When NOT to be Frugal | Prioritizing Value Over Cheapness

be frugal. And so this isn't necessarily like not being frugal. It's more like a play on words. It's just like when to not be so critical about pinching your pennies and saving your money? Um so clification. Yeah, you've got a three day weekend coming up, so you know, take your time and figure out where it's good to spend more. And we'll let you know at the end what our community has to say about not being frugal, because for

a frugal community, they had a lot to say. They this threat have a lot and awe yes, we're going to share that some of those at the end. So, but first our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by hidden fees. What these these are free? Accepted them? Who let them in the door? These are fees we didn't tell you about, but you still have to pay them. You're probably here because we advertised a great deal, but you forgot to check the fees, and now you're too

invested to go elsewhere. That's what we were hoping. Nobody likes fees. That's why we hide them, sometimes in the fine print, other times in the poor product we make, so you have to give us more money to get another one in a few years. Hidden fees squeezing every last time out of you. Since always I don't know what to think, so I'm laughing, laugh, so you don't cry. That is every every person's tricks. Since always laugh if you don't know, if you don't understand something, if you

don't know what to do, just laugh. Like the mood we got. We got desperate over here, so we had to accept hidden fees. So yeah, we're desperate. But also it's worth stating that we are not doing this to you right now. We are not giving you hidden fees in case you're like in cause you're pulling off to the side of the road and you're like looking at your phone, like, wait, who am I listening to this through iTunes or what platform am I on? How much

do I owe them? Now? Well, there's no hidden months and shipping. You're welcome to send that to us if you want, you know, Venmo, PayPal, whatever, That's fine, but that would be totally cool. We'll be fine. So, Jen, I'm excited about this episode, not because of the hidden fees, but not because this Memorial Day weekend. I mean, I'm excited about the episode, but New Days on Tuesday. Maybe

that's w're stealing my thunder. I'm sorry. It's already possible that you could be in the throes of labor the very day that this comes out, I know. Yeah, because we're not recording it live. Who knows. It is essentially anytime from this episode out. Um, I could have a child or be in labor. You all listening will be the first to know about it, have no fear. Yeah, she's the community group, will be first, the community group. Yeah, that's what I mean. Get it on the community group.

You'll be the first to know, like probably even before Travis her husband, probably not, but no, Travis will be first, Jill will be second, and everybody else here will be third, and then I'll tell my mom. Yeah boy, so before my water breaks, let's get into this first article, all right, And it is from to Love, Honor, and Vacuum, which this is a block name. I absolutely love. It's, you know, super encouraging. Yeah. Um, it's six things it's worth spending

money on and not worth being frugal. Yeah, and yeah, I loved this one. It's good. And I do like to preface all of this by saying that frugality is not being cheap. So while we're saying these are things to not be frugal on, there are still frugal options in this and spending money is not the antithesis of being frugal, So all of this still does fall under frugality.

But these are the areas to where you don't necessarily need to pinch pennies or figure out ways to not do them or yeah, you can be okay spending more and it's gonna vary for everybody. This is what this article says. I do like the two reasons that she gives for why you might spend more on something, and it's because one either it's going to cost you more in the long run or it will make a tremendous difference in your life if you do quote unquote splurge

on this thing. Quick example of this. Eric and I just splurged on a burkey case. You don't know what that is. It's a water filtration system. Technically, you can put water from like a pond into it and it turns it into drinkable water. So I'm intending to do that at some point. But we got it because we lived in our V we and we were just going

to be buying water. We have bought water pretty much every place we've lived at I don't like the taste of city water, and then we can't drink out of the faucets in our r V. But I priced it out and I realized that buying water, even in two and a half gallon jugs would cost me about four hundred fifty dollars a year. And the burkey we got I think for like three hundred or three hundred fifty dollars. So that's a big upfront cost, but in the long

run it's going to save us money. So while most people look at that and be like, that's an expensive thing, Are you sure your frugal? Yeah, I'm sure, Cindy, it's saving me money in the long run. Stop emailing me, Cindy judging my burkey purchases. I'm sorry. If your name is Cindy, this isn't directly attached to you, for sure, Yeah, especially if you've emailed me ever, so sorry. Anyhow, So, the first one that she mentions on to love on

her in vacuum is beds, specifically children's beds. She's not talking mattresses here, beds. And so she said that she had bought seven beds for her children through the course of their so far lifetime, which and there's still children, seems ridiculous. Well, I think the ones in college now.

