We all know that money doesn’t grow on trees but, it does grow just like trees. You have to nurture it over time to see it flourish. Someone who wants an orchard cannot plant a seed and expect it to produce fruit in just a few months. Most trees will take between 6 and 9 years to produce their first fruit with up to 20 years to reach full maturity and production. Money that’s invested won’t grow enough in the {Read More}
Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees, It Grows LIKE Trees
August 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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What’s the Minimum Emergency Fund You Should Have?
August 16, 2012 by 2 Comments
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I’ve been asked several times “How much money should I have in my emergency fund?” Many people have heard that it’s best to have $1,000 in an emergency fund, but this amount isn’t enough to cover emergencies for most families. You see, having an emergency fund is like having an insurance plan for unexpected expenses. Does an auto insurance plan with only $5,000 in liability coverage do you much good with the average new vehicle costing over $28,000? Of course {Read More}
Lessons Learned from Financial Adversity
August 9, 2012 by 4 Comments
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I constantly get asked how we are able to keep all of our purchases at a total of $400 or less per month. Here’s a little background. When we first married our salary was a joke. Truly. We were on a single teacher’s salary before there was a state protected minimum salary law. Nearly 1/3 of our income went to medical insurance. The first few months we were also paying for a semester of grad school before we decided that {Read More}
Becoming Debt Free Step 4b (Budgeting Step 3)
June 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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This week I finally was able to sit down and finish tallying up our expenses from the past year. I did have a couple of surprises. The past 4 months we’ve kept our expenses at about half of our $400 budget for all shopping. Our “entertainment/eating out” expenses have been more sporadic than I realized. Anywhere from 0 – $187 a month! Now that I know what we’ve been spending and how much we’re earning, my next step in creating {Read More}
Becoming Debt Free Step 4
May 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Last week we completed the 3rd step in becoming debt free: determining how much income we have and making sure our tax witholdings are accurate. We’re still holding too much out, so we’ll have a little bit extra money to apply to the mortgages each month! This was also the first step in creating a budget, I just didn’t want to scare my hubby off with the B word Creating a budget doesn’t necessarily mean micromanaging our money. We just {Read More}
Becoming Debt Free Steps 2 and 3
May 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Last week I shared with you that we’re starting to aggressively eliminate 100% of our debt. Admittedly by we, I mean I. My husband is not exactly a numbers guy, but he understands that by hanging onto our debt in favor of “living in the now” we’re costing ourselves much more money in the long run – about 3 times as much! We know how much debt we have- nearly $165,000 between the two houses. Our first house is over {Read More}
The First Step to Getting Debt Free
May 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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I didn’t understand anything about debt until I went to college. My parents has just paid off their house and were completely debt free. I didn’t know that at the time, but I had noticed we were taking more expensive trips, eating out more etc. I had thought my Dad had gotten a nice raise- when in fact due to downturns his company had been laying off people and while he hadn’t had even a cost of living raise in {Read More}
Looking for Getting Out of Debt Stories / Guest Posts
May 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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I have an upcoming series with tips on getting out of debt, whether credit card debt or just mortgage debt. No matter where we are in our journey to becoming debt free it’s always encouraging to hear what others are doing and have done to stay motivated, so I’m looking for readers who have a getting out of debt story. Whether you’re doing “the Dave Ramsey” thing or not, still have debt or are living debt free, I am looking {Read More}
Which Do You Enjoy More- Eating Out or Having a Home?
May 3, 2012 by 2 Comments
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Do you enjoy eating out more than you enjoy your home? Should it matter? No, not necessarily. What matters is how much you really enjoy eating out and how much money you spend each month doing it versus putting that money into your house that you enjoy every day. We need both food and housing, but only one holds its value for longer than a few hours. What do you enjoy and where do you put more of your money? {Read More}
Reducing Your Grocery and Household Budget
April 26, 2012 by 4 Comments
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This week when I posted my shopping trips to Facebook and said that I spent $46 total for the week. One reader asked “How????” Keep in mind that everyone’s family needs are different. We have 2 adults, 1 preschooler and 1 toddler to feed/clothe/provide for. Even when it was just my husband and I, our budget was $100 a month (we were that poor when we first married!) Regardless of your family size and needs, here are some practical tips {Read More}