In January of this year however, we sat down together and decided that enough was enough. We have some very big and ambitious goals, but to complete them we desperately needed to get control of our financial life. We needed a complete re-haul, and that’s exactly what we did. I’m happy to say that in just 5 months, my husband and I worked together to bring his credit score up from 669, all the way to 705. Here’s how we did it:

1. Acknowledge the Problem(s)

If you’re anything like we were, you might be in a little bit of denial. My husband’s salary seemed like it should have been enough for our family of three to live comfortably but we were consistently having issues paying the bills. For example, it was not an uncommon occurrence to have a water shut-off notice left for us on our front door. Finally, we sat down together and figured out that we were spending a lot more on stuff that we didn’t need, and we didn’t even realize it. Just by sitting down, facing our fears, and admitting to ourselves that there might be a problem that we could fix ourselves, we actually helped relieve all of that crippling anxiety that had built up for so long.

2. Draft a plan

• Write out a plan

I’m a very visual person. I’m also a little old-school. If I have an idea, I put it on paper. I then put the paper on the wall in a high traffic area, where I’m sure to see it smack in my face every day. In this case, we put it in our kitchen. Initially, we wrote up a 3 month plan deciding exactly where every dime was going to go and when. After month 2, we wrote up a 12-month plan. Your plan may end up looking different than ours, and that’s okay. The point is that you have one.

• Keep (at least) 2 Checking Accounts and 1 Savings Account

At some point along the way, I figured out that it’s a good idea to have more than one checking account. Keep one account for bill payments and one account for  your own spending. You should also keep a savings account (preferably a high-yield one). Truthfully there is no limit to how many accounts you can have. One bank or credit union might limit you to 10, but then you can open more at another institution as well. Regardless, in my opinion you need those three accounts minimum. 

• Create a budget

Budget, budget, budget! This is something you absolutely have to do. Even hourly workers like my husband can do this. Figure out the minimum amount you might take home each week. If your pay period is bi-weekly, do the math and divide everything by two. It’s easiest to plan weekly instead of bi-weekly or monthly. Always work off of minimums. It’s always better to underestimate than it is to overestimate.

• Cancel (almost) all subscriptions

Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Prime Video? Pick one and cancel all the rest. You really don’t need them. The same goes for any other apps, games, and subscription boxes you might have. Every single subscription that you get rid of is more money in your pocket…or more money to pay off credit card debt.

• Pay your bills first

Bills are required. Give them priority and everything will feel painless. No more anxiety either!

• Only shop once a week….with a list & a gift card

It took awhile for my husband to get on board with this one, but now that he has he loves it. It’s easy to spend too much if you go to the grocery store without a list. It’s even easier to spend even more if you go to the grocery store more than once a week. As it turns out, Grandma’s once-a-week grocery trip habit is the money saving answer we’ve been looking for. Always shop with a list and don’t buy anything that isn’t on the list—you don’t need it. If you want to take it up a notch, buy a grocery store gift card and use that to do your shopping. It won’t be possible to overspend if you don’t use a debit or credit card.

• All extra money goes towards debt payoff

After all that, you might find you have some extra moolah lying around. You can do one of two things with it. You can either save it, or use it to pay off your debt. If your goal is to increase your credit score, you should choose the latter. Your total debt usage is the largest factor in determining your FICO score. So, paying your debt down will increase your score the fastest. You’ll also pay less in annual interest too—more money in your pocket.

3. Implement the plan & stick with it

Step 3? It’s simple and sweet but often the hardest: STICK TO THE PLAN.

I’ll be honest with you. You’ll never be able to stick to the plan 100% of the time. But try your best and when you do find yourself off-course, refer to the plan to navigate yourself back on-track. If you can do that, you’ll reach your goal. I promise.

