Debt Reduction 101

The Class of 2010 is hitting me hard this year – no less than five loved ones are graduating from high school and making their way into the Great Beyond. Luckily for me, three of those graduates are triplets and they are having a combined party, so my road trips aren’t as numerous as they [...]

I was lucky enough today to get to see both of the moms in my life – my mother-in-law and my very own mom. I’ve learned a lot about frugality from my mother-in-law – she’s taught me to check my receipts when I go to Hy-Vee because if they charge you the wrong price for [...]

You would think that after a couple weeks of non-blog activity, that I’ve been buried in work or whisked away by aliens. I can assure you that neither has happened, but this is what’s been happening … I am living something of a “normal” life. The new job … oh man – words cannot describe. [...]

I have a lot of things going on in my life right now, a few of them that I’ve only shared with those who are in my inner circle. (And no, family members and friends who read this blog – I’m not pregnant.) There are a lot of days where I end up feeling very [...]

For those of you who follow a Christian church calendar, we are now entering the season the Lent. Or we have entered it … however that works. When I was growing up, we never gave up anything for Lent. I don’t know if that was my parents, if it was my denomination, if it was [...]

Can I let you in on a little secret about me? Here it is: I really suck at being frugal. Sure, I shop the sales rack and Savers for my clothing. I do clip coupons, I do sign up for rewards at my favorite retailers whenever possible and I am credit card debt free. But [...]

This week, I made a big decision that will impact my future, my finances and likely my overall sanity. After over two years of working weekends and the occasional weeknight at the local cab company, I asked my boss yesterday if I could cut back to just working every other weekend. “I’m not surprised,” he [...]

No, I’m not making some social commentary in the cool alliteration of my blog title – I’m just recapping the sentiment of a New York Times op-ed piece that I read this morning called “My So-Called Wife.” I found this article interesting. By no means am I the breadwinner of the family, but I am [...]

I cannot lie – I have been waiting for this day for awhile. As certain as death and taxes, I knew that my (free) love affair with the New York Times online couldn’t last. And now the news is certain, starting January 2011, I will have to pay for my love of the eloquently written [...]

A few months ago, one of my cab drivers – a nice young woman who is a few years younger than me and has an infant of her own – asked me when my husband and I are going to start our own family. Ignoring the twinge in my ovaries when she said this I [...]