But anyhow, it was, you know, the c and then the toddler bed, and then the bunk beds, and then this bed made out a particle board, and then that one broke, so then it was another particle board bed until they finally landed on a decent, single bed, wooden, nearly indestructible bed that she was then able to take on to college. Okay, so agreed, right, because that's not saving you money in the long run if you're buying

seven of them for your one child. But I would still say that you can find some good secondhand options on this, like you can find a wrought iron bed at or a wooden bed or a bed bed frame relatively inexpensively. So this is where we're talking just not not getting the cheap option, but don't feel bad about buying a bed that's gonna last you, right and not. I mean this is not just like children's beds. This

is obviously adult beds as well. So having a good enough quality that you can use it forever, right, those things that you know you're always going to have, Right, You're you're always going to sleep, always going to need to sleep somewhere, so you might as well have something that's going to last you for the amount of time that you are alive and sleeping. Yes, and good pillows. There was a few people in our group that they do not skimp on pillows, so like the bedding stuff

as well. Yeah, because you're sleeping practically a third of your life, so if you're lucky, I like to sleep a third of my life. I love sleep too. Yes. Okay, So the next one on this list, and I will resonate with this, is good shoes. So my good shoes that I actually spend money on I wear all the time. And then my cheap shoes that are just you know, like those fashion throwaway shoes are like so done zo in a year. And then also they're out of style,

so I don't want to wear them. Just getting good, solid shoes that are classic and timeless, they're gonna last. Keep saying these things, Jen, it's music to my ears. Thank you for the shoes, thank you, thank you for the permission. They'll help you with your posture and your back pain. So I'm going to wrap this one up with also number three, which is she recommends getting five good outfits. I would say a few, a few good whatever that means to you. A few good outfits. You

don't have to go crazy. But similar to shoes, this is something that I am learning. I think in some regards that comes with age. It comes with maintaining a weight to write, Like when you're growing your your teenager, your early twenties, you may not you might not be at the weight or size that you're going to end up being. So we we might be accustomed to our experience might be that you do buy clothes every year,

so don't spend a lot on it. But if you are now in a place of life saying, Okay, I know what I like, I know what fits me, I know what I'm going to wear, what I'm not going to wear. Now invest make the investment, and don't keep buying the way that you that the way that you bought when you were in ninth grade. Life is different. Now you're in your thirties, you're in your forties, you're in your fifties. I think I'm thinking that people in their fifties they already know this one. But if you're

in your thirties, you're probably learning this one. Invest in the good stuff, figure out what you like, and it will save you money in the long run. And until you figure out what you like, just by all black Okay. I like what she says about the few good outfits specifically too, in that when you are wearing something that fits you well, that you like, your confidence is going to grow, your motivation, your ability to do things well.

It does. It just plays into it. If you feel frumpy, your motivation is low, how you feel about yourself is low, confidence is low, So then you're probably not going to do as good of a job on something or feel as confident. So It's important on a lot of levels. But again, you don't have to spend your entire life savings on this. Just got a few good outfits, then you're one step closer to that capsule wardrobe we all love talking about. Yes, So I also loved her stance

on spending money when time is short. So this can come in with like house cleaning or food. I'm thinking particularly with meal planning. So meal planning sometimes is not quick for everyone. Some people really, I mean find it difficult to do and will spend significant time finding recipes that they can actually make and for different food preferences

and all this stuff. And so one of our partners is cook Smarts and they do all of the planning for you in this article, is you know her things like food delivery, you know, like chef's plate or Blue Apron or something like that. But I think you could do well to just do the meal planning portion. It's less expensive than those things. There's less packaging and all

that stuff. So just having somebody to at least do the hard work of like telling you what to cook, how to prep it so that you can cook it quickly throughout the week, and then using those those plans build on each other so that you could, you know, buy a bag of potatoes one week and you use them that week, and the next week there's a recipe that uses the rest of the potatoes from last week.

