-
Get Ready for Thanksgiving the Frugal Way
Get ready for Thanksgiving the frugal way with these great tips. Let's plan ahead to work smarter, not harder, and to stay organized. That way we can focus on what's really important, the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Keep turkey day stress-free, budget-friendly, and family-focused.
You May Also Like
Get Ready For Thanksgiving: Location Location Location
-
How to Cut a Pineapple
Many people are afraid to buy whole pineapples, even though they are often a much better value than canned pineapple. The simple reason why they pass on fresh is that they’re not sure how to cut up a pineapple. It’s true: with its leaves and prickly skin, it’s hard to know where to start. You can count on us to teach you how to cut a pineapple with this easy step-by-step guide. We’ve even included a video demonstration at the very end for visual learners. How do you cut a pineapple? Materials: Large serrated knife, small paring knife, cutting board, vegetable peeler. 1. Take off the top (the crown). Contrary…
-
Get Frugal with $5 a Week
Financial situations can change dramatically without warning, and have enormous effects on your household’s spending money. Whether your main breadwinner has lost their job, had work hours reduced, or you’ve lost the second income in your family, there are ways to make ends meet even when the going gets rough. Get Frugal with $5 a Week A while back, a reader shared this problem with me. She described how, after many years of two incomes, they now have only $5 a week leftover after paying for necessities. She had gone back to school, leaving their family of 5 to get by on only her husband’s income. We may forget how…
-
Learn the Difference Between Needs and Wants
Learn the Difference Between Needs and Wants It can be difficult to learn the difference between needs and wants when you’re used to having a little flexibility in your shopping budget. When that flexibility disappears suddenly and you have to cut back your spending, identifying needs and wants becomes crucial. This is a great exercise for children and teens to do with you. It’s true that frugal living can cut your shopping expenses dramatically, but the decision always lies with you, the frugal homemaker, to say what’s really needed. These easy questions can help get your mind discriminating as you distinguish needs vs. wants. Take this list with you to…
-
Get Ready For Thanksgiving: Location Location Location
A little Thanksgiving holiday planning now will go a long way towards lowering your stress level on Turkey Day.
-
Are Your Home and Family Getting First Quality?
I was attacked by a refrigerator and butter – no kidding! Two days ago I opened the refrigerator, only to be accosted by a freak accident from a relatively organized appliance. As I opened the door, the top plastic compartment flung open, hurling a box of butter at me, which – in turn- emptied itself as butter cubes took flight across the kitchen! So what? It’s not the accident that was important, but the OUTCOME. I recovered the unharmed whole and partial butter cubes, and put the empty butter package into the trash. Somehow in the scuffle, the cardboard box mysteriously ripped the end off its own box! Only ONE…
-
Fight Vampire Electricity Thieves
Fight Energy Vampires and Lower Your Electric Bill Vampire taps might be sucking the energy out of your home right now! Chances are, they’re inflating your energy use and raising your electric bill, silently draining the money out of your household budget. We’ve talked before about vampire energy taps. What is vampire power? I know Halloween is just around the corner, but vampire energy taps don’t have anything to do with dracula or evil undead creatures! A vampire tap is an electrical device that uses electricity while plugged into an outlet, even if it’s not turned on or in use. Vampire power means you end up paying extra for electricity…
-
Why Being the Bigger Person is Hard and 8 Ways that Help
Being the bigger person is hard. Exercising self-control with challenging people doesn’t come naturally to most of us, which is why it can take extreme effort to hold ourselves back. Why is is so hard to be the bigger person? It may be tempting when dealing with people in unpleasant situations, such as ex-spouses, estranged relatives, cranky salespeople, or others, to fire right back at them. Temptation may be there to yell back at a yeller, to swear at a swearer, to throw something back at a thrower, to hit a hitter. Email flame wars, name-calling contests, physical fights, world wars: all these retaliations come to mind when thinking about…
-
Homemakers Fight Poverty – Blog Action Day
Homemakers fight poverty today during Blog Action Day! Today is 2nd annual Blog Action Day and we are joining the fight with over 11,000 other bloggers to reach our 12 million readers.
-
Go Green and Save on Shipping with Popcorn
Kitchen Tip: Pop edible popcorn to use as packing material! The holidays are fast approaching and many of us will be packing up boxes of presents to mail out to loved ones. Shipping materials can be expensive to purchase and usually are made of plastics that aren’t the friendliest on the environment. There are many fillers that are used, such as styrofoam packing peanuts, plastic bubble wrap, plastic pellets, plastic bags filled with air, and newspaper. Even used plastic grocery shopping bags can be used as stuffing in packages to keep items in place! However, there is a better, cheaper, more environmentally friendly material to use as a packing material, and it’s in…
