Affluent but Frugal

In my opinion, salon manicures were THE affordable luxury for middle class women starting in late 90s. The proliferation of mall-based salons offering walk-in manicures for under $30 contributed to the rise (I think the mall salon in my hometown did them for $12!). It was so accessible and what is more basic white lady than pretty nails? Painted by someone else? Well, these days are kind of behind us now. First, we had gel upsells on nails (+$5) and then toes and then fees to remove your old gel. Now, in my area a basic mani is $35-40 and starting at $40 if you want gel. That is still affordable as an occasional luxury, but the damage to your nails gel causes is insane. After a few rounds, your nails are paper thin, flakey and just trashed.  Photo from when I gave mine away on Buy Nothing Group So what is our solution to save money and keep our nails looking good, strong and healthy? Ok well I have tried many things and here is my take. Impress Press on Nails I saw these recommende...

Sunroom - my favorite part of the house If you have been reading real estate blogs or following real estate groups for the past few years everyone has been talking about short-term-rentals (AKA STRs, Airbnbs, vacation rentals) and saying it was THE way to make money in real estate. There are trends in everything and real estate is no exception. A few years ago it was flipping, and now it's short-term rentals. As a person who grew in the middle of the US and didn't see the ocean for the first time until I was 19, I really wanted a beach house. I love the beach. My dog loves the beach. My husband hated the beach, but he went with us anyway. It was my dream.  And we bought one in 2022.  Before we purchased, we looked at properties on several different beaches and I ran the numbers over and over again on individual properties to see what kind of profit/loss we could expect. I read everything I could in online groups about the unforeseen costs and pitfalls. I made budgets for furni...

It's the end of the year and that means it's resolution time! What are you going to do in order to make your life better in 2022? Eat better? Save more? Exercise? I have designed some printables that I am happy to share with you to help you reach your goals, print them out and get to tracking!  Household management bundle Everything you need to keep your life on track including meal planning, chore chart, cleaning checklists and savings and debt payoff trackers. Mega meal planner templates A bunch of different styles including full color, minimalist, including shopping list space and seasonal designs for you to use year-round. Savings trackers Set your goal and fill in a bubble for each unit saved. There *should be* 100 bubbles in each design so you can visually track your progress to your goals. Health and fitness If you, like me, gained a few pounds over the holidays (and...COVID) and want to get back on track here are several trackers to help you out! Image for sharing your ...

 If you having been trying to get Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), I am sure you have seen the dismal rates of acceptance that made the news. Yes, early on, fewer than 1% of applications were approved. BUT I am here to tell you, it IS possible to get loan forgiveness by working in public service. I know, because I did it. My loans were discharged in May 2021. However, it's not a slam dunk. You need to plan . You need to make sure you understand the rules - make sure you have the right loan type, the right payment plan and the right kind of employer. Do not rely on anyone else to educate you on the program, read the rules yourself . And then read them again. My PSFL Path I finished graduate school in December 2008. Yeahhh, the economy was total crap. It was a rough time to come out of school and I had...I am not exactly sure but somewhere around $80,000-90,000 in student loans from undergrad and graduate school. It was A LOT, especially as my first job was a paid internship ...

Do you have an FSA or HRA that still has funds for this year? If you have already covered your medical needs but have funds that won't rollover I am here with tips to help you stock your medicine cabinet and clean our your account before the end of the year! FSA/HRA plans may vary and you should check your plan details for coverage. I would recommend buying items you could return if you find out they are not covered. I was reimbursed for all of these items personally for my plan in 2020 or 2021. With the CARES Act opening up eligibility for over the counter items , a lot of us can get a lot more mileage from our FSA/HRA plans. It's great to be able to stock your medical supplies on a pre-tax basis!  All of the items on this list I had covered personally by my plan in 2020, 2021 or both. For some categories you only get specific products, I have linked ones that were approved for me. 1. Sunscreen I definitely stocked up on my sunscreen using my extra funds but there are also man...

One sad reality is that as women (and men too!) we have to think about our personal safety all the time. When you show a rental property, you're meeting people you don't know in a private home. Many people have favored open-house style showings in the past (I never really did) but with the COVID-19 pandemic those are more risky than meeting one on one with potential tenants. But we need to stay safe. Here are my tips for ensuring your personal safety while you build your empire. Pre-screen your tenants Even if you don't want to pre-screen your applicants, you need to collect some basic information on everyone who will be coming to view your property. At the very least, you need their name, phone number and email address. If they don't want to give you this, next! The buddy system It's unrealistic to bring another person every time you have a showing, I often show on my way home from work so arranging another person to come with me every time would be a PITA. However...

