How to Live On One Income: 5 Tips for Parents Who Want to Stay At Home

Author | April 6th, 2023 | Budgeting
Mom with two kids and a dog in the forest. Can we live on one income?

If you’ve ever wondered how to live on one income or whether your family can afford to do it or not, the following 5 email questions should help you get your answer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 1. One Income for a SAHM Wannabe2 2. Convincing Your Wife to Live on One Income3 3. Living on One Income When Illness Hits the Family4 4. Living on One Income after Bankruptcy5 5. Living on One Income, Drowning in Debt & No Fun6 One Income Wrap Up

1. One Income for a SAHM Wannabe

First I would like to say … Read more »

4 Places Where You Can File your Taxes for Free

Author | April 6th, 2023 | Budgeting, Free Stuff
A block wall with a sign that says "Pay Taxes Room 108."

Finding free tax help and filing your taxes doesn’t have to be expensive.

If you’re a lower-income family, just starting out after college, a senior, military or former military family, there are lots of options for getting your taxes filed for free or for almost nothing. We’re hoping that you’ll check out these three options and be able to save a boodle! We’ve personally used two of the three services, and Steve’s dad was a volunteer with the last one.

Filing your income tax return doesn’t have to be a taxing (or expensive) proposition

Filing taxes is an annual ritual that most of … Read more »

How Frugal Living Can Help You Hurdle Toward Early Retirement

Author | February 20th, 2024 | Budgeting, Debt Reduction
Frugal Living Helps You Hurdle Towards Early Retirement!

Can Frugal Living make a difference in how soon you retire or is it just a waste of time? We’re going to give you one example of the power of frugal living as it specifically pertains to how soon you can retire.

How Much Money Do You Need to Retire?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 How Much Money Do You Need to Retire?2 A Retirement Rule of Thumb3 Building Savings is a Huge Hurdle4 How to Clear the Savings Hurdle5 How Fast Can the Savings Add Up?6 Frugal Living Reduces Your Retirement Savings Goal!7 Cut Your … Read more »

10 Great Places to Buy Quality Used Cell Phones & Save

Author | April 2nd, 2024 | Utilities / Phone
Best Places to buy used cell phones samsung galaxy s8+ and iPhone 8

If you’re in the market to buy a used cell phone, try some of these sites to save a ton of money and get a quality phone.

To make your research easier, we’ve included pricing for a couple of the most popular used cell phones. We’ve also listed the number of phones each site had available at the time of publishing.

Our strategy was to focus on these two phones to get an accurate estimate of platforms that cell phones for less. Our research should apply to other makes and models of cell phones. 

In this article, we researched 8 different places where … Read more »

Once A Month Bulk Cooking to Make Easy Freezer Meals

Author | March 30th, 2023 | Groceries, Grocery--Cooking
Discover the Freedom that once-a-month cooking brings to your life

Have you heard of Once-A-Month Cooking—where you prepare a month’s worth of meals in one day?

How about Bulk Cooking where you prepare large batches of several meals that are divided and stored for later? 

Or lastly, freezer meals which are essentially the same as Once-A-Month and Bulk cooking, with all meals being stored in the freezer.

Do these ideas sound impossible or just too overwhelming? We’re talking about making meals super efficiently so that you can experience Cooking Freedom! 

Well, Annette felt completely overwhelmed with the idea of Once-A-Month cooking when Steve first mentioned it to her more than 30 years ago. But … Read more »

14 Cheap, Easy & Quick Snacks for Kids—Homemade & Store Bought

Author | March 27th, 2024 | Groceries, Kids & Money
12 inexpensive and healthy snacks for kids.

Are you looking for some more affordable or cheap snacks for kids? This list of 14 different easy-to-serve snack foods should do the trick. Some are homemade and others are store-bought, but all are inexpensive.

These snack options have been time-tested with our five kids and should do well for your family.

Do you ever feel like you’re feeding a bottomless pit?We’re talking about those kids or teens with “hollow legs.”

Remember when they were babies and we fed them every two hours?  Well, the two-hour feedings start all over again in the pre-teen and teen years.

