Photo Credit Yesterday I took the kids to Kohl’s in search of underwear for my potty-training 2-1/2-year-old. I looked all around, but the only packages I could find (7 pairs) were marked $18.00, and when I took one to the cashier for a price-check, it rang up for $13.99 (or $2.00 per pair). One of […]
Archive for the ‘Saving Money’ Category
What We Did Right When We Went $238,000 In Debt
April 11th, 2014 
Jessica I talk a lot about all the things Brad and I did wrong prior to reading Dave Ramsey and Crystal Paine in 2010, but I don’t talk a lot about all of the things we were doing right during those first four years of our marriage. Despite the fact that we entered our first year […]
How to Find Encouragement When You Are Discouraged by Debt
April 9th, 2014 Jessica On March 31, my husband received his monthly paycheck, and it was $510 less than usual. We were not surprised, as we had been anticipating this hit for awhile, but it still hurts our budget. We will be on reduced salary for the next several months until we can raise our ministry budget. That same […]
60 Free (or Almost Free) Activities to Do with your Toddler or Preschooler
April 7th, 2014 Jessica Do you ever feel like your life is dry and boring because you can’t spend any money on anything? It can be difficult (especially at first) to think of free activities to entertain your little ones while you’re on the road to debt-freedom. Well, just because you’re poor, broke, or in-debt-up-to-your-eyeballs doesn’t mean you can’t […]
Posted in Entertainment, Saving Money, Toddler Tuesdays 
Comments Off on 60 Free (or Almost Free) Activities to Do with your Toddler or Preschooler“Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without”
April 2nd, 2014 Jessica During the Great Depression, a popular aphorism was “Use it Up, Wear it Out. Make it Do, or Do Without.” If you have spoken to or spent time with someone who lived through the Great Depression, you will notice that many consider frugality a virtue. Our grandparents learned the hard way how to make things […]
7 Ways to Save Money on Landscaping
March 31st, 2014 Jessica With the advent of spring, our family has been spending a lot of time outside in the yard. This is our third spring in this home, so it’s very satisfying to see all of our efforts from the previous years paying off. Trees, bushes, and bulbs are blooming in the right places, and our lawn […]
Why You Need to Call Your Service Providers Regularly
March 28th, 2014 Jessica One of the things I have had to learn over the years is how to be more confrontational with bill-collectors. I am not talking about being angry or mean on the phone to a perfect stranger. I am talking about politely calling a company to question a bill, and request a better deal. As the […]
3 Kids in 1 Bedroom: New Bunk Beds!
March 24th, 2014 Jessica When our family moved to California from Maryland, we knew that one of the primary ways that we could save money was by finding an affordable place to live. We planned on having more children, so that meant fitting a lot of people in a small space. When Brad saw our house, he knew it […]
How to Make DIY Shampoo & Conditioner
March 19th, 2014 Jessica Some time ago I decided to see how long I could go without buying shampoo and conditioner. I had so many free samples on hand, and so many arriving in the mail each month that I just started going through them. I started in May 2012, and last week I finally caved and bought my […]
How to Save Time & Money Packing Lunches
March 17th, 2014 Jessica As a stay-at-home Mom to three children who are also still at home, it may surprise you that I’m talking about packing lunches today. Well, this month as I learned how to use Google Calendar for the first time, I again became aware of how so much time in my day is spent on meals. […]
