Is there a link between being depressed and being in debt? I guess this is a chicken and the egg kind of question. Lots, I mean LOTS of women use shopping as a chemical pick me up. (I have a friend that tripled her wardrobe while going through a particularly bad break-up.) The problem [...]
I seem to be bumping into more and more ‘well off’ people that circumsances have changed whether it be from divorce, businesses failing or just the banks putting the squeeze on them. Well welcome to the frugal gang! We have all been there at sometime, I have been on frugal bandwagon for longer than I [...]
Is frugal behavior being kept a secret? Do you tell your colleagues that you are bringing your lunch to help with your Debt Snowball or Debt Tsunami or do you just say you are on a diet? I think how much one talks about money is a cultural thing. I originally come from NY and [...]
Things have been a bit tough for me over here at Lean Times HQ. I have been hit with some quite large bills that come with some rather unpleasant badgering, if you are a regular reader you might remember that I was made redundant from my best paying freelance gig due to my employer losing his biggest client. [...]
A colleague commented recently, she thought it was a bit strange that I don’t go out much and prefer to do my drinking at home usually with a meal that I prepared. She thinks I am a bit odd, perhaps I have a touch of agoraphobia outside the workplace, but no that is not the [...]
Years ago before we committed to a relationship, we worried about prospective partners having too much emotional baggage, now it seems we are worrying about financial baggage, both, theirs and ours. We bring with us, student loans many years after we have graduated, credit card debt that we just can’t seem to rid ourselves of, sort of [...]
Many people find using a credit card a convenient way to pay for things, track their spending and possibly most importantly it helps you build your credit rating. But when you misuse credit cards it can lead to a number of big problems including spending more than you can afford.One of the biggest credit card [...]
Here comes another frugal confession, I miss the finances of the past. This past weekend, I lost a very good friend in an accident, when something like this happens of course, you are flooded with memories. I have fond reminiscences of spending Saturday afternoons browsing the shops and when you wanted to buy something that [...]
My long time readers might remember this image from the post Do you have a secret?, where I wrote about keeping your frugal/financial situation to yourself. I am pretty open about telling my friends and some family that I am working toward the goal to be debt free. I was not always the smartest and [...]
I must tell you my lovely readers, that this post has been difficult for me to write as I am not sure we are going to have a great 2011. In the UK, we have had a rise in the VAT, which is a tax that is on just about everything we buy excluding most [...]
A few weeks ago, in the post I wrote about emergency funds, I ask how much does a person without a car and full insured by the State need. I concluded that in my life not that much could really go wrong besides my cats getting ill so I put aside £100. Not the best [...]
Times have not been easy and once in a while you may come up short when it comes time to pay a bill, what do you do? You get on the phone., that’s what. Most creditors appreciate it if you keep them in the loop if you are having problems. I find that it is [...]