0:00

Hey everyone, Kristen here. Angelenta. And

0:04

reminder, we are going on a break for

0:06

a few weeks while we work on the

0:08

next exciting iteration of the show. But

0:11

we don't want to leave you

0:13

with an empty feed, so by

0:15

popular demand, we are re-releasing the

0:17

first season of By the Book.

0:19

That is right, the season that

0:21

started it all. So

0:25

sit back and relax and think of simpler

0:27

times when we were just beginning to wade

0:29

into the waters of self-help. And

0:32

if you want more of us,

0:34

be sure to join us on

0:36

Facebook at facebook.com/groups slash Kristen and

0:38

Angelenta. We're also on

0:40

Instagram at How2BeFinePod. And

0:43

now, without further ado, we present season

0:45

one of By the Book. Enjoy! The

0:50

following podcast contains explicit language.

0:52

Hey, Jolenta. Hey, Kristen.

0:55

Would you say I'm thrifty? I

0:57

would say you're a straight-up cheapo.

1:01

Oh, yes, thank you. Thank

1:03

you. That's a compliment. I definitely know you get all

1:05

of your clothes off of like eBay. You

1:08

always have a ton of money in the

1:10

bank, and your most expensive hobby is

1:12

probably walking places. I love

1:14

being thrifty, and I think it's fun to

1:16

be thrifty. I do not

1:18

agree with you. But you might after

1:20

today's episode and some guidance from America's

1:23

cheapest family, because I'm Kristen Meinzer. And

1:26

I'm Jolenta Greenberg. And this is By the

1:28

Book. By

1:48

the Book! In

1:52

each episode of By the Book, we choose a different self-help

1:54

book to live by, follow it to the

1:56

letter, and weigh in on whether or not it actually

1:58

changed our lives. Today our

2:00

book is America's Cheapest Family Gets You

2:02

Right On The Money by Steve Ananet

2:04

Akonimides and yes, that's the real ass

2:06

name. Steve Ananet are a conservative

2:09

Christian couple in Arizona who decided early on

2:11

in their marriage that they would live on

2:13

what they earned and not on credit. Steve

2:16

worked outside the home. Anet was a homemaker,

2:18

then a mother of five as well as

2:20

a homeschool teacher to their children. Over

2:22

the first 12 years of their marriage, they lived on

2:25

an average income of $35,000 a

2:28

year and during that same time they paid

2:30

off their first home, bought a second home

2:32

twice the size of their first and bought

2:34

several cars for cash. In

2:37

2003, they began sharing their message of frugality

2:39

on their website and at their church and

2:41

before you know it, they were giving interviews

2:43

to Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, 2020,

2:46

People Magazine, Good Housekeeping and hundreds

2:48

of other outlets around the world.

2:51

The book followed featuring their thrifty

2:53

guidelines as well as their overarching

2:55

philosophy which in short says that

2:57

frugality is fun, rewarding and brings

3:00

families together. All you have

3:02

to do is avoid debt, live below

3:04

your means and embrace the thrifty lifestyle.

3:07

Here's how you do it. Step 1. Budgeting.

3:09

Fill out the Akonimides budget worksheet to

3:12

see how much you spend on everything

3:14

from your food to your haircuts. Develop

3:17

and regularly use a budgeting system.

