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Archived Posts from this Category
Archived Posts from this Category
Posted by Lise on 05 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: meta
The first part of my review of The Two-Income Trap was featured in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted at Mighty Bargain Hunter.
These were two of my favorite articles from the carnival. I totally did not pick them because of the blog names - but I probably should have:
Posted by Lise on 27 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meta
I’m heading off to Thanksgiving dinner with some friends in a few hours, but right now it’s carnival time!
My post Visualizing $10,000 Extra in Your Life was entered in the 180th Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Living Almost Large. Here are some articles I particularly liked:
Eco Joe presented the Festival of Frugality this week, picking his choice of 18 articles out of hundreds and hundreds. A couple I liked were:
Posted by Lise on 19 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meta
I’ve added a few new blogs to my blogroll recently. Just to highlight them:
But really, I’m writing this post because I want to hear about you. Yes, you. You’re not one of my close friends who reads this blog just to humor me (hi Nat!). Maybe you don’t even have a blog of your own, and RSS confuses you. You don’t leave comments, ’cause what do you have to add, right?
It’s you I want to hear about.
You matter, and I want to make you a FitF celebrity.
Posted by Lise on 13 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meta
For current readers: I was recently featured on Fox 25’s “Family Coop” segment, talking about sharing resources in your social network as a key to frugality. Ahhh, my three minutes of fame.
For new readers: If the Fox segment is how you’ve found me, welcome! Here are some articles that will give you a quick introduction to this blog and what it’s about:
Feel free to comment below and tell me a little bit about yourself and what you’re hoping to find here!
For new and old readers alike: I’ve just added an email newsletter to this blog. Enter your first name and email address below, and I’ll update you a couple of times a month with site updates and bonus frugality tips. As an additional incentive to sign up, I’m offering my 8-page e-book (e-pamphlet? e-brochure?) “3 Ways to Shave $300 Off Your Monthly Expenses Without Feeling Deprived,” free to anyone who subscribes to the newsletter. This e-book outlines some of the methods I talked about in the Fox segment in greater detail, such as:
And, as always, you can sign up for my feed, which will deliver each of my articles directly to the RSS reader of your choice. (An Introduction to RSS).
Happy reading!
Posted by Lise on 11 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meta
A friend forwarded me this NY Times article about frugality in rural France vs. New York City: 6 Cents Is 6 Cents, but Time? That’s Something. I shamefully admit that, despite living in France, I’ve never heard the “porcupine in pockets” euphemism for being fiscally-conscious, but this whole story is true of the French shopping experience. I’ll also add that you bag your own groceries in a French supermarket- no one is there to bag them for you.
My favorite from last week’s Carnival of Personal Finance #177 (yes, I’m behind the times) was this article by Shadox of Money and Such: Now May Be A Good Time To Quit Your Job. I have several friends who have been laid off recently who may not agree! Nonetheless, I loved this quote:
If you realize that you will not be able to excel in your position and attain your life goals at the same time, you must accept the logical conclusion that the position is not for you.
Posted by Lise on 03 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meta
I just wanted to point out a couple of articles from the last two weeks that caught my eye:
America’s Income and Wealth Inequality by Andy of Saving to Invest. Andy takes the Economist’s recent figures on income distribution in different countries one step further, extrapolating the net worth distribution in the U.S. The bad news: the poor in the U.S. are just as poor as those in Turkey or Mexico. Much as I suspected, countries like France lead the pack in terms of wealth equality.
Getting the Buy-In From a Partner by Childfreelife. This article talks about getting your partner involved in your financial adventures. While focused on childfree couples, it is widely applicable.
More on Tuesday or Wednesday, when the carnivals are out!
Posted by Lise on 02 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: economics, meta
September was a goal-less month, but I covered a lot of ground, nonetheless. The number of subscribers to Frugal in the Fruitlands grew to around 40, and I visited topics as diverse as productivity, price comparisons, identity, local eating, and fashion.
The most popular post this month was Identity: The Problem Money Can’t Solve, thanks in large part to Paid Twice’s kind referral. Some of the other popular posts from this month were:
I also talked a lot in the past couple of weeks about the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, and why I was against it. With the Senate backing the bill, the outcome is looking more and more certain, but the bill still does not address what I feel are the biggest issues with the credit markets - the need for re-regulation. To quote this Mother Jones article:
Perhaps, the greatest lie resides at the very top of the proposed plan: that the bailout will somehow “[assist] American families in preserving home ownership, stabilizing financial markets, and protecting taxpayers.” The only way to protect citizens is to re-regulate the industry along the lines of Glass-Steagall: divide its players and their books into understandable, less risky, more transparent entities… The Democrats inserted a lukewarm provision into the bailout legislation to have the government aid in renegotiating borrowers’ mortgages to better terms, but they didn’t include any enforcement measure requiring lenders to comply.
That said, and my opposition to this bill in its current wishy-washy format registered, the American Housing Institute presents a cogent discussion of pro-bailout thinking. I understand where they’re going, but I reject the assertion that most of these bad debts the government is buying up are “real Vermeers.” I also don’t believe that this bill will encourage the credit industry to reinvest the proceeds in the economy - at least not in a non-toxic way - without credit re-regulation.
And with that thought, I leave you to pursue Day Two of Web Browing Reduction Month. (Day One: Success!)
Posted by Lise on 23 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: meta
I just wanted to take a few moments to express my love for Wardrobe Oxygen. Allie seems to have perfected something I feel few “fashion blogs” have - talking about how to look great at any shape or size, without falling into faddishness.
What does this have to do with frugality? Look at her mission:
I believe every woman is utterly gorgeous, and can feel beautiful and stylish no matter her budget or body.
See, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten line says this, too, but as I’ve argued, they can’t stand behind it. Allie really means it. She’s all about buying a few quality, classic pieces and personalizing them. Her Staples for Every Woman’s Wardrobe post is the best “wardrobe basics” article I’ve ever seen. (I’ve always hated Tim Gunn’s - every woman should have a trench coat? Seriously?)
An added bonus: Allie promptly answers comments, as she did my stupid comment on the aforementioned post.
Now, we all just need to take a moment to ask ourselves why it’s largely women who feel the need to be stylish. There’s your moment of feminism for the day.
Posted by Lise on 22 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: meta
No one was more surprised than me when Coupons vs. Generics: Round One: Contact Solution was named an Editor’s Pick for the 143rd Festival of Frugality, hosted at Living Almost Large. But there it is. I hope someone else can learn from my mistakes.
Two other articles I really enjoyed from this festival were:
Posted by Lise on 05 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: meta
I’m back from vacation! As expected, my post on gender and finance appeared in Monday’s Carnival of Personal Finance #168, hosted by One Caveman’s Financial Journey.
I will be tabulating the results of this small survey over the next few days, but in the meantime here are some other posts from the Carnival I enjoyed.