The Science of Simplicity & Your Money

Published Mar 14, 2023, 8:00 AM

Simplicity goes a long way. Do you know that adopting simplicity in your life can help you free up more money for what matters most to you, improve your relationships, and your health? In this episode, let’s take a few minutes to discuss the science of simplicity, its benefits, and how you can simplify your life to spend less.

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Episode two ninety two, The Science of Simplicity and Your Money. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rice, and liver rich your life. Here are your host Jen and Jill. Mmmmmmm, Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill. And today we're talking about simplicity and we love that science and simplicity are alliteration, but I think it's maybe less science and more psychology, which is also behavioral science, social science. Thank you, all right, great science. Yeah, I'm not a scientist, so this was a stretch. I like words, so that's where that's where we stretched with this. Although there are a lot of differences between like chemists and psychologists, I assumed aiances there. We go, okay, well that's what we're talking about today. Yes, we talk about all the time how simplicity helps you manage your money better, and today we wanted to go through some of the research backed reasons behind that. But first, our sponsor biting off more than you can chew, it's a cautionary sponsor here to remind us that taking big old bites of our sandwiches could be a choking hazard, and packing our schedules way too full could lead to overwhelm and fatigue. Nevertheless, we have just the remedy for you, and it's called our Debt Free Stories on YouTube. Whether you want some feel good inspiration while you muddle through your to do list, or you bit off more debt than you can metaphorically chew and you're just not sure how you will get rid of it all, listen and watch. It's a dual thing, two things. Listen and watch some stories of fellow Frugal Friends podcast listeners on how they paid off debt. Go check it out on our YouTube channel. Frugal Friends Podcast on YouTube, Our Debt Free Stories, Click the subscribe button, hit the little notification dot dongle John Gole Bell I'll tell you when you've got more inspiration ready, ready and waiting for you. They should all be available by the time you hear this. Yay. Yeah, so you'll be able to all. You'll be able to binge all ten of them. Yes, be binge watch, not just binge listen binge watch. Yes, and they get The quality gets better as we go along thanks to Eric. Yeah, though we were not pleased at the time when it got later and later, and he's adjusting the video and lighting a podcast. We are podcasters through and through. We try and it does. It is great. Yeah, it's still so great. Yes, all right. So if simplicity is something you're looking to achieve more of in your life, we do talk about it a lot on the podcast. A few of our favorite interviews that where we talk about simplicities episode two forty eight, where we talk to Bob and Linda Lodick about simplifying your money. They have this great idea for like a literally a one category budget, which blew my mind when we have them on. And then also episode fifty nine creating Soulful Simplicity in your Life with Courtney Carver. She is the creator of the Project three three three Capsule Wardrobe Challenge, author of Soulful Simplicity. So that was a really great interview from way way back, and hear about simplicity and most of our episodes, so just feel free to keep and you'll hear more about from the very beginning. Since at least episode fifty nine, we have been talking about it. So today we're just taking a smidge of a spin on it to talk about some of the studies, some of the practical elements, and yeah, that's what we're going into. So kick us off, Jill. This first article comes from happiness dot com and gives us six reasons that simplicity is beneficial, like six key benefits of simplifying your life, and we're going to go through all six. I think I agree with all of them. Wow, I know that's great. Yeah, yeah, that's very rare that we agree with all of the ones on a list, So good job happiness dot com. I too agree with them. So the first one is to simplify to learn more about yourself. So when we did our spending makeover Live in January, one, if not the hardest thing everyone said was actually figuring out your core values. And we think finding what you value is essential to spending money on things you love and saying no to the things that you don't, and that really that is really hard. It's a simple thing to say, it's an easy thing to say, but when you are so used to focusing on other people and other things, it can be hard to focus on yourself in the ways that it matters. And so when you simplify, you really do give yourself more space to learn about yourself and to learn about those values and develop values based spending we were. When I was researching for this episode, I found an article on Psychology Today that wasn't like a list, so it wasn't really great for the purposes of the show, but it was like of a woman who is Jewish by heritage but not by practice, and decided one weekend that they would her and her son would observe the Sabbath, like the traditional Jewish Sabbath. It has gosh. I think she said, like fifty different rules, and she's like, I never observed it because the rules seemed so restrictive and just seemed like deprivation. And what she found when she followed all these rules, they were essentially forcing her to simplify. It was forced simplification, and it almost felt indulgent, and that she had the space where her mind would normally just go to her phone, or if she had a question, it would go to Google, or she would