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Our line-by-line budget—with real numbers—helped our family of 5 save money and live on one income, so I can be a stay-at-home mom for two years. Discover the strategies we use to save money in every category without sacrificing a thing, and see the results in our actual numbers. Let’s dive in.
How A Budget Can Save Your Family: Our Story
It all started with my two years of parental leave. I never imagined becoming a stay-at-home mom. But back then, it was exactly what I needed to do—and here, I’ll tell you why and share more about us. For the first time in our marriage, we transitioned from a dual-income household to a single-income family.
Back then, our budget categories weren’t as divided as they are today (into subcategories), and I wasn’t familiar with the concept of a line-by-line budget. This made it difficult to figure out where we had savings potential and where we didn’t. In the end, I learned targeted budget planning with a line-by-line budget, which actually saved our family—and made it possible for me to become a stay-at-home mom. We came out of my two years of parental leave in the black (never going over budget).
I firmly believe that every family, in every situation, can benefit from a line-by-line budget. Yours too. Maybe it can even save your family, as it did ours, and help you achieve financial goals you once thought were out of reach – like becoming a one-income family, so you can be a stay-at-home mom too.
If you want to know exactly what a line-by-line budget actually is, and how you can create your own, make sure to check out the blog post What Is a Line-by-Line Budget? Our Family’s Real €5.000/Month. It also includes a table with our actual line-by-line budget breakdown.
The Strategies We Use to Save Money in EVERY Budget Category
I titled this post “10 Shocking Ways a Line-by-Line Budget Saved Our Family” because I refer to 10 different budget categories. Within each, I’ve found at least one seemingly shocking way to save money.
Each strategy may seem small on its own, but together they allow us to maintain a sustainable family budget for our (soon) family of 5. That’s how we’re able to achieve the financial goals that matter most to us—like becoming a one-income family, so I can be a stay-at-home mom for years, while making our dream of early semi-retirement and Semi FI come true.
Looking at all the budgeting tips below, from our line-by-line budget, which one do you think could be implemented in your own life? Let me know in the comments below.
Housing & Utilities
When it comes to housing, costs you can see that our mortgage (for a 130 m² four-story house) makes up a big part of our budget. It could be significantly lower. But we’re actually planning to increase it (again). Our family’s goal is to be debt-free in a few years, so our mortgage would be fully paid off in about ten. This is an important financial goal for us before we, as a family, enter our desired early semi retirement.
Total expenses: €2.330
- €1.810 Mortgage
- €435 Housing & utilities (incl. home insurance, property tax, and internet among others)
- €85 Household supplies
Here are the strategies we use to save money on housing and utilities:
- Marc constantly compares the tariffs of the utility companies every few months and eventually changes the contracts if he finds a better deal out there.
- We also use tricks like lowering the thermostat settings in winter, using LED bulbs, and almost never using a dryer – instead, using clothes racks (which is common in Germany).
- Marc constantly checks insurance companies for cheaper house insurance rates and switches if a better offer is available.
- The same applies to our internet contract.
- Our household supplies category helps us in case of breakdowns, replacements, or for gardening.
- We don’t have a TV subscription, because our family lives without a TV. I’ll explain the reasons behind this and the success we’ve had with it in a future blog post. However, under German law, we still have to pay around €20 per month for public broadcasting.
Groceries
I found some extreme strategies that have helped us keep our food budget around €200-300 per month, like food-saving. Essentially, saving food means that Marc goes to the local supermarket and gets all the food that would otherwise be thrown away for free, as he’s a member of the Food Saving Club. But a while ago, we switched to a more low-carb diet. We decided to buy only organic food—directly from local farmers—and eat as much as possible from our own self-sufficient garden, so we can eat 100 % real food at the highest nutritional point.
Total expenses: €750
- €650 Grocery shopping budget (incl. toiletries)
- €100 Sinking fund for buying food in bulk (more about sinking fund in the respective category)
Here are some strategies I use now to save money on groceries:
- Home-cooking 100 % (eating out or eating in the canteen during work does not exist)
- Weekly meal planning, seasonally, based on what we already have at home or get from farmers. I have a dozen recipe cards I wrote after our family decided this was one of our favorite meals.
- Once a month (yes, once a month!), I go shopping with a list. I can do that because I have tracked our consumption for each food category, such as meat, dairy, eggs, or veggies, for months, and shop accordingly. Then, I make sure to use up, perishable foods like berries or broccoli first.
Here are some resources for saving money on grocery shopping that I appreciated when I started:
- Allrecipes.com: Type in the leftovers you want to use up, and you get recipes from around the world.
- BudgetBytes.com: Discover easy, budget-friendly recipes
- Shelfcooking: Learn to home-cook meals using the ingredients you already have at home (fridge, freezer, pantry). Then, supplement from the store. Most are doing it the other way around.
Transportation / Car
Total expenses: €300
- €50 Public Transportation
- €250 Car (incl. insurance, tax, maintenance and gasoline)
Here are the strategies we use to save money on the budget category transportation / car:
- Marc constantly reviews car insurance policies for better rates and eventually changes our contract.
- We use our e-bikes and bike trailer (for the kids) for most of our journeys in spring, summer and autumn. And even in winter, as long as it isn’t freezing cold, we cycle, and have bought special thermal cycling clothing for that purpose (and thick winter bags for our little ones in the trailer).
- We only own one old, small car (VW Golf), which Marc bought for cash. And the four of us are going on holiday with it (including stroller and luggage). Now, Marc is looking for a larger used car (for cash), as this one barely has enough room for 5 people (the size of our family once the baby arrives).
- I love using public transport and have a monthly ticket for work, because I don’t like driving at all.
Kids
Total expenses: €890
- €629 Daycare
- €57 Sports clubs
- €204 Extra costs (incl. special monthly expenses, clothing, shoes, toys, books, birthdays)
Here are some strategies I use to save money on kids’ expenses while making sure they have everything they need:
- Daycare costs (for our two kids) are low because we pick them up after lunch. That’s possible, as Marc has flexible work hours, and we both work part-time, four days a week. We’re currently planning to switch to a rural daycare that’s even more affordable, and more connected to nature.
- Secondhand shopping is a great way to save money. Our kids only get secondhand clothes, most of the shoes and some toys, from a local bazaar twice a year, in spring and autumn. Therefore, I save up the money I need in advance (€300 per bazaar). The same applies to our kids’ birthdays.
- Toy rotation: I stopped doing this because it caused more stress than benefit to our family. Instead, I have boxes of crafts, costumes, games, puzzles, preschool materials, and books in our basement. My eldest and I swap stuff every few weeks, and she loves it.
- Library memberships are a great way to share books and games instead of buying them, thus reducing the amount of kids’ stuff we have at home. On Sundays, our routine is to go to the local library in the morning and exchange books and games together with the kids, and we all love it.
- When it comes to entertainment, we budget for that under the category “Fun Money” (see below).
Insurance / Health
Total expenses: €185
- €59 Insurance
- €126 Doctors & pharmacy costs (medical out-of-pocket expenses)
Here are the strategies we use to save money on insurances/health:
- Marc constantly checks policies for cheaper rates and switches if a better offer is available.
- We’ve drastically reduced the number of insurance policies we have (to only three) and, where possible, bundled them together to get better rates. We only insure against the risks we absolutely need to cover, based on our values and life plans.
- Ask yourself: In a worst-case scenario, would it be financially unviable to pay for the damage out of your own pocket? If not, consider canceling this insurance.
- We don’t have to pay for health insurance from our net salary, as these are deducted directly from our gross salary under German law, which pays for nearly everything you could possibly need. That keeps our pharmacy and medical out-of-pocket costs low.
Fun Money
Total expenses: €275
- €100 Going out
- €150 Travel fund
- €25 Sports fund
Here are the strategies we use to keep our budget for fun money low:
- We sometimes use our “going out” money for ourselves, but mostly for taking the kids to a park — at most once a month. It really depends on how our month is planned.
- Amusement parks, which cost quite a bit of money for a family of four (soon to be five), we only occasionally visit. More often, we prefer to spend quality time outdoors without a schedule. I wrote about this change we made in How I Spend My Money On What Matters Most & Skip The Rest.
- Low-cost activities like baking, crafts, and days spent outdoors (on the bikes or in the woods) are what we all love to do as a family, with great joy.
- Need ideas for free, outdoor fun? Discover National Wildlife Federation: Nature Activities for Kids.
- Free local events are another thing we use to keep our entertainment budget low, while staying in touch with our local friends. We plan for this in advance with a sinking fund. That is not included in our fun money, but listed below in the category “sinking funds”.
Quality Of Life
Total expenses: €210
- €9 Subscriptions
- €126 Electronics & household services
- €75 Funds (incl. clothing, haircuts, gifts)
Here are the strategies we use to pay for some nice extras we would otherwise really miss:
- Subscriptions we keep to an absolute minimum, and pay for Amazon Prime (which we use to purchase toiletries and other items at discounted prices).
- Electronics are any home electronics we regularly need, with little money spent.
- Household Services are a great help to us, as they support us with chores and a newborn at home.
- Funds could be summarized in the next category. However, it was important to me to separate these “nice-to-have” funds (for our clothes, haircuts, and gifts) from the “must-have” funds—see next. When it comes to haircuts, we only pay for the girls and me—twice a year, around €35.
Sinking Funds
Total expenses: €50
- €30 Family visits & local seasonal parties
- €20 Christmas, New Years Eve, Mom & Dad’s Birthdays
Here’s our sinking fund strategy that helps us keep certain expenses under control:
- We’ve created this category for any sinking funds that don’t fit into one of the above categories. They relate to events that occur throughout the year, and for which we want to save money in advance. This gives us the peace of mind that the money will be available when the event occurs.
- Sinking funds for quarterly use are intended for family visits (since they live a few hours away) and local seasonal events that we participate in as a family to connect with our local community.
- Sinking funds for annual use are Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Marc’s and my birthdays. It’s not a lot of money that we set aside for each event, but it’s enough for our family’s needs.
Buffer Money
Here’s how we go about keeping buffer money on hand (which may surprise you)—a total of €130:
- Keeping a buffer for the unexpected is crucial to sticking to any budget. Because it happens more often than you think that an unexpected bill arrives due to an unforeseen event.
- If we don’t need our buffer money in a particular month, we spend it. It’s fascinating how we often end up with higher costs—such as gas—than expected, and are grateful to have that “buffer money.”
Giving
This category isn’t included in our monthly line-by-line budget, but we donate money anyway. First, there are the donations we make every time we go to church, such as at Easter or Christmas, and in between.
But there is also church tax. In Germany, you have to pay church tax directly from your gross salary if you’re a church member. But it is not legally required. However, it is particularly important to me, as my family (like Marc’s) immigrated to Germany, and without the help of the church, we probably wouldn’t have been able to stay in Germany. For me, the church tax we pay is like giving back. But I know that many people see it differently. The church tax rate in Germany is currently just under 10 %.
I hope this deep dive into our real line-by-line budget has shown you that it’s possible to thrive — not just survive — on less. If you’re just starting your journey toward a more intentional family budget, let this be your sign: You can do this. And it will be 100% worth it.
Within the next blog posts, we’ll dive deeper into “Living On One Income” and “A Frugal Budget”. By doing so, I hope to continue helping you on your own financial journey. To make sure you don’t miss any future resources, tips, or personal insights, join the community via the green footer below.
Have any further questions regarding a specific savings strategy or something else when it comes to a line-by-line budget? Or want to share your own story? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.
What is a line-by-line budget, and why you should create one. See how our family’s €5,000/month plan helped us take control, and how you can too. We share our real numbers in a full breakdown, line-by-line, across 27 budget categories.
If you feel like money slips through your fingers every month, you’re not alone — that was us, too, a long time ago. I had tracked expenses and written budgets for years, just to realize we weren’t crushing it. That was frustrating. It took us a long time to discover the power of the line-by-line budget. That budgeting method gave us total clarity — and suddenly, budgeting just felt easy.
In this post, I’ll show you exactly what a line-by-line budget is, how it helped us take control of our €5.000/month income, and how you can create your own — maybe even your very first.
What Is A Line-By-Line Budget?
A line-by-line budget is an extremely detailed budgeting method. Rather than grouping expenses into broad categories, you break each one down — housing, food, subscriptions, kids’ clothing — into specific, trackable entries like “Cosmetics”, “Toiletries”, or “Electricity”. This way, every single expense is tracked, line by line, in a way that makes sense for your family’s unique situation.
Living on a line-by-line budget isn’t about restricting or limiting yourself. It’s about gaining clarity about how much money you (can) spend, and once the money’s gone, it’s gone. It’s about freedom. And it’s absolutely possible to live on such a predetermined family budget. We are the best proof of this.
Why We Switched To A Line-by-Line Budget
Our journey started with a shockingly high grocery bill many years ago. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but we were spending over €1.200/month — and it was just the two of us back then. Our money felt like it was vanishing. We thought we were being mindful, but without specifics, it was easy to overspend. Broad categories just weren’t cutting it.
Once I switched to a line-by-line budget for the budgeting category “Groceries”, everything changed. We finally saw the “why” behind our numbers. We realized how much we spent on things like quick supermarket runs, or takeout “just because”.
