I am a reformed credit card abusing, spending more than I made, buying things I couldn’t afford, Spendy McSpenderson. Then I met my husband. Early on in dating when we talked about finances I may have scared him a little. Seeing how much I spent monthly on clothing nearly sent him into cardiac arrest. But he talked sense into me and I changed my ways.

Now I am a Dave Ramsey loving, saving until we can afford it,  Thrifty Vanderson (I live in the land of the Dutch. Dutch people pride themselves on being thrifty- at least all the Dutch people I know. There are also 7000 pages of names starting with Van in the local phone book. Hence Vanderson).

I like to think that we make smart financial decisions without being too far “out there”. I get frustrated when I read books or blogs and their suggestions about smart finances are so far out of the norm that they just don’t seem feasible. Plus, I still like to spend money on a few of the finer things in life (see my hair budget). So here are some of the easier and manageable tips we do in our house.

1. Take Advantage of Your 401K: If your company offers one, contribute to it. If they provide matching funds then contribute max they will match. Think you can’t afford it? This is where my husband would start talking about compounding interest and my head would explode. It is a good thing. Just do it.
2. Cook at Home: I love cooking. And I actually have a pretty decent sized grocery budget because we buy almost all whole, organic foods. But I make a ton from scratch which saves money. We also don’t eat out much which saves a lot. And honestly the changes we have made in our diets have resulted in our family rarely getting sick which saves money too.
3. Pay Cash for Cars: I have never had a car payment. I have also never had a new car. In fact until my most recent minivan I had never driven a car made in the same decade as I was driving it. I only got to relish in that moment for 2 years until the calendar rolled to 2011 I am now in the same predicament again driving a 2004. But I have a nice chunk of change in my bank every month instead of going to a car loan. It seems like I should be able to justify that bigger clothing budget…..
4. Have an Emergency Fund: Last month we had a raccoon in our chimney, the air conditioning went out on my husband’s car, I lost my keys and had to get them replaced (the dealer wanted $400 to do so!!!) and we needed breaks replaced. An emergency fund is so fantastic because when “life” happens (and it always does) we don’t panic. We know we have a little cushion in savings. And in this economy, with the scary job market, it is just essential to have 3-6 months salary in the bank.
5. Shop Around: So I lost my keys. And Toyota’s have super fancy keys so I went to the dealer to get them replaced. I also needed the remote entry thing STAT because going back to having to manually unlock doors with arms full of groceries and three kids was about to send me over the edge. The dealer quoted me over $400. I literally laughed at him. I went to a local key place to see if it was even possible to get it done outside the dealer. They quoted me $65. Score. They also recommended a place I should look into to get remote entry. They had to replace my entire remote entry system but that would cost $135 AND I would get two remotes. It was a bit of a pain and both processes took forever with kids running amok in their stores, but for $200 I will endure my kids turning a store into their own personal amusement park. Sometimes just getting it done is worth it but usually shopping around totally pays off.
6. I Negotiate: I recently noticed that our phone bill went up by $20 a month. Which was super annoying because 6 months ago I changed companies with the promise of savings. Well the fine print read that the deal they gave me expired in 6 months. A simple call to the company allowed me to negotiate a lower price.
7. Pay in Full: There are a lot of companies who will reward you for paying in full. If it isn’t stated in your bill, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Our insurance, water, garbage and even private school tuition bill take a percentage off when we pay up front. Any time I have had a medical bill that isn’t covered by insurance I always ask if they will give a discount for paying in full. Nine out of ten times they have given me one.
8. Pay Off Your Credit Card: I don’t believe in not having credit cards. For use it just doesn’t work and I enjoy being able to major purchases without taking out the cash. That being said, we don’t buy what we can’t afford. And we always pay off our balance every month., Then every Christmas I cash out our credit card points and knock off a few presents from the list.
9. Embrace The Hand Me Down: Our sun porch is filled with my parents furniture. So is my bedroom. My daughter’s sleep on mattresses from Ryan’s side of the family. My kitchen and living room is filled with Craigslist furniture. I can count on one hand the pieces of furniture that we have purchased new from an actual store. Is it all my dream furniture? Not even close. But it is paid for.
10. Also Embrace the Setback: I have a pricey little graduate degree. I took out some hefty loans (thanks to some shady advice from a loan officer) to pay for three little letters behind my name. And then I used that degree for five years until I quit to be home with my kids. I wouldn’t trade my time at home with my kids for all the money in the world (actually that is not true. I can be bought. What are you offering?), but I am STILL paying off those loans {mumble, mumble} years later. This year we planned on getting aggressive and paying the loans off. And we sat down with a spreadsheet and it was quite doable. But “life” keeps happening. Tuition at my kid’s school went up, cars need repairs, roofs get ripped apart by raccoons (seriously with the raccoons this year) and so on and so on. So we haven’t gotten as far as we hoped to. But that is ok. I would love to be completely debt free, but we just keep plugging away.