call her mom, like all these things that she normally used to distract her brain. She had to just sit with herself. Yeah. I don't think we often give ourselves the space to do that, and we don't have to. There is so much that can take up our capacity, cities, and energy and attention. And there is something within at least American culture, of a hierarchy of value. The busier you are, I think, Oh, there's a lot of movements pushing against that, but it's still ingrained in us, like if you're busy, that means you're important. And so what that then does and can lead to is not much time for process or reflection or enjoying the simple things in life, the beauties that are all around. But it's so much stress, overwhelmed, fatigue. But then we just keep keep going without even thinking about, well, what's causing this and what could shift and what do I actually want? And I really appreciated how the author pointed out too in the beginning, before they even got into these six steps, just what they're noticing in themselves as they age, which I can relate to as I'm getting older, I think that there is this draw pull attraction to wanting less, wanting opportunities to exhale, wanting to know more about myself the environment in which I came from, which I think you also see like a lot of people leaning into figuring out their ancestry or being more interested in the culture in which they came from, which I think is a really beautiful process that can happen as we age. I also like how they reference this aim at simplicity. It's not new. This is one of those ancient paths that many religious groups and cultures will follow, like from the monastic orders in the Middle Ages to modern day Amish people or Quakers. The simple living, the simple life is essential to some of these practices, and you know, we can take what works for us and leave behind what doesn't. But I think it's also really interesting and helpful to recognize that there are some practices that humanity has engaged with over the decades and centuries that is just good for humans. And so when we talk about simplicity, it's across the board of schedule and within our lives and just creating space to exhale. So all of that said, there's like, there's so much foundation I think to lay here. But then the so now skipping to number two, that a simpler lifestyle what we're talking about here, can lead to improved relationships, and they reference an essay by Ammytai at Zeoli. You are probably voluntary simplicity is what this essay is about and how in that quest to push against the acquiring of material possessions, we are often more likely to focus on relationships. And so when ending excessive time on social media or being occupied just by being busy, oftentimes our relationships those actually around us can suffer. And so when we reduce those things, it frees us up to spend more time with friends and family. But then they also reference when we give space for a pause and margin and we're experiencing more time with friends and family, it can also lead to a bit of editing of friendship groups. I have a good friend who was recognizing in her own life kind of taking inventory and keeping a pulse on how do I feel after engaging with each of these friends shout out to Ashland. She was describing that she was starting to notice that with like some hangouts, it was leading to like anxiety afterwards, and sometimes she felt like so filled up and really like life was poured back into her. And I know we've said this before. It's not as if we don't have any relationships that have some form of depletion or need surrounding them, but at least intension with very life giving relationships. But like you're not going to create that pause unless you've got some of that curiosity and you've cleared some space for yourself to say, how did that interaction make me feel? What is this group of friends providing to me? How is this going to benefit my life even long term? I think it's a great thing to be focusing on. But we're not going to be able to do that if we're just so cluttered. Right, it's so easy, like you leave someone and you immediately will get on social media or thinking about Okay, what's for dinner, what's the next thing? And we fill fill our heads every single moment that we don't give the opportunity even for like uncomfortable thoughts. Yeah, like, yeah, that's so interesting. So this next one is that simple living boosts your bank balance. Oh yeah, so this one actually does have a study. According to a UK study from twenty eighteen which question two thousand people, which one thousand is my minimum for including survey results, they said money worries affect forty percent of the population. And so if you simplify, and I think that article really that I that I read yesterday really made me think about the indulgence of simplicity. That we don't want to deprive ourselves, right, and so sometimes simple living, minimalism, what have you. They are not the same thing, but they can be equated with deprivation as con saving money but really giving yourself over to the luxuriation. Yeah, like all of the the indulgences that simplific patient and minimalism and this stuff can provide. It just takes a mindset shift of Like this woman sitting in her house, like she got to read through so much more of a book than she would have because she's like, when I read, I think I should be writing. Because she's, you know, writing for psychology today. Obviously she's like, I feel guilty and I should be writing. But when I'm you know, doing the Sabbath, I can't write, so I'm forced into further self care almost. So that's so true, Like just to sit and listen to music feels indulgent, but there is something very simple to that and it can clear up mind space and create rest. Yeah, And