Frugal Friends Podcast

Our 2026 Money Predictions: What’s Coming and How to Prepare

41 min
Feb 20, 2026about 2 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Jen and Jill present five financial predictions for 2026: moderate economic growth (2-2.6% GDP), steady housing market with no rate drops, slower inflation (2.4%), fewer layoffs but increased job competition in specialized fields, and continued AI integration into business. They emphasize practical strategies for financial resilience including networking, skill development, and strategic career positioning.

Insights
  • Economic growth will remain moderate and concentrated in corporate profits and high-income sectors, not translating to affordability improvements for average consumers
  • Job market will tighten with fewer openings and more competition, requiring proactive career development, networking, and skill-building rather than waiting until job searching is necessary
  • AI adoption is inevitable and accelerating; resistance is counterproductive—workers must learn AI tools while building irreplaceable in-person relationships and specialized skills
  • Housing market stability means current rates are unlikely to drop significantly, making 2026 a viable year to purchase rather than waiting for better conditions
  • Personal wealth increasingly depends on relationship networks and visibility; merit alone no longer guarantees career advancement without strategic self-promotion
Trends
Skill-based hiring concentration in healthcare, skilled trades, and specialized tech sectorsGrowing importance of personal branding and LinkedIn presence in job search processesAI monetization shifting from free-to-use models toward paid-to-play subscription models similar to social mediaSlower inflation trajectory (2.4%) reducing price volatility but maintaining cost-of-living increasesIncreased emphasis on negotiation skills and continuous professional certification for career advancementNetworking and community engagement becoming essential career development tools, not optional activitiesAI adoption pendulum swinging from preemptive job losses toward more measured integration and skill developmentHealthcare and skilled labor sectors experiencing persistent talent shortages driving wage growth
Topics
2026 Economic Growth ForecastsHousing Market Predictions and Mortgage RatesInflation Projections and Cost of LivingUnemployment Rate Trends and Job Market CompetitionAI Integration in Business and Job DisplacementCareer Networking StrategiesSkill Development and Professional CertificationNegotiation Tactics for Salary and BenefitsHealthcare and Skilled Trade Job OpportunitiesPersonal Finance Management During Economic UncertaintyLinkedIn Profile OptimizationMedical Bill NegotiationRecession PreparednessRemote Work and In-Person Relationship BuildingWage Growth and Compensation Negotiation
Companies
Federal Reserve
Discussed regarding interest rate policy, inflation control, and economic forecasting for 2026
People
Jerome Powell
Federal Reserve Chair referenced regarding potential interest rate decisions affecting mortgage rates in 2026
Quotes
"People who network get jobs. People who know people get jobs."
Jen or JillCareer section
"Your work cannot speak for itself anymore. You have to promote it."
Jen or JillJob market discussion
"People who know AI are going to take your job."
Jen or JillAI prediction section
"In order to make yourself AI proof, you need to have a balance of knowing AI and being in real life, doing the networking, building your relationships."
Jen or JillAI discussion
"Frugal is the best F word that you know, because frankly, capitalism is here and capitalism is not going anywhere."