We don’t do everything right. We could definitely be paying off my loans quicker, saving more for our kid’s college, and putting even more in retirement. But we also decided to take a vacation to celebrate our ten year anniversary and rent a house for a summer trip with the family. We send our kids to Christian school. We like to go to nice dinners occasionally, watch our cable, buy concert tickets and my hair isn’t going to stay brunette without a little help from Gary (seriously, my hair budget isn’t pretty. But my hair is.) The point is, we make choices. And they are the right choices for us. And they are all within our means.

All our choices are intentional. And that is where I have changed the most. I used to spend without thinking about it, very Scarlett O’Hara like. I’ll worry about money tomorrow. But money has this funny way of catching up with you when you don’t pay attention to it. So we try and frequently review, assess, discuss and set goals. And the funny thing is I was more scared of money when I was pretending not to pay attention to it. There is a lot of freedom in discipline. Who knew?

What is the smartest thing you do with your finances?

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided for this post by SunTrust via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of SunTrust.

We are a road tripping family. We love to take them. And we take them often. And believe it or not, we do it without a DVD player or other electronic device in sight. This is the part where people typically think we are crazy.

First off if you strongly believe in the DVD method of travel, there is no judgement here. It makes total sense and occasionally my parents will pile us in their tricked out minivan for a trip to Chicago and we pull out a few DVDs to silence the begging for DVDs. But when they don’t have one to use it is amazing that they see no need for one at all.

All that to say these will be tricks of the trade of the non-digital kind. Cause we like to road trip old school.

1. Play Some Old Fashioned Highway Games: We love the alphabet game and try to involve the whole family. We also love a game of I Spy. And for our most recent road trip I found this awesome Melissa & Doug License Plate Game. Now all we need is some travel bingo.
2. Pack Snacks: This may seem obvious but sometimes we forget. And then we end up buying overpriced Funions at the gas station. Which is upsetting from a budgetary, nutrition-ary and breath standpoint. So pack some healthy munchies and get some water bottles from the Dollar Store. Your wallet and olfactory sense will thank me.
3. Leave Early: Every time we try and leave at naptime or bedtime we just end up with over tired kids who are too hyped up to sleep in the car. We have found time and time again that the best time to leave is first thing in the morning when everyone is well rested and least whiny. Then let the sleepy build a little and with any luck a few hours in you will hear snoring from the back seat.
4. Grab a Map: No not for you! For the kiddos. They love looking at them and finding where you are going. And with any luck it will help cut down on the “are we there yet?” questions.
5. Allow For a Few Spontaneous Stops: I’m not talking about the bathroom variety although you should do that too. I am talking about when you pass a sign that says “World’s Largest Ball of Twine” and your kids think that would be awesome to see. In other words make time for crappy roadside attractions. That is how memories are made.
6. Make a Pre-Trip Library Run: We do a lot of reading on road trips but my kids grow bored of their same books. If it is a really long trip I may spring for a few new books from the store, but I would rather borrow than buy. This is a risky tactic because books may get lost but we generally make a rule they aren’t allowed to leave the car. This does nothing to help books that are returned weeks late because you forget to get them out of the car however…….
7. Let Your Kids Pack Their Car Bags: My kids pack some weird stuff that I look at and think, “That is ridiculous and unnecessary. But then they end up making something fun out of it that entertains them for a stretch of time. So within reason I let them pack a little. And then see what creative things they come up with.
8. Use Your Kid’s Creativity: First of all don’t disturb them unless necessary. Don’t feel like you have to entertain them if they are back there having a grand old time doing their own silly things. But if the choruses of “I’m Bored” begin, see if they can come up with fun games. That is how some of our best travel times have happened.
9. Pillow Pets: Seriously. Pillow Pets. It’s a pillow (so your head doesn’t flop around). It’s a pet (built in entertainment). It’s a Pillow Pet.
10. When All Else Fails Embrace the Crazy: Sometimes when all else fails you need to bring out the crazy. Singing crazy lyrics to songs, doing a little car dancing, maybe even a Chinese fire drill here and there. Sometimes you just need to have some silly time to break the monotony and keep the insanity at bay. I can do a mean cabbage patch from the front seat.

