Listener Special: Your Burning Questions

Published Dec 23, 2022, 8:00 AM

Here’s a spicy and flaming hot gift from us to our dearest Frugal Listeners! Every year, Jen and Jill answer the burning questions you have set for them. The questions may get specific as we go through each of these 6 questions for this listener special episode. 

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Episode too six listener special, Your Burning Questions. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liver with your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we are sharing your answers to your burning questions. Hot questions, yes, some of them hotter than others, some of them burning, some smoldering. Yes. But first, this episode is brought to you by the one Week Spending Makeover So Soon, So close. If you have not signed up yet, what are you waiting for? January second through six? So the first week of the year, Monday to Friday, we are hosting a free one week challenge where I will be hosting daily live lessons. Jill and I will be live with you on the Wednesday night of that week for an extended lesson. You're going to get these in an exclusive pop up Facebook community. You're also going to get them in your inbox if you're not on Facebook. So this is just the place to be the first week of January if you want to get your spending transformed, made over, in control, whatever you define that ask. So the goal of this challenge is we're gonna be going through the week in five days or less. You're going to have a clear picture of your past spending, a foundation for values based spending, and a plan to improve and implement your spending through in a way that makes sense for you, that makes you happy, not guilty. It's going to be fantastic. There's gonna be prizes, free pdf downloads, so much more. So please join us. Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash makeover. Mmm, I love it. This sounds so fun. It's making me excited. It's one of the things I enjoy doing in the new year, is well, reflecting back on a lot of things, but making a plan. Lots of people love it, but it's something I look forward to doing. It's kind of one of those activities that I get a drink that I enjoy and I really carve out time to take a look at it, plan ahead, write things down. For anyone who loves stickers and highlighters, this is your time. If you just like having a good, clear plan that's simple, this is also for you. So yeah, I can't wait. It's our gift to you as our last episode before Christmas. This is our gift to you and another gift that we have for you. So we do a listener special episode every year for the past four years. I think and are my gift to you is for you to go back and listened to at least the beginning of episode one forty, which is our listener special from it is hands down the episode I am most proud of in our entire two hundred sixty nine. We haven't even finished this episode yet, but I already know I'm not going to be as proud of it as I am episode one. These are big statements, and I think you even went so far before we were according to say it's the thing you're most proud of in your entire career, not just this, like I think you feel like I think it is the best thing I've done in my entire career. And I need everyone to just take a minute, go back, go back to episode one forty. Our list are special on Christmas Day of so it's Christmas and it's also and so you know it's weird. Yeah, it's very weird, but we just real listened to it ourselves and we were dying of laughter. That's essentially what it is dying and you definitely have to be like a slight nerd to understand it. Well, Jill is not a nerd, and she still appreciated maybe because she participated in it, but it is. I appreciated it now, I didn't totally know what it was. So if you fall in that camp and even after listening, you don't totally get it, send us a message. Well, but if you're a slight I'm just gonna even if you are a slight star Wars nerd, then you definitely have to go back and listen, just even slight, Please do it, just for for me. Jen almost made that introduction the introduction of this episode. Thankfully it doesn't work. The audio was good, was too specific for um, but the compromises highlighting it he so that you go back and listen, so that we didn't have to replay it direct. I've never pushed I've never pushed you to go back and listen to an episode as strongly as I've pushed you today, Episode one listener special from Christmas Day. Okay, move, I guess we'll move on. So we have six questions that we're going to answer, and so three for Gen, three for Jill. And uh, and we're just going to go at it. You ready, Yeah, let's do it, Okay, fire away, all right, Um, we will get the most specific one and the most I'm I'm sorry one out of the way first. All right, So this question and I did not have Goldie put names in this outline, and so I'm sorry. This question comes from one of our listeners who has a name uh. And they say, I am maintaining a universal life formally term policy on my ex husband and the value is two hundred thousand, costing one thirty two per month. He's seventy and average health. Is this wise? I don't think I would just save the money if we're not going to this policy, thinks? All right. So I know you asked about insurance, but the answer that you need is not about insurance. This is a type of question that can only be answered by a fiduciary financial advisor who is intimately familiar with your financial situation. Insurance is very nuanced. It is especially Universal life policies are quite complex, and they're one of the most complex. I've written about insurance many times, and still whenever I research universal life policies, I leave with more questions than answers, and so this is not something somebody on a