Category: Frugality
-
How To Cut Living Expenses
“Frugality without creativity is deprivation.” — Amy Dacyczyn Business 2.0 recently named the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for 2006 and Northwest Airlines made the Top Ten when they issued a handy guide to laid-off workers called, “101 Ways to Save Money.” They write, “The advice includes dumpster diving (“Don’t be shy about pulling something…
Written by
-
Financial Calculators That Show How You Blow a Fortune Without Knowing
Before settling down to read this post, please keep any hot beverage away from you that may spill, get some smelling salts, and ask a friend to check in on you. I was in my office at work with the door closed, yet someone next door was still able to hear me yelp, “What the…
Written by
-
Being “Middle Class” is burying us!
Following on Paula’s excellent and provocative post, “What Class Are You?” I wonder what we do to ourselves when we’re not honest about what class we’re actually in? For example, what happens when we think we are middle class, and try to behave middle class, but we’re not? I personally experienced this earlier in my…
Written by
-
Saving Money: Voice Mail vs. Answering Machines
“If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secret of getting along — whether it be business, family relations, or life itself.” — Bernard Meltzer When it comes to money, there is really only one area where Jeanine and I don’t see eye-to-eye: this is the lease vs.…
Written by
-
The Costco Effect: More than Impulse Buying
“Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.” — Baltasar Gracian Jeanine and I have yet to figure out the appeal of Costco. We’ve tried… on more than one occasion. For me personally, I just don’t get it. But millions of American swear by the place which is why I was intrigued by Julie…
Written by
-
Make Moving Cheaper by Avoiding Moving Pitfalls
Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” Well folks, I gathered lots of “experience” in one area of my finances this past month: moving expenses. Like many other twenty-somethings, Zac and I have moved often. We’ve gotten to the point where we feel comfortable enough to skip moving guides…
Written by
-
Can Shampoo Save You Money?
“He who does not economize will have to agonize.” — Confucius There’s a side of me that tries to be frugal. There’s another part that is just plain cheap. My shampoo buying habits hover in the cheap category. I’ve used Pantene (the drugstore brand of shampoo and conditioner) for close to 15 years. Why? I…
Written by
-
Peer Pressure Spending in the Twenty-Something Crowd: Save Money and Keep Your Social Life (Part 2 of a 2 Part Series)
I love my friends! I am incredibly lucky to have such a supportive group of people in my life. Even though a bunch of them aren’t queer, they have become loyal readers of Queercents, and they even provided me some touching responses to Part 1 of Peer Pressure Spending in the Twenty-Something Crowd: Friend 1:…
Written by
-
Leasing vs. Buying: The Car Debate Continues
“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” — Mahatma Gandhi Over the past few weeks, the alarm on my Volvo sounded three times without any apparent reason. I was convinced that we were having mild tremors (of the earthquake variety) and the vibration was activating my car alarm. The third time it did…
Written by
-
Peer Pressure Spending in the Twenty-Something Crowd (Part 1 of a 2 Part Series)
I can be like a vulture when a taboo topic comes up. Nina’s Ten Questions for Lane Hudson unearthed a taboo topic that I’d like to shine under a spotlight, call a large crowd over, and examine until the dead horse wakes up and asks, “Can you please stop?” Lane brilliantly summed up an issue…
Written by