- In this episode I'm gonna show you how you can spend less in
your everyday purchases so that you can pay off
debt and save money. (upbeat music) Alright here's the deal, guys. We spend money; it's what we do. It's part of our culture,
it's part of our country. In order to live, we have to spend money. But the question is
are we spending wisely? Well in today's episode we are going to answer a few questions like should you buy quality over quantity, should you buy name brand or generic, and then my friend Jenna
is stopping by later to tell us how we can save
money on our groceries. Thank you Jesus, hallelujah,
'cause we all need that. So these are all things
that are ultimately going to save you money so that you can pay down debt or build
up your emergency fund. Because here's the deal: we work hard for the money we're spending,
so let's spend it wisely. And it's a bonus for this episode because I love to spend money. Yes I am a spender and one of the things I love to spend money on is clothes. (carefree piano music) Okay this is a category though, people, that is super easy to cut out when you are getting out of debt. So listen, ladies and gentlemen, you'll love to spend money on things like a nice bag or maybe some great shoes, but your retirement and your kids' future are more important, so remember that. You have to have your
value system in place. But when you're thinking
through buying clothes, I always think about do I
wanna buy quality or quantity? And over the three decades
of my life here on earth I've realized the older that I've gotten, the older and wiser, I've
actually enjoyed having a lot more quality pieces than quantity. Like I would rather have
just a couple of pairs of jeans versus all these jeans and after you wash them three times they don't fit anymore and
you have to give them away. So I really do, I like
to invest in things. And so a couple of things
that I do invest money in when it comes to my clothes
are jackets, shoes, and jeans. So jackets, I do, I love jackets. When you can find a good winter jacket, it's amazing 'cause it'll
last you for seasons. And one jacket that I did
have a little bit of an investment in—took me a
little bit to save but I saved, and I brought it to show you
because I love it so much— is my leather moto jacket. Yes. It's from Zora and it's fake leather. It's faux, so PETA don't get
mad at me, okay? It's fake. But oh it is so fun. I love it. Sometimes when I'm out in L.A. I don't even put my arms through and I just look all fancy and yeah. It's so great, it's so cute, and it's actually really warm. But again, I spent a
little bit of money on it. But I was like you know I'm gonna wear it, I love it and I've had it for five years and it has been old trusty for me. It makes me feel a whole lot
cooler than I actually am. And then the other thing I
will spend money on are shoes. Listen, I love Target, don't get me wrong. But I used to buy so many
pairs of shoes from there and after a while, after
like a year or even two in the best world
possible, they'd be done. They just wouldn't fit
anymore, they'd be tearing, and I was like ugh. So I just learned if I'm gonna buy a pair of shoes, I'd rather have a few pairs but that are nicer and
that I can invest in. And in my world, heels
are a part of the gig. I wear heels when I speak,
usually I wear them here on the show, if I'm doing a media hit. And so this is a part of my wardrobe that I'm like okay, I'm
gonna put some money in and get some comfortable heels. So if you follow me on Instagram, you know my love for Mr. Sam Edelman. Yes he is wonderful. We love Sam. But they're like my go-to heels. And look at these
white patent leather pumps. I mean, I'm sorry, I mean
they're just so cute okay. But they do run a little bit more and they're not crazy, they're
not $900, absolute insane. But they do run a little bit more than what I would think
I would normally pay, but again they last and they last and they last and they are comfortable. So heels may not be part
of your everyday wardrobe, but if you are a stay-at-home mom or maybe you're home a lot
like one of my girlfriends ... She like lives in yoga pants
