Welcome to Stone Soup DC!

So here's the thing… The cost of living in the DC area has become a heavy burden on most of us.

As we all well know, housing costs have been soaring and many of us are finding ourselves house rich and cash poor. Even for those of us lucky enough to have owned a home in the area before the recent surge in real estate prices, increasing property tax assessments have increased month to month costs significantly. In addition, older houses in the inner suburbs often require regular maintenance expenditures or costly renovations to keep the houses liveable and comfortable. Houses in outer suburbs, while often newer, are also often larger requiring more outlay when maintenance is due and more general upkeep to stay on top of daily living.

Soaring gas prices are adding to the rising cost of living expenses as commutes grow longer from outer suburbs and gas guzzling cars grow bigger. And an increasing desire to partake in all the services available now such as cable TV, cell phones, internet services and other perks of modern life add line items to the monthly budget.

Stone Soup DC is a place for sharing ideas and tips for how to sustain and enjoy life in the DC area even on a tight budget. Together we have a vast pool of knowledge about how and where to find bargains and resources in an effort to make conscious and informed buying decisions. So, pick your topic (or topics) and share what you know!

 There are two ways to share.  The first is to post comments to the blog if you have tips or thoughts to add to the entries I've made.  If you have a new tip, thought, or idea for a topic, you can also drop me an email at stonesoupdc@gmail.com