How Do We Live Debt Free and Pretty Darn Cheap?

How Do We Live Debt Free and Pretty Darn Cheap?

As we are saving for our adoption and entering this phase of fundraising I’ve been thinking an extraordinary amount about our finances and how we’ve controlled our financial situation without letting it control us. A lot of these ideas are why we have 2/3 of our adoption fees and only need to fundraise for 1/3 of them. Let me start by saying that we live debt-free apart from our mortgage. At the end of the day the advice that’s helped us is: Buy everything cash. If we don’t have the cash we don’t do it. We’ve had this rule for about 6 years now and you’ll see that in the areas below where we’ve been able to pinch pennies. We were so committed to this new lifestyle of living debt-free that we even switched our mortgage to a 15-year mortgage 6 years ago which means we will be completely done paying off our house before we turn 40 years old (only 8 more years!) The amount of our payment that goes to interest as opposed to the amount going to principle completely switched from when we had a traditional 30-year mortgage and our payment only increased by about $200/month because of the awesome low-interest rate we secured when we switched from a 30-year to a 15-year.

Here are a few areas where we save money on an ongoing basis. I’m not a coupon person, have never gotten into couponing unless I have a coupon for something that is FREE. I also optimize when Target has their deals of “Buy X and get a $5/$10 giftcard” because it’s FREE and you can’t go wrong but apart from that couponing isn’t a strong point for me. I hope in reading through some of these you feel inspired to look at your own finances and decide where you’re willing to make some cuts for the long-term payoff.

Cloth Diapers—Annual Savings: $650.00

Cloth Wipes—Annual Savings: $350.00

We chose to cloth diaper from the time our son was born and he is about to be two. He is halfway potty trained (which means he goes number 2 in the toilet about 70% of the time by telling us he has to “GEE GEE” but he still pees in his diaper most the time), so he is still in cloth diapers. We use disposable inserts when we travel but apart from that he is completely cloth diapered, even at daycare. We launder them here at home 2-3 times each week (literally takes 20 minutes to fold them and put them away). Now cloth diapering is easier than ever and you don’t need a very big “stash.” We only own about 20 diapers. We’ve been impressed with how easy it’s been and how oddly enjoyable it is to know we’ve made a healthier choice for our baby and a more economical/green choice. It’s not for everyone but to all the people who are asking “eww, what about poop?!” I don’t touch poop as a cloth-diapering mom, at least not anymore than the average mom. There are a lot of solutions that keep you from having to do that, and quite frankly if you never want to touch poop you probably shouldn’t have children. Do your research and see if it’s a good option for savings for your family.

Used Toys and Clothes—Annual Savings: ??

I don’t have a clue how much we save but just about all his toys were bought used or extreme clearance. Find your nearest used toy stores and scope them out often to find birthday and Christmas presents. A “new-to-you” toy is just as good as a brand new one with a little cleanup.

Limited number of clothes in each size

One pair of “outside” play shoes and one pair of sneakers

Average American spends $500-600/year on clothes for their child. We spent about $300 over the past year. We only buy 12-14 outfits in each size with 2-3 winter sweaters and 1 winter coat. Even with baby clothes we only owned about 10-12 outfits in each size. We believed less was more and it was soooo nice not having the option of letting laundry mound up; we had to wash his clothes every 3-4 days because of how many outfits he has. So we wash his diapers and clothes in the same wash every 3 days and fold it all at once. It’s also super nice to have such few clothes because each shirt ‘belongs’ with a particular pair of pants so when the laundry is done, the outfit is folded as one unit and placed in the drawer together, making getting dressed take NO time. We also only have two pairs of shoes in summer sizes and one pair in winter sizes. In Spring/Summer we have a pair of yard shoes like Crocs or a similar brand (we buy these second-hand because they’re plastic and easy to clean) and a pair of tennis shoes. In winter I make house slippers for my son (they’re super simple to make with fleece, some Velcro, and a sewing machine), and a pair of winter outdoor shoes like tennis shoes sprayed with water-proofing to cover your bases with the random snow play that will happen.

