When you’re trying to save a little cash and keep on a budget each month, you find ways to maintain your home in frugal ways. For example, I had never replaced a tub spout before, but by golly, I was going to try it- and it turned out to be so easy! Everyone should be doing this themselves. We went quite a few months with our tub spout’s diverter stuck in the shower position. We tried using CLR a few…
Our family spends a lot of time in the kitchen, and that means we tend to go through the soap in our in-sink soap dispenser every few weeks. The soap bottle under the sink is tiny and I hate refilling it as often as I need to! I always end up spilling (i.e. wasting) soap everywhere in the process of filling it. It’s also difficult to remove and re-attach the bottle because I have to have one hand above the…
Do you have an area in your yard that you’d like to use as a flower bed, but you don’t know how to get started? Or maybe you have an existing flower bed that’s just become overgrown with weeds and you’d like a fresh start with it? Well, it can be done, and– It’s actually easier than you think! In this post, I’ve got easy and cheap directions for you to get it done in 5 steps, in one afternoon!…
If you’ve been exercising, or doing a lot of yardwork and housework, or even sitting at your desk for hours on long workdays, you may have a lot of sore muscles– and the thought of a massage might sound heavenly. However, we’re trying to be financially smarter and save money wherever possible, so those weekly trips to the masseuse may not fit into the budget. But health is very important too, and I subscribe to the saying “Your Health is…
Mulch: it’s the garden maintenance with the hidden fee because it is easy to forget in the March budget. To keep our yard looking nice, I usually need to buy a bunch of bags of mulch every year. I never seem to have enough mulch for my garden! My husband teases me about my ability to estimate how much I need because he usually takes the number of bags that I said to buy, doubles it, and then I still…
My daughter’s spring break starts tomorrow! We usually go on some expensive trip, but the reality is that a big budget is not necessary to have an amazing vacation and make memories that last a lifetime. Until recently, I was actually worrying about what we should do for spring break since our budget is more limited than it used to be. We had talked about Disney World before, but that is definitely not in our budget right now. Then Key…
Is your kid like mine? When it’s Scholastic books time, she wants all the books! She comes home from school with the Scholastic book order forms, grabs a pen, and starts circling. The next thing I know, I am being handed order forms that look like poorly written papers graded by a strict teacher – covered in markings with upwards of 30 books that my kid wants me to buy. Now, don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love how…
A kid was running as fast as she could, doing laps around the playground at school. She stopped to tell the teacher on recess duty. Kid: “Look how fast I am! I was really fast, like a Cheeto!” Teacher: “Yeah, you were really fast. You were so fast I’m going to call you flaming hot.” Read More “Kid Lessons”
Before you read this post, have you read my post on creating a budget? If so, carry on. If not, please check it out first so you get off on the right frugal foot. Frugal finance 101: You need a budget This is when things get really fun because you get to review your budget, cut out the fat, and brainstorm ways to still do things that you love for less money. I’m telling you, this is the step that…
I’ve gotta tell you, when my family reached financial freedom, it was a wonderful amazing feeling! But it didn’t happen overnight. We implemented a budget and scrimped and saved and threw as much money as we could at our bills, car payments, and house payments. And then 4 years after implementing that budget, we had no credit card debt and no loans. Even the house was paid off! And in 5 years, our net-worth had doubled. Our financial freedom was…