It’s Officially Holiday Season
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 turning off the lights and [...]
September 27, 2009
Tags: family, festivus, frugal vs. cheap, holidays, seinfeld, Spending Zero Dollars Posted in: Cheap Thrills, Frugal or Cheap?, Spending Zero Dollars, holidays 
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A Cheap Family Vacation
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 we had vacationed in the [...]
September 11, 2009
Tags: bargains, Cheap Thrills, DIY, family, Food, money, shopping, thrifty, vacation Posted in: Cheap Thrills, Food, New Spending Habits, Travel No Comments
Spending Zero Dollars and Drinking at Bars
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 of how much she had [...]
September 10, 2009
Tags: alcohol, bars, budget, Cheap Thrills, credit card, family, finances, financial responsibility, frugal, Spending Zero Dollars, tabs, thrifty Posted in: A Night Out, Cheap Thrills, Lessons From My Family, New Spending Habits, Spending Zero Dollars No Comments
Back from My Summer Holiday
Sorry I’ve been neglecting my site recently, but I was out of town on a family vacation. I didn’t spend very much during the vacation, so that’s a plus! More details to come on this, but first, it’s time to unpack.
September 7, 2009
Tags: family, vacation Posted in: My Progress, Travel No Comments
Slight Change of Plans…
In about two weeks, my dad turns 60. He has been planning to retire on his 60th birthday for about 2 years now. To celebrate, he was going to tell off his boss, pack his bags, and take the family on a two week vacation to Europe (in that order). Then during this past winter, [...]
August 24, 2009
Tags: 401k, banking, family, finances, insurance, safety net, savings goal, vacation Posted in: Lessons From My Family No Comments
Frugal or Cheap?
I ran across this article yesterday and couldn’t help but think that the author is being cheap. The article discusses various reasons why the author is not paying for her kids to go to college. Tricky topic. On one hand, she’s already sacrificed so much to her kids: time, money, energy, her career, the list [...]
August 6, 2009
Tags: college, family, financial responsibility, frugal vs. cheap, money Posted in: Banking Accounts, Frugal or Cheap? No Comments
Money-Saving Advice From My Sister
I’ve been hyper-aware of my own spending now for almost two months and it’s finally starting to pay off. I’m half way out of debt, thanks to support from friends and family. Here’s some money-saving advice I recently received from my sister:
Use vinegar to soften your clothes. A bottle of vinegar is much less expensive [...]
July 20, 2009
Tags: advice, budget, DIY, family, Food, frugal, New Spending Habits, thrifty Posted in: DIY, Lessons From My Family, New Spending Habits, Spending Zero Dollars One Comment
Lessons From Grandma and Grandpa
My grandparents are EXTREMELY frugal. For example, every year when they are getting ready to migrate south for the winter, they invite us over to take leftovers from the fridge so they don’t throw any food away. I’m talking down to the last pat of butter and crust of bread…we have to take ALL the [...]
June 18, 2009
Tags: advice, family, financial responsibility, frugal, frugal vs. cheap, money, My Progress, spending habits, thrifty Posted in: Cheap Thrills, Lessons From My Family No Comments