But yeah, so sometimes it's worth if you could be making more money doing you know, a side hustle or doing your job, or you could be spending more time with your family. Sometimes it's worth paying an extra six or eight bucks a month to have somebody else plan your meals for you. Like, it's just worth it. And this goes along with her number six, which is hiring a housekeeper. She does expand that and I would agree with the expansion of this. Any service that you could

technically do yourself could be worth it. This is if you have the money. Me so if it works within your budget to do these things, you don't have to feel bad. You're not You're not going against the grain of frugality to do these things. And I think we even talked about this in our very first episode Frugality one oh one, where it can be even economically responsible to give other people jobs that yes, you could do yourself, but that cost benefit analysis of but what could I

be doing with my time. Do I have four little ones at home and I could paint my own living room, but it's gonna it's gonna take five weekends in a row to do that versus three days of having a company come in and do it and get it done. What is more important in your life right now? So yeah, d I Y is great, But sometimes it can be okay to hire somebody else to shovel the snow, mow the lawn, clean your house, detail your car, whatever it

is for you. You don't have to feel shameful about making that decision for your life if you can afford it, and then feel good about giving that job to somebody else. That if you have the money, you can then provide income for somebody else by giving them, you know, that job. So these are all I would agree. These are fantastic things that you could be spending money on in areas that yeah, technically you could do that yourself, but there's benefit to not. Yeah, definitely. So those are great. And

we also have some more practical things. So these are kind of like surface level, like you know, things you buy. And our next article from wallet hacks is for frugal tips that are completely not worth it. These aren't necessarily frugal, and we've already given that disclaimer frugal and the author even says frugal gets a bad rap these days because people will, you know, confuse frugal with cheap. But these

are cheap things and are important. So these are big ones. Yeah, And it's about being mindful and wise with your money. That's what frugality is about. And so you can be mindful and wise and still buy a three dollar burke Cindy, So Cindy, poor Cindy and ragged on today. You're a good woman, and Cindy, and you're beautiful and strong and you have a lot to offer anyhow. So these are

four frugal tips, completely not worth it. So basically kind of the flip side of this things that people have said, do this to be frugal, and this article is kind of saying, but consider these things. So the first one

on here is d I Y Repairs. We say that was stipulation, huh so, and we've talked about this already, uh in previous episodes and given this warning, so we're not totally anti d I Y. It's fantastic, but there is a fine line between money saving and downright dangerous as this article points out, and it could cost you more in the long run if you don't fix something properly. So primarily what we're talking about here is areas of safety.

If doing the d I Y thing brings in safety concerns, or if doing the d I Y thing could potentially lead to catastrophe if done incorrectly and cost you more in the long run. So examples would be doing your own rewire of a house. No, have an electrician do that, changing a lightbulb definitely, don't pay somebody to come in

and do that. So just navigating what is the d I Y thing that's worth it, what is not worth it, knowing your limitations or thinking that you fixed a leaky pipe but you didn't actually because duct tape is not a permanent fix, and now it has when your entire kitchen and you also have to replace all your cabinets, So there are times when it's it's just it's not frugal to do that. The rule of thumb that I would use is that so home depot has these like

d I Y seminars. Well there they'll teach you how to do some d I Y repairs and improvements in your home. So essentially, if home Depot has a class for it, it's a d I Y you can do yourself. But if home Depot does not have a free class on how to do it, it's not something you should be doing yourself. So rule of thumb, check out your local home Depot to gauge what what you are capable of, especially you Mr fix It. Yeah, I mean, I'm realizing the most frugal thing I've done is marry a man

who can actually do all these things. He is an electrician. He does do plumbing, carpentry, car fixes, all the RV things. So if you're like, no, I really want to d I Y everything, then marry somebody who already has those skills and you've got this thing in the bag, either Mary rich or Mary Capable. That's such a wow. That's right there. I mean the end of the episode, you're welcome. This is when we have our hidden fees. Yes, all right.

