Blog - Surviving and Thriving

13 travel essentials that don’t weigh much.

May 7, 2011 by Donna Freedman

When I got off the Megabus from Cardiff to London I was weary from a couple of days of hard walking. Fortunately there are markets in Victoria Station so I picked up a bread “baton” (larger than a hoagie roll, smaller than a baguette), some sliced ham and a single carrot.

Back at the hostel I pulled a Rubbermaid container from my suitcase and took out packets of butter and spicy brown mustard to garnish a simple ham sandwich. The carrot provided a bit of crunch. I finished up with an apple and a small container of Devon Custard Rice I’d bought previously.

Sure, I could made the sandwich without mustard and butter, but it wouldn’t have tasted nearly as good. And eating Devon Custard Rice with my fingers would have been the stickiest of wickets.

When I go to Alaska, I travel with mayonnaise. On all my trips I pack some or all of the following items — small, light, extremely practical things that are worth many times their weight in frequent-flier miles. They don’t take up much room but they pack a mighty impact.

Anniversary giveaway update.

May 6, 2011 by Donna Freedman

There’s still time to enter this much-larger-than-usual giveaway — and in fact, it just got a little larger.

When the back 40 is the back yard.

May 4, 2011 by Donna Freedman

The urban homesteading movement is a growth enterprise (sorry) in the United States. My current column at MSN Money shows why.

“A chicken in every condo?” details some of the ways that let people with small urban properties — or those who don’t own property — produce food.

For Mother’s Day, think beyond flowers.

May 2, 2011 by Donna Freedman

Recently a site called Eversave ran a Mother’s Day survey. Of the 187 women who answered, just over 42 percent craved “a clean house” as much as a day at the spa.

Note: They did not say they craved to clean house, but to have a clean house. Big difference there.

An anniversary giveaway. This one’s big.

April 29, 2011 by Donna Freedman

One year ago today was the “soft launch” of Surviving and Thriving. I never thought I’d be the kind of person to write a personal blog.

Turns out that I can be that kind of person, when properly motivated. Specifically: I wanted a place for all the topics that aren’t a match for my day job at MSN Money. Writing about how to stretch a buck is challenging and rewarding but I have other thoughts to express, too.

I write about money a lot over here, too, but Surviving and Thriving isn’t strictly about frugality. Neither is it about navel-gazing. (My navel isn’t all that interesting. No one’s is.)

Now that I’ve gotten through one year and 317 posts, I would like to say a heartfelt “thanks” to you, the readers. Thanks for reading, for coming back week after week, for leaving comments.

To celebrate the one-year mark, the usual giveaway features 21 prizes and will last two weeks rather than one. The top prize is everybody’s favorite: an Amazon.com gift card. And it’s a big one.

Resist the ATM! Here’s how.

April 28, 2011 by Donna Freedman

Your ATM card is a tool, just like a credit card — or a hammer. The powers of all three can be used for good, or they can land you (or maybe just your thumb, sometimes) in a world of hurt.

14 frugal uses for an income tax refund.

January 24, 2016April 17, 2011 by Donna Freedman

I’m getting an income tax refund this year. Well, let me rephrase that. I would be getting a refund, except that I’m applying it toward the quarterly taxes I pay as a freelancer. Whee!

What are you going to do with your refund, if any? My former MSN Money colleague Liz Weston suggests spending 10% of any windfall on something non-essential. So go ahead: Treat yourself.

But don’t let the rest of the money trickle away. Invest it in something, or several somethings, that will benefit you for the rest of the year – or even for the rest of your life.

How often do you wash your jeans?

April 14, 2011 by Donna Freedman

If you take Real Simple’s “When-to-wash-it handbook” as gospel, then I’m a total pig. Apparently I should wash my jeans after four to five wearings, launder my PJs every three or four days, and spend $10 on four ounces of a special swimsuit shampoo.

I don’t do any of those things. Oink, I guess.

Good thing I don’t wear silk PJs – Real Simple says they’re supposed to be washed daily.

In fact, I don’t wear a nightgown at all except in the winter. Sorry if that’s TMI for you. But I have an even dirtier image to share: Sometimes I wear a shirt twice before washing it.

Weighing in on ‘Extreme Couponing.’

April 21, 2015April 13, 2011 by Donna Freedman

A lot of people have strong feelings about the TLC reality series “Extreme Couponing.” My own impression of the show is secondhand, since I don’t own a television.

Technically I could see the next two episodes because the TLC publicist kindly gave me online access. Ultimately I decided not to watch. Based on what I’ve read and also on what my daughter told me and wrote about the show, I would just wind up depressed.

In praise of the rag bag.

January 24, 2016April 11, 2011 by Donna Freedman

It takes me forever to use up a roll of paper towels. I wish I’d written the date inside the cardboard tube of the roll currently in my kitchen. It’s been there at least a couple of years. Even though I’ve been traveling a lot, that’s still a long time for one roll to have been operating – and to be only about 50% reduced.

It’s not that I’m particularly neat. It’s that I see no reason to use paper towels when I have plenty of rags.

Sure, paper towels are convenient. But they’re expensive, too. Why use and toss wads of paper when I can use a piece of cloth, launder it and use it again? And if you’re just draining salad greens or wiping up spilled water, you don’t even need to wash the cloth – just hang it up to dry.

Call that eco-friendly if you like. I prefer to think of it as common sense.