Tag Archives: spend

One Simple Way to Curb Spending

It isn’t hard to spend money, but it can be difficult to save. Here is one simple way to curb your spending and save. In fact, this method is so simple that you just might not believe me when I tell you that it works. But, it does. Don’t shop unless you know exactly what you want. If you know what will truly satisfy you, you can focus on that item and ignore all of the rest of the distraction. Did you know that most of the shopping that people do today is spur of the moment? We’ll wander into … Continue reading →

Reasons We Spend Today: Buying Power

Do I believe that it is easier to spend now than it was a few years ago? Absolutely. I’ll be going through some of the reasons for that opinion. In the previous article in this series, we talked about how the increased availability of good and services leads us to spend more today that we ever had before. If you missed that article, you can click here: Reasons We Spend Today: Availability. Now, let’s talk about another big reason that we, as consumers, tend to get in over our heads, spending more on things than we can afford. Increased buying … Continue reading →

How Much Did You Spend for Holiday Gifts?

I’m always very curious and sometimes surprised at how much Americans spend on holiday gifts. For Christmas 2005, I had a banner year, receiving my very own lap top from my sweet husband. Not only was I thrilled at the gift, but I had to smile at his frugality. The laptop was purchased from Apple reconditioned, which means he saved significant bucks. And, since I use it almost exclusively for my freelance writing, it is a big tax write off. Whoo hoo. After that splurge, we got back to basics for this past 2006 holiday season, getting things that were … Continue reading →

What Would You Buy If You Had $30 to Spend? (2)

In this blog, I continue from yesterday talking about the internal debate that occurs when a frugal person, like me, has $30 to spend free and clear. Kohls, a small department store offered me a $30 reward to spend any way I liked in the store. So the other night, while our house was being shown to potential buyers, we headed over to make a purchase. Andrew, my brilliantly frugal five-year-old son, voted for an attachment to our mixer, which I thought was pretty sensible. We headed over the the appliances, and I was secretly hoping that the waffle mixer … Continue reading →

What Would You Buy If You Had $30 to Spend? (1)

You would think that having money to spend would be a blessing, right? Of course it is, but when you are frugal-minded, you tend to over-think your purchases, at least I do. Over the holiday, we went shopping at Kohl’s, a smaller department store that is known for its good deals and prices. They were having a huge sale on December 23, so I headed there to purchase my father-in-law’s gift, one of those coffee makers with a built in grinder. It does pretty much everything for coffee, other than handing the cup to you along with your slippers. After … Continue reading →