Kayla Buell – Ambassador

I’m such a huge Dave Ramsey fan it’s not even funny, but I can understand why you’d question this particular piece of advice. I see both sides of the issue, but I do think that psychologically there’s something to be said about paying off the smallest debt and watching as small debts get paid off and you start making progress. I don’t have much…[Read more]

I’ve never really thought of this, but I think you just gave me that encouragement I needed to pick a couple charities that I’m really passionate about and make it a point to contribute each year. Thanks for the reminder!

I have a cat, so luckily, he doesn’t really need to be walked or watched, but he does have a medical condition that costs us about $200/month and it’s really been affecting our budget. Pets are such a responsibility and yea, they can be pretty costly!

You go, girl! I think that’s super helpful! I officially started to put together my baby registry the other day and I love that now I know what I need for the baby and I can slowly start chipping away at that list.

What a good point! I used to work at a hospital and one of the things they used to focus on a lot is employee wellness initiatives. They certainly understood that the healthier their employees, the less costly their care, so healthy employees = a win-win for everyone.

I definitely got lucky early on in my career as my first employer (spent 6 years there) had a very good retirement package that matched a very good percentage of whatever I put in. It helped me get the ball rolling before the age of 30, which meant that compared to most people my age, I’m doing pretty well. Certainly a factor I’d consider the next…[Read more]

What an interesting concept! I’d never thought of that. Thank goodness I’m no longer in the dating scene, but even as a married couple, my hubby and I do try to stick to a date-night budget. We’ve got $150 to spend on one really nice date night a month or a couple less expensive options. But if we didn’t have that budget in place, going out would…[Read more]

I don’t have much insight, but I definitely feel your pain. I gave up my nice cushy corporate job with an employee match last year to move to a lower paying job in advertising at a small mom-and-pop shop. This year I haven’t been able to contribute to retirement since I took a $10k pay cut, but I’ll have to start working on a plan over the next…[Read more]

I love this! I think it makes so much sense to make yourself pay a “ME” bill first. Like you said, after that money’s been spent on paying yourself, you’ll adjust your lifestyle to make due with the spending money you have left. I’ve been doing this for years taking $50 out of each paycheck and sending it automatically to a tiny little checking…[Read more]

I’m 100% with you on that! And really, it’s one of the biggest arguments I have with my hubby. I would rather save up money to take a nice trip somewhere, where he’d rather spend on electronics and things like that. I love my home, but when I see how much STUFF I have around, it makes me sick. I don’t need anymore STUFF. Instead, I need to explore…[Read more]

Hahahaha (sorry, not laughing at you) just laughing at my future since I’m currently 5 months pregnant with our first little one lol! We went to look at nursery furniture this weekend and I wanted to cry. My hubby’s going to be the one who feels the impact of baby expenses the most because I’ll be cancelling a lot of his subscription services ASAP…[Read more]

OMG good for you, girl! Isn’t it crazy how those little $9.99/month fees add up? I have the Adobe suite for my blog that I pay $50 a month for, but that service I actually use. Over time, though, I’ve seen all these tiny charges add up to a lot more than I need to be spending. Thanks for the reminder!

At my old job, we used to all pitch in and buy lotto tickets. We’d joke about what the company would do if we actually won and we all quit our jobs lol. I haven’t bought a ticket in a while, but I like to think that if I ever won, I’d do a whole bunch of traveling and then find some good causes that I can contribute to. I feel like I’d be a great…[Read more]