, and now it's time for the lightning around.
All right, So under consumption core to me, it's mindful consumption because we're not under consuming, we're consuming, well, we're consuming fully in under consumption core. So whether it's intentional consumption mindful consumption today, the question is what's your favorite personal mindful consumption hack.
You asked this question, didn't you. Yeah, right, go for it.
Okay, So mine are not It's not going to be groundbreaking or like really inspirational, dang it, I know, never mind. Oh sorry, but like, okay, so I know you're really good at food. That's your personal area. I think for me, I like to reuse and maintain, like home stuff. So we've probably traveled with the same some of the same furniture pieces and art pieces from house to house for the entirety of our marriage. So almost ten years. We just hung art on our wall the other day in
preparation for our party. Actually the day of the party, we finally got around to hanging the waal art and one was new one I had just bought. One we had had since we moved in two years ago but just never got around to hanging, and the other I bought it goodwill, I think before I met Travis, it's a set of plants, like.
Something all in something news like bar something on the wall.
Yeah. So so yeah, just and keeping those big pieces out of landfills is something that I am very interested in. I feel like I love to I can compost food, but I cannot as easily compost something metal, you know, or something plastic. If it's wood, it can be you know, ground up and used in the in the earth. But so I want to save those pieces from landfills, and so I like to buy them on face. We're a big Facebook marketplace family girl. We boog Facebook marketplace family.
And just like whatever I can buy secondhand on eBay or poshmark or those are you those are my favorites right now. Thread up is not my.
Favorite favorite place to sell Facebook marketplace Yeah, yeah, because that goes back and forth.
Yeah, I like it.
I like to keep it local, yeah, not have to go to mail stuff constantly.
Yeah.
Well, Travis bought a few Lego kits and when he went to resell them, he did resell them on eBay because they were specialty, like he could just get more money on from them on eBay and they were not that expensive to ship.
Yeah.
So man, this has become so ingrained into my lifestyle it is hard to pick. Just like I look at every aspect of life and I'm like, yeah, there's a way that I and I think I'm so glad that it's becoming more popular because I think that this is where people could borderline like you're just he just you're so stingy. You just don't want to spend any money.
And for me, it's not necessary. I'm not afraid of spending. Thankfully, through the podcast, I've become more and more like this is a good thing to do on an okay thing to do. You just need to feel good about it. But I love the creative aspect of reducing, reusing, repurposing. I love feeling really good then about every spending decision I make. So if a word to say hacks, you all know this about me, But I would say probably
my favorite is keeping lists. As I come across a need, whether it's in the kitchen or the house or outside, I'll put it in a like put it in my notes. And usually what that helps me to do is like keep it front of mine to come up with potentially an alternative solution. But if it's been on the list for a long time. Then the next time I'm at the thrift store, it's what I look for. But usually it's things that I can learn workarounds for until I
want to purchase that convenience. But I feel really good about those purchases because they feel very mindful, Like I've thought about this, I've written it down, we've engaged in workarounds, we've explored problem solving solutions, and if it's still there on the list, then okay, now I can feel good about spending on it.
Oh yeah, okay, so a hack. Here's a new hack. Actually, this is brand new. I deleted Instagram, Facebook, threads, Amazon, off my phone, anything that could make me so Honestly, why I did it was because I was spending too much time like zoning out on there. But also these
are things that make me want to buy things. So now when I go to like mindlessly scroll, I'm either mindlessly scrolling thread up, poshmark eBay, if I'm like looking for products, it forces me to think secondhand first, or I am reading something you know, like online, something that's good for my time.
You mean you're editing our book by what you love without going broke. That's what you're reading.
I mean, that's already I do. We have one more round of mailing. True, I'm emailing people in hopes that they will talk about our book by what you Love without going broke. So that's another thing I can do besides scrolling Instagram. So if you're having trouble with social media, or if you are having trouble with the halls or like you want to be under consumption Corps, but social media is doing more harm than good in that area for you, then that could be a helpful hack is
to just delete them for a time. I don't plan to delete them, you know, forever. I think maybe I will go back on around or after November eighth, ish, I think maybe it's just a soft date.
I don't know.
Well, thank you so much for listening. We love, love, love reading your kind reviews, and we especially love this one from Aaron with a K. The only money related podcast I enjoyed happens to be five stars. As a trying to be responsible grown up person, I try to keep on top of financial advice, but it always seems like a chore. Jen and Jill give me all the info I need, but I actually look forward to listening to and learning from them. Thanks for making a serious topic so much fun.
Wow. Thanks Aaron with a K. And it makes me wonder, does that mean your name is Eric? And that's very fun.
That's so true. Thank you Erin with a K.
What a kind review, and thank you all for listening, your kindness, for being here, and if you enjoyed the show, feel free to give us another kindness of leaving a review. It's one of the ways that you can help us sell the book, believe it or not, because the more reviews that we have, the more established we appear, which we have been doing this for over six years, and
we need our reviews to match that reality. And it would really help us be able to get on other podcasts, be able to talk about this values based spending and give more permission, normalize what we're talking about a bit more so that others can feel normal. That's what we're doing, helping us all feel normal. So leave a review and rating. That'd be so so helpful.
And thank you. At the at the time of this recording, we are actually very close to one thousand reviews. How Jill asked me, how close.
Jen, how close are we to reaching one thousand? Reviews. Last time I checked, we were at like nine sixty.
I think we're at nine hundred and ninety eight. Yeah, but they haven't more. I know they haven't popular, like popped up in two days, like populate repopulated in two days.
But here's the thing, folks, we don't need to stop at one thousand. We can keep going. You battle help.
If you've already left a review, you can purchase a copy of Buy What You Love without going broken.
That would be that would actually help us all a.
Bit more helpful. We'll see you next time.
Bye.
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Okay, so tonight we're talking about meal planning, right, meal planning?
Yes, So if you have pre ordered the book, check your email for a special email with a special link to tonight's free class, and we.
Would have their email from them pre ordering or do they have to contact us.
There is a order form if you go to Buy what you Love book dot com. There's a form on that page where you fill in your order information. You got to show a screenshot of your order and then once you do that, then you will automatically be sent the instructions to register for an account. On circle. That's where all of our special private lives are happy.
It'll all be free. Yeah, that's good information because even if you miss tonight, you can make it to the rest. I think there's what five more. There will be five events that you can participate in, all around life skills building and just exchanging of ideas and skill sets so that we can consume less.
Essentially around this under consumption core idea. So the meal prep and planning is all about utilizing all the food you have, buying as little as possible in getting the most out of it. You've got the clothing one, We've got one on transportation, one on housing not just for homeowners but for renters as well, and then we've got the last two. Are the best to the Decembers is
creating a full year meal plan. So we're going to create a full year meal plan for twenty twenty five together live and then we're gonna create an all year spending plan in January for all of twenty twenty five.
And then we're all going to get our books in January, and we're going to geek.
Out the January ones at the end of January, so you have time to read the book if you'd like to before that final free live.
How fun.
Yeah, so we look forward to seeing you there tonight if you have pre ordered. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you at the September Live if you're pre ordering after today, babe,