Life just happened…cliche, I know. Nothing earth-shattering or life-changing. Just work, marriage, and all that comes with raising active teenage daughters and preparing them to launch. Seriously, there needs to be a chapter in the parenting books warning parents how crazy Senior year can be.

And honestly, I also didn’t know what to write about anymore. I really felt I had said it all about my family’s frugal financial journey.

Double Nickel Selfie

When I birthed Family Balance Sheet, back in 2008, I was a mom of a toddler and an infant. I was struggling with trying to figure out motherhood and living on one income. Living frugally was a natural topic to write about because it was my life. I loved developing frugal recipes, writing about ways to save money and working towards our financial goals.

But in recent years, I felt like my content was starting to get redundant.

As my kids grew, I added more hours to my work week and my kids became very active with school, sports, friends, and clubs. My attention turned away from the blog.

In 2008 blogging was still very new and it was fun to be a part of a new medium. I met a lot of other women who were also staying home and starting blogs. The term Mommy Blogger was a thing, but the term didn’t offend me; I was glad to be a part of it.

Fast forward to 2024

Today, my toddler is now a college freshman who is loving dorm life and the freedom that college brings. Her baby sister is now a high school junior who will hopefully get her driver’s license next month.

Left my heart at a college in PA

After we paid off six figures of non-mortgage debts back in 2019, my husband and I turned our financial focus to college savings and retirement, and we continued to live fairly frugally.

Back then, Fall 2024 seemed so far off. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like dropping a daughter off at college.

She is attending a university within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to study Speech-Language Pathology.  In middle school she told me that she wanted to work with kids with special needs, but didn’t necessarily want to be a teacher. I told her to read and research career opportunities, and when she spoke to a speech-language pathologist at a career day her Junior year, everything clicked in her head. This was exactly the career she was searching for.

Our youngest daughter will start planning her college journey in the spring when we start visiting schools with her. She’s grateful to watch her sister go through the process first.

While we’re not empty nesters yet, my husband and I have been testing the waters by going out on more date nights. We’re reconnecting with friends that we haven’t really hung out with since we had kids. Many of our friends scattered with their own parenting journey, and we are finding each other again.

So what is going on with our family finances?

Well, for starters, college payments started over the summer. Always the planner, I emailed the university multiple times before she even set foot on campus with questions about scholarship payments, due dates, meal plans, etc. Hopefully, I’m not making a name for myself in the billing office, but this is all new to us.

One reason we guided our daughter to a PASSHE university is that the tuition and room & board is about 40% less than the Big 10 university that PA is mostly known for. Also, the university that she is attending has an outstanding reputation for her major, and she was able to join an athletic team. Everything fell into place quite nicely regarding her decision.

Along with navigating college finances, my husband and I are discussing our exit strategy for our small business and our eventual retirement. It is still several years away, but my husband is 62 and I hit double nickels this month. College and retirement are about to collide. I knew this would happen someday, I just didn’t realize how quickly someday would get here.

I don’t want to promise that I’ll be back soon, but that is my intent. As it turns out I have some new content to write about.

~~ Kristia

The post A life update. appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

This Month’s Frugal Shenanigans:

1 – We sold stuff online and made $800

My husband has been a selling machine on Facebook Marketplace. Since April, he made over $800 by selling 3 old bikes, unused furniture, a college fridge, a camping grill, a TV, and other misc stuff. We put the funds towards new furniture for our sunroom to replace a 15-year-old set that was outdated and very uncomfortable.

When my husband hung a smart TV in the sunroom back in April, we started spending more time in the room–even our teenage daughters started hanging out with us. However, we all agreed that the existing furniture was not comfortable, especially to watch movies. So we started shopping around and were shocked to find how expensive outdoor furniture has become.

We found a really cute set for a great sale price at Big Lots…of all places–I had no idea they sold furniture. At the time, Bed Bath & Beyond was going out of business and Big Lots was accepting their coupons, so we scored an additional 20% off discount. I accessorized with some clearance finds from Target and Sam’s and we are really happy with our new sunroom.

2 – We opened up high-interest savings accounts and earned $250 in interest.

We are in what I call our “shovel season of life”. Our oldest daughter leaves for college in the fall of 2024 and we have a big savings goal to hit before then. We got a late start on saving for college so a large portion of our college savings has been sitting in our checking account earning zilch.

You may have heard that interest rates on some savings accounts have gone up, so I pulled my head out of the sand and transferred the cash portion of our college savings to two separate savings vehicles: a 15-month CD and a high-yield savings account. I locked in the CD at my local credit union where it will earn 4.75% during that time frame. My plan is to use this cash first as it will come to term around the same time we will need to make the first college payment.

As for the high-yield savings account, I transferred a smaller portion of our cash to a Capital One 360 Performance Savings account that is currently earning 4.15% APY (annual percentage yield). This account interest rate could change at any time, but I didn’t want to lock all of our cash college savings into a CD, just in case I would need some cash before the CD termination date.

I also opened another Capital One 360 account for our emergency fund that was also sitting in a zero-interest savings account. In total, we have made $250 in interest since April. I kick myself for not moving these savings to more productive accounts sooner, but better late than never and I will ride the wave of higher interest rates for as long as they are available.

