budget Archives • Family Finance Mom

10 Best Things to Buy At Costco

When it comes to saving money on groceries, I swear by two things: meal planning and Costco! For families, you can save tremendously on your grocery budget by buying right and buying in bulk… and there’s no better place to do it than Costco. Just before the holidays, I asked my Instagram followers what are…

S2-18: Market Correcting, Housing Update & A Deep Dive on US Agriculture and Rising Food Prices

On this week’s episode of Finance Explained, the market had its third consecutive down week this month and is now in correction mode and headed for bear market territory. I’ve got the latest on the housing market through March, as the spring selling season starts to pick up. And this week’s deep dive features a…

10 Different Ways 2020 Hurt the Average Family Budget

One of the most popular posts here on Family Finance Mom is the example of a family budget, based on the 2018 Consumer Expenditure data released annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This month, the BLS released the data for 2020, giving us a detailed look at just how 2020 – with the pandemic,…

10+ Elements to Build A Successful Family Finance Plan

We talk about all sorts of different financial literacy topics here at Family Finance Mom. And sometimes, the amount of information out there to absorb and retain can be completely overwhelming. So this year, for Financial Literacy Month, I decided to create a checklist for you to follow to help you build a successful family…

How to Calculate How Much House I Can Actually Afford

First time homebuyers, and even experienced homebuyers who may be buying in a new area or buying into a higher price point, often ask me how much house they can really afford or how much of their income their mortgage should be. The key to answering these questions is understanding that the total cost of…

Your Average Family Budget Breakdown FAQs

When I first published the example of a family budget based on the Consumer Expenditure Survey data, I knew there would be questions, requests to dig into various parts of the data more, and the need for clarifications. Here are the questions I’ve been asked most often about the average family budget breakdown, and the…

What Does the Average Family Budget Look Like?

When it comes to an example of a family budget, there is no one size fits all answer. I frequently get asked “What are the average monthly expenses for a family of 4?” or “What does the average family spend on groceries every month?” And that is the data I went searching to find and…

3 Simple Tips to Big Holiday Savings

I received complimentary product from Burt’s Bees Baby to facilitate my review. All opinions presented are 100% my own. #BurtsBeesBaby #Holiday Holiday savings sounds like an oxymoron, right? But the holidays don’t have to be a budget-breaking extravaganza. Today’s holiday post is the first in a multi-week series featuring holiday savings tips to celebrate the season…

25+ Best Ways to Save Money

25+ Best Ways to Save Money Everyone always wishes they had more money. The truth is everyone has access to at least an extra $500 in their existing family finances; you just have to know where to go look for it. Today, you’ll discover just that: the 25+ best ways to save money, each one…

7 Secrets to a Successful First Home Mortgage

This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own. “We are pre-approved for WHAT?!?!” I will never forget nearly falling out of my chair when my husband (then boyfriend) and I went to get our mortgage pre-approval to buy our first home over a decade ago. We still had student loans, car…