When my son turned 4, I did the math. Over the years we’d managed to pile just around $3,000 for his “college fund” into a high-yield savings account with a popular online brokerage. But even after increasing our savings rate to $60 per month, he just wouldn’t have enough for school in 14 years. Even if we increased it to $100 or $200 a month, it still wouldn’t be enough. There had to be something that we could do. So, I began looking into the stock market. 

It was basically a whole different world to me. There are about a million different strategies that you can use, while working with about a million different companies. Since my goal was to save for my son’s potential future college tuition, a 529 college savings plan seemed to appeal to me.

Tax advantaged

Haven’t heard of it? Neither had I. In fact, they’re fairly new. The 529 savings plan is an investment account that is marketed to parents, guardians, and non-minor loved ones such as grandparents and meant to save money for educational expenses. On the surface, it’s very appealing. It’s number one feature? Pay no taxes on gains used for educational purposes.

Truthfully, if you are 100% certain that your toddler will grow up and want to go to college, then this is the plan for you. 

Penalties

What if , however, you’re like me and decide that you’re not psychic. What if you don’t know if your son will actually want to go to college? What happens then? Well, you’re shit out of luck on the one. 

I originally thought that I’d just have to pay taxes on the gains not used for educational purposes. That seems logical, right? WRONG. As it turns out, if little “Timmy” grows up and wants to use his money to open a small business or invest in real estate rental properties, then not only will federal, state and local taxes have to be paid on the gains in a 529 account, but a 10% penalty fee will also be levied against the gains. To me, that’s not worth it.

Really Not Worth It

I’m a planner by nature. I’m also an investor. Investing always involves some level of uncertainty—a gamble if you will. To be honest, the chances that little “Timmy” doesn’t want to go to school are just far too high. For that reason, investing in a 529 Plan would be a very poor investment vehicle for us. We would much rather open a traditional investment account with our brokerage. That way we just end up paying the standard taxes instead of an extra 10% penalty on top of those. That way little Timmy can use his money however he likes and we don’t lose a huge chunk of change if he decides to steer clear from university.

Easter is approaching fast and my 4 year old son is exhausted from all the coloring pages he’s been decorating to help us remain entertained during our “stay at home” order here in Washington State.

In order to switch things up, I decided create an activity page for him. Sure enough, he was very interested. He already knew what a “paint by number” was so when he saw this he got excited. I was excited knowing that I wouldn’t have to clean up a paint mess!

“Easter Chick” Color by Number — Download Here (.PDF)

$11,930

That’s a lot of money.

I would even go so far as to say that at one time in my life, it’s more than I thought I would have ever seen. I turned 18 before the “Great Recession” hit. (Does it bother anyone else to call it that?) Anyway, back then it was easy to get a credit card. Fill out the paper, you’ll get one in a week! No history necessary! At least, that’s what Capital One did for me.

Flash forward to January 1st, 2020, and my husband and I are racked with debt. $279k of various kinds that is. Like many Americans, our credit cards were indeed maxed out while still living paycheck to paycheck. A few days later, we decided enough was enough. We didn’t have to live like that anymore but for things to get better we had to start making major changes. I’m not going to lie. It isn’t easy. Everyone’s situation is different. This may take much longer for some people but everyone CAN do it.

“Live below your means”—it’s a common lesson you hear. So common in fact, that people think it’s a bunch a BS. They don’t believe it anymore and they will come up with every reason in the world as to why they can’t do it. Well, I’ve got news for any of you that think that. As it turns out, living below your means is the only way to start saving money and knocking out that debt.

For some people that may mean finding a higher paying job. It might also mean cutting back on eating out, while for others it might mean getting rid of your subscription boxes, or—God forbid—cutting ties with Netflix. For my husband and I? It was a little bit of everything. First to go? Hulu, Disney+, Netflix. Second? My Limelife Box (Sorry girl!) and hubby’s xbox live subscription. After that, we cut out ALL of the takeout food. That alone works wonders, I swear!