The amount of interest earned will depend on the account balance, but if you have cash sitting in accounts earning zero, start shopping around for other options ASAP. Both our CD and high-interest savings account are FDIC-insured and are at banks that we trust. I was leaving money on the table before April and I’m glad I researched for opportunities.

3. Ask and ye shall receive! Airlines Refund of $400 + $200 credit

We flew to Florida in March to visit family. Coming home, the flight from Florida to Philadelphia was delayed causing us to miss the only flight from Philly to Harrisburg for the day. We had two options: wait a day to leave Florida or rent a car once we got to Philly and drive to our parked car at the Harrisburg airport. As much as we would have loved an extra day in Florida, it wasn’t an option, so we rented a car.

Once home, I wrote American Airlines a polite letter with the flight details and I asked for reimbursement for the car rental, a $200 unexpected expense, along with a request for a refund for the unused Philly to Harrisburg flight. I received a quick response that they would reimburse us for the unused tickets from Philly to Harrisburg, which equaled $400 and more than covered the rental car. The money hit our account in April.

While they would not reimburse us for the rental car, they also gave each of us a $50 credit to be used within a year. We have already used one of the credits for my daughter’s flight to the Midwest later this summer.

The moral of this story is to always ask and always ask politely.

4 – Credit Card Rewards – $241.78

• I redeemed a $100 Target gift card from my Discover card’s Cashback bonus program.
• $70.89 was transferred to each daughter’s 529 account from our Upromise card. For more info, read: How We’re Saving for College with Upromise. 

5 – Saved hundreds of dollars on outdoor chairs.

We had an outdoor dining set that was about 13 years old. The table is still usable, but the chairs were all shredded after years of use. Outdoor dining sets are really expensive right now at prices up to $1000 or more. Instead of replacing the entire set, I started looking for chair replacements. I found a cute set of two chairs for $192 at Target, but I wanted six and didn’t want to spend $600.

So I kept looking and found 6 new chairs at HomeGoods for $40 each (see above pic). Two hundred and forty dollars is way better than replacing the entire set, and the cute option at Target. The nice thing about the new chairs is that they’re stackable which will make winter storage so much easier. Hopefully, they will last a long time, we shall see.

6 – Gas points – 60 cents off gas!

I took advantage of the June gift card promotion at GIANT and bought four $25 gift cards and earned 6 times the gas points. This converted to sixty cents off of gas. The gift cards were for Father’s Day and some June birthday gifts.

7 – Last but not least…

In the “tuck this in your back pocket for the future” segment of this post, I found a place for meds disposal. I cleaned out our medicine/supplement cupboard and ended up with a bag of expired medicines and prescriptions. I know you’re not supposed to just throw the stuff in the garbage, so I googled, “where can I dispose of medications near me” and found out that CVS pharmacy has a med disposal service.

And how is this frugal? In my messy cabinet, I found many duplicates, so I’m hoping to eliminate unneeded purchases going forward now that the cabinet is neat and organized.

Share in the comments how you have been frugal-ing lately! Check out previous How We Frugal-ed posts.

The post How We Frugal-ed in June 2023 appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

What is it about the springtime that makes us want to clean? I don’t love to clean, but when the days turn sunny, I miraculously become inspired to wash some windows. The sun blazing through them can be quite revealing (and embarrassing) as they show the winter filth.

So let the fresh air in and let’s get to work! These 20 tasks will help freshen up your home after a long closed-up winter.

20 Spring Cleaning Tasks to Freshen Up Your Home

1. Clean your drains naturally.
2. Clean your washing machine and dryer. Read your user manuals for details.
3. Clean your dishwasher.
4. Clean the inside of your microwave
5. Clean your glass top stove.
6. Clean the inside and outside of the refrigerator.
7. Organize and purge your pantry and spice cabinet.
8. Clean & sanitize the inside of all the garbage cans in the house.
9. Wash the windows for pennies.
10. Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures.
11. Wipe down the walls and baseboards.
12. Clean blinds and wash or vacuum window treatments.
13. Vacuum under the furniture. Vacuum the furniture.
14. Pull out your spring clothes and pack up your fall/winter clothes for storage. Hang your spring clothing outside to freshen or re-wash to remove that ‘been in a closet too long’ smell.
15. Organize & purge your bathroom medicine cabinet.
16. De-clutter the tough spots in your home:
    • utensil drawer
    • magazine clutter
    • above the refrigerator
    • plastic ware
    • the foyer closet
    • the home office
    • toys
    • mud room/entry area
17. Wash all of the bedding: mattress pads, bed skirts, comforters, and blankets. (Our king comforter is too big for my machine, so I have to take it to a laundry mat.) Put the winter bedding in storage.
18. Check the batteries in your fire and carbon monoxide alarms.
19. Clean vacuum cleaners & filters – read your user manual
20. Replace the AC filter.

Print a FREE Spring Clean Your Home Checklist.

