Frugality is not just about saving money in the short term, it is about making choices that conserve and save for the long term. One of the ways frugality can be put into action with a short term expense that reaps long term benefits is upgrading old appliances to Energy Star or energy-efficient models that save money over time.

This came into play for us recently. We bought a house a little more than a year ago that had a 20 year old furnace. A few weeks ago, the furnace began to behave erratically, and we looked into replacing it. What we found was that for a slightly larger investment now in a Energy Star appliance, we could improve performance over our current furnace by more than 40%. For us, that means a $600-$800 savings in natural gas bills per year. We could have repaired the current furnace for a short term fix, but considering all the variables, that would have been the cheap choice, not the frugal one.

What appliances in your home could stand to be upgraded to save you money and conserve energy? You might be surprised the difference an Energy Star rated appliance can make.

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

The Festival of Frugality will be scheduling hosts for the next few months soon, so if you’ve wanted to host (or hosted before and want to again) - now’s your chance! If you are a blogger with a blog that’s been publishing for at least a few months, and you’d like to host the Festival, drop a line to Jim through his contact form and apply. It only takes a minute and fun lasts forever.

Don’t delay, apply today! You’ll be happy you did.

Dawn at Frugal for Life hosts the Festival of Frugality for the 206956497th time (or maybe the 12th time, who’s counting?) and as always does an excellent job showcasing the best of frugality from around the web this week.   Her entries are in alphabetical order by name, and I’ve selfishly chosen to showcase the letter that includes the homepage’s frugal tip:  F. :)  F is for frugal, after all!

• Festival of Frugality - Frugal Tip: High Deductibles With A Plan
• Finally Frugal - Frugal envy
• Financial Tips - High Gas Prices Affecting Families
• FIRE Finance - Top 10 Dollar Store Buys
• FiveCentNickel.com - Frugal is as Frugal Does?
• Frugal Pursuit - Minimizing gardening costs
• Funny about Money - w00t! Frugal Works BETTER!

Thanks Dawn for another stellar festival!  Next week the festival travels to Quest For Four Pillars so get your entries in!

Generally, if you choose to have a higher deductible on your auto, home, or health insurance policy, you will pay less per month or year on your premiums. This can save you a significant amount of money in the long run.

However, many people choose to have lower deductibles because they can’t afford the high deductible if, for some reason, they have to pay it. If I have learned nothing else in this past year of tracking my spending, I have learned that things happen when you least expect them. So for high deductible policies, I have a plan.

Create a specific savings account, separate from your general emergency fund, that is your deductible savings account. Add up the deductibles on your policies, and save an appropriate amount in this account that will cover those deductibles if needed. The last thing you want to worry about if you’ve been in an accident, are in the hospital, or your house was damaged, is how you are going to pay the deductible. Be proactive, and have a plan. Being frugal is about more than saving money, it’s about living life to the fullest while making smart money choices. Be smart by being prepared for the worst while you hope for the best.

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

Festival of Frugality #123 hits Sound Money Matters this week!  Scroll down past the book review to get to those meaty articles.  :)  There were 6 editor’s picks this week:

• Money Blue Book manages to find the upside to higher gas prices - less traffic and more use of public transportation.
• Mrs. Nespy’s World runs down the job benefits that can be a deciding factor for prospective employees. It pays to treat employees well.
• Cheap Healthy Good explains why diet foods are actually not good for your weight or health and suggests ways to eat more healthfully instead.
• Frugal Homemaker Plus discusses the importance of teaching children about frugal values early.
• Just Shoot Me Now shows you how to outwit the stores by always checking the unit price. Bigger isn’t always cheaper.
• Credit Addict explains how to combine the stimulus checks, grocery gift cards, and rebate credit cards to save loads on groceries.

Next week the festival travels to Frugal For Life, the queen of the festival, so get your entries in!

