Week 2 Review for No Spend November. Here’s what’s gone well, what’s been hard, and what food I’ve been making with food from my freezer, pantry and garden.
Frugality and Finance
No Spend November: Week 1 Results
Week 1 Review for No Spend November. Here’s what’s gone well, what’s been hard, and what food I’ve been making with food from my freezer, pantry and garden.
No Spend November: A Money Savings Challenge
November is a fantastic month to save gobs of money, break bad spending habits and get off the hedonic treadmill. Join me this month for No Spend November and see how much you can save and make due with what you already have.
The Money Drip Savings Heirarchy
I know this isn’t a financial blog, and this post won’t appeal to all readers, but a big part of running any home – productive or not – is money stuff. So, I wanted to share how Homebrew Husband and I have, over the years, honed a kind of financial hierarchy for our savings goals. We…
Income Resilience (Surviving A 20% Paycut)
Early last week, late in the afternoon just before I, with my farmer’s hours schedule, was ready to sign off from my day job for Anonymous Giant Corporation, I received an email from my boss. It had all the hallmarks of something sent in haste, in response to someone else’s urgent email, also sent in…
Dos and Don’ts for Cheapskates
I recently heard about a show called Extreme Cheapskates that sounded like it might be full of interesting money saving tips. I watched a few episodes on Netflix while I was washing dishes. Man, some of the folks profiled on that show aren’t just frugal – they’re nuts! They are stealing from restaurants, embarrassing people,…
Eat From The Larder Challenge
In February I wrote a post called Food Storage For People Who Don’t Hate Food. Most of the feedback I got on that post was very positive, but a few readers seemed skeptical of my claims that eating from the pantry for six months was reasonable, even if one had the food stored. This floored me…
Three Steps To Reduce Your Consumption
I’m not here to shit on anyone’s Target habit, but I imagine most of my readers agree with me that lowing our overall consumption is a good idea. Consuming less lowers our environmental impact. Less consumption usually means less spending, and most folks like having more money or less debt. At a personal level, many…
Thrift Shop – An Anthem for New Frugality?
Homebrew Husband came home after his commute the other day and told me that local Seattle rapper and my fake internet boyfriend, Macklemore, is overwhelming the Seattle radio scene with his hilarious ode to frugality, Thrift Shop. Thrift Shop has been making rounds through the money-saver forums for months and months, so I’ve been loving…
No Spend Month: Final Numbers and Reader Feedback
It’s time to come clean. It’s the big finale, the big reveal – did we make our No Spend budget or blow it? Did you make your budget? I’m happy to say that we did stay within $250, and we saved up a ton of money this month. In addition to the casual dollars we…
6 Simple Steps To A Life-Changing Financial Goal
Today is the last day of No Spend Month October and I am happy to be able to open up the wallet a little more tomorrow. My son needs bigger pajamas, both cars need gas and I would really like to start implementing our plan to phase our light bulbs to LEDs. In a more…
Mini-Money Challenge: What's Important To You, Really?
Throughout this No Spend Month I’ve talked (and talked…and talked) about financial values. Well, now I have a confession to make. There really aren’t any financial values. There are just your values. Financial management and financial goals are big tools to help you live in accordance with your values, but they are not the same as values. If…