Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
I checked out the rates at a Best Western hotel where we’re staying tomorrow night after my husband’s employer sponsored Christmas party. The best rate I could find was $98 for the night, but I figured I’d call the 1-800 number and see if the hotel chain could offer anything better. Sure enough a three … Read more
Today after a long week of crock pot dinners, thanksgiving turkey, and a lunch full of leftovers my husband decided he wanted a night away from the kitchen. Now my husband and I rarely go out to dinner. This is partly for financial reasons, partly because I love the way a home-cooked-meal can make a … Read more
I never purchase anything online without performing the following list of activities: First, I use comparison sites like Froogle and Price Grabber to find the cheapest online prices available. I type the top names from my search results into Ebates and Giving Assistant. I’ve written about Ebates a lot in this blog, but it really … Read more
Now I will admit something a little unusual about myself. I used to be a bit of a book snob. I used to read only NEW books. There’s something about the feel of a new book. I loved knowing that I was the first to flip through the pages. That no one else had read … Read more
As I was painting the kitchen walls a few weekends ago I realized that my husband and I rarely pay people for jobs that we can otherwise do ourselves. I will admit, particularly since my medical problems occurred, that my husband tends to do the majority of the physical labor around our house. He mows … Read more
As a follow up to last week’s post, Why Am I Buying This, I have been thinking more and more about training myself to resist impulse purchases. Why Am I Buying This: Part Two focused on my weakness for purchasing deeply discounted sale items and really forced me to think about why I find myself … Read more
Lately, I have been enlightened by the Voluntary Simplicity movement. Voluntary simplicity is the act of consciously minimizing the pursuit of consumption in favor of spirituality, health, stress reduction, and conservation. In essence, after reading up on the subject, my goal is to reduce the accumulation of ‘stuff’ in my life. For the first time … Read more
The other day I found myself in Marshalls searching for new picture frames. I’ve been in Marshalls about a million times, so I know exactly where the frames are located in the store, but rather than walking directly to that aisle I decided to take a stroll around the store. This is usually what happens … Read more
Last year I contributed, $15,000, the maximum amount allowed, to my 401(k). My employer matches my contributions dollar for dollar up to 3%, so last year I should have received roughly $3,000 worth of employer contributions. Unfortunately, a rookie mistake prevented my employer from contributing the full amount. In essence, I forgot to ensure that … Read more
Lately I’ve found myself scrounging along the sales racks of stores looking for bargains. When I head to Target I look along the end of the isle for the clearance items. In the grocery store I search through the table of dented cans and in the department store I head directly to the back of … Read more