Regina Swarn Audio Series Presents - How Frugal Choices Break The Debt Cycle PART 1

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Fan MailA single payment can feel small until it becomes a chain. We get honest about what “debt-free freedom” really means and why it matters right now, when sickness, violence, and sudden tragedies remind us how fast life can shift. I also take a moment to send love and prayer to anyone carrying heavy health burdens, and I ask for more kindness in how we respond to other people’s pain. From there, we dig into practical personal finance: budgeting with intention, resisting lifestyle inflation, and refusing to buy things just to impress others. I share why I still drive my 2006 car and why I’d rather keep something reliable than take on a massive car note. We talk about the difference between being broke and being frugal, and why frugality is not shame, it’s a choice to protect what you already have. You’ll hear a simple debt payoff approach that works in the real world: pay it off bill by bill, start with the high-interest mess, and do not let old balances hang over your head. We also talk about turning unused items into cash, because a closet full of price tags cannot beat an emergency fund or a lower credit balance. If this message hits home, subscribe, share the show with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review so more people can find these debt-free and frugal living conversations. What’s the first bill you want gone?New music A message from me to all my wonderful  followers.  Please  feel free to share your feedback. Click fan mail and leave me comments.  Show endSupport the showContact My official website https://www.reginaswarn.comEmail address [e-mail] Podcast  themes  composed by John Nathaniel Thomas - IntroChris Murphy Elliott  - Ending

Welcome to Regina Sworn Audio Series Presents, where I bring you stories of people from all walks of life. I'm your host, Regina Sworn. Contact me at Sworn Regina at gmail.com. Now, let's take you into an episode of Regina Sworn Audio Series Presents. Welcome back to another episode of Regina Sworn. Audio series presents. I want to welcome all of you out there. If you're listening to my audio-only podcast,

if you're listening to it for the very first time, I like to welcome each and every one of you. Send you out a warm welcome. And thank you so much. for being the best part of my podcast. Again, if you're a new listener, or if you've been listening since I started some years ago, I originally started right after my radio show ended,

which was in 2017. And I cemented it in 2020 with the encouragement of my sister, my dear sister, Laura L. Sworn. Lord bless her soul. I miss her so much. I have several things I want to talk about today.

I first want to just send up a well-wish prayer to those out there who are really going through a sickness. We don't know how blessed we are if we got our health and our strength. And I hear people complaining all the time. Do you really know how blessed you are to have your life, health, strength? Because so many people, it saddens me. When I open up Facebook, I really don't do that. But sometimes when I'm scheduling posts, I would scroll a little bit I just see so many sad things.

People are sick, seriously sick, you know, body-wise, you know, and they're going through things. And it's not a laughing matter. You know, some people think because they are well for the moment, and you look at other people who are down, you think that is, some of you think that is funny. You can see the emojis, the laughter, and, but that stuff would catch up with you,

trust and believe. But my prayers go out to those who aren't suffering right now. Now, this podcast is about being debt-free and the freedom of it, part one. But I just wanted to send a well-wish out there to those who are seriously suffering. You know, it's an element who is sick and shut in and to the elderly, to the young, to the babies. I mean, to everyone who is actually truly going through something. You know, this is also Domestic Violence Month. This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I mean, there's so many things to, oh God, it's just so many things to send a prayer up for, you know. So I'm just sending a prayer up for all of it. You know, because, again, this is Domestic Violence Month. I do have a special podcast about domestic violence that would be next week. I have a special, very special cancer, breast cancer awareness podcast also next week. So I want to take a few minutes to just send out a prayer and love to those who are going to do things right now. If you can't do anything, don't make fun of people.

Because it could be you. Don't make fun of people. It's not funny. I want to say one more thing. This is very important. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you better take the Lord with you. Because this evil world that we live in now,

you don't know. I'm not saying be scared or be fearful. That's not what I'm saying. And a lot of people say, well, you can't live your life in fear. I am not saying that. I am saying, take the Lord with you. Keep a prayerful heart right here. Keep a prayerful heart.

Because I was reading the other day, two people were just walking in a store. And the guy just shot the mom and shot the daughter. Cold blood for no reason at all. And there's so many bad things going on Like the stuff that happened in Pennsylvania The guy, you know, took out his whole family And friends and Babies, oh God

And the thing that happened is six flags You know, with the guy, six flags Oh Lord have mercy, please And the domestic violence case Where the guy pushed the baby And the girlfriend 15 floors down. It's so many demons out there.

They call it mental health, I think, but I call it demons. Demons. So my heart and my prayers go up and out to all of those who are suffering right now. I had to say that before I get into my part one of my topic. I want to speak a little bit. about the freedom of debt-free being debt-free.

