The warm weather faded dramatically fast in typical Midwestern fall fashion. Overnight temperatures are already flirting with freezing, and the days aren’t nearly as warm as they were even a week ago. While there are many things I adore about the change in seasons, there’s no doubt that it’s easier to have free & frugal … [Read more…]
Kids can be expensive, and clothes can certainly drive up the cost. When you’re prone to both impulse spending and emotional spending, you have to keep up your guard. (That’s my PSA to me from me.) Of course, clothing isn’t the number one reason kids are costly. But if we can cut costs, be eco-friendly, … [Read more…]
To say that this hasn’t been the spring we imagined is an understatement. Our usual free and frugal fun adventures are comprised of library visits, playground adventures, and children’s museum explorations. So when the pandemic and subsequent lockdown more or less shook the Etch-a-Sketch of options clean, we had to rethink what free and frugal … [Read more…]
If you’re not a stranger to the blog, you probably already know this about me. When I’m stressed, I shop. The same is true for just about any other emotion, too. There’s a lot of talk about the endorphin rush and all the other science-y explanations for why people impulse shop. And those things are … [Read more…]
What a week it’s been in the personal finance world. The market turmoil continues, as does the panic over COVID-19 the fact that our local Target can’t quite seem to keep up its stock of toilet paper or frozen pizza. Unlike some people, I’m not choosing to tune out the daily news cycle. Instead, I’m choosing … [Read more…]
There’s so much talk about teaching kids about money. When do you start? How do you start? What’s saying too much versus saying too little? I can’t claim that I have that entirely figured out. Heck, I can’t claim that I have anything about parenting entirely figured out. But I do know that our toddler does already … [Read more…]
There are all sorts of ways to make kids expensive. Celebrating every holiday for instance. But as a family that really does love to celebrate, no matter how made up the occasion, we knew that we were going to say yes to Valentine’s Day! We knew we wanted to avoid a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift … [Read more…]
“Wait. You’re bringing him?” “You’re taking a baby there?” “What are you going to do with a toddler in New Orleans?” This past December, as we planned a short trip to New Orleans, we were met with so much surprise when people found out we were making it a family trip. Like every other aspect … [Read more…]
In what can only be described as a Herculean effort fool’s errand, I announced to my family that I wanted to finish Christmas shopping this year by the end of November. The fallout was mighty. However, the most unexpected consequence of my hubris came from my mom. Namely, she met my request with one of … [Read more…]
You probably thought the definition of insanity was doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. That is…until you read the title of this post. Then, maybe you reworked your definition, huh? But we actually purposefully make the choice to take our toddler grocery shopping. Every. Single. Week. And we like the results! In … [Read more…]