You want to provide nutritious and healthy snacking … Read more »

Need a Key Copy Made Nearby? 21 Places to Get Duplicate Keys Made

Author | March 26th, 2024 | Housing, Car Auto
Places to get Keys Copied near you - inexpensive and quick.

Have you ever found yourself frantically searching for a ‘key copy near me’ or wondering where you can ‘get a key made near you’ after a stressful loss of keys? 

You’re not alone. We’ve been there—specifically, when we lost not one, but two auto key fobs for our Toyotas. 

The experience wasn’t just nerve-wracking; it was also unexpectedly expensive. 

In this guide, we’re diving deep into the world of key duplication, sharing over 30 places where you can quickly and affordably get duplicate keys made. 

From home and car keys to those elusive mailbox and locker keys, we’ve researched home stores, grocers, drug stores, … Read more »

Free Stickers! 190 Tested & Easy Ways to Get Stickers Mailed To You

Author | October 1st, 2024 | Free Stuff
A mac laptop with free stickers on it.

Are you looking for free stickers? Do you want name-brand stickers from companies you, or your kids love? We do!

At MoneySmartFamily we love free stuff. Especially free things that our kids love or that can be given as gifts.

We’ve researched hundreds of companies and created this easy-to-use list. We update it every few weeks to keep it current and to make sure all of the sites still offer free stickers. 

108 Companies with sticker request forms on site. (page 1)

28 places to send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) (page 2)

19 places with a … Read more »

34 of the Best Free Educational Websites for Kids

Author | March 20th, 2024 | Education, Free Stuff, Kids & Money
29 Free Educational Websites for Kids including science, history, reading, math, news, coding and more!

If you’re looking for great websites to enhance your child’s learning you’re going to love this list of the best free educational websites for kids.

It can sometimes be hard to find the ideal balance of fun and learning. The challenge might seem daunting, but have no fear the perfect learning website is out there.

Just check out this list of fun and information-filled sites to find the right website for you and your kids!

We’ve put this list into 7 different categories to make your search easier. See the table of contents for details.

A Directory of Free Educational Websites

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Read more »

How Long Should I Keep My Car? When Should I Buy a New One?

Author | March 19th, 2024 | Car Auto
How long Should I Keep My Car? - Should I Keep My Car or Sell It? 3 women pushing their black car next to a grassy field.

“How long should I keep my car?” is a question we are often asked. When things start breaking on a car many people think the only solution is to replace it with a new car. 

But is there a point in time when keeping your current vehicle becomes more expensive than selling it?

Making the decision to keep a car and repair it or sell it and buy another one is always tough. But if you follow our 3 step evaluation system, you’ll know the answer to whether it’s time to sell or keep your wheels.

A reader asked us, “How Long Should … Read more »

8 Easy Pets for Kids: Choose the Best Pet for your Family

Author | March 13th, 2024 | Pets
Pets for Kids: 8 Different choices for Your Family!

How do you choose the best pet for kids or your family? In this article, we’ll share our experiences and a list of 8 easy pets for kids and families.

An easy pet is one that doesn’t require constant attention or nurture. And doesn’t cost a lot of money to keep happy and healthy.

We’ll give you a realistic view of the cost to purchase and keep a pet. We’ll also talk about the time commitment required for each one.

Pet ownership in America is huge! There are approximately 70 million dogs and 80 million cats kept as pets.

Of this number, about 7.6 … Read more »

Amazing Ways to Save Money & Eat Healthier this Year (13 Tips)

Author | March 12th, 2024 | Medical / Health
Save money - Healthy living healthy eating

We’re always looking for easy ways to save money & eat healthier. And to be more aware of the nutritional value of the foods we buy and eat.

Here are 12 ways can we save money & eat healthier without going to extremes.

It’s a well-known fact that some of the most common New Year’s Resolutions are to lose weight and to get finances in order.

