Frugal Friday, Mayday Edition

It was a rather light month in the frugalosphere.  I am certain this does not mean that the trendsetters of the frugal lifestyle have run out of ideas.  Could it be an early indication of strengthening economy?  Did Tax and/or Earth Day distract bloggers from the frugal cause?   I hope not.

I got my hopes up when I saw that there was a post entitled Suggesting Frugal Alternatives to Friends at Art of the Coupon.  I was expecting something on how things like Second Life, and, uh, blogging, are cheaper than having actual friends.  Sadly, it’s about how to suggest doing less expensive things with your friends, not getting rid of them entirely.

Bargaineering had a detailed post on how to make your own breadcrumbs.  More than just a recipe, the post has great tips, for example, that breadcrumbs make good gifts.

Speaking of useful tips, How I Save Money introduced me to the concept of reusable cloth wipes to replace toilet paper.  Now I concede that this is the obvious next step from using cloth diapers, but I see an obvious objection.  If a frugalist does this they will have no toilet paper tubes to reuse in frugal ways.

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Frugal Friday, April 3

Four Pillars, writer of the blog of the same name, was disappointed in yesterday’s post.  Since he has also expressed an appreciation for the Frugal Friday series, and since I did not want to disappoint my biggest only Canadian fan, I thought it was time for another update on goings on in the frugalosphere.

I start with a follow-up.  Obviously ignoring this post on how to make your own maple syrup, which was repeated as guest post on Not Made of Money and mentioned here in Frugal Friday twice, Frugal Upstate provided an alternate method (with pictures!) that involves getting stuff out of trees and boiling it.  Yuck.

Also somewhat unpleasant was Free Money Finance’s revisiting of his crackpot idea that you can save money by living in a cheaper city.  He actually openly refers to this as his “most hated piece of money saving advice.”  Why won’t he get a clue?  Moving someplace cheaper is not in keeping with the frugal lifestyle.  If you move, you might save a lot of money each month, but you will soon get used to living in the new town.  You will not get to act frugally as you save the money, you will merely save it.  And that’s not frugal.

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Last Frugal Friday for a While

Not much on the frugal front to report, and frankly I’m worried the Frugal Friday thing is getting a bit tired.  And frugality is beginning to confuse me.

Not Made of Money picked up the Homemade Maple Syrup post I discussed  last week as a guest post.  Just in case I was being too subtle last time, what they are discussing is making fake maple syrup, which is awful stuff, and real maple syrup is very cheap to make yourself, provided you have the right kind of tree and some simple tools.  (It is also, I am told, hard work.  I buy the stuff in the store like everybody else.)

Not Made of Money also had a post on what has become a recurring theme here,  Other Uses for Dryer Sheets.  I guess I must be really missing out, because I’ve never used a dryer sheet in my life, even for its intended purpose.  I guess I just assumed that a frugal person would also forgo this luxury.

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Frugal Friday March 6

Lots of good tips from the frugalosphere this week.

But first, I need to mention that I have just this morning read the 166th edition of the Festival of Frugality,  which came out February 24th.  Of the five “Editors Choice” links featured at the top, three were featured here in previous editions of Frugal Friday.  My first thought was, of course, that I was a victim of plagiarism, until I realized that the festival came out first.  I then realized that this is just the inevitable result of thoughtful people searching for the best and most practical frugal hints.

As a follow-up to last week, Heather at The Greenest Dollar continued her series on transport-themed alternative housing, this time discussing living in railroad cars rather than shipping containers.  But once again, she loses me when she discusses buying rather than finding the cars.  That’s just not in keeping with the latest trend in frugal-land, the Substance Abuser Lifestyle, or SAL.

Speaking of which, Queercents brings us news of the latest SAL development, gold parties.  It’s like a Tupperware party, only instead of the participants buying plastic containers, they all bring gold items they “own” to sell for cash.  This is especially important in suburban areas that often lack access to services city dwellers take for granted, like pawnshops and fences.

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Frugal Friday Feb. 27

Another quiet week in the frugalosphere.

In a follow-up to last week, I must report that Almost Frugal gave into temptation and bought a new dishwasher after all. This in spite of the dozens of encouraging comments she got, cheering her on in her efforts to live dishwasher-free. It almost makes you wonder why she bothers blogging if she’s going to lose her mind and spend money like a drunken sailor.

Speaking of blogging, today’s Little People Wealth has helpful post about how you can get some free cheese. All you have to do is review the cheese on your high traffic cheese-related blog. Finally, a tip we can all use.

As true devotees of frugalism know, being frugal is not merely a way to get rich, it is a lifestyle. Frugal posts this week explored taking this further and transcending the Frugal Lifestyle (FL) and living what might be called the Substance Abuser Lifestyle, or SAL.

Money Saving Blog brings us a list of 20 things in your house you can sell. This post begins with the commonplace observation that “the first thing that I do when I suddenly realize that money is getting tight towards the end of the month is to look around my home to see if there is anything that I can sell.” This is a good start, but I think that really living the SAL would mean looking around in other people’s homes for things you can sell.

Bargaineering suggests Dumpster Diving. The post is short on details, but apparently in some garbage heaps there are more things you can sell.

The Greenest Dollar picked up the SAL pace with a post on living in shipping containers. It’s an informative post, but the author lost my interest when she started discussing how much it costs to buy a container. Of course, a serious SAL practitioner would find one.

Not to worry. Tight Fisted Miser has an informative post, with a follow-up the next day, on what he calls “Extreme Frugal Housing Options.” His first suggestion is to live in a van, which he thinks he would really enjoy, but concedes that his “GF” would not. (I’m not sure what GF stands for. In context, girlfriend seems unlikely. Goldfish? Grandfather?) If not a van, he suggests an RV, which again he worries that GF would not like. Also, they’re hard to handle on the road and burn a lot of gas. But, then again, there’s no room for a dishwasher.