Tag Archives: save money

Avoid the Shopping Bug

Just like a regular virus, the shopping bug can make you ill, or in this case your finances ill. The shopping bug can be caught, and you can suffer it long term. Here are some suggestions on how to avoid catching this bug in the first place. Inoculate Yourself Having a new attitude toward stuff can really help inoculate yourself against the shopping bug. Shopping is often seen as a firm of entertainment, but at the end of the day, purchases are all just stuff. And we often have too much stuff. Why not concentrate on a few things that … Continue reading →

Get It Free When You Barter

Bartering is a wonderful method that can really save you money and allow you to afford goods and services that might otherwise not be available to you. When you barter, you can help your family and help someone else at the same time. Here is some things you should know that will help get you started. First, look around at what you might need in a new light. Instead of figuring out how to save up for it or do it yourself, think about how you can barter or trade for it. Do you need job coaching advice, babysitting, your … Continue reading →

The Value of a Dollar Can Make a Difference!

Everyone has a comment about the value of a dollar. Either it has gone down, isn’t appreciated (especially by kids) or means nothing these days. At least, that is what I keep hearing all around me. But the value of a dollar can be quite high, if you apply it the right way. Here are some things that you can get for $1. A child’s lined winter coat (at the Goodwill Outlet). Two apple pie deserts at a fast food restaurant A bag of beans that mixed with ketchup and seasonings can make an entire meal that feeds eight people. … Continue reading →

Embracing Frugality

Although we started practicing a frugal lifestyle to allow me to stay home with our first child, since then we have come a long way to embracing the lifestyle. A lot of it, I think has to do with attitude. We’ve gone from thinking, “How on earth can we figure out hoe we can afford to live?” to “I wonder what new opportunities will come our way today!” When you really embrace frugality, you don’t have time to moan about what you don’t have, because you are too busy living life and enjoying it. You’ve cut off the bad part … Continue reading →

Lowering Your Frugal Setpoint

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to help out at a children’s outgrown sale. It was so much fun interacting with the staff and with the shoppers, plus during slow times or when we were fixing up the racks, the people working the sale were able to take a closer look at some of the items themselves. One thing that emerged for me was the fact that everyone there, staff and shoppers included had their own frugal setpoint. A setpoint is the point or highest price that you are willing to pay for something. This can vary by the … Continue reading →

Three Ways Your Garage Can Save You Money

That little oft-neglected space in your home, the garage, can save you money if you let it work for you. Here are just three of the ways that your garage can save, or even make you money. House Your Car Use your garage to actually house your car. This is such a foreign concept to most of us. We usually use our garages for storage and not for out actual cars. This is pretty backwards thinking. By using our garages to shelter too much stuff, we are not protecting our cars, which are generally bigger investments. We learned this the … Continue reading →

Cloth Diapering Tips

Cloth diapers can save quite a lot of money when you use them instead of disposable diapers. But sometimes they can actually cost more. This occurs when people purchase extra equipment or accessories to go with the cloth diapers, use cleaning practices that cost more money, or when they give up on cloth diapering because of the inconvenience. So, I thought I would include some money saving tips about using cloth diapers. The way to get the poop out of a diaper is to rinse it in the toilet. Some people simply grab and end of the diaper and swoosh … Continue reading →

My New Outlet Shopping Tip

Friday my husband had the day off for the holiday, so we took a short trip over to Lancaster County, and among other things, visited the Rockvale Outlets. These outlets have some great family-friendly brand names, such as Disney, Carter and Stride-Rite, as well as fashion-friendly stores for the adults. We only had time to hit a few of the stores, but I learned a couple of new things about outlet shopping for this trip. Here is my best new tip. Think outside the store The first store I wanted to visit was the VF outlet. Healthtex, Vanity Fair and … Continue reading →

Qualities that Will Get You More Money

If you can foster the following qualities in yourself, then you will wind up with more savings and a better budget. Here are some things that every frugal living person should have. Patience The old saying may be that “time is money,” but we can turn this around to mean that being patient with time is more money. How? Well anytime that you can be patient with a purchase you will generally save money, whether it is waiting a year for the price of that new gadget to go down, shopping around for a new mortgage or saving up for … Continue reading →

Frugal Designer Touches for Your Home

I am so ready to toss off winter’s doldrums and brighten up the house. The problem with new decor, however, can be the cost. From designer fabrics to new accessories, even a little brightening can make an impact on the budget. Ah ha! frugal living to the rescue. I know that you have probably heard my mantra before: paint, paint, paint! It is a relatively inexpensive way to go, especially if you can get the paint for free. And although I think it is important to mention, let’s move on to accessories. Shop the discount bins and the fabric store … Continue reading →