podcast really should be able to answer for you, like I should not be able. I will not and be able to answer this for you. And if somebody says they can, you should question that advice. So let's given a little like brief like overview of when you need to consult of financial advisor a professional, because we say over and over again, you don't need a financial planner or a financial advisor to invest for a retirement. You don't need to trust your money to someone else and pay them a fee to do something you can do on your own. You absolutely do not. Technology has made it so easy and so affordable for you to invest very broadly and very well on your own and save a lot of money doing it. But there are times when you need a financial planner and specifically a fiducia, and I'll get I'll talk about that after I give these situations. So the main situations where you definitely bare minimum need a financial planner. It can be beyond this, but the bare minimums are when you are nearing retirement because you need somebody to give you advice on where you're at withdraw strategies, tax liability stuff like that. So when you're nearing retirement or about to withdraw if you inherit or receive a large sum of money, so maybe you inherit from a relative or you receive it, maybe you've sold the business something like that. That is when you should find um consult a financial advisor. If you get married later in life and both of you are bringing assets to the table, so like homes, investments, businesses, stuff like that, then it's definitely they can advise you in a pre up which is very advisable, which is very good idea. So that's a good time during a divorce, which the askar said this was for an ex husband, so during a divorce would have been during the divorce would have been a great time to seek this help and get that answer. It's never too late, obviously, but this would definitely be something um when you're no longer reliant Later, when you're no longer reliant on that person's income or maybe you are maybe receiving alimony, there are things to figure out there, so during a divorce and then last when you lose a spouse, figuring out all the financial things for your spouse while you're also going through grief, there's too much to think about. Bringing in a neutral third party will be your saving grace in that time. So basically retirement, getting a large sum of money, getting married with assets, divorcing with assets, or or losing a spouse, and those are kind of the bare minimums. Those are bare minimums. There are the list can go on. You can use a financial advisor at any time, but these are the bare minimums to seek one out. That's a really helpful distinction because I think I often hear you don't need a financial advisor to invest, and I've taken that advice and kind of put it across the board like you can figure anything out, and and we could, but there are specific times when it is advisable to seek someone who's an expert in that area. And these are them, So just a helpful guide for me at least hopefully for the listeners as well. Yeah, yeah, And so the type of financial advisor is also really important because a lot of people can call themselves financial planners or financial advisors, and what a lot of them can be our salespeople of certain financial products. And you find that a lot in an insurance sector, they're selling insurance as an investment when they make a commission on it. And that's how a lot of people like, I'm not I'm not going to say that's how you got into but that's not a lot of people get into universal life policies. Uh. So you want to be sure that if you get into whatever type of insurance you get into, is the right insurance for you, whether it's universal, whole term whatever. And the way you do that is that you make sure that your financial planner is a fiduciary, has a fiduciary responsibility to you. And basically that's a legal obligation where they accept they get paid from you, not from any financial services, so their recommendations to you have no standing on their payment. So if they recommend one thing over the other, you are sure it's not because they're getting a kick back from that service. And that's the only way you can do it is that they have to be have a legal obligation not to say like, oh, yeah, we we were like fiduciaries. No. No. If you if you want to be sure you're getting someone with a legal obligation to never take kickbacks from a financial service, go with a certified financial planner a CFP. And you'll see that designation after their name. They're very proud of it. They won't hide it from you. You'll just see c f P and you'll know that they have that responsibility. But the caveat is that that costs money. You will pay. And that's another thing. If you're getting advice from someone and you didn't pay for it, consider how they're getting paid. Who is paying Who is footing the bill for your time? And it's probably the kickback they're getting for whatever they're recommending to you. So is no such thing is free. They want to get paid, and you want to pay them for their advice. But you don't need to pay them every month. You don't need to keep them on retainer. You just want to pay them when you're in these big life changes and really need them. That's when it's really worth paying for this advice. Love it? Yeah, Okay, next burning question, this person says, I'm having a hard time discovering a decent side hustle that's worth it and not a huge pain any advice. Okay, I'm going to take this one side hustle queen. Wow, that title. I've done a lot cancer I've made a lot of money, on all of those things that I did, but I did learn along the way. So first of all, I want to zero in on the what something that's worth it and not a huge pain. And first and foremost, really identify capacities