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Living a More Purposeful Life One Cent at a Time

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My Money Did Better than Me: Q1 2019 Recap

April 3, 2019 by Penny 6 Comments
2019 Q1 Goals Recap

Happy April! The birds are chirping. The sun is staying out later. And it’s snowed, it’s rained, and it’s been 50 and sunny…all in the past week. Welcome to springtime in Chicago! With the arrival of spring (and the other three seasons that also sporadically burst onto the scene), I thought it was finally fitting … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Plan Tagged: charitable giving, charity, debt, finances, Fitbit, goals, green, health, mortgage, retirement, roth, steps, sustainability

6 Ways We Get Free and Cheap Toys

March 20, 2019 by Penny 4 Comments
How to Get Cheap and Free Toys

Kids are really expensive. But what if you can get cheap toys? Cheap toys when they’re babies, toddlers, and kids. OK, never mind cheap. What if you learn how to get free toys? Kids are expensive anyway. But that doesn’t mean that learning how to score toys for less isn’t important. It is. In fact, it’s become … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Save Tagged: child, children, eco-friendly, environmental, free, frugal, garage sales, green, kids, plastic, play, pretend, savings, secondhand, thrift shops, thrifting, toys

Shoe Recycling at DSW to Declutter and Earn Cash…Kind Of

March 11, 2019 by Penny 22 Comments
DSW Shoe Recyling Program

In the name of science this blog, I attempted a thing: I recycled my shoes. More specifically, I tried recycling my shoes at DSW. I’ve learned a lot of lessons decluttering. One of the most important lessons is that sometimes things are just garbage. But sometimes things aren’t. That’s how I felt about these shoes. … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Declutter Tagged: closet, clutter, consumerism, declutter, decluttering, DSW, DSW VIP, environment, environmentalism, green, recycling, shoe recycle, shoe recyling, shoes, shopping

What I Decluttered & How I Know I’m Not Done: January 2019

February 4, 2019 by Penny 11 Comments
Not Done Decluttering

Even though the polar vortex has passed, we’re still deep in the throes of winter here. And for whatever reason (OK, we all know the reason – it’s the never-ending gray and cold), time seems to drag. But we’re already a month into the new year, and one of my biggest priorities for this year … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Declutter Tagged: clothing pantry, clutter, consumerism, donating, donations, Freecycle, green, Marie Kondo, OfferUp, Poshmark, reselling, selling

Our 2018 Summer Goal Checkpoint

July 16, 2018 by Penny 11 Comments

I contend there’s no better city in the world in the summertime than Chicago. Kanye put it in a song, so it must be true. Though summertime Chi does coincide with construction season (if you’re not familiar, that’s any season that there isn’t still snow on the ground), summer is a pretty magical time here. … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Plan Tagged: 403(b), ecofriendly, environment, goals, green, income, investments, planning, progress, side hustle, summer

Five Areas That I’m Spending in This Year

January 8, 2018 by Penny 33 Comments

It started with a plunger. A few days into the new year, I noticed our guest toilet was draining a little slowly. Considering the previous owners thought nothing of using the heating vents, the gas fireplace, and the bathroom sinks as garbage disposals, this fact didn’t really surprise me. In fact, like any former Girl … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Spend Tagged: blogging, decluttering, environment, green, hobbies, organization, passion, spending

Four Ways We’re Preparing to Earn Less

February 20, 2017 by Penny 34 Comments

Earlier this month, I turned in my paperwork for my twelve-week maternity leave. While I plan on doing a post in the near future with all the gory, number-crunching details, the short story is it is entirely unpaid. Our income won’t drop for another five months, but we’re already looking hard at what to do … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Save Tagged: cut in pay, ecofriendly, green, less income, Poshmark, resale, saving, used

Simple & Inexpensive Teacher Gifts

April 25, 2016 by Penny 17 Comments

With Teacher Appreciation Week and the end of the school year fast approaching, some people might be considering giving gifts to their children’s teachers. In fact, Pinterest is burgeoning with creative teacher gifts, many of which fail to take into consideration the cost and talent it might take to design the crafts. When it comes … [Read more…]

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Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: cheap, eco-friendly, garden, gift, gift ideas, green, plants, reuse, teacher

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