How to be Frugal Without Being Cheap

People think often that being frugal means being a cheapskate, but those are, by far, not synonymous. I wrote a blog post on the topic once that I'd love to link you to but I can't find it. Oh well. Here are some ideas from a reader on how you can save money without being cheap.

Frugality is something that’s often given a bad reputation. In fact, some people automatically associate being frugal with someone who doesn’t want to spend a cent. While some people do take things a little too far, being thrifty doesn’t need to equate with being cheap. Saving money and still being able to live well is a must, especially if you have children. Living a more frugal life is more along the lines of being extra resourceful, which is important when your family is growing. Even if you already are cutting corners, raising children can be expensive. For this reason, knowing how to save money can go a long way. Below are four ways to save money and still live well.

How to Personalize Your Home Warranty Plan Affordably?

Have you considered getting a warranty on your home but aren't sure how to do it without it costing a fortune? Here are some suggestions from a reader on how you can do just that.

Are you thinking of purchasing a home warranty? When doing so, consider purchasing optional coverage for various systems in the home. This is your residence and your most costly asset. Any protection you purchase is beneficial, but you can never have too much protection. What types of additional coverage should you consider?

Be Alert and Vigilant - How to Protect Your Children From Offenders

Keeping your children safe from people who may want to hurt them can seem like a full time task for a parent. There are some things we parents can do to try to do our best to protect them. Here are some of them from a reader.

As frightening and unpleasant as it may sound for parents to even think about the likelihood of their child being abducted. Parents must have a discussion with their children about personal safety.

Educating your kids about how to protect themselves against child predators is crucial as any other measure you take daily to keep them protected.

By teaching your kids how to stay away from possible dangers and how they should react if they find themselves in a threatening circumstance, will empower them to be aware of what they should do to protect themselves and keep themselves from harm.

Fed Up With Government Sanctioned Ableism

I have had it up to here with ableism. Ableism is discrimination in favor of able-bodied people. This means when people with disabilities (of any sort) are treated like second class citizens, or worse. I must admit that I used to be completely oblivious to this, but once I came to terms with having mental health issues, I noticed more and more how prevalent this mistreatment of disabled people is, whether overt or covert. 

This topic came to the forefront of my mind when I tried applying for a drivers' license in my country. If you remember when I wrote about it before, I had an American drivers' license before I moved abroad, but let it lapse, unfortunately. I never converted my American license to a local one, because it cost more money to do so than I had available at the time, and then I lost the opportunity. When I traveled to the US in 2019, I decided to get my drivers' license again, first taking a few lessons locally to refresh my memory (since it had been years since I drove) and then in the US within my first few days there, I got my drivers' permit and license.

Great, now I came back locally and wanted to convert my license here. Except it wasn't so simple. Ok, first I was just lazy about it, and drove with my American license, even though I wasn't supposed to. I got into a minor car accident and insurance wouldn't cover it because I didn't have a local license, so I had to pay $2500 for the repair. That gave me a push to actually do the right thing and convert my license.

No biggie, right? 

4 Vegetarian Dishes That You Can Make at Home

Vegetarian dishes are often cheaper than meaty dishes. They are staples in my house because having meat every day gets quite expensive. Here are some vegetarian recipe suggestions from one of our readers.

Whether you are a fresh vegetarian or have been looking for new recipes for a long time, we promise you that it is possible to enjoy a delicious meat-free meal that is healthy and significantly affordable. Here are a few vegetarian recipes to try, ranging from 15-minute fried rice to almost anything in between.

6 Benefits To Having A College Degree

Honestly, one of my biggest regrets in life is not getting a college degree. I literally had the possibility handed to me on a silver platter, with a full scholarship to the honors program of a college that would custom make a degree in the field I wanted (gifted education), whose scholarship would also give a stipend for living expenses. And I turned it down to move abroad and get married. Who knows how my life would have been different had I gotten that college degree. I suspect that this blog never would have been started, to be honest, because I wouldn't have started out my adult life totally broke as I was when I started this. 

Here are some reasons why having a college degree is beneficial.

What do you think when you hear the words ‘college degree’? Are you filled with excitement? Fear? Or do you simply not think that it’s relevant to you, so you don’t research any further, and you don’t want to know more because you’re fairly certain having a degree will not benefit you in your life?

For some people, this is true, at least in terms of their careers. However, a degree isn’t just about your career, although that’s what its main function is. There are plenty of reasons to take a degree even if you don’t intend to use it to get a job or move further along your career path, and since you can choose online learning, even if you already have a job or responsibilities, you can still achieve a degree no matter what you’re doing in your life. The question remains, why would you? Why should you? Read on to find out; some of the benefits to having a college degree will probably surprise you.

Cranberry Almond Rice Pilaf Recipe -- Vegan, Gluten Free, and Allergy Friendly

I made this dish for the first time quite a few years ago, I think for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner, but I could be wrong. Ever since I made it the first time, I had a decent recollection of certain steps in the recipe, and fond memories of just how good it tasted, but never really made it again. Recently, though, I was craving something like it, but since it had been so long, I searched google for recipes for craisin almond rice, and came up with a bunch of recipes with the name pilaf in them, but all those recipes seemed wrong. You see, I very clearly remembered adding sugar to my onions and craisins, but all the recipes I saw were savory. And so, I put together this dish again, from memory, and it was just as good as I remembered. But I'm just going to stick the word pilaf in the title because that is what people seem to be using and I want this to come up when people search google. But I hope you'll forgive me because this doesn't strictly follow the definition of pilaf (though it does have a decent amount of similarity to the Afghan national dish, kabuli palaw, which is considered a pilaf). This is reminiscent of a dish they generally serve locally at weddings and other catered affairs.

I brought this craisin almond rice dish to a potluck Thanksgiving meal this year and it was devoured. Though it has sugar in it, it isn't very sweet, it is just the right combination of sweet with the rest being savory. The onions and craisins get carmelized, almost candied. I maybe am being a bit extreme, but I would happily say that this is one of my favorite rice dishes ever. My daughters aren't the hugest fans, unfortunately, so I don't know how often I'll be making it. But I definitely suggest giving this one a try. It is worth it.

Unlike most of the recipes I saw when googling to refresh my memory of how I made this dish, this one doesn't use any broth or stock in it, so it is completely vegetarian and vegan. Other than the almonds this is also free from the most common allergens, such as gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, etc... If you are nut free feel free to leave out the almonds, and maybe replace them with pumpkin seeds, if not totally leaving them out.

This is also a great way to use up leftover rice, but if you don't have leftovers, it is worth it to cook up some for this recipe.  

Cranberry Almond Rice Pilaf Recipe -- Vegan, Gluten Free, and Allergy Friendly

How To Design A Modern Nursery Room With A Small Budget

If you are having a new baby and need to put together a room for the baby, you might think that this would cost a lot of money. Fortunately, there are many ways to do it on a tight budget. A reader explains how.

Your new bundle of joy deserves all the best things in life. And by the best, it doesn’t mean that it should cost you an arm and a leg to decorate the living space. It may sound challenging, but it’s not impossible to design a modern nursery with a meager budget. Whether it’s a crib, a rocking chair, diaper holders, or other nursery essentials, you don’t have to buy everything brand new.

The key to a low-priced and functional baby room is to be resourceful. This article would discuss some helpful tips in making a nursery room without breaking the bank.

Learning About How Toilets Work

If you like DIYing as much as I do, you probably have learned about different things and their functions so you could learn to fix them. I've never actually fixed my own toilet, but have the most rudimentary knowledge of how I might. But to know how to actually repair it, you need to know how it works. Here's more to teach you about this important thing we all have in our homes.

Every household in the world nowadays has at least one toilet and you have probably used it thousands of times. However, have you ever wondered how toilets actually work? To fully understand how toilets operate you need to know what they consist of.

