One way we keep our dining out costs so low, is by cooking nearly everything at home. One way to cut the cooling costs during the summer while still cooking all the meals is to use the microwave. My method is to cook meals (2 or so at a time) in the early morning hours when I first get up. That way, I am not heating up the kitchen during the hottest part of the day. After the meals are cooked I put them into containers in the fridge. Then, when it is dinner time, I just take out the appropriate meal and heat it in the microwave. This also has the added benefit of stress reduction during the dinner hour. I don’t need to fuss about “what is for dinner” because it is already done! Clean up is easier too because I clean up after cooking in the morning. Gives us more family time to enjoy after dinner because one of us is not “cleaning up the kitchen”. The key to making this work is planning. Planning ahead to get the groceries you will need to make several meals at a time, planning ahead to get the dinner going when you first get up. It may take a while to get the scheduling of this down, but I can guarantee that it is worth the effort invested.

She says:

The cost of clothes for a family of five can be quite high.  There are quite a few ways to save money on clothing.  Here are some of the best ways I’ve learned to save a few dollars on clothing for us and for the kids.

1.  The best tip is to train yourself to think “in advance”.  Last minute purchases will always cost more.   Maximize your money by planning out as far as possible what your clothing needs are and then searching for those items on sale or clearance, at a garage sale or thrift store. 

2.  Shop for sales on clothes.  I check the Sunday newspaper for sales but I also watch the local stores that I shop often for when they are clearancing clothing.  For the kids, I look to buy the sizes for the next year.  I can find some especially good bargains when shopping the “end of season” sales.  For example when the winter clothes are clearanced out, I look for stuff for my kids for the next year and purchase clothes in the sizes that they will be wearing the next year.  I then put these clothes into storage bins either under their beds or in the closets.  I do leave the tags on because that way they feel like they are getting new clothes!  I do the same thing for shoes.  I purchase the next sizes for the kids and try to make a good guess as to what sizes they will be in during the next year’s seasons.  I’ve had great success using this method by shopping at Target, WalMart, Payless, Kohl’s, Dillards, JCPenny, and Sears.

3.  Shop at Garage Sales.  In my area, garage sales are a usually held in the Spring and the Fall.  There are many neighborhoods that will have a community sale.  I can usually get to 10 to 15 houses per neighborhood sale.  I have found lots of great deals on kids clothes this way.  Even better, when I find a lot of clothes for my kids at a Spring garage sale, I make a note of which neighborhood and which house.  Then I make sure I visit that neighborhood/house at the Fall garage sales because usually their kids will have outgrown more clothes which would be just right for my own children.  I even had one lady offer to call me when her child had outgrown clothes so I could see if there was anything I wanted.  It was a win-win situation.  I could find great clothes for my child and she would make more money than if she took her stuff to a consignment store.

4.  Consignment stores and thrift stores.  This method entails more time but can definitely pay off.  To find the great deals you have to go often and the earlier in the morning the better.  I used to make the “Saturday morning rounds” as I would call them.  I could make 2 thrift stores and a consignment store in just a couple of hours.  Again, I used the technique described above.  I looked for sizes for the kids for the next year.

 

He says:

…Die.

I created for my wife a “What to do if I die” page.  This is not a will.  We have a will and everyone needs one.  This is not a, “if you are reading this, I must have died letter”, which is good to write.  The purpose of this letter is to make the financial part of your death easier for your spouse to deal with.  This is a one to two page document that tells your spouse four main points:

1. What financial resources we have.
2. Where they are.
3. How to access them.
4. What to do with the money.

For example, tell your spouse what life insurance with the value you have (term policy with a 500,000 value), where is located (what company - XYZ Insurance, what phone number to call to receive it) and then tell what & where to put the money (set all insurance policy money in a money market account or money market mutual fund for 6 months to 1 year).

Note:  It is not a good idea for spouses to make major financial decisions right after their spouse has died.  My wife and I would set any money aside for 6 months to a year before making financial decisions.  One needs grieving time and the death of a spouse would be overwhelmingly difficult.

You could tell your spouse in the document where all your assests are.  Where all your liabilities are.  You could give financial advise for the future. You could give the name of a trusted friend or financial advisor to help with development of a plan for your wife and your children.  These are suggestions that could be in your document.

Then when you have completed the document, go to your spouse and ask for his or her input on how to make the document better. Remember, you are doing this for them.  So it is good idea to get their input to make the document easier for them to understand and use.