Couponing for Extremely Normal People | How to Coupon Without Being Extreme

Published Jan 18, 2019, 7:00 AM

We've all seen them on TV - holding up the line, filling their carts, handing over coupons, and walking out of the store having only spent .10 cents! While there is some reality to the crazy deals people can get through extreme couponing - today we'll take a tempered approach and see what us frugal folk can glean from this practice. Join us as we talk about what's worth couponing and what we should leave for TV entertainment. A.K.A. couponing for 'normal' people!

Click here for full show notes!

Episode thirty nine, Couponing for Extra Normal People. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity rights, and live with your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Hello, welcome back to the Frugal Friends podcast. I am Jen, Hey, this is Jill. We are excited to bring you another episode with more frugal goodness to help you save some more money. And because we've been doing this for so long, there's our thirty ninth episode. We decided we would bring you something that neither of us know much about and not bring on an expert to talk about it because we've been doing this for so long. Yeah, so by proxy. See, we're experts in everything frugal, or can at least pretend to be, so we can talk about it. I have opinions. Yeah, So the things that we are experts on our opinions. And today we're sharing our opinions on cuponning. We are sharing some articles from the Internet that you might find if you googled how to cupon or couponing tips, because you could google it, but we already have and and we're going to tell you what we think about what Google has to say, uh. Almost every week you're getting information and a commentary. If you haven't, who wouldn't want to pay for that? Yeah, if you haven't figured out what the Frugal Friends podcast is all about. Essentially, we take what you could google and we tell you what our experiences and thoughts on it are. So we are like the commentary for Google frugal Google and uh, and we're going to get right into that as soon as we bring. You are lovely sponsors for the we here we are Who are they? Jen? Let's take a look at the sponsor board. This will take a while to get to the sponsor board. Here we go Modern frugality dot com. The shop at Modern Frugality has free and low cost printibals, resources and e books to help you reduce your spending, minimize your stuff, organize your life and meal plan efficiently. Whatever you're looking for on your path the financial security, Modern Frugality has some of it. You'll have to visit shop dot modern frugality dot com to see what they have some of and what they have more of and less of. Frugal Friends listeners Also, you get off your purchase with the code Frugal Friends one nine because but you will get this deal all the time because you're a listener. So check it out modern fru gality dot com and I will, in full disclosures say there are way more free items on the shop right now, then there are items that you can buy. Yeah, and we're going to try and keep that ratio going. And how appropriate because we're talking about coupons and you've you've given us a coupon code. This is an appropriate cupon. This is the type of cupon that I like. You don't have to cut it, and it doesn't come to you when you don't want it. Like our next sponsor, junk mail. Ever been interested to see what the mailman brought you? Just to find your mailbox full of ads and unwanted promotional materials. It's the original junk mail. You'll probably never buy the things they're pushing. So here are some alternative ways you can use the junk mail kindling for fire crafting, snowflakes, sweet paper beads, wrap gifts in it, or make paper mache bowls. There are dozens of ways you can waste your time reusing junk mail. Try one today. Wow, what a good sponsor. Oh yeah, thank you to them is this sponsor though the same junk mail that I would also get in my email. This junk male is the original junk mail, so this is the mailer. Okay, Yeah, not to be confused with foreign spammers who are trying to take your money. I can't make paper beads out of that, no, m No. But you can make paper beads out of coupons, that's for sure. Is that basically your summary of this episode? Yes, just make paper beads out of it. There are good things, so I use cupons very intermittently. How do you feel about them? Jill? Similar way, I would not describe myself as an extreme couponing person. I find entertainment from the shows like once a year, but it's not It's definitely not for me. But I don't want to throw it all away because this could be for somebody, or pieces of it could be for somebody. But don't worry, you'll get You'll get my opinion. Yes, and we know that shopping at Aldi and other discount grocers is not always an option for everyone, so for those people, keeponding can actually be a great way to save money. And for parents and other people people with disabilities or health issues that can't get extra jobs to bring more money in keuponding can also be a saving grace for them too, So we are never going to bash something that saves you money, but we're going to bring