Your Family Budget: Step by Step
September 30, 2008 in Money
A budget helps you plan for expenses and know where your money is going. It’s a fantastic tool–as long as it doesn’t get too complicated.
Read more...What Did Your Parents Teach You About Money?
September 10, 2008 in Money
Granny, 1949
I come from a long line of frugal family members.
It’s not uncommon for my grandparents to go out to eat at Braum’s and split a hamburger.
Growing up, my parents were frugal too, so it doesn’t surprise me that I tend to be careful with money.
Some of it is because of personal conviction, but a [...]
7 Shopping Tips to Save Money AND Time
September 8, 2008 in Money
Trying to save money when shopping often means spending a lot of time instead. If you don’t like to shop or if you don’t have time to go from store to store, here are seven ways to shop thrifty without spending all your time.
photo by decor8
1. Shop with a list. Obvious? Yes, but [...]
Add Grace to Your Budget
August 12, 2008 in Money
Grace is for all of those times you say, “Well, I would have made my budget this month if ______ didn’t happen.” It makes it okay to not be perfect.
Read more...No Spend Month Wrap-up
July 31, 2008 in Money
We took our last $4 and went out for coffee. We finished the month with twenty cents and a few broken habits.
Thank you so much for reading along and sharing your comments and encouragement.
I spent about $30 on groceries and gas yesterday, so now I have 3/4 of a tank of gas in my [...]
Breaking Free from Financial Fear
July 31, 2008 in Money
I used to worry about not having enough money. And it didn’t matter how much money I had, I worried that it would never be enough or I would lose it.
I wish this could be a post with 5 short steps to financial peace, but it’s not that easy. I can tell you [...]
4th Week of No Spend Month
July 29, 2008 in Money
These lovelies became roasted tomato salsa.
Last year during the 4th week of No Spend Month, we were almost out of money, and I wrote to friends:
I spent $4.48 on groceries for this week and bought milk, bananas, and oatmeal… a few days ago we were trying to decide if we should spend $3 on a gallon of [...]
3rd Week of No Spend Month
July 22, 2008 in Money
The third week of No Spend Month felt like a blowout when we spent $55 on food, and $54 on gas.
We invited friends over for dinner instead of going out to eat. We fixed chicken, brown rice, and homemade rolls, and our friends brought a great salad with leafy greens and mango. For dessert we [...]
Read more...2nd Week of No Spend Month
July 15, 2008 in Money
This second week of No Spend Month was harder than the first. I would love to go out to eat one night soon. I sure don’t take it for granted anymore, but I guess that’s the point. We spent $44 this week, which seemed like a lot compared to $13 the week before. Then [...]
Read more...1st Week of No Spend Month
July 8, 2008 in Money
Date night — picnic in the park
For the first week of No Spend Month, we spent a total of $13. We’re pretty happy with that! The $13 went toward basics like dish detergent, salt, bananas, and chicken.
The first week:
We ate leftovers from having family visit us earlier in the week.
We started eating food from the [...]
