Budget
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in lifehackCan We Stick to a Budget? Our January Spending Update
So I’ve been telling you all about how you should set a budget and track every penny. But, do WE actually do it? Well, ya, we do. That’s not to say that we’re always under budget. How much of a challenge would that be? But we do live with our budget and track our spending […] More
in lifehackUpdate: January No Eating Out Challenge
At the beginning of January, I shared our annual no eating out challenge here on Simple Cheap Mom. In the fall we tend to slip into bad habits and eat out or get take out much more than we’d like. So, in January we stop getting take out, going to restaurants, picking up expensive lattes, […] More
in lifehackIt Feels Good to be back on Tracking
Back in December, we decided to use GNUCash to track our finances. It’s a free open source program and you can see how we decided to use GNUCash here. As part of the MoneyStepper Savings Challenge, we’ve committed to calculating our monthly net worth increases and savings rates using a special worksheet. The results for […] More
in lifehackCutting Difficult Expenses: I’ll Miss You Data Plan
I’m an unabashed fan of budgeting, tracking your spending, cutting unnecessary costs, and focusing on spending your money on how you actually want. (Exhibit 1: Our Family Budget. Exhibit 2: My Money Rules) I love finding new ways to make our money stretch further so we can reach the financial goals that motivate us. I […] More
- in lifehack
2015 Budget for a Family with a Toddler
Personally I love budgets. I love planning. I love math. I love setting little challenges for our family and tracking our success. Maybe you’re one of those baffling to me people who live without a budget. Some people are so good with the money that they can manage their spending without one. Some people just […] More
in lifehackPlanning and a Promotion
My Mr. has a steady government job. It’s got great benefits, a pension, and a salary that can support a family without a second income. We both feel very lucky that he has his job. He was hired to take on a special project. Over the years, the position has shifted away from the work […] More
in lifehackThis is NOT Another Comparison of Budgeting Apps
When I shared that we’ve signed up for the MoneyStepper Savings Challenge, I let you all know that we’d be picking a new budgeting tool for 2015. Our latest system involves a spreadsheet that only tracks “high risk” budget categories and it’s been driving me nuts that we’re not tracking our full financial picture. I […] More
in lifehackPlanning and a Promotion
My Mr. has a steady government job. It’s got great benefits, a pension, and a salary that can support a family without a second income. We both feel very lucky that he has his job. He was hired to take on a special project. Over the years, the position has shifted away from the work […] More
- in lifehack
The Seduction of The Second Car
If you haven’t been following along, we were gifted a car from our in-laws and we’ve been having a frustrating time selling our regular car. Here’s the update to the frustrating bits: the car is now the proud owner of a new alternator and parking brake cable. It failed the e-test because there weren’t enough […] More
in lifehackCan You Stick To Your Grocery List?
This week I did my grocery shopping with the Little Miss. I made up the supper meal plan for October and saw that I could make do for the next week with what we already had. Our cat supplies and diaper levels looked good too. So I just needed to pick up the usual suspects […] More
- in lifehack
Guess How Much We Cut Our Electricity Bill
I’ve tried to reduce our energy bill before by making the changes everyone suggests. I started doing my laundry and dishes at night and I turned off the lights in rooms we weren’t using. No matter how hard I thought I was trying, there never seemed to be any difference to my monthly bill. I […] More
in lifehack3 Excuses For Fast Food That Don’t Work Here Anymore
I grew up in a house where what’s for dinner depended on where kids ate for free that night. We did get healthy meals too, but I grew up thinking it was OK to eat out multiple nights a week. I could spot the golden arches a mile away and would beg for Dairy Queen even […] More
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