by Karen on December 12, 2012
I grew up with three sisters, and I was third born, so birthday parties weren’t a yearly deal for us. We each had a party or two to celebrate big milestones, but my mom didn’t throw a huge party for each of us every year — and I don’t blame her. I probably won’t either. [...]
by Karen on August 29, 2012
Marketing companies have drawn a pretty clear line in the sand between disposable products and reusable ones. Disposable is synonymous with convenience, ease of use, and less work — but you pay a higher price for that convenience. Reusable products are better for your wallet and the environment, but harder work. Is this always the [...]
by Karen on July 9, 2012
Our air conditioner has been out since Thursday. While I’m a big believer that air conditioning is a luxury, not a necessity (the vast majority of people on the planet don’t have access to air conditioning, and many of them live in much warmer climates than the United States), I am honest about the fact [...]
by Karen on June 11, 2012
Tony and I have been married for four years (seriously? Only four?) In that time, we have bought three sets of nonstick cookware. Is it normal for cookware to last under two years? I don’t know. But as any cook will tell you, cheap cookware isn’t worth the cost of its excessive packaging, so replacing [...]
by Karen on April 23, 2012
I started my new teaching job at the beginning of March, but due to the pay schedule I didn’t receive my first paycheck until the first week of April. It’s been two years since the last time I had a regular paycheck of my own, and it was quite a thrill when the money showed [...]
by Karen on February 14, 2012
This post was originally published on February 10, 2010. Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve never been a Valentine’s Day believer. I’ve always believed that you don’t need a special day to celebrate love. We should be celebrating every day, right? It’s hard to avoid the Valentine’s Day hype, though, and any excuse to do a little [...]
by Karen on February 6, 2012
With gas prices pushing $4, I knew it was only a matter of time. And now it has finally happened. Our amazing gas rewards program will soon be no more. For the past 4 years, we’ve put all fuel purchases on a branded credit card. We always had to fill up at the same station, [...]
by Karen on January 30, 2012
I’ve written about kicking my paper towel addiction before, but it’s one of those things that I never got around to doing. I convinced myself that I still needed paper towels for cleaning up things like raw chicken in the kitchen or wiping down toilet seats when cleaning, and so I continued buying them in [...]
by Karen on December 13, 2011
My exciting new teaching job starts in January (yay!). There’s a business-casual dress code, and unfortunately, all of the clothing I wore in my previous life as a professional was also worn in my previous life as a thinner woman who never had a baby (not yay). That means I’m in the market for an [...]