Picture of an automobile I could realistically imagine J trying to talk me into buying/restoring courtesy of the unfortunately-named Fornax . It is full spring now, which means J and I have been hit with the home improvement bug. We have been planting some perennials in the garden, removing some of the...

Photo of the world's coolest retired couple courtesy of Alex Proimos I mentioned several weeks ago that I will be spending my May semi-hiatus from blogging doing research and writing a book about retirement. I also invited you all to pepper me with retirement questions that you've always been...

Yes, I pinch pennies. It happens every once in a while. Being of a frugal nature, I look at things in the way that will avoid spending unnecessary money. Sometimes, that means someone will call me cheap. I hate it when that happens. Honestly, it's gotten better since the economic downturn. Being...

Image courtesy of Ralpharama You may recall my previous complaints and hand-wringing over dealing with our cable company, Comcast. My most recent conversation with Comcast made it clear that we could save something like $50-$60 per month if we were to drop cable, while still keeping our internet and...

So you have managed your debt, perhaps not in the most desirable way but the bankruptcy is done, now what? Now you get your finances on track. Take control of spending and save. Here's some help. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/life-after-bankruptcy-1.aspx

Apparently, living through a major economic downturn is enough to change money habits in young people. Who woulda thunk it? The website SaveUp , which works to help motivate people to save rather than spend their money, just put together a report on the April findings from their U.S. Consumer Savings...

Photo that will make you start humming the Village People courtesy of Cryptic C62 The mensch family has been a member of our local YMCA since we moved to Lafayette in June of 2010. I showed up there, hugely pregnant, and asked about their swimming classes. I joined an early morning class wherein I was...

As I've mentioned previously , I'm a big believer in aiming for a modest (under $500) tax refund each year. I don't necessarily manage it every year--for instance, J and I got over $900 back for 2012--but I do what I can. I believe in doing this for several reasons: 1. I don't like the...

So many choices of where to stash your cash... A few weeks back, regular reader and commenter frugal_fun asked about where a Dollar Stretcher reader could park their hard-earned savings. You may remember that I have been a long time customer of ING Direct , where J and I keep our medium term savings...

This is the front driver's side wheel of J's project car, a 1976 BMW 2002, which answers to the name of Ziggy. I would provide you with a full body shot of good ol' Zig, but I was only able to find artistic photos of various parts of the car on our computer, and J has declared the garage...