There's so many reasons why if you can pay something off, it's so important. If you can really pay it off, if you have to go bill by bill, buy bill, by bill, till you pay it off, pay it off, guys. Because we don't know. Anything can happen, a sickness. And I'm not saying again, live your life in fear, I'm not saying that.

But anything can happen, and then you will be stuck without this debt hanging over your head. And that's really sad because a lot of that is going on. A lot of times we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. We don't know what the next minute is going to bring. So if you are able to get yourself out of debt, Bill by Bill, by Bill, by Bill. Get out of that. I don't care what other people think of me.

You know, I still drive around the same car, 2006, that my dad helped me got. That's a long time ago. 2006, think about it. Over a decade ago. My dad helped me got that car. I still got it. I still got it. I still got it.

I still got that car. And I'm going to keep it. As long as this going, as long as just rolling. It's not the prettiest car on the road. It's not. It's not the cutest car. It's kind of fading at the top. And one of the huck caps is off of one of the wheels.

And, you know, it has a little bit over 100,000 miles on it. But I guarantee you, I'm riding along somebody with a brand new car. It's killing them to pay for them. that car. Some people tell me that the car notes are, one lady told me that her car note was $1,000. I was like, oh my God, are you kidding me? Tell me you're kidding me. If you don't have to get yourself in debt, if you got something, be grateful with what you have. Me, I'm talking about me. If I need something, I get it. Only if I need it. I don't go and get things like I used to just because I want it.

Yeah, you can sit back and want many things. So many things you can want. But do you need it? A lot of people get things because, well, they kind of want to keep up with what the Jones is in this myth. And whoever else, I'm just calling names now, guys. If your last name is Jones, please don't think of talking to you. Just no saying. But a lot of people get things trying to keep.

up with all these different people, and the people you're trying to keep up with is probably struggling. It's probably living paycheck to paycheck to pay for it. You know, if I don't need something, and I don't care again what people think of me, I wear my, I wash my own hair, I wear it up, I tie it up, make it look cute, and I go to work like that. Not with the style, but when I see people with their hair stalled, I say, oh, this is fine. pretty, I like that. But would I do that? No. Can I afford to do it?

Yeah. But that's just me, guys. To each his own. Don't do things to try to keep up with other people. You know, I've recently cut out just a lot of things. Things I really don't need.

I said to myself, okay, you don't really need that. And if you could do it yourself, do it yourself. You don't really need to be spending money that you really don't need to spend. even if you got it. Again, if you want it, I guess that's okay. But get something if you need it.

I'm going to tell you right now the difference between being broke and being like I am frugal. And people say, why are you frugal? You can have anything you want. True. But I'm frugal. I like being frugal. I want to give you the definition. It's not the definition, but this is what I look at it as.

being broke and being frugal. Being broke means you don't have enough to do what you want to do. You simply don't have it. So sometimes you'll go get in debt to get it. And sometimes you are already struggling just to make ends meet. You see what I'm saying? Being frugal means you're making a decision to not waste. what you already have.

Can I say that again? Being broke means you don't have enough so you'll go borrow to get it. Being frugal means you're making a decision not to waste what you have.

There's a great power, you guys, in being frugal. A great power. Because one thing about it, if you are not in debt, if you have paid yourself out of debt, then you can always just have extra money to do whatever you need because we don't, again, we don't know what's out there, what's going to happen.

Down the road, we don't know what's going to happen. So to be in a bunch of debt, don't know what to do, trying to keep up with other people who are killing themselves, literally, to have that brand new car. Like the ladies they should pay over. thousand dollars, good lord, for a car note. I thank God for that old car that I got. As long as it's going, I'm going to keep driving it.

Just because I can go get a new car, and that's funny to me. Because I don't need it. Long as that old car is rolling along, rolling right along. I'm going to keep it. You know, lately, and they said,

it's the number one place right now where people are being evicted. That's really sad, guys. That's sad. My heart goes out. I don't know everyone's situation, so I can't tell these people. I've been in tough spots myself before.

Very tough spots. But I said to myself, I never, ever want to be in that spot again. That's why, if I can live the frugal life, I live the frugal life. And people say, oh my God, you would just look so cute if you get your hair fixed. If you, I know, I know. But I think I look good already.

And I'm not bragging. I think I look fair enough. I am not trying to impress anybody out there. I'm not trying to. Who are you trying to impress when you do these things? Especially me working overnight. Who am I trying to impress? To go to know with the top of the notch hairstyle.

Hey there. I'm Regina Soren. I always leave my email in my podcast. But now it's super easy to leave me a message through fan mail. Just press the button and just type away. That easy, guys. So this message is included in every last line of my podcast. Click fan mail.

