Festival of Frugality

Festival #221: Webslingers Rejoice!

jim — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:43:11 +0000

Tom at Canadian Finance Blog presents a downright heroic look at frugality with a Spider-Man theme (last time he had a G. I. Joe theme!) and did a fantastic job. Spider-Man was my favorite super hero when I was a kid and I remember reading his battles with his arch-nemesis, at least when I was reading Spidey comics, Venom. I never watched any of the television shows but loved buying copies of Amazing Spider-Man.

Scordo is host next week so get your submissions in!

A Minimalist Festival of Frugality

jim — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:16:59 +0000

This week’s Festival of Frugality is hosted at FIRE Finance and is the minimalist edition.

Canadian Finance Blog is next week’s host, submit here.

Ration Book Edition of the 219th Festival

jim — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:08:45 +0000

Miss Thrifty plays hosts the 219th Festival of Frugality from across the pond and took a distinctly British theme – the Ministry of Food Ration Book edition. “if there is a physical object that represents the possibilities – and the limitations! – of a frugal lifestyle, then surely this is it.” It starts with a proper bit of history and goes right into the Editor’s Picks.

Cathy Stucker presents Finding Money posted at Cathy Stucker. This post made me laugh. Like Cathy, I love finding money in unexpected places! The back-of-the-sofa god will provide.
FMF presents Make and Save Money by Getting Rid of Your Junk posted at Free Money Finance. Let’s face it, you don’t need all that junk.
BWL presents Computer Repair Tips: How To Save Money posted at Christian Personal Finance. You are on your computer right now, aren’t you? Then this post applies to you!
MatthewPaulson presents How To Save Cash On Flowers posted at Fine Tuned Finances. Some good ideas here.
Dana presents 50 Chicken Crockpot Recipes – Get A Great Dinner On The Table With Little Effort posted at Not Made Of Money. What a terrific post: if you are as attached to your slow cooker as I am, you will find a delicious-sounding recipe or two here.
FIRE Finance presents Smart Refrigeration Lowers Electricity Bill posted at FIRE Finance. Some simple, effective ideas from a FIRE Finance’s friendly fridge engineer.

I thought it was cute that the editor’s picks were the onions, as they are a staple in our “gastronomical pleasures” too. That and garlic.

Next week heads over to one of this week’s editor’s pick – FIRE Finance. Submit your entries here.

FOF#218: America Saves Week Edition

jim — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:04:30 +0000

The 218th Festival of Frugality comes to us this week by way of RC at Think Your Way to Wealth. This week’s Festival of Frugality coincides with America Saves Week and RC makes a great point, the fastest way to save money is by being frugal!

Here’s what America Saves Week is all about:

During America Saves Week, individuals will be encouraged and assisted to assess their savings progress and take action to advance this progress. This encouragement and assistance will be provided by organizations and professionals with an interest in improving the financial security of individuals and families.

Here were RC’s editor’s picks:

Frugal Babe presents When The Going Gets Tough posted at Frugal Babe. Great thoughts and tips for avoiding “frugality fatigue.
Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Use Electronic Coupons With Your Grocery Card posted at The Digerati Life. This is something new to me-have you tried electronic coupons yet with your grocery card?
Jason presents Finding Happiness: How You Can Own More by Owning Less posted at Redeeming Riches. Living on less can lead to a more rewarding life.
Nicki presents Drawing The Line With Cell Phone Plans posted at Domestic Cents. Waiting as long as possible before upgrading electronics and other gadgets is a great frugal tactic.

The 219th Festival will be hosted by Miss Thrifty and your entries are due on Monday, you can use this submission form.

FOF #217: Snowpocalypse!

jim — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:19:16 +0000

This year’s weather patterns have been absolutely ridiculous with many areas seeing record snowfalls and record insanity. In our area, the Baltimore-DC metropolitan area, we experienced snowfall like we haven’t seen in a hundred years. Forty+ inches across the span of the week! It’s more snow then I’ve ever seen in my entire life and while there were many lessons from the snowpocalypse, the reality is I hope we never see such snow again!

