Category: financial freedom

How to Protect Your Marriage from One of the Most Common Causes of Divorce

No one gets married thinking about divorce, but we know it happens to so many couples. If we could figure out what causes it, would we try to avoid it? OF COURSE WE WOULD. We’re not dumb. There it is in black and white, on every list of the most common causes of divorce: money and financial issues. Here’s the thing – it isn’t a lack of money that makes the list. It’s the issues that come from not being on the same page financially with your spouse – not seeing eye to eye about money. Maybe one spouse is a spender while the other is a saver, or one insists on controlling every aspect of the finances without letting the other have a say. What is comes down to is that if you aren’t on the same page, with the same vision of your financial future as your spouse, there will be issues. So, how do you get on the same page?

How to Protect Your Marriage from One of the Most Common Causes of Divorce

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Five Ways to Start a Mini Emergency Fund {Fabulously Frugal}

Five Ways to Start a Mini {$1000} Emergency FundThere was a time when I thought I would never be able to save $1000 for a mini emergency fund. Now I can’t imagine life without it, as well as our big emergency fund (6 months worth of expenses). If you want to set aside for emergencies, but the idea of saving $1000 is intimidating or seems impossible I’m here to help. Emergencies will come, and you don’t want to be in a panic when they arrive. Having an amount set aside that you only touch for emergencies can really give you peac of mind. Before you start to pay off debt or invest, you need to have money set aside for emergencies.

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Why We Don’t Use Credit Cards… EVER

Why we don't use credit cards... EVER. Our story of financial freedom.

Why we don't use credit cards... EVER. Our story of financial freedom.We don’t have a single credit card, and don’t plan to every have one again. Why? So many reasons. We cut up our cards over five years ago and haven’t looked back. Today I’m sharing my story with credit cards, how I got in to BIG trouble, got out of it, got in to even BIGGER trouble, got out of it again, and found freedom from the plastic cards that were ruining my life.

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Frugal Family Travel Tips: How to Take a BIG Trip on a Little Budget

bigtriplittlebudgetfamilytravel

We recently returned from a 26 day road trip through the southeastern United States. We visited 11 states, drove over 3000 miles, and had an amazing time. We live on a tight budget on my husband’s teacher salary (plus the part time income from this blog and my part time job with Young Life). We live debt free and don’t use credit cards at all (thanks to Dave Ramsey‘s Total Money Makeover). So, how did we take such a big trip on a little budget? We got creative, kept it simple, and made a plan we could stick to. Read on to find out tips for taking big trips when your income is small.

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Frugal Friday: 4 {Very} Basic Meal Planning Tips ~ A Beginner’s Guide

We have been living on one income for a little over one year, and it has been a challenge.  Last week I shared tips on how to set your monthly grocery budget.  You can read more about our budget here and our journey to financial freedom here.  One of the most difficult areas for us is our grocery budget.  There are three of us eating actual food right now, as the Pearl Girl is strictly on the mama milk.

Our monthly food budget is $350.  We take out that much in cash at the beginning of each month and try our best to stay under that amount.  In order to make this happen, we have to meal plan like champs.  Why is meal planning so important when you are on a tight budget?  Having a plan helps me prepare in advance and not end up trying to scramble to throw a dinner together at 5:30.  It helps me to choose budget friendly meals and not end up running for take out because we forgot dinner comes at the same time every day.

I tried using a paid meal planning service (that I won’t name) for free for a blog review, but it wasn’t a good fit for us.  I decided not to write the review because the reason it wasn’t a good fit wasn’t their fault.  The recipes were great, but I am married to a pretty picky eater and mother to a toddler who has very specific preferences.  Let’s just say a meal plan for normal people didn’t work out.  Meal planning isn’t rocket science, but it does take intentional decision making and the willingness to plan ahead.  If this Queen of Procrastination can do it, you can, too.  Here are my very basic meal planning tips to help you on your way.

1) Set Your Grocery Budget – Read more about how to do it in this post.

2) Grab a calendar and start filling in dinners.  Start with your family’s favorites.  Use a month long calendar and fill in as many slots as you can with meals you know how to prepare.

3) Fill in the rest of your meals.  Call your mom and ask for the recipe for a childhood favorite.  Look on Pinterest, Tasty Kitchen, and other recipe sites, but don’t get bogged down and overwhelmed.  Text your friend for her favorite recipes.  Once you have enough filled in for one week you’re off to a great start.  You don’t have to cook like Julia Child every night, but it is fun to mix it up by adding in new things once a week or so.  Add in a vegetarian meal once a week to save money on meat and reduce your environmental impact.

4) Start your list, one week at a time.  Go through each dinner and check to see if you have what you need, then add any missing items to your grocery list.  Next, add in basics for breakfast and lunch.  We keep these items on hand every week: homemade oatmeal, frozen whole grain waffles, English muffins, cream cheese, fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, cereal, eggs, bacon, peanut butter, fruit preserves, honey, cheese, deli meat, and baked chips.