Dishwasher- Want or Need?

Way back when, when I was living an extremely extremely extremely frugal lifestyle and not by choice, I had a series here on this blog called "Needs vs Wants?" I cringe looking back at it and feel bad for myself that I legit was talking about things like whether or not running water, electricity, a fridge, or a cell phone were a need or a want, as well as what the bare minimum furniture and baby supplies someone might need would be. My life has come a long way since then, and I have many things today that past me would have considered a nice extra, but for me are non negotiable. 

However, while I don't usually ask myself whether something is a want or a need, especially since that question is a very triggering one for me, when it comes to large expenses, that is something that I consider. Like there are a few things that I'd like to do that would cost me money but since I can make do without them, I'm waiting on them until I have money saved up to pay for them and still have wiggle room in my finances. This is, from least expensive to more, things like a gluten free toaster (to go along with our current gluten one), a new microwave, a replacement blender since mine is finally on its last legs, building a loft room for my son, and hopefully getting a car. Plus a dishwasher, which I will get to in a second. And since things on the higher end of the price range are more important than the cheaper things, I'd rather the money go to a sinking fund for the more expensive thing than spend it on the cheaper but less important thing.

5 Benefits of Sending Your Child to Private School

There's no question about it, private school is much more expensive than public school. If you're a frugal minded person, then, why would you send your children to private school? Are there any benefits that your children can get there that make it worth the extra expense? As a private school student myself, it was interesting to read this post from a reader on that topic. One thing that this does not talk about, though, is that many people send their children to religious private schools, that provide an education on your religion that public school won't do (and for good reason).

We all want to do our best for our children and give them the best life we possibly can. Education is a huge factor in a child's life as it can mold them into the adult they will become and, to an extent, determine the path they will follow in life. So choosing the right school for them is an important decision. Should you send them to a state school or go private? Many of us don't know the exact ins and outs of private education and what it has to offer. To assist you with your thoughts, here are 5 benefits of sending your child to private school.

Steps to Take When Protecting Your Garden from Pests

If you have a garden, you know how irritating pests can be! I had two giant basil plants entirely devoured by slugs. (I hate slugs.) Here are some suggestions on how to protect your garden from pests.

Growing a garden is a rewarding experience. Home gardeners often spend hours upon hours planting seeds, fertilizing the ground, and picking their crops. After all, nothing tastes as good as fresh fruits and vegetables. However, some annoying pests may try to eat the harvest first.

Thankfully, there are several ways to protect your garden from these unwelcome guests. Follow these steps.

I Fell Off The Budgeting Wagon

I had this post on my mind already for a long time, but something was holding me back. Originally, it was going to be titled "Help! I Fell Off the Wagon!" because I needed help. What wagon, that is? The budgeting one. Keeping track of my income and expenses via my YNAB app. The wagon that I need to be on to make sure that my life works out properly, that I have money for what I need and don't spend money on things I don't have. And I can't say it's not still an issue. Because right now it's not a total cry for help, because I've gotten back on, but I do need advice on how to not get off it again.

You see, it started about half a year or so back. I was overwhelmed with life, and inputting all my expenses, every time I made them, just felt too overwhelming. So I'd spend. Tried not to spend too much, still stuck to my frugal lifestyle, and I made certain spluges that I perhaps shouldn't have and wouldn't have if I knew the exact state of my finances. I mean I wasn't altogether terrible- I looked at my bank account and knew where it was holding, but that by far is not the whole picture. Because my goal isn't to get down to zero each month and build my way back, because my bank account also includes my emergency fund, plus money I'm holding for different things (such as my tenant's rental deposit), and without actually looking at my budget, I am not able to see how much money I actually have available to be used without needing to dip into my emergency fund. 

Every month or so I'd reconcile my money in my budgeting app with what is actually in my accounts, and I would be stressed out! I was spending more than I should! And then every time that would happen I'd beat myself up for this. And feel bad about myself. And stress some more.