Festival of Frugality #63

Welcome to the 63rd Festival of Frugality, hosted right here at Stingy Students. This is my first time hosting a festival of this magnitude, and it has been quite a challenge reading and organizing all of these wonderful entries. I decided to organize the entries (henceforth to be referred to as entrées) by associating them with some of the stars of Food Network - the only channel I watch. Without further ado, I dish out the best that Festival of Frugality has to offer:

Alton Brown: My favorite Food Network star. A little quirky, a little balding, but highly entertaining and educational. Despite his name, he's green and practical.

- Bean-sprouts (could it be any greener?) shows us how to save money and save the planet. Yes, it's possible, once you get out of the Whole Paycheck mentality.

- PF Advice shares with us 10 ways to get free plants for your garden. More plants means more clean air!

- The Common Room explains the history behind frugality and potatoes (and even tosses in a few yummy recipes!)

- The Maine Life explains why cutting wood in the summer can pay off come winter. Or why you shouldn't live in Maine during the winter.

Anthony Bourdain: He isn't on Food Network too often nowadays, but his books are a blast. A little unconventional and always the risk taker, these entrées are for those who are unafraid to do it themselves.

- Ask Uncle Bill shows us how to save on taxes. What would Uncle Sam have to say about this?

- Savvy Steward created a collection of the ultimate DIY resource, for those of you resourceful enough to DIY.

- Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket explores Social Security alternatives. Good for those of us who won't reap the benefits of SSI.

Sandra Lee: This is one hot mom! These entrées have to do with parenting or things around the household.

- MotherLoad shows how with the birth of her daughter, frugality births creativity. So does that make creativity and invention cousins (since frugality and necessity are sisters).

- My Wealth Builder explains how having children has made them more frugal. I'm not sure if this would happen to me since I'll probably stop dumpster diving and eating PB&J's for half my meals.

- Mighty Bargain Hunter shows how his wife made frugal butterfly wings for their daughter. What about dragon wings for a son? Now that would be sweet!

- The Frugal Duchess reveals her 25 frugal habits and 5 spendthrift confessions. I have a confession to make too - I spend money sometimes :-(

- Bargain Quest shows how she saved 50% on her prescription drugs. Now if she could only find us a way to save 50% on illicit drugs.

- Queercents recounts when Rich and Rob go furniture shopping. Oh if only I had money.

Jamie Oliver: He doesn't come on too often nowadays, but whenever I've seen him, he seems to come up with random array of dishes out of nowhere, typical of the quintessential college student's cooking experiences. These are geared more toward students, or people with too little money and too little concern to worry about appearances.

- The Digerati Life has advice on how to furnish your house on any budget, even for free! Now that's what I'm talking about!

- Grad Money [Matters] give us five tips for a frugal spring break. Also known as "week of amnesia"

- Five Cent Nickel calls in on how to get free long distance calls via google maps. So could I call my friends in Timbuktu with this?

- Tight Fisted Miser asks himself, "I'm frugal, so why am I poor?" Why are you asking me? I'm in the same hole you are mister.

- Money, Matter, and More Musings explains why he walks to work. Now can you moonwalk to work? Now that would be impressive.

- Mortaine's Blog asks, "What do you do when you're not spending money?" I generally am sleeping.

- My New Choice shows how to save money on breakfast. Just remember, same thing applies to lunch.

- Stop the Ride! tell us why we should not to make a trip to the store. Ok! I won't! I promise!

Ina Garten: She strikes me as someone with a very committed marriage, but who could complain if you marry a woman who cooks like her? These entrées deal with money, relationships, and values.

- We're in Debt discusses saying no to your significant other. But what if they come at you with certain.... "favors"?

- My Financial Journey tiptoes the fine line of frugality. I've been walking on this tightrope as well.

Al Roker: Have you seen how much weight this guy has lost? Pretty amazing since he's kept it off after coming over to Food Network. Inspired by his weight-loss, these entrées show us how to cut back on debt.

- Debt Free has 3 more money saving ideas to help you get debt free. Good things always come in threes!

- My Money Walks demonstrates a wise decision in "How I plan on using my tax return" I on the other hand, will be buying myself a lifetime supply of gum.

- Debt Consolidation Lowndown gives us 17 tips for avoiding the debt trap. My tip? Don't go for the cheese.

Rachel Ray: You know her name. She's everywhere. Oprah even gave her a TV show! These entrées all contain something that all of us could use.

- Worldwide Success presents 10 simple ideas to save thousands of dollars per year. Thousands might be a stretch for those of us who only have thousands.

- Weboma explains how to use the internet and save time and money. I'm not sure I'm saving too much time by being on the internet, but oh well.

- Blueprint for Financial Prosperity says why we should skip newspapers, use the internets. Is this a typo or do they call it internets in the UK? I know they call math "maths," so I thought maybe the same rule applied. Crazy Brits.

- My Simple Trading System reviews "The Rich Jerk" Sounds kinda jerky.

- Ask Mr. Credit Card reviews the Discover platinum card. Discover it!

Reading through all of these made me realize how much good PF advice there is out there. Keep up the good writing bloggers!

Tags: Festival of Frugality #63