Save Money on Housing with House Hacks

Published May 18, 2018, 8:44 AM

The Frugal Friends take a look at the fundamental need and expense of shelter! In this episode Jill shares her adventures in non-traditional housing solutions and Jen talks house hacks and how she uses her home as income property. A number of internet articles are explored and the pros and cons of renting versus buying are equitably discussed.

Notable Notes

    • What the Internet has to say 
      • Market Watch Article
      • Jacob Passy boldy supports his claims that, in some cases, it makes more sense to rent than buy. Citing shifts in economics and the housing market, Jacob gives a convincing argument to stick with the landlord, and enjoy the freedom that comes with renting. 
          • You do run the risk of rent inflation but when you own your taxes increase too so you’re not immune.
          • Renting includes being absolved from fixing anything that breaks, renters insurance is a fraction of the cost of homeowners insurance, you don’t have to pay property taxes, there is no interest lost when you rent.
          • Jen -"we love our house but it's a luxury". The house you live in isn’t an investment, it’s a home. Until you’re ready to incur the cost of maintenance, upkeep, and designing it to be a place you love, no one, including yourself, should rush you into buying. You’re not missing out on anything by renting, it’s the frugal thing to do. mic drop.
          What Jen and Jill have to say
    The Case for Renting
      • Jill shares on her journey of renting inexpensively, living in an RV, house-sitting, and living with grandma!
    Alternative Housing
      • 1) rates are always at “attractive lows” and housing prices are always “only going up from here”
      • 2) Start doing best practices to increase your credit score and decrease your your debt-to-income ratio (less than 28%). Better yet, get out of debt first! Your goal is to qualify for a conventional loan.
      • 3) Save your downpayment (the more you save the lower your interest rate and less PMI you’ll have to pay.) And look at grants.
      Things to Remember
      • Coach Carson Article
      • Chad Carson gives a very thorough description (with pictures!) of his 'house hacking' journey. The article includes Chad's own break down of the costs incurred and revenue accrued from his fourplex, along with a creative guide for others who are interested in 'house hacking'. 
          • Chad Carson is who Jen learned house hacking from - she always assumed it was an option, but Chad actually gave it a name! 
          • Jen's version of 'house hacking' includes renting out a room in their single family home on Airbnb

          What Jen and Jill have to say
      What the Internet has to say
    Ready to Buy
      • Mr. Money Mustache Article
      • Mr. Money exposes the true cost of commuting and dispels the myth that 'commuting is a good way to save money' 
          • Some people think opting for lower rent outside the city and settling for a 30-40 minute commute is the smart thing to do, but the frugal friends disagree.
          • Jen agrees with Mr. Money Mustache that you should pay the higher rent to live close to your work and life if you’re willing to 1) bike to work 2) sell you
          What Jen and Jill have to say
      What the Internet has to say
    The Case Against a Commute

Episode four, Save Money on Housing Hacks, Bity Bae, Boo boo, anybody baby baby 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. I'm Jen and I am joined by my co host Jill. How are you today, Jill? I'm doing well? How are you? Jen? I am? I am fine. I wanted to say something with alliteration like frugally fine. Um, but I'm glad, I'm nine. Thank you, yeah, thank you. Uh So I put a lot of stuff in the notes for today's episode, and it seems like a small topic, like it's definitely no groceries, but housing is a big expense. It's most people's biggest expense, so it deserves a lot of info. I think. So, um, we're gonna definitely cover renting, We're going to cover alternative housing, We're going to cover buying a house, what to do if you already own one, alternative options for buying. So that's what we're going to cover today, and uh, let's jump on in. Yeah, this might be a four hour episode. You might want to take a bathroom right now, just to pause, go get a snack and then come back. Actually, the podcast, you can just take it with you. Yes, will never know if you listen on the toilet, and you'll never know if you're listening to us while we're on the toilet. Yeah, because we've really good, we can meet ourselves. Yes, all right, Well let's let's get into what the internet has to say. Um our first, our first articles from market Watch. Uh, it's why it makes more sense to rent than buy. So this is for all of our renters that still have not bought. Um but I feel like everybody who's renting is always thinking about buying. How do you feel, Jill? I would agree with that if we're talking generals, yeah, I would agree with that. I'm not, but I don't think that I am in the generals. Yeah, I know that when we were renting, we were fine renting, but we were always hoping to buy. We were definitely in that camp ump And we've owned for a year and I still feel like I love our house and I'm glad we bought, but I still feel pretty like, I don't know, indifferent, Like I could still be renting and that would be fine. Um, but I would probably still be looking to feel very strongly about this, like it was part of their child rearing experience to be told like you are flushing money down the toilet if you are renting, so do everything within your power to buy a home. And that's just kind of like the mantra that a lot of people live off of, and and a lot of people have great arguments for it. But I would also say that some people are just like, you just buy, that's