Let the Savings Begin!

Last month I made my final student loan payment! I am only one month into my new savings plan (as opposed to the former debt repayment plan) but I wanted to report briefly on my progress. First there is the mental freedom which has been profound. Instead of being restricted in my choices by the debt ball & chain, I can think freely about the future. I am in the process of evaluating my work and income and am opening myself to possible changes. Additionally, with the money going into a savings account I can already see how quickly it will add up over the coming months. It gives me encouragement to save as I watch the money grow and can dream about choices in future spending as well.

Choice. How to earn, how to save and how to spend.....financial freedom gives choice. Don't underestimate this power.

My New Year's Resolutions

I have confessed this before, but I LOVE making new year's resolutions! This year is no exception as I look to our financial feedom on the horizon (see previous post). Taking stock of one's current financial situation is always a good idea, and equally important is looking ahead to where you want to be. You don't need to have an 8-hour family summit to determine this, but rather some time to think and focus are critical. Either by yourself or with your spouse, make time for finances. Here are just a few questions to get you started:
- What is your greatest financial challenge?
- What small step could you take this year towards a solution or a change in that area?
- Are you tracking your expenses?
- Do you know how much money takes to run your household annually?
- Where can you reduce your expenses in order to either make ends meet or increase your savings?
- What long term financial goal(s) do you have? Any that excite you and keep you moving forward?

My immediate goals include increasing my retirement contribution as soon as my school debt is paid off in late February. Another goal is to begin saving money like there is no tomorrow. This has been a constant challenge for me and my family as our household expenses are typically very close to our income. We will be able to put the same amount of money into our savings account that we previously used for debt repayment and begin to move forward instead of playing catch up. I have a specific dollar amount in mind for our savings account, and I look forward to meeting and perhaps even exceeding that goal. Finally, I would like to review my expenses for 2009 and tighten the belt where we've let it slide. I am guessing that will mean less meals out, which will be better for both our waistlines and our wallets. Any reduction in expenses is essentially a "raise" for us and will serve to increase the savings account. I look forward to hearing your resolutions/goals for the new year.

Financial Freedom

Financial Freedom, those words are like music to my ears and something I have been longing for since I graduated from grad school in 1996. Financial freedom means different things to different people. It might mean not having any debt, it might mean having only “good debt,” or it might mean having “extra” money each month that can be spent freely without guilt. Whatever your definition, have you been able to achieve it for you and your family?

My family and I have been on a 13-year-long journey to pay off all of our debt, aside from our mortgage. The debt in our well-educated household is comprised of $60,000 worth of student loans resulting in nearly $100,000 of principle + interest payments. The great news here is that persistence does pay off. In March 2010 my family will be free of the debt burden when final payments are made to our friends at the Direct Loan Servicing Center.

I Love Vacation!

Who doesn't love a great vacation?? Whether your idea of time away involves an outdoor adventure or leisurely site-seeing or lounging on the beach, this time is both valuable and necessary to recharge for the demands of daily life. Many of us don't make our vacations a priority for a variety of reasons, often due to cost. I want to share a few of my "secrets" as well as nudge you into considering just where your next vacation might take you. For me Living Large means having an annual vacation, outside of my city of residence, and I am willing to make some sacrifices throughout the rest of the year to make that a reality. In my family's first year of Living Large with Less we managed to save approximately $125/month on our groceries, this resulted in a $1500 savings for the year! We used this money for a trip to Kauai. Would you rather have name-brand groceries or a trip to Hawaii?

Free Babysitting!

The words "Free Babysitting" are strong enough to move almost any parent into action. Personally, I equate free babysitting with gold or some other precious commodity. Whether it is having the time for a date with my husband, a chance to go to the store by myself or simply getting to work, the need for childcare is the common denominator. In the early years of parenting I relied solely upon my parents and in-laws to provide care on an as-needed basis. Usually I tried to limit my calls for help to once/month for the truly necessary outings on the calendar. This worked fine for a few years but I find that as life has become busier (another child, more hours at work, and less time with the husband) that the need for childcare has increased. Where I live the going rate for childcare/babysitting is $13-15/hour for one and upwards of $15-20/hour for two kids. Sure, you can find a junior high student who will most likely charge less. But even at $10/hour, who can afford to stay out all night? Or get in more than one date night per month??

Giving myself a Break

Ok folks, it's confession time on ye ol' blog. As the originator of Living Large with Less I have to say that as the demands on my time have increased, (and this includes adding a child and returning to work) my ability to pursue all LLWL topics has diminished somewhat. The spirit is definitely willing, but the body sometimes craves sleep over processing receipts, balancing checkbooks, and being an efficient & wise shopper. I still love dispensing advice on the latest deals but I am having trouble with the day to day and even the month to month. I just needed to let you know that I am like so many of you, just trying to make it through the day with everyone safe and fed and hopefully keeping my employer satisfied too.

My encouragement to myself is this: Don't give up. Count each small victory as a success and when you have a free moment be sure to set one or two reasonable and attainable goals. My goal is to deal with the growing mountain of receipts, to input those and track them against our budget. This is something I used to pride myself on doing twice/month. Now I am lucky if it happens every other month! My second goal is to make a plan for where our "extra" income will be directed. I was fortunate enough this summer to pick up some additional hours and I don't simply want the extra money to vanish. I would like to be intentional about some savings and debt reduction, as well as a little bit for something fun. It's a new day and we can all move forward with grace and dignity no matter what happened the last few weeks/months etc of unattended finances.

Me and Gerber (as in Baby Food)

Most of you know that we have an infant in our house, Garrett is now 8 months old and true a delight. Today's post is about baby food, a topic I was a bit rusty on until recently when Garrett entered the world of solids. When my older son Lukas was a baby I happily bought all of his baby food and kept Gerber afloat. Unlike some of my friends I did NOT have visions of homemade baby food. I was happy someone else (Gerber) did the hard work and all I had to do was choose between sweet potatoes or squash. Fast forward nearly 7 years, with Living Large with Less as my middle name, I have reconsidered my stance.

A friend gave me a book on making baby food which was a beautiful book with lots of pictures and super simple recipes. My summary of the book: cook vegetables and put in blender with a little of the cooking liquid. And needless to say, I have been going to town making baby food for Garrett. Once or twice I have consulted my own Betty Crocker cookbook for reminders on how long some vegetables need to cook, but other than that it has been an easy road. The cost was a primary driver as Garrett began eating more than one 2.5 ounce container of food per day. Gerber charges anywhere from 12-25 cents per ounce, depending upon the food, where you purchase it and whether or not it is organic. It doesn't sound like a lot of money but when I can make my own baby food for about 4 cents/ounce, the savings start to add up. In addition to the cost, I can also control the quality of the ingredients as well as use my own creativity in making "meals" for him. Currently Garrett eats a lot of the same foods that we do: soups, pasta dishes, lentils, rice & beans and other ingredients. Once Garrett starts eating non-blender food, his palate should be similar to the rest of the family's as that is what he has already been eating. When I cook a vegetable for him I make enough to fill several empty 4 oz. Gerber baby food containers. (Yes, I did buy some Gerber product and now I re-use the empty containers). I have found that making the food doesn't take a lot of time, is easy, fulfilling for all involved AND it saves me money. If you have an infant my encouragement to you is that you give it a try. You may surprise yourself as I did.