71. A Modern Perspective on Frugality with Jen Smith of the Frugal Friends Podcast

The Fiscal Feminist

What comes to mind when you hear the word “frugal"? If you think of strict budgets or of refusing to spend money on things that matter, it might be time to re-examine your relationship to the word! In this episode, Jen Smith explains what it actually means to be frugal in the modern world and shares her own journey of finding balance between saving money and enjoying life. Jen is an author and podcast host helping people pay off debt and reduce their spending, and she offers listeners her top tips for meal planning, reducing food waste, and making the most of the home you live in.

Episode Recap:

• Today we’re examining our relationship with spending and frugality with Jen Smith (1:05)
• Can you tell us about your journey to becoming frugal? (5:09)
• What does the modern frugal lifestyle mean to you? (10:40)
• How do you balance living frugally and enjoying life? (18:00)
• Can you share your top tips for meal planning and prepping? (24:28)
• What recommendations do you have around housing? (31:46)
• It’s not about not spending, it’s about spending on the things you value (36:24)
• How can we avoid shame around saying no? (42:35)
• Frugality is being confident and authentic about what you value (48:28)
• Where to learn more from Jen (52:25)

Resources:

• Find every episode of The Fiscal Feminist podcast
• Watch The Fiscal Feminist episodes on YouTube
• Sign up to join Kimberlee on the podcast
• “The Fiscal Feminist” book
• Listen to the Frugal Friends podcast and subscribe to their newsletter
• Find Jen’s books on Amazon
• Follow Jen on Instagram and LinkedIn
• Subscribe to Frugal Friends on YouTube

Quotes:

“We are trying to rebrand frugality into this lifestyle of freedom where you actually know what you want, can afford it, and you can create habits and boundaries to say no more easily. Because we will say, we love intentional spending, so why don’t we just talk about that and forget the word frugality? It’s archaic, it’s got bad vibes, we really want to reclaim this word, because frugality is about so much more than intentional spending. We can’t be intentional 100% of the time. Sometimes your mind just takes over and you’re working off habit, working mindlessly, so we want to work with our minds to create habits that conserve resources, so not just money, but conserve time, physical space, mental energy, all of that stuff. We believe frugality is the conservation or the good stewardship of all these resources, and we can, yes, be intentional to conserve them, but we can also create psychological barriers and aids, shortcuts that help us do it even when we’re not being ‘intentional.’”

“A hundred years ago, frugality was seen as this somebody who is creative, who is resilient, who can reuse and repurpose things. When you were frugal, you were seen as a really intelligent person who really valued quality and keeping their things well functioning. So, it was this lauded quality about you. And over the last hundred years, marketers have made us believe that we are consumers first and people second. So, to be a person of worth, you must be a consumer, you’re not of worth simply because you are a person. And so that is the reason why we want to bring frugality back.”