Yard sale money leads to shopping — but some good buys
Sunday, May 4th, 2008There’s something about yard sale money… all that cash seems to disappear so quickly.
Yesterday we had a very successful yard sale with a friend. My husband Charles and I raked in just over $400 and still have so much stuff that it looks like we’re going to have another one next weekend […]
My number one style tip
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008If you’ve ever felt like you just have nothing to wear, or returned home to the pile of clothes you left on the bed trying to figure out what works with what, or thought, “Wow, those shoes are so great, but I have nothing to wear them with”, then this is for you.
Tags: Color, Fashion, […]
Spinlash: Skeptic to spoiled
Monday, April 28th, 2008Disclaimer: I did receive a the Spinlash from the company free of charge with the understanding that I would review it. However, the company has at no time given me any type of input in regards to the type of review, I have received no other compensation for this review, and I don’t get any […]
Here’s why you can afford to be green
Friday, April 25th, 2008First off, I’d like to thank Green Me for featuring my post introducing FruWiki, The Frugal Wiki, in the Green It! carnival. My husband and I have both been trying to be more frugal and more green. Fortunately, we’ve found that many of the things we’ve started doing are both frugal and green. […]
Pondering the green bag hype
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008Recently, I was walking the mall with a friend when I spied a display for “green” handbags. They weren’t even that great looking and the tone of some of those displays and ads make me chuckle because they made it seem like by merely buying one of the bags you’d be saving the planet […]
What I’ve been reading
Monday, April 14th, 2008For the past week I’ve been laying low with a nasty sinus infection. It hasn’t been fun, but if there’s one thing that I actually appreciate about being sick is that it forces me to sit back and catch up on light reading.
Here are some blog posts that I’ve been keeping up […]
The Fabulous! Festival for April ‘08
Monday, April 7th, 2008Welcome to the April edition of The Fabulous! Festival, a blog carnival dedicated to looking and feeling fa-bu-lous. I had a great time reading all the submissions, which is why I am confident that you’ll enjoy reading my ten favorites:
Beauty
First off, Tina Su reminds us that beauty isn’t just about makeup, presenting 8 keys […]
Introducing… FruWiki.com!
Monday, April 7th, 2008Drum roll, please!
I’ve been working on a project that I hope you will enjoy. As regular readers know, I’ve been trying to live more frugally — and having some success despite my love of fashion, food, and gadgets. I believe that being frugal is not about self-deprivation, but rather about prioritizing […]
Shop it to me
Sunday, April 6th, 2008This is not a paid endorsement. I have received no compensation for enthusiasm expressed here.
I just wanted to spread the news about a neat service I came across. The site is Shop It To Me. It’s free to sign up, you check the brands you like, your sizing info, your price range, […]
Are you really saving time by not doing it yourself?
Friday, April 4th, 2008I read a lot of blogs on saving money and therefore come across a lot of DIY projects, from how to darn socks to how to refill a brita filter. Regardless of what the project is, there seems to always be at least one naysayer who insists that the time they would lose doing […]
My favorite discount store
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008No, this isn’t a paid advertisement.
I’ve read a lot lately about how people have started shopping in cheaper stores because of all the economic problems we’re having here in the U.S. People who would never set foot in a discount stores are taking a second look at them, even as some still worry about […]
I’m sick of stuff
Saturday, March 29th, 2008Warning, a bit of a weekend rant.
Tags: De-stressing, Giving, Green Living, Home & Garden, Organization & Decluttering, Priorities, Productivity, Saving Money, Saving Time, Spending Money
Related Posts:
Yard sale money leads to shopping — but some good buys (3)
Wow, we should go for a walk everyday (7)
Why walking is a luxury and I have a gym membership (2)
Why should you care about what’s “in” this […]
Shoes over pants, Fashion passions and shopping dislikes
Monday, March 24th, 2008There’s a reason why I have an obscene number of shoes. Whenever I go clothes shopping, I make a b-line for the shoes section.
