Simple Frugal Living in the New Year: How Our Family Became Debt-Free

Today I am sharing practical, realistic habits for simple, frugal living in the new year!

Well, friends, this past week I took down all of my Christmas decorations, and I’m trying to get the house cleaned and back in order after the holiday season. And so today’s blog is going to be a little bit different. Today I’m going to share with you how our family our family embraced simple frugal living became debt-free in 2025. I have lots of ideas to share with you, and I can’t wait to get started. So I hope you’ll stick around!

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Happy New Year friends! Today’s post is a little bit different. I want to talk about some things that we have done as a family to save us so much money over the years: simple frugal living.

Let me just start by saying that everybody’s story is different. Everyone’s experiences are different. I don’t think it’s wise to compare ourselves to other people. Although I do think that it’s good to look up to someone who maybe has made really good choices with their finances, and you can, of course, maybe learn from that person.

But I just want to be careful to preface this with the idea that our way isn’t the best way. Our way isn’t the only way. Everyone has their own journey with what they believe simple frugal living means.

So this past year, in 2025, my husband and I were able to finally accomplish freedom from all debt. Even our home; we were able to pay it off. And it was just such an amazing moment for us because it’s something we’ve been working towards for a long time. It was just very special for us and something that I’ve prayed for for a long time. And I know that’s not everyone’s goal, but it was always a goal of ours, something that we wanted to accomplish.

First and foremost, I want to give God all of the glory. He deserves all praise, and everything good that has ever happened in our lives is all because of Him.

I was talking to my husband about this, and I said, “What are some things that we have done and implemented over the years to help us achieve some of these financial goals?” And the very first thing that he said (which probably doesn’t apply to everyone reading) was to honor the Lord with your finances.

I know that not everyone who watches my channel is a Christian, but as believers, we think that is very important. And that’s something that we’ve always done. No matter how much money we’ve had, we’ve always tried to give the Lord the very best that we can. I think the Lord has really blessed that, and I truly believe He has taken care of us because we have tried to honor Him no matter how much money we have in the bank account. So that was the first thing he said, and I’ll throw that one out there.

Simple Frugal Living: Cooking Homemade Meals

First and foremost, I would say cooking homemade meals is so important for simple frugal living. We spend so much money when we go out to eat. It blows my mind. We’re a family of six now, and I feel like when we go to a fast-food restaurant, for goodness sake, we are spending $50 to $60, and it’s just unbelievable.

I think it’s so important to cook homemade meals. We try really hard to limit going out to eat to just a couple of times a month because you just spend so much every time you go out. You can save so much by cooking from scratch and making your own food at home.

If you are on the lookout for some delicious homemade recipes, you can checkout my recipe resources here!

One Vehicle

Another thing that we have on our list, which might seem kind of silly, is that we’ve always just had one vehicle. We live in a smaller town, so everything is pretty close. I know this isn’t always possible, especially if both parents work.

But even before, when my husband was working full-time secular jobs and I was home with the kids, there were moments in my daily life where it would have been very convenient to have a vehicle so I could load up the kids and run to the grocery store or other errands.

Like I said, this isn’t going to work for everyone. There are cases where people have to have a second vehicle. But if you are working that job simply in order to pay for that second car payment, you know what I’m saying? You really have to pause and reflect and sit down and think, is this truly necessary?

Simple Frugal Living: Needs Vs. Wants

That leads me to my third point, which is discerning needs from wants. I think, especially in America, we think we need certain things when we really don’t. And that is something that, no matter how much the Lord blesses me, if I want to, there are so many things that I want to buy. But I have just chosen not to buy them because I don’t think that they are an absolute need.

Yes, I have splurged. You guys know I’ve purchased antiques and I’ve done things in my home. But for the most part, I do think that it’s important to discern needs from wants.

No Credit Cards (or Using Them Carefully)

That leads me into my next point as well, which is no credit cards. Now, we have actually gotten some credit cards in recent years, just because when my husband wanted to go to Germany for the first time to visit family and we saw the price of airline tickets, we were talking to my brother about it. He said, “You guys are super self-disciplined when it comes to finances. It might be to your advantage to use some credit cards so that you can get some free points for flying.”

That is something we did later in life. We were super scared of credit cards at first because we had heard the horror stories and the debt that people got themselves into. So we were anti-credit for a long time until recently.

I think that’s something you just have to decide. If you’re paying for something with your credit card, do you have the cash to pay for that? It’s simply using them as a tool rather than something that causes you to get yourself into trouble.

Very Limited Extras

Next up, I would say very limited extras. There are so many things that can fall into this category. I know that as women, sometimes it’s nice to go and get your hair done or get your nails done.

Every once in a while, I go and get my nails done. Actually, once a year I do, right before our big family vacation. We go to North Carolina every spring. My sisters, mom and I all go and get our nails done. So once a year I splurge and do that.

For the most part, I bought myself a gel nail kit, and I do my own nails. As for my hair, I do go and get my hair done, but I only do it twice a year. I’ve tried to ask my hairstylist to not bring the color tight up to the root but kind of blend it out so that as it grows out, it’s not so noticeable. I don’t know the correct terms for all this stuff, but she knows what I’m talking about.

