Since I announced Half Penny’s impending arrival, I’ve heard two questions asked with equal gusto: “What do you mean your maternity leave isn’t paid?” and “You know kids don’t have to be expensive, right?”. And the best part is that sometimes the same person will ask both of those questions. Let me break this down … [Read more…]
Could you come up with an extra $500 in an emergency? What about $5000? The statistics about Americans’ inability to cover emergency expenses are sobering, so it’s not surprising that posts calling for emergency funds are everywhere. Peace of mind for the win. And with all the emergency fund hoopla, there’s even been some debate … [Read more…]
When I write posts about how approximately 50% of our budget is dedicated to savings–and extra debt repayment–I want to take a victory lap around the table and send myself all sorts of celebratory GIFs. Truth be told, sometimes I do. But based on the number crunching that we’ve been doing lately, it seems the … [Read more…]
It’s no secret that I hate my mortgage. It’s no secret that I don’t believe there’s such a thing as good debt. But we do really love our house, our neighborhood, our short commutes, and our proximity to family. So we grin and bear it. Since I fell into personal finance, I’ve taken a Bandaid … [Read more…]
The second month of my pregnancy was, hands down, the most spendy month of my frugal life. While I don’t think it was quite on par with my 200-pairs of-shoes existence, it was exorbitant by every other month, especially when it came to our grocery bill. Of course, I understood that when there was a … [Read more…]
I talk about spending seven dollars on breakfast for the month, and everyone wants to know my secret. Oatmeal. Oatmeal is my secret. And our lunches are so cheap. You know why? Because we make them and because we’ve worked really hard at reducing our expenses. I realize that I’ve talked a lot about what our … [Read more…]
What’s the opposite of frugal? Me, if our 2017 budget is any indication. While I’ve never shared an exact breakdown of our monthly budget, I have hinted at it here and here. And since our budget for January will match all the other months, it’s pretty easy to run the numbers for the year. We’re … [Read more…]
We’re known as the generation that photographs our food. There’s #instayum, there’s #foodspotting, and there’s the overly clever #yummmm. Thanks to us, brunch is chic, and if you want rosé all day, no one will stop you. What do millennials eat? Do we live out these hashtags in real life or is this a social media … [Read more…]
I am terrible at setting goals. I also don’t really share numbers here. At least not in any streamlined way. If you read my posts about unexpected expenses and the $24k in debt we killed last year, you’ll get a fairly decent picture of my income and my spending. But let’s leave a little mystery … [Read more…]
If an extra expense cropped up, how would your budget fare? Would you cut back? Would you hustle harder? There are challenges to both. If your budget is already fairly bare bones, there may not be any remaining notches to tighten the belt. If your work week is already jam packed, carving out extra hours … [Read more…]