our opinions on how to do it, how to do it in the best way, why you may not want to, etcetera, etcetera. It sounds like a great show. I'm ready to listen to it. Yeah, that's what we're getting into. Our first article today is from thrifty nomads Um and it's the Cue Pawning for Beginner's Guide. What do you think of this one, Jill, I think it's a really great overview of what is this whole cupawning thing that we're talking about, and what would you need to be prepared for in doing this? So some of us are probably super aware of all of these things, but I think it's a good reminder and so I think the first one helps give good expectations for this. So number one is to set aside time, and I think this is a big one that it's not just going to happen. You're not just going to quickly pull up an app on your phone. It figures everything out for you, and like you're good to go. You just like scan it and you save all this money. Like it actually takes time to look through flyers, gather up other people's flyers apparently that's a thing. We'll talk about that, uh and and then cut them and organize them and it just it all takes time. But they are making a pretty pretty big statement here that it takes about one to two hours a week on average for most people in this world, and they guess that that saves them so much money to the equivalent of making to fifty an hour. That is a big claim. What yeah, what what do you think about that claim? Jen? I I think if you live in an area where you don't have access to um lower price generic brands uh, than every penny definitely counts. And I think that that would be an accurate statement in those places. Accurate. Yeah, you have to look at the coupons and see is this item that I'm buying with this cupon um still is it less than just buying a generic brand? So it does. I think the time thing is the biggest barrier to entry with cupon NG and I think everyone should give it a try to see to compare so that you can be confident in knowing like I'm a cute honor because it legitimately saves me, like to fifty dollars a week, or I'm not a cuponner because uh, it's not worth my time. Yeah, it's a good summary like that. Yeah. Um. I also liked that they really emphasized getting organized, because if you're gonna beat that first barrier to entry, which is using your time, you have to be really organized. They suggest the baseball card, um, things to organize your coupons, and a binder and um like a laptop and a printer so you can get everything together, lay it out all in front of you, organize it. And they have a little picture with the with it all organized at the grocery store. But if you're not a super organized person, or you don't like you can't do that, or you don't enjoy daring utter, it takes you a lot of time. And then that's also another reason keep bonding me, not be for you. I personally love organizing things, and I would do this when I was little, even though I wasn't in charge of the groceries. I would cut out coupons and organize them and then never use them because it wasn't my money. That's adorable. I do remember my mom had a like a recipe box that she would carry with her and it was alphabetical order, and we'd get in line and she'd be going through this recipe box looking for coupons, which I do wonder if you don't see that as much. You don't see many people. It's either you're an extreme coupon or or you don't really do it at all. I do wonder if there's an in between that happens. And maybe maybe the in between is having a loyalty card to your grocery store and you get the deals of the week if you just swipe your card, or or yeah, like you said, you go to the discount grocery stores and they don't even offer it because they are offering all their products at the lowest price. Yeah, I was. When I was doing research for this article, found one that had four levels of cupon ng and it didn't include it in the outline. But the first one was just like you have a coupon and you use it on something you're going to buy a name brand product. And the second level is that you actually compare if whether you're buying the name brand with a coupon is saving money versus just buying the generic. And then so that was the comparison shopper level, and then the next one was getting, uh, if you're like just somebody that prefers certain items brand name than using your coupons waiting for sales on those items, to use a manufacturer coupon with a a store cupon and maximizing your coupons that way. And then at the end was the extreme shopper. And I didn't even get that far because I was like, I can't, I'm not and I don't think anybody listening is going to be there either, so you never know. We might have a small percentage. But it is one of those things that seems to me to be a very well intentioned thing that I would probably go out, I'd buy a whole baseball card thing, I'd get some flyers, I'd start cutting, and then life would happen and the coupons would expire and I'd find it in the back of my car and two months and be like, oh, yeah, that's something I wanted to do. Yeah, So it's definitely something you should try before you buy. So looking at your coupons to compare if there's actually any