and she loves her yoga pants. She's like you know what I've invested in two nice pairs, Lululemons, and that's all she wears
'cause they last forever. So find the things that
are part of your wardrobe that you wear every day and invest in them. And then the last but not
least for me are jeans. I wear jeans like all the time. I love a good pair of jeans. So I've invested in a few
pairs of nice blue jeans. Now I will get an Anne Taylor Loft sale every now and then and
buy some trendy jeans, but for just some classic blue jeans I have invested some money
in. So these are Paige brand. Again not sponsored but that's what it is. And so I have found
some good quality jeans. So those are some pieces
that I do, I invest in. Now if you do have some investment pieces, remember a couple of things. Number one, still wait on the sales, okay. Sam Edelman, he's got some good sales. Sometimes he'll have 30% off, and then I will buy it then. So don't be afraid to look for the sale. And then number two,
depending on the price point, have a price point in mind
and if you're married, you and your spouse agree
on it, but wait overnight. And this is true if it's
a more expensive item. If you just see it and
you're like oh my gosh I wanna buy it, wait overnight, see if the emotion dies down, and then you'll know, okay, I
really do wanna purchase this. Now for me the quantity pieces, the pieces that I won't
spend as much money on are things like trendy things,
like I told you, jeans. There was a thing with flair or something at the end of jeans, like that, I'm not gonna buy a
really nice pair of that 'cause next season that's
probably not gonna be in style. So I'll go buy something on sale at like a Loft or something like that. So trendy pieces I buy more inexpensive. And jewelry, I don't have
very expensive jewelry. Most of my jewelry is very inexpensive because I like to trade it
out, change some stuff up. And so that's where I like to have more quantity over quality. Now this was one area of my life that in my early 20s especially, I would always compare how I looked and my clothes with other people's. I'd see other people at
work or maybe at church or out and about or on Instagram, and I'm like oh my gosh they
just always have cute clothes and I just never felt like
man I just wanna be like them. And it's funny 'cause
the older I've gotten, the less I care about that. I enjoy it more for
myself and I have learned to be content in this area of my life. And so I do it because
I enjoy it personally and I really have
stopped comparing my life to other people's when it
comes to this part of my life, which I'm so thankful that I have found that part of contentment.
And so if contentment is something you struggle with, maybe it's clothes,
maybe it's other things, it's a daily decision that
we have to make to be content. And it's really hard. So
if you are on that journey or you wanna start that journey, I have a new Contentment Journal out that walks you through 90 days of prompts every day taking you through
on how to be content. And so it's so fun; it's been
out for a little bit now. We've gotten such great feedback 'cause it really is helping people and my heart and my soul is
in that. It is so so good, and it's challenging and it's encouraging, so all the things. If you want to find contentment, make sure to check that out. Coming up next, I'm really excited to share with you some
secret shopping tips that not a lot of people know about. Family is one of the most
important parts of my life. And making sure everyone is
taken care of is a top priority. That includes more than
just meal planning, entertaining the kids, and taking care of all the day-to-day needs. That's why I recommend
having life insurance. Now when you're shopping for it, you might wonder should I get term life insurance or
whole life insurance? I always recommend term insurance. It's going to save you tons of money that you can put toward
paying off your debt and funding your emergency fund. For a 30-year-old male, a
20 year $250,000 policy would cost just $15 a month for term life. However the same policy for whole life would be $190 per month.
