I love finding ways to save money. Not because I want to live an ascetic lifestyle, but so I can budget my money in alignment with my values. As an example, I bought tickets to an upcoming Liz Phair show for myself and my two oldest daughters. Experiences and making memories gives me more happiness […]
Search Results for: habits
Notes from my first FinCon
It’s Monday and I have a mile-long to-do list from my first FinCon notes. If you’ve considered going to FinCon or are just curious about what it’s all about, read on! What is FinCon? FinCon is an annual conference for content creators in the personal finance space to come together for networking, learning and connecting […]
Recent frugal wins (and fails)
First, the frugal fail! Recently I’ve been guilty of throwing away too much food. (The horror!) Food waste, according to this study from Penn State, costs the average American family $1,866 annually. Ouch. I needed to get a handle on this, quickly. For a few weeks after we moved into the new house, I had […]
Recent Reads: April 2022
This month I discovered a new fiction genre I’m enjoying: swamplife. I picked up Where The Crawdads Sing so I could read it before the movie comes out (a personal rule I have!). I enjoyed it, but didn’t love the ending. If ambiguous endings are a deal-breaker for you, be forewarned. Otherwise, the story of […]
Misfits Market Review (and a coupon code)
Are you a fan of grocery delivery services? I’ve been using InstaCart for years and love it. I’ve also experimented with another: Misfits. Here’s my Misfits market review, along with a coupon code for you to use if you’d like to try it. What is Misfits market? Misfits Market offers seasonal, organic produce and claims […]
Notes from a Budget Meeting: Question Everything
Preview: When working your monthly budget, be sure to question what you think are “fixed” expenses. You might be able to save money in those categories as well! 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 […]
Work at Home, Homeschooling Mom of 7: a day in the life
That title was just a wee bit click bait-y. After all, only four of my children are homeschooled at the moment. The oldest two have graduated! And the youngest (5), does just a little schoolwork for kicks and giggles. Two are in high school and totally self-sufficient in their education at this point. So, only […]
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 […]
The Year of Financial Optimization
The start of fall has always felt like a new year to me. Perhaps it had something to do with the start of school. Cracking open those September issues of Seventeen magazine. Gazing longingly at all the plaid skirts, tights and long-haired models against a backdrop of an Ivy League school … be still my […]
Recent Reads
If you’re new here… along with homeschooling, thinking like a French girl, and lipstick, books are my favorite thing. I like to do short reviews of the books I’ve recently read (typically, 1-2/week). Enjoy! Atomic Habits by James Clear. Technically this was a re-read. I love this book and it’s one that I’ll likely keep […]