A Very Un-Frugal Confession: We Rescued a Dog

This past July I was standing in the front parking lot of my office waiting for Paul to pick me up from work when I saw a big white body mass under a car. It was hot, it was dry, and I was afraid of what I was actually looking at. When I got closer, [...]

Freedom in the Skies: Where Would You Travel to With an Airfare Monthly Subscription?

I caught the travel bug in seventh grade Spanish class. While excitedly flipping through my new Spanish textbook I came upon a caption under a photo of a floor-to-wall painting in the Museo del Prado. I cannot remember the painting; I just remember that it was enough to take my breath away. Sitting in that [...]

A Trade Secret of Frugality

Much of personal finance is really quite simple. Earn money. Spend less than you earn. Save the extra. However, mastering these seemingly easy concepts is difficult for many people. You know you should set a budget, but it seems so complicated and limiting that you never quite sit down to do it. You have a [...]

New Year’s Resolution 2010: My Charity Black Hole

Lately I’ve been having a feeling of scarcity. It is a feeling that I am ashamed of, because my fiancé and I are so blessed. We make good money, we recently bought the home of our dreams, we have two vehicles, enough money to fund retirement and entertain ourselves…but it has not felt like enough. [...]

Vehicle Situation Update and Lesson Learned

I must admit…I am driving around scared. Each time I come out of my car to go into a store, restaurant, work, or home, I wonder if I am going to be spotted by a Frugal Confessions reader. Why am I so scared? It’s because of what I am driving. Yours truly now drives a [...]

Stop the Bleeding—How to Mitigate Months When your Spending is Out of Control

It begins with one large bill. Then something happens, exacerbating the fact that you just spent a lot of money on the first large bill. Perhaps your car breaks down, or your appliance breaks down, or you have a large medical expense. You spend the rest of the month a little clammy around the wrists, [...]

Selling a Timeshare to the Wall

Note to readers: For such large financial decisions, it is always a good idea to step away, run the numbers and truly think about your decision. Being pressured to buy on the spot is no way to make a purchase. For purposes of anonymity, I am not going to release the name of this particular [...]

Spending Lockdown: When Your Stockpiles Come in Handy

Our hiatus on spending money began Friday night. The reasons are twofold. Number 1: our mortgage broker sent us an email that said we basically have to report to them anytime between now and closing when we move money around between our accounts, charge more than $500 on our credit card, or breathe. And Number [...]

Saving by Spending Money

I once had a science teacher who told me that if you save 10% of everything you earn over a lifetime, you will be a millionaire. The thought used to boggle my mind. Ten percent of income seemed like such a small amount compared to the seemingly unattainable $1,000,000 mark, especially back in high school [...]

My 2008 Spending

I love using credit cards. Before you fall off your chairs, let me explain. In the marketing world, I fall in the consumer category of Bang for the Buck. In other words, I don’t let credit card companies use me, I use them. I have thus far received over $800 in gift cards and two [...]