Frugal blog round-up

It could be winter talking, but I've been feeling pretty low-energy lately, and when that happens, I want to shop! I've been pretty good, but I did buy a dress and boots online last week (I really didn't need them.)  They were delivered yesterday... and neither fit! Ha! Laughing at myself now- that's what I get for spending money on a dress and boots I couldn't try on. So, planning to either return or sell them- we'll see which will get me more of my money back.

ANYWAY... that is neither here nor there. The point, here, people, is that when I feel my "frugal vigor" slipping, it always helps me to read some really good frugal blogs I follow. And of course, it is always helpful to revisit the book that inspired it all, The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. (pictured) I follow dozens (perhaps... hundreds?) of blogs on various frugal topics: personal finance, DIY projects, couponing, cooking and so forth. (Full disclosure: None of these blogs know I'm "promoting" them, so no worries, they didn't buy my love!)

Here are a few of my very most favorite frugal blogs, in no particular order:


Give Me Back My Five Bucks: "A quest for financial independence through the eyes of a 20-something Candian blogger" by Krystal. I love that she posts her actual weekly spending totals!

Budget Bytes: "On a mission to save money and eat well!" by Beth.  Really great healthy and tasty recipes here, and she posts very detailed accounts of what each ingredient costs.

Get Rich Slowly: "Personal Finance That Makes Cents" Give them a pass on the dorky subtitle- I have learned a lot of valuable information from this blog, and it's fun to read, too.

Mr. Money Moustache: "Financial Freedom Through Badassity" I LOVE THIS BLOG. Love the quirky attitude, and even more, I love that this man retired before he was 40 and he tells us how he did it.

Tip Junkie: "15,000+ tutorials on Crafts, DIY Decor, Food, Holidays, Gifts, Parties, Printables and more!" by Laurie.  This site was like Pinterest before there was Pinterest. She's got it separated by category, and I find a zillion great projects on here.

I'll keep the rest of my favorites for next time. What are you favorite "frugal blogs"?

$0.00: Talking myself out of buying a video game.

With all the focus of getting “great deals” on all kinds of things over the Black Friday weekend, I’ve been thinking about one of the most important tenets of frugality: No matter how great of a deal something was, you still spent money. You used to have that money, and now it is gone forever. The most frugal action is to not spend ANY money.

Here is my example: I really really really really want The Sims 3: Pets game. (I know, I’m a nerd.) I was thrilled to see that this game was 50% off today through EA’s Origin, making it $19.99 (regular $39.99). Wow, that is a great deal, I’m thinking. I'm going to buy it! Then I’m thinking some more... in my budget this month, I certainly did NOT include $20 for a new video game for myself. As a matter of fact, I’m more than $30 over my grocery budget for the month,  and besides that, Mr. Townie and I are taking our belated honeymoon trip in January and need to put any extra funds we’ve got towards that.

Sooo... even though finding the game that I have been wanting for months at half off is a great stroke of luck and it is a great deal, I made the most frugal choice and spent $0.00.  This is not to say that I will forever be a martyr and never ever get a video game again. I’m looking at this as delayed gratification- maybe I will get this game for Christmas.  Maybe I will get a giftcard for Christmas and buy the game. Maybe if I don’t get this game for Christmas, one of my friends will and I can borrow it.  Maybe if I still haven’t gotten my hands on this game after we get home from our trip in January, I can use money we have leftover to buy it.

Here’s the thing- I don’t have to buy that game today. That game will be available for years to come- why don’t I wait to buy it until I have extra money (and time to play it, for that matter?) I’ll just let Origin hold on to my game for me until I’m ready. Maybe it won’t be on sale then- but here’s another thought: video games and many other electronic toys continually go down in price the older they get. It could very well be that by the time I buy this game, it will have come down in price to the “sale price” of today. Or maybe by then I can find a used copy for much less than the price of a new copy.


If I would have bought this game today, you might think I would have "saved" $20 because that's how much it was marked down. But really, I would have saved $0.00 and spent $19.99 that I could have kept. So today, I saved $19.99 and spent $0.00


Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/

A Frugal Thanksgiving

I think I might be doing that thing where I decide to do a huge thing and then later when I'm actually doing the huge thing, I'm like, why did I decide to do this huge thing?