legitimate savings on things you actually buy, and then if there is, and you decide you want to go forward with this lifestyle, uh, invest in the accessories. So I did like how this article gave places that you can find coupons, because for me, if this was something I wanted to do, I wouldn't quite know where to begin. So they give some suggestions such as checking out the stores that you go to, their coupon walls or bulletin boards, local newspapers, the store flyers, coupon websites, coupon apps, and so then they give some examples of what those would be apps like check out fifty one cart, smart Snap, things like that. And then they so listed which I know we've talked about in other episodes, but even for online shopping using cash back type websites, which is Ebates, swag Bucks, things like that, And I've never considered that being a coupon thing. I suppose it is. I don't know all the inner workings behind the scenes things. I just know that you go through Ebates and then onto Amazon, and you buy your things and you you get money. It literally happens. I get money in the mail by doing it. Yeah. I so with the rise of online grocery shopping where you can just order it online and then go pick it up at the store or even with you know, things like instant card or whatever that they'll deliver it. Um, you can shop your stores through ebates. This is namely Walmart, but I'm sure other places like Amazon if you do any grocery shopping through there. Yeah, but you can get your debates cash back on your groceries. I think you should still be able to use your receipt. You want to use Ibota because that's a really great app. The only two things that I use are ebates and I bought a that's it. That's the extent of what I can do. And you can get cash back for generic items on Ibata, which is really great because it's like milk or bread or orange juice. So even if you're living in one of those areas where cub hunting isn't the best way to save money, doing the ebates and I bought a route can can get you some cash back, which is really nice. And I think that's a great a great point to say, here's what I do, here's what and that there is a level for everybody. It doesn't have to be well, I can't. I don't have the time, I don't have the organizational skills to do this thing. There is, there are levels to do it, and it is worth figuring out what works for you. If debates is easy enough to just have that be your homepage and sometimes you don't even have to think about the fact that you're going through it, it's automatically up on your browser, Um, then that's great. Or but I don't. I definitely don't think for us frugal thrifty people, this is worth thinking about what level of couponing works for me, What do I want to do and and what's too much? What isn't going to benefit me or be too much time, like the juice just won't be worth the squeeze preach. Yeah, but I don't think that any of us should should be like, no, it's it's any of it is too much work. I'm gonna just walk away and pay what I pay because there are deals out there for the things that we buy. Yeah, and a lot of people will discount keep on nope, pun intended because they would rather, you know, make more money. And do you know what's more profitable and like, more power to you if that's where you're at. If you don't have time to do any of this. Um, but even the slightest like literally going through ebates if you're shopping online, or scanning your receipt if you've got I boughta like these are very quick, simple, mindless things that don't involve searching the Internet and climping a bunch of stuff and buying binders in baseball car. I think, just like budgeting, it is trial and error. You would have to try it on for size and see, oh was that easy enough on my word, I could do this all the time, or yeah, no, that was way too much work. I'm not doing that again. Try it though, Yeah, you have to try it. If you're trying to save money, it's worth it. Another one that I liked from this one is, uh the tips down at the bottom. Let me scroll down here. I It also talks about overage, which we'll talk about in the next article, but it kind of introduces you to that idea of stacking cupons, which is kind of the only way to get that like really amazing deal when you're going so yeah and this is this, I feel like, is what crazy coupon NG is known for, or extreme couponing, Like the store paid me money, I walked out of here with two card falls and I got ten dollars and I'm just like, this is not Something is happening that's wrong, and I'm not sure who it is. Somebody is not competent and then another person is taking advantage. That's just like you know, quick assessment that seems to be what's happening there, or or tricks on TV, you know those TV tricks. Yeah, this it seems to be in some ways a thing. Most grocery stores are not actually going to give you money out of their cash register. They'll come up with some other thing, which this article outlines, whether that be store credit, or you have to buy other things to make up for the money that they would be giving you, or you can't combine coupon somehow some way. This is not the norm, but it looks as though it can