Also, did you know Original Blue Dawn isn’t just a dishwashing liquid? Find out 20 different ways to use Original Blue Dawn and it costs much less than the store-bought version.

Is a major spring cleaning on your to-do list? Let us know in the comments.

The post 20 Spring Cleaning Tasks to Freshen Your Home + a FREE Checklist appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

Unfortunately, many people abandon their New Year’s goals by mid-January and everything goes downhill from there. February is a good month to hit the reset button and go back to that feeling of anticipated accomplishment that we had on January 1st when we made our goals.

So I am declaring a Frugal February.

…oh boy, you might be wondering, what does that mean?

The goal of Frugal February is NOT to feel deprived, 

but rather to find creative ways to get through the month without unnecessary spending.

The goal is to be extremely intentional with our money,

so we can put more toward our financial goals.

My husband and I set one big financial goal for 2023. We could really use an intentional month of frugalness to reset our mindset. If you need a reset too, here are 8 ways to frugal your way through the month.

8 Action Steps for a Frugal February:

1 – Write a budget/spending plan for February.

In order to succeed with your money, you must spend time on your money–and that means writing a plan for your spending. I’m a big fan of Zero Based Budgeting. If you’re new to writing a budget, read: How to Start a Budget (and be successful at it!)

2 – Track your cashflow.

Do you know how much money is flowing in and out of your bank accounts? Review your spending daily to understand where your dollars are going. You might find some interesting habits.

One way to track your spending is to log all of your purchases, bills, atm withdrawals, and any outgoing on notebook paper at the end of each day. Assign a budget category to each transaction, so you can add up what you spend on food, fuel, clothing, self-care, etc.

For a list of budget categories, read: How to Start a Budget.

3 – Cook/Eat from the pantry and freezer.

Groceries is the easiest budget category TO GET OUT of control and the easiest budget category TO control. To reign your grocery spending in, you must plan all of your meals.

Spend Frugal February planning your meals from food that you already have in your kitchen, refrigerator, and freezer. Use up all of those odd ingredients. Supplement with stuff that’s on sale at the grocery store.

4 – Use up the products in the bathroom/cleaning closet before purchasing more.

I LOVE luscious skin creams and deliciously smelly bath products and I have a bathroom closet to back up that claim. I also have a laundry room with enough cleaning products to last us a very long time. I’m going to challenge myself to use up cleaning supplies and health & beauty products before buying anything new.

5 – Plan ahead.

Review your calendar every night to preview the next day. Will there be events or activities that could cause an unexpected expense? What can you do to prevent those expenses? Pack snacks, drinks, coffee, books, etc to take with you to hopefully prevent unexpected purchases.

6 – Happy (frugal) Valentine’s Day!

I enjoy Valentine’s Day, but it is on a Tuesday this year and my kids’ activities aren’t canceled due to the holiday. Our active life goes on, so I will be planning a nice eat-at-home dinner with a special sweet treat, rather than eating out.

7 – Look for FREE entertainment.

Find free fun in Frugal February. (Say that 5 times!)

• Invite friends over for a potluck/game night, instead of going out to dinner.
• Create special nights at home: a movie night, sundae bar, pizza night
• Go sledding.
• Check out your local town’s calendar to find free entertainment and activities. For example, my home town has an Ice Fest in February. Businesses in the downtown area have purchased ice sculptures to place on the sidewalk outside their business. It is definitely an activity that is to encourage small-town businesses, but it is free to walk around and check out the over 50 sculptures.

8 – Find Cash

What can you do this month to increase your cash coming IN? Head to my page, 31 Days to Find $1000, for ideas. How much cash can you find? Set a goal for yourself for February.

What can you do in February to improve your financial goals? Share in the comments.

The post 8 Action Steps for a Frugal February! appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

The last time we wrote numbers-driven financial goals was 2019. That was the year that we made the goal of paying off the last of our non-mortgage debts and we achieved it by September of that year. It was a momentous occasion that was many years in the making.

When it was all said and done we paid off over six figures of non-mortgage loans. I cried for days and we celebrated the occasion with a family cruise a few months later.

But after that, our goals were not as specific. In 2020, our financial goals were to read, research, and understand both college and retirement planning. I did read a few books that year on both subjects, but it was not an earth-shattering goal. Also that year, I wanted to create an In Case of Emergency (ICE) binder for my family. I did achieve this goal and ended up calling it our Family Vital Information Binder.

In 2021, I wanted to increase our savings but didn’t attach any number to it, so we floundered that year away. In 2022, I wanted to do a major purge of our home, and that lasted until about January 15 of 2022 when I reorganized our kitchen cabinets. My basement is still a mess.

…enter 2023

We have not one, but two teenage high school daughters. Our oldest is a junior in high school and college becomes reality in the fall of 2024. 

We want to assist our daughters with their college expenses. We have a number that we want to save for each daughter. The number will most likely not cover everything, but if they decide to pursue options that cost equal to or less than the amount we want to give them, they’ll be in great shape. However, if they decide on a school that is more than the amount, we will guide them on how they will be paying that portion of their way through college.