Something else you may want to look at as a big cost-saver? Moving. How much space do you really need to live? Can you downsize? 6 months ago my husband and I moved into a smaller home with a lower cost of living. If you can do this, do it. It’s worth it in the long run.

And finally, we cut down on our utility usage. And by “we”, I mean me. My husband actually gave me a lot of shit for the first two months on this one. On the first month, I saved $10—he said it wasn’t worth it and laughed. I told him I could do better, and I did. Second month’s bill? Down $40. He didn’t laugh then.

All of this though, it’s only the first step, “Live below your means“. There is more to it than that. Once we had cut down our costs as much as we could, then we started budgeting. Budgeting, the second step, was also essential to getting our finances under control.

Paying Off $11,930 of Debt in 3 Months: Part 2 (Coming Soon)

Easter is on it’s way. Plan ahead and print off these free coloring pages for your kiddos. You can even pair these with some coloring crayons as an easter basket stuffer.

All coloring pages are in a .PDF file format.

“Bunny” Coloring Page — Download Here

“Hoppy Easter” Coloring Page — Download Here

“How Many Eggs” Easter Basket Coloring Page — Download Here

“Easter Chick” Color By Number — Download Here

When the World Falls Down. I watched Labyrinth only two weeks ago with my son for the first time. Although he loved it—as do I—I find it almost a strange coincidence that I’m in the position to be writing this article at this moment.

You see, back in 2016 my world fell down. Some people might find that silly. Some people might totally relate. Some people might never even share a similar experience, in which case, congrats. Of course by my “world” I don’t mean that some bad physical event happened to me. I didn’t lose my house, it wasn’t the death of a loved one. No, it was worse. By “my world”, I mean that every strong belief that I had held, nearly every form of trust I’d created, almost every “truth” of mine was completely eradicated. Having those foundations of my very being unwillingly eliminated was the most devastating thing that has ever happened to me.

In high school, the english comp curriculum often includes some type of “coming of age” unit. My school was no exception. Yet, as much as they covered stories of leaving the nest or becoming independent of one’s parental figures, I never really considered that coming of age would actually entail much of anything else. But, in my early twenties, I quickly figured out just as my friends did that the adults in our families didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They were just winging it. Just like everybody else. As frightening as that realization was at the time, it also had a calming effect. It put us on a level playing field. I still had respect for the adults in my life, but no, mother doesn’t always know best.

I thought that was it, but 26 had another plan.

Although my parents were just winging it, they did instill in me a firm moral compass.

• Give, even if you have nothing
• Love, unconditionally
• Never Steal
• Always be honest. Lies are lies, plain and simple—even the “small” ones.
• Family is the most important. Always be there for them and they will always be there for you.

As it turns out family is not always there. My family showed their true colors in 2016. I won’t go into anything too specific, but I got into a fight with a person. It was someone I had grown up respecting my entire life. I had created a false image of who I thought this person was, and instilled that as truth within my own belief system. When reality hit and I was old enough to see the actual truth—the habitual lying, the theft, the embezzlement, amongst other things—I didn’t hesitate to call them out on it. Having the firm moral belief system that I did, that didn’t mesh at all with me. I made the decision to distance myself from them. I figured I’d still be civil with them in a forced social situation, but I wasn’t going to call them up on the phone as if they were my best friend anymore. I thought that was reasonable, though my family didn’t like that. Not one bit.

No, instead I was essentially disowned and I wasn’t allowed back in the family until I agreed to be BFF’s with this person that had betrayed my heart in every way possible. I wasn’t allowed at family functions. No birthday parties, no holidays. They’d say it was me that made that “choice“. But since when is an ultimatum a choice? Since when do families dole out ultimatums? Since when do families disown each other for trying to do the right thing? Since when do families even disown anyone at all? Since when am I not allowed to have free will?

