Price Books 101 & Free Printables

Screen Shot 2012-11-04 at 5.54.08 PM

True Story: I’m not a super brand loyal person, but if I’m not making my own tomato sauce, I really prefer Newman’s Own Marinara sauce. Yes, I’ll use Barilla – or something else, if I’ve got a coupon. But Newman’s Own tastes the best to me. Great, but what does tomato sauce have to do [...]

How to Get Discount Tickets to Sporting Events (Part 1)

wrigley-field

This is a “guest” post written by husband, Frankie Sachs, former Sports Editor for the Jerusalem Post and current Managing Editor for the Euroleague. (Yeah, I’m a little proud. But really, that’s my way of letting you know he comes by his knowledge of sports honestly.) My children have followed in my footsteps as avid [...]

5 Ways Losing Weight Is Like Getting Out of Debt

scale

Today marks a pretty exciting day for me. I am officially more than half-way to my weight loss goal. On July 1st, I set out to lose 50 pounds. Today, I stepped on the scale and – hooray! – had lost 26 pounds. To celebrate, I’m writing this post, which has been floating around my [...]

How to Prepare for Rising Food Prices

drought

It’s no secret that this has been the hottest, driest summer on record for more than fifty years. If you live in the Midwest like I do, all you have to do is look at your front yard to understand the impact the drought is having on our landscape. But it isn’t just flower beds [...]

Reader’s Story | So Excited to be Getting Out of Debt!

I’m so excited for my reader, J! She’s been emailing me for a while about their getting out of debt plans – and now they are really on a roll with their debt snowball. Dear Mara, We just paid off our SECOND DEBT! Turned out car needed minor repairs so using extra $$$ you know [...]

Mint.com Tutorial, Part 3 | How to Split Expenses

Screen Shot 2012-07-12 at 9.27.54 AM

While there is no right or wrong way to track expenses, I have found that the best way for my family is with Mint.com. Instead of having to check through all my credit cards and bank cards, or remember to save every single receipt (only to inevitably lose one or two), Mint.com keeps me 100% [...]

How to Restock Your Fridge & Freezer After a Power Outage (On a Budget)

refrigerator

If you live on the Eastern Seaboard, you might feel that the title of this post is just for you. And actually, it was inspired by you! I am so sorry for all of you that were without power for several days or more. Whether your power went out because of a natural disaster, or [...]