Archive for the Spend Category

Thrift stores that sell used home furnishings and clothes have been a place for us to acquire needed items, but I have not come across a Picasso like Zach Bodish did, when he bought a signed print for $14.14 and might be worth $6,000 – $12,000 at the Volunteer’s of America store in Columbus Ohio…. Read More »

Great article in the Wall Street Journal about leftovers, discarded food and the impact to household budgets and the environment. I hate it when food goes bad and we have to toss it out.  We try to freeze things like peppers or meat before they go bad, and only buy what we plan to use in… Read More »

These days everyone wants to spend less money. With increasing costs to healthcare and gasoline, grocery costs seem to be of the things to be increasing faster than inflation, and represent a large percentage of people’s budgets. Monthly expenses are either fixed like rent/mortgage, car payments and utilities, while other areas are variable such as groceries and… Read More »

Saturday morning is the time my wife and I usually grocery shop together. By then she has clipped all of the coupons, we have discussed the list of things we think we need and how much we want to spend. She has also run a report from www.thegrocerygame.com, which is a nice list of deals that… Read More »

I like to cook, and my wife says I’m pretty good at it. I have to admit I have watched a few cooking shows like Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, and Steven Raichlen’s Barbeque U. These shows provide good ideas for putting dishes together, use of ingredients and spices. However I seldom use the recipes, either because… Read More »

What are your financial goals for 2012? Maybe you want to go on vacation, fund your emergency savings so that unplanned expenses don’t set you back, repay debt so that you don’t feel the burden of living paycheck-to-paycheck, put more money into retirement and college savings, help your family more, give more to charity. But you are wondering how you… Read More »

In colder climates if your average heating bill is $200 per month, for 5 months, then your total cost is $1,000, then a 20% savings is only going to save you $200. So if you are on a tight budget you will be looking for low-cost ways to save on utility bills. Here are a… Read More »

It has been fun to watch the personal computer evolution from my first purchase in 1987 of what was called an IBM AT. This system included a monitor (green and black), keyboard (no mouse) and computer with a whopping 40-MB hard disk drive, and a printer. That system cost $3,000, including software upgrades. In 24 years… Read More »

Interesting essay at TheMinimalists.com “The Blackest of Fridays,” commenting about the biggest shopping day of the year following Thanksgiving “On this day, people consume gluttonously without regard for the harm they’re inflicting on themselves. On this day, greed becomes ravenous. On this day, people live without real meaning, buying gifts to fill a void that can’t possibly… Read More »

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on Compulsive Shopping.