In order to master your financial life, you need to spend less than you make – right? Interestingly, there are two ways to do that, and one might lead to higher spending than the other. When people talk about saving money, what are they usually referring to? Saving money on a vacation Using coupons to […]
Frugal Fun Family Friday
Your Tax Refund is Not a Reward
This past weekend I was driving my three boys to a family birthday party. We were listening to Pandora in the car-specifically the Final Fantasy music channel (why yes, we’re a family of video game geeks. Don’t judge). Since I’m too cheap to spring for the ad-free version of Pandora, we were also treated to some […]
My Deal Scoring Strategy – Five Tips to Get the Best Deals (No Extreme Couponing Required)
I love a good bargain – don’t you? But as a busy, full-time breadwinning mom of three, I don’t have time for things like extreme couponing and shopping at three different grocery stores to score the lowest prices. When I’m FI, I bet I’ll be doing those things for fun! (Admittedly, I have an odd […]
Three Fun and Frugal Tips for Kids Birthday Parties
As anyone with younger kids knows, birthday parties seem to be a must. Your child (along with the whole class) is usually invited to many, many parties over the years-starting in preschool. And you may feel obligated to throw your kids a nice birthday party and invite the whole class back. Well, today I’m going […]
A Fun and Frugal $11 Weekend in Connecticut
When you’re a family of five living on one income (mine) with aggressive mortgage payoff and college savings goals, having a frugal good time is a must. Does that mean we sit at home in the dark all weekend (to save on electricity, of course), reading free books from the library by candlelight? Of course […]
Everything’s Free! All the time! Come on Down! or My Love of the Library
When I was a kid, I can distinctly remember going to the library all the time. I was a voracious reader and would take out many, many books each time – finishing them very quickly. I can remember learning how to use the card catalog (the actual one, with cards, in a giant filing cabinet! […]