I’m tired of hearing the unemployment numbers, the depressing news about the stock market, and how much house values have plummeted.  It can be really depressing listening to the news, especially if you are dealing with unemployment or foreclosure.  I don’t know what could be more stressful, aside from having a serious illness.  I just want to hear some good news, darn it!  I think one of the most frustrating things to me is that it’s not like you can just go somewhere and ignore what’s going on.  It’s everywhere, and it’s not like there’s a whole lot you can do about it.  The only thing you can control is your attitude.   Here’s what we’ve been doing to combat the recession blues: I’ve been focusing on the positive things lately.  Mr. Money and I both have jobs currently, we can afford our house payment, and we’re not going to retire for quite awhile so we can just choose not to look at our 401k and ROTH IRAs.  We have a happy, loving relationship, family that love us unconditionally, and [...]

I decided I wanted to do something with the two full boxes of clothing that were residing on my basement stairs. They were mainly name brand clothes (Gap, Express, New York and Company) that I had bought from Goodwill or friends. I didn’t want to take the time to list them on ebay because it would have taken a lot longer than I would like, and I didn’t want to do craigslist because of people flaking out on me, so I decided I would take them down the road to the nearest consignment shop and see if I will have any luck doing so. Here’s how it works: I drop off the clothing (they accept 20 items at a time), they price it, someone buys it, they keep half the price and I get the other half. It does cost $5 twice a year, but she said I could quit at any time. After 30 days of it being on the rack, it is discounted 25%; after 60 days it’s 50%, and 90 days 75%. After the 90 days, if [...]

Here’s this week’s Cheap or Frugal? Question: Is it cheap or frugal to air dry ALL of your laundry year-round, even in winter?  Of course, in inclement weather it would be done indoors, on drying racks or on a line somewhere in the house. Cheap or Frugal? Cheap! Frugal!