A lot of those things can add up over time. I was talking to my sister about this, and she listed a few other things, like self-tanning for example. There are lots of skin-safe, clean tanners that can save you money rather than going and getting a spray tan. My sister dyes her own hair. Some people do that all the time. That’s something you could definitely learn to do if you’re brave enough. I’m not brave enough, so I will splurge for that one twice a year haha

Again, there’s nothing wrong with pampering yourself or treating yourself every once in a while. But be mindful of how often you splurge on extras for yourself, especially if it’s a skill you could learn to do yourself.

Simple Frugal Living: DIY

This also leads into other skills, and I have this on my list as well: DIY.

Of course, when we think about DIY, we think about house projects. And you guys know that Mike and I have never hired anyone to do anything around our home. Some people might say, “Well, you’re blessed. You’re lucky. You have the skills to do that.” But honestly, Mike didn’t know anything when we bought this house. He just taught himself all of these different skills.

Now, obviously, there are certain things that I think it would be safer to hire someone for, like plumbing or electrical. When Mike replaced all the pipes in our house and redid all the plumbing, he had never done that before. He called some friends he knew.

Truly, you can learn so much in this age of information. There’s really no limit to what you can learn, as long as you’re comfortable and you don’t think you’re going to hurt yourself. I don’t want to encourage anyone to electrocute themselves or anything like that. You have to be careful and make sure you’re doing it the right way.

But honestly, we have saved so much money over the years by simply trying to do it ourselves. It’s not always the easy way, but it can really save you a lot of money if you’re willing to apply yourself and learn new things.

And when it comes to DIY, it’s not just house projects. This could be landscaping or sewing. Even in our yard, with all of the garden beds and landscaping we’ve done, none of that was hired out. It was hard work, but we probably saved thousands by doing it ourselves.

Shop Secondhand

My next tip for you is to shop secondhand. Oh my goodness, you guys know how much I love to thrift.

First of all, clothing. It blows my mind the amount of money people spend on clothing. No judgment; I know we all have our things. My priority might be a beautiful old antique that someone else would gasp at the price of, and I do the same thing when it comes to clothes.

But you can save so much money by thrifting. If you are struggling financially, I highly recommend thrifting for your clothing. Every once in a while, I invest in a new piece of clothing. My husband does too. It’s not like our entire wardrobe is from a thrift store, but the majority of it is, especially for my boys. You can get really quality pieces at the thrift store.

And then thrifted home decor: thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, garage sales. I have scored some amazing pieces over the years. Even in my bedroom alone, I’m looking at a free dresser, a $20 Facebook Marketplace dresser, thrifted baskets. There are just so many items that I’ve gotten for such a low price because I chose to shop secondhand.

Contributing Financially As A Stay-At-Home Mom

This next tip is more aimed toward a stay-at-home mom or housewife. Over the years, I always tried to contribute financially to our household when I was able.

Simply by being a stay-at-home mom, you are contributing financially. You’re not paying someone to clean the house, watch your children, or cook your meals. That is a financial contribution in and of itself.

But when I was able, I always tried to work from home. Years ago, when we were first married, I made little headbands and sold them in local shops. I painted furniture for a while. Just little things I could do from home. Then, of course, I started my blog and YouTube channel seven or eight years ago.

I always had that desire to contribute when I was able. And in this day and age, there are so many opportunities. With my blog now, I actually have several stay-at-home moms helping me with Pine and Prospect Home in different areas. If you’re looking for opportunities to work from home, there are so many options to work for blogs; editing videos, answering comments, writing blog posts to name a few!

Again, you are already contributing just by taking care of your home. That is a beautiful thing, and I don’t think people always realize how much money you’re saving by doing all of that.

Simple Frugal Living: Putting Extra Money Toward Debt

As the Lord blessed the blog and YouTube channel, whenever we had extra money, we always tried to take big chunks and put it toward our debt. We paid off our vehicle quickly, and then our home was our last big goal.

It would have been so tempting to spend extra money on other things, but we had a goal, and we stuck to it.

I do want to say that I know how blessed we are to have purchased our house when we did and at the price we did. The financial climate right now is crazy. Interest rates are high. I understand all of that. So again, don’t compare your journey with someone else’s.

These are just some things that helped us stick to our plan and meet our financial goals.

Now we feel like we have so much financial freedom: to give more, to bless more, and to give back what the Lord has given us. That was really the goal all along.

I don’t know why I’m emotional writing this, but these past seven or eight years have been such a journey, and it’s exciting. I wanted to share these things with you in case you have similar goals and dreams.

Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. I know this was a little bit different. I’m so excited to share some of the projects and ideas we have for 2026!

I would love to hear from you! How do you save money? Let me know in the comments below. I love reading what you have to say, and we can all learn from each other.

Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to 2026. If you are looking for some more simple frugal living tips, be sure to sign up for my free mini homemaking course below!

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