So the next one is extreme cue pawning. And we've talked extensively about this in our episode Cuponning for extremely normal people. How much we don't enjoy extreme cumpawning. It's um it can it's usually a massive waste of time, especially in two thousand nineteen when we're living in a post extreme Cupawning TV show world where a lot of new rules have been put down for cuponning. So don't

spend so much time or money investing in cupawning. Yeah, it's just because, as she says, a potential pitfall of that is that even though you may not start out spending money, it might you could actually save you. It can because it requires so much time and energy investment, it can start to become addicting saving the money, and and so then you can get to a point even though you didn't start out in this place of purchasing

things or collecting things that you don't actually need. So in that regard, it's not the best use of time, energy, money. It's not going to help you towards simplicity. Yeah. I mean, it's not to say that, you know, cupons are bad. I love good pupond but it's if I like, get it e mailed to me on a product that I regularly use, and we'll only use the name brand or etcetera, etcetera. So legit cupons, yes, real cupons. Okay. Number three, Getting

the cheapest or no insurance. So within the financial independence retire early community, this one's a debatable topic of how to save on insurance or not have insurance. This author is recommending to have insurance. They're definitely pro insurance in

seeing the areas that it can protect. So while it sucks to pay that monthly insurance fee in the long run, especially for those who have experienced this, Like she speaks to her own experience of her mom not having a will or life insurance and the really sucky situation of paying for a funeral costs out of pocket, not being prepared for that, so that compounding grief is yeah, that that's not that's not a situation you want to be in, or to to have really low car insurance and actually

then be in an accident and discover that nothing is paid for. So then you have paid for some money for insurance, but then none of it's covered, so now you have to pay for transportation while your car is out of service on top of paying for repairs. So yeah, these situations do happen, Like people do have medical emergencies, people do get an accident, so it's important to to be ensured. However, that doesn't mean that there can't be frugal options within this as far as negotiating to lower

your bills, checking in with different providers, comparing costs. So there are options for you in this, but consider the potential risk of not having insurance. You can't not be insured on like health insurance and life insurance and car insurance. It's just too important and people too often will go bankrupt because they are missing some type of insurance. And

so it really is important to have quality insurances. And we talk about that in our Personal Finance one oh one episode two, like you can't skimp on insurance, it's too important. And a last point to completely frugal on is a rice and beans diet. So yes, you know the golden rule when you're trying to pay off debt is live on rice and beans. Beans and rice, but you should probably have something green in there. And I'm

not talking about beans that are going bad. I'm talking about some than that is legitimately born green, like kale or green bean or something some some veggies in there. Yes, and the goal is to eat healthy on a budget. Don't sacrifice your health and your diet. And this is something I wish we had focused on more when we were paying off debt. We really let our diets go a little bit, a lot of bit. I wish that we had focused more on making wise decisions with our food,

even if it cost us a little bit more. That's interesting to hear you say that, having looked back and like things that you would do differently. And this isn't to say cut beans and rice out. I mean, of course beans and rice. If you genuinely are in a position of poverty, then yes, they will sustain you. But if you're not, then this doesn't this isn't necessarily the area to be cutting. And that could mean that, yes,

rice and beans are still a base. But you do a little bit of a protein, you do some veggies, you you get some nutrients in your diet. Yeah, don't starve yourself. Don't starve yourself, be healthy because then that also helps you in the long run with your with your health and wellness, and that will save you money down the road as well. So that's another point the

writer makes. Yeah, bottom line, we are walking a tight rope, right because it seems like in every episode we have to clarify frugality versus being cheap and how to save money. But you can still live your life. It's a tight rope. It's it's not black and white, and so be careful of falling into cheap territory or territory that's going to end up costing you more in the long run. Just because you think you're being frugal or it makes you feel better in the moment, Really be mine full of

the decisions that you're making. That's frugality. That is frugality, y'all. That's important to differentiate. And something that's else that's important to differentiate is between the headlines and our favorite time of the week. It's 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've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's

built buffalo bills. Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hey guys, it's Lucy here. I'm calling from Austria. You're up so you're having listeners all over the world, and I want to tell you about my favorite bill of the week, which was actually a not bill, uh and it happened in the food store called bill as so it's a bill with an A at the end.