It doesn’t matter what I’m there to look for, I’m hardly in the door when the shoe section starts calling me. Fortunately, I tend to shop mostly at Ross […]
A library just for looks?
Thursday, March 6th, 2008I came across Books by the foot through this post on The Consumerist. The idea is simple, you pay Strand Bookstore so much money per foot of books suitable for use as decoration (up to $400 for a foot of “antique leather” books). My first reaction was, “Wow, that’s such a rip-off! […]
The Fabulous! Festival for March ‘08
Monday, March 3rd, 2008Welcome to the March edition of The Fabulous! Festival, a blog carnival dedicated to looking and feeling fa-bu-lous. This month’s submissions were particularly fabulous, with posts on topics from how much should one really spend on a wardrobe to sexy sundresses and burlesque tease. Here are my top ten picks.
Beauty
To maintain […]
Celebrating friendship
Monday, March 3rd, 2008I wanted to write this post earlier, but the words just didn’t come. You see, one of the reasons that my friend Katy and I planned some retail therapy yesterday was that a year ago, our best friend Danielle was in a fatal car crash on her way to work. She was living […]
Wardrobe update
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008So you know how I said recently that I was going to try not to spend a lot replacing the clothes that I weeded from my wardrobe? Well, that didn’t last long.
I returned the clothes with tags to Ross and got a little over $100 in store credit. Yikes, I know! I […]
Trying to be frugal: Movies and television
Thursday, February 21st, 2008This post is part of a series on the frugal things that my husband and I do — as well as some things we’re still working on. For more background information, please check out the introduction to the series. Other posts in the series will appear as links in the comments section.
My husband […]
Am I missing something about YogaToes?
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008So, I keep seeing advertisements for YogaToes in the back of fashion magazines. They look like a heavy duty version of the toe spacers I use when I give myself a pedicure, but they’re supposed to help with all sorts of foot problems caused by toes being squeezed together in shoes. I was curious […]
Re: When poor folks have better crap than you
Monday, February 11th, 2008I was just re-reading When poor folks have better crap than you at Wise Bread. It still makes me laugh because it reminds me of couple years ago when I was interning at a local middle school not exactly in the richest part of town. I admit, I was a bit jealous that […]
Re: Our high, high standard of living
Friday, February 8th, 2008Last year, Philip Brewer wrote a really interesting article on Wise Bread called Our high, high standard of living. I want to share it with you because I’m still thinking about it months later.
Here’s the first paragraph:
In the 1950s and 1960s, a working man could support a family at a middle-class standard of […]
Trying to be frugal: Drinking cheaper
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008This post is part of a series on the frugal things that my husband and I do — as well as some things we’re still working on. For more background information, please check out the introduction to the series. Other posts in the series will appear as links in the comments section.
The money […]
Trying to be frugal: The series
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008My husband and I have been trying to cut down our costs, so I’ve been reading a lot of frugal blogs and particularly lists of frugal ideas. What surprises me, though, is how many things we already do. It’s easy to feel smug, but a quick look at the numbers shows that we […]
The ongoing quest for fabulous pink shoes
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008I’ve been looking for bright pink shoes for some time, now. It’s a little obsession of mine.
Unfortunately, it’s not a color that comes up very often in the discount stores that I shop at, and I try not to buy too much stuff online because every time I do it makes it […]
Oh, the horror!
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008After a few unplanned weekend purchases, like this gorgeous fuchsia trench coat, I decided that I had better start curbing my spending one day at a time. So, today I made it a point not to buy a darn thing.
