I realized a few days ago that while I talk a lot about saving money, getting out of debt, and having a budget, I have never explained to you how I keep track of our budget and finances. There are so many different methods out there. Some people just use paper. Other people like software like Quicken. Other people like online software like Mint or Mvelopes. I have used some of those methods in the past to track my budget but I always come back to Excel. Categories Each budget, no matter … [Read more...]
Frugality with Toy Rotation
I'm sure most of you have heard of toy rotation. Basically, it is keeping some toys stored away and every so often, rotating what toys your children have out available for them to use. It was something we did often at daycare. It was great to help keep the kids engaged. But did you also know that it can help save you money? Kids get bored with toys after a while. It is tempting to just buy some new toys or activities. But why do that when you can just rotate your kids' toys instead? There are … [Read more...]
How Organizing Saves Money
This past Friday I did something that is making me so annoyed at myself. I forgot to check if I had any hand-me-down shoes in the next size up for Abby. You see, as I was putting on her sneakers to go grocery shopping, I realized her shoes were too small. So we just picked up a pair of sneakers and a pair of dress shoes at Walmart while we were there. She had some birthday money to spend anyway Then the next day I had to spend some time in our basement. Our basement is the bane of my … [Read more...]
Taking a Freezer Inventory to Save Money
I have to let you in on a secret. I'm a bit ashamed of this. I mean, I am probably the most organized person in the circles where we hang out. How is it that this happened? My freezers. I never really knew what was in my freezers. They didn't look messy and I always had a rough idea of what was in them. But then one day as I was putting away meat from a grocery trip, I got super annoyed. So I grabbed my notebook and went downstairs to the chest freezer. I took all the meat out and laid it … [Read more...]
How I Use My Blog Planner
As a blogger and business owner there is one thing I have done recently that has made all the difference in my days and weeks. A planner. I used to just keep a running list of blog ideas I had on a piece of paper. I had a Word document as well for that and for items I wanted to add to the Etsy shop. As I've been getting busier with both the blog and the shop, those methods just weren't working for me anymore. So I decided to start using a blog planner. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that … [Read more...]
Etsy Planner Page
Monday I started searching for a blog planner. I'm just plain losing track of what I'm doing, what I want to do, etc. However, I couldn't find one that I liked 100% so I ended up picking bits and pieces from different free printable blog planners. A calendar from one, a blog idea list from another, a link party list organizer from yet another one....and so on. I kept running into one problem, though. I also wanted to use this planner for my Etsy shop. I already was planning on using black ink … [Read more...]