 It's been a stressful couple of weeks in the landlording game. We're doing a turn after our original tenants from our original rental property moved out and well, it needed some work. A water leak was discovered in the closet, there was damage to the flooring, it needed painted and lots of little things. And it's not over yet! Next, I will need to choose the new tenants. I had the property listed in early July, thinking I would show it while my tenants moved out and I had a bunch of inquiries in the couple of days it was listed. I ultimately decided not to show it until they moved because of COVID-19 and wow am I glad I made that decision because it needed a little TLC. Choosing the new tenants is the most important landlord decision you can make. The wrong choice can lead to months of stress and turmoil. A good choice leads to a smooth year (or years!) of on-time payments and a few maintenance requests. The funny thing about showing someone a house is they will tell you a...

It's week two of social distancing and more than 3 million Americans lost their jobs last week . The uncertainty of how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last and the job losses to come has everyone stressed and reeling. On financial message boards the three weeks ago, when we saw the first massive stock market drops, many were  jubilantly buying at what they thought would be the low. The next week, when the reality of the situation hit many of us and it became clear that we all needed to work from home, businesses shuttered and schools closed the tone was much more worried. What should I do about my planned debt payments? How much emergency fund should I save? Should I invest now or is too risky? Should I pull my funds out? It's been quite the ride on the Dow this month. It would be very hard for anyone to answer these questions with any certainty, we don't know what the future will hold but here is what I am doing to try and prepare. Our Background My husban...

If you are looking for a great little gift this holiday season, this homemade vanilla extract is perfect! It makes a great small gift on it's own or wrapped up with a holiday cookie cutter or gift card. During the holidays, I like to have a small gift ready for those I encounter. This makes a great gift for: Neighbors Coworkers, the ones I like ☺ Teachers in combination with a gift card Household helpers (nanny, house cleaner, pet sitter) Friends Relatives that you're going to see but don't normally buy a gift for To make your own vanilla extract, you'll need: Instant Pot , or other electric pressure cooker Mason jars which are intended for canning and their lids Vanilla beans, grade B Vodka or bourbon Small bottles with lids for gifting Cute gift tags , optional A few safety precautions to keep in mind: DO NOT use a stove top pressure cooker to do this, it would be very dangerous. You must use an electric pressure cooker. Use mason jars whi...

Grocery delivery is the new, hot service. I have to admit I have been slow to get on the bandwagon because... I like to choose my own produce I don't want to pay a delivery fee I don't want to have to tip a driver (I'd never not tip them, but would go get my own groceries so I didn't have to) I don't have kids - if I did, I can see myself doing grocery delivery all the time! However, I do look for any way that I can get extra value from my Amazon Prime membership  and when Amazon offered me $5 off  as a no-rush shipping credit (one of my favorite things!) I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Tomatoes 3 days after delivery The basic situation You can browse the offerings at primenow.com  to see what is available for delivery.  I've now ordered from Prime Now twice, once I took Amazon up on a  no-rush shipping credit  for Prime Now, they offered me several more! The key information: Delivery is only free if you order at least $35 - ev...

The secret to making handmade holiday gifts, is starting early. Like October might be too late if you have a long list of people to make for including family, friends and teachers. I like to give consumable items because I feel like most people don't need more stuff. Or maybe I'm hoping it will encourage people not to give me stuff but rather something I can enjoy for a while and then it's gone? It is also easier to make many of the same item, this is good especially for neighbors, teachers and distant relatives, you know people you are going to see and want to give a little something to but something small. It is much easier to make 15 of the same item than 15 different items. Here is a list of ideas for a handmade holiday! 1. Felt Christmas Ornaments I am planning to whip up some of ornaments this year because we are having a big family gathering and I'd like to have something small to give everyone attending. How adorable are these deer? Watch a video tuto...

 Nothing makes me want to hire a property manager like showing a house for rent. Then I think how much a property manager costs and decide I can handle a little hassle once in a while :) For me the absolute worst part of showings is people who just don't show up. I think back to my renter days and I don't think I ever no-showed to an appointment to see a rental. Ok, ok, maybe one time in college when I was looking at places and my mom insisted the neighborhood was too sketchy. Even then, I think we called the guy and to let him know. But the fact is, most people don't have the courtesy to cancel, they just don't show up. Rude! So how can we reduce the annoyance of no-shows? Here my top tips. 1) Schedule appointments 15 minutes apart, as many in a row as possible It might seem a little skimpy but 15 minutes is more than enough to look at a unit, even my 3 bedroom house people are only there about 15 minutes and if you have a no-show in the middle, it's not r...

I am a DIY landlord with only two properties (so far!) so I don't feel like I have luxury of a big team to market my properties but I think we all know that photos are what gets people to come and look at our rentals! Recently, I was marketing my second property and wasn't quite getting as much interest as I'd have liked; I lowered the price but what else could I do to spark more traffic? New photos! I didn't want to spring for professional photos because they're spendy and frankly, it seemed like work for me to line up a photographer who takes good real estate photos (it's a specific niche!) to spend my money on something and possibly wait several weeks to get them ready. Meanwhile, my property would be sitting on the market. I decided to buy a wide angle lense to make my camera phone photos look as good as possible. I did a little Amazon research and for less than $30 really upgraded my photos and with Prime shipping it was at my house the next day! New ...