So far so good, except I know what I’m going to be […]
Call me a box of crayons
Monday, January 28th, 2008So, I’ve been going crazy for color this season. Actually, it started this time last year — during the season of black and white. My closet is still recovering since that’s when I bought a lot of my current wardrobe. And the mustard yellow summer we had didn’t help me one bit […]
Re: The rise of the non-label & quiet luxury
Thursday, January 24th, 2008In light of the recent discussion on signalling wealth, I found this post at Fashion Tribes particularly interesting. One of the major trends predicted is “luxury that whispers”, clothing and accessories that are still luxurious in their quality and details, but that don’t scream “made of money” quite so much in these tough economic […]
Re: There’s no shame in not being able to afford it
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008A couple days ago, Mrs. Micah wrote No shame: I can’t afford new clothes, itself a response to There’s no shame in not being able to afford it at Paid Twice.
I want to add my two cents because yesterday I wrote about signalling wealth and I want to be clear that while it’s […]
Re: Signalling wealth
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Recently, I read Signalling wealth at My Wealth Builder.
Here’s an excerpt:
Because it’s impolite to broadly share what one earns, people find other ways to signal wealth and elevate status within their community. Nicer cars, nicer houses, nicer clothing etc. are just some of the ways one can signal wealth to one’s peers. […]
Interested in participating in a project about middle class debt?
Monday, January 21st, 2008I was recently contacted by Kelly Shimoda, a photographer based in NYC who is working on a project about middle class debt. Her project sounds very interesting, and I appreciate her efforts to shine more light on this subject. Therefore, I’m sharing her information with you all in case any of you want […]
Re: When do the savings kick in?
Monday, January 21st, 2008I just read, When do the savings kick in? at Mrs. Micah: Finance for a freelance life. Then I read the follow-up, Saving the Enron way. Then I read both to my husband.
Mrs. Micah makes a really good point. You can’t save money on something if you weren’t going to […]
Quotes from my husband: On my shoe collection
Sunday, January 20th, 2008Today my husband and I are continuing to declutter our house. Things are really picking up now that we have more practice and our motivation has been renewed by the way things are taking shape here.
Earlier, my husband was laying on the bed with our cats taking a break when I started […]
Spending to save, or why I’m a bit kitchen obsessed right now
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008As a self-described microwave queen, I have to laugh a bit at how many food and kitchen-related posts I’ve been writing. Don’t worry, I still plan on writing plenty of fashion/style related posts here, even though I’m writing a lot on that topic over at The Bargain Queens. However, I’m really excited to […]
Finally found our perfect canisters, sort of
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008Last Saturday I wrote about how our search for a nice set of canisters ended up with us buying $400 worth of furniture, but no canisters. Well, we’re enjoying the furniture, and we finally found the perfect canisters, sort of.
I had looked and looked online for some nice canisters so that I could store […]
I stink at not shopping
Saturday, January 12th, 2008So, my husband and I keep saying that we can’t spend any more until his next pay check. And today, I was hoping to not go shopping at all. Sounds easy, right?
Well here’s how we still spent over $400.
Tags: Home & Garden, Priorities, Saving Money, Spending Money
Related Posts:
Yard sale money leads to shopping — but some good […]
Why walking is a luxury and I have a gym membership
Monday, January 7th, 2008It’s that time again. If you’re like many people, one of your New Year’s resolutions was to get healthy and loose weight. I admit, it was one of mine. I plan to get back to the gym and get something for my money. Yes, I have a gym membership. Yes, […]
Quotes from my husband: Regarding our recent blender purchase
Sunday, January 6th, 2008Last Halloween, our Cuisinart blender burnt up while trying to make hummus — pretty pathetic if you ask me. We wanted to wait and find the perfect replacement, which I hope we did since it’s now on its way (if it works out, I’ll tell you about it later).
Now, my husband […]
The teapot that changed my drinking habits
Friday, January 4th, 2008I’ve seen several bloggers recommend tea makers as a frugal kitchen appliance, but I always thought it was a silly idea. After all, it doesn’t take much to boil some water and steep some tea bags, whether you’re making a single serving or a batch of sweet tea for your family.