3:19

Practice saving your money in advance

3:21

of expenses. Step 2. Debt

3:23

and savings. If you do have debt, pay it

3:26

off as soon as possible. Don't

3:28

have a credit card. Pay for cars and

3:30

cash with the exception of your mortgage, don't take

3:32

out loans. Make extra mortgage payments so you

3:34

can cut down on interest costs and pay

3:36

off your house early. Make sure you have a

3:38

large financial safety net of at least 6

3:41

months to live on as well as savings

3:43

for medical emergencies, home repairs, car repairs, vacations

3:45

and so on. And if you're not already

3:47

doing it, put money in a 401k. Step

3:51

3. Groceries. Study

3:53

the store's circulars, collect coupons, trade

3:55

coupons with other thrifty friends. Then,

3:58

shop only one day at the store. month

4:00

to cut down on gas costs as

4:02

well as opportunities to impulse buy. Stick

4:05

to your list and never practice brand

4:07

loyalty. When you get home, plan meals

4:09

for the whole month, keeping in mind

4:12

produce life, as items like grapes go

4:14

bad quickly and items like cabbage can

4:16

last up to a month. Cook from

4:18

scratch, freeze what you can. Step

4:21

4. Clothes. Shop for clothes only when you

4:23

need them and purchase the clothes secondhand. Only

4:26

buy new clothes in a worst case scenario and

4:28

always at a discount. Stick to clothes that

4:30

are timeless rather than trendy. Step

4:33

5. Utilities. Limit

4:35

your showers to 5 minutes, 10

4:37

minutes at the most. Plug all

4:39

your electronics into power strips, then

4:41

shut off the power strips whenever

4:43

you're not using them. Buy energy

4:45

saving appliances secondhand if possible. Step

4:47

6. Entertainment and travel. Look

4:49

at community calendars for free activities. Check

4:51

out videos and books from your library.

4:53

Cut your cable and other entertainment packages.

4:56

Save restaurants for special occasions and use coupons

4:59

when you do eat out. Travel using discounts

5:01

from AAA and don't be afraid to ask

5:03

friends if you can use their airline points

5:05

or hotel points. Step 7. Internalize

5:08

cheap thinking. Stop comparing yourself

5:11

to others. Avoid shopping malls,

5:13

advertisements, consumer culture, and materialistic

5:15

people. Remind yourself of the

5:18

enormous amount of environmental and consumer

5:20

waste in America. Be grateful for

5:22

what you have. Volunteer your time and

5:24

money because doing so will help others and

5:26

remind you of how blessed you are. That's

5:28

what the book says and so that's what

5:30

we did for two weeks straight.

5:33

Anthony, can you imagine what is your first week of the year? Kristen,

5:46

I can only imagine your first

5:48

week. It was probably like

5:50

every week of your life because you are

5:52

cheap. But I guess we have

5:54

to hear about it! So, not

5:56

to be too boastful but yes, I do

5:59

indeed already know. live a

6:01

pretty thrifty lifestyle. I was used

6:05

the same teabag all day and

6:08

I continue that tradition to this

6:10

day both literally and metaphorically.

6:12

So, Dean and I started out

6:14

by sitting down and looking at our budget.

6:16

Certain things we consider fixed like how much

6:18

we spend on housing and health insurance and

6:20

charitable giving. But we also

6:22

have some areas where we could probably cut

6:25

back. Here we are talking about that. Okay,

6:28

babe. So our other miscellaneous

6:30

expenses are haircuts. So

6:32

I spent $12 a year for

6:35

my haircut. Yeah,

6:41

is there any way you can get

6:43

your haircut every five years? Or

6:47

maybe get it cut for less?

6:50

I could probably buy a pair of scissors for $8. You

6:53

don't have to buy scissors, honey. We

6:55

have scissors in the house. Okay, so... I

6:58

mean, but I... I get it. Your point

7:00

is you don't think there's any point in

7:02

me trying to cut down on my haircut.

7:04

This budgeting thing seems ridiculous. You walk to

7:07

work because the subway will cost

7:09

you $275 and that's too much. I

7:13

like exercise too. Your eBay

7:15

habit, quote, your crazy late night

7:18

shopping habit... Well, that's the

7:20

biggest expenditure line for me. Some

7:23

of your clothes, some of your toiletries

7:25

averages $40 a month. How

7:28

much are we spending a day out a week? Like, I

7:30

mean, I don't always have a group on for where we

7:32

go. Most of the time. We

7:35

don't go out unless we're spending less than

7:37

$10 a plate or you've got

7:40

a group on. Which is great. I mean, it's saving us

7:42

a bunch of money, but I don't know how to save

7:44

more. Well, we're

7:46

gonna do it. We're gonna do it, honey. We're gonna

7:48

do it. We're just gonna cook

7:50

in more. Yes. We're not just gonna cook in

7:53

more. We're gonna follow their grocery budget. We're gonna

7:55

do everything they say to do with our electricity,

7:57

with our entertainment, everything. Of

8:00

course. And it's gonna start now. Yay.

8:03

I'm sorry, Kristen. You sent $12

8:05

a year on your

8:11

hair? Yeah, but that's beside the point. Clearly the

8:13

biggest area where we need to spend less

8:15

money is on food. So according to

8:17

our budgeting paperwork, we usually spend about

8:20

$250 a week between the two of

8:22

us on food that's eating in, that's

8:24

eating out, that's work lunches, it's cocktails.

