Category: Frugal Finance Management

A custom debt-reduction budget that fits your own family’s size, needs, etc., is crucial to debt reduction success.

February 18, 2015

Un-Frugal Confessions

Un-frugal Confessions

It’s confession time, friends. I’ve developed a habit over the last six weeks that’s not so frugal. Over the course of the last six weeks, this habit has cost our family roughly $288.57. I was so ashamed of this “splurge” that I didn’t even share it with my debt payoff accountability partner. I shared on Grayson’s site a while back the dangers of the “I Deserve” mindset.

Since our commitment to Gazelle Intensity however, I’ve developed a bit of an “I Don’t Deserve” mindset. Debt payoff can be a difficult taskmaster. It’s difficult to know where to draw the line between gazelle intense debt payoff and living life in a way that maximizes value-based priorities. Read more

February 5, 2015

10 Things I Never Pay For

Getting Things for Free is Like Putting Money in the Bank!

Today I’m sharing 10 of the things I never pay for here in the Frugal Farmer household. Adding all of these items up, I’m certain that we save thousands of dollars per year, all of which can go toward more value-based spending purchases, like paying off debt. Check out our list and see if there’s anything here that you currently pay for and can start finding ways to get for free. Read more

January 30, 2015

6 Mistakes Broke People Make

As a follow up to the wildly popular (and somewhat controversial) post I ran last week, entitled 6 Lies Broke People Believe, I’ve written a new post outlining some of the mistakes broke people make. As we’ve talked about before here, it is often The Broke Mindset that keeps people struggling financially. Once a person learns to recognize themselves in these oft-made mistakes, they can begin to take the first steps to retraining their minds in a way that promotes positive financial decisions. Read more

January 28, 2015

The Best Things in Life Are Free – Or Dirt Cheap

As we continue on with the year of gazelle intensity, we continue on to work to find stuff to do that fits within our budget. The best things in life are free, as they say. Or at least “dirt cheap”. We had a wonderful Saturday this past weekend. It’s near the end of January here in Minnesota, but Saturday brought us a 45 degree, sun-filled day. If you don’t live here/aren’t from here, you have NO idea what a treat this is. January usually brings subzero temps and the worst of winter in general. But Saturday was like waking up to heaven on earth. Read more

December 31, 2014

How We Fed Our Family for $200 This Month

Well, almost $200. $215.48 to be exact. But that was only because of the anarchy that ensued after we ran out of milk and fresh fruit about half way through the month. 🙂

You might remember that we made a goal for this month of spending only $200 for groceries in the month of December for our family of six as we worked to stay within our yearly budgeted goal for groceries. We wanted to challenge ourselves and prove to ourselves that we really could save money on food expenses. Well, we came pretty darn close, coming in at $215.48.

The government-collected numbers as of January 2017 shows that in order to feed a family of four (with two kids aged between 6 and 11) it is costing between $636.70 and $1268.70 per month for groceries

Our family of six has had approximately ZERO grocery months over $600 in the last five years. Yep, our monthly grocery bill has never reached even $600 in a given month.

Read on to find out how we feed our family for less than the lowest grocery costs for a family of four, and we eat healthy in the process. Read more

December 29, 2014

2014 Goals Final Update

Hey, friends! It’s time to close the books for the 2014 year, and update you on how we did for our 2014 goals. Some wins, and some losses, is the summary. Later on in the week we’ll share our 2015 goals. Read more

December 18, 2014

Are You Acting in Your Own Best Interests?

As you consider your 2015 goals, this is the question I want you to ask yourself. Are the decisions you make on a daily basis decisions that are in your own best interest? For instance, blowing your year-end bonus on shiny stuff might sound fun at the get-go, but it is really the best thing for you? Will you regret that shiny purchase later if you are unexpectedly laid off from your job or if you find yourself neck-deep in debt for some reason? Read more

December 8, 2014

May I Suggest Some 2015 Resolutions for Your Money?

As 2014 comes to a close, many of us are considering our 2015 resolutions. Having had nearly two years now immersed in the personal finance blogging world, I’d like to share some thoughts on what might be beneficial 2015 resolutions for those not yet bitten by the Financial Freedom bug. If I, knowing what I know now, were to be starting new in gaining control of my finances, here are some of the things I’d consider putting on my 2015 resolutions list: Read more

November 7, 2014

Book Review: Rich as a King

Today I’m going to share with you yet another great personal finance book find. The title: Rich As A King: How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You a Grandmaster of Investing

When I was asked to review this book, I was a little hesitant at first. I’ve never played chess, Read more

October 30, 2014

What Working in a Bank Taught Me About Money

I spent 15 of my working years working in a bank on some level. I started out as a teller, then moved up to teller supervisor, then over to personal banker. Then I began work as a personal loan officer, and spent my last five years in banking as a sales assistant to a mortgage branch manager. You would think that with all of that financial training I would’ve learned earlier to stay out of debt, but denial can be a comfy place to live.

Today I’m using the wisdom I gleaned from my years in banking, and looking back, I see three crucial lessons I learned from working at a bank.

You can find the rest of this post here, at Frugal Rules