Hello, and welcome to this week's Festival of Frugality! It's a bit scary hosting one of these things all by myself for the first time, so I brought along a good friend of mine today - Mr. Frugal Gump. I hope you don't mind ;) As many of you know, Frugal has led a very financially rewarding life, and I thought we could all learn from an experienced man like himself.
We sorted through all the chocolates in this week's box of frugality, and now share them with you for all to enjoy. We hope you get as much out of them as we did!
Mr. Gump and I's Favorite Picks
"Mama always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them."
I couldn't agree more! And when it comes to personal finance, there can be some pretty complicated issues out there. Lucky for us, we have some pretty fabulous bloggers who can break it down and get the points across easily - and we love them for it. Here's to our favorite picks this week, and here's to mama!
- Bad Acne = Credit Card Debt - Need i say more? haha.. Brandon Patchin from One Chance to Live compares little pimples with credit card use - AWESOME. (his writing style also reminds me of someone else's ;) )
- Save Money, Get A Divorce! Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity does it again with another devil's advocate post. I love a little controversy every now and then, and Jim's really getting good at it!
- Yard sale shopping with my daughter posted by mbhunter who adds, "It's easier to splurge at a yard sale." You know it! Three of my favorite things going on here: yard sales, splurging, and children :)
- What I pay for health care by Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme. This guy cracks. me. up. Seriously, i dare you to read it without laughing. It's definitely a "way of thinking" that's for sure!
Getting From Here, to There
"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was RUN-NING!"
We live in a different world that Mr. Gump these days, and unfortunately we can't rely on our feet to get us where we need to be all the time. We're not totally out of luck though! Check out these bad boys for some great travel tips to help lighten the load this week.
Earth Will Love You
"It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful."
Mother Earth loves you, so it's time to love Mother Earth back! Here are some green pointers to help get you started.
- 10 Ways to Reuse a Glass Jar posted by Tiffany Washko over at Natural Family Living Blog.
- People helping people by Joanna at keeping feet who's found a couple easy, low-cost and targeted ways to be generous and donate to very specific projects & causes around the world.
- Reusing the waste: Home Edition from Jason Isbell over at Tired Garden.
- 12 Recipes for Homemade Cleansers posted by Jennifer Derrick at Saving Advice Blog who adds "With the prices of everything skyrocketing, making your own cleaning products can be an easy way to save money. In addition to saving money, most are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and safe for use around pets and children." Sounds good to me!
Frugal is, as Frugal Does
"The best thing about visiting the President is the food! Now, since it was all free, and I wasn't hungry but thirsty, I must've drank me fifteen Dr. Peppers."
Enjoy these frugal-tastic posts by some pretty damn frugal bloggers ;)
- Frugal Habits that Have Improved my Life posted by the Coupon Artist at artofthecoupon.com.
- How to dine at fancy-schmancy restaurants on the CHEAP by sarah at SARAHSPY.
- 3 Tips On How To Save Money On Baby Clothes presented at The Financial Blogger, who learned a few tricks in order to save some bucks on children's clothes.
- Simple Tips To Save Money At The Movies by Fitz Villafuerte at Ready To Be Rich. With a lot of great movies coming out now, here are some tips on how you can save on spending without limiting the fun.
- Five Ways to Entertain Yourself for Free (Or Cheap) posted by Redd Horrocks-Maier from Earthlier Happy is the Rose Distilled. Five easy ideas for when you can't afford to go to the movies (if you don't use one of the tips above, of course).
- House Bling on the Cheap by Wenchypoo over at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket, who adds "Here's a quick, easy, and cheap way to get the look of stainless steel appliances without having to go out and buy them--great for selling homes, staging homes, upping the estimated market value, or just a general spruce-up."
- Make Your Own Home Scent Diffuser posted by Kelly at My $mall C€nts.
- How to Make a Versatile Cloth Wall Chart posted by HowToMe. Are you looking for a truly custom, perpetual calendar or a very versatile wall chart? If so, here's your spot.
- Do It Yourself Projects As A Source Of Alternative Income written by The Shark Investor.
- My First Project On My New Sewing Machine by Frugal Babe. Great job!
- Frugal Food-Part Three: Beans! posted by Jenn at Frugal Upstate, who's compiling a list of tasty, inexpensive dishes to help us all stretch our food budgets. Sounds good to me :)
Summer Lovin'
"And cause I was a gazillionaire, and I liked doin' it so much, I cut that grass for free."
While we can't do everything for free this Summer, we sure can cut down on the costs! Peruse through some of these articles for helpful tips this season.
Questions, Questions Everywhere
"Now for some reason I fit in the army like one of them round pegs. It's not really hard. You just make your bed real neat and remember to stand up straight and always answer every question with "Yes, drill sergeant."
These bloggers throw out some thought-provoking questions. Luckily, they give you the answers too ;) And before you ask, "Yes, drill sergeant" isn't one of them (Sorry Gump).
Investing & Saving
"Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company (Apple). So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing."
Oh man, i love that quote :) That Gump is hilarious! But it's true - you get investing/saving down pat, and you can continue on living happily knowing your money's working for you. Of course, getting a firm grip on it is the hard part, so perhaps these will help!
Coupons & Discounts
"Oh, yes sir. Bit me right in the buttocks. They said it was a million dollar wound, but the army must keep that money 'cause I still haven't seen a nickel of that million dollars."
You can never have too many coupons, or discounts for that matter. You won't always remember to bring them when you go shopping, but that's another story altogether ;) Here's a whole mess of goodies for ya.
Other Random Goodness
"When I was in China on the All-American Ping Pong team, I just loved playing ping-pong with my Flexolite ping pong paddle. "
Some other good financial stuff I couldn't quite tell where to put. "Random" categories are like boxes of chocolate - you never know what you're gonna get (I'm sorry, Gump REALLY wanted to put that in here).
WOW, so this beats my record for longest post! haha...
It is now time for Mr. Gump and I to hit "publish", and rest our tired little fingers. We hope you find some great articles in here! And if you like what you saw, think about
signing up to my feed :)
Be sure to check out next week's festival over at Squawkfox. Thanks everyone! Labels: carnivals
•
Digg this! •
Stumble it! •
Send to PF Buzz •
Save to Del.icio.us •
Subscribe to feed
