Live Like a College Student

by Amberlee Rich | Nov 24, 2018 | Intentional Living, Living on Less, Living with Less | 1 comment

Live Like a College Student

One of the best pieces of financial advice we have been given was from my mom. She told us to live like college students as long as you possibly can.

You may be thinking that you made some of the worst financial decisions of your life in college. That’s not what she was talking about. She meant, live on as little as possible and save, save, save as much as you can. And that is what we did and continue to do.

Our income has fluctuated throughout the years, especially when I quit my job to be a stay-at-home mom. When we had a higher income, we did not change our spending habits. Most people already plan out how they are going to spend their raise before they even get it. Our lifestyle has never reflected our income.

By living on less than what we made, we were able to save enough that we had a good cushion if there was an emergency or if we lost a job.

When we were double-income earners, we lived on less than half of our pay. Mind you, we didn’t have high-paying jobs, think teacher’s salary people. This gave us the ability to save and put extra money down on our house and put quite a bit into our retirement.

Beyond that, I was able to be a stay-at-home mom and we didn’t really feel like we were living differently (except we couldn’t put extra into savings, retirement, or on our house).

Having extra savings and not having to live paycheck to paycheck gave me so much more peace. As women, most of us find comfort and reassurance by being financially secure. Sadly, most women (and people in general) are stressed over money because their spending is out of control.

The Benefits of Living Like a College Student:

If we didn’t live like college students, we would have been so stressed financially. Buying a home would have been tough to pull off. I probably would have never had the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom.

There are so many moms who would love to be home with their kids, but they don’t think they can financially pull it off. How tragic. If this is you right now, there is always a way. Those changes may be drastic like downsizing your home and vehicle(s). Maybe you or your spouse will need to add a side gig in to make it work. You will have to change your spending habits and live with less.

My big question for you is this:

What do you want to do in your future?

Are finances holding you back from reaching those goals or dreams?

If so, what changes do you need to make?

Most people are broke, and have piles of debt. Dare to be different. You don’t have to have what everyone else has. Live like a college student. Learn like crazy, enjoy each moment, be social, and live on a shoestring. You survived it then, you can do it today.

Share your thoughts on living like a college student below.

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Stop Acting Rich: Debunking the Lies that are Holding Us Back

by Amberlee Rich | Nov 8, 2018 | Living with Less, Living on Less

Stop Acting Rich: Debunking the Lies that are Holding Us Back

We are all looking for more. The constant bombardment of what our lives should look like and what we are supposed to own is endless. What we see on television and movies paints a life where people rarely work, they have a huge spotless house, and a romantic relationship that is oh-so unrealistic.

Our perception of reality gets even more twisted by the insane amount of advertisements pushed at us daily. A whopping average of 5,000 advertisements online, on paper, and billboards each day are encouraging us to pull out our credit cards to buy the latest and greatest gadget that will ‘make our lives better.’ Instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses, most of us are trying to keep up or exceed where our parents currently are (and it took them twenty plus years to get there). Our unrealistic expectations lead us to so much debt.

Stop Acting Rich: Debunking the Lies that are Holding Us Back 3

Now, almost everything comes with a payment plan. Car and cell phone commercials only tell you the monthly payment, not the actual price. Heck, there’s a payment plan for everything. You can have a shed payment, a boat payment, furniture payment, and so much more. We are all acting like we have all the things, when in reality we are slowly paying them off and feeling like frauds.

What if we weren’t meant to go after the latest and greatest thing?

What if we lived differently?

What if we actually owned our stuff instead of the other way around?

Would freedom be found?

The Lie

The world is feeding us a lie that stuff equals happiness and it just isn’t true. Oliver Markus Malloy unloads reality, “Our entire life we chase the wrong things because we think having more money and buying more stuff will make us more happy. But it doesn’t. You know why a billionaire has 100 Ferraris? Because 99 weren’t enough.”

