Is getting a Costco or Sam's Club membership worth it? Does a wholesale club membership really save money? It's not as cut and dry as you might think. For some people a wholesale club membership is a no-brainer, but for others it's a huge waste of money. How about for YOU? Is a Sam's Club, Costco or BJ's club membership worth it to you? Here are some ways to figure out for yourself if it will save you money or be a waste of money. Do the math It’s easy to get tricked into thinking ... read more
Transparent Family Budget Update — June 2018
This month I was reminded of one of the bonus benefits of living on last month's income. We made a mistake that could have been detrimental to our budget if we had not been a month ahead financially. In June, estimated quarterly taxes were due for business owners. For the first quarter we paid $2,000 to the IRS and $200 to California. When my husband texted me to ask how much to pay, I told him what we had paid the previous quarter and said to just do that again. Then, after thinking ... read more
We’re Over-Budget– June’s Mid-Month Grocery Shopping
If you've been following along for a while you know we're generally pretty good at sticking to our $400 grocery budget for our family of 7. Well, this month I made an exception and let us go almost $100 over budget! Let me show you what I got during the month and then I'll explain to you why I was totally cool with going over budget this month. If you missed my monthly grocery haul, you can check out the post and video to see what we got for about $300. That left us with $100 for the ... read more
Hoarder, Minimalist, or Something in the Middle?
Now that we have lived in our house for a year and a half, it seems like every cupboard and closet needs to be decluttered and reorganized. I just went through the children's books last week and have two big boxes of books to donate. I have been thinking lately about where I lie on the spectrum between being a minimalist and a hoarder. The post below was originally shared in May 2015, but I wanted to share it again since it's what I've been mulling over lately. What do hoarders and ... read more
Monthly Grocery Shopping Haul– June 2018
Even though it felt like we didn't have any food by the end of May, I didn't go shopping until June 6th-- nearly a whole week into June! When we were working to pay off our debt, I would play a game with myself to see how long I could put off doing our monthly grocery shopping. It yields results similar to a no-spend month because it forces you to eat from your pantry and food storage. For me, it got me making homemade bread again! In case you were wondering if it's cheaper to make ... read more
Transparent Family Budget Update — May 2018
Time for another family budget update! The big news this month is that we're finally taking an income (albeit a very small one) from the rental apartment above our garage. Before we had renters, we spent a few thousand dollars on repairs to get the apartment ready. That came out of our family budget since we didn't yet have rental income. In the last year we've had renters in the apartment, and have paid utility and maintenance expenses from the incoming rent, but left the remainder of ... read more
Where Do You Keep Your Emergency Fund?
We need help with our emergency fund. Not to reach our goal of $25,000 before the end of the year. I think we're actually going to be ahead on that (you can see details in our budget report coming Wednesday). The question is where to put the money. Right now, our emergency fund earns 1.0% interest in a Capital One savings account. That's nowhere near the heady days of the 5.5% interest you could earn on a savings account in 2006, or the 10% interest in 1987, but it's more than the near ... read more
Money-Saving Kids’ Closet Organization Hack
Today's creative money-saving idea comes from Jennifer Byars. If you have a money-saving idea to share, you are welcome to submit a guest post (you don't have to be a blogger). See the guest post submission guidelines for details. I have been told that we are only as frugal as our organizational skills. I am frugal but, admittedly, very unorganized. I am a busy mom always trying to find ways to make life easier and save money. I have a solution for organizing my children's clothes for ... read more
6 Hacks to Never Waste Produce Again!
Ever since I started sharing my monthly grocery shopping hauls, especially now that we're trying to eat healthier (more real food, less processed stuff), I have received so many questions about how we are able to eat all of our produce before it goes bad. We try to do pretty much the whole month's shopping at once, though we may make a small trip or two later in the month for bread, milk, produce, something random, or a great deal. So how do we buy so much produce without wasting ... read more
$360 Monthly Grocery Shopping Haul– May 2018 (+ video)
After lots of inquiries about how we feed our family of seven on less than $400 per month, I started showing you exactly what we buy with our grocery spending. Of course I don't expect anyone to buy the exact same things as we buy. Food preferences are pretty personal, but hopefully showing you what we buy (and don't buy) will help you reduce your own grocery budget if that is something you're trying to do. If you would rather have me tell you all about May's grocery haul, check out the ... read more
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