Friendship Through Frugal Living with Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni

Melissa Hall [00:00:24]:
Welcome to season 4 of the My Biz Bestie Podcast. I'm Melissa Hall.

Amber Hawley [00:00:27]:
And I'm Amber Hawley.

Melissa Hall [00:00:28]:
And today we have what is going to be a super fun interview. I know 100% after talking to these chicks for all of 10 minutes right now, this is going to be a blast. We have Jen Smith and Jill Siriani from the Frugal Friends Podcast. Welcome, ladies.

Jill Sirianni [00:00:45]:
Hey, hey, I hope we can deliver. My goodness.

Amber Hawley [00:00:50]:
Oh, I know you will. I know you will. I'm so excited. I, I'm like, I just kind of want to jump in because your last episode on couponing for normal people, I can't even tell you, like, it was so good because even though I think there's nobody on earth who I'd ever use the word frugal to describe me ever, but I like to talk about things. But I, my fantasy, my bucket list is to one day do an extreme couponing trip. I love to watch that show. Like you said, like once a year, I love to watch that show. And in fact, the last time Melissa was up here, I think I didn't make her watch that one, but I made her watch Extreme Cheapskates. And so yeah, I have an obsession with frugality. So I love, I love you gals.

Melissa Hall [00:01:31]:
Yeah, it's awesome. And my husband is super frugal, which is why we were watching the Cheapskates. Cheapskates thing because we were like, we should do a— like, is it— is he the more cheapskate or is the person on the show the more cheap? Which, he's not actually a cheapskate, he's.

Jen Smith [00:01:42]:
Just very— oh, that's a fun game. I like to play that with my husband.

Jill Sirianni [00:01:46]:
Yeah, we all know who wins that every time though, Jen.

Jen Smith [00:01:49]:
Me. Yeah, my husband. Yeah, hands down.

Melissa Hall [00:01:53]:
Ladies, why don't you each tell us a little bit about yourselves and then we'll dig into, you know, all of the juicy details about how you do Biz Besties. Uh, so Jen, why don't we start with you?

Jen Smith [00:02:03]:
All right. So I am a personal finance writer and I got into that trade by paying off $78,000 of debt, uh, with my husband in 2 years. So I was not frugal before we started. Sometimes I'm still not frugal, but I have gained an appreciation and a skill. And I think frugality can be learned. I love spreading that message and helping other people that are like me become more frugal.

Jill Sirianni [00:02:35]:
I like it.

Amber Hawley [00:02:36]:
See, that's what I like. It's for the everyday person. It's for normal people. It's not extreme.

Jill Sirianni [00:02:42]:
If you think you're normal, yes.

Jen Smith [00:02:44]:
Yes.

Jill Sirianni [00:02:45]:
Even if you don't think you're normal, yes also.

Jen Smith [00:02:47]:
Sometimes we do not think we're normal.

Amber Hawley [00:02:49]:
Nope. Well, I didn't mean that kind, but we yes, do.

Jill Sirianni [00:02:53]:
I get told quite frequently I'm crazy. So that's a fun fight for me. Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:02:59]:
Well, at the end of at the, the end of the episode, being that we're both therapists who can, who actually can give you a diagnosis, we'll let you know.

Jill Sirianni [00:03:08]:
Yes, I will actually. So I am also a therapist. My background is in social work.

Amber Hawley [00:03:14]:
So my answer is yes, actually. I'm gonna go ahead and say, bing, bing, bing, you win.

Melissa Hall [00:03:24]:
So Jill, yes, tell us more about yourself.

Amber Hawley [00:03:26]:
Yes.

Jill Sirianni [00:03:27]:
So my background is in social work. I work as a therapist. And I also do trainings and facilitate personal retreats and debriefings for people who work in like high-stress, high-human-need environments. And so my frugality really runs in my veins because I've had to, right? I'm a social worker. I I don't, don't make a lot of money in case you didn't know that social workers don't make a lot of money. And so my husband and I have lived in a lot of very non-traditional ways. We've lived in an RV, which is actually how I met Jen. So we'll we'll probably get to that at some point, but had to come up with some really unique ways of paying down debt and living frugally. And so this is another one of my like passion projects to talk about how to do that, how to live frugally, but still have fun because it can be fun. You can still have friends and do stuff. So I have my hands in a lot of different things, but this is definitely a fun project for me. Uh, the Frugal Friends Podcast.

Melissa Hall [00:04:29]:
Yeah. And actually, that's kind of how we all got this thing going is that Amber and I met Jill's husband, Eric, at Podcast Movement.

Amber Hawley [00:04:38]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:04:39]:
And I was chatting with him because I was in— my husband was literally in the process of like buying the boat that we were moving on to during Podcast Movement. So we were talking about like RV living and boat living and all that kind of stuff.

