Frugality

When you factor in the cost of your time, is it still cheaper to make chicken alfredo at home than to order it at Olive Garden? Photo: Olive Garden The other day, I had a great conversation with a reader who wrote in to discuss why I advocate the value of maintaining your stuff, cooking at home, and other such things that require some effort but save significant money in the long run. His argument primarily revolved around the idea of time economy or opportunity cost. Basically, his idea was that it’s often worth paying others to do simple tasks for you, like maintaining your car or cooking your meal, because it saves you time. In some situations, I agree with him. Much of modern life

Should you spend a whopping two months’ salary on an engagement ring? That depends on whether you listen to your own instincts, or a global jewelry company’s marketing department. Photo: Mary McCartney/DeBeers via Facebook Recently, one of my friends was curtain shopping when she received some pretty crazy advice from a friendly store employee. “You should expect to spend around 5{7dabfd103aa443fce219eea47f0f346a11a54ce587a1a0cbb74f06b9f7a304ca} of your home’s value on curtains and draperies,” the saleswoman explained as she sauntered around the sales floor. Of course, my friend balked at the idea. Not only is spending that much money on curtains absolutely absurd, but it is also highly unrealistic. Where we live, you can get a really nice four-bedroom home for $200,000, throw a few Wal-Mart