Donna Freedman

A handbook for better living.

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John Robbins was born into wealth and, as an heir of the Baskin-Robbins fortune, could have stayed there. He walked away, though, and focused on a planet-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

The money he did have was lost to Bernie Madoff’s antics. But Robbins, already an author, focused his writer’s eye on a potential silver lining: “Curtailed consumerism could lead us to reassess our lives and values.”

The result was “The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less,” which I’m giving away this week.

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I’ve got a new day job. Come over and visit.

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My biweekly personal finance column at MSN Money has morphed into a daily frugality blog. Since life never happens quite as you wish, the new gig was poised to launch right when I got sick last week.

My mental picture is of the Fates passing a joint and cackling with laughter as they watched me struggle with computer connection woes six or seven hours after what was later determined to be a gall bladder attack.

Eventually everything was resolved and Tuesday was the debut for Frugal Cool. Despite the semi-preachiness of the inaugural headline (“Frugality: The right life choice”), this is not an eat-your-vegetables kind of site.

 

 

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Blog roundup: Attack of the choleliths edition.

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A few nights ago I had what I thought was a really bad case of indigestion and nausea. Zantac couldn’t touch it. It got worse. I tried to make myself vomit and couldn’t.

Eventually I realized that (a) indigestion shouldn’t feel like this and (b) I had eaten a fairly healthy dinner. A doctor’s visit and an ultrasound determined that it was a gall-bladder attack.

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Celebrate the 2012 Oscars with dinner and a movie — on me.

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Whenever I offer free movie tickets there’s a lot of interest. I can only infer that the tighter economy has led a lot of people to cut back on entertainment.

This week you’ll get both dinner and a movie in time for the Feb. 26 Academy Awards. Even if you don’t go see a nominated picture, you’ll be hitting the theater for free. If you play your cards right, you’ll be hitting the theater more than once.

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8 personal finance lessons from “Gotterdammerung.”

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I spent six butt-numbing hours at the movies on Saturday, watching the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcast of “Gotterdammerung.” Spectacle, pageantry, a buff and bitchin’ Siegfried who turned out to have a down-home Texas accent – it was a very successful day.

The only thing better than opera is frugal opera. In fact, the show didn’t cost me anything:

 

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What will love cost you?

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Cupid wears a diaper, with no place to put a wallet – but if you’re looking for love there better be pockets on your garments. Deep ones: U.S. residents spent $928 million last year just on dating services.

Love is not only grand, but fiscally prudent. Cohabitation and marriage generally mean two incomes but only one rent/mortgage, fewer nights out on the town, less emphasis on recreational shopping and more focus on shared financial goals.

“There is a real benefit – I call it a financial inoculation against poverty – in being coupled up. You’re better able to withstand tough times,” says Carmen Wong Ulrich, author of “The Real Cost of Living: Making the Best Choices for You, Your Life and Your Money.”

Oh, but the cost of getting to couplehood. Prices for makeup, “manscaping,” marriage vows and mortgages really add up.

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The crap that crowds us.

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I’ve been on a major de-cluttering kick in preparation for “Superfluity,” my church’s annual rummage sale. The idea is to strip your life of superfluous stuff. You get cleaner digs and the church raises cash for its various social programs.

Although I knew my place was getting crowded, I had no idea just how much superfluity existed around me. As I fill bag after bag I can only say, “Holy crap.”

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