Frugal Feed

Apparently working on your taxes works up an appetite. That's the message from businesses offering freebies, or at least discounted items, on Tuesday, April 17, aka Tax Day 2018. Bagels, cinnamon rolls, sandwiches (sub, traditional and breakfast versions), cookies and Texas favorites corndogs (although some vendors — Yankees, perhaps? — call them hot dogs on a stick) and tacos (same culinary language nationwide) are there for your tasty taking on Tax Day. Taxes got you too stressed to eat? Take advantage of massages to ease you into a post-filing relaxed state. If you prefer to stay focused on the day's... Read more →


My mother recently moved to the Austin area. So for the last couple of months, I've been indulging my inner interior designer, helping her furnish her new place. Since Mom's a frugal sort, we've been shopping consignment and thrift shops. As in any retail establishment, there are bargains on really nice furnishings and there's stuff the shop owners can't give away. Sorting through all these second-hand items got me thinking about the folks who used to own the property. And that prompted this week's By the Numbers figure: That's the number of 2008 tax returns (the latest tax year for... Read more →


Just a quick reminder that Mississippi kicks off the 2010 back-to-school tax holiday season today. The Magnolia State's no-tax shopping on certain clothing and footwear items started at 12:01 Friday, July 30, and runs until midnight Saturday, July 31. Fifteen other states will be holding their back-to-school tax holidays in August, with most starting next Friday, Aug. 6. While you can save some money at these gimmicks events, you'll fare better fiscally if you go into your shopping trip with a plan. Frugal Dad turns to his frugal daughter for a guide to back-to-school shopping. Studenomics also looks at how... Read more →


Joe Taxpayer's frugal tips

This past week, Joe Taxpayer turned to Twitter to come up with a collection of money-saving tips. The Frugal Tweeps Edition contains 10 ways for the average Joe and Josephine to save some bucks. As you might have surmised, I contributed to the list via my @taxtweet persona. And of course it was tax related! Check it and the other nine tips out over at Joe's blog. Read more →


For some folks, the fact that Friday the 13th falls just before Valentine's Day is appropriate. Too many people rely on sheer luck to make their relationship with a spouse or significant other work. Take it from me, a person who's spent the last 30 years, most of them married, with the same person, it requires a lot of work, not just good fortune or hearts and flowers, to make it last. And for most folks, the hardest task is finding a way to work together financially. That's particularly true in these financial times. Many couples who have relied not... Read more →


"As Americans attempt to perform cost-benefit analyses of their needs and behaviors, they are whittling pennies from cable bills only to squander dollars on gas driving miles to discount stores, or on coupon-spurred splurges for nonessential items, like Cheez Whiz or organizing supplies. Pinched by shriveled retirement and college accounts, battered by ballooning mortgage costs, rent and co-op maintenance increases, and hedging against the possibility that a job might vanish, some are practicing economies that may not deserve the name." The comments above are from Failing Home Economics, an article in today's New York Times. In it, reporter Penelope Green... Read more →