That is a huge difference. Winston and I use Zander Insurance. They do all the work
for you by finding you the best prices and options
customized to your needs. To learn more, call Zander
today or go to Zander.com because that's who we trust
to take care of our family. (upbeat music) Alright, the next question
I ask myself while shopping is should I buy generic or name brand? Now according to The Wall
Street Journal, overall generic products cost 29%
less than name-brand products. You guys, that's an easy way to save 30% of your money right there, without ever having to
cut back. It's amazing. Now if you're wondering if generic is really as good as the
name brand, I will tell you. Doctors and professional chefs think so. When surveyed, chefs are more likely to buy generic over name brand,
especially when it comes to things like baking
ingredients, soups, and dips. And doctors and pharmacists
are more likely to do the same. 90%, 90% buy generic
over name-brand medicine. I couldn't believe that. Alright, one of my favorite
stores in the world is Costco. You walk into Costco and you're just like all good things happen
here; it's just fantastic. Now Costco has a generic line
called Kirkland Signature, and some of the items that
are Kirkland Signature items are actually the exact same
as some name-brand items. Kirkland Signature batteries, you guys, are made by Duracell, that's right. But you buy the generic and save money. Kirkland Signature Coffee,
you won't believe it, but it's true, roasted by Starbucks. Kirkland's pet food, which
I'm not gonna pick up, 'cause you know, don't wanna
show off how strong I am, is made by Diamond. And if you've ever bought Diamond dog food, you know it's great quality but it's really pricey. But Kirkland's is 30% cheaper. And the last one that
absolutely shocked me, but rumor has it that
Kirkland's professional salon-formula moisturizer shampoo and conditioner are made by Pureology. Ladies, I use Pureology and I love it and Costco's products,
these, they're like $9.99 and Pureology costs like 65 bucks! Okay, I will say I couldn't
find definite proof anywhere on Pureology
or Costco to admit this, but the ingredients are exactly the same and everywhere on the
internet says that it's true. So it must be right, right? But I really wanna know,
if you've tried the whole shampoo thing, tell me about it. I wanna know if it's true or not. I'll say this, it does not smell the same, but all the ingredients are. I
couldn't believe it, amazing. Alright, I went into my Facebook community to ask you guys what you've saved money on and got some really great ideas. Ashlee said that she swapped Girl Scout cookies for Aldi's cookies. I will admit when I read this, I was like no way, is that true? And like half the people
on my team were like yes we've tried it and it's so good. So Ashlee, props to you. Gretchen said I switched
from Bounty paper towels to Kirkland's brand from Costco. Amede said Aldi's brand, Burman's mayo, is identical to Hellman's. And Tyler said that they swapped all of their household items
from Walmart to Dollar Tree. And our monthly expense
went from $150 a month to less than $25—absolutely amazing. Love that. Ways to spend
money wisely, guys. I love it. Now the last place that we can save a lot of money is at the grocery store. And for some smart shopping
tips, Jenna Waters is back. Alright you guys, we talk all the time about how food busts our budget. I know it does mine;
it does so many people. So I brought Jenna
Waters back. You're back! Thanks for coming.
- Yeah it's so fun to be back. Thanks for having me.
- And we're gonna walk through multiple ways
that you can save money at the grocery depending
on what you're buying, and then at the end we're
actually going to make a meal together that's
really budget friendly. So I'm really excited, and
Jenna you're a mom of three, expecting number four.
- Yes expecting number four. - Congratulations.
- Food is important in our house so it has
to be good and healthy, but definitely within the budget. 'Cause lots of hungry mouths. - Yes okay, so starting off,
some great places to save. - So starting off, I always find that we wanna find this balance
between health and budget. I feel like those are the major variables, but yet still for it to be convenient. And so there are a lot of different brands that we could go to but a lot
of the health food brands, even though they're great,
they're really expensive. So finding creative ways to find that middle of the road I
think is really essential to balancing the health budget at home. So one place I love to think about in the grocery store
is that middle section. Things like sauces, condiments, marinades. - Which is my favorite,
I love a good condiment. - That's right.
- I really do. - Lots of flavor.
- It's so good, yes. - And those essential for good cooking. So we want the good stuff
but at the right price. So one great example of
that is salad dressings. So just a generic brand-
name salad dressing can be upwards of $3.50 to
$4 for a 16-ounce bottle, but often times pretty
much every salad dressing in the grocery store is gonna be made with things like canola
oil and soy bean oil which are not the healthiest oils for us. So to find a good quality dressing that has olive oil or avocado oil in it, you're gonna pay a lot of money. And so making our own blend at home which is literally just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, our homemade herb blend, and some water is less than $2, and it takes 30 seconds just to whip it up really, really fast.
