I’m Officially Retired!

Well, from my Airbnb hosting duties.  I’ve hosted 74 groups, and over 380 people.  Time to share the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

My $563 Wedding

It was important for us to share our wedding with family, and to spend quality time with them.  We decided to have a marriage celebration after the wedding to celebrate with our friends.  After all, I needed an opportunity to earn my “Frugal Wedding Badge of Honor.”

My $65k Wedding

No regrets.

Wedding Math: Clothes, Clothes, and more Clothes

Weddings are a joyous time of celebration, and marketers know how to take advantage.  This is especially true when it comes to the clothes.  “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”?  Change up the order and save big, especially on the clothes you’ll only wear once.

Wedding Math: Bridal Party

More and more couples are saying “I Don’t” to a bridal party, and there are plenty of reasons to jump on the new trend.

Wedding Math: A Small Guest List

Our wedding will be small by choice, and it’s not about money.  If money doesn’t really matter, why would we put a limit on the number of people celebrating with us?

Wedding Math: Spending Thoughtfully

First, I’d like to say thank you to my Mom and Stepdad for saving diligently throughout your careers and helping to pay for a large part of the wedding.  Full disclosure: I wanted to elope, but my mom wouldn’t let me.  She was determined to see her only daughter get married, and said she would no longer speak to the Wanderer if he let me go through with eloping.  Since that’s not a good way to start a marriage, we decided we had better do the thing.  So I guess the TLDR of cheap weddings is “threaten to elope.”  How else does one cut wedding costs?

Life Energy for Money: A Fair Trade?

I’ve known my hourly wage since I started working.  It’s a simple salary divided by weeks divided by hours per week, no biggie.  Is there really more to it?  Yes, according to Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez in Your Money or Your Life.  They establish that money is simply a thing you trade your life energy for, and step 2 of their 9 steps to transform your relationship with money and achieve financial independence is to establish your real hourly rate.

Your Money or Your Life

As an introduction to financial independence, and the foundation of what it means to live richly no matter what your income is, the book hits the nail on the head.  Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez have made waves with Your Money or Your Life since 1992.  This is definitely a great book to – in frugal fashion – check out from the library.

Musings of an Outsourcer

As I am sitting in the living room writing this post, my new lawn service is outside diligently edging, weeding, and mowing. And it is glorious.