Living Well on Less a blog series

This summer, my husband Mike and I were on a long{ish} drive to pick up our daughter at camp.

I was spit balling with him an idea for a blog series that I had called "how to live well on less".  

We talked for nearly two hours about ideas that we had, tips that we use, and knowledge that we have on the subject.

According to creditcards.com, the average American has nearly $16,000 in credit card debt. In our 15 year marriage, my husband and I have never carried a balance on our credit card. We have always been a one-income family, and when we were first married, lived {without government assistance} on $12,000 income a year.  We have paid cash for our cars, taken exotic vacations, had kids in private schools, and dressed in name brand clothing while doing it. Most people who know us, quickly realize how {shall we say} resourceful we are. It doesn't take long for our friends to start asking us for tips. During these seven {yep 7!} month-long series, I will be sharing with you these various topics. *Saving money on clothing-insider tips to dressing your best for less *A closer look at cable/phone/internet or Do you really need 696 channels on the TV? *Tips to save on your grocery bill and why I hate extreme coupons *Things you need to have (insurance, retirement savings, college funds, cars) and ways to save on them *Home loans, renting vs owning, & how to make smart home improvements *Not feeling deprived but still saving on personal items *How to entertain and travel on a budget So what do you think? Want to join me in my series? You do?  Really?  I'm glad!
It will require a little homework on your part. The first place to start when you begin talking about finances is to know where all of your money is going. When we were first married, Mike tracked our expenses by making an excel spreadsheet {typical engineer!} Now we use Quicken software {I only lovingly call him my Quicken Nazi!}. If you don't have Quicken, you can use Mint from the makers of Quicken.  It's a free software program that you can use to track your finances.  I have no affiliation with Quicken or their products, I just know it's something we have used and been successful with over the years. Today is a great day to start tracking your finances. It's the first day of the month, and you are off to a fresh start. Remember to account for every dollar out. How will you know where you can cut back if you don't have accurate information on where you are spending? And yes, your daily Starbucks habit counts. That dollar you gave your kid for the vending machine counts. Every.penny.counts. So start logging today, and join me next week for our first post in the series. Happy tracking!