8:26

And the book claims that by doing a

8:28

whole month of coupon clipping, grocery shopping, and

8:30

meal planning at once that we can all

8:33

cut our bills down by at least half.

8:35

So I printed out a few hundred coupons

8:37

from one of those extreme couponing websites and

8:39

got to clipping. But right away, Dean and

8:42

I realized the coupons weren't really targeting our

8:44

eating habits. Alright.

8:46

Oh look, American cheese. I know that's like

8:48

the fifth American cheese

8:50

coupon I've seen. Cheerios,

8:53

Reese's, past cereal. Who's food is such a

8:55

thing? Children. It's a breakfast

8:57

cereal? Like, oh God. Did you notice

8:59

all the breakfast cereals? Mm-hmm. So I

9:01

don't eat cereal. That's not a thing

9:03

for me. More dog food.

9:06

Wait, do we have to buy the things that

9:08

are on sale? Do we have to start eating

9:10

American cheese? I don't want to eat American cheese.

9:13

I like American cheese. Ugh. When

9:15

I was a kid, I used to squish it up into a ball

9:17

and eat it like that and it was delicious. Alright,

9:19

so Dean and I don't like American

9:21

cheese. We don't eat a lot of

9:23

processed foods. We found most of the

9:25

coupon choices to be pretty grody. So we

9:28

abandoned our coupons, headed to the

9:30

largest cheap grocery store within a mile radius

9:32

of our house, and when we got there,

9:34

we signed up for the frequent shopper discount membership

9:36

plan. Then we studied the store

9:38

circular to see how we could use our membership

9:40

to save money. The total

9:43

is $1.2265. Oh, okay. Saving up $37.86. Wow!

9:49

$37.86? Oh my gosh! Thanks! You too!

9:57

Did you hear that? We saved over $37, honey. I know! Ah!

10:01

Good job, Kristin! Yeah! That felt pretty

10:03

good. We were feeling pretty empowered. And

10:06

so then we soldiered on and we

10:08

put the other practices from the book

10:10

into place. I talked with Dean

10:12

about giving up Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu

10:14

for two weeks in favor of Network TV. And

10:17

here we are trying that out. This

10:19

is like another era. Is this the 70s? No,

10:23

honey. It's better

10:25

than the 70s. What is it?

10:27

This is the 80s. It's

10:30

the 80s! Oh my god! Should we

10:32

watch it? Absolutely. It's

10:35

free TV. We're allowed to watch anything

10:38

that's free entertainment, honey. Well,

10:40

listen to the music. Great

10:43

music. Aren't

10:46

you so glad we're not watching Netflix or

10:48

Amazon Prime now? I'm

10:51

very excited. We wouldn't actually have

10:54

accidental magical moments like this. Oh

10:57

my god. Wow, you

10:59

guys are all in. And Dean seems a

11:01

little enthusiastic almost. Yes. And

11:04

that's not all. I stopped using

11:06

my credit card. I stopped late

11:08

night eBay shopping. I signed up to

11:10

be a volunteer at a soup kitchen. And

11:13

I got my company to match my

11:15

charitable giving donations for the

11:17

year. So I was stretching my own

11:19

money as well as stretching my donated money.

11:21

Wow! That's incredible. You guys were killing week

11:23

one. Yeah, but Jelenja, I need to hear

11:26

about your week one. Ugh, okay. I

11:30

hate talking about money. I hate thinking

11:32

about money and I hate dealing with

11:35

money, Kristen. And I'll be up front.

11:37

Here's my personal deal. I was

11:40

raised as the poor kid in

11:42

a very affluent community. I could never

11:44

keep up with trends or go on fancy

11:46

ski trips like all of my peers. And

11:48

girls would tease me mercilessly about not being

11:50

able to afford like the right hard candy nail

11:53

polish. My dad worked his ass off. He

11:58

took a huge risk. He started his own company. It

12:00

went public and all of a sudden when I

12:02

was 15 we could keep up with our fancy

12:04

pants neighbors It's amazing. So basically your

12:06

family's the American dream the Horatio elder myth

12:08

you start poor you work your way up

12:10

you become rich It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, it's

12:12

very cool. But here's the thing about the

12:14

American dream. It's also really confusing You know,

12:17

you're brought up thinking what little money you

12:19

have may not last until tomorrow and then

12:21

all of a sudden you have a bunch

12:23

of money, but you still spend it like

12:25

it could evaporate and To

12:27

deal with this cognitive dissonance. I just

12:29

started ignoring money I don't

12:32

deal with it and my husband Brad has

12:34

noticed this habit When was

12:36

the last time you looked at like you told me we save money

12:39

You told me I'm

12:41

telling you we don't wait since you never pay

12:43

attention to our money. You would not know Well,

12:45

don't we have like a retirement money?

