Welcome to the Festival! For those of you new to my blog, usually on Tuesdays I run a Festival roundup where I post a few of the entries that catch my eye that week, along with a description and a link back to whoever is hosting. This week as the host I get to do the whole shebang!
I did have big plans for a nice little Festival arranged by topics-but alas, the computer gremlins were out to get me this morning and I lost 2/3 of the carnival at about 8am. For the sake of expediency here are this weeks carnival submissions in roughly the order they were received.
GP at INNside Innkeeping has thirteen great ways you can go green and save green! Isn’t it interesting how frequently being ecologically sound and being frugal seem to intersect?
Jessica at WiseBread lists some free stuff for you, your kids, and even your pets. Personally, I signed up for the free Fisher Price Planet Heros DVD-heck, even the shipping and handling was included.
We’re In Debt bought a share in their local CSA (don’t know what that is-well, you’ll have to read the article!) and it is going to cut the cost of his veggies in half for the summer! The Frugal Upstate household decided to do this as well this year-I’m excited to see how it works out. We don’t get our first box until the 23rd of June, and I’ll be out of town. Arrghh!
Did you ever think that the hot weather would cause you to save money? Our British friend Plonkee at Plonkee Money does!
Kevin at Kmull was pleasantly surprised at the quality of clothing that he found at thrift stores. Personally, I think second hand is the way to go on most things!
The Frugal Babe converted to thrift store shopping long ago-but this week she found some great deals on exactly what she was looking for! I usually have to shop pretty regularly for several months when I’m looking for a specific item. She must have good thrifting karma.
Matthew at Getting Green promises you that you can save money by using a VOIP service for your long distance calling. I don’t know Matthew. Newer technology can be scary.
Amy at Mom Advice has a yummy recipes to make Starbuck’s Peppermint Mocha at home. I guess that’s a very literal way to beat the latte factor!
Think commercials are a waste of time? Think again. KRG at Fil-am Finance has found a company where you can earn credits for watching commercials.
Frugal Momma has a list of 5 tips and tricks for paying less for your movie theater tickets this summer. We don’t go to the movies often, but Shrek 3 and the new Diehard movie are both very tempting. . . .
Boomie at The Wastrel Show gives you a peak inside a typical frugal day at her house. I always love seeing real life frugality in action.
My Two Dollars is thinking of starting a family soon, so he has collected some ways to save money on baby expenses. I used many of his tips myself, except for the cloth diapers. The military daycare wouldn’t use them anyway. . . that’s what happens when you have the federal government running your daycare. On the other hand it was very safe.
Family Finance Blog went shopping for baby clothes. He didn’t buy the $150 baby set (ouch!) at Babies R Us, but hit the thrift store and the sales racks at Kohls! That’s some smart shopping.
My Wealth Builder shares some freebies that he has applied for and received. I wish I got a free Ipod-but then again I don’t need to sign up for a new brokerage account right now like he did.
Jason at Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog gives you some tips on buying repossessed furniture. I had no idea that furniture could be repossesed.
The Wardrobe Miser is doing an experiment with the cost per wear of a new-sale outfit. The concept of cost per wear is a very useful and I use myself when trying to figure out if a piece of clothing (especially on the rare occasions I buy new) is worth the money.
The Credit and Credit Card Blog tells you how you can save money by understanding how your credit card works. Like many who are now frugal, I had a few little run ins with my credit card right out of college-luckily for me it didn’t leave permanent marks.
The Finance Journey needed a pair of new basketball sneakers-he tried the new ones by the Knicks Stephon Marbury sold at Steve and Barry’s retail stores. The price is right at $15-but is the quality worthwhile? Read on and see~
Free Money Finance does a quick review of Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism. Could you save thousands by going abroad to have your medical procedures done? I haven’t read the book, but coming from a medical family, I’d be concerned about the quality of care.
At Fire Finance they are using their credit card points to buy Father’s Day gifts. Happy dads, free gifts. What more could you want? (note to self-send Fathers Day cards)
Trent at the Simple Dollar has 8 frugal Fathers Day gifts, ranging from free to merely inexpensive.
Story at My Money and My Life has magic pantry. Hey-I’ve got one of those too-things that I don’t remember buying frequently appear.
