I'm not willing to shell out the cash needed to replace the aging, stained carpet in the condo that I'm going to be selling within the next three years. But, the carpet is in the living and dining area, and I've got a toddler who has a tendency to spill his juice. And, a husband who has a tendency to spill his red wine.

It drives me crazy when the carpet is shabby. When it's dirty and matted, I just want to give up. The whole rest of my living room/dining room gets cluttered and messy, because I don't feel like it's worth it when the carpet is nasty.

After a few years of phoning the local Stanley Steemer, then a few tries renting a steamer from the grocery store, the costs added up. My friends extolled the virtues of their home-level carpet steamers, but I pooh-poohed. Who really needs another appliance?

They talked me into borrowing theirs for a trial run, and I was hooked. All the dirty water running out of that tank made me feel like I was a newly-reformed housekeeper. Still, the units they own ran around $200 and I wasn't sure it was worth the expense.

Finally, the dirty carpets won out. I had been putting away $20 or so a month towards my carpet-cleaning fund, since the winter's salt and spring's mud started up. I was up to $85 in that envelope when I saw the Bissell light steamer for sale at my local big-box general store, for $90. I dug out my change jar, made up the remaining $5, and bought one this morning.

$95 (with tax) spent this morning, and I've already attacked my biggest pet peeve, the high-traffic area in my living room.

When the carpet cleaners come, it's $110 a pop. When I rent at the grocery store, it's $35 a pop. Three uses, and I'll break even.

The lesson here for me is this: when something drives me crazy and can be solved for a reasonable amount of money, it's not extravagant to spend that money. Frugality is not about misery.

My son is a picky eater. There. I admitted it. And when it comes to snacks, he's even pickier. Only animal crackers will do.

So, I had developed a habit of buying him a small one-to-two-serving box of animal crackers every time we were at the store, be it the drugstore, the grocery store, the big-box general store, or anywhere they had that cute little red box with the circus animals on the side and the white string across the top. At $1-$1.50 a pop, it seemed like a sweet indulgence for my adorable boy.

But $1.50 a pop, multiplied out by three times a week, four weeks a month, twelve months a year, that's quite a lot for cookies. Even if the box is cute and a semi-appropriate serving size for the boy.

Enter logic. The store brand box at my local grocery is $0.99 for at least a dozen servings, and I already had the re-usable plastic containers. I bought the store brand, and when I got it home I pre-divided it into toddler-sized portions. Half the portions made it to the car for distribution before entering a store, and half stayed in the kitchen cabinet for further dispersal.

Twelve servings of cute red-box-with-circus-animals animal crackers = $18.

Twelve servings of store-brand animal crackers in plastic reusable containers = $1.

A toddler who doesn't know the difference? Priceless.

My son and I are evacuating the house for the weekend while my husband studies for his exams. Since this MBA is costing a pretty penny, I want to make sure he gets all the peace and quiet he needs to study!

In planning our travel to Philadelphia, where we will be hiding out at my brother's house for the weekend, I ran through several options.

Option 1. Flying. For an adult and a toddler (over 2 years) to fly from Boston (or other, smaller, local airports) to Philadelphia will cost us $275 altogether. And, more importantly, it will take approximately 1 hr of travel time.

Option 2. The train. For an adult and a child to take the train from localstation to Philadelphia will cost us $125 altogether. And 8 hrs of travel time.

Option 3. The bus. For an adults and a child to take the bus from localstation to Philadelphia will cost us $85 altogether. And 12 hrs of travel time.

Option 4. The car. For the mileage my car gets, and the distance to Philly, it'd cost us $74 altogether in gasoline, plus about $12 in tolls. And 5 hrs of travel time.

We're choosing option 4, driving my own car. Well, we're going to drive my husband's car and save about $16 in gasoline costs since his car is more fuel efficient.

It disappoints me in some ways that the cheapest option (the car, barely) is also nearly the easiest option. Sometimes we like to think that by being frugal, we're really being martyrs. How much do I sacrifice by taking the option that I really wanted in the first place?