Thanks to that change, I quickly managed to cut our grocery bill in half. Years later, after consistently using this method, we were spending just €200–€300 per month — and by then, we had become a family. I share more about our grocery savings and current strategy in the blog post 10 Shocking Ways a Line-by-Line Budget Saved Our Family.
Fascinatingly enough, it still took me years to expand this budgeting strategy across all of our broad categories. I think it was because I felt a bit overwhelmed by the idea of breaking down every expense in such detail.
But you know what? After just a couple of months, I had created a complete line-by-line budget. And like with everything in life, once I settled into the routine, it became second nature — and now takes just a few minutes every week, or every other week, to log our expenses.
Today, we plan and track our monthly income of €5.000 across 27 detailed budget categories. We split the responsibilities between the two of us, which makes it super easy to stay on top of everything.
The Results: Less Stress, More Freedom
By knowing where every Euro goes, we stopped wasting money and started using it intentionally. This budget allowed us to live on one income and gave me the freedom to be a stay-at-home mom for two years. Also, without it, I don’t think we could have invested thousands each and every month to bring our family’s dream of early semi-retirement and Semi-FI to life. And the emotional shift? Just as powerful as the financial one: less guilt, more clarity, and true peace of mind.
How To Create Your Own Line-By-Line Budget (Free Resources)
To create your own monthly line-by-line budget, start with ? steps:
- List all sources of income — especially the irregular ones like tax refunds or cash gifts, since they count as income too.
- List each expense individually, no matter how small, with line-by-line detail (e.g. not just “Groceries”, but “Toiletries”, “Pantry staples” etc.).
- Group expenses into meaningful categories that reflect your family’s unique situation.
- Categorize expenses as fixed or variable – see our example below.
- Include your personal savings goals – both medium-term (e.g. for upcoming events or purchases) and long-term – as well as an emergency fund, if needed.
- Add sinking funds for annual or irregular expenses (e.g. gifts, vacations, car repairs) – see our example below.
- Bonus: Compare planned vs. actual spending weekly or bi-weekly to set realistic savings goals and adjust your budget when needed.
Here are some resources for creating your own line-by-line budget:
- 11 Favorite Free Google Sheets Budget Templates of 2025
- Need a Google Sheets Budget Template? Here Are 12 of the Best
- 101 Costs You Need to Budget for if You’re Always Forgetting Expenses
- Our FREE Simple Bare Bones Budget Calculator (which we use for our family budget)
We offer this easy-to-use FREE family budget template, which you can get by clicking on the picture or link above. As it is a “Simple Bare Bones Budget Calculator“, it’s especially designed to help you live a family life you love on a budget you can afford, so you can achieve the financial goals that are important to you.
Behind The Real Numbers Of Our Line-By-Line Budget
A brief note on the actual figures in our line-by-line budget (see below). On the income side, we only consider Marc’s net salary, his employee bonuses, the tax return he prepares for us, and state benefits for our (soon) three kids (which almost every family gets in Germany, where we live). This is enough to cover our family’s entire living expenses.
My income is used exclusively to achieve our ambitious financial goals. I’ll explain more about this in the blog post Our Actual 5K Monthly Budget Breakdown For Our Family Of 5 (which gives a less detailed overview of our budget, since I don’t list any subcategories).
On the expenditure side, I will distinguish between fixed and variable expenses. We also work a lot with sinking funds, where we can set the amount as we wish, but which then act like fixed savings installments. Therefore, I count them as fixed costs, since we cannot freely dispose of this money. If you want to learn more about sinking funds, you can read How To Start A Family Budget That Really Works In 7 Easy Steps.
Complete Budget Breakdown Line-By-Line Of €5.000 Monthly
| Income | 5.120 |
| Budget Categories | |
| Mortgage | 1.810 |
| Housing & Utilities | 520 |
| Utility Funds – fixed | 328 |
| Home Insurance, Property Tax Fund – fixed | 54 |
| Internet, TV (public broadcasting, to be paid by law) – fixed | 53 |
| Household Supplies – variable | 85 |
| Groceries | 750 |
| Groceries & Household Supplies – variable | 650 |
| Bulk Funds & Chicken Sponsorship – fixed | 100 |
| Transportation / Car | 300 |
| Public Transportation – fixed | 50 |
| Gasoline Fund – fixed | 150 |
| Car Insurance & Tax Fund – fixed | 35 |
| Car Maintenance Fund – fixed | 65 |
| Kids | 890 |
| Daycare & Sports Clubs (57 from total costs) – fixed | 686 |
| Funds (clothing, shoes, toys, books, birthdays) – fixed | 94 |
| Extra Costs – variable | 110 |
| Insurance / Health | 185 |
| Insurance (3) & Bank Account Maintenance – fixed | 59 |
| Doctors Fund (medical out-of-pocket costs) – fixed | 90 |
| Pharmacy Costs – variable | 36 |
| Fun Money | 275 |
| Going Out – variable | 100 |
| Travel Fund – fixed | 150 |
| Sports Fund – fixed | 25 |
| Quality of Life | 210 |
| Subscriptions – fixed | 9 |
| Electronics & Household Services – variable | 126 |
| Funds (clothing, barber, gifts) – fixed | 75 |
| Sinking Funds | 50 |
| Quarterly Usage (family visits, local seasonal parties) – fixed | 30 |
| Yearly Usage (Christmas, New Years Eve, Mom & Dad’s Birthdays) – fixed | 20 |
| Buffer Money (for unexpected costs) – variable | 130 |
| Income – Family Expenses / All Budget Categories | 0 |
Final Thoughts: Is It Worth the Effort?
Absolutely. Creating a line-by-line budget may take a bit more time than a basic monthly overview, but the clarity and control it brings are invaluable. Whether you’re aiming to cut costs, live on one income (as we do), or simply feel more confident with your money, a line-by-line budget can be a game changer.
Budgeting isn’t always easy—but this line-by-line budget gave us back something priceless: peace of mind, control, and the freedom to decide which expenses truly matters. Your budget doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be yours. And using this method might be the shift you’ve been looking for.
Within the next blog posts, we’ll dive deeper into “Why and How This Budget Saved our Family”. By doing so, I hope to continue helping you on your own financial journey. To make sure you don’t miss any future resources, tips, or personal insights, join the community via the green footer below.
Have any further questions regarding a specific budget category or on how to create your own line-by-line budget? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.
Title image source: Photo from Rahul Himkar on Unsplash
Today we share our actual monthly budget breakdown and exactly how we allocate our money. See how our one-income family of 5 thrives on a €5,000 monthly budget so we can invest the second income to grow our wealth. I will share why we chose this seemingly restrictive, yet so effective budget for a family of 5 that allows us to do so many great things with our savings (like contributing to our early semi retirement fund).
Is A €5.000 Monthly Budget For A Family Of 5 Considered Frugal?
It depends on where you live and your social environment. In our case (near the most expensive city in our country – see details below), the poverty line for a comparable family of 5 is €3.600 to €3.700 per month (although it’s actually higher, as explained below). That is the amount such a frugally living family would receive in state benefits, at least under certain circumstances, such as unemployment.
In addition, this family would receive some more child benefits of approximately €400 to €730 and several other benefits. Examples include reduced or free public transport tickets, discounts on park admissions, access to food stamps, one-time reimbursements due to defective appliances, free daycare and lunch (up to age 15), paid school supplies and trips, reimbursement for tutoring. So, if childcare and lunch are paid for 3 kids, these additional benefits amount to approximately €600, according to experts.
Overall, a family of 5 with three kids (under 15) has to survive on between €4.600 and €5.030 in state benefits at the lowest income level and practice frugal living (if living in the same, most expensive area of the country, as we do). Therefore, we consider our monthly budget of €5.000 to be frugal.
The point is: frugal living is our choice. We aren’t forced to live frugally, and we’re very grateful for that. We can decide which daycare we choose for our kids, what food we buy, what appliances we purchase, and so on. When you’re on welfare, that’s simply not the case; others make these decisions for you, and you take what you get. That’s a fundamental difference, as you’re dependent on other people’s money.
However, frugal living is still very subjective. Essentially, it boils down to one thing: You have a fixed amount of money (which is at the lower income level) and stick to it. When the money is gone, it’s gone. But it gets tricky when the money isn’t gone at all, because you actually have more money to spend.
How To Become A One-Income Family (When You Earn A Second Income)
Technically, we are not a one-income family (as I earn a second income). But we only live off Marc’s income from his corporate job, the bonuses he earns throughout the year, the tax refunds we receive, and the state benefits for our kids (which almost every family gets in Germany, where we live). More details below in our full monthly budget breakdown.
We’ve seen some really awesome financial successes along the way from this way of thoughtfully and intentionally budgeting our money and carefully planning out our finances. This gives us so much peace of mind to know firsthand that we can actually live really well on one income. And, in a lot of ways, in this area of our life, we felt the most unified in our marriage. We like to continually review and adjust our monthly budget breakdown and discuss successes and hurdles along the way.
Becoming a one-income family – even if we earn a second income – has given us the freedom to decide what to do with our second income. For us, that is investing for passive income (using the 15 easiest strategies for success) so we can make our family’s dream of early semi retirement a reality for our family within around 10 years. Now that we’re halfway there, we can share a few things from our experience in the hope of inspiring you.
When you decide to become a one-income family (even if you earn a second income), you need a strong why behind not spending this second income. Because it can be very tempting to do so, and I can understand that very well. We talk about our why for saving that second income on our About US page.
About Our Family & Financial Situation
Our family lives in Germany, nearby one of the most expensive cities (even in Europe). We live in a 130 m² semi-detached house with a relatively small garden, where we nevertheless grow as much of our own food as possible. Out of conviction and with great joy, we practice frugal family living and regularly review our monthly budget breakdown to ensure that we achieve our financial goals.
We, that’s Marc and I, our 2 toddlers (both 5 years and younger) and 1 baby (due in a few weeks). I’m already referring to a family of 5 budget (although we’re now four), for two reasons.
First, we already have baby expenses, such as building up our baby savings fund (more in a second). Not to mention, our grocery bill that is significantly higher now that I’m pregnant because I’m eating a lot more than usual. This will continue for the time being through breastfeeding and beyond, once our baby joins us at the family table.
With our baby savings fund, we save money every month for expenses that will arise in the near future due to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, as well as the baby’s first year. We know all of this because we’ve been tracking our budget for the past 10 years and more. So, we can confidently say that this will remain our budget for our baby’s first year.
And that brings us to the second reason why I’m already talking about a family of 5 budget. We’ve already created our budget for the remainder of 2025 and the following years! This was only possible because our spending history showed us exactly what costs will be incurred and when, once we have a new family member. So we know how to budget for a family that is growing.
We will never exceed our €5.000 monthly budget (unless inflation strikes again or something else unexpected happens). However, if our monthly budget breakdown showed significant increases, we would adjust our budget through frugal living, as we truly enjoy and value a frugal lifestyle.
It allows us to remain a one-income family even if we earn a second income. And this enables us to achieve our ambitious financial goals, such as saving money to invest money for our family’s dream of early semi retirement. If you want to learn more I recommend you Start Here.
We are also using my second income to aggressively pay off our mortgage over the next few years so that we can enjoy debt-free living in early semi retirement. We don’t have to do this to become debt-free in the future, but we want to. That’s because one of our big priorities in our marriage is not only owning a house (we want to rent out at some point in time) but also debt-free living – as soon as possible.
About Your Family & Financial Situation
Every situation is unique. Depending on where you live, how big your family is, if you have further dependents (you support financially), donate regularly like tithing (donating one-tenth of the income to a church or religious organization) or pay off (consumer) debt – it’s going to affect your budget and how your personal monthly budget breakdown looks like.
So please, don’t look at our family of 5 budget thinking that’s where your (one-income family) budget should be. We don’t want you to feel like you have to adjust your budget to ours to keep you within a €5.000 monthly budget. Your ideal number could be 2.500, or 4.000, or even 7.000 – it totally depends on your family’s unique situation.
My hope is that by revealing our real family budget, I can encourage you to analyze your situation. Then, create a budget plan that reflects your family’s needs and values, and works really well for your family. That’s how you put your money where your values lie, rather than just spending it without keeping track of it and constantly reevaluating. Because that will make the biggest difference in your budget planning and financial success. That is called a values-based budget (the ultimate budget for FIRE – Financial Independence Retire Early or any early semi-retirement plan).
Our Full €5.000 Monthly Budget Breakdown
| Income (take-home pay, employee bonuses, tax refund, state benefits for the kids) | 5.120 |
| Budget Categories | |
| Mortgage | 1.810 |
| Housing/Utilities | 520 |
| Groceries (incl. bulk funds & chicken sponsorship) | 750 |
| Transportation/Car | 300 |
| Kids (incl. daycare, sports clubs, clothing/toys/books fund, birthday funds, extra costs) | 890 |
| Insurances/health | 185 |
| Fun money (going out, travel fund, sports fund) | 275 |
| Quality of Life (e.g. electronics, subscriptions, household services, clothing fund, gifts fund) | 210 |
| Sinking funds (quarterly, yearly usage – e.g. family visits, Christmas, New Years Eve) | 50 |
| Buffer (for unexpected costs) | 130 |
| Income – Family Expenses / All Budget Categories | 0 |
Perhaps some questions have arisen while reading. I’ll try to explain some details:
- What about an emergency fund? We have already set up our emergency fund.
