Our Frugal Journey

Today’s post is one I’m recycling from last February when I made my very first batch of gift tags out of our stack of Christmas cards. With store-bought gift tags readily available at 90 percent off in the after-Christmas clearance, I did not save tons of money making my own tags. But I did do my [...]

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Lots of people bake bread, but fewer and fewer, I suspect, as times goes on. I’ve always viewed those select few among my circle of friends who bake bread as an elite group, carrying on a lost art.
I admit, I was envious. If they could bake bread, and knit or sew or perform some other lost art of [...]

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College exam time is around the corner. That can only mean that it’s time for the “guilt letters” to start arriving in the mailbox.
In fact, I got one last week.
I’m paraphrasing here, but they all go something like this:
Exam time will be here before you know it. We know that as a loving and caring parent, you’d [...]

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Have you tried to find canned pumpkin in your grocery stores this fall?
Because of a bad pumpkin crop last year, this year’s canned pumpkin supply is limited, according to various news reports, creating shortages in some areas of the country. As this year’s crop is harvested, and the canning factories crank up, the shortages should [...]

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Camcorders were the hottest electronic gadget when we started having our children back in 1988.
Those machines were huge — and they came with a hefty price tag as well.
When baby No. 1, now a college senior, was born, we couldn’t afford to buy a camcorder so we borrowed one from friends a few times while we saved up [...]

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I made up a batch of my own laundry detergent this past week, feeling alternately like a witch stirring her brew and Ma from Little House on the Prairie.
Of course, I exaggerate.
It was actually pretty easy. And I couldn’t help but think of all the money I’ll be saving by substituting my own house brand for the [...]

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Since I began blogging last December, one of the most popular posts — by far — was this one detailing my reintroduction to the sewing machine and the recycled juice pouch purses that resulted from my efforts. Many readers reported in on their own efforts to turn trash to treasure. And one reader I know told [...]

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Another post that has generated a lot of interest from readers and remains a topic of interest is this one on 50 reasons to keep taking your local daily paper. In the interests of disclosure, not only am I a former newspaper journalist, my oldest son aspires to be one.  Andrew is a rising senior [...]

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Taking my inspiration from Money Saving Mom, one of my all-time favorite bloggers, I donned my apron yesterday and had myself a good old-fashioned Baking Day.
I started out with this:

which quickly turned into this:

which ultimately turned into this:

 
By the end of the day, I had made four dozen zucchini raisin muffins, four dozen-plus chocolate zucchini muffins [...]

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July is blueberry season in North Carolina — one of my favorite times of year.
After I picked the handful of berries on our three fledgling bushes, I headed out to a nearby farm where the berries were bountiful.
In just a few short years, I’m hoping my bushes will yield enough fruit to top my daily [...]

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