Category Archives: Frugal Living

Why I’m Considering Cutting the Cord & Dropping Cable

Posted on by

Lanny inspired me this week to call my cable provider, AT&T, and see if I could reduce my current monthly bill of about $110/month.  I know this is extremely expensive and the bill is almost split evenly between internet and TV.   However, unlike his success story of helping his family reduce their bill, I left my phone conversation frustrated and craving some better alternatives.  Darn you AT&T, why must you pay me such a great dividend!   I figured I would document some of the research I have been performing all  morning as I search the internet for better solutions.

Cut the cable

Continue reading →

Lanny’s September Income & Expense Summary

Posted on by

September is officially in the books after a quick review of the income & expense breakdown for the month.  It was another fun overall month, busy with work, travel, clients and other activities.  I wonder if I still am achieving the 60% savings challenge?  Only one way to find out, let;s check out my income & expense summary for September!

Continue reading →

Bert’s July Income and Expense Summary

Posted on by

Man oh man does it feel weird to be writing one of these articles again.  Similar to Lanny, I had taken a few months off of writing an income and expense article for a variety of reasons.   Through switching jobs again, traveling for my old job, and insert any life activity, time has been at a premium.  Enough with the excuses from my end!  While Lanny performed a 3 month income summary earlier in the month, I decided to forgo summarizing the last three months and instead focus solely on July.  But don’t worry, I will update our Savings Challenge page to display the last 3 months since one of my annual goals is to defeat the Dividend Diplomats Savings Challenge 6 times this year!  Let’s see how I performed in July.

Piggy Bank

Continue reading →

Bert’s April Savings Rate Summary

Posted on by

This has been the busiest month for me, by far, since Lanny and I began the Dividend Diplomats’ Savings Challenge last year.  I found myself having many new inflows and outflows this month, which can be both a good and a bad thing.  The question is, with all of this new activity, was I still able to achieve a savings rate of 60% of this month?

Savings Rate

Continue reading →

Lanny’s April Income and Expense Summary

Posted on by

As you have come to see from us Diplomats – each month we share our savings from the income and expense we have endured during the previous month.  Our goal is to achieve 60% savings rate in an ever inflationary lifestyle from advertisers, television, peers and co workers.  Though it is difficult, we know the combination of being frugal, saving and investing allows us to achieve our financial freedom goals faster, by still enjoying the benefits of life itself.  Was I able to hit 60% this month?  Let’s check out my income and expense summary from April!

september-rally

Continue reading →

Calling All Bloggers! What is the Best Laptop For Blogging?

Posted on by

Bloggers, I need your help.  I am in a huge debate with myself, Bert and others on what is the best laptop/chromebook/tablet out there for bloggers and blogging alike.  There has to be pros and cons to each one in the market, and I’m having quite a difficult time finding the best one for what I need to use it for.  I’ll list out the potential devices I am considering, but would absolutely love guidance – and what better than to ask individuals who are also writing/blogging – so thank you for considering helping me in the search.  Let’s see what I’m looking for, why I am and what I’ve come up with so far.  From there – all and any feedback would be appreciated!

two laptops Continue reading →

Mowing the Lawn – Frugal Style!

Posted on by

It’s summer, not yet, but here in Ohio it’s currently 70 degrees plus oddly enough and it’s only the beginning of May.  My grass has started to sprout, er uhm.. giant green stalk actually and it’s time to get the mowing season started.  I have a VERY Small lot and a brief background is my oil/gas powered “machine” went out on me at the beginning of LAST summer.  Sure, I could have gone out to buy a new powered mower and spend $150-$300 on a gas powered-get out of my way lawn mower, I mean everyone has one of those and how the heck else do you cut grass if you don’t have an oiled-machine?  I took a step back and went back into “time” for the method to my “huge” aka tiny lawn this year, which ended up being the frugal method.  Look at this beast and let’s talk about it:

Continue reading →