How much money do you have in your pocket? Once upon a time, I had six dollars. These days, I usually have more than that, but I will forever be that girl with six dollars in my pocket. Are you a Six Dollar Family? If you are struggling to put food on the table, to pay your bills or with simple day to day expenses, you may be and not even know it. In other words, do you only have “six dollars” in your pocket too?
Welcome to the Six Dollar Family blog. I am so happy you’re here! Whether you really do only have six dollars in your pocket or your bills are comfortable and you’re looking for a good recipe, I am positive you will find your place here among our little community. Please allow me to introduce myself, the rest of SDF and my little corner of the internet to you before you get started.
I am Stacy – also known as Mother Unit. I am 37 years old and 1/4 of the Six Dollar Family. I am originally from a small town in Southern, Ohio but currently live just outside of Dallas, Texas. I am a girly girl when I want to be but am much more comfortable with my fishing pole sitting on the cliffs at my favorite lake. I love to cook and bake, have gotten really good at useless trivia over the years and dream of owning my own hobby farm someday. I am horribly bad at most simple crafts, but can wield a power tool with the best of them. I crave the simple life and work hard to make it happen for my family.
I am diabetic, suffer from chronic pain and am a recovering addict. My 20 year sobriety anniversary is June 29, 2020.
The Rest of the Six Dollar Family
My better half is Steve – aka Father Unit. He is 43, a US Air Force veteran of both Gulf Wars, works as an over the road trucker, is the farmer/outdoors man of our little family. He absolutely stole my heart from the word “hello.” He is truly my hero and one of the best people I have ever met. No, I am not only saying that just because I’m totally head over heels in love with him. He is 4 inches taller than me and never lets me forget it. 😀
Yes, his hat had a logo. Yes, I removed it. I love ya’ll but you don’t need to know who he drives for. 😉
Girl Child #1 is biologically his and usually answers to Laura. She is 14, an honors student – a member of National Junior Honor Society – and is my helper around here. She has a sense of humor that is rarely seen in a kid her age, will actually talk politics with me, plays flute in the marching band, is the shortest one in the house and is a girl after my own heart. She is Girl Child #1 because she is five days older than Girl Child #2. Yes; five days.
Girl Child #2 is biologically mine and if you’re a long time reader, you may already know her. She is my Emma and one of the most amazing human beings that I know. Being five days younger than Laura, she is 14 as well and is technically the baby of the family. She is also the tallest one of the family even topping Steve by over four inches.
Yes you read that right. At 15, she is 5’11 and the tallest one in the house.
She plays softball, loves music and has one fantastic singing voice. Her sense of humor is unparalleled and she is constantly making both Steve and I laugh until we cry. She is also the reason that Six Dollar Family exists as it does.
In 2010, Emma and I spent 10 months in a homeless shelter. I did not realize it then, but it was then that The Six Dollar Family was born. That first night in the shelter, I had six dollars in my pocket. What started out as a horrible situation has now bloomed into a new life and a way to help others who may be in situations as we once were.
Momma is – we think – a blue nosed pit and my rescue pup. She is approximately 7 years old but we are unsure. She has been a part of our family since November 2014 when Emma found her abandoned and chained in a back yard down the street.
The folks who lived at the house had moved out and left her with no food or water. She was extremely emaciated and dehydrated when we found her. These days, she is quite healthy and happy in that raggedy old chair and blanket I keep around just for her.
Yes, she has her own chair. She thinks she’s queen.
She likes to argue with me, hogs my bed when Steve is not home and thinks she’s human.
Nine years have now passed and in those nine years life has changed significantly. There has been a long-term relationship and a split. We have since added two new members to our family. I am no longer that single mom with six dollars to my name. We live comfortably as a result of the way we choose to live our lives. We are comfortable in life and as a result, we are passing on how we did it. Why?
Because our journey doesn’t stop at simply making ends meet in life.
Our journey stops with six figures in the bank and a comfortable life provided for all of us. You read that right. Six figures. Not seven. We don’t want millions. We simply want a comfortable life and the knowledge that we don’t have to struggle just to pay the bills or put food on the table.
Sound familiar? If so, you may very well be a Six Dollar Family yourself. In short, the Six Dollar Family is the family that is struggling to make it right now, but wants more out of life. They are the ones who dream big and know that with a little hard work, they can achieve their dreams and live the life they want to.
The Six Dollar Family Story
In April 2011, I logged onto my computer and a new era in my life was born. I had been using coupons for 7 years and wanted a way to share my coupon trips with my family. It was then that Adventures in Coupons was born.
AIC suddenly became a huge part of my life and as it grew – much more rapidly than I ever expected – it changed from a single wish to share my coupon trips to a desire to teach others to save as much money as possible, budget wisely and plan a financially stable life.
Over the next 4 years, Adventures in Coupons grew provide for my family, and continued to play a very prominent part in our lives. I will forever be grateful for those initial 4 years and what they taught me.
I have had the opportunity to do things I never thought I would, have met absolutely amazing people, and was able to share my readers’ triumph’s, hurts and struggles right along with those that trusted me with their heart.
If I am never blessed again in my life, my first 4 years with AIC and the responses that I have received from my readers is enough for me in this lifetime (and most likely the next).
The change:
I wish I could tell you that I knew exactly when I realized my vision for this blog had changed. All I can really tell you is that it was the summer of 2014. I realized that I didn’t want to teach only coupons.
In fact, I had stopped couponing in my own life and no longer wanted to even hear the word coupon. The quick answer is that not only had my vision for things changed, but that I was drastically burned out.
My heart lies in helping people and I needed to express that. It took a year for me to let go of Adventures in Coupons. Without going into a huge amount of detail, AIC was a very large part of me and I honestly felt like I was letting go of a child.
When the idea that my family was a Six Dollar Family, I realized that I wanted to help others who could identify with that – that I couldn’t be the only one in the world who could relate to the idea of the Six Dollar Family and that those people were the ones I was looking to help – that I wanted to help those families do the same thing that I can now say I have done; become a six figure family.
In May 2015, I published my first book – appropriately called The Six Dollar Family: From Six Dollars to Six Figures.That first edition was rough, but over the years it has been updated and refined a bit more with each update. In June 2015, I pulled the trigger on letting go of AIC and we became what you see in front of you today.
I truly hope that your visit here with us at Six Dollar Family is one that you enjoy and learn from. It is my sincere hope that I can not only help you save money, but teach you to budget it, grow it and help you along on your journey in become that six figure family that we all want. You’ll find everything from cheap family recipes to home decor crafts, advice on being more self sufficient, practical DIY projects and of course, my favorite frugal living tips.
Lastly, if you ever need anything. Please don’t hesitate to contact me.
~~Stacy
While you’re here, be sure to check out our most popular posts. They are a fantastic way to get started with your journey to becoming a Six Dollar Family. You can find them below.
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*Huge* List of Free Wedding Samples
30 Things I Simply Stopped Buying and Started Making Homemade
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole Recipe
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Homemade Coconut Shampoo Tutorial
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30 Ways to Use Fels-Naptha Soap
On your page giving “16 Canning Safety Tips You Should Know,” you said meat must be canned 90 minutes at a pressure of 15. I believe for my altitude, it is 11 pounds pressure for a dial gauge. or it’s 10 lbs. if it’s a weighted gauge.. 15 is for weighted gauges beginning at 1,001 ft. altitude; and for dial gauges 15 is for 8,000 ft. altitude and over, according to the new Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, Pressure Guide on page 9.
I only started pressure canning a little over three months ago using an inherited pressure canner which I refurbished with a new dial gauge and other parts with the help of a lady at Presto Canner company, and I wanted to make good use of lockdown time during this pandemic. I have been canning a lot during this time. Did I misunderstand something because I am canning everything if it contains meat for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts, at 11 lbs. pressure on a dial gauge? I live in south Louisiana where we are barely above sea level, so we are much below 1,000 ft. Please correct me if I am wrong.
(copied from page in question)
“Watch your pressure –
Your canning recipes have a specific processing time that you are to process each jar or batch of jars. For instance, meats must be processed in a pressure canner at 15 PSI for 90 minutes. “
Joyce, I apologize for taking so long to reply to your comment. I have been down sick. I was taught that meat is always 15# PSI, however, your altitude will make a difference. The times you’re using are correct. 75 minutes for pints, 90 for quarts. To be sure, I would always refer to any recipe you’re using or check out the Ball Blue book.
Hi Stacy, I’ve had a really exhausting couple of weeks taking care of my sick mom and my disabled son. My reason for telling you that is because I had a minor disaster last night and hope you or one of your readers can help. I had just changed all the linens on my bed including putting on a down mattress pad and comforter both in white and pale green sheets. I sat down on my bed after getting into my pjs and was drinking a cup of hot tea with milk and reading my emails when I suddenly woke up covered in hot tea! So my question how to remove tea stains from bedding. I didn’t have any pretreatment and of course now it is dry. Hope you can help. Ps I use fels naphta and make my own soaps for laundry and dishes but don’t know if it will take out set in tea stains. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me get these tea stains out of my new bedding. Penny
Hi Penny, I apologize for taking so long to reply to your comment. I have been down sick for weeks. I would do a color fast test using Fels Naptha and try that. If the item is white, hydrogen peroxide would work as well.
That’s a great line! Way to make lemonade out of lemons ! You truly have a gift with words and are admirably generous in spirit. I’m inspired by your story and by your ongoing efforts to help others. Thank you so kindly and may that spoon now be silver.