Blog
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Are local businesses adding fuel surcharges to their services?
‘œBad excuses are worse than none.’ ‘“ Thomas Fuller The young couple that supplies our home cleaning service announced last week the price was increasing from $80 to $90 per visit. The reason: rising gas prices. Our plumber recently came by to free the clog in the bathroom sink. His service call was $98. In…
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Queercents Weekly Roundup: Olympic Excitement
I will definitely admit to having Olympic fever hardcore. All of my free time has been devoted to watching, and I’ve even tried to arrange my list of things to do so I could multi-task while watching. In case you were wondering, here’s a list of all of the out Olympians. (Read it at OutSports)…
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Ask the Readers: Borrow stuff more often to save money?
It just occurred to me: a friend lent me the book I’m currently reading. Another friend lent us her box sets of “Battlestar Galactica” which Zac and I recently got hooked on. And yet another friend sent us a bunch CDs to enjoy. Yeah, we have nice friends, but they’re also saving us a lot…
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The Cost of Being an Olympic Athlete
The Beijing Olympics are in full swing. Most certainly there are numerous gay athletes both out of the closet and in hiding. I recently read The Advocate article on Australian swimmer Matthew Mitcham and in the print edition. If you want to talk about Queer money, just think of the sheer cost of being an…
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Stretch Your Food Dollar: Eat Your Broccoli
Here’s the sixth installment in our series about keeping within your food budget. This week’s headlines have been dominated by news about the Olympics and the tensions in Georgia. But the financial news has been filled with different analysts’ takes on the latest consumer price index report. Last week I mentioned that the recent government…
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Gen Y Finances: What To Do When Things Go Wrong: Dealing With NSFs By Redefining A Zero Balance
NSF fees. Also known as Not Sufficient Funds fees, they’re the fee that the bank takes out of your account when you try and take out more money than you actually have. Overdrafting or overdrawing your account is the technical term for when the withdrawal exceeds the available balance. If that sounds complex, Wikipedia has…
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Five Things Not Worth Repairing
‘œDon’t throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water.’ ‘“ Swedish Proverb In the last year, my iPod died, my Blackberry broke, 8 (yes 8!) of our 12 new Riedel wine glasses shattered, Jeanine’s pricey camera lens cracked, and today the coffee maker seems to be on the brink.…
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Pink & Green Parenting: Greening Your Back-to-School Preparations (and Saving Some Greenbacks, Too)
It’s only early August, and yet you’re already probably inundated with back-to-school advertising! My advice is to enjoy the ever-shrinking summer while it lasts, but here are some tips for going green while saving the greenbacks once you do start getting ready to send your kids back to school. One caveat: my daughter, despite her…
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Fountain Pens: The ultimate old money accessory
We have some prolific commenters at Queercents: Roland known as FrugalZen, DivaJean, Mrs. Micah, Liza of LizaWasHere and A.J. of The GuppieLife. I’ve noticed that often times a comment can be as good as the post it appears on. This happens to be the norm with Roland. I’ve noted several of his over the last…
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Femme Economics: Do It Yourself Pedicure Savings
Even my butch sweetheart loves a good pedicure. With all of the problems with chemicals in cosmetics, and especially nail polish, I have been looking for a good nail salon that was more green or organic. They exist, but it’s so hard to find an appointment. Two months ago I did make an appointment at…
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