College is crazy expensive right now. There are ways to reduce the costs by pursuing scholarships, starting at a community college, and working while studying. Everything is on the table and we have a lot to sort out in the next year and a half.

My husband paid his entire way through undergrad and my parents covered a significant portion, so we come from both angles and our strategy is a compromise.

—>>Our 2023 Financial Goal: Save a set amount for college.<<—

Once we paid off our non-mortgage debts in 2019, we started saving some of the debt snowball money for college savings. The rest of the snowball went towards other things, such as a new-to-us vehicle, medical expenses, retirement contributions, and home repairs.

Progress was made, but not nearly enough. We have a ways to go, and 18 months to try to get there.

We divided what is still needed by 18 and that is our monthly savings goal between now and the summer of 2024. If we are able to save our monthly goal between now and then, we will be on track to hit our number.

College and Retirement are about to collide!

If my husband and I were a bit younger, we might not be as aggressive about our upcoming savings season. But we had our kids later in life and my husband will turn 65 the year our youngest graduates from high school so we have other financial pressures percolating in the background. Our goal is to have our set number saved by the fall of 2024 and if we achieve it, we’ll be able to cash flow some more help for the girls, at least until my husband retires.

How will we make these goals?

We used the snowball method to pay off our non-mortgage debts. That money didn’t go away once we paid off the debts, it just went toward other things.

Currently, aside from our mortgage, we do not carry any other debts. So, now it is time to buckle down to find the snowball money once again.

The Game Plan for 2023:

1. Plan our Spending. Find the holes.

We will control our money, rather than our money controlling us. By planning our expenses each month to predict cash flow, I hope to avoid impulsive purchases and reduce some spending.

After our mortgage, grocery spending is our next largest expense. At the end of 2022, I totaled the year’s worth of groceries and was blown away by the number. I spent about $870/month on groceries. Long-time readers might remember the days when my kids were much younger and I spent $400/month on groceries.  This increase is partly from inflation, but also, I now cook for 4 adult-sized appetites. My spending was bound to increase as my girls got older. However, I will re-focus on my meal planning/grocery shopping routine to try to get this number down.

Sidebar: Restaurants are also a budget buster for us, and I will be extra diligent in this category as well.

2. Earn Additional Income

You can only cut so much from a budget, so we’ll need to also earn extra income by continuing to grow our small businesses, along with finding other income streams.

3. Track our Success!

I created a tracker sheet and posted it in a very prominent spot so my husband and I to see it daily. Hopefully, it will help us not lose sight of our goal and stay motivated. We used trackers when we paid off our non-mortgage loans (see below) and it was super fun to color in the blocks as we hit our goals. These goal trackers are now a part of my Email Subscriber Freebies.

A few of our debt payoff trackers.

What We Won’t Give Up

As audacious as our college savings goal is, we still want to enjoy our life. We live frugally, but once we paid off our non-mortgage debts, we decided that we don’t want to live that restrictively again. My motto has always been to “live well on less” by being creative with our resources, and now it will be “living well on (even) less” and being even more creative.

There are a few things that we will not give up so I will need to add them to our budget.

1. Travel

We work hard and really enjoy our time away. Our summer beach vacation is already booked and there are a few more trips we’d like to take. Travel and vacations will always be a part of our budget.

2. The girls’ activities

Our kids are quite active with sports, Girl Scouts, and school activities. As long as they enjoy these activities and do well in school, they can continue with them and we will continue to keep them in the budget.

Get out the shovel!

I tell my husband that we’re in the “shovel all extra money into college savings” season of life. We’ve hit financial goals before and I’m expecting us to hit this goal too. It’s an exciting time in our oldest daughter’s life right now. She has a lot of decisions to make about her future. What does she want to study? Does she want to swim in college? What type of school would be a good fit for her?

It’s bittersweet to watch your child go through this season of life. I look back on old photos of her early childhood fondly and wonder where the time went. But we’ve also been guiding her toward early adulthood and I can’t wait to watch her fly!

Did you make any 2023 financial goals?

What financial goals did you make for the new year? Share them in the comments!

The post Our 2023 Financial Goals appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

Americans will spend about $900 on holiday purchases** and unfortunately, many people will get a little surprise in the mail in January when the credit card bills start rolling in.

My mission is for all of us to sleep better in the new year knowing that there are no huge balances hanging over our heads. We will pay cash for Christmas this year and I want that for YOU too!

3 Smart Steps to Pay Cash for Christmas

1. Create a Budget

Your first step is to sit down with your spouse and family and brainstorm all of your holiday spending needs. Include gifts, but also travel, decorations, cards, stamps, parties, etc

Take advantage of my free budget excel spreadsheet that I offer to email subscribers. When your budget is complete, you’ll know how much you need for your holiday spending.

Click here to join my community as an email subscriber and you will receive my FREE Christmas Gift Spending & Budget excel spreadsheet, along with a Family Balance Sheet spreadsheet and other printables. 

This excel spreadsheet can be used year after year, just change the year. If you remember your actual holiday purchases from last year, enter them in the two far right columns. If not, don’t worry, and just leave that blank for this year and start budgeting your gifts for this year in the left columns.

