A Frugal Living Blog by a Frugal Guy

Finding Deals at Groupon?

2010-12-19T14:24:00.010-05:00

The latest thing being discussed at the place I work is Groupon. Apparently, until recently, they did not have deals available where I live.The idea seems to be that they will get a price deal for a quantity purchase and then offer that quantity deal to registered Groupon subscribers. If you are planning to buy certain goods it certainly couldn't hurt to sign up and see if they offer what you

Accidental Frugality -- Good Neighbors

2010-10-03T11:26:00.003-04:00

During a recent windy storm the shed in my back yard suffered damage. A small piece of wood that held the door closed broke in half and pulled out one of its nails. My new neighbor saw this happen, ran out in the storm, and screwed the door shut. This probably saved my poor old shed from total destruction.Yesterday afternoon when I saw my neighbor working in his own yard, finishing up before

Fixing The Economy: Imported Oil

2010-09-13T15:16:00.010-04:00

How much oil do we import? Would you believe that we import approximately 10,000,000 barrels per day of oil? That's according to the EIA. Guess how much money that costs. At $75 per barrel this represents $750,000,000 per day. That's $273,750,000,000 per year. Perhaps we can just round it to $275 billion...I don't know about you but I can't help wondering about how many domestic jobs that

Fixing The Economy: Incentives

2010-09-05T09:46:00.009-04:00

We all know the economy is broken in some way. We only have to look at the jobless claims numbers to see that. The bigger question is why?While there are plenty of theories around, some reasonable and some not, I've got my own and I'm not afraid to share it with you. Don't worry, this isn't going to be political in nature.So, what's wrong? To put it simply our incentives are out of control.

Recent Events

2010-07-03T10:58:00.008-04:00

Since I last wrote my wife and I have moved halfway across the continent, started new jobs, and after renting a place for a short while we are now in the final stages of buying a new home.On a financial note we've both set up self-directed retirement accounts that we'll fund via automatic payroll deductions. The mortgage we are getting will be paid back on a bi-weekly schedule and we'll be able

Cutting Out The Carbs: 5 Food Tips

2010-02-13T19:26:00.008-05:00

It's time to do another stint of low carbohydrate dietary adjustment.As always, the big question is what to eat? Everybody knows you can turn to meat, cheese and certain vegetables, but that can get boring.Here are five alternative foods that I've been turning to in an effort to mix things up:Lindt Excellence 85% Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate is bursting with antioxidant phyto-nutrients. Also,

Standing Back Up After A Life Crash

2010-01-30T09:31:00.007-05:00

Is this what happened to your life during the recent financial crisis? No, I'm afraid I'm not being funny. Many millions of families have been and continue to live through incredible turmoil.While this current crisis didn't slam me into a wall I have been there. This is why people are searching for topics in this blog so often. Notably, stealth living and stealth van living both show up in my

The Cheese Is Old And Moldy

2010-01-10T17:00:00.006-05:00

Well, no, it isn't really. However, while thinking about writing this post I was reminded of a couple Brendan Fraser movies. One is Encino Man. In this movie Brendan's character avoids a fight by suggesting that the cheese is old and moldy. However, this isn't what snapped to mind right away. What came to mind first was A Blast From the Past.At this point, both of these items are in fact a

Early Resolution Progress

2010-01-03T18:11:00.007-05:00

I'm pleased to report some good progress on two of my New Years resolutions (see last post). Since not much time has passed I obviously haven't gotten in shape yet!Where things have been moving is in positive communication and putting work into my pet projects.In fact, Grokodile (a pet project) is now a community mashup. Each city will hold blogs, businesses, local videos, local tweets as well

Happy Frugal 2010

2010-01-01T09:14:00.015-05:00

It's that time of year again. It's time to do some introspection, figure out what you do well, what you could do better, and then find the resolve to set some new goals.Oh, oh. My improvement list is a bit longer than I'd like this year! In my own defense the trials and tribulations of raising a little one might have something to do with this...My resolutions will not be frugal related this

Grinch At The Zoo

2009-12-12T13:28:00.010-05:00

It's not that I dislike Christmas. I don't dislike holidays at all. However, I do detest the commercial aspects of Christmas and I especially detest the crowds of shopping zombies infesting the mall.Now I understand why there have been movies and video games about zombies attacking the few remaining normal people at the mall.Life's actually like that! Well, okay, perhaps not exactly. In any

Your Toast Is Toast

2009-05-01T23:38:00.004-04:00

Just a quick tidbit for the blog.If you happen to get an order of garlic toast, sometimes known as garlic bread, and you leave it lying around overnight to dry out what would you do?Wait, don't throw it out!As long as it still has some moisture, or if you put it back in the paper bag it often comes in and add a few drops of water, you can nuke it back to life.Talk about saving bread...

