Search Results for: blog how quickly everything changes are you prepared

How to Be Prepared for Black Friday 2013

Shopping for the best 2013 Black Friday Deals? This year, things may be a little different. Be prepared with the following tips, and you’ll get the best prices without being overwhelmed. It is solid advice to get you through the most important shopping day of the year. By making the following preparations now, you’ll be sure not to lose out on those bargains and at the same time, have everything be a positive and fun experience. Prepare for the Changes Swallow that turkey and be out the door by early evening if you want to start your Black Friday shopping. … Continue reading →

Do they have to eat EVERYTHING?

I picked up my daughter from drama/dance camp yesterday afternoon and as she complained about being hungry all the way home (the complaining got louder when we passed McDonalds), I decided to make dinner early. I took two huge chicken breasts (totaling about a pound) out of the refrigerator and painstakingly cut them into paper thin slivers. I seasoned the meat and sauteed it in olive oil, then made my daughter a nice sandwich on a hamburger roll that she topped with barbecue sauce. She asked for more when she was done and I gave her more meat, but said … Continue reading →

Adjusting Your Price Book with Escalating Grocery Costs

In the previous article, Our Changing Grocery Prices, I talked about how we’ve been having to adjust what we are willing to pay for some grocery items, in the wake of rising food prices. I shared some concrete examples of items from my mental price books and how I have had to adjust them, such as cereal, apples and eggs. Making these adjustments can be tough. Since prices aren’t steady, it is hard to know what the lowest price on something is or will be. Milk at $4 a gallon seems outrageous, until it rises to $4.50 on average. I … Continue reading →

Reducing Your Trash 3

We are on a mission to reduce the amount of trash that exits our homes. With just a few changes in our lives, we can affect the amount of garbage that our families contribute to the landfills, and as a result, also save money. If you missed the earlier articles in this series, you can find them here: Reducing Your Trash and Reducing Your Trash 2. And now, here are some more ways to reduce your trash. Stay away from convenience foods, which have a lot of extra packaging. Pre-prepared food is generally less healthy for you than food that … Continue reading →

What’s the Most Difficult Thing You’ve Faced in Your Home Business?

Reading Traci’s recent blog about how everything can change just when you think you’re getting a handle on this home business and family thing, it got me to thinking about that old interview chestnut question, “What’s the most challenging or difficult thing you’ve ever faced at work?” I can honestly say that there hasn’t been any traditional job related issue or challenge that anywhere compares to raising a family as a single parent, trying to build a business and all the daily grind and gristle that goes along with that! I thought it might be interesting to explore here with … Continue reading →

How Quickly Everything Changes. Are You Prepared?

In yesterday’s post, I talked about my son’s recent hospitalization and how thankful I was that I was able to spend every moment with him without worrying about work issues. Today, I’ve been obsessing about our medical bill that will be arriving shortly. I really don’t have a clue what we are going to owe and I am anxious to find out so we can plan accordingly. Ever since I started working from home my income has always been used to pay for the “extras”. My husband’s income pays our mortgage and related bills. My income covers groceries, dining out … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Month in Review: June 2008

What a happy month is June, filled with the renewal of spring and the promise of summer. In the last month, we have shared so many ideas for frugal living and saving money. This past month has seen some pretty big increases in food, gas and other items (look for an upcoming post about strawberries increasing more than 100 percent). Now more than ever, it is important to save money where we can. This is why I decided to do a month in review. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st Garage sale shopping has got to … Continue reading →

Peek into My Morning

I am always so curious for a glimpse into the lives of others. The domestic every day life of my fellow humans tends to fascinate me. I suppose that is why I read so many blogs, especially the frugal ones, of course. Sometimes I get great tips on things that I can do around my house or with my family. Other times I just have an appreciation for other ways of living. So, I thought I would share some of the things we will do today, from a frugal standpoint. This may give you a good idea of some of … Continue reading →

Saving Money by Cutting the Phone Cord

Two years ago my husband and I moved into a new home. While I hate moving, I love the opportunity it gives me to clear out the clutter. How often do we get the chance to empty every single drawer, closet, nook and cranny in our homes? I’ve moved about five times in ten years and I am finally starting to get good at it. This time, I decided to use the move as an opportunity to rethink (and reduce) some of our monthly bills. Since I’ve always had the tendency to be a bargain shopper, I wasn’t able to … Continue reading →

Figuring Out What Absolutely HAS to Happen

I am not one to get easily overwhelmed…usually. But there are those days when life just seems to throw all sorts of curveballs and I can’t help but ask myself why I’m trying to build this darn home business anyway?! Prioritizing sounds like a very organized and professional sort of process. There are some days where “prioritizing” is actually way beyond the realm of what I can accomplish, or even wrap my head around. On those days, it’s really about figuring out what absolutely HAS to happen, and letting everything else go to another day. Since I work in a … Continue reading →