Every month we share a budget update where we go through our income, spending, saving, and goals. Having this accountability helps keep us on track. Hopefully it helps you to see a real example of how one regular family manages their money. Of course your budget won't look like ours and that is perfectly fine. Your budget shouldn't look like ours! A budget is personal, so it should reflect your own priorities, needs, and goals. You tell your money what you want it to do. We budget ... read more
Two Reasons Blue Apron Could be Worth the Cost
If you've seen our food budget, you know that a meal delivery service like Blue Apron wouldn't fit in our normal grocery budget. And that's just fine! Spoiler: It goes somewhere else in our budget. We love Blue Apron and it can be worth it sometimes-- even for frugal folks like us-- for two reasons. If you aren't familiar with Blue Apron, I'll give you a quick overview of the service, then explain my two big reasons it could be worth the cost. What is Blue Apron Blue Apron is a meal ... read more
5 Money-Saving Tips for Back-to-School Clothes Shopping at the Thrift Store
We do back-to-school clothes shopping a little different than most people. Instead of hitting up Target or our favorite department store, we go to the thrift store. And we don't even pay full price at the thrift store! I want to show you what we get (and don't get) at the thrift store to maximize our back-to-school budget. This year we spent $25 on each of our kids who are in school. That money stretched big time at the thrift store and I'm going to tell you how we did it! Here are my ... read more
Monthly Grocery Shopping – August 2019
After years of questions about how we feed out family on such a small grocery budget, I started sharing our family's monthly grocery hauls. I do my grocery shopping a little different than a lot of people. I don't shop from a menu. I generally don't shop from sales flyers. I don't shop frequently. I just shop for ingredients that we're lacking. That means I don't buy everything every month. Also, while this is our main monthly grocery shopping trip, I will make a few smaller trips ... read more
Debt Smash-athon JULY Progress Report
Way to stay strong in smashing your debt and reaching your financial goals, friends! I love seing each of your names and reading of your progress each month. You're doing great things! You're making a difference in your financial future and that of your family! These are accomplishments worth celebrating! That is what the Debt Smash-athon is all about! For those who are new here, in 2019 we're having a Debt Smash-athon! Everyone is invited to participate by reporting how much you ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– July 2019
Many of us never had any real teaching about budgeting or personal finance. We were just thrown into the world of adulting and expected to figure it out. Keeping money a taboo topic doesn't really help anyone (unless you're a credit card company, student loan servicer, or payday loan shark). Six years ago our family decided to break the silence and start transparently sharing our real family budget each month.. The change in our finances over the years, from our first budget reports to ... read more
How We Stopped Living Paycheck to Paycheck by Getting a Month Ahead
The single most important change we made to our finances when we set out to pay off six figures of student loan debt was to get a month ahead in our budget. We knew that living on last month's income would help us, but we had no idea that it would be completely revolutionary. Getting a month ahead allowed us to be laser focused on our goals and brought us immeasurable peace in our financial journey. Even now that we're debt-free (besides the mortgage), I can't imagine budgeting any other ... read more
Smart Ways to Save Money on Pregnancy
UPDATED! Originally published 20 Feb 2015 Pregnancy comes with plenty of extra expenses, some subtle and some glaring. Of course some expenses like insurance co-pays can't be helped, but there are still ways that you can save money during those nine months of anticipation! Without even talking about baby, there are definitely some increased costs during pregnancy. Today, let's focus on some ways that you can SAVE money on pregnancy! Please chime in with your tips in the ... read more
How We Manage our Airbnb Hosting Finances
Managing your own family finances can be a challenge. What happens when you add a business (or two or three) on top of it? Since we're already transparent with our finances and many of you have been asking how we handle our Airbnb finances, we figured it was time we show you how we do it! This isn't the "one and only" way to handle your budget as an Airbnb host, but hopefully it will give you some insight into one way to successfully manage your finances when you have a short-term ... read more
Debt Smash-athon JUNE Progress Report
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
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