Send me a message today of your favorite podcast. Or if you'd just like to send an encourage. word or feedback, I am waiting. Hit that fan mail and I'll get your message. Thanks a bunch, guys. Then my call worker is saying, ooh, Gina, that's so cute, that's so pretty, I like that. Oh, what did you get that from?

I'm impressed. So I live a very frugal life. I live it because, again, I want to. Because I don't know the future. I have no idea with the future Only God knows the future And sometimes we'll get

herself in all of this trouble And then everything paled up on you It pales up on you And then what are you going to do? What? So just be careful, guys This is part one I'm going to do a part two

I didn't want to hold very long Because I know people got other things to do So I don't like holding very long but I do want to come on here and talk about being frugal. This is just part one. If you can pay a bill off, you got a job, if you got to get an extra job to do whatever you need to do, make it your business to pay something off one by one.

Pay it off, get it paid off, get it out of your hair. Don't hold on to it. I had a bill that was lingering over my head. Oh, my God. It was making me sick because the interest was way too high. And I said, Lord, if you ever fix it where I can pay this crap off, I'm going to do it. And the Lord worked it out. He worked it out.

I guess he tested me to see, okay, you get this money. Let me see what you're going to do with that. So if you can pay yourself out of these debts, then get out of it, guys. get out of it get out of it because again sadly I'll say it we don't know what's out there

was down the road we just don't know so please get yourself out of debt if you can if you have to go bill by bill by bill by bill things that you really don't need don't get in debt to get it don't do it

because a lot of times people have stuff that they have for years. Sometimes some of your closet is full and filled with beautiful things that you never wear. A lot of people got beautiful shoes. One day a lady showed me all of her beautiful shoes and her suits and her clothes and I'm like, still got the price tag on it. And I just simply ask her to, What are you doing with all this stuff? she said oh i guess you just wanted to brag about it

that stuff can help somebody out there you can sell that stuff to help yourself you don't know if you're going to need help yourself and she's always complaining that she needs to get another job I need to do this I need to do that start by getting rid of some of that stuff they got all those price tags on it in your closet make that a priority

guys this is just not the time to be bound by a bunch of debt. This is not the time for it. This is not the time to be in debt, guys. Get out of debt, get out of debt, get out of debt. Get out of it. And I said it may take you a while to do it, but just do it.

Do it. Do it. Do it. please do it don't let nothing be hanging over your head that you don't need don't do that don't do it at all so hold on one second I'm going to get something to drink anyways I had to go in the other room and do something

sorry guys I had to do that so thank you so very much for all that you do I really appreciate all the support that I received from all of you. You've been so wonderful to me. You really have. You've been amazing, wonderful. And I just love everything that you do and how you've helped me and supported me

and supported this podcast. I appreciate it so much because, you know, it's an audio podcast. and people often ask me, why would you do audio? And I have to always tell the story. I did it because not everybody is looking at a video. Not everybody. Sometimes people are driving on the road,

and they need to hear like a radio. And I've always loved a radio. So, guys, please, please, please, please remember. Just remember, remember, remember, remember. If you don't need something, please don't get it. If you don't need it, don't get it. Don't get it. If you don't need it.

It's better to live a frugal life than to live a life of always being broke. Because we don't know, we just don't know what tomorrow are going to bring. We don't know what the next minute is going to bring. So this is just part one. I know you guys see the posters out there. Thanks to Roy. digitally for a wonderful job that they did on the post series. But guys, just remember what I said, okay?

Just try to live a frugal life. And sometimes even if you can afford something, maybe hold off on it. Or help someone else. I mean, I spend a lot of time helping other people. A lot of times I get something. God knows I help other. people that took, well, I don't want to brag on myself, but I've helped many, many people. That's not something I want to get on here and talk about because that's between me and the

word, but just be careful, be careful, because people are being evicted out of their houses and apartments and there's so many things going on right now. And being in debt is just something that you don't want. So if you could pay off that bill with that height, inserts, if you can pay that mess off, pay it off, guys. Get it paid off. Get it paid off. Please, do not have yourself in a bunch of debt. Please, please, please, please. It's almost like I'm begging you. I wish I could see everybody live a frugal life. But, you know, a lot of people want to impress people, impress people, impress their friends, impress the world around them. People want that, you know.

And you can't tell people what to do. You really, really can't. I can't tell people what to do. I can just kind of advise you on, give you a few tips on what I do and what I don't do. But even I had to learn the hard way. I had to have a couple of knocks up I had to learn. You don't need that, girl.