- So quick. Okay so you know this about me 'cause I feel like I've told you, cooking always is a little intimidating. I'm not naturally the best. And so making salad dressing,
people would say that, and I kinda was intimidated,
I'm not gonna lie. I was like oh my gosh how do you do that? And I found one easy thing and now I don't even use measuring cups, I just let the spirit lead.
- You are such a natural, yes. - And I shake and it's so good. So that's the one place
I literally am like it was a little intimidating but it works. So $2 you guys, $2 for salad
dressing versus like $8. So it's great.
- And I find the same things with myself like when
people started mentioning making your own almond milk, I was like (scoffs) I
don't have time for that, but then once we started doing it and it takes literally 30 seconds after that first initial try it makes so much difference. So some other categories in
that middle of the grocery store would be things like peanut butter. A good organic brand of peanut butter for 16 ounces can be upwards up of $4 which isn't so bad but
knowing that that also has things in it, additives and such, there's a great brand at Costco for $5. Their brand is just Valencia
peanuts, which is the best peanuts that we can
buy and also just salt. Mayonnaise is another great example. A small bottle of that is about $2 for a little container of it. Even the--
- Like the cheap stuff. - Yeah the cheap stuff that we don't want. But the step up, the healthier version can be $10 for a little container. And so some places that we like to find it would be Costco, Thrive Market
which is an online store. Yes that's a great money savings area. The other section to consider kinda budget and brands would be freezer. This bag right here is
$3.30 but if you make, just get two sweet potatoes,
some olive oil or avocado oil, some sea salt, this
can be a dollar or two. - And that's the thing,
saving your $3–4 here or there doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up over time when you do that over multiple things.
- Yes oh my goodness. - Okay so frozen fruits, I've heard rumors all about the frozen fruits. So tell me the truth Jenna,
good, cheap, bad, what is it? - Frozen fruits can be awesome, particularly when a fruit is not in season like strawberries in the fall and winter are obviously not in
season so you're gonna pay a premium for the fresh version of those. If you buy the freezer version, most of the time these are picked at peak ripeness so
they're optimal nutrition. - I mean this is a lot of strawberries. - That's a lot of strawberries, totally. It's four pounds for $10
whereas just a little pint or container could be easily five or $6 for organic.
- Jenna I'm gonna confess to you, this is the one place, it ends up being
strawberries in our house. I don't why, that we end up throwing out. And it kills me, I'm like oh my gosh, but the frozen, right.
- Yes, you just pull out what you need, absolutely.
- Yes I know, that's so good. - And we love these for on top of waffles or pancakes as kind of like a mock syrup or a smoothie.
- And it's less expensive when they're not in season.
- Absolutely. - Okay so you mentioned
almond milk earlier. I'm intimidated, when you
said homemade almond milk I was like what, okay
so talk me through it. - It can feel daunting for sure, but it's literally the easiest thing ever. So an organic unsweetened almond milk is upwards of $3–4 for 64 ounces. This is just two cups
of almonds and water. You would just blend this up, put fresh water in it, 64 ounces is $2. So that's one example of a staple item that you can easily make yourself. - Okay guys don't be intimidated, I know it's a little
intimidating, don't be. Wait till the end of the show and we're gonna have a
place that you can get all these recipes that we're
talking about, homemade. Oh it's so good, I love it,
I'm really excited about it. I might make homemade almond milk. - It might be a thing.
- You never know. - It might be a thing that we try. So I often say that if we do wanna buy name-brand things or ingredients
that are more expensive, staples are a great place
to spend that extra money. So things like salt, this little container just from the generic grocery store is $9 whereas a large container
from Costco was $11. - [Rachel] Yep that's great. - Homemade herb blends are another place that we can save money. A lot of those organic herbs in the single containers can be very expensive, but when we buy herbs, dried
herbs in bulk, we can do that. And fresh herbs, I'm not
exactly a plant lady, but if you can just throw
some little plants in a pot, this right here would probably
be 1.99 at the grocery store versus, if you just bought the stalks. But if you bought the
plant, you're gonna-- - Have more.
