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in Blog on January 31, 2022 by Sarah Limberg

These Resources Helped Me Start Budgeting

Growing up, we went through periods when we didn’t have a lot. It made me very aware of making the most of what we had. Overspending in one area often meant sacrificing in another. In college, I learned how to budget so my part-time job making lattes would pay my rent and provide groceries. Eventually, I graduated with my MBA and $75k of student loans to pay off. My husband and I needed to get very serious about our budget to pay off those loans, and we did it.

Now that I’m a mom, we have different financial goals. Emergency savings, a college fund, family trips, and hopefully creating a financially comfortable life for our daughter. And who knew one child could come with so many new expenses?! Between the diapers, clothes, car seats, and doctor’s bills, she quickly became her own category in our budget. My goal with budgeting for our family is to financially prepare us for the expected and the unexpected. Eventually, I hope to be able to teach my daughter how to do the same for her future.

Starting to budget can feel overwhelming. There are so many directions to go, different systems, different accounts, and how do you know how much you’re actually spending on groceries? At the most basic level, I think of budgeting as understanding how much money is coming in and how it’s being spent. 

Thanks to the Internet, if you’re feeling overwhelmed about budgeting or finances there are some great Instagram accounts, podcasts, and apps that can help. These are some of the financial resources that I look to the most, I hope that you find something to learn from, too!

@thefinancialdiet

The Financial Diet Instagram account is focused on helping women comfortably talk about money. I love this account because makes often intimidating topics, like investing, budgeting, and financial decisions, conversational and comfortable.

@thebudgetmom

Kumiko Love, aka The Budget Mom, was a struggling single mom, and through budgeting and financial literacy became a money expert. I find her suggestions of setting small savings goals very approachable and encouraging.  

@thebrokeblackgirl

Dasha is a financial activist who is passionate about empowering women to be financially independent. She’s all about financial independence and is all for the occasional splurge on a great set of PJs.

@thefinancebar

The Finance Bar is an educational Instagram account that shares financial tips and reminders to help you learn healthy financial habits. They offer great suggestions for quick exercises to stay on track like reviewing bank statements at the beginning of the month or listing out known future expenses to plan accordingly. 

Money Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips

Laura Adams’, aka the Money Girl, podcast super helpful in learning about a range of financial topics. I find the podcast medium helps me grasp the concepts that might be more complex for me like 401k, retirement accounts, how buying a house works, or how to prioritize debt vs investing. The episodes are usually around 20 minutes which is the perfect length for them to stay approachable and not overwhelming. 

Good Financial Cents

This podcast by Jeff Rose covers a host of topics. Jeff discusses some big-time financial ventures, like how his blog has generated over $10 million dollars. While I can’t exactly relate to that, he speaks a lot about how to create a family culture of financial success and include your children in financial decisions, which I enjoy learning about. 

Mint

Mint is a free budgeting app that helps you create and track your finances in one place. It connects your accounts and cards and categorizes your spending so you can always know where you stand. I’ve used this app in the past and really like that it is easy to set up and intuitive to use.

Simplifi

Simplifi is the app that I use for our family’s budgeting and tracking. This app costs $40/year but with that, there aren’t any ads in the app or pop-ups about new credit cards that you will find in most other apps. I think it has some of the best organizing and categorization which is why we’ve been using it for the last year! 

Wherever you are on your budgeting journey, I’m cheering you on! Learning about our finances makes them easier to talk about and easier to tackle. Don’t be afraid to roll your sleeves up and look at those bank and credit card statements!

Want More On Budgeting? Hit Play On An Episode:

Featured image by Pawel Czerwinkski on Unsplash.

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: money

About Sarah Limberg

Sarah lives in San Diego, California, with her infant daughter and husband. She’s a new mom figuring out something different every day, which is both amazing and exhausting. Both Sarah and her husband work in the world of sports, so if they’re not watching a game, you’ll find her cooking, reading, or sneaking a nap.

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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

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Click this image at the link in our bio to read Kia’s book recommendations and more ways to start the conversation at home with your family.

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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

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Click this image at the link in our bio to access Jayme's roundup of resources.
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One of our most popular blog posts EVER is refresh One of our most popular blog posts EVER is refreshed for 2022! Click this image at the link in our bio to read the just-structured-enough approach Sarah took during those long AZ summers at home when her kids were 6, 4, and 1.5. 😎 

#stayathomemom #preschoolers #summermomlife #arizonasummer #summerschedulefortoddlers #summerscheduledforpreschoolers #samplesummerschedule #summerdaysathom
New episode! Most of us enjoy having a clean and New episode!

Most of us enjoy having a clean and tidy home, but have you ever kept track of how much you do throughout the week to keep it that way? In today’s episode, Meagan and Sarah share what seven days of real-life housework looks like in our homes. We reflect on the tasks we knew went into running a home, and some surprising ones we never thought of as housework before (like picking plums and chasing chickens!). Whether you prioritize deep-cleaning on a regular schedule or tend to tidy as you go and hope for the best, it’s eye-opening and gratifying to acknowledge the work that goes into managing a home full of kids.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #endlesscleaning #housework #cleaning #tidyingup #
Math Quiz: If 3 kids dirty an average of 15 dishes Math Quiz: If 3 kids dirty an average of 15 dishes per day while away at school 7 hours per day, how many additional dishes will they dirty while home all day for summer break?