Jill Sirianni [00:04:52]:
Which is so exciting. I saw your pictures on Instagram. That boat is so tiny. I cannot. I'm like, they're sitting and their heads are touching the ceiling. They're sitting, but their heads are on the ceiling.

Amber Hawley [00:05:06]:
To put that in perspective, she— I was gonna say, to put that in perspective, she is, she is like half a person.

Melissa Hall [00:05:14]:
And if I cannot say— even tinier than I thought.

Amber Hawley [00:05:17]:
Yeah, it's really tiny. So I always say I put her in my pocket sometimes because she's so tiny. I'm 5'11", so she's like—.

Melissa Hall [00:05:26]:
Yeah, we're— yeah, combo pictures are fun. Yeah, if we're standing.

Jill Sirianni [00:05:30]:
Right.

Melissa Hall [00:05:31]:
But enough about us, ladies.

Amber Hawley [00:05:33]:
Yeah, I'm sorry, we digress.

Melissa Hall [00:05:35]:
So you guys have totally different types of roles, jobs, you're in different locations. So how did you both meet up and connect?

Jill Sirianni [00:05:45]:
This is a fun one. Yeah. So Eric and I were living in our motorhome at the time, and we took it on a road trip. I had just quit my job. So, you know, perfect time for a road trip. And we were in the St. Pete area, which is where Jen lives. We're from Pennsylvania. So we took took it all the way down to Florida to get some warm weather. And when we were in the St. Pete area, my husband Eric knew some people who lived there but didn't have their contact information, but decided that he'd put out on Facebook, hey, anybody in the St. Pete area want to hang out tonight? Thinking that the people he knew that lived there would get back to him, but they didn't. But Jen did because they had met like years and years ago and they didn't even remember the night that they met.

Jen Smith [00:06:30]:
It was like one of those random, like we met once and then became Facebook friends because we're like all 19 and 20. And that's a safe thing to do when you're that age.

Amber Hawley [00:06:42]:
We still do that.

Jill Sirianni [00:06:43]:
So she saw St. Pete and she's like, oh, I live here. Sure. And invited us out to like see, watch the sunset at this bar. And, and we must have both been in rare form because I'm not usually one to be like, yeah, let's hang out with strangers on our vacation. Like, no, I'd rather rather do— I'd go on a date or do something. But she was brave enough to say, yeah, Come hang out with us. And we did it too and hit it off. And we actually stayed longer in St. Pete because of them. We ended up hanging out every night. They came and hung out at the KOA because we had a hot tub.

Amber Hawley [00:07:19]:
I love that.

Jen Smith [00:07:20]:
It was rare for me too, because I usually don't talk to strangers or even people I know. Like, I'll see somebody I know out and I will, even if I know them well, I'll just like, like turn my head down and walk away just so that I don't have to like talk to people that I'm unprepared for. But we were going out with other friends. So I was like, well, there's going to be other people there. So it won't be like that weird. And I feel bad, like nobody responded and he's here. So, so I just responded and it was such a great decision because they ended up kind of being like our couple soulmate. It was like love at first sight.

Jill Sirianni [00:07:58]:
I kind of feel like the way that you and I, Jenn, met is like more fun than the way like we met our husbands.

Jen Smith [00:08:06]:
Probably. I mean, I was— I love telling this story.

Jill Sirianni [00:08:09]:
It's so fun for me.

Amber Hawley [00:08:10]:
Yeah, it is my favorite origin story I've heard yet. Like, I absolutely love it. It was meant to be.

Jill Sirianni [00:08:18]:
Seriously.

Jen Smith [00:08:19]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:08:20]:
And so did you— like, what kind of things were you all connecting over, like, hanging out that whole time? Were you talking like business stuff and work? Were you talking like frugality?

Jill Sirianni [00:08:29]:
Were you just— Frugality. Because they had paid off $78,000 worth of debt and we were living in our motorhome. Yeah, yeah, sorry. We were still in the process. That's right. And we had bought our motorhome to pay down my school loan debt. So that was kind of how we instantly started talking about, oh my word, we're doing the same thing. And we're practicing kind of different lifestyles in order to get at these financial goals. And how do you do that? And she was writing about it and blogging about it. I was curious about that. Like, what does that look like? Which then morphed into us doing a podcast together. But yeah.

Jen Smith [00:09:03]:
Yeah. They had just bought them. They had bought a motorhome. We had just bought a 3-bedroom house. So we were definitely doing it in different ways., but like still the same, you know, frugality. So it was like instantly Travis and.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:16]:
Jen could not turn down the free hot tub at the KOA.