- It's a couple dollars and it keeps growing for you. - Yes so good, okay so we're
gonna dive in and make— - So we're gonna do a recipe.
- A great meal. - Yep so we're gonna make
Greek chicken kabobs. This is one of our all-time
favorite summer foods. - [Rachel] So avocado
oil, start with that. - [Jenna] So we have
two cups of avocado oil, this is just a cup of white vinegar. - [Rachel] Okay I'll be the stirrer. - That sounds good and then we're gonna do two tablespoons of minced garlic. And this is just dried mint. And then we're gonna do lemon juice. Lemon is the acidic component which is gonna help tenderize the chicken. And then this is our
homemade Ranch seasoning. I'm gonna reach for this.
- Okay so what's that. - This is chives, garlic
powder, onion powder, and this is a blend that I make at home. So I would put the chicken in this bag and then just pour the marinade in here, kinda mix it up, let it
marinate up to overnight, but a few hours would be fine. And then we'll put it
on skewers and grill it and it makes the most tender, juicy, flavorful chicken kabobs. It's delicious, yeah.
- So yum, oh that's so good. And then up next is a salad.
- It's so good. Yes this is our Garbanzo Greek salad so a lot of good protein,
a lot of good veggies. These are our Garbanzo beans, red onion, tomatoes, some bell peppers, the cucumbers, and the feta. And then if you wanna grab the
dressing and pour that over then we're just gonna mix it all together. So even the kids tend to love that. - Yes okay I'm spying a little kids thing. - Yeah this is a great
example of kinda brand name. These carrots right here
are much more expensive— 'cause they're already peeled and cut— than if you bought a bag of whole carrots. Literally two pounds of
this is the same price as one pound of the small carrots. And these are actually
more nutritionally dense. So again, a few extra
seconds, peeling, chopping can be a great addition to a kid's lunch. These little guacamole
packets are also really good because we go through a lot of wasted, rotten avocados in our house. - You're just like my house, literally, literally last night I put five in and one of them was growing
something on the side. I was like my gosh, and like
Winston hates to waste food. He always is like we throw away so much like it's been a conversation in our house because it happens all the time. So all that to say things that go bad so quickly like avocado, that's great. - So this turkey breast
option is really great for kid's lunches or even our lunches on top of a salad or in a
wrap or something like that. This one I bought from Costco, just as a whole turkey breast, and I just take it home
and chop it myself, stick some in the freezer,
but it's $3.99 a pound versus if we were to
find a really good brand turkey breast at the
grocery store in the deli it can be $10 to $11 a pound easy. - Totally, totally, such a great way. Jenna thank you, you
seriously bring so much wisdom to this part of our lives. We're so thankful for you.
Where can everyone find you? - So on my website is jennawaters.com, my Instagram is jennawatersnutrition so I'm usually on there in
some way, shape, or form. - And now you're cooking,
doing good stories, all of it.
- Cooking with the kids on your legs, one on the hip. You know that life.
- That's right that's right. So great, you guys I'm so pumped because everything that we said homemade, this is homemade, this is homemade, we're going to have the recipes for you. So click the link in the show notes to make sure that you get
all these great recipes. Jenna, you're a life saver. - Thanks so much.
- Thanks for coming back on. - Thanks Rachel.
- I appreciate it. (upbeat music) Isn't Jenna great? I love her. She brings all the wisdom when
it comes to food, doesn't she? Remember though, next
time you're out shopping, decide whether you wanna
go quality or quantity or go generic versus name brands, because all of these decisions
will help save you money. So let's be smart shoppers. Thanks to Jenna again for coming on and giving us some great
tips and click the link in the show notes for her recipes. You can also go there to check
out my Contentment Journal. Thanks you guys so much
for watching this episode and make sure to subscribe to my podcast if you haven't already for
some extra content there. And as always, remember to
take control of your money and create a life you love. (upbeat music)
