FBN Roundup- Four Christmases Edition
Just like the move I have to attend four different Christmases. Luckily, mine are spread out over a week.
Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal has some frugal tips for college students. Good advice from a guest poster who is also a law school student.
Frugal Babe tells us about worms and ladybugs.
Frugal Zeitgeist shareshow to make your goals s.m.a.r.t. I need to make my goals smart.
Not Made of Money gives us how to control your spending during the holiday season. This is timely advice.
The Frugal Duchess hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Frugality and Relationships
A commenter yesterday asked how my girlfriend deals with my lack of spending. My reply started to become rather lengthy so I am posting on the subject as well.
My GF is relatively frugal when compared to how most people spend their money. Compared to me she is not that frugal. I realize that my level of frugality is not what most people are accustomed to. I’m not going to change my frugal ways though. At least not much. In any relationship you have to compromise some and we have both made some compromises. She has become slightly more frugal and I have loosened up on my spending a little. Money hasn’t been a problem so far because we keep our money separate. It could become an issue eventually depending on what happens with our relationship.
Since I am now living with my GF money is more of an issue than when we were just dating. I pay her an amount roughly the same as I was paying for my apartment towards our household expenses and she pays all the bills. I suppose some could question whether this is a fair arrangement since I’m paying less than half the household bills. I do pay more than what my living with my GF is costing her though. We are both happy with this arrangement and that is what counts.
I don’t think there is a standard formula for dealing with money for couples. Couples just need to discuss the subject and come up with their own solution.
FBN Roundup- Vacation Edition
I’m out of school until January. Other than some Christmas obligations I don’t have much planned for this time. I’m hoping that I will get a lot of work done on my various online projects. I haven’t gotten off to a very good start but maybe I just needed a couple of days to be lazy.
Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal tells us . Frugality comes natural to me and I’ve never smoked but this seems like an apt comparison.
Frugal Babe tells us about her financial goals for 2009. These are some lofty goals. As she says though, what is the point of setting goals that you can easily meet?
Frugal Zeitgeist welcomes us to the recession. The fact that we’re in a recession isn’t really news to anybody even though it was just recently officially declared a recession. Even though we’re in a recession things are going pretty well for me financially.
Not Made of Money shares some advice on buying gift cards. I think gift cards are great presents and you shouldn’t have any problems with them if you follow her tips.
The Frugal Duchess tells us how to cut costs and calories. Tips that provide double benefits are always appreciated.
That is it for this week. Next week I’ll let you know how my projects to make money online are going.
Is Frugality Becoming Trendy?
With the economic downturn tightening budgets I have seen several articles discussing how frugality is now becoming cool. They usually support this claim with a few anecdotes from ordinary citizens. Based on my own observations I doubt that frugality is actually becoming cool or even becoming much more socially acceptable. There are more people becoming frugal from necessity or perhaps because they are worried about the economy. They aren’t becoming frugal because they want to though, they are becoming frugal because they have to or because they feel that they need to be frugal due to the economy. Perhaps people will discover that a frugal lifestyle is a good choice regardless of whether it is necessary. My guess is that once the economy recovers the vast majority of these people will abandon their frugal ways and return to being regular consumers.
FBN Roundup-Three Thanksgivings Edition
We attended three different family Thanksgivings this week-my GF’s mother’s Thanksgiving,her father’s thanksgiving, and my mother’s Thanksgivings. That was way too many big meals for one week. It won’t be long though until I have to deal with four different Christmases.
Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal asks us “How old are you financially?”.
Frugal Babe tells us about her Thanksgiving eve dinner..
Frugal Zeitgeist shares a quick and easy way to reduce your food bill. T
Not Made of Money shares how to stop overspending at Christmas.
The Frugal Duchess gives us fixed her shoes with a Sharpie.
Sorry I am not providing more commentary on this roundup but I have some last minute cramming to do for my law school final tomorrow.
FBN Roundup- Half Marathon Edition
I ran a half marathon yesterday. My original plan was to run a full marathon in October but a lack of training made that unlikely. I scheduled the half marathon this month instead. I still didn’t do very much training but it was enough to finish although at a very slow pace. Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal gives us childproofing your house – the frugal way. I don’t think I’ll ever need to do this but these sound like some good tips.
Frugal Babe refinished a coffee table. This is an interesting coffee table. I wonder how much it cost to make it.
Frugal Zeitgeist talks about frugality and simple living. This is an explanation of what frugal means to her.
