Brought to you by:
🤓 Working smarter, not harder 🤓
Hi again Friday friends!
Feel like you’re seeing double?… maybe lay off the egg nog. 😏
JK, you’re not wrong.
We did accidentally send this email to you on Wednesday, but we’re giving it to you again today because we don’t want you to miss all this GOODNESS!
So keep enjoying whatever bevie you’re drinking and settle in. 🥂
Now that we’re fully in the midst of the holiday season, it’s got us thinking some more about our life seasons.
This includes seasons that are short and long, welcomed and unwelcomed; and the ways this impacts our money. 💸
AND the importance we should place on it when it comes to making financial decisions.
There’s this foundational concept in the field of social work called Person In Environment or P.I.E. for short. (Because we need food acronyms to remember theory and I’m here for it.)
Basically, it’s this reminder that we don’t exist in a vacuum or alone on an island, but that we are individuals experiencing our own emotions, relationships, mental capacities, and physical capabilities within an environment.
And that environment has its own nuances including geographic location, climate, access or lack of access to certain resources; and the converging of these is crucial to our actions!
If our economy is currently experiencing inflation, a volatile job market, or a housing crisis it will have an impact on our own personal experiences.
That impact certainly won’t look the same for all people, but it’s an important consideration when talking about our season. Where we are at personally in life must be considered within the context of what’s also happening around us.
And when it comes to the decisions we make, especially our financial ones, having an awareness of our season and the way it’s impacting our lives can make all the difference between wearing a coat OR a bathing suit in the dead of winter. Figuratively speaking.
But literally speaking, it can be the difference between speeding up or slowing down debt-off, retirement investing, or even making the best choices for ourselves on house or car purchases!
When we are able to know our season and make decisions based on that reality, all aspects of life can benefit. ☀️
In this way, we can be kind to ourselves if this season isn’t allowing us to save as much as we would like OR leverage our current season to prepare for future seasons if we know our context and where we’re headed.
So here’s to eating some pie and pondering P.I.E. with some helpful questions:
Person 👩🏻
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What’s happening for you currently in life?
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What are your financial goals?
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What barriers are you currently experiencing related to finances?
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What is in your control and what is outside of your control?
IN Environment 🍃
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What’s happening within your community and larger context?
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How is inflation impacting you (and other economic concerns)?
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How is your location affecting you?
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How is your social media engagement influencing you?
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As you compare your personal financial goals to your environment, what is realistic and what’s unrealistic right now?
On Tuesday, we chatted about Saving Money on Makeup and gave the internet’s (non-sponsored) top picks for low-cost make-up staples.
Today, we talked about What are Mutual Funds & What do they Cost? to provide a little Investing 101 to our listeners. If you feel like a fish out of water with various investing concepts and lingo this is especially a good one for you!
Tune in wherever you get podcasts and let us know what you thought of the episode over on our latest Instagram post!
Jill’s picks for a stellar weekend.
✅ Listen to This: Christmas Music playlist on Spotify. This one’s my go-to every year. It starts with Mariah Carey and doesn’t disappoint from there 😎
✅ Do this: Search secondhand for at least 3 of the gifts on your shopping list this year (good spots to check include Ebay, thrift books, and thredup).
✅ Meal Plan This: Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta for a little flavor spin on regular spaghetti, but still simple and quick!
This Friendletter is Brought to you by:
🤓 Working smarter, not harder 🤓
We love efficiency and hacks that free up our time for the things we truly value. We know we can do anything but we CANNOT do everything, and sometimes that means paying for convenience, especially on something we do daily.
Enter Cook Smarts, our favorite meal planning service that does the work for you in figuring out what you’re going to eat that week, creates the shopping list, and gives you the recipes. 👩🏻🍳
Less decision fatigue and work done for me is my version of working smarter not harder this time of year! **
Catch ya later,
⭐️⭐️ P.S. Want to share all this goodness with your friends AND earn cool Frugal Friends merch?
**Means this is a sponsored or affiliate section. We may earn a small fee or commission when you choose to try one of our sponsor or affiliate partners. But opinions are still 1000% our own.