Frugal Babe

Well, we just finished our first month of tracking expenses.  We’re not going to be spending money for the rest of the day, so I decided to post the results for this month.  It’s interesting to note that we’re on track to have one of the lowest credit card bills we’ve had in the last [...]

We watched the first half of Blood Diamond last night, planning to finish it tonight.  It’s horrifying to watch a movie like that, because even though you tell yourself that the people getting shot and hacked to pieces are just actors, you know it’s based on real life.  I was living in Africa in 1999, [...]

I need a drumroll here…. I just mailed the very last check for our Discover Bill.  $491 - the last of the debt we incurred to get our business going a few years ago.  Happy days! We still owe some money to a doctor, but I don’t really consider that a debt, since we have [...]

Our car expenses are nuts this month - it looks as if we have a car payment when I look at Microsoft Money!  We paid our car insurance for the rest of the year this month, and we had to pay our annual registration fee for both cars this month.  Both of them needed emissions [...]

We watched Maxed Out last weekend.  They did a good job of portraying the credit card companies as money-hungry and predatory, which theyare.  The movie tended to show the consumers as victims of the credit industry, with stories of ailing,uneducated, down-on-their-luck people who have been snagged in the web that the credit industry spins.  I did [...]

Earlier this summer, my husband had a dermatology procedure done in a local office.  We had picked that office because they offered the best price - we knew nothing about them beforehand. 
Over the last few months, we’ve gone back and forth with them about the bill.  Basically, they quoted about $300 plus pathology over the [...]

We spent a crapload of money this past weekend.  I didn’t like having to put everything into Microsoft Money to track our expenses, but then again, it’s not like we were out buying shoes and purses. 
On Friday night, we went to a play with my brother and his girlfriend and her mother.  My brother’s gf [...]

Last week, I was pondering the ins and outs of a new position at the librarywhere I work.  I went to work on Thursday after deciding that I would go ahead and apply for the job.  But then we had a bit of a human resources earthquake that day, and I’ve changed my mind.  Here’s [...]

I have a dilema.  The library where I work 32 hrs/week has just opened a job at another desk.  It’s one of the only non-circulation positions that does not require an MLS, so I am eligible with my bachelor’s degree.  The pay is between $15 and $22/hr, depending on the experience the candidate has.  I [...]

Last Sunday, I had to work a 4 hour shift at the library, but I was off by 5pm.  I rode my bike the one mile to our house, and was loving what a beautiful afternoon it was.  We ate dinner on our front porch, and then decided to go for a bike ride together.
Normally, [...]