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
6 Hacks for Storing Food in Small Spaces
Whenever we talk about our food storage (or even just monthly grocery shopping), we always have readers who say they can't keep food storage or shop for a month at a time because they just don't have the space. I definitely understand small spaces. When we were first married we lived in the tiniest little in-law suite where our kitchen sink was right at the foot of our full bed! That was the beginning of our small space hacks. Storing food for our family is important, so we've always ... read more
Cost of Setting Up Our Airbnb Rental
We already share exactly what we earn and spend in every category of our family budget. Now we're also sharing details for our Airbnb rental. You only see the net income from Airbnb in our monthly budget updates, and if you're thinking about hosting with Airbnb (or have no plans to ever host, but are just curious), that's not the whole story. Today we're sharing exact costs for setting up our Airbnb. If you're thinking of renting out your place as a short-term rental you'll want to think ... read more
Debt Smash-athon FEBRUARY Progress Report
January was fabulous, but February was EVEN better! As a group we are making some serious progress on getting out of debt and improving our finances! I am so impressed! Big numbers are great, but what's so much MORE impressive to me is the sacrifice and hard work that those numbers represent. THAT is what we're really celebrating here. Whether your numbers were big or small doesn't tell the whole story. Only YOU know what those numbers really represent. For those who are new here, in ... read more
$300 Monthly Grocery Shopping After a No-Spend Month– March 2019
After having a no-spend month with a pantry challenge in February, we were eager to do our March grocery shopping, so eager that I even went on a Saturday. We went to Winco, Sam’s Club, and Sprouts and spent nearly $300. We will grab a few things later in the month (I just got 6 jars of jam at Walmart today), but this is basically it. Well, all this and what we have in the pantry, freezer, and food storage. After filming my grocery haul, I promptly lost my Winco receipt. After delaying ... read more
Real Family Budget Update– February 2019
If you've seen my last couple of posts, you know that February's no-spend challenge didn't go exactly as planned, but we made it to the other side. I shared the story last week (here and here) and now I'll go into all of the numbers. But first, here's your reminder to quickly fill out your own Debt Smash-athon Report for February. Our January report was awesome! I can't wait to see how it all adds up for February. Remembr, we're counting debt paid, contributing toward your retirement, or ... read more
What I Learned from a No-Spend Month– What Worked and What Didn’t
We just finished up No-Spend February! While not everything went as planned, we're still counting it as a success. Even with the unplanned spending, we still made some great strides that will show up even beyond our February budget update. Now that it's over, I want to evaluate what worked well and where we struggled. If you did a no spend month too, I encourage you to do the same. It's helpful to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. If you're new to no-spend challenges, I have ... read more
When You have to SPEND in a NO-Spend Month
We don't call it a No-Spend Challenge for nothing! If it were easy, it wouldn't be a challenge, right? At the beginning of February, we set a goal to not spend anything on eating out, household goods, entertainment, trips, or any other unnecessary spending. In addition, we decided to make our no-spend month a pantry challenge as well. We chose to cut our normal grocery spending down to just $100 for the month. We were excited to not only save money, but also reset our spending habits ... read more
Debt Smash-athon JANUARY Progress Report
Way to go Debt Smashers! What an amazing month! I was so impressed by all the hard work you put toward paying off debt in January! I absolutely loved reading through all of your progress reports. You are up against some big challenges, but you're making great progress. 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 paid in debt each month. We're also keeping track of how much we invest for retirement and ... read more
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