Yesterday I observed a somewhat curious thing. My 12 year old son keeps a spending journal. What’s odd is that I also have a habit of tracking every penny I spend. I don’t recall ever discussing this practice with him. I think he came up with the idea on his own. Which makes him a little […]
Scarcity Makes You Stupid
In my “What I Read Last Month” post I mentioned the book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much and promised to write an entire post on the concept. So here I am. Scarcity Makes You Stupid, Or Why I’ll Never eBay Again Why do lonely people isolate themselves and push others away? Why […]
Motherhood, The Writing Life, and Asking For The $$$
Several seemingly unrelated (potentially, to you) thoughts here that make perfect sense in my addled mind. I just ordered The Elements of Style, which is de rigueur for any writer. Not only have I not read it (the horror!), but worse, I feel like a dunce for not knowing that the “White” of Strunk and […]
Why I Shop at ALDI
Why do I shop at ALDI? I don’t know about you, but I find that our larder goes empty a day or two earlier these days. It took me a while to figure out why this is so, when it dawned on me that everything is getting more expensive. Therefore, when I head to the […]
All The Money In The World Book: A Review
All The Money in the World. This is a review of Laura Vanderkam’s thought-provoking book about happiness and money. I recently picked up a copy of All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending, by mom, author and blogger Laura Vanderkam. (Laura happens to be one of my […]
Thrift Stores Have Ruined Me
Do you find, as I do, that after years of discovering treasures at thrift stores, you cannot bring yourself to pay retail? If so, check out the free ebook mentioned below. Driving home from our favorite thrift store, a Radiohead song came on the radio. I told my oldest son they were one of the […]
How To Host a Swap Meet
Ever wondered how to host a swap meet? It’s a great way to get new stuff and declutter your house. It promotes goodwill and neighborly relationships. A couple of weeks ago I hosted a swap meet. Having heard of the concept for years, I had always wanted to try it. Free stuff! Get rid of […]
Cheap Summer Fun for Families
After filing our taxes this year, hubby and I got an unpleasant surprise. Turns out, having a “good” year means we now owe our firstborn to Uncle Sam. Our accountant didn’t count on us having our income increase as much as it did over last year, so he didn’t think we would need to pay […]
Possum Living
As soon as I heard about it, I knew I had to read Possum Living. Unable to find it in the library system (which would have been true Possum style), I ordered the book from Amazon. The day it arrived, I devoured it in a few hours. Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a […]
Lowering Your Grocery Budget in 2024: 13 Practical Tips
Preview: If surging food costs got you down this year, here are 13 practical tips for lowering your grocery budget in 2024. I don’t have to tell you that 2023 food prices were shocking. It seems everyone was talking about it. Did you notice the staggering number of social media posts where people asked, “How […]