We’re hoping that this blog will inspire you on both fronts if you’ve made either of these resolutions this year. You can lose weight by eating healthier and you can eat healthier without spending a fortune! So let’s … Read more »

19 Affordable and Fun Spring Activities for Families

Author | March 7th, 2024 | Recreation/Fun
A list of inexpensive Spring recreation and fun ideas

Spring Activities – if you’re looking for fun spring activities for families this is the place. Spring is a time full of awesome and affordable recreational events. It’s the time for plants and trees to come back to life. And in many parts of the country families can be outside to enjoy the more temperate weather and outdoor activities.

If we just look ahead at the upcoming calendar & holidays there are plenty of opportunities for fun on the affordable side.

EVENTS AND SPRING ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EVENTS AND SPRING ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES2 SPRING ACTIVITIES For The … Read more »

How to Find the Best Thrift Stores Near Your Location and Online

Author | March 6th, 2024 | Clothes
Thrift Store Deals - How to Find them Near You! #ShopThriftStores #ThriftStoreDeals

Have you ever Googled, Thrift Stores Near Me? If you have, you know that there are treasures galore at prices that will make your friends roll their eyes.

If you haven’t asked this question, get ready, because we’re going to help you find the most awesome deals ever. There are thrift stores near you, no matter where you live.

What is your favorite way to answer the question, “I love that jacket, where did you get it?”

Some people would be forced to name a regular store with a high sticker price, but if you are anything like me then the answer is … Read more »

Family Teamwork: How to Accomplish More, Faster, Working Together

Author | March 5th, 2024 | Kids & Money
Family Teamwork - working together - sisters baking

Does your family work together as a team? We raised five kids and found that family teamwork helped us accomplish things faster. It also helped build our kids’ work-ethic and confidence.

Teaching kids the value of Family Teamwork has far-reaching effects. It translates into club activities, sports, jobs, church and eventually into their own families. 

In this article, we’ll share some tools and strategies that we used for more than 25 years as we raised and released our kids.

By the way, we didn’t do it perfectly. We had some stumbles, we had some failures, but overall, our kids learned that when we work … Read more »

Cash Balance Plan Pros & Cons for Early Retirement

Author | March 2nd, 2023 | Make Money
Cash Balance Plans Pros and cons - Early Retirement

If you haven’t heard about how a cash balance plan can help you sock away 10x more pre-tax dollars than a 401(k) or IRA – get ready to be empowered and informed.

A tax-saving strategy for high-income earners

Saving money on taxes is a game we all should be playing. One of the strategies of the millionaires among us is to pay their fair share of taxes but to leverage every possible legal loophole to pay less.

While we aren’t earning millions of dollars, our earnings from this blog and other ventures are growing. We also have several blogging friends who are earning … Read more »

Paycheck Mistake? Don’t Wait Get it Fixed Right Now!

Author | March 1st, 2024 | Budgeting, Make Money
Paycheck Problems? A red brick will with large white letters spelling out "Tax."

Did your employer make a mistake on your paycheck? Have you been shorted some money or do you have one of these other problems:

Not enough tax withheld?

Vacation time not correct?

Overtime not correct?

Hours missing?

It’s not fun finding a mistake on your paycheck. But with a little work, most of these types of problems can be overcome quickly.

We received this question from a Free Email Newsletter subscriber and thought you’d find it helpful.

Question about IRS Paycheck Withholding Shortfall

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Question about IRS Paycheck Withholding Shortfall2 MoneySmart Answer:3 8 Things to Do About A … Read more »

Top 25 Sites Like Craigslist: Alternatives for Buying or Selling FAST!

Author | February 29th, 2024 | Make Money, Crafts / Home Decor, Free Stuff, Shopping
Sites Like Craigslist. #SellUsedItems #SellSafelyCraigslist #FlipUsedItems #SellStuffMakeMoney

If you like buying and selling things online, you need to know about other sites like CraigsList. There are a growing number of websites that are Craigslist alternatives for listing items for sale, classified ads, freebies, and advertising services.

Craigslist offers great opportunities to buy and sell your stuff. Back in 1995 the platform started as a classified advertisements website and has remained one of the best ways to buy and sell things.