That’s it! You have a meal plan.  I like to plan ahead for the whole month but only shop one week at a time.  I call it a victory when I only have to grocery shop once per week.  Be on the lookout for more meal planning posts coming soon.  Thanks for reading!

Frugal Friday: How to Set Your Monthly Grocery Budget {And Stick to It}

For the past four years, we have followed the Dave Ramsey financial peace plan.  A huge part of this plan is writing down and sticking to a monthly budget.  We tell every dollar where to go, including what we spend on food.  Setting and sticking to a budget is the number one thing you can do to become debt free and find financial freedom.  If you are bogged down by your finances, know that freedom is possible.  We are living proof.  You can read more about our financial story here.  Both of us were once deep in debt and we have now been debt free for almost 4 years.  Today I’m sharing how we set our monthly grocery budget, and a few tips that help us stick to it.  
1) Track your spending.
Before you set your grocery budget, it will be helpful to track your food spending for one month.  Keep you receipts and add up your totals at the end of the month.  Was this a typical month or was your budget off kilter because of guests visiting, birthday parties, etc?  Add or subtract to accommodate those factors.  This will give you a ball park figure to add to your total budget.
2) Create your larger monthly budget.
Your grocery budget is a part of your larger monthly budget.  There are a multitude of budgeting tools out there.  We prefer Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover budget tool.  It takes you through setting up a budget step by step.  If you want to do it on your own, simply write down your total monthly income and start subtracting your expenses.  Account for your tithe or giving, rent or mortgage, utilities, and then groceries, and any debts.  After the essentials you will see what you have left to spend on the non-essentials like dining out, gifts, travel, etc.  You will probably need to tweak the numbers a few time to get everything just right.  Don’t be discouraged if it takes you a few months to get it right.  
3) Take your grocery number set in your larger budget and divide it up.
How much do you usually spend on meat?  We buy meat only when it is on sale and freeze it in individual baggies or in freezer meals.  We also eat at least one vegetarian meal every week to reduce our spending and our environmental impact.  What are your budget busters? Alcohol, fancy cheese, brand name foods, seasonal items… Each week you will want to make sure your basics are covered before you buy a bottle of wine or (in my case) a fancy cheese.  Goat cheese is my love language, y’all.  If you are a soda drinker, wait until they are on sale and stock up.  One month we busted our grocery budget buying Christmas candy.  I’m so not kidding.  
4) Meal Plan 
Write down your dinners for the week and stick to the plan.  I’ll share more about how we plan our meals next week, but know that without a plan it is easy to lose track of your spending.  Some folks use coupons to help them plan, but I have more luck shopping at Aldi.  When we started shopping there it cut our budget by almost 40%.  Seriously.  They aren’t a sponsor of this blog (but the totally should be), we just love the store.  We gave up name brands almost entirely.  There are a few products that truly are better with name brands, so we look for coupons for those favorites.  
5) Use cash envelopes.
Take out the entire monthly grocery budget in cash at the beginning of each month.  Put it in your grocery envelope and take it with you every time you go to the grocery store.  If you run out before the end of the month, try your best to use what you already have on hand and get creative.  Using cash will help you immensely as you try to stick to your budget.  
How do you keep your grocery spending on track? 

Frugal Friday: Four Ways to Stick to Your Dining Out Budget

I get questions all the time about the specifics of our budget.  “How much do we spend on groceries?”  “How much do we set aside for clothes?”  By far the most common question is, “How much do you spend on restaurants?”  The answer is, “Not much.”  Our monthly dining out budget on one income is $70.  That’s it.  Would we love for it to be more?  Of course.  Click on some of my ads and affiliate links and maybe we’ll get to increase it.  Just kidding (but seriously…).  How do we stick to spending only $70 per month on dining out?

1) We don’t go to fancy restaurants.  I have a growing list of great local places and a few chains where we can get a great meal for under $20.  It is possible and a lot easier than you might think.  We would rather have 3-4 meals out a month than one expensive one.  

2) We don’t buy kids’ meals.  The Bear is still a toddler with a varying appetite, and every time we’ve ever bought him a restaurant meal we regret it because he leaves most of it on the plate.  Instead we bring in a sandwich, veggies, fruit, and a sippie cup every time we go out to eat, and offer him some of our meals.  Yes, this takes a little planning on our part.  No, we won’t be able to get away with it forever.  We’ve never had a waiter even ask a question about it, and several have even commented on what a great idea it is.

3) We don’t buy drinks.  Soft drinks and alcohol in restaurants are a total rip off, in my opinion.  Why would we pay $2.99 each for a diet coke?  Crazy town.  Sometimes we break this rule, and when we do Jed and I split a soft drink rather than both getting one.  We get free refills and french kiss each other on the regular, so what’s the big deal?

4) We meal plan.  Before we started budgeting, we spent an outrageous amount of money on restaurants because we were both busy and dinner time would roll around without us having a plan.  We’ve learned that dinner is not an emergency, it comes at about the same time every day.  If we plan out our meals one week in advance we end up spending far less on groceries, making fewer grocery store trips, and eat out far less.  This way we can plan our meals out and make them count rather than have them be a last minute rush decision.

