About.com Frugal Living

Shorten Your Thanksgiving Grocery List

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:47 +0000

Busy finalizing your Thanksgiving grocery list? Before you head to the store, take another look in your pantry to see if there are any items that you can eliminate from your list. Poultry seasoning, pumpkin pie spice and pie crust are just a few of the many things that you can whip up from basic pantry staples:

Thanksgiving Ingredients You Can Make

Frugal Thanksgiving Recipes:

Photo &copy Flickr user PinkMoose

Shorten Your Thanksgiving Grocery List originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 09:00:47.

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Gift Idea: Snow Paint

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:38:44 +0000

Playing in the snow is fun, but do you know what's really fun? Painting snow. Put together a snow paint kit for each of the kids on your holiday gift list, and you're sure to be one popular frugalite:

How to Make Snow Paint

More Homemade Gifts for Kids:

Gift Idea: Snow Paint originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 11:38:44.

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Featured Reader: Bev, KS

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:51 +0000

Name:

Bev from Kansas

Forum Membername:

mammahop

Your Favorite Source for Bargains:

Thrift shops, consignment sales and garage sales

Your Best Bargain of All Times:

It's a toss up between a $100 Chevrolet Caprice and our corn stove. The car is used as a work car, but only had 57,000 original miles on it. It gets 18 miles to the gallon, and if need be, could be used as a family car. The corn stove was $1500, and we used $450 worth of corn the first year. We also have a wood stove, but we would have still needed a tank of propane a month. If we had used propane, it would have cost us $2800 a winter to heat the house. Now all we need is to purchase corn every year. The wood is free - it just costs our time.

View the rest of Bev's profile

Featured Reader: Bev, KS originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 09:00:51.

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Gift Idea: Pine Cone Fire Starters

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:49:02 +0000

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that hardly cost anything at all. Take pine cone fire starters for example: there's nothing particularly fancy about them, and yet they manage to be both beautiful and functional.

Take a walk this week to collect pine cones. Then, make some fire starters to give to your friends and family:

How to Make Pine Cone Fire Starters

Photo &copy Flickr user TeoJPG

Gift Idea: Pine Cone Fire Starters originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 17:49:02.

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Solar LED Christmas Lights

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:49:27 +0000

I've long been a fan of LED Christmas lights and their energy-savings, but now there's something that I like even better: solar LED Christmas Lights. They're every bit as efficient as regular LEDs, but they don't require miles of extension cords to run, and they don't use even a drop of electricity. Pretty cool. The only uncool part? They still cost about $20 a set. Hmm ... maybe I'll wait and stock up during the after-Christmas sales.

What are your thoughts on this newest of new-fangled inventions?

Related Reading:

Photo &copy Erin Huffstetler

Solar LED Christmas Lights originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 13:49:27.

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Go Foraging for Nuts

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:06 +0000

Have some free time this weekend? Then, use it to go foraging for tree nuts. This time of year you should be able to find pecans, walnuts, chestnuts and gingkos.

A Guide to Identifying and Harvesting Tree Nuts

Related Reading:

Photo &copy Flickr user cesarastudillo

Go Foraging for Nuts originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 09:00:06.

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What's Your 2009 Holiday Budget?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:00:22 +0000

The economy is causing a lot of people to rethink their holiday budgets. Have you settled on a figure for this year? Tell us how much you plan to spend, and find out how much other readers will be spending.

Related Reading:

What's Your 2009 Holiday Budget? originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 09:00:22.

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Featured Reader: Sharon, GA

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:03 +0000

Name:

Sharon from Georgia

Forum Membername:

ed1claudia

Your Favorite Source for Bargains:

Thrift stores and the local auction house

Your Best Bargain of All Times:

My friend gave me her old - but still in great shape - bedroom suite. With updated linens, she didn't even recognize it when she came to visit. I also purchased a transferware plate at the auction house last week for $20, and it is worth at least $150. I have seen similar plates sell for $200-$300.

View the rest of Sharon's profile.

Featured Reader: Sharon, GA originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 09:00:03.

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What's Your Recession Story?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:50:47 +0000

The rising unemployment numbers and daily reports of mass layoffs and foreclosures tell the tale of a tough economy, but they don't tell your tale.

Have you lost your job or home?
Did you take a pay cut just keep your job?
Have you ditched every last creature comfort?
Are you delaying necessary purchases or repairs?
Have you brought your frugality to a new level?

We want to hear how the recession is affecting you. Head over to the forum and share your recession story.

Related Reading:

What's Your Recession Story? originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 13:50:47.

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Bargain Alert

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:01:27 +0000

Here are some bargains to get your week started off right:

Glade candles and PlugIns are on sale for $2.50 each at Target. Buy five and you'll get a $5 Target gift card. Add in coupons to sweeten the deal even further. Here's how one forum member did it: Glade Strategy
Entertainment Book just announced a surprise sale: Get $7 off any 2010 Entertainment Book, plus free shipping. Ends November 15.
Walgreens released a $5 off $25 coupon in this week's Sunday paper. Use it to stock up on holiday baking supplies
Get $3 off a set of LED Christmas lights at Home Depot when you trade in an old strand. Five trade-ins accepted per customer. Deal runs till November 15
Restaurant.com is back to offering restaurant gift certificates for 80% off. Get $25 certificates for $2 through November 12 with code "ENTREE"

Bargain Alert originally appeared on About.com Frugal Living on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 14:01:27.

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