Six Figures Under

Personal Finance Made Public

  • About
    • Our Story of Paying Off Six Figures of Debt
    • We’re Debt Free!
    • Contact
    • Guest Posting
  • FRUGAL LIVING
    • at HOME
    • FRUGAL FOOD
      • cooking from SCRATCH
      • growing & PRESERVING
      • Grocery Shoppping
      • other ways to SAVE on food
    • in the GARDEN
    • with KIDS
    • SPENDING wisely
    • NO-SPEND month
    • ATTITUDE is everything
    • Holidays
  • FINANCES
    • Budgeting
    • Guide to Getting a Month Ahead Financially
    • Our Financial Situation
    • Personal Finance Made PUBLIC
    • Financial Safety Nets Series
  • DEBT
    • Smash Debt Course
    • Getting STARTED
    • MOTIVATION
    • SPECIFIC Situations
    • Debt Smash-athon
    • Staying ON TRACK
    • OUR Repayment Updates
  • EARNING EXTRA
    • More on BLOGGING
    • Earning on ETSY Series
    • Earn Gift Cards with Swagbucks
    • AIRBNB Hosting
    • OTHER Ways to Earn Extra
  • Start a BLOG
  • FAVORITES
    • Home and Finances
    • Blogging Resources
  • MY BOOK

6 Ways to Get Kids’ Clothes for Free or Cheap

October 16, 2013 by Stephanie 35 Comments

Even before you have children (or are pregnant), the temptation to buy adorable children's clothes may begin.  Quickly growing children, changing of seasons, and new trends may continue to feed the addiction of kids clothes shopping.  You could break the bank buying clothes for your little ones.  The sooner you learn to get clothes for your children inexpensively or free, the more you'll be able to contribute to their college fund (or pay off your debts, as is the case around here). Here are ... read more

Filed Under: FRUGAL LIVING, SPENDING wisely, with KIDS

Cold Cereal Sundays

October 14, 2013 by Stephanie 6 Comments

I love cold cereal.  I have been known to eat it for any meal of the day, especially when I'm pregnant.  When we lived in town, I was great at combining coupons, sales, and manufacturer deals to get bargain prices on cereal.  I rarely paid more than a dollar for a box of cereal.  Now that we are far from stores, stopping in for every deal (or even only the good ones), just isn't possible or cost effective. In our home, cold cereal has become a highly valued commodity. Instead of enraging ... read more

Filed Under: FRUGAL FOOD, FRUGAL LIVING, In the KITCHEN, other ways to SAVE on food

September 2013 Debt Repayment Progress Report

October 5, 2013 by Stephanie 4 Comments

It's time for a monthly check-up to account for how we are doing on our big fat goal.  In order to pay off our remaining debt by the end of 2016, we will need to put just over $3,000 per month toward our student loans.  We know that this is an audacious goal, considering that my husband makes only slightly more than that $3,000 each month. I am happy to report that we put $2,800 toward our debt in September!  While this isn't as high as our goal of "just over $3,000," it is very close and ... read more

Filed Under: DEBT, FINANCES & BUDGETING, OUR Repayment Updates, Personal Finance Made PUBLIC

4 Expenses We Don’t Cut Out, Even in a Bare Bones Budget

October 1, 2013 by Stephanie 2 Comments

  To minimize spending and put more of our hard-earned money toward debt, we go without some luxuries (or even things that are just plain normal for others).  Some of these things may even be considered extreme.  Most of them keep our life simpler and less cluttered and make us happier anyway. In all of our slimming down spending and trimming off excess, there are a couple of expenses that we don't cut out. Tithing God has given us all we have and all he asks is for us to return one-tenth ... read more

Filed Under: FINANCES & BUDGETING

How Juggling Car Seats Saves Us over $100 a Year

September 26, 2013 by Stephanie 7 Comments

We have two cars: my husband's car that gets 30 miles per gallon and my minivan that gets 20 miles per gallon.  Our kids' three car seats live in the van most of the time, but to save money we move them into the car on Saturday nights in preparation for Sunday morning when we drive just over 20 miles to get to church (remember how we live in the boonies?). Van: 40 miles @ 20 mpg = 2 gallons of gas @ $4/gallon  = $8.00 roundtrip to church Car: 40 miles @ 30 mpg = 1.3 gallons of gas @ ... read more

