First Gen American.com

Category: Frugal Living

  • US Savings Rate Stabilizing = More Spending

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet Yesterday I decided that my leftover taco fixings will be born again as a nice hearty chili. Oh was it good.  The only bad part was when I thoughtlessly rubbed my eye with my jalapeno covered left hand and it started burning my eye socket out. I jumped out of my chair wondering what…

  • Getting through Christmas frugally

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet Introducing my very first guest poster by Jack Reed on Frugal Holidays. The most awaited festival of the year is almost here but you don’t seem very happy. You have been a reckless spender throughout the year and now you are wondering how you can celebrate Christmas with your loved ones. Worry not! Although…

  • Extreme Frugalism – How Cheap Are You?

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet Today I thought I’d just post a fun quiz. I thought I’d list some things that perhaps some or all of us have done or thought about doing in the effort to save a buck. 1. When you’re at the end of the toothpaste roll do you: A)  Throw it away B)  Curl it…

  • Is Uncle Sam the New Bank of Mom and Dad?

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet This morning I was reading a very poignant post from Money Reasons about what Christmas was Like During the Great Depression for his Grandma.  You know that saying that where people say “what would happen if you got hit by a bus,” well poor money reason’s great grandpa literally got killed by a train…

  • Christmas without Presents

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet I love decorating for the holidays and it’s one of my favorite events of the year.  After breaking about 7 ornaments, me and the kids managed to decorate our tree, put lights in our windows and generally fill our house with pine scented goodness and Christmas cheer. Today I started thinking back to my…

  • Buy a House without a Mortgage

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet So, as part of the challenging your belief series that Invest it Wisely has held, I wanted to add yet another article to the mix. Today I would like to challenge the belief that everyone has to have a mortgage in order to get a house. So, here is the typical American Process: You…

  • Paper Snowflakes – Fun and Free

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet This Saturday I had a really fun afternoon with the kids. With the extra 2 days off, the normal errands that need doing on the weekends were already behind us. We started off by buying a $300 used Kohler tub at the Restore for $50 (Ka-ching) that looked like it had never been used.…

  • Free Filtered Water on Vacation

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet This post is inspired by today’s article on Punch Debt in the Face. Debt Ninja admits to being an El-Cheapo, McCheapster on his honeymoon and skimping on a few things that he should have just bit the bullet and bought.  It made me think of my own cheapness when it comes to vacationing. Of…

  • Is Optimism Bad for Personal Finance?

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet Frugal Dad wrote a post the other day about doing Financial Fire Drills. Essentially, he said that periodically you should pretend like you’ve had an emergency and see how long you’d be able to last without income. He actually brings up some excellent points about the added costs of unemployment such as higher insurance…

  • Things that Walmart Does Well

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    Sandy L
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    Tweet Lately, it’s become kind of en vogue to pick on Walmart and I wanted to take a moment to buck the trend and mention some of the things they still do right. Note, I’m not being paid to say any of these things. It’s just a couple of recent incidents made me realize that…