How we kept our grocery bill to $60 this week

We managed to spend only $60 on groceries this week. (Hooray!) Don’t tell Jon, but I think this is mainly because he was out of town, so I went grocery shopping on my own. Jon is allergic to grocery shopping with a list; he thinks it takes the pleasure out of it. Anyway, we could [...]

The Latte Factor: will it help you save?

I just read MoneyNing’s post on “the Latte Factor,” and I thought it would be a good time to revisit this topic. The term is copyrighted by David Bach, and refers to the idea that if you cut out small expenses—i.e., the daily latte—you’ll be able to save a lot of money over time. You [...]

Coffeeshops: unnecessary expense or little luxury?

Earlier this week, when I asked readers to help my parents cut $100 in expenses, one of the first things mentioned was coffee. Trina Stewart reckoned that they could save $46.50 by cutting out a daily Starbucks purchase. Indeed, that’s always one of the first things mentioned in a column of money-saving tips. I even [...]

Jumping into the market again

Okay, we’re going to get into the market again—at least, we will if E*Trade stops telling me “quotes unavailable” when I try to buy. I have a little money to put into my IRA. I’d be just as happy holding off, but Jon thinks we may have hit a bottom—he noted that housing starts are [...]

Should we buy new dishes?

It’s a pretty well-known fact at this point that people eat more when they are served food on larger dishes. I experience this almost every morning when I gorge myself on cereal; I’m always surprised that I served myself too much. This morning, reading an article in the NYT about this problem, I wondered if [...]