Hello and welcome to the 191st Festival of Frugality!
I hope that besides enjoying all the fabulous entries for this week you spend a little time browsing around here and getting to know me.
Now I’ve always enjoyed it when someone comes up with a cute theme to arrange the festival around~but I’ve got a confession to make.
I couldn’t think of anything. Zip. Nada.
When you are looking at getting rid of debt and saving for the future you really only have two choices. You can either make more money, or you can save more money. So I went the simple route with this week’s Festival of Frugality and divided the 50 or so entries up those categories, plus a third for posts that dealt with general frugal philosophy or information.
Of course I have a few Editor’s Picks-these are just a couple of articles that particular stood out to me.
Editors Picks:
A.B. might not be talking about bargain basement cheap in Mmmm, Seafood! posted at Modern Tightwad-but there is a great point in there. You shouldn’t dismiss seafood as “too expensive” out of hand. And even if it is a bit more sometimes, it is still much less than a meal out.
I really liked this article on Man Vs. Debt Should You Hate Debt… Should You Hate Anything?. It’s an interesting thing to think about-can hate be constructive? When does it become destructive to your debt/frugal living goals? Since I’m not actually in debt, my attitude towards saving/frugality/money is aimed on the positive-doing it makes me FEEL good. On the other hand, my attitude towards other personal goals, such as weight loss, are based more on hate.
VH was totally speaking my language with Delayed Gratification: The frugalist’s secret weapon posted at Funny about Money. I think this is one of the simplest ways that anyone can start on the path to a more frugal lifestyle-just by waiting to make those purchases.
And now on to the rest of the Festival. . .
Making Money
Mark Brown presents 11 Easy Ways to Get Free Money posted at Money Hacker.
MoneyNing presents Rental Property vs REIT posted at Money Ning.
Saving Money
Len Penzo presents Is Your Employer Stealing From You? posted at Len Penzo . Com.
GP presents Fun Family Vacations-No Kidding « Musings from Montana posted at Manely Montana.
Finance Tips 101 presents Pocket Some Hard Earned Cash By Saving On The Electric Bill posted at Finance Tips 101.
David presents How To Save Money On Your Prescriptions. | My Two Dollars posted at My Two Dollars.
Tyler presents Improve Your Water Heater Efficiency And Save $125 A Year posted at Frugally Green.
Oneadvice presents Are YOU a Victim of the Credit Card Debt Trap? posted at One Advice.
FMF presents An Interesting Way to Get Premium Cable for Free posted at Free Money Finance.
JvW presents How to Vacation on a Budget posted at The Good Life on a Budget.
Raj Patel presents Quick Guide to Paying Down $10K in Debt posted at DebtGoal.
Paul Williams presents 10 Ways to Clip Your Food Costs without Clipping Coupons | Provident Planning posted at Provident Planning.
FFB presents Saving On Prescription Drug Medication posted at Free From Broke.
FIRE Finance presents Back To School – Savers Guide posted at FIRE Finance.
Make it from Scratch presents Gift Tins posted at Make It From Scratch.
DR presents 11 Things We All Buy, But Don’t Need posted at The Dough Roller.
Jim presents Chinese Brown Sauce & White Sauce Recipes posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Billeater presents 16 Ways to Save Money on Laundry Day posted at Billeater.com.
Wojciech Kulicki presents Why I Canceled My Collision and Comprehensive Insurance posted at Fiscal Fizzle.
Patrick @ Money Saving Deals presents Quicken 2009 Coupon Codes posted at Money Saving Deals.
Tom @ Canadian Finance blog presents 10 Money Saving Tips | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog.
Jason presents 5 Mistakes that Led Me to Financial Automation posted at Automatic Finances.
BeThisWay presents Wise Spending on Landscaping ? What to Hire, What to Do Ourselves posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?.
Madison presents Manage Your Budget by Tracking Your Spending posted at My Dollar Plan.
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Budget Travel Tips from a Travel Pro posted at Cash Money Life.
Cool Mommy presents Meals for a month, 30 days of savings! posted at MyCoolMommy.
Coupon HoundDog presents Lane Bryant $50 off! Colwater Creek 60% Off! posted at Coupon Hound Dog.
RC presents Save Money Grocery Shopping- Try Shopping at a Salvage Grocery Stores posted at Think Your Way to Wealth.
Mama Squirrel presents Baby Shower-and no chocolate on diapers!” posted at Dewey’s Treehouse.
Philosophy / Information
Aryn presents Big Home vs. Small Home: How Much House Do You Need? posted at Sound Money Matters.
Jason presents I Need a Personal Loan Quick But I Have Bad Credit posted at Finance, Credit, Insurance and all.
Alex presents My Wife’s Spending is out of Control posted at MoneyStance – Money Making Opportunity Reviews.
J. Money presents Interview w/ Ramit Sethi: NY Times Best Seller & Blogger! posted at Budgets are Sexy..
PT presents Would You Consider a Move for More Job Opportunity? posted at Prime Time Money.
American Banking News presents Account Review: ING Direct’s Electric Orange Checking Account posted at American Banking News.
InvestingSchool presents Scottrade Promotion and Review posted at Investing School.
Madison presents Manage Your Budget by Tracking Your Spending posted at My Dollar Plan.
Mrs Bankrupt presents Being cheap is not thrifty posted at Mrs. Bankrupt.
Dominic Joseph presents Credit Cards for College Students: A credit card review for first timers posted at MadHubber.
ABC presents Investment Real Return posted at ABCs of Investing.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed these wonderful articles. Thanks to all the great bloggers out there who submitted them.
Find next week’s Festival of Frugality by visiting the official website and checking out the hosting schedule. Speaking of which, it looks like they are looking for volunteers for the next few Festival of Frugality. Why not contact Jim and let him know if you are interested in being a host?
Funny about Money says
Hey! Thanks for the editor’s pick!! And thanks for hosting: I like the festival’s organization — it has a nice, clean minimalist look without being at all stark. Great job!
Mama Squirrel says
Thanks for including me in spite of the technical problems!
a.b. says
OMG, that was my first editor’s pick! Thank you so very much for including me in the festival, and for your hard work in putting it together.
J. Money says
Thank ya much! Loving this new blog theme as well 🙂 (i might be late on that, but either way I dig it!)
JvW says
Thanks for hosting! I didn’t know they were in need of future hosts – I’ll check it out.
Patrick says
Thanks for hosting! 🙂
FFB says
Great job with the theme-less hosting!
Baker says
Jenn, I’m honored you connected well with the post! Thanks for making it an editors pick. – Baker
RC@Thinkyourwaytowealth says
Great festival, thanks for including my article!
oneadvice says
Thanks so much for hosting and including my article 🙂
FIRE Finance says
Thanks for hosting the carnival and including our post. Best wishes ahead :).
Cheers,
FIRE Finance