by Jamie Jeffers | Mar 30, 2018 | Ways We Saved This Week
One evening, when our #yearofno was wearing thin (and getting on our nerves a little bit), Hubby and I talked about the first thing we’d do when we were free from credit card debt. We considered a few ideas, but finally decided that a little getaway was the perfect reward for our family.
We sent in our last payment a couple of weeks ago! So we decided to book a hotel for one night of spring break. We took the kids to Indianapolis for a couple of days of fun.
I can’t tell you how relaxing it is to get away with the family on a trip you can cover with cash. It felt truly rewarding after years of looking for free things to do over spring break.
Not that there’s anything at all wrong with having a frugal or free spring break. You can bet we’ll still have plenty of those in our future! But sometimes a cash splurge is just what the doctor ordered.
(more…)
by Jamie Jeffers | Mar 23, 2018 | Ways We Saved This Week
One of my big concerns with reaching our big goal (paying off a ton of credit card debt) was…what’s gonna happen next? Will we really be able to keep our money saving ways once we paid off debt and our #yearofno was over?
But in my next couple of shopping trips, I discovered a funny thing. Now I’m actually more protective of our money than I was before! Maybe that has something to do with the fact that every dollar I save…is a dollar I save!
Now I’m not saving money so I can ship it out to a big corporation. (Not that I have anything against big corporations, per se. It just isn’t much fun when you aren’t getting anything in return.)
We’ve been talking about this a bit in the Facebook group. If you’ve always wanted to be part of a group that gets it…no need to explain your frugal ways or the reason your celebrating saving $2…this is the group for you!
Join us at Living That #YearofNo Life.
(more…)
by Jamie Jeffers | Mar 19, 2018 | Saving Money
Keeping snacks for trips handy can save you a ton of money. It helped our family pay off thousands in debt! All you need is a list of foods that travel well. Get the free printable here!
If I had to choose a symbol for our debt payoff journey, it would be our ratty old Coleman cooler.
Not only did it save us a ton of money…it also helped us change some bad habits. (We were spending hundreds of dollars on food whenever we left the house.)
Learning to make snacks for trips a priority was an important step toward saving money.
For us, snacks have to be affordable, easy to carry, but also easy to throw together.
I definitely don’t have 20 minutes to create a caterpillar out of cucumbers, tomatoes, and raisins.
Here are some of our family’s favorite easy snacks for trips, school, park days, or wherever you take a hungry family!
(more…)
by Jamie Jeffers | Mar 16, 2018 | Ways We Saved This Week
Two weeks. I don’t think I’ve taken that kind of break from blogging since I began! But I finally carved a pocket of time to dedicate to writing.
Never mind the fact that a dead truck battery gave me this time. 😉
Last week, the big day we’ve anticipated for well over two years FINALLY happened.
WE PAID OFF EVERY BIT OF CREDIT CARD DEBT!
It wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be. I’ll admit that we used our tax refund to finish off the debt. But it didn’t quite cover the entire bill. But I was so anxious to be done that I scraped together every bit of cash I could come up with to bring that balance to zero.
Adding that frantic movement to our last day of credit card living kind of curbed the joy I was looking for. But the sweet relief of standing on our own two feet without those bills hanging over us anymore was so worth it.
I expect that our next payday is when it will hit me that we don’t have to turn over all of that cash to a credit card company. That’s when the balloons will fall from the sky.
I assume.
(more…)
by Jamie Jeffers | Mar 2, 2018 | Ways We Saved This Week
While our #yearofno (make that two years of no) was effective at helping us pay off a chunk of debt, it wasn’t pretty. I may have inadvertently made it seem easier than it was.
We’ll be spending this year catching up on things that fell to the side for the past couple of years. This includes those non-essential things around our home that we didn’t replace or repair.
So what made our #yearofno different than a no spend month? Priorities. We’ve learned that we can live with imperfect things. We know what is most important. And we have the patience to wait to buy new when we have the cash to do it.
A no spend month wouldn’t have taught us any of those things. Anyone can tread water for a month only to go on a spending spree on the first day of a new month.
(more…)
by Jamie Jeffers | Feb 28, 2018 | Income, Secure Your Savings
Why is transcription work the best way to earn a steady income while you work from home? Find out where to get work, what the job takes, and how you can make the most cash.
Most Moms I know are always looking for ways to pad their budget a little more.
They want a way to earn real money, not just little bits here and there. But they can’t commit to a regular schedule while they have young babies and children at home with them.
If you wish you could find a real job that let you work while the kids are napping or after their bedtime, you need to learn about transcription work.
I did this job for a while, and I loved getting paid enough to cover our grocery bills. My sister still makes a regular income from this line of work.
Whatever your ultimate goal is, if you’re a Mom looking for a flexible job, you need to learn about general transcription work.
(more…)
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
