1) I found two limp zucchini in my fridge but instead of tossing them, I pulverized them in the food processor and made (sugarless) chocolate cake with (sugarless) whipping cream frosting . I may or may not have eaten it all by myself over the next few days. For breakfast. And at 3 a.m. when […]
Five Frugal Things
I typically buy Starbucks coffee at around $7 for a 12 ounce package, but recently I’ve been working on lowering my grocery spending. I decided to buy ALDI’s Fair Trade certified coffee at half that price. I like it! I buy 2 packages of coffee each week, so that’s an easy way to save $28 […]
Use it or lose it: homeschool math and summer learning
Our neighborhood pool opened today, meaning that summer has officially begun in our home school. Our plan in recent years has been to do a very relaxed, modified schedule during summer. In particular, math is a subject that I insist continues throughout summer, for two reasons. 1: math is a part of life, adults do […]
Frugal Summer Fun (with kids!)
Why (frugal) fun with the kids this summer? My family is working on a goal: we’re saving up a down payment for a home. So I’ve been flexing my old frugal muscles and trying to minimize expenses everywhere. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t plan on having fun this summer. Summers are made for […]
Five Frugal Things
Joining up with frugal and fabulous bloggers The Frugal Girl and The Non-Consumer Advocate to share Five Frugal Things I’ve done recently. 1) Instead of buying a new math book for my 13-year-old daughter for next year’s homeschool, I got one FREE from PaperBackSwap.com. It even has the answer key, which I was preparing to […]
Scam week at the Willard house
It’s an odd coincidence that after my last post about finances, the scammers decided to target our family. My husband called in the middle of a work day and asked me about a few unusual charges on his bank account. When I confirmed that I had not spent money at those businesses, he called the […]
shame of the middle class (and why teach kids about money)
By now you may have read either the original Atlantic article on The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans, or read a response to it. The article was fascinating to me, and so were the comments. It seems that most people fall squarely into two types: they lambasted the author for his stupid financial choices (he […]
Recent reads
Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Quick Lit – quick reviews of books recently read. All You Need to be Impossibly French by Helena Frith Powell – a fun, easy read on one of my pet topics: la femme francaise. Nobody’s Child by Christina Noble – I became interested in Noble after watching the movie […]
Kids don’t need toys, reason #578
At least once a week, my husband and I will look at one another after watching a child play with a cardboard box, and say: “Kids don’t need toys.” There are many, many other occasions that elicit this observation. Recently, I bagged up all of the toys of one of my children after a particularly […]
Maintenance. Now.
A lot of things are falling apart in my home, all at once, it seems. I doubt the appliances conspire against us to fail in precisely the same month (although perhaps they do, having been influenced by the washing machine that eats one sock from each pair, something that’s mathematically illogical but nevertheless happens.) I […]