This post is linked up to Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda.

Clutter makes me crazy. And yet with three kids and a hubby who is prone to piles I live with clutter regularly. But I notice when it is at its worst I am at my craziest. I am snappy and short tempered. And physical clutter leads to mental clutter. I can’t find things and I am a forgetful mess.

So I am making concerted efforts to reduce clutter (if you come to my house you might not notice this effort, but it is there). Here are some things I have been attempting to reduce the clutter around these parts.

1. Seriously Reduced Garage Sale-ing: I am a garage sale addict. I love them and they love me back. But I haven’t been going this season. Because inevitably I will find something I can’t live without and bring it home and it will just be more stuff.
2. Seriously Reduced Shopping in General: Oddly enough when I go shopping I tend to buy stuff. Whether I need it or not there is always some sale I just can’t pass up. So I try and avoid the mall and shop the grocery store off lists. No “window shopping” for me.
3. One in One Out: When I do go shopping or out to hit the garage sales I try and get rid of things in exchange.
4. Keep a Running Donate pile: When I come across something that doesn’t fit anymore or something that we need to get rid of it goes in a bag. When the bag is full it goes to Goodwill. I used to make piles to sell or consign or whatever. But they just piled up. So now they go as soon as possible.
5. Manage Birthday Lists: My kids accumulate a ridiculous amount of toys at holidays and birthdays. And to be frank a lot of it just is never played with past the day they get it. So I have started asking for “disposable” gifts. Crafts and experiences top that list.
6. Enlist the kids: I make piles of their various things that have made their way into places they shouldn’t be and put them to work. They are responsible for putting things back where they go or it gets added to the donate pile. That usually motivates them.
7. Process Mail Over the Recycle Bin: Let’s face it, half of what is in the mailbox is junk. And if that junk makes it in the door who knows where it will land. So when I walk in from the mailbox I head straight to the recycle bin. I throw out what needs to be thrown out and try to process the rest immediately.
8. Clean Up Your Inbox: I know it isn’t clutter in my house, but it is clutter in my life. I spend a lot of time looking through email and I don’t want to spend more time than necessary. So unsubscribe from things that you don’t need coming to your email and spend less time dealing with it. Maybe those precious minutes you save can be spent de-cluttering somewhere else.
9. Keep the First Places You See Clean: If my entry way to my house and the entry way to my bedroom are messy that drives me nuts. Even if the rest of my house is falling apart I want the first thing I see when I walk in my house and my room to be clutter free. So I try and concentrate on those areas first.
10. Hiding: When all else fails our poor guest room takes a hit. Since we don’t get many guests it kind of becomes the place clutter goes to die. Or party cause it seems like stuff is multiplying in there. Someday I will tackle that room. Someday.

What are your best tips for reducing clutter?

OutGrowingIn is a great place to exchange their children’s outgrown clothes and toys and they are taking the month of July to celebrate "Summer Fun Money – Clear the Clutter". They will be offering free teleclasses with Lorie Marrero and Dr. Alisa Baer, daily tips from parenting bloggers about reducing clutter in their lives and by honoring military families by asking each participant to create a box on OutGrowingIn for a soldier’s family. They will also be giving away free listings on their marketplace for families who clear their clutter so they can earn some summer fun money.

Check out OutGrowingIn Facebook Fan Page and follow them on Twitter for all the info.

I am excited to tell you about OutGrowingIn but am not being compensated for my time. All opinions are mine all mine. This post is linked up to Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda.