Good Housekeeping — Spend less, Be Happy

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This was a fun article to be a part of. Bob Trebilcock was the writer and Wally Konrad was the editor for Good Housekeeping. Together, they allowed us to help select two of the three couples to be featured in the article.

Scott and Dona Barclay are long-time friends of ours. Scott and Steve went to college together. The Barclay’s are steady plodders, who use their frugality to help them reach goals that help other people. As of the writing of this article, they are in the midst of building a world-class gymnastics training center to house their youth gymnastics center, Aspire Kids Sports Center and the Arizona State University Mens’ Gymnastics Club. Scott and Dona are HomeEconomiser Newsletter subscribers.

Brian and Alison Worker are also friends we met years ago when they were making the transition from two incomes to one. They worked through some tough issues and came out on top. Alison’s knack for home decor on a shoe-string budget is absolutely phenomenal. They are a credit tightwaddery.

Good Housekeeping Spend Less Be Happy Article page 1

Click on the page above to view a .pdf of the 3-page article

Our contribution to the article, besides hours on the phone, was to contribute some money saving ideas. Here’s what they wrote in Good Housekeeping.

Three small steps to help you save big

“Saving is a state of mind,” says Annette Economides, who, with her husband, Steve, publishes the newsletter The HomeEconomiser. “If we practice saving on little things, we’ll use the same habits on the big expenses.” Here are three tips to get you started.

MAKE A WISH LIST Anything you see in the store and think you can’t live without goes on this list. Then wait. If the item has lost its appeal, you’ve just saved yourself lots of money.

RETURN OFTEN Always keep your receipts so you can return an item if you discover you’re not using it. You’ll soon see how much you spend on impulse buys.

KEEP A GIFT CLOSET Store items for re-gifting along with reusable wrapping paper.

You can download a .pdf of the 3-page magazine article here

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