Six months that went on. I can’t remember why they said I could finally come to a family function, but I do remember feeling it had a lot more to do with them wanting to see my infant son than it had to do with actually reconciling with me. I couldn’t help but feel like I did the whole time— it was only about what they wanted for themselves, it wasn’t about reconciliation. At this point, I’d like to make clear, not all of my family was active in this behavior. At least not that I’m aware. Some remained silent in the background. But, they didn’t object to any of this either. I assume, the young ones had no idea what was going on. They were collateral damage caused by a selfish ultimatum. To them I was just some ghost who didn’t show up to their parties anymore. It’s a shame really. They were never meant for this. Nobody else was either. The issue was supposed to stay between just that other person and I, but, people in general have a way of involving themselves in others’ private matters—so there we were.

When you take a china plate and smash it on the floor, you can pick up the pieces and glue them back together, but even then it will never be the same. There will always be cracks—marks of heartache left behind that will never dissipate. Because of this I believe, unbeknownst to many of them, that we have permanently fractured relationships. Because of this I know that they will not always be there. Because of this, I know where their true loyalties lie. Their loyalties lie with themselves. In reality that’s to be expected of course—that is human nature. I was the fool to believe what’d I’d been taught otherwise.

I felt like I’d lost everything. I’d felt like I’d lost the entire life I’d once known—all because of my belief in a fictional “story” that I’d made up for myself. I’ve never felt my heartbreak as badly as the way it did in 2016, and I hope I never have to feel anything like that again. Not that you even can once it’s all lost anyway.

I’d felt alone. I felt more alone than I’d ever felt. I’d lost the entire network of support that I had believed I’d been blessed with my whole life, but it was never actually there to begin with. I may have lost my family as I thought I’d known it but I still had people that I could count on. I still had people in my life that shared my moral compass. I still had people in my life that didn’t put themselves before others. I still had other people in my life that were always honest with me. I still had people that wouldn’t try to take my freedom of choice away. I still had people in my life that would never disown me for their own selfish reasons. Those people were there for me when I needed it most, and while they couldn’t catch me from falling, they helped lessen the blow.

I’m writing this now because old wounds have been opened and new lacerations have come to light. I see history repeating itself. Fresh fractures in other’s lives. Young ones finally seeing the reality that, maybe, those you “loved'” never really loved you anyway. Maybe you were just there to meet their needs, be it some physical task or an emotional requirement. Does it matter either way? What ever it was, it’s not unconditional love.

My world fell down when I figured out how alone I really was.

My world fell down when I figured out that I hadn’t had anything I’d thought I’d had all along.

Nowadays I choose the people I trust much more wisely. Now I understand what true family is.

Homeschooling. It’s brand new territory for me. I was never home schooled and I have no experience with it whatsoever at all. Sure, I dabbled in it this last summer because I was worried about my 3 year old son’s language development. I wanted him to be prepared for preschool. I didn’t want him to be considered “behind” in his class and I paid $85 + tax to ensure that.

Yes, I fell for some of those ads you might have seen floating around on the internet. You know the ones with the big curriculum set and early learning book sets to boot. Several companies offer similar sets like that and, no, I don’t think they’re bad. I actually think they are an invaluable resource. However, had I done my research —even just a little bit— I think I could have saved a big chunk of moolah.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, I’ve had to once again turn to homeschooling for my little man. As it turns out Pre-K home schooling just isn’t that hard. Almost anybody can do it and it doesn’t take 6-7 hours in a classroom either. 3-5 year olds are so curious in nature that they’ll most likely soak up anything you are willing to teach them. ABCs? Check. Numbers? Check. Arts & Crafts? Check.

