Latest / Stacked Intent: Your Guide to Authentic, Intentional Living / How to Stretch Your Dollar Further and Make Your Money Work Harder for You

Transcript

How to Stretch Your Dollar Further and Make Your Money Work Harder for You · Stacked Intent: Your Guide to Authentic, Intentional Living

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, my name is Becca Stackhouse Morrison, and I am ready for you to tune in each episode to hear ways to become you.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Looking at ways you can be your authentic and intentional self, you'll finish each episode motivated to live life more authentically.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: I learned how to be truly me through relationships, chronic disease, finances, and taking each journey along the way.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about the real aspects of life?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Relationships, finance, nutrition, hardships, exercise are all topics that we will discuss.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Pull up a seat, drive safely down the road, or get into that workout groove to be challenged, motivated, and encouraged to be you.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Stacked Intent podcast.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Stacked Intent, where we're gonna discuss and drop some tips on how you can be intentionally stacking your life.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: I am Becca, the owner of Stacked Intent, and so today we're gonna be talking about ways you can stretch your dollar with our guest, Katie.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: She is a family and consumer science agent in White County, Arkansas.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So let's get started.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Katie, tell us a little bit about your background and why you can talk to us about stretching your dollar.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, I majored in family and consumer science, which uh for those of you that don't know, it's kind of what used to be Home Egg, and it's ways to live well.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So eating smart, spending smart, um raising kids, uh living well, just just how to live better.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've been doing this for almost uh for over 25 years now, and it's all been with the Arkansas Extension Service.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really enjoy my job teaching other people how to live well.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: That is awesome and so exciting.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna kind of talk about why worrying about every dollar might be important, what food savings is, and saving around our house.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe we'll touch on a few other things.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start with that stretching your dollar.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Why should we worry about every dollar?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and some of this is generational, um, because I see a lot of uh news articles and such that um baby boomers tell millennials or whatever to uh don't don't go to get coffees every day.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, well, that's that's my fun thing that I do.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't, it's not that much.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm I'm not a baby boomer, I'm not a millennial, I've kind of been between.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I see that I see both points, but um, if I went to the coffee shop every morning, that would be probably five dollars that I was spending.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so over a week, that could be 25, 30 bucks.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I have better ways to spend that 25 or 30 bucks than at the coffee shop.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: I got a good um coffee maker for Christmas one year, and so I just I make my coffee every day, and that's a choice I made.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not saying I don't ever go get coffee, I just don't do that every day.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a treat, and I tend to get um you know, save that for something special because ooh, I'm gonna go get coffee today.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I don't it's just hard for me to spend money on things that I don't necessarily need or that I can do at home, and so that's that's where you it's hard for people to see that you know two, three bucks makes a difference, but it can make a difference.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I went through um my Walmart app, and um my husband and I had now have a linked Walmart app.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so if he uses the app to pay, then it shows up as purchases on the Walmart app so I can see what he has bought.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And one I was going through making a list of all the groceries, you know, how much we were spending because we needed to work on our budget, but it's important to know how much you're spending, and so I went through and added up all the groceries, and um, I was a little like, well, honey, yeah, do we really need these little cakes per dollar?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're only a dollar, yes.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: But when you buy five of them, that's five dollars, and um you know, sometimes it's just making choices, and so some people may not want to mess with things that are under five dollars.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh it's not a big deal for me.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It does add up over time.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So if you spend$30 a week um a month, that's$120 for the month, and so that really adds up over a year.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Could you be spending that on something else?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, could you be investing it, saving it?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, instead of saying, I never have money, well, you could have money.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's it may not be big chunks at one time, but again, you have to think about that discipline too.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not gonna spend that five bucks on coffee, but you said, Oh, I didn't spend it on coffee, so I'm gonna spend this on um a magazine.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you didn't really accomplish anything, so you have to kind of think through what do I want to save for?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why do I want to cut my spending on this?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because I want to do something else, maybe a vacation.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of the why you have to think about why you want to stretch your dollars.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Some people don't really want to mess with the effort, but it can pay off over time.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if you start gradually, it's not it's not difficult.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: It can be challenging if you try to cut everything at once.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, because we did that when we got married.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that was coming, but it was it was a challenge for me to deal with the fact that I I was not completely in charge of my own money anymore.