And it clicked with me at that moment, I knew that we had given our life away, given our freedom away. We had given control over our life to someone else—our employer—for a little bit of health insurance, a little bit of job security. And this person thought because they paid my paycheck and bought me that insurance, that they could tell me what was more important than my child.
We love Disney movies. We’ve been to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida several times. We play Disney themed board games at our house on family fun nights. I’m typing this article while wearing pink Mickey Mouse pajama pants.
Big. Disney. Nerds.
So, when my son and daughter asked about taking a trip to Walt Disney World, inspiration struck. I knew this could be a great opportunity to teach my kids a hands-on lesson about budgeting and saving money to reach a bigger goal.
Allison Baggerly and her husband partnered together to pay off $111,000 of debt in 4 ½ years. They completed this difficult feat on two teacher’s salaries with two little kids at home.
Feeding primary school children can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.
First and foremost, ‘I can’t afford it!’
Yeah, that’s a myth.
Biggest myth ever! And I’m like, as much as we have so many different things that are out there online that tells you, ‘yes you can,’ people still want to believe at the end of the day, no they can’t.
So here’s the thing about minimal living- it looks a little bit different for everyone. We all have different goals, dreams, and lifestyle preferences, and it also changes based on the life stage you currently find yourself in.
However, the core value of minimal living never really changes – which, we believe means finding value in how you spend both your time and money.
Following her divorce 21 years ago, she started her journey with less than $100, a mortgage to pay, and four young kids. She discusses how frugality played a large impact on her success and how her teaching career, with an average salary of 70K, helped cover her needs.
They’re kind of like an actor’s script in a movie. We just continue to read the lines in our heads or out loud to our family and friends, and believe that they’re true! When in fact, they are often quite distorted, and can limit our success or even hurt us. For most of us, our money scripts are unconscious, but they drive all of our financial behaviors.
I think it’s important to talk about because while it’s true that women have made huge progress in terms of financial, professional, and personal equality over the past few decades, there are still tons of areas where our gender impacts us, especially financially. And I wanted to explore a few of the areas in which we are seriously still paying for our womanhood.
If you’re a women, it might be nice to know that on some of these fronts it’s not all in your head. And if you’re not a women, it might be useful for you to understand what we are dealing with.
As I thought about it, I realized that my dad, a sensible and frugal role model, passed on some rules that have served me very well. There was no decree posted to my bedroom door; it was the way he lived and spoke about money, which rubbed off on me.
If you’re trying to get out of debt, or if you’re trying to save for something specific, or maybe you’re just trying to have more wiggle room in your monthly budget, this is going to help you find some ways to save money or cut costs. Or at least, I hope so. They’ve helped us!
Don’t let boredom become an excuse to break your budget. Fun doesn’t have to come with a price tag or at the expense of your long-term financial goals.
No two lives are the same, and the amount of work get to a fixed destination is going to be wildly different as well. Your journey is different than every other persons journey.
Living richly is about recognizing those things that make your life beautiful and happy, then figuring out how to do those things with the budget and time you’ve got.
If you’re ruling your own kingdom and try to apply another king’s methods to your kingdom, it’s not going to work because your kingdom is different. Your kingdom is your finances.