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Posted
Dec 28 2007, 01:16 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Philip Brewer of partner blog Wise Bread has a lasting memory of a poor family he encountered many years ago. Their clothes were worn, their car was old, and they were skinny. "It's unusual to see that now," he writes. "The new face of poverty is fat." The fact is that poor people buy the least expensive source of calories they can find, Brewer says. As we've noted here before, it's often junk food. If you eat packaged, high-calorie food until you're satisfied, you are going to be fat, Brewer adds -- and, we might add, prone to diabetes and other health problems associated with obesity. He offers some possible solutions.
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Posted
Apr 07 2008, 02:39 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Did you know that scented candles will last longer if you chill them in the refrigerator or freezer before you light them? Makes sense, doesn't it? It goes without saying that you'll save money if you don't have to replace common items in your house as often as you used to. Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life provides tips for extending the life of 10 things -- like candles -- that many people use at home every day.
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Posted
Apr 08 2008, 05:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you're tired of taking the heat from your spendthrift (and obnoxious) friends who say you're cheap, Jennifer Derrick at Saving Advice has some ammunition for you -- "32 reasons to be frugal besides saving money." This post beautifully expresses what frugal people know in their hearts: Frugality is freedom from the many shackles of a consumer-based culture. Jennifer says she initially adopted a frugal lifestyle to save money, but now calls that "a nice side effect." Among the benefits of frugality: gratitude and contentment. "Frugal living makes you appreciate what you have and helps you to realize that you are blessed to have it, even if it's not the newest luxury what-not," she writes.
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Posted
May 29 2008, 03:48 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a super deal to keep kids entertained during summer months: Raising4Boys has provided a list of free or discount movie specials available at theater chains this summer. "Dad" (aka "Nickel" at FiveCentNickel) says, "In case you're not aware, theaters often have special summer promos where they show G or PG films on weekday mornings for free, or nearly so."
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Posted
Jul 17 2008, 06:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When Amanda of Value For Your Life was 12 year old, she begged and begged until her parents finally got her a dog. Enter Jasper. Eventually Shadow joined the clan. What Amanda didn't know was that when each dog moved in, her mother began automatically depositing $25 a month per dog into a do-it-yourself pet insurance fund. That money -- growing in a high-interest savings account -- came in handy over the years, and without the limitations often attached to pet insurance policies. It was there to help Shadow as he developed back problems and, eventually, terminal cancer. (Read her remarkable account of Shadow's passing. Amanda, a veterinarian, euthanized her beloved dog at home. Warning: You may shed tears. We did.)
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Posted
Nov 08 2007, 07:04 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Matt, an active-duty Marine, is a guest poster at Poorer Than You , and he presents his personal-finance advice in military terms . ("Perhaps the best deal about being in Iraq is that my pay is increased by effectively 33% due to my tax-free status, in addition to my 'special incentive' pay that I receive while over here," he writes.) He urges readers to build a reserve and launch an assault on debt. "Gear up with the weapons of personal-finance war: a budget, a disciplined mind-set, and a strong will to win," he says. Every once in a while you may need to "call in supporting fire" and depend on family members for help, but do so on a very limited basis, he advises. Borrowing money from family could become a financial minefield.
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Posted
Feb 29 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Lynnae at Being Frugal. When I was a kid, my family didn't have a lot of money. In most areas, I never felt deprived. I have three younger brothers, so I was always busy playing outside with them. Or picking on them, but we won't talk about that. One thing I did notice was that, with four kids and not a lot of money, we didn't have a lot of clothes. My brothers and I each had three school outfits. We wore two of the outfits on Monday and Tuesday, the third on Wednesday, when my mom did the laundry, and the first two outfits on Thursday and Friday. Every week. I even remember my mom commenting that one of my friend's moms had mentioned that her child had enough clothes to last a week without doing laundry. My mom didn't know how they could afford it. I remember being jealous. Now that I'm an adult, surprisingly, I'm not tempted to overbuy clothes for myself. I hate shopping for myself, and my relatively small wardrobe shows it. However, I do have a tendency to overbuy for the kids. I think that somewhere in the deep recesses of my memory, I'm afraid that they won’t have enough clothes.
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Posted
Jun 10 2008, 03:50 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The worst commotion we've ever heard in a retail setting (other than the toddler who got his foot caught in a shopping cart) was a kid who started screaming "apple" in the produce section, and then continued for 10 minutes and was readily audible from every area of the store. (It was so bad, we almost bought the little man an apple.) Parental units, don't give in, says Ashley of Wide Open Wallet in a post called "Saying no to your kids." She has overindulged her little boy, and now she's trying to correct the problem.
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Posted
May 29 2009, 10:22 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Summer offers time for learning adventures -- and what better way to teach your children the value of frugality than to introduce them to the free fun and learning opportunities online? A good place to start is Free Things for Kids. This site is brimming with links to freebies ranging from washable tattoos to endangered species coloring books.
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Posted
Jul 03 2009, 09:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from J. Money at Budgets are Sexy.
A question stood out in an e-mail I got from AskMen.com asking if I wanted to participate in a survey.
Now, normally I just glance over and then delete/archive, as my ADD brain can only take so much. But seeing how it was the "Great Male Survey of 2009," who am I to turn it down? OK, in reality they were smart enough to bold some of the financial questions in the e-mail. While most of them got my brain thinking, there was one question that really got my attention:
How do you measure your own financial success?
Good one! First, each of us should probably define what "financial success" is. Is it money? Job title? How big your house is (better not be)? Everybody has their own thoughts on it.
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