happen. Yeah, because it's two thousand nineteen and stores have wise dep to keep hunters, so don't always watch the extreme keepunning shows and think you can do that. But also the example that they're giving in this article is with yummy bread, so you would even have to consider whether yummy bread is something that you want to be bringing home with you and feeding to your family. If that is the thing, I mean yes, in essence, it does sound good. Like, hey, Jill, would you like some yummy bread? I'd be like, yes, but that sounds nice. But what's in it? And is it coming out of a van with no windows or what is the it's yummy, don't ask questions. It's free. I'm giving you money to take this yummy bread. Isn't that how it always goes when it's free, I don't ask questions. It's like when my mom tried to feed us lentils and rice and said, like, it tastes like pizza. No, it doesn't. She did not say that. She did. She's because it had cheese in it. Apparently she's like, it's like pizza. You like it? You like it? Look, I wrote on the recipe that you like it, like mom. That never happened. Lentils and rice makes me gag ut a trauma. I like you. Well, let's move on to our next one that has a lot of good actionable tips. If cuponing is something that you really want to get into and it is extreme cupon tips for normal people ten ten Extreme cupon tips for normal people. Yeah, and obviously we like to read articles like that because we're normal. Yeah, we're extra normal. When we read that title, we're like, oh, this is for us. I'm a normal person reading this. Yeah. And even some of these normal tips were still too extreme food and I giggled a lot reading through this article. So this linking back to what we just talked about with learning the jargon that was number nine on here and I just I can't believe this. This is this is life in the extreme couponing world, but learning what stackable means. So we talked about that when if you can combine a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon, sometimes that can be stacks on stacks on stacks for you to get that money. And it made a song about that. I'm realizing that I think that song is about coupon ing. Okay, then there's also these others and bonus if you know what these mean, but oh no is one. It's spelled y n oh oi know, but I like I would say oh no oi know or mirror M I R and bogo, which most of us should know what that one means if you're any level of frugal okay, so oi no means on your next order, mirror means mail in rebate, and Bogo means by one get one. And so apparently these acronyms are listed on these coupons, and you have to know you've got to be up on that lingo to make the most of your coupons. So there you go, we've helped you a little bit with three of them. Yes, so getting lots and lots of cupons or even just trying to figure out where the best cupons are in your area. They suggest getting left over Sunday papers on Monday morning, if there's a store that hasn't sold out of their Sunday papers, that they'll give them away for free. Because the Sunday papers nowadays are pretty expensive. And if you're getting subscriptions to newspapers and you're not using the coupons, then you are wasting your money. It's not worth it. So definitely, like I said, try before you buy those direct mailers occasionally will have some good cupons. You know, I look through them all the time and I'm like, I don't and all of these are more expensive, even with coupons than what I buy for myself, which is kind of sad. It also makes me examine my life. But so you can get arranged with friends who don't keup on and if you like those coupons, if those are helpful for you, have you know, go pick them up from your friend the next time you see them. The concept of purchasing coupons is a little bit off putting for me. I'm not going to say that in the long run you couldn't save, but I'm just not convinced in myself that I would use it enough, be on top of it enough to have shelled out money for it. But to each his own. The other one that made me chuckle, and you had this one written down to Jen is number six. It talks about knowing your rights. I think that this is referring to knowing your rights as a coupon er and a shopper. And they record they say that if you do this often, you will inevitably run into either cashiers who don't really know what they're doing, or we'll try to say that you can't combine coupons, or managers who say that you can't use coupons that are printed off from the internet and YadA YadA, and so to be prepared in that in that face of conflict by having the store policy on coupons printed out and ready to go. So yeah, referring back to how we started this episode of that this will take time. Yeah, we're not just talking about like literal where you're cutting. You're using your scissors, and that takes time. This is you have to print out the policy. You would have had to have read it through to know that that cashier is wrong, and you can combine coupons and you are ready and willing to put it in their face like a showdown with your store printed out store policy, which you'd also have to consider how much that is going to cost for you to have printed out the store