- What about long-term savings for kids? For our kids’ savings plans, we use gifts from our families, invest them, and regularly check whether we are on track to achieve our savings goals for them.
- What about long-term savings for us? We use my second income to save for our early retirement plans. If that weren’t possible, we’d wait until some of our debt was paid off and then start saving for traditional retirement (which would be perfectly timed).
- The monthly budget of €5.000 is actually a budget of €5.120. Our budget fluctuates slightly from month to month, as yours might too. Unless there are unexpected expenses, we stick to €5.000, as this covers our family’s entire living expenses. Should unexpected expenses arise, we have a buffer of €130.
In this post, I won’t go into detail about our different budget categories and their family spending habits. However, I will do so in more detail in the next blog post, so you can see why and how we live frugally in each of the budget categories.
How to Create Your One-Income Family Budget? FREE Calculator
We offer a FREE family budget template you can get by clicking on the picture or link down below. This is designed as a so-called “Simple Bare Bones Budget Calculator“. It is easy-to-use and especially designed to help you to live a family life you love on a budget you can afford, so you can achieve the financial goals that are important to you. I personally love the pie chart showing the distribution of your money across all your budget categories. To me, that was eye-opening, and it will be for you too.
How to budget for a family of 5 (or whatever size your family may be) if you want to create your own one-income family budget? It’s so important to just get started. You don’t have to write down your entire budget right away or know and be able to track all of your expenses. Take the time to learn how to do this, and then the ball will start rolling. I provide some blog posts to help you out if you’re a budgeting beginner or just need some help with how to create a family budget successfully (one of those explains exactly how to use our FREE Calculator, as mentioned):
- How To Start A Family Budget That Really Works In 7 Easy Steps
- How I Spend My Money On What Matters Most & Skip The Rest
- How To Create Your First Bare Bones Budget: FREE Calculator
- FREE Fixed And Variable Expenses Worksheet For Budgeting
- 10 Steps To Master Budgeting As A Couple
I hope our honest monthly budget breakdown gave you a new perspective on how to budget for a family of 5 (or any other size) consciously using frugal living, so you can afford everything you want for your family. By revealing our monthly budget breakdown, I wanted to show you that through intentional budgeting, you can achieve your financial goals (whatever they may be) faster than you thought possible.
In the next post, I will go into detail about our different budget categories and spending habits, so you can see why and how we live frugally in each of the budget categories.
I’d love to continue helping you on your financial journey. To make sure you don’t miss any future resources, tips, or personal insights, join the community via the green footer below.
The first time I tried to create a (simple) budget, I failed. I forgot so many costs because I had no Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet to guide me. Here’s how I’d go about planning my budget successfully today.
The reason you might fail at budgeting (as happened to me in the beginning) could be that you don’t know all of your exact expenses, or you forget some of them. Then, it is impossible to budget successfully. Because budgeting is the process of creating a plan for how you spend your money (since you already know where and how you spend it) to ensure your money serves your goals. All you need is your income and a list of your exact expenses.
In this post I provide a FREE Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet that includes pre-defined categories for your fixed and variable expenses. I bet by the end of this post, budget planning will be so easy for you that you will successfully create your first simple budget and stick to it. And by the way, a simple budget is a basic plan that shows how much you earn, spend, and (not) save each month. It makes it easier to reach your financial goals.
What Are Fixed And Variable Costs?
Fixed expenses are bills you have to pay at a regular interval. Most are fixed monthly expenses. The amount usually stays the same, at least for the moment, until it rises (e.g. due to inflation as it did over the last few years). These predictable payments are easy to plan for and form the foundation of a simple budget. I talk later about why you should start with those when creating a simple budget.
Variable expenses change from month to month and fluctuate. They depend on your consumption and how much you spend, which is up to you. As variable expenses can go up and down, they are harder to predict.
What Are Examples Of Fixed And Variable Expenses?
Examples of fixed expenses you may have every month include rent, debt payments (such as mortgage, student loans, car payments), daycare and school, subscriptions and memberships, utilities, or a phone and internet bill.
Examples of variable expenses include groceries, gas, clothing, hairdresser, or entertainment (such as going out or eating out). Others can be savings (for short-term or mid-term goals), investing, gifts, or donations for charitable purposes. Although these are not bills or fixed costs in the true sense of the word, they do occur. Our free worksheet includes a variable expenses list with the most common examples.
Periodic Fixed Expenses: Why Tracking Matters For Budget Success
Periodic fixed expenses don’t happen every month, but still come regularly, like quarterly or once a year. So, the timing is less frequent than with fixed monthly expenses. Examples of periodic fixed expenses include insurance payments, some utilities, property taxes, special medical consultations or treatments, and any yearly subscription fee. The amount is predictable, but it requires more careful planning and budgeting to take care of those.
Tracking periodic fixed expenses matters for budget success. If you don’t, you may forget to plan for them. So, what happens when the expense comes up? Because it will. You either have to use up your savings, or your bank account goes into the red, which leads to debt.
Wouldn’t it be liberating and reassuring to always have the money available to cover all fixed costs when they arise? But, how do you account for your (periodic) fixed expenses in a monthly budget? You need to automate fixed costs where possible. More on that in the paragraph “Start With Fixed Expenses”.
How Do You Find Fixed And Variable Costs?
- Look through our free worksheet below and read about the 110+ personal budget categories.
- Find the exact payment you have to make towards each (periodic) fixed expense. How?
- Go through your bank account and search for the name or company you expect to have to pay. Or look through your contracts behind your (periodic) fixed expenses. Or both.
- Write down the amount of your (periodic) fixed expense by using tracking tools (see below).
- Write down the due date in your tracking tool of choice (see below).
- Plan how to cover that expense in the future (see below).
- To figure out how much you spend on variable expenses, you need to track and review what you spend regularly. I’ll explain exactly how this works in the next paragraph.
How Variable Expenses Affect Your Budget: What To Do About It
Unfortunately, we don’t treat variable expenses like fixed expenses, where we only have a certain amount of money available. And when that money is used up, there’s simply no more money to spend. With variable expenses, we just spend. Often more than planned on things like food, shopping or travel without realizing it. This can quickly blow your budget and lead to the same result as the regular fixed costs we talked about earlier.
What can you do about it? Track your expenses and revisit your spending. Ideally, weekly or several times a week. I emphasized that topic in my previous blog posts because: Nothing is more important than tracking your expenses. Only if you are aware that you don’t keep spending under control (or as desired), you can prevent this from happening. Awareness is the first step in the budgeting process. So, let’s talk about how to track variable costs.
Tracking tools like YNAB allow you to track your variable costs (or any other expenses) as well as plan your (periodic) fixed expenses (more below). It costs a little money, but for us, it is absolutely worth the cost. We use YNAB for more than 10 years now and couldn’t be happier. If you want to, you can use our referral link and show some support if you enjoy what we do. Signing up with our link and applying for an annual subscription after your trial period leads to both of us getting 1 month of YNAB for free on top.
But you can also find (free) tracking tools online like The Best Budget Apps for 2025. Whatever tool you choose (paper, an Excel spreadsheet, or an online tool) just make sure you track your expenses. I recommend The Budget Mom if you want to dig deeper. She explains the exact process, from collecting your bills to organizing them and writing down your expenses on paper or online.
Start With Fixed Expenses When Creating A Simple Budget
When you create your first simple budget, you need to ensure your (periodic) fixed expenses are taken care of first, as they make up the majority of your budget. Plan how to cover that expense in the future. Let’s look at an example for the periodic expense utility bill. Ask yourself:
- How often do I need to pay my utility bills throughout the year?
- How much money do I need to save each month to be able to fully pay those when they’re due?
- Write down the amount of your fixed expense and the due date in your tracking tool of choice.
- Set up an automatic savings plan from your regular bank account to your savings account.
- If you have no separate savings account, open up one. It takes minutes.
- Regularly check if you’re on track with saving for your fixed expenses.
- Repeat that process for ALL of your fixed expenses.
The Importance Of Building Sinking Funds For A Simple Budget
What is a sinking fund? A sinking fund means you put aside a fixed amount of money for a specific amount of time each month during the year. You do this until you’ve saved up all of the money you need to fund your goal and access the money. Common examples include a Christmas fund or a family vacation fund. Sinking funds help us to be financially prepared for certain expenses that come up every year.
I want to give you a personal example. I buy our kids’ clothing second-hand and twice a year. But originally, I had not taken care of that financially. Today, when the next season and children’s clothing bazaar arrives (as it just did), I have the money saved up in a kids’ clothing fund and can access the money without any financial stress.
If you want to set up a sinking fund just open up a savings account (if you haven’t already) and transfer the money you need into this new account regularly. Ideally, you set up an automatic savings plan. Essentially, this is the same process you go through when you take care of covering periodic fixed expenses, as we discussed earlier.
Strategies To Save On Fixed Expenses (& Variable Costs)
You can save on fixed expenses by either looking for better deals or cutting costs. We’ve done both and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save on fixed costs. For example, regularly checking phone plans, insurance policies (or bundling some of those to save), canceling unused subscriptions and questioning if you truly need what you have. That one is hard.
Let’s consider an example: car payments. Today, many families finance cars and go into debt to pay for them. Furthermore, most own two cars, so each partner has access to one. Now it depends: Is it a (financial) priority for you to own two cars and also finance them? Is there an alternative to reducing costs? These kinds of questions triggered an emotional rollercoaster for Marc and me (as I questioned all of our fixed costs, even whether it was really necessary to own an old car). Until I created a values-based budget using values-based sinking funds.
Resources To Further Explore Saving Money On Current Costs
If you have never heard of the values-based budget before, you might want to check out How I Spend My Money On What Matters Most & Skip The Rest and The Ultimate Budget For FIRE: A Frugal Values Based Budget. If you want to learn more about (values-based) sinking funds make sure to read How To Start A Family Budget That Really Works In 7 Easy Steps.
If you want to learn the simple (but not easy) process I used to save a lot on variable costs, I have put together my struggles, learnings and top hacks in these posts:
- Impulse Buying: Its Roots & How To Overcome 3 Main Triggers
- How To Stop Impulse Buying And Save Money In 2 Simple Steps
- How To Save 500 A Month Effortlessly Without Any Sacrifices
Why You NEED a Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet
A “Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet” is a simple but powerful tool to take control of your finances and reach your money goals faster. Typically, it’s a budgeting worksheet printable. Ours is a digital version as a Google Sheets tool you can get a free copy of (more in the last paragraph). Even though this is not a printable budget template, you can also easily print it out and use paper and pen instead of your computer.
Such a monthly budget planner helps you clearly see where your money goes each month. It brings in that awareness (we discussed before) that you need to be successful at creating a simple budget from the start. Because then you can spot spending habits and avoid financial surprises.
The ultimate goal of any fixed and variable expenses worksheet is to support your savings goals and long-term financial planning by making it easier to plan for cuts or adjustments to your budget.
How To Use The Free Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet
After getting your free copy of our budget planner template, the Simple Bare Bones Budget Calculator, you can start to fill in your numbers. As far as you can. Then, you figure out the rest. Finally, I suggest you conduct a monthly review with your partner to get him or her on board. This won’t be easy and will be quite a learning curve for both of you. But it will set you up for success.
You may wonder about the name Simple Bare Bones Budget Calculator. It comes from the original goal I had when creating this worksheet – planning for a time in our family’s life when money was tight due to lower income and higher expenses. I wanted to improve our budget to the point where we could continue to live a comfortable family life on an affordable budget while also saving a lot of money for investments (as we aim to achieve financial independence and early semi retirement). And I did.
Years later, I realized that this budget planner template (which I originally created just for myself after years of failing at budgeting) should have been the first fixed and variable expense worksheet I used.
Get Your Free Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet To Create A Simple Budget
To start the free budget worksheet download click on the image below. If you become a part of the community you can enjoy our full FREE Online Freebies Library and get even more easy-to-follow resources to boost your financial journey and reach your financial goals faster and easier.
What exactly do I get in the “Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet”?
- 1 Sheet to model the budget you expect to have
- 5 Categories for your income streams
- 7 Budget categories for your essential expenses (with several subcategories) to model:
- Current expense – expense goal (you need to enter realistically) = potential savings
- Final result: total Income – expense goals = total potential savings
- Your savings rate calculated as a percentage
- 2 Graphs: a bar chart and a donut showing you how much a budget category accounts for compared to your total income
Bonus: Your Ultimate Fixed and Variable Expenses Worksheet
If you are really serious about budgeting successfully and in detail from the start, I would like to encourage you to use our ultimate Bare Bones Budget Calculator. It includes 3 Sheets for 3 budget years that are combined with each other. At the end of each year the tool calculates what’s left over or missing. Your balance gets transferred from year 1 to year 2 and to year 3. Each of the 3 sheets offers 9 subcategories for all your income streams and 3 overall budget categories: NEED, WANT, INVEST (to put in your totals).
The best part is that you get 1 separate Sheet to split your 3 overall budget categories (NEED, WANT, INVEST) into fixed and variable expenses within 10 subcategories. The Calculator now adds up all of your fixed and variable expenses and visualizes them in a pie chart divided in 2 pieces: fixed and variable expenses. Once you realize how much of your expenses are actually variable you‘re ready to set your first new expense goal. Then the tool calculates your savings per category and adds them up per month and year. Especially, the yearly view is a huge motivator for sticking to your savings goals.
