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It’s true, addiction is most often associated with things like substance use or gambling, but it can even extend to things like food, exercise, or spending money. If you’re wondering if spending money is an addiction for you, ask yourself if you have a feeling of excitement when spending money commonly spend more than you can afford shop instead of spend time with people or working feel guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, or confused after shopping or spending hide purchases and receipts or lie about purchases feel lost having no access to your credit cards or checks feeling anxious when you don’t shop for a period of time * have a feeling of excitement when spending money * commonly spend more than you can afford * shop instead of spend time with people or working * feel guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, or confused after shopping or spending * hide purchases and receipts or lie about purchases * feel lost having no access to your credit cards or checks Many people are able to recover from compulsive spending through a supportive program like Debtors Anonymous or a like-minded community like my Crush Your Debt group.

This may happen as you’re forking over cash throughout the month, but it’s worth looking over a few months of bank statements and determining where your money has really been going. If you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel and cannot gain any traction toward your savings or debt payment goals, sometimes flipping your whole budget on its head can be a fresh start. But once you know what you’re spending, and you’re serious about adjusting it to meet your actual budget, stashing the credit cards can be one way of facing facts. If you struggle to stay on track with the budget you’ve created, it’s time to re-think your plan for getting out of debt.

If you don’t have a plan for your money, you won’t be able to make decisions like what vacation can you go on this year, can you send your kids to private school, when will I be able to retire, or should you agree to go out to dinner with friends this weekend. Maybe you or your spouse have a job that varies in income each month, something like sales or food service where your commission or hours are uncertain month to month. Fixed expenses are those with fixed or set amounts each month, so they don’t change month to month. Knowing what you want to achieve with your money whether it’s paying off debt, saving for a vacation, buying an investment property, or planning for retirement gives you something to work toward.

The most important thing when you are trying to budget with no money is to make your budget a reflection of their values. As you have a clear understanding of where your money goes each month, what your monthly bills are, and what your income is, you can begin to make a debt payoff plan. Get creative with making some extra money, and use this to get out of debt fast with no money. To get a jumpstart on getting out of debt fast with no money, I invite you to join my Crush Your Debt Course where I go over step by step everything you need to know about financial freedom and instilling lasting change.

Some ideas could be choosing a favorite flavor cake (or a unique dessert they enjoy if they don’t like cake), letting your son or daughter dress in a favorite outfit for the day; or everyone wearing something with the birthday child’s favorite color. The important thing to remember when planning some inexpensive birthday party ideas at home is to still treat it like a special day. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but I hope I sparked some creative juices flowing with inexpensive birthday party ideas at home. Consider ideas like game night, a spa day, a craft-ernoon, or an escape room as things you can do together to laugh, have fun, and make memories.

Maybe you and your spouse were raised with lifestyles that were drastically different, or maybe you’re drowning in debt and can’t see a way forward. The job will give you a shared focus and goal, and you can feel like a debt-busting team when you work the hustle together. If you Doordash together and knock out $50 a night worth of jobs, doing this twice-weekly will help you knock out an extra $200 a month toward your debt snowball. This is just one side hustle that lends itself to being done as a team and helps you tackle your debt as a pair while spending time together toward a positive goal.

I’m snapped back to reality remembering (1) I am not a chef, (2) my family doesn’t eat that kind of food, and (3) I don’t have that kind of budget. It turns out we weren’t that far off; an average family of 4 spends around $900 a month and a family of 5 is closer to $1100 on groceries I’ve learned A LOT since then, and I am lucky to be able to share my tips on how to plan a family meal on a budget. • figure out what you are currently spending on groceries each month • set a goal of what you would like your grocery budget to be • begin by cutting down your monthly budget by 25% each month and stay within that limit • 1/3 for loss leaders • use my meal plans to help you start a meal plan and prepare a targeted list of what to buy and when and build a pantry and freezer full of meals to have on hand • consider organizing a freezer swap party with family and friends to get more variety in less time • have a few fail-safe cheap family meals in your repertoire just in case you aren’t in the mood for anything in your freezer while you build up your inventory

In addition to life’s more common speed bumps (a medical bill here, a car repair there), we’ve had to do things like up our home internet speeds and build a whole wardrobe of masks to wear when we leave the house. If the pandemic has wreaked havoc on your budget, use your stimulus check as leverage to focus back on your finances in a pandemic-changed world. After a year of hard work (and let’s face it, 2020 was hard), it can be easy to view your tax return as a little reward for all that you’ve done. Let’s be honest: if your pre-pandemic grocery budget was $600 per month, and your eating out budget $200 per month, these categories have likely ebbed and flowed over the last year.

With an easy “Alexa, turn off the coffee pot” and “Alexa, turn off the microwave,” I can power-off these appliances when they aren’t in use. Curb food waste and save money each week by consulting Alexa with the questions you don’t have time to stop and search for online. I wouldn’t recommend browsing Amazon’s Deal of the Day on your lunch break– you may fall down a rabbit hole and convince yourself you need new earrings, a new microwave, and a tool kit. Top Deals,” and she’ll share what Amazon’s best limited-time deals are, offering savings of up to 60 and 70% off the original price.

I explain it in-depth in my post, but don’t just include things like “paying off debt,” but also include things you want to do with your money like taking a vacation, helping the kids pay for college, buying a second home to use as an income property, retiring early. Start by creating a financial bucket list of your bigger financial vision(s) and goals for your family. Get support where it’s needed whether it’s a course like Flip Your Debt, finding additional sources of income, reducing expenses, and so on. Recognize you each have different attitudes around money, and if you really can’t work something out together without fighting you may need to seek professional help.