our frugal stories

Never Shop Online Without Looking For Coupons

September 30, 2010

It’s rare for me to shop online (or anywhere else for that matter – I am not a shopper!) but it does happen.  And I’ve learned that it’s always worth the extra 30 seconds or so to search for a coupon before I click on the buy button.  Last week, I had to order checks. [...]

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We’re All Responsible For The Oil Spill

June 26, 2010

I subscribe by email to my favorite blogs, and this morning, right beside each other in my inbox, were articles from two of my favorite bloggers, Everett Bogue and Tammy Strobel, both writing about essentially the same thing: we all have a moral obligation to drive less.  Both articles are excellent, and well worth reading. [...]

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Frugal Choices For Your Eyes

October 28, 2008

I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and she mentioned that she was worried about possibly losing her job, as there has been talk about her office closing.  She and her husband have always made more money that we do.  They live in a $600,000 house, and drive a new Prius and [...]

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Trading Baby Clothes For Food

June 10, 2008

Last week we got a box of baby stuff from a friend who lives in another state.  She loves to shop, and had bought us several baby boy things from Target.  Mostly clothes, which we have oodles of already.  We’ve gotten more hand-me-downs than our baby will ever need.  He’s going to outgrow some of [...]

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A Budget Knee Surgery Week

January 30, 2008

My husband had his knee surgery on Monday, and it went far better than we had hoped.  They didn’t have to do as much to his knee as we had thought they would, and it’s looking like the recovery process is going to be a lot faster and easier too.  The surgeon is considered one [...]

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A Super-Frugal Scrapbook Nook

November 18, 2007

Ever since we remodeled our living room and added an extra office in January, I’ve been lucky enough to have an office/craft room to myself.  But once the baby is born, my office will become a nursery.  So I’ll be back to sharing my office with our guest room, which I’ve done before, so no big [...]

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Keeping My Car Happy

May 20, 2007

My trusty Honda Civic has 211,000 miles on it, and I decided it was time she got a tune up.  My dad loves to work on cars, and I was asking him questions about it when he offered to help me with the project.  Sweet!  Last weekend, I went to my parents’ house (they live [...]

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Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

May 18, 2007

Today a lady came into the library wearing a huge diamond on her finger.  The engagement/wedding band set took up all the room from her palm to her first knuckle – I am not kidding.  The wedding band was covered with diamonds, and the rock on the engagement ring was probably 4 or 5 cts.  [...]

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The Cheapest Health Care Ever

May 14, 2007

Yesterday I came home from the library to find my husband lying on the living room floor with his leg up on the ottoman and an icepack on his knee.  He had been unicycling in a rocky drainage area near our house (a favorite pastime for him), when he fell just the wrong way and [...]

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Our Xeriscaping Project

May 6, 2007

We spent all day yesterday working in our front yard.  We used to have mostly grass with a small perennial garden.  Now it’s the other way around.  We have a little peninsula of grass wrapping around from the side yard – the rest is mulch and hardy perennial bushes and plants.  We spent a couple [...]

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