Category: budget

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?

Frugal Friday: Our Top 3 Cheap Babysitting Solutions

As parents on a tight budget, we are always looking for a cheap babysitting solutions so we can have date nights, go to social events, and spend time with friends.  We don’t have any family near us, so that’s not an option.  In Dallas the going rate for babysitting one child is around $10-15 per hour.  PER HOUR, people.  That means if we want to go out to dinner and a movie we are shelling out an additional $40 to the babysitter, minimum.  There is no room in our budget for that kind of expense, unfortunately.  Our whole dining out and entertainment budget for an entire month is $95.  Yep, that’s it.  We are on one income and prioritize saving for retirement and other things above dining out and entertainment.  So, we’ve had to get creative when it comes to babysitting solutions.  We’ve found a few things that work well, and one we really want to try.

Cheap Babysitting Solutions:
1) Parents’ Night Out – Several churches and local kid businesses (YMCA, etc) host Parents’ Night Out evenings a few times a year.  We sign up for every one we come across.  In our area these are typically a 4-5 hour window where you drop your child off and pay a fee to help the church youth group raise money.  Most churches are well equipped to care for children because they do it on a regular basis, and we feel good about helping out a local church.  Usually you don’t have to be a member, and most in our area charge $10 for the first child for the whole time slot, and $5 for each additional child.  This is a steal!  To find a Parents’ Night Out in your area, just do a google search or call local churches or kid friendly organizations.

2) The Swap – Trade babysitting nights with another family.  We’ve done this a few times and hope to schedule more in the future.  Most kids Bear’s age go to bed around 7 pm like he does, so we put him to bed and then have 1 parent from another family come over and watch tv, read in peace, etc on our couch while we go out for a few hours.  Then one of us goes over to that family’s house on another night to relax and watch the baby monitor while they go out.  Everybody wins.  This doesn’t work as well for single parents unless you can take your child to the other house and put them to bed there, then transport them home when the parents return.

3) The Co-op – My parents were part of a babysitting co-op in our neighborhood growing up, and my mom has encouraged me to start one here with our friends.  A babysitting co-op is a group of families who organize themselves to trade off babysitting using a point or voucher system.  You earn points by babysitting for others, and then cash them in when you need a sitter.  I haven’t gotten around to starting or joining one, but hope to soon.

What’s your best cheap babysitting solution?  

 

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: The Dollar Store – Deal or No Deal?

I love the dollar store.
Not Dollar General or any other faker store, the real, everything costs $1 or under store, like Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Store.  But, can you really find great bargains?  Yes!!!  Let me preface this by telling you not everything at the dollar store is a great deal.  While there are a lot of things we buy there often, there are others we will never buy there.  Now that you can use manufacturers’ coupons at Dollar Tree, it’s like a whole new world.  Today I’ll give you the top ten things we love to buy at the dollar store, and a few that we don’t.  This post is dedicated to my late mother-in-law, Carrie, whose love for the dollar store was passionate and true.  
Top Ten Deals at the Dollar Store:
1) Cleaning Supplies 
They have it all, including lots of name brands.  Don’t pay full price for stuff to clean your toilet bowl.
2) Kids’ Books & Coloring Books
They have tons, in English and Spanish.  I already have a bunch picked out for stocking stuffers.  
3) Food
They have our favorite Nature’s Own Double Fiber bread for 1/3 the price of the grocery store 1 block away.  We find name brand canned goods all the time.  The freezer section is often overlooked, but they have a great selection of sweet treats and frozen vegetables.
4) Craft Supplies
From grosgrain ribbon to wreath forms, they have tons of craft supplies.  I just bought mini pumpkins to add to my fall wreath.
5) Holiday Decorations  
Easter eggs, Halloween costumes, Christmas garlands, Fourth of July banners, they have a huge selection for every holiday.    I just bought 4 ceramic pumpkins to spray paint for my fall mantle.  
6)Party Supplies
The best deal of all used to be their mylar helium balloons, but there is apparently a helium shortage and our store has been out for months.  You can find wrapping paper and bows, gift bags, balloons, candles, all of it.  I buy brown packing paper and use it for every gift.  
7) Kitchen Supplies
Paper plates, napkins, and cups, as well as glass, plastic, and ceramic ware can all be found in the kitchen section.  Pie plates and random utensils are often a great deal as well.  
8)Home Decor
I buy candles and picture frames all the time.  There are tons of items with potential if you get a little creative.
9) Pregnancy Tests
Instead of $9-$20 at CVS, try $1 for 2 tests. 
10) Candy
Our dollar store has a big selection of movie theater big box candy, and it makes a great treat.   
Top Five Things I Would Never Buy at the Dollar Store:
1) Electronics
2) Batteries
3) Medicine
4) Clothing
5) Anything I want to last for a long time.
Basically, you pay for what you get.  While the dollar store has tons of great deals, a lot of the stuff is not high quality or regulated for content.  Quality doesn’t matter as much for party supplies and seasonal decorations, but does matter for your vitamins, your baby’s onesies, and your electronics.  
Here’s a great article from Forbes that breaks down everything you should and shouldn’t buy at the Dollar Store.  Thanks to our friend T.J. for sending it my way.    
Do you shop at the dollar store?  What’s the best deal you’ve ever found there?

