The Sun's Financial Diary

Home is where the heart is, so why not let more gifts come from your heart than your pocketbook? If you’re looking for some homespun inspiration and how-to’s, look no further. Inspire (and supply) an art attack. An old fishing tackle box or even an ordinary shoe box can be quickly transformed into an art [...]

Home is where the heart is, so why not let more gifts come from your heart than your pocketbook? If you’re looking for some homespun inspiration and how-to’s, look no further. Say “Season’s Greetings” with homemade sweets and treats. Nearly everyone enjoys a homemade dessert, but not everyone has the time or the ability to [...]

This is the second part of our Frugal Holiday series. In the first part last week, we talked about frugal holiday entertaining. If you are cooking the big holiday meal in your family, you probably don’t want to forsake food quality for frugality… but you also don’t want to empty out your bank account for [...]

This is the first post in our frugal holiday series. Saving money during the holidays is no small feat and anyone who manages to accomplish it should be praised and envied. Our frugal holiday series is going to focus on saving money in three areas: Frugal Holiday Entertaining Serving Holiday Food Frugally Frugal Gift Buying [...]

Sometimes, the best way to convince a person that they need to do something is to show them what a bad decision it is to do the opposite. There are countless articles, blog posts, books and lectures about the power of being frugal. Since this line of content is still a booming business, that must [...]

As we entered the winter heating season, our focus shifted from gasoline to heating oil. Though the oil prices have dropped nearly 30% since July, don’t expect any significant decline going forward as the demand is still strong, especially if your house depends on heating oil. Being energy efficient is still the way to go [...]

When I got back home from work last night, there was a heating oil bill waiting for me. The first of this season. However, what really surprised me wasn’t the unit price at $2.459/gallon, but the volume for the latest fill-up. 27 gallons! Yes, 27 gallons! I couldn’t believe the number when I saw the [...]

The recent decline of oil prices may make us breath a little easier when we turn on the heat this winter. However, if you are among the 32% households in the Northeast that depend on heating oil, you can expect to pay 7% more this winter to heat your house. According to the U.S. Energy [...]