Yet despite […]
Trying out the navy nail polish trend
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008I’ve never been one to follow nail polish trends. I’ve certainly made it known that I prefer more natural looks like a soft French manicure or light pink polish. Outside of October, red is about the wildest I’ve gone with nail color, and then it usually looks awful, maybe because my skin is […]
Best of Fabulously Broke in the City
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008One of my New Year’s resolutions is to spread the link love to my blogging friends. One of my favorite blogs is Fabulously Broke in the City, and so I’m really honored that Fabulously Broke comments so frequently here and often links to posts here and at The Bargain Queens.
Well, FB, it’s […]
Why eating healthy for cheap is a complex, and often heated issue
Monday, December 31st, 2007I read a lot of blogs on saving money, and sometimes I even follow their advice. While I usually don’t comment much on those blogs, I often read the discussions and it amazes how heated the discussions can get. There is plenty of judgement to go around and a lot of people think […]
Quotes from my husband: On the recent cutting of my credit card
Monday, December 31st, 2007Last night I sacrificed my AmEx card. My husband didn’t say a lot at first, just “O.k.” and “the shredder isn’t plugged in and I can’t reach the outlet right now.” Then later there were these two gems:
You’ll have to live vicariously through your readers.
Yeah… Please go buy […]
Raiding my husband’s closet
Sunday, December 30th, 2007I hate shopping for pants. I don’t really like wearing pants. I have one, maybe two pairs of jeans that fit. However, I occasionally have to wear pants.
A few days ago my band director called me up and asked if I’d mind playing with the university’s pep band at a ladies basketball […]
Introducing the Smiths
Sunday, December 30th, 2007There’s a really good post over at There But For The Grace of God called Introducing the Smiths.
The post is rather long, but it’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’ve ever looked down on others for their spending habits — and haven’t we all? It’s another great reminder that appearances can be deceiving, […]
Pondering on my picky philosophy
Saturday, December 29th, 2007So far this week, I’ve done a poor job of not spending. No, it’s not that I’m an impulsive buyer — not exactly. I make a mental list of what I want/need, I compare prices, I research reviews, I use coupon codes online, and I even sometimes use coupons in person. Part […]
Our weekend cat-astrophe
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007Normally I think of saving as a way to buy more for less. This weekend, though, I was reminded about the importance of having a savings account — and about what really matters when it comes to spending.
I recently posted that I’d be shifting the focus of the blog. One of […]
A new focus for the New Year
Monday, December 24th, 2007In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a small change on the blog. Under the title there is a new tagline: “High class, low cost”. It’s just a sign of things to come, though.
When I started this blog, I knew that I didn’t want it to be just another fashion or beauty […]
Crazy for a cranberry cloche
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007Well, if you’ve been reading the blog lately, you know that I am absolutely crazy for hats, especially my two tweed, Betmar cloches which you can see here. I got the two tweed cloches locally, then ordered the third color, cranberry, from DelMonico Hats on Amazon.com. There it is to the left. […]
Enjoying luxuries, chasing Luxury, and the problem with fakes
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007“Keeping up with the Joneses” and generally outdoing one’s neighbors has existed, well, longer than humankind itself. Competition is part of nature, and it’s part of being human. However, add to the mix a world of luxury items, credit cards, and industries whose goal is to tell you why you absolutely must have […]
An indispensable accessory for holiday cooks
Saturday, November 17th, 2007The holiday season is upon us, a time to gather with our loved ones — and impress them with our hot holiday looks, fantastic ability to find the perfect gifts, and even our culinary skills. But in the mad dash to get out the Thanksgiving feast or Christmas dinner, it can be hard to […]
Shoe shopping and peep-toe shoes
Thursday, November 8th, 2007So, tonight I thought I’d take advantage of the sale at Payless. The deals weren’t as great as I hoped, but I still managed to buy 4 pairs of shoes and a clutch that matches two pairs for a final total of $92.38 (thought I may return one or two pairs depending on how […]
Bargain Queen Posts, 9/17 - 9/24/07
Monday, September 24th, 2007Here is a list of my recent posts on The Bargain Queen. I hope you’ll check them out. You can also check out my profile page there to see my latest posts at any time.