That being said, I've decided to host a "mini-Thanksgiving" at my house the day after Thanksgiving Day for my close relatives that I won't see on Thanksgiving Day (since I will be seeing other relatives). I would like to publicly thank my husband for agreeing to this most exciting and possibly disastrous undertaking. This will be our first Thanksgiving as married people, and what could be more grand than hosting our own (mini) Thanksgiving meal at our own house?




Here's what I'm thinking for a menu:

-Turkey (something like a 12-pounder?)
-Dressing (hoping someone else can be talked into bringing this)
-Mashed potatoes (I am a master potato masher)
-Turkey gravy
-Green bean casserole (hoping my Mom will make this)
-Cheesy corn (don't actually know what this is called, but Grandma Gish makes it and its delicious. I'll post a recipe later.)
-Rolls
-Sweet potato pie (never made this before but had some recently and it was SO TASTY.)
-Cheesecake (certain I can get my Dad to bring this)
-Wine!

I think I can do this meal really frugally (I'll tally it up and report!), especially since guests will bring things. With one expception- I don't know where to get a good deal on a turkey! This is where I ask for HELP! Am I missing anything really important? And where can I get a good deal on a turkey?

**NOTE: I later did the research on turkey and Thanksgiving foods! Check out this entry: 

Photo courtesy of http://www.everystockphoto.com/

What is worth a higher price tag?

Get Rich Slowly  made a post Spend on the Things You Do Every Day  yesterday on a topic I've been thinking a lot about. The topic being, what should you spend your money on? It is unrealistic (and maybe not even smart) to say that everyone should just spend as little as possible on everything. Some exceptions I make are healthy food, quality shoes, beds/mattresses, and tools of all sorts. Both of these articles did a great job of explaining this principle, and are definitely worth a read.

Lifehacker also recently did a post on this The Comfort Principle: Spend Money Where You Spend Your Time. I was particularly pleased with the mention of the desk chair (I know I spend 8+ hours a day in mine!)

What items do you think are worth spending more money on?

Driving slower saves $$ - told you so!

Proof that you do save money by driving slower! Finally. Now my husband should stop teasing me and telling me I drive like a grandma. Because, while I do drive like a grandma, its for a good reason.

One of my favorite money blogs, The Simple Dollar, did the math for us. Thanks!

This is why I'm not a fan of the increased speed (75 MPH!) on I-70. I typically go 65 or 70, but feel like people are going to run over me. Anyone else driving under the speed limit on I-70, or elsewhere?

Frugal web tool (and games!)

I have some fantastic websites to tell you about.

The first is Mint.com.      I have been using this (free, of course) tool for a few months now. The purpose of this tool is to track your money- bank accounts, loans, credit cards, etc. What is cool about it is is that it breaks it down into categories (Groceries, Mortgage/Rent, Clothing, Hobbies, Travel, Coffeeshops, Restaurants, etc.) so you can see EXACTLY where your money goes. I really had no idea how much I was spending on clothes! This type of tracking is really key if you are trying to lower your spending. I was really focused on our grocery bill, which is good, but not that helpful if a bunch of money is being spent on clothes & other non-necessities. Mint is also helpful because you can set budgets & goals. I really like this because I like to see the charts and graphs fill up. It makes it more like a game for me (a self-proclaimed videgame nerd.) One note: if you don't feel comfortable using Mint.com, I know that many banks offer a similar tool- I know Meritrust Credit Union (where I bank) has one.

Speaking of games-
The other website is Saveup.com, (also free) which I just found out about today (on Lifehacker.com, a favorite of mine) and I'm already hooked. Saveup makes a game of saving money- literally. Lifehacker explains it better than I can but the general principle is that you get points for making good financial decisions. For each dollar that you put in your savings account, or that you use to pay off a debt, you get a point. (You link your existing bank/credit accounts so they can be tracked, I've checked into it and believe this is completely safe.) Then you use these points to try to win prizes on Saveup!

What is your favorite financial tool site (or software)? I know people use a lot of different things and I'd love to hear reviews.