tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:36:20 +0000Broke Girl knows there is life, liberty and the possibility of happiness well beyond a little old paycheck. If your own personal economy has slipped into recession, keep it dialed here to help sustain your own lower-stress, higher-satisfaction lifestyle.http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/bebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)Blogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-105980578648843374Mon, 04 May 2009 02:29:00 +00002009-05-03T21:32:23.777-05:00In today's New York Times Metropolitan Diary Column:DEAR DIARY: Visiting New York City a few years ago, I was walking down Avenue of the Americas in the 50s when I noticed a man selling watches out of a briefcase atop a garbage can. About eight people were eyeing the watches, a typical sight on these streets. One potential customer asked, “How can you sell these so cheaply?” The man http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/zOu56NJLoaU/cheap-cause-theyre-stolen.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/zOu56NJLoaU" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/05/cheap-cause-theyre-stolen.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-4745331565130683748Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:11:00 +00002009-04-21T04:12:35.506-05:00A PictorialSo yesterday I took the subway to the Loop.I spot this advertisement featuring a happy dancing girl. Looks like she has won the lottery. Must be an Illinois Lottery ad. (We hit a bump in the tracks as I click my iPhone.)No, not the lottery; even better than that! [Rant alert]She has just [euphemism alert] modified her mortgage in a DebtStoppers Bankruptcy.She has [euphemism alert] http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/HeYLV0NGoi8/ad-on-subway-train.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/HeYLV0NGoi8" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/ad-on-subway-train.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-9099039643167113891Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:13:00 +00002009-04-17T02:09:27.654-05:00I don't think most people do this.First off, Hallmark, Dayspring, and the other card companies just aren't that funny, and they definitely are not personal. So I make my own cards, which I remember first doing when I was about eight. It's way more fun. And it's also conveniently free, except for the 42 cents to mail a letter; 27 for postcards.I make my own not so much to save money (like $3.50 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/XY-uPnu1XSs/greeting-cards-by-me.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/XY-uPnu1XSs" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/greeting-cards-by-me.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-4780355054724894343Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:44:00 +00002009-04-15T23:55:16.012-05:00It's certainly not the first time I've done this. Offer a beverage or snack to the driver of a car behind or adjacent to me on a backed-up highway or at a stoplight. It's my feeling that it just isn't right to eat in front of others without first offering a share.After three and a half hours in the salon chair having my hair altered into some beautiful woven hues of auburn, golden flaxseed and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/JFq-JIZlCnc/broke-but-silly-happy.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/JFq-JIZlCnc" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/broke-but-silly-happy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-7845226000700789213Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:19:00 +00002009-04-15T23:37:52.328-05:00It seems a day doesn't pass in which I do not meet another (financially) troubled soul. An apartment building which I represent, bringing in prospective leasees, has recently lost a number of tenants. I generally do very well to keep it at 100 percent occupancy, but we've recently slipped to 88, due entirely to tenant job losses.Two tenants are vacating to bunk with friends; a middle-aged http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/jv2fwtXVgms/relativity_13.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/jv2fwtXVgms" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/relativity_13.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-8167875528740731705Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:03:00 +00002009-04-09T00:03:00.823-05:00Ever since they first sprouted up in my infancy, I have seen the dentist every six months for a tooth cleaning and checkup. For the first time--ever--I've gone a bit past the six month mark. I have a fantastic dentist, whose office is in an equally fantastic plot of real estate in an upscale neighborhood. Since I have not had dental insurance in ten years, and since my dental bills of late have http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/uLYPdZ2I6DI/get-your-groupon.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/uLYPdZ2I6DI" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/get-your-groupon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-1622057574568368835Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:21:00 +00002009-04-08T01:31:43.933-05:00I've been feeling a bit--well, guilty isn't the right word, but concerned about or aware of my consumption of resources. There are three toilets in my home, but I can only sit on one at a time. There are two showers and two baths, and today I used one of each, lingering in the hot water of my swirling whirlpool tub to soothe the painful knot that developed in my back last week.(Note to self: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/8eQDkCvYARQ/stuff-to-throw-other-stuff-in.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/8eQDkCvYARQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/stuff-to-throw-other-stuff-in.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-793490074070970989Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:05:00 +00002009-04-22T00:44:13.727-05:00Anecdote from The New York Times "Metropolitan Diary" column, 6 April, 2009.As I was waiting to take the bus across the George Washington Bridge to the A train in Washington Heights, a couple in a car stopped to ask me if I’d like a ride across the bridge. It seems that the $8 toll is reduced if there are three or more people in the car. Before getting in the car, I jokingly asked the driver if http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/uW2NgUuvcKg/saving-dollar-sharing-ride.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/uW2NgUuvcKg" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/saving-dollar-sharing-ride.