Questioning which NEED is really a survival category will be an AHA-moment as you will see that there might be needs that are actually not set in stone.
Our ultimate Bare Bones Budget Calculator.
I hope this post gave you a new perspective on how to plan your budget more successfully – especially by truly understanding your fixed and variable expenses worksheet. My goal is to make budgeting simple, doable, and empowering – even if you’ve failed before (just like I did!). If you’re ready to take the next step, the free worksheet is just the beginning. I’d love to continue helping you on your journey toward financial clarity and independence. To make sure you don’t miss any future resources, tips, or personal insights, feel free to join the community via the green footer below.
🚀 Now it’s your turn: Which fixed or variable cost surprised you the most?
Or: Do you want me to walk you through a full example using the worksheet?
Let me know in the comments – I read every one!
The trend towards semi retirement is growing for those seeking FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Our FREE Semi Retirement Calculator shows you how it works so you can retire even earlier than you thought possible and enjoy real work-life balance.
Because semi retirement comes down to working less and living more – before full retirement.
In this post, I share with you how to semi retire early using one of the 3 main types of semi retirement and how to run your own numbers using one of the FREE Financial Independence Calculators for each type.
In A Nutshell: Semi-Retirement Meaning and Semi FIRE Definition
Semi retirement means you retire early part-time. Or, to put it another way, you are giving up your current working life and moving to a more self-determined working life where you work on your terms. Mostly, that includes reducing working hours so that you truly retire early part-time.
Semi FIRE (Semi Financial Independence, Retire Early) combines the best of both worlds: semi retirement and FIRE. What does that mean exactly?
I’ve just written a complete blog post on What Is Semi Retirement? (Escape In Your 40s And 50s) so that you know exactly the differences between Semi FIRE vs full FIRE, and what it means to retire early part-time. Also, I explain the origins of that concept: traditional partial retirement.
If you want to dive deeper into the essence of semi-retirement, you can read some previous blog posts such as How Semi Retirement Works vs Early Retirement + 13 Best Resources or Semi Retirement: The Secret How To Semi Retire In 5-10 Years.
Semi-Retirement Income Planning & Healthcare considerations
Part 1: Passive Income
Do you want to start withdrawing money from your investment portfolio and retirement account once you semi retire early? On the one hand, that will help you a lot financially during partial retirement, as you don’t have to earn that money. On the other hand, your portfolio will compound and grow a lot slower, as you constantly take out money from it. I talk about that issue down below under “The 3 Main Types Of Semi Retirement / Semi FIRE & Your Portfolio“ and when looking at each type in detail.
Part 2: Earned Income
With semi retirement, you don’t focus on fully retiring early, but on how to retire early part-time. No matter which of the 3 main types of partial retirement you find most appealing (down below), you’ll have to figure out how to continue working for an income part-time. Typical scenarios of semi retirement careers are working 2–3 days/week after switching careers or jobs, or freelancing.
Healthcare Considerations
The crux with early retirement part-time is that healthcare may not be covered. What truly blew my mind is that in some countries, like the US, part-time employees do not get healthcare coverage through their employers just because they work part-time. This does not exist in Germany, where we live.
In Germany (like in many European countries), every employee gets healthcare coverage through their employers if working at least 10–15 hours per week in a part-time contract. No one has to worry about health insurance restrictions due to reduced working hours.
In the US, most employers do not offer (full) healthcare coverage to their part-time employees. But, you can find good semi retirement jobs with healthcare coverage. Starbucks was one of the first companies offering that. Today, there are some more. But, how do you find those jobs and figure out health insurance in early retirement?
Check out The Best Places To Work For Barista FIRE (in the US) and the table at 6:46 minutes with the top 13–16 employers offering healthcare to their part-time employees in the US. Here you can see that part-time work typically starts at 20 hours a week for those companies, up to 30 hours a week.
The 3 Main Types Of Semi Retirement / Semi FIRE & Your Portfolio
The question with your semi retirement income planning is: How would your investment portfolio change over time if you start withdrawing money from your retirement account during semi retirement versus if you’re not withdrawing?
For your convenience, I share a free Financial Independence Calculator for each of the 3 main types of Semi FIRE / FI. Also, you will find examples with real numbers visualized in charts to give you a reference, how that Financial Independence Calculator or semi retirement calculator works, and how you can run your own numbers and compare the 3 Semi FIRE / FI strategies.
Type 1 of Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement: Barista FIRE
Barista FIRE And Your Portfolio: Start Withdrawing Money
Barista FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), or Barista FI (Financial Independence), means you invest until your passive income would cover a big part of your living expenses. Then, you stop saving and investing into your retirement account AND start withdrawing money from it. Now, your savings rate could be 0%.
But, you need to keep in mind that this slows down the growth of your portfolio, as you constantly take out money from it. Our free semi-retirement calculator down below shows you how that looks.
Depending on how your portfolio will perform during your semi-retirement years, it can be that your portfolio never compounds into your FIRE number, or you outlive your retirement savings. This is something you need to be aware of when considering Barista FIRE / FI.
If you want to go really deep on the Barista FIRE /FI approach and see in detail how our respective free semi retirement calculator works, you can read the complete guide on our Free Barista FIRE Calculator To Plan Your Early Partial Retirement.
Barista FIRE And Tax Advantages
I want to point out one thing when it comes to getting a passive income from your retirement account, being a stock market portfolio. That income is taxed with lower income taxes than job income, at least that‘s how it is in Europe/Germany where we live. So, you pay less taxes if getting a passive income like dividend payments from a stock market portfolio than if getting a salary.
The same is true for the salary itself. Part-time jobs you aim for when deciding on Barista FIRE / FI often fall into a lower tax bracket than jobs where you work full time. So, there‘s more money left over, so to say. And more time freedom to raise your family or pursue your passion projects if working part-time instead of full time. But paying less taxes on a passive income can start even earlier if you have access to tax-advantaged retirement accounts supported by the state or an employer.
Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement Calculator 1: FREE Barista FIRE Calculator
The first semi retirement calculator to be featured here is our free Barista FIRE Calculator. After providing some information, like how much income you expect to still earn in semi retirement, you will get your Barista FIRE number and your expected (retirement) age.
Type 2 of Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement: Coast FIRE
Coast FIRE And Your Portfolio: Don’t Start Withdrawing
With Coast FIRE or Coast FI**,** you self-fund your personal retirement account as soon as possible. You save and invest A LOT of your income early on in life**,** up to a specific point in your portfolio‘s value. That is when you have invested enough to achieve financial independence by the time you reach official retirement age. Our next semi-retirement calculator will show you how that looks down below.
Then, you stop saving and investing**,** but don‘t start withdrawing yet. In the back**,** your money grows into your F.I.R.E. number through compound interest. Now, you can “coast” towards retirement.
If you want to go really deep on the Coast FIRE /FI approach and calculate it in detail, you can read the complete guide on How To Calculate Coast FI – Free Coast FIRE Calculator.
Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement Calculator 2: FREE Coast FIRE Calculator
The next semi retirement calculator to be featured here is our free Coast FIRE Calculator. It’s completely for free and you can run your numbers directly online and calculate your Coast FIRE number.
If you want to further explore the Coast FIRE approach for yourself, you can read the whole guide on how to achieve Coast FIRE in the post How To Calculate Coast FI – Free Coast FIRE Calculator. Also, I always like to recommend reading articles from other bloggers like this one: Coast FI Explained [includes Coast FIRE Calculator].
Type 3 of Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement: Flamingo FIRE
Flamingo FIRE And Your Portfolio: Limited Or No Withdrawals
There are different versions of Coast FIRE, like Flamingo FIRE. This semi retirement type was invented by MoneyFlamingo, an Australian blog. With Flamingo FIRE, you aim to have 50% of your FIRE number in your retirement account before you stop investing. By doing so, you will reach Semi FI later. But, you also reduce your semi retirement to 10 years or less so that you will reach traditional FIRE faster.
With Flamingo FIRE you want to (have the option to) become financially independent much earlier, and eventually still retire EARLY. And that’s exactly why I categorized Flamingo FIRE as one of the three main types of Semi Fi. Because that makes it conceptually different compared to the other Semi FI types. But of course, you could argue here. However, we LOVE the Flamingo FIRE approach and can relate to that.
Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement Calculator 3: FREE Flamingo FIRE Calculator
The Australian blog MoneyFlamingo provides a free Semi retirement calculator to run your numbers. But it’s not just for the Flamingo or Barista FI approach. It’s also for another well-known retirement planning concept: the “Die With Zero”/drawdown approach. You can test this yourself using a provided spreadsheet (as a semi retirement calculator) to see how much you can withdraw if you don’t want to pass your portfolio on to the next generation.
Comparing The 3 Main Types Of Semi FIRE / Semi Retirement
The following table summarizes the main steps and features of each strategy:
| Strategy | Step | Duration | Investment Strategy | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barista FIRE / FI | 1. Full-Time Work | 5-10 years | Save aggressively, build up portfolio | Accumulate a portion of your FIRE number |
| 2. Part-Time Work | 10-20+ years | Stop saving, start withdrawing from portfolio, slowing down its growth | Semi FI phase: Passive income covers a big part of living expenses | |
| 3. Full Retirement | After Semi FI phase (e.g. in your 50s, 60s or never) | Continue withdrawing from portfolio | May never reach FIRE, having to continue working | |
| Coast FIRE / FI | 1. Full-Time Work | 3-5 years | Save aggressively, build up portfolio (e.g. 15-30% of FIRE number) | Accumulate sufficient portfolio to coast towards FI, fastest route to Semi FI, but takes longest to FIRE |
| 2. Part-Time Work | 20-30+ years | Stop saving, no withdrawals, fully unlock compound interest power | Semi FI phase: being able to work part-time until full retirement & FI | |
| 3. Full Retirement | After Semi FI (e.g. in your 60s) | start withdrawing from portfolio | Achieve FIRE late, uninterrupted portfolio growth | |
| Flamingo FIRE / FI | 1. Full-Time Work | 5-10 years | Save aggressively, build up portfolio: 50% FIRE number | Slowest route to Semi FI, fastest route to FIRE |
| 2. Part-Time Work | ~10 years | Stop saving, limited but ideally no withdrawals | Semi FI phase: enjoy working part-time | |
| 3. Full Retirement | After Semi FI phase (e.g. in your 40s or 50s) | Start withdrawing from portfolio | Achieving FIRE the earliest |
When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your personal financial journey, I’d love to show you some more in the next post. If you haven’t already, you can apply to become a part of the community, to not miss any new release. For that, subscribe to our newsletter in the green footer below.
Now, I’d love to hear from you: Which semi retirement type sounds most appealing to you, and why? Let me know in the comments below!
To be honest, I don’t like the term “escape the 9-to-5”. But it perfectly describes how learning about semi-retirement lets you work less in your 40s or 50s, enjoy family life more, and achieve financial freedom faster (all while raising small kids).
Imagine you stop working a traditional job in your 40s or 50s and start working on your terms while still enjoying a steady income. That’s the essence of semi-retirement. I promise, it’s worth considering, even if you like your job now, like I do (in the corporate world).
A semi-retired life is a flexible lifestyle. It allows you to reduce work hours, maintain a source of income, and transition into a more balanced life as a family without waiting until your 60s (when your kids are about to move out or have already moved out).
In this post, we’ll explore what exactly semi-retirement is and why it’s becoming a popular choice for those seeking early financial freedom.
What Exactly Is Semi Retirement?
Semi retirement means you retire from the work life you live now and transition to a more self-directed work life where you work on your terms. That can look like choosing part-time work and working fewer hours per week instead of a full-time job, switching to remote work, or working in a less stressful job and position.
Originally, the concept of semi-retirement comes from traditional retirement. There, you don’t go from working full-time to stopping work entirely from one day to another, but you transition smoothly by working a couple of years part-time before you fully retire and enter traditional retirement.
What Is Semi Financial Independence (Semi FI)?
Semi FI (Semi Financial Independence) or Semi FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) combines the concept of semi-retirement with the concept of FIRE. I featured the differences in the blog post How Early Retirement Works vs Semi Retirement: Your Options. But for now, what does that combination mean?
With Semi FI, you accumulate a small nest egg in retirement savings early on in your life, like in your 20s, 30s, or 40s. That can be by having saved up €200.000–400.000+ in your stock market portfolio. So, during that time, you focus on saving and investing for passive income.
Then, you stop saving and investing for retirement because you‘ve already funded it. You let your portfolio compound in the background during the next decade, more or less, until you become financially independent. That means your portfolio generates enough passive income for you (e.g. through dividends) to pay for your living expenses. This allows you to fully retire earlier than the average, after that decade (of compound growth), like in your 50s or 60s.
Meanwhile, until you fully retire, you can enjoy the semi retired lifestyle. Let’s see what that looks like.
The Hack Of Semi FI / Semi Retirement
Most people pursuing Semi FI or semi-retirement have a high savings rate and investment rate of at least 30–40%. Some even get to a 50% savings rate or more, like we do. So, if we stop saving and investing for financial independence, we can afford to earn at least 30–50% less.
