My co-host Jay and I battle each other on the controversial question: what’s better – cutting costs or earning more?
Jay argues for the frugality side of the equation, while I make the case for the incredible power of making more money.
Who wins the debate? Listen and find out.
Last year Jay decided to challenge every expense in his household budget, scrutinizing every cent to see if it’s worth paying.
The result? He saved $5,500 after 12 months, thanks to plenty of simple acts like switching cell phone carriers (saving $100+/mo), car insurance (saving $30/mo), cable television (saving $80/mo), and more.
I share the opposite story. When I worked as an entry-level newspaper reporter, I earned $21,000 per year. This forced me to live frugally. If I forgot to pack a lunch for work, I’d walk to the nearest grocery store and eat free samples — cheese cubes and olives — rather than spend $5 on a sandwich.
But I wasted hours of time, effort and concentration on pinching pennies. I devoted so much time to chasing coins that I devalued my time and missed bigger opportunities. If I’d purchased a $5 sandwich and spent that lunch hour pitching freelance stories, for example, I could’ve landed more assignments with high-dollar payouts.
Check out the episode and let us know what you think.
Merrin
I just started listening this morning (while knitting my own socks). Great podcast. I love when you added a little challenge at the end. Okay I’m off to listen to more. Good luck and keep up the good work.
J. Money
Hah! Rock on! So glad you’re enjoying them – we’ll have to include more challenges and fun stuff in future ones… We’re still getting the hang of it all 🙂
Malory (Roy) Lagro
Great podcast guys. New favorite thing to listen to. But this topic is one that I’ve been having a mental struggle with for a while. I’ve been torn by the desire to earn more but not doing what would be required because I want to spend the time I have with my family. So then we are left with the option to save more but lately we’ve been bordering on being extreme savers and feeling the unnecessary strain that that then puts on our family. We’ve found that the balance part is the most difficult with both of these options and still trying to find the fulcrum to stand on.
P.S. For a family of 4 we’re currently at an average spent rate of around $2.5k per month (including $1.2k for the mortgage) and making just over an average of $3k per month (after 401(k), insurance, and taxes).
Paula
@Malory — Balance is absolutely the hardest part. It sounds like your spending habits are already fantastic — $1.2k per month in spending money (after the mortgage) for a family of 4 is impressive. Awesome job. 🙂
Earning just a bit more — even $500 or $1,000 per month — could push you to the next level. Laptop-based, work-from-home opportunities are the best ones that can help you create that balance, because you don’t waste any time commuting or getting dressed, and you have the flexibility to choose your own hours. For example, you can wake up 30 minutes earlier and stay awake 30 minutes later to carve out an extra 1 hour per day. And if your family is sick for a few days, or if it’s someone’s birthday, you can choose to not work on those days — you don’t have a set schedule. That’s the route that I’d encourage (although you probably guessed that already!) 🙂
Congrats again on your AWESOME spending habits. You’ve nailed the frugality part!
Marina
Awesome job guys! Really enjoying the show. Keep it up!!
J. Money
Thanks Marina!
Moshen
Would love transcripts. I don’t have time to listen to podcasts but I am a fast reader and would be a fierce fan.
J. Money
I think we eventually want to do that, but was just too much to take on during our initial launch here. Podcasting turned out to be a LOT more involved than initially expected, haha… But once we get up and going and on a nice roll we’ll see if we can bring this back to the table again. Thanks for letting us know 🙂
James
Love you guys! Right towards the end you were talking about wrapping up because people have to get out of their cars and go to work… I was LITERALLY getting out of my car to walk in to work when Paula said that. I was thinking, “Can they see me?!” Haha. But seriously, loving the new podcast. Hadn’t heard of Paula before, but been reading J.Money for a while now. Currently debt free (minus our modestly purchased house), and still trying to figure out the hustlenomics to be financially free. One thing that totally transformed my financial life was this app called goodbudget. I use it to literally allocate and track every expense. Like to the penny. It’s helped my wife and I immensely. And I’m convinced it eliminates 99% of fights about money. Anyway, keep the podcasts coming!
J. Money
Cool! I’ve never heard of goodbudget actually, which is surprising. Going on my list to look into, thx man 🙂 And glad you’re enjoying the show!! You’ll come to love Paula no doubt about it. Probably more than me – hah.
Too funny about the car…
Mary
Great podcast! I’ve been following Paula’s blog since 2013. Now i’ll have to check out J. Money. I’ve been telling everyone about you guys! Keep up the awesome work.
J. Money
Thanks Mary! Just checked out your band’s site – holy wow!!! You guys are bad asses! Love!
13owie
Uh, yeah I wasn’t going to comment until I saw that Baby Shakes site. gtfo(!) great job everyone.
Lola
I was listening to this episode while mowing and doing other yard work, and chuckled when J said he wanted someone to listen while mowing the lawn. Thanks for the great tips!
J. Money
Hahaha YES!! My life is now complete!
Shane Hansmeier
So I just finally listened to this episode. I’ve listened to a bunch of newer ones but decided to give this one a listen.
I’m happy to announce that I have one-upped j-moneys suggestion to listen to this podcast while mowing the lawn. I listened to this episode while mowing my biggest account! Hows that for efficiency?!
Edwin
Hey Paula, this is such a great thing! I came across to your podcast just a couple days ago, I was just exploring around the Audacy app and I found your incredible content. I listened to podcast #311 about the overthinking solution and I was like what? is this a divine message? lol, then I just jumped to the very beginning and it’s even better (no matter if the sound quality was bad). Thank you for all your work and effort on this. Gracias!