Not Made of Money shares five personal finance gifts for under $25. These gifts will continue to give.
The Frugal Duchess gives us some ways to winterize your home. She probably doesn’t need to winterize her home too much since she lives in Miami. This is solid advice though.
And from beyond the FBN I also liked Not the sort of person who… from Wisebread. This is a great examination of why people choose not to adapt certain frugal behaviors.
FBN Roundup- Turning on the Heat Edition
We’ve delayed turning off our heat for as long as possible but the weather has turned too cold for us. We ended up turning on our heat this weekend but delaying turning on the heat saved us some money.
Here are some of my favorite post from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal talked about taking care of your appliances.
Frugal Babe shares her adventures in baby food.
Frugal Zeitgeist tells us monitoring your accounts pays off.
Not Made of Money shares financial steps to take before the end of the year.
The Frugal Duchess shares how to save money on energy bills.
I Will Teach You to be Rich has a Save $1000 in 30 Days Challenge. I like the idea of this challenge although it would be hard for me to save $1000 when that is my total expense level. His hatred of frugality and frugal tips doesn’t really make any sense though. Especially since all his posts in the challenge so far are frugal tips that you see on frugality websites.
FBN Roundup- Zack and Miri Edition
I watched the movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno this morning. It was pretty funny and rather raunchy. You should expect that though from a Kevin Smith movie if you didn’t the title should clue you in. We go to the movies most Sunday mornings because they have $5 tickets then. Combining that with discounted movie passes and the theater rewards card make a good deal.
Here are some of my favorite post from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.
Almost Frugal posts how to make your own wrapping paper. This would obviously be useful to know with the holiday season approaching.
Frugal Babe posts about frugal costumes. With a little imagination there are frugal options for lots of things.
Frugal Zeitgeist asks “When is a ring more than just bling?” I don’t have any plans to buy a diamond ring. Maybe I should as my GF what her opinion is on this subject.
Not Made of Money shares some holiday shopping tips. Last year I only had to buy a present for my mom. It doesn’t look like I’ll be so lucky this year. I’d rather skip the whole holiday thing but I’ll participate some to keep others happy.
The Frugal Duchess shares eleven tools for teaching kids about money.
Also Sense to Save shares fruglier and frugliest ways to save money. Of the ways mentioned I do one frugliest and two fruglier.
Gas is Under $2 a Gallon
It was only a couple weeks ago that I posted about gas being under $3 a gallon and now it is under $2 a gallon. Most gas stations around here have it at $1.99 a gallon. Since I don’t drive much now this doesn’t make much of a difference in my finances. I thought I was going to be able to make it through this month with only one fill up. I had to make a couple of extra drives though and had to get gas Monday. Gas was just a smidgen over $2 a gallon then and it cost me under $20 to fill up my car. It has been a while since I’ve been able to do that and it is a great improvement from the over $40 it was costing me this summer. With my current driving habits the cheap gas is probably saving me $10-$20 a month. That isn’t a lot but I’m still glad I have a fuel efficient car though. These gas prices will eventually go back up.
A Somewhat Frugal Bed Purchase
We acquired a new bed over the weekend. We had been needing one for some time. Barbara Mandrell may have complained about sleeping single in a double bed but sleeping double in a double bed isn’t all that great either. There just isn’t enough room for us to both sleep comfortably in a double bed so we upgraded to a queen size bed.
We got the mattress for free from one of my GF’s coworkers. Her coworker didn’t like it because it was too firm. It is definitely firm but I can sleep fine on it and the price was right. My days of hiking and sleeping on a wooden floor with just a thin sleeping pad under me have changed my perception of how soft a sleeping surface needs to be.
Although we got the mattress for free we still needed a new frame and foundation. We were hoping that the frame we were using for the double bed might be adjustable but no such luck. We went and bought a frame fairly cheap at Sam’s Club and then bought the foundation at Big Lots. We still needed bedding since the double size sheets wouldn’t fit the queen bed. While shopping for those we found a bed frame that also doubled as a foundation. Since it was cheaper than the foundation alone we bought it and now have to return the frame and foundation we had already purchased. Kind of a hassle but worth it for the savings.
Setting up the new bed was pretty easy and didn’t take as long as I thought it might. I’ve now had two nights sleep in the new bed and I think it was worth the investment. We haven’t turned on our heat yet and being able to curl up in a warm, cozy bed is nice.
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