Frugal Confessions

How Frugality Can Lead to, and Sustain, an Extreme Early Retirement

by FruGal on May 20, 2013 · 3 comments

Many of you know that I grew up on a family dairy farm in Pennsylvania. If you have seen the increasingly popular and ridiculous show Amish Mafia, then you have seen the backdrop to my childhood. Life was a lot of work, even with five pairs of calloused hands keeping our farm afloat. Under the weight of two milkings per day, fences and equipment repair, the planting of crops, the harvesting of them later in the summer heat, and tracking down newborn calves in the back meadow, we all groaned, griped, and whined. Having a grandfather who loved to bark orders at us did not help the situation, and made us rather resentful. As I grew older and dug myself out of the manure trenches, I started to understand why my grandfather loved to bark orders from on top of machinery or from his apartment upstairs to us working-folk; it was because he had already put in a lifetime of hard labor. Through his 50s onwards he had a limp. And that limp was from doing 40+ years of precisely the type of daily, back-breaking work my family was subjected to. I didn’t want that for myself. Working day in [...]

Frugal Confessions Friday – Frugal Living

by FruGal on May 17, 2013 · 10 comments

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers, and happy friday! Here is my frugal confession of the week: I am not sure if you remember, but in the fall of last year I scored a $50 American Express Serve Prepaid debit card for $25. The reason that I took advantage of this deal was because, unlike other prepaid debit cards, this card has no monthly fees, no activation fees, and no maintenance fees involved (unless you use a credit card to fund the $25). After spending that $50 I have not reloaded the card. It turns out that this was a good thing! American Express sent me a letter in the mail saying that they “miss me”, and presented me another great deal: if I load the card with $25, they will match it again with another $25! We are hosting a Memorial Day Picnic for family and friends, so that’s what I will be spending my free money on. I love receiving this kind of mail! What is your confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Commemorating Your Genealogy Research

by FruGal on May 15, 2013 · 4 comments

If you take the time to really delve into researching genealogy, then you will most likely end up with a few piles of information, photographs, and documents. It would be sad to see your efforts not shared among family and friends, or your information not passed onto the next generation. There are several ways that you can commemorate your family’s history and your hard work, and I’d like to take the time to discuss a few. Some of these may be out of the scope of your project, but I want to list them just in case there is someone out there who can make good use of the information. Create a Family Tree or Pedigree Chart Perhaps the simplest way that you can commemorate the information you uncover is by creating a family tree or a pedigree chart. Here are three that I found to be useful during my research: Family Tree Builder Software Martha Stewart’s Fan Pedigree Chart Pedigree Chart you can edit on your computer Once you fill out the chart, you might want to make it more formal or decorative to give out to others. Perhaps you just would like to print it out and frame [...]

Frugal Alternatives to a Genealogical Road Trip

May 13, 2013

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit family and friends for Easter in PA. Over the extended stay, I conducted a lot of the types of genealogical research that is easier to do in person. My grandmother and I spent several afternoons going through boxes of photographs, documents, and passing on family stories. We also had the opportunity to cook several recipes together in her kitchen, a memory I will cherish for life. My Aunt Molly and I spent a few hours rummaging through the attic at our farm (my father’s side of the family), a resting place for over 150+ years of Grossman belongings. Afterwards I was able to scan in hundreds of documents to preserve and use back at home in Houston. My trip home provided lots of opportunities for genealogy research, which started me thinking: what if a research trip is out of the question for you? Are you bound to limit the scope of your research, not to mention more prone to feeling frustrated once you hit a wall? I am happy to say that a genealogy research trip is not necessary. Fortunately for all of us, there are many inexpensive and free resources [...]

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Frugal Confessions Friday – The “Thank You Comcast” Edition

May 10, 2013

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers! I must admit, I never thought I would be thanking Comcast (especially after the poor service we received before switching providers to AT&T three years ago). However, I now have reason to. They sent me an offer in the mail for a $200 prepaid Visa gift card, as well as a 12-month bundled package for $99 per month. Instead of taking the bait, I called our own provider and asked if they could match something to keep me as a customer. And it worked! Not only were we upgraded to the next level of channels (oh dear…more channels…), but our bill after taxes and such will now be $25 less per month for the next 12 months. On top of that, we are going to be given a $50 prepaid gift card! In just a ten minute phone conversation I was able to save our household $300 over the next year, as well as snag a free $50 prepaid gift card. So, thank you Comcast. What is your confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