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 – Our Top 8 Frugal Family Travel Tips

Here’s our little family high atop the continental divide near Cottonwood Pass in Colorado.  We took an incredible 8 week road trip this summer and spent as little money as possible.  We mulled over what we did right and how we screwed up and decided to share the good with you first.  Drumroll please…
1. Bring your own food for the road.
2. Grocery shop and cook at “home.”
3. Find FREE entertainment wherever you are.
4. Make the trip the thing, not souvenirs.
5. Ask for favors.
6. Utilize local resources.
7. Find travel deals online.
8. Piggyback on a work trip.
Let’s dig a little deeper.
1. Bring your own food for the road.
We packed lunches for driving days, kept an ice chest full of drinks and snacks, and brought reusable water bottles.  If we hadn’t prepared we would have spend an average of $5 per stop on snacks and drinks and $15-20 on lunches.  That adds up really quickly.  The bonus to this tip is that you can make the snacks and meals as healthy as you choose and not be bound by whatever fast food you can find.  If you do order fast food, order a bigger meal for yourself and share it with your child (if they are small enough), rather than ordering a kid’s meal.
2. Grocery shop and cook at “home”.
Stay in places with kitchens or kitchenettes whenever possible.  You will save so much money cooking at home.  Grocery stores in tourist towns can be pricier than at home, but most chains are interconnected so you can use your saver cards from home.  We meal planned throughout our time so that we wouldn’t waste food and wouldn’t be caught by surprise when dinner time came around.  We did go out to eat several times, but we used online menus to check out the restaurants beforehand.
3. Find FREE entertainment wherever you are.
Hiking, biking, exploring, window shopping, cruising around, and seeing the sights are all usually free.  Pick one activity that costs money and try to make the rest of your fun free.  We paid for one activity the whole trip (riding the ski lift at Red River) and it was well worth it.  Look for local entertainment guides that often contain coupons for activities.
4. Make the trip the thing, not souvenirs.
It is incredibly tempting, especially when traveling with kids, to become convinced that you must buy that t-shirt/stuffed animal/taxidermied jackalope/etc.  You don’t need it.  The trip is what you came for, not the junk.  You took your child on an amazing vacation.  They don’t need anything but memories to prove it.  If you love souvenirs, pick one thing that will remind you of your vacation to take home.  I like shells found on the beach, river rocks, and other found objects.  I also love a good Christmas ornament.  Magnets and coffee mugs are good, cheap reminders of your trip that you will actually use daily.
5. Ask for favors.
We asked our friends for help, and they responded generously.  What do I mean?  We ask to borrow houses, stay on couches, and get “friends and family” rates on vacation rentals.  A friend’s guest room is way better than a hotel any day of the week.  You would do the same for them.
6. Utilize local resources.
Ask locals for help with recommendations, must do activities, restaurants, etc.  They will usually be excited to help you.  We also found the welcome centers and Chambers of Commerce to be helpful in several towns.  Become a pamphlet reader.  Look for local blogs.  Do your research.
7. Find travel deals online.
We used Travelocity‘s Secret Hotel deal, Priceline’s Name Your Own Price app, and the GasBuddy app, several times.  We used VRBO to find rentals.  Read reviews online and listen to them.  We got burned by ignoring bad reviews of a hotel.  There are tons of great online resources for couch surfing and house swapping as well.  Again, do your research.
8. Piggyback on a work trip.
I know this may seem random or complicated, but it worked really well for us.  I had to be in Colorado for a month for work, so we planned our crazy road trip around my work trip, because my company paid for our mileage there and back.  This won’t work unless you travel for work, but might be easier than you think.  Our friends the Mitchells took their family to Disney World and got their mileage and most of their hotel paid for by his work because he decided to drive to Orlando for a conference instead of flying by himself.  Genius.
There you go friends, our top 8 travel tips for now.  We’ll be back later with our top blunders and screw ups.
What’s your best frugal family travel tip?

