Frugal Babe

We were like Meals On Wheels today.  One of my friends had a baby in May, nine weeks premature.  She and her husband brought the baby home from the hospital last week, so we knew that they could use some no-fuss food (we remember our early days with our new baby!).  And my brother’s girlfriend [...]

My husband came across this idea today on a dad forum he visited - we thought it was fantastic and I wanted to pass it on.  We set up a gmail account for our son, and I just sent him an email.  I told him how much he weighs today (12 pounds!) and that he’s [...]

One of my coworkers who is also a good friend of mine had a birthday today.  I wanted to do something nice for her, but I also wanted to keep in line with my frugal self and my desire to not contribute to consumerism.  So this morning I baked these muffins for her.  The ingredients [...]

Two of my girlfriends have offered to host a baby shower for us recently, and in both cases I’ve politely but firmly declined.  My friends think I’m a little nuts, but they know me and respect my opinions and there will be no showers.  (I hosted a baby shower for one of them - at [...]

When my parents came to see us on Christmas, they brought us a crib, which is now assembled in my office, awaiting my ouster to the guest room and the arrival of our little one in the spring.  My parents paid $30 for the crib (almost everything I know about being frugal was learned from [...]

Wow, what a week this has been.  And we don’t even “do” Christmas - can’t imagine what it would be like if we did!  On Monday, I bought a shadow box picture frame (50% off) and was up until midnight making a scrapbook page to put in the frame for one of my best friends.  [...]

We have friends who live in New Zealand who are very dear to us.  I met them while I was living in Tanzania in the late 90s and they’ve remained a big part of my life ever since.  In 2005, we went to visit them after the wife was diagnosed with cancer - the only vacation [...]

It’s that time of year again.  Time to start thinking about holiday plans and gift-giving.  We tend to be very low-key for the holidays.  We spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s family most years - and will do so this year as well.  For Christmas, we’ve invited my family to our house, which will be a first for us.  There [...]

I thought of something else that I meant to include in the post I wrote about baby showers and gift registries.   Retailers would like us to believe that it takes a whole room full of stuff in order to properly take care of a baby.  Just take a trip through a Babies R Us store [...]

Yesterday, the other pregnant lady at the library asked me if we had started registering for gifts yet.  I told her that I didn’t think we were going to register at all.  I explained our plans to buy most stuff used and that we have friends and family who have finished having babies who have [...]