Now in full disclosure, I don’t always eat in while traveling. In fact, food is a huge part of culture! But food can be a key area to cut costs while traveling. 1: Bring Cheap Non-Perishable Food With You I like to bring along Clif bars […]
I haven’t had coffee in two weeks. That’s crazy. You’re talking to the girl who would drink at least a pot a day at work. I always drank it black, and I’d switch to decaf at noon. So being told, “no coffee” felt like a […]
Finally, the weather is cooling down a bit, the leaves are changing, and it’s time to break out flannels and chai tea. But the good news about the new season is that it offers some new ways to save money. So here are ways to […]
I’ve been going through a bit of an identity crisis with this website throughout the summer because I’ve had some ongoing health issues. From ongoing GI issues to vertigo to the ER to surgery. And I didn’t really tell anyone outside of family because it […]
A few days ago I announced on my Instagram that I had begun paid freelance writing, and that I kind of fell into this because of blogging. Since then, I’ve had several friends (in person and online) ask me, “How did you make your website?” […]
Every year Nordstrom has a massive sale called the “Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?,” where, you guessed it, things go on sale! Historically, what makes this sale so exciting is that it isn’t the OLD stuff that goes on sale, but it’s the NEW stuff that goes […]
Happy Sunday! I began by writing out my Money Wins & Fails, then decided to do a roundup of my fitness wins and fails! I like this whole idea because it keeps me honest. It also gives a lot of insight into my personality. Little […]
Happy Sunday! I decided to do a roundup of some money wins and fails! I like this whole idea because it keeps me honest. It also gives a lot of insight into my personality. After all, what you spend money on is what’s important to […]
If you’ve read the book “Girl Wash Your Face,” then you know that it brings about a rush of motivation to do something. Rachel Hollis has a way of tapping into the emotions of her readers, and it was that skill that had me both laughing and […]
I’ve been reading a lot lately, and it has brought more joy back into my life than I can explain. You see, reading was a true joy in my childhood. I went to the library on a weekly basis and would read for hours. My […]
I’m so glad you found me on this corner of the internet.
Here’s what you can expect from Budgets & Kale
Here are a few notable things about me.
I began this blog in March 2017, only four months after my dad has unexpectedly passed away. At that point we were in the middle of paying off our six figures in student loans. This blog was begun partially as a tribute to him. My dad had blogged since the 90s, and I honestly don’t remember a time when my dad didn’t have his laptop in front of him.
We paid off 56K in 14 months, then got the shock of our lifetime. You can read about that in the post, We Are Debt Free, but I Wish We Weren’t.
Then we got another shock in March 2018. Our daughter’s daycare closed (what we thought was a wonderful, well-programmed, very expensive daycare turned out to have some underlying issues) exactly TWO WEEKS before our son was born. Since daycares have an approximate wait list of 8 months in our area, and because my job had been terrible for over a year, I quit. Nowadays, I’m a freelance writer within the personal finance community and blogger. I do this part time and it supplements enough of my former salary to work with our budget. Things feel tight again, but that’s the season of life we are in and that’s okay. So these budgeting tips and ways to save are what we actually do! I hope you find it all helpful.
Cheers,
Rachel