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-649971843031870386Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:52:00 +00002009-04-07T11:52:34.762-05:00Great story not to be missed: A father of three who once had a wife and a job lived nearly 13 years in garages, backyards and under bridges around New York City. His story was published in the New York Times under his byline, Cadillac Man. The title: "I Loved It Under the Viaduct; Still Do."Although he now lives in a 12' x 14' room with his girlfriend Carol, she worries that he is still homeless http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/Ps9Ab6ZLNl0/homeless-in-my-heart-and-other-riffs.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/Ps9Ab6ZLNl0" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/homeless-in-my-heart-and-other-riffs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-9176288749061527213Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:53:00 +00002009-04-06T23:47:21.753-05:00Yesterday I confessed to morphing into a bit of a coupon queen. (This may be why I continue to write this blog under a pseudonym, although 92 percent of my 13 readers know my identity. I admit to a residual slight sense of embarrassment about couponing, but have discovered it's not what it used to be, due to the the confluence of the 1) multiplicity of promotions for a new product's launch; 2) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/tcahOzBHEZw/coupon-strategies.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/tcahOzBHEZw" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/coupon-strategies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-7720748470581796770Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:00:00 +00002009-04-01T13:16:29.049-05:00coupon queenfrugal livingdiscountfinancially savvyOkay, my friends. This week I have crossed the threshold. I am officially one of those coupon queens, a money-saving mama, the broke girl extraordinaire.I have tapped into the world of free-ness. Not buy-one-get-one-free, or deeply discountedly cheap, but really free stuff and on rare occasions, after rebates, have ended up with more money than before I started buying the stuff.I shall warn you; http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/7ac6VDyRoGo/crossing-over.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/7ac6VDyRoGo" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/04/crossing-over.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-264406624693938136Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:43:00 +00002009-04-01T01:24:19.311-05:00"A Cold Season in the Hamptons," so led off the New York Times article of rueing owners and their cooling real estate values in the area very near the town Business Week recently reported to be the nation's richest: Brookville, New York.Well this line in the aforementioned article certainly caught my attention:"Prices were propelled upward by a tautological justification: if you were rich enough http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/pWGNa3geHcE/broke-as-character-test-or-truth-serum.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/pWGNa3geHcE" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/broke-as-character-test-or-truth-serum.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-3461896498347182387Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:08:00 +00002009-04-01T01:36:32.425-05:00Financial Observation 1: Google Saves Money in the KitchenI throw away far too much food—which often spoils because I forget I have it or I do not know what to prepare with it. Had buttermilk that I'd bought for some (now forgotten reason) that was still fresh; decided to use it up. Incorporated my new favorite cooking utensil, which is already saving me major $$$ by using perfectly good food http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/ptylctEegOs/money-diary.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/ptylctEegOs" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/money-diary.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-8655222782023575482Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:27:00 +00002009-03-26T08:29:26.757-05:00When one is broke, yet in pursuit of happiness, she tends to purchase more cheaply produced clothing and goods than when one is rich, in pursuit of happiness, and inclined to spend freely.I went to a Wal-Mart yesterday to buy some tees. Yes, dear readers, I've moved from Bloomies to Wal-Mart for stocking wardrobe essentials without skipping a beat. I bought a few tees, noting they read "Made in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/b8jXWKzvDz8/clothes-and-morals.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/b8jXWKzvDz8" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/clothes-and-morals.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-1066678724670034731Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:55:00 +00002009-03-23T08:00:04.689-05:00Another new (this one, a beautiful wood-paneled and modern) mansion going up in the neighborhood.This one, across the street from a park where, just 80 yards from the front door of this single-family home I spotted a man sleeping on a bench at 7:10 this morning surrounded by a few bags that appeared to be his net assets.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/UKd-uJM-quc/juxtaposition.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/UKd-uJM-quc" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/juxtaposition.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-4822136787092913700Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:55:00 +00002009-03-17T15:08:42.924-05:00Broke Girl is on hiatus until the flu passes. See you soon.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/MDe_ql8E6NM/hiatus.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/MDe_ql8E6NM" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/hiatus.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-7213173280064650154Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +00002009-03-13T01:28:25.664-05:00I mentioned that I locked myself out of my car for five hours last week.I didn't mention how that scenario served as a little therapeutic help for a financially frenzied friend of mine.I could have called a tow service for $55 to get me back in the car immediately. But I had an open schedule that day, the weather was sunny and warm, and so I opted for a free, but time-intensive alternative. (It http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/In2Sj8mHHNU/money-loss-and-control.