Sometimes we focus on saving in small ways and forget to question the really big expenses. With refinance rates at crazy low numbers, this might be the time for you to reduce one of your biggest expenses--your mortgage payment. At the end of last year we refinanced our mortgage from a rate of 3.625% to 2.875%. It cost exactly $254 and took four hours. Our total savings is $7,000 in interest. And that number is much lower than it could be. We earned just $1,750 per hour for our four hours ... read more
How We’re Living Off Our Food Storage– No More Grocery Shopping For Us
It's official. No more shopping for us! Well, at least until life is back to normal. Maybe that's just a month or maybe it's through the summer. I'll explain why we're doing this, then show you what our food situation is at the outset of this crazy challenge. I'll update you with new posts and videos throughout however long it ends up being, showing what we're eating (and describing what we wish we were eating) including recipes we're making to keep our food storage staples ... read more
Big Changes to Our Financial Goals (post COVID-19)
I'm sure your life is looking a little different than it did a month ago (I know ours certainly is), but I hope you are well and adjusting to this new (albeit temporary) normal. I haven't heard from any you whose health has been directly affected by COVID-19, but I have heard from many of you whose finances have been affected. In the past few weeks as we've considered our own financial situation, we've decided to make some major changes. Let me start by giving a little background, then ... read more
Making the Most of Quarantine 😷
Has the coronavirus cleared your calendar too? I can't think of the last time our calendar looked so empty! Thankfully we are all well, but like many of you, we are currently sheltering in place. While there's lots of disappointment about what is being missed, we're actually enjoying having time to do things we otherwise wouldn't. Slowing down the pace isn't all bad. If you're feeling anxiety about the future and you're at a loss for what you can be doing now, I want to give you some ... read more
Debt Smash-athon FEBRUARY 2020 Progress Report
Well, life in March may be crazy, but you guys did an awesome job smashing debt in February! We smashed nearly $100K of debt between us! Let's go back to February for a minute and celebrate you amazing financial accomplishments and talk about your big wins and how you did it! It's so motivating to read of everyone's sacrifices and hard work. Your efforts are definitely paying off! As you'll read below, you guys did awesome in February! For those who are new here, in 2019 we had a ... read more
Monthly Grocery Shopping– March 2020
The world has turned upside down in the time since I made this grocery shopping trip and when I'm posting it. When I made this shopping trip I had no idea that a week and a half later store shelves would be cleared of food and basic household products because of the coronavirus. Needless to say, I'm thankful that monthly grocery shopping is the norm for us. After this shopping trip, our pantry was replenished with most things. While we are promised that the supply chain is strong and ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– February 2020
Every month we make our personal finances public by sharing everything we earn, spend, save, and pay toward debt. We've been sharing our finances since September of 2013 (when we were in six figures of student loan debt) and haven't missed a month! Our hope is that getting an inside look at one family's way of budgeting will give you ideas on how you can make budgeting work in your family. Of course everyone's income and priorities are different, so everyone's budget should be different ... read more
Debt Smash-athon JANUARY 2020 Progress Report
When I asked if you wanted to continue the Debt Smashathon in 2020, I got a resounding YES, so we'll keep it going this year as well! This is our first debt smashing report of 2020. If you don't already get the link to report your progress at the end of each month, sign up here! I get so excited when I read each of your reports (yes, I read them ALL)! I love reading your successes like lowering your grocery spending, sticking to your budget, being consistent, and making progress toward your ... read more
Monthly Grocery Shopping– February 2020
If you're curious what a typical grocery haul looks like for a frugal family of 8, then keep reading. Today I'm sharing what we bought in our monthly grocery shopping trip in February. We went to Winco and Sam's Club and spent right around $300. That leaves about $150 for other grocery/food purchases for the month. I took December and January off from sharing grocery hauls, mostly because I was posting new videos and blog posts nearly every day in those months for the Christmas Series and ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– January 2020
Whew! After posting 28 blog posts and 28 videos since the beginning of the year, I'm a week late getting January's family budget update published. If you missed all the activity, you can you can sign up for the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge here! If you're new here, every month we make our personal finances public by sharing everything we earn, spend, save, and pay toward debt (we're currently tackling our mortgage). We've been doing this since September of 2013 (when we were in six figures ... read more
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