The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. I used to not fully understand this saying, however, the farther I’ve gotten into this journey the more I’ve found this to be true. I believe that intentionality is contagious, and it spills over into everything that we do. When you start being intentional with one aspect of your life, you'll start a ripple effect with the rest of your life...almost like magic.
This might sound a little surprising, but my family actually got our start with Budgeting through Minimalism! I quickly learned that Minimalism spills into every aspect of your life. It’s about decluttering and simplifying your home, your calendar, your relationships, and even your budget! There are so many benefits to living a simplified clutter-free life, and gaining financial freedom is one of them!
Teaching your kids about personal finance isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially if you’ve made your own fair share of financial mistakes. Most schools don’t include budgeting + personal finance in their standard curriculum, so it’s up to us as parents of the next generation to educate them the best we can.
...but where do we start?
This week's guest, Alli Rosenblum, along with her co-author/best friend, Shelly Hawkins, have given us a great new resource, Not Another Money Statistic: Lessons We Wish We Learned in High School. This book is a MUST READ for any teenager, parent of a teenager, or honestly any beginning budgeter.
If you've ever felt like you're in over your head with your house, if you've ever felt like your monthly payment is too much, if you've ever felt like the cost of living in your current city is too high, or if you've ever felt like your home just doesn't align with your big vision...then this episode is for you! This week I'm talking about the ongoing debate in the financial world of Renting vs. Buying, and why we decided to rent instead of buying a home.
Time is such a precious thing, but there is one truth to it...you can't stop it! Time honestly doesn't care what you do, it's just going to keep ticking on. BUT we can use this to our advantage on our intentional living journey and be productive with the time that we have been given.
In this episode I'm going to share the lessons I learned from wasting so many years procrastinating and dragging my feet about getting on a budget, paying off our debt, and just overall being intentional with my life.
Who doesn't love a fun random Q+A session!? In celebration of my 30th birthday, I'm answering 30 questions from you! Some are silly + random and others are personal + full of wisdom.
Find out how my husband and I met, if we'll have any more kids, what I wanted to be when I grew up, what I'd buy if I won the lottery, and lots of other fun facts!
Has survival mode has become normal? When was the last time you were truly excited about the future, not fearful of it?
You keep trying to ignore that whispering voice telling you that there is a better way. You keep telling yourself that every "normal" family struggles...right!?! You say maybe you'll start next month...or maybe you'll just wait until the New Year.
But the whisper grows louder and louder...and it's growing to a point that it's becoming impossible to ignore. Something HAS to change friend! Never-ending survival mode is not what you and your precious family deserve!
Are you living the abundant life that you have always dreamed of?
If you answered no, then this episode is for you!
...but where do you start?
You start with your dreams...and in this episode I'll walk you through each step of creating your big vision and give you some specific questions to ask yourself.
I know that you have a big heart for your family and big dreams as well...BUT you also have a spending problem that is holding you back from achieving your goals!
In this episode I'm sharing 5 of my best tips for breaking your bad spending habits. I know that taking control of your spending is hard work and not something that will happen overnight...but now is the perfect time to start! With steady progress and giving yourself some grace over the next few months, you'll be breaking those old habits before you know it.
Have you ever used the phrase "oh well, I tried" after you failed at achieving a goal? I think we all have. In this episode I want to share with you the power of replacing "I'm trying to do it" with "I am going to do it". This subtle change in your wording can be the difference between quietly disclaimer-ing your way into a life that doesn't make you fulfilled or actually believing in yourself enough to succeed. I want you to be bold enough to believe in your success and learn how to either do something or don't...and how to stop just "trying".
In this episode I'm talking about how budgeting, minimalism, + intentional living can all lead you to an abundant life. However, the first step to achieving any goal is to shift your mindset. We have to learn how to think about the bigger picture and start to be intentional with every aspect of our lives. We have to break free from survival mode and learn how to feel worthy of a better life.
I'm sharing with you some examples of the scarcity mindset versus the abundance mindset, and how minimalism + budgeting can help you achieve true abundance in your own life.
For this first episode I wanted to share a little bit about myself, my family, and our journey to financial freedom + intentional living. About 4 years ago we were drowning in $490k of debt and living in complete survival mode. Our marriage was struggling, my depression was at its worst, and we had completely hit rock bottom. The steps my family took over the next few years led us to an abundant life full of freedom + positivity.
As a wife + homeschool mom I knew I had to help other families start living on the brighter side of life!
At first A Sunny Side Up Life was just a heart project for me, but now it has grown into a full blown movement for women from all over the world! Together we're taking steps to break free from survival mode, overcome depression, gain financial freedom, stay motivated, + focus on what matters most.
This might sound a little surprising, but my family actually got our start with Budgeting through Minimalism! I quickly learned that Minimalism spills into every aspect of your life. It’s about decluttering and simplifying your home, your calendar, your relationships, and even your budget! There are so many benefits to living a simplified clutter-free life, and gaining financial freedom is one of them!
I wanted to share a little recap of my 2017 year. I spent most of December resting + reflecting on the amazing year that my family + I had, so I wanted to share with you my goals from the past year, my reflections, lessons learned, + of course lots of photos of my adorable babies (#momlife ...gotta show off the kids, you understand right!?!).
My hope with sharing this little recap with you is to help motivate + inspire you to know how much good much can happen in one short year!
As we come to the end of 2017 I wanted to take a few minutes to share some of my favorite things that have helped me through the past year! I've included a few books that I've read, podcasts + courses that have helped me, personal development resources I've used, + a few random items that I fell in love with this year! I also wanted to shout out a few of my awesome Sunny Side Up Life Community ladies who run a business or a side hustle, as well as a few of my fellow Budgeting Bloggers! I hope that these resources are helpful to you on your own journey!
In my opinion, spending time together + having fun as a family is really the most important thing about the Holidays. The best part is that most of these family activities are either free or super budget-friendly!
Today, I want to share a few of my favorite activities for families on a budget this Christmas season.
Decorating for Christmas is one of those things that's really more of a "want" than it is a "need"...but it just makes us so dang happy that it's hard to completely skip it! Today, I want to share a few frugal Christmas decorating tips with you that helped me during my tightest budgeting Holiday Seasons!
No matter how much planning goes into your Holiday Budget or how much thought goes into your gift ideas, that can all go out the window as soon as you walk into a beautiful store at Christmas time. I've been there too friend! ...but that's not going to be us this year! Let's get you a shopping plan!
