Today I am honored to have a guest post on the blog from personal finance writer, Anum Yoon. Take it away Anum! Without question, we want the best for our kids. The highest rated schools, the safest cars and even the healthiest lunches. We want to know they are prepared for life after high school or college. But financial education isn't included in most student curriculums. Do you know if your kids know how to budget their money? If you want your children to go to college one day, or even just have a financially sound life, prepping them for a world of real household finances should be Keep Reading
8 Ways We Destroy Our Frugal Efforts
As any frugal person who fights the good fight every day, I go back and forth between being great at controlling my spending to losing control and buying something totally on impulse. We all overspend at certain times, but do we ever really examine some of the reasons why we might be sabotaging our frugal efforts? Stefanie O'Connell over at U.S. News & World Report interviewed some of the top money-saving pros on the web to find out 8 ways we sabatoge our own efforts at frugality. WhatMommyDoes is quoted at #8! Check it out: 8 Challenges to Staying Frugal More from Keep Reading
The Very First Episode of Sesame Street: Free with Amazon Prime!
We got rid of cable in our house a few months ago, but sometimes we still like to watch tv shows. One show we especially miss in our house is Sesame Street. I didn't realize until today that with our Amazon Prime membership comes so many wonderful tv shows and movies! I must have been living under a rock! My little guy and I were so excited to find early episodes of Sesame Street on Amazon. Today we're watching this one: Season 1, Episode 1. It's so fun to watch all the characters being introduced for the first time! The pace of the show was apparently much slower 40 years ago, and J is Keep Reading
3 Tips for Sticking to a Budget While Eating Healthy
Everyone who knows me knows that I love to save money. In fact, I used to have a slight coupon addiction. I can’t stand paying full price for anything, knowing that I will eventually come into contact with coupons or discounts for the same exact item if I can only time my purchase properly. Enter healthy eating. Do you know how hard it is to stick to a budget when you’re trying to eat healthy? It’s nearly impossible! It’s a constant battle between what’s good for my body and what’s good for my wallet. And there aren’t really many coupons for fresh items. You just have to Keep Reading
3 Super Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Save Money
I would like to thank Giving Assistant for sponsoring this post! When it comes to doing something I don't want to do (like dieting or budgeting), I try to set simple goals to trick myself into thinking it's actually easy. I find that breaking a large goal into manageable bites makes the overall process less daunting. 3 Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Save Money Today & Over the Long Term 1. Cancel a paid subscription or service you rarely use. Odds are you're a busy person - and do you really have time to process all the input that comes into your life? Find that one Keep Reading
Single Income Family Tips for SAHMs
Do you struggle with finding ways to save money so you can be a stay-at-home-mom? I know I do, and I've been at it for nearly 8 years! Luckily for us, my friend Jaimi has put together a lovely roundup of over 30 blog posts on the topic of living on one income so you can be a stay-at-home-mom. It's part of the Complete Guide for Stay-at-Home-Moms. On the Living on One Income section of the Complete Guide for SAHMs, I collaborated with 11 other bloggers to share TONS of information on the topic of living on one income. Single Income Family Tips Click here to access all of the Keep Reading
New Baby Tax Deductions, Credits & Exemptions – Tax Info for Parents
Welcoming a new baby to the family is a joyous occasion. It’s a year full of celebration, milestones, and firsts. My husband I used to joke that the kids were totally worth it for the tax deductions they got us. Just kidding….we probably woulda had them anyway. :) And yes, we 100% put our first born child in this tax deduction onesie! As a tax accountant, it was my solemn sworn duty! The New Baby Tax Deduction Scramble Jokes aside, newborn babies do come with tax implications. If you have a January through spring baby, you have a little bit of time to research new baby tax Keep Reading
These 5 words will save you AT LEAST $1,000 this year!
