My husband, Brad, is in the midst of his last school-related work before his summer (of more working) begins. He’ll be done on Friday, and the other day we had the following interaction: Abby: Hey, since you’ll be done on Friday, do you want to go out for drinks to celebrate? Brad: Maybe. Abby: What ... Read more →
My husband and share the same frugal-to-the-point-of-stupidity tendencies. We will skimp on nearly everything, and not always for the better (see: my recent bout of food poisoning in Spain, when we should have just headed to a clinic, but spent a morning slowly re-hydrating me instead). I can always go to him to validate my ... Read more →
While I generally think of myself as someone incapable of mindless spending, over the past few months I realize that I’ve been putting more money towards a variety of purchases than I would have liked. This has something to do with my current occupation – as I’ve written before, my current (and relatively new) job ... Read more →
Image: Cat When I was younger, I never dreamed about my perfect wedding. Rather, I spent my adolescence imagining the day I could become a reclusive editor in New York City, living in my fabulous apartment with my multitude of cats, free from the limiting requirements of “marriage” and “other people.” So you can imagine ... Read more →
Image: 401K Drawn in by all of the media hoopla, I recently found myself watching the first episode of Lena Dunham’s new show “Girls.” Early in the show, Dunham’s character explains to her parents that their decision to cut her off financially (in her mid-twenties, two years after graduating from college) is unfair and unrealistic, ... Read more →
Image: cookbookman17 My relationship is not unlike many in my age-group. This is the time for figuring out your career, for going to graduate school, for living cheaply and on different sums of money depending on where you are. My husband and I try to base our relationship on a degree of equality – his ... Read more →
Image: Paul Sapiano Confession time: I am horribly selfish with money. Well, maybe not selfish – just particularly cautious. In my adolescent years I watched my parents’ marriage implode, and with it the sense of financial security I’d maintained for most of my childhood. I also learned a few legal lessons regarding what happens to ... Read more →
Image: Kurman Communications, Inc. Despite reminding my husband constantly how amazing I am, and how lucky he is to have me, I do, in fact, have a number of flaws that I try to correct (when I can remember them). Besides an anal-retentive need to keep things organized at the expense of the sanity of ... Read more →
Image: Rachel Kramer We’ve had a spate of gorgeous weather here in the Northeast, and normally bundled and home-bound citizens have been venturing out in the sunshine. I’ve noticed that with nicer weather comes a trend: spending money. I’m less content to sit inside and drink tea or a beer with my husband; I’d rather ... Read more →
Image: Rob This weekend, I surveyed the damage done. How much would it cost, I wondered? Surely more than I wanted to pay. Did I have to do it? Yes, I did – any attempts to solve the problem on my own would only result in a more costly expense. So I steeled myself, and ... Read more →
Image: F. Hoffnar When I graduated from college in 2008, like many people my age, I graduated with debt. Thanks to my college’s stellar financial aid policy, a generous parent who believed the cost of higher education was worth it, and some substantial saving on my own part, that debt was a very reasonable amount ... Read more →
Image: Oscar In college, I had the good fortune to spend a semester in London. Because I was on a boatload of financial aid, and determined not to run up any credit card debt, I spent my summer budgeting and saving and preparing to spend as little money as possible living and traveling abroad. Four ... Read more →
Image: Tom Small There are moments when I look at my savings accounts as abstract items not to be used – pristine, shining examples of my frugality that are there for looking, but not for touching. And then there are the moments when my apprehension disappears, and I understand why I continually add to them ... Read more →
Image: Martin Abegglen In many ways, I have traditional, some might even say old-fashioned, tastes. While this has often served me well (my clothing stays largely in style, and should for some time), I’ve lately noticed that my reluctance to upgrade to more recent technology in a particular instance in my life has begun to ... Read more →
In the Spring of 2010, my husband and I found ourselves on the receiving end of a bit of excellent luck. As a graduate student, he was eligible to apply for a position in one of the undergraduate dorms of the university he attends. This role would entail some advising and programming responsibilities for the ... Read more →