Because food is my biggest expense after housing, meal planning has been an important frugal habit. In order to keep myself accountable for meal planning and hopefully share some family friendly, frugal and fast (my ”name what matters” in Lazy Genius parlance) meals, I’ll start posting Meal Plan Monday each week. I have the day […]
Frugal Wins, May 7 Edition
I like to share my frugal wins occasionally on the blog. It’s a way for me to stay accountable and share good ideas too for fellow penny-pinchers! I bought a 40 pound bag of pine pellets for $6.88 to use as kitty litter. I got it at the Tractor Supply (less than a mile away!). […]
Notes from a Budget Meeting: Question Everything
Of all the good money habits I’ve adopted, budget meeting has been the most powerful. The budget worksheet we use to keep track of our spending has the words “Question Everything” in big, bold letters at the top. “Question Everything” reminds me that nothing is sacred when it comes to spending. A recent example: our […]
Five Frugal Wins
In an attempt to keep myself accountable to frugality and to inspire readers, I present Five Frugal Wins. FFW is a collection of things I did in the previous week to save money. (Btw, FFW will become a regular feature ’round these parts, in case you’re interested.) Real quick though, let me declare that I […]
Cheap Homeschooling (with Several Kids)
Considering homeschooling your kids? If you worry that you’re going to spend a lot of money on educating your children properly, read on. This post shares my tips for cheap homeschooling, even with several kids. A bit of backstory if you’re new. As of late 2019, my family has two grads (21 and 18), two […]
Lowering food costs (for a family of 9)
Groceries are my family’s biggest expense. Even higher than our mortgage. Interestingly, we spend roughly what the government says is reasonable for a family of 9. So I guess it’s not terribly bad. Still, it’s a huge figure and I know I can do better. What I Won’t Do to Lower Food Costs In the […]
How I’m Saving Money Lately
I used to talk a lot about frugality here. In the last couple of years, that changed. In my own life, I realized I hadn’t focused enough on earning more income. So I wrote about why frugality isn’t enough, I shared that I was reading 17 books in 2017 on personal finance. And I wrote […]
January 2019 No Spend Month
What better way to launch a new year than to do a no spend month? I love doing these occasionally. Why? Why Do a No Spend Challenge? Similar to a fast, a no spend month can reset your relationship with money. It can uncover bad spending habits (Starbucks and Target? I’m talkin’ to YOU). It […]
When frugality alone isn’t enough
Frugality is defined as the quality of being economical. I believe it’s a virtue. However, frugality alone often isn’t enough to meet our financial goals. Even though I’ve written about frugality for a long time on this blog, I’ve learned this lesson over and over in recent years. I’m a naturally frugal person. Even as a […]
Welcome MakingSenseOfCents Readers!
If you’re visiting this blog after reading my article, How We Paid off $86,000 in Debt in 5 Years – with 7 Kids! on MakingSenseofCents.com, welcome! I’m Carrie Willard, and I’m indeed a homeschooling, work at home mom of 7. Since you’re here, I thought I would point you to some other content you might […]