I didn’t take advantage of a single deal on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

It’s not because I didn’t want a shiny new gadget or a gorgeous new outfit. It’s not that my kids weren’t clamoring for the latest noisy toy. It’s because my budget has taken a serious hit this year, and even some incredible deals weren’t enough to make me whip out the credit card unless I was oogling something we really need. And, frankly, we’re very lucky; while there’s tons of stuff we want, there’s very little that we actually need.

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Maybe it’s crazy, but I love leftovers. I deliberately make too much food just so that I can have leftovers to transform into something else later in the week. Thanksgiving is no exception. In fact, it’s safe to say that I plan my Thanksgiving leftovers almost as thoroughly as I plan the Big Meal itself.

I’m not talking turkey — there are eleventy-billion ways to use up the rest of the bird, so I will simply direct you to my earlier post on things to do with a leftover roast chicken and tell you to use your imagination.

No, it’s the rest of the traditional Thanksgiving meal that poses a real challenge to frugal and busy people like us. The stuffing. The green beans. The mashed potatoes. The rolls.

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I recently decided that I was going to consider every single career opportunity that came my way. Even the ones that I knew I couldn’t manage would get a closer look, just in case it turned out that there was some way for me to glean some good out of it.

I don’t know if it’s a case of The Law of Attraction or what, but now that my eyes are open, the opportunities are everywhere.
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I usually gripe about not having the wherewithal to exercise, to sleep, to make time for myself. Turns out I’m not alone.

According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association, 75 percent of adults reported experiencing “moderate to high levels of stress” in the past month, and 42 percent said that their stress levels have increased in the past year. And more and more people don’t feel like they have the energy to deal with it.
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When I was looking to buy my first car, nearly 15 years ago, I was just a year out of college and thought I knew everything. I especially thought I was on firm footing when it came to cars, since I had just spent two years editing automotive stories in upstate New York. I did my research, took several test drives, knew what I wanted, knew how much the car — a sleek Nissan Altima — had cost the local dealer, knew how much it should cost me.

Even though I’m a feminist by default, on some level I must also have known that it would be a struggle to be taken seriously, because I brought a male friend along with me. He did not know anything about cars, aside from the fact that you put gas in and they go. He had never bought a car before, and wasn’t interested in buying one. He agreed to come with me mostly because he had nothing else to do that day.

I’m sure you can guess what happened.
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Earlier this year, I dove back in to the Mommy Dating Pool via a playdate with my youngest daughter’s best friend and her mom. It’s been really good, but lately we’ve decided to see other people. A lot of other people. And all at the same time.

Our daughters have entered the age of birthday parties. And, ye Gods, it is busy.
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My husband regularly works long hours and even pulls all-nighters in order to clear his plate at the office. I used to, too — before a pay cut made me take a second look at how much my time was worth.

Sure, hard work always pays off, as the saying goes. It just seems like sometimes it pays a lot less than it used to. When the work piles up and I can’t get it done during the work day, instead of automatically bringing it home with me I find myself calculating the dwindling dollars and cents of my hourly wage and deciding that I’m more than willing to do it on company time, for pay, but not at home, for free.
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Now that Halloween is over, I want to get rid of the metric ton of candy sitting in my house. I could bring it in to the office, but if I can’t resist the siren’s song of the fun-size Snickers bar in my pantry, how can I turn my back on it when it’s sitting there, in plain sight, next to my desk? Besides, I left the candy at home this morning by accident, and my coworkers have already filled our corner of the office with tiny bars of every candy ever invented. To bring in more would be overkill.

But not if I’ve magically transformed them into something else first.
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