Weekly Round-Up: Let it Snow!

As long as I have to interact with it, I’m not a big fan of snow. Too cold, too wet, too messy. Yes, I am a Los Angelena!

But today, when all I have to do is sit at home with my kids (and clean the house, answer a million emails, get caught up on work and deal with the after effects of the break-in) I can appreciate the pretty, white scenery outside my windows!

Meanwhile, here are some of my favorite reads for the week:

• Hobbyists Use Etsy to Trade Day Job for Hard Work – NYTimes.com
• GreenSnail.org-Shop-Children’s Consignment Clothing and More!
• Being frugal is back in fashion — latimes.com
• Essential Checklists on Real Simple
• Fresh Deals | 8 Rules for a Frugal Christmas in 2009 (+ 686 Gift Ideas Under $20)
• Our Cupboard was Bare @ Pinched – Salon.com
• Pinched – Salon.com :: Living in a Van in Grad School
• empapers by empapers on Etsy :: beautiful printable cards etc
• How much does it cost to run your home? | Move to Portugal
• Take digital photos at the toy store to create a photographic “Santa list” | Parent Hacks

Frugal tips of the day from Twitter:

• Frugal Tip of the Day: Go to the bathroom before you leave work. (no, really!)
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Think about more than just the cost of rent when choosing an apartment.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Stretch your leftovers as far as you can- I’ve gotten 4 meals for 4 out of one chicken.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Sometimes a simple change in habit can help break a major bad behavior.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Make your home smell nice by making your own scent diffuser.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: An emergency kit kept handy will keep you from having to buy bandaids (or tampax!) on the run.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Buying furniture doesn’t have to break the bank (just your back!)

As always, you can check out the Good Reads page or my Tumblr site Almost Frugal Finds for all my links, as well as following me on Twitter for the Frugal Tips of the Day.

Kelly Rigotti started Almost Frugal as a thirty-something American trying to dig her way out from under a mountain of debt (~€60,000). She's almost frugal and would like to be more so, but shops at Ikea too often for her own good.

Kelly has blogged 556 posts here.