“Tightening Belts? She’s the Expert.” That’s the headline of a NY Times story on fashion innovator Diane von Furstenburg. She’s not remotely a tightwad with money. She designs tight, clingy clothes that demand tight belts. Get it? That’s recession humor for you.
Budgeting
Cook & Save Blogs Beyond $50 a Week
The hullabaloo over the Fifty Bucks a Week bloggers brought up the fact that there are many, many interesting blogs out there focused on cooking on a budget. Here’s a round-up of a few other blogs that are at least vaguely concerned with saving money, shopping smartly, and preparing great dishes at home.
Deep Impact: 10 Ways the Recession Is Hitting Home in Lots of Homes
Divorced couples are living under the same roof because it’s too expensive to really split up right now. There are either more people around the house (because they’re out of work) or fewer people around the house (because they’re working second and third jobs to pay bills and get health coverage). More people are doing their own chores …
Foreclosure Watch: At Some Point, Is It Smarter to Walk Away from Your Mortgage?
The news is making the rounds that in the first half of 2009, 1.53 million properties in the U.S. were in the foreclosure process. That’s up 15 percent companred to the previous year. The figures are certainly the result of the rise in unemployment and slow, confusing relief efforts from the government and lenders. It’s also likely that …
Small Car of Your Future? Small Home of Your Future?
One thing the recession has made clear: Living large is totally not necessary. The waste and added expenses of huge cars and enormous homes seem silly right about now. For many people, downscaling may literally mean shrinking the size of those two mainstays, cars and homes.
Eating Healthy and Fresh Foods—Without Breaking the Bank
There’s quite a food fight going on due to a post about blog experiment Fifty Bucks a Week, in which three writers discuss their struggles and adventures while limiting their weekly food expenditures to (obviously) $50. Apparently, the topic hits a nerve. Everyone would love to eat well without spending a fortune. So how do you do it?
How to Eat Well on $50 a Week: They’re Doing It. Could You?
Fifty bucks. It could get you a single steak at a fine dining establishment. Or it could feed you—and feed you pretty darn well—for an entire week. A trio of writers from around the country is proving just that with the recent launch of their experiment and blog Fifty Bucks a Week.
Forget Summer Camp. Have Play Dates and Potlucks Instead
A bunch of stay-at-home moms in the Dallas area have banded together and organized what seems like a simple, easy, and inexpensive way to enjoy the summer: Instead of sending their kids off to pricey summer camps, the moms have created something of a camp themselves. They take turns arranging themed arts and crafts days based on books or …
Don’t Make Us Kill This Baby Goat
Budget battles can make people believe like, well, animals. A zoo in the Boston area recently warned that unless the state allocated it more funding, the zoo wouldn’t be able to care for as many as 200 animals, which would have to be euthanized or disposed of in some other way.
Embracing the Simple Life, Starting With Your Clothes
In the future, as depicted in the likes of “The Jetsons” and Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” each person wears one outfit over and over again. Basically, predictors are saying that one day, fashion will be gone, and we’ll all wear uniforms. (Jerry Seinfeld had a joke along these lines, in which he can’t wait for the day when he doesn’t have to …
Baby Hand-Me-Downs Are Suddenly Trendy
Marketers may even be better than moms when it comes to using guilt—especially when they’re using guilt on soon-to-be moms. The message, sent implicitly or sometimes quite overtly, is that how and what parents purchase for the children are direct reflections on them as parents. How could you not want the very best (i.e., the most …
California Budget Solution: Tax Pot Sales
Few groups ask the government to tax them. But in light of California’s budget woes, a pro-marijuana group is advocating that the state government—that’s right, THE MAN—should take a piece of the action in pot sales.