I have a habit of attaching catchy phrases to situations in my life where decisions are required. These little phrases help me stay on track without having to over think my decision. I don't know about you, but I really don’t like the feeling of buying something and later realizing it was a waste of money. Truthfully, I regret the small useless purchases as well as the larger ones. I look at that $4 I spent unnecessarily at Starbucks and see thousands that I spent the same way over the years because, at the time, $4 didn't seem like a big deal. But it really adds Keep Reading
Coupon Tips for Beginners
Over the past 8 years of being a stay-at-home-mom, I've gathered quite a few tricks for saving money on groceries. Below you will find links to some of my favorite posts on coupon tips for beginners, including my latest - a way to triple stack coupons at grocery stores and Target! Coupon Tips for Beginners Beginner's Guide to Couponing - let's start with the very basics Where to Get Free Printable Coupons - my favorite online coupon printers in one place How to Organize Coupons - what to do with all the coupons you now have How Triple Stack Coupons & Apps for Keep Reading
How to Triple Stack Coupons & Apps for Maximum Grocery Savings
Couponing, as my regular readers will know, used to be a slight addiction for me. I had the binder going, I subscribed to four newspapers (yes, 4!), and I set aside hours per week to scour for deals and steals. I’m proud to say I’m now a reformed coupon queen. But I don’t regret it at all. One of the best things that came out of that experience is my catalog of coupon-related posts that continue to help readers. And also, I now have quite a library of tricks for saving money when it comes to all kinds of Keep Reading
100 Birthday Freebies – Get Free Stuff on Your Birthday!
Have you ever signed up for a restaurant's mailing list and later come to find out that they send you a coupon for something free on your birthday (or sometimes your birthday month)? Well, apparently LOTS of restaurants and other companies do this. And Kyle over at Penny Hoarder has compiled an awesome resource - it's a list of 100 places that give you free stuff for your birthday! Read more about where to get free stuff on your birthday on The Penny Hoarder website ==>> 100 Birthday Freebies Other Tips You Might Like Five Words That Will Save You Thousands of Dollars Every Keep Reading
How to Find Money in Your Fridge
This is #2 in a series of 14 posts that shares a simple trick for saving money. I don't do well with the DEPRIVATION part of budgeting, but I know that sticking to a budget (at least most of the time) is important for our family's financial health. So I like it when I can find ways to turn saving money into a game. Here's a simple game I like to play about once a week that saves me approximately $40 per month on groceries. ==>> CLICK HERE TO READ MORE Keep Reading
Free Trials & Subscriptions for Moms
Moms work HARD. And I think sometimes we deserve a little something in return (other than love from our children, of course!) :) I have rounded up some of the best free trials and free subscriptions I can find and listed them below. I will update this list as often as possible with great deals, so be sure to check back every so often! Free Online Photography Classes If you have a nice camera and dont' know how to use it, then this is the class for you. Equivalent classes in my area cost between $45-75 per session, so FREE sounds just about perfect to me. :) The class is offered by Keep Reading
Living on One Income – Tips & Inspiration from Real People
When I left my full-time job as a corporate tax accountant to became a stay-at-home-mom seven years ago, I was scared out of my mind. I was so worried we wouldn't be able to survive on one income after living (and spending most of) two equivalent incomes for years. I knew our lives were about to change in a crazy way when our income was all of a sudden cut in half. I know now that going from two incomes to one is TOUGH, but also DOABLE with the right attitude and preparedness. I’ve shared my story before, but I thought it would be neat to see how others approach the task of Keep Reading
100+ Ideas for Saving Money
As a stay-at-home-mom who used to work full-time, I often get asked how we went from two incomes to one. It wasn't easy! When you're used to living on two incomes, eliminating one is painful. If you're currently doing that but want to be able to live on one income so you can stay at home, I put together a Pinterest board just for you. It's called 100+ Ways to Save Money Before Quitting Your Job to Stay at Home with Your Kids This board contains tons of ideas for ways to save money, so make sure to follow along. In reality, I have pinned WAY MORE than 100 ideas for saving money and 13 Keep Reading