The strange things that happened this Christmas

Organizing while I listen to Christmas music and wear sweatpants. This is my perfect day. Christmas is a week and a half away, and instead of scrambling around for presents, or running from place to place, sucking up as much Yuletide fun as humanly possible, we're decluttering our house. We've got family and friends coming … Continue reading The strange things that happened this Christmas →

My list

In an interview about his documentary, “Playing with FIRE,” Scott Rieckens said he asked his wife to make a list of things that make her happy during the week. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the documentary yet, so I’m not sure if they go into her list, but, according to Scott, it included … Continue reading My list →

A word about this last bleeping credit card

And then there was one. Our last personal credit card. Is it a giant sum? That's a relative question. To some, like my frugal-minded parents, the total would make their jaws drop. Many others will snort and say, "Is that all?" or, "Oh, that's not that bad." And neither opinion matters to us. It's our … Continue reading A word about this last *bleeping* credit card →

Summer update

It's been so long since my last post, it took 10 minutes to remember how to get back into my own blog. Speaking of slow but eventual progress, we've almost reached the half-way point to paying off our student loan/credit card debt. With the student loans paid off, and a couple of "small" (no such … Continue reading Summer update →

Missing out

Today was the first time we really missed out on something fun because of the budget lockdown. For Saint Patrick's Day, friends were kissing winter goodbye at an indoor water park that's about an hour from us. Just the tickets alone for this outing would have set us back well over $100, not to mention … Continue reading Missing out →

Staying home to put water on the fire

After reading my way through the entire Mr. Money Mustache blog in a couple of weeks, one message in particular lodged in my brain. If you have debt, Triple M says, you need to imagine that your head is on fire. Debt is toasting your noggin like a marshmallow. This helpful image – my head … Continue reading Staying home to put water on the fire →