for anybody, like where are you at right now and how big of a desire do you have and or need for a side hustle, Like that's pretty indicative to me. If it's just like I need some extra cash, but I don't have any extra time. I don't want it to be a pain. I don't know what's worth it, that might be an indicator that you don't have maybe the capacity or extra time to be able to give to any type of side hustle. And so that might be a situation where you'd want to consider, is there a possibility of making more just within your current job. Is it better to consider asking for a raise, negotiating your salary, negotiating maybe more flexibility. Do you just need more vacation time or you just tired? Do you need to take some time off? And then circle back to this idea if that's If that's not the case, that's not your situation. It turns out I do have capacity for this I just really do want it to be worth my while. Then from there I would consider what's in your hand, what excites you. These are some questions that you could be asking yourself of what do I already have at my disposal. I think it's definitely not going to be worth our time and energy if we have to reinvent the wheel or invest a ton of time and energy or money into some version of a startup. So considering what do I already have on hand that could bring in more money. This might mean something completely separate from maybe your traditional nine to five, maybe it's adjacent to that. I know for me, I've shared a lot that it's important for me to find something that feels separate from the work that I do. I didn't want my side hustles to be the same type of thing because that felt very draining it or exhausting, whereas for others it's I feel like I have so much more to give and so much knowledge that I see this a lot, just for example, with teachers, like I do my nine to five teachers or seven to three. You guys get up super early mad respect, but then then let me create things to teach other teachers on how to do lesson plans or this and that, and that could be the side hustle. So determine what's going to be best for you. Does it need to be different, can it be the same? And and another good question to ask that could point you in the right direction is what's life giving, what excites me, what sounds fun? Could there be anything around that that could bring in money. So, for instance, for Eric and I, hosting is exciting. Hosting people is fun for me. And so we are turning a portion of our house into an airbnb. That's going to be a bit of a side hustle, a bit of some extra income that I hope it doesn't take a ton of extra time and energy for me. It will be the turning over of the room and answering questions here and there, but certainly will not be a full time job. And that's exciting for me. That's something of what do I have in my hand? What do I have at my disposal? I have a spare room. Other side hustles for Eric and I have been deejaying. That was because we already had music equipment and it was something that my husband and I could do together on the weekends. It didn't pull us apart to be going and doing those things for others. It's animals and pets and taking care of other people's pets and taking them for a walk, or babysitting, dog sitting the pets baby by quote unquote babysitting dog sitting, or maybe it's babysitting, maybe you love babies, or maybe it's house sitting. There's tons of different things that we can do. But those are the questions I would ask, What do I have at my disposal? What kind of time do I have? What kind of money do I want to make? What excites me? What do I have capacity for? There will be greater longevity for us and the things that feel life giving versus the things that feel draining. Yes, amen. And the only thing I would add to that is follow the money. So what are the things that you would pay for? What are the things you have paid for? And don't do things that just because you love them, you would never pay for yourself or other people you know would not pay for them. You know, the juice just isn't worth the squeeze. Like I remember, I loved and still do love thrift going to the thrift store, and I've had many times where I'm like, I should flip these clothes that I see. But I know for me, the juice isn't going to be worth a squeeze because I gotta be hunting most weekends, if not more than that each week. I've got to be posting the things online. I gotta be packaging and shipping and just measure the juice and the squeeze, the juice and the squeeze. All right, So we have another side hustle question. How do you get these freelance jobs, like freelance writing. I feel like I'd be great at proof reading, but nine thousand people are also doing very specific number out right. Uh. I actually love this one because I had a conversation with a friend who is a ghostwriter and she is actually getting out of ghostwriting to do proofreading because there is so much work in the industry. Yeah, so it's funny that you would say that, and I think it's because there is a lot of people going for low level jobs. Where is my friend who the ghostwriter she's looking for like traditionally published and self published like books, So people that have money. Again, it's following the money where do people have in like the budget to pay writers, to pay proof readers, and I think so many people are going two bloggers and low income just because they see so many of them, and those people don't have the budget for proof reading and editing and write ding or you know, virtual assisting. Virtual assistant is probably the easiest thing to get into every that's the first higher every online business makes. So these jobs are out there, They are absolutely out there. You just kind of have to, you know, keep your eyes on where the money is coming from and start start at