Used or damaged furniture

We bought ‘floor models’ of several pieces in our home including three chairs from IKEA, an office chair from Target, our pool table (which was also dented so it was about 75% off) and a bar height table in our basement (which was actually our first dining room table as a married couple). The couches in our den were found in a thrift store for less than $100, the pullout sofa bed in our basement was bought from a friend who worked for a furniture company, and our crib and changing table in nursery belonged to a co-worker. The chair in our toddler room was found on the side of the road (FREE IS ALWAYS THE BEST) and the chair in the nursery was ‘won’ in a silent auction that benefitted a local school for only $75 (after picking it up we found the original price tag attached listing it for $4,200!) Always look or ask about floor models for sale or on extreme discount, some are over 75% off just because it was a floor model and many are still in great shape.

Clothing budget?

We limit our clothing purchases to approximately $300/year each ($300 for myself and $300 for my husband) and I haven’t used my entire clothing budget in two years since having my son. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone shopping three times and each time found very little enjoyment flipping through those racks. It’s sort of been a gift to have lost the desire to shop; in fact the few items I’ve bought in those two years have been mostly made in USA which has been another goal of ours. Most of my husband’s purchases were made for work attire, which is necessary but he’s not a big shopper either and still has t-shirts from high school he won’t let go of.

Amazon Prime/Amazon Subscribe and Save

There are quite a few products on Amazon that are cheaper than buying them someplace else. We used to “shop” fairly frequently and end up buying things we didn’t need. Since getting an Amazon Prime membership I feel like we are much more intentional to go on, look for something specific, and log off. We are also good about checking prices online before impulse buying something without making sure something comparable isn’t cheaper. We shop online a lot so I can look up “Retail Me Not” and other websites that list coupon codes for different websites. The Subscribe and Save program through Amazon is great because if you subscribe to 5 or more products in any given month you get an additional 20% off discount on all five items. For us, we found out our dog treats, deodorant, and vitamins were the same price on Amazon as in the grocery store, while we found our razors, laundry detergent, and a box of Cheeze-Its (Yes, that’s right, Cheeze-its) were cheaper on Amazon. So subscribing to all of these items for one month meant the cheaper prices and a 20% discount on each item’s price, shipped right to my front door. We only do this every 3-4 months but that’s still some savings that adds up.

Shopping at the Mall with Coupons:

Sign up for the following company’s emails and mailings; they will mail you free coupons every 2-3 months.

JC Penney coupons: $10 off $10 or more coupons (I get these about 6-8 times per year)

Bath & Body Coupons: Free travel size soap coupons (I get about 4-5 of these a year, they’re great to give as gifts!)

Victoria Secret coupons: Free underwear (I swear I get about 7 of these a year!)

Mellow Mushroom coupons: $10 off $25 (we get these about 2-3 times per year and they usually come in sets of two cards)

  

Birthday money goes to savings. That savings right now is for our adoption fund but we’ve used it for paying off cars and even purchasing our most recent vehicle with cash. It felt so good to walk into a dealership, tell them you’re prepared to write a check for $XXXX amount and they could either make it happen or you’d walk out. We got lucky with our van purchase, it’s been two years since purchase and it’s proven to be our favorite vehicle. We also made the foolish mistake of purchasing a car with payments in our first year of marriage but as soon as we could we paid the entire car loan off within a year of moving here and securing jobs, which also felt REALLY good which brings me to my next point of savings…

We buy used vehicles.

We have only had one car with payments and even though it was a good deal, the dealerships will drag out those payments as long as they can because they are interest heavy in the beginning. We paid payments on our 2003 Corolla (purchased in 2007) for a year before really noticing that we only paid down $1,500 on the principal! How ridiculous. We spent the first 8 months of both of us working paying $1,000 every month to pay that car off in 2009, which saved us almost $3,000 in interest we would have ended up paying. We immediately started putting away funds to purchase the next vehicle we would buy with cash which ended up being in 2013 right before our son was born, our van (a 2007 Toyota Sienna). Chad bought his truck (a 2001 GMC Jimmy) all cash in 2005 before we got married and we shared that vehicle for about two years so we’ve also lived on one car before; it’s not easy but it was manageable for us at the time. Since the Corolla and Jimmy take turns having the check engine light on and having other mechanical problems my husband ends up alternating between the two cars. When one breaks down he uses the other while repairing the broken one in our driveway in his free time. It’s usually fixed just in time for the other car to come up with something wrong with it. And so this has been going on for years now. Everytime we have had the discussion about selling both and buying a more reliable car we come to the same resolution-we have always had a car that works when we need it that is already paid for, why invest money in it until we have to. That brings me to the next point of savings…