just what you do. You just buy, And and that is where I've got some red flags with it, because there's a lot to consider or if you're going to buy, and it may not always be cost effective, and you could really hurt yourself with the type of mortgage that you choose, how quickly you jump into something, how much you're paying for a house. Yeah, there's a lot of things that go along with that. So I don't disagree with those arguments, but but I don't I don't want to bash renting as much as I think it it can be bashed. Yeah, definitely. Um So yeah. In the market Watch article, Um, they they definitely do a good job of, uh like saying what the upsides are to renting specifically. UM, Jill, what what did you like from this article? Well to steal some of the things that you had pointed out, UM. I think I like the very open handed approach that he took to like renting versus buying and really weighing the two outs. So I didn't feel like it was like heavy handed in either direction. Um, but really understood what buying is that yes it's an investment, but you're still paying property tax. Sometimes your mortgage is far more than what you would spend on a rental property, like just you know, renting monthly. UM. So I think a lot of the points that he made were very worthwhile to consider, no matter what side of this you land on, whether you rent or buy, I think that he makes some great points. I think people are just like, this is what my mortgage is going to be, and there's no consideration for how much is it gonna cost and repairs and I am now responsible for that and I need to pay insurance and taxes and all these things that you're not necessarily factoring into a mortgage. You know, people can get excited about a seven hundred dollar mortgage, but what else are you also paying? So I think he highlighted that well mm hmm, yeah, I definitely think that it And there's like a large there's a growing community of people that are totally against buying, and I think that the writer does do a good job of being just like very reasonable about it. And one of the reasons I picked this article was that it was written in January of this year, because I feel like articles about housing literally, if you haven't read them in the last four weeks, everything has changed and they're totally outdated. Um. But I mean the first sentence is nearly two thirds of Americans live in areas where it is more affordable to rent than buy. UM. So that's definitely you have to consider like all of the aspects UM. And like one thing I was thinking is they were saying this um last year when we were buying, and I've heard it my entire life. UM, but people are always saying that, like rates are so low and housing prices are only going up from here, and it's just like it's just not true, Like rates will go back down, housing prices will go back down, so like you shouldn't be in a rush to buy um. But then like also you shouldn't put it off if it's something you really want. So and uh, I mean I would argue the notion that a house is an investment. Um, I really think it's a home. And so until you're ready to incur the cost of maintenance, upkeep designing it to be a place you love. No one, including yourself, should rush you into buying. Like you're not missing out on anything by renting. Um, it's totally frugal. Like I remember our first mortgage payment um was several hundred dollars more than our rent um and only like two dollars went to the principle, So like the rest of it was still being thrown away on like taxes and home insurance and and all that stuff. So it's like it's, yeah, it's just not everything that it's cracked up to be. Yeah, and I think that you can still save money while renting. I mean, it's not throwing it, in my opinion, down the toilet, because you have to live somewhere, Like that is going to cost money, whether you rent or you own, or you come up with some other kind of non traditional housings idea, but you're going to pay money to live somewhere. So like there is value in that like having shelter, it's valuable. Yeah. Yeah, and that's like, yeah, another reason and that I think that it's like a house is an investment. Uh, it's because you're going to have to live somewhere and that is a necessity. And your time matters too, Like there's there's value to your time and then the time that it is going to require you to put into upkeep of your home versus for a lot of people who are renting, like that's the better route to take because it can save money. You you don't have these like unanticipated costs with something breaking, and then your time is freed up if you're in a traditional renting apartment situation where you're you're not you don't have a yard to take care of, you don't have excessive cleaning to do, or you know, or like I said, repairs. Um. So I think that it's important to weigh out like the cost benefit of all aspects of it and how valuable is your time and are you prepared to, yeah, take on what it what it means to own a home. Yeah, And I mean I think I think renting is super frugal. Um. A lot of people have used like buying a house for the interest that you can write off on your taxes. Um, and that's like not going to be as valuable anymore, especially to like most middle class Americans. Um, I mean it's still I guess it's still up in the air the things that you're going to be able to do with a new tax lot. But um, yeah, it's just becoming less and less like the American dream to buy. In my opinion, I would agree with that. Yeah, um, Jill, I'm really excited to hear about You're like alternative housing stories. Yes, waiting for this episode. Um Jill has probably some of the best like housing hacks that I've ever heard, and I want you to go through all of them because I love them. Yeah. This is like not intentionally, but yeah, I've got a handful of experiences that are just not traditional. Um, not