Archive for Archive for May, 2010
Frugal Baby Gifts
My family has celebrated the births of 5 babies this month–and Frugal Hacks’ own Kim C. may well add #6 to my list! Naturally, I’ve been busy thinking of meaningful baby gifts that don’t break the bank. Once Mom acquires the basic baby supplies, she may welcome time and effort more than another blanket. Here are a few ideas that [...]
The Gift Cupboard
My main frugal theme is ‘What’s in your hand,’ that is, what do you already have on hand that you can put to good, frugal use. It also helps to plan ahead to be sure you have things in your hand. Because we go to a congregation with a lot of young people, I can [...]
All Food Budgets Are Not Created The Same
Yes, hers was a weekly budget, mine a monthly. Her family was smaller, but I had figured that into my calculations. I knew we had made some different food choices and that definitely was a factor, but why was I so far off from the bottom line? Reading frugal blogs was most helpful to me [...]
Frugal Vacation
We’re traveling around Pennsylvania because a friend is getting married here. We took a sidetrip out to Delaware to see the ocean (and we saw dolphins!). Here are a couple of things we did to save money: Souvenirs: I like to get a Christmas ornament from places we visit. For our beach visit I picked [...]
Living In My Own Skin
Thoughts were racing as I tidied up my family room. Smiling, as I surveyed the décor, which I call “Early Miscellaneous” with a country bent, I realized I was “living in my own skin.” A grateful heart took notice of the contents of the room. Loveseat and coffee table had belonged to Husband’s family. Second [...]
Create A Free Website With Google Tools
Y’all, I have fallen in love with Google’s free publishing tools. First I tried Google Docs for creating and managing spreadsheets, most notably for our family’s hand-me-down clothing inventory. We’ve coordinated group sign-up schedules and co-written an event shopping list with incredible ease. Then a local web designer turned me on to Google Sites. It’s [...]
The Love Language of Gifts
A while back my husband and I had an interesting discussion with another couple about gift giving. Her husband had grown up as a missionary child in an African country. Poverty was something he saw every day. She had grown up in North America, her parents were older when she was born, and they went [...]
Frugal Alternatives
We were gathered around the computer enjoying the sights and sounds of a video tour series. Husband commented that this was his “frugal alternative” to the real thing. A man who loves to travel (he is already salivating thinking about our soon to be 30 hour drive back to the east coast) and a once [...]
Does Water Conservation Save You Money?
I vowed that I’d never give up long soaks in the tub. Then my city flooded. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink! With one water treatment plant ruined and the other dangerously low in reserve, Nashvilians have been asked to cut normal water consumption by half. After all, greasy hair is a [...]
Frugal Eats On Road Trips
I tried to count the number of road trips our family has taken, but I really just can’t. I have no idea. And when I talk about road trips, I am talking about trips we have taken of several days duration, sometimes weeks, and, a couple of times, road trips that lasted over a month. [...]
A Mother’s Day Gift For A Frugal Mother
Exhausted and frustrated, Daughter and I returned home from our shopping trip, empty-handed. As Mother of the Groom, my dear children wanted to dress me in style! An early Mother’s Day gift had been given and Daughter was designated to take me clothes shopping for the upcoming wedding. Generous budget in hand, daughter and I [...]
New members on the Frugal Blogroll
NerdWallet – Works to teach readers how to use credit cards as tools, and through their credit card search, they want to make sure readers can find the right tools, rather than taking whatever the card companies or scammy credit card sites give them. NerdWallet focuses on non-sponsored credit cards, which you never hear [...]