so we're in that perspective when we're creating, like we're when we're focusing on the indulgences and the luxuriation of simplicity. Were done with it? I am now we don't have to rely on spending money to fill those gaps, which we so often do when we feel like we need to treat ourselves. But there are other ways to treat yourself that almost feel like guilty. You feel guilty about doing Yeah, oh, that's so true. Number four on here is living a simple life is great for your health, and they reference a study from twenty fourteen, which is just on the cusp of my standards for research studies that they're fifteen years older, newer, so we're right there, which is crazy. Two's fourteen oh Man okay, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, where they found a link between materialism and they define that as valuing possessions and money, and they're that connection to poor physical health. And another team from Knox College in Illinois also found an even stronger link between material and engagement in risky behaviors that could damage physical health, like drinking, alcohol, smoking, drug use, And so then they're kind of saying it makes sense then that in the reverse of that, having a more non materialistic attitude could lead to more positive health outcomes, which I think is wild. But I've also been thinking recently and having conversations with people about just some of the trueness I'm making not my own word too, of that concept of more money, more problems, and money isn't the issue, like it's what we do with it. But I think that there is this principle where the more that you have, whether it's money or resources, the more responsible you are for those things. And there's a weight and a pressure, whether realized or unrealized, of what am I now going to do with these things things that I've been entrusted with the goal of frugality is to be good stewards of that. But if we've not created space for mindfulness and intentionality, I think sometimes that can lead to that subconscious, not realized weight and responsibility that leads to some of those risky behaviors like Okay, well I've got this and I'm not putting much thought into like what am I going to do with it? And this is what the world is telling me is good and helpful and will be effective and efficient for my life, And then it leads to some of this. I mean, yeah, some of the craziest behaviors come from the wealthiest people. So there is like there is a phenomena here we're looking at you old Justin Bieber. I don't know, I'm even thinking like the billionaires. I think that there's just something too. You just have an absurd amount of money, and okay, I know that, like no billionaires are like listening to our podcast, but like you know, thinking of that on a smaller scale, that the more that that's the focus of our time, energy and efforts, there is this strong link between then maybe not making the best decisions. If our aim is just collecting everything I can possibly collect and having all the luxurious materials in my home, then that type of mentality could lead to risk your yea, it's the materialism mentality, not necessarily the income east mentality. Exactly when I was writing my first book, The No Spend Challenge Guide, I came across a study and at this point it probably falls outside your your time limit, but it studied a group of people who had a lot of clutter in their homes like border like borderline hoarders, and then just the like on the same like spectrum to all two people who didn't have a lot of things in their homes, and they found that the people who had a lot of stuff in their homes like the spectrum kind of correlated to less emphasis on health. So the more stuff they had in their home, the less they tried to be healthy. So that was another way that I found simplicity, Like in your stuff really does help because we all know that health is wealth, and obviously being healthy does save you money in the long run too, just for practical reasons. I mean, I just don't have a lot of stuff in my own because I don't want to dust a lot. I be cleaning. Yeah, I had to, Oh my gosh, I had to change the sheets on my bed more than once in a month. And I am pregnant too, so like it was just like I can't have too many beds in this house. I don't have too many bedrooms. Technically, don't they say you should change your sheets every two weeks? Okay, we had this conversation before. We don't have to hide it, we truly are we? Oh yeah, I'm like every two months. But I think the stand last time we talked about this, you said every month, and now you're saying every two months. I'm starting. Okay, we're getting more. We're gonna move on before you reveal anything else you don't want to, So number five is simplistic living means increased focus, which is so true. The more we have to focus on, the more we will just not focus on anything. And that's like we think we need to have all of these plates spinning at the same time, but the more you have, you're going to focus on none of them, not even one of them, is going to get your full attention. And this is why we talk so much about prioritizing and not trying to balance. Balance is a myth. Prioritize what's important to you, when it's important to you, change switch it up as you need to. But prioritize focus, and that means you're probably not going to be able to work on ten things at once. So simplify your goals, simplify your schedule, your activities so that you can have reasonable priorities and be able to focus on them as needed. And the last one on here, number six, Living a simple life helps the environment. There is a symbiotic relationship between simple living and being good stewards of the space that we take up. As we are more content and need less, we consume less, which means less