For over thirteen years I have shared our family finances with you. That’s a long time to be transparent and consistent with budgeting! So much has changed since I first started sharing our income and spending publicly. We have twice as many kids as we did back then. Our income has increased and so have […]
Complete Cost Breakdown for our 10-day Trip to Cuba
Maybe this isn’t normal, but I really enjoy going through our spending after a trip and seeing how it compares to our plan (and yes, “plan” is just a nice word for “budget”!). For some people this post-trip reckoning is the worst, most-stressful part of travel. “How much damage did we do?” Because I plan […]
How much it cost to get our new property rentable
The next step on our investment property journey was to make an RV pad on the property so we could rent the space to someone who needs somewhere to park their RV. Renting space for parking an RV sounds pretty basic, but there’s a little more to it. These costs move us toward generating money […]
5 Important Reminders as You Start Your 2026 Budget
It’s that time of year when people decide to give budgeting another try! A fresh start at improving your finances is a popular plan for the new year. And I wholly approve! Of all the goals you could make at the new year, budgeting is one of the best! So many people are suffering financial stress […]
Frugal Feats, Flops, and Funnies- Christmas Card Edition
There’s no shame in being frugal! I actually really love being frugal! As a big family with big financial goals, we focus on saving money on the things that don’t matter to us so that we can spend on the things that do matter to us. Of course our financial priorities are going to be […]
Earning and Spending in November– Family of 8 in California
I enjoy budgeting because I love the peace that it brings. Knowing that our needs are covered and that we are working toward our goals greatly reduces my overall stress. While no one likes expensive budget curve balls, they’re so much less stressful to manage when you’re on top of the day-to-day money management. We […]
Budgeting for a Trip to Cuba (and Why We’re Going)
After planning the surprise Florida trip for our anniversary, I was eager to dig into planning another trip for the two of us. I wanted to take advantage of my Southwest Companion Pass, so I looked through all of the destinations with Mike. I told him that in addition, to all of the US destinations, […]
Our Family’s Transparent Finances for October 2025
Years ago, before we started budgeting, I was always stressed out about money. Every transaction had me on edge. While we didn’t carry any credit card debt, we used credit cards. I felt like my mind was always bogged down with thinking about how much the credit card bill would be so that I could […]
Create a Christmas Book Countdown that Your Kids Will Love Every Year
One of the most anticipated Christmas activities at our house is our Christmas book countdown. All of our kids, currently ranging from 6 to 17, enjoy this nightly tradition to count down the days in December until Christmas. Even though most of the books are the same every year, there is an element of surprise […]
Complete Cost of Demolishing a Double-Wide Mobile Home on Our Own
Some of you might think we are crazy after I shared our new financial adventure. We were making great progress on paying off our home extra fast when my husband had the idea to invest in another property. It wasn’t a turn-key property either. We knew it was going to take some work to get […]
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