Finances Archives - Page 2 of 6

These posts provide financial insights to help you save money.

Our Family Budget Results on my Third Quitting Anniversary

January 29, 2021

On my one-year quitting anniversary, I reviewed our family budget, and the results proved that my efforts to budget within our new one-salary income every month was working! We didn’t dip into our savings, and we actually still saved money that first year.

Then I was able to replicate those successes in year two, despite even bigger unexpected expenses! Across those two years, we saved about $750/month.

So, in keeping with this tradition, I’m reflecting on the past year’s budgeting for our family and sharing it with you for the third time.

Top 10 Reasons to Use Mint for Your Monthly Budget

April 11, 2020

Joni Smith

Budgeting, Money Saving Apps

I’ve listed about 10 stellar reasons why you should use Mint for your monthly budget in this post, and it’s not an exhaustive list by any means. These are just the top 10, in my humble opinion.

Create Your First Monthly Budget in Less Than an Hour: 5-Step Mint Tutorial

April 11, 2020

Joni Smith

Budgeting, Money Saving Apps

Budgeting is the difference between being in charge of your money versus it being in charge of you.
Luckily, it’s never been easier or quicker to create a monthly budget, as you’ll see in this simple 5-step Mint tutorial.
This Mint tutorial will help you create your first monthly budget in less than an hour.

Stuck at Home? Take the “Food On Hand” Mega Meal Plan Challenge

March 22, 2020

Joni Smith

Food, Saving on Shopping

Inspired by current events and the need for my family to self-isolate, I decided to do the “Food On Hand” Mega Meal Plan Challenge. After inventorying all of our food, we were able to make a meal plan that should last us at least 3 more weeks – without going grocery shopping!

Beware of this scammy gift card practice – plus lessons learned

March 4, 2020

Joni Smith

Finances, Money Saving Apps

I want you to be aware of this gift card practice that I came across when using a gift card online. After reading this post, you’ll know what to do if it happens to you–and prevent it from happening to you! This literally happened to me this week: I tried to use one of my gift cards for Office Depot and their website told me it was invalid. Now, other people might assume that they just forgot that they’d used…

Save BIG Money by Shopping Online: Real Life Scenario Refrigerator Edition

February 28, 2020

Joni Smith

Home, Money Saving Apps, Saving on Shopping

In this post, I share how you can save money on a refrigerator. Our family bought our refrigerator for half off the retail price simply by shopping online. We literally saved more than $1,600 on a brand new refrigerator!!!

Get Paid for Your Internet Searches – Bada BING!

February 18, 2020

Joni Smith

Money Saving Apps

My old internet search strategy was to “google” everything–until I found out that I could get paid for my internet searches elsewhere. My family now gets about $5/month just for internet searches. Bada Bing!

Our Family Budget Results on My Second Quitting Anniversary

January 22, 2020

Joni Smith

Finances, Income Outcomes

On my second quitting anniversary, I’m sharing my budget results. Are we still living comfortably on just my husband’s teaching salary?

How to Save on Birthday Gifts for Kids

March 5, 2019

Joni Smith

Budgeting, Family, Holidays

Do your kids get invited to a lot of birthday parties?
If your family is like ours, between friends and family, it’s probably not uncommon to have some months with multiple parties for kiddos!
Of course, each one of those parties has an aging guest of honor who needs a gift from your child and/or family.
Oh, the happy and fun times!
Oh, the budgeting horrors!
But what if I told you all those parties didn’t have to be a strain on your family’s budget?

Lessons I learned from a DIY Fail: Microwave

February 27, 2019

Joni Smith

Home Projects, Saving on Shopping

Sometimes, DIY projects don’t go as planned. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t provide plenty of lessons and still work out in the end. Find out what happened when our Microwave broke and we tried to fix it.