Still unsure of yourself? Here are some more specific ideas. These are things that I’ve tested and found successful for my son in the three weeks he has been home from school during the outbreak:

• Coloring Sheets — You don’t need a printer for this either. You can draw a picture with a crayon and then have them color it after. Little man LOVES this.
• Gardening — Little man is new to gardening so he finds it FASCINATING. He helps me weed the garden bed, aerate the soil, *watches* me prune, and helps me plant seeds and bulbs. He does this all while asking questions and learning about how things grow.
• Baking — We don’t do this everyday, even if little man wants us to. On “treat days” I might bake cookies or a loaf of banana bread, and little man helps me pour in the ingredients.
• Letter/Name Writing Practice — Again, all you need is a blank piece of paper. Write a few letters out and try to have them trace and/or copy them.

Basically, if you can think of anything that might be a little bit of fun for your preschooler, it’s probably a learning experience too. However, if you’re looking for something a little less basic and don’t mind spending a few bucks, here are a few of our favorite resources for pre-k home learning:

1. Starfall.com — Starfall is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that I’d never heard of before the COVID-19 outbreak. It came highly recommended by our school district as a home learning resource. They’ve been around since to 2002 and their site looks like it too, but don’t be fooled! There is a reason Starfall takes the #1 spot on our list. Their sole purpose is to provide low-cost educational development to families, and their online learning platform reflects that. The games may look old-fashioned, but they actually do teach. At 4 years old, little man has already tackled addition and subtraction because of Starfall. Bonus: Starfall.com has free worksheets for you to print out and some are customizable. Starfall offers partial access to their programs for free and offers a $35 tax deductable annual home membership for full access.

2. ABCMouse.com — Chances are you’ve already heard about ABC Mouse. They’ve been around at least since I was in middle school, if not longer. They’ve also been running commercial TV ads just as long too. Their sole purpose? To make money. ABC Mouse easily costs twice as much as Starfall , but sometimes you can get a good deal on your first month when you sign up. With that being said, ABC mouse touts an award winning curriculum and while that may be the case—in my experience—there is a lot less learning that is going on. Don’t get me wrong, my son LOVES ABC Mouse. However, we’ve had a membership for 2 years and I can say that for his age group, my son has not learned anything scholarly. He has instead had a lot of practice playing games, practice using a computer mouse, and practice problem solving. So that really does count for something.

3. Hooked On Phonics — This isn’t your momma’s hooked on phonics. Yes, they’re still around. However, instead of infomercials offering an enormous and very expensive kit of books, DVDs, and workbooks; they have restructured their format and pricing options. Presently, Hooked on Phonics offers a smaller, monthly delivery of books, workbooks and access to digital learning content via their app. The digital learning content can be accessed via tablet, smart phone, or on your desktop computer or laptop. At the time of writing this article, you may sign up for Hooked on Phonics and receive your first month for just $1, and after that it’s just $12.99 per month.  

4. Learning Dynamics — This is the one. Yep. This is the one that I fell for. They targeted me with their Facebook advertising, and I repeatedly saw their funny, over the top mom life ads. Throw in a little “mom guilt”, and they struck gold. Do I regret it? No. As simple as the curriculum is, I think it is something that my family and I truly needed. Learning dynamics offers a program that includes a workbook, book set, curriculum guide, sing along songs, and rewards. Learning dynamics key motto is that you’ll have your child reading in 4 weeks. Even their web address is 4weekstoread.com. But don’t misunderstand that they mean that your 3 or 4 year old will be reading chapter books by the end of four weeks. No, at the end of 4 weeks, your child will have begun to practice the basic foundations of reading. They should be able to start recognizing the letters and begin to blend their sounds together to create small words. Will this be the case for every child? No. At 3 years old, my son really struggled with the idea of blending. He did however excel at memorizing which letters made which sounds. We decided to take a break from it for a little while as we believe he just needed to be a little bit older. You wouldn’t believe how much of a difference 6 months can make in the capacity of learning for a young child. Now that we’re homeschooling again during this outbreak we’re taking it up again—we’re both excited. At the time of my original purchase, the cost was $15 off the regular price of $99.99. A few days after I purchased, it was $30 off. I wasn’t exactly happy about that, but it is what it is. Now, currently they have their price set at 30% off which translates to $69.99. The motto of the story? If you care about saving a few bucks, be careful on this one! They seem to change the prices all the time!