for everybody, but certainly something to be aware of and to be even seeking out if this is you know, something that's up your alley. But I mean I think if I think, if you're in the renting camp and you want to take it one step further, all the ideas you're going to throw out are going to be like just the most the most ultimate. Yeah, huge. They're gonna be huge, huge, Wait for what it. So I can go through all of our housing experiences because I think each one is a bit unique and probably has like something in it for a buddy. Um. So, when Eric and I first got married, we lived in a in law suite at his parents house. So I mean really it was like it was an apartment. There wasn't a door connecting the two, but it had previously been used as an in law suite. We fixed it up a bit and lived there for a little over a year, and then once we moved out, that created a space for his parents to be able to continue to rent um and use as a bit of um yeah, like income for them. Um. And and so I think that that idea can be translated for other people, just to keep an eye out within your community of hey, who's got in law suits? Who's got you know, a garage that could be renovated into something, you know, for for a short time while I save up money. It's better than the than your parents basement. It's a step above that. Um yeah. So that was that was an awesome experience. Um. Then from there so we were looking to just to rent um an apartment and came across. In our area, living expenses is very expensive, like buying houses, renting everything, it's expensive. UM. So within our budget, what existed was not nice places. UM. So we came across one place in particular that was it was an eye sore. But we went out on a limb and we asked the landlord if he would be open to paying for materials and us putting free labor into the apartment and fixing it up and living there but maintaining the cheap rent um. And he was crazy enough to agree to that UM, so that we lived there actually for two years UM. And that again, that's not a situation that everybody could walk into because we did have the skill to be able to fix it up, and we had a landlord who was crazy enough to allow us to do that, but he didn't have much to lose because the place really was a dump before we moved in. UM. But that allowed us to live in a really nice place for really inexpensive UM. And then from there it just gets crazier. So after that we decided that we wanted to really go hard at paying down UH student loan debt. So we we had been joking about living in an RV. Like it just happened while we were on family vacation. We we were looking for something that we could go on vacations with and like drag the boat along with us. And as we were looking at these RVs, we were like, these are really like homes. These are small homes that you could totally make work for living. Um And Yeah, within three weeks we had bought an RV and we were fixing it up and moving in. Um and I loved it. Oh my word, I would do that again in a heartbeat. Um. And maybe we could do another episode just on what RV living is about and how to do that. But um, yeah, we lived in at r V and it had every I mean, I'm not gonna say there's there was more than enough space, but it had everything that we needed. It had a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, and it was on wheels. And that's how we met your husband. So we have fun memories of that r V and you redid it and it looked beautiful. Yeah. So that was our version of home ownership within our means. Like, we recognize that we were not ready to take gone like two thousand dollars of debt UM. Instead, we bought an eighteen thousand dollar motor home, fixed it up, lived in it for a little less than a year, and then when we sold it, we sold it for a profit, so we made like percentage wise, we we did decent on that, which again really helped us pay down debt. So not only did we save money, but then when we turned around and sold it UM we did really well with that UM And the only reason we moved out of there was because we had an opportunity to house set in a log cabin in the woods, So that was a hard one to turn down. UM. So we just had friends whose parents were going abroad for a year and a half with business, and so obviously they didn't want to sell their house if they're only gonna be gone for a year and a half. But they felt more comfortable with some buddy living there and you know, using the stuff in the home and just making sure that everything is running as it should. So we did that for a time. UM. And there there are opportunities. As we were living in the house, we were like, this is great, Like, I wonder if people do this full time, And sure enough, there are UM like organizations that helped to pair both house sitters and house cities. I don't know if that's how you would say it, but people who are looking for house sitters and people who want to house sit, Um, that is something that people do. They either can make it as it be a job or you know, like actually make money if they're caring for pets or just cheap housing. For us, all we paid was electric while we were um house sitting because it was it wasn't worth it to the couple to find some body to rent it because they came home and they wanted to live in their house when they came home. So there were some things that like we had to be um yeah, like accommodating, Yeah, accommodating flexible, like you've kind of got to be like a little bit go with the flow if there's a situation like that. But for us it really worked out. And yeah that to save the money, I don't care bring everybody. And it was such as a cute cabin too. We got to stay in it twice and that was so fun. Yeah, yeah, we loved it. It was like our time in the woods, um. And we just moved out of there to move in with my grandmother. Um My grandfather passed away a few months ago, and