policy on your own printer, using your own ink. I thought it was a good idea because it's a non confrontational way to say that you're correct, and it doesn't take that much time. Those things are pretty easy to find online and all you do is printed out and you can highlight the coupon policy and just be like here, like I know I can do this. Go grab your manager. Cool by, do you think it's non confrontational That's the thing. If if somebody came up to me was like, here is your policy in your face, you clearly don't know it. I do, well. It depends on how you present it. It's the person, not the policy. You just have to be nice. The way to get through cupon ing with any cashier is to be nice. The nicer you are, the more a combinating they're going to be for you, and the less nice you are, the longer it's going to take you, and the more dirty glares you're gonna get from everyone. Line. Certainly, I just think it's that it is extreme to like have the store policy in your purse. If I were the cashier, I'd be like, holy smokes, this is what's happening right now, this reckoning. This woman knows she has a store like she has a store policy printed out and highlighted in her purse right now. It's next level. Have to be next level cup on her in order to do that. I just I think my mind goes to the extreme of that. Like imagine doing that with a police officer. That would never go well, no matter how kind you are, Like, look, I have the law printed out, I am able to drive how I want to drive on this road. Dealing with a police officer and the cashier at the grocery store are completely it different. It feels similar when it comes to trying to be the expert on something that they should be the expert on, just just so. And if you don't want to print off the policies for your store, you can do number two, which is go where the sales are. And so this is a big one that cuponers use to get those like next level deals is they will get a good cupon. And this was actually the other article too. When you get a good cupon, don't just use it. Hold out as long as possible so you can see when there's a sale on it and stack that cupon on top of the sale price. And sometimes that's not permitted. And you just have to know your stores policies in order to know whether it's worth it to wait. Definitely, like when I shop anyways, I will shop predominantly sales, and so that's just a good rule of thumb that you should be doing anyway. And if you are doing that, then you can go through the cupons that you've clipped and see if you have any that are applicable for your grocery list that week, and that's just another way to save time, I think. And they also list out in these last couple about basically forgetting brand and store loyalty if you want to do this well and and so we have said if the if there's a coupon for a brand that you want to have, then short that can help. But in general to do this, you wouldn't want to say, oh, I just stick with this brand. Coupons are going to be for a range of products, and so sometimes it means using the coupon getting getting that version of the product versus the brand. And then with stores to going to the store that provides the best coupon, the best deal, the best sale, whatever that you would be moving around. So that's another thing that you'd have to consider in this coupon decision making is are you willing to forget routine or dry it out of your way or have your coupons with you when you do drive past this certain store and constantly constantly be thinking that way of where am I going to get the best deal versus levels of convenience or what fits into your schedule. So all these things would have to combine for you and figure out what works with your lifestyle. Yeah, I keep a cooler in your trunk if that's going to be you. But I think alternatively. So I'm not the kind of person that's gonna disrupt my routine and go to different stores. I have a hard time going to Publix, which is across the street from Aldi where I'm shopping if Aldi doesn't have something I need. Um, So I'm that's just not going to be meat. But if you had a child who eats like only one thing, like they're in that phase of their life, and that thing is on sale, then couponing could be a really good way. You could go to all of the public xes in the area and stock up on that thing until tomorrow when they don't eat it anymore. You could just be aware of what's going on in your life at that certain time and just be on the lookout. It doesn't hurt to peruse cupon books or the internet if you have extra time that you'd probably be wasting on Facebook anyway, let's be honest, just fill it with ways to that might save you money. We don't necessarily are guaranteed to. But while you're making those paper beads with your junk mail. Look at the coupons and are they anything that you use. Don't make a bead out of that one. Yeah, rule of thumb, that is a good rule of them. Yes, Well, other good things, other great things besides paper beads made out of cupons. It could be the best time in the week. It is the 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 built buffalo bill, Bill Clint, this is the bill of the week. Hi, calling all the way from