I, for one, am personally pleased to see that the Festival didn’t take a predictable Valentine’s Day theme this week and instead went with an homage to the Snowpocalypse. There were plenty of fine entries, especially Vday related entries, and while our fine host didn’t pick bests, I found a few gems I think you shouldn’t miss:

A Gai Shan Life’s post about the missing “R” in the Three R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle), repurposing, is a must if you’re trying to reduce your environmental footprint. Repurpose is a variation on reuse but this post offers up plenty of ideas to help spur your own creativity.
Free From Broke offers up four ways to enjoy the movies for less, which is appropriate because we just spent $27 for two tickets to see Avatar in 3-D last night! We don’t go to the movies often so we feel that splurging from time to time is OK, but anyone can use these tips.
Suburban Dollar offers up a tip I’ve always believed in – buy generic.

Next week our host is Think Your Way To Wealth and entries are due in on Monday, so get crackin!

Festival of Frugality #216: Super Bowl Edition

jim — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:21:56 +0000

This week’s Festival of Frugality #216 comes on the heels of one of the biggest spectacles in sports – the NFL Super Bowl. Whether you watch it for the game on the field or the fun in the commercials, it’s certainly an enjoyable time for anyone who watches. What was your favorite commercial this year? My personal favorite was the E*Trade baby and the milkaholic one…

As for the Festival, it too comes with a football theme and I think Dan did a very clever job in picking who gets to play which position. Here were this week’s MVPs:

Joe from Personal Finance By The Book presents Tax Refund? How You Should Use It and Why You Should Lose It.
MD of Studenomics presents 8 Principles for a Frugal College Student to Follow.
Darwin’s Finance presents How Much Could You Reduce Your Budget if You Get Laid Off?
My Dollar Plan presents Throw a 50th Wedding Anniversary on a Budget.

Next week the Festival moves to Simply Forties and you can submit your entries for consideration here!

Festival of Frugality Goes Environmental

paidtwice — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:09:40 +0000

In many ways, environmentalism and frugality can go hand in hand. This week’s festival shows that, featured at Pragmatic Environmentalism. There was a plethora of interesting and insightful entries, including:

How to Afford Switching to Cloth Bags – The Conscious Shopper.
Cook More & Eat In – Chief Family Officer.
Eight Versatile Dishes Entirely Adaptable to Your Tastes – Cheap. Healthy. Good.
Square Foot Garden Fever – Being Frugal.

Thanks for hosting! Join us next week by entering your post – today!

The Festival Does The Ultimate

paidtwice — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:07:41 +0000

The Festival of Frugality travels this week to the Ultimate Money Blog, where the festival urges us to save green and live green. No specific editor’s picks in this festival, which gives me license to pick a few of my own:

How Often Should You Check Your Credit Report? posted at Military Finance Network
Save Money By Making Your Own Household Cleaners posted at The Canadian Finance Blog
Make Use of The Free Time You Have posted at Free From Broke

Thanks for hosting! Next week the festival travels to Pragmatic Environmentalism so get those entries in early!

Festival of Frugality Can Cook – From Scratch!

paidtwice — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:16:47 +0000

This week the Festival of Frugality goes to the Cooking Manager blog, where you can learn to cook frugally and without wasting resources. Browse the festival’s wisdom this week, including a few that stood out to me:

Are You Spending Less This Year? posted at PT Money.
Make Your Own Disney Greeting Cards posted at Family Balance Sheet.
Convert Any Toilet Into A Dual-Flush Water Saving Machine posted at Energy Saving Gadgets.

Thanks for hosting! Make sure to be included in next week’s edition by submitting your entry here!

Frugal Tip: You Are What You Eat

paidtwice — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:06:05 +0000

Part of being a frugal-minded person is being able to discern value. Value does not mean you spend the least amount of money possible all the time. It means, in part, that you know when to spend and when spending is not worth it and there is a better alternative.

Food is one of the things that I used to be cheap about and I have learned to become frugal. My family’s nutrition is important to me, and there are times where it seemed easier to grab the processed pre-packaged high calorie/fat things versus really looking at what are frugal alternatives. As my family began to eat healthier, yes we did spend a bit more money of food, but at the same time, we learned how to shop fresh smarter.

Buy in season. Look for sales on produce. Find out what can be frozen (cheese is my favorite thing to freeze!) and what is not (please do not freeze lettuce… just saying). Plan a menu around what is fresh and inexpensive this week. Buying fresh does not need to break the bank – but it may require a little extra effort.