So that's also quite funny, I guess. And yeah, I tend to go there only if I need a lot of vegan options because I'm living a plant based lifestyle, and um, they have like a great offer of you know, Almont milk and Cashu yogurt and all these things which are not easy to get here in Austria and also tend to be bit more expensive for your little country. Um, only eight million inhabitants in total, so and not many vegans.

And yet that's where I go. And I knew that the bill would be higher because I stopped up on all these things And then when I was finally there to pay, suddenly like there was music playing and then the cashier lady was congratulating me, and I was like, what's happening. Then she said, yeah, we have like this anniversary special you read Villa, and you don't have to pay because you're like our hundred customer today, And yeah,

that was super great. I felt totally grateful. It was a super good moment because I was saving all this money and so I totally had to call you and tell you about my favorite bill of the Week, which was not built at so guys, Bye bye, all the best from Austria. Bye Lucy. Oh my gosh, you should see our faces right now. We are so stoked, both of us, mouths wide open on this one. I mean, for so many reasons for calling us from Austria and for sharing your bill with us, and for it being

so amazing. The fact that you even got the fact that you were a winner was because you even my word, I'm so excited, I can't even get my thoughts out. Because you value your health and that was a decision that you're willing to make, that you're willing to spend money on healthy food because that is a frugal decision for you, and then you get it for free like this this special cherry on on top of it's so great. We are so excited for you. And who doesn't love

winning stuff? And the store's name is Billa, Like I love that and I love being thought of. Like when you won this, you're like, oh, I have to share this bill of the week. I love that that we that you thought of us. Thanks for thinking of us, and best to you from Pennsylvania and Florida all the way to Austria. I love it. If you have a bill of the week you want to share with us, please visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill and you can leave us a speak pipe message on your

laptop or a Google voicemail on your phone. And we really want to hear about your bills. We love them and we don't ever listen to them before we play them in the episode, and then somehow they just fit in perfectly, which is why you get me fumbling with my words and not being correctly in front of the microphone when I'm responding, because it's it's my true response. Yeah, this was totally organic. So next up we have Jill's second favorite time of the week, the lightning Round. She

gets more intense every time she says it. Sing. So today, um, we want to share with you some of the things from the Frugal Friends community on Facebook. If you're not a member, you've got to go to Frugal Friends podcast dot COM's group and find us. We asked the question what are you not frugal on and y'all have some great y'all have a bunch, a big old bunch of things that you're like, this is no problem for me,

I'm gonna drop that cash. Yes. And by the way, the Frugal Friends Community Group, we I don't know if we specify this enough. It is different from our podcast facebook page. You actually have to become a member of our Frugal Friends Community group. So both are great. You can interact with us both on our page and within our group, but when we're talking about all of these things and the g i f s that are shared and where people are responding to us, it is our

private group. We're not super exclusive. We just want you to be chill chill in the group and then we let you in. Yes, yeah, that's it. Those our only requirements. Um Jill, what was your favorite thing on this list? Oh, you're putting me on the spot, Jen, I am. I already have a few favorites. You do, Yeah, you go first, Okay, so probably my my first favorite one is um Lacy, who says her pole dancing equipment and clothing, especially the shoes.