Australia. My bill of the week is I was spending a hundred and fifteen Australian dollars on my phone bill every month, but I made one little call, swapped to another provider, and now I'm paying fifteen dollars a month. How awesome is that, Kylie? That is so awesome. There's a lot of money, multiple awesome things about that bill of the week. My favorite is that you're calling all the way from Australia. I'm glad that the frugal friends reaches you. There, and I'm glad you have reached us from where you are. That's fantastic. That is an extreme price cut in that bill. Man. I I would love to know how you did that, Kylie, because that's sometimes really while switching to another provider. Yes, but phone service is something people are very picky about, and so the fact that you were able to say no and and switch over and you're saving so much money, Like, kudos for you, Kylie, Kudos for Kylie, Kudos for Kylie and Australia. Yeah, I would love to know what she said on the phone, you know, like she made it sound really simple, like I just made one phone call. But there had to have been threats to get that bill down that far. She must have printed out the phone policy and read it to them over the phone. They probably did not know their policy. She told them about their policy and and they were all jumbled in their minds and they're like, we gotta just give it to her, because what else are we going to do with this this woman she friends out policies. We're making up the whole stories about you, Kylie, but really we're just impressed. Yeah, if you have a bill of the week that we can also insinuate you've done malicious things for Please send it to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill. You can record it right on our website like Kylie did, or you can send it on our Google voicemail if you're on the phone. Yes, please do this. It's my favorite part of the week. Yes. And we need more. Yeah, and we need more. We always need more. The holidays drained all of our our bills, so it's a new year and we need new bills. Yes, that was a double thing to the holidays drained our bills. M hm. Nobody was thinking about bills over the holidays. Figure. All right, let's look at the other side of this coin. Yeah, let's go into our lightning round since we do that now. Yeah, And and we just talked about a little wrap ups and alternative views. And then then we go and we drink our coffee and work on our RVs. Yes, that's what's happening today. It's an RV day for both of us. We are flipping ARV's were so eventually we will do an RV living episode. We'll have to. We will do that, all right, Why you shouldn't Cupan and I I found I wanted to do this. While I was looking through articles in research for this episode. This is a there's an article for money crashers and there it was like reasons to stop extreme keep hunting. But these are just a few of the reasons you might not want to. I do agree with this. I think it's all worth taking into consideration again and deciding what's best for you. So here here are some of the pitfalls that they tell us about. And first of all, it can be the antithesis to minimalism. Extreme couponing or even levels of getting real into couponing can lead to needing to buy in bulk, which these articles that we talked about earlier in the show also state that that you need to be willing to buy when the getting is good and buy in bulk. That is usually how you save the money. So what that can then mean is that you've got a surplus of all of these products that you need to be holding onto or it could lead to purchasing things that you don't need and stockpiling them. So this is something to consider in couponing, is uh, do you want to collect things? Do you want to have to have extra storage for things that you may not you may not ever need, or you may not need right at that moment, and it can be a fault to have just a ton of stuff. It's something you don't want to do at the same time that you're decluttering and trying to achieve minimalism. They're kind of they kind of butt heads. So I would pick one or the other. Just decide where you are in your life right now. Another thing. It can become a time consuming obsession. Actually that was yours, Jill. I'm reading your go for it your note, but yeah, what mine was was that it's always the same items going on sale. You'll notice a pattern after a while that it's always the same brands, very similar items, and those items are usually the most unhealthy. That's another reason to take cuponning in moderation, to maybe do some minimalist cuponning. Those things aren't bad. It's great if you need them to save money, but it's not to me. You want to make a habit of getting yeah, like yummy bread, Yeah, yummy bread, which I did notice. I think it was thrifty. Nomad had a picture of uh what did they call it? An extreme couponing? There is a hall. Yes, they'll call it all hall. Look at everything I got in this in this hall? Like okay, um, so an example of the hall during a couponing session, and it's a lot of stuff that they got for five dollars. But I think out of what I see in the picture, I would use the toothpaste. It's um mac and cheese, it's sugary cereals, it's