That gives us choices. The choice to pursue another career. The choice to work less and pursue further education in the “free” hours we have now. Or simply the choice to maximize family time, but without feeling that financial loss. If you have small kids at home, then Semi FI will allow you to do that.
The 3 Stages Of Semi FI / Semi Retirement
- Full time work for 5-10 years
- Part-time work for 5-10+ years: Semi FI
- Stop working entirely: FI
Stage 1: Full time work for 5-10 years
(Both of) you need to work (close to) full-time for around 5–10 years so you can save and invest a big portion of your family’s income—for example, in the stock market. You do this with the goal of earning passive income from your investments one day, like through dividend payments. Your savings rate needs to be at least 30–40%, but typically, it’s 50–60+%. You do this until your portfolio reaches a certain point. More on that in the blog post Semi Retirement: How To Semi Retire In 5-10 Years.
Stage 2: Part-time work for 5-10+ years: Semi FI
Now, you start living a semi-retired lifestyle for 5–10+ years. You can switch to part-time work or a less stressful job position. You can afford to earn less because you don’t need to save and invest for retirement anymore. How long you stay in semi-retirement depends on how quickly your investment portfolio grows in the background to the point where the passive income it generates is enough to cover your living expenses, as mentioned above.
Stage 3: Stop working entirely: FI
Now you can stop working altogether because you have achieved FI—Financial Independence. You have self-funded your retirement savings account. So, you have the choice to take (early) retirement if you want to live off your passive income entirely. You can do so following the 4% rule and withdrawal strategy presented in the post How To Retire Early With Kids: Your Guide To The Fastest Way.
Semi FI / Semi Retirement: The No. 1 Goal, Benefit & Downside
People in the FIRE community who choose semi retirement over early retirement (like we do) have one main goal: taking the stress out of work life as soon as possible and striving to achieve a true work-life balance. They want more control over when they work and what they work on, rather than waiting until later. Most pursue their passion or just want to do something they find meaningful and fulfilling while still earning a decent income.
The biggest benefit of semi retirement or Semi FI is that it gives you the time freedom that financial independence offers—before you actually achieve it. So, even if you are not financially independent yet, you enjoy having more freedom of choice over your time without feeling restricted by job demands. Also, your job income helps cover your family’s medical needs and health insurance.
The biggest downside of semi retirement or Semi FI is that you won‘t be able to retire as early. If that doesn‘t feel like a sacrifice, but rather like pursuing something else, then Semi FI is for you.
Semi Retirement And Debt
Should I Become Debt-Free BEFORE I Semi Retire?
There are two most common approaches to that, coming from traditional retirement. One approach is that you first want to become debt-free as soon as possible before investing your money anywhere else. That makes the most sense if you have high interest-rate debt like 8–10+% in negative interest to pay. The other approach is to invest your money while making minimum payments, or as much as you need to, to become debt-free before entering traditional retirement. That makes sense if you have average interest rates for mortgages and student loans ranging between 2–7%.
But, there is an approach in between that we are big fans of: paying off debt aggressively while investing aggressively at the same time. We have run our numbers back and forth. This approach makes the most financial sense (as we are much wealthier in the end), BECAUSE we only have to pay low-interest debts like 0–3% negative interest rates.
Our Plan For Debt In Semi Retirement
We want to be debt-free before we semi retire. This is because, in semi retirement or Semi FI, we want to have as few bills to pay as possible. And debt shouldn’t be one of them. Therefore, we have €400.000 of debt to pay off before entering semi retirement, which is our mortgage (not including interest).
We already pay around €1.800 a month towards our mortgage. But that’s not enough to become debt free in the next 5-6 years more or less. We need to make additional payments. We plan to increase our debt payback in 2026 to €2.600, and in mid 2027 to approximately €5.000. Doing this we are getting close to being debt-free in 2031.
Resources To Calculate Your Semi Retirement
- MoneyFlamingo is an Australian blog providing free Semi FI calculators to run your numbers
- On our blog we offer a free Barista FIRE Calculator and a free Coast FIRE Calculator. Both are completely free so you can run your numbers directly online.
- If you want to further explore Barista FIRE, Coast FIRE or other Semi FI / FIRE strategies, you can read the blog post I’ve written about The 8 Types Of Financial Independence And Semi Retirement
Is Semi Retirement Right For You?
If you say YES to the following three questions, Semi Retirement or Semi FI might be just perfect for you:
- Do you want to stop working like crazy while raising (small) kids as soon as possible?
- Do you want to enjoy the time freedom and work-life balance that FI offers before achieving FI?
- Can you find part-time work you truly enjoy doing that also generates a modest income?
Semi FI depends on finding meaningful work you truly enjoy doing in semi-retirement that pays at least 10.000 per year (833 per month), more or less (eventually also covering healthcare). If you bring in 20.000 per year in earned income as a couple, that translates into earning 1.666 every month. But why specifically 20.000?
An earned income of 20.000 per year means you need to have 500.000 less in your investment portfolio!
That’s because you need 1.666 less in passive income every month (because that’s what you earn). In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, this is just the mathematical result of using the 4 % rule as a withdrawal strategy (i.e., you withdraw 4% per year from your portfolio) so you don’t run out of money in retirement.
If you need 500.000 less in retirement savings, you won’t have to put in as much effort on your FI journey to earn, save, and invest more money. Remember: It’s about YOUR retirement planning and YOUR lifestyle choices, now and in the future. So, you decide exactly what that should look like.
Why Semi FI Is Perfect For Europeans (And Everyone Else)
I believe Semi FI is perfect for Europeans like us – and everyone else – who struggle with the standard path to FIRE. This boils down to three main problems with European culture and traditional FIRE that you don’t have with Semi FI and semi retirement, where:
- You don’t need to hustle: Most Europeans have only one job, and for some, that is part-time work. This makes it difficult to save and invest thousands every month, which is usually required to achieve FIRE. With Semi FI, there is simply no need to make such an effort.
- You can rely on a strong social security system: Many receive state benefits for kids (around €255 per child in Germany until finishing education), among others. That can be additional income in semi retirement too.
- You can diversify your income streams: Living solely from your investments, like passive income from a stock market portfolio, is not something most can imagine. When you semi retire, you still earn an income compared to when you fully retire early.
When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your financial journey, I’d love to show you some more in the next post. Subscribe to our newsletter in the green footer below so you don’t miss any new release, freebie, or limited special deal we offer to all members who are part of the community.
Now, I’d love to hear from you: Could semi retirement be just perfect for your family and why? Let me know in the comments below!
When you’re investing for passive income, you invest money today to make money tomorrow without the daily effort of working a job. I’ve compiled the 15 easiest and simplest strategies for investing money to generate passive income.
If you’re investing money to make money, you have numerous options, which can feel overwhelming – at least, that’s how I felt when my husband and I started our investing journey. That’s why I want to simplify the process for you. My most important criteria for these 15 strategies are that they should be simple and as passive as possible – at least for most of them. That’s why you won’t find strategies like cryptocurrency investing, day trading, or buying a small business in this list, as they are neither easy nor passive.
If you want to understand our personal approach, check out our previous post:
📌 Our 7 Easy Strategies for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) – how we invest for passive income to support our family in early retirement. Actually, we are planning for semi-retirement and share our semi-retired lifestyle here.
Savings/Money Market Accounts (MMAs) – Predictable Fixed-Income 1
A money market account (MMA) is a high-yield savings account that offers higher interest rates than regular bank accounts. However, the interest rate is variable, meaning it can fluctuate over time.
You get a less predictable passive income. But it is a low-risk and safe way of investing for passive income. Still, your return is just not as predictable as it is with CDs (see below) because of the fluctuating interest rates.
You should also know that with an MMA you are allowed to withdraw money, but that is limited to a certain amount, such as up to six withdrawals or transfers per month (as per federal regulations). So, you need to withdraw from such an account strategically.
Deposits are protected up to a certain amount. In Germany that is currently at €100.000; in the US it is around $250.000 per account holder. These types of accounts are used as emergency funds, short-term savings or for holding cash reserves.
You should consider investing in MMAs if you don’t mind getting a less predictable passive income, but prefer having access to your money anytime.
Certificates Of Deposit (CDs) – Predictable Fixed-Income 2
A Certificate of Deposit (CD) is a fixed-term savings account offering higher and fixed interest rates than an MMA. In exchange for that your money is locked in for a set period until it matures, and you can access your money. Typically that maturity ranges from a few months, like 3 months, up to several years, like 5 years. Deposits are protected up to a certain amount as they are with MMAs. Unlike MMAs, withdrawing money before maturity incurs fees, making those deposits less flexible.
CDs are ideal for investors preferring low-risk investments and seeking stable, passive income without any market volatility. With CDs a fixed interest rate is ensured, offering a predictable fixed income. CDs also work really well for short-term savings goals.
You should consider investing in CDs if you want a higher fixed return (than with MMAs) and don’t need immediate access to your money.
Corporate Fixed Deposits (FDs) – Predictable Fixed-Income 3
A Corporate Fixed Deposit (FD) is an investment option offered by companies or financial institutions instead of banks. You invest money for a set period of time and earn a fixed interest rate. Corporate FDs usually offer higher returns than bank FDs. That’s because they carry more risk, as they are not protected or government-insured. It is very important to check the credit rating of the company before making any investment choices in FDs.
You should consider investing in FDs if you want an even higher fixed return (than with CDs or MMAs), and don’t need immediate access to your money.
Annuities – Guaranteed Monthly Income For (Early) Retirement
Annuities can be insurance products like life insurance that is tied to a specific time frame. You have a return that is guaranteed by a contract from the insurance company. But in times of high inflation, your investments can actually shrink, like during the Great Inflation (1965 – 1982).
However, annuities provide a fixed, guaranteed monthly income. That’s why they are ideal for more conservative or less volatile (early) retirement planning. They are best for those seeking a highly stable, worry-free income in (early) retirement.
If you consider annuities, compare annuity providers for low fees, and ensure you choose one type of annuity that provides inflation-adjusted payouts.
You should consider investing in annuities if you want to get a fixed, guaranteed passive income each month, and don’t need immediate access to your money.
Bonds & Bills – Predictable Fixed-Income From Debt Securities
Bonds and bills are debt securities. You borrow money for a certain period (maturity), for example, to the government of a country (treasury bond/bill) or a company (corporate bond/bill), which guarantees a return, like 3-4 % for a 20-year treasury bond.
The key difference between bonds and bills is the timeframe for maturity. Bills have short-term maturities, like 3 months or 1 year. Bonds have long-term maturities of 10, 20, or 30 years. The shorter the maturity, the lower the guaranteed return.
Bonds and bills are low-risk investments if you’re buying those rated at least A. Rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings from the US check the creditworthiness of the borrower. AAA is the highest possible rating, followed by AA and A. Everything below BBB is speculative.
If you like the idea of investing in bonds, you can build a so-called bond ladder. This means you purchase bonds with staggered maturities. In other words, once the payout of one bond ends, another payout from a different bond begins. Also, consider inflation-protected securities like TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) to maintain purchasing power.
You should consider investing in bonds or bills if you want to get a fixed, predictable passive income and don’t need immediate access to your money.
Peer-to-Peer Lending – Alternative Fixed-Income 1
Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) works similarly to bonds. You invest in loan shares, or, in other words, you lend money in the form of personal loans in exchange for monthly repayments. That’s how P2Ps allow you to earn interest from borrowers, providing higher returns (like up to around 7 %) than traditional bonds (with only around 3-4 % at the higher end).
But, your risk level is a bit higher, as loan defaults can occur. You can prevent this by diversifying across multiple borrowers, and sticking to short-term loans with high credit ratings for lower risk. If you want to further explore P2Ps, use platforms like Mintos, Bondora, or Prosper.
You should consider investing in P2Ps if you want to get a fixed passive income with a higher return, and don’t mind the higher risk compared to investing in bonds or annuities.
Private Debt – Alternative Fixed-Income 2
Private debt is very similar to P2Ps, but with one major difference. You are lending or borrowing money directly to another person or a small institution. Private debt is typically owed by private households, small businesses, or nonprofits. That excludes borrowing by the government or financial firms, such as banks. In contrast, public debt is the debt owed by national, state, and local governments.
Private debt can take many forms, but it is commonly credit card debt, business loans, or personal loans. For example, an entrepreneur who borrows money from a family member would be an example of private debt. Depending on the form, private debt can be riskier and may or may not provide higher interest compared to public debt. The best thing is that it typically delivers a reliable income and reduced capital volatility, which can be great for your portfolio when other markets are volatile.
You should consider investing in private debt if you want to get a fixed passive income with a higher return, eventually, and don’t mind the higher risk compared to investing in P2Ps.
Dividend Stocks, ETFs, Index Funds – The Classic Passive Income
Dividend stocks, ETFs, and Index Funds provide the highest potential return among all investment options presented. If you want to know the difference between Stocks, Index Funds, ETFs, and Mutual Funds, you can read the blog post about The 7 Best SAFE Index Funds For Financial Independence.
However, earning dividends means you get paid a certain amount of money for holding a stock or ETF, typically once a year. Keep in mind that the higher the potential return, the higher the risk for your invested money to be volatile. That means your investments and capital go up and down. So, this type of investment is a medium to high-risk way of investing for passive income.
