Even a cheapskate has to spend money sometimes. I’ve asked various frugal folks—bloggers, writers, money-saving and consumer experts—to compile personal, totally subjective lists of the products, services, experiences, and other “things” they’re willing to shell out good money on. Because if a cheapskate is willing to drop cash on …
families & children
What Will a Cheapskate Spend Good Money On? Part IV
Even a cheapskate has to spend money sometimes. I’ve asked various frugal folks—bloggers, writers, money-saving and consumer experts—to compile personal, totally subjective lists of the products, services, experiences, and other “things” they’re willing to shell out good money on. Because if a cheapskate is willing to drop cash on …
What Will a Cheapskate Spend Good Money On? Part III
Even a cheapskate has to spend money sometimes. I’ve asked various frugal folks—bloggers, writers, money-saving and consumer experts—to compile personal, totally subjective lists of the products, services, experiences, and other “things” they’re willing to shell out good money on. Because if a cheapskate is willing to drop cash on …
Share, Swap, Barter: Whatever It Takes to Avoid Actually Spending Money
What, you’re still breaking out cash and swiping credit cards for goods and services? Many people, forced to get creative by the recession, are realizing that spending isn’t nearly as necessary as they once thought.
Think You Have It Bad? Worse Than Frank McCourt and His Family in the 1930s?
The death of Frank McCourt has brought his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela’s Ashes back to the forefront. The book, about his too-poor-for-words childhood in New York and Ireland, his manic, alcoholic father, and his mother’s attempts to put food on the table while dealing with another baby (or another baby who died), is raw, …
What Will a Cheapskate Spend Good Money On? Part I
Even a cheapskate has to spend money sometimes. Today, I’m introducing a new series of posts in which I ask various frugal folks—bloggers, writers, money-saving and consumer experts—to name the products, services, experiences, and other “things” they’re willing to shell out good money on. Smart cheapskates understand that buying …
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 …
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.
What’s Out: French Spendthrifts, Velvet Rope Clubs, Actually Shopping at Shopping Malls
What’s in now that the recession is in full stride: spending less in France, “anti-clubs” in New York City that are more akin to hanging out in someone’s basement as opposed to an over-the-top $400 bottle-service hip-hop video scene, and going to the mall to socialize and get some exercise—but not actually buy anything.