Why We're Sticking With Our Starter Home and more...

Here's What's New Why We're Sticking With Our Starter Home Do It Yourself: Homemade T-shirt Tote Dozens of different No Bake Energy Bite Recipes Reader Tip: How We Literally "Cut" Our Spending :: Why We're Sticking With Our Starter Home Guest post from Andrea of Make This the Day My husband and I purchased our first home when we were 23 years old. With no kids in the picture, we weren't looking for anything fancy; we were thrilled to have a house that came with a refrigerator and central air conditioning! It was small, and we figured that we would live here for no more five years. Once we had kids, it would be time to move on to something bigger and better. Fast forward seven years and almost three kids later, and we are unexpectedly still here. Well-meaning friends and family often ask us when we will be moving… and they are usually surprised to hear that we don't currently have any plans to move. Here are a few reasons why we have decided to stick with our starter home for the time being: We Recognized Our Needs vs. Wants Our home is about 1300 square feet. It's not tiny, but the layout is awkward and boxy. The three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms are pocket-sized. I will be honest and say that I dream of a larger kitchen, an open floor plan, a finished basement, and two spacious full bathrooms. But when I step back to reevaluate, those are just wants at this point, not needs. Our Priorities Don't Allow for an Upgrade A priority for our family is for me to stay home with our kids. Living in a small house and not having a large monthly mortgage payment allows us to retain this priority. Our Smaller Home is Low Maintenance I do not enjoy decorating, cleaning, or organizing… so I am thankful that my small house makes these tasks seem more manageable. We have also been able to complete some major renovations on our home (including a new roof and a bathroom remodel) thanks to the fact that the spaces were so small and fairly inexpensive! Love Grows Even in Little Houses I want my family to be tight-knit. My big kids are cheerful and content in their shared bedroom, and I appreciate the nearness that our small house affords us even though we are cramped at times! I Don't Want My House to Own Me On the contrary, I want to own my house, completely. Over the years, we periodically threw extra cash at our mortgage and celebrated our 30th birthdays last year by using extra money in our savings to pay the remainder of the balance! Some people advised us against this decision by saying that we would be better off investing the money or using it for a down payment on an upgrade. But I will attest that it was one of the best decisions that we have ever made. We feel such greater financial freedom, and the increased cash flow is awesome! Also, since we know the sweet taste of being completely debt free, we are not in a hurry to acquire another mortgage. So What's Next For Us? As our kids and family grow, we recognize that a larger home may soon become a need rather than a want. We hope to use the next few years to save money for a larger home - our ultimate goal would be to pay for our next home in cash, or to have a very tiny mortgage. We are looking forward to working towards that goal! Andrea is a stay-at-home mommy to two, soon to be three, blessings and happily married to her college sweetheart.  She blogs about mommy things, homeschooling, and life at Make This the Day. photo source :: Do It Yourself: Homemade T-shirt Tote CreativeGreenLiving.com shows you how to make a homemade tote bag out of a old t-shirt. Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I'd love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here. :: Dozens of different No Bake Energy Bite Recipes Looking for a quick and easy no-bake recipe? We LOVE Energy Bites at our house and Tonia from The Sunny Patch has a free printable with dozens of different combinations for Energy Bite recipes. :: Reader Tip: How We Literally "Cut" Our Spending The following is a reader tip from Leah of Life Around the Coffee Cup: When we look at our budgets so often we think it's about cutting coupons or cutting line items, like cable or eating out. However, my family and I have saved over $1200 over the past 3 years - and we didn't have to cut coupons, cut back, or even cut a line item out of our budget. Instead, we made literal "cuts" in order to reduce our spending! I cut my family's hair! I'm not a professional, but after some guidance from my husband on what he wanted, I was able to cut his hair without any trouble. This last year I even confidently helped him navigate changing to a new style. I also cut my son and daughter's hair. I usually get mine cut with a coupon, gift certificate, or by a friend. We also cut t-shirts into reusable disinfecting wipes, cut flour sack bags into reusable "paper" towels, cut surplus veggies and fruit into small chunks for the freezer, and cut raggedy jeans into upcycled shorts. When it comes to our budgets, we can get pretty creative with cutting. And all of it is a really good way to accomplish a goal (like becoming debt-free) or to take on a money-saving lifestyle. Do you literally cut anything to help with your budget? If so, I'd like to know what!  photo source You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. 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