12:48

Yeah, we have a retirement. Yeah,

12:50

that's saving No that we can

12:52

get that money when we're 65 And then

12:54

we're saving it for then until and then we'll

12:56

have our other money But about that we

12:58

would need for like next year the year

13:00

after early hard for a child. We have

13:02

some how much? And

13:08

you don't know how much up or down it's gone in the last

13:11

place I know it's gone down Yet

13:14

we make more money than we did five years ago Yeah,

13:17

but my money like ebbs and flows so that's

13:19

why it's down right now cuz I haven't gotten

13:21

paid for them point is what? You

13:25

like to just Believe

13:27

that money will take care of itself it

13:29

does Because someone

13:31

lets that happen Are

13:34

you lying you're that someone I am

13:36

right now What

13:39

does that mean? I'm saying you went from

13:41

one safety net I

13:46

Have always had many jobs you people used

13:49

to take care of your finances and now

13:51

one person like keeps track of that I'm

13:53

track of my own finances before we were

13:55

married. Thank you very much No,

13:58

I did my own taxes for years before

14:00

you came along, sir. Yeah, but I would watch the

14:02

way you'd spend money and you would never have any.

14:06

Hahaha! Jolynta!

14:08

I... I... I'm speechless,

14:10

like, how do you live like this?

14:12

This is ridiculous! I told you, I

14:14

avoid dealing with money. At all costs.

14:17

Oh my god, you're a grown up

14:19

woman, get it together! I know! It's

14:21

time to change, I get it. So,

14:23

I got all of our bank logins from

14:26

Brad. What? You don't have

14:28

your old freaking bank logins? Oh

14:30

my god! Please just let him take over! Oh

14:32

my god! Jolynta! I don't like thinking about money!

14:34

Uh, so I got our logins and I looked

14:36

at our spending habits, which is something I haven't

14:38

done in the two years of our marriage,

14:40

and I learned some hard truths, okay? Oh

14:44

my god. We

14:48

spend so much money on ordering

14:51

food and eating out and drinking,

14:53

it's insane. We

14:55

spend so much money, we spend so much money. I've

14:59

never looked at our money, and I

15:02

feel like a monster. I feel like

15:04

an awful monster. One

15:10

month we spent $600 on eating out, that's too

15:12

much. It's

15:16

literally because we never want to plan our

15:18

meals or think about food, and then we're hungry and

15:20

then we just spend a ton of money. Oh

15:24

my god, I had no idea. Oh,

15:29

come to Jesus. Yeah, I

15:31

had what Oprah would call an aha moment.

15:34

I love those aha moments because they help

15:37

lead you to your best life. True, and

15:39

as corny as it sounds, going online and

15:41

adding up our expenses really woke me up.