2. Find the Money

Once you complete step #1, you’ll have an idea of how much money you will need. If you have been setting aside cash since last Christmas–kudos to you!

But if you are coming up short on cash for your upcoming Christmas spending, there’s still plenty of time to find the funds.

Or read my popular post: 10 Ways to Find Cash for Christmas.

3. Think outside the gift box.

Here’s a big secret that retailers don’t want you to know: Gifts don’t have to be expensive and in fact, they can easily be FREE. You just have to be creative. And if you have other things that you need to spend your money on, don’t let retailers and society, in general, make you feel like you must spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts.

Be creative and think outside the gift box with these free gift ideas:

30 FREE (but Thoughtful) Christmas Gift Ideas

Going forward:

Make holiday spending a part of your monthly budget planning and continue to use the budget spreadsheet throughout the year. I make notes on gift ideas when they come to me on my spreadsheet so I’m ready when the season begins. I rarely buy Christmas gifts throughout the year, but I do set aside gift money each month and come Thanksgiving, I have enough money to fund Christmas.

Have you started planning for Christmas? Do you feel behind or stressed about the upcoming holiday expenses? Take these steps and have a Debt Free Christmas. How do you save for Christmas spending? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Gallup

The post 3 Smart Steps to Pay Cash for Christmas appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

This list of thoughtful, but FREE Christmas gift ideas is proof that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on the people you gift to if you use your time, resources, and creativity.

Whether you’re trying to save money or just limit the amount of stuff in your life, it doesn’t make it cheap to gift your friends and family ideas from this list. They will appreciate the thoughtfulness and might also be looking to reduce the sheer amount of unnecessary stuff that comes into their homes during the holidays.

These ideas are gifts of time, creativity, and skills. Browse the entire list and let us know in the comments which ideas you’re going to give and what free gift ideas you have.

30 Free (but Thoughtful) Christmas Gift Ideas:

1. Give a Photo Session

Are you a skilled photographer? Not everyone is and professional sessions don’t always fit into people’s budgets. If you have the knack for your DSLR, a photo session would be a perfect idea for new parents, soon-to-be high school or college graduates, or a family portrait.

2. Give your Gift of Organization

Do your friends and family call you the most organized person EVER? If so, give the gift of organizing a closet (or 2), kitchen cupboards, a basement,  garage, etc.

3. Give your Perennials

Are you a gardener? Do you have beautiful perennials in your garden? Design a coupon for the gift of perennials. When spring rolls around, plant the perennials for the recipient and this gift will bloom for years to come.

4. Cooking Lessons

Are you an amazing home cook? Pick a theme, such as cooking basics 101, family recipes, bread baking, or preserving /canning. Offer these cooking lessons and send the food home with the recipient. This is a perfect gift for the newly married couple or a college graduate leaving the nest on your list.

6. Family Heirlooms

This sweet little candy dish was a gift from my grandmother. I realize not everyone has family heirlooms to give away, but my grandmother was downsizing and gifted her grandchildren pieces from her Fostoria Glass collection that were my grandparents’ wedding gifts back in 1945.

If you have collectibles or heirlooms that are just sitting in a closet, think about gifting them to someone in your family who would appreciate their sentimental value.

7. Homemade Crafts

If you’re crafty or artistic, this is your chance to shine. Maybe you are a crafter/knitter/crocheter with a stash of supplies. Make scarves, mittens, socks, or Christmas ornaments. My great-grandmother made a lot of her gifts. I still treasure this ornament that she gave me one Christmas when I was a child.

Are you good at calligraphy? As our wedding gift, my cousin wrote the addresses on our 150 wedding invitations (years ago). My handwriting is atrocious and to professionally print all of those addresses would have been costly. My husband and I really appreciated that gift.

What is your artistic talent? Gift it!

8. Baked Goods

Are you good at baking pies? Or are cookies your thing? My aunt gifts her nieces and nephews with loaves of homemade cinnamon bread every Christmas. We all look forward to the bread every year.

I can almost taste the toasted cinnamon bread slathered with butter now.

9. Ready Made Freezer Meals

If your freezer is packed with ready-made meals that just need to be heated up, this would be an awesome gift for anybody, especially any college students or seniors on your list. There’s nothing better than a homemade meal that only needs to be heated up.

10. Create a Family Favorites Recipe Booklet

If your family has a lot of favorite recipes that have been passed down from previous generations, make a recipe booklet. If you have recipe cards with the family member’s handwriting, make copies. I treasure my recipe cards that were handwritten by my grandmother.

11. Garden Harvest

Are you a gardener? Do you have a freezer or pantry full of this past summer’s garden harvest? What a delicious gift of food!

12. Host a Homemade Meal

When my grandparents were living, we gave the gift of a home-cooked meal to my grandparents. They really didn’t need or want anything. The gift my grandparents really wanted was to spend time with my family and we enjoyed spending time with them.

This is a great idea for seniors, friends who don’t have family nearby, college students, or just about anyone on your list.

