For the longest time, my kids have laughed at me for my thrifty habits. For example, I reuse aluminum foil if it’s in good condition, I turn off lights whenever I leave a room and I won’t throw away leftovers. You could say that I’ve always practiced one of Benjamin Franklin’s suggested virtues, frugality, as outlined in his “Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection.” He says frugality means not spending unless it does good for yourself or others, emphasizing that you should waste nothing. Read more

I started thinking about this topic after reading an article about Warren Buffett and his frugal habits. It said he still lives in the same house he bought in 1958, drives older cars, rarely takes out loans and prefers not to spend a lot of money eating out. Buffett still uses a flip phone and doesn’t like designer suits. In the Yahoo Finance article, he’s quoted as saying, “Don’t save what’s left after spending, but spend what’s left after saving.” Read more

I had a slight case of buyer’s remorse the other day after impulsively buying a mint green cardigan sweater online. After it arrived, I realized it wasn’t the right color for me, the style was all wrong and it was too big. I could have returned it, but I got out of that hassle by selling it to my sister-in-law, who loved it. Read more