This post goes out to Libby from our Facebook Page, who wanted help cooking for one frugally. Truth: There are lots of great books on cooking for one, but not a single one on how to grocery-shop effectively for a household of one! It can’t be denied—cooking for one is a tricky thing.  It seems [...]

Many of us are feeling that tightness and pressure that comes from the extra spending surge this time of year.  Holiday activities/entertainment, Christmas cards, gifts, office parties, friends of friends’ parties, and gifting expectations galore, not to mention what the children hope to find under the tree. For many of

In your day-to-day cooking, you are likely throwing away valuable flavor and nutrients every day without even realizing it. You cut an apple, peel an onion, and cut the hard skin off of a squash before baking or boiling it, or scrubbed the brown bits out of a roasting pan. If you’re frugal, you’re composting [...]

Many readers know that we are very excited about being an adoptive family.  We adopted our girls in 2005 and 2008, both under unusual circumstances and with substantial fees that left our family happy and fulfilled, but in debt to our eyelids. That was before we drank the debt-free Kool-Aid.  In fact, right after arriving

Bargaining, “wheeling and dealing” or just getting a deal—whatever you call it, it isn’t always easy to find exactly the item or service you want, and then ask for a lower price.  Our American culture often views this sort of thing as the move of a cheapskate, or disrespectful/distrustful of the merchant and his or

Disclosure: We received this vacuum as a review unit to keep. Which is awesome, cause we needed a vacuum! End disclosure. ~~~ This is a special guest post by DK from DebtKid.com. He and his wife were both able to use this vacuum at their apartment in Portland. ~~~ When my wife and I moved [...]

Warning: getimagesize(https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gq_Frc9UksRSgcccZWm9_g?feat=directlink) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found in /home/beingfru/public_html/wp-content/themes/thesis_

There’s a number of feelings that just all around feel icky.  Getting to work and not remembering if you locked the front door, the nagging question if you remembered to call back a friend, and that ugly little feeling called “buyer’s remorse.” Buyer’s remorse Buyer’s remorse is really just a self-induced, purc

This week, the US food and Drug Administration held additional sessions about the possibility of (finally) establishing a gluten-free food labeling standard. (info) Lately, a growing number of people are electing a gluten-free diet. Some due to health conditions such as celiac disease, and others to attempt alleviate sympto

This is a guest post from Brittany, a college student and lead writer at SavvyStudent.com Saving money for college is a job in itself. College students should earn credit for doing it, because the task requires using the mind and it’s helpful for life after college. So to help out the universal crowd of college [...]

If you’re a Dave Ramsey fan like us, you’ve heard the slogan “rice and beans!” He doesn’t really mean you have to eat rice and beans all of the time, but many of us have learned to cut budgets by using a lot of these hearty staples. Yes, the lowly bean is a nutritional and [...]

My kids have nine days of school left this year.  I estimate it will be 9.5 days before the “I’m bored” chorus begins.  Even though we school at home now, the summer transition is about the same as it was when the kids went to public school. They can’t wait for school to end, and [...]

Until two years ago, I’d never heard the term “zero-based budget.”  I have learned to dread it. In fact, I hate zero based budgeting. But we use it at our house, because it works. It works brilliantly. Zero-based budget is basically this: Project what you have coming in for the month, and match your budgeted [...]

You might be familiar with this term, most frequently associated with emergency medicine.  Triage: The act of determining priorities within an emergency. Well, money can work like this too. Many of us have experienced a revelation that something is NOT RIGHT with our money.  Perhaps you’re just ending the money with mor

Most hardcore cheapskates have a secret.  Their price book or coupon strategy or a hard-and-fast rule “never shop on Fridays, always buy gas on Tuesdays.” I’m going to bare all, and share my arsenal of secret weapons. One on condition. Please, please share your secrets too! Here it goes—my secret weapons to saving

Hello BeingFrugal readers! I look forward to getting to know you in our journey here. By way of introduction, I’ll tell you a little about myself, my frugal living story, and my family’s goals with money. I hope that you’ll leave comments on your favorite topics to read here—perhaps I can throw another perspective i

Well, life has caught up with me, and unfortunately my dreams of a 48 hour day have not come true. Between homeschooling the kids, keeping up the house, and becoming a certified foster parent, the time available for me to write articles for Being Frugal has all but disappeared. Sadly, that means I’m going to [...]

Even when you are completely certain you’ll never need financing again for the rest of your life, your credit score still matters. If you are not doing what is necessary to boost your credit and repair the damage you may have incurred in the past, you not only will likely be denied financing and lines [...]

Fuel prices are going up, up, up. By this summer, the experts say gas will be above $4.00 a gallon. That doesn’t bode well for the summer vacation season. And for those on an already too-tight budget, a serious increase in gasoline prices can put more than a little cramp in their lifestyle. Though we [...]

Depending on your situation, health insurance can take up a big chunk of the family budget. Our insurance premium eats up a third of our income! Even though it’s tempting to forego health insurance in exchange for more take home pay, health insurance is really a necessity. Despite the high cost of health insurance, th

If you’re on a quest to lower your bills, take a hard look at your car insurance. Car insurance is an area that can yield monthly savings with just a few phone calls and inquiries. Many people get comfortable with their car insurance company and just continue to pay the premium year after year, without [...]

With food prices on the rise, it seems everyone is looking for a way to save money on groceries. Fortunately, by tweaking just a few of your habits, you can offset rising food prices with grocery savings. It takes a little time and effort, but saving money on groceries isn’t impossible. Cook From Scratch The [...]

Last week news reports warned that food prices will be rising this year. Apparently the world’s demand for corn is causing the surplus of corn in the United States to be be used up. Since supply is low, prices are going up. In addition, severe weather around the world is affecting the supply, and therefore [...]

We took the big all-girls trip to the American Girl Store in Los Angeles this week. To get to Los Angeles from my home town, we elected to fly using Allegiant Air, a discount airline. Flying Allegiant Air was a great experience. The flights were on time, the staff was friendly, and the price was [...]

My life has taken a variety of twists and turns over the years, and our latest twist is that we are possibly (but not certainly) adopting. If it all works out, we will be adopting an older infant, with relatively little notice. I’m sorry that I cant give details, but what I can do is [...]

This weekend I went shopping at the thrift stores with a friend. You can find great bargains at thrift stores, but you can also waste money easily. What are the secrets to rockin’ the thrift stores? Read on! Shop With an Open Mind Though there have been a few times I’ve walked into a thrift [...]

A crazy thing happened a couple of weeks ago. My daughter showed me that she has been absorbing all of my frugality talk. Actually, the story begins last September, when Hannah and her friend asked if friend’s mom and I could take them to visit the American Girl Place in Los Angeles. When they initially [...]

A crazy thing happened a couple of weeks ago. My daughter showed me that she has been absorbing all of my frugality talk. Actually, the story begins last September, when Hannah and her friend asked if friend’s mom and I could take them to visit the American Girl Place in Los Angeles. When they initially [...]

January is a good time for a budget makeover. After all, you’re likely setting your financial goals for the year, and it’s a good time to make note of lifestyle changes. Certain areas of your budget especially deserve your attention. These are things you should consider, as you begin a new financial year. Big Life [...]

January is a good time for a budget makeover. After all, you’re likely setting your financial goals for the year, and it’s a good time to make note of lifestyle changes. Certain areas of your budget especially deserve your attention. These are things you should consider, as you begin a new financial year. Big Life [...]