Affluent but Frugal

We got married in our early 30s and already had most things for a household (or two!) but we still felt like we should have a registry for guests who preferred to give us a physical gift and would like to know what we actually needed. When you're engaged, there are so many activities that take up your time and the prospect of spending 3-4 hours in a Bed Bath and Beyond with a scanner gun was not how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon. Some people love it but that's not my idea of a good time. For us an online registry was perfect. We also had a lot of out of town guests, so they could have a gift shipped directly to us very easily and they didn't need to have the same store we chose nearby to shop for us. Since I already order from Amazon.com every three days, an Amazon registry was the natural choice. And they literally sell everything under the sun, at every price point. The Good So, there were some big pluses to using Amazon for your wedding registry . H

I realize that I'm unique in that I love budgets! I love them because if you watch the money you know everything that's happening and I'm super nosy. :-) Even if you don't share my enthusiasm, making a budget is the number one way to get your finances in order! But if you have never done it before, it can feel limiting and it can be hard to know where to start. So what do you do? Track your spending Trust me, your money isn't going where you think it's going. It will help you in budgeting if you have a better idea of where your money is going. I like mint.com (it's free!) for tracking spending but there are other applications like You Need a Budget (YNAB) or you can go old school and use a spreadsheet. Fixed expenses To build your budget you need to start with your fixed expenses. These are the items that you pay every month and they are always the same. These will be be big ticket items like mortgage/rent, car payment if you have one, health/

I don't like to do Black Friday shopping, there are too many crowds and I don't want to get up early just to shop. It's only a deal if you need something, otherwise, you're wasting money no matter what the price is! Now, after Christmas shopping, that's my jam. Fewer people and better prices. But again, I will only buy something if it's something I wanted/needed anyway, even if it's 75% off. These are my favorite things to buy after the holidays! 1. Bath, body and hair care gift sets. I seriously stock up on all kinds of shampoo, soap, and deodorant every year. I will buy several sets for me and my husband and we will use it the whole year. He really likes Swagger by Old Spice and Wal-mart/Target will have sets that include some variation of a deodorant, shampoo, body spray for about $5. Normally we'd pay $3 for just a deodorant. I usually get him 3-4 sets of various combinations, depending on how many deodorants he has left from the year before.