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How to Create a Minimalist Budget
Budgeting - heck, establishing a budget - can be hard for anyone. It can be equally difficult to stick to it and achieve your financial goals. Spending wisely, saving money, paying down debt can all be accomplished with a minimalist budget system. And when you learn to budget like a minimalist, you just might find that you're less stressed about money and on the path to achieving your financial goals!
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How to Complete Your Very First Spending Audit
In a world of excess, it pays off to take a hard look at your spending habits. Society tells us "Buy more and save!", but really, you'll save 100% if you don't buy that product at all. So what do you spend money on every month in this "buy-more" world? Are you spending more than you make? Can you think of any areas of excess spending you can trim back? All of these questions can be answered with a spending audit.
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What’s a Budget Date? Why You Need Them as a Couple
Making budgets is just so romantic. I love it when my husband talks those numbers to me. SAID NO WIFE EVER. But yet, we need to talk about money. It’s hard to talk about money when you can’t seem to find the time. Maybe your jobs or kids get in the way of real, deep conversation about your finances. Several years ago when we decided to go to one income, my husband had an idea: let’s go to dinner and talk about our finances in a lower-pressure environment. It was then the budget date was born.
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How We Never Fight About Money
Money. It’s the thing that buys us food, clothing, and shelter. Money can be a source of pride or even a source of discomfort. Money can be fought over. But not in our house. I’m about to explain how we never fight about money. We may argue about other things, but our bank account isn’t one of them.
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How to Prepare for a Busy Holiday Season
Labor Day marks the beginning of fall for most people. The heat may still be there, but let's face it: we're all ready for football, leggings, and pumpkin spiced everything. Football season blends into Halloween, Halloween into Thanksgiving, and before you realize it Christmas is here! Take a deep breath. I have a few things to help take the burden off of your shoulders!
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How to Live Well on One Income + 6 Tips to Make it Work
The decision to go from two incomes down to one income is HUGE. How to live well on one income is only one broad question in the greater scheme of things. Don't think that one day you'll just wake up and decide you're quitting your job. It is much, much more than that. Losing your job involuntarily is one thing - quitting is another. See how we did it.
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How to Get Your Budget Back on Track
I hate the feeling of transferring money out of savings to cover our spending for the month. It sucks. How do you get your budget back on track after over spending? How do you get your spending to stop sucking money out of your account faster than you can earn it? You whip your budget back into shape! You get real with yourself about your spending habits and make real, lasting changes.
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How We Drastically Reduced Our Expenses to Live on One Income
In 2018, D and I decided it would be most advantageous for me to stay home with Little Guy while he continued to work full time. It took a lot of thought and preparation to do this. I made a list of how we reduce expenses so that I can stay home full time. I hope you enjoy it! Cut the Cable We cut the cable cord before it was cool to only have Netflix. Our cable bill was well over $100 a month. To have only internet and video streaming services means you’ll save about $80 on your TV time every month. We factored in Netflix at $10.99 a…
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Planning for the Worst: Job Loss & Financial Security
What would happen if you lost your job tomorrow? Would you panic because you have nothing reserved in your bank accounts? Or would you stress a little and then relax because you’ve thought about this? In light of the recent government shutdown in the US that is creeping to the one month mark, it has us thinking about our financial security.Thousands of federal employees are not getting a paycheck and more are working… but not getting paid. D and I were at risk a few and almost lost our jobs. Working for the same company has its benefits and drawbacks. Both of the locations we worked at were on the…
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How to Spend Less Than $50 on Groceries a Month
Spending less than $50 on groceries a month seems like a ridiculous and daunting goal to achieve. I’m here to tell you that it CAN be done! I will break down the rules that we follow during our $50 on grocery months and help you save BIG! If you were a follower of Hello Brownlow in July 2018, you’ll remember that was our first $50 grocery challenge. Now that I am a stay at home mom (SAHM) for the first time, our budget is shrinking again. I love staying home with Little Guy and have found a new love for making everything from scratch. With a smaller budget, that urge…
Save. Live. Be Minimal.
