Search Results for: blog frugal temptations

How Small Temptations Can Ruin Your Budget

Sometimes it’s not the big expenses that shatter your resolve to save money, it is the small temptations that will get you. It is those small temptations that I, personally, most have to guard against. For example, although my husband and I often like to stop at the Apple store and look at the iPads whenever a new one is released, we aren’t in danger of purchasing one any time soon. It just doesn’t make that much sense to spend that much money when our emergency fund isn’t, well, as fully funded as we would like and we still owe … Continue reading →

The Temptations of the Gift Shop

Yesterday, the extended family went out to a lavish theater production. The sets were amazing, complete with a huge animatronic whale, a “zillion” stars in the theater ceiling and plenty of live animals. Of course, there was the inevitable souvenir shops built into the theater lobby. This place was better than most. There were a few nice quality selections in different price ranges, and nothing was really overpriced. Still, we knew that our budget didn’t account for any additional spending at the gift shop. Sometimes those gift shops can be a real temptation. They are filled with colorful objects that … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Week in Review: January 28th Through February 3rd

Did you keep warm this week? Yesterday was such a nice day that we took advantage of it an went out for a long outdoor outing before the Super Bowl. We got a lot of fresh air and exercise all for free! This past week, we shared some ideas for keeping warm with a low thermostat, temptations, library and laundry tricks and some ideas for Valentines Day. Here are all of the articles, in case you missed any. Thanks for reading. January 28th Frugal Week in Review: January 21st Through January 27th With talk of a recession, many more people … Continue reading →

Frugal Temptations Too

I’ve been recently talking about the frugal temptations that we faced on last week’s visit to the grocery store. Shopping at the grocery store is always an adventure, especially when we do it all together, me, my husband and our three young children. My eldest, who is six, is starting to get the lessons of living frugally, and he had to face his own temptation in the form of a “cool” new shake and pour pancake mix. You can read all about that temptation and how he handled it by clicking here: Frugal Temptations. As I mentioned at the end … Continue reading →

Frugal Week in Review: January 21st Through January 27th

With talk of a recession, many more people are examining the frugal lifestyle. It just makes sense. For those of us to whom living frugally is just part of our lives, batting down the hatches and finding ways to save even more is a good thing. This past week, we have had some interesting articles, such as ones examining wringer washers and crockpots. Don’t miss them! January 21st Habitat for Humanity HomeStore If you are looking for a frugal and feel-good way to update, renovate or redesign your home, check out this great resource! Frugal Living Week in Review: January … Continue reading →

Frugal Temptations

Today at the grocery store I was tempted twice. Not by the fancy gourmet coffee or the expensive take-home meal section. I think I have already pre-programed myself to automatically pass those things by. I have my “impossible blinders” on. This is such as “buying something like that is simply impossible for me to do.” Since I know those types of purchases aren’t possible, they don’t tempt me in the least. A good example is what happened today with my six-year-old. With coupons in hand, I scanned the sales for pancake mix. Sometimes the mix is cheaper that putting it … Continue reading →

Solutions for A Frugal Weekend

I tried to have a frugal weekend, did you? Did you spend or save this weekend? Share your experiences at the end of this post! As usual, we tried to be very frugal this past weekend. Weekends are usually the tough days for frugality for my family. We are out running around doing errands, and the temptation to spend money can lead to some very non frugal choices. In fact, it is pretty easy to spend, spend, spend. But here are some of the spending opportunities that we experience along with out solutions. Some of the temptations on the weekend … Continue reading →

Trick Yourself into Saving

“Trick Yourself into Saving.” That was the title of a recent magazine article that appeared in one of those popular magazines that are geared toward women. The subhead promised to show readers how they could use mind games against themselves to make saving money painless and fun. Seriously? I’m all for tips about saving money, but I really think that trying to fool yourself into doing it isn’t the way to go. You want to establish good lifelong money habits, not quick tricky fixes that will save you money in spite of yourself. Badly played national magazine for women; badly … Continue reading →

Fun Financial Education for Kids

Allowance is a hot topic in my daughter’s second grade class. Last week, her school hosted a gigantic book fair and kids were given the opportunity to shop during recess. Of course, that meant administrators had to modify their “no money on school property” rule. For the fair’s three-day run, students were allowed to bring up to $40 in cash and keep it in their backpacks until it was time to shop. Naturally, my daughter begged to bring 40 bucks to school. “Do you have 40 dollars?” I asked. “No, but you can give me it,” she responded without hesitation. … Continue reading →

Getting Out of Debt: Living Like No One Else

One of the things that we heard over and over again taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom course was that we needed to “Live like no one else so we could live like no one else.” In fact, I think this was the slogan for the course. What this means is that we have to be prepared to not only live frugally, but to make sacrifices in many areas and manage our money well, things that most of us, as Americans don’t tend to do. By sacrificing now, we could then live without debt later and be in a position … Continue reading →