Frugal Babe

NtJS has tagged me to post our five biggest budget busters. We try really hard to avoid budget busters. For the most part we do a pretty good job, but there are always things that we spend money on that we hadn’t planned. So here goes…
1. Uplanned meals away from home. [...]

I just got my hair cut.  It was the first time I’d had it cut since the beginning of October, and I’m stoked with my new style.  I’ve had my hair long and a little bit layered for the last couple years, and I was getting tired of it.  I always go to Fantastic Sams [...]

After my husband’s knee surgery on Monday, the docs and physical therapists were going over all the things we need to do for the next few weeks to give him the best chance of a full recovery.  One of the things they emphasized was ice, and their recommendation was an automatic icer.  It’s basically a [...]

We did our major grocery shopping trip for the month this weekend, and have a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer now.  In addition to food, we spent $37 on two stainless steel water bottles, $25 on a fire extinguisher, and $20 on three new smoke detectors.  I had been wanting to get away from plastic [...]

Yesterday, my husband went for his consultation with the knee doctor.  He had to drive 2.5 hours to get there (the doctor is considered one of the best in the world, but the only downfall is that it’s quite a drive.  But compared with all the people who fly to see him, we’re not doing so [...]

Last night, on our way home from the gym, my husband got a hankering for Village Inn.  We haven’t been to a Village Inn in years, but as we were driving by (like we do every night), he said he felt like going in.  What the heck - we’ve been spending less than $50 a [...]

Last month, we finally applied for the Costco American Express.  We’ve been going to Costco for several years and always pay with a check, since they don’t take Visa, the credit card we use for everything else. 
We don’t tend to keep money in our checking account though, because it doesn’t earn interest.  Instead, we move [...]

I’ve mentioned before that I need to have backups of our important financial documents, and keep them in a safe.  This week, a new Staples opened near our house, and they were running an opening special that would give $30 off a $70 purchase.  So I went over there on Monday to get a safe.  [...]

Last week, our midwife told us about a movie that was going to be shown on the weekend, called “The Business of Being Born.”  It was made by Ricki Lake following the births of her two children - one in hospital with all the standard hospital rules and regulations, and the second at home with [...]

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 [...]