13. Private Lessons

What are your hobbies and/or skills? Consider offering lessons on those skills as a gift to your friends or family members that might be interested. Some ideas:

• Do you play an instrument? Teach lessons to a friend or family member that might be interested.
• Are you really good at a sport? Give the gift of lessons.
• Are you a knitter, or crafter or do you know how to use a sewing machine? Gift the gift of lessons.

14. Hike & Picnic Outing

Plan a day hike & picnic outing. We have been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather this month by hitting the hiking trails. This is a great gift of time idea for the family member that is so hard to buy for but would really enjoy a day with you and your family. Pack lunch and/or yummy snacks and water bottles, and hit the trails for a day of fresh air and exercise.

15. Host a movie night

Borrow a new(er) movie from the library or find a good movie on your cable/subscription account. Make popcorn, serve hot chocolate, and bake a favorite dessert for a fun evening.

16. Host a game night

Invite your friends or family over for a fun night of games and treats. We have played board games, card games, and interactive video games, such as Wipe-Out and Dance Off with friends and family. Serve your favorite snacks and desserts.

17. Babysitting

Do you know how much babysitting costs? About $10 an hour. Fortunately, my parents live nearby and my mom never charged us (whew–thanks, mom), but we have close friends who don’t have family nearby and would LOVE a gift of free babysitting. If you have friends or family who could use a date night, babysitting services would make a fantastic gift.

18. Pet Sitting

For friends with pets, maybe they could use pet sitting when they go out of town. The cost of the kennel where we take our dog is about $20 a day. If you have friends or family who have pets, petsitting services would make a fantastic gift.

19. Snow Removal

Thankfully, we have a snow blower, but for some people, snow removal is difficult or even dangerous because of age or physical ability. This is a great idea for any seniors on your list who might live alone or anyone without a snow blower.

20. Hair Cuts

I realize that not everybody is skilled enough to give haircuts–I’m certainly not–but there are people who are very capable and good at it. My sister-in-law is a former hair stylist and has given cuts to family members.

If this is your skill, gift it!

5. Wall Art

If you have a printer and some unused frames, print some FREE wall art that I found on Pinterest. You could also use favorite pictures from the year.

21. Errand Services

For the people on your list that might rely on public transportation or have unreliable transportation, consider offering to run their errands or chauffeur them for their errands for an afternoon or two.

22. Laundry Service or Use of Your Laundry Room

Offer to do laundry or the use of your laundry room to the person on your list that has to rely on a laundromat.

23. Handyman Services

Are you a handy person? Offer your services by the hour or an afternoon to help with easy fixes & repairs.

24. Cleaning Services

If you are a…neat freak…neat person who loves to clean, offer home cleaning services. Gift them a certain number of weeks of home cleaning. Some other cleaning ideas: window washing or car washing.

25. Oil Change

Do you know how to change the oil in a car? Offer oil change services.

26. Yard Work

Give an afternoon (or two) of yard work. Some ideas to include:

• lawn mowing
• clean gutters
• weed flower beds

27. Online lessons

This idea came to me when my retired neighbor called me and asked if I could come over and help her with a Craigslist posting. We live in a tech age and a lot of seniors could use some lessons to keep up.

28. Re-gift!

Yes, I said it. And I got the idea from my daughter’s Girl Scout troop Christmas party. Each girl was to bring an old, but a usable toy or a handmade item. My girls were in no mood to go through their stuff to decide what they could part with and at the last minute, I needed to think fast.

As I was poking around my house for ideas, I found a bunch of unused, but new items for the girls to pick from. These were all things that were given to us as gifts or bought on clearance. I found several boxes of brand new Crayola crayons and markers (bought cheap in September), two unopened boxes of Christmas stationery, unopened packages of Post-its, new Christmas hand towels, scented hand wash, and scented candles. All of this stuff was sitting in a closet for months or years, completely forgotten about.

My point: Scour your house for new & unused items.

29. Gift your stockpile

I keep a moderate stockpile of food and cleaning supplies. If you do too, make a themed gift bag of unused products:

• Ingredients for dinner: pasta, sauce, and that bottle of wine you haven’t opened.
• Cleaning supplies for someone who just moved or bought their first house.
• Baking supplies for homemade chocolate chip cookies or brownies.

And finally, #30: Make a coupon book

Using several of the above list of ideas, make a coupon book for the recipient to use at their leisure.

You don’t need to break the budget this Christmas, instead give your time, resources, and talents. What are your favorite FREE (but Thoughtful) gift ideas? Let us know in the comments.

The post 30 Free but Thoughtful Christmas Gift Ideas appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

The Christmas season is upon us. The season of family, faith, food, and…shopping…..collective sigh…

The spending part of Christmas can get crazy, so I’ve come up with a list of ideas to find some extra cash for your Christmas spending if you’re coming up short.

Our goal is to NOT put our Christmas purchases on a credit card. January will be one giant nightmare when the credit card bills start rolling in. Hopefully, that’s your goal too.

Before we get to the list, if you haven’t started planning for Christmas, I offer this FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget Excel Worksheet to my email subscribers.

I use this spreadsheet every year. I make notes of gift ideas for my family and friends throughout the year. So please, take advantage of my offer and make a spending plan for Christmas.