I don’t have a Ferrari, and I’m not even close to being a billionaire. But I do know, that when I stop and pay attention, I find happiness in the simple joys of life that are free. Those memories are priceless. Happiness is found when I push my son on the swings which brings on a slew of deep belly laughs. Snuggling up next to my daughter reading her book after book brings me joy. I don’t want to be so distracted by life and achievement, that I miss the present joys that surround me.

What brings you joy? Buying the newest and latest thing might bring a temporary high, but it won’t be lasting. Shouldn’t we be chasing after those joys we will remember throughout our lives?

Stop Acting Rich: Debunking the Lies that are Holding Us Back 4

Reflecting on Life

When it comes down to the end, all of our stuff really doesn’t matter. I doubt many people will reflect back on their lives and think that their newest iPhone was the highlight of their life. We all know that experiences trump possessions, but we still live the other way around.

We just had a celebration of life memorial for my Gramps and this really hit home for me. I cherish the memories, the photos, and videos of him, but not all of his stuff. My family went through his things and we all chose a few items that embodied our memories of him. I chose the watch that he always wore and a few photos of him. I’m working on creating a shadow box to display these few items that bring back wonderful memories of Gramps. Beyond that, everything has been given away or donated.

Our days are limited and someday someone else is going to go through my possessions and keep what they want and get rid of the rest. I don’t want to have massive amounts of possessions that my loved ones will have to go through. And I sure don’t want to work so hard during my life so I can pay for all the things that will one day be someone else’s burden to deal with.

I want to spend my time with people I care about, buying the necessities and not caring what others think. I may have some brown duck tape holding my super-comfy couch together. And my kids wear hand-me-downs (heck, so do I) and you know what, I’m happy with that. We are living below our means, which gives us freedom. I don’t want to fake it.

Changing Our Expectations

I wish I had the answer or a secret formula to fix our cultures insatiable hunger for more. I do know if we start changing our expectations of what we need to own and actually started to save up and pay for things outright, we would find financial freedom. As Dave Ramsey says, “you’ve got to live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.” I can not agree more with this statement. Most people are broke, so let’s stop doing what broke people are doing.

There are so many different strategies on how to get out of debt, but the root of the issue has to be addressed. Our things cost money and if we start limiting those things, we start to save money. It is as simple as that. If we live minimally, we not only find that we have more time, less to maintain, but we also have more cash in our wallets.

What are some ways you live like no one else? Please leave a comment below…

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#DebtDumpChallenge

by Amberlee Rich | Oct 31, 2018 | Living on Less, Living with Less

#DebtDumpChallenge

Have you ever made a goal that seemed almost unreachable? Something so big that it is scary to say out loud because if you say it out loud, you might actually have to do it. Well, I’m about to do that, I’m going to share our big goal…

We are going to pay off our house by November 20th, 2019!!

Yep, this is scary to put this in writing, since there will be so many eyes on our financial goal. Paying off the rest of our house isn’t going to be easy. Our original plan was to pay off our house in the next five years, but we are so on fire to be completely debt free (and my husband picked up a second job) so we can pay it off early.

We have been homeowners for the past eight years. The first home we owned for five years. We have been in our current home for the past three years.

By the time we have our home paid off, I will be 32 and my husband will be 35 and we will have been homeowners for nine years.

Furthermore, four of those years we weren’t making enough to be paying down on our home. My husband and I are working so hard to pay off our home for a lot of reasons.

Below are a few of the main reasons we want to pay off our house ASAP…

3 Reasons to Pay off Your House:

ONE

Freedom

Can you imagine having no mortgage in your thirties? We don’t want our biggest expense to be our home. No mortgage gives us the ability to spend and be more generous with our funds.

Our desire is to go on overseas mission trips with our family annually and be able to help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of others. By paying off our house, we will have extra funds to be able to do that.

TWO

No More Interest Payments

Even with our 3.625% loan, we are paying SOOO much in interest. I don’t want to be throwing away money to a bank if I don’t have to. Many people spend almost double their home price in interest rates throughout the life of a typical 30-year loan.

Let me give you an example. If you have a home that costs $200,000 with a typical interest rate right now of 4.5%, over thirty years, you will have paid $164,814 in interest. So, the total cost of the home would be $364,018. This fires me up!! I don’t want to pay monthly interest that only benefits the bank.

