Archive for Archive for October, 2009
When it pays to buy new
We have never owned a new car. We never purchased new appliances until after we’d been married 20 years (and I kind of miss my used appliances). At times used appliances are more practical, particularly when appliance parts are readily available. We buy nearly all our clothes, books, and toys second hand. From time to time some [...]
Frugal Parties: A Holiday Planning Tea
I always have grand plans when it comes to holiday parties: cookie decorating, open houses, family feasts. Yet adding cute sprinkles to my grocery list becomes even harder during the one month we’re most scrunched for cash. This year I’m trying another approach, one that will save us all time and money. I’m throwing a holiday planning tea! [...]
Frugal Ice-Packs and Learning to Plan Ahead
I assume we all know the emergency tip about using a frozen bag of peas or corn on a nasty bruise. But what about when it’s not exactly an emergency? This past week our daughter Pip had her wisdom teeth out- three cut out and one extraction, and she needed to apply ice packs every [...]
Family Feasts for $75 a Week: A winner and the interview!
Thank you to everyone who participated by asking questions. We had over 100 entries, and I know Mary had a great time choosing questions to answer! We chose one winner from among the entries to win a free copy of Family Feasts for $75 a Week. Here’s the lucky gal, courtesy of Random.org: Lindsey in [...]
Non-chain Travel: Looking For Local
Last week we took a rare fishing break. We researched the town via Google, hoping to save a few bucks. We thought we’d camp or cabin in the most bare-bones campground. Because camping is always cheapest, right? Wrong! When we arrived, we discovered a string of family-owned motels on either side of the run-down campground. We quickly abandoned our plan. One [...]
Debt Collectors
First let me make it clear that if you borrowed money from anybody, whether from a friend, a credit card company, a bank or whatever, you need to pay it back. That’s the law, and it’s also right, moral and just. However, debt collectors also must abide by the law, and because most of us [...]
Tips for Moms to Reduce Expenses
Moms are most often the bill-payer, grocery shopper, budget monitor, and chef, so we need to learn how to scale back whenever and wherever possible. By following these basic and easy tips, moms can greatly reduce their monthly expenses. Many of these areas we take for granted every day and don’t give second thought about [...]
We Have a Wedding A Week from Today!!
This is a two-part post. I’ve written about some of the frugal things we are doing here at our regular blog, (ideas including making cupcakes with homemade frosting) and here I’m explaining some of the ways we came up with funding for two weddings in 11 months. How we paid for things: In both cases [...]
Reader Hacks
Linda says, This is the perfect time to head out and pick pine cones and get a jump start on holiday craft projects. I spent the weekend visiting my parents and their neighbor has a big beautiful tree, she allowed us to go in her backyard and pick pine cones. I washed them up today [...]
Family Feasts for $75 a week: author interview and giveaway
update: Comments are closed and a winner has been chosen. Look for the announcement above! If you don’t read Owlhaven, you’re missing a treat. Mary is the compassionate, frugal and always-real mom of 10 children from various nations and the author of 2 books. Her latest book fits right in here at Frugal Hacks, and [...]
Frugal Staging: Home For Sale
HGTV may decorate on a dime, but how many of us have an extra $500 to spruce up a house for sale? Recession or not, details matter, particularly when the real estate market is tight. Tonight I helped a friend tweak her townhome’s appearance. Unlike a few of the rich and famous houses I’ve helped [...]
The Single Best Way to Change Your Relationship with Money
A money book, says Claire at Choyster. Do you keep one? Maybe you should. Maybe I should.
Flexibility In Your Hand
A while back in a post on my regular blog about drastic budgeting in the kitchen, I shared some links on cooking on a budget from an extension office, and then I shared some ideas on how to use that basic plan and make it even more frugal. The recipes and menus included a recipe [...]
Reader hacks for 9/29
New hacks from readers like you: Andrea shares the strangest little hack she ever came up: So, it was 95 degrees this week and the sun was beating down on my skylight (I know, I should have done something before this). Desperate times being what they are, I grabbed an accordion style baby gate, figured [...]
