5 Tips For Saving Money This Halloween
October 20, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality, Spending and Saving
I’ll admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday, and it’s not because I’m some overzealous Christian who thinks it’s the “Devil’s Holiday”. I am a man of faith, but Halloween ticks me off more from a financial perspective. Along with Valentine’s Day, it has become one of the most commercialized non-holidays that have no meaning. I understand that the kids have a good time with it, and it’s fun for them, but when you take a step back and really look at Halloween, it really is pointless to spend a bunch of money on it. With Halloween parties, costumes for the kids, house decorations, and all of the crap that schools make you buy for arts and crafts time, Halloween can get really expensive.
How I Saved $450 On A Piece of Furniture
August 12, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality, Spending and Saving
Background Info
My wife and I went looking for entertainment centers on Sunday afternoon. We stopped by one of our favorite places to find really cheap, decent furnture: the Rooms-To-Go outlet. We bought our bedroom set brand new at the outlet two years ago for $1,200, which included a king head/foot board, dresser, and two night stands! So, we scoured the outlet, but nothing fully caught our eye. We saw one TV stand that we liked, but we wanted a two-piece set. We went to the showcase room down the street and saw two sets that we really liked. The first set was smaller, but had a different style to it. We saw that one at the outlet, but it wasn’t in great condition, and it wasn’t much of a discount either. The second set was big, had a nice top hutch piece with shelving and crown molding, and we liked that it would fill up most of the space that we would be putting it in.
Save Money With Group Discounts Using Strangers
July 6, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality
We’re all looking to save money right now, and frugality takes creativity if you want to save the big bucks. Smart Money has a great article about saving money on group discounts with strangers. They have some great online resources to help you partner up with other people looking to get a group discount if you don’t have a large friends/family network to take advantage of group discounts.
strong>Here are some tips from their article for getting a group discount without using the internet:
The Difference Between Frugal and Cheap
July 2, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality
Ever since I have been more passionate about personal finance and managing my money, I have noticed that there are different definitions of being cheap and being frugal, depending on who you talk to. When my wife and I started telling people that we couldn’t go on vacation, because we were paying off debt, or that we don’t use credit cards, they looked at us funny. When we clip coupons and go to the $1.50 movie theater, some people laugh at us. We’ve never been heckled about it, but we’ve definitely heard the “you only live once” line when we tell people that we are saving money or paying off debt before we spend it on a major purchase.
Five Frugal Tips For Having Fun On a Budget This Summer
June 10, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality, Spending and Saving
Even though school summer breaks are just a distant memory for me, it’s still one of my favorite seasons, because I love the ragged-out, beach feeling, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and barbecues with corn-on-the-cob and watermelon. There’s nothing like it. Summer can also be a really expensive time of the year, because families are vacationing and parents are trying to keep their kids busy while they are out of school. With money being a littler tigher than usual right now, here are some tips for being more frugal during the summer while still having fun.