DIY Car and appliance repair

My husband fixes our cars whenever possible, which is most the time. It’s remarkable the YouTube videos there are to teach you about car repair and of course each of our cars is accompanied by a Haynes manual which gives detailed instructions too. I’m very VERY blessed to have a husband gifted at repairing almost anything. He’s more than handy in almost every area, which has ultimately caused us to save SO much money in lots of areas. As a side note, he was also able to fix our 8+ year-old dryer because of a YouTube video! It only needed a simple $6 part from the local repair shop and it’s been fine ever since and the washer and dryer we own are the ones in the house when we moved in 8 years ago so who knows how old they really are.

Buy the warranty.

We had a fridge go out three times in the first two years of my son’s life and each time our warranty covered the repair and even the replacement of it this year. It was in the final month of a 5-year warranty when it broke and Best Buy owed us a brand new one due to our warranty. It was wonderful to get a new, upgraded fridge worth $1,800 just because we invested $200 in a 5-year warranty. I can’t stress enough, BUY THE WARRANTY, YOU MAY NEED IT!

Eat at home; Dates at home, no babysitting

We’ve paid someone to babysit our son one time….in two years. I know some may think that’s terrible but it takes a huge financial burden, and scheduling burden off of us to figure out when someone can babysit and wonder if we were paying them too little or too much. We are very intentional to have home dates after Vince is in bed. He goes to sleep between 7:15 and 8pm each night so that leaves us a solid 1 ½ - 3 hours each night to give to each other. We schedule our nights to accommodate intentional marriage time a few nights a week while the other nights are designated for us to indulge in personal hobby time, and some for me to work (part of the beauty of being part-time and home based is I do some work at night so I get to devote more of the ‘wake’ hours Vince has to being with him and enjoying life together). Part of the reason we have so many ‘cool’ things at our house like the pool table and the backyard zipline (yep, you read that right) is so we can enjoy it as a couple, and as a family. When you spend $30-50 on one date and another $20-30 on a babysitter for said date that’s $50-80 you could have put back into your home and making it a cool place to hangout as a family, and as a couple.

Cooking Double and Meal Planning.

Almost once per week I make a meal that can be cooked in double portion and then half of it frozen to be eaten another night. It’s helped tremendously with the temptation to eat out because of the inconvenience of throwing a meal together. When the meal is already together and just has to be thrown in a crock-pot, it makes it a lot easier. It helps doing those 3-4 times each month too. It’s also helped to have a set night each week where we get a $5 carry-out pizza and a set night for spaghetti each week. That’s two nights each week I already know what we’re eating and both take minimal effort.

DIY craft/home projects

Instead of buying ‘crafty’ looking things I’ve seen on expensive websites, I try to make it! It may not always turn out perfect but even then it holds it’s own beauty as something ‘made by mom.’ The old dresser in Vince’s room was revamped instead of buying a new one. We’ve painted cabinets instead of installing new ones. Our countertops were purchased at IKEA for less than $200 and then my husband put on the gloss coating DIY then installed them himself. We saw the prices on installing laminate floors and our jaw dropped so instead we bought an old, expired color that was drastically marked down and took our time and sweat equity to install the floors ourselves. We had our basement looked at for a bathroom install and were quoted $10,000. By hiring the plumber, electrician, and ceiling install folks ourselves and then doing all the sweat equity pieces of the room (the drywall, the flooring, the vanity, etc.) we saved over 50% of that cost. Even the Playroom in our basement was completely finished by my husband and I. We did everything except install the ceiling, and that was because the installation was not very expensive.

