Stay-at-home mom and writer blogs bargains at www.chicagonow.com/frugalista and family life at www.myfunnyfunnyfamily.com.
Carrie Kirby's profilePosted December 31, 2009 - 00:04 by Carrie Kirby
I got all my husband's gifts with fake money -- and didn't break the law, either. I used store rewards, coupons, PayPal, Swagbucks and other bits and ends of things to give him a few gifts he really appreciated without having him pay the bill for his own presents come January.
Posted November 30, 2009 - 10:00 by Carrie Kirby
Hard-core frugalistas like me usually shun online convenience services. But Alice.com has something for the frugal and the convenience-lover -- especially today, when they are selling gift cards at 30% off for Cyber Monday. I snapped one up for me, and hey -- what a great teacher gift! Excuse me while I go buy a few more.
Posted October 15, 2009 - 08:27 by Carrie Kirby
Halloween spending has come to rival the Christmas shopping season -- a boon to retailers but not so much to debt-strapped consumers. Here are some ideas for skipping Halloween expenses without skipping the fun.
Posted September 29, 2009 - 13:29 by Carrie Kirby
I ended my worries over where our beef comes from by investing in a quarter cow and a chest freezer. I considered the cost of the freezer as the cost of having the hormone-free, non-feedlot meat I wanted on hand, but what I didn't realize was that I would save so much, I paid for the freezer!
Posted August 31, 2009 - 08:00 by Carrie Kirby
Are Super Double coupons at Kmart worth the time and hassle involved? Sometimes you never know until you're done shopping. But following a few simple tips can help stack the odds in your favor.
Posted July 2, 2009 - 08:39 by Carrie Kirby
The best thing about public school is that it keeps kids occupied and not spending money for six hours a day or more. Now that it's summer, here re seven ideas for free or very cheap activities to keep the kids from driving you crazy (or to the poorhouse).
Posted June 30, 2009 - 11:40 by Carrie Kirby
In my supermarket angst series, I've been researching questions that have puzzled me at the store. This time, I'm tackling poultry. Is organic poultry worth the price premium? What about "natural"? Or is it enough just to look for a label that says free-range or perhaps hormone free? Are meat chickens and turkeys treated as badly as laying hens on conventional factory farms?
Now that I know the answers to these questions, alas, this is an area where I'll most likely be spending more.
Posted May 31, 2009 - 20:03 by Carrie Kirby
Once upon a time, eggs came in medium and large, white and brown, and which one you chose wasn't of much consequence. Nowadays, this cheap source of nutrients and protein comes in many designations at many price points. We take a look at which "upgrades" may be worth the eggstra money and which are unnecessarily draining your nest egg.
Posted April 23, 2009 - 15:03 by Carrie Kirby
I spent my Earth Day burning electricity -- by researching online some of the questions that have been nagging me when I try to buy earth-friendly and healthy foods. In this first installment of my look straight into the eyes of grocery questions that haunt me, I ask -- is it worth it to buy hormone-free milk? What about the waaaaay more expensive organic stuff?
Posted April 21, 2009 - 20:36 by Carrie Kirby
As the economy falters, gardening looks better than ever this spring. But as the daughter of a veteran gardener, I've seen too much heartache to believe seed companies' promises of tenfold payoffs. I predict that a lot of new gardeners who are in this to save money will give up or lose their crops before harvest time.
Posted March 11, 2009 - 19:22 by Carrie Kirby
As Main Street small businesses disappear, it's nice that we can still order from small companies online. However, spoiled consumers take heed: Not all small companies are created equal, and many are not as willing to decree the customer always right as big businesses are. One entrepreneur just responded to a complaint by calling me the B word!
Posted February 28, 2009 - 14:17 by Carrie Kirby
Even if you live the all-digital lifestyle, don't put away those scissors yet. Some Web sites are now taking manufacturers' coupons.
Posted January 25, 2009 - 08:24 by Carrie Kirby
Have you mastered using coupons on regular grocery deals, taking advantage of clearance sales and buy-1-get-1 ofers? Then it's time to try some graduate-level deals: Catalinas.
Posted December 28, 2008 - 16:49 by Carrie Kirby
The free things in life are few -- but one of them, it turns out, is yeast. It's floating all around you, and getting it out of the air and into your bread is easier than you might think.
Posted November 13, 2008 - 14:49 by Carrie Kirby
Want to turn friends on to the frugal lifestyle without scaring them away? Ease them in with my favorite books that are not in-your-face anti-spending books, yet teach a lot of great frugal tactics.
Posted October 24, 2008 - 08:17 by Carrie Kirby
For awhile I have been pondering whether Amazon's Kindle reading device can really pay for itself. But something happened today that got me off the fence: Oprah shared a coupon code that knocks $50 off the price. Consider my excitement kindled.
Posted October 18, 2008 - 19:28 by Carrie Kirby
When money is tight and you can't buy every single thing organic, how do you choose? Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group has separated the veggie nasties from the veggie OKs. I'm keeping a copy of this list in my coupon file.
Posted September 30, 2008 - 11:47 by Carrie Kirby
Wouldn't it be nice if you could get (nearly) everything shipped free from Amazon this holiday season? Without having to spend $25? You can -- with a three-month Amazon Prime Free Trial!
Posted September 24, 2008 - 12:17 by Carrie Kirby
If you're a hard-core sports fan, you're pretty much stuck paying for cable every month. For the rest of us, a raft of technological and entertainment offerings -- including digital TV converter boxes -- are making cable increasingly, delightfully unnecessary.
Posted September 17, 2008 - 19:44 by Carrie Kirby
As we watch the markets sink and gyrate, it's a scary time. There's talk of a major recession. While the downsides of a downturn are obvious and very real -- lost work, lost investments, lost homes -- there are also some very real upsides to downturns, both on the personal scale and economy-wide.
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