Originally Published on March 24th, 2020

Growing up I’ve always been surrounded by people. I’ve always had a large family, and while I may not have had a ton of friends, I sure did have them. My friends growing up were arguably the biggest influence on the person that I am today. They gave me a view of the world different from my mother, different from my father, and different than my siblings. Thinking back, I’ve had many friends but, only a few I considered really close. Even fewer I’m still in contact with today.

Today as I’m writing this, almost nearing 30 years old (yikes!), I am acknowledging a shift in the dynamics. Some things seemed so solid, so set in stone. I’m here to tell you that nothing is ever written in stone and even if it is? Over time and through hard weather, even stone can become defaced.

Such is the way of some of my truest friends. Once headstrong and fierce—true fighters they were! They were always there for me. They were always there for everybody. They knew in their deepest heart of hearts that anything is possible and that we just need to find the way.

“Fuck it”, I can hear my best friend say. Screw the haters, go your own way.

But that was then and this is now.

15 years and a heavy dose of reality is enough to break even the most headstrong. Death. Divorce. Illness. These are just a few of the hardships that I’ve seen my friends suffer. These events shook them to their core. These events changed the very person that they are.

No longer are they headstrong—they are compliant.

No longer are they confident—they are meek.

No longer are they optimistic—they are pessimists.

Fundamentally, they are not the same.

I hope—dare I say pray?—that my friends can overcome these hard times.

As someone who was there. I remember them as they were and it breaks my heart to see them as they are now. I miss that fire that they had—the one that I never thought in a million years would burn out. I miss that anything was possible. I miss the champion fighter that they were.

Fuck it.

I miss you.

Easter is coming up, so it’s time to get started on some decorations. This is a pretty easy (10 minutes or less) pattern for an Easter egg applique. It’s going to be part of a larger project that I’m working on, but this pattern is great to use for any project idea that you have too.

– Tools – 

• 5 mm “H” Crochet Hook (I use Susan Bates Crystalites. They are a nice cost efficient choice.)
• Worsted weight yarn (My favorite go-to is Caron Simply Soft. It really, truly is super-soft.)
• Embroidery floss in a contrasting color or extra yarn
• Scissors
• Yarn Needle
• Embroidery Needle

– Pattern Abbreviations –

*If you need help, click on the abbreviations for a helpful instructional video on each type of stitch. 

CH = Chain

Sl St = Slip Stitch

SC = Single Crochet

DC = Double Crochet

TC = Triple Crochet

 – Egg Base –

Row 1: Create magic ring, CH 3, and DC 12 into the magic ring, pull to tighten. Sl St 1 into the top of the original chain that you created.

Row 2: CH 3, DC twice into each stitch. Sl St 1 into the top of your row 2 chain to complete this round.

Row 3: Ch 2, DC 2, TC, DC 2, SC, Sl St 1 into row 2. Next, Bind off and weave in ends.

– Zigzag / Stripe Detail – 

With the embroidery thread or extra yarn, stitch a zigzag or striped pattern near the top of the narrow end of your crochet egg. When finished, secure and bind off.

Don’t forget to show me all of your cool crafting! I love to see your work!

 Tag @raymgirl on Instagram and Facebook!  

Unpopular opinion: Healthy IS in fact cheap.

I don’t know exactly why but somewhere along the way, collectively our society began to regurgitate the biggest contributing myth to our rising health crisis:

“Eating healthy is too expensive.“

Well, I’m calling bullshit. I actually have called bullshit on this, time and time again. Yet for some reason my friends, family, and neighbors still tell me that I’m wrong. It doesn’t matter that I am able to feed my family of three on a $70 budget every week. It doesn’t matter that I have the receipts to prove it. I’m wrong and they’re right, and that’s all there is to it—according to their justifications anyway. See, I’ve finally landed on the idea that most people who deny the very real evidence that suggests that they can eat healthy unprocessed foods on the cheap, are actually trying to protect themselves from having to change their lifestyle addiction—a story for another time.

