Finances & Budgeting

When I moved to Baton Rouge and became a stay at home mom, I knew I needed to find some creative ways to save money for my family.  I had seen shows about couponing, but it always seemed like way too much work. But, I decided that I needed a way to keep my mind sharp between temper tantrums and playground trips.  Couponing = math = keeping mommy brain at bay (sort of). It definitely took a lot of time and learning on the front end, but soon it was second nature. Here are a few steps to help you get on a money saving roll! Step 1: Find Coupons - The traditional way to accumulate coupons is from newspaper...

So you think you want to buy a house? Congrats! Don’t start packing the china just yet.  There are lots of things to consider before you take the plunge into homeownership.  I bought my first home just weeks before my husband and I met (oops), and we are now in the process of buying our first home together.  This series documents my experiences and tips for making this major purchase go as smoothly as possible. The very first thing to do is to determine what you can afford.  I have found that the best way to really know is to do a thorough household budget (you should be doing this monthly anyway.)  There are many online calculators to choose from,...

If you’ve spent much time in thrift stores (or sorting through donations for nonprofits or following a disaster), you know that our society is absolutely overrun with clothes. It’s a burden. It’s kind of jarring when you think about it that clothes are mass-produced, worn for a short time, then sent to languish on thrift store racks while they are still in good condition. It’s the definition of excess. Thanks to Macklemore, thrifting is becoming more popular but it’s still kind of stigmatized and there are still more clothes than we could ever need getting donated to thrift stores every day. At my favorite thrift store I regularly walk out with Banana Republic, J. Crew, Calvin Klein, and the...