Links to Amazon are affiliate links.
Early last year I wrote this post about teaching kids how to spend smart. We have been using Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr with our kids for about two years now (it'd make an excellent Christmas gift for your children and something to start in the New Year... you can purchase it here! ) Overall we love the program. We love the materials. We love the lessons behind them and the lessons doing chores teaches our children. However, we've run into some issues and I finally reached a point where I realized our chore situation was causing me to feel annoyed, frustrated and even angry at points with my children. So it was time for a change to take place! What I found was that I was constantly having to remind my kids to do their chores. I understand we live busy lives and so I didn't want to expect my kids to know when they would have time to do their chores and felt like letting them know "hey guys today is a good day to do them!" was smart. But instead it ...
Summer is a time of relaxation and FUN. I love making memories with my children and enjoy filling our days with different experiences and adventures. But I'm also a self-proclaimed penny pitcher. I enjoy finding deals and saving money and spending wisely is a top priority for our family. I am always on the hunt for fun experiences that don't cost a lot of money (especially when you factor in that we have THREE kids which can really add up on the spending). Here are some of my favorite summer activities that don't break the bank: Community Helper Visits: Our yearly tradition is to visit our local fire station. I call the station a couple weeks in advance and we typically have a pretty decent size crew of friends who join us. They go over fire safety and give us a tour of the station. But the best part is the firetrucks! They let the kids climb in the trucks and even get to spray the water hose. It's a summer FAVORITE for our family. My 8 year old son has been g...
Today is Babywise Friendly Blog Network Day! I'm posting over at Mama's Organized Chaos about a discipline method I totally created myself ;) Cole from Twinning Babywise is blogging here today about something we both love: budgeting! You can see all of my "spending smart" posts here :) I'm sure you've all heard the numerous benefits of budgeting. It helps families get and stay out of debt. It helps couples save for emergencies and retirements. It sheds light on negative spending habits. It reduces anxiety. I've used a budget for as long as I can remember. There have certainly been ebbs and flows - times I've been more meticulous than others - but for as long as I've made money, I've budgeted the spending of that money in one way or another. This has been a huge positive in my life and it's one of the main ways my husband and I are able to stay afloat living on one income in such an expensive area. HOW OUR FAMILY DOES BUD...
I know no explanation is needed. I know our money is our money and how we spend it is our priority. However. I feel that when you're fundraising for adoption AND going to Disney World that it can seem unaligned. I know we recently started a financial type class in our Bible Study at church and that many people in our class commented on the amount of trips our little family takes. They said they didn't realize how we spend so little on travel and how we DO maximize savings etc. I know I mention it often in blog posts but I thought it made sense to explain it ALL in one post that I can then link to in the future! I know I talk a lot about saving money and spending wisely and I never want anyone to get the wrong impression about our family and our spending habits. Here is how we personally afford our Disney vacations. Disney is actually cheaper for us right now than going to the beach! We are also blessed that Zach works for Aflac so the trips we go on through them are FREE for...