waste. I think a big industry where we consume a lot it the industry itself utilizes a ton of energy, and we often throw away is fashion and clothing, and so when we are not buying so much fast fashion, then we're not contributing as much to the textile industry, which is one of the biggest polluters, and it just leads to them more sustainability as we're not consuming and throwing away. And again we've mentioned it before, it's kind to then like the we're not then taking advantage of people either, Like there's there's both the environment, there's the workers, there's all of it paying fair wages as a part of this equation. So there's so much interconnectedness between what benefits us also benefits others, and when we can find that beautiful intersection one an amazing thing. Yes, and most of these that we read out do have like studies associated with them, So if you're interested in those, definitely check out the article. It will be in our show notes. And this next article that we're going to go through is how to Simplify your life and spend Less And it came from Jen she wrote it, you know, talk about it Modern Frugality. It's her blog. It's so I read other articles because I didn't want to be the person that uses their own article, but I'm here for it. It was the best one, you know, like it was, and maybe it was the one that said what I wanted to say the best exactly. So there's tons of tips in here. We're each going to go through three of our favorites, and I'm going to pick first because I feel like you've got the upper hand on this one. Oh wow, Okay. The first one is to declutter your home. You've already kind of identified this one already. But the less physical clutter that you have in your home, the more focus that you can have, the less you have to less time and energy you have to spend on maintaining and cleaning and replacing and fixing, and all of that saved time and money can lead to increase contentment, which then leads to less spending, which then leads to you being able to spend your time how you want to spend it. So decluttering. I know that we're all different. There's definitely a spectrum of what is the most beneficial for each one of us, what simplicity looks like, what minimalism looks like. But for me, at least I can speak from my own experience. When my space is free of just clutter, the more I'm able to, yeah, focus on my task at hand, get into my work, not be as distracted, and not even feel as stressed or overwhelmed. Even if I have a lot on my schedule. If my physical space isn't as cluttered, then I feel more able to engage with whatever my obligations or responsibilities are that day. So just here's your encouragement. It can be a lot of work at first, but once you put in the big effort, it's maintenance after that, and it can make such a huge difference. Yeah, And one of the studies that we didn't cover that the last artical reference did state that participants in their study who had less clutter were able to focus better on tests. So that's just another like science reason that having less physical stuff affects your mind and also affects your ability to make financial decisions, make spending decisions. We don't think so much about that, but the more clutter we have in our space in our mind, of course, the poorer our decisions are going to be. Financially. Yeah, the more clutter we have in our finances, the less likely we are to want to look at it because it feels overwhelming. But even simplifying the way that our spending and finances and bill pay process looks like can also make us feel more confident and at ease in the way that we're navigating that aspect of our lives. Yeah, the next one for me, and this is one that's hitting me really hard right now personally, So we're a little vulnerable before social media. I very much dislike social media. I really hate participating in it. I really hate consuming it and creating it. I think it can be really helpful, but I think it's few and far between that it's helpful. Ninety five percent of it is mind numbing entertainment, things that distract us from what's going on in reality, and then like five percent of it is very helpful content. So like, there is good stuff out there on social media. Like I would never say that everything is trash, but so much of it is and not trash, it's just so distracted and it is clutter. It is clutter. It's mind clutter, and so decluttering your social media, fasting from social media, whatever you feel like you need to do to get out of social media is going to help you simplify other things in your life by just simplifying that one thing, Like, what's the one thing that's going to make other things down the line easy or unnecessary. I really think minimizing social media is one of those things, because then you're minimizing ads the cause you to spend. You're minimizing seeing like your friends have new things that you want. They're not even trying to sell you. They just are having it, but you see it and then you want it. So it minimizes that aspect. But then it also minimizes just the habit of just picking up your phone and ignoring what's going on and like consuming social media. And that's so much of what I do that it's very hard to strike a balance between like having a job like this where people want to see your face right, and it's like good, this is how I make the you know, the bit of money that I do make and the big bucks that I do make. So it's hard to like have strike that there is no balance. I'll just say there's no balance with me between like trying to show my face. It's like all or nothing. Like sometimes it is heavy, it's balon. Like we recently started dating and then other times it's like a, I don't know, we're on a break. Yeah, so that's how I feel about social media. So if