15:43

We were spending way more money than we

15:45

should have. We're basically breaking even every month,

15:48

and that shouldn't be happening. Like,

15:50

we have some savings, we're not adding to

15:52

it, that's a problem. So I did

15:54

what the book says, and I got to budgeting right

15:56

away. No more shopping to kill boredom

15:59

and way more planning. meals to cook

16:01

based on sales. We

16:03

normally spend around $200 a week on

16:05

food and I was determined to get that number

16:07

down. I found the circular for our local grocery store

16:09

online and Brad and I studied it to make our

16:12

meal plan for the weeks ahead. So

16:14

I was looking through it and basically

16:17

here is my list of things that

16:19

are good that like, so we got

16:21

peaches, blueberries, raspberries,

16:23

yellow corn. Oh, there's

16:25

a deal on romaine hearts. So I was thinking

16:27

I can make like a big batch of corn

16:29

salad with corn and like those beans we have

16:32

in cans. I'm probably going

16:34

to eat a lot of like smoothies for

16:36

lunch next week and we can get like

16:38

romaine hearts for you so you can pack

16:40

salads and stuff for lunch. I

16:42

can do this. I'll help you. We can like do

16:44

a bunch of prep tonight. I'll make the bean and

16:46

corn salad and we can have that first. We can

16:48

use that chicken that's going bad. I

16:51

hate bringing lunch to work. Honey,

16:53

you spend a lot of money on lunch at work. I

16:55

know but it's because I like getting a

16:57

chance to leave my desk. Go take a

16:59

walk. You work

17:02

next to Central Park. Take your fucking salad

17:04

to the park. Okay,

17:08

we'll go back to some salads. I

17:11

would say maybe on Fridays we both

17:13

get to buy lunch or something but like we

17:15

don't need to do it for five days a

17:17

week. We don't need to buy lunches. Damn

17:19

girl. Look at you getting all scoldy

17:21

with Brad. I'm

17:23

a money taskmaster now. You didn't even know what

17:26

a circular was before I bet. I

17:28

did know but then I forgot and

17:30

then I remembered. Very

17:34

funny. Moving on. Sorting

17:37

through expenses is one thing but living the

17:39

cheap lifestyle is another and week one got

17:42

hard. First, I had to return a dress

17:44

that I bought weeks before. What part about

17:46

that? Well normally I would just stay at

17:48

the store after I return it and pick

17:50

something else out and buy something else new

17:52

just for fun. But instead I had to

17:54

just leave and that sucked. And

17:57

then later in week one a friend asked me to go to

17:59

the store. For drinks and I had

18:01

a dollar Know because I had and

18:03

budgeted for extra drinks and America see

18:05

the family was killing my social life.

18:08

Those economies me to you. economize

18:10

it. Yeah, get it by a

18:12

horrible death of a society thing.

18:15

Did it say that? It so.

18:17

Did. The economy. These turn you off so

18:20

much that you quit the book quite you have

18:22

in the past when talking memory but yeah that

18:24

does sound like something I would do that you're

18:26

gonna have to wait until we to to find.

18:28

Out if I give up or not. Alright alright.

18:30

Whoa. Wait until then. You

18:45

find yourself waiting for your news feed on

18:47

Facebook. Or Twitter wishing you just call someone

18:49

up and ask what do really need to

18:51

pay attention? To hear. But

18:53

what if you could? I'm

18:57

Mary Harris. A host of what next

18:59

Fleet's new daily news podcast and every

19:01

weekday morning I'm going to be on

19:03

call for you didn't you inside? Story

19:06

going to be behind. The. Next.

19:11

scrolling. To

19:13

Listen: subscribe now on Apple

19:15

Podcasts are Fi or. Wherever he

19:17

with them. So.

19:24

How was your week to of living

19:27

by America? Super family crest and Wow!

19:29

Bye week to! I must confess, the

19:31

menus I'd planned had gotten pretty. Boring.

19:34

And maybe that's my fault because maybe

19:36

I just don't know enough recipes. But

19:38

I also missed eating out. I missed

19:40

having spur of the moment variety yeah,

19:42

as boring to eat stockpiled said yeah

19:44

and. The novelty of network Tv was. Completely

19:46

over by week to plus I missed

19:49

my late night eve a shopping of.

19:51

And love my late night eat a shopping, adding

19:54

things to the clerk, taken things out of the

19:56

cart, putting other things in the carts. As Dean

19:58

said earlier, I spend about forty. There's a

20:00

month on this habit and I just love

20:02

that habit of it's such a good have

20:04

I have the same habit but I use

20:06

real stars were not like you I'm a

20:08

responsible online supper to lend to I saw

20:10

second hand everything I buy class eight dollars

20:13

and as the week war on there was

20:15

getting more and more unhappy live in the

20:17

cheapest family way especially when my stockpile of

20:19

produce started going bad. Say.

20:22

Oh. Yes,

20:31

Sir. No smell.

20:39

The smoke. But we're. For

20:42

just know. If

20:44

all my protest going back in it's not a

20:46

two week for to visit to do. For

20:49

you can yeah it's too late

20:51

now. Allows boiled real should have

20:53

for us all of issues. I

20:55

know what, it's too late, but only

20:57

for hi. Nice to my just not

21:00

for seventy five of us. Sitting

21:05

on. A. Sumptuous, Okay,

21:13

So you had to live without produce

21:16

for the rest of we to. Know

21:18

I I actually touch Dean into urban

21:20

foraging with me for. Mulberries? Where

21:23

are their mulberries in

21:25

Brooklyn? We kristin with some from our

21:27

neighbor front yard. okay that's probably the stealing

21:29

not urban for I read my produce don't

21:32

want to. You know that's like eighty percent

21:34

of what I eat as produce I would

21:36

getting desperate and then by the end of

21:38

week to. I saw on broke

21:40

down and eat some fun. So. I

21:42

talked to Dean into going on a super

21:45

expensive date. We ate out, we went to

21:47

a movie. We spent over seventy dollars. But

21:50

it didn't stop there. Was

21:54

a young man on earth some

21:56

less of an idea? To

21:58

plan. Ring.

