Random Thoughts on This Rainy Afternoon

Oh it feels like one of those days… The final cost of my plumbing repairs came to $6,465. The contractor came today to check out the damage and intends to send me a quote early next week. What are the odds that the cost to repair the walls will be more than $6,465? I bet … Read more

Get Out of Debt While You’re Young

The best way to tackle debt is to start when you’re young. A lot of debt starts in college. Before you start your first day of classes consider how long you want to pay off those student loans. If you have a say in the matter choose a state school. Your loans will pale in comparison to … Read more

Keep Your Finances On Track with the Help of Technology

I love technology. I also love organization. When you combine the advancements in technology with the ability to organize your finances I think you have a win-win scenario. Let’s take banking for example. All of my bank transactions are handled online or automatically.  I used to hold checking and savings accounts at a brick and mortar … Read more

$14,700 Shelled Out in the Past Month

What is that famous line, when it rains it pours? That couldn’t be more true at our house this past month. We shelled out over $14,700 for a variety of random and unexpected expenses. First, the house began to smell like raw sewage a few weeks back. In an effort to correct the issue plumbers … Read more

The Balancing Act: Clutter Free vs The Holidays

If you are a long time reader you know that I’m a bit clutter phobic. As a result of my desire to keep my house neat and tidy I’ve purged quite a few unwanted items over the last few years and feel better every time I send a box off to goodwill.  When a charity … Read more

A Child’s Journey In and Around Washington, DC

Almost everyone has a wish list of places they’d like to visit and things they’d like to do in their lifetime. Although my son is only eight months old I’ve already started a list for him. It includes many of the family friendly spots in and around the Washington DC area. Not only are these … Read more

How Would You Grade Your Life?

If asked to grade your life what would you say? How do you think your current life compares to the life you expected at your age? Do you think you are on track, behind or have you completely changed course from the life you thought you wanted? I’m not sure what I expected for my … Read more

Still No Power

Thank goodness we had a wonderful, rested and relaxed week long trip to North Carolina. My husband worked on the house, (like usual), but Baby A and I just enjoyed the scenery. Lots of trips to the beach and pool. I so wanted to stay at the beach, but unfortunately renters were moving in on … Read more

How Frugality F*cked Up Our TV

A few years back we installed a satellite dish at our vacation home and ordered service to DirectTV. Shortly after the installation I considered ditching our cable TV, but before cutting the cord I sent out a survey to a bunch of our repeat renters to ask their opinion. Most of our guests told us … Read more

$40 for 3 Minutes Worth of Time

As we were driving down to North Carolina this weekend the check engine signal burned brightly from our dashboard. I opened the car’s manual, searched for the description of the warning and read the details to my husband. In essence, the manual said any number of things could make the light go on and the … Read more