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Frugal things you do that costs more

So many times as frugal people, we get these great ideas, that in the end can be more costly. We really need to think through our ideas and other suggestions we hear before trying them. Overpacking one suitcase, hoping to save money: On one trip to California, I decided to carry one suitcase at all costs. I didn’t want to pay the cost for an extra suitcase. Knowing I would need to carry two suitcases home, I put one suitcase inside of another, and packed the inside suitcase. At the ticket counter, however, it was clear that my bag was … Continue reading →

Toilet Frugality

From the extreme to the sublime, frugal living can take on all sorts of levels. It is important and fun to try new ways to save. Some you will like and continue to use, others you wouldn’t even think of doing. The following ideas offer a range of different methods, and yes, they all have to do with the bathroom. I am sometimes asked the question, “Which saves more money, taking a shower or taking a bath?” The answer here isn’t as simple as you might think. For most people, if you take a short shower using a low-flow shower … Continue reading →

How to Hold an Extreme Garage Sale

Desperate times can call for desperate measures. If you find yourself in a critical financial situation, it might be helpful to hold the mother of all yard sales. This can often raise a good chunk of money and help you get back on your feet. A friend of mine was recently confronted with a short term layoff that left him behind on his mortgage payment by two months. With no other way to raise enough money, he decided to take a look at his assets and see off whatever he could to raise the money he needed. In this case, … Continue reading →

More Extreme Frugality

When does frugal get too extreme or cross over to being cheap? My definition is that if a frugal practice actually creates real hardship for a family or unfairly takes advantage of someone else, then it isn’t frugal in the true sense of the word. The following are some recent stories about frugal practices that I have heard about. Read them through and make a decision about them. Would you do (or have you done) any of these? Are they smartly frugal or just plain cheap? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Writing on post it notes in pencil, … Continue reading →

Frugal Valentines Blogs

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope your day is filled with lots of good things. Here we are battling lots of snow. Yesterday, I paid a group of kids $15 to shovel the walk, and it was not very frugal. They did a very poor job. So, I was very resigned to having to shovel the rest of the snow today. Wow, as I was writing this, my very great neighbor knocked on the door. He offered to move my car so he could use his snow blower on the street. He already did our walk and the sidewalks on the … Continue reading →

More Halloween Costumes for the Truly Frugal Mom

Since frugality seems to be the way we live, there is no reason why it doesn’t play an important part at holiday time. Halloween is no exception and I still have loads of great ideas for handmade Halloween costumes. Today’s articles require sweat suits in various colors to complete the costume. Sweat suits are extremely inexpensive at discount clothing chains and come in a wide variety of colors making it easy to create these costumes. For a Skunk You will need a black sweat suit. Create a white stripe out of felt, or purchase some of that specialty fuzzy fabric … Continue reading →

Frugal Is as Frugal Does

Life may be a like a box of chocolates, but for the really frugal minded, those chocolates were half price and purchased with a coupon. Pick a random group of 25 people and ask them what it means to be frugal and how they make choices to be good stewards of their money. Chances are that you will get a lot of different answers all across the board concerning frugality and saving money. It tends to mean different things to different people. I recently read an article in a national women’s magazine about a family that decided to be frugal, … Continue reading →

Being Frugal Is Genetically Influenced

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Do you come from a long line of “cheapskates”? Some people have a tendency be frugal, while other people tend to enjoy spending a lot of money. Why is this? Is frugality something that a person learns from their relatives, or is there a genetic influence? Studies show that it is due to both, with an emphasis on genetics. Many of my relatives are quite frugal. Not only is outgrown clothing handed down from one sibling to another, it was also handed down from older cousins to younger cousins. My grandmother loved going to garage sales and yard sales and … Continue reading →

Frugal is: Living in Your Van to Save College Costs

I hear about people living in their vehicles all the time, generally because they are down on their luck. Even famous people have been known to live in their cars during hard time,like Jewel and Tyler Perry, for example. Just two years ago Ken Ilgunas was called a crybaby for an article he wrote in the Buffalo News Opinion Column as he complained about being a college graduate and living at home. Here is an excerpt of the column he wrote: “Desperate times called for desperate measures, and I had no intention of living in a society that was as … Continue reading →

Are You Suffering from Frugal Fatigue

For myself, and I date say my fellow families.com frugal bloggers, frugality is a way of life. For most American’s however, frugality is a reaction to personal purse strings. The nation as a whole has been cutting back for the past one to two years, and many of them are sick and tired of it. Being frugal is more of a burden than a rewarding endeavor, and they can’t wait until they can get back to their old spend-spend-spending ways. The reason people are becoming tired of being frugal is that they have cut back to an extreme level and … Continue reading →