Follow Becca’s board Family Travel on Pinterest.

What a Way to Make a Living

The Bear loves to help with the filing around the Young Life office (my dining room).  And by help I mean destroy every file folder within reach and repeatedly open and close the filing cabinet drawers. He really has been the best baby ever while I’ve worked from home this year, but it kills me every time he wants my attention and I can’t give it to him fully.  Which brings me to my next point…
Over the past 2 years we have prayed, discussed, debated, and finally decided that it is time for me to quit my job and stay home full time with the Bear.  I am so sad to leave Young Life, but at the same time so excited to start this next chapter.  I can’t wait to be able to focus my attention on my family.  I love my job, but as anyone in full time ministry knows, it has a way of owning you.  This ministry has given me so much over the last 12 years, and I am so thankful to have had the privilege to be a part of the lives of so many people through it.  If you had asked me 5 years ago if I would ever want to be a stay at home mama, I would have said you were crazy.  Now it is the desire of my heart.  Thankfully we have budgeted and saved and are debt free so that we can afford to live off one income.  I know things will be much tighter around here, and I look forward to sharing our even more frugal ways with you.  I have a little over a month left at my job, and am currently trying to finish well and set my yet-to-be-named replacement up for success.  
I would love to hear from any of you have made the transition from workaholic to stay at home mama.  How did you make it work?  How do you structure your days? How do you live on one income?  Share your ideas with me.  

Frugal Friday- Halloween Costumes

Halloween has come and gone, but I had to share my cute little bear with y’all.  Fisher was asleep before the first trick-or-treaters hit our house, so we had to do a little photo shoot earlier in the evening.  We set him up on a vintage quilt with pumpkins in his little bear suit.  Here are the best things about his costume, besides the obvious cute factor.  
It was free.  
My mama and her bff bought it for Fisher from the Carter’s outlet.  Thanks Mom and Tricia!  
It is a legitimate piece of clothing.  
It is a full suit with feet and a hood, made for real wear, instead of a cheap-o costume made for one time use.  It will be his winter coat until he grows out of it (which may be sooner than I’d hoped).  
It is warm and comfy.  
He loves wearing it.  
I’m hoping we can go this route in the future, wearing real clothes that can useful in daily life as a Halloween costume.  I’ve seen so many DIY costumes that use this kind of practicality across the internet and I think it is genius.  With a few handmade accessories, you can turn an outfit into a costume for a day, then wear it for the rest of the season.  I’ve also heard about great finds at consignment stores and garage sales, since most costumes are worn only once.  
How do you save money on costumes?