Weekly Round-Up: Sick of Being Sick!

This week was supposed to be our first week back at work after the winter break, but it ended up being another week spent at home… with the stomach flu! Even the cats got into the act! We’re all better now, and much happier for it.

A bright spot in the week was the package that arrived from Green Snail, an online children’s consignment store that carries name brand and vintage clothing for children. I’m not a name brand only girl myself, but there are certain labels that are both cute and high quality that I have a hard time resisting, especially for ‘nice’ clothes.

So when Kelly from Green Snail contacted me (and with a name like that, it has to be good!) to tell me about her site, I hopped on over to take a look… and ended up buying some very cute flowered pants and a navy blue and white checked dress for my daughter! The prices are reasonable, the package arrived quickly and Kelly followed up with an email to check that everything was OK.

She’s not paying me or compensating me in any way for this review, but I’m giving her a hearty recommendation- if you’re looking for an outfit for a special occasion (party dresses or fairy wings, anyone?), or like a certain brand of kids’ clothing, you might want to check out her site.

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

• Money Crashers 2010 New Year Giveaway Bash – $5,900+ in Cash and Amazing Prizes
• New Uses for Old Things | Real Simple
• Rethinking Laundry – No More Tumble? « Alice.com Blog – Unique Finds & Practical Advice for your Life & Home
• Recession’s Emerging Credo – Do More, Buy Less – NYTimes.com
• The Safety Net – Living on Nothing but Food Stamps NYTimes.com
• Beer bread ~ no kneading required @ 3 Blondes and the Law
• Cranberry Orange Cookies – Fake Ginger
• 50 How to Save Money Blogs – PersonalLoans.org
• Hobbyists Use Etsy to Trade Day Job for Hard Work – NYTimes.com

Frugal tips of the day from Twitter:

• Frugal Tip of the Day: Sometimes finding room in the budget for priorities is the most frugal thing you can do.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: One way to make your clothes last longer is to fit into them!
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Check your bank balance online. It might serve as a reality check and stop you from spending.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Making a list of the frugal things you do can help keep you motivated.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Talk about green and frugal: washing your car in the rain!
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Take your frugality where you can. Lots of books have frugal messages in them.
• Frugal Tip of the Day: Creating a network can have powerful financial, professional and personal results.

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. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!