you don't see me on social media, that's why I know. Oh likewise, but yeah, we're just in a process of simplifying, you know. Yes, that's what's happening. Okay. So the third one that I do love, just related to simplicity is number three, getting out of debt. I know we talk about this at ton it's one of the biggest things we discuss when it comes to this podcast. But when we look at this from a lens of simplicity, I have to agree as well, and you reference in this article, it doesn't just mathematically make sense, but is also a mental and emotional weight lifted. Now we recognize this is a long journey. This isn't like a declutter your home this weekend. Getting out of debt for many of us, there's a long haul decision that will often take years, so there's a lot that needs to go into that, but it does lead to freed up mental and emotional space, freed up finances, and just ability to now make decisions for investing for retirement or having maybe a little bit more discretionary income or just not worrying that much anymore, and that is an incredible benefit. So that's a great way to simplify as well. Yeah, and something I feel like I want to point out is that lately we've been getting a lot of questions about consolidating debt, which does have the benefit of simplifying, right, So, like what we're talking about is simplifying, but I think it's over ad vertized because it's advertised as a way to save on debt, but in reality saves you very little on debt. It just moves debt around and makes you think you've done something because you have simplified the problem. So that's not a bad thing, but you need to know what you're getting into. And like, we don't typically recommend debt consolidation because while it does simplify what the debt looks like, it is adding a level of complexity to your actual financial practice. So it's not like a simplification of you know, when you pay off your smallest loan, that debt goes away. So this is one of the one of the benefits of the debt snowball is that you can simplify what your debt looks like or what your bank accounts look like more quickly. So it's a quicker simplification process. Even though maybe it costs at a little bit more mathematically, it does give you that simplifying part quicker. And so we would probably say do that instead of consolidating debt if that's what you're thinking about. Helpful. Yeah, My next one is number four. We're not going to go through every single one of them. One's up front is what I did. So number four is learn to say no, and that that's going to offend some people talking to me. No, I'm not like you know, you know how to say no, so but some people don't. And I think I grew up watching these people. So in my adult life I say the first line. I am the type of person who says no first. I always say no first, and then I take time to think about it and whether I want my to change my answer to yes. Yeah. So some people would say, Jen, you should just say let me think about it first. You're too much on the other straight Yeah. So so maybe I wouldn't recommend becoming me, but a lot of people start with lead with yes, just out of insecurity, wanting to be a people pleaser. Oh, this is a perfect example. So last week I took like a girl's trip with our friends Caroline Vencil Alison Baggerley from Inspired Budget. Alison is a gem of a person and a people pleaser, and so there, I can't even remember what it was, but like, I think I was maybe road raging for a second, and I won't repeat what I said, but we don't have the explicit rating, right, Alison was like, oh, I was like, I always like give these people the benefit of the debt or no. No, it was a social media thing. It wasn't road rage. Somebody was trying to like manipulate, manipulate her, I'll just say that. And she knew it too, She knew it, but she just wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, even though she knew what they were doing. She just wanted to say yes, yeah, because she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. And you know, she's just a gem of a person, right, Saying no to people who are trying to manipulate you does not make you any less of a gem. Yeah, that's what you're worrying about. I mean, it sounds like the radical middle whether you find yourself on one extreme of leading with no or leading with yes. Is that let me think about it, either side could choose that pathway just to give yourself space, just a pause to identify is this something I want to engage in? And I think, I mean, it sounds like a great way of living for Alison to just be a gem of a person like then everybody likes you, everybody and everybody loves to do but if it hurts you, I think that's where it's time for some reevaluation. If you are always saying yes at the cost of yourself and your own well being, then that's where we need to kind of identify some different patterns relating Even if it doesn't always end up in you being a stressed, overtired people pleaser, if it's resulting in that more often than it is resulting in you being filled up, there's an issue. Yeah, Because there are a lot of important things that you have to do that aren't going to fill you up, but they're important, so you have to do them. So if you're doing things for other people that are draining you as well that you don't have to do, those things need to be cut out of your life and it's not always. It's typically not people trying to manipulate you. It's typically really well and tensioned people that really see that you would be a good fit for something and it's a good opportunity. But sometimes you have to say no to good so that you can pursue great And so you have to really either say no or say I'll think about it, yeah, to really give yourself time to figure out is this good or is this great? And