save money wedding planning

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In: Budget Beauty & Living

***This is a guest post. <3 from the Dames*** If someone handed you 30 grand right now, what would you do with it? Pay off some debt? Spend a little and save the rest? Surely you wouldn’t blow it all on one thing…unless you are planning for a wedding. According to The Knot, the national average cost of a wedding in 2017 was $33,391. Think of all the things you could do with that much money! If you’re planning a wedding, don’t let this number scare you. You can have the magical day you’ve always dreamed of without going broke. Here are five ways to planRead More →

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In: Budget Beauty & Living

We’ve talked about spending fasts on the blog before, but I want to talk today about another method of spending less – having less! Specifically clothes. Today’s post is all about my experiment with using a capsule wardrobe. I have done a few purges since reading Marie Kondo’s the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (this is a great book by the way – see my review HERE), but I still found myself staring at my closet in the morning confused about what to wear. Then, I would pick something only to not feel great in it. And then I would end up buying things that IRead More →

college

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In: Debt Repayment, Personal Finance 101

***This is a Guest Post. <3 from the Dames*** It’s that time of year again…FAFSA time. If you’re still in undergrad or getting ready to pick a college, then this article’s for you. We already told you how to stay on track during college, but what about paying for it? Go forth and make college affordable again! As you probably already know, going to college is one of the biggest changes people go through in life. For many of us, that was the first time we left home and had to find our feet in a completely different setting. On the one hand, there’s the prideRead More →

holiday cheer

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In: Saving Money

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…to spread holiday cheer, drink peppermint mochas, look at beautiful lights, & pretend you’re living in a Hallmark holiday movie. Or is it? If you’re like me, the holidays can be bittersweet. On the one hand, you want to spend all of your money to buy all the things for all the loved ones in your life. On the other hand, you’re poor, and not only that, but also you’re spending 1/3 of your budget on debt repayment each month. So how do wannabe-Cindy-Lou-Whos spread holiday cheer without breaking the bank? Read on to find out. The SinkingRead More →

moving

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In: Budget Beauty & Living

In the midst of everything else happening this year, my boyfriend and I recently moved in together. That’s right, we combined two households, including furniture, and guess what? We did the whole move in 2 days – day 1 for physically moving everything into our apartment & day 2 for unpacking/organizing everything. If moving brings up horrible memories of changing dorms or college apartments every year, well don’t fret, it doesn’t get any easier once you own actual furniture and/or live in a city where there’s no where to park a moving van. Moving is basically a frazzling, stressful and chaotic experience, and with so manyRead More →

groceries

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In: Saving Money

Major grocery confession: I don’t do coupons. I don’t look for them, I don’t cut them out, and I certainly don’t remember to take them to the store. I also don’t buy in bulk but that’s mainly for storage reasons. I use coupons if and only if they are attached to the item I’m purchasing. Sad, I know – especially given my food budget woes. To make up for my lack of couponing & help stick to my 2017 financial goals, I’ve decided to start using two grocery apps, Ibotta and Checkout 51. Ibotta The first of the rebate apps, which covers all kinds of products,Read More →

slow cooking

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In: Money Challenges, Saving Money

As I mentioned in my 2017 financial goals post, I am planning to stay within budget for the whole year, which includes my notorious food budget. To help myself out on this fairly ambitious goal of mine, I’m going back to an old, money-saving favorite of mine: the slow cooker. As a mini-goal, I plan to make at least one slow cooking meal per week…for the whole year. -that’ll be 52 recipes for those of you playing at home. Before we get to the recipes, I wanted to share my machine of choice. In case anyone is in the market for a nice, decent, money-saving simpleton, thisRead More →

whole 30

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In: Budget Beauty & Living, Saving Money

Oh hey there friends. As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with eating better (and within budget) since starting this debt payoff journey. The need to stick to my food budget got a little harder last weekend, when I decided to take the Whole 30 challenge. Essentially, you’re supposed to eat almost entirely organic, whole, foods…while eliminating a lot of cheap fillers like beans and quinoa. For more information and/or to be inspired to take your own Whole 30 Challenge, read It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways. I’m doing Whole 30 mostly because of some physicalRead More →

spending fast

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In: Money Challenges, Saving Money

It’s been six months since I started my spending fast journey. Honestly, it’s become pretty routine now. Not that I ever struggled to not shop, but I’ve realized how little I actually need. I’ve also realized my food budget (& not packing my lunch) is a far more pressing problem. Oh well, I’m a work in progress. Regardless, I’ve learned a lot in my six months of fasting. Here are six lessons for six months: Impulsive shopping is the worst kind of shopping. I haven’t broken my spending fast, and I’m pretty proud of that (though I did ask my boyfriend to buy me aRead More →