The truth though…

You can eat healthy.

You can be healthy.

And, it’s also much MUCH cheaper to do so.

Different people define “healthy” differently. But for the sake of sanity in this post I’m not talking about organic vs. non organic or non-gmo vs. gmo. Today I’m keeping it simple. Today it’s salads vs. burgers and fries—highly processed foods vs. minimally processed foods.

Conventional wisdom tells us that those dollar menu items at your favorite fast food restaurant are “cheap”. Sure, that may be true in comparison to the numbered meals on the same menu or even menus of rival restaurants, but in reality those meals are expensive. Somewhere along the way our generation forgot that convenience comes with a price. EVERY meal that is prepared by an employee and sold to you directly for immediate consumption is costs more than it would if you were to make it yourself. You’re paying for labor, you’re paying for marketing, ads, and TV commercials, you’re paying the salary and bonuses of top CEOs and board members. Bear with me—I know that a lot to put on a $1.29 chicken sandwich, but it’s the truth.

More of the truth? It’s still cheaper to buy fresh foods at a grocery store and prepare them yourself. On our journey to frugality, my husband and I had to change how we viewed our money and how we budgeted for our basic needs. Part of that was looking at the bigger picture. We’re talking looking at our annual spending not just our weekly or daily spending, and our price per meal not just the price of each item we purchase. When you start changing the way you look at your budget and spending you start to notice that things that seem very small on a weekly basis add up to BIG changes in your annual budget.

For example, before we cracked down on our spending we felt like we would never catch up on our bills. So, knowing that my husband drove to the Jack in the Box every morning and spent just under $8 a day on a breakfast burrito meal, I asked him to stop.

8 x 5 = 40 Dollars per week
40 x 52 = 2080 Dollars per year

Yes, based on a 52 week year, my husband was spending over $2000 a year on his workday breakfasts alone. I know those aren’t the numbers for a $1.29 sandwich, but this was a real example from our life. Want another?

My husband and I used to eat out about 4 times a week for dinner. The average spend? $30.

30 x 4 = 120 Dollars per week
120 x 52 = 6240 Dollars per year

My husband and I were spending over $6000 per year on dinners out. A number like that? That was the down payment for our first house. Would you forgo a few dinners to save for your own home? I would. I am.

Still curious about those smaller numbers?

1.29 x 3 = 3.87 (cost of sandwich x 3 meals per day = daily cost)
3.87 x 7 = 27.09 (daily cost x 7 days = weekly cost)
27.09 x 52 = 1408.68 (weekly cost x 52 weeks = annual cost)

.50 x 3 = 1.50  (cost per unprocessed meal at home x 3 meals per day = daily cost) 
1.50 x 7 = 10.5  (daily cost x 7 days = weekly cost) 
10.5 x 52 = 546  (weekly cost x 52 weeks = annual cost) 

As you can see, the potential to eat at home can save you A LOT. I know some of you reading this will not believe me that a .50 meal is possible to cook at home, but it is and i’m not talking about a ramen cup either. In fact, depending on what you’re eating, I’d bet you’d be able to get a low as .30 if you were determined enough. If done right, fresh fruits and vegetables—which should make up most of your diet anyway— are cheaper than dry pasta or boxed dinners, or any other food you grew up being taught was “cheap”, with few exceptions.

I’m not saying never eat spaghetti, but I am saying gravitate towards fresh and you will almost certainly see a drop in spending. Taper back on your meat consumption, keep it within guidelines—even use that old size of your palm trick if you must—and you will almost certainly see a drop in spending. Maybe even a drop in your waistline. I dare you to try it. I did and I couldn’t be happier with the results.