Amber Hawley [00:09:19]:
Nope.

Jen Smith [00:09:20]:
That was a big selling point.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:22]:
It was actually a beautiful KOA. If you're ever in the St. Pete area, it's a great KOA.

Jen Smith [00:09:26]:
Yes.

Melissa Hall [00:09:27]:
And for those who may not know, that's like a campground.

Amber Hawley [00:09:30]:
Yeah.

Jen Smith [00:09:30]:
Yes.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:31]:
Correct.

Jen Smith [00:09:31]:
Campgrounds of America, but campgrounds with a K. Yes.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:35]:
Because you can tent there, RV there. They even have cabin rentals. This one had a pool and a hot tub, like two hot tubs.

Amber Hawley [00:09:44]:
I think there's just going to be a mad rush to St. Pete. It's going to be amazing.

Jen Smith [00:09:47]:
There already is.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:48]:
It's best to meet up there. Jenn will respond. Just throw something out on Facebook and she'll be like, sure, come hang out with me. I need friends.

Jen Smith [00:09:57]:
Yeah, that's probably why I was— we.

Jill Sirianni [00:09:59]:
Were in the middle of our debt.

Jen Smith [00:10:00]:
Payoff and we were so lonely and so bored and we were just like starved for attention. Like, oh, you, you want to hang out? Yeah, let's go.

Melissa Hall [00:10:10]:
And you don't want to spend money when you go out?

Amber Hawley [00:10:12]:
Perfect. You're really selling this lifestyle right now.

Jen Smith [00:10:18]:
I I know, know.

Jill Sirianni [00:10:19]:
You meet fun people, you start podcasts, you live in tiny places.

Jen Smith [00:10:24]:
Yeah, you gotta take the low lows with the high highs.

Amber Hawley [00:10:28]:
Absolutely. And when you find somebody that you connect with like that, you can have fun not spending money. So, oh yeah, that's so great.

Jill Sirianni [00:10:34]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:10:36]:
So how did you go from having a blast connecting over— not, we'll say connecting over being frugal, uh, to having the podcast?

Jen Smith [00:10:43]:
Well, I was taking a full-time writing job with The Penny Hoarder, which is a personal finance website, which kind of limited what I could write. I couldn't like freelance for their competitors. It limited what I could write on my own blog. So I still wanted to put stuff out there that was kind of more my speed. And so a podcast was kind of like a natural progression, but I was not into it at all. So we, Travis, my husband and I went up to Pennsylvania to visit visit.

Jill Sirianni [00:11:15]:
Jill during the winter. So she gets mad props for that.

Melissa Hall [00:11:18]:
Yeah.

Jen Smith [00:11:19]:
For Eric's birthday. And he's like, he's an audio engineer and he wanted to get into podcasts. And he's like, you and Jill should start a podcast. And I was like, nah, I mean, it's not a bad idea. But like, I just don't— that's not my thing. Like writing is my thing. But then I thought more about it and how there were no podcasts about just frugality or just saving money. They were all general personal finance podcasts or just about like real estate investing or stock investing or something. And so I saw like a need that we could really meet in a unique way. And that, and so the timing along with Eric's coaxing is kind of what led to us teaming up.

Jill Sirianni [00:12:01]:
Yeah. Having him to be able to edit and produce our podcast was huge. I don't think either one of us.

Amber Hawley [00:12:08]:
Would have wanted to do that.

Jen Smith [00:12:09]:
That aspect of it. That was the reason that I was not interested.

Amber Hawley [00:12:13]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:12:13]:
Oh, I love it. So I love that he was encouraging you guys and, and obvious and supporting it too. But yeah, it took some of it— sounds like it took some of those barriers out of the way.

Jill Sirianni [00:12:22]:
Oh yeah, I mean, supporting, you mean like telling me what to do? He's like, Jill, you're gonna co-host this, basically.

Jen Smith [00:12:29]:
Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:12:30]:
Okay. Yeah, choose your battles, Jill.

Jill Sirianni [00:12:34]:
I have fun now. I get to lock him out of the room and be like, I'm podcasting.

Jen Smith [00:12:38]:
Yeah, give me one. Like Even then I was unsure. I was like, I don't, I mean, I know Jill, I like her, but I don't really know how this like weekly thing is gonna go.

Jill Sirianni [00:12:47]:
Like, oh please, you loved it. You came up to visit me in the winter.

Jen Smith [00:12:53]:
Of course I knew I loved you.

Jill Sirianni [00:12:54]:
You to talk with wanted me on the reg.

Jen Smith [00:12:56]:
I loved you in like a have you in my life sort of way, but like we'd never worked together professionally. So like, I just didn't know.

Amber Hawley [00:13:03]:
No.