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Free Genealogy Resources

May 8, 2013

As mentioned previously, I have been working on a genealogical project with my Hungarian grandmother since the fall of last year. To say that this project has been a satisfying, worthy undertaking of my time is a vast understatement. Not only have we produced a family heirloom to pass down for generations to come, but several pieces of interesting information has surfaced that never would have without the proper research. On top of all of this, I got to spend a significant amount of time with my grandmother as we had discussions, sifted through photographs and records, and cooked a few recipes over Easter. The great news for anyone interested in genealogy is that while it can be an expensive hobby, it actually doesn’t need to be. There are a huge number of free resources available to you online as well as in person. I’d like to take the time to share some of these free resources with you, as well as a few tidbits from my own research. Family Members and a Friend I Met Along the Way Once I chose to pursue the Hungarian side of my family tree, the first stop on my journey—truly the most important [...]

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Creating an Inexpensive Family Heirloom: Our Hungarian Genealogy Recipe Scrapbook

May 6, 2013

Do you ever try to trace something in your present life back to the one thought that began it all? Following the web of synapses as your mind jumps from thought to visual to thought (in reverse) often uncovers associations and influences picked up along the way that you never knew had any effect on you. The one thought or object that connects the beginning and the ending of this maze is often quite surprising. Enter a bright blue dish that caught my eye from my Aunt Anita’s mother’s home in Florida. Back in 2007 my aunt flew down to Florida in order to help her mother sift through decades of living so that she could move in with one of her daughters. Among other objects I gratefully inherited, there was this pretty light blue pitcher that I could not take my eyes off of. It was given to me that day, and I kept it during my 2008 move to Houston. Upon seeing this dish in my home several years later, my grandmother boxed up her mother’s dishes and gave these to me because they were the same set. Last year after we redecorated our kitchen, we dedicated two [...]

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Frugal Confessions Friday – Frugal Living

May 3, 2013

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers! This week I have another frugal confession from my fantastic trip home to PA: I did not have to rent a vehicle. My family graciously allowed me to borrow vehicles off and on for the entirety of the trip! This meant not only that I could see everyone that I wanted and go everywhere that I wanted to, but that I didn’t shell out hundreds of dollars in car rental fees (and I think we all know how expensive renting a car can be). A BIG thank you to Aunt Molly, Dad and Vickie, Mom and Teddy, and Cindy and Jason. You guys helped to make my trip affordable! What is your confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

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The Amish Next Door: How they Manage their Children’s Money

May 1, 2013

As some of you may know, my father is a full-time Amish taxi driver in Lancaster County, PA*. One of my father’s main employers is a man named Leroy. Leroy owns a construction company and hires my father to drive him around to his in-state and out-of-state construction sites once a week to check up on his crews. On my past trip home I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along on one of their weekly business routes. Not only was I lucky enough to be invited, but Leroy was more than happy to answer some of my financial questions about the Amish. Over the course of six hours we traveled on dirt roads and highways, through Amish country and into commercial zones, and also shared a lunch together at a diner my father and Leroy both enjoy. I got the chance to entertain some rumors I had heard many years ago, as well as further debunk Discovery Channel’s Amish Mafia show (does anyone really think that show is real?). Rumor has it… I had heard many years ago that when an Amish teenager gets a job outside of the home, they must give their paycheck to their [...]

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Put an End to the “Toiletry Factor” and Shop Your Stockpile Instead

April 29, 2013

Most of us have heard about the “latte factor”, a phrase David Bach came up with in reference to the accumulation of daily expenditures on things like newspapers, bottled water, candy, and lattes. By adding up all of these daily expenditures at the end of the month or the end of the year, suddenly you find a big hole in your savings worth hundreds or even a few thousand dollars. Then if you multiply that “missing” money by a rate of return over 5, 10, 20+ years, you come up with a tragically large amount of money that could have been yours had you nixed all of those lattes. I actually love these kinds of scenarios, and am always amazed by how making small changes can really affect huge financial gains with a bit of discipline (the money that you “save” has to actually make it to your savings account). But in the end, this means you would have to give up some or all of your lattes. What if your daily latte habit makes you really happy? Having it Both Ways with the Toiletry Factor Perhaps with many of our daily expenditures we cannot have it both ways: get [...]

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