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!

Do you want to garden but don’t have a yard or other suitable place to plant it? Why not try square foot gardening! As explained by Frugal Dad, square foot gardening is planting fruits, flowers, and/or vegetables in a raised bed above infertile soil (or above really anything) in 1′ x 1′ square plots. When you harvest something, you can plant another crop in its place. He has pictures on his site of the 4′ x 2′ bed he planted and how he constructed it - his total cost was about $40. There are detailed instructions on his site for how to construct the garden framework as well.

Lynnae at Being Frugal followed his lead and constructed her own square foot garden with her son. A fun family activity and frugal too!

If you’d like to garden but don’t have the fertile soil in your yard (or don’t have a yard) to do it, consider this alternative. I think I might even try doing this on my patio!

This frugal tip brought to you by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… 

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!

Last week I talked about baking soda and some of the many ways you could use it to clean, deodorize, and even unclog drains, as a frugal alternative to more expensive manufactured items.  Today I’ll discuss the other half of the frugal household helper pair, vinegar.  Vinegar, white vinegar to be exact, can be bought by the gallon for literally a few dollars, and a small amount of this handy liquid can really go a long way.  I use vinegar by itself for such chores as:

• Fabric Softener:  I use vinegar in the rinse cycle of our washing machine as a natural fabric softener.  It really works and since I am allergic to most commercial fabric softeners, is a great frugal alternative! Note:  Do not do this if you use bleach in your wash load.
  
• Cleaning the Toilet:  Put straight vinegar into a spray bottle and then spray vinegar on the toilet rim.  A quick wipe and you’re done!  Very important since I live with boys. 
• In The Dishwasher:  Pour 2 cups vinegar into the bottom of your dishwasher before running.  Put your normal dishwasher soap in and run.  Your dishes will come out even cleaner this way!

And don’t forget, baking soda and vinegar work together well too to clean out your garbage disposal!

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

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!

Baking soda is a very common household item that is generally used for baking and deodorizing in the refrigerator and freezer. But it can be used for so many more things! Some of the uses I have for it in my household are:

• Cleaning my eyeglasses: I sprinkle a little on the lenses, and use a damp cloth to wipe them. I then rinse with cold water and they are sparklingly clear!
• Cleaning my coffeemaker: I run a mixture of 1 cup water and 1/4 cup baking soda through my coffeemaker once a week to make my coffee taste better.
• Cleaning my microwave: I boil 1 cup water with 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in for about 5 minutes, then wipe down the interior of the microwave with a wet cloth. Grime comes right off!
• Carpet deodorizer: I sprinkle my carpets with baking soda about an hour before vacuuming (when I can keep the kids away!) and the whole room smells a little fresher.

Lynnae at Being Frugal has even more tips for baking soda, including as an ingredient in homemade laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, and even unclogging a garbage disposal!

Try some baking soda yourself for these or many other uses! It is cheap and really works! Yay for frugality.

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

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.

If you’re reading this than you probably have a desire to live a more frugal life. But developing a finely-tuned frugal mindset can take some time. It’s not easy. When you first start trying to spend less on things you’re eye catches every potential deal that’s out there. However, there are a few traps that can end up hurting your chances of success:

1. Buying the Wrong Products in Bulk

This is the classic trap. You see a crate full of something and look at the total price. In your mind you quickly calculate the per-item cost and you are blown away at the savings. You buy it. Three months later you still have two-thirds of the product left and no desire to use it, or even worse, it’s expired. If you’re a regular Sam’s or Costco user you know what I’m talking about.

2. Free Trials Turn into (Oops!) Credit Card Charges

We’ve all signed up for a free trial and accidentally forgot to cancel after the trial period. It happens. You end up paying an extra month of something that you stopped using after the first free week. If you use free trials, please make sure you set yourself a reminder to cancel the subscription. I use my MS Outlook calendar at work.

3. Chasing the After-Purchase Rebates

With a little work, the after-purchase rebate can work out great. Mostly though, we get a product home and never take the time to mail in the forms to get the rebate. You’re too busy using whatever it is you bought, right? Also, if the rebate is a reward instead of money, make sure it’s a reward you want. Bottom line: try to buy products with in-store rebates and get all your money up-front.

4. Not Reading the Fine Print

You mean I have to buy two? You mean I have to dine-in to get the deal? Take the time to read the small print on all your coupons, as they will inform you of what kind of deal you are really getting.

5. Confusing Cheap for Frugal

Lastly, don’t ever confuse frugality with being cheap. There a big difference, in my opinion. Find the balance between sacrificing your time/effort and the price you are paying. Also, try to avoid sacrificing quality if it’s a product that you will be sitting on, sleeping on, or depending on in some way.

Written by PT of Prime Time Money (RSS)

Paid Twice is our host this week, and she walks us from theory to practice through Festival of Frugality #117. Here are her top 6 editor’s picks:

• Cheap Healthy Good provides concrete ways to battle rising prices with Recession-Proofing Your Diet: Food Strategies for a New Economy.
• Lazy Man and Money learns that sometimes our perspective on ourselves isn’t everyone else’s perspective in Am I officially cheap?.
• Value For Your Life shares a simple yet profound grocery savings tip with My 25% Grocery Savings Rule.
• Funny About Money shares ways to develop a great and important frugal habit in Make It from Scratch.
• Paradigm Shifted shows simple ways you can be frugal and not deprive yourself with being frugal doesn?t mean missing out.
• But Why Doesn’t It Grow On Trees shares why a credit-only lifestyle works for them and helps them be frugal (I actually have a post scheduled for later this week about my cash frittering too!) in Cash to Burn: Why a Credit-Only Lifestyle Works for Me.

Next week the festival will be hosted by My Dollar Plan so please get your entries in!

Written by Pinyo of Moolanomy