that's what leads to simplifying our schedules, which I think for many of us is where we all need the most work of how do I continue to kind of rein myself in from the vortex of business that will suck us in. I do think there needs to be active, intentional, perpetual awareness of the vortex of business. It will always want to suck us in and own us, so that saying no is what leads to some of that more simple schedule. I am going to jump all the way to the bottom of this. I'm done going in order is plan a simple menu. I could not agree with this more and probably because you wrote it and I like you and our friends. But I think when it comes to activities that we have to do daily. Like food, this is also where we can experience a lot of overwhelm and fatigue and can lead to the convenience purchases of eating out or ordering takeout, which isn't always the friendliest for our budgets or our money if it's not something that's been planned for, and so I think one way to get around that is to really simplify what we're going to eat at home throughout the week. That doesn't mean that it's bland or not fun or inedible, just simple like paring down the number of ingredients that you need. You can still reuse and repurpose ingredients, but making it easier and more accessible for yourself will cut down on the amount of times that you feel like you need to eat out. It will have the decisions already made for you, so there's less of that decision fatigue and usually can lead to lower cooking times not taking up as much of your space and energy. For me personally, I think one of the ways that I do this is I'll change up a lot of what we'd eat for dinner, reusing ingredients, but my breakfasts and lunches from week to week will look very similar like a breakfast for me, it's two options. It's going to be a smoothie or some eggs and toast, And that's fine because I know I'm still going to get variety that day. Lunches all have two to three options on hand in any given week, so I feel like I have options, but it's not complicated. I'm not reinventing all of the time and then changing up week to week what the dinners are going to be. Again, still doesn't have to be complicated, but I have found the simpler that I can keep it, the more likely I am to eat at home and stick with it. Sometimes it's really fun to try the new thing and make a new meal every single night just to like keep our palettes tantalized. But that's not going to last long. There's no longevity in that, and we're not going to experience the benefits of simplicity in that way. Absolutely, I hate that I have to pick just one more from the list because it's like people can go check it out. Yeah, you article check it out. There's some like Okay, so there's some really concrete, practical tips, but I'm gonna go with one more non concrete one, and I know you guys hate that. But here I am five is focus on one thing at a time. I left that for you. I'm like, I do not steal her one thing trademarked this thing I am. I am obsessed with a concept and it's essentially just the concept of prioritizing to choose. Be intentional about the things that you are working on, the financial goals that you are working on, the life change goals you are working on. Be intentional and work on one at a time. Making small changes and working on one thing at a time is not sexy. We do not want to have gradual growth and change. We love a good overnight success. And that's just not reality. It's just not like if your new year's resolution was to lose ten pounds, payoff debt, and have a smoothie every day, how's that going for you? How is that going for you? I am sure not well. But if your new year's resolution was just I want to want to drink eighty ounces of water every day, that's it. No other goals, nothing, doesn't mean you're not doing anything at all, right, it's just not taking up the majority of your focus. Right. It's like, one choose one thing that can help multiple other things. So like just keeping on the water. I know that's not financial, but water can help you, you know, get your cravings under control, so it'll help with food. It can help you get your hormones and your weight water weight fluctuations under control, so it helps with that. It helps with so many other different things. Yet it is one thing. It is just one thing, and it's much easier to do than focusing on all these big, higher level goals. So, yes, your goal maybe to pay off debt, but what are the actions that are going to take you to get there? Okay, think about those and then pick one to focus on at a time and really dig into it until you feel like you've mastered it and you can move on. Yes, that is focusing on one thing at a time, and that is what's going to move the needle. We can't all be overnight success stories. If it happens, cool, but don't plan for that. Don't don't plan to be an overnight success story. And really, the journey is so much more, oh my god, yeah than the destination when you are when you become an overnight success you miss out on all the learning and growth that the journey provides. So it's really you miss out on a lot. So plan to be average, plan to be normal. Do you can know what my very average one thing is to the exclusion of all other things. This is a one thing, nothing else. But whereby doing we we we we gain so much. But I think it was an overnight success. I mean it's one thing. This one is the like the destination of the journey. 