Can you imagine a lost and found that has millions, even billions, of dollars in it?  Neither can I.  Yet every state has a lost and found like this.  It’s the unclaimed property division, a part of the state treasury or controller. The billions of dollars of unclaimed property is spread out among everyday people like you and me.  The problem is most people don’t know about it.  Surely if we knew we lost hundreds or thousands of dollars, we would quickly claim it.  I’d willingly claim anything with my name on it! About 1 in 7 Americans have unclaimed propert ..read more

A couple of months ago, I started making freezer meals our go-to plan for dinner. Before that, getting dinner on the table used to be so tough. With all of our kids’ sports and other activities (for which I’m the main driver), plus all of the commitments that Mike and I have, our evenings are pretty full. We had lots of leftovers nights and fend-for-yourself nights. Having meals ready to go has really improved and simplified life. As I mentioned in May’s Grocery Haul blog post, my plan for May was to stock our freezer with freezer meals for us to use on a regular basis. You asked what my free ..read more

When I very first started blogging in 2013, I would often have “debt discussions” with my early blog readers. At the time, my husband and I had  just decided to pay off our law school debt as fast as we could. Since we had six figures of debt, we knew it was going to be a long haul. Paying off debt was always on my mind and I was happy to talk about our goal and progress with anyone who would listen. Not everyone is as open and willing to talk about debt with their in person friends as I was. Others who had similar financial struggles and goals were looking for a place to talk about debt ..read more

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