Archive for cheerful frugality
Cheerful Frugality Budgets For Better, For Worse
My brother emailed to ask if I had an extra Dave Ramsey book lying around. Yes!!! (Incidentally, I didn’t–and I haven’t seen one at a thrift store in ages. Sign of the times?) I’m so happy that he and his wife will be working a budget together as they begin their marriage. Here are a [...]
Cheerful Frugality Yard Sales
In my neck of the woods, 3 constants cheer me through spring: daffodils, dogwoods, and redbuds in bloom the great celebration of Easter followed shortly thereafter by yard sale season I’ve already deviled the leftover eggs, and now I’m organizing my family’s yard sale envelope. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to purchase most of our needed [...]
Cheerful Frugality Makes The Old Feel New
I can’t believe how much better my worn brown furniture looks in a freshly-painted yellow room. That got me thinking: what other frugal fixes help the old seem new again? What helps you stay content when you feel like starting over at Target? Here are a few of my favorite ways to improve what I already have: Spray paint: [...]
Cheerful Frugality Refinances
If your family owns a home, you’re either: happy that you just refinanced at historic low rates in the middle of refinancing at historic low rates worried that you can’t take refinance due to closing costs and/or appraisals. snug and unconcerned in your paid-for home. Though I’d love that last option, we’re in the middle [...]
Cheerful Frugality Explores Extremes
As frugality bumps into mainstream media, I’m hearing more backlash from both sides. Basic magazine tips are laughable to serious tightwads; meanwhile, new money savers recoil at the thought of day-old bread. How should frugal writers approach the situation? Do you feel, as I do, that you might be missing the mark? When it comes to sharing what’s too frugal [...]
Cheerful Frugality Cooks Up Fun
It’s easy to enjoy frugality when you can also make it fun. Food is a great place to start. Here are some quick, easy, & cheap ways to add fun to your frugal table: Do cool things with fruit! This can be as simple as slicing strawberries into hearts, making sunshine eggs with pineapple rays, or [...]
Cheerful Frugality Thinks Twice
Truth be told, I’m not always happy about spending less. But I always manage to wrap my mind around it in the end. Here are the tools I use to stretch my frugal thinking: Frugality as game: Am I going to let the store beat my budget? Frugality as creative pursuit: Can I use my imagination to [...]
Cheerful Frugality Dresses Up
Sound the wedding bells! My brother is getting married, and my toddler will be toddling down the aisle. I held my breath when the bride-to-be called about the flower girl dress. Since she is a practical person (and reads my blog!), she offered to let me find a dress within our price range. Here’s my 5-step strategy [...]
Cheerful Frugality Adjusts The Antenna
I’m trying not to be disappointed by the digital TV conversion box. For some reason, I thought we’d be ditching the rabbit ears for good. Now I have a box, the aforementioned rabbit ears, and an additional remote control. Will the inconvenience nudge me to cable TV? Nope, but I’d like to put a positive [...]
Cheerful Frugality Finds A Forum
Have you visited the Frugal Hacks forums yet? Brought back fond memories for me. I learned about bulk cooking from my 1st frugal forum…just a new bride and her creaky dial-up connection. I got my start at Frugalmoms.com (now defunct) and moved to Hillbilly Housewife then Prairie Homemaker. What I enjoyed most about frugal forums is the sense [...]
Cheerful Frugality Goes To The Museum
We’ll be celebrating the 3-day weekend with a trip to the museum. It’s a great way to feel like a tourist when you don’t have the money to travel. Here are a few ways we maximize our dollars at museums: Join ‘em: 2 family admission fees are often enough to buy a membership. What’s your break-even point? Spread [...]
Cheerful Frugality Goes To The Movies
While Frugal Hacks founder Kim C is gallivanting at a film festival, I thought we’d talk about movies. Or, how to enjoy them without paying $12 a ticket and $5 for a Diet Coke. We used to go to the movies like regular people. Then we downsized to the $1.50 cinema for as long as [...]
Cheerful Frugality Steels Herself
When I vowed to maintain my stuff instead of buying more, I had no idea I’d be tested so soon. Looks like thrift stores may no longer be allowed to sell kids’ clothing and toys. I buy 95% of my kid stuff secondhand, including Christmas. Taking away my best frugal source? It put me into panic [...]
Cheerful Frugality Looks Forward
I love a fresh start. Aren’t we lucky that we get one every year? This year, I’ll be focusing on my frugality on conserving instead of consuming (albeit at a bargain price.) I have a feeling that the thrift store pickings will be lean in upcoming months, anyway. Maintenance is my husband’s frugal superpower. Let’s hope some of [...]
Overload, Chaos, and Organizing My Pantry
I started out to write an altogether more philosophical sort of post, but I couldn’t get it done the way I wanted to in the time frame I gave myself, so I’m working on that for next week. I sort of introduced my topic over on my other blog- you can click through here to [...]