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've paid off your mortgage. Maybe your card died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's bill Buffalo bills, Bill Clint. This is the bill of the week. So I'm Katy from Scotland. This month I cleared my online banking overdraft for which I was being charged monthly. I transferred balanced to zero percent credit card so I can peel off my credit card without the monthly charges I was getting. Will I was in my overdraft, I was being charged thirty pound a month, which will now just go off to paying off that day. Thanks. Isn't it so interesting when you start to look at your finances and you find things that you don't want to find, like you're being charged thirty dollars a month for overdrafting. That's crazy. But now, Katie, you took you were brave and you went in there like Mereda. I envisioned that you are like Mereda because I like Disney and you just went in there and you said no more transferring it. And now I'm gonna use this thirty dollars a month to pay off my credit card. Yes, well done, Katie from Scotland. Jen is being quite imaginative. I don't even know where Scotland is where that movie takes place, and I'm I'm so sorry if it's not. Yeah, here we go. It was Irish maybe she was Scottish. Okay, we're going to figure that out, Katie. But mostly we're focused on you, and yeah, how you paid off your credit card? You no longer got these overdraft fees happening, So just well done. What do you got, Jen? She is voiced by a Scottish actress. It's from obviously a made up place. So we're gonna say, we're going to say Scotland. Okay, we're gonna go to Scotland. You you went gay for sharing bill a week. If you all listening want to share your bill? If it has anything to do with like a Disney movie character slicing and dice in some overdraft fees or paying off credit cards or or your name is Bill, then know how many times I have to say this? Visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash Bill, leave us your bill now, let's time for you're out you. I don't think I have to get any more vulnerable because I already got vulnerable. No, no, okay, no, it doesn't work that way. You chose vulnerability. This is now for vulnerability. Okay. So what's something in your life that has been hard to simplify? And I think you should go first? Uh huh, I feel like did you write this question? Wasn't this a Goldie question? Is me? Oh? My schedule? This is so vulnerable because I would love to say that I'm just like crushing simplicity, and maybe I'm doing that in my possessions and just like getting rid of things, but I'm not crushing it and schedule. The nicer you are, and the more of a gem of a person you are, I think, the harder it is to simplify the schedule. The thing about it for me is I don't think. I don't feel as though I am just bending to the will and needs of others. There is a true tension for me. We were talking about this even before we hit the record button today. Where I want a lot of things. It is mostly a me problem where I want all of the things. I want rest and opportunities to explore or my hobbies and things that are life giving to me. And I want to grow this business and pursue other types of careers, and I want to host people, and I want to hang out and I want to build community, like I just want all the things, like I want to say yes to it all, not because I feel like I'm playcating someone or something. It just truly is what I want to do. So that has been and potentially will be a forever and always thing to navigate of. Still sincerely keeping a pulse on. Okay, but what is going to be best for me? What is this going to cost me? Not just monetarily, like what will this cost me in my energies and capacities? What will that potentially steal from something else? Like if I choose to go all out just in the social world then and there is a cost benefit analysis to that. There's an opportunity cost then that means projects aren't getting done at my house, or if I go well on projects, that means community is not being found. So it's there is such a tension, and I'm sure there's plenty of people listening who like want to collect all the things you just want to do at all, And it's also appetizing and appealing and fun and enjoyable. So really deciding how do I want to spend like the twenty four hours that's been allotted to me and creating some space to keep a pulse on how is this impacting me? Was that? Was that a good choice? Or would I want to shift or morph that in the future. Yeah, I'm not there. I don't know that I ever will be there. Yeah, I don't think, especially because your value so like very much aligned with what you were just saying, Like to be healthy in your values creates like the perfect schedule, but nobody is perfect or perfectly healthy. Yeah, so it's always something that you'll have to keep a pulse on. I think I have also, I'll just say this and then I'll be done. In case it's fruitful for anybody else. But I think I've realized that I had a narrative going that go go, go, go go was not good for me, mostly because of what I think is talked about, like just being busy isn't good, and I would partially agree with that, but then to also realize maybe that narrative is what's mostly unhelpful, Like I love spending time with people that is actually life giving. What if that's a form of rest for me? Where I might have this very like mono idea like of oh, this is what rest is. It's only sitting down in complete quietness, eating a book, That's what rest is. But to come to realize that might be somebody's rest, but for me, my rest can look different, and usually for most of us, we've got a lot of different forms of rest. So I think it's been taking a lot of the pressure away from myself, the things I put on myself to say this might feel like a lot, and maybe others would look on the way that I live my life or spend my time as like that's just too much. But it might be too much for that person and what's valuable for them, But for me it's okay. And it's not hurting me, and if anything, there's aspects of it that are life giving. So that's been a whole other kind