22:03

Center. Or

22:05

known as and the source of

22:07

sore throat. Before he was he

22:10

proceeded. Oh I remember that

22:12

night that was an eye view Indians right?

22:14

Dialed me and Brad and tried to convince

22:16

us to join you out and spend a

22:19

ton of money. Drunk dialing implies that there

22:21

was no intent. We actually did want to

22:23

see you guys and we wanted you to

22:25

party with us. And it was a sunny

22:27

day. We were sitting outside drinking and frankly,

22:30

I. Needed some point and I thought you would

22:32

pry. Need some fun to by the end of

22:34

with to our something An amazing time on my

22:36

own being seat. Thank you very much so really

22:39

well that's a good segue. Tell us all about

22:41

your cheap week to and if you were able

22:43

to actually stick to the book I didn't quit.

22:45

Christian Who has? I'm Not Like you this week.

22:49

All birds Yes! And you know that friend

22:51

who invited me out for drinks and I

22:53

had to decline? While. I countered

22:55

offer with an invitation to dinner at my

22:58

house and we had a lovely time eating

23:00

for cheap and sipping some wine someone had

23:02

given us as a gift from so civil

23:04

I was. We had a blast and we

23:06

basically spent no money and after that and

23:08

are my friend texted me and said thanks

23:10

again for making dinner and for such a

23:12

great evening. I never get messages like that

23:14

after a night of just going out with

23:16

my girls like it's all ten of nice

23:18

and special. I would have sent you that

23:20

kind of text after slushy nine. he would

23:23

have been too drunk. Christian. System

23:26

but. You. Are enjoying a ring

23:28

to it. Sounds like. Oh totally. I wasn't

23:30

really liking week to. I was especially

23:32

like in my free activities. Of my

23:34

a lot more walks, I was taking my

23:36

dog to the local dog run every day

23:39

and I was very much enjoying borrowing my

23:41

parents. Streaming see the account

23:43

Zola. You. Can't be borrowing. We're

23:45

supposed to be living the economy. These life

23:48

that we were on a media is say

23:50

to ask your friends for what you need

23:52

and see what you can borrow some. I

23:54

asked my friend my dad for his cable

23:56

password and he said I could borrow it

23:58

indefinitely. I don't know

24:01

about that one. I think it's fully counts,

24:03

but if you don't think that counts as

24:05

a free activity, how about this activity? Taken

24:07

fried stuff off the street? I'm walking home

24:10

from the dog. Park and and

24:12

start on the sidewalk. Because

24:14

on this person stoop is

24:17

a sign that says Free

24:19

Tomato Plants Take one. And

24:22

they're too little tomato plants and to

24:25

little balls. And. Since

24:28

I live in much replies we take

24:30

this three little tomato plants. Give

24:32

it a good home. Little

24:35

day. Off!

24:37

So cute on access

24:39

my neighborhood associates. Ah.

24:42

I love S S.

24:45

Look. At that you were just telling me

24:48

I was stealing those berries in my

24:50

neighborhood. but you're taken plants. The sign

24:52

said free take one. Okay, so you

24:54

can rationalise all you want to, but

24:56

my question is was all you're stealing

24:58

Hoping you to save money at the

25:00

end of this two weeks living the

25:02

economy these way. Where. You actually.

25:04

Flush with cash well at the end

25:06

of week too. Broad minded some math.

25:09

Here it is, buy houses he says.

25:11

Seventy dollars I say This

25:14

week on food we well

25:16

as bad. Or

25:19

rounds honor and thirty dollars.

25:21

Normally it we spend

25:23

our navy dollars. As

25:26

for groceries and sands of Food

25:28

hailed as a meal delivery service

25:30

so. That that's good.