so she's living alone, has dementia, but can still like it's still relatively independent and really doesn't need to go into a home and would prefer to be in her own home, but yet needs really just the company like she's lonely, um, and then making sure she's taking her medicine, making sure she's not leaving the gas stove on, things like that, but otherwise, like she's relatively independent. So Eric and I are all about like reducing housing costs, sharing where you can, like we we also like intermittently throughout this you know what I'm describing to you as like our housing journey, we have also lived with friends for like over a month um, in between some of these things just like in their basement, using their extra bathroom and and I think those types of things can be explored. It's probably for someone who may be a little bit more extreme and what they're willing to do for housing. Um, But I do think that our culture, which is you know, moving towards tiny homes and wanting to be frugal and um, recognizing that we don't need all this stuff and simplifying I think along with that, like for us comes why do we need a three bedroom to bath house for just one person? Like we now represent three people in a three bedroom to bath home. And my grandmother wins because we're here to help with the cooking and taking her to doctor's appointments and it's and shoveling for her and mowing the grass, rather than us in our own home and her in her own home. Us needing to care for a home and then come over to her home and try to help her care for her home. It's just like, why don't we just share the space, um and and take care of that together. So um yeah, I think like you see a little bit of our you know, just framework for approaching life come out of the way that we do housing. Um. But I don't think that it's too far off the beaten path, and I think a lot of people are starting to get on board with it. Um. But anyways, I'm also thinking in the show notes we can talk about or well I can post this link to there for this specific plug of living with elderly. I know that I've seen a lot of things going on on Facebook of how they do this, like in other countries like Sweden where you know, uh, students are matched with elderly people and so you get the cheap yeah, and it's like that's so sweet. That's kind of like that's basically what we are doing, only for a family member. But also within the States, it is possible to get paid for caring for the elderly, Like there is benefit to just the government in not having to pay for elderly people to be in retirement communities. So UM will post the link. Caring dot Com did a little website on um what different states offer and how you can go about UM making some money if you do already care for a friend or a family member who's elderly, because it does take up time and energy and there is a value to it, so UM that's another thing to consider as well. Did you notice in the article if it was like just for single people or could couples do it? Anybody? So the money goes to the elderly person for their care, and then the elderly person is able to decide who they want to give that too, so that can be a family member, that could be an organization or an agency coming in however they want to do that. That's awesome and like not owning gave you the flexibility to take advantage of all these opportunities. I think like a big thing is that you had a community big enough to like have these opportunities like come to you so with the friends and the log cabin, and you weren't afraid to like, um, to take these risks because you didn't have any thing tying you down. And it's also yeah, it's given you freedom for your work, like, um, you guys can own your own business and um, like you don't be you don't have to be making like six figures a year to live like, and you can go back to school and like pay for that, and so it's just given you so much flexibility. Um. And I think for people who value time over net worth, I think that that is like an invaluable thing to look at, is like, how can I be more flexible with where I live? So yeah, I think that really does sum it up, is the flexibility. We would not have been able to be back around like that if we were tied down to like a really big investment. Um. Yeah. So it has worked out for us. And I'm not saying buying in the future won't be for us, but it's really worked out in our favor so far, especially like, yeah, these are all great opportunities, and all of our friends are like, oh my word, how do these things keep happening? It's like, well, who else could do this? Like, there's not many people who either aren't like tied down to um AT leasing agreement, or have pets or kids or a certain standard of living or a lot of stuff. I mean, we also live very simply. We don't have a lot of stuff, so that also makes it easy to be able to like move into somebody else's house, you know, with all of their things still there and and it's still works. So there's a lot of things in life that a kind of set up to make those things work. But I know we're not alone. I know that other people are like that too, and I think it's so cool and it inspired Travis and I too, Like one day we would like to take a gap year or a gap couple of months and be able to like travel in an RV. So we really want to do that. We will definitely help you figure out that, yes, and you'll have to help us like decorate it, because seriously, yours was so cute, so good looking. Um So those are a little out there um, I I know that it hasn't convinced some of you that are serious about buying. UM and I say this as a homeowner, like that's okay, don't feel guilty for wanting to buy a house. Is fine, Like, it's fine as long we're just trying to like take like houses off their pedestal and like put them back down on the ground where they belong and just like open you up to