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Meal Prep August 2026: $800 for 3 Months of Meals – Part 1 – The Cost
Quarterly meal prepping doesn’t mean breaking the envelope budget. Here is the full receipt breakdown of our recent $800 bulk shopping run across Gordon Food Service, Walmart, and Aldi—including how we split costs, utilized our household goods envelope, and stretched this run to cover 5 full months of meals for our family.
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August 2026: Debt Progress
Life threw a few very expected summer expenses our way this month—between a $1,200 van maintenance, $400+ electric bills, and a 6-month auto insurance premium. Despite those speedbumps, we still knocked out over $2,700 in total debt reduction while navigating a credit card fee waiver and prepping for our upcoming 2026 HSA strategy.
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Back From Vacation!
A rainy week with the kids and an unannounced Cloudflare outage threw off our mid-month blogging schedule. Here is a quick life update on house projects, family time, meal prepping wins, and getting the debt tracking articles back on schedule.
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Frugal Friday August 8, 2026
A door-to-door sales visit prompted a quick call to customer support, dropping our monthly internet bill by $10 and locking in $240 in direct savings over two years. By redirecting that monthly $10 drop straight into investments, Mr. Money Mustache’s 10-year compounding math turns a quick phone call into $1,730.
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Employer Benefits and Open Enrollment
Faced with a 300% premium hike on our standard health insurance plan, we made the jump to a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA). By running the numbers on out-of-pocket maximums, employer seed contributions, and tax savings—plus leveraging the IRS Last-Month Rule—switching plans will actually lower our overall healthcare costs despite…
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When Discipline Slides
Writers’s block is rough, can an X argument find a spark?
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July 2026 End of Month Update: Minor Side Hustle Income
July turned out to be a massive month for side hustles and passive income. By optimizing our FreeCash funnel, managing covered calls, and capturing extra dividend income, we pushed our year-to-date side hustle total past $11,000—while maintaining a 78% profit margin on mobile game offers.
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Frugal Friday July 31st 2026: When Spending Has to Happen
Between broken appliances, back-to-school shopping, and a steep bill for minivan tires, unexpected and seasonal costs can hit all at once. While dropping nearly $1,000 on car maintenance feels like a gut punch, stacking coupons on a pizza night reminded us that frugality isn’t about never spending—it’s about spending wisely when you have to.
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