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Posted
Aug 28 2008, 05:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Thursday Bram at partner blog Wise Bread. In high school, I watched a friend drop more than $100 on a trip to her favorite salon. I'd always known that her hair looked better than mine, but I couldn't believe that it was simply a matter of money. I didn't want it to be, either. Even in high school, I had other financial priorities than my hairdo. However, there are frugal options for taking care of your locks. It's taken me a while to find them, but I use these tricks regularly.
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Posted
Jul 23 2008, 11:08 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread. The sudden aggravation of my son's allergies became the last straw for this frugal family. While we had suffered through a summer or two in our old farm home with little to no air conditioning in most rooms, this year was going to be different. Credit card in hand (we enjoy collecting those rewards points), my husband headed to our local Pamida for the 12,000-Btu beauty. Soon after he arrived, he called me from his cell phone -- a bit more than aggravated. "Lins, it's showing $50 more than what you said it was going to cost." I reached for my sale ad and realized that the great price on the very last one in stock had ended -- yesterday.
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Posted
Jun 19 2008, 06:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread. My husband and I often search online for fixes for our electronics problems because if a gadget is out of warranty it often costs quite a bit to get it fixed. When we find a solution that is not hard to implement, we figure we might as well try it. We have been able to fix many things, including computers and handhelds. Lately my husband's Nintendo DS Lite has been giving him problems. Namely, the shoulder buttons at the top of the portable gaming console have been sporadically unresponsive. He has been using my DS, and he was thinking of buying a new one. However, today he found a great low-tech fix on the Internet that saved us more than $100.
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 04:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread. Once upon a time I sold a lot of stuff on eBay and Amazon, and I always needed envelopes, boxes and padding. The cost of these shipping supplies can really add up when you mail more than 1,000 things per year, so I looked into how to cut down my shipping costs. Here are some of the ways you can get supplies for free and lower your business overhead.
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Posted
May 29 2008, 06:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Paul Michael at partner blog Wise Bread. The chances are, you're dehydrated right now. In fact, more than 75% of the American population is dehydrated, and worse still, more than 80% of them know they are. No big deal? Well, it is, actually. Lack of hydration can lead to all kinds of problems, including obesity, fatigue and a much higher risk of certain cancers. So grab a glass or three of water and read on.
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Posted
Apr 10 2008, 05:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread. As a traveler, very little irks me more than walking into a store and paying $7 to $12 for passport pictures. You need them not only for passports, but also visas, international driver's licenses, and other miscellaneous pieces of photo ID. At about 10 bucks a pop, this cost of traveling can add up. And ultimately, all they do is sit you in front of a white background, take your picture with a digital camera, then crop and print out a few copies. Ta-da: $10, please. The good news is that with a digital camera, you can take your own passport photos and print them out for pennies on the dollar. Literally.
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Posted
Mar 27 2008, 06:18 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Carrie Kirby at partner blog Wise Bread. I was hard on cell phones as a carefree single gal. Now that I have two little kids, I'm impossible. Teething slobber and juice in a diaper bag knocked out the first two phones of my parenting years. When phone No. 3 slipped from my sweater pocket into the toddler's tub shortly after I'd extended my service plan to replace phone No. 2, I was stuck. I wouldn't be eligible for an upgrade for at least a year. I couldn't bear the thought of paying more than $100 out-of-pocket for a new phone, but -- pregnant and with a small child -- I didn't feel right walking and driving around Chicago without the safety net of a cell phone. I mentioned my trouble to my father-in-law, who laughed and said he had two unused phones from the same carrier sitting at home. He'd changed providers, and the phones had belonged to members of their family plan. With relief, I switched my SIM card into one of them. It was old, a bit clunky, with no camera or other frills, but it worked great. Last weekend, on a work/family trip to California, I forgot to zip the pocket of my ski jacket on the slopes of the Sierras. One major wipeout later, it was goodbye, hand-me-down phone.
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Posted
Mar 20 2008, 05:32 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread. Since I got married, people have been constantly asking me two questions: "Are you pregnant yet?" and "Are you going to buy a house?" If you are a reader of my personal blog, you already know that I don't want to buy a house in the San Francisco Bay Area right now because the prices are still quite ridiculous. The hubby and I always tell people that we cannot afford a house, but that's not entirely true. We can afford to buy a house with a pretty nice margin of comfort, but we don't want to buy one just because we can afford it. One day I told someone that I do not want to afford a house right now and he asked me what I meant. Here is my explanation. We do not need to spend more. The cost to own a unit similar to what we live in is two to three times what we pay in rent. The only purpose of a house is to provide shelter, and I don't see a need to upgrade just because we can afford it.
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Posted
Feb 27 2008, 08:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Julie Rains at partner blog Wise Bread. Frugality can be fun and help you sleep peacefully, knowing that you are not in debt (or at least that your assets are starting to outnumber your liabilities), building an emergency fund, saving for major purchases, and investing for the future. But don't be fooled: As frugal days turn into frugal years and frugal decades, bag lunches can be become boring; smallish houses confining; thrift shop clothing unfashionable. And though you may not care what people think of your "voluntary simplicity," it can become tiresome to always live outside of an acquisition-oriented, size-counts-the-most social norm. While some tout "The Millionaire Next Door" as a model for living and see their frugality as smart and wealth-building, others see minimalist living as pitiful, paltry and desperate. Call me shallow, but while I don't care if people think I'm poor, I certainly don't want them thinking I'm stupid. It's taken me years to figure out ways to look smart, be cool and remain true to my frugal roots. Here are my tips for gaining the psychological edge needed for endurance frugality:
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Posted
Feb 21 2008, 06:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Philip Brewer at partner blog Wise Bread. I get a particular negative jolt when I review a credit card bill and find a charge for something that's already over and done -- a meal already eaten, a vacation already taken, a tank of gas already burned up. I'm much happier paying a charge when I can pat the thing purchased and know that it'll be serving some useful purpose for years to come. Just recently, though, I've found that I'm beginning to have a little more appreciation for those purchases that are only  memories before they're even paid for. Try this thought experiment: Imagine that all your property was destroyed in some disaster, but that you got a large check -- replacement value for everything that was lost. How much of your property do you replace with exact duplicates? A lot of the most important stuff is irreplaceable: artwork, antiques, mementos of things you've done. You'd replace them with exact duplicates if you could -- and might pay top dollar to do so -- but mostly they're just gone.
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