whatever your situation is. There is you know, frugality at play in whatever stage of life you're at. And then so if you're ready to buy, um there So there are a few things that you should know and start doing. So. The first is, like I said before, rates are always at quote unquote attractive lows, and housing prices are always quote unquote only going up from here. Like you need to know that. That is all marketing. That is what yeah, realtors, brokers, mortgage bankers, that is what they're all saying. UM. So you just need to be level headed about it and know what you can afford. And if you're ready to take on the responsibility of a home. Um, So, don't be worried about rates and prices. It's like if you buy a house that's a little more expensive than it was like a few months or years ago, but you're exponentially more ready financially. Um. Then that few thousand dollars is not going to break your bank. It's just not um so again because it's not so much an investment as it is um a necessity. So um So that's number one. Number two, you should start doing best practices to increase your credit score and decrease your debt to income ratio. So banks wanted to be less than so that's how much debt you have UM to your gross income so that you can find calculators for that online. Um. They wanted to be less better Yet get out of debt first. Uh. Getting out of debt frees you up to make down payments quicker, to make home repairs quicker. Uh, there is so much benefit to getting out of debt before you buy a house. Um. And if you're trying to pay off debt and you're getting that like itch to buy a home, take it from somebody who bought home while they were still trying to pay off debt and just wait, like, just wait, because it'll throw you off. Like we were lucky enough to it only threw us off by two months. But we're like very stubborn people. So if you're not as stubborn as us, like just did no spend months. Yes, we were extreme and so even even us like for us, it uh, it threw us off because it's just that new home feel you need to. I mean, we sat with empty rooms in our house for months while we paid off debt, but there were still some things we just needed to buy um when we moved in because it was our home and no landlord was going to provide it for us. Um. So um. But you definitely want to get a low debt to income ratio because your goal is to qualify for conventional loan and like, there are a lot of options out there, um, but it's well known that conventional loans have the best rates and the best terms. So don't settle for uh loan with more fees and and higher interest rate just to get like a lower down payment and get into a home quicker. Like, don't settle because in the long run, it'll be better for you to qualify for the best loan available. So that's another thing. If you can't qualify for the best loan available, maybe you should wait a little while before you can um and three is start saving for your down payment and the more you save, the lord your interest rate is, the less p m I you'll have to pay if anything. Um and you can also if your first time HomeBuyer, be looking at grants. So if your pay isn't a certain like bracket, you could qualify for some first time HomeBuyer grants and that's really cool. Um Yeah. So another oh posts that we have from the internet is one of my favorites. Um It's from coach Carson dot com and he is all about real estate investing and he has written this really infamous house hacking guide, so like how to hack your housing, live for free and start investing in real estate. So um his like my favorite suggestion of his is one that not a lot of people are gonna like, not a lot of ladies are gonna like it, but I think like really nerdy men are super into it. It's really popular with like bachelor's um So, if you are looking for homes, um basically, buy a small multi unit real estate property. So um so one unit, like get a duplex or triplex or four plex and just live in one of the units and rent out the other ones so that you are an on site landlord and you can rent out the other thing other units and live for free um so, and that the income will pay for some or all the expenses you'll have in you know that duplex, triplex or four plex so and then you can either you can use that to um continue to save for another home like a like a single family home and then just keep that as an income property UM or you know, sell it as the market goes up like whatever. But it is an awesome hack that I had never heard before. Um but it makes so much sense, especially if it's your first place and you're already used to living in apartments, Like why not do it for a little longer except for own it? And it's like you still have roommates, but you don't ever have to see them. They have their own entrance and bathroom and you don't. You don't have to care about if they clean up after themselves. Yeah. Yeah, We've actually got quite a few friends who do this, and if you can find good tenants then it is great. And actually we even know some some people older than us who have been doing this for years and years and it turned into their job, like just caring for these properties and you know, maintaining them and getting good renters and just you know even turned into their income as well. So it has a lot of potential, not just in being a housing hack. Yeah. Um, I think it's so cool. And I wish that we had known about it or had more time to like look into it when we were looking for houses, because we would have definitely done it. Um. We were also looking for single family houses that had a mother in law suite in the back. Um. But those are like really hard to find because those are the ones everybody wants because then they can you know, have their cake and eat it too. Um. But yeah, and um, but I know that there are people that will uh you know buy a house and like rent a room