Chapter 5 of “Adopt Without Debt” deals with trimming your household budget to “find” more money for your adoption. One of the categories I think has a big potential savings is the grocery budget.
The average American family of four spends $700 a month on groceries. But it can be done for SOOOO much less! I spend about $400 a month for our family of six – and that includes things like toilet paper and cleaning supplies.
My book goes into detail on how I keep our grocery budget trimmed, but another great resource is a book by my friend Mary Ostyn. “Family Feasts for $75 a Week” is part guide, part cookbook. Mary explains in detail (way more than my book) how to shop smart and trim costs. Then she has a wonderful collection of recipes, including some from Ethiopia and Korea. (She’s an adoptive mom.)
I made the Baked Chimichangas on page 96 for dinner tonight and they were a HUGE hit!
NOW is the perfect time to buy the book because Amazon has marked it down dramatically. It’s only $7.18. There’s a “limited number” available at that price, though no one knows what that number is.
So head on over and grab it! Quick!
Hi Julie,
We found ourselves in a similar situation with our adoption. We initially tried to adopt domestically, but after two years of dead-ends, we decided, even though it would be a huge mountain to climb–to adopt internationally.
After we added up all the numbers, and used up all our resources, we knew we had to do something else to make this work. One of my passions for many years has been photography. The last three years, especially so. In 2010, I attempted to sell some of my photography to help our adoption costs, but with meager success.
Then, in December of 2010, I thought perhaps smaller is better. So, I began making fine art refrigerator magnets based around my photography and they were an instant hit. We started first with our friends, then we started a small ugly website (it’s still ugly…) Started Facebooking and reaching out beyond our “inner circle” and since then, we have sold over 5,000 magnets. Our magnets are now in four boutiques in Michigan as well, through people we’ve sold to!
Our website is http://www.15000refrigerators.com
All of us are talented and good at something. It’s up to us to discover/identify those talents and make something out of them. And yes, network, network, network!!
We have met so many dear people through this process and that’s the best part of fundraising! The network of support undergirding you and your family by those who have purchased something from you is priceless. I would rather be poor and have a hundred friends than be independently wealthy and alone!
If I can help you in any way, please let me know!
Thank you!
Steve McKenzie