Jill Sirianni [00:13:03]:
You'd now go back, right?

Jen Smith [00:13:05]:
I would never ever go back.

Melissa Hall [00:13:08]:
So what did that look like? 'Cause that is really different because you were just kind of of kind like friends who had this connection and had like similar interests, but now you're going into something that could be like, you know, who knows? It is something that could be like a business. It's, you know, a commitment. It's like a long-term thing.

Amber Hawley [00:13:24]:
Yeah.

Jill Sirianni [00:13:25]:
I mean, hopefully what I say— we'll see if we agree. We're about to head into like a therapy session. It feels like— Jen, I would say it's gone fantastic, but sometimes I say things like that and the other person's like, no, that's not true. But I really do think Jen And I— this is my take, Jen, you can have your take on this. We really, we both kind of take different parts of it and we haven't even really talked about it. It's just happened naturally. Our divvying up of roles wasn't even communicated about, which I generally would not advise. Communication is good and talking through expectations, but it really has just been, I took, you know, doing Instagram and the posts and the show notes and she preps for our episodes. She does the Facebook group. I don't know, other things. And we haven't even talked about it. We just both do it.

Jen Smith [00:14:20]:
Yeah.

Jill Sirianni [00:14:20]:
And I think it works.

Jen Smith [00:14:21]:
That's exactly how it's gone. Like, I really— I, again, I would not recommend the way we decided on these things to other partnerships, but I mean, for some reason it really just— our roles clicked very naturally.

Jill Sirianni [00:14:37]:
The cookie crumbled perfectly.

Jen Smith [00:14:41]:
So yeah, we took our strengths and I think our strengths were kind of like, we knew them going into it because I'm a really good researcher and I have the background in personal finance. So it's easy for me to find guests and that stuff. And like Jill is such a great interviewer and she's such a great connector. And so like I'll find the nuts and bolts and she'll like spice it up. So we just fall into these roles. Really well naturally.

Jill Sirianni [00:15:09]:
Yeah, it was really sweet. I didn't know that you thought I spiced things up. Thank you.

Jen Smith [00:15:13]:
You're so spicy.

Amber Hawley [00:15:16]:
It's a little love fest over here. But we do say that same thing where often we're telling people we don't recommend doing it the way we're doing it because you should be more thoughtful. So it's nice to hear other people say that.

Jill Sirianni [00:15:28]:
Yeah. When you find friends, soulmates, there's some things you you just, just know, you don't have to talk about.

Amber Hawley [00:15:34]:
Yes, definitely. So you guys have your other, you have other jobs, careers, and then you have this, the podcast. When it comes to like your communication, what does that look like? Like how frequently are you guys talking and kind of how you're doing that?

Jill Sirianni [00:15:50]:
Well, I Snapchat Jen literally every morning. That's not true.

Jen Smith [00:15:56]:
I play by play of my day via text.

Amber Hawley [00:16:00]:
I like it. Highly recommend that.

Jen Smith [00:16:02]:
Yeah, we're everywhere together.

Amber Hawley [00:16:04]:
Efficient.

Jill Sirianni [00:16:05]:
We When we podcast, we plan the next time we're going to podcast at the end of that recording. And it's usually weekly. So we'll podcast weekly. If things come up that we need to communicate about, we'll text. But generally we do all of our business stuff either before or after each weekly recording.

Jen Smith [00:16:24]:
Yeah. And we're flexible on, you know, day, nighttime, like day of the week sort of thing. We just work because both of our schedules fluctuate. So we just work with them and then we have guests on every third episode. So they can kind of dictate some of our recording schedule as well.

Jill Sirianni [00:16:42]:
Which has been so nice being able to flex with each other's schedule. Like Jen is always super gracious if I need to cancel or push something back a bit. And we're both able to do that. Neither one of us is like, no, the first and third Friday at 2:00 PM.

Jen Smith [00:16:58]:
Yeah. Yeah. And I needed a lot of grace in my first trimester of pregnancy. Like I was just not getting it together. So yeah, we just have a lot of grace for our personal and professional lives. And then if things come up, we text, you know, whenever that happens. Otherwise we're pretty autonomous. Hmm.

Amber Hawley [00:17:18]:
Okay. And then as far as like the friendship part of things, how is that? Every day, all day via text?

Jill Sirianni [00:17:25]:
No, we have our fun on our weekly podcast. Jen, I'm like, she's the person I talk to the most. It has kept us in contact a lot more than really a lot of my other friends, even though we live so far away, that weekly contact, that before and after podcast We're also updating on life, but what you're getting in the podcast is also just our friendly conversation.

Jen Smith [00:17:48]:
Yeah. I mean, that's what it feels like.

