by Jamie Jeffers | Aug 21, 2019 | Income
Every August, we celebrate a little here at Medium Sized Family. This year, the blog turns 4 years old!
As a stay at home mom, I just love blogging.
For one thing, the accountability from this blog allowed our family to pay off thousands in credit card debt.
And building a business from nothing feels like such an accomplishment!
So what did I learn from my fourth year of blogging? What’s working? What isn’t?
If you’re a blogger now or have ever been interested in being one, let’s chat!
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by Jamie Jeffers | Aug 14, 2019 | Saving Money
These ideas about how to save money every month are awesome! Because once you get them in place, you’ll save month after month. Who doesn’t want extra money lying around??
When you look over your family budget, do you ever get the urge to reach into those numbers and give them a tight squeeze?
No, not in a “I wanna give you a hug!” way…
…in a Homer Simpson “Why won’t you go lower!!!” way.
I’m not always that violent with my budget numbers, but it is fun to see how much I can squeeze from a penny!
Since so many bills demand to be paid monthly, one of the best ways to get more from your paycheck is to figure out how to save money every month.
You can never have too many money saving tips! So today, let’s talk about some ideas that you probably haven’t tried yet.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Aug 6, 2019 | Large Family Life
Shopping for furniture for large families is hard! Luckily, we’ve found pieces big enough for everyone without a huge price tag. Check them out!
That cute little dining room table for four.
The couch you saw on a great sale…that seats 3.
It’s beautiful! You know, if you have a typical family size.
Why is it so hard to find furniture for large families?
The kind of furniture that fits everyone.
That’s durable enough to withstand many kids. (Even the kid or two who can’t seem to stop themselves from playing a wild combination of “the floor is lava” and “earthquake!”)
And you don’t have a fortune to spend on it, either.
While this seems like a tall order to fill, you can definitely find furniture for your big family. You just have to know where to look.
(Here. You have to look right here in this post.) 😉
These are the best tips from Moms who have been there.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Aug 2, 2019 | Ways We Saved This Week
What do you know? Planning ahead really does save money!
Not that it’s always easy to do. We’ve been in a season of life for months on end that made it very difficult for me to wrap my brain around meal planning and careful shopping.
I even hesitate to say that we’re “back” to planning ahead on a regular basis. We’re just taking it a paycheck at a time.
If you have a rough season of life and you feel guilty about not saving the maximum amount of money, remember that it’s ok. We all go through ups and downs.
One thing I’ve found to be true is that you can’t let yourself wallow in guilt. Believe me, I’ve tried it.
When I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself (not to mention letting go of the guilt of being a frugal blogger who couldn’t be perfectly frugal all the time), that gave me the permission I needed to try again.
Because here’s life in a nutshell:
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jul 19, 2019 | Ways We Saved This Week
This week I’m reading an amazing book that I think every mother should get her hands on. It’s called Cleaning House: A Mom’s 12 Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement.
There are so many good points to this book (especially the fact that giving kids meaningful work is the best gift you can give them).
But it made me aware of the fact that I might not be teaching my own kids enough about money.
Not just how to be responsible with it…but how to use it.
How to swipe the card at the gas station.
Comparing prices at the grocery store.
Having the courage to actually speak to a cashier while they make a purchase.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jul 15, 2019 | Parenting & Household Tips
Wondering what to do when you can’t afford a family vacation? These ideas are affordable, but a ton of fun for the whole family!
While stuck in line at the grocery store, you decide to do a quick Facebook scroll.
There’s a cute baby picture or two. Some people debating the latest news story.
But the next line?
Another beach photo.
It feels like all of your friends and family are taking fun trips. But you know it’s so far out of the budget this year, there’s no way you can afford it.
You wonder if your family will regret not getting away together. What will the kids tell the teacher when she asks what they did over the break?
Well, families can spend great quality time together without going away on an expensive trip.
You can even make fantastic memories that no one else can compare to!
Let’s talk about some fun (but affordable) things to do when you can’t afford a family vacation.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jun 28, 2019 | Ways We Saved This Week
While driving home from a far away baseball game earlier this week, the dashboard of our 2005 Tahoe lit up like a Christmas tree.
This is one of those moments when you wonder if the savings of buying an older vehicle is worth it.
Our whole family was in the car, and all Google could tell me was that it could be as simple as a sensor…or as awful as the steering and brakes not working while you’re flying down the highway.
Lovely.
We made it home safely and now we’re waiting on word of how much this repair is going to cost us.
And I’ve decided to try to keep track of the amount of money in repairs (as well as the time we are without a vehicle) so we can see if driving an older car is truly worth the savings.
What do you think about driving older cars?
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jun 25, 2019 | Debt, Saving Money
A sinking fund is the only thing standing between you and freedom from paycheck to paycheck living. Here’s how to get started.
Watching the balance on our biggest credit card shrink over the past year has been…how should I put this?
Ah-maz-ing!
Our main goal in our #yearofno has been to knock out debt every chance we get.
Read all how we’re getting out of debt here (yes, even while raising 5 kids on one income!).
But there is one thing that I wish we had done differently.
Something that could have made a bigger difference in our debt payments.
It’s called a sinking fund. It’s a genius (but uncomplicated) idea that prepares you for those nagging expenses that add to debt.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jun 21, 2019 | Ways We Saved This Week
Ugh, setbacks.
This week we found out that we can’t install the cistern for rainwater that we were hoping for. So we’ll be looking for a different solution to bring water to our old home.
We still want to save money for whatever solution we come up with, so the big summer savings goal will definitely continue!
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by Jamie Jeffers | Jun 14, 2019 | Ways We Saved This Week
Well, we’re one week into our big savings challenge for this summer!
I hope you’ve decided to set a goal for yourself, too. We’ll do check ins each Friday to see how things are going and share ideas with each other.
And if you aren’t in a season of life that gives you enough breathing room for a challenge right now, no problem. Just check out what we’re doing so you can try it when life calms down a little!
(Believe me, I totally get it. That’s been our life all year… until school let out!)
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I'm Jamie, and I believe that you can build your savings, even when life is frustrating. 