25:32

We cut down fifty bucks just by meeting. I'm

25:34

aware of it for the first time, let

25:36

alone if I like actually get good. At

25:38

this so we're not miracle workers. But that's a

25:41

pretty solid start I think. Oh, I totally agree.

25:43

That's enough to get me a haircut and an

25:45

E Bay shopping month. Yes, if we go, I

25:47

can get a Christian. Have to. Live

25:51

in the Dream. Now

25:54

while I am desperate says as. keep going

25:56

and give you my verdict right now burst

25:58

and want her mind or listeners that we

26:00

want to hear from you. Have you lived

26:02

by this book? Are you a member of

26:05

America's cheapest family? Where should I invest my

26:07

money? Do you reuse your tea bags over

26:09

and over and over again every day like

26:11

I do? Share your story by emailing us

26:13

at buythebookatpanoply.fm or leave us a voicemail

26:16

at 505-510-book. Okay,

26:36

Kristen, let's get down to

26:39

business. Did America's Cheapest Family gets you

26:41

right on the money? Actually work.

26:44

Would we recommend it? So I'd say

26:46

there's a lot of good in this book. So

26:48

much of it aligns with what Dean and I

26:50

already do in our day-to-day lives. We already save

26:52

water by taking five-minute showers. We already eat a

26:55

lot of leftovers. We go to museums on the

26:57

free days. We do all that stuff and

27:00

I love the book's emphasis on

27:02

being grateful for what we have, being

27:04

charitable and not comparing ourselves to

27:06

others. You know that AA thing? Don't

27:08

compare your insides to other people's outsides.

27:11

The book totally nails that way of thinking and

27:14

I commend it for that. Totally agree. But

27:16

the book also has some problems especially the

27:18

whole grocery shopping and menu planning part. Yes,

27:21

they saved us money but they also took away

27:23

a lot of the spontaneity and fun from our

27:25

lives. Dean and I usually shop for groceries several

27:28

times a week. We'll buy what's seasonal

27:30

and what we're in the mood for and yeah

27:32

maybe it costs more but it's what makes us

27:34

happy. And you know

27:36

what? Maybe it doesn't actually cost us

27:39

that much more because at least when we're buying

27:41

when we feel like it on a regular basis

27:43

our food doesn't go rotten. Also

27:45

can we talk for a moment about how

27:47

some of their choices aren't even smart? What

27:49

do you mean? So for example they don't

27:51

want us to use credit cards but what

27:53

if our credit cards earn us airline miles

27:55

and we pay them off at the end

27:57

of every month? You'd think they'd be in

27:59

favor. of that because then you're getting

28:01

free airline miles but instead they suggest we

28:03

use our friends airline miles and hotel points

28:05

and so on. So that's just leeching off

28:08

of other people when we could be earning

28:10

that ourselves with our own credit cards.

28:12

True, that makes sense. Finally, we

28:14

haven't really mentioned it much here but I

28:16

think their religious views and specifically the

28:20

1950s gender roles they subscribe to

28:23

might not jive very well

28:25

with me and probably with some other readers out

28:27

there too. You mean their emphasis on homemaking and

28:29

how women's place is in the home? You know,

28:31

you shouldn't have a job, you should just homeschool

28:33

your kids. I mean they're not telling everyone else

28:35

to do that but they make it very clear

28:37

that that's their priorities and they mentioned

28:39

church a lot throughout the book. I

28:42

mean dressing modestly? Oh yes, they

28:45

do mention dressing modestly. That's one of the benefits

28:47

of buying secondhand clothes. You won't fall prey to

28:49

the slutty fashions that are out now. I

28:52

just don't think that's gonna jive with everyone. At times

28:54

it really rubbed me the wrong way although

28:56

it also kind of rubbed me the right

28:58

way because I also love 19 kids and

29:00

counting and weird conservative Christian

29:03

extreme family television like

29:05

that in a way. I feel kind of dirty revealing

29:08

that. No, it's not dirty. I kind of

29:10

love that stuff too so it was weird because it

29:12

kind of rubbed me the wrong way but it also

29:14

sort of scratched in its mind. I know exactly what

29:16

you mean. Anywho, I would say my verdict for the

29:18

book is follow most of their money

29:21

savings tips if you aren't already frugal. Definitely

29:23

internalize their mindset about being

29:26

grateful for what you have, being

29:28

charitable, not comparing yourself. That's

29:30

the best stuff in the book for me. Let's

29:32

skip the crazy stuff like their suggestion of only

29:34

going grocery shopping once a month and not using

29:36

a credit card. I just don't think that stuff

29:39

makes any sense. Mm-hmm. I follow. How about you,

29:41

Jelena? What's your verdict? I love

29:43

this book. Whoa! I am in

29:46

love with this book. Wow!

