Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
I would absolutely love to hear from any of my readers who temporarily or permanently left their careers behind to stay home with a child. While I am thrilled beyond belief to stay home with our little one this fall I can’t remember a time in my life when I did not have a job. … Read more
After years and years of talking about remodeling my husband and I have finally decided to replace all of the windows in our home. Our current windows are downright awful. Some of them require keys to open, some fall down as soon as you prop them up, some screech like crazy when you try to … Read more
Today is an absolutely beautiful day. I live just outside the Washington, DC border and the temperature outside my house is a perfect 74 degrees. There’s even a slight breeze blowing through my windows, but to be honest it’s too nice to be cooped up indoors, so I keep finding excuses to wander outside. I … Read more
Last year my husband and I planted our first garden. We put together a simple four-by-four foot garden box, (without a bottom), hooked up a small irrigation system and planted four different types of seeds. The crop consisted of beets, cantaloupe, carrots and jalapeno peppers. All together we spent less than $25. Of course, 90% … Read more
I typically concentrate on a million and one ways to save money, but lately I’ve found myself in a spend, spend, spend frame of mind. After nearly nine years of living in a sixty year old house, with sixty year old bathrooms I really want to remodel. We have old-school bathrooms, you know the kind … Read more
Has anyone ever shopped around for title insurance? My husband and I decided to proceed with refinancing both of our properties, but I hate the thought of paying for two more title insurance policies. I believe the title insurance on our rental home can be reissued, but I think we will need to purchase a … Read more
Most of us who save our pennies and hoard our dollars are saving with some particular goal or number in mind. Sometimes we’re saving for something small like a special dinner out with friends, a new dress, or new rugs for the dining room. Sometimes we strive for something larger like a kitchen renovation, new … Read more
On the way down to North Carolina my husband remarked on an interesting point. He pointed out that I clean our vacation home more often and more thoroughly then I have ever cleaned our primary home, despite the fact that we have owned our primary home for for much longer and live in it 99% … Read more
As I was painting the kitchen walls a few weekends ago I realized that my husband and I rarely pay people for jobs that we can otherwise do ourselves. I will admit, particularly since my medical problems occurred, that my husband tends to do the majority of the physical labor around our house. He mows … Read more
Lately I have become quite fascinated by the real estate articles I find in the paper and online. I can’t count how many articles I’ve read where people need to sell their homes but refuse to lower their asking price. I hear a lot of people talking about how high home prices used to be, … Read more