Archive for cheerful frugality

The “Snowed In For 3 Days” Edition

Snow hit my city with several inches of unpreparedness. Parents, confronted by a once-a-year phenomenon, scurried to find boots, sleds, or their frugal alternatives. The neighborhood listserv buzzed with ideas for slipping bread bags over shoes, repurposing trash can lids or rubbing a candle over cardboard.
(Wonder if anyone Googled the Frugal Hacks For Winter Clothes article by DHM?)
I [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, February 1st, 2010

In Praise Of Frugal Friends

Like minded friends can be your best tightwad treasure.
Who else will call you when she sees organic eggs slashed to fifty cents a dozen? (True story!) Who knows that your daughter is having an American Girl birthday, and picks up a trunk full of extra clothes at a yard sale down the street?
I love to [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, January 25th, 2010

Budget Ruts: 5 Not-So-Radical Cuts

I grabbed a notepad after reading Kim’s 10 ways to cut your food bill (inspired by Simple Dollar’s article on trimming the average food budget.) What figural fat could I cross from the grocery list?
And then I put the pencil down.
At this point, I’m already buying whole foods, avoiding convenience products, and shopping via the sales and [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, January 11th, 2010

January Is The Hardest Month, Or Is It?

January is all about facing the cold, hard truth–financially speaking.
Some experts refer to the ”credit card hangover” from Christmas. Resolution-makers cringe as we tally the mistakes of the previous year.
Even if you kept Christmas within budget, an emergency expense may have knocked at the door–what my mom calls the annual Christmas catastrophe. A friend’s entire heating system died; for us, [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, January 4th, 2010

10 Changes we’ve made this year

Our family has made quite a few changes this year toward simplifying our lives and our budget.  Some required extra work to adjust; others were painless.  Some save a significant amount of money, while others were done for different reasons – but resulted in savings as a secondary effect.

We switched to cloth diapers. This has [...]

Posted by: kimc on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

10 Frugal Gifts I’m Giving

Whew! I just crossed the last item from my Christmas list. It did require a last-minute run into Fresh Market, but overall, I came in under budget.
Here are 10 frugal gifts you might find on my kitchen counter this season:
4 Tickets to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. Don’t laugh–admission costs $21 per [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, December 7th, 2009

Thanksgiving For $20 or Less?

Have you seen Walmart’s clever Thanksgiving commercial? It advertises a Thanksgiving meal for 8 that costs only $20.
I had to investigate.
I clicked all over Walmart.com, but only a press release spells out the $20 feast.  The complete dinner includes:
One 12-pound Grade A turkey* (Jennie-O, while supplies last)
Three 11 to 15.5-ounce cans Green Giant vegetables
Two 14-ounce cans Ocean [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, November 16th, 2009

Frugality Is Not Black & White

Writing about frugality is trickier than it looks. There’s always someone who has more/less or spends more/less. Few consumer commentaries satisfy both.
Does your family income (or expenses) fluctuate? Ours, too. What makes good financial sense one year may not be the right strategy for the next.
When we were newly married and nearly broke, money choices were easy. [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, November 9th, 2009

What Are You Gathering This Season?

I think of November as my gathering season. The wind blows, sports slow, and I am kept busy planning for winter.
Here are a few things we’ve been gathering at my house:

Pine cones, magnolia leaves and seed pods for free, natural decoration
Bulk red pepper, chile, and cumin for a shaker of make-your-own-chili-seasoning
Snow boots, to be worn twice, [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Goodwill Outlets: Clothing By The Pound Strategies

Goodwill Outlet stores are popping up in chains all over the country. Be warned: they are no-frills (and for thrift stores, that’s saying a lot).
Here are some Goodwill Outlet strategies to help you come out ahead:
1.  Consider the weight.
At my Goodwill Outlet, bins and tables of merchandise are rolled out to the sales floor daily. You do [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, September 21st, 2009

Cheerful Frugality & The Gift Of Less

As a parent, I work hard to give my kids the right experiences: music, swim proficiency, time with grandparents far away. I worry about finding the right church, the right friends, the right toys.
We have deliberately chosen a life slowed down. When we exchanged my salary for family time, we knew we’d be able to provide a [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, August 31st, 2009

Cheerful Frugality Plays Outdoors

Earlier this spring I decided to let my garden dreams go. Instead, we would work on creating a frugal space all about function and family.
No garden designer would approve the plastic alligator pool (75% off clearance) or the honkin’ big A/C unit (newly installed by the sellers after a rigorous home inspection).
Those money-saving details bring a smile to my face.  [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Cheerful Frugality In The Lean Times

This week I listened to a conversation between 2 friends.
“Beans and rice are great, but we can’t eat bean tacos every night!”
“If you’ve already cut cable, make everything from scratch, and use cloth diapers, what else is left to cut?”
These are hard questions, not asked in jest. What can you do when you need to spend even [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, July 27th, 2009

Cheerful Frugality and Outdated Technology

If you need a cheap TV, boy, have I got a deal for you…
Frequent thrift shoppers have probably noticed shelves full of analog televisions donated in the last few months. You can’t watch programming without a converter box, but that’s a functional, frugal solution to anyone who needs a TV for movies or cable.
Likewise, we recently resurrected [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, July 13th, 2009

Cheerful Frugality Splashes

Several of our pool buddies have dropped their YMCA memberships.  Thanks, economic downturn!
We’d still love to meet our friends in a cool environment. Here are some of the free or cheap water play ideas I’ve been brainstorming:
Backyard pools:  We keep an inflatable kiddie pool for easy play. I’m amazed at how relatively cheap the DIY above-ground pools have [...]

Posted by: MerchantShips on Monday, June 15th, 2009