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: We had we were sharing our money, and so we we made some decisions that we were going to really try to save a lot of money and pay off some things, and I'm super glad we did that, but it was hard saying no to the coffee or to the lunches out and those little things to add up, but in the long run, I'm very glad that we made those choices.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes it's looking at the two or three dollars for not doing it today for that long term for what do you want that ultimate goal?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: But and I the same thing I hear you say is you do have to sit down, and what do you want that goal to be in five or ten years?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that does make a difference because your coffee three or four dollars, lunch can be fifteen or twenty dollars.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so if you go out every single day, you easily could spend sixty dollars on five meals versus being able to send spend sixty dollars on 10 or 15 meals.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so so like you said, having a goal to work towards.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when we first married, we were trying to you know pay off some bills, um, and we wanted to save, um, pay off our house if we could, you know, early.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we really kind of um worked hard at that.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, we really didn't, we tried to save as much as we could, which meant that a lot of times I felt like, I know I'm making more money than this.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why am I doing this?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't have any regrets about really cutting down on some of the not as important spending because that did allow us to spend smart later on and to buy things that maybe we would not have been able to afford if we had just, you know, spent all of our salaries.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: So having a plan helps, and it does take sometimes worrying about the two or three dollar purchases because it's like I've talked about this one before, and it's one I've used as examples in classes is when me and my husband first started dating, he would drink a bang energy drink every day, but he would stop at the convenience store and get that, and usually something else.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I started buying it at the grocery store, or I saw it at Costco, so I bought a case of it at Costco, and he drank it for from Costco for a while, but within that like first two or three months of doing that to where he stopped stopping at the convenience store to get it, he had a hundred extra dollars in his account, and he's like, Where'd this come from?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, from not stopping and getting a bang every day, even though he still was drinking a bang every day.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: The difference of stopping at a gas station to get it versus buying it in the bulk made like a two dollar difference on every single one.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: So the dollar of can you if you're gonna drink it, can you buy it this way versus that way?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: That didn't mean he stopped getting them at convenience stores because there were occasions that he didn't have the one from home because we were out of town for a couple of days or something like that, but it was that every single day, and it it made about a it was about a hundred dollars a difference a month.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my husband kind of did something similar.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he would stop at a convenience store on his way to work because they had a special, and if you bought, I don't know, the the drink, then you could get cents off on your gas.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so then he would buy the drinks so that he could save on the gas.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure that always worked out as well because he was spending more at the convenience store.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then if you look at the price of sodas, he he's Diet Coke, you know, Diet Cokes, and um he he's even he was like, This is getting too expensive, and so he started doing the little um drink packets because some of those little drink packets that you put in water contain caffeine because he needed the caffeine, and so he started using the packets because they were so much cheaper than just buying a soda, and so he has increased his water intake because he doesn't always use the caffeine ones, and so I feel like he's he's getting more water than sodas these days, so and he saved some money, yeah.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it's sometimes it may not be it may be looking at the you're spending three dollars here, but if you're doing that every single day, can you do something different that helps save the money?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, while worrying about the dollar is definitely an important aspect.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, definitely.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, what about food savings?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, food is you know the prices are going up, and everybody knows that.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's so I don't know, depressing to go to the store sometimes because the prices are going up and the packages are getting smaller.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's frustrating.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the best things that you can do to save money on food is to have a plan.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be set in stone, but having a plan is one really easy way.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm not gonna say it's easy, it takes a little time and effort, but it pays off really well.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so if you have a plan, it's good to set a spending limit and at least shoot for that and then plan some menus and use those to make your list or do your grocery order.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now here's where you run into problems.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you do you plan your menus and you make your list based on those menus, sometimes it's those extra things that really add up.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it could be the breakfast of you know Pop Tarts instead of oatmeal.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one is obviously healthier than the other, I'm sure, but it's one is also more expensive than the other.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So um think about those little things that you kind of add into the cart.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And also you can read sale advertisements and use those.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so this week, one of the grocery stores in town, and we only have one grocery store left that does really good specials.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's a kind of a cost saver grocery store, and then harps, which has some specials, and then there's Walmart, and that's you know, that's it.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now Harps will sometimes run meat sales.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: They run a lot of other sales too, but I focus more on the meat sales because that's where I can save the most money.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so if they have uh ground beef for a really good price, and especially if it's in those big five or 10-pound chubs, um, chubs is what we call them.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's the correct term, but big things, um, then I will go and buy some.