I only saw one post that mentioned taxes (and it wasn’t about filing taxes) - Four Pillars discussed  Emergency Funds and Tax-Free Savings Accounts.  But there were an astounding 12 editor’s picks in this edition:

• Think Your Way To Wealth: How to Develop a Frugal Mindset
• Frugal Dad: The Ultimate Frugal Weekend: A 48-Hour Spending Fast
• Dorm Earning Blog: Saving Money During College
• The Digerati Life:   Frugal Tips: How To Make 10 Ordinary Things Last Longer
• Sarahspy:   Four ways to suck less at vintage & thrift shopping
• Frugal Homemaker Plus:  Frugality and Luck
• Cheap Healthy Good:  The Hour: How 60 Minutes a Week Can Save Hundreds of Dollars on Food
• Value For Your Life:  100 Frugal and Healthy Eating Habits
• My Dollar Plan:  30 Money Saving Tips
• Know The Ledge:  If You Don’t Need It, It’s Not A Great Deal
• Greener Pastures Personal Finance:  25 Life Tips and Tricks
• Consumerism Commentary:  The Frugal Lifestyle: Are We Missing Out on Life?

Next week the carnival travels to On Financial Success so get your entries in!

A Penny Saved took on the challenge of hosting the Festival of Frugality this week, and since he did not pick editor’s picks, I shall give you a few highlights from the Transportation Tips at the end of the carnival. Just in case you didn’t read to the end.

• Handling Finances: Gas Prices Too High? Slow Down!.
• FIRE Finance:  Car Pool, Ride Share, Hitch Hike your way to Fun & Dollars!.
• Penny Nickel: Travel by bus: save hundreds of dollars, the environment, and your sanity!.

Next week the Festival travels to Rather Be Shopping so get your submissions in!

Flexo of Consumerism Commentary starts his hosting of the Festival of Frugality this week with the announcement he’s quitting his day job to blog full time!  But with the reminder of April Fools Day at the end of the post - is he quitting or isn’t he?  Either way, he’s done a fantastic job hosting and chosen 7 stellar editor’s picks:

• The Digerati Life: Rent Instead Of Buy, And I Mean Anything!
• The Frugal Duchess: presents Sell the Coach Bag? What I’m Willing To Give Up for Financial Security.
• She Laughs at the Days to Come:  Lovely Leftovers
• Gather Little By Little: Homemade car cleaning products
• 20saver: The beginnings of a frugal wedding.
• Sound Money Matters: Is A Frugal Lifestyle Always Environmentally Friendly?
• Money and Values: 10 ways you can use less artificial light—lower emissions and your energy bill!

Next week the festival travels to A Penny Saved so get your entries in!

My Dollar Plan plays host to the 118th Festival of Frugality, The ABC Edition.  I thought reading the theme it was going to be a back-to-basics idea, but instead, Madison’s house is learning to spell (the kids I think!) so she focused on spelling out F-R-U-G-A-L!   The 8 editor’s picks were:

• No Credit Needed: Beware Of The Laundry Detergent Cap
• Squawkfox: Top Five Frugalicious Snacks (A Visual Guide)
• Sound Money Matters: 13 Frugal Ways to Celebrate Spring Fever
• The Frugal Dad:  Prepare Your Home for Summer Energy Savings
• Frugal For Life: Uses for Aluminum (tin) Foil
• Financial Learn: My Dad – Frugal, Generous and my Hero
• Savvy Frugality: Where to Find the Cheapest Travel Deals
• Jinxy Knows Best: Budget Organic – How to Spend Less for Organic Foods

Next week the festival visits Consumerism Commentary for the April Fools edition so get your entries in!

For the the last three or four weeks, you may have noticed that Pinyo of Moolanomy has been handling the Festival of Frugality duties; that’s because I was on my honeymoon in sunny Hawai’i and didn’t know how much time I really wanted to spend blogging (and answer was zero), and thankfully he stepped in.

For those of you who don’t know him, Pinyo is the owner of Moolanomy, Money Hackers Network, and Blogthority. However, he spends most of his time writing on Moolanomy about personal finance, investing, and wealth building. He is currently on a mission to grow his investment portfolio from less than $250,000 to $1 million by 2017. If you are interested in reading more about his financial goals and how he’s planning to accomplish them, you can follow his story by subscribing to his RSS feed.

Thank you again Pinyo for doing some a terrific job.