February brought great heaps of snow to parts of the country not used to it, but being shut in for days at a time must inspire frugal thinking, because it was a good month for cutting-edge frugalist tips.
Laundry continues to be a fertile area for frugality. Keeping Kingdom First carried a guest post that thoughtfully reminded us to make sure our dirty laundry is really dirty. But the author may go too far when she advises that you ask yourself "If I was paying someone to wash my laundry, would I want to pay to have this item washed?" Obviously, if a frugalist were paying somebody else to wash their clothes they would do it themselves to save money.
SavingAdvice.com brought us instructions on how to make our own dryer sheets. Finally, a way to save money on these household miracles with a thousand thrifty uses.
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January was as cold as we’ve come to expect in the Northern Bits of our great nation and a lot colder than they’ve come to expect in the Southern Bits. Not to worry, the frugalosphere produced plenty of exciting money saving tips to warm us all up.
Frugal Upstate, from the northern Northern Bits, gave us no fewer than 3 different uses for the juice, technically syrup, that canned fruit is packed in. All are ways you can consume it, but without a doubt there are dedicated frugalists already working on potential uses as a household cleaner.
A fundamental premise of frugalism is that it is not about simply doing without. You can spend less of your precious money and still enjoy the modest and temperate pleasures of life. Along these lines, DebtMaven had an excellent post detailing how she practices frugal drinking. For example, since she will not drink her morning coffee without a bit of Irish Cream, necessitating the purchase of two bottles a month (presumably the 1.75 liter size since all good frugalists buy in bulk) she has switched to Carolins from Bailey’s.
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Due to the confluence of a holiday and an internet access snafu, as unlikely as it may seem, this is the first Friday post of the month. That means it’s time to round up the best frugal tips from the frugalosphere from December.
Needless to say, December is dominated by what is politely referred to as "the holidays" but which we all know to be that most un-frugal of occasions, Christmas. This annual orgy of unnecessary expenditure comes ’round each year and hypnotizes otherwise savvy people into parting with their precious cash.
Can there really be such a thing as a frugal Christmas? I’m not entirely convinced, but many bloggers gave it a try. Many of the tips were, like the seasonal music piped into all public spaces starting on November 1, familiar and repetitive. Give dad a book of "coupons" for hugs, wrap presents in newspaper, shop for decorations after the 25th, etc.
My Super-Charged Life did share the revelation that there are 7 Free Toys Your Kids Will Love More Than Expensive Gifts. They are a cardboard box, a cape made of an old pillow case or towel, a balloon, two sticks, a fort made of sheets or blankets, empty paper towel tubes, and a paper airplane. Click on the link for details. It’s probably too late to swap that bicycle you got your son for a pair of sticks, but now you know better for next year.
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November brought a wealth of new frugal tips, many of them seasonally themed.
Wise Bread kicked the month off right by reminding us, as if we needed it, that
early November is the right time to buy Halloween costumes and decorations. But beware of those topical items that may not work next year, e.g. the white sequin glove coming out of a grave.
Wise Bread also shared a timeless list of 20 Money-Saving Ways to Reuse Old Pantyhose. Sure, some of them are pretty obvious, like using them to store onions and potatoes, but several are of the forehead slapping why-didn’t-I-think-of-that variety. Used nylons can be used to make homemade soap-on-a-rope, as plant ties, and even as storage for those "menacing foam packing peanuts."
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I know you’re thinking that Halloween has already passed and that I should have a different name for the October frugal round-up. But I wanted to remind everybody that now is the best time to purchase next year’s costume and 
candy. Of course, if you have kids you can just set aside what they gathered this year trick-or-treating to give out next year.
It was a good month in the frugalosphere. Pragmatic Environmentalism pointed out that an IUD is the most cost effective of the non-abstinence methods of contraception. And Not Made of Money shared a tip for saving money on tailgate parties: hold them in your backyard to save on game tickets and parking.
Provident Planning had an important post Do It Yourself: Why Your Time Is Not Worth As Much As You Think. The author doesn’t quite say it, but the idea is that if you have time to read blogs you’ve got time to knit your own Swiiffer pads. It’s really just economics. If there is uncompensated leisure time in your day, then the marginal value of your time must be zero. You can’t argue with math.
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Frugal Friday | Frank Curmudgeon | 
March 5, 2010 1:59 pm | 
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