Jen or JillInflation discussion
Full Transcript
Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify, especially designed to help you start, run, and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time. From startups to scale-ups, online, in-person, and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Our 2026 money predictions. What's coming and how to prepare? Welcome to the Brugal Friends Podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a richer life. Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill. Jill. Hey, Frugal friends, I'm Jen. I'm Jill. And media companies don't succeed by reporting on what happened. They succeed by speculating on what will happen because of what happened. So let's speculate, baby. Let's do it. Let's just throw out random predictions and see what sticks. We're going to give you five predictions that we have for what you can expect to see financially in 2026. We're not just based off of our own ideas and thoughts, but mostly our opinions and what we want to happen and what we think will emit a visceral response from you when we say it. Let us know in the comments if you agree. Disagree. You've got the secret sauce to what's actually going to happen. Fight us in the comments and call us names, but not bad names, just names, whatever you interpret that as. All right, for our first spicy hot take prediction. Start hoarding people because a recession is coming eventually, probably at a date beyond 2026. But start hoarding anyways in small amounts incrementally for whatever you think is going to be your needs when a recession does come. Okay, so the forecast for 2026 specifically is that the economy is expected to grow, not collapse, but at a very moderate pace. So at least for this year, no boom, no recession, the boring, the boring. Yeah, so sorry that we don't have something just like extreme happening. Don't worry, it's coming. I'm yelling. So, we're allowed. Economists and institutions are projecting GDP growth in the range of 2 to 2.6% in 2026, which is very consistent with what you would expect for a large developed country. So what this means for you, for us, a growing economy can support jobs and wages. Granted, we're talking about very moderate growth, very, very boring versions of growth. So we don't see mass layoffs happening or credit freezes, but that doesn't mean that things are going to feel more affordable either. And a lot of times, you know, with the GDP growth that we're talking about, it's unfortunately a lot of times concentrated in corporate profits, asset values, high income sectors. So it might not necessarily equate to your average Joe experience. My not that growth. Quirkyl down. So to say, how do you say trickle down? Yeah. So things are still going to feel expensive. Costs are going to rise, not with the whiplash that we've seen before. But, you know, there's don't worry, things are going to get spicier. Let us know in the comments, seriously, if you feel like 2026 is heading into recession, let us know what you feel. Is it just expensive or annoying? And it can be both. Yeah. I think it's both expensive and annoying. But it doesn't necessarily, not unfortunately, but like it doesn't necessarily mean that we're heading into a recession. Yeah. So if somebody tells you it's coming, they're either joking or they're fear mongering. Or at some point in the future. Like, right. 20 to 30 point. We're going to experience a recession, probably. We will. It'll happen unless the government changes the definition of a recession and keeps changing it. So we never see a recession ever again. Who knows? Maybe that'll be in our 2027 predictions. Anyways, our second prediction is the housing crashes in a net. If you're this guy, and if you're not watching us, that is the cool eight man breaking through a house and that house is crash. You should think theoretically that house is going to crash because that is a large cup of cool aid. But if you're not the cool aid man, there is no crash on the horizon for 2026. That's a picture of cool aid holding a picture, a smaller picture of cool aid. It's just got to reiterate that other. Okay. So for the rest of us who are not large pictures of cool aid, a housing crash isn't coming, but there's also probably no more good rate drops on the horizon this year. Either in fact, while there is a lot of pressure on the Fed to drop rates, most experts see interest rates stay in steady for the year and even possibly increasing in 2027. That's all speculative, but experts, economists, Hanna Gree rates are going to stay pretty steady unless Jerome Powell shows up missing mysteriously. No. No. And then like, no, no. Start hoarding because our recession is coming. Yeah. That's not anything to joke about. None of us can know. Right. We've seen a crazy world. Yeah. Crazy decisions. Crazy people. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. But this is what we're going to bring you an even keel delivery here. This is what economists are predicting for for the year. And so while the Fed rates don't actually directly affect mortgage rates, that's what when people are, you know, talking about the pressure from the Fed fed to lower rates, that is for banks to lend to each other. So when they, when, when you think somebody cares about you, that's why they want the Fed to lower rates. No, no, they actually don't care about you. They care about the rate banks can exchange money and that's better for businesses. It indirectly affects mortgage rates, but people don't want the Fed rates lowered because they care about you. Mortgage rates will stay steady probably through the rest of the year. Yeah. So what this means for you, if you want to buy a house of 2026 is your year, we're not recommending that you hold out for a lower rate. It might not, most likely, is not coming. And, and if anything, they might actually increase one to two percent, whether this year or in 2027. So you can always refinance a home. You can, you can never get that house for cheaper though. Yeah. So recognize that if, if you are needing to get yourself into a house, this could be your year. Do it. And if they ever do drop great refinance. Yeah. But, but again, we're not thinking that you should hold out for them to drop even further. Yeah. And bonus prediction, home prices are also predicted to hold steady and possibly increase at a slight rate, kind of like GDP. Everything's going to be like pretty moderate on those purchasing those categories. The third prediction, everything will be getting more expensive. But at a slower pace. Yeah. It feels like everything will get more expensive. Yeah. You're right. And it's going to continue. That is actually doom and gloom. That is legitimate. It will keep getting expensive. But not at the whiplash rate that it was. So after several high inflation years, after talks of tariffs, like all of that, 2026 is predicted to be a pretty even keel with inflation. So around 2.4% by the end of 2026 is what the prediction is, which just means costs for everyday goods will rise at a slower pace. So what this means for you, yeah, your grocery bills, your health care costs are going to continue to climb. But slowly, hopefully the whiplash days are behind us. Of course, barring a pandemic. None of us saw that one coming, right? These are, this is based off of what is available for us to know. This is what we're thinking is going to happen. Recognize that the good old days are, well, here's the thing. The good old days are gone. But they're also here if we decide that these are the good old days. Also, the bad old days are gone. Right? There were a lot of bad old days. I think we talked about this last several weeks, like housing crisis 2008, bad old day. That's gone. We got some consumer protection laws to protect against that. So yeah, some good old days are gone. The day of the day will gone. Right? And some of bad old days are gone too. And some good old days are here today. All the more reason to learn how to manage our money well, to feel really good about what we're spending on, to make sure that those spending decisions are values aligned, that they are not just supporting us, but they're supporting our local community, our environment, and that we are able to also put money aside for the future. Right? So we still can be paying down debt, saving for retirement. All of our typical things can and should keep happening. That's not to say that we won't feel pinched at certain points. But again, reasons to be following and subscribing to channels like this, who we got your back, going to help you live a good, full life in the here and now, spend money now, make sure it's good spending, while also preparing for the future. We believe that that can be done even during times when prices are climbing all the more reason for frugal to be the best f word that you know. Best f word. Because frankly, capitalism is here. Capitalism is not going anywhere. And we can be angry about that. Like we can have a righteous anger about some of the things that are going on. But we have to talk about that injustice and take action to move forward too. We can't just sit in that injustice and that righteous anger because then we become bitter and we become stagnant. And we become, you know, all the bad things people could say about stagnant people. And I think that's really what our heart is for like an episode like this is like, yeah, there's a little bit of truth to all of these. But I think in general, we need to be level headed and do what we can. What is in our power? I know you're tired. Like I get it. I know I'm me too. But in the measure that we can, when we can, and the capacity that we have, when we can. Yeah, don't just hold out for someone else to rescue you. You know, don't don't think that you got a marry a rich man. Don't marry a rich man. Be a rich man. Be that rich man. I'm sorry, I stole that from you. I mean, it's, it's here for all of our taking. You can be your own rich man. And maybe not just monetarily, right? Like we can live richly outside of like what money can buy for us. That was a share quote. If you missed that, that was from the iconic share. You've heard us talk about Bill as a loyalty program that lets you earn points on rent wherever you live and they just leveled up even more. As of 2026, homeowners can also earn up to 1.25x points on their mortgage payments. 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Honestly, one of the best things we can do for our wallets and our health is cook more at home. There's just nothing like it. That's easier said than done, which is why we love it. It makes it simple to eat at home even on a busy weeknight. Plus, they offer over 100 recipe options every week with portions big enough to actually satisfy everyone. And here's what actually happens. You get options that fit your goals. There are more than 35 high protein recipes each week plus Mediterranean inspired dishes. The ingredients are wholesome too, like sustainably sour seafood and 100% antibiotic and hormone free chicken. The quality is so noticeable. There's now three times the seafood with no upcharge and you can get grass fed steak or rib eyes. Plus seasonal produce like pears, apples and asparagus. We've used HelloFresh and think everyone should give it a try, especially those who struggle to eat at home more. Go to hellofresh.com slash frugal 10 FM to get 10 free meals plus a freeze-willing knife. $144.99 value on your third box. Offer valid wall supplies last, free meals applied as discount on first box. New subscribers only varies by plan. Okay, our next prediction prediction number four. No jobs. Jobs are gone. Bye. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Especially if you're especially if you're this guy. Good luck with your layoff. Sorry. I hope your firing school really well. That's a lot of great. Yeah. Love an office space. Little throwback. 2025, there were a lot of layoffs. I knew a lot of people, even in my own life, that were laid off and couldn't find a job. And in 2026, I think the thing that's going to be different is there's going to be fewer layoffs and finding a new job will be harder because that economic growth in the output is going to be slower or continue to be slow. We're going to see fewer job openings and more competition for jobs. And so, but it's going to it's going to seem that way. But the unemployment rate is actually going to be pretty normal. Yeah, I mean unemployment rate is one of those things that can shoot up as quickly as it drops back down again. It's wild. 2020 skyrocketed for some of those obvious reasons. We ended 2025 at an unemployment rate of about 4.4 to 4.6%, which is the highest it's been since 2021. But still right at some of those historical averages of 4.5%. And that is the benchmark that economists, most economists do set for what they would consider to be a healthy economy is, you know, anything above 4.5%, not doing great 4.5 or below. Like, yeah, that's to be expected. That's in hyper growth. Yeah, I really hope so. So, you know, for 2026, projecting unemployment to actually go down a bit, they're projecting 4.2 to 4.5%. So you're going to be seeing fewer layoffs than we did in 2025. But that doesn't mean that every individual is going to feel like work is super accessible or that there are not going to be any, you know, layoff issues. And so there is growing consensus that suggests that some of these skill-based hiring strategies is going to be a bigger factor, particularly for these more well-paid roles. Hiring being concentrated in the healthcare industry, skilled trade, specialized tech, and data jobs. So if you're in those fields. Hey, yeah. That's where we're going to see when the unemployment rate dips a little bit this year, it's going to be because of those sectors. It's not going to be across the board. It's because there's a lot of nurse practitioner, physician assistant, skilled labor, and specialized tech jobs. Those are going to be really where positions need to be filled. So what does this mean for you? It means you can't wait until you need a job to start looking for a job. Honestly, and we have said this so much over the years, I wish you guys were sick of us saying it. You should always be looking to grow your career in some way, whether it's in the fields you are in or of the field you want to get into. And so the things that you have to be doing in 2026, write these down, I'll give you a second to get a piece of paper and a pen or open your notes up. Okay. Network, go to networking events. Does it seem lame? No, it's smart. The people on it can be fun. Yeah, people who network get jobs. People who know people get jobs. Net work, not just for fun z's. Here's the thing. Yeah, sure network. It doesn't even have to be a networking event. Find do it. That's great. Go to these things that are called networking events, but also get out in your community. See what's going on in at the library. See what's going on at any kind of free event that's being put on. What's happening in the arts community? What are some local volunteer opportunities? There's so many ways just to meet new people that can expand our access to things that we didn't even know we're out there. So a variety of ways we can network. We can make it fun. Yeah, we do want to get at least at first specific into something you think will help you in your field. Honestly, like I was looking at a state planning groups because we're about to enter into our state planning class for CFP. And they have an estate planning association that meets for coffee at Panera like every other month. You know, these groups, these random groups are out there. We walked into the Venoi and there was the men's social dragon club or something having a hundredth anniversary party. I don't know what that is. I don't think I would be invited to it, but it exists. But the groups are out there. And you have to go find them. You have to put yourself out there, join them. Network negotiation is going to be super important knowing how to negotiate, practicing negotiations so that you don't do it poorly because you might be afraid of doing it poorly. And that is a very reasonable fear. So practice it. Facebook marketplace, not at the gap, like reasonable places. Highlighting your relevant achievements like on LinkedIn. Fill out your LinkedIn profile and start putting relevant achievements there. Don't brag about like random stuff. But if it's relevant that an employer could see that and want you, that's where you're going to that's where you're going to put it. They're going to probably look there in addition to a resume. They'll probably look at your LinkedIn first to be honest. And then sharpening your skills, like going to get that master's degree or taking those CEUs that aren't typically required. Going