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I have been there before on a Saturday morning when they had that special going only on Saturday, and I have seen people put five, six, seven, 10-pound chubs of ground beef in their cart.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: That sometimes that concerns me because I wonder, what are you gonna do with that?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Are you just gonna throw that 10 pounds in the freezer and yeah, uh so anyway, but having some you finding some good deals can can be can help you.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then making that shopping list and sticking to it instead of letting that those impulse buys because the grocery stores, if you go to the grocery stores, they want you to spend more money.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: The longer you are there, the more money you're going to spend.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you do online ordering, which I have really gotten kind of um, I really enjoy the shopping online than just picking it up, not ever having to go in the grocery store, but they too are trying to get you to spend money.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to kind of watch even that because they'll say, Are you sure you don't need this today?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because you've bought this previously, and uh, that's really gets it kind of makes me sad that I buy things and then it keeps coming up, even if even if it's just a one-time thing.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no, I don't want any more Pop Tarts today.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um, the plan is the best way to save money on food.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what you think, Tim?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think having a I think especially a plan and not going in a store hungry.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: So if you go on a store hungry, you're always gonna come out with more than you plan.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And have a plan and a list, and that's another place that you if you're not the only person eating your plan, sometimes you've got to include everyone in that plan of how you're gonna do it.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, recently, but so strawberries are almost out of their growing season.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So last week, me and my mom went to one of the local farmers markets and they had their overripe strawberries for a little less than half of what like the normal buckets are.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have gotten to the point where I prefer strawberries that are like grown like that rather than buying them at the grocery store.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I bought like 10 of their overripe buckets because then I came home and I process them and I freeze them because I'll pull them out of the freezer and let them detal just enough and then eat them.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Or we put them in smoothies all year long.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or my mom this time around made some pop, you know, like the frozen juicy, the frozen popsicles you can get, but they come and they're liquid, and then you put them in the freezer and freeze.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we found like the same kind of packaging that you can make your own.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: So she made our own.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're not sure how they taste yet, we hadn't tried them yet, but so that she could remove the sugar from them, but we use the fresh strawberries.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one way is if you like certain things buying them in a bulk, but then you do have to remember what you're gonna do with them because I slightly regretted buying that many buckets the next day when I'm starting to cut them all, but I will be happy with my shelf of strawberries and because they'll be gone by the time next March comes around.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so having a plan with it is helpful, yes.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Having that that plan, even if you sometimes people go to Sam's or Costco and buy big packages, and they some of it goes to waste because they didn't have a plan to use that, and um I've really tried to do more planning and more thinking through how not to waste food because Americans tend to waste a lot of food, and that that means we're buying food and then not eating it and just throwing it away.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we're basically throwing money away when we waste food.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I've really been trying to to use up the food that I buy instead of throwing it away.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a challenge because like things like celery and peppers I like, but the rest of my family does not.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's kind of hard to do that.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I really shouldn't bother buying celery, I guess, or I should dry it, but again, that takes time.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of along those lines, you have to make a plan, but you also need can spend more time.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: The more time you spend with your food, probably the less you're gonna spend for it because they're convenience foods that are super fast.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you're paying for that convenience.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you can cut up things yourself or make your own chicken nuggets for the freezer, then you're probably going to spend less money.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: But again, that you have to plan to do that.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So just like cooking rice, now Arkansas is a really big agriculture state, and rice is probably our number one agricultural product.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so we do a lot of rice.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And one of our 4-H moms has five, had five kids, and so she grew up on a rice farm and she said rice is a really good extender.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: So for a casserole, you can put rice in it, and it kind of feeds more people, and it helps to fill them up instead of just filling them up with you know chips or sugar, they'll they'll they'll be fuller longer if you give them you know good food.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: It may cost more, but the time for brown rice, especially to cook it, I mean, it takes like 45 minutes to cook brown rice.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: And who has 45 minutes?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's when again that plan comes into place.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you if you know you're gonna have rice one day, like if you're gonna have rice Thursday and Friday nights, you can cook your rice on Wednesday while you're eating dinner or cooking dinner, and that way it'll already be ready.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so you you've spent less money by buying the brown rice in bulk instead of saying instant or something like that.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you're gonna save money, but you're gonna spend more time.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I always like to tell people yes, you can you can be cheap on food, but you're gonna spend sometimes more time in the kitchen preparing it.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, like your strawberries.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was probably, you know, a good deal to do it that way.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: But you did have to invest some time to do that, right?
