Donna Freedman - Surviving and Thriving

How to cook 12 meals in 48 minutes.

February 21, 2016 by Donna Freedman

I figured that might get your attention. The headline is semi-disingenuous: What you’ll be doing is preparing 10 to 12 meals in an hour or less, but not actually cooking them until you need them.

Specifically, you’ll be turning 48 to 60 minutes’ worth of kitchen work into a dozen future dinners by using Erin Chase’s new FreezEasy meal plans.

Recently I wrote about her Grocery Budget Makeover plan. Chase is the founder of $5 Dinners and a series of cookbooks, and also the co-founder of “The $5 Meal Plan.” This time around she’s created a series of meal plans, shopping lists, kitchen prep tips and videos to churn-and-burn future meals (both meat-based and vegetarian).

Since I know her in real life, I can attest that she dreams up recipes in both the exotic and everyday realms. (Hint: She has four kids.) However, her recipes share several attributes: They are affordable and they are simple to prepare.

Beta testers report that Chase’s plans takes “the overwhelm” out of the equation. You know, that feeling of “What are we (or what am I) going to eat today, tomorrow, next week…?” that can ruin your day – and, maybe, your budget. It can also create an unhealthy relationship with food.

Free income tax advice on Thursday.

February 17, 2016 by Donna Freedman

Planning to do your own paperwork this year? Tune in on Thursday for some free advice from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the National Association of Person Financial Advisors.

Experts from both will answer your questions via a live webchat between 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern. You can access the chat via live.kiplinger.com or follow along with the Twitter hashtag #MaximizeMoney.

They’ll be offering expert opinion on some pretty essential stuff, including but not limited to:

My frugal Valentine.

February 14, 2016February 14, 2016 by Donna Freedman

The other day I awakened to the sound of a vacuum cleaner, but the noise wasn’t quite right. It sounded a bit muffled, and why would DF be vacuuming anyway? We have a robot to do that.

Maybe he was dust-busting around the fireplace insert, which he sometimes does when he cleans out the ashes. Whatever. Because I was zonked on cold medicine, I went back to sleep instead of getting up to check. Later that day I found out that he was getting his ears lowered, i.e., using the Flowbee in the basement.

The sound of a man cutting his own hair…Now that’s frugal sexy. He’s been self-saloning for decades, saving who knows how much money. This is just one of the reasons I find him devastatingly attractive.

Newer readers who aren’t clear on DF’s backstory should check out “Midlife love rocks! (Ask me how I know),” the post that introduced him back on Valentine’s Day 2013. We’re still together and still entirely stupid about each other.

How we saved $400 in three days.

June 4, 2016February 9, 2016 by Donna Freedman

Ever wonder why some frugality tips get recommended over and over? Here’s why: Because they work.

A handful of hacks helped DF and me save four hundred simoleons in just three days.

The biggest-ticket item was our stove, which has been faltering. Since the appliance is at least 30 years old, DF was disinclined to call a technician. Since both of us are disinclined to pay retail, I sent away for $550 in discounted gift cards to a certain home improvement center (which I bought through a cash-back shopping site) and we started watching for sales.

He’d figured that $550 would be enough for the stove he wanted. But then we got lucky.

The one good thing about being sick.

February 6, 2016 by Donna Freedman

The sore throat started developing late Friday afternoon, but I ignored it: We had hot dates both at my friend Linda B’s show* and a concert by the Cypress Quartet** and I refused to miss either one.

By the time we got home I felt pretty lousy. The sore throat was worse, I ached all over and I had that burning-eyes-and-nose sensation that suggests sinus involvement. No fever, though, so I’m inclined to think “virus.”

However, I’m reminded of the one good thing about being sick: Reading.

Valentine’s Day giveaway: Alaska jewelry.

February 4, 2016 by Donna Freedman

Back in December I gave away some of my friend Linda B’s handcrafted jewelry. The response was so enthusiastic I’ve decided to do it again, in time for Valentine’s Day. Also in time for her “First Friday” event tomorrow evening at the 2 Friends Gallery here in Anchorage. (If you’re in the area, you should go.)

Once again I wish I were a better photographer. But I’m not, so you’re just going to have to trust me with the details about these pendants.

This time around Linda started with a copper disk and a copper rectangle, knocking both of them silly with a texturing hammer. You can catch a glimpse of this detail despite my sub-par photography.

Next she added colorful metal accents and some copper ones, attaching them with rivets she makes out of heavy-gauge copper wire. Each of these comes with an 18-inch cord.

These would be fine Valentine’s Day gifts if that’s the sort of thing you do. They’d also do well as birthday or Christmas presents — or maybe for a little self-gifting. As one of the characters in “Steel Magnolias” put it, what separates us from the lower animals is our ability to accessorize.

Should you pay a “luxury tax”?

February 3, 2016 by Donna Freedman

We played a lot of Monopoly and other board games when I was a kid. Cable television hadn’t been invented and there were no movie theaters, arcades, skating rinks, bowling alleys or shopping centers in our little township.

Some of these things existed nearby, but they might as well have been on the moon: Not only was there no public transit in our region, there was not much disposable income in our lives.

Hence, hours and hours of board games. I don’t think that we understood Monopoly’s underpinnings: Get rich by ruining everyone else! One thing I’m sure we didn’t get was the square that read “luxury tax.” We groaned when we landed on it because it cost us money, but the word “luxury” was not in our vocabulary.

We had everything we needed, mind you, but much of it was homegrown, homemade or handed down. Luxury was something we saw on TV, maybe, but I never figured it could apply to people like us.

As adults, we can choose luxury if we’re willing to pay for it. Which brings me to the idea suggested by a Get Rich Slowly reader: a DIY luxury tax.

Paying less for handwashing.

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 by Donna Freedman

Recently the two bottles of Method foaming hand soap in our bathroom were on their last few squirts. They’d been there since I moved in almost three years ago. (Tempus fugit!)

We also keep bar soap by the bathroom sinks, which is probably why the bottles lasted for three years’ worth of handwashing. The foamy stuff is undeniably easier to use than the bars, though.

It’s also easier to use than regular liquid soap. You get exactly what you need, vs. squirting out a surplus that either slides off and down the drain or that takes too long for an impatient child to wash off all the way.

Neither DF nor I are exactly children. (Chronologically, anyway.) But we’ve been watching his granddaughter about once a week and my two great-nephews also visit. Given that children are two-legged petri dishes when it comes to the latest viruses, I’d like to make it as easy as possible for them to wash their hands.

Since I’d remembered reading a recipe for foam-refill soap, I went prospecting online rather than pay full price. Even if it were a relatively small saving I thought I’d give it a try.

Good news: It was an easy frugal hack.

Better news: We already had what we needed on hand.

Best news: The saving was actually pretty decent.