Blog Directory Updates

2009-04-11T09:41:00.003-04:00

It has been quite a while since I've mentioned Grokodile. This is the blog directory that I've been slowly working on over the last couple of years.Anyway, since I have recently started to participate on Twitter I've found that it can be very useful for discovering useful information. For example, if you follow TechCrunch you'll be kept up to date on what is happening the tech community.I've

Frugality vs Utility

2009-04-04T13:05:00.022-04:00

While a lot of us would agree that frugality is good, and a lot of people need to be frugal during periods of economic risk, there are still good reasons to spend a little bit more than you absolutely have to.I'm talking about utility. What is the value of the item that you purchase? What is it going to contribute to your lifestyle?Here are some examples to consider:Purchase AlternativesTunaNo

Let Them Eat Cake

2009-02-21T11:50:00.009-05:00

Well, the stimulus package has passed, hasn't it? There hasn't been a day that has gone by without all kinds of criticism from every corner.I think the only way to stop the criticism is to declare a war on the economy. This way, whatever level of spending is attained can be justified. After all, anything goes in a time of war. We've been hearing that mantra for nearly a decade so I doubt

Economic Middle Ground?

2009-02-08T13:20:00.007-05:00

The news media was in a quandary last week. Is it a stimulus package or is it wasteful spending? If you listen to all the talking heads you'll end up in a panic in no time.Look, take a step back and ask yourself some questions:1) Is the global economy rapidly shrinking due to a collapse in the credit system?2) Are millions of people losing their jobs?3) Is the proposed spending designed to

Earnings Review: Infolinks

2009-02-04T12:42:00.013-05:00

Searching for ways to earn a little income from your blog? Well, I believe I've found a way to earn revenues without violating your editorial standards. For example, I don't know about you, but I've decided I won't do any type of paid posting or paid review junk.The search for respectable revenue hasn't been easy. For example, here is what happened when I tried AdBrite.Are you wondering why

College Costs

2009-01-17T16:24:00.007-05:00

This post is a bit of a departure from my normal fare. It's not really a review, as I don't even know anyone using this service, and it is a commercial program.To make a long story short, I'm intrigued about the Upromise* program. From reading their web site it looks like they encourage students to enroll in their program, for free, to earn money for college by using a points style card when

Job Loss And Broken Dreams

2008-12-07T09:20:00.007-05:00

I see a lot more people arriving at my blog because they are searching for things such as extreme frugality. Having gone through an extended period of underemployment it breaks my heart.Wait, don't worry, this isn't a pity party!What I do feel is important is getting through to people that look down on those that suffer through employment and economic issues. You see, when you get a taste of

A View On The Collapse

2008-11-15T09:36:00.007-05:00

I've heard a lot of politically motivated talk about the global financial crisis. There are some who'd like to place all the blame at the feet of a couple of government programs.However, I'd like to highlight one of the factors that I consider important. It tangentially deals with the issue of regulation.The reason for our crisis can be put down to one simple word. Greed!It was reckless greed

Economic Turmoil

2008-10-23T14:56:00.014-04:00

Although nobody has ever cited an actual source it has come to be understood that there is an ancient curse that involves living during interesting times. Well, these are certainly interesting times.So, what should we do now that there seems to be an impending economic storm?My first suggestion is that you review the Financial Risk Advisory System. Look at stages that are worse than where you

Fighting Debt: Turning The Corner

2008-08-29T23:35:00.004-04:00

The battle against debt is finally starting to happen. It had been months and months since I became fully employed and the sheer inertia of mandatory and deferred expenses kept me from doing anything that felt like forward progress.Now, finally, progress. Progress is fantastic. It's motivating. With respect to my last post, the logjam is finally broken!The result of all this monumental

Whittling Away at the Backlog

2008-08-02T12:20:00.012-04:00

Wow, sometimes it's not easy to simply turn a corner and actually end up going in a new direction.Things like vacations and visitors, a wedding, losses in the family as well as direct financial issues that have become more pressing, due to years of neglect, all get in the way of that new direction. So, like the title suggests, progress is slow.However, while the debt goal isn't moving quickly,

Time To Get Debt Free

2008-06-07T11:43:00.009-04:00

When you think about becoming debt free do these ideas come to mind? Insurmountable, herculean, titanic, hopeless, or perhaps even impossible?These are some of the thoughts that can stand in the way of eliminating debt. Other concepts, perhaps such as deprivation, are also wandering around threatening to make an appearance.How on earth can mere mortals tackle problems of this scope?If you have

Back From The Brink

2008-04-12T11:23:00.005-04:00

Up from the depths, 30 stories high, breathing fire, his head in the clouds. Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla!Okay, that may be a slight over dramatization, maybe, but I'm feeling pretty good. It's nice to have a budget and, simultaneously, an income that supports it. Funny how that works, isn't it?Though I was recently feeling overwhelmed with the concept of actually spending money, I think I'm