Buy What You Love Without Going Broke

Transform Your Spending and Get More of What Money Can’t Buy

By: Jen Smith, Jill Sirianni

Narrated by: Jen Smith, Jill Sirianni

A relatable personal finance guide that gives a fresh take on how to control your impulse spending so you can stick to a budget and pay off debt, without the guilt and shame of traditional financial advice—from the hosts of the beloved Frugal Friends podcast.

There’s a lot of noise out there about how to spend (and not spend) your hard-earned money. But what if you made financial decisions based on what you value—instead of what others are telling you to value?

This is the empowering approach Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni, hosts of the Frugal Friends podcast, want you to take to improve your spending habits. They believe you can value anything (yes, anything!), whether that’s a daily latte, fancy dinners out, or vacations. But, despite what social media is saying, you don’t value everything.

The Frugal Friends’ wisdom comes from personal experience: Jen paid off $78,000 of debt in two years without a six-figure income, while Jill has a background in social work and downsized to an RV to pay off student loans. Together, their advice is both relatable and actionable.

In their debut book, they share a plan for sifting through what’s not important to find the things you truly love spending money on. You’ll learn how to

• Analyze your current spending and identify what you value
• Prioritize your values when you can’t afford everything
• Identify the root causes of your impulse spending
• Make your habit changes stick long-term

From credit card and student loan debt to the rising costs of childcare and homes; it has never been more important to get control of your spending. Jen and Jill show you how to do it in a way that’s healthy, not shameful, while exploring topics like overconsumption, self-worth, and the insidious history behind our consumption-obsessed culture.

If you want to reach your goals and feel good about your finances, Buy What You Love Without Going Broke offers a holistic approach to reshape the way you think about spending money.

©2025 Jennifer Louise Smith (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Fresh, New Take on Finances!

What a great read! This book offers insights into finances and budgeting that I have not seen anywhere else. The principles really make sense and I believe they will help me succeed in areas that have been a struggle for me. I found this book to be easy to read, informative, and entertaining!

A Finance Book for Everyone

Buy What You Love Without Going Broke is the book for everyone. There is no judgement and no shaming or blaming in this book. We all value different things and our life circumstances are different. In this book, debt is neutral after all sometimes you need to take a loan. The bottomline is to figure out what you value and let those values guide your choices and decisions on where you spend your money. And once you know this, you can’t unknow it. When your spending is out of alignment, you will know it and hopefully that knowledge will guide you back on course to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. Jen and Jill write and share examples from their lives that are relatable and like their podcast, you feel like a friend is sharing info with you. I appreciated the practical info (i.e. saving on housing, transportation, and food) as well as the more thought provoking info about curating your environment and mindset to support the changes you’re making in your behavior. I also liked the discussion on our responsibility to not overconsume. There is so much waste and so much we’re doing that is harmful to others and the environment, but I think with values based spending, we’re less likely to overspend/overconsume, which should also lead to less waste. I think this book can be a valuable tool for anyone wanting to better manage their money and feel more in control of their spending so they can reach both their short term and long term goals.

Relatable and easy read

Love the podcast so getting the book was an easy decision! I love that Jill and Jen did their own performance/reading of the book, it wouldn’t be the same with out them!

Listen for relatable values-based finance advice

What I love about the Frugal Friends Podcast also shines through in Buy What You Love Without Going Broke. It's like sitting around with a group of friends who are passionate about financial well-being, but you are excited to listen. Let's face it, reading about finances sounds a little dry, but Jen and Jill have a way of making it relatable while driving your curiosity to really delve into understanding how to better manage your money to fit the values you have prioritized for your life. I was blessed with an ARC copy, but sometimes the ADHD wins....so I grabbed the Audible version on the release date and walked around my yard and the grocery store until I finished! The fact that I picked up and put down a planner in the aisle of shame at Aldi, only later to reach the passage about well-intentioned but unused planners, is not lost on me. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is trying to wrap their head around their finances and wants to get there with your everyday kind of people who may never be billionaires, but may want to fund a billion memories instead!

Happy Reading!

Great Audio Book -A Modern Take on Wealth Building

I’ve been following Jen and Jill for over two years and love their modern approach to finances. What if your financial decisions were guided by your values? What if you stopped to use those values when you had the urge to impulse spend? That’s what was different for me when I listened to their new book. It brought my personal life and personality to the topic of my finances and wealth building strategies in a new way. It made me stop and really search my soul for why I spent my hard-earned money on purchases that would only give me a nano-second of thrill and happiness. I crafted a new Why and followed their How to set up a long-term plan for wealth building, not short term feel-good stuff.
I highly recommend this audiobook and Jen and Jill’s amazing podcast Frugal Friends. Change your approach – change your net worth!

Excellent listen for "normal" people

As a longtime Frugal Friends podcast listener, I was excited for this book and pre-ordered. Jen and Jill have a great, relatable way of talking about money for us "normal" folk, who don't have a ton of it to manage or wealth building consultants. They provide great practical tips, while encouraging listeners to make the right decision for THEM - not just what people 'should' do. Great work, ladies!

The meat of the podcast all in one place

If you enjoy the “my favorite murder” podcast and then enjoyed the book by the same women, you will feel the same about this book by the wonderful Jen and Jill. The book carries deeper stories about the girls that you may have already heard, deeper explanations of concepts they’ve explained before, but sadly lamer “pew, pew, pew!”sound effects. Sorry ladies, I would have liked to hear you laughing at yourselves like you do in the podcast.

As the book continues Jen and Jill finally start to sound more like themselves but the whole book is great. Informative and realistic. I find myself using the words they use when talking to my kids about spending. “We have enough toys right after Christmas, but yes I’ll spend $40 on a children’s news magazine, because we VALUE being aware of the world around us.”

I’m excited to recommend this book to others who want to spend according to their values. It is pretty entertaining.

Relatable & Actionable!

Thank you Jen & Jill for being so raw & real! The emphasis on the “radical middle” rather than the financial extremes we often hear about really hit home with me.

The narration between the two authors was very well done and natural.

I appreciated how relatable the stories & examples they gave are, as well as how actionable the takeaways are. 10/10 recommend!!

A Refreshing Take on Personal Finance!

This was a fantastic listen that takes a different angle than most finance books by focusing on values based spending. I would recommend this book for anyone who spends money and/or wants something different from traditional finance advice that can be applicable for the rest of your life! Jen and Jill also have a fun and informative podcast full of helpful tips where they dive into what frugality can mean (spoiler: it means buying what you love without going broke!). It was a joy to have their familiar voices read this book, like two friends giving you the best life advice!

Realistic, Actionable Financial Guidance

Finally, a book that takes a realistic approach to personal finance, recognizing and honoring different seasons of life, without swinging the pendulum so far as to make excuses. So much good staff in this book! I’ve already been able to make some positive changes by doing the 90-day inventory they discuss. Super helpful. Jen and Jill are fun and easy to listen to, and the book has an easy-to-follow flow. The authors’ narration makes listening to their book just as enjoyable as their podcast, but maybe even more, because you get so much solid advice packed into the few hours of the book! Highly recommend! Their podcast, Frugal Friends, is awesome too!