Filed Under: FRUGAL LIVING, with KIDS

Stretching Ground Beef with Vegetables– Frugal, Healthy, and Convenient

September 23, 2013 by Stephanie 74 Comments

It's no secret that meat is expensive.   If you are trying to get out of debt or have a tight budget, buying less meat is a great way to cut kitchen costs. By hiding fresh vegetables in your ground beef, you not only make each pound of expensive meat go further, you sneak in nutrients that your veggie-haters may not be getting otherwise. Typically the only meat we buy around here is chicken and ground beef.   I use chicken in several slow cooker recipes and ground beef in some of our ... read more

Filed Under: cooking from SCRATCH, FRUGAL FOOD, FRUGAL LIVING, In the KITCHEN

The Big Fat Goal: Pay Off the Remaining $100,000 in Student Debt in 3 Years

September 20, 2013 by Stephanie 34 Comments

The Big Fat Goal: Pay off $100,000 of Debt in 3 Years

I have dreaded actually sitting down to calculate how long it will take us to pay off the remaining approximately $100,000.  I was afraid of what the numbers would say and what that would mean for our future.  We really are enjoying our time living in my in-laws' basement, but we still look forward to the day when we are done with student debt and can start saving for a place of our own. Our Debt The bulk of our loans (about $56,000) is at a 7.9% interest rate.  The next $34,000 is at 6.8%. ... read more

Filed Under: FINANCES & BUDGETING, Our Financial Situation

How Homemade Bread is Helping to Pay Off Our Student Loan Debt

September 18, 2013 by Stephanie 21 Comments

We have not bought bread since we decided to be serious about getting out of debt.  It's one of many changes we've made to lighten our debt burden. First of all, you must know that bread is not something we take lightly.  No Atkins diet for us!  We often have PBJs six days a week.  We also use bread for toast or french toast for breakfast.  Sometimes, especially when there is hot bread just out of the oven, we have bread and butter for a snack or with dinner. There are a few problems with ... read more

Filed Under: cooking from SCRATCH, FRUGAL FOOD, FRUGAL LIVING, In the KITCHEN

Is this Extreme Frugal Living?

September 17, 2013 by Stephanie 78 Comments

We don't live out of a van.  We don't (usually) dumpster dive.  We (very) occasionally pay full price for things.  We buy disposable toilet paper (yes, there are very green people who use cloth, in case you didn't know). That is why my husband scoffed at my blog's original tagline: "Extreme Frugal Living to Match Extreme Student Debt." There's no doubt that six figures of student debt is extreme.  The question is whether our frugal living qualifies as "extreme." My husband grew up in a ... read more

Filed Under: at HOME, FRUGAL LIVING

Cloth Diapering Anniversary

September 16, 2013 by Stephanie Leave a Comment

We are celebrating a year of cloth diapering around here.  One year ago, we started cloth diapering with our third child, our 11-month-old son, as something of  a frugal experiment. In the past, between coupons, sales, closeouts, and manufacturer deals, we spent very little on disposable diapers.  When I could get diapers for $3 per package, I would buy dozens of packages, even when we didn't have a child in the sizes available.  We never paid anywhere near full price for diapers and I never ... read more

Filed Under: FRUGAL LIVING, with KIDS

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • Next Page »

Search

Welcome to Six Figures Under!  I'm Stephanie!  Come read our story of how we got into and paid off six figures of debt!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Our Big Goal

In Your Inbox!

Want to start a money making blog?  You don't need to be a tech wizard!  Here's the step-by-step photo tutorial!  You can do this!

Top Posts

  • Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix
    Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix
  • Can You Freeze THAT?
    Can You Freeze THAT?
  • 🥛 7 Smart Ways to Use Almost Expired Milk 🥛
    🥛 7 Smart Ways to Use Almost Expired Milk 🥛
  • Hosting a Christmas Party on a Budget--Frugal Festivities Day #9
    Hosting a Christmas Party on a Budget--Frugal Festivities Day #9
  • 🍅Homemade Tomato Sauce from Tomato Puree 🍅
    🍅Homemade Tomato Sauce from Tomato Puree 🍅
  • Easy Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk-- Save Time and Money
    Easy Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk-- Save Time and Money
  • 5 Smart Financial Moves We Made as First Time Home Buyers
    5 Smart Financial Moves We Made as First Time Home Buyers
  • How we got paid $1,500 for a car we were going to scrap
    How we got paid $1,500 for a car we were going to scrap
Now there is a simple and powerful way to track your blogging income and expenses to know exactly how profitable you are!

Blog Meets Brand

READER FAVORITES

Expert Tips to Save Money on Road Trips
Can you freeze THAT?
How and Why to Live on Last Month's iIncome
Earning on Etsy Series
How to Set Up a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog

Copyright © 2013-2019 Six Figures Under