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A different type of frugal blogger

What do you get when a spendthrift marries a frugal person? You get a frustrated frugal person. Being married to a man who loves to buy cool stuff, my in goal in life is either to talk him out of purchases, or to beat him to the punch. In other words, I find good deals on things he wants before he pays full price for them. With that said, I am new to the frugal blog, but not to families.com. I have been on the site for a couple of years now as the Homeschooling blogger. I now have the … Continue reading →

75 Things You Can Do to Save Money (2)

We are counting out 75 different things that you can do to be frugal and save money. Which ones are your favorites? If you missed the first part of this topic, click here: 75 Things You Can Do to Save Money. 42. Carpool. 43. Telecommute if you can or find a way to work from home. 44. Practice gas saving driving, such as keeping a steady pace under 55 mph. 45. Get rid of your gym membership and exercise outside or in your home. 46. Pay bills online. 47. Rent equipment with your neighbors and split the cost, such as … Continue reading →

What to Do with Bread Tabs

A little bit ago, I shared some ideas for reusing odd things around the house that were featured in the Tightwad Gazette. One of those items was the humble little bread tag. You know what I mean? A bread tab is the rectangular piece of plastic that is used to secure commercial loaves of bread in their plastic bags. Bread tabs are plentiful and, of course, they are free with your bread purchase. We already know of two uses for the bread tab. The first is as a stitch counter when knitting or crocheting. The tab has that convenient little … Continue reading →

What to Do with a Dead Umbrella

A dead umbrella has no use, right? Of course you know that I am going to say that of course a dead umbrella has a reuse. You know this blog by now, and reusing items that might otherwise wind up in the landfill is a great frugal thing. Our umbrellas seem to be drying left and right on us. We have a virtual umbrella graveyard. Perhaps it is the blustery wind of spring. Perhaps it is the fact that all of our umbrellas are about the same age and have just reached the end of their natural life spans, Or … Continue reading →

Tightwad Gazette: “What to Do with…”

After dinner, I decided to browse through my copy of the Tightwad Gazette II, the real handbook for frugal living. In one section, there was a round up of reuse ideas. Many of the materials used in these ideas are quite unusual. So, I thought I would share some of those ideas with you, and add a few comments of my own. Burned Cookies The Tightwad Gazette recommends that you shave off the bottoms of the cookies with a coarse kitchen grater. They don’t mention anything about using the resulting crumbs, though. In our family, a cookie doesn’t ever get … Continue reading →

“Budget Weddings” from the Tightwad Gazette

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The book The Tightwad Gazette, by Amy Dacyzyn, explains some helpful tips to cutting costs for a wedding. And hey, what a concept! Get married without spending a fortune and getting into big debt! It really can be done….Here are some of my favorite tips: * In good weather, have a wedding reception outside at someone’s home. Having a wedding reception outside also encourages some thrifty alternatives such as paper plates and plastic ware. * Check classified ads for women selling their wedding dresses, which have only been worn once (or perhaps not at all.) Bridal shops also will sell … Continue reading →

Great Clothing Tips from The Tightwad Gazette

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Here are some smart ways to save money on clothing or fabric, written by readers to The Tightwad Gazette: * I always buy my children’s clothes at the end of the season for the next year. I buy one size larger than they are now. Around Labor Day there are still some summer items not sold. Last year I bought $10 pajamas for $1 and $2. And $5 and $6 tops for 75 cents to $1. Later in the fall there are still odds and ends left and I got several shirts for 50 cents. I store clothes for next … Continue reading →

“Tightwad Valentines”

These ideas for cheap (and thoughtful) homemade valentines come from Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette. If you still are trying to think of something thoughtful for your special someone, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Just be creative! See if one of these ideas will inspire you:  If there is snow in your area, stomp out a special valentine in the yard.  Pick a bouquet of wild flowers or blossoms and put in a vase for your Valentine’s Day dinner. Where I live, trees are blooming and a few blossoming sticks in a vase … Continue reading →

Are Extreme Cheapskates Dangerous?

The thought of spending precious hours going into restaurants with the sole intention of trying to sneakily place my hands between the cushions of a booth to fish out change and then repeat it, booth by booth and restaurant by restaurant, is almost enough to make me want to go out spend money to prove that I have nothing to do with this new face of frugality. If that wasn’t enough to do it, asking other diners for their leftovers is. There are some things that I can applaud on the Show Extreme Cheapskates, such as biking instead of using … Continue reading →

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget

When it comes to frugal living, fresh inspiration is often hard to find. Oh sure, we do what we can, from attempting a budget to washing out baggies in order to save money. Often, the problem, though, is that we aren’t armed with a solid start to finish plan. Crystal Paine’s book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget gives you that plan, and explains the importance behind each step. I haven’t seen anything this good since Amy Dacyczyn’s The Tightwad Gazette, a book on frugal living that has now pretty much obtained cult status. Paine’s book, however, is updated with more … Continue reading →