My husband Daniel and I are about to celebrate our 13th anniversary. We got married before my junior year in college when we were 20 years old. We took turns working to put each other through college and our first baby was born when we were 23. We had three kids by the time I turned 27. As you can imagine…we've been working with a pretty tight budget since 2006. We’ve always had to be really … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Pursuing Your Dream When You Can’t Pursue Your Dream…Yet
I recently shared about the crazy life-changing adventure we’re going on next year. But I also want to address a few things that have come up in talking about it with you in the comments or social media about pursuing passions. There are different seasons to life. There are times when opportunity strikes and when it doesn’t. There are times when either the budget or your time cannot be … [Read more...]
Growing a Family on One Income: 7 Tips for Clothing Kids, Cheaply, in All Seasons
Give a warm welcome to Molly W of Molly Makes Do with this guest post in the "Growing a Family on One Income" series with some suggestions on how to keep the costs of clothing your family down when you have to deal with multiple seasons. Be sure to start by reading the first part of this series on spending less on clothes. In Iowa most people will tell you that we have Five Seasons. Summer, … [Read more...]
Growing a Family on One Income: Ideas for Spending Less on Clothes
(Growing a Family on One Income is an ongoing series at Carrots. Previous posts are about being a one-car family and fitting three car seats in a Camry.) New clothes are fun. If I had the cash to spare, I would spend way too much on clothes. But when you’re on a budget, this is a great area to make some sacrifices. When you’re expecting, it’s hugely tempting to go hog wild buying new baby clothes … [Read more...]
Can You Fit Three Car Seats in a Camry? Growing A Family on One Income: Part II
The answer is yes! Delaying purchasing a minivan is another way we’re trying to make it as a five-person family on one income. And after I mentioned our 3-car-seats-in-a-Camry system on the Carrots page on Facebook, some of you sent me emails asking how we did it. So here it goes! (Check out Part I of this series on being a one-car family and how we make it work.) While we were thrilled to … [Read more...]
Growing a Family on One Income: Part I, Being a One-Car Family
I get all riled up about claims that raising children costs millions. Could you spend a million dollars on a child? Sure. You can also spend over $100,000 on a Versailles-inspired Neiman Marcus chicken coop. But that would be unreasonable. Yes, kids aren’t cheap, but having a large family doesn’t have to be a financial impossibility. Granted, each family's situation is different and living off … [Read more...]
