This morning I have the honor of hosting the 119th edition of the Festival of Frugality! I’d like to lead off with an announcement: I gave my notice yesterday. As of April 12th, I will be a full-time blogger. After months of deliberation, I have decided to take Consumerism Commentary to the next level, and that can only be done without distractions such as my soon-to-be-former day job.
I will now be joining the ranks of those reliant on the web for income, like J.D. from Get Rich Slowly and Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Wish me luck, I’ll need it.
If you’re new to Consumerism Commentary, please take a moment and subscribe to the RSS feed. Now, here are the best articles amongst all submissions for this week’s Festival of Frugality.
Editor’s Choice
If you can rent rather than buy, do it. Silicon Valley Blogger presents Rent Instead Of Buy, And I Mean Anything! posted at The Digerati Life. “Let’s take a tour of my virtual warehouse and check out the rental market for some of its items shall we? Not all lease ideas are money savers, but all exist to serve the purpose of filling a demand.”
Sharon Harvey Rosenberg from The Frugal Duchess presents Sell the Coach Bag? What I’m Willing To Give Up for Financial Security. If faced with a financial hardship, how far are you willing to go to sell off your assets? Here’s Sharon’s answer.
In Lovely Leftovers, P. Sycamore from She Laughs at the Days to Come writes, “Whether your leftovers come from the fridge, the freezer or the restaurant, the most important thing to remember about leftovers is that they’re like money… if you lose track of them, it costs you.”
glblguy has do-it-yourself tips in his article, Homemade car cleaning products, posted at Gather Little by Little.
Sarah from 20saver presents The beginnings of a frugal wedding. “Because we reused unwanted diamonds instead of purchasing a premade engagement ring, Jake paid considerably less for my ring than its actual value.”
Aryn from Sound Money Matters wonders: Is A Frugal Lifestyle Always Environmentally Friendly? No, but frugality isn’t about always going with the least expensive option.
Penny Nickel offers 10 ways you can use less artificial light — lower emissions and your energy bill! posted at Money and Values. Thanks for letting us know about Earth Hour.
Continue reading for more articles from the Festival of Frugality.
Matt presents >Car Maintenance: Spending to Save posted at One Million and beyond.
Amy Hobbs draws upon 19th century poetry in Come buy! Come buy!, posted at My Daily Dollars.
FMF presents Financial Details on My Trip to Disney posted at Free Money Finance. A Disney vacation can be frugal.
Does anyone other than me remember Jeff Smith from The Fugal Gourmet? Squawkfox makes Jeff Smith look like a big spender. Read the Top Five Frugalicious Breakfasts (A Visual Guide) posted at Squawkfox.
Nickel presents 23 excellent tips in The Lazy Cheapskate’s Guide to Saving the Planet, posted at FiveCentNickel.
~Dawn from Frugal For Life offers Free Audio Resources. The count is currently at 22, so there’s more than enough free audio on the web to go around. My newest discovery, Pandora, is listed.
Andy presents this comparison on Tight Fisted Miser: Aldi v. Supermarket v. Wal-Mart.
Maybe frugality isn’t for everyone. GBlogger presents Frugality and Chocolate Sundaes posted at Can I Get Rich on a Salary.
NCN presents Weekend Homework Before The New Baby Arrives posted at No Credit Needed. “My wife is expecting our third child… Here’s what we are doing to get ready.”
GP presents activities and frugal food ideas in Present Simplicity posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.
The Happy Rock writes about a recent sad item in the news. Frugality Gone Wild : Home Contents Stolen In A Craigslist Hoax. This is incredibly unfortunate, and I hope the true owners are made right.
Jeremy Zongker from Destroy Debt offers 90 Low Cost or No Cost Activities to Entertain Your Kids All Summer Long. You can’t go wrong with a Rubik’s Cube.
Northern Cheapskate presents Stingy vs. Frugal posted at Northern Cheapskate. Is there a difference?
Jason tackles this question, as well, in The Difference in Being Frugal, and Being Cheap posted at The Frugal Dad.