the bottom. So I I look at freelancing kind of like an on ramp to the highway. You have to start going slow, and you start at these like sites that everyone tells you not to go on, like the up Work and stuff like that, where the jobs are easy to find so that you can get a portfolio. And you start with with seeking out other writers in groups on Facebook and off Facebook, and sometimes you have to pay for a membership to a community that has other writers and proof readers so that you can start to build a community. So you do this and it's a low build and then eventually you get on the highway and you've built a portfolio that you can show to people that have higher budgets to pay writers and proof that actually have need for proof readers or needs for editors or uh some kind of executive assistance we have are like Goldieur podcast manager is strictly on our podcast. So there's even like niches where you can take it niched down to what you want to be doing. So but you have to put in. You have to go where the jobs are plenty but not well paying at first to do some of this portfolio building and then just you talk to people, maybe moderators in different groups are really good people to form connections with. I attend finn Con, which is a financial media conference every year, and that is where I've gotten the most work from the most connections. So going in person two conferences stuff like that. That's where the people with budgets go to find writers. Is conferences and different paid communities where people teach this stuff. I think the lower paying ones will go to the you know, the communities because they know the writers and proof readers are just starting out. But conferences are where the people with larger budgets go. And when you go into these places already knowing some people, they can connect you to other good people. So it really is, is building that speed to get onto the highway, um, making the connections, building the portfolio, and you just got to start small, but really hustle with these jobs are out there and you don't know what you you don't know what you don't know until you talk to people who know what you don't know. And that's why community, I think is so big um with freelancing, especially finding a community that's collaborative over competitive, Like find those people because everyone's going to have like proof readers. My friend has stuff that she loves to read and stuff that she doesn't love to read. If she don't want to read it, she's going to hand it off to somebody else who who might like it more. So. Yeah, it's so it's finding that collaborative community to uh, to build on. It's reminding me of our interview that we just did recently with Mandy about negotiating just going to conferences. I mean that's not just good for freelancers. That's good for anybody looking to expand their skill set, break into a new field, or expand their their abilities, their network, their connections within the field that you're already in. I mean that once that tip stood out to me as a big one for the ability to kind of negotiate find better break into Maybe certain nick is that that you're hoping to break into. So yeah, if you've not listened to that episode, go back to to sixty three as well if you're thinking about how can I make more? Yeah, and the episode to fifty seven the freelance writing with Miranda mar Quit. She gives a lot of tips on writing, but they can also be used with editing and proof reading. Where there is a freelance writing position, there's an editing position, and then I'm yeah, I'm just hearing from my friend that there's a lot of necessity for proof readers in the book industry. So definitely something you have to work up to. You're not gonna You're gonna have to put in your time probably editing, writing stuff like that before you can get to the proof reading. But it's out there. There may be nine thousand people doing it, but not all nine thousand are willing to put in the work to get the good stuff on rampant. Yeah, Okay, this next question I'm answering, but the question could be for you to Jack, how are renovations going and how is your budget looking this is a hot seat question, feeling spending might renovate H Well, my answer is renovations are still going and I am still budgeting. So Eric and I bought this house and moved in August of it is is it almost years yet? It's almost almost and we're still just chugging along. I'm not certain that we're ever ever truly going to be done with renovations. I think there's always going to be something we're working on. But the big things when we're going to give ourselves a rest is once the airbnb is done, in the kitchen is done, there's still so much more to do, but we're gonna We're gonna press the pause button hard and here we go. I'm sure we're gonna have to follow up at some point, but I am hopeful that both of those things will be done. Do I go risky with my estimate or conservative with my estimate? I'm going to hope both those things are done by May. Yeah, I feel say May. I'm hopeful that the airbnb will be done by February. You can't see me, but I'm crossing my fingers. Uh, and then I'll give it till May. For the kitchen and budgeting wise, we're looking good. Of course, it's shifted. It has shifted and changed all over the maps. Some things have cost more, some things have cost less. We've advocated in different places that I didn't originally anticipate. So who knows if the budget looks anywhere close to what it did when we started out in probably not, but but we have been able to cash flow it, and I think that's the biggest thing. There was a moment when we were looking at potentially needing to take out like a no interest loan on cabinet Tree for the kitchen, but I think we found a solution where that won't be the case. So that's