Junger at the Online Savings Blog has 10 ways to find hidden money in your budget. I’m looking at implementing #2 myself-but have to wait until after the 26th. . . I’m locked into a plan.
John at Queercents defends his Diet Coke. Hey, it’s free from his employer too!
Summer at Mom is Teaching tells us how to save money by saving water. Sometimes living in the Northeast, where we tend to flood more than drought, I forget how important water conservation is.
The Dough Roller enlightens us on the dark side of putting your finances on autopilot. (enlightens us, dark side. Ha ha-I slay me.)
Lazy Man and Money one ups an article he read on how to save money in 15 minutes with even more shortcuts. He’s trying to live up to his name!
The Digerati Life has 12 cheap ways to keep fit~and it isn’t all centered on exercise. As a matter of fact exercise doesn’t show up until #7.
Losing weight doesn’t have to cost a lot of money-the Happy Rock has tips on how to eat less calories without breaking the bank.
Ask Mr. Credit Card has 7 frugal tips for hosting a frugal kids birthday party. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, folks tend to spend WAY too much money on parties that are really more about the parents thant he kids. The kids tend to be happy with the simple things.
The Frugal Law Student talks about why the library is better than Netflix. I just love the library although I frequently forget to use the inter library loan myself. Another point is that if your library can’t order something through interlibrary loan, sometimes they can request it from out of system (ie other libraries in the state that are not part of their normal loaning system).
Savings Advice shares how to get access to hundreds of magazines, for free, from your home computer.
Andy at the Tight Fisted Miser gives us some tried but true advice-you can save money on clothes by not buying any! Sometimes I have to work hard to remember this one-not at retail stores, but at thrift stores and garage sales.
There are several sites out there with services designed to help you save money on your grocery dollars via coupons. ~Dawn at Frugal for Life has tried both the Grocery Game and Coupon Mom. Check out her comparison and see the pros and cons of each.
Wenchypoo feels that another depression is on it’s way, and that frugality will be the only way to combat it. This is a long but obviously well thought out post-even for the folks who don’t agree with her there is lots to think about.
Need to jump start yourself with some ideas to save money? The Frugalist has 125 ideas to save money during your week. I already do 55 of them.
Buying gift cards on Ebay? Yes! And you save a bundle doing so. Just ask Eraine at The Best Life Ever.
And last but not least, how about my own article on some unusual items you can cook on your grill-like pizza and bread!
ENJOY!
If you are interested in entering next weeks Festival, use this handy form at the Blog Carnival submit site (submissions are due by midnight Monday the 18th). And don’t forget to head on over to Getting Green next week for the 79th Festival of Frugality.
NOTE: If you submitted an article and don’t see it posted, then I did not feel that it adequately met the criteria of being about frugality. Although personal finance, simple living, ethics and political activism are all related to frugality in some ways, unless there was a clear and direct connection made to frugality I made the call not to include it. If you have any questions or comments regarding this, please feel free to email me or to leave a comment-I always welcome respectful discussion!
NOTE: I noticed when compiling this Festival that many of the submitters do not have an about page. I would like to suggest that you consider doing so. As a reader, if I know the background of a writer it really helps me put what I am reading into context better-things like gender, general age range, general area of the country (or as in Plonkee’s case-the actual country) all help us to understand and connect with your writing better. It’s just a personal preference of mine 🙂
festival of frugality frugality personal finance saving
Amy says
Great job, Jenn! I know those are A LOT of work and I appreciate you including us! I am excited to read through these posts- have a wonderful day!
Anonymous says
I agree that people should try to be frugal when purchasing gifts. Giving a junky and/or gawdy gift that is not right is not a sound idea. Along with frugal, let’s vow to give tasteful gifts.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Anon-if you want to see a lady who is the epitome of tasteful and frugal combined, you should check out Meredith over at Like Merchant Ships.
http://www.likemerchantships.blogspot.com/
I agree with you-to me the point of being frugal is living the good life without spending unnecessarily. Tasteful is good!
plonkee says
Thanks for including me in the festival. Looks great.
James says
hi, the blog is excellent with all useful information…
cheers,
suma valluru
———————————————-
http://www.getlawyeradvice.com/
Anonymous says
Hay! Great festival and here i am talking about CouponAlbum which provides all the best deals, good discounts and more offers. Just try this site for enjoying best shopping!!!