Future Posts and Ideas:
- What happens after paying off debt
- Next steps
- How it feels
- Sinking fund categories
- Why budget
- Financial freedom
- What it means for us
- What it could mean for you
- Our current financial situation
- How we live to stay debt free
- Preparing for a debt free christmas
- How to talk to family about your financial goals
- How to deal with unsupportive family or friends (or people who just don’t understand)
- Discussing money with a spouse/partner
- Money musings: find a quote and explain what it means
- Budgeting for groceries/meal planning
- Things we buy in bulk and how we store them (pickle jars, mason jars)
- {Free Guide} List of money topics to discuss on a road trip/over drinks/on date night/etc.
- What is your favorite thing you’ve ever bought?
- How much did you see yourself making when you were a kid?
- What is the best give you’ve ever given/gotten?
- How much money would you want to save for kids’ college?
- How much do you want to spend on a house?
- Did you have any odd jobs growing up?
- What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?
- Which parent was the saver and which was the spender?
- What was the best job you ever had?
- What did you do with spare change as a kid?
- When you had extra money growing up, what did you spend it on?
- Did your parents argue about money?
- If you could buy anything, money is no object, what would it be?
- A list of ways to save money
- Buy store brand diapers
- Make your own baby food-I feel like people make this into a big deal, but it’s super easy. Our go-tos
- Sweet potatoes (microwave and blend with water)
- Peas (frozen-thaw in a pan and blend with water)
- Corn (frozen-thaw in a pan and blend with water)
- Squash (roast in the oven and blend with water)
- Oatmeal (grind in a coffee grinder and store in the fridge)
- Chicken (boil chicken breast blend with rice or sweet potatoes, the texture is really grainy if it’s by itself)
- Rice (cook rice as usual and blend with water, adding sweet potatoes, chicken, squash, etc, the texture is really sticky if it’s by itself)
- Breastfeed (if possible)-I can’t imagine how much money formula costs, and while breastfeeding can create some stress and can be time consuming, the health benefits and savings make it totally worth it.
- Thrift sales/hand-me-downs-I’m definitely not into spending money on clothes that the kids are going to grow out of in a matter of months. Once Upon a Child will occasionally have a .25 onesie sale, and I stock up then. Take advantage of yard sales.
- Decide the difference between what they need and what you want them to have-Do babies that can’t walk need a pair of $50.00 baby Nike’s? No. Do kids that are
- How to tell if they’re a spender or a saver
- Tips to help savers spend and spenders save
- Savers vs. Spenders
Course Outline: Managing Money Together
- Supplies (optional): pen and paper, calculator, beverages
- Introduction:
- Our $90,000 Turnaround
- How we manage to avoid money fights.
- Module 1: Get talking
- Find a time when it is just the 2 of you.
- No kids, electronics, chores, or other distractions.
- Set some guidelines:
- Suggested:
- Speak honestly
- Don’t take things personally
- Use “I feel” statements rather than “you” statements
- Suggested:
- Action Steps: Write down your “Rules for Discussion”
- Module 2: Early experiences with money
- Lesson 1: Find your personal money style
- Workbook: If you’ve printed the workbook, follow along and answer each question. (Otherwise, you can answer the questions on your own paper and then discuss).
- Discussion questions
- Action Steps: Decide how the two of you would want your kids to answer these questions. We’ll get to the how later.
- Module 3: Spending Comfort Level
- Workbook
- Discussion
- Action Steps:
- Module 4: Dream Together
- What do you want your money to accomplish for you?
- Module 5: Backward Planning
- How will you get to this point?
The Simple Girl's Guide 