One more for the ‘no-knead’ bread revolution
I love fresh homemade bread. Once, in my early twenties, I made a loaf by hand. I had picked up the classic Tassajara Bread Book from a remainder table, and one afternoon I went at it for several...
View ArticleA visit to the Island of Misfit Foods
The first of my two guest posts is up at Get Rich Slowly. GRS has long been my favorite personal finance blog, and was one of the main inspirations for Pocketmint. (Which is sort of a neat karmic...
View ArticleCredit cards (part three): use ’em … and lose ’em anyway
It was a brief segment on NPR’s Marketplace last month that alerted me to the newest scary thing about credit cards: banks have begun to curtail or withdraw credit based on where you shop and what you...
View ArticleAn unflinching look at America’s dangerous fascination with ‘cheap’
Even before I’d finished Ellen Ruppel Shell’s new book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, I decided I should review it on Pocketmint. I then spent two weeks artfully procrastinating on doing so....
View ArticleSeeking alpha (testers)
Alert readers may have noticed that lately the frequency of posts here at Pocketmint has been somewhat reduced. One reason is that some of my recently personal-finance writing has gone to Get Rich...
View ArticleSpending money to save money
We’ve done a pretty good job of cutting back on unnecessary expenses during this period of reduced income. ‘Magazine subscriptions’ seems like an obvious category to eliminate, right? Yet I kept mine....
View ArticleSave those crusts: a yummy use for your extra bread bits
For the past few months, my newfound love for easy homemade bread got sidelined by my difficulties with excema. Even easy bread sort of requires being able to use both hands. So it was back to the...
View ArticleSupper club: an alternative to potlucks and dinner parties
This entry started out as a comment to Kris’ potluck post on Get Rich Slowly, but it soon became too long for a mere comment, so I moved it over here. In addition to being frugal-minded, I’m also an...
View ArticlePocketmint reboot
Three years ago, in October 2008, the stock market crashed and — not coincidentally, as I was then employed by the brokerage arm of an international bank — I promptly lost my job. The following month...
View ArticleOn shrimp, or how to balance ethics and thrift
Pocketmint now spans three and a half years, and while there are certain posts I would write the same today, other things in my life have changed over that time. I think this personal evolution is...
View ArticleFeed a crowd for forty bucks
The calculations are complete. Total cost per person for our Thanksgiving meal (one generous serving each of six dishes and two desserts): $3.50. Note that I didn’t skimp on quality of ingredients — I...
View ArticleHandmade holidays: experiment in wreath-making
On even-numbered years, Jak’s kids are with us for Christmas, and we often end up spending the holiday with his extended family as well. On odd-numbered years — like this one — the kids spend Christmas...
View ArticleFrugal grocery shopping basics
As I’ve started to write up my experiences grocery shopping in Mexico, I’ve realized that in order for the comparisons to make any sense I first need to give them some context. If you’ve been reading...
View ArticleBuying groceries, Mexico style
Pocketmint is documenting a month of personal finance in Mexico. For the backstory, see this post. Now that I’ve described my usual grocery strategies, here’s how they apply to Mexican shopping: Price...
View ArticleThe cost of food in Mexico: crazy
We’re hoping to reduce our expenses by moving to Mexico, but that doesn’t mean everything is cheaper there — not by a long shot. As a general rule, locally-produced items, including food, are cheaper...
View ArticleThe cost of food in Mexico: comparable
Last post, I covered a few imported things that were so frighteningly expensive in Mexico that we will just have to do without. For a majority of items, however, prices are comparable to those in the...
View ArticleThe cost of food in Mexico: cheap
Having looked at the groceries that are more expensive and about the same, we now come to the exciting part: what are the Mexico food bargains? Cheap The fact that fruits and vegetables are both...
View ArticleUrban homestead failure still a frugal success
If, as I do, one reads many books and blogs espousing a culture of frugality and anti-consumerism, one will quickly and repeatedly cross paths with the cousin community of urban homesteaders and...
View ArticleMiswanting, and two strategies to counter it
As part of my attempt to downsize our life, I’m culling my collection of clothes and shoes. As I ransack my closet and dresser drawers, I’m struck by the occasional item that was a complete misfire....
View ArticleThe secret to the new iPhone’s popularity
So the iPhone 5 goes on sale in just one week. Here’s an early look at what people think of the improvements over last year’s 4S model: This cracked me the hell up. You’ve probably heard of ‘planned...
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