I did pull dancing pull dancing class ones and it was so fun, so I totally get why you would want to do it a lot. Kate cheese. Oh yeah, she likes food in general, but fancy cheese I'm with you those charcootery boards with some cheese and meat, or just just straight up cheese, like melted cheese and cheese on cheese, like hard cheese with soft cheese. And she wasn't the only one that said cheese. I also said she I can almost get us riled up about cheese

is a kind about butter. So I'm with you, Kate, like ditch in frugality for some cheese. Mm hmmm um. Date night dinners out, that's from sage. I love a good date night anytime I don't have to do the dishes after I eat. Good time for me, totally worth it. What else? Layla? Her scuba hobby scuba diving. So sometimes you gotta splurge on those hobbies because it makes you really cool and it gives you something to do. So yeah,

keep up with the scuba. So as any pictures if you are actually scuba ng in open waters and you come across whales or something, I'd love to see that or any cool scuba photos. No, just whales, okay. Um. Jesse says mental health, and I love that it's super important for her to spend money there and even like a cheaper therapist isn't cheap, but super important for her to spend money on that. I love that Rebecca says travel,

which I totally agree Rebecca. And this is one thing that one of the articles, I think it was the the one article the author was saying how travel and vacations are overrated, and that's one area that she is frugal in, but there are other areas where she's not frugal in. And I'm like, to each his own, because vacations are overrated? What are you talking about? I just have to one friendly disagree, right, it's just an unpopular opinion, and I am friend another opinion to the table that Rebecca.

I I'm with you wholeheartedly get that travel. Don't feel bad about it. Yes, yes we all came, but there are frugal ways to travel, as we've talked about on the show before. So you know that um Carmen says tithing. I love that one. Yeah, definitely continue to do that one. Yeah, and partedly tithing literally means ten percent, so there isn't a skimping on ten percent. Literally, it just wouldn't be called a tie anymore, would be called giving and generosity.

But don't skip on the generosity. Then yeah, that's a great area to be like. This is a commitment of mine to give. Also, shoes, we talked about this. So many people say shoes. Cs W says shoes. Who else Ha's shoes? So many people, I gotta give credit recredits. Do all these shoes good shoes in here? Good shoes in this group? Choose I want to see pictures of your shoes. Show me, show me your shoes. That show was not feet. That'd be weird. Don't show me pictures

of your feet shoes. I'm normal, I'm still normal. I'm a version of normal. Um Amber says her Disney addiction, and I would agree with that. I love Disney. Um. I don't have an annual pass or anything, but I do love following Disney instagrammers and watching their stories when they are at Disney, and then I feel like I'm at Disney. Yeah. Um. Also, lots of people said pets, Catherine Amber Leah and I would say, so, I know that it's been and I'm not we will probably do

this in the future. But people have been requesting, you know, how to save on pet expenses and and yeah, there are ways to be frugal, but also feel as though if you're going to have a pet, it comes with a territory like it's not as if you can have a pet and then not have it cost you money like it does. And so just know that. So I appreciate that in this group to hear that, yes, pet expenses, buying them, food, taking care of them, there's not really if you have a pet, there's not really a way

to to say no, you don't have to do that anymore. Yeah, and when you skimp on them in the short term, you pay more in the long run in vet bills and stuff. So yeah. Um. And then the last one, which I love, Brandy says, running shoes and Dr Pepper. Can't see that's a brand name you cannot skimp on. If that's what you like, you got to get the brand that do like me some Dr Pepper too. For me, it's gum that is just forever and always. You do love gum. It's a thing. I spend money on it.

You know. It's better than cigarettes, it costs less, It's better for me. I think it's why I don't have cavities. I go to the dentist about once every five years, and they always tell me not to tell people that I don't have dental problems, although here I am telling thousands of people that I don't have dental problems, And the thought occurred to me the other day. I wonder

if it's because I chew gum. I mean, there's other issues that come up with that, like I've got you know, my jaw hurts sometimes because I'm chewing so much gum. But I don't have cavities. Yeah, maybe a minor TMJ. But he has nothing a little break from the gum can't solve. Yeah. Mine is definitely coffee. I I like coffee. I have been drinking it throughout my pregnancy. I have to be careful because it's I'm more sensitive to it.

