or, A Lesson from the Airwaves. It struck me years ago, on a roadtrip with my mom. Somewhere in the day’s travels over hill and vale, via hairpin turns, the sporadic radio signal gave me a life lesson. Our ears were greeted intermittently by alternating music and white noise. I’m pretty sure we opted for silence after a while, giving up on the spotty airwaves. In the quiet, the thought came: The road winds, the terrain changes,...

No, not that kind of boot. Think…British. Yeah, that’s the one. What’s in your boot? Here’s my guess: Jumper cables Flashlight Snowchains, perhaps? Spare tire Trusty can of Fix-a-Flat… …and if you’re anything like me, artifacts from recent (or long past) road trips. Have you ever been caught without one of these things when you needed it? I was thinking last night (a dangerous...

Note: This is a re-run, from the archives…originally posted waaaay back in November 2010. Forgive the reprise, but I thought I’d post it again to kick off the February series, “Lessons from the Road.” Road trip yesterday. 3 am departure time, with approximately 5 hours to destination. I drove. There’s this thing I do when I encounter windy roads or low visibility or sheer drop-offs or even steep-slopey drop-offs. I sit...

…running late… I knew this would happen. Despite my (approximately) best efforts to confine this series to January, I’ve bled over into February. No matter, let us wrap it up with a few musings. At the beginning of the month, as I mapped out the schedule of postings, certain trends jumped out at me. “Aha!” said I (not out loud [I hope]). “Frugal things have value beyond the fiscal savings!” I suppose...

Some words just stick, you know? Here are several practical and wise phrases that I’ve picked up who-knows-where regarding things somehow relevant to “pleasures beyond pocket money.” Make it do or do without. These words open the gates to the creative realm of “using what you have.” Anyone here familiar with Polyanna? How about her “glad game?” Perfect manifestation of this philosophy. Buy used and...

Ever tried swapping freezer meals? Just curious. If you have, how did you work your swap? Here’s a splendid blog post from “Under the Sycamore” on the subject of saving (time and money) by swapping. I came across it last November and found it delightfully intriguing. What are your thoughts? Variations? Once a Month...