Those plastic individual water bottles are not only a money waster, but bad for the environment too!  And now there is debate if they are even okay to reuse, because the plastics may leech out over time into the water.

So save yourself the hassle and purchase a reusable water bottle! Even if your tap water is undrinkable in your mind because of an odd taste (ours is), you can still use a reusable water bottle and make your own bottled water. You’ll just have to use some sort of filtering device (we use a Brita water filter).

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already...

FIRE Finance has published issue #140 of the Festival of Frugality, an edition they term “pithy”.  :)  I will try to keep my comment short and sweet then:  Thanks!  Here are the editor’s picks:

• “The Pursuit of Happyness” - Savvy Frugality
• “Don’t Go To A Private University” - Jim, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
• “How to hold a successful garage sale” - Toni, Wifely Steps
• “Bowing to Frugal Grandma” - Miss Thrifty
• “Avoiding Mortgage Foreclosure” - Ace Elliott, Care One Credit

Next week we travel to Almost Frugal so get your entries in!

BlogCarnival has recovered from its DB issues, please use the Festival of Frugality submission form to submit your entries.

It appears that BlogCarnival has gone down for the count, for the time being, please send all submissions to fofmail [at] gmail with the following information:

• Your name/penname/what you want to be called
• The title of your post
• The permalink/URI of your post
• The trackback for your post (if you have one)
• A brief summary of the article

Thanks!

It may seem like the drive through is a time saver, but in fact, generally sitting in the drive thru lane with the car idling uses up more gasoline than stopping the car and going inside, and can often be slower than going up to the counter, too! When I use the pharmacy drive thru, I never see people waiting in line inside at the counter (you can see the counter through the window) but there is always a line at the drive thru.

So the next time you see a drive thru anything - think about if the wait is worth it.

However, with my two small kids that have to be moved in and out of carseats… I probably will not be taking my own recommendation for a while yet.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Festival of Frugality #139 is the Michael Phelps edition and is up at Our Four Pence Worth.  Check out these gold medal entries:

• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Lost Money: How Money Drains Add Up To $175,000 In 10 Years.
• MoneyNing presents Frugally and Happily Back to School 9 Different Ways.
• Kevin Brink presents “Sale” Can Sometimes be Just Another Four Letter Word.
• ISPF presents 10 Tips to Get Anyone into the Habit of Cooking at Home (Even if You Have Never Stepped into the Kitchen Before).
• Savingadvice presents Reached Financial Independence. Now What?

Thanks for hosting!!  Next week the festival travels to FIRE Finance so get your entries in!

Today’s frugal tip is a more generalized one that can be adapted to whatever situation that sits in front of you.  Frugality is about more than saving money, it is a way of looking at life.  Spending money in and of itself is not a bad thing, and in fact, it is a necessary thing.  How that money is spent, and what we are saying with the choices we make on how to spend the money, is what creates frugality.

When thinking about how you spend your money, look at what your choices say about what you value.  The choices you make in what to spend more on indicates what you value more.   It is something to keep in mind when thinking about spending a significant amount of money - what are my long term goals?  How does this help or hinder them?  Is this expense in line with what I value?

Having our spending reflect our own unique set of goals, values, and priorities makes all the difference.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I‘ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Thanks to MoneyNing for putting together another stellar edition of the Festival of Frugality.  He highlighted some refreshing ideas, including:

• Steward presents A Frugal Shopping Tip That Leaves Everyone Smiling. I really hope that this happens to me!
• Jason presents Don’t Be a Self-Righteous Frugalist. Really. Don’t!
• Lazy Man and Money presents Can I Pay Less for Something of Similar Value? That’s exactly how we should think all the time.
• Squawkfox presents eBook: Frugal Food and Fitness: Get fab without spending a fortune. Get your copy today!

Next week the festival travels to Our Four Pence Worth so get your entries in!

With back-to-school time starting and summer coming to a close, thoughts turn to school books and pencils and all the other expenses associated with school.  But one that many often don’t give too much consideration to is the method of getting to school.  Sending your child on the bus can not only save you time in transport, but also save you money for the gas it would take to go back and forth.  And, you develop a good habit of seeking out public transit from the very start.

Maybe someday your child will take the subway or bus to work instead of driving, just because of all the fond bus memories.  I know my own little one loves the bus even more than school itself.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid Twice For This Already…

Thanks to first time host Frugal Homemaker Plus for putting together a super festival of frugal delights!  Her editor’s picks are:

• Cheap Healthy Good goes over the many valuable lessons that TV’s The Simpsons taught her.
• Daddy Finances gives great advice on how to save money before, during, and after a vacation.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity gives strategies on how to avoid the lure of upselling and cross selling. Do you ever walk out of a store with more than you planned on? This post is for you!
• SavingsAdvice.com outlines why she forgoes some of the finer things in life. What do we trade to have all the bling?
• HomeEc 101 gives excellent advice on how to avoid raising a picky eater.

Although I’ll have to beg to differ on the picky eater one - not that the advice isn’t excellent.  :)  But somehow I had a picky eater child from the womb onward…  heh.  I do follow most of the advice given and my other child is not picky, so there is that. 

Next week the festival travels to MoneyNing so get your entries in!