web analytics
5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 107

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 107

Winter feels like the perfect time to hang out in the kitchen.  Why not warm yourself up by the oven while you bake yummy foods for your family?  As a bonus, you can make more from scratch and spend less money on fast food or convenience foods from the store!

Thanks to my 30 day money challenge, I was inspired to get back in the kitchen again.  Lately I’ve made white chicken chili, homemade lemon meringue pie (even the pie crust was from scratch!), Chex Mix, hot chocolate mix, and several batches of cookies.

And now I’m working on a resource that will help you make more from scratch, too!  Keep an eye out for that in the next two weeks.

(more…)

Grocery Shopping on a Budget: How To Save The Most

Grocery Shopping on a Budget: How To Save The Most

Grocery shopping on a budget feels restricting sometimes. But you can feed your family well using less money than you think. Here’s how.

While wasting time on Facebook one day, I saw a challenge:

Try to feed your family on “just” $5 per person per day.  When I did the math, my mouth dropped.

For a family of 7, that amounts to $245 per week.

My grocery budget is $300 for two weeks worth of food for my family of 7.

Feeding my family at $5 per person per day was no challenge.  Shoot, we could have steak on that budget!

(more…)

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 107

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 106

Did you know that only 8% of the world’s currency is actual physical bills and coins?  We definitely live in a digital age.  The fact that we are less and less likely to actually touch our money makes us detached from it.

Does that make you want to use the envelope system more?

I think it’s a good idea to get more intimate with your cash.  But I also think that if we have a habit of using debit cards, that can create more problems.  If your sub conscience is convinced that you have backup cash in the account, you might blow through your cash too quickly.

(more…)

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 107

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week 105

It’s a funny thing, but the more you collect money saving tips, the more you’ll find.  It’s another one of those creative muscles that can be flexed into something beautiful!

So aside from the money saving tips you find in this weekly series, you can find daily (weekdays, anyway) money saving tips on my Facebook page.  Like Medium Sized Family on Facebook to keep collecting tips!

But those tips I’m sharing on Facebook do not (usually) come from my book.  So if you really love to save money, you’ll find over 500 money saving tips in the book.  Go here to learn more about that!

(more…)

How To Get Ahead In Life: 7 Ideas That Will Boost Your Savings

How To Get Ahead In Life: 7 Ideas That Will Boost Your Savings

Feel like you’ll never stop living paycheck to paycheck? Learn how to get ahead in life with these 7 ideas you can put to use right away.

The mailbox is full of bills, a kid just had an expensive trip to urgent care, and the car is in need of a repair.  Now you are just hoping that there’s enough food in the pantry to get you through to the next paycheck.

But deep down, you know that you’re just going to find yourself running out of money again.

So how can you get ahead in life when you feel like you’re just falling further and further behind?

Let’s talk about some money goals that you can set for yourself to make this mess a little neater.  Don’t be discouraged!  These are goals that people in nearly any financial situation can take use.

(more…)

The 7 Best Financial Moves Our Family Made This Year

The 7 Best Financial Moves Our Family Made This Year

A few financial moves can make a huge difference in your bottom line. Try these ideas that helped one family pay off a big debt in one year.

Not everyone loves New Year’s resolutions, I know, but I happen to be a huge fan.  You have to love the chance at a fresh start, and what better time to make big changes than at the start of a new year?

But before we sit down to establish our goals for next year, we should look back at how we did this past year.  What went well?  What could have gone better?

For two years, our main goal has been to pay off all of our credit card debt.  So let’s take a look at the best moves we made this year to set our finances straight.  Here’s hoping you can put some of these ideas to work in your own life!

(more…)