What are you doing? I would go spend money just to spend it. So I decided, you know, if I could, I just said, well, I'll help this person, help that person, or try to build some kind of organization, get something going that can help other people. So this is part one. Thank you so much for listening. Oh, gosh, we've gone 20, almost 25 minutes here. Not quite, but almost.

So thanks for listening. Gina Sworn. Again, I have other podcast that's coming up. You will see the poster. When you see the poster, you know the podcast is very, very close. I'm going to do domestic violence. That's one that's going to be touchy. Very, very touchy. Oh, my God, very touchy. And I'm going to do cancer awareness. I like to say birth cancer awareness, but I'm just going to say cancer awareness. I think you're going to say cancer awareness. I think you're it'd be better if I say that, you know. So thank you all so much for listening. I appreciate you for your time. Oh, there are your beautiful stuff that there that listen to my podcast. Make sure you're listening on IHeart Radio, Regina Soren Audio Series Presents, are listening on Amazon, of course, on Buzz Sprout, and so many others out there.

but just pull it up. If you can't find it, just pull up Regina Sworn audio series, I Heart Radio. Or Regina Sworn Audio Series, Amazon. It's going to pull it up. I've already contacted Spotify to remove my podcast from there. Remove it from there because it's an old podcast. It's still old podcasts from what three years ago? So when people tell me, oh, I heard your podcast, I enjoyed it so much. And the first thing I'm asked them, well, what did you hear? What did you hear? And when they tell me in what podcast they heard, I'm like, oh, Lord.

Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord. So yeah, guys, thank you so very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I want to thank all of my friends. And I want to thank the people who I'm closest to, which is my friends. I have friends who I'm secretly, superly close with. I guess it's a secret.

It's not a secret. I have no secrets. But I have friends who I'm very close with, they're like family. And I share things with them. We talk about things. And we just keep each other lifted up. This is the way it's supposed to be. So it's supposed to be.

But again, my heart just goes out to those people that I, when I go and schedule over on Facebook, schedule my post over there, I see stuff. It makes me cry. It makes me cry as I, scroll down and see all the sickness. It hurts my heart, guys. It hurts.

It hurts. So if you can't say anything nice about a person, if you cannot be kind, then don't say anything. Don't send out laughing emojis to people who are hurting. Don't, I don't like what people say, I'm just teasing.

I don't like that. I'm not a teaser. It's not that I can't take any. And a lot of people just say, boy, you, you, you, you, you can't stand a little humor. I can't. I cannot take a joke. I'm just being very honest with you. I cannot take a joke.

I don't like when people tease me. I hate that. Do not ever tease me. I was letting you know, don't do it. And I don't know some people say, we, be serious all the time. Um, you can call it that. I'm not going to say I'm serious all the time, but, but, but, but, you know, I'm not going to say I'm serious all the time, but joking and being cute and joking and, you know, I don't like that.

That's a problem to me. It really is. And a lot of people have gotten very embarrassed before because I don't like all of that. And again, I'm not saying me serious all the time. That's not what I'm saying. I just don't like, oh, it's just teasing. I'm just joking. And a lot of times people would say, oh, you didn't catch that joke.

I really did catch it. I just didn't want to turn around there and then. embarrass you for trying to be funny. So please don't joke with me. I'm not the one to joke with it. Don't do it. If you want to think I'm serious all the time, then think that. I don't, I don't

really don't care what people think. I don't. So it's so much I got to say. It's so much comes out of me. The Lord gives me so many things to talk about. So many. So I just thank God for being here.

I thank God for blessing the ones around me because I go through things myself. People around me go through things and I don't talk about it. I just have people that have prayer warriors who pray for it, pray for me, pray for my friends who are sick or whatever. I don't post it on Facebook. My hat's off to a person who can post their business on there. I don't judge them for doing that.

at all because some people it's good that some people do that because a lot of people need to know a lot of different things so a lot of people can do that you know I'm a little bit different I go to someone and say can you please pray about this uh da da da da da da this person is sick and can you pray for them and again I got prayer warrior said pray so okay I keep saying oh I keep ending it and then I keep talking about talking. So thank you again for joining me. I'm Regina Soren. Contact me at Sworn, Regina, Regina, at email.com. Visit my official website, Regina Swarren.com. Now, that is being updated. So if you go there now, you can go there just to be going, but it is getting updated. So thank you so much. God bless you. Okay, that concludes another great podcast. Thank you so much for joining me

for Regina Swarring Audio Series. If you'd like to be a part of this series, please send me an email at Swarineregina at gmail.com. I want to thank all of my wonderful friends, fans, and guests for being a part of this show. Most of all, I'd like to thank the Lord. Until the next time,

take care of yourself and be safe.