29:48

I love it because it's a two-fold love.

29:51

I love it because it

29:53

gives great tips about money. I love their

29:55

mindset stuff and I love that a lot

29:58

of their tips are also very eco-friendly. about

30:00

like electricity and water like I love

30:02

it. I also love this book because it

30:04

reads like a trashy reality show. Oh,

30:07

it does. Yeah. It is like if

30:09

a financial advisor and the TV show Sister Wives

30:11

had a baby and like I'm very on board

30:13

for that baby. And

30:16

that baby is a self-help book. Yes. Yes,

30:18

they are extreme and crazy, but it's

30:20

so entertaining and their tips are so

30:23

good. Like it doesn't matter and also

30:25

they know they're extreme. They mention it

30:27

all the time, Kristen. I feel like

30:29

you take them more seriously than like

30:32

they want to be taken seriously. Even

30:35

in their book, they break down at the end

30:37

of each chapter like the how-to tips and they

30:39

break it down for different levels of commitment. Yeah,

30:41

you know, they say like if you're just dipping

30:43

your toe into the water of savings, only

30:46

plan your dinners for one week and do

30:48

the grocery shopping for that week. They say

30:50

you don't have to be crazy like us and

30:52

do it all in a month. Like start with

30:54

dinner, maybe work your way up to lunch. You

30:56

know, they break it down for non crazy thrifty

30:59

people in really digestible ways and they also have

31:01

the appeal of being like kind

31:03

of like fun to watch. I

31:06

was gonna say freak show, but that's not. That

31:08

is not appropriate at all for this context.

31:10

They're just so extreme. It's so

31:13

fun to read about them. Yeah,

31:15

I would agree with that. I would agree with that. Yeah. I

31:18

could not put the book down when I read it. It's

31:20

such a fun read like and I mean,

31:22

obviously I learned a ton. I never think about

31:25

money. I'm way more aware. I'm tracking my

31:27

spending. I'm thinking about our meals.

31:29

Like it truly changed my life

31:32

and I like can't wait to give this

31:34

book to a friend and be like these people are

31:36

amazing. Oh my God, I'm so proud of you.

31:38

I'm so on board with this book. Full

31:41

recommendation. Oh, D'Lenta,

31:43

you're a grown-up money woman now.

31:46

I'm a grown-up now. Plus

31:48

my husband's really happy I like know our

31:50

bank logins. And

32:04

that's it for this episode of By

32:06

the Book. Our producer is the amazingly

32:08

frugal camera-ders who only eat

32:10

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every

32:13

meal of every day. Our

32:15

managing producer is Mia Lobel. Thanks also

32:17

to our composer Nate Wieda and to

32:19

Andy Bowers at Panoply. And please stay

32:21

in touch with us. Let us know

32:23

if you've lived by America's cheapest family.

32:25

How did it work for you? Did

32:27

it not work? Do you have any

32:29

money-saving tips you want us to know

32:31

about? Send us questions or suggestions for

32:33

future books. Just talk to us all the

32:35

time. We love hearing from you. Our email

32:38

address is bythebook at panoply.fm.

32:40

You can also tweet us at jolintag.

32:43

At kristenminzer. Or at

32:46

bythebookpod. And don't forget you can call us

32:48

and leave us a voicemail at 505510book. Did

32:52

you know we have a Facebook page now? I

32:54

did know. Get on that Facebook page folks.

32:57

Like us. Talk to us. We love you.

32:59

We love you. We love you. We

33:01

love you. We love everything. Yeah. Until

33:04

next time you guys I'm Jelenda Greenberg. And I'm Kristin Meisner.

33:06

Thanks for listening. Bye bye. Bye. Bye.

33:10

Bye. Bye. I'm

33:14

Jelenda Greenberg.

33:18

And I'm Kristi. I

33:21

was gonna say Thrifty Kristi but like that no. No.

33:24

No I'm not gonna do it. Why can't I

33:26

just say. Just shut up and say your goddamn

33:28

name. I'm not gonna talk about being thrifty again.

33:30

I'm thrifty. I'm thrifty.