Festival of Frugality

Welcome to the Festival of Frugality! I’m Kelly, your host for this week’s edition and this is my blog. Almost Frugal is a source of frugal advice for those of us who are not frugal queens or personal finance divas! If that’s you, then subscribe to my feed!

I’m American but I live in France so I thought I would throw in some frugal French vocabulary*- just to liven things up.

Ready? On y va! (let’s go!)

Editor’s Picks! économe (to be economical or thrifty)

• Fire Finance offers us an in-depth, back to school, super-savers resource!
• Free from Broke shares his experience in saving money by not going with an online travel agency.
• Kris presents Life Skills 101: A Curriculum for Food, Finance, and Other Real World Basics posted at Cheap Healthy Good.
• Silicon Valley Blogger talks about a subject that’s on everyone’s lips at the moment in Smart Cars, the Aptera and Other Ways To Say No To High Gas Prices posted at The Digerati Life.
• Grey presents Revisiting the Fashion Debate: The Environmental and Fiscal Impacts of Fast Fashion posted at Frugal Fu.

Travel and Transportation radin (a mean, stingy person)

• As part of Wisebread’s series on frugal things to do in a city, LAL presents Things to do in Boston for $5 or less… posted at LivingAlmostLarge.
• Tanesha Morgan presents Expedia Coupons & Travel Deals posted at Personal Finance Analyst
• Jim explains why he and his wife bought bikes at Costco in We Bought Schwinn Midtown Bikes posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
• Jim should read Dave’s article: The Bike Commute: How to Prepare to Ride Your Bicycle to Work posted at Money Under 30.
• Steve Faber presents The 5 Best Cheap Used Cars to Buy If You?re Trying to Save Gas posted at super gas saver.
• Another frugal car post comes from Nickel with Get the Best Mileage for Your Car-Buying Dollar posted at fivecentnickel.com.
• Bryce wishes he could have prevented a situation in Stuff Happens posted at Save and Conquer. He’s going to take the necessary steps now.
• Miss Thrifty is going on holiday, thriftily of course! Thrifty holidays and travel agents posted at Miss Thrifty.
• Jacob is also a frugal traveler with International travel (for free) posted at Early Retirement Extreme.
• kdgriffin presents Choosing and Booking A Hostel posted at Cheap Travel.

House and Home avare (a miser, or miserly)

• David at My Two Dollars wrote How to Frugally Decorate Your House on a Very Tight Budget.
• The Smarter Wallet presents 7 Frugal Tips To Clean and Care For Your Clothes posted at The Smarter Wallet.
• Kari at the Art of Frugality shares her Secrets on Getting a Killer Wardrobe.
• HowToMe presents How to Make Lacing Cards, for Free posted at HowToMe. I’m always on the look out for good children’s crafts and this is both fun and frugal.
• The 3 Moms shares some great ideas for Birthdays on a Budget posted at Happy to be at Home.
• Randy presents 10 Great DIY Home Improvement Sites posted at Fiscal Zen.
• Dorian Wales asks Outsourcing Our Chores – Do We Overvalue Our Spare Time? posted at The Personal Financier.
• ChristianPF shows How to make natural toothpaste posted at Christian Financial. I had never thought of doing this, but it seems really easy!
• NtJS presents ReUse It! Decoupaged Outlet Covers posted at not the jet set.
• Faron Benoit gardens (frugally) in 5 ways to save money on gardening | Financial Learn posted at Financial Learn.

Food and Shopping mesquin (cheap)

• Amy cooks Quick Summer Minestrone posted at My Daily Dollars.
• Another tasty sounding recipe is from Penelope Pince with Fast and Frugal Recipe: Mediterranean Pizza Toast posted at Our Fourpence Worth.
• DJ presents Feeding the Hungry Hordes: How to Save Money When Your Child’s Friends Come to Eat posted at The Family Wallet.
• Ryan Suenaga eats out… at Costco in What Price to Spend Less? Lunch at Costco posted at Uncommon Cents.
• Ross Taylor lists 20 items to remove from your shopping trolley NOW! posted at UncommonAdvice.
• Amanda presents Couponing 101 posted at Me vs Debt.
• Aryn is still trying to decide whether to overhaul her food/money perspective. Should I Spend More on Food? posted at Sound Money Matters.
• Sally says It’s August- Start Thinking About Christmas! posted at Happy Frugal Year!.
• Anna shares the Five Best Coupon Sites on the Web at On a Quest To Be Debt Free…
• These sites will be of help to Karen, who says ‘I’m the world’s worst couponer‘ posted at Living Well on Less.
• Momma at Momma’s Blog gives us some Shopping Tips and Does a Snoopy Dance. Not quite sure what a snoopy dance looks like, but she sounds pleased!
• Tomato Lady presents Applesauce from Peels and Cores posted at Little House in the Suburbs.

Saving Money Tips grippe-sou (money-grubbing, an old fashioned term)

• François, from Liberta, advises you to sweat your assets. Not through excessive exercise though, mind you…
• SC at See My Money reviews Baby Talk’s Money Tips.
• Kat, at The Part-Time Life, tries out beauty school… as a customer, not a drop out.
• David G. Mitchell presents Ten Ways to Help Your Kids to Spend Wisely posted at Saving Advice.
• Roshawn Watson writes about five ways that you can tell you are living beyond your means.
• Briana presents the first part of her series on earning and saving money with Amazon Ways to Earn/Save Money with Amazon: Part I Amazon Affiliate | Bargain Briana posted at Bargain Briana.
• Bugs Money presents 15 ways to save money during a recession posted at Bugs Munny and says “Investing money wisely should be a practice that you are taking part in whether the economy is good or slow. Here are some ways you can save some extra bucks so that you still have the opportunity to use your money to grow your wealth.”
• vh presents 25 strategies for more affordable living posted at Funny about Money.
• MoneyNing presents 6 Neat Ways to Build Your Emergency Fund posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.
• Andy lets us in on Five Free Frugal Resources posted at Tight Fisted Miser.
• The Happy Rock presents Reader Stories – Doing What It Takes posted at The Happy Rock.

Frugality serré (tight. tight pants, tight schedule, tight with money…)

• J. Money asks Have you ever signed up to a credit card to get a Free T-Shirt? posted at Budgets are Sexy.. He says “I used to be all over that! Now I bargain shop for the shirts, and save the credit card hassle. ”
• Sean asks What Is Frugality? What Are The Best Examples? posted at Financial Ramblings.
• Bible Money Matters rounds up opinions on the Economic Stimulus Check, 5.2 million of which are still unclaimed.
• Kate is Practicing Frugality As A Family posted at A Simple Walk.
• Del Sandeen asks Is the Media to Blame for Your Materialism? posted at Fiscal Liberty.
• R presents The Role Patience Plays in a Frugal Lifestyle posted at Retired At 47.
• Shadox says that an economic recession is a great time to get things for bargain prices. If you have a secure job, a recession can actually be an excellent opportunity to save, invest and improve your financial position. Recession is a Great Economic Opportunity posted at Money and Such.

*This is in no way meant to imply that the bloggers in each category embody the characteristics of that category… this exercise is of course, purely educational!

Learning about frugality? Subscribe to my feed by RSS or by email to receive more frugal content, delivered every time I publish.