We're halfway through 2019! You guys have blown me away with all of your progress. It is such a treat for me to read your reports each month. I don't know your faces, but I recognize your names and I'm familiar with your stories, especially those of you who report each month. I am cheering each of you on! We've been making incredible progress each month so far and June was no exception! You overcame obstacles, pushed through hard times, and worked hard to get to where you are! Some of ... read more
Monthly Grocery Shopping – July 2019
You may have noticed that I neglected to make a grocery haul video for April, May, and June. We still bought groceries of course, but that was about as far as I got. Well, we ate them too. During the first trimester+ of pregnancy I am super tired and go to sleep really early, which means blogging and making videos drop off the radar. Our grocery budget was nothing to brag about during those months. We bought things you normally don't see in our grocery hauls, like frozen burritos and ... read more
Real Family Budget Update – June 2019
It's time again for a little personal finance made public! Now that I'm well into the second trimester of this pregnancy, I can finally manage more than just feeding my family. The change in my energy and motivation is definitely evident in the budget. June looked much better than April or May. I'll be back to sharing grocery shopping trips in July and have other exciting posts in the works, so stay tuned! We haven't sold our old van, which means we still owe ourselves $5,791 (see ... read more
Debt Smash-athon MAY Progress Report
Another month of the Debt Smash-athon is in the books! As usual, you Debt Smashers worked hard to accomplish big things! Even though only a fraction of our community reports numbers, I know there are many more of you who are working your tails off without reporting it. I get so inspired reading all of your accomplishments each month! Thank you for sharing them and letting me share them with the rest of the community! Whether you're working on smashing debt now or you have other ... read more
Real Family Budget Update- MAY 2019 (with BIG NEWS!)
We are keepin' it real over here in the Six Figures Under family. As usual, I'm going to show you all of our actual spending for our family of seven and this month, well, it's not the same ol', same ol'. Some of these numbers may shock you. I know they shocked me! And then there's some other news too. First of all, we bought a new van (well, new-to-us). Somehow between normal use and kid curiousity, the stitching at the end of one seat belt in our van was broken and then picked out ... read more
Debt Smash-athon APRIL Progress Report
I get so inspired reading all of your accomplishments each month! Thank you for sharing them with me and letting me share them with the rest of our community! If your month didn't shape up to what you had hoped, don't give up! I like what Linda shared on her report. She said, "Do NOT let less progress than expected hurt your momentum. As my daughter reassured me, 'Some months are just more expensive than other months.'” Everyone's journey is different. We all have different struggles ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– April 2019
April's numbers are in, which include a tax refund! For the past two years we've had to pay at tax time, but this year we overpaid. By a lot! Between new tax laws, our businesses not growing like they have in past years, and that one time we accidentally paid $2000 instead of $200 for a quarterly estimated payment to the state of California (oops!) we had our largest tax refund ever. Our combined refund (federal and state) was over $7,000. Before you start jumping out of your socks saying ... read more
Debt Smash-athon MARCH Progress Report
We made some healthy financial progress this month! And by "we" I mean all of you! Our family's progress was pretty minimal this month, but it's so encouraging to see that as a group we are making huge progress! I loved reading your reports. I read every single one. I'm smiling from ear to ear as I read of you doing great things to rock your financial future. I love hearing your sacrifices and successes. I'm cheering you on. My heart aches for those of you who were hit with ... read more
Why we started giving our kids allowance that’s NOT tied to chores
I have always been against the idea of giving an allowance to kids. I mean the kind of allowance that kids just get, whether they've been helpful or awful, completed all their chores or none of them. I wanted my kids to earn money rather than give it to them. I wanted them to learn that money comes from doing productive work, not just from existing. In search of the perfect system for helping kids learn the value of work, we've tried a few different things. They always involved the kids ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– March 2019
If you saw our budget update in February you know that March was a tight month for us. One of the things I really love about living on last month's income is that we have some time to plan how to handle a month of lower income. As you'll see in the spending details below, we didn't fund our sinking funds at all in March. We also didn't put anything extra toward our mortgage. Well, we did put a teeny tiny bit extra toward the mortgage on accident. I'll explain that in a minute. Even though ... read more
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