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How to live on Nickels & Dimes when you are Flat broke: How I Survived on $450 Per Month with a Family of Three - Managing Budget, Saving on Groceries, Bills & Entertainment
How to live on Nickels & Dimes when you are Flat brokeAre you living paycheck to paycheck? Are you barely able to keep food on the table? Are you working for your money, or is your money working for you? In today’s tough economic times, it can be difficult to make ends meet.
I have always tried very hard to make my money work for me. There are times where that was harder to accomplish than others, and I have been at the bottom of the bottom making miracles just to survive and keep my head above water. I have always thought of being broke as being akin to being extremely thirsty.
It’s like you spend all of this time in a financial desert, desperately wanting a cold and refreshing sip of water. Yet everywhere you look, there is just more sand.
Then, after what may seem like forever of crawling through this barren wasteland, you finally find the oasis. You greedily drink the crisp, cool liquid until your stomach aches, and you have to stop to catch your breath. After going for long periods of time being denied the guilty pleasures we crave, when we are finally in a position to do more, we do too much.
I cannot count how many times I have fallen victim to this cycle of “thirsty thinking.” Until one day, I made a concrete resolution to make money moves to get ahead instead of continuously falling behind.
As a single mom, I certainly understand the value of providing a future for your children. Everything we do is motivated by the intrinsic desire to make our kids’ lives better than our own. It’s just that sometimes good intentions and reality do not coincide or intersect. When one path doesn’t get us there, we try something new. The thing is, until we change our perception of the problem, we can’t adapt our solution to it.
We have to take a step back and view the problem through a different lens and work a solution from this newfound perspective. Instead of thinking of each paycheck as being 100% disposable, we have to learn to view it as a means to an end. If you have $200 left from your paycheck after paying rent, don’t see that $200 as what you have to spend until you get paid again. Break that cycle. If you don’t, you will never get further than where you are.
When it comes to dinner, this is usually where we have the most control over what our family eats (and how much we are spending on it) as the one that prepares the menu. This is where the real test of our thriftiness will come into play. A big part of that is going to be how we can make that dollar stretch and still provide healthy, filling meals that taste good.
When planning your dinner menu for the week, try to focus on recipes that will allow you the freedom to stretch the protein beyond the current meal. This is the part of the book where I will show you practical ways to plan and save on your grocery budget – probably the number one place to make your money stretch farther.
Separating Negotiable and Non-Negotiable BillsPlanning Payments by Due DateFactoring in Miscellaneous ExpensesCutting Back on Negotiable BillsCoupons, Store Rewards Programs, and Social Media PagesSaving Without Sacrificing ValueBuying in BulkMeal Planning on A BudgetFamily Staples as Meal StretchersFeeding the Finicky EaterRe-purposing Leftovers25 Recipes Under $10 For the Whole FamilyEntertainment For the Whole FamilyGoing Out on a BudgetFinding Joy in Togetherness
I have always tried very hard to make my money work for me. There are times where that was harder to accomplish than others, and I have been at the bottom of the bottom making miracles just to survive and keep my head above water. I have always thought of being broke as being akin to being extremely thirsty.
It’s like you spend all of this time in a financial desert, desperately wanting a cold and refreshing sip of water. Yet everywhere you look, there is just more sand.
Then, after what may seem like forever of crawling through this barren wasteland, you finally find the oasis. You greedily drink the crisp, cool liquid until your stomach aches, and you have to stop to catch your breath. After going for long periods of time being denied the guilty pleasures we crave, when we are finally in a position to do more, we do too much.
I cannot count how many times I have fallen victim to this cycle of “thirsty thinking.” Until one day, I made a concrete resolution to make money moves to get ahead instead of continuously falling behind.
As a single mom, I certainly understand the value of providing a future for your children. Everything we do is motivated by the intrinsic desire to make our kids’ lives better than our own. It’s just that sometimes good intentions and reality do not coincide or intersect. When one path doesn’t get us there, we try something new. The thing is, until we change our perception of the problem, we can’t adapt our solution to it.
We have to take a step back and view the problem through a different lens and work a solution from this newfound perspective. Instead of thinking of each paycheck as being 100% disposable, we have to learn to view it as a means to an end. If you have $200 left from your paycheck after paying rent, don’t see that $200 as what you have to spend until you get paid again. Break that cycle. If you don’t, you will never get further than where you are.
When it comes to dinner, this is usually where we have the most control over what our family eats (and how much we are spending on it) as the one that prepares the menu. This is where the real test of our thriftiness will come into play. A big part of that is going to be how we can make that dollar stretch and still provide healthy, filling meals that taste good.
When planning your dinner menu for the week, try to focus on recipes that will allow you the freedom to stretch the protein beyond the current meal. This is the part of the book where I will show you practical ways to plan and save on your grocery budget – probably the number one place to make your money stretch farther.
Separating Negotiable and Non-Negotiable BillsPlanning Payments by Due DateFactoring in Miscellaneous ExpensesCutting Back on Negotiable BillsCoupons, Store Rewards Programs, and Social Media PagesSaving Without Sacrificing ValueBuying in BulkMeal Planning on A BudgetFamily Staples as Meal StretchersFeeding the Finicky EaterRe-purposing Leftovers25 Recipes Under $10 For the Whole FamilyEntertainment For the Whole FamilyGoing Out on a BudgetFinding Joy in Togetherness
126 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 9, 2021
169 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 3, 2021
Easy logical and helpful to anyone with a dream
This was short and to the point without lacking any valuable information. Anyone can glean something from these words of tried and true wisdom
This was short and to the point without lacking any valuable information. Anyone can glean something from these words of tried and true wisdom
November 29, 2025
An American author with American prices and supports. Basically , set a budget and stick to it. Not rocket science. The recipes look to be simple, quick, and filling (although, I haven’t tried any yet). There were some great ideas on family fun that are cheaper or free! Overall, not a terrible read.
May 17, 2023
A must read.
I would recommend this book to anyone incurring a financial dilemma that appears to have no end. I would also recommend this book for anyone who manages money (which is probably everyone).
I would recommend this book to anyone incurring a financial dilemma that appears to have no end. I would also recommend this book for anyone who manages money (which is probably everyone).
February 25, 2025
Wow
Loved the way everything was broken down by chapters. The way all the links were available by the chapters last page instead of them all at the end of the book. So many ideas, inspiration, the if you failed you can always try again tomorrow.
Loved the way everything was broken down by chapters. The way all the links were available by the chapters last page instead of them all at the end of the book. So many ideas, inspiration, the if you failed you can always try again tomorrow.
March 13, 2022
Very good and in-depth information
Goes into a lot of detail, how to look at expenses gives examples and recipes and the cost to cook them and how to manage other expenses.
Goes into a lot of detail, how to look at expenses gives examples and recipes and the cost to cook them and how to manage other expenses.
August 29, 2023
Some practical tips and recipes.
December 9, 2023
I liked the resources listed but the style of writing I found to be distracting.
October 23, 2024
Good book
Great tips on saving money and very good recipes. Definitely a must have if you want to save money . I enjoyed the book
Great tips on saving money and very good recipes. Definitely a must have if you want to save money . I enjoyed the book
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews