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Money Matters: Making a Little House Work With a Big Family

5/24/12 7:01am by Rita Arens
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Laura Ingalls House

My dad is the oldest of four kids who grew up in a two-bedroom farmhouse in Iowa. (I think there were more bedrooms back then.) (I have no idea where they put them. This was not a big house.) I'm sure they were positively on top of each other. I was interested in Karla's recent post on their life with four kids in a two-bedroom, supposed-to-be-a-flip house. She writes of Laura Ingalls Wilder: Laura made it sound so sweet and wonderful. I don’t recall a single argument or shouting match being mentioned.  Read more

How To ~ Recover A Chair

5/23/12 7:27am by howipinchapenny
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Recover a Chair

One of the easiest ways to update the look of a room is with the addition of new furniture.One of the most expensive ways to update the look of a room is with the addition of new furniture.  Read more >

How and When to Buy a Car

5/9/12 6:44am by PardonMyPoppet
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Used Car

This is not a scientifically backed up study, just personal experience. We have bought many cars in our 15 years of marriage (and I had bought 3 before we were married). One way we save money is to NEVER buy new. We buy a vehicle that is 2-3 years old and save on the vast depreciation that occurs in those first few years.  Read more >

Poor Girl on SNAP: Using EBT At The Farmers Market

4/11/12 8:00am by spacegurlmd
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EBT Accepted Here

It's never anyone's goal to have to seek help in the form of food stamps or other financial assistance programs. What's even more out of the picture is having to go back to that kind of assistance, after almost making it out of one's hole. But even if economists say things are slowly improving, this is where I find myself: back in the saddle of county aid bureaucracy and food stamps, a.k.a. the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.  Read more >

Pet Shopping Extremes and Furbaby Money Tips

4/11/12 4:23am by Rita Arens
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Cat Scratch DJ

I love my cat. And I loved the cat before her, and the cat before HER, and the seventeen cats before her. (I grew up near a farm. They came in packs of three back then.) And I admit, I've been known to spend enough money on my cats to make my mother's mouth fall open. (My cat Sybil needed daily thyroid pills for years.) April 11 is National Pet Day, so I thought we really needed to discuss caring for our furbabies: the good, the bad, and the ridiculously expensive.  Read more >

Make DIY Stamps With All Those Wine Corks

3/29/12 8:02am by Rita Arens
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Wine Cork

I used to save corks to make picture frames (cut them in half and glue them around the edge of a picture frame, then treat with Birkenstock cork treater). I've also seen people make trivets out of corks. Never in a million years did it occur to me to make stamps out of them, though.  Read more

Don't Let Thrifting Become Expensive

3/28/12 8:12am by Lakeitha
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Green Goat

[Editor's Note: I love thrifting, but I totally understand where Lakeitha is coming from with her warning -- it's so cheap, it's so pretty, but do you NEED it? Where's it going to go? Otherwise you might end up with a whole garage full of stuff -- check out Lakeitha's photos. -Rita]  Read more

A Little Bit of Perspective

3/7/12 10:07am by Momopins
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Water Glass

Like most people, I  occasionally find myself in the trap  of "Keeping Up with the Joneses".  It's so easy to whine about the fact that we can't take that vacation this winter because the windows needed to be replaced, or bemoan the fact that my closet is a shadow of what it once was. In these trying times in our country, so many people are without work, health care, or even a home to live in.  That in itself is enough to put things into perspective.   Read more >

Online Deals Sites: Is the Bloom Off the Rose?

2/27/12 8:33am by Carly
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First Groupon

[Editor's Note: I have experienced the same trajectory with Groupon and other online deals sites as Carly has. It was almost the same trajectory I had when Internet shopping came into my life in the nineties: Euphoria followed by financial constraints followed by resolutions to rein it in. Have you had an experience like hers, or do you still love them? -Rita]  Read more

DIY Three Ring Binder Dollhouse

2/15/12 4:15pm by Jennifer Perkins
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How to turn a 3 ring binder into a dollhouse.

[Editor's Note: Kendra at Southern Disposition has officially made the elaborate Barbie Dream House obsolete. All you need is a 3 ring binder and some fancy scrap booking paper and you are all set. Opulent dinning rooms, mid century modern living areas and luxurious spa like bathrooms can all be Barbie’s in no time. Don’t forget to think beyond Barbie. Blythe, Little People or even Legos could easily get some new paper digs. - Jen]  Read more