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Quit time, because overripe strawberries means they're overripe strawberries.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that is definitely it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's also knowing that if you're gonna buy in bulk, are you actually gonna eat in the bulk?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, like we've started buying our rice in 20 pounds, but we divide it, me and my mom divide it.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so, but it's are you even gonna eat the 10 pounds of rice before it might not be okay anymore?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are gonna buy in bulk, it is making sure you don't go that full waste.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I know one thing when I was single that I really started doing was I would cook for like three week periods.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I would cook and eat out of the refrigerator for a week and out of the freezer for the next.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't have to cook multiple times.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I eventually got to where I was doing that for like a month.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I ate out of the freezer more of the month than I didn't.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I also found myself able to go, well, this is what's on the meal plan today.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know I don't necessarily want it, but you don't have an option.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: But that kind of helped me stick to my financial budget and not let my food go to waste.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great point because today I have zucchini slices.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't I didn't really, I don't think I'm I'm just dying to eat my zucchini slices, but I said they would go well with my lunch.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: I need the vegetable and they're just sitting in the refrigerator and they're gonna they're gonna die soon.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: So yes.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: So well, and then the other thing that I found in saving money and food was sometimes I bought frozen vegetables because that way, if I didn't get to eating the green beans, they didn't go by in the refrigerator and they were already frozen.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if I did need to change my meal plan, I still wasn't wasting the food because then it was okay the next month.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's an excellent point is getting those the frozen vegetables that are not in a sauce.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be cheaper if they're not in a sauce.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean, they can be less than a dollar for a you know 12-ounce package.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And like the carrots, uh, I can just throw the bag in the microwave and they're done in a few minutes.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I would have spent time peeling and chopping and then cooking, where and it was about the same price, I think.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, I love the frozen vegetables.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now I do have a favorite frozen vegetable that has sauce.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: I just I don't buy it as often because it's so expensive, and the package keeps shrinking.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's challenging.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I just and it's got a lot of sodium, so I get the just the plain frozen, and you know, we I mentioned the the celery.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can get seasoning blends that have onions, celery, peppers that are frozen, and so you don't have to do any chopping.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're and they're usually pretty inexpensive.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes those are certain grocery stores will run those on like a buy ten for 10 special.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's sometimes when I would buy them.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: My brother one time asked me because I would buy sparkling water when they did it for like the buy two, get one free.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so I might buy four, so I got two free.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And he would be like, But you don't need all that this week, but it's in my budget to buy.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: And is it gonna be drinking the next six weeks?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Why not buy it when I get two free when I could buy the same amount next week and not get the two free?
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's finding those.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: So coupons, that's another way to save food for food savings.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't know about y'all's grocery stores, but a lot of grocery stores, you have to make sure you actively clip them electronically.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and here where I live, there aren't a lot of stores that do the electronic ones.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we had a Kroger and they did that, but then our Kroger closed.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh we we don't, and Walmart really doesn't do that, and so uh I don't honestly deal with coupons much anymore because it we never use them because they were usually for things that were not on our regular shopping list.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And if if I don't clip them and if I don't use them, then there's yeah, they're it's not generally helpful in in my area for our family to use coupons.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that makes sense if you don't have a store.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have found with the ones I've been around, because most of the stores we shop at do have some version of coupons.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: I had a croaker until I moved and now I don't live close to one.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: But because they're they are one of the better ones I've seen with coupons, but you do have to actively clip them.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: But you made a good point.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: If the coupons are something you would not normally buy, then it's not something you clip.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: What I found was if it was something that I might buy or something that might be on my list, I occasionally, when I was sitting there watching TV, would just go through and clip it because then it's just there.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: And if you buy it before it expires, then it comes off at your checkout.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't buy it, it just rolled off.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: So and so coupons are, I think a lot of companies use them to get people to try something new or to spend more money because sometimes you have to buy so many to so um, and they've they really cracked down on how you use coupons also.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't think they're quite the deal that they used to be.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, if it's not something you're gonna buy or that you don't even want to try, there's really no point.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, so but when I don't I don't use coupons much, but when you are walking through the store, do be aware on the tag.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that the biggest number you see is a sell coupon.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so you if you don't have that coupon, be aware you might pay the other price when you're showing your stores.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's one thing that I really learned once I kind of figured it out.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, oh wait, this is the price I need, but you have to have clipped the coupon, so just be aware of that when you are shopping.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what about transportation savings?
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: What can that look like?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, most people don't want to do the things that save you money on your transportation because um watching your speed is one of the best ways to save money on like gas.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, driving 55 miles an hour instead of 65 improves your gas mileage by about 15%.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: So slowing down, um, or just avoiding aggressive driving like the jackrabbit starts, um, that that kind of wastes some gas.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, idling.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, some of the newer cars I have noticed because I had to rent a car last year, and it kept kind of it sounded like it was just dying when I was at a stoplight.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: What is wrong with this?
