Search Results for: blog are recession bargain hunters making it harder to be frugal

Budget Friendly Home Stores

In this economy shopping for your home should be approached with caution. It is easy to spend quite a bit when you purchase things for you home. Aside from a buy nothing policy which isn’t very practical, especially when the roof leaks or your kitchen chair breaks, what can you do? I’ve found that even in a tough economy, there are stores out there that are very budget friendly. They will help you out without breaking a budget. I’m not getting paid by any of these stores for recommending them (It would be nice if I were), so this is … Continue reading →

The LipStick Effect and Frugal Living

The lipstick effect can be a help or a hinderance to your commitment to frugal living. Find out what the lipstick effect is and how to deal with it. What is the lipstick effect? The term came about because of our most recent world war. At that time, money was very tight, and people could not spend much money on luxury items. This is similar to today’s situation and our difficult economy. Almost everyone is trying to save money and live frugally. An interesting phenomena occurs during times of economic hardship. Specifically during the war years, sales of lipsticks soared. … Continue reading →

Recession Benefitting Your Marriage: Quality Together Time

The other day I got to thinking about an article I wrote earlier this year where I wondered if recession might actually benefit our marriages. I had visions of turning the concept into a mini-series. Alas, so far I only offered suggestions on ways to recession-proof your marriage with dinner. But recently I was reminded about this forsaken series of articles I’d planned to write. Thanks to our trip to Alaska, we’ve been trying to conserve resources. Therefore, more and more I’ve been considering ways Wayne and I could spend quality time together, be active and have fun, yet not … Continue reading →

The Change in Generic Food May Help You Save

Here is one way that the downturn in the economy may be good for those of us living frugally, although some caution is still advised. Grocery stores are having to come up with new ways to be creative when selling their food, and they are quick to respond to anything that will sell product. One of the results of people tightening their belts is the fact that most shoppers, even ones with higher income, are now buying generic store brands instead of name brand. This applies to food and other household goods, such as laundry detergent. As bread prices move … Continue reading →

Recession Giving Birth to More Frugals

With all of the changes in personal economic outlook do to high gas prices, high food prices and high everything-related-to-food-or-fuel prices, the majority of consumers are changing their spending habits and becoming more frugal. According to a news report by AP news, many of those new”frugals” are planning to remain frugal, even if their financial outlook improves. The research company Nielsen Co, tracks consumer habits. It says that about 63 percent of consumers are cutting their spending. In the AP article, former spendthrifts are taking drastic measures to curb shopping, such as applying shoe glue to a peeling sneaker sole, … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Month in Review: June 2008

What a happy month is June, filled with the renewal of spring and the promise of summer. In the last month, we have shared so many ideas for frugal living and saving money. This past month has seen some pretty big increases in food, gas and other items (look for an upcoming post about strawberries increasing more than 100 percent). Now more than ever, it is important to save money where we can. This is why I decided to do a month in review. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st Garage sale shopping has got to … Continue reading →

Don’t Buy Cheap

One of the things that can be said about my household is that we try not to have anything cheap. That doesn’t mean that we spend a lot of money on stuff, it just means that we aim for good quality for things no matter what they are or how we acquired them. Something in frugal living, it is easy to go for the dollar store mentality, shopping for things that are cheap. Personally, unless there is no way around it, we would rather do without than afford something that is not up to snuff. For example, we went without … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Review: June 2nd Through June 8th

Did you have a good week? I am so grateful to be back from a very bad respiratory infection that drained out my energy. My wonderful husband got me to the doctor just in time to prevent a hospital stay, which wouldn’t have been very frugal at all. But now I can concentrate some more on learning new ways to save money, such as making my own cream soups instead of buying the ones in a can. Check out this past week’s list of articles for that story and more. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st … Continue reading →

Are Recession Bargain Hunters Making It Harder to Be Frugal?

Among all of the stories out there about the recession, there seems to be a large portion of articles about how to save money with all of the rising prices. This is understandable, of course,. People who never even thought about living frugally are now finding that they must curb their spending or at least shop smarter in order to get by. For some of these new recession bargain hunters, being frugal will be just a fad and something to be abandoned once the economy gets better. For others, it is the opportunity to learn about frugal living and then … Continue reading →