Going from one kid to three kids really sent us throw a whirlwind.
Not only mentally but financially too. I had a ton of plans prepping for baby #2. But when we found out that I was having twins, all plans went out the door. I wasn’t going to be able to work the way I did; childcare would have been insane. Looking back, we got such little sleep I would have been so burnt out to work more than the two days I picked back up (I worked 4-5 days when it was just Sammy).
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I owe most of my mind-shift change to A Minimalist Home, by Joshua Becker. I read his first book The More of Less and knew I needed to read his next.
Although I had already decluttered my physical space, I still wanted to read it. A key point I took from his book is that your home should be a space you want to escape to, not escape from. Many times after having the twins, I just wanted to escape our home because I was either getting cabin fever with the three all day (my husband worked 10-12 hour days) or just couldn’t stand the clutter of kids toys.
But when we moved to our house, I started decluttering even more.I realized that the physical space really does impact the mind.
No longer do I rush to get out of the house or go to the mall just to roam. I’ve created a space I enjoying relaxing in. We have a nice backyard and I have been taking advantage of it as much as I can when I am off from work.
It also made me realize I wanted to put more focus on my passion for fitness. I worked on getting clients back and my bootcamp program.
With more clients and work, comes more income. I wanted to figure out where money should go, but more importantly, start a savings and an emergency fund for our family.
Our savings was wiped clean after buying our house and we acquired a ton of credit card debt plus debt we already had. I wanted to start making a plan to get out of debt but also still enjoy life.Here’s SEVEN things we have done over the past few months:
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Cut down on take out: We were eating out 3 times a week (usually no more than $15 each time, but still) and we nixed it to one.
- We do a paid activity twice a month (instead of 3-4) with kids. This includes the trampoline park or going to an indoor park.
- We were gifted a membership to a kids place during Christmas that has music classes (if you have kids ask for experiences vs. gifts).
- The summer does make it easier for activities such as the park or the farm. Check out my post on cheap/ free activities for toddlers HERE.
- We buy more things in the supermarket: My hubs likes to get Redbulls at work. Instead of getting 2, he’ll gets one and brings an energy drink mix to work.
- Meal Prep: This pretty much goes with the one above, but I was going to Whole Foods 1-2 times a week and getting their coconut steel cut oatmeal.
- Even thought it was only $1.25 plus tax, I could buy a giant thing of oats for that price. I decided to just get all the fixings I enjoy and now I like my oatmeal way more than the Whole Foods one.
- I cut out Starbucks: I talk about this more in this post HERE. But simply put that saves me $30-$40 per month!
- I stopped buying items “just in case:” I used to stock up when things were on sale and have items in case one broke. But that just lead to more clutter. Truthfully I’d forget about what I bought half the time and would end up with even more items.
- Diapers and wipes are the only thing I may have extra but when I have less than a week of both, it makes it’s way on my grocery list.
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We started an online savings account: I have heard about Ally in the past as a great online bank and decided to open an account.
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You get charged to take out money, so that’s an incentive not too. Since it’s not attached to your regular bank account, out of sight, out of mind.
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We aren’t trying to deprive ourselves; we are still trying to enjoy life but also be a bit more mindful of our spending habits and become better at planning ahead.I have made the same income for the past 18 months, yet I find that I have more money now in the past few months then I did before. It’s the little spends (at least in my opinion) that really add up. 😉
I love the photo of your 3 kids infront of the TV. It is so cute that they just sit there, quietly engrossed on their cartoon, while I assume allowing you to take a much needed breather. I have a kid myself and I understand the high volume of energy that’s required to look after them. Keep it up and I hope to read about your success in time to come!
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Yes! I use TV time for cooking dinner 90% of the time. Sometimes if I am sick it may be mere but I try to limit it! 😊 Kids do take a lot of energy, but it is definitely worth it. ❤
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