exciting. Yeah, you've been going back and forth with cabinets quite intensely. Yeah, it's it's difficult. I mean, prices on everything have gone up massively, and the style that I am wanting for our kitchen is just not only a little bit difficult to find right now, but really difficult to find in our price range. And so yeah, we've been pushing on all of the doors between friends and friends of friends and this website and this in person Countetry place and Lows and Home Depot, and it just has We've been all over the place, and I am exhausted. I'm worn down. Maybe the kitchen will look nothing like I ever imagined it would look, but I think we found a solution and hopefully it'll happen by May. Yeah I am. I am in a similar spot, which parts simihere taking tired, more expensive tired. Yeah. So actually, like I knew. I knew going in that nothing is as it seems in budget in renovations. So I was like, I'm not going to make a budget. I am going to just every I'm going to plan with intention every cost, like, I'm going to do what I can to keep every cost low. I know this part, this portion of a rental that we're currently working on, but then we have our entire house and that's probably where I'll stick closer to the budget. It's easier to work on a place that you know you won't be using most of the time. Um. But yeah, so we haven't. We never created a budget. We've just been very conscious of what we're spending and the quality of it. We go for not the cheapest, but the second. Yeah, that's that's pretty much our rule. Don't go for the cheapest unless you get free flooring from the dump and from from contractors trying to throw it away at the dump and you save it from the dump and put it in your that that happened. It was like the perfect amount of flooring when I say we had one plank left, one full plank left, and some like remnant room. But it worked. You guys made it work. I I do like to keep track just to know, and I feel like it helps to inform me for any potential future projects and to be able to look back and have a clear number of what did that cost us to do? So I do you know me and muss breadsheets. I do have a spreadsheet for this. It's not super complicated, but like with a column of what are the things that I think we're going to have to buy, how much do anticipate that's going to cost, and then how much did I actually spend on it? And as with anything, we keep running into oh yeah, like we didn't factor in the cost of a sill, we didn't factor in the hardware for X, y Z, and and so my miscellaneous line item is massive, always always of miscellaneous, just factor that in. But so that's been kind of fun for me to keep track along the way and then kind of does give me a guideline of I don't want to exceed this amount on a vanity, I don't want to exceed this amount on this appliance. That kind of a thing. So yeah, and then I'll be able to know at the very end how much did the airbnb truly cost me. I'm just saving receipts and then I'll tally it all up at the end because I'll look so like, yeah, we've been looking for we're doing mid term rental, and I've been looking at furniture, and some of it has been easy to procure at a reasonable price. Um, and some of it I have gotten new because it's been harder to procure. So that has been just a sacrifice I've had to make. Travis has decided he hates putting his clothes away, so he's going to give his dresser to the rental and you know, I'm like, well, saves me a hundred bucks or possibly more. So. Dressers are very hard to procure. That's the tough thing about this day and age too. Not only has new stuff gone up in price, but you stuff have to where sometimes by the time you coordinate and drive thirty to forty minutes to get an item. It's well, it's gone. But also you might not actually be saving that much. People want so much money for even their use stuff. So that's been a bit. I'm all about saving something from a landfill, but at the expense of a lot of headache and time. No, so that and and we started pretty early. Actually, I shared my like crazy story of getting the coffee table on Facebook marketplace and it was being sold from my old house. W Yeah, so sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But we'll see at the end what it cost us, what the whole thing costs. Because revealing oh yeah we have fluly will we absolutely will do that episode next year is the culmination of our renovations and coul we would do differently and what we would do the same. Okay, Okay, it's fun, Okay, I'll prepare in my mind. This next question is for sure for you. Oh good, Jen, are you a Disney adult? And what has it cost you your soul? It does cost her soul, has not cost me my soul. She is wearing a Princess ten k athletic shirt right now this very second. Okay, yeah, I am wearing a run Disney shirt from right now anyways, and that cost me ten dollars. I so I am low key, and I think it's because A and I went to college in Orlando, had friends that worked at the theme parks. I worked at a bar in a good neighbor hotel, so we got free tickets to the parks as a good neighbor hotel. So I've been around Disney my whole life, really close in college, but I was never a Disney person. I always enjoyed it, always down to go, but I was never a Disney person. And now what are you? I would I'm a low key Disney adult. And it's because A becoming a mom and having a child who like loves Mickey Mouse and all of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters and just thinking it's so cute. So that was probably the catalyst. And I started running Disney races in twenty fourteen. Yeah, so when I started running Disney races, and there's just like no comparison between a Disney half marathon and a half marathon anywhere else. I mean, they're fun. The second, I mean, the only one that could compare was in St. Augustine. There's a fifteen k called the Gate River Run. That is a fun nine miles, very fun, and that's the only one that could compare to how fun the Disney races are and so combined with like running and Disney and now thirty three years old, and I bought mini Mouse ears for the first time. I owned two pairs. I put one of those pairs on because I figured, if I'm going to wear these, I'm not going to be alone. I'm gonna make somebody else with me wear them. And that's why I got to Yeah, because I'm not going to do it alone. Yeah, from my perspective, your your low key Disney adult, it feels it is reasonable. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not somebody signing up for every rerun Disney race. I know that's a very common thing to have a perfect season where you're spending probably a bit two fifty to three hundred or more just on races plus hotels for everach time each time for races. I am not an annual pass holder, but we do. When they had um Florida Resident specials every January, we always would get those, not not this year, because they only were allowed to use on week week days, so we would we would spend money on those, and I have a Disney Plus subscription. Yeah, so that is what costs me. It costs you the run that you choose to do about once a year, do you every other year? Um? Probably every other year now that I have a kid, I I do want to do one. And Dine is kind of like my comeback after I give birth because it's like a good amount of time. I think between so you give birth in March and November is when the race is. So I feel like that's a good amount of time. And that's a five No, that's a ten k, that'll be half marathon. Jill ran with me a few times, and um, I didn't enjoy it. I did do the running club with you, uh, and that was mostly because when we came back to the location of the running club where they sell running shoes, they had a keg yes that you could get free beer from, so I did that. But the thing about long runs is that you have to be okay with your toes getting shredded and like maybe your toenails falling off and marathon no, none of that with a half marathon that's like full marathon stuff. I just like I want to keep my feet and I don't want to pee myself and that's just don't don't ever get pregnant, Yeah, because you do that not on a run, and do that on a daily basis, on daily bas and you know, you are a Disney person living an hour and a half from Disney, so like some of these things don't cost do airfare or lodging, so it can really make sense and be super cost effective as day trips or little little weekend activities. And there are a lot of ways to do Disney that don't involve like expensive parties and like stuff. So yeah, there are a lot of options. If you want a Disney episode on how to save money on Disney, just at me on Instagram. Probably would want that. A modern frugality will even bring on. We would bring on an expert for that, because I got a few YouTubers in mind I would bring on. So yeah, let me know if you want that, and then then we'll do it in the new year. Okay, alright, final question, I'll take this one because it's directed to me. How many Jill, how many weekends were you at home versus traveling this year? Someone paid attention to my us from the previous year. I did better. I did better this year. Huh. So this isn't exactly answering the specifics of this question, but after tallying things up, so this year, rather than just looking at weekends, I looked at how many days out of the year where we home by ourselves versus traveling or hosting. So one D eight days of this year we were traveling or hosting someone versus once one d sixty seven days we were home. So that means fifty percent of the year we were traveling or hosting, which came out to seventeen weekends home with no guests, which was far better. I think what was it the year before or the year before that it was five weekends and with no guests, So seventeen that we did better just a little over half the year we were traveling or hosting. I feel good about that when I say we're going to do better and when people are like yeah, yeah, yeah, well see. And part of it is I don't think we we still haven't seen you or others in this area as much as we would have liked. That now has to do with renovations, because those seventeen weekends were hitting renovations harder, but it does make me believe that when the renovations are done, I will get percentages better every year. Yes, of giving my time, money and attention to where I actually wanted to go. Wow, Yeah, that's great. You know what else is great? The bill of the we 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 bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. All right, So for this listener special, instead of playing a special listener Bill, We're going to share our bills because we so very rarely get to do that, and yet we all know Jen's bill. I have to okay, uh and yeah, go for it. Okay, I'll start. Well, first, my bill of life is Bill Curtis, the voice of Anchorman, the announcer on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and before that, critically acclaimed actual news anchor. He like actually did stuff before I'm coming around, very cool, listened to some caught up on some Wait Wait Don't Tell Me? Over the weekend. He always has the best Bill puns, Like every episode he's got one. Yeah, like on Halloween is happy Bill Oween. That's not a good one. I'm sorry, but that's just one of the ones I was catching up on this weekend. They're much better than that anyways, And I have appreciated everyone who We have a listener who lives near Bill Curtis. We have of a listener who sent us a Valentine that said, Bill, you be my Valentine with Bill Kurt's face on. Like we I get these emails and they light up my life. They just they light