It’s been a while since I shared our monthly grocery haul. This past year has been a whirlwind, so I haven’t been as organized and intentional as I like to be. With rising food prices, our grocery spending has been higher than it ever has. Still, in the past 12 months, our average monthly spending on food for our family of 8 has only been $711. Even with inflation, you can still feed your family without breaking the bank. Of course this just doesn’t happen. I have specific strategies that I use to keep our budget low. I share those strategies in my course Grocery Budget Hero. The course inclu ..read more

I’m always a fan of living by a budget, no matter your means. Budgeting allows you to be in control of your money instead of having your money control you. Your budget gives you the freedom to spend where you want because you are the one who sets the budget. If you don’t prioritize your spending ahead of time (by budgeting), then you are likely to spend not according to your real priorities, but based on what is convenient, more enticing, or whatever opportunity comes up first. Budgeting is especially fun when you have a goal you’re working toward (which should be the case most of the time ..read more

The closer our kids get to leaving the nest, the more we are prioritizing family travel and adventure together. Our oldest will graduate from high school in just two years, so we are eager to take some of the trips that have been on our short list for a long time. If you read our March Family Budget Update, then you know that we made a recent decision to budget for a big trip together this summer in addition to the trip we already have planned for Spring Break 2025. A friend recently gave me this financial advice for traveling: “Just come up with how much everything will cost, then double it ..read more

If you have a space to rent, whether it’s an entire space (even your own home) or just a room, there is money to be made on Airbnb. When we were looking for a house to buy back in 2016, one of our soft requirements was that the property have an extra living space, like a basement apartment or mother-in-law quarters, so we would have the option to rent it out if we wanted. That is exactly what we found and bought in 2017. Then, in 2018 we started renting with Airbnb. We weren’t sure what the demand would be like, as we are in a pretty rural, non-touristy area. We were shocked, in the best way ..read more

Sometimes saving money just requires asking a simple question or two. With very little effort you can be saving money on your monthly bills and beyond. In many cases it is just a matter of asking to pay less. It never hurts to ask, right? The worst that can happen is… nothing, which is exactly what is going to happen if you don’t ask. How much money could you be saving? Today I’m sharing four examples that teach four principles about how simple questions can save loads of money. I would love to hear your experience in being brave enough to ask potentially awkward questions in order to save mo ..read more

It’s no secret that I love budgeting! Sure, sometimes it’s annoying trying to reconcile accounts and it’s frustrating that saving takes so long. Progress can feel slow when you’re working to pay off big debt, but then feeling the peace that comes when you have control of your finances is worth all of the hassle. Budgeting is key to being in control of your finances. Budgeting is not just something that’s recommended for people who are struggling financially. It’s the truly the key to reaching your money goals, and that’s true for all people. In March, we made some sudden, exciting money moves ..read more

If you’re trying to save money on groceries, the last thing you want to do is throw food away! Wasting food, simply put, is wasting money. In the past I’ve shared 7 ways to use milk that is almost expired to help people not waste one of the most common staples in our kitchens. Today we’ll look at bananas! Bananas are the perfect healthy snack to have on hand. Nature even has them conveniently individually wrapped for us! It can be tricky to be always stocked with bananas, though, as they can ripen fast, especially in the summer. The good news is that there’s no such thing as a bad banana ..read more

Every month we share our family’s real budget with you in an effort to break the taboo about money and help you see how a budget can help you reach your financial goals. When we started openly sharing our finances on 2013, we had six figures of student loan debt. Through hard work and diligent budgeting, we paid off our debt less than three years later. We didn’t stop budgeting when we became debt free. Quite the opposite! As a well-oiled frugal budgeting machine, we tackled one financial goal after another. If you have financial goals, you should budget. If you don’t have financial goals, yo ..read more

Living frugally can be quite an adventure. As with anything in life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. And sometimes you just have to laugh. Years ago I regularly shared frugal feats, flops, and funnies posts to share with you some of the daily ins and outs of living the frugal life and hopefully to encourage you on your own financial journey.  But it has been a while since I shared one! It’s a good exercise to think through our successes and failures to keep a good perspective. And I always appreciate a good laugh. I would love to hear any of your own recent frugal feats, flops ..read more

Until about four years ago, we all took for granted the ability to purchase whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. When covid hit and the world started shutting down, many people raced to the store to stock up on the most important things. Before supply chain issues had even begun to surface, panic buying cleared the shelves of essentials, like toilet paper! Unless you were in the bidet industry, with sales through the roof, that time of shortages was probably a little stressful for you. Would it have been nice to be stocked up on everything your family needed, so you didn’t have to worry abo ..read more