Free recreation (all free events) and any Facebook page advertising free events for families in the area. I subscribe to any type of newsletter that will tell me of free happenings for the area and then that is what we spend our time doing. We pay taxes so enjoying our local parks and libraries just makes sense!

DIY haircuts—Annual Savings: $487.00

We do NOT pay someone to cut, color, or style our hair.  I have had my hair cut by someone else once in the past 8 years and probably only once per year before that. All other times I cut my hair myself, even the most recent time which involved cutting 10 inches off to donate to Pantene’s wig program for women. I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for about 10 years and I have done several haircuts on my almost-2-year-old toddler. It’s not easy and it does take time and precision but there are lots of YouTube videos showing you how to cut your own hair and a TON of ideas on Pinterest. It adds up quick going to a salon for cosmetic things such as haircuts.

Half-time daycare—Annual Savings: $3,200.

When we had full-time daycare we paid $600/month, which works out to $7,200 each year. If you work full-time I understand that you don’t have much of a choice but when I looked at how much I would bring home versus how much we’d spend on daycare, it made MUCH more sense for me to go part-time with a few hours being done while Vince slept at night and only pay for part-time daycare. Besides, it’s allotted me so much more time with him. If I paid for full-time daycare I would feel like I should take advantage of it, which would mean missing precious moments with my son. Paying for the amount I need has been such a gift to my time with him and to our finances. If you have an employer willing to work with you, this can be a huge savings for your wallet but also a huge gift to your time with your family.

Credit Cards with Points/Cash Back

You saw above that we use Amazon for a fair number of regular purchases (deodorant, laundry soap, razors etc.) we also utilize a credit card with gives 4% back on Amazon purchases and 1-2% on everything else. It pulls up the rewards you have from your card each month and allows you to apply them directly to an Amazon bill as you check out. This has been great because some cards have a lengthy process for using your ‘points’ and only gives them to you linked to particular retailers of items you may or may not need. Amazon sells everything so being able to use our points on that has been great to pay for those ‘Subscribe and Save’ items I mentioned above. We use the Amazon credit card for all our gas purchases for our cars as well as our Amazon purchases and then simply pay off the balance at the end of each month. All the points are like coupons! Since we don’t have an extraordinary amount of money going on it each month we don’t accrue a ton of points but a free $10-20 every month of two adds up to some free essentials each year. I know some people put all their bills on these point-based cards and reap a bigger reward but for us we didn’t want the temptation of there seemingly being another option for payment apart from cash so having just one and limiting it’s use has been helpful.

Last but not Least…You Can’t Out-Give God.

I’ve been amazed at how God has shown up in our finances over the last 8 years of marriage. With my connections with work, I’m constantly running into needs, whether it’s with clients or Backpack Program, or clients of other community programs, there is no lack of needs in our community. We’ve seen God use our finances to purchase pallet trucks for our warehouse, cars for friends who were struggling, tires for those cars when they went flat (haha), pay down payments, purchase Christmas gifts for kids, pay rent payments, doctor’s bills, groceries and even Thanksgiving turkeys for people we’ve met. I remember clearing out a whole shelf of JC Penney towels when they were on sale to give to a local organization that just spoke of their huge need for them. I certainly don’t believe in the prosperity gospel where you give more so God gives you more money, but I’ve seen God meet our needs in so many ways as we are generous with our time and finances. Giving has become such a gift to us; it has allowed us an opportunity to be a part of that story God’s writing in someone else’s life. Especially when it seems that God used us to make a way where there was no other way in the realm of finances for another person.

I hope this has been helpful as you are looking at ways to save. As we save for our adoption, we are constantly looking for ways to pinch pennies so if you have any other suggestions I’d love to hear them, unless it’s crazy couponing, I really think my OCD would take over in that process and make me into a crazier person than I am. I know it’s been stressful seeing half of my income go away over the past two years and it’s certainly made it more difficult to save for our adoption but I believe that we are doing a lot in the ‘savings’ department and I’m hopeful that you’ll find some of these helpful as you save for things God has put in your heart to do for His kingdom, just as we feel that way about our upcoming adoption.