Don’t forget to comment on your favorite bargains over at The Bargain Queen site before September 30th for a chance to […]
Bargain Queen Posts, 9/12 - 9/16/07
Sunday, September 16th, 2007Here is a list of my recent posts on The Bargain Queen. I hope you’ll check them out. You can also check out my profile page there to see my latest posts at any time.
Bargain Finds
Little black dress, US$15
Rope Wedge Sandals, US$7.49
Ruched ruffle halter dress, US$34.99
Olivine CZ ring, US$24.99
Advice
How to Choose Better Quality Items
Tags: Fashion, […]
Shopping for diabetic shoes
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007Ahhh, the pain I will suffer for cute shoes. While I love shoes that are both comfortable and cute, I have also been to known to wear shoes that give me blisters despite the fact that I end up with band aids on my feet. I’m fortunate that I can just shrug off […]
Bag shopping considerations
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007As you can guess from Monday’s post, I love bags. It wasn’t always so. When I used to shop for bags, my main concerns were whether it was neutral enough to more or less complement everything I wore and whether it was large enough to carry a book and my wallet (the book […]
Finally, I got some colorful accessories
Monday, August 13th, 2007This weekend sales were in full force between “back to school” sales and just general end of season clearance. Add to that a tax free weekend here. The mall was packed despite temperatures in the high 90s. And it felt like 120 as I walked the entire length of the mall parking […]
Why should you care about what’s “in” this season?
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007I’m not a fashion expert. I admit, I can hardly pronounce the designer names mentioned in fashion magazines, let alone tell you anything about them. I only get as far as I do on the names because I’ve studied a few foreign languages. Therefore, I try to stay away from writing about […]
How to Be a Budget Fashionista
Sunday, August 5th, 2007Disclaimer: I did receive this book free of charge from the author with the understanding that I would review it. However, the author has at no time given me any type of input in regards to the type of review. As with all my reviews, the review is my honest opinion.
I just […]
Discount stores aren’t just for cheap clothing
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007Today I went shopping with a friend. We hit the mall, then T.J. Maxxx and Ross, two of the local discount clothing stores. All in all, it was a great shopping day. I bought two cute dresses for about $20 each, and another for about $30. I even managed to find […]
Consider paying more for everyday clothes
Thursday, July 12th, 2007Right now, my everyday wardrobe consists almost exclusively of dresses. In particular, they tend to be black and white dresses because I started my dress shopping this past winter and spring when “black and white” was huge. Now, I love black and white, but I want more color in my wardrobe and unfortunately […]
Leather bags, an affordable luxury
Thursday, July 5th, 2007If you read my recent post, Can’t Afford to NOT Be Picky - Looking Great on a Budget, you know that I believe that it is important to make purchases carefully so as to not look cheap, especially when one is on a budget. Something very important to consider when purchasing clothing and accessories […]
Can’t afford to NOT be picky: Looking great on a budget
Monday, July 2nd, 2007There’s a saying that goes, “Beggars can’t be choosers”. For many people who are just plain broke, clothes are understandably their last priority. However, there a lot of people - whether they are broke or just trying to be frugal - who buy truly awful clothes because they think that they are saving […]
The hunt for glasses: Part II
Monday, May 28th, 2007In my previous post, The Hunt for Glasses, Part I, I gave a gave a few suggestions on what to do before shopping for glasses - whether they are prescription eye glasses or sunglasses. Now we’re ready to go shopping.
Unless you are wearing contacts, the obvious problem is how do you try on glasses […]
The hunt for glasses: Part I
Monday, May 28th, 2007My husband had a nice pair of Nike Flexon eye glasses until a few months ago when the bridge just broke in his hands (apparently this is not all that uncommon). So, we started looking for a pair of glasses. Actually, we were looking for two pairs. After he bought his last […]
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