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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

How to Get Your Spouse on Board with Budgeting

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Whenever I talk about building budgets or give budgeting advice, I always stress the importance of getting your spouse on board.  If you are on one page when it comes to finances and your spouse is on another, YOU WILL FAIL. You might make temporary progress, but in order to maintain a budget for your household or reach any long-term savings goals, the household has to buy into it! Plain and simple.

Here are some easy tips to help get your spouse to buy into your budget:

Have a sit-down family meeting and go over your plan of action. You could even incorporate this into a date night. Sit down at a nice meal and talk money. I don’t recommend blindsiding your spouse; let them know what the date or meeting is about before it happens or it might feel like an intervention! When you do talk to them, have a concrete plan in place so they know where your head’s at and what you’re hoping for.

Ask for their advice and input. Work together to create a feasible budget. Explain the issues or the goals and ask for their ideas and advice. They’re much more likely to participate if they had a hand in creating your budget! And be flexible. If you are set on one way but your spouse has other ideas, compromise. As long as you’re working towards the same financial goals, trying different methods won’t hurt. Plus, it shows your spouse you really do respect their opinion and want them to be a part of this journey!

Show the benefits. You have to sell your plan. Normally budgets require sacrifice, so your spouse needs to hear the eventual benefits or there will probably be no buy-in. We track all the money we spend in our Personal Capital Account. It’s totally free and we LOVE that we can see EXACTLY where every penny has been spent in real time. Have spreadsheets, show your current expenses vs. your desired expenses, and show the savings progress if the budget is implemented. If you’re saving for a house/car/vacation, show them how long it will take to hit your goal. Seeing it might help them believe it.

Get outside help. If you are struggling to convince your spouse, turn to Dave! Seriously! My husband and I love listening to Dave Ramsey podcasts when we are in the car. Dave knows what he’s doing and he’s an expert, so if you can get your spouse to hear from him the importance of budgeting, it might help!

Get everyone on board! Kids, too! Your spouse might be more willing if it’s a family affair. You can sit down and meet with them, too, so everyone knows the plan and how they can help.

Be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and so saving for the down payment won’t happen overnight. Plus, change is HARD sometimes. Be respectful of that. This might be a case of baby steps for awhile. Show gratitude for any willingness to make changes, large or small.

Is your spouse on board with your budget? If so, how did you get their buy-in? How did you implement a family budget if your spouse wasn’t willing? Share any tips you have below.

Save on!

~Mavis

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Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad w/ Raisins and Walnuts

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Quinoa is one of my favorite super foods! It’s packed full of protein and is just as healthy as it is yummy. I like to throw it in all sorts of salads because it’s crazy versatile. It tastes great with a kick of sweet or all savory. This fun recipe combines both for a healthy salad that packs a massive flavor punch. I meant to share this, I really did. Buuut, that didn’t happen. I might have eaten the whole thing myself, leftovers and all. Oops! I guess I have to pack something else in the HH’s lunch.

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the sweet potato on a cookie sheet, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender or about 1 hour. Dust with  cinnamon and let cool.

Cook quinoa. I like to cook my quinoa in a rice cooker. It cooks just like white rice, so the most important thing to remember is to use the ratio of 1 part grains to 2 parts liquid {I use vegetable stock most of the time}.

If you do not have a rice cooker, simply add the grains and broth in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook covered until the liquid has been absorbed and grains are tender {about 20 minutes}.

While potatoes and quinoa are cooking, mix all remaining ingredients together plus the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil. Once squash and quinoa are done, toss with the other ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Nutter Butter Cookies, Cast Iron Pots, Hot Wheels, Apricot Jam Recipe, Freezer Meal Sliders and More

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Quote of the Day “You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a great day everyone. Stay cool, drink lot’s of water and BE AWESOME. 😉

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deal of the Day for 7/25/17

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

This recipe for Easy Freezer Meal Roadside Sliders is about as simple as it gets. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple in flavor! It’s a great quick BBQ recipe, too, because you just whip the frozen burgers out and throw them on the grill! Get the Recipe HERE.

Home and Kitchen Deals

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Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

Looking for something fun {and inexpensive} to do with the kiddos this summer? Check out the list of  Summer Movie Programs for Kids on Tuesdays & Wednesdays We have listed HERE. Admission is only $1 for most of them. Go HERE to see movies listings in your area.

Prime Pantry Deals

If you are an Amazon Prime Member, you can get FREE Prime Pantry shipping {a $5.99 value} when you buy five qualifying items. Shop Prime Pantry.

Slather some of this tasty Apricot Jam on toast and it will totally make your day. Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later. Find more recipes on my Canning Pinterest Board.

Kid’s Stuff

Amazon has 30 Kids eBooks on sale for $1.00 each. Go HERE to see the titles available.

The Valley Food Storage 1 Month Food Supply is available for $139.95. It has everything you need to get started for your 1 month food supply kit. The food is delicious too!

*******

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Have a Great Day!

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Separate Beds for Couples? Yea or Nay?

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Last week I wrote a post about getting enough sleep: Work More, Sleep Less, Die Sooner. Reader, Angela, left a comment on that post that piqued my interest:

How many married couples sleep separately? And if so, how does it impact their marriage?

I assumed the universal norm was for couples to sleep in the same bed/room, but after doing a little research, I was shocked! There was a survey done by the National Sleep Foundation that found almost one in four married couples sleep in separate beds. One in four! Who knew?! They said:

“Many people have a good reason for splitting up after dark. Sometimes one partner’s nighttime behaviors – loud snoring, sleep talking, restless movements and so forth – are too disruptive. In other cases, the ‘fit’ between the couple’s sleeping habits is the problem. Maybe one person is a light sleeper and the other has a penchant for stealing covers… Add in conflicting sleep times, differing work schedules and TV habits or electronics and you can see why some partners give up. Just because a couple chooses to live happily ever after doesn’t mean their nighttime personalities are a perfect match.”

I think, but I can’t speak for everyone, that many couples share a bed because it’s the norm or because they’re afraid their intimacy levels will suffer. But if we shove both of those reasons aside and just take a long hard look at quality sleep, I think many people would agree that they might sleep better without their spouse. Obviously that’s not a blanket statement. I have a friend whose husband travels for work and she always complains how poorly she sleeps when he’s away. They’ve been married for so long that her body just doesn’t fall into a deep sleep unless he’s beside her.

I also have a friend whose husband works nights and she thinks it’s glorious when he’s not sharing their bed. She sleeps like a baby when he’s at work and terribly on his days off because she says he’s an oven. They might really benefit from separate beds. But they are too traditional to ever try.

So now I’m curious about you! Do you sleep in a separate bed from your spouse or significant other? How long have you been together and have your current sleeping arrangements always been the same throughout the entire relationship? Do you sometimes wish you slept in a separate room/bed but will probably go on forever sleeping in the same bed as your spouse? If so, why?

Talk to me,

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Recipes Garden Frugal Canning Chickens Travel