If you’re determined to get control of your money now that we’ve begun a year fresh, here are a few books to help.
Money Smart Mom: Financially Fit Parenting by me! What, you didn’t think I’d recommend my own book? This is a great back to basics guide to the financial issues families deal with.
In a Moneyville article posted last week, a writer did the math on why she thinks cloth diapers are more expensive than disposable. While cloth diapers are certainly not right for every family, they make the most financial sense if you launder them yourself.
My local Safeway has been trying to win back business from competitors, and recently began running coupons offering 250 bonus Air Miles with $100 grocery purchase, or 500 bonus Air Miles with a $200 grocery purchase.
As a frugal grocery shopper, committed to paying the cheapest price possible for our food, I keep a detailed spreadsheet with products, sizes, and the lowest price I’ve ever seen our favourite products sold at.
As I haul out my cheque book for another year of school fees, I’ve reflected on the ways I saved money last year, and what I wish I had passed on buying for my daughter.
Who knew kids could grow out of all of their clothing, and lose all of their school supplies in the eight weeks since school let out in June? Of course they didn’t. So why do so many parents shop as if they had?
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When you’re trying to lose weight, you might join a group or program that has an element of confession involved – to the group at large, or an individual leader. So when you’re trying to spend less money, you might be interested in joining a money club. But do they work?
I love when my six-year-old tells me dramatically, “We have no toys!” My husband and I are quick to point out that we, in fact, have quite a few toys compared to many families in the world. But in her little world, she’s about right. Compared to the homes of my daughter’s friends, we have no toys.
I read a great blog post recently about how there’s a jealousy of a different kind when it comes to spending. Instead of feeling bad because you’re not making enough or spending enough to keep up with the Joneses, you might feel bad because you’re not spending less and bring more frugal like the Smiths!
In case you didn’t click over to read the blog, I’ve quoted my favourites bits, here:
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Sarah Deveau’s first memory of saving up to buy something she really, really wanted was at age five, when she saved her allowance and birthday money for six months to buy a mini waterbed for her Cabbage Patch doll. She’s been in love with money every since; making it, spending it, and saving it too.
The author of two personal finance books, Money Smart Mom: Financially Fit Parenting, and Sink or Swim: Get Your Degree Without Drowning in Debt, Sarah’s work has also appeared in Today’s Parent magazine, the Calgary Herald, and other newspapers and magazines across Canada.
Shortly after her first daughter was born, Sarah opened her own business, an award-winning children’s consignment boutique in Airdrie, Alberta. But once daughters two and three came along, she closed her store to invest in a lakeside farmhouse on 40 acres in rural Nova Scotia. Sarah and her high school sweetheart husband plan to move east within the next ten years and semi-retire before the kids hit high school, made possible by the everyday money decisions they’re making now.
Whatever your financial goals, be it a vacation home, college savings for the kids, or getting out of debt and stop cringing at credit card statements, this blog is for you.
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @SarahDeveau
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