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Overdue Intro From A New SP Blogger

Yes, my introduction is long overdue. As one of the new Single Parenting bloggers, I’ve wanted to say hello to Jacky Gamble who’s another SP blogger, and to everyone here at Families.com, but I’ve been so intently focused on writing informative pieces that this kept slipping my mind. Here I am at last. I’ve been a single parent for about 7 years now. After my second divorce I truly felt it was better to go it alone with my five daughters. It seemed apparent that I hadn’t chosen husbands wisely, so it was high time for me to get out … Continue reading →

How to Stay Focused When Frugal

Someone who is capable of being frugal is also someone who can sometimes go crazy with all of the money saving bargains that are out there. often, we can spend time or even money chasing down ways to save money that just aren’t worth it. Here are some ways to stay focused in different areas of frugal living. Freebies Getting something for free can be wonderful, but if you spend all of your time answering surveys or filling out forms for items that you don’t really need or want, then you aren’t doing yourself any good. Focus on what it … Continue reading →

Embracing Frugality

Although we started practicing a frugal lifestyle to allow me to stay home with our first child, since then we have come a long way to embracing the lifestyle. A lot of it, I think has to do with attitude. We’ve gone from thinking, “How on earth can we figure out hoe we can afford to live?” to “I wonder what new opportunities will come our way today!” When you really embrace frugality, you don’t have time to moan about what you don’t have, because you are too busy living life and enjoying it. You’ve cut off the bad part … Continue reading →

The Frugal Fanatic Returns

It has only been a little over a month since I last posted an article here at families.com and it feels like forever. I sure have missed it and I am really happy to be back. I took a month off of article writing to work on a book that I am writing, and several other smaller projects, and I am now back in full force and happy to be here! It is amazing how fast time can fly, and how fast this whole year went by. I cannot believe it is almost Christmas, and I can tell you that … 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 →

When Saving is Not an Option

We’re told that we should be tucking away a portion of our income every month. The percentage varies from financial guru to financial guru, but they all say that we should be looking ahead and doing what we can to plan for those unexpected contingencies. If we have something in savings, we can rest more easily. I agree with that. I think saving is a fantastic idea, and I know that I’ve had more peace of mind when I’ve had a little in reserve. But there are times when there is simply no way to find money to save. As … Continue reading →

My Experience With Cloth Wipes

After deciding to use cloth diapers for various reasons, I decided we might as well use cloth wipes too. During my research on the subject I found that cloth wipes seemed superior to disposable wipes. I liked the idea of using only plain, warm water on my daughter’s behind most of the time, and using a gentle, non-irritating soap the rest of the time. In addition, the thought of the money we would save also appealed to me. In the last months of my pregnancy, when I was as big as a boat and unable to do much (I gained … Continue reading →

Don’t Let Your TTC Journey Become a Chore

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When my husband and I first started TTC (trying to conceive), my husband was thrilled about the prospect of frequent “action” and I was in love with the whole process of pinpointing my ovulation date. I was charting and researching constantly, and when I wasn’t charting, I was burning through fifty dollars worth of pregnancy tests. By the second cycle, my husband was already whining about being tired and I was getting sick of looking at the basal body temperature thermometer at 6am every morning. The third cycle, I had thrown up my hands by day 14 when we were … Continue reading →

How to Prevent Money Matters from Hurting Your Marriage

Money and financial issues are one of the leading causes of conflict leading to divorce in modern marriages. Differences of opinion on what to do with money, how to save and how to spend can make you feel as though you are constantly butting heads with your spouse. If you and your spouse agree on all money issues then congratulations. You are a rare pair. Most couples have different attitudes toward money as individuals. Even couples who are have similar values (savers, let’s say) can vary a bit within their attitudes (one likes to save a little bit more than … Continue reading →

Home Away from Home on Vacation

As you may have read from my Frugal Living Blogs, we are enjoying some vacation time at the shore. It has been a wonderful experience, and I don’t know quite how we will get back to the regular an normal routine once we return home. Being on vacation should be a different experience than being at home. You don’t want to take all of the normal home issues with you, but instead you want to take the time to relax and have fun. Still, it is important to maintain a sense of “home,” even while you are away. This will … Continue reading →