But when I can and when my body tolerates it, I want some good cold brew or like a nice cup of mild coffee. I just I love it. And Travis will never understand why, and he doesn't have to because I love it. Don't drink it nice? Yes, yes, well that's all we have for you on this uh lightning round today. Yeah, well, folks were coming to the end. No need to be sad though, because it's may so

that there's one reason to be happy. And we're reading The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist, So we're continuing on with this book club thing, so there's another reason to be excited. So join us in our book club over on our Frugal Friends community group. Read this book alongside of us, engage in the conversation, grow in your knowledge, wisdom in sight, and yeah, get a free copy. If you don't already have one, there's another thing, or if your library doesn't have it, or it's already checked out

by another Frugal Friend. So if you want a free copy, you can enter our monthly giveaway. All you have to do is leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, screenshot the review, and send it to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com. And we select one winner for every five reviews at the end of the month. So that's pretty good odds. Yeah, and if you want an opportunity to get this free book, again, you've heard this before. It's going to be used, it's going to be a

good quality, same content, very good quality. If you're an amazing yes, if you would like an opportunity to get a free book, then then do this. And if you're like, oh but but how how exactly. You've given me some tips. But what is this look like? Well, generally it looks like a really beautiful five stars and kind of like this one from Layla, who says love this podcast as a forever frugal few friends and family get my lifestyle. Love their alliteration, Leyla, great job. How refreshing it is

to hear from Frugal Friends. Wow, short, sweet, to the point, plenty of alliteration, and she's in the running review. She's in the running for a free book. So yes, So if you want to leave us a review where every word starts with F, we would love that. Be careful, we would yeah most words, you know, But we would love for you to subscribe to the podcast and keep hanging out with us. Join us over on Facebook at the Frugal Friends community, And until then, we will see

you next week. See in next week. Got Bump Bump Bum. Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Seian. No, we are not breaking out a song. I know that could sound like we would. It felt like an Oprah moment, you know, where you're just like singing everything. It comes with the territory of giving people free things. I think you know like we're in that position where we're just

passing out free books. We're doing book clubs, we're doing reviews, we're talking with friends, we're giving people tips on life. It's it's the Oprah effect. Little do they know that I'm actually charging them twenty cents to listen hashtag hid fees. You you won't. You won't even know the money's gone and will be getting getting rich off them hidden fees. Yes, I'm gonna go to Chipotle with my hidden fees. Oh, I'm gonna get me some Chick fil A sauce with

my hidden fees. You could just go, you could just ask for Chick fil A sauce. They would give it to you for free. All right, I'm gonna get a chicken sandwich and dip it in my free Chick fil A sauce with my hidden fees. I love that you wouldn't know how to get all the free condiments. You're like, you stash it up over there. Oh did you see on our Frugal Friends community group that my mother in law gave some tips on what to do with those condiments. Yes,

Travis also saw that and he appreciated it. Well. I can attest to the fact that it is a fantastic rib sauce. When you do that, she her ribs are out of this world, dynamite, fantastic. On some of those free condiment sauce packets just oh my word, whatever like catch up mustard, jams, jellies, so just literally whatever you have with some jelly and and then rub it all over those rips. Her name is Linda, right, Linda, Yeah, Linda. If you could please post your packets recipe for ribs

in the group, we would love that. Listen. She doesn't have recipes. She literally she's like Mary Poppins in her kitchen. It can look like there's nothing in her kitchen. It can also look like she's not doing anything, and then all of a sudden, there's dinner. There's like a five course dinner. And it's like, I literally was talking with you this whole time. I would well, I had eyes on you this entire time. Where did those ribs come from? Where did that fried rice come from? Oh? What is

that fried chicken over there? What is that cheesy mashed potatoes? What? What What? What? It's amazing and I'm literally watching it happen. But I still couldn't explain to you how it happened. But honestly, her response would be like, just whatever you have in your fridge, like just get your sauce packets and put it out and just whip it together and

then it never turns out that way for that gift. Yeah, and I don't have that gift, So just record, maybe take a picture of her sauce packet drawers so we know kind of what she's working. I'll try, but like I said, it's like Mary Poppins, it's hard to it's it's hard to capture the magic while it's happening. Mm hmm. If I catch it though, along with that leper con, I'll show you a picture let us know. Mm hmmm. And that's enough talking