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/In2Sj8mHHNU" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/money-loss-and-control.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-7503632865531263772Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:08:00 +00002009-03-13T01:25:22.584-05:00Okay, well, maybe I spoke a tad too quickly. As I said, I haven't yet started up my new ALLVOI phone service because the equipment hasn't arrived.I just read about the soon-to-be-released Google Voice, a revised version of GrandCentral, the phone manager service it acquired two years ago. I think I'll take a look at subscribing to Google Voice instead.It could take a serious swipe at telephone http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/Zm_Sat7U14Q/phone-revolution.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/Zm_Sat7U14Q" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/phone-revolution.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-1025342185541420987Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:11:00 +00002009-03-12T02:23:22.235-05:00Need to buy, rent or borrow? In a recession, everything's up for re-valuation. That's exactly what the stock market is—a re-valuation or re-pricing of the value of a company every day. And with the stock market valued lower, everything else might as well follow.Which is why I cannot figure out why Vonage just increased my phone service cost by 20% effective April 1. To $29.63.I have since http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/q9g_GeMCj-M/voip-gets-cheaper-and-i-get-smarter.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/q9g_GeMCj-M" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/01/voip-gets-cheaper-and-i-get-smarter.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-1916647055175091849Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:10:00 +00002009-03-13T01:18:49.652-05:00Went to cocktail party at quite possibly the swankiest estate I have set foot on. (Excepting that black-tie soirée I attended in the Throne Room of King George V's summer palace just outside Lisbon on the coast of Portugal, but that was years ago.) Anyway, when I drove up to the stone and iron-gated estate to roll down my window to inter-com the butler (well, the 16-year old son), it was clear http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/lGA1YpaIifk/who-is-rich.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/lGA1YpaIifk" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/who-is-rich.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-5291846588218796399Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:12:00 +00002009-03-09T03:22:44.336-05:00"What Broke Girl did this week in pursuit of a smart, savvy, low-maintenance low-waste lifestyle." Or..."Living Legally on the Lam: Broke Girl's Pursuit of a Low Cash-Consumption Lifestyle" Or..."Getting to Overflow on a Trickle of Cash Flow: Life in the New Economy"(I hate the words frugal, miserly, cheap...even thrifty, so am obliterating them from my vocabulary.) But anyway, here are some of http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/O32ehfvyAro/broke-girls-budget-last-week.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/O32ehfvyAro" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/broke-girls-budget-last-week.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-1468411334143883755Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:49:00 +00002009-03-06T01:33:16.496-06:00Some women are clever enough to get away with murder...until they are stupid enough to rat themselves out.Men have an easier time getting away with murder. As for women—as we saw in the UCLA study I wrote about on Tuesday—when we are under stress, we do not flee like the guys do; we run, and toward our girlfriends. Where we talk it out.Which is what a suburban Chicago self-proclaimed "http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/GfN9ZilUC4o/your-own-worst-snitch.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/GfN9ZilUC4o" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/your-own-worst-snitch.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-3821910713010245053Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:15:00 +00002009-03-05T01:24:23.084-06:00Receding wealth...barely employed slacker days,ever persevering.Recession, crisis—deny to identify.Love: ever hopeful.Vocabulary:crisis, afford, debt, casualty;words not for my lips.Bailout bombout.Printing billions of dollars'til there's no more ink.Today's sad headline:Fishermen Lost Hope to Sea;One Survivor Didn't.Spring, how I love thee!Crocuses, tulips, blossoms all—June: currency for my http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/MnU7rmgryCQ/haiku-for-times.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/MnU7rmgryCQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/haiku-for-times.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-5311557456801357843Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:25:00 +00002009-03-03T23:24:34.738-06:00This just in!A UCLA study indicates women respond to stress very differently than men. Since testing of human response to stress has always been about men, this (finally) egalitarian study is uncovering all new findings.Because women are not men.Gail Berkowitz reported, "It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research... upside down." Didn't we know this already? I think you http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/33yA46g-f7Q/men-fight-and-flee-women-tend-and.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/33yA46g-f7Q" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/men-fight-and-flee-women-tend-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377510773124207714.post-2201726298420085Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:02:00 +00002009-03-01T21:51:12.486-06:00miserlycoffee filterI seriously did that this morning. I was looking forward to enjoying a new caramel-flavored coffee when I discovered I had no filters! I usually stock up before I run out, but have been brewing more coffee intra-day on these cold winter days. I had houseguests yesterday who rose before I did and kindly made coffee using the last filter, so I didn't realize I was out.But it is snowing this http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~3/zgzSdBlQniE/re-use-coffee-filter-how-far-is-too-far.htmlbebrokebuthappy@gmail.com (Broke but Happy)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/uLCz/~4/zgzSdBlQniE" height="1" width="1"/>http://bebrokebuthappy.blogspot.com/2009/03/re-use-coffee-filter-how-far-is-too-far.html