About Me

I am a twenty-something suburbanite working in the field of finance. But long before I worked in finance, I was interested in personal finance. I grew up in a multi-generational household in the Greater New York City area and we all knew the value of a dollar. Frugal habits were not just for fun, they were a necessity. As I got older, I turned to the internet to learn about investing and paying for college without losing my shirt. This blog is my attempt to give back to the online community that taught me so much about personal finance. You can stay sassy while staying in the black!

Popular posts from this blog

How to Re-Upholster Dining Room Chairs

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Re-upholstering chairs be a great way to change the look of your whole dining room just by changing the color or pattern of your seats. Once you are confident in how to re-cover chairs, you can buy a dining room set secondhand or re-vamp an inherited set rather than paying retail for new furniture. While you could certainly take the chairs to an upholsterer, it is much more economical to complete this project on your own. A professional upholsterer will likely charge about $40 to re-cover a dining room chair, which you will see is quite a simple task. Your kitchen set of 4 chairs would cost you $160 in that case, and a dining room set of 6 would cost $240 to re-finish. You will also have to go through the hassle of finding the right professional, and possibly transporting the chairs to and from their establishment. The finished products Re-Upholstering Made Easy You'll need just a few materials to get started: A staple gun (with staples, of course) Several yards of u...
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Meatless Meals: Greek Spinach Pie

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This spinach pie recipe has been passed down through my husband's family. My husband's Greek family is from Ioannina, a city in northwestern Greece. The Jewish community in Ioannina prepared a number of unique dishes, mostly focused on vegetarian foods containing dairy products in keeping with Kosher dietary rules.  Other Jewish families in Ioannina add feta cheese to this recipe, which I think sounds delicious, as well. The original version, which uses plain unseasoned matzo meal, get most of its flavor from the spinach and grated cheese topping. Personally, I use seasoned breadcrumbs and add garlic and onion powder to taste to bump up the flavor. This pie has no crust, which saves you the trouble of buying or rolling out a pie crust! Ingredients: 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen chopped spinach, drained 2 eggs, beaten 8 oz farmer cheese (or cottage cheese) 4 oz cream cheese 1 tsp salt Handful of matzo meal (I always use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs) Grated chees...
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Broccoli and Cheese Bake

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  This recipe is a riff on the spinach and cheese recipe that I posted several years ago. It has the flavor of a broccoli and cheese soup without the heavy cream.  Ingredients: 8oz fat free cottage cheese 2 Laughing Cow soft cheese wedges 2 eggs 16oz uncooked broccoli florets 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs Onion powder Garlic powder Black pepper or red pepper flakes Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top Directions: Steam broccoli on stovetop or in microwave I weighed 16oz of broccoli into a glass Pyrex container, added a cup of water, and cooked in microwave for 12 minutes Blend Laughing Cow cheese, eggs, and cottage cheese in small blender or food processor, then add to a mixing bowl Chop up or use potato masher to break the broccoli into small pieces. Add to the mixing bowl. Add the breadcrumbs and seasonings to the bowl and mix all ingredients together Pour into greased pie plate and top with parmesan if desired Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until well browned...
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