From the category archives:
Mint: There’s many other great systems, but I simply want something that will scream at me (or text me) if I’m over budget and a dashboard or “mission control” for all my accounts in one place. Networth on demand, every day. I love Mint. If you haven’t tried it—you should! If you use a smaller [...]
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Next month is open enrollment for our family. I dread this season. My husband works for the state government, which gives us a broad range of choices—six this year.
This is the first time we’ve had to consider the whole family on one plan—and to shop around for the best deal—the last time we’d added our [...]
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Back in December when I was laid off from my regular 9-5 job and decided to pursue self employment in lieu of reliable income, I did some pretty serious bill slashing.
I called every service provider to our household and demanded a better deal. In all but one instance, I got a better deal. Now [...]
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The scissors had to come out.
When the time came for me to create a budget and cut out all the extras, I really struggled. I had grown so accustomed to being pampered! I would get manicures and pedicures at least once a month. My hair would always get colored every 8-10 weeks and I would [...]
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I’m finally doing what I always should have done, and what I thought nearly everyone did. I’m budgeting. An actual written budget about what gets spent in the household. And my family sticks to it.
Being a personal finance writer, my money is a pretty open book, as I often write from experience, but I’ve recently had [...]
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We’ve seen if before. It will be the rage again, but right now, frugal is the new black. For once (perhaps the only time) in my life—I might be described as au couraunt (in fashion).
During the depression we saw people make-do without. A depression-era feedsack quilt graces my bed today. My thrifty ancestors [...]
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My sanctuary
I have found over the last few years that the library has become quite a money saver and also a sanctuary for me. First off I love reading and second I love quiet. When I was going through my spending sprees I would purchase new books pretty frequently. I have since stopped buying new [...]
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No news to anyone who has had an ATM/credit card, you spend less when paying with cash than with a credit card. There is a disconnect with credit which allows people to not feel the “pain of paying”. So that is incorporated as part of the method that my wife and I use to budget [...]
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I saw an article on CNBC yesterday about “short sales”….it was a pretty generic article, but it was written in a very explanatory tone. While I did a short sale nearly two years ago, the term is only now becoming commonly known in mainstream America.
Foreclosures are soaring, bankruptcies are up….
I think I was ahead of [...]
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First off, I love pampering my girlfriend. She’s more frugal than I am, very low maintenance, and easy to please.
But, we were watching HGTV last night (we’re addicted to ‘Property Virgins!), and there was a couple that was spending $1,000 a MONTH eating out. Yikes! We both judged them pretty harshly (we try not [...]
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