juices. Uh, A lot of mouthwash, right, it's mouthwash. Yeah, like um, frozen dinner mouthwash and mouthwash. That's a lot of mouthwash. Though, where would you put all that that wouldn't fit in an RV? So yeah, that's a great thing. You a lot of stuff, but it can lead to unwise choices, and that's what this article points out in that either you are getting things that you wouldn't normally use just because it's on sale, which that is also kind of another pitfall too. You're possibly hoarding, or you're purchasing unhealthy things or things that you wouldn't normally buy. So you'd have to consider what other things is this going against as far as your lifestyle goals go. I wouldn't say that coupon ng and frugality always go hand in hand as much as frugality and minimalism do correct or I would say that frugality and budgeting or these other things, that it can sometimes be the antithesis of frugality or create its own monster of I could see how that could be addictive, that you can go to a store and collect all these things and I only paid three dollars for it. It's like, but did you use that? And I think that's where couponing across the line into just being cheap or buying things just because they're cheap and thinking, oh, well, I'll give this to somebody, or this is how I'll be generous. I'll get all these things and I'll donate it to the local homeless shelter, whatever. But it may not be considering what's the most beneficial, what do other people need? Do I really need to spend my time doing this? So there's a lot that goes into it and should be considered. So I did like the article for the pitfalls that it pointed out. Yeah, and so a lot of people that do cup hunting will donate extra items and that's how they'll kind of rationalized doing that. But then I think of, like, so who are you donating these things too? Homeless shelters, foster homes, um like battered women's homes. A lot of these women and children and men are are transient. They move around a lot, So what are they going to do with a huge bottle of mouth Like that's not going to stay with them, So you have to also be cognizant of Okay, what am I getting to donate? Is this something that this organization needs? It might be a thing where you go to your local organizations where you would donate and see what they need. Nine times out of ten, it's going to be money. And if it's you know, if there are some random things that that you could get for them, it's gonna not be big bulks sizes of anything. It's going to be things that you would use regularly, unless it is a home that that cooks. There are some places, but I think to your point, asking these places what they need first rather than assuming and just dropping off stuff because it makes you feel better. Because food pantries want cash they can get they want fresh food, and they can get it cheaper than you can buy it. They can get it cheaper at wholesale and direct from farm, cheaper than you can buy it. They don't want your canned food and they can use their tax exempt status to shopping. And so just be aware that your heart might be in the right place, but it could be in a better place. WHA put that on a bumber sicker. All right, Well, now that I've made you feel bad, let's pat you back up. Yeah. So that's all we have on cue Bonning today. Um, but we are still doing our thirty one day declutter challenge. We're not far into January when we're recording this, but it's coming out midway through. Jill, how are you How are you doing on decluttering? Mm hmm. I'm getting there, so I had said in a previous episode. I think about decluttering clothing, so that has started. I dropped off a load at a thrift store recently, and but more to be done. We haven't yet moved into the motor home that we'll be moving into, so yeah, more to come there. But I'm excited about this journey and excited for the encouragement that comes from others along the way and seeing what what you all are doing, what you're getting rid of, how you're doing that. Yes, yes, making time to do it is hard, um, but I'm also do it I think we will eventually have room in our house to put our baby the house. You definitely will. You guys are not in any level hoarders. I think, well, you should see my office right now. It's it's got the last of the RV stuff and I'm ready to get it out of here. But yeah, we are. I am plugging along and and I'm excited to see to post after pictures and and you know, get some more stuff start the year off on a fresh, clean slate. And so we're we've been going through this with a calendar. It has like a little thing every day that you can go through and kind of get rid of stuff from that category. And so if you want to play along at home, you can get your calendar at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash d Clutter Challenge and you can use the same calendar that we're using. Fantastic mm hmm. So let's talk about our book club, because this is a fun thing that we keep doing. And it's January. So we are reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Condo. Some of you have probably read this already, but join in on the conversation. I think it's a it's a good one. Join us. Yeah, and uh, you might