frugalkendra I am a homeschooling mom of 3 boys. I enjoy couponing, frugal living, spending time with family and friends, church activities, reading and internet surfing. View all articles | Contact author

Financial Guru's for the Frugal Minded

By Kendra Neal

October 2003

I started doing research into Frugality and Budget Trimming in 1998, 4 years before I actually became a Stay at Home Wife/Mom and found a ton of valuable information online and at the library that has helped  me succeed at helping our family income without having to go back to work. I believe along with the aspect of saving money you also need a good financial plan to help you stay on track. I found some GREAT financial counselors who are not only good at helping you create a financial plan, but also are frugal.

Here is a list of websites and books for that have helped me along my way:

Mary Hunt is an author of many different books on being debt-free and living frugally. She went from being $100,000 in debt to debt-free I believe in less than 5 years and has stayed debt-free. She also has a
website with VERY valuable info on it. Her website is a subscriber
website for $18/year. I don't subscribe to her website, but parts of
it have FREE access to all. I have some of her books on my bookshelf
and I have checked others out of the library. Her website is:
http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/
She also has a calculator on her site that will help you calculate
your REAL Hourly Wage after paying for Daycare and other work related expenses. Here is the link to the calculator:
http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/member_tools_calculator_calc_rhw.asp

Some of her books that are really helpful are:
Debt-Proof Living
The Complete Cheapskate
The Financially Confident Woman
The Cheapskate Gourmet

Larry Burkett was a GREAT Christian Financial Advisor. He has many,
many books on Finances. He founded an organization that has a website with very valuable information on it. The website link is
www.crown.org . The website has many useful tools to help in planning and keeping a budget.

His book selection includes:
Debt Free Living
Making Ends Meet and many more

Dave Ramsey is also another EXCELLENT Financial Advisor. He has a
GREAT book called Financial Peace. His latest book, Total Money Makeover has been life changing for many. He has also a website at:
www.daveramsey.com He does seminars and has many budget tools at his site. (This is a HIGHLY recommended site by many)

Jonni McCoy is an author who found a way for her family to go from 2 income living to 1 income living while residing in a very affluent
community in California. She is also a Homeschooling mom. Her book is called Miserly Moms and her website is located at
http://www.miserlymoms.com/ Her second book is called Frugal
Families. Her books are a really good resource on how to be frugal
and how to cut back in certain areas.

Ellie Kay is a great Christian Author who has written a couple of
books on being frugal and using coupons. I have her book called Shop,
Save, and Share and it talks about getting the most out of using
coupons. She also has another book called How to Save Money Every
Day. Ellie's website is: http://www.elliekay.com/ .

Kathy Peel has a GREAT book called The Family Manager. She also is a Christian Woman and her book is on to be organized as a SAHM. She no longer calls herself a SAHM, but a Family Manager and I LOVE this
term. Her website is: http://www.familymanager.com/ She has a great tool called the Daily Hit List. It is a chart to help you plan your
daily schedule and you can download it for FREE from the site.

Donna Otto is a Christian author who has written a book called the
Stay at Home Mom. Her website is: www.donnaotto.org

All these websites and books have been VERY helpful in my quest to
help be a good steward of the money God has given us. I feel without
this knowledge and God's gift to be of being able to use coupons
effectively, I wouldn't be able to be a SAHM. I hope that they are
helpful to you also. Please check your local library to see if any of
these books are available for you. I know our local library carries
these books and MANY more on being a SAHM and Being Frugal.