67. The answer is 67. Yes, I’ve checked my work! Maybe someone who passed calculus can explain? 🤪 -M

#mommath #drowningindishes #summerbreakisnotreallyabreak
Happy weekend - and a big thanks to our June spons Happy weekend - and a big thanks to our June sponsors! Every month, we like to take a little time to shoutout our partners who help support the show + remind our listeners of some of the great deals our sponsors are offering. For more info, specific promo codes, and links, just search the brand name on our website, and they'll pop up in our episode show notes. We also collect ALL our active promo codes (even the old ones that are still working!) in our email newsletter - which is full of other great things we want to share with you, too. Tap on this image at the link in our bio to subscribe today. 

Meet our NEW partners this month . . .
🗣️ @connectspeech (early language support!)
💙 @appahealth (1st month of mentorship free!)
💄 @thrivecausemetics (15% off your 1st order)

And welcome back to . . .
⭐️ @paireyewear (15% off your 1st purchase!)
⭐️ @autoapprove ($100 when you refinance!)
⭐️ @outschool ($15 off your child's 1st class!)
⭐️ @mindandchild ($20 off Parenting 101 course!)
⭐️ @flowkey_com (20% off subscription piano app!)
⭐️ @stitchfix ($20 off your 1st purchase!)
⭐️ @publicgoods ($15 off, no minimum!)
⭐️ @scholasticinc (books for kids of all ages!)
⭐️ @hiyahealth (50% off 1st order!)
⭐️ @kiwico_inc (30% off your 1st mo!)
⭐️ @ritual (10% off 1st 3 mo!)
⭐️ @athleticgreens (1yr of Vit.D + 5 travel packs!)
⭐️ @vionicshoes (free shipping on cute shoes!)
⭐️ @project_wren (10 trees planted when you sign up!)
New episode! If you travel with kids, it’s just New episode!

If you travel with kids, it’s just a matter of time before a trip goes off the rails in spectacular fashion. Maybe it’s a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, or an expensive vacation spent sick in a pricey hotel room. Today Sarah is joined by @catieparrish @stacybronec @emilyeroark and @lisaapayne4 – regular contributors to the show and seasoned travelers with a combined 13 kids – who share their most memorable travel mishap stories. (Full disclaimer: there will be puke-talk.) In sharing these stories, we hope to normalize that travel with kids doesn’t have to go perfectly to be “worth it” and remind you that you’re not alone if this summer’s adventures go awry. Plus, one of the only perks to surviving stories like these is that we get to laugh about them later.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #travelingwoes #travelingwithkids #familytravelmishaps
New on the blog this week from @kiamhammond: Learn New on the blog this week from @kiamhammond: Learning About Juneteenth, As A Family.

"Like many families, mine is still figuring out how to teach our children about Juneteenth, as learning the history wasn't part of my education or my husband's when we were kids. The good news is, books written for children and families are a great way for the whole family to learn (and there are a lot of them!)."

Click this image at the link in our bio to read Kia’s book recommendations and more ways to start the conversation at home with your family.

#juneteenth #history #blackhistory #parenting #juneteenthbooksforkids #summerreading
New episode! As moms, we can be hard on ourselves New episode!

As moms, we can be hard on ourselves…and sometimes we just need to hear the simplest, oft-repeated pieces of advice and encouragement to remind us that it is all going to be OK. Join Meagan and Sarah for a reflection on eight pieces of wisdom that have carried us through motherhood struggles at every age and stage. We are offering them to you, to ourselves, and to all of our future selves in Episode 369.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #momtruisms #momtruths #parentingadvice #motherhoodstruggles
Just a “hello” from last-week-me, who spent 30 Just a “hello” from last-week-me, who spent 30 minutes moving 25 chickens by hand from their home to the new chicken yard, because they refused to go on their own. And then an hour moving them back, because same.

It reminded me a lot of mothering a toddler, and got me wondering: what’s the most ridiculous thing mom life has brought you in the past week? -M
New episode! Have you ever fantasized about atten New episode!

Have you ever fantasized about attending a camp-like environment for grown-ups? Much about the classic summer camp experience is appealing to us (though not EVERYTHING--we could certainly do without the bugs), and the idea of simply showing up for a perfectly curated experience without any responsibility, or planning, sounds AMAZING. Listen to this fun More Than Mom to hear all of our must-have activities (like food and wine tastings, yoga, personal style consults and more!), things that would be a hard no (like swimming in the gross, murky lake or participating in corny, guided crafts) and our daydreams about creating a Mom Hour Retreat (maybe someday?)!

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #summercamps #womenretreats #momretreat
New on the blog this week from @jaymesherrod: LGBT New on the blog this week from @jaymesherrod: LGBTQ+ Resources For Parents (And Anyone Who Wants To Learn!). 

"The fact is, none of us will get it right every time. Not with each other, and certainly not with our kids. But it’s important that we keep showing up and having the conversations anyway."

Click this image at the link in our bio to access Jayme's roundup of resources.

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