of realization and mostly helpful for me to not just get bummed that I filled my space and time with people and things that I really enjoy. That can be Okay, that's lovely, that's great. What about you get vulnerable? Well, I mean I'm gonna is it a cop out to say the same the social media thing again? No do it, because that really does plague me. I was off social media entirely for about three months, and then people kind of convinced me to get back on. They're like, it's free marketing for your podcasts and your business and we're going for a book deal and every publisher wants to see you're active on social media. Like it's just so sad for me. I feel like I hear this from you, like there's always there's a cycle. Yeah, I'm leaving it. This is good for me. Then you get into some mastermind group and they're like shaming you into getting back on, and you're like, I know that they're right, and you do crush it. You post some really great stuff. You're funny, you're a gem, You're witty, you're insightful, you got a lot to give. And I think that's especially in this space right where there's like a business connected to it, that's a big component. There's gotta be a radical middle. And we're partially now getting into business meeting here. Yeah, we will have to find the radical middle. Yeah, so that's that's kind of where I'm at. I just I don't have strong enough boundaries or self discipline to not get sucked into it. It's it is, for sure, like, yeah, I am I could be more disciplined, but also I can give myself grace for just being not perfect. So that's where I'm at. Agreed. Yeah, Well, thank you for listening. I hope that this conversation has been helpful to you in some way that you feel seen in some way and are going to leave with maybe a few ideas on how you want to simplify your life, and you're going to focus on one of them. You're just going to focus on changing one of them to simplify your life. Try that first before you try through your four at a time. So thank you for listening. Many of you know we have a membership for our listeners who are trying to simplify trying to pay off debt. Last month we did and Eat at Home challenge and the whole lesson was on simplifying meal prep so that you could better execute your meal plan and eat at home. And so we talk all about simplification in our group, and we wanted to congratulate one of our members for a big win. This comes from Michelle. It's about meal prep, she says, you, guys, I'm not a great meal prepper. I have a chronic illness, so it's really hard for me to be on my feet for long amounts of time making big batches of food and then washing on the dishes usually feel super overwhelming. But I think I'm finally finding my stride. A couple of days ago, I got several cans of free fried bean, big stack up burrito toward Tilla's already had thoughts of cheese and rice on hand, and made a big batch of burritos, a whole month's worth, and put them in the freezer. I'm so stoked. I also made it week's worth of smoothies and put them in jars and the freezers. Today's mission giant batch of spaghetti sauce. Oh, Michelle, congratulations. I'm so thrilled to hear of just the motivation and energy that you're finding now to be kind to yourself on the days when you need to not be on your feet. And that's a real reality for a lot of people. Not just how do I prep and plan, but also I've got these various physical or mental health concerns that can be interrupters or barriers, but finding creative ways to work around it, finding community to surround you to help you through that process and think about new ways of attacking that problem and finding solutions that are workable. This is just so great. Well, don Michelle, Yes, enjoy that. Food sounds yummy, yummy. Thank you for listening. If you want to check out our membership where we have all kinds of courses, interviews, challenges, and more, head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club to check it out. Yay. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. All right, Jen, Yes, you know me. I just want to talk about food now one time. What's your dinner? Um? What a great question. Um. Actually I don't know, because I got back in town two days ago. I can't say yesterday, and I just I haven't meal planned. Well I do, Okay, so as a lie, I have my meal plan, my monthlong meal plan on my laptop. I have not taken five minutes to pull it up and write it down. Yeah. I mean that just shows how pregnant you are. You realize when this comes out. This comes out March fourteen. Can I see section A schedule from March fifteens. We're one day away from meeting little TBD little baby Smith. Yeah, so unless he has come early, which is also a possibility. M Yeah, this will be this will be it. And obviously we're recording this like six weeks in advance, which is good, yeah, because you never know. Yeah, but yeah, my brain is already in another month. Yeah. I do think that you should do meal deliveries, like get people to meal train you pre birth and roast birth. I feel like those last six weeks of pregnancy and then yeah, first six weeks of baby. Yeah, but I will say, like when you compare the two, the last six weeks of pregnancy are way easier than the first six weeks of newborn. Like that is really it's real, legit, that's re legit. We're getting ready for it. I was just talking to my friend Eileen and she was like, yeah, the night before I had my last baby, I cried because I knew what was coming for me, what was coming. And I was like, yeah, yeah, so that's what's coming for me. So the reality of bringing new humans into the world, it's just a thing. Check you parents out, well, I'll be here. I'll be here to come like clean your toilet or something. Bless you.

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