THREE

Debt Sucks

Debt sucks period. Most people think that they have to have debt to live, but that isn’t true. How often have you heard or maybe you say that I’ll always have a mortgage or I’ll always be making car payments? This is a lie, that is being fed to us daily.

We don’t have credit cards. We pay with cash/debit. Once you get in debt, it is hard to get out of it. If you are in debt, you have to get really intentional about paying it off fast.

My husband and I started the #DebtDumpChallenge to encourage others to pay down their debt while we pay down ours. We wanted to create a community of people who are all-in on paying down debt, so we can experience financial peace and do what we are created to do.

This community has almost sixty families participating and we have a collective group debt dump goal of over 1 million dollars!! We are so excited to be able to encourage and support these families as they transform their financial futures.

Here are the deets on the #DebtDumpChallenge (the challenge is closed, but we will be updating our progress throughout the year!):

Where: #DebtDumpChallenge (Private Facebook Group)

When: Join before December 1, 2018. The challenge will last from Nov. 1, 2018- Dec. 1, 2019. We will not be adding new members to our Facebook group after December 1st, because we want everyone to go all in and be part of the group for the whole year.

Why: This group is created to encourage each other to get out of debt. Share your victories of paying down debt so we can celebrate with you. My husband and I will post videos, tips, and content to encourage each other along the way.

Group Goal | $1,225,693.55 [$488,307.21 PAID OFF] 39.36% 39.36%
Jamberlee | $47,091.00 100% 100%
Ash | $10,000.00 68.06% 68.06%
Mankinator | $45,000.00 3.33% 3.33%
InKahoots | $47,000.00 100% 100%
Paige Turner | $10,000.00 30% 30%
Bryca | $18,000.00 83.33% 83.33%
CaMel2013 | $15,000.00 0% 0%
D-Zone | $17,006.00 70.56% 70.56%
Jane Doe | $13,000.00 0% 0%
Lackadaisia | $19,495.00 10.46% 10.46%
Segullah | $1,000 0% 0%
C/K Trump | $20,000 100% 100%
M & M’s | $5,000 0% 0%
Micrah | $3,500 75.00% 75.00%
Elizabeth | $2,000 105.00% 105.00%
D-Money | $16,000 41.25% 41.25%
Toss it | $12,000 0% 0%
Starrmom | $3,650.00 40.55% 40.55%
ThirdBird | $12,000.00 17.50% 17.50%
Purposeful Living | $6,000.00 0% 0%
The Myers Pack | $10,000.00 58.46% 58.46%
Hoffman30cass | $50,000.00 0% 0%
csvg | $16,000.00 0% 0%
SingleMama | $13,500 100% 100%
It’s a wonderful life | $35,000.00 65.02% 65.02%
Lisa | $70,000.00 11.94% 11.94%
Levater | $20,000.00 55.00% 55.00%
DogLovingCat | $7,900.00 0% 0%
DebtBeGone | $6,000.00 57.75% 57.75%
Down With Student Loans! | $30,000.00 7.74% 7.74%
JKLJ | $34,000.00 100% 100%
Lemur | $5,000.00 0% 0%
Memes2687 | $1,362.00 0% 0%
jpdump | $30,000.00 18.25% 18.25%
Bradandjanelle | $9,500.00 25.26% 25.26%
FreedomFighters | $5,000.00 0% 0%
DJen | $25,000.00 100% 100%
MV | $8,000.00 55.38% 55.38%
BenO | $20,000.00 0% 0%
GiffordsGetAfterit | $25,000.00 0% 0%
LeroyJenkins | $10,000.00 10.71% 10.71%
SMD | $15,000.00 10% 10%
Lobo Roxo | $17,478.55 14.59% 14.59%
A&B Debt Free | $18,000.00 2.78% 2.78%
Pepito | $40,000.00 139.18% 139.18%
Cookie Monster | $2,300.00 0% 0%
GaleForce | $10,000.00 150.95% 150.95%
MoneyMagic | $65,000.00 0% 0%
Piddler on the Roof | $13,500.00 1.67% 1.67%
DRECHEL | $5,000.00 100% 100%
TheDahlyLlamas | $40,000 32.35% 32.35%
Hatashley | $35,311.00 67.02% 67.02%
Texas Cowboys | $90,000.00 4.44% 4.44%
Nelliott | $30,000.00 21.83% 21.83%
Family Ties | $5,000.00 0.50% 0.50%
The Johnson Clan | $20,000.00 32.12% 32.12%
MotherOfFour | $17,100.00 100% 100%
BrownFam | $5,000.00 100% 100%
Terrica | $35,000.00 23.29% 23.29%