for another certification, these things are no longer optional for career advancement. The jobs are few. They're far between. And there's a lot of competition for them. We have a friend who wanted to apply for a job. She's very talented at what she does. Like, are you really one of the most talented people I have ever met? And she didn't. She just wanted to submit an application and get in based on her merit. And on the, you know, she wanted her results to speak for themselves, basically. And they should have. But she wasn't getting any callbacks, like nothing, dead silence, because you have to do all these other things for your resume and for your work to even get looked at to speak for it. Your work cannot speak for itself anymore. You have to promote it. You got to, most of the time you need that back door, that side door, we've got to recognize that our wealth is in relationships for ourselves personally, but also for the opportunities. I'm not talking about using people. I am talking about meeting people, socializing and enjoying life, but also recognizing that there's an ancillary benefit to being involved and doing the groups and doing the networking. And that is knowing what's out there and allowing yourself to be seen for the roles that you are uniquely positioned and skilled for. Yeah. I mean, I think networking could be an episode in itself, but like just meeting people in your field, listening to their stories and being like, oh my gosh, I never knew that. Like saying, letting people know, oh, you taught me something or commiserating and being like, oh my gosh, I have experienced the same thing. You're not alone or listening to a problem. And if you know, like, oh, yeah, I've dealt with that. This is what worked for me and being, you know, not trying to like fix everybody's problems. It doesn't need to be fixed, but like if you have, you can't have these open opportunities to learn, commiserate and teach if you don't put yourself out there. And that's really like good networking isn't selling yourself to people in your network. It's, it's, it's relating to people in your network so that when something comes up and they can't take it or don't want to take it or they're helping somebody find something, you come to mind as somebody who is likable and knowledgeable. Okay. Final fifth prediction here it is. Sockle up. This one is big. AI is taking all the jobs. Yeah. Whatever does exist. AI is going to go rabbit from out underneath. Yeah. You better see your doctor while you can because soon they're going to be a robot. Wow. Well, hopefully not. Here's the thing. Yeah. Obviously we're like talking ingest. We, we personally don't actually believe this, but AI is not just a buzz word. Like it is increasingly embedded into businesses, business productivity. There are certainly fields and individual people who are losing their jobs to AI. Like I don't mean to downplay that by any stretch of the imagination. Personally, this is, this is my personal take. I do think AI is like nothing we've ever seen before. However, it does have shades of things we've seen before. Right. We've had the invention, we've had the industrial revolution. We've had the invention of the phone. We've had the internet like just within the last 100 years, we've seen ingenuity. We've seen growth. We've seen efficiency where people, the printing press. I'm going to lose my job now. I used to be the one who ran the message to the people and now if it could just get written down what happens to me. Yes. Real jobs get lost when invention happens and greater efficiency occurs. But we also have the ability to pivot and morph and be flexible and change. Again, I am not saying I do think AI and the changes that are happening are greater than what we saw with the internet coming on the scene. But there's a lot of shades of similarity. And I think it depends on how we view it and approach it. Whether we view it as the enemy, we we strong arm against it. But then we lack the ability to engage with it. Now we don't have the skills when the thing has truly become part of the norm. And we just thought we could resist it entirely versus how could this be of benefit? Yes, I can bemoan the downsides of it and try and push back on the ways that could make it more sustainable. But also if this thing is sticking around what can be done as a result of that. Yeah. I know that a lot of like people, the CEOs of the AI companies, they're like, AI is not going to take your job. People who know AI are going to take your job. But we are seeing this like pendulum swing, right? We're in the early days and we're seeing people letting go, you know, I think specifically in 2025, we saw a lot of people lose their jobs for this kind of maybe preemptive idea that AI could do more than it really could yet. And I think we'll see a slowing of that. People are talking about an AI bubble. And I think there's there's part of that. But AI is already more easily monetizable than the internet was back in 2000. It's already being monetized at a lower rate. And we know it will go the way of Facebook and Instagram to where yeah, it's free to use. But you're going to pay to play on what you see. And so that's going to be something to really pay attention to. So there's there's a lot of things to look out for. And I think we're going to start to see some of these things in 2026. So just like be aware of the shift. But I we see so many like comments when people hear that we use AI for efficiencies or stop using AI. It's horrible for the environment and it's you know taking from creatives. And yeah, like we