Jill Sirianni [00:17:50]:
Hanging out with a friend.

Jen Smith [00:17:52]:
Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:17:52]:
It seems like you have, like you said at the, maybe this was before we started recording, but you guys being soulmates and yet it's, it's that weekly conversation and that, that feels really good to you and that's enough time and support for each other.

Jill Sirianni [00:18:07]:
Yeah. If something cool happens, we'll text about it and, you know, send little emojis and GIFs back and forth to each other. Yeah, otherwise we're doing our thing.

Jen Smith [00:18:16]:
Jill was the first person to know that I was pregnant, even before her husband. Jill knew first.

Jill Sirianni [00:18:26]:
Literally, she had just peed on a stick, sat down to record. She's like, it's positive!

Amber Hawley [00:18:34]:
Oh my goodness.

Jill Sirianni [00:18:35]:
So yeah, so now she has to love me forever. Next time we see each other, actually, we're gonna like slice our wrists and like join blood together.

Amber Hawley [00:18:42]:
We didn't talk about that. Maybe just the finger because I I feel like slicing your wrist, maybe not a good idea.

Jill Sirianni [00:18:49]:
Oh, just the finger. Okay, yeah, just a finger. Blood.

Jen Smith [00:18:52]:
Okay, that's far more reasonable.

Amber Hawley [00:18:57]:
I was like, you said that and I was picturing like Girl Interrupted. I'm like, no, I think maybe— I.

Jill Sirianni [00:19:02]:
Know you can do it. Swap blood, that part's great. Just through the finger, just, you know.

Melissa Hall [00:19:09]:
Only like a little drop. That's— yeah, yeah, reduction.

Jen Smith [00:19:13]:
Glad to see you're showing your support.

Jill Sirianni [00:19:15]:
Harm reduction approach.

Melissa Hall [00:19:17]:
And you might want to wait until after the pregnancy.

Jen Smith [00:19:20]:
Just saying.

Amber Hawley [00:19:21]:
Yeah.

Jen Smith [00:19:22]:
Okay. Noted.

Amber Hawley [00:19:23]:
Yeah. Oh my goodness.

Jen Smith [00:19:25]:
Great tips here.

Jill Sirianni [00:19:26]:
Yeah, seriously. I didn't know I'd get so much.

Amber Hawley [00:19:29]:
We're changing lives. But I will say to our listeners, like, because I think our listeners enjoy sarcasm because they listen to us, and I feel like listening to your guys' podcast, they're going to get a lot of that. So it's so good. I really, really enjoyed the banter.

Jill Sirianni [00:19:45]:
Thanks.

Jen Smith [00:19:45]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:19:46]:
So have either of you had a biz bestie in the past or have other biz besties currently?

Jen Smith [00:19:53]:
I, I do. I have a mastermind group that I'm a part of. Chris Browning is in it. I think you've had him on your podcast before.

Melissa Hall [00:20:02]:
Yes. We love Chris. We're huge fans.

Amber Hawley [00:20:04]:
Yes. He's who's— the one is he the one who started that mastermind? Yes. Well, you can thank us because he was consulting us about how to do it. Awesome.

Jen Smith [00:20:13]:
Well, thank you so much.

Amber Hawley [00:20:15]:
Yeah. He's our favorite biz bestie.

Jen Smith [00:20:16]:
It is fantastic. And I am indebted to that group. They are like my biz family. Oh yeah, they're— shout out to the mastermind that doesn't have a name.

Amber Hawley [00:20:29]:
I like it.

Jill Sirianni [00:20:30]:
Be called masterminds, right? Fantastic.

Amber Hawley [00:20:32]:
I was like, this is where I'm going to give a shout out to Chris and say you failed because you must name your mastermind.

Jen Smith [00:20:39]:
Like, I— okay, so one time we had a group text and it was titled the Magnificent Mastermind. Oh, so I don't know if that's an official name we agreed on. I don't want to like put that out there and be wrong, you know?

Amber Hawley [00:20:50]:
Okay, okay.

Melissa Hall [00:20:50]:
It works.

Amber Hawley [00:20:51]:
That's amazing.

Jill Sirianni [00:20:52]:
A polygamist in my biz bestie career. Although, can I call it this if it's my husband? We've done a lot of businesses together. Uh, he is one of my biz besties. Or would it be bro besties? Or would it be— what's it?

Amber Hawley [00:21:08]:
I definitely feel like polygamy because you're married to him, and like, I think you're good with that.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:13]:
Okay. Yeah, nice.

Amber Hawley [00:21:15]:
Yeah, he's more than your biz bro.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:17]:
He's definitely not my brother.

Jen Smith [00:21:18]:
Oh my gosh.

Amber Hawley [00:21:19]:
No, no, I was like, that's why I'm like, I like alliteration, but I don't know if that feels right.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:26]:
I know.

Amber Hawley [00:21:27]:
Biz bestie.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:28]:
Yeah, we had an interiors business together where we did construction work, like a BYO bartending business. What else?

Amber Hawley [00:21:37]:
I remember him talking about that.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:38]:
So many different things. Yeah, they're so cool.

Jen Smith [00:21:42]:
They're, they're the coolest couple. Yeah.

Jill Sirianni [00:21:46]:
Thanks, Jen. You guys are really cool too. And you made a human. Who else does that? Who else makes so many other people, Jill?

Jen Smith [00:21:56]:
Bartending business with their husband. God, just so cool.

Melissa Hall [00:22:00]:
So you guys are a super entrepreneurial couple.

Jill Sirianni [00:22:03]:
Yeah, I guess so. We really like to do what we want to do and have our time allotted the way that we I want want to. There's times where I'm like, oh my word, I just want to work for somebody and just know that what money I'm making and know where to go every day. But then, then when I actually hunker down and think about that possibility, I'm like, heck no. I love my flexibility. I love deciding what I want to do with my time. I love being able to do things that I like doing.

Amber Hawley [00:22:30]:
Yes. But I think, I mean, that's a normal thing that we hear most entrepreneurs say when you're just having— there's always the ups and downs, right? And that's the benefit of having these besties and that support Is there there for you during those times? Because yeah, I think as you go on in business, those times might happen a little more early on. And then eventually you get to that point where you, you have the thought and you almost immediately can be like, no, I love not having to go anywhere on Friday.

Jill Sirianni [00:22:57]:
You realize how much you do like your lifestyle when rubber meets the road of, okay, well then just go get a 40-hour week job. It's like, no, no, no, no, no.

Amber Hawley [00:23:08]:
It's like a prison sentence.

Jen Smith [00:23:11]:
I don't know. I feel that— I feel I love all of my like extracurricular entrepreneurship, but there is something to be said for having like a really good employer. Like I feel like the Penny Hoarder, for what it's worth, for being a $40 per hour, you know, $40 per hour week job, I don't know how long I'm there. It's really, it's comforting to know that I'm getting the same check every week. They're expecting the same thing from me every week and there's still enough flexibility ability for me to do things like this because I'm not exhausted at the end of the day.

Jill Sirianni [00:23:43]:
Yeah.

Melissa Hall [00:23:45]:
Yeah. I think that's huge. And there's more companies offering opportunities like that.

Jen Smith [00:23:50]:
Right.

Melissa Hall [00:23:50]:
And the online space makes it a lot easier to do that. So yeah, definitely. I think everybody has, yeah. Like, and it all depends on what you want, right? What you value. But I love, like, you guys have very different, you two have very different lives and yet it's like you have the same values. So I I love that about your relationship.

Jen Smith [00:24:09]:
I think it's really cool.

Jill Sirianni [00:24:10]:
Which we were excited about when we started our podcast together because for Jenn, she comes from a very— there's a lot of very tangible tips and calculated strides that she takes in it. And for me, it's a bit more DIY problem solving. So it's two different approaches to frugality, which is fun because it's not— then it makes it accessible for all people. Like, oh, I could do it this way or I could do it that way. And it's a nice blending that we We aren't the same people, but we really enjoy each other. I enjoy you, Jenn.

Jen Smith [00:24:42]:
I enjoy you. Yeah, I could not— I wouldn't do this podcast without Jill because I couldn't do it alone. There's so many things that I am lacking that Jill makes up for. Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:24:53]:
And then it makes it so easy, right? Like being able— because it's just like that when, especially when it's so easy and you're not having those struggles and it feels like you, like you said, naturally the way the cookie crumbled, it just worked out well. I think when you find those relationships friendships, it's just like, oh yes, this is— I get so much from it. And, and it's not, it's not like a lot of effort.

Jill Sirianni [00:25:15]:
Right.

Amber Hawley [00:25:16]:
I love that.

Melissa Hall [00:25:16]:
Do you two know your Myers-Briggs types?

Jen Smith [00:25:19]:
I am an INFJ.

Jill Sirianni [00:25:21]:
Oh, I knew it.

Amber Hawley [00:25:22]:
I knew it. I knew it as soon as you said that thing about— We should have.

Melissa Hall [00:25:25]:
Done the reveal thing where we like write it down and then like flip the card around.

Amber Hawley [00:25:29]:
We should so do that next time.

Jen Smith [00:25:31]:
Okay.

Jill Sirianni [00:25:32]:
That's so funny. You guys, I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've taken it. I don't remember.