But actually, that doesn’t have to concern you, as you typically still get dividend payouts if you take care of the following. Look out for a diversified collection (across different sectors and countries) of dividend stocks, ETFs, and Index Funds with a long history of consistent dividend payouts. Examples include Coca-Cola and the S&P 500 dividend aristocrats. Over decades, they have always paid dividends to their investors, but the amounts fluctuated.
Investing in ETFs and Index Funds (and some stocks) is our favorite strategy for investing in passive income. For now, we reinvest our dividends and earnings. We plan to grow our portfolio up to €300.000 during the next couple of years, generating a 4 % dividend yield to earn €1.000 in monthly passive income. Actually, we consider applying the 4 % rule and simply sell our investments instead of collecting dividends, but the end result is the same.
You should consider investing in dividend stocks or ETFs if you want to get the highest possible return and a (more or less stable) passive income, but don’t mind the higher risk of volatility in your invested capital.
REITs – Passive Income From Fractional Real Estate
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a form of crowdfunded real estate. They pool together capital from their investors, which is then used to invest in the underlying properties. Most REITs invest in a specific real estate sector, such as medical facilities, hotels, residential rentals, or commercial properties. The investors then share the profit.
All REITs have one thing in common: they earn income either from rent, property sales, or by investing in mortgages. That‘s why REITs can be very sensitive to interest rate changes. The best thing about REITs? They offer high yields, as REITs are required to distribute at least 90 % of their taxable income to shareholders. But, and this is very important, the passive income you get is treated as regular earned taxable income. So, typically, you have to pay more taxes on your profits.
REITs are perfect for hands-off, passive investing in real estate. You own a fraction of a real estate property, generating an income for you without the hassle of property management. Also, you don’t have to invest a large amount of capital upfront or take out a mortgage.
If you like real estate and dividend investing, I highly recommend engaging with REITs and real estate crowdfunding platforms. Examples include Crowdestate for expert real estate investors from Europe, or Fundrise for beginner real estate investors worldwide. Also, you can buy REITs directly through your broker, as most are listed on the stock exchanges.
You should consider investing in REITs if you like high-yield real estate investing but don’t want to deal with property management or invest a large amount of capital upfront.
Rentals – Less Passive Income From Property
Next, we look at investments that may require varying levels of time commitment to earn a monthly income, such as rentals.
If you own any form of property, you could rent it out to generate a steady rental income. Rentals refer to the temporary use of any property, vehicle, or other asset in exchange for a rental payment. Real estate is the most popular form. You’re buying a property, for example, and renting it out. Other examples include renting out your car, parking space, special equipment, vacation property, or land itself.
Rentals come with full ownership and full responsibility too. You are the owner and responsible for solving whatever issues arise with what you own and rent. That’s why rentals are typically not completely passive income sources, but they usually provide a consistent monthly income.
You should consider investing in rentals if you want to have more control over your investments and returns, and like the idea of being a landlord, even if you are more actively involved.
Capital Gains Allowance – Less Passive Income From The State 1
Capital gains allowance means you can sell assets like stocks, ETFs, or Index Funds tax-free up to a certain amount. That means the profits (aka capital gains) you make when selling are tax-free. This allowance resets every tax year.
That allows investors to earn a certain amount in profit before being subject to capital gains taxes. But, that amount may not be very high. It varies by country, as different limits apply in the US, UK, and other regions. For our family, it’s just around €160-170 per month in Germany. Also, holding periods of stocks, ETFs, or Index Funds may impact tax rates. Holding assets longer can minimize taxes.
To get a capital gains allowance, you need to apply for that through the government of the country you live in. That requires quite a bit of a time investment when doing it for the first time. But then it gets easier and will require less time the more often you do it. Also, you only have to do it once a year. For example, while doing a tax refund, which is our next favorite way of investing for a monthly income.
You should consider investing your time in applying for a capital gains allowance if you’re a stock market investor and file a tax return every year anyway.
Tax Refund – Less Passive Income From The State 2
A tax refund is money returned to you by the government when you’ve paid more taxes than you should have. It happens when too much tax is withheld from your paycheck or when you qualify for new tax deductions that have come up recently. Typically, you get the refund from tax offices after filing your return. Nowadays, you can almost automate that with online services that are especially designed to help you submit your tax refund application. I use the German App wiso.steuer.
Applying for a tax refund is my favorite way of investing my time to get a passive income. In my opinion, it is totally underrated. I only invest a couple of days per year to earn thousands of Euros.
You should consider investing your time in applying for a tax refund if you prefer risk-free investing for passive income and don’t mind that it requires a bit of your time once a year.
State Benefits – Passive Income From The State 3
Another underrated way of investing your time to earn a passive income is applying for state benefits. State benefits are provided by the government. They offer financial support for living costs, based on income, employment status, or personal circumstances.
Typically, the more money you earn, the fewer benefits you get. But, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re not eligible for state benefits just because you earn good money. Regulations change. If you don’t check what’s available to you at least once a year, you could miss out on free money from the state, so to speak.
We apply for state benefits, but only for our kids. For example, we get childcare subsidies (like most families in Germany). But families can get even more state benefits than just those for their kids. However, to get state benefits, you need to submit an application. For some, you only need to do it once in a lifetime, which is again a great return on investment.
You should consider investing your time in applying for state benefits if you prefer risk-free investing for passive income while earning a high return.
Affiliate / Advertising Revenue – Less Passive Income
With affiliate and advertising revenue, you can earn an income, typically from an online business, by promoting products or displaying ads on a blog, for example. With affiliates, you earn commissions by promoting products or services through affiliate links. Advertising revenue means you earn money by displaying ads on a website or YouTube channel, among others.
Both affiliate marketing and advertising revenue offer scalable passive income opportunities to online business owners. But, we can tell from our own experience, that it takes a lot of time and effort. It is the least passive investment strategy presented here – at least in the beginning, which can last for years. Then, after some time, it becomes a very passive income source.
You should consider investing in generating affiliate and advertising revenue if you want to have control over your investment and don’t mind doing the work for months or years before it pays off.
Cash Gifts – Passive Income From Family & Friends
A cash gift is money given to you from someone else or a company without expecting something in return (like a repayment). In most cases, cash gifts come from family, friends, or employers for birthdays, Christmas, or other special events like weddings or having a baby. We get cash gifts mostly from our family for our kids’ birthdays, our birthdays, Christmas, Easter, or when our girls have a special sports event or school achievement, among others. Cash gifts are generally tax-free for the recipient, but gift tax laws may apply to the giver, depending on the amount and country.
You should consider investing your time in talking to family and friends about receiving cash gifts instead of physical gifts if you like risk-free investing for passive income and are less consumer-oriented.
Comparing The 15 Strategies For Investing For Passive Income
| Passive Income Strategy | Risk Level | Expected Return | Predictable Income? | Real Passive Income? | Liquidity | Time Investment Required | Tax Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savings / Money Market Accounts | Low | Very Low | No | Yes | High | Minimal | Low |
| Certificates of Deposit | Low | Low | Yes | Yes | Low | Minimal | Low |
| Corporate Fixed Deposits | Medium | Medium | Yes | Yes | Low | Minimal | Medium |
| Annuities | Low | Low-Medium | Yes | Yes | Low | Minimal | Medium |
| Bonds & Bills | Low | Low-Medium | Yes | Yes | Low | Minimal | Medium |
| Peer-to-Peer Lending | Medium | Medium-High | Yes | Yes | Medium | Moderate | High |
| Private Debt | Medium-High | Medium-High | Yes | Yes | Medium | Moderate | High |
| Dividend Stocks, ETFs, Index Funds | Medium-High | High | No | Yes | High | Moderate | High |
| REITs | Medium-High | High | No | Yes | High | Minimal | High |
| Rentals | Medium | Medium-High | Yes | No | Low | High | Medium |
| Capital Gains Allowance | Low | Low | No | No | High | Minimal | Medium |
| Tax Refunds | Low | Low | Yes | Yes | High | Minimal | Low |
| State Benefits | Low | Low | Yes | Yes | High | Minimal | Low |
| Affiliate / Ad Revenue | High | High | No | No | High | High | High |
| Cash Gifts | None | None | No | Yes | High | Minimal | None |
Investing For Passive Income: How To Choose What’s Best For You
When you decide which strategy is best for you when investing for passive income, there are five most important things to consider:
- Balancing risk and return: How volatile could your investments be?
- How predictable should your passive income be?
- Diversification
- How passive should your passive investments be?
- Do you want to invest through a financial advisor or a robo-advisor?
First is balancing risk and return. Typically, the higher the potential return, the higher the risk for your money. That doesn’t mean your money is lost, at least not if you’re staying away from risky investments, but rather that your invested money can be volatile, so that your capital goes up and down. Are you okay with higher volatility, which comes with a higher potential return? Are you a more risk-tolerant or a more risk-averse investor?
If so, you need a plan B for times when your investments are down. Because they will be. The stock market will go down. But, it will always go up again. Your plan B can look like having enough cash reserves for a year to live on (if there is a major crash that lasts several years).
That brings us to the next thing to consider when investing for passive income: How predictable should your passive income be? f you are not comfortable with volatility, predictable fixed-income securities (as presented above) may be a better solution.
Next is diversification. I bet you’ve heard the saying, “Do not put all of your eggs in one basket.” That refers to not only investing in one type of investment, but rather to spreading your investments. For example, you could consider investing your money in a rental, the stock market, and some sort of annuity.
Next is how passive you want your investments to be. Consider how much time you want to invest in income-generating investments. Because some are less passive than others, as mentioned before. Not all investors want to spend their time managing their investments or researching what they could invest their money in. For example, Index Funds are the perfect type of investment for a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. You set up your portfolio and forget about it, so to say.
Last is whether you want to invest through a financial advisor or a robo-advisor. A financial advisor is a professional stock picker. A robo-advisor is an algorithm-driven service with almost no human intervention. We don’t use either, and we talk about that in detail in the blog post How Should I Invest To Achieve Financial Freedom?.
The most important thing for you to know when considering a financial advisor or a robo-advisor is this: Data shows that most financial advisors cannot outperform the market over the long run. So, if you are simply buying the market (through a broad-diversified ETF), your return will not only be higher, but you will also accumulate more capital. That’s because financial advisors charge high(er) fees for their services, which will eat up a large part of your profits over time.
Now I’d love to hear from you: Which of these passive income strategies have you tried, or which ones are you considering? Let me know in the comments below.
If you walk away today with at least one new idea to grow your passive income, I’d love to share even more strategies with you in the next post. If you haven’t already, consider joining our community so you never miss a new release. You can subscribe to our newsletter below in the green footer.
Title image source: micheile henderson on Unsplash
Struggling to balance work and family, chores and quality time with kids in the evening? Discover the best evening routine for working moms to reduce stress, boost productivity, and create a smoother night routine for busy moms like you and me. Start ending your day feeling relaxed and prepared for the next day ahead so you can win the morning. Let’s get started.
Why It’s Helpful To Create THE Best Evening Routine For Moms
One day it was enough. My start to the day was so chaotic. First I had to go downstairs to get the next pack of coffee because I ran out of the last one in the kitchen, which of course I spilled. Then I looked for my house keys and soon realized that I didn’t have any bread ready for my breakfast box. Enough! I decided I needed this time-saving evening routine for moms with kids that other moms had been telling me about. I researched. A lot. This post is the outcome.
I created my own productive evening routine for working moms using the following checklist below (free and editable!). My life as a mother has changed so much for the better. I was finally able to enjoy a stress-free evening routine for working moms. Because this list reminds me what I need to get done in the evening – even when I’m tired – so I can win the morning and start the day well-prepared.
Preparing for the morning in the evening can be life-changing. Only then can you enjoy a truly smooth and stress-free start to the day. Let’s see how you too can do it once and for all without over-scheduling your evenings too much.
What Is THE Best Evening Routine For Moms?
One word to answer that question: consistency.
The best evening routine for working moms (as well as the best morning and night routine) is the one you can stick to. One that consistently starts and ends the same way each morning and evening (because one depends on the other). Don’t over-schedule this time. Because nothing is more important than consistency when it comes to your daily routines.
What you may also find helpful is to divide your productive evening routine for moms into two blocks. One is a typical after work routine for moms which we talk about in this post. The other is a simple night routine for working moms and we will cover that too. However, just establish a consistent schedule.
How To Have A Good Evening Routine
Creating a peaceful home environment is the most important element of a good evening routine. I can tell you this because I know what it’s like to not have one. I have noticed big changes in our children’s behavior in the evenings (and mine too) since we made three big changes:
- No screen time in the evening. That was a hard one. But quickly, we were able to cut out 90% of TV time. Today, our life is easier without. Now, TV is reserved for special occasions or circumstances.
- Meal planning was done the day before (and most of the meal prep too) which takes a load off your shoulders since you don’t have to figure out what’s for dinner at the last minute.
- Preparing for the next day is not just Mom’s responsibility, but our kids’ responsibility as well. I tell you how we do it down below.
Furthermore, there are some science-backed evening habits for a stress-free morning you should know about. If you take care of those (which will not be easy) you can truly have a good evening routine for working moms. I will present you the three most important ones now.
