budgeting Archives - Pennies into Pearls

February 2017 Family Budget Update

You know what was the one thing I always wished someone would say to me as I was trying to decipher the personal finance world? As we were trying to figure out how to get our family budget under control so we could get out of debt and work towards buying our first home!

“Come on in and take a look at our bank account!” Don’t you think that would be nice?

I always felt like if I could see the real numbers of a family in similar situations, it would be super helpful in setting our own family budget.

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

November 2016 One Income Family Budget Update

Figuring out a family budget can be super challenging, especially if you are just getting started.

The hardest part for our family when we were just getting started was learning that we need to continually be adjusting our budget to make it fit with our changing life.

This month our family budget is the perfect example of that. We made a few temporary changes based off of what we currently value the most.

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

A Shopaholic’s Guide to Becoming Debt Free – First Ever Book Club Party Announcement!

I have a fun idea for us to hang out!

What do you think about once a week, we get together, eat something super tasty, pretend like we don’t care how many calories we are devouring, and all the while we have some heavy (in a fun way!) girl talk going on!?

The chitchat will all be centered on a few chapters taken from the current book that we are obsessing over.

Doesn’t that sound super fun! I’m a lot excited about it! What a great way for us to better get to know each other?

Our first book is THE PERFECT read for someone who needs a heavy dose of shopaholic’s anonymous! It’s for someone whose desire to spend is borderline addiction.

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

Our One Income Budget Update September 2016

We used to be those people who say things like, “Yeah! I think we can afford that.” Then spend the money without another thought. Four days before payday, we would get the dreaded notice of Overdraft & Fees!!

This literally was happening to us more than once a month! Things are quite a bit different now!

What did we change? Well, it’s not complicated at all. It’s called a B-U-D-G-E-T. Don’t freak out! (I feel like I say this a lot! Haha!!)

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

Our One Income Family Budget Update | June 2016

What in the world happened to our family budget updates? Remember I used to be sharing these things every month? Yeah, sorry about that!

The complete honest truth is that I just forgot. Going forward, I don’t plan to share these every single month, but you are more likely to see a scenario of me sharing maybe every other month. Unless something important comes along, then I will share more frequent.

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

When You Suffer from Budget Burnout

There once was a day, a day before I really knew what a budget actually was, where I felt ready to slam-dunk my budget in the trashcan at the end of the month! I was SO over it! Sticking to a budget had become exhausting and I felt like I was living a very limited life. Have you ever felt like that?

Do you want to know the secret to avoiding budget burnout? When I say that I don’t get burnt out anymore, I am not lying! I want to share with you my secret so you can say the same thing!

The secret to avoiding budget burnout isn’t complicated and it’s actually going to make you very happy! The secret is to budget to have fun!

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

Real Life Family Finance Report – Month 2

I realize it is now the middle of December and I am just barely getting this out to you. Sorry about that! But, it is important to me to do this for two reasons.

One, keep myself accountable for staying on track with our budget and goal of preparing to buy a house in two years. The second reason is to help motivate you to live on a budget so your life isn’t consumed with financial stress! Doesn’t that sound nice?

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

Free Meal Planning Printable

Happy Monday!

Today is the last day of the month and the beginning of the last week of the of my current meal plan. Do you know what that means? It’s time to plan again!

If you want to cut your grocery bill in half then you need to read this article on how we only pay $400 a month on groceries for our family of four.

In that article I tell you all about how to set your monthly meal planning process, why I switched from a weekly meal plan to monthly, and how you starting monthly meal planning is going to SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!

How does that sound to you? Pretty nice, right?

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

3 Month Plan for Getting Your Family Finances on Track

Having a family is one of very most rewarding and fulfilling things we have in our lives. Family fills our memories with a lifetime of “firsts” and “the best” type moments. I really believe that there isn’t anything else that can bring more everlasting happiness then our families!

But that doesn’t mean if we have a family then we have everything set and we won’t ever have any challenges in our life. Not at all! One of the top causes of stress within a family is propelled by family finances.

Continue Reading →

By Brittany Cooper

Older Posts