The price of an emergency fund

Regular car repair: $550
Bailey's vet visit: $280
Surprise car repair when it started making a funny sound (and after they couldn't find anything wrong with it at first): $850
Rental car fee (when the car was in the shop): $50
Bailey's teeth cleaning: $160
Doctor visit since we are on a high-deductible health plan: $120
The relief that comes with not having to bat an eye because we worked hard to put money into our emergency fund to cover months like this: Priceless

Happy 5 Year Anniversary of.....

....having only 1 car!! Five years ago today we hopped in our friend Anne's jeep (that she was kind enough to lend us since we were carless) and drove to the Saturn dealership and stupidly leased a brand new Saturn Vue. We had just gotten married, returned from our honeymoon, and I had moved across the country. Tom sold his jeep right before he moved to Birmingham and we didn't think my 1996 Ford Contour would survive the drive from Philadelphia. Leasing a car was probably the dumbest financial move we have made as a couple, but fortunately we've learned and grown since then.

Last year we were able to buy our car when the lease was up and thankfully we have not needed to buy another vehicle. I feel like living 5 years with only one car is going to be one of those things that we tell our kids about whenever they complain that they don't have their own car. We've certainly been fortunate in the fact that our work locations and schedules coincide so having only one car is an option. It's a little bit more of a challenge now that I work in the suburbs 2 days a week but thank goodness for public transportation!

Thanks for hanging in there car....here's to another 5 years!!

New Couches!

This is how frugality can pay off...and be fun! We've been saving money and sticking to our budget for a solid few years now. I've wanted new couches for more than a few years now, but we were patient and kept saving because, let's face it, new couches are most definitely NOT a priority, let alone a necessity.

We are so thankful to Tom's sister for the sectional that we have now. And we have certainly gotten our use out of it! But honestly it's very old and Bailey's hair gets intertwined in the fabric SO easily. The mattress in the sleeper sofa has worn thin and if you sit too "forcefully" in the corner of the sectional it sounds like the whole thing might break. When we moved here I tried to take the cushion covers off thinking I would somehow try to clean them. I unzipped the covers only to find that taking them off would result in completely ruined cushions. The foam had disintegrated and is in a million tiny pieces.

Soooo, we decided it was finally time to buy new couches. It was definitely warranted and we had saved the money to pay cash for them. Originally we wanted to get another sectional, but not knowing the setup of our future (yet-to-be-determined) living space, we opted for a couch (sleerer sofa) and a matching loveseat.

We found a set that we both really liked and bought them a few weekends ago. They are being delivered on today and I can't wait! I would love to say that we're not going to let Bailey on the new couches....but really, who am I trying to kid?

I need an Intervention

Ugh, I am addicted to bargain shopping!! I suppose it's not the worst thing to be addicted to, I mean, we get a TON of stuff for super cheap (or free).

So what's the problem?

I am always spending money! Today I went to three stores and dropped $25 like nothing! (I did get some good deals, and it was mostly stuff we needed...2 bottles of toilet bowl cleaner, an 8 pack of soap, a shirt ($5), painting materials, creamer, butter, and a 6 pound chicken.

I do usually stick to our weekly budget, and rarely go over, but I'm thinking I might want to try the beloved "Envelope Method" and just use the cash. When it's gone, it's gone.

Part of this revelation is coming from me being out of work for 7 weeks, and part of it is from us really wanting to buy a house in the next year and me feeling strongly about putting 20% down. I think I'm going start the cash only system in January, once I start getting regular paychecks and we can get back in our budget groove. Until then, I'm going to carefully consider every purchase and assess whether it's a "necessity" or not. (BTW, my favorite champagne that happens to be on sale for $4.49 at Jewel now through January 3rd is most definitely a necessity ;)

Saving money vs. natural sunlight

I love sunlight. I love living in apartments that are south or west facing to maximize the amount of natural light you get during the day. The downside? An increase in energy expenditure and more expensive power bill in the summer. One of the first tips you will read about when looking up ways to cut energy costs is to keep your curtains drawn during the summer.

We haven't bothered to put curtains up in the 4+ years we've lived here, partly because the whole process of picking out which curtains we want greatly stresses me out. But partly because I always want the blinds open when I'm home.

The other weekend we went out and bought curtains and rods for our bedrooms (it wasn't in the budget, and that stressed me out for a few minutes....but luckily being frugal and thrifty with most of our purchases allows us to have some extra money for random expenses like this).

We bought the energy efficient/blackout curtains and so far they have been great! We can keep them drawn all day while we're at work and as soon as we get home open them up to let in sunshine.

I am quite pleased with our purchase...and hoping to see (even a minor) change on our power bill next month. If curtains, rods, & hooks are not in your budget, here is a really cheap, although not beautiful, way to block out the light.

5 Things We Don't Mind Going Without

I got this idea from Meagan over at Frugal Fun & Fortune. I enjoyed reading her post here, so I decided to think of 5 things that we don't mind going without. I wish I could say a bigscreen tv, like Meagan, but that is one purchase I'm glad we made!


