http://www.spendingzerodollars.com my mission: no debt and $10,000 in savings in one year Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:39:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Huh?  That was my reaction when I saw this in the New York Times today.  Check out the article, it's pretty interesting. “One of the speakers at my 25th reunion said that, according to a survey he had done of those attending, income was now precisely in inverse proportion to academic ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/10/smart-guys-ruined-wall-street/ Normally I avoid cheap sushi, but last night I made an exception.  I finally used that restaurant coupon I bought for $4.00 on Slickdeals.  The coupon was worth $50 off the purchase of $100 at a local sushi restaurant (alcohol included!!). So I called my friends and we went out last ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/10/restaurant-coupon-put-to-good-use/ I'm back!  My freelance work took longer than I expected, but I'm finally finished and back to being full-time frugal.  The work has put me 1/4 of the way to my savings goal, so I am very happy right now. I was perusing the New York Times book reviews today and ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/10/further-frugal-reading/ You heard me right.  I walked into a store today and saw my first Christmas tree of the year, and you know what that means.  Happy holidays!  With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Xmas coming up soon, how are you going to save money through the holidays?  So far my ideas include ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/09/its-officially-holiday-season/ I guess there are really only two ways to make money: either spend less, or get paid more.  I struggle daily to spend less.  So far, I've been able to pay off my credit card debt, but I haven't been able to save much.  So I decided I had to ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/09/spending-zero-dollars-and-working-two-jobs/ Ok, so I have to admit that I've had a minor spending relapse over the past couple weeks.  I woke up bored on Labor Day, so I decided to go shopping with my sister.  We ended up making it an all day event with a break for lunch.  I think ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/09/my-fall-spending-relapse/ So I'm finally back at home, unpacked, and settled in.  So let's talk about my vacation.  For starters, it was pretty cheap.  Cheap as in affordable, not tacky.  We stayed at a nice beach house in the first week of off-season, so the rates were much more reasonable than if ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/09/a-cheap-family-vacation/ Last Thursday, my sister met up with some friends for drinks downtown.  It was supposed to be a low-key evening on a patio, but things quickly got out of hand.  For starters, she opened a tab at the bar and started ordering rounds for her friends.  She quickly lost track ... http://www.spendingzerodollars.com/2009/09/spending-zero-dollars-and-drinking-at-bars/