want a little introduction before you read it. You can listen to our episode where we modify Marie condos can Marii method. That's a good one. If you want a free copy of the book, because it's January and I'm sure it's on weight at the library, you can get in the running for free copy. All you have to do is leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, screenshot the review, and email that screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com and we will select the winners at the end of the month. And if you are looking for another example, if you haven't gotten enough in our previous episodes of what a good five star review looks like, we've got We've got a chart topper right here, this one. Shane send us this review. Well, actually one last month's book, which was The Millionaire next Door. So we want to read this review because it was really fantastic and also a winner of a book. So how could you not so, Shane says Frugal and Funky Stars. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of frugal friends, frugal skills I have acquired over a very long student life, frugal skills that make me a nightmare for spenders like you. If you accept my minimalist life, that'll be the end of it. You know where that's a quote from right Chell? I don't, Oh that is from taking. I mean it's not a direct quote. He revised it. Oh my god. But there's more. There's more in all seriousness. I love this pod and j j have the best chemistry in the frugal industry. Road Kill. Jill's contagious laugh always gets me going, and I often laugh harder than her. I've never been more ready to venture out into the unforgiving wilderness dressed and only leaves and sticks, and to fight against the food waste culprits. Please stay funky and frugal. Here are six synonyms to the word excited, invigorated, exhilarated, compelled, a fluttered, jazzed, fired up. Can you guys talk to art and see if we can get a sponsor going? Who's that? I have to like started process this? It's so good and I think this is another stitcher one. I think our stitcher reviews are are like the best. Oh my gosh, hush. I am a frugal Fannie through and through. I really appreciate the time and effort you both put in. If you ever wanted to interview a frugal listener to peer into my mental milist life, please let me know. Cheers Shane. A show that is That's fantastic. We don't expect everybody to give a review like that, but boy do we love it when when that happens. And what a good idea interviewing listeners. We might be at that point pretty soon because good we and you know, because we could do it would basically be like a review for an entire episode where we could be like, oh, so, what do you like best about us? And what is your favorite episode? That's your favorite thing? I did get me to laugh. I'll laugh all day. No, but in all seriousness this that was fantastic and I like that idea because we are we're a medium sized podcast now thanks to you all, we hit that marker and and we're no longer a small podcast or media to our producer, and we are we are experts in the field and we've been around for a long long time and I use the word expert incredibly loosely in a long long time, also very loosely. Yes. Well, thank you Shane, Thank you to all of our other listeners, reviewers. You guys are the stinking best and we have the best group of for goal friends than anybody could ask for. And if you want to hang out with us more, join our Frugal Friends community on Facebook. You do Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash group and find us there And we love hanging out, sharing gifts and talking to the cool people that love to be frugal with us. So we hope to see you in the Facebook group. We will be in your ear next week. Have a good one. See Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Syria road Killed, Jill road Killed. That's right. There's so many references. Even as I read through, I'm like, oh my word, this is referencing so many different episodes. Yeah, really got it that I forgot I and see. This is the thing. When I see people that I haven't seen in a while and they know all this embarrassing stuff about me, I remember like, oh my gosh, I actually said that I thought I was safe recording this in my closet, but it it's out there for the world to hear. And they know that I've even road kill. They know that my laugh is pretty atrocious. They know that I have talked about venturing out into the wilderness with no clothes on, just to feel one with nature. Yeah, you've you've changed lives. I don't know you've changed lives. I you're a part of it. J You're you're in on this too. If this ship goes down, you're going down with it. Cool love, always love, your encouragement every week and as much as um, yeah, it sounds like I say negative thing, those people are like man, it sounds like they are actually really good friends. So we either have them all fooled or if this is what friendship looks like, they'll They'll have to just keep listening to find out done

Frugal Friends Podcast

Controlling your spending is hard to do. On every episode of Frugal Friends, we'll try to help you g 
Social links
Follow podcast
Recent clips
Browse 498 clip(s)