1) A second car. We are lucky right now (and since we've been married) that we can get by with only one car. Our jobs are literally right across the street from each other and Tom's schedule is so flexible that he can work around my more "set" work hours.

2) A house. Sure, we're now in our 30's (oy) and would love to own a house. But I am not about to buy one without AT LEAST a 20% down payment, enough to cover closing costs, enough to buy some "new" furniture, and enough leftover in the bank for a 4-6 month emergency fund. Renting just makes sense for us right now. We know exactly how much our rent will be every month (and thankfully have management that is so unorganized we haven't had a rent increase since we've moved in....shhhhhh!). At any rate, we will likely buy a house as soon as we end up in a city that we're going to be in at least 5 years. Hopefully by then we will have enough saved up to meet my rules listed above :)

3) Eating out. Okay, so this isn't something we completely go without, but honestly, we rarely go out to eat. Maybe once every 4-5 months we'll treat ourselves to a dinner, but it's usually Mexican or Pizza Hut, not totalling more than $30. The only other times we go out to eat is for special events with friends or if we have a giftcard.

4) GPS. This is nothing major, I'm sure you can get a decent GPS unit for under $100 easy these days, but it's just not something we need. We know our way around here pretty well and we print directions from mapquest or get a regular map ahead of time if we're going out of town.

5) Smartphones. Ok, so I admit it. I guess I wouldn't mind having an iphone or some verizon equivalent, but I'm not sold on spending the extra money for the "data package," just to be able to get on the internet anytime, anywhere. I mean, I've lived 30 years without one and I've been surviving just fine :)

Getting a puppy was not the most frugal choice we ever made...

...but boy was it worth it! We had been wanting a dog for a while, and we knew the moment we walked into the shelter we would be leaving with a dog, so we made sure we were well prepared before we even set foot in that place!

I highly recommend and strongly encourage rescuing a pet from your local shelter or humane society. Growing up I always had border collies so I had my heart set on getting a border collie as our first dog. I don't have a single regret about not getting a border collie and rescuing Bailey from the shelter has been such a wonderful experience that I think we will always go to the local humane society whenever we are considering a new pet!

Enough rambling....now onto the money saving aspect of this post!! Here is what you can do to save money before adopting a pet!

For several months after we got our dog I kept track of everything we spent on her. I stopped after a little while because it became depressing seeing how much money we spent! And she is a relatively low maintainance dog too! We spent about $1000 over the first four months. Considering that's what some people pay just for a purebred puppy, that's not too bad!

• Buy from the Shelter - There are so many good reasons to rescue a puppy from a shelter, not to mention this is your best bet if you want to save money (and get the most bang for your buck - most shelters spay/neuter puppies and administer vaccines and medicines that you would have to pay for out of pocket if you get a puppy from a friend/neighbor or buy one from a breeder). And PLEASE, whatever you do, do NOT buy a puppy from a pet store!! A lot of these puppies have been linked to puppy mills where animals are kept in tortuous conditions.


• Swing by Salvation Army, Good Will, or a few garage sales for pet gates. We priced them in Walmart and the Pet stores and the cheapest ones we found were around $30. I picked one up from Salvation Army for $4.


• Borrow from friends or co-workers! A lot of people may have old crates or gates that they no longer use or that their pups outgrew.


• Consider any fees you may need to pay if you have a pet. This mostly applies to people living in apartments.


• Comparison shop for puppy school/training classes. The cheapest options are usually offered at chain pet stores, but there may be others at your community center or vet's office. Search the web and make a few phone calls.


• As with anything else, the web can be helpful and not so helpful, all at the same time. There are plenty of websites and online pet stores that can make you believe you need a million extra things. Only buy a handful of toys to start. Your dog might end up being pretty picky in regards to what they like to play with. We've had Bailey for a year and a half and the only toys we have that have lasted this whole time are her Kong, Orbee Snowball, and various Nylabones (she's a HEAVY chewer!)


• Dog treats are one thing I get for free or close to free. Combine coupons and grocery store sales and these are definitely NOT a budget breaker. (Stay tuned to learn how to master this technique!)


• Food - As with most anything, the bigger package is usually a better value. Invest in a large food container (ours fits 25 pounds worth of food). This will not only keep your dog's food fresh but also keep any unwanted pests out of it (in turn saving you money by not having to throw out perfectly good food!) As for the brand? My advice would be try to find the "healthiest" food you can but make sure it's something your dog will actually eat!

Hopefully this helps. I can't put a price on the happiness and companionship that our dog has brought us! She's certainly worth it!

Welcome to Frugal Made Fun!

I've been contemplating starting a frugality blog for some time now. I feel the web is quite saturated with various money-saving and frugal-based blogs, but this is something that I feel pretty knowledgeable about and being frugal has helped us immensely over the past few years.

I grew up in a fairly frugal household. Mom always clipped coupons and Dad always paid cash for used cars and drove them until they died (the Ford Econoline van they bought in 1987 that died last year is a prime example of this!) I'm extremely thankful for my parents financial mindset, and feel that it has helped shape me into the person I am today.

My plan for this blog is to post various frugal and money saving tips, along with (hopefully) some deals along the way. Feedback is always welcome!!