out. We do something similar to that. So this is our our form of house hacking. So once we paid off our debt, we bought a um, a bed, a new bed for our room and put our old bed in the guest room and we rent out the front room of our house on Airbnb. And we've been doing that for about three months now and we make enough to like almost cover our entire mortgage every month since we started. Yeah, so we I mean of course we live in St. Petersburg, which is a major Yeah, and we live fifteen minutes from the beach, fifteen minutes from downtown, thirty minutes from clear Water, so we're in a good area. But I would have to say, like I'm sure there are a ton of people that are gonna listen to this that are in good areas, you know, near a college or um or something like. We'll get a lot of business people that are here. So if you're near like a convention center or like, um, like a bunch of like a big company or something. Um, we get a lot of people from Europe just because they want to go to Florida. I don't think they really care where they are in Florida. Um, they just want to be here. And uh so we have got oh we get a lot of people that want to buy real estate in the area and they're coming down to like look at houses. So we just get all kinds of people. It's not just people on vacation. Uh. And I think it's just a matter of marketing your self as you know, a place, you know, wherever you're near, like just capitalizing on on what you think will be your It's like rule like um will give you, like of your efforts, will give you eighty percent of your results. So just like putting a sentence, UM, like really great for University of so and so students or like yeah, so just catering to your crowd is really important. And uh we have people always ask like do you actually have people like in your house? They're just like walking around in your house with you, and yes, and I will I will say we are both introverts. Uh so, but it's not weird. I mean we have a three to and it was just the two of us, like we don't each need a bathroom. So we are in the back of the house. They are in the front of the house. And we have just met the coolest people. They're so cool and we're pretty piggy on like our on how you can book with us, Like you have to be staying at least two nights, no more than two weeks. You have to be your government I d. Has to be verified by Airbnb. Um, you have to have like all your information uh with them like that they need. Um, you have to pay up front all that sort of thing like wow, and the air screens all that, like they help you to screen like that. That's yeah. Um so and you know, no infants, children, um, like, no dogs or anything. So we're pretty picky. And and that means we get really good people in UM and we've enjoyed like almost all of them, so I want to enjoy Yeah. Um so that's like our version of house hacking. And and I will I'll post the direct link to like our referral link in the show notes, but it will also be at UM Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash Airbnb and uh, you can help us. You can support us by signing up through that link if you also want to become an Airbnb host. And I can also post the link to our listing if you want to check it out and kind of like model your listing after that. And honestly, when I mean, the picture that we have up is older and like we don't even have bedside tables in the picture. So like people we like under promise and over deliver, so like now when they get here, they actually have nightstands. Um. Yeah, so that's my secret to everything. Under promise, over deliver. Yeah, that has been my experience with you, Jen, thank you. Um. But yeah, so that if you already own and you can't do like the duplex thing. Um, like seriously try it out, Like if you don't like it, take your listing down. They have a lot of people are worried about people hurting themselves and like suing you. Um, Like, if you're worried about the type of person that's going to be booking with you, you can like screen people before they stay with you. You don't have to do instant booking. Um. There are a lot of different ways to get around getting people you're nervous about in there. But like we've had single ladies, single men, couples, everyone's just been super classy and super great, like very fun and yeah, no creepers. So obviously cannot promise that you won't get a creeper, but there are always just like manually screen um, so that you don't have like people that you don't feel safe with in your home. Because on Airbnb you can do reviews both directions. You can ye, so yeah, they review us and we we review them as well, so you can you can set it so you only accept people that have recommendation from a former host, so that's an option too. So they just make it really easy to uh to do it and feel safe because it is you know, for us, it's inside of our house. Um. And yeah, nobody's stolen anything besides I think one couple I think may have stolen a roll of toilet paper and that's yeah, that's it. Or I mean they had to have stolen some people. I'm like, did you steal this toilet paper or do you just like really use a lot? Um. But one couple, I'm sure it was like you could not use a whole role in one night, honey, Like I this bathroom would look a lot different. So yeah, and there's still like there's insurance. Um. Like we actually had a couple who put a sep hap machine for like breathing on our nightstand and the water kind of ruined the top of the nightstand. Um. And so so through Airbnb we're able to like so like, hey, what you know, what do you think went on here? And we sent them a picture and like, oh about you know, looks like the bottom of their c PAP machine because it lost some weird imprint. Um. And so through the app, we were able to charge them the amount for like we bought some stain and uh so we you know, uploaded the receipt for the