Home & Household

Things I Want to Nail in 2012–and Tools I Need to Sharpen. Goal #3: Creating an Edible Front Yard

January 26, 2012

Thank you again for sharing your goals with me. A lot of you identified with the trade-offs of delegating: it’s definitely a meaty topic, since we all want to save money, but we also want to enjoy life. Deciding to spend money and hire someone can be tough, and that’s where the “embracing” part comes [...]

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How I Simplify Cleaning Products

January 22, 2012

This post is part of a new series called How I Simplify. I only buy two and one is free. Baking soda, vinegar, and water. I first tried baking soda and vinegar when I read about earth-friendly cleaning methods for the 98th time and how Martha Stewart does everything with lemon juice and salt, and [...]

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3 Simple Steps to Rid Yourself of Kitchen Office Clutter

January 18, 2012

Have you ever noticed that more space attracts more stuff? Parkinson’s law says that work expands to fill the time you give it. And I think it tends to be true with physical space and material things. More space? More things. When we lived in Milan and we were just starting our family, we had [...]

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Things I Want to Nail in 2012–and Tools I Need to Sharpen. Goal #2: Making our House into a Home

January 10, 2012

I loved hearing about your goals in the comments of the first post in this Goals series. Jen wants to pay off her car and get into routines to make home life run more smoothly Josie wants to deal with writing up a will Nichole (the first participant in the Frugal Mama Makeover series) wants [...]

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Want More Time, Space, and Money? Try This

November 29, 2011

I took a long slow walk in the rain after reading Rachel Jonat’s new e-book, The Minimalist Mom’s Guide to Baby’s First Year: How to Save Time, Money and Space. I wanted the ideas to sink in. Even though I had contributed a chapter (“The Only Three Things You Need to Get Your Baby to [...]

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11 Keys to Smart Home Decorating — from the Frugal Mama’s Mama

November 2, 2011

This is a guest post from Lynn Carden, my mom! She’s not an interior designer, but every time we move, she comes to help us transform the chaos into a functional, attractive home.  And each time we’ve reused nearly everything and spent nearly nothing.   As an artist, she was trained to organize a visual [...]

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Readers, Share Your Tips: How to Get the Best out of IKEA

September 29, 2011

To my last post about scoring some good stuff at IKEA, Karen wrote in with this tip: “I JUST discovered IKEA! Even though a huge store opened here years ago, I never had a reason to go. I had heard mixed reviews, some people LOVE it and some thought it was cheap garbage so I [...]

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Tips from the Trenches: Budget-Friendly Home Decor

September 27, 2011

When Enrico and I were just starting out, we would head straight to IKEA when we needed furniture. Little did I know that four kids, five moves, and eleven years later, we would still be heading straight to IKEA when we needed furniture. To be fair, I do have some nice-looking pieces from Target. And [...]

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Finding Good Workers for Your House: My Rocky Road

September 6, 2011

“My fee for today is $250.” “But Harry said it was going to be $110.” “Oh no, Harry doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I did so much.” This was an exchange I had with a handyman recently who came to work through our “punch list” of broken things in our new house. Do you [...]

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14 Inexpensive and Beautiful Dinner Plates (Hello, Family Dinner!)

August 23, 2011

Even though I have to give myself a C- for beautifying our new house, I was able to scour the web and pull together this round-up for Babble of 14 Beautiful and Inexpensive Dinner Plates. You can see more of our family’s plates, as well as a bunch of others for as cheap as $1, in [...]

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3 Organizing Strategies That Won’t Break the Bank

July 19, 2011

Organizing is fun. Especially if it gives us the excuse to do a little shopping. Just a little. In this guest post, Nihara from Doing Too Much shares three common-sense tips for making more space in our houses — without spending a lot. In our last home, we splurged on really expensive closet systems that [...]

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I Saved $790 with a 5-Minute Phone Call

June 30, 2011

Here is an article I wrote last week at Parentables about how hard it seems but how easy it really is to save (a lot of) money on insurance. Do your eyes glaze over when you see an insurance policy? Of course they do. Especially when it comes to something as unsexy as title insurance. [...]

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How to Decorate Your Home for Less

June 23, 2011

If you appreciate good design but not the price tag, then you’ll love this guest post. I’m delighted to introduce you to Jennifer Roberts, an active member of my Central New York Blogger Mamas, who writes thoroughly helpful posts like this one on her blog, JenSpends. Though I learned long ago that beauty magazines weren’t [...]

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How to Plan, Purge, and Pack for Your Next Move

May 31, 2011

Since a lot of people are moving at this time of year, including us, I have updated and expanded my series on moving. I hope it helps someone out there! This article is the fourth part in a series about moving: Part 1 | 14 Tips for Finding the Best Neighborhood Part 2 | How [...]

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How I Lowered my Homeowner’s Insurance by 60%

May 17, 2011

“Do I need flood insurance in a fourth-floor apartment?” my friend Jamie asked himself recently. But after being attacked with a 48-page document from his insurance company, he decided it was easier just to pay. All the jargon, riders and provisions, and “enhanced” this and “personal property” that is enough to make you burrow under the [...]

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I Chose my Mortgage Broker for His Bedside Manner

May 10, 2011

Not that I’ve been anywhere near a bed with this guy. In fact, we’ve never met in person. But after all my shopping around for lenders, I was surprised to find that fees and rates are just one part of the picture. It’s not like I chose a car because of the color. This guy [...]

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