Jen Smith [00:25:37]:
Okay.

Melissa Hall [00:25:37]:
Well, you're a P. Yes.

Amber Hawley [00:25:39]:
Oh, for sure. Every time, every time we really like somebody and they don't know, we just tell them they're an ENFP unless their J-ness is like hardcore. We can tell them they're ENFJs.

Jill Sirianni [00:25:52]:
Eric didn't tell me that when he met you guys, that you were like every single hangout, like trying to figure out what he was. I should have known that you were, that this was going to come around into the conversation.

Jen Smith [00:26:02]:
And I'm so appreciative that you you asked about Myers-Briggs and not Enneagram, because everybody's been asking me what numbers I am on Enneagram and I forget every time. Like, I can tell you the letters I am, like Myers-Briggs, but I don't know what number wing I am.

Amber Hawley [00:26:17]:
Oh yeah, like we need to do some research to see if there's some correlation because we're both ENFPs and we're 7 on the Enneagram. But apparently we are big personality nerds if your husband took that away. Yeah, basically it's our litmus to like quickly assess someone and be like, move on.

Jill Sirianni [00:26:36]:
Although he was super proud that like every time it was different. He was like, they just couldn't figure me out. I was like, he's such a mystery.

Amber Hawley [00:26:46]:
Yeah, we were like, DID? No, I'm just kidding. Every time it was different.

Jill Sirianni [00:26:54]:
I don't want to be proud of that.

Amber Hawley [00:26:58]:
He's so inconsistent. Such a mysterious guy. I thought you were gonna— I thought when I said, after I said that about Janus, I thought he, because I had relayed the story before about during an interview, I said, I tell people, like, I was hiring an assistant and I told her, I hope you can handle all my penis. And then I go, oh my God, like, I meant like my pee, you know, like from my face.

Jen Smith [00:27:23]:
When Myers-Briggs goes wrong.

Jill Sirianni [00:27:26]:
Yes.

Amber Hawley [00:27:26]:
Oh, it was so bad.

Jill Sirianni [00:27:28]:
Oh, that's such a good mishap that happened.

Jen Smith [00:27:32]:
I love that.

Amber Hawley [00:27:32]:
Good. So.

Jill Sirianni [00:27:33]:
And then she goes, "This is a.

Amber Hawley [00:27:35]:
Good time to end the interview." And then yes, I hired her.

Jill Sirianni [00:27:39]:
Can she handle it?

Amber Hawley [00:27:42]:
Not really, actually. Unfortunately, she is no longer. She really didn't understand how big my penis was. Hardcore. And it was too much for her. But, you know.

Jill Sirianni [00:27:55]:
Oh my goodness.

Amber Hawley [00:27:59]:
Yes. So, but I thought that's what you were going to go with. I forgot that we couldn't figure him out. I love it.

Melissa Hall [00:28:07]:
There'll be some follow-up emails happening with that. Oh man, I love it. Well, yeah, I mean, what advice or wise words would you have for people who are listening to this and thinking like, wow, that sounds amazing. And I would love to have a biz bestie. And it also sounds like they just kind of fell into it. Like, what, what would you tell those people?

Jill Sirianni [00:28:29]:
I, for starters, would say to put yourself out there, right? Like, I did something uncomfortable and so did Jen, and that's how we found each other. We wouldn't have found each other if we had both decided that we're going to stick to ourselves and live in our own little world and never meet new people or do new things. So I think that that's part of it, is taking taking risks and being open to meeting new people, being open to new relationships.

Jen Smith [00:28:56]:
I would agree.

Amber Hawley [00:28:57]:
That's really striking about your story, Jenn, especially since you said you don't even like to talk to people you know, right?

Jen Smith [00:29:04]:
I think on a recent episode that we just recorded, I said that I don't need any more friends either. So, you know, it's a— I don't know what I'm doing here. Yeah, but I do as many things that make me uncomfortable as possible.

Jill Sirianni [00:29:21]:
And but I think that Neither one of us put the pressure on it though. I didn't go into it saying, I'm taking a risk, therefore I'm going to meet somebody that I'm going to share blood with someday. It was like, okay, if this is weird, I can leave. And she thought the same thing. And then it ended up being good, but we both entered it into, I'm taking a risk, but I can leave if I want to.

Amber Hawley [00:29:41]:
Yeah.

Jen Smith [00:29:41]:
It's, I mean, it's very similar to dating. You just, you kind of open yourself up for the opportunity, make yourself available and Just pay attention to the things that are happening around you, like the people you're connecting with and the, you know, the relationships and the conversations that seem to last a little longer. And then just kind of take it from there.