I’m going to be really transparent with you and let you know how much we owe on our house.

We owe $47,091 on our home.

Just so you have a better idea on the numbers side of our homeownership journey, we bought our home three years ago for $180,000. The current value of our home is $250,000+ right now. Each month I will give an update on how much we are able to knock off of our principle.

I just want to let you know why I am sharing this with you. For one, it will put some extra fire under us to get our house paid off. Secondly, I believe we are created to make a difference in the world, and so many of us are held back by finances, including myself.

Group Goal

The ticks have tocked and the challenge is closed...

Day(s)

Hour(s)

Minute(s)

Second(s)

#DebtDumpChallenge

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Is Fear Holding You Back?

by Amberlee Rich | Oct 30, 2018 | Intentional Living, Motherhood

Is Fear Holding You Back?

I didn’t realize until lately how fearful I truly am. Do you ever feel like you know yourself so well and then something happens and you figure out something new about yourself? Our own perceptions of ourselves are probably skewed. Maybe most people knew I was living in fear, and I was out in la-la land.

To be honest, I discovered that I was so fearful once I felt like I needed to start my own website and write inspiring content to encourage moms. I don’t think I would have done it if I didn’t feel like God was wanting me to. It’s scary being real and vulnerable with the cyber world. What are people going to think or say? But the most frightening part is when the people I know see what I’m creating. What will they think of what I write? Will they think of me differently?

If you haven’t guessed, I’m a people-pleaser by nature. Being a people-pleaser comes with a lot of benefits, but wedged in there are some major flaws. I care about what others think and sometimes so much so that I won’t be bold or daring. I can be paralyzed by fear, and give up before I even begin. But I don’t want to live like that anymore. I want to sieze the day (carpe diem) and live life to the fullest.

I can’t make a positive impact on the world if I am comfortable. My comfort zone is not where I want to stay.

I want to climb over that zone and be challenged to grow, and boy do I have a lot of growing to do. Writing posts and putting myself “out there” isn’t comfortable for me. I’ve never been one to be the center of attention.

One of our families values is being brave. We created a family mission statement based on what values we want to describe our family.

To be honest, most of my life I haven’t been very brave. I play it safe. I’ve never broken a bone or played a sport. When I was growing up, we were taught to use the cost-benefit analysis for any big or risky decision.

I’m now trying to live without fear and be brave. I want my children to be brave and overcome their fears, so I better practice what I preach.

Identity Shift:

In the past, my identity was shaped by what others said to me and how I viewed myself. I’m in the process of God rewriting my identity. His perception of me is what matters, not how others see me. Fear isn’t going to be a descriptor of me anymore.

Each morning I wait for Him to speak a phrase of how He sees me in my planner. It is my practical reminder that I can look at throughout the day. God knows me better than I know myself, and my identity shouldn’t be wrapped up in how the world sees me.

The next fear I’m going to tackle is to be on video. Yeah, that is super scary. I don’t like seeing myself on video, let alone posting it and sharing it with the world. But I know that my message is important and needs to be shared, even if it is terrifying in the process.

So please give me some grace as I step out of my comfort zone. I don’t want fear to rule my life or cheat me out of the good things in store for me. I’m sure that facing my fears head on will make me grow in new ways and give fear a smaller foothold in my life.

Are you struggling with fear too? Is fear holding you back? What can you do today to push fear off to the wayside and be brave? I’d love to hear your comments below.