stain, a picture of the nightstand, um, an explanation, and then we will charge them. Um. And Airbnb keeps like all that on record. Um. Yeah. So and that goes with things that are missing as well. Um. Airbnb keeps track of like all those correspondences and if for some reason, like you're having trouble um you know, like getting through to them on your own, then Airbnb can step in. So yeah, um, it's It's definitely something that I think more people should try so and and be less scared of, even if you only do it for like special events. Um, like I think the super Bowl is being hosted in Tampa next year. I don't know football, but that's what I've heard, and so I think we're gonna try and rent out our whole house on that weekend and just go out of town. So um yeah, even if it's just for special events or on weekends. UM, I mean, it's very flexible. Yeah. So we had even considered something like that with our RV because you can take it places. And so we had heard that local colleges sometimes, like you know, when they've got homecoming weekends, all the hotels or book dappa, the airbnbs are but then you can park and do tailgating, so that sometimes people will just like rent out r vs for people to tailgate in over the weekend. Um, and some people do it and make a lot of money off of it. So yeah, I mean there's just no matter what kind of housing situation you're in, it it seems like you could consider, well, how might I be able to let someone else use this and make some money. Yeah, for sure, that's a great idea, especially so if anybody else has like an RV that's just sitting around and they're like, I wonder how I can make money off of this, like and be like, I will drive it to this location and you have to pay the fee for its parking and you can't drive it anywhere, but you can stay in it and then I'll drive it off for you. Um. Yeah, So there's always as long as you're resourceful, there's usually a way you can make money off things. So agree, Well, it's time again for the bill of the week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's Bill Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week. Hi, this is time from schneck so p A and here's my bill of the week. I'm just a bill. Yes, I'm only a bill, and I'm standing here on Capitol Hill. Well now I'm off to the White House where I'll sit around in wait for a lot of other bills to be legislate. But I know I'll be a lawesome day at least I hoping, I pray that will. But today I am still just a bill. Yes, a schoolhouse rock throwat. I was not expecting that. But thank you so much from Schneckville. Your bill of the week was not lost on us, and I really think it's going to be very hard to top this one. So for the rest of you, though, give it a try, give us a call, send us your bill of the week. Five seven zero one zero. We look forward to hearing what you guys come up with. And moved on. Alright, So for our final wrap up, I feel like we had a lot of tips, so I don't want to throw out any tips, but I do want to have a conversation about commuting um because so when I listened to the Dave Ramsey Show and people are like, what should I do to save money on housing? His answer is always like, move out of the city. Fine, like you can, You're just stubborn and you don't want to drive take a commune. So I wanted to challenge Dave on this four episodes in. But but this is like I'm a you know, you know, reformed baby stepper, um, and like we're currently teaching financial peace University at our church. So it's like not like I'm anti Dave. Um. But I did find this. I found this article um by Mr money Mustache dot com and he is he's a little I mean, he is extremely extreme. Um. But he is totally against the commute. And uh so his argument is that maybe you should rent um closer to your work or buy closer to your work if it's in your budget, um, and just close enough to your work where you can bike to work. Um, and then you are able to sell your financed cars which you bought because you needed reliable transportation because of your long commute, and never finance cars again and save all that money on insurance and like go down to one car family. Um. But I thought it was interesting, and it challenged me because we are definitely not a one car family. UM, but I am close enough to my work to bike and I don't. And I sit around, um a bunch of people that do bike to work and like my just a vacation for not biking is that I like to Like I just get in the car after work and go straight to the gym, um, because then I can get to the class that I want on time. UM. But he did the math for a couple that wanted to move from their neighborhood that was close to their jobs to his neighborhood which had more affordable housing. So he calculated that if they moved to his neighborhood, it gave both of them, UM gave them thirty eight extra miles a day between the two of them. And so using the I R S is standard fifty one cents a mild deduction, which if you have a business and you deduct mileage for work, that's what that is. So if you just use that standard, UM, it estimates that they'd pay an extra nineteen dollars every week day to live in the cheaper neighborhood. UM. Not to mention, and that the commute in traffic would take forty minutes each way. Um, but that would be an extra a year, um, which if you're renting, that's significant. Um. It's not as significant if you're buying, but um significant. And that's not to mention like how much then of your life is rearranged because of that community. Like I used to commute fifty minutes both ways, and there were times that because of that I didn't want to go all the way or either way either way I did it if I went all the way home and then back out with with Eric that night, or just saying him, hey, can you just like meet me halfway or come down to me where I'm working because there's this cool thing that's going