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was it was kind of saving energy.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: So some of the cars have gotten really smart.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: My sister's does that, and it just kind of throws me every time it sounds like it's just dying, and then it comes back on.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, everything's okay.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and using cruise control um when appropriate.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in some of like between where I live and Memphis, it's mostly two-lane roads, and you go through lots of little towns.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't use cruise control very much because it's just it's not worth the effort to do that.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: My husband does, but I just don't do it because it's it's not worth it.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're on an interstate, yes, use the cruise control.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: A steady driving uses less fuel.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and use your air conditioner less.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um it doesn't mean you you don't want to use it at all, but just you don't have to have it on full blast.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, on warm days, running the AC may be more cost effective than rolling the windows down because that can cause drag and you reduce aerodynamic dynamics.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, on the nicer days, you can roll the windows down.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're just in town.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about if you're on the interstate and the windows rolled down, that probably would cause a lot more drag.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: But just lots of wind.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm not convertible, so aren't rolling windows down sounds terrible.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but once one year when I was in college, my air conditioner in my car died, and it was summertime, although it was getting closer to like August, so it's really hot in Arkansas, but it was almost fall, so my dad said, I don't think I'm gonna fix the air conditioner until you know the fall and winter.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I would roll my windows down.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: That was the crank.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, physically, so I got extra exercise, and uh, so I was I really appreciated getting the air conditioner fixed after having to roll my windows down so much.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: But um, some other things you can do is to maintain your car.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, check the air filters, get those replaced, regular oil changes, keeping your tires properly inflated and aligned can help with your gas.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so those are just little things that we don't always think about, but they can make a difference on your gas.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then excess weight.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in the wintertime, a lot of people will have different, you know, put some weight in the car if they have a lot of ice, but you know, an extra hundred pounds in the trunk can reduce your full fuel economy by about two percent, which again doesn't sound like much, but it can make a difference over the long run.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're on vacation and you have a luggage rack, that's gonna create some wind resistance.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so you're not gonna you're gonna use more fuel if you have to have one of those.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're on vacation, you might need that's the luggage up out of the way, but um you know you can always shop around for the best gas prices.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't see the point in driving you know across town just to save us one cent on gas.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I just I don't see the point, but you kind of look around if you're on vacation, if you have a gas app that will show you that can help you make an informed decision about when you stop and where you stop.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes going, you know, a mile or two out of your way can save you significant dollars, especially if you have a big vehicle to fill up.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if it's a little one, you know that it's kind of up to you how far you want to go out of your way.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um and plan your trips.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I remember growing up when I was little, my mom would plan the trips around town because we had to do things like go to the water department to pay the bill, or go here to pay things, or you know, go to the grocery store.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: And she would plan the trip so that she was not backtracking any and that she was driving the most efficient way around town, and so reducing the miles that you drive by combining errands or not uh you know making extra trips just because you can.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, kind of again, planning ahead that keeps coming up kind of helps you to not over over um use you your gas.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here where I live, we we live right in the middle of town.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: So going to Walmart is a mile or two at most.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: But when I lived, when I first started work, I was in a very small town, and the Walmart was you know 20 miles away.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I couldn't just go to Walmart whenever I wanted to.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to plan your trips and then just spend less time driving.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, here in Arkansas, there's really not much public transportation.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it you may have to drive places, but if you can walk, one of the reasons that we have the house that we do right now is so that my husband can walk to work.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't always do that, but that he can do that.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that can save money because we're not driving, you know, stop and start all the time.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: So those are some ways you can stretch those transportation or your gas mileage.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just little things and planning ahead can make a big difference on a lot of those.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you talk about planning your trips.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: Our closest grocery store is about 30 minutes.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we when we go to the store, we typically plan okay, and that's not necessarily where we always want to go.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: The other one's about 30, 45 minutes.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it's when you go to town, it's a minimum of two hours just to go before you do anything.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we you definitely have to chain your errands together, otherwise, you end up with having to go every single day versus having a day to run or getting my dad or my husband to pick something up on their way home.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, definitely transportation cost of planning those is definitely helpful.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you notice, a lot of the things that just to save money may not be big bucks and they take some planning, but that will save you money in the long run and help you to be more financially secure in the long run.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: So what about saving money around the house?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: How do we save money around our house?
