blogs

Having given us some good tips on dealing with the rising cost of bread, Myscha asked me to provide a bit of analysis on why bread has become so expensive. Oddly, the reasons behi

You've figured out how to have positive cash flow (aka spend less than you earn) for now; but will you have enough money for later? Funding for future requirements, such as

I don't know about you, but I hate grocery shopping. I hate it even when I get to shop at fun places, like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. It takes so much time, and I never k

I recently discovered a website that offers cash refunds on an assortment of items that I use every day. The nation&#

For more than thirty years, nonfat dry milk was a frugal staple. For things like baking and making yogurt, it was as good as fresh milk. Not many people wanted to drink the stuff

I recently found an amazing (and I don't use that word lightly) resource from Google that I think is completely under-used and seriously under-marketed. This resource is cal

Are you one of the people who responds to begging letters from national charitable organizations by occasionally sending money? I used to do that. In my case, it was mostly envir

One frugal mom recycles that Halloween loot for the Christmas stockings. Even if you don't go that far, now is the time to start thinking about stocking-stuffer sweets.

A few years back, I got a tidy little lesson in exactly what collision coverage is. We'd had a car damaged in an accident, damaged pretty badly. So, it wasn't a surprise

As a conscientious consumer, you have a right to know what you're buying, eating, or wearing. New York City is enforcing a law that requires chain restaurants to provide nutrit

I’ll admit that my family is the “cobbling” kind of people. Our depression-era farm house was slapped together in a sturdy, but irregular fashi

I have always been a fan of buying the less expensive generic version of whatever it is I am in the market for. Running shoes, clothing, electronics, pres

Sometimes wanting something and trying for it aren't enough. The honest truth is that, no matter how frugal you are, no matter how extensive your emergency fund, no matter how

Ever feel stuck? In a rut? Running in place, but not getting much exercise? There's another way to live, you know; a way that bypasses, or at least delays, the mortgage, the co

You can come out of the shadows, my fellow cheapos, skinflints and non-pathological hoarders. Thanks to the rise of eco-hip, frugal is becoming cool. Sorta.

Watch your dollars fly away, or realize how much you really DON'T need...

Of late Getting Things Done by David Allen has seemed like the book to read. I read it a year or two ago, and internalized a lot of its methodology. One thing about it, though

For years, I struggled to negotiate effectively with a business associate (I’ll call him Mr. X), despite concessions gargantuan in my estimation but miniscule and unacceptable in h

One of my best friends told me that the key to food portion sizes was this: "Eat from small plates, drink from taller glasses." And optical illusions are at the root of it.