Evolving Personal Finance » frugality
Our Hang-Dry Laundry Strategy
I mentioned our reduced use of our clothes dryer when I was discussing our last electricity bill. For the last year we’ve been (mostly) hang-drying our clothes to save the cost of running the dryer, and I think it has made an impact on the scale of a few dollars per month. It’s actually a bit labor-saving, too! Our (apartment-friendly) hang-dry method We wait until we have three loads of laundry to wash, which for our clothing … Read entire article »
Filed under: frugality
How to Cut Your Food Spending – Reducing Grocery Costs
Very early in your spending-tracking or budgeting lifestyle, you will realize that food spending is one of the most highly variable and easily manipulated expenditure categories. If you’re looking to reduct your spending, food is often the primary target of budget slashing, and for good reason! There are lots of ways to cut back on food spending, from temporary fasts from certain products to long-term lifestyle changes like cooking. Take a moment to look up your … Read entire article »
My New Frugal/Cheap Cell Phone Plan
I’ve hinted on here a few times that I have a plan for getting a smartphone while reducing my cell phone costs but hadn’t implemented it yet – it finally looks like my new plan will be starting soon! Several months ago I got in line for a spot in Republic Wireless‘s beta wave, which just reopened a week ago. Signing up with a new company with a new cell model is rather risky as the plan … Read entire article »
How to Cut Your Food Spending – What’s Your Personality?
This is the start of a short series on spending less money on food (here are part 2 and part 3). In considering various strategies I realized that people will likely fall into two camps in terms of how they like to incorporate change: some people prefer abrupt, drastic change and others prefer gradual change. While I tend to shy away from comparisons between financial management and diet/weight management, this is one area where I can’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: choices, food, frugality, personal, psychology
Frugality in Moderation
Most of the time I consider being frugal a virtue. Emily and I strive to live within our grad student means, so that necessitates cutting some frills from our lives. However, we need to be careful not to take this too far. There was a time in college when my friends and I moved from frugal to cheap that caused a great deal of tension within the group. In retrospect the whole incident was silly, … Read entire article »
We Have Too Many Gift Cards!
Kyle and I have recently been reminded of a pretty good problem to have: We have a ton of gift cards and we have no plan for spending them! Why We Have So Many Cards 1) I think we might receive more than the average people because I, particularly, am very difficult to buy for. People know that I like to read so they tend to give me gift cards to booksellers (we have a lot to … Read entire article »
Filed under: found money, frugality
Are You Sure You Want to Spend $27000 on Your Wedding?
Today we are featuring a guest post from Edward Antrobus as part of this month’s Yakezie Blog Swap – click over to his blog to check out my participating post. Edward is a blogger, home cook, and construction worker. Enjoy! The cost of the average wedding is over $25,000. That number doesn’t even include the cost of the dress! (I’ve never understood that. Isn’t the wedding dress a wedding-related cost? Why wouldn’t you include it in the … Read entire article »
The Fact and Fiction Behind “Two Can Live as Cheaply as One”
Everyone’s heard the phrase “two can live as cheaply as one.” In one sense it’s absolutely true: when you live in a home by yourself and someone moves in with you – a roommate or spouse who pays his own way – your per capita expenses will go down. You have someone to split the rent and utilities with. But the way the phrase is usually applied is to married couples – as if just … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, choices, frugality, goals, lifestyle creep, marriage, spending
Dental Care without Insurance
While our workplace provides health insurance and a small yearly voucher for eye care, we are on our own for dental care. As a consequence, we haven’t been to the dentist since we went off our parents’ insurance – five years ago for Kyle, two years ago for me. I am very happy with my smile (naturally straight!) and I was beginning to have visions of cavity-ridden teeth and anesthesia, so I scheduled two appointments … Read entire article »
What Does “Frugal” Mean to You?
My definition of frugality: Not buying things. Kyle’s definition of frugality: Getting good deals. Kyle is excellent at researching products he wants to find the best quality for the best price. On the other hand, he remarked to me last week (and I’m not sure if this was a compliment) “You never want anything! How do you never want anything?” (He meant stuff-wise – I want to spend plenty of money on experiences.) We don’t have a whole … Read entire article »
Recent Comments
- Adam on Home Equity Is Funny Money
"Hi Emily - I just stumbled upon your blog. Great post! Up in Canada this is a…" - Emily on Home Equity Is Funny Money
"I agree that an appraisal is the best number to work with. I can't think of why …" - JL on Home Equity Is Funny Money
"I only note it as round numbers, in $50k or $100k estimates. I also usually upda…" - We Maxed Out All Our Retirement Accounts for the First Time! - Evolving Personal Finance | Evolving Personal Finance on Avoiding an Expensive 401(k) Plan through Self-Employment
"[…] was the first year that we contributed to Kyle’s expensive 401(k…" - Business Goal Tracking for Week 8 of 2022 - Evolving Personal Finance | Evolving Personal Finance on Business Goal Tracking for Week 6 of 2022
"[…] Done as of two weeks ago! […]…"