Search Results for: blog you know youre really frugal when

Do You Miss That Extra Paycheck Since Splitting Up?

If you miss having a second income since your divorce or feel you may have permanently messed up your children with the breakup, read on and see why this was truly the best decision you could have made. The truth is that many single parents live on one paycheck, myself included, but it’s not easy to leave financial security behind and venture off on your own. As a life and relationship coach, I’ve helped thousands of women over the years to get out of unhealthy relationships, raise their confidence, and find more fulfilling lives and loves. When a woman is … Continue reading →

Yes or No? Answer These Frugal Questions

When it comes to frugal living, there is sometimes a fine line between being smart about saving and being a miser. Here are some practices that many frugal people use. Are they common sense or going to far. See what your responses might be, yes or no, to each of these questions. You go out to dinner and want to keep your bill as low as possible. Would you do any of the following: You order a free water with lemon. You then squeeze the lemon and add some sugar or sweetener to make your own lemonade. You order a … Continue reading →

Don’t Become Frugal Obsessed

When it comes to frugal living, some of us have a dirty little secret. Or perhaps it isn’t as secret as we might think. Sometimes people can become so obsessed by living a frugal life style that it completely takes over everything that we do. Sometimes we wind up missing out on life’s wonder because we are too stressed out about saving each little penny. Being good stewards of our money is one thing, but we also have to keep things in perspective. Frugal living, challenging ourselves to get great bargains and save as much money as we can, can … Continue reading →

Know Who Has the Buying Power

Have you ever found yourself making a long, elaborate sales pitch to one person—only to find out after the fact that you have been paying attention to someone who does not control the purse strings? Whether it is the spouse who actually has the buying power or the boss or someone in a completely different department—you have just wasted all that time and energy making a good pitch to the wrong person. Of course, you can chalk it up to experience and practice but it is a good idea to know who has the buying power so that you can … Continue reading →

The Frugal Gross Factor 2

We are talking about the different standards of squeamishness that people have when practicing a frugal lifestyle. I’m curious to know where you stand in these areas. In the last article, we covered everything about food. Click here to read: The Frugal Gross Factor. Now, we’ll go on to clothing and food. Clothing We have no problem with used clothing. I frequently shop at the thrift stores and garage sales and gladly take hand me downs for my family. I confess that unless the clothing comes from a trusted friend or relative, I wash it thoroughly, no matter how clean … Continue reading →

The Frugal Gross Factor

We went shopping at the Goodwill yesterday, and it got me thinking once again about the different standards that people have when it comes to living frugally. Some people won’t shop at a thrift store, for example, because the stuff is used and that is “gross.” But, these same people will gladly shop at a garage sale, where the stuff is also used. Some of these standards, such as the one above, don’t make sense to me. While some practices that others find routine tend to “gross” me to no end. So, I was wondering, where do you fall when … Continue reading →

Friday Funny: You Know You’re a Technology Hound When…

Are you labeled by your friends and family as a technology hound? Do you think of yourself as a techie, computer guru, or just someone who just likes having the latest gadget? Read through the following to see if any of it applies to you. You know you’re a technology hound when… Your car cost $500 and your computer system cost $3,000 You watch the end credits of a movie and can name off the type face used You check your email more than once an hour You have a profile set up on five different social network websites You … Continue reading →

Meet a Families.com Blogger – Mary Ann Romans!

We are pleased to have freelance writer Mary Ann Romans with us here today. She is the third blogger to join us in our look at the writers that make up the Families.com family. Mary Ann, thanks for joining us! How long have you blogged for Families.com? My first blog on Families.com was in December of 2006. At the moment, I have more than 1260 individual blog posts. How cool is that! What topics do you blog about? I cover Frugal Living, which is so much fun because finding new ways to save money really exercises the brain cells. It … Continue reading →

Save Money When You Iron

Does anyone out there love to iron? For me it is a mixed bag. When I take a look at the mountain of shirts, pants, dresses and more that need to be ironed, I get discouraged. But I enjoy ironing, too. Why do I like ironing? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First of all, it is very task oriented. By that I mean that there is a real sense of accomplishment when you see the pile disappear, replaced by nice-looking clothes hanging in the closet. You can say, “Wow, look at all that I got done.” Another reason … Continue reading →

What Will Those Designer Jeans Actually Cost You?

I had a college friend who had an annoying little habit. Whenever it was time to pay the rent, buy groceries, or split the utility bills she would say something like, “well, there goes seven hours worth of tips” (she was a waitress). When we went shopping and she was debating on whether or not to purchase a pair of designer jeans or ones from a discount store like Wal-Mart she would ask us, “do you think they are worth five hours of housekeeping”? (She cleaned hotel rooms too). It was annoying because she was constantly calculating every purchase with … Continue reading →