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, money you bring that up.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in Arkansas, it's gotten rather hot early in May.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's just it's so sad.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I usually enjoy the cooler weather, and then by June it's starting to get really hot, but we had the really hot the first of May.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: So um, and then we got the uh electric bill, and so my husband looked at that and he said, Whoa, where's it costs a lot to cool this house?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so we cranked the air conditioner up.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I can't say that I always enjoy that, but I think in the long run, that that's that's one of the biggest energy hogs in your home is your heat and air.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if you can deal with a little bit warmer in the summer, a little bit colder in the winter, then you can probably save some money.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for me, that's easier in the winter because I can always put on another sweatshirt.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I like to be cold at night, so I like to use lots of covers.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but in the summer, it's it's a little bit harder, especially when I'm in the kitchen cooking and getting hot.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: But that's that's one of the best things that you can do is uh put it at a place where you're comfortable but not excessive.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: So um, if I was comfortable with 71 degrees, you know, I could I be comfortable at 73.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of kind of thinking through what you can put up with.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um now some people say, Oh, I just can't do that.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, have you tried?
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you try it for a month and see the difference that it can make in your bills, then you may say, okay, well, I might can do this because we have ceiling fans, and I have a fan on my little table where I get ready in the morning.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, because I have to uh I'm getting ready, I get hot after that shower, and so I keep that fan going, and so that really helps.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but so checking those air filters in your heat and air system, um, you know, getting it, keeping it maintained can make a big difference, also.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in the summertime, uh, we have a lot of windows that have get good sunlight, and that's great in the wintertime because you can open up and it will help warm the house.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: Summertime, not so much.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: So keep those curtains or the blinds closed on those really sunny uh windows in the summertime because that will help your your house be more efficient.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're gone, you can turn the thermostat um higher or lower, depending on the season, while you're away.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's what my husband did.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: He he cranked it up to 78, I believe, when we went away for the weekend, and then he just didn't turn it back down.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I'm I'm kind of hot.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Oh, yeah, I didn't turn it down because I oh we're trying to save some money.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think 78 is a a little high for me.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Let's try 76, and I'd still like to have it lower, but I'm doing okay.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's great.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: I tend to like to be comfortable in the summer with the air on, and in the winter, I'm happy just turning the heat on just enough so pipes don't burst.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like I save my money on the winter months, yes definitely not the summer months.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can can work that out, um, because when I had in my house and I was single, uh I had gas heat.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so my gas bill went up in the winter, and in the summer, the electric bill.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it kind of evened out over time.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but so it it and it kind of depends on what you can live with.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your heat and air is definitely one of the biggest things you can spend money on every month in your home.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes it helps to get a programmable thermostat um so that you can set it and it's automatic.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to think about it.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: And getting some energy efficient uh products, um, you may pay a little bit more up front for those, but you will save money in the long run because they're more efficient.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of efficient, you know, making sure that you have good insulation and that you you think through how to uh you know uh be more efficient in heating and cooling your home.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: Insulation is one part of that.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, cracks, seals, um uh duck work, you know, chimneys, you thinking through how your your uh home is staying cool because once it's stay, once you get it cool, you want it to stay cool.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to lose all that cool air by the kids opening a door all the time.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I I a couple weeks ago we had people over and there are tons of kids running around, and they would come in and just leave the door open and like close the door, not only for the air, but for the bugs.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, close the door.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I can understand why my mom said that so much when I was growing up.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: Close the door.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's definitely finding those ways to help.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that call to action for you guys for how you stretch your dollar is find your way to save.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: Is it making your coffee at home and not getting it every day?
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_01: Or taking your lunch to work instead of going out every lunch, or is it Can you go a little bit warmer on your air conditioning unit?
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: So find a way to save money.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: And we'd love to see how you did it so you can tag us on Instagram or your social media at Sack and Tent.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then what are those resources and where they can connect to you, Katie?
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on Facebook.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: UAE XY County.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or Instagram and Katie Cullum UAE X F C S.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: How long?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: But our website, we have lots of great information.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we did a whole series on summer savings series that you can find.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Our website is uax.uada.edu.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for giving us some stretching your dollar tips today.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_01: That brings us to the end of this episode of Stacked Intent.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: If you love this episode as much as I did, head on over and rate and subscribe so you will never miss an episode.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: New episodes are going to be dropped on Thursdays.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: Until then, this is Becca and don't forget, enrich your life by being intentional.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast was created, produced, and recorded, and edited by Sacked Intent.