We set aside money each month throughout the year for gift spending, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in 2013, I had a year-long series, Christmas Savings Club, to encourage everyone to set aside money each month for the holidays.

The series was inspired by my own problem with not having enough cash for Christmas in 2012. We paid for many of our Christmas purchases on a credit card and then hustled in January 2013 to pay it off. Enough was enough and we have since changed our ways of budgeting for Christmas gifts.

Whether you are scrambling to find the money for gifts OR you could just use some extra cash this season, my hope is that this list of ideas (many we’ve done ourselves) helps you find some cash for Christmas.

10 Ideas to Find Cash for Christmas

1. Donate Plasma

In early 2021, a friend posted on Facebook about how she was making extra money by donating plasma. I was intrigued and asked for more info and decided it was worth a try. I started donating plasma in January of 2021 and earned over $1000 in the first 3 months of the year. The initial promotional offer may have changed, but it’s worth looking into. You earn money after each donation.

It’s not for the faint of heart though, but if you can tolerate blood and needles, then it might be an easy way for you to earn extra cash.

Related Reading: My Honest Review: I donated plasma to earn money!

2. Make Money from your Skills or Hobbies
My husband has made hundreds of extra dollars by using his experience as a collegiate swimmer and high school swim coach to teach private swimming lessons. What skills do you have that you can offer or teach to make extra money?

• Can you teach piano lessons?
• Are you a skilled photographer? Think high school senior portraits or family photos for Christmas cards.
• Are you fluent in another language or maybe you’re a math whiz? Consider tutoring.
• Were you a high school or college tennis star? Teach tennis lessons.

3. Are you Crafty? Sell your crafts.
Do you love to bake? Christmas cookies are as synonymous with the season as gift giving. Some people don’t have time or don’t like to bake but would love to buy home-baked cookies and treats. My sister-in-law buys dozens every Christmas from a mom who bakes for cash. And a friend of mine sells her homemade Christmas candy this time of year.

Do you love to sew/knit/crochet? My mom makes and sells Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls. If you’re a knitter, make and sell scarves and/or hats from the yarn that you might have sitting around your house.

4. Sell Your Old, Unused Gold Jewelry

Several years ago, I made $150 from some gold pieces that were broken or I no longer wore. I had no emotional attachment to any of it and I was happy to make that money right before the holidays.

Read about my experience: Sell Your Gold Jewelry for Cash.

5. Sell Unused Video Games

My husband loves video games but just doesn’t have time for them anymore. They sat unused, so he decided to sell his Wii for $80. Has this happened to you? If someone in your family was desperate for a gaming system only for it to sit unused–consider selling it. It’s a great time of year to unload, especially if the system was hardly used.

6. Have a Virtual Yard Sale.

I love yard sales, but it’s getting a little cold in the northeast to be hosting one outside. However, there’s always stuff to sell, like outgrown, but good clothing, shoes, toys, household goods, etc. Spend some time and go through your house. Look for the big items that are worth your time and list them on Craigslist or find a local Facebook page where you can list stuff that you’re selling.

If you’re nervous about selling on the market page, I’ve had a lot of success simply listing some things on my personal Facebook page.

7. Return Unused Purchases

I shop at thrift stores frequently and I am always amazed at how much I see with store tags still on the product. If you have something that didn’t fit or you didn’t end up liking, RETURN it. Many stores will at least give you a store credit if you don’t have your receipt. But that store credit is much better than sending it to the thrift store as a donation.

8. Babysit or House Sit

At this time of year, parents might be looking for a sitter so they can gift shop or attend a holiday party. Or maybe you have friends that need their house attended to while they are away for the holidays.

8. Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, or Dog “Clean Up”

Yep, people will pay someone to pick up their dog’s poo…who knew? Pet owners will also pay for someone to take care of their pets while they’re away.

9. Snow Removal and/or Lawn Mowing

The northeast was pummeled with snow last winter and some of the high school kids in our neighborhood offered their shoveling services. The same kids mow many lawns in my neighborhood during warmer weather.

11. Part-Time Job

I just ran into a mom from my kids’ school that picked up a part-time waitress job to supplement their income. Tips, baby! Seasonal part-time jobs are most likely filled by now, but if you have free evenings or weekends, picking up a part-time job might be a great option for you to make some extra cash.

What creative ideas do you have to find some extra cash for Christmas? Please share in the comments.

Still short on cash, think outside the gift box: 30 Free (but Thoughtful) Christmas Gift Ideas.

photo credit: Pixaby

The post 10 Ideas to Find Cash for Christmas appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

My Frugal Shenanigans!

1. Garden Harvest

I planted a small garden this year: 2 tomato plants, 1 cucumber, 1 pepper plant that sadly didn’t make it, and 1 butternut squash. I had enough tomatoes to make a batch of my Roasted Red Plum Tomato Sauce for the freezer.

My butternut plant yielded nine beautiful squashes. Way more than last year. I roasted them and put them in the freezer for future use. I use them in pasta sauce, soups, and in place of pumpkin in a lot of recipes. Read: How to Roast Butternut Squash

I have toned down my gardening in recent years. At one time I planted quite a bit, but weeds overtook my garden and turned my favorite hobby into a stressful mess. Now I just plant a few favorites, but I’m given quite a bit of my friends’ abundance.

