Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Portrait of A Large Family

If you are like us, getting everyone in the family ready for a  portrait is no easy task.    First you have to get everyone dressed and ready.  Then you you have to get everyone ready in their pose.  Then you have to get them to stay there and pay attention so you can get the picture.  Sometimes I feel like I ran a marathon when I am done. Although, I don't really know what that is like because I never have or ever will run a marathon!


It is a good thing that photography is a hobby of mine.  A real photographer would take one look at my family and automatically triple his price!  So yes, I save a little extra money every year by doing this myself.  Every year we try to get a picture in Eden Park in Cincinnati, OH. This is one of my favorite places on Earth.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of this kids that I took there.   Do you have any other ways you save money with your family?   Any good stories from your family photos?  Please leave a comment below...





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--Rick http://gplus.to/rickbolt

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Friday, October 19, 2012

What is Frugal?

I write a lot about cutting expenses and being frugal.  I have never thought that frugal was a negative term at all.  It has always been more of a compliment to me. Frugal is not really just about finding ways to save money, it is more of an attitude or a lifestyle choice.  People choose to be this way for whatever their reasons are. I have my reasons, as I am sure you do yours.

For example, frugal is not about getting things at a deep discount all of the time. Or even about completely not spending money.  Right now to me, it is also about when to know not to buy something.  It does not do us any good to accumulate a lot of things we don't need or won't use just because we got a good deal on it.  

I can't help it, I think I must have been born this way. (This is not a Lady Gaga reference). It has always been an interest (note financial pun) of mine. From the time I was very young I have always been a saver more than a spender.  I love to watch my money grow and also love to get great deals at the same time.  As I grew older I began to realize that the great deal is not as important as the need of the item to purchase. 

There are so many things that compete for my attention, do I really need this new thing (whatever it is) or will it just complicate my life more? Will I throw it away within a year or will I use it over and over. I think I look at purchases now as more of a long term investment.  I guess I am at that stage of my life where I am trying to simplify things.  

Maybe I will break down my stages of frugal-ness in future posts.  The problem is, I probably have not gone through them all yet!

Enjoy your families and have a great weekend!


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