see that again, I think it's in the pendulum swing, right? I don't think AI art is the way of the future. I could be wrong. But I don't know. I can't predict beyond 2026. What I can predict for 2026 is that you will do better if you stop vilifying AI and start learning it. And you don't have to use it for everything. You arguably shouldn't use it for everything. But and it's not even always correct. Like if you know what you're talking about, you can tell when AI is not correct. And that's the thing. You have to get good enough at what you do and how to use it so that you know when it's not correct and how to get the correct answers. So yeah, you will have an advantage for growth all around if you, I don't even say embrace it, but just start to respect the impact that it will have. Yeah. That in tandem with growing and building your relationships, your tangible in-person things. Because just as much as we need to understand the way that the world is going and become skilled at it, we can also have our own frustrations with it and push back in ways of, okay, then I'm going to have a skill that I really know is relatively AI proof at least for the next 30 to 40 years. I'm going to get together with people in person. Like I'm not going to give myself entirely over to an entirely online life. There are other things that I can choose and there are ways that I can engage in in money making activities and skill building activities that hopefully can help if my role is potentially going to get edged out by AI. So there are some things that we can be thinking about there, but certainly get together in person. It is crazy that like in order, I think in order to make yourself AI proof, you need to have a balance of knowing AI and being in real life, doing the networking, building your relationships and doing the skill building. In order to make yourself AI proof, you have to get offline, but you can't stay offline. You have to also know how you have to know your enemy, which I don't think AI is the enemy. I'm going to go, you know, maybe that should have been the title of the person. AI is taking over the world. No, I don't think AI is the enemy, but you kind of have to know that enemy in order to beat it. To know what the anecdote is, for sure. Yeah. Do you know what you also have to know just to enjoy it? And it is never the enemy, always the ally. That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, buffalo bills, bill clean. This is the bill of the week. Hi, Jen. Hi, Jill. My name is Jocelyn and I am a longtime listener, first time caller. And by longtime listener, I mean, 2018 on the way home from my graduate program driving in the car, listening to your podcast. So thank you for the many years that you have given to us. I wanted to tell you guys back then, but was too shy. But one of my biggest bill of the weeks that I still am very proud of to this day is that I graduated my master's program with zero student debt. And the more recent reason I'm calling is I just got off the phone with a medical provider and asked for a reduction in the bill. It was $759. And after a few questions, they were able to get it down to $99. So I'm just so excited to share finally some of my bills of the weeks. And hope you have a good week ahead. Thank you. Oh my gosh. You guys, we started this podcast in 2018. Jocelyn's been here since the beginning. You're the real one though. I am sure this is fantastic. Congrats. Graduating without debt. Congratulations. Oh, which is what I just heard that one before. I love that. My mouth wanted to say it. So I just let it. And the medical bills, man, that's another one of those you got to make the call. Make the call. Don't ignore the calls because they're going to call you. So that's a call you don't even have to make because they don't call you. But pick up the call. Yeah. Well done. This is amazing. So so many phenomenal financial moves happening here. And if anybody else is listening to you, how did you reduce that medical bill? We did an entire episode on how to reduce your medical bills. So we'll link that in the description for you all. And do you know what? If you just want to leave us a bill, if it has to do with graduating without any debt or reducing a bill or your name is bill or want to hear it, you've been with us since the beginning. We especially want to hear from you. Absolutely. Through go friends podcast.com slash bill. We can't wait to hear it. We cannot stand bank fees overdraft fees monthly fees minimum balance fees. It's like getting punished for using your own money. That's why chime is such a game changer. It's be free, smarter banking built for you. 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Right now go to quints.com slash frugal for free shipping and 365 day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. Now available in Canada too. Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to q-u-i-n-c-e.com slash frugal for free shipping and 365 days return. Quints.com slash frugal. And now it's time for the lightning. All right Jill. What's chopped for 2026 and for those of you who don't know the word chopped means unattractive or undesirable. It probably according to Miriam Webster. It probably isn't even like an acceptable term that the young people use anymore but it just means ugly or unattractive. So not I guess they use it for people who learn what's chopped for adults. You want to know what's chopped being underpaid. Yeah. Chopping that. That's so stupid. I am not more here for it. I just you know I feel like earning a good wage for the work because you can ask your boss for a raise. I know. Yeah I know. Erickoy's gives me a hard time and I'm like I have to work tomorrow. He's like you work for yourself. You can decide and I'm like it's almost worse though. I know what needs to get done and it's got to happen. Right. And it's even worse that we've delegated. Right. So we're left with just the most important tasks. The tasks that we literally can't delegate or don't want to delegate and so we have to do those things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is so chopped. I like a raise this year. What about for you? It's chopped for 2026. Your onions. Your friends. Yeah. That's. I feel like that's an inside joke reference. Yeah. I would say well now you've got me think now you've got me thinking about being underpaid wage gaps. I think for 2026 we have said like our words for the company for this year are soft and steady. And so for me hustle is chopped. Oh yeah girl that's a good build up. And that doesn't mean that I'm not focused on my income because I'm doing everything I can to pass that CFP exam. And you know for us to open our our retirement. We've told too many people about doing this. Yes. That is the countable. Yeah. That's the that's the move unfortunately. But I'm not like I'm not hustling. Yeah. I'm not like don't ask me to be on a podcast. Don't ask me to be on your on your TV show. Don't ask me to be in your movie. Don't ask me to fly to New York. Don't ask. I mean you could ask me. Yeah. I might say no. And Jill might bring me along. My I might want to know what the opportunities are. But yeah it just yeah hustling is chopped. So chopped. What tell us what's chopped for you in 2026. What's out? What's ugly or unattractive or often referring to social standing being exhausted ruined failed you get the gist. What's chopped. Tell you what's not chopped. Our book by what you love without going broke. That thing is aging. Usually aging wonderfully. She's a year old. She is in her prime. And we are so appreciative when we read your reviews of it. If you haven't gotten it by elovebook.com that we even have instructions on there to request at your library. If your library doesn't already have it but a lot of them do. And this is a review from Elizabeth. She says reviewing my spend helped me identify unhealthy triggers. Five stars. Love the lightning round and action steps at the end of every chapter. It helps you actually apply the concepts from the chapters. I read it when it first came out and plan to reread on its birthday. Which means you already reread Elizabeth. Yes. I have conducted a 90 day transaction inventory on multiple occasions taking their advice and looking at the transactions several different ways comparing them to my schedule. Helped me identify some things that were triggering unnecessary spending that was impacting my wallet. And maybe more importantly my health. Very easy to read and an actionable book even if you're already fairly good with your finances. Beautiful Elizabeth. Thank you so much. We really literally every review lately is talking about needing to reread the book. I love that. Yeah. If you've read the book and you liked it if you could leave us a review on Amazon. Even if you didn't get it there that's where people go to look for reviews. So that'd be so helpful. Where we grab reviews to read. So if you want to hear your review you can copy and paste that review over to Goodreads you know whatever you want to do. Also subscribe to this show. This helps us. Leave a comment. Let us know how we're doing. It's a free way to support us and we're so grateful. We'll see you next time. Bye. Google Friends is produced by Eric Seriani. Do you have any more predictions for 2026? I honestly think you know just personal predictions. I do think we're going to be like quite pleased with where Google Friends is at by the end of the year. Yeah. I love the direction it's going. Yeah. Like I feel fired up again. So you go through ebbs and flows where sometimes you feel I feel bored with content creation. But I feel very excited about content creation right now. It's very interesting and like new and I hope that others like it too. I hope that it is going in a direction that maybe our other listeners. I mean and I think it jostle and still listening since 2018. Right. Hopefully we're taking everyone on a journey with us that they are pleased to be going on. Yeah. They got in the car. They didn't know where they were going but they're happy with the ride they're taking. Yeah exactly. We don't know where we'll end up but we're all on the ride together. And we're playing good music on the on the way. So like come on in. Yeah. Yeah. I think I mean, I feel like we yeah it's BoGo. It's BoGo car news. We got two cars for the price of one. I feel like because we simplified we learned through the course of 2025 we got to this point of like greater simplification but I feel like better value add that now is allowing us to have a soft and steady goal for the year. But I'm like wouldn't that be funny if then this is the year that we experience like the greatest growth. And I'm hoping and believing and almost feeling as though like that probably will be the case. I love seeing the comments on YouTube that's like oh I thought this channel would have like way more subscribers than it does. It's so good. And I'm like we just got to keep doing what we're doing. That's it. We just keep doing what we're doing and people the right people will come along for the ride in the day-wheel. The right people get in. It's a 10k and we're going get into the day-wheel. We're going to find what we value.