At Health Freedom Coaching, Ellen Landauer presents Dandelion: Herbal Liver Cleanse, Better Digestion, and More! Who knew eating dandelion could be healthy.
Megan directs her anger in No really, you don’t need a sign to tell me it’s more expensive posted at A Dollar a Day. “My plan is to continue with my same grocery budget and to just try to make smart choices in what I buy, watch for price drops, and stay away from convenience foods as much as possible.”
Shana presents How Much Money Do You Lose Through Laziness? posted at Smart Easy Money.
Is this akin to stealing? How far does frugality go? Prime Time Money shows us a way to Rent DVD Movies for $1 with The New Release and Redbox.
Enoch Ko presents a tenet of frugality, Minimize expenses, posted at Enoch Ko’s Blog.
Deborah Barone compares herself with her spendthrift coworkers in A Quick Lunch Price Comparison, posted at Pennies To Nickels.
LJ from Mommy Gets PAID submits Saving Money on Organic Groceries.
Shanti presents How To Embrace Your Hobbies Without Breaking the Bank posted at Antishay Ventenne.
For some frugal gift ideas for kids, check out The Perfect Gift For A Newborn Baby at Quest For Four Pillars.
paidtwice from I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… wonders, Do You Save More With Your Automated Savings Plan?
From the “reusable” department, Madoline Hatter presents Thinking inside the box: Some Uses for Cardboard Cartons posted at Our Fourpence Worth.
Kyle James presents A Few Ways To Shop Smart posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com, and says, “Whenever you are making a major purchase from stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot, Lowes, and the like, you have power to negotiate.”
On the same topic, Terry presents Haggle for Lower Prices posted at Savvy Frugality.
Going to find bargains at the outlets? Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips – Going Outlet Shopping.
Vh from Funny about Money got a good deal on shoes while she was On the Loose in Runamok Mall!
Kira Kowalski considers the value of a particular purchase in dot Mac discount $59.88 – maybe I?m not ?too cheap? posted at PF Under 30.
Amy Hobbs presents When Money Doesn’t Feel Like Money posted at My Daily Dollars.
Investing Man offers 10 Tips On How To Negotiate, focused on getting bargains, posted at Wealth Building Lessons.
Madison presents Analyzing Our Energy Use posted at My Dollar Plan.
MoneyKing from The Money Kings is disappointed with your premium spending. You Need To Give Your Love Affair With Dining Out A Rest.
Deamiter presents Finding the Best Value When Prices Move Fast posted at Handling Finances.
valereee presents tips and a recipe at Foraging: Wild Garlic on her blog, Cincinnati Locavore.
Elliott Russell presents Frugal Tips: Gift Shop posted at ElliottRussell.ca.
Frugal living is one of 5 Strategies to Survive An Economic Slowdown posted by Pinyo at Moolanomy.
BeThisWay presents Saving by Delusion posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?.
Shopping at Costco? Ryan Suenaga presents Hunting for Discounts: The Best Costco Coupons posted at Uncommon Cents.
Stephanie from Stop the Ride! presents a guest post about spending for a large family: Feeding the Multitude (clothing them and entertaining them too).
poetloverrebelspy offers this Friday Freebie: Seattle Wooden Boat Rides, at Less Than a Shoestring.
Michelle Dawn presents 10 Ways to Save When Your Child is Hospitalized posted at Frugal Parenting.
Bryce presents Thousands of E-books for Free posted at Save and Conquer with a link to Project Gutenberg. Also on the topic of free books, Zork Brauk presents Read Books for Free at the Library posted at It’s the Recession, Stupid!.
What’s more frugal than free? FIRE Finance presents FREE Land & Handsome Living Allowances!.
Raymond presents How To Repair Your Old Car With Used Junkyard Parts posted at Money Blue Book.
Lisa Spinelli presents Seventeen Best Links to (Really) Free Stuff | Greener Pastures: Personal Finance posted at Greener Pastures.
Joe D presents Make Less, Save More posted at Know The Ledge.
Oh. Happy April Fool’s Day, by the way.
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