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Why I Didn’t Buy a Smart Phone

March 4, 2013 by 12 Comments
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I need a smart phone.  Seriously, I do.  And I can prove it. Last month, I committed to attending two meetings on the same night.  You know why I did that?  Because I don't have a smart phone.  It's true.  In November, when the committee was meeting in the pastor's study, all of the other participants entered the next meeting date into their smart phone calendar apps. I, on the other hand, made a mental note to remind myself to write down the meeting date in my new 2013 planner just as soon as I bought one.  Somehow I lost that mental note.  And I missed the meeting. Just a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, Frugality, My Grandma Knows, Product Reviews, Shopping Tagged With: , ,

Pantry Challenge Wrap Up

February 27, 2013 by 2 Comments
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WE DID IT!!!  We took the pantry challenge here at Grandma's house, and we met our goal.  During the month of February, we spent half of our usual grocery budget.  The funny thing is that I didn't seem to make a huge dent in our surplus. Check out these before and after shots of our pantry: I've done pantry challenges before, but because of reporting back to all of you, I was extra-motivated this time to make it a success.  Yesterday morning, I spent the last $8 of my allotted $200 grocery budget for February. Pantry Challenge Lessons Learned: 1. Grocery shopping is more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, Food, Frugality, My Grandma Knows Tagged With: , ,

A Cash System for Groceries

February 11, 2013 by 6 Comments
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If you are having a difficult time reigning in your grocery spending, then you might want to try a cash system for paying for groceries. I can personally attest to the fact that it is easy to overspend at the grocery store if I am paying with a debit card or credit card.  For the past ten years or so, I have been using cash to pay for our groceries.  While this system isn't foolproof, it has made me more diligent about keeping my grocery spending within our monthly budgeted amount. I like this system so much that I even have a special "grocery money" wallet that I use.  This wallet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, Food, My Grandma Knows, Shopping Tagged With: , ,

Spending Money to Save Money

February 7, 2013 by 10 Comments
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The idea of spending money to save money sounds like a paradox.  Is it possible that spending money can help you save money?  That depends mostly on what it is you are buying with your money. Generally speaking, the best way to save money is to STOP spending.  If, however, you've got a little extra cash to spare, you might want to consider buying something that will help you to save money in the future.   If you can't think of anything that you could buy to help you save money, allow me to share a few of my own examples. 1.  A freezer While I would not recommend going into debt to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, Frugality, My Grandma Knows, Shopping Tagged With: ,

What’s So Bad About Debt?

February 4, 2013 by 10 Comments
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During the month of February when I am trying to shake free a little extra cash by doing a pantry challenge, I thought it would be a good time to blog about some ideas for spending extra cash. One of the best ways to use extra money is to pay off debt.   A long time ago, I shared Grandpa's Best Financial Advice here on My Grandma Knows.  That nugget of wisdom was life-changing for us, and it has to do with debt.  For the past thirty years, Grandpa and I worked hard to avoid debt.  We have avoided debt like a deer avoids a hunter.  Like a germaphobe avoids touching the door handle of a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, My Grandma Knows Tagged With: ,
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