Setting The Foundation For A Productive Evening Routine
Eat two to three hours before bedtime. That’s because your digestion slows down as your body prepares to go to sleep. You need to give yourself this time so that your body isn’t in digestion mode when you actually want to sleep. Because when it does, it doesn’t allow your body to switch off, so to speak, as it blocks the sleep hormone melatonin.
Dim the lights to maintain your circadian rhythm. That is your 24-hour internal body clock determined by the rotation of the Earth around its axis. It allows you to respond to natural light changes (that make you awake or sleepy). This is how you are shaped by the Earth’s natural rhythms, which in turn are expressed by external factors such as light. Use that to your advantage.
Go to bed time at the same time, every single day (even on the weekends). Choose a realistic bedtime. That is crucial to synchronize your circadian rhythm. If you don’t do this (on weekends), your sleep rhythm and schedule varies and you experience “Social Jetlag”. You will find it harder to fall asleep on Sunday evening and expect poor sleep. This is because your body doesn’t release melatonin (the sleep hormone) in a timely manner.
How To Balance Work And Family With A Good Evening Routine
Is there even a work-life balance for moms? I would rather call it work-kids balance. When we are not working, we devote most of our time to our kids or to doing chores. When I became a first-time mom I was totally overwhelmed trying to balance work and family as a busy mom. There are only 24 hours in a day. It felt like I either work too much or devote too much time to my little bundle of joy – there was always guilt.
What I was missing was structured routines for daily family life which I follow unconditionally. At least most of the time. Because a structured family life is an easy life. Unfortunately, I underestimated the importance of a structured evening routine for working moms. But it makes all the difference. So, how can you start?
Managing Family Time Efficiently
Setting a consistent night routine for busy moms like you and I means to manage family time efficiently. What do I mean by that?
First, prioritize quality time with kids before bedtime and quality family time too. If possible, go outside and just play with your children in nature or a park nearby. You will get to do the chores you need to like meal prep later on (when the kids are in bed). You’ll also have time for self-care later on. I’ll share below how we approach this as a family of four (soon to be five) like involving kids in evening tasks such as packing bags after we had quality time.
Second, you need to set boundaries between your work and personal life. I’ve already talked about limiting or eliminating screen time in the evening and putting away your phone. More details in a second on how I do this step-by-step after my work day ends.
That will lead to that work-life balance and to a productive evening routine for moms helping you to reduce morning stress too ensuring both you and your kids start the day refreshed.
Bonus tip: create a relaxing bedtime routine to allow more meaningful moments with your loved one. To me this was only possible because I knew I took care of everything else before.
This Working Mom After School Routine Makes Me A Better Mom
There are 2 rules to create that after work routine for moms that can actually make you a better mom (it made me a calmer one): unplug (put your phone away, really!) and involve your spouse and kids. Here’s my current evening routine for working moms I recommend (after having two kids, soon to be three):
- Get home / out of your home office and take a break (and a deep breath)
- Put your phone away!!!
- Grab your kids from daycare or school (if it’s your turn)
- Unpack your kids’ backpacks with the kids
- Take time for your kids to unwind (no homework!) – go outside and just play with your kids
- Time for homework (if needed)
- Start prepping the next day with the kids
- Make breakfast or lunch boxes for the kids with the kids
- Prepare breakfast for the kids (have everything they need ready including plates and glasses)
- Lay out your kids’ clothes for the next day with the kids
- Free play-time for your kids -> time to make dinner
- Dinner time
- Tidy up the table & entire home together as a family (put everything lying around back in its place)
- Quick vacuuming together as a family (my two-year-old loves using our handheld vacuum cleaner)
- Unload the dishwasher (if you haven’t already) and reload it to enjoy a clean sink in the morning
A Night Routine For Busy Moms: Preparing For The Next Day
There are a couple of things you could prepare in the late evening to have a calm, stress-free morning. This is my current simple night routine for working moms, which I recommend to every mom who wants to win the morning, so to speak.
- Dim the lights
- Make yourself a healthy, nutritious breakfast box & snack or lunch box
- Prepare your morning coffee or tea (have your cup and everything else you need ready)
- Prepare everything you need for your kids’s morning drink, such as milk or tea
- If you have a newborn and are bottle-feeding or pumping breast milk, prepare everything you need for your newborn’s bottle and pumping session
- Lay out your clothes for the next day
- Meal planning for working moms: have everything ready that you will need for the next day’s meals
- Put the laundry in the washing machine and pre-program so that it’s ready the next morning
- Prepare your workspace and have a water bottle and your schedule ready (do a short preview too)
- Tidy up the room you are in during your morning routine (when your space is cluttered, your mind is cluttered, and cortisol levels rise, making you feel stressed)
FREE Printable Checklist: Evening Routine For Working Moms
That’s inside your free checklist for a productive evening routine for moms:
- One page with customizable sections for personalized routines
- One Page with ideas for your working mom after school routine & night routine for busy moms
- One Page with (science-backed) inspiration for your evening routine
How To Create A Relaxing Night Routine As A Working Mom
I’ve found that the foundation of creating a relaxing night routine as a working mom is to include your kids and spouse, as mentioned earlier. For me, this is first and foremost my husband. When my after school routine or evening routine or whatever you want to call it is over, he goes upstairs with the kids to get them ready for bedtime. And he takes care of that too. With that, I can start my simple night routine for working moms following my 10 steps from above.
You can read plenty of tips on bedtime routines for kids and moms. But none of this ever suggests giving this precious time to your spouse. What a gift it is to be able to put your children to bed. Every evening. At least most evenings. The time will come soon enough when they will put themselves to bed. For us, that is the exact family evening routine for working parents that is just perfect.
Self-Care & Relaxation: Evening Self-Care Routine For Working Moms
By having my husband on board I typically still have at least a bit of time to myself when I finished my night routine. Time for self-care and relaxation.
Don’t make the mistake of getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the evenings. Even if you are tired and just want to fall asleep, take 5 minutes for yourself. My ideal evening self-care routine for working moms has one goal: relaxation. I love reading a few pages to relax. If possible, and if my husband is available, I talk to him about the day. It’s a way to connect during our busy family days.
If you want more suggestions on self-care tips for busy moms you may want to read the last blog post How To Create A Simple Morning Routine For Working Moms In 7 Steps. I’ve found that mornings are the ideal time of day for self-care. Much more than the evenings. This is because most mothers are dead tired after a full day of work and family demands.
Sleep Hygiene For A Restful Night
I can’t emphasize enough how important good sleep is (even or especially with small children or babies at home). We can just do our best and hope for a good night. But most of the time we don’t give our best and neglect sleep hygiene. We don’t truly care about creating a calming sleep environment, do we?
I mentioned the importance of setting a consistent bedtime and why (because of your circadian rhythm and “Social Jetlag”). Why should you avoid screens before bed? Again, you will mess up your circadian rhythm. You see, we humans are truly shaped by the Earth’s natural rhythm and the changes in light we experience as the Earth rotates. We can’t help it. But, we can take advantage of it. In the blog post How To Create A Simple Morning Routine For Working Moms In 7 Steps I tell you how.
Now I’d love to hear from you: Have you already found a consistent evening routine you can stick to and if not, why not? Let me know in the comments below.
When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your financial journey, I’d love to show you some more in the next post. If you haven’t already, you can apply to become a part of the community to not miss any new release. For that you can subscribe to our newsletter below in the green footer.
Title image source: Shelby Deeter on Unsplash
Start your day stress-free with this working mom morning routine checklist. It’s free and editable too! You can use it to create or customize your own. After having two kids (soon to be three), I’ve learned that the key to a stress-free morning routine for working moms like us is preparation.
Preparation in terms of sitting down and creating that morning routine checklist for busy moms (which I change several times a year – depending on the season of motherhood I’m in). In terms of taking the time to review that list (in the peace and quite of the early morning). And in terms of practicing and actually accomplishing this list. Let’s see how we can make that happen.
Why You Need A Working Mom Morning Routine CHECKLIST
You may be rightly wondering why you need a working mom morning routine checklist. Why? Do you really need a reminder for a pre-defined morning schedule for busy moms? Actually, no. What you need is a complete daily routine checklist for working moms, which includes a morning routine planner. Sounds like a lot of routine, right?
But let me tell you: A structured family life (according to pre-defined routines) is an easy, simple family life. And it will give you more time to focus on what truly matters to you.
Creating or adapting such a working mom morning routine checklist is the ideal starting point for a daily routine checklist. Because then you will need to create an evening routine checklist too (I will talk about in the next post). Having a well-planned morning (and finding a morning routine that works for you as a busy mom) will set the tone for a successful, organized day that can transform your entire day.
The challenge of those busy mornings as a working mom is when things don’t go as expected. When the kids get up earlier at 5 a.m. and destroy your routine (since you didn’t include your spouse in support). When you have to figure out what’s for breakfast (for your kids) because you forgot to prepare it last night. All of this happens when nothing is planned in advance. But you don’t want any of this in your everyday family life. You can easily prevent that.
By defining a structured morning schedule for busy moms like you and me, you immediately reduce stress. You know what to expect. And that goes for your spouse and children too. A working mom’s morning routine checklist saves time, reduces morning chaos, and helps with mental clarity. When you start the day calm and in control, it’s a whole different world.
How To Get Started With Your Morning Routine
In the last post I shared How To Create A Simple Morning Routine For Working Moms In 7 Steps. I focused on the best science-backed morning habits for busy working moms that no one talks about for a productive start to the day.
If you’re new to an organized morning schedule for working moms or if you feel like you want to change something about your current routine, follow some simple rules:
- Decide where to keep your list & stick to it: Be honest – do you have that list easily accessible in a digital app or physical planner? If not, take care of it today
- Decide on the duration: 30-60 minutes is ideal, 90 minutes is even better – just stick to a time-block
- Educate yourself: constantly read, listen, and watch videos about other working moms’ morning routines
- Involve your kids: have them remember five tasks – getting dressed, wiping the table after breakfast, brushing their teeth, packing their bag with a lunchbox, and bringing a water bottle or tea – we started with all of that around age 4-5
- Pick one new habit at a time to change or fit into your existing routine and build from there
For example, start getting up 15 minutes earlier than you usually do (and go to bed earlier at the same time). This time is reserved exclusively for your current #1 priority. That can be fit in a special workout, a short meditation or just working (on your passion project or whatever you need to get done now).
You know the old saying: If the first thing you do every morning is eat a live frog, you know it’s probably the worst thing of the day. This metaphor exemplifies that we should tackle the most difficult task of our day first thing in the morning (the task we are most likely to procrastinate). The book Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done – Today! is the perfect read if you’re struggling with this too.
However, as you get used to your new routine and feel like you’re going on autopilot, you can change or add more tasks, which we’ll cover in this post. But remember that you need to be flexible and adjust your routine regularly as the life of a working mother can be very unpredictable.
How To Create An Effective Morning Routine Checklist
A routine is only as effective as the systems we build around it. That’s why I believe in constantly reviewing my morning routine checklist. And I know that after a rough night with the kids, I’d forget everything without a list. This is how you can create or adapt your own effective morning routine checklist.
(Re)Define Your Morning Priorities
- What should be on your list? What do you need to accomplish every morning before work begins? I’ve put together a ton of ideas and inspiration in your free printable, which you can find below.
- Your list varies depending on the season of motherhood you’re in. It’s worth questioning.
- However, stay unplugged to not waste your precious ME Time!
Plan A Realistic Schedule Using Time-Blocking
- Time blocking means you divide your day into blocks of time, each block dedicated to one specific sort of tasks.
- Avoid overscheduling yourself in any time block, as this will make you feel rushed – something you definitely want to avoid in the morning.
- A morning time block should be realistic. How much time can you realistically dedicate to it?
- (My) Example of a 60-Minute Morning Routine for Busy Moms (Before The Commute):
- 4:40 AM Wake up & quick personal hygiene (+/5:10 AM Mindfulness & q- 5 minutes)
- 4:50 AM Make coffee & my kid’s tea, grab my breakfast/lunch box & water bottle, pack my bag
- 5:10 AM Mindfulness & a quick stretch by using my beloved Blackroll (recommended by my physiotherapist)
- 5:20 AM Quick shower (without waking everyone up), change clothing, 2-minute cleaning
- 5:40 AM Start the day (and my commute)
- Disclaimer: As I wake up that early, I’m in bed around 7/8 PM. I waive time alone in front of the TV or on my phone as that is simply not as important as good quality sleep to me. I talk about the science behind getting better sleep in the post The 10 Surprising Benefits Of Waking Up EARLY (As A Mom).
- Bonus Tip: If you find it difficult to stick to a time-limited routine, you can use timers to help. If you don’t want to use your phone for this, you can use an alarm clock which I prefer (as you can see actually it belongs to my kids).
Prep Your Morning The Night Before
In the next post, I share my ultimate evening routine for working moms. Here’s a sneak peek:
- Make yourself a healthy, nutritious breakfast box (& lunch box)
- Set up your workspace with a water bottle and your schedule ready to go
- Unload the dishwasher (if you haven’t already) and reload it to enjoy a clean sink in the morning
FREE Printable Morning Routine Checklist For Moms
This is what’s inside your free morning routine checklist for moms:
- Two pages with customizable sections for personalized routines in the six most important areas
- One Page with ideas for your ME TIME and (science-backed) inspiration for your morning routine
- Simple layout for easy use
My Step-by-step Morning Routine Checklist For Working Mothers
I am a full-time working mom. I’ve always been. The only exception were the first few weeks with a newborn at home. However, I also worked part-time during this period. This was only possible because I juggle two jobs – my corporate job and my flexible self-employed work. Over the years, my morning routine has changed a lot.
Here’s a look at my current 2.5-hour morning routine while working from home, with only my start and finish times set (Disclaimer: As I wake up that early, I’m in bed around 7/8 PM as mentioned before):
- 4:40 AM Target wake-up time (+/- 15 minutes) & personal hygiene
- Drink water to rehydrate, make coffee & kid’s tea, put out breakfast boxes, heat up my heat pad
- Quiet Time & Mindfulness on the couch with coffee and heat pad (balm for my back)
- Stretch by using my beloved Blackroll on our gymnastics mat (my kids also use every day)
- Get ready, change clothing
- Go to my home office with my breakfast box as kids will get up soon (water bottle is prepared)
- Computer is on, reviewing daily schedule & morning priority I need to work on for our blog
- 1 hour of Deep Work on my blog priority #1 (ideally 1.5 hours)
- Short break (and finish work on the blog if I have a home office day for my corporate job)
- 7:00 AM End morning routine and start the day
I want to emphasize the importance of “using” your short breaks to do things around your home. I use my first short break before 7 AM to make the beds. Meanwhile, the kids are downstairs with Dad, finishing their breakfast so they can get ready to drop off at daycare. Once they’re out the door, I use every next short break for a quick 2-minute chore using my alarm clock. I swear by doing small chunks of household chores throughout the day to stay on top of things at home.
At work, I like to use the Pomodoro technique: work with high concentration for 25 minutes at a time, then take a 5-minute break and repeat. I have found that I am most productive this way. Since my working hours are limited, I have to get the most out of it. That’s why I particularly like my alarm clock because it’s also a visual timer and I can see at a glance how much time I have left in my work session.
A quick, last note about our gymnastics mat. We bought it second-hand and everyone loves it because it’s really high quality compared to all the others mats we’ve had before. Our kids often use the foldable function to create their own little play world. If you’re interested, I can recommend this high-quality gym mat you can order online from Amazon compared to ours. The initial investment was well worth it for us.
Every working mom’s schedule is different. Some work from home. Others have to commute to work. And others do both. Whatever your work schedule, I encourage you to give the morning routine checklist a try and see where it can take you. Next, we’ll take a look at the importance of a consistent evening routine.
Now I’d love to hear from you: Have you tried to develop and stick to a consistent morning routine and what is your biggest struggle? Let me know in the comments below.
When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your financial journey, I’d love to show you some more in the next post. If you haven’t already, you can apply to become a part of the community to not miss any new release. For that you can subscribe to our newsletter below in the green footer.
Title image source: Thomas Bormans on Unsplash
Girl, you don’t have to do it all! Discover the best science-backed morning habits for busy working moms that no one talks about for a productive start to the day. This simple step-by-step guide will help you create YOUR ideal, quick, and productive morning routine.
It took me too long to realize that I don’t need 2 hours in the morning to meditate, practice mindfulness, exercise, journal, etc. to find a miracle, stress-free morning routine for busy moms. That’s why I want you to know as soon as possible: All you have to do is prioritize and educate yourself on what really matters in your morning routine.
This post focuses on the rarely shared, science-backed knowledge about an effective morning routine.
What Are The Best Morning Habits For Busy Moms Who Work?
Does the best morning routine for working moms really exist? Yes and No. Let me put this post in perspective so that everyone has the right expectations of what I am about to share with you. This is not a post about what you should do during your morning routine, like you need to meditate for 10 minutes or exercise for 20 minutes or whatever others out there tell you. And then you’ll have the best morning routine for working moms. I feel like there are already plenty of blog posts and articles on this topic.
This is more of a post about the knowledge you need to create a highly productive morning routine for moms. This knowledge is rarely shared. But it’s essential to understand what you need to pay attention to in the first moments of your day. Before we dive in, I want to point out one of the most important morning habits for busy moms who work and everyone else.
You need to be consistent with every aspect of your morning routine. No matter what it looks like. No matter what you think are the best morning habits for busy moms who work. Because if you are consistent, you switch to autopilot. Let’s explore why that is so important.
A Simple Step-by-step Morning Routine For Working Mothers
Step 1: Prepare Your Morning In The Evening To Go On Autopilot
Nothing is more important than preparing your mornings in the evening. Essentially, you want to create a daily routine that you can stick to, one that consistently ends the same way each evening. That’s how you can go on autopilot in the morning and enjoy a smooth, stress-free morning routine. And you want that for two reasons.
First, when you’re on autopilot you’re not forcing your brain to make a decision first thing in the morning. You just automatically fit into your routine. In the following steps I will tell you more about the reasons for this problem. And second, no matter what the night was like, and we moms all know it’s all about our kids, you’ll still be able to function in the morning as you’re on autopilot.
I’ve gotten better at preparing my morning in the evening over the years. But there are still areas where I need to improve. For example, emptying the dishwasher in the evening ensures that my kitchen and sink are clean and tidy in the morning. This is especially important because your autopilot will immediately become confused if something doesn’t meet your expectations. So if the room you are in in the morning is cluttered, it becomes restless. This causes your brain to use the mental energy that you actually want to reserve for more important tasks.
In the next blog post, I share my mom’s morning routine checklist, which relies heavily on a solid evening routine for working moms (and I share that soon too).
Step 2: Getting Up Before The Kids – At Least 15 Min And That’s Why
It takes 15 minutes for your brain to fully wake up. 15 minutes! Did you know that? I didn’t. So try to wake up at least 15 minutes before your children wake up. That’s how you can enjoy a stress-free morning routine for working moms, even if you only have 15 minutes. You’re just not at your best when you let your kids wake you up. Use this time better for automatic tasks like brushing your teeth or making coffee.
What if you have a newborn at home? There’s a good chance you’re suffering from sleep deprivation. However, try to get up before the kids (especially if you have more small children at home). Even if it’s only 15 minutes. As a mother of two (soon to be three), I’ve learned just how important this is. Not in the first few days or weeks of the newborn phase. But if your newborn is sleeping better (for me that started at 3-4 hours in a row), take back those 15 minutes for yourself. It will change the world. I promise it.
I just wrote about The 10 Surprising Benefits Of Waking Up EARLY (As A Mom) so you can see what exactly changes for you when you get up before the kids.
Step 3: Rehydrate First Thing In The Morning To Reduce Fatigue Asap
To rehydrate your body after sleeping and wake up faster, drink at least 200-250 ml of water immediately after waking up. This will quickly rehydrate your body and refresh your mind. Did you know that your brain is made up of over 70% water? Drinking water first thing in the morning can help reduce fatigue immediately. Now you can truly kick-start your morning routine.
Step 4: Learn To Use Your Circadian Rhythm
What is your circadian rhythm? That is your 24-hour internal body clock that allows you to respond to natural light changes that make you awake or sleepy. Your internal clock is determined by the rotation of the earth around its axis. This is how your body and mind are shaped by the earth’s natural rhythms, which in turn are expressed by external factors such as light.
The circadian rhythm teaches us that we heavily rely on so-called biological “Zeitgebers” – a German term for time-givers. The German biologist Jürgen Aschoff significantly coined the term “Zeitgeber” (as a co-founder of chronobiology). He found that light is one such biological timer. It is an external factor that influences our internal clock and regulates our sleep and wake phases.
Let’s see how you can take advantage of those time givers such as light to rearrange your internal clock so you can improve your morning routine. Because light (and dark) have the biggest influence on your circadian rhythm.
Step 5: Lights Rearrange Your Internal Clock When Used Correctly
Today you can use light to mimic sundown and sunset so you can regulate sleep and wake phases. Turning on the light immediately after waking up signals to your body that it’s time to start the day. The same goes for preparing your body for sleep. Again, you need to dim all lights and stop exposing yourself to blue light (from any screen) at least an hour before bed. This way you can maximize your sleep quality.
But, there’s a challenge with the circadian rhythm: it requires consistency. Having a consistent wake up time and bed time, every single day (even on the weekends), is crucial to synchronize your circadian rhythm.
If you don’t do this (on weekends), you experience something called “Social Jetlag.” Then your sleep rhythm and schedule varies significantly between weekdays and the weekend. That leads to bad sleep. We find it harder to fall asleep on Sunday evening (so we get less hours of sleep) and have a hard time waking up on Monday morning. This is because our body does not release melatonin (the sleep hormone) or cortisol (the waking hormone) in a timely manner.
In The Power of When: Learn the Best Time to do Everything, Dr. Michael Breus presents how you can get back in sync with your body’s natural rhythm and internal body clock that differs from one person to another to achieve maximum health and productivity.
Step 6: Understanding Cortisol And Your Body’s Activation Time
Your body needs about 20-30 minutes of activation time before it is ready for a physical training, a work session or anything else. This is because your body normally releases cortisol after 30-45 minutes.
Cortisol is the waking hormone. But most of us know that it is a stress hormone that has a bad reputation.
Cortisol floods your body between 30 and 45 minutes after waking up. This is the best time to complete tasks that require mental or physical energy. At this point, your mind will experience a peak that you can use to kick off your work session. I like to either take care of my mental health, my physical health or work on tasks that require maximum concentration or brain power during this time.
Step 7: Ending Your Morning Routine With Household Chores
When you reach the end of your morning routine, your concentration begins to wane. Use this drop in productivity for less demanding tasks like household chores. I bet your list of chores is endless too.
For a quick morning routine for busy moms take 2 minutes for chores at the end. I’ve found that it’s much easier to keep up with household chores if everyone – your husband, your kids, and you – spends 2 to 10 minutes on them during each routine. Like the evening routine, the morning routine, the kids’ pick-up routine, the lunch time routine and so on. You’d be surprised what you can get done in 2 minutes.
Here’s what my husband and I personally try to accomplish every morning at the end or during our morning routine before we start our work day (what is not done will be done in the next routine time):
- Making the beds
- Airing the rooms
- Switch Laundry OR fold OR distribute laundry
- Cleaning the kitchen and dining table
- A 5-minute tidying up of the living room and hall
- Short vacuuming
- A 5-minute cleaning session
A Quick Morning Routine For Working Moms Before The Commute
Ring. I pressed the button on my pink alarm clock. But somehow I did it wrong. Ring. Ring. I hear it again and jump to that clock. I hoped that this time I could finally turn it off. A quick glance over at my little girls, still sleeping in their cozy blankets. Hopefully I didn’t wake them up, I think to myself. I put on my warm hoodie and scarf and I’m out.
Just minutes later I hold a warm, white cup of coffee in my hands. I close the windows. A cold breeze touches my cheek. Suddenly I see someone turning the yellow lights on in the hall. I hear a quiet “Mommy”? Oh no, I forgot to close the stair gate. Now, how do I get out of the house on time in less than an hour? Hey my little worm, I hear my husband say. Fortunately. He was able to intercept our little one. I take a deep breath and continue with my morning routine before the commute.
When I commute to work (which takes more than an hour), I apply the time-saving morning routine for moms. That means I skip some of the steps above. My No. 1 goal is to enjoy a productive morning routine for moms because that’s what I need for a long day at work. Here’s how I approach it.
I skip most of the household chores and only do the bare minimum. I skip my morning work session entirely. And I only have 10-15 minutes to take care of my mental health and physical health instead of at least 30 minutes. Because my personal goal is to have a one-hour morning routine from the time the alarm goes off until I leave the door.
A Healthy Morning Routine For Moms Who Work From Home
Do you know the saying “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”? A healthy morning schedule for busy moms working from home is about setting aside some time for your well-being before tackling the day’s demands.
How does a healthy morning routine look like? If you work from home with small children, you’ll want to maximize your short, uninterrupted work hours. You simply have no other choice.
Now there is something that I found is the ultimate booster to any work from home session when it comes to productivity and efficiency. As a nice side effect, it also adds that healthy component to your morning routine.
Take the time to exercise outside in the cold, fresh air for about 20 to 30 minutes and then take a cold shower (at least at the last minute). If you do this, your productivity will rise to levels you may never have experienced before. For hours. I promise. It feels like your brain is flooded with alertness.
That’s how I used to complete 4 hours of highly focused work by lunchtime that would normally have taken me twice as much time. This is exactly what I needed as a work-from-home mom with a baby at home as my working hours during the day were very limited.
The problem is that we rarely bother to do this because it’s inconvenient. Especially in winter when it is cold and still dark outside in the early morning. However, try it if possible, especially on the days you work from home. You won’t regret it. Who knows, maybe you’ll repeat this at least once a week.
If you want to learn more about how to get into an intense work session, I can recommend reading the book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. It is full of hacks and sometimes strange but eye-opening real life examples how anyone can experience highly focused work.
Now I’d love to hear from you which of the 7 steps or tips above do you find most helpful and consider trying out tomorrow? Do you have any additional hack to share? Let me know in the comments below.
When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your financial journey, I’d love to show you some more in the next post. If you haven’t already, you can apply to become a part of the community to not miss any new release. For that you can subscribe to our newsletter below in the green footer.
Title image source: Thought Catalog on Unsplash
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