Giving New Meaning to Parenting

Last night I went to a moms group meeting on how to save money when shopping. I already knew some of the tips like waiting until a product is on sale and further knocking the price down with a manufacturer’s coupon. Other ideas made sense and consisted of things that I should be [...]

One of the things I realized after a while of being an at-home mom, was how similar running a home was to running a business. While the “widgets” you produce are children and hopefully happy adults, in some ways, it’s very analogous to any other business venture.
For example, household finances are just another version [...]

The Background
I’ve been reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.
Mr. Ramsey shares these statistics in his book:
-19% of people who declared bankruptcy in 2002 were college students.
-49% of Americans could cover less than a month’s worth of expenses if they lost their income.
-70% of Americans die without a will.
-80% of graduating college seniors have credit card [...]

I am overwhelmed. It happens this time every year. Stress and anxiety roll down the snowy mountainside gaining in size and momentum. It sets in the same week every year. This week. It means I am always tired but never able to sleep. It means I put off the [...]

Once you’ve gotten your house ready and your gifts planned, the next hurdle on the holiday prep list is food. The strategy is pretty simple, really:

Decide what food you want to cook
make a list of ingredients required
purchase them in advance.

Bonus points awarded to individuals who start purchasing shelf-stable ingredients over time, thus [...]

Yet another strategy for saving money on food is to make it yourself. Whenever you purchase something pre-made at the store, you’re going to pay for someone else’s labor.
Earth-shattering revelation, no?
Never mind, don’t answer that.
My boys are currently fond of the Lunchables brand of ummm, lunch thingies. I only buy [...]

Yet another tactic I use to cut food costs is a subscription coupon program.  You know those emails you get periodically telling how someone saved tons of money on their groceries and it only costs $20 a month?  Turns out they’re telling the truth.
Bear with me now, and I’ll explain.
We all know that we can [...]

I like to think of parenting as a multi-disciplinary job.  Some things I do involve direct interaction with the boys, while other things are more indirect.  How I manage the house, for example.  That is an important facet of my parenting, yet it’s something that goes on behind the scenes, as it were.  Well.  It’s [...]

I hear plenty of parents who say that they would love to homeschool if only they could afford it. There are plenty of ways to minimize the cost involved in homeschooling, but there are also plenty of ways to go broke as well. I tend to be one of the people who go broke. I’ve [...]