on down here. And now we got two cars, you know, a half an hour away from home, and now we're both driving home. So like that's not even factoring in the different things that you would um orient your life around because you are commuting so far to work. Yeah, and and the price like of that financed car that you need because you needed a newer car, like the insurance costs more on those like newer cars that commute you have is lost time that could be spent like cooking dinner at home, so of course the longer commute means you eat out more. Um Like, It's just like, yeah, it makes a lot of sense to live closer to your job and if the rent is just too ridiculous by where you work, like, another option is to be on the lookout for jobs closer to your affordable home, in which case you could take a slight paid decrease and you would still come up on top um like if you consider your time as like a part of your compensation um and like, it's easy to get complacent at a job like with people you like and tasks you know how to do, but like being on the lookout for higher paying jobs like with or better benefits, um like closer to home or just in general should always be on your radar, Like what do you think, Jill, Yeah, I knew a woman who was constantly updating her like indeed account and always had an updated resume and was constantly on the lookout. And at first that struck me like, oh, man, is she not? Is she not happy? But it really just was I want to learn and grow, and i want to be in the best possible place, and I'm always ready to go someplace else. And it's not to say like be flaky, don't don't be a loyal employee someplace. But um, I I would agree with the not being complacent mentality that I think that just in general, Yeah, life is more enjoyable and worthwhile if we're stretching ourselves and growing. And sometimes that means a job switch. Sometimes that can't happen within your job. Yeah, and gosh, even if you like your job, getting a competitive like offer from another company could allow you to negotiate higher salary the job that you already love. UM. So there's like not it's two thousand eighteen, Like if you you can keep it under wraps enough, Like if you're worried about losing your job because you're looking like, um, just be really careful about it. Don't like post your resume on Facebook, like you just have to be smart about it. Um. But yeah, always keeping your resume updated, keeping your linked In profile updated, what have you? Um could like not only get you some better offers from you know, competitive companies, but could possibly get you freelance gigs as well, um, which saves you a lot of time because you don't normally have to drive to freelance gigs. Yeah, but that is an uncommon way to look at like house hacking. UM, like lowering your cost on housing. Um. You know, maybe you lower your car and commuting costs and there you go, then you can afford your rent or mortgage better. Like then it's in your budget. UM. So it's not always about lowering every single line item on your budget. It's just about lowering the ones that matter less to you, UM, so that you can afford the things that really do matter. Yeah, word word word, And that's all I have to say about that. I like it. That's a good wrap up. I like that you challenge Dave Ramsey. You went out on a limb, and you know what, He's been challenged. Yeah, you know, I think we'll definitely have like a lot of listeners. They are in Baby Step two and that is my sincerest hope UM and I just hope that all you baby steppers out there okay with UM. I like slight jobs at deaf at Dave jabs at death because I do love him. I do think he's been like foundational in the success of so many people's finances. And I would not want to see a world without Dave Ramsey. So it comes out of love. Nice plug. I don't think he's ever, but no, maybe one day in case the word ever gets back. Yeah, just tell him the Frugal Friends love him. All right. Well, with that, we're gonna wrap it up for this one. Thanks so much for listening. If you want to be a part of what we're doing, you can check us out on Frugal Friends podcast dot com. You join our mailing list, We're going to have a really good freebee to help you guys save money with other stuff. And uh, subscribe on iTunes, Apple, podcasts, um and Stitcher and definitely leave a review if you're liking what you're hearing. That's the best way more people will find out about the podcast. And uh, yeah, it's the best frugal way that you can help us out. So again, I am Jen Jill and uh where your frugal Friends Stay. Frugal Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Seria. Yeah, and next week we're going to have Will Smith potentially, I'm gonna try and see if his schedule would allow him to join us next week. Yeah, next week, Will Smith. If we reach out to him, if we have time, I'm sure he'll be fine being on the podcast. Yeah, I plan to reach out to him. So well, if you do, then write and I feel confident sae, So like, if I'm planning to reach out to him, then yeah, probably can be confident that next week we'll hear from Will Smith. Yeah. He's from Philadelphia, right, so like your guys are neighbors. Yeah. Well yeah, when I say reach out, I mean like, you know, like walk down the street and knock on his door and reach out your hand. Cool. Yeah, so that'll that'll be a good one. I don't know what he knows about finance, but we'll find out. He is so inspirational. Everybody has been tagging me in his instagrams and they're like, thank you for being an inspiration to the deafree community and of like trying on the other side of the screen. But he's so inspirational. He's like killing it on the Instagram, He's killing it everywhere. Yeah, he's Will Smith. He's a talented guy. It's a special place in my hard drive. All right, too far

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