budget

In the dark days of January my family and I don’t go out much, which means we spend lots of time cooking and eating at home. This is great for our overall budget – it means we’re not spending big dough on restaurants or takeout. But it does mean we spend a lot of time at the grocery store and since Christmas, our food budget has soared. Not because we’re eating more but because we’re not being smart about our shopping.

I have a closet full of regrets. There’s the $200 shoes that I’ve only worn three times (they hurt!). There’s the $40 jacket that looked great on the website, but looked cheap in person — I’ve never worn it. I have dozens of purchases tucked away in my closet that I bought without thinking, usually because I was bored or feeling low and just needed some "retail therapy".

Seven easy ways to stretch your grocery budget

Could you feed your family for an entire week without spending more than $21? That’s the challenge that Australian blogger and personal finance writer Fiona Lippey has for households in Australia

My husband and I have been talking about getting rid of our car — we live close to a public transit system that can take us pretty much anywhere we need to go. There are also more rental options around us, with Zipcar and Autoshare cars parked all over the place these days.