me up anytime somebody sends me something Bill Curtis related. And so if you have done it in the past, know that you have been a small part of joy in my life. You can request a Disney episode and send a Bill pun to Jen and she will related. Yes. Um So my actual bill that I will share that is new is the bill I'm about to pay someone to tile my bathrooms. I don't know how the quality is going to be, and it's just hard to get people to to pay. It's hard to find people to pay to do work for so normally I'm all about getting more stable estimates. Taking the second to cheapest, and I did not have not had that option. I'm really like three of the three. I've probably called six or seven places, gotten three to come over to my house and have gotten one estimate from that. That sounds about right. Yeah, And finding reliable contractors can be very difficult, stressful, and then when you have a timeline of a baby coming, it is kind of like, okay, well then just whoever is reliable, I'll take whoever's Yeah, whoever will come with tile, yeah, is hired. Yes, so that is a bill. I am about to be happy to pay to take my money. I'm excited to see that happen for you. Yeah, the tide, it's going to be very similar to the tile that's in your room right now. You can see it. The fiber through inspiration from it. I think that's what we're going to use, the bay of my existence. But it's the reason we got this house. I'm sure of it. Everyone else looked at this folk fake stone and said, no way, that's too much work, and we said, okay, we'll do it because it's not a lot of money. That's so true, all right, my bill. I don't know if I've said this before. I probably have. It's a nugget hidden somewhere. But I realized I am a Bill and some regards bound. So a nickname of mine growing up was Willie. Why. I think it was this whole kind of combination that my grandmother primarily called me. I call her Gimba, so we just love to make up names. She the whole thing was. I was called silly Jilly Willie from Philly sometimes. Then it was Jilly Willie, and then that just turned into Willie. My grandmother called me Willie for my whole life, and you know, will Willie. This Bill short for Bill, No William bill short for William whatever. They're all interchangeable. So here I am me and my Willie. Oh god um. But also another bill which coincides with just a fun fact because it's a listener special and we're shooting the breeze over here. I am about to pay a bill tomorrow that will be the first time ever that I have paid a bill like this, And it is getting a haircut out of salon. Oh my gosh. Yes, never have I ever paid to get my hair cut at a salon. This is Jill speaking. I'm thirty three years old. Never have I ever paid to get my hair cut in salon, and never have I ever let somebody that doesn't have have degree certificate in cosmetology touch my hair. Yeah, well see, and those are some of my caveats. Is I have paid people who have a degree in cosmetology to cut my hair in a license and all that. It's just like been in their home or at my home. I've never done it at a salon. It's always like a friend who will do it. And back when throwing them bucks was a reasonable amount, I would do that. And now it's not a reasonable amount. I will probably pay over sixty dollars. But you know what, I haven't cut my hair in over a year, and I don't know anybody who's going to come to my home and cut my hair, So I'm gonna go pay. Yeah, you've got mermaid hair. What are you gonna What are you gonna call my hair when it doesn't look like a mermaid anymore? I don't know, so great free time she sees me, Well, it just calls it mermaid hair. Well, because you know how like an old pictures of mermaids, they didn't wear tops, they just covered, they covered their bosoms. It is enough for that I do that sometimes when I don't have a top not not a recommendation or a suggestion. I'm just saying that's when I think of when I see really long hair. Yeah, well, there you got. We've both had two bills that we've been piling up there. If you listening have a bill that you want to submit, if you realize you are a bill, or you've got a bill you are excited to pay, you're trying to pay someone to tile your bathroom, or you've never paid this type of bill before, it's Bill Curtis time. Can we just get a bunch of people to call in Bill Curtis and maybe he'll hear it and he will call in himself. Yeah. Please, Well, so visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash bill, keep it vague for us, leave us your bill, and now it's time for round. So here is our question from Goldie. She asks, what's a question or request you wish you added that didn't you? It's a question you wish your listeners had asked of you? And Jill has inserted or requests No, no, no, no, that wasn't that was in there? That was in there or a request and it got me think it's just in bold. Yeah, well that that was all there, believe it or not. Okay, Well, I guess maybe Goldie wanted this too. I'll go first a question or a request. I wish that our listeners had requested a pregnant dance video from Jen because mostly because I love that. I love watching pregnant women. Girl, you missed it at the wedding this weekend, dang you. I maybe Travis had got some video, but I don't think so. That was n s f W. That's okay. There's still more time. You are a little over halfway through your pregnancy and like the bigger you become, the veteran's gonna get. And I think you did potentially promise me this, but I know that you would you would more strongly deliver if our listeners had requested it. So there is still time to request a pregnant dance video. I feel like I've got like a list of two or three songs that I would want it to be too. But I'll let the listeners also request that if you call in your bill and you also want to request a song, it's always like a for me, the standard needs to be like a hip hop kind of like break it down, stank face pregnant. I was at a friend's house who was at our party in April to celebrate our deal with my heart and our however many downloads. She was like, when Verey, I hear big energy, I think of you. Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. You should all right, what's your question or request? Wish listeners have asked the question I wish I had, Guys, Jen, why do you love Public's tear messious so much? Just so you can explain more. I had planned to look up like publics Tiarra Missiu, let's we can do it in real time. Look, it's the first thing that comes up. I wonder if there are any like blog posts about how beautiful it is. There's definitely a YouTube review de Pinterest says tier Missieu. All of gardens is good, but I like Public is the best, and that says nothing wow for it. But it is so creamy and it is more moist than a traditional tear messiou and I know, I'm sorry I use that word, but it is that's the best word to describe it. And it's a good thing. It's a good kind. Yes, it's more like a tear Moissiu custard with some coffee and cake in it versus a cake with some mars Capone on it. Thanks so much for listening, guys. So as you can see, if we do if we do a listener special, you're going to get Jen talking about Disney, Bill Curtis and tiramissiou like this is her core valuesal Meddal and the things that are anchoring her and talking able to not talk about me dancing while pregnant. You notice until now I haven't said a thing about gum. You haven't. Apparently I'm not as dedicated to my things as you are to yours, I guess. Ah. Well, thanks for being here, Thanks for have you made it this far. Wow, you deserve some tarram Sioux. And as you did a prize, well, well we're going to give this prize to one of our listeners who also shared a review. We still love getting those five star reviews. This comes from tiggoty Fluff. That's fun, five stars delightful. I find this podcast to be so fun and approachable. I liked it initially, but it grew on me fast and now I look forward to every new episode and have gone back and listen to past episodes as well. Wow, Tiggoty Fluff, Jill and Jen are informative, fun, practical, and smart. They project a warmth that makes you feel like you're sitting down and chatting over coffee. The fun, fun structure changes it up so it isn't just one big long interview, which I love. Keep it up, ladies. Thank you tiggoty Fluff, Ticketty Fluff. That's the kind of encouragement we like. Yeah, thank you so much. That's so kind, and thank you all for listening. And for all of you who have left reviews in the past, if you want to keep leaving reviews for us that are nice and encouraging. You love that they help potential listeners and know if this is the show for them or not, because we aren't for everybody, and we always get a lot of searchers in January, so if you haven't left a review yet, this is the perfect time to let your fellow and future Frugal friends know what they're in for. Yes, so thank you for your reviews. We love reading them and we will see you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric sirianni Okay Jen for my very first paid salon haircut? What should I do? Should I chop it all off? Should I shave it? Take an inch? I had a dream last night. I'm just remembering this that when I went into the salon what they did or or the night before or something. No, no, no no, yeah. Before I went to the salon, I had like switched hair with someone, and the hair that I've then now had after the switch was very coarse, super choppy, and super short and and super grown in roots, like almost like halfway down the crown of my head was like super bleached blonde, and the other half was super super dark, again very coarse. Usually the opposite ACKed up like super choppy all over and very short. And I was pre devastated because I knew I was about to pay a lot of money to go to a salon and I wasn't giving them much to work with, like it was all right, be very short, like what what's more? What could they do with this? And I knew that it needed to now be dyed because it was and I've never ever done that before, like I've not died, like at one time I did my own box dying in college or something, and I knew that what I got that woman probably wouldn't have time to dye my hair. It was like this very like realistic, unrealistic nightmare about apparently I'm super worried about paying to get my hair cut in a salon. Well, just don't switch hair with anybody. That would be um. And then like the switching of the hair made my face really greasy, so I started like breaking out everywhere. Oh my gosh, the procedure they used to switch to gas or like, because it wasn't my hair, my body wasn't used to it, so it was like clogging my pores. It was a weird dream. It's a really weird dream. I'm so sorry. So I won't switch hair. I'm getting my haircut tomorrow. Lesson learned, won't switch hair with anybody. I'll give the mermaid hair to work with. And I tell my girl Mariah, take an inch off or actually bare minimum, because with curly hair, an inch goes a mile inches a mile. Yeah, so I say take as little off as you can, and she gets it. Because she has very curly hair. I think I need like six inches gone. I think you could do with six inches. Yeah, I think that'd be fine, and it would still be considered a long haircut. It wouldn't. This is exciting, it's very excited. I'm going to look like a new person. Hopefully I won't recognize you. I'll find a new co host. My voice will be the same unless it's not, unless I switch voices with people. My same hair but a new voice. Ah, that'll be my new nightmare tonight. Go listen episode one forty

Frugal Friends Podcast

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