Although Craigslist may have been the first site to connect buyers and sellers in a community-centered way, it is no longer the only way that you can buy and … Read more »

Family Date Night Ideas That Are Creative, Fun and Cheap

Author | February 6th, 2024 | Recreation/Fun
Free & Frugal Recreation Ideas - Lovers Lane -

Are you looking for family date night ideas that are fun, but don’t cost an arm and a leg? Sometimes inexpensive Fun Recreation Ideas are hard to find.

These days it’s easy to spend a significant amount of money on date night or date day. Families often overspend their recreation budget, thinking they can’t cut these expenses and still have a good time.

But we challenge that notion. There are hundreds of ways to enjoy family time or a date night without dropping $100 to do it.

Consider what you’d pay for the following: a professional sporting event, a concert, a museum visit, … Read more »

A Written Budget: The Best Way to Build Financial Confidence

Author | February 1st, 2024 | Budgeting
Budget with Confidence. Green countryside with a bright rainbow reaching to the sky.

If you’re looking for the best way to build financial confidence, try setting up a written budget.

We’ve spent the last few weeks describing different spending plans or budget systems.

We’ve described several options for budgeting success and the amazing key to our budgeting success.

Today we’re sharing five benefits to having a written budget like we use. And yes, we do understand that a written budget may sound less tech-savvy than using phone apps or online budget systems.

But honestly, most budgeting apps aren’t as usable as our system and the online (web-based) systems are very difficult to set up.

Our written … Read more »

How to Freeze, Safely Thaw and Cook Frozen Meat

Author | January 31st, 2024 | Grocery--Freezer Tips
Great Tips for Freezing Meat!

Freezing meat bought on sale is a great way to save money at the grocery store. But if you don’t properly store and protect the meat, your savings can be wasted due to freezer burn. If you follow the steps your frozen meat will save you money and you’ll rarely be disappointed.

Reader Question about Freezing Meat

How do you freeze steak, and keep it from getting dry and tough? We recently purchased filet mignon from Costco, ate two of them (they were delicious) and froze the others. When we defrosted and cooked them, they were awful. Is there is a better way … Read more »

Expired Meat: How Long Is Meat Good For After Expiration Date?

Author | January 30th, 2024 | Groceries
Is Expired Meat Dangerous or a Deal?

Are you concerned about food expiration dates on meat? Want to see people question your sanity? Just mention that you often purchase expired meat or meat that is going out of code.

“Code” refers to the date placed by a grocer or manufacturer on a grocery item revealing its use-by, sell-by, or freeze-by date.

We did an interview on ABC’s 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas. When she saw a video clip of Steve selecting some discounted ham in a grocery store, she was puzzled.

She said, “You are picking up bargains on items most of us would avoid, like expiring meat.”

She continued, “Most … Read more »

Pay Off Your Mortgage Early – Mortgage Free in 9 years Calculator

Author | January 24th, 2024 | Housing, Budgeting
Small brown ranch house with green grass and a maroon car parked out front. Paid off mortgage in 9 years

One of the pinnacles of financial stability and security is to Pay off your mortgage early. Owning your home free and clear may seem like a fantasy. But if you follow the 5 steps we took, it can be your reality too.

Some people pay their home off in 30 years, others 15. But there are a group of people who simply hate having a mortgage pay it off quicker.

We paid our home off in 9 years.

Our efforts to pay down our mortgage debt started with just one dollar extra each month . . . but quickly grew to much more. … Read more »

How to Find Places with Free Wifi Nearby: Find Fastest Internet Speeds

Author | January 22nd, 2024 | Utilities / Phone, Free Stuff
How to get free internet from restaurants, coffee houses and retail stores.

If you’re looking for places with free wifi near you, we have lots of options. Or are you wondering where you can get the fastest wifi connections? There are more than 92,000 locations in the U.S. that provide free internet access.

We’ve created a list of coffee shops, retailers and other places that give you free internet access AND we’ve provided the speeds you can expect too.

Internet access can be your connection to the whole world. You may use it to stay connected to friends, manage your finances, take simple surveys for cash, or find a buyer for your … Read more »