Inexpensive Donations for Toys-for-Tots

I picked up seven games from Toys-R-Us today including Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Memory, Cooties, Don’t Break the Ice and Don’t Spill the Beans for $3.99 each. For spending $25 on Hasbro games I immediately received back a $10 gift card that is valid through December. I also mailed off a … Read more

Stumped by a Low Appraisal

A few days ago my husband and I were shocked by an unbelievably low appraisal on a small piece of property in North Carolina. After inquiring about the property and submitting a bid we contacted a lender to apply for a loan. The lender immediately hired an appraisal company to value the property. While I … Read more

Has Anyone Applied for a Mortgage with ING Direct?

If anyone out there has applied for a mortgage with ING Direct would you mind posting your thoughts here. A very kind reader named Evy left me a comment, so I took a look this evening. Their mortgage rates are rock bottom but they are not fixed for the life of the loan. I’d love … Read more

Two Refis in the Works

After much debate it looks like my husband and I will refinance both of our properties. For the time being cash flow is the most important factor in our decision. I plan to call our lender tomorrow to refinance both of our homes to 15 year mortgages. This means extending our current mortgage by an … Read more

Should We Refinance Our Mortgage?

My husband and I are considering refinancing our 15 year mortgage and I’m unbelievably torn over the decision. I’m searching for the best mortgage deals and think we can save at least half a percentage point. The change in interest rates, (from 5 to 4.5%), will decrease our monthly payment by roughly $375 a month. … Read more

Friday Night Link Love

I spent quite a few hours this week calculating and recalculating terms, rates and loan amounts in an attempt to determine whether or not my husband and I should refinance one or both of our mortgages. So far it looks like a wash. In fact, by the time we pay closing costs and deal with … Read more

Expanding My Cookware Collection

Every so often companies contact me requesting product reviews on One Frugal Girl. In all due honesty I tend to turn down the majority of requests. I just wouldn’t feel right blasting my readers with reviews and advertisements. My goal is to document my own frugality and fiscal awareness, not to convince my readers to … Read more

Have You Heard of Groupon?

One of my most fabulous friends introduced me to Groupon tonight. She mentioned the site before, but I completely forgot about it, until an email arrived in my inbox offering $25 tickets to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show in Washington, DC. I thought about booking tickets for this event this summer, but now I’m … Read more

All You Need is a Washcloth

After spending $50 on a facial at the Red Door Salon the clinician provided me with the most interesting advice. At first she prescribed four different products including cleansers, toners, exfoliators and masks. I laughed and said, “I’m here on a half price spa special, do you really think I plan to pay $250 for … Read more

A Very Special Gift for My Grandmother

I know that is way too early to start talking about Christmas. After all we just passed the mid-point of October and we still have over a week to go before Halloween’s arrival. Yet, every store is decorated with red and green and a few of my monthly magazines have dedicated articles to Christmas budgeting. … Read more