Do you have a budget for dining out each month?  How do you stick to it?

Best of Bare Feet on the Dashboard: Frugal Living Edition

For folks who knew me back in my wild and crazy shopaholic days, the fact that I live my life debt free with no credit cards and write about frugal living probably comes as a shock.  It’s the real deal though, y’all.  My life changed completely when I came to the realization that if I kept digging holes for myself I would never have the life I wanted.  I was never a saver and always lost at Monopoly because I just had to have those hotels.  Now we live by the Dave Ramsey code of conduct and have a 6 month emergency fund.  Crazy! You can read about our financial story here, and I’m sharing some of my favorite frugal living posts from the last three years with you below in celebration of my three year blogging anniversary.  
Cash Money Honey
We use cash instead of credit cards.
Frugal Pregnancy Tips
Buying a Used Car with CASH
Creating an Emergency Fund
Grocery Shopping at Aldi
It will cut your grocery bill in half, seriously.
The Road to Financial Freedom
Financial Peace University Changed Our Lives
Budget Busting Temptation
How to Save 20% On Your Medical Bills
For real!
Mad Money
This explains how we budget our monthly spending money.
Are you debt free?  If so, how did you get there?  
Share your best frugal living tip in the comments below.

Frugal Friday: Mad Money $$

When folks find out that we are on a strict budget, they often ask questions like, “How do you buy things that just YOU want?” or “Do y’all get frustrated with each other if the other spends too much money?”  Before we went on the budget I had so many questions like those.  We would try to be frugal and something would come along we just had to have, we’d buy it, and then feel guilty.  One of my favorite things about the budget we have now is the concept of mad money.  Every month we budget in a certain amount for both Jed and I to get mad money.  This money is ours individually and we can do with it whatever we want.  WHATEVER WE WANT.  If I want to buy a ridiculous pair of shoes, I can do it.  If Jed wants to buy an expensive flashlight (happens often), he can do it.  We are not allowed to get upset about the other one’s mad money purchases.  Our current mad money amount is not that much ($50 each), but it is plenty to get something we want or save up.  We also get $25 each per month for clothing, that we save up.
One difficult thing about mad money is that we are always trying to convince the other that our intended mad money purchase should really come out of the house fund or the car fund or some other fund.  Sometimes this is true, and we work that out.  Sometimes it isn’t. Our house does not need yet another flashlight.  Sorry darlin’.  The other downside of mad money is that if you make a mistake, your mad money has to pay for it.  For instance, Jed got a speeding ticket the other day, and his mad money fund took a big hit.  Bummer.
Mad money is one of the main reasons we are able to stick to our budget.  I love that I have the freedom to buy whatever I want as long as I have enough mad money.  For a born shopper like me, this is HUGE.  I’ve told y’all before that doing Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and sticking to a budget has been the best thing ever for our marriage.  With the budget and our mad money funds, we never fight over money.  Ever.  You can read more about our financial story here.

Do you have a mad money fund or something similar in your house?  

Frugal Friday: Making the Most of the Library

As a voracious reader, one of the first things I do when I move to a new place is get my library card. I’ve always loved the library, but in my new role as a full time mama I’m realizing just how awesome it really is.  This week The Bear checked out his first books.  This kid LOVES to read, especially books about trucks.  The book in the picture above had to be returned after a couple of days because the plastic cover proved too much temptation for little toddler hands.  We’re sticking with board books for now.  How do I love the library? Let me count the ways.

1. It’s FREE!
2. story time for kids
3. books, magazines, and movies
4. the queue
5. It’s close.
1. It’s FREE!  Totally, completely free.  Just bring your stuff back on time or recheck it online and you won’t ever have to pay a dime.  Free, air conditioned entertainment can’t be beat.
2. Story time for kids.  Most libraries have some sort of story time for children.  Dallas libraries do a really great job of this.  We go to story time at the Lochwood, Lakewood, White Rock Hills, and Northpark Mall branches all the time.  They have different offerings for each age group from birth on up.  The Bear LOVES it.  He runs around, claps his hands, and has the best time.  We even found a story time at the library in Vail, CO, and visited while we were traveling.  And again, it’s FREE.
3. Books, magazines, and movies.  You can borrow any of these, as well as books on CD for long road trips, CDs to listen to, and so much more.  A lot of libraries are even starting to carry ebooks.  All FREE.
4. The Queue.  The might be my favorite thing about the library.  You can go online with your library card, search for the books or movies you want to read, and add them to your list.  You will be placed in line if there are more requests than there are books available, and then notified when the book is yours.  The best thing about it is that the books you request will be sent to the branch you choose, and held with your name on them for a week.  This is so great for when you get a book recommendation from a friend, magazine, or blog, and want to remember to read it.  Put it on your queue and it will soon be yours.  Awesome.  And FREE.  
5. It’s close.  In most places there are multiple library branches, so there is bound to be one close to you.  We have 2 within 5 minutes and another 2 within 15 minutes.  We are so spoiled.  
Do you make the most of the library?
Does your local library do anything special?