Your friends and family influence you. They affect the way you view life. If your friends are frugal, it’s easier to be frugal yourself. But if they’re wrapped up in consumerism and materialism, and can be difficult to resist the urge to join them. It’s only natural to want to fit in.
Rob wrote yesterday to ask how to handle a situation where he wants to lead a simple life, but those around him aren’t supportive. How can he cope with peer pressure? Here’s his story:

Since we try to live frugally, we don’t have a television or video games or any other electronic toys in our house. We try to spend time as a family, talk to each other, read books, try to help my wife in cooking etc.
My colleagues at work tell me that I live a miserable life, and I don’t give my family “materialistic life pleasures”. Those sort of words hurt me a [...]

This post is from GRS staff writer Adam Baker. Baker, along with his wife and 20-month old daughter, will be spending the next couple of months exploring Thailand as they continue their recent backpacking journey.
Since the start of the economic slump started in 2008, the U.S. government has issued several incentive programs in an attempt to stimulate some positive movement in the economy.
First, came the popular $7500 tax credit for first time home buyers, which was to be paid back in $500 increments starting with the 2010 tax year. Next, they extended the homebuyer tax credit further into 2009, increasing the limit to $8000 and removing the burden of having to pay it back over time.
This past summer brought the controversial Cash for Clunkers program, which then spawned “Cash for Appliances.“ Most recently, the first-time home buyer tax credit has been extended, yet again, into 2010, and expanded to include some who hadn’t previously qualified [...]

Work on Your Money: The Missing Manual continues apace. I’ve finished the first seven chapters (happiness, goals, budgets, debt, frugality, income, and banking) and have just begun on chapter eight, which is about credit.
As part of this chapter, I’d love to profile a GRS reader who gets by on minimal credit. Specifically, I’m looking for somebody who doesn’t use credit cards at all, and who can talk about the implications. What are the advantages? What are the drawbacks? Do you know how it’s affected your credit score?
I know I could interview my friend NCN from No Credit Needed, but he’s already in the budgeting chapter! So, if your a “no credit” sort of person (as I used to be) and are willing to let me interview you, drop me a line.
Speaking of NCN, he’s the first stop in this week’s link round-up. Last month, he posted a story of how a silly little experiment helped [...]

To take control of your spending, you must first be aware of your spending. This mindfulness can be difficult for many people to achieve. GRS reader (and awesome artist) Tsilli pointed me to the work of Kate Bingaman-Burt, who has a unique way of being mindful of the money she spends: She draws it.
Bingaman-Burt teaches graphic design at Portland State University, but for the past eight years, she’s also been documenting her spending habits at her blog, Obsessive Consumption. But this isn’t just a spending log — it’s art! Here’s an example:

Would drawing my Burgerville milkshake make me more conscious of my spending habits? I’m not sure. But I do think that were I still in debt, drawing my credit-card statements would make me more mindful. Bingaman-Burt does that too:

I’m not suggesting that you should start drawing what you buy, but I do think that anything you can do to increase your mindfulness is great. [...]

This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the advisor for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new article to Get Rich Slowly every two weeks. Today at 3pm Eastern, Robert will by leading a live discussion about money and relationships at BlogTalkRadio.
Howdy, folks. I’m writing you from a hotel room in Charlottesville, Virginia. All alone. My wife kicked me out of the house.
But it’s a good thing.
You see, for reasons too boring to enumerate, it’s been a topsy-turvy few months in the Brokamp household, and my “to do” pile has really piled up. It was beginning to affect stress level, and threatening my remaining hair follicles (which are already an endangered species). So my wife found a hotel for me, reserved it for two nights, and kicked me and my “to do” pile out of the house.
And it’s [...]

This morning, April wrote about trying to figure out how much house you need. In the comments, Tyler K. shared a photo of the house he and his wife live in. It has 450 square feet:

“Last year our joint gross income was about $170,000,” Tyler wrote, “but we still find this house plenty adequate, and it means our housing costs are proportionally half of the 30-35% of income that people generally recommend.”
I was intrigued (as were other readers), so I wrote to ask for more info. Here’s what Tyler has to say:

When we moved to Santa Cruz, we found this little tiny house one block from the beach. We loved it. We decided to take it as soon as we saw it. This house is a rental, but that’s something we’re okay with for now.
The big draws of Santa Cruz over Alameda were the beach (I surf and sail), the mountains and natural beauty (there [...]