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Is Couponing Worth it? Confessions of a Former Extreme Couponer

by Amberlee Rich | Oct 22, 2018 | Living on Less

Is Couponing Worth it? Confessions of a Former Extreme Couponer

Have you been considering couponing? Groceries are expensive and coupons can cut down on the expense, but is couponing worth it?

Couponing used to be a game to me. I have walked out of a grocery store with bags of groceries and didn’t pay a dime. There was strategy and thrill to the savings game. I loved when I could get items for free. It was even better if the coupon covered more than the cost of the item. Hello! Getting paid to buy things is swweeeett!

The extreme couponing shows did not draw me into the couponing fad. My introduction to couponing began far earlier, when I was ten years old. My family would sit at the dining room table for breakfast with different sections of the newspaper. The ads and coupons were left to the wayside, so I started looking through the ads and matching coupons to the sales. I would clip coupons for my mom to use when she went shopping. When I went off to college, I continued clipping coupons mainly for toiletries.

Is Couponing Worth it? Confessions of a Former Extreme Couponer 9

A sneak peak of a few of the shelves in my ‘grocery store’ back when I was a couponing queen…

Is Couponing Worth it? Confessions of a Former Extreme Couponer 10

The older I became, the more I used coupons and figured out the strategy. Our first year of marriage (2009) our average monthly spending on groceries, toiletries, and cosmetics was $74. We weren’t living on mac n’ cheese and we had a lot of dinner guests. Couponing was great financial defense for us.

I literally was the crazy couponing lady. I taught couponing classes and even had my own ‘grocery store’ (a huge cellar that was full of my grocery finds and canning ventures). Not only that, I kept up with numerous couponing websites. We went two years without paying for cheese by using coupons.

So what changed?

Well, several things. Here are four reasons why I don’t coupon like I used to.

4 Reasons Why Couponing Isn’t Worth It

ONE

Couponing has Gone Downhill

The excitement of couponing subsided when I couldn’t get the deals like I used to. I started couponing before extreme couponing shows existed. Grocery stores started to wake up and change their couponing policies. Double coupons don’t exist anymore along with a slew of other policies like grocery price matching.

TWO

Almost all Coupons are for Unhealthy Foods

Most coupons are for processed junk food, there are exceptions, but the majority are for cereals, dressings, candy, etc. I started assessing what I was buying and realized that I would never buy the majority of the stuff if I didn’t have a coupon for it. In addition, my husband started having food sensitivities about five years ago and the majority of processed foods are a no-go for him.

THREE

Couponing is a Time-Sucker

The amount of time I would spend looking on couponing websites, printing coupons, clipping coupons, strategizing and then doing the grocery shopping just stopped being appealing. I can’t even fathom the number of hours I have spent on couponing throughout my life. Once I became a mom, I knew that I needed to prioritize my time better and extreme couponing didn’t make the cut.

FOUR

Couponing Websites Encourages you to Spend

Couponing Websites do so much of the work for you by matching up deals with the right coupons. I used to follow multiple couponing websites and they all promote grocery deals, Amazon deals, really any deal that exists at you multiple times a day.

The push to help you save money actually made you spend more money on crazy discounted items you didn’t need. Couponing sites make their money through the ads and affiliate offers, so that is why they push deals on their money-savvy following.

I got suckered into one of the couponing deals and bought 100 knock-off magic erasers that were made in China. I’ve never bought a magic eraser in my life, and I sure didn’t need 100 of them.

Couponing has changed so much in the last ten years and so have I. I’ve been able to gain back time and I’m not buying food just because it is on sale or free.

Buying healthy food has been a necessity and a priority for my family because of food allergies and the desire to eat whole foods, and coupons don’t cover that. Most coupons are good for processed foods and we all know that processed foods aren’t good for us.

I haven’t quit couponing cold turkey. I still clip coupons here and there, but I have learned to save money without using coupons. Check out my downloadable guide on easy ways to save on groceries without clipping coupons.

Do you coupon? Do you think couponing is worth it? Leave a comment below on how you save money on groceries.

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