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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
