Frugality


If you’re new here, you may want to learn what this site is about. I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Though Kris and I are growing our own green beans this summer, we don’t have nearly enough for her grand plans. “I need more beans,” she told me last [...]

[read all of U-Pick: The Next Best Thing to Growing Your Own]

Last April, Dan wrote to ask GRS readers for help with a sudden energy crisis. Because of a natural disaster, electricity costs in Juneau, Alaska jumped from $0.11 per kilowatt-hour to $0.53 per kilowatt-hour. In this follow-up, Dan explains how his family coped with high energy costs.
It’s been over three months since an avalanche knocked [...]

[read all of Energy Conservation in Alaska: What Worked? What Did Not?]

This is a guest post from The Tim at the Seattle Bubble blog, a site about the housing bubble. He also writes The Naked Loon, a Seattle-centric satirical publication.
One way our family keeps the entertainment budget slim is by not buying new release DVDs, but waiting to buy movies until they drop below $10.
About [...]

[read all of Missing the Target: Lousy Store Policies Can Thwart Frugal Intentions]

During 2008, my wife and I are tracking how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for July.
It was a berry, berry good month at Rosings Park (as we call our happy half acre). Gloomy June faded into memory, the sun came out, and the berries ripened. This is the [...]

[read all of The GRS Garden Project: July Update]

Yesterday, Amy Jo pointed me to a site called SmallNotebook.org where Rachel is nearing the end of a self-imposed No-Spend Month. Though the name is something of a misnomer — this exercise is more of a Spend Less Month — it’s still an interesting concept.
For the entire month of July, Rachel’s family of three [...]

[read all of Use a No-Spend Month to Become Mindful of Money]

Though Kris and I live just a few miles from downtown Portland, we’re fortunate to have three-fifths of an acre of land. This allows us to set aside some large spaces to grow fruits, berries, herbs, flowers, and vegetables.
Not all city-dwellers are so fortunate. In fact, millions of people don’t have access to a yard [...]

[read all of Urban Fruit Gleaning: Harvesting Fresh Fruit in the Middle of the City]

One of my favorite personal finance bloggers is Philip Brewer at Wise Bread. He writes long, thoughtful articles about the philosophy of money, not just on tips and tricks to save at the grocery store.
Brewer recently posted a piece called “What I’ve Been Trying to Say” that summarizes his philosophy. Explaining why he believes voluntary [...]

[read all of Five Tactics for Pursuing Voluntary Simplicity]

I baked a loaf of bread yesterday. It was delicious. It was easy. It was cheap.
Last winter, I undertook a quest to find the best whole wheat bread in a grocery store. I like sandwiches and I like toast, so removing bread from my diet isn’t an option. While trying to balance cost and [...]

[read all of Easy and Cheap Home-Made Bread]

Tiffany wrote with a quick energy-saving tip:
I hang up my wet clothes inside during the day to let them dry. When I get home from work, I put them in the dryer for about five minutes to get rid of the wrinkles.  I don’t have a clothesline, but this works just as well.
I’m not familiar [...]

[read all of Frugality in Practice: Air-Dry Your Clothes (Even Indoors!)]

Kris and I went grocery shopping this weekend. We stopped at Bob’s Red Mill — a local health-food store — to use some “buy one, get one free” coupons. “You can get anything you want,” Kris told me, “except hot cereal.”
“Why can’t I get hot cereal?” I asked. “I love hot cereal.”
“I know,” Kris said. [...]

[read all of Saving at the Supermarket: 15 Great Grocery Shopping Tips]

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