Jill Sirianni [00:30:03]:
I would say some of it comes also from knowing yourself too. What are you interested in and what are you good at? And find other people who are also interested in those things. They don't have to be exactly like you, but What are the things that you enjoy talking about? Maybe consider that being something that you pursue with another person who also enjoys it.

Jen Smith [00:30:24]:
Yeah, find somebody who's like, who you admire for being good at things you are not good at.

Jill Sirianni [00:30:30]:
Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:30:31]:
Amen. That's such a good one. I think that's such great advice for people and I really love it. I'm not quite sure Jen is on board with the blood exchange thing. No, but I like how you— That's.

Jill Sirianni [00:30:41]:
Just how it always goes, you know? At first, at the end of our episode, she wanted to call it like last talking points. And I'm like, no, lightning round, lightning round, lightning round, lightning round. And eventually she's labeling it lightning round. So this is going to happen.

Jen Smith [00:30:55]:
Yeah. It's a habit for me. If, as long as like you're persistent in wearing me down, I will eventually agree to do whatever you want.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:06]:
Eric was like, podcast, podcast, podcast, podcast.

Amber Hawley [00:31:09]:
Podcasts. Hey, we're doing.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:09]:
That's a pattern.

Amber Hawley [00:31:13]:
In my life. Send me money, send me money, send me money. I'm going to just send you some random texts and emails.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:22]:
Then eventually she's going to be like, did that interview cost money? I guess so.

Jen Smith [00:31:26]:
All right.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:27]:
Venmo or PayPal?

Amber Hawley [00:31:29]:
Yes. Oh my goodness. PayPal. But I do, I want you to Instagram that photo though, the blood.

Melissa Hall [00:31:40]:
Next time, I think that should be like a Facebook Live or something.

Jen Smith [00:31:42]:
Like, oh my you be.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:44]:
Sure that it's.

Jen Smith [00:31:44]:
Gosh, should.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:44]:
Happening.

Melissa Hall [00:31:47]:
Yeah, would Facebook block that? I don't know.

Amber Hawley [00:31:49]:
It might. That's a little— I hope so. That's a little dodgy. Yeah, I can only hope so.

Jill Sirianni [00:31:55]:
I— how did this get so dark? I think I did that. I solely did that. But listen, you guys are all on board with this joke, so if we go down, if this ship goes down, you're all coming with me.

Amber Hawley [00:32:07]:
I'm not willing to let a dark joke die, so I bring it— I'm always willing to bring it back around. So I was like, this is good stuff.

Jen Smith [00:32:14]:
I'm not going down. I'm, I'm just going to be on the surface. I'm going to be on the shore.

Jill Sirianni [00:32:19]:
Mothers and children.

Jen Smith [00:32:23]:
Yeah.

Amber Hawley [00:32:24]:
Well, I think, I thank you guys so much. This was a, this was such a fun episode and I think people really get a flavor for your personality. So if they wanted to find out more about you lovely ladies, where should they go?

Jen Smith [00:32:36]:
We are Frugal Friends Podcast, wherever you find podcasts. Frugalfriendspodcast.com, on Instagram. You literally cannot miss us if you're typing in Frugal Friends Podcast.

Jill Sirianni [00:32:50]:
It'd be impossible unless you really can't spell and your Fs turn into Ws.

Amber Hawley [00:32:57]:
So can we, can we actually schedule like a weekly where we all get together?

Jen Smith [00:33:05]:
Yeah, you can stand by while we record and just like pop in every.

Melissa Hall [00:33:10]:
Once in a while. And then we can just like, we can mute ourselves, but put in the chat, like our little, our commentary throughout the whole time.

Jill Sirianni [00:33:18]:
That will become your episode. Your, your podcast will just be commentary on ours.

Amber Hawley [00:33:23]:
It'll just be our face. It'll be our YouTube, like scroll.

Jen Smith [00:33:28]:
That's the next iteration of the Frugal Friends podcast is the Frugal Friends Commentary Podcast.

Amber Hawley [00:33:33]:
Nice.

Melissa Hall [00:33:35]:
Oh yes. There's so many ideas right now. Okay.

Jen Smith [00:33:37]:
Yes.

Melissa Hall [00:33:38]:
So that went down, other things to work on.

Jill Sirianni [00:33:41]:
Yes.

Amber Hawley [00:33:42]:
But thank you again, ladies, for joining us and head on over to the Frugal Friends Podcast to get some more of this and possibly find out when the blood exchange is happening.

Jill Sirianni [00:33:53]:
Thanks for having us. This has been fun.

Amber Hawley [00:33:55]:
Thank you. And if you had fun listening to this, I mean, if you didn't, I don't even know what to say. But if you had a wonderful time, head on over to iTunes and give us a review so that people know how amazing we are. We really appreciate that.