2. Sunday Prep

On Sundays, I wash and chop vegetables and fruits, make hard-boiled eggs, and bake healthy muffins for the week. There’s a better chance the healthy food will get eaten if it’s prepped, and it saves time on weekday mornings. Everyone just grabs want they want for the day.

Examples below are of my and my husband’s snacks for work. The black container is from Thai takeout food. I like to reuse them for lunches/snacks.

3. Transition to colder weather.

We ended September will cooler than usual temps, so I switched out our lighter-weight bedding for our heavier winter bedding. I also pulled out all of our colder-weather clothing and packed away our summer stuff. And I pulled out our throw blankets that I keep in the living room.

My husband also cleaned our gas fireplace and turned on the pilot light. This is our primary heat source during the colder months. My family accuses me of keeping the house too cold. They’re not wrong, but when they complain that the house is too cold as they’re wearing a tee shirt and shorts, I kindly ask them to put on some layers. I think we can handle a few degrees more than we think and I struggle with turning the heat on in September.

4. Miscellany

• It’s homecoming season, also known as the most stressful time of year for mothers across the U.S. I found one daughter’s dress at David’s Bridal and saved $10 for becoming a member, which made my daughter’s dress $50. I saved $5 on my other daughter’s dress just by searching online for a coupon. To be honest, I expected dresses to cost more than they actually do. My daughters are both 5’10, so finding dresses that fit them appropriately is no easy task.
• Grocery Freebies: During October, I scored a free frozen apple pie, a free salad mix, and free pop tarts from Giant of PA. I donated the pop-tarts to a food pantry and I’ll save the apple pie for Thanksgiving.
• Thursday nights continue to be an eat-from-the-fridge-night, much to my family’s dismay. I’m throwing away less uneaten food, so it’s staying for the long term.
• I mixed up a fresh bottle of my very cheap window cleaner that costs me just a few pennies.

Show me the money! Found money in September: $179

• Transferred $66 into each daughter’s 529 account from our Upromise Mastercard. Total $132. For more info, read: How We’re Saving for College with Upromise 
• Plasma donation: $47. I only went one time in September. The line has been really long, but one Saturday morning, my husband called from the donation center telling me that no one was there, so I ran over and made a quick $47. I was out the door in about 75 minutes which is perfect timing. For more info, read: My Honest Review: I donated plasma to earn money!

Share in the comments how you frugal-ed in September. Check out more How We Frugal-ed posts.

The post How We Frugal-ed in September 2022 appeared first on Family Balance Sheet.

While I embrace the digital world, paper is the way I plan my life. I have been using a paper planner since my early college days in the late 80’s. I learned very quickly in college that making lists and writing down important dates on a calendar kept me fairly organized and I rarely missed an assignment or deadline. And at the time, a planner made me feel like such a grown-up.

The same is true today. My planner makes adulting so much easier. In the hectic season of life that I am in right now of mothering 2 teenage daughters, owning a business with my husband, and running our home, my planner needs to hold it all together for me to stay on task.

That’s not to say that I don’t falter…I’m not perfect….but my 2023 planner just might be!

My 2023 Planner:

For 2023, I am once again using a Day Designer planner. I started using this brand in 2018 and have been happy with it ever since. You can find it in Staples or on Amazon.

I have used a variety of layouts over the years. In 2022, I used a Daily/Monthly layout, but for 2023, I’m switching to a Weekly/Monthly layout. I made a quick YouTube video showing both layouts. See for yourself which one might work best for your planning needs.

Click HERE for my 2023 Planner video on YouTube.

Two pages per month view.

My planner details:

• January – December 2023 tabs. 2 pages per month.
• Weekly calendar view per two-page spread with enough space for your daily schedule, to-do list, and notes section, as well as your week’s top 3 to-dos.
• Durable front & back cover
• “Coming up Roses” cover design, with other designs available.
• Twin-wire binding
• Size: 8 X 10  (Also, comes in 5 X 8)
• Affordable. I found it for less than $25 on Amazon. My Amazon affiliate link: Day Designer for Blue Sky Weekly Monthly 2023 Planner

Two pages per week view.

For 2023, I went up in size to an 8.5 by 11 from a 5 X 8 in 2022. I refer to my planner daily, and it mostly stays on my desk, so the larger size won’t be a problem. And I have sloppy big handwriting–I thought the bigger space would be helpful.

In 2023 I switched to a weekly view to hopefully streamline my current planning process. Every Sunday, I fill in my daily schedule based on what’s on my monthly calendar. That’s why it is so important that my monthly calendar is up to date. If life isn’t on my calendar, it gets missed! After I fill in my schedule, I plan my to-do list for the week. This has been my process for most of my adult life.

There’s a lot of 2022 left, and I don’t want to wish time away, but I’m looking forward to using my new planner!

Are you a paper planner person? If so, have you purchased your 2023 yet? Share the details in the comments.

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