Category Archives: Frugal Living

Frugal Reading- The Complete Tightwad Gazette

Posted by shopaholicsavers on February 2, 2011 2 comments

If you are trying to save money or live more frugally I am telling you that you NEED to get the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. It is written by Amy who formerly published a famous newsletter about saving money. She shares all of her family’s ideas for saving money whether practical, amusing, or crazy. She has 6 kids and raised them on her husband’s 30,000 per year military salary while saving for and buying a house! Anyone can find ideas for saving money in this book and if nothing else her book is great inspiration and fun to read. I recommend getting it for free from your local library!

Article “My Free and Easy Life”

Posted by shopaholicsavers on January 25, 2011 None comments

(Katherine surrounded by some of her scavenged possessions)

“When Katharine Hibbert lost her job and her flat she didn’t just downsize – she decided to dispense with money altogether, living on the stuff the rest of us throw away.”

This is a fascinating article about a woman in Brittan who lives for free off of the waste of others. It makes a huge statement about consumerism by describing how she lives an almost entirely money free alternative lifestyle. While few of us would probably choose to live this way, her story will definitely make you think twice about throwing away anything that someone else could use in the future. Click HERE to read the article.

Massachusetts family of 6 lives off $4/wk for food

Posted by shopaholicsavers on January 20, 2011 None comments

This is a great ABC News video that provides tips about couponing as well as showing an excellent example of how a woman feeds her family for very little cash.

Keep Your Money In Your Pocket

Posted by shopaholicsavers on January 20, 2011 None comments

I have often heard that the best way to save money is not to spend it. This simple idea contradicts the spend, spend, spend media images that are all over today’s world. Here are a couple of great articles that list some smart things that you should not be spending money on because you can get them for free.

15 Things You Shouldn’t Be Paying For

and

10 Free Things People Often Pay For

How to Fix a Broken Pressed Powder Compact

Posted by shopaholicsavers on January 8, 2011 1 comments

We have all had a makeup compact break on us after we spent our hard earned money on it. However, I never knew that you could fix one so easily. All you have to do is-

1. Mash up the powder the rest of the way

2. Add a small amount of rubbing alcohol

3. Stir until mixed

4. Let it dry

It’s that easy! I tried it on the combined remnants of two $25 compacts that had broken and now I have a whole new compact! That’s a savings of $25. I read that this also works on other forms of pressed compact makeup like bronzer and eye shadow.

Thanks to the amazing book The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn for this idea and many other frugal ideas.

Washable Shower Curtain

Posted by shopaholicsavers on January 7, 2011 None comments

My mom gave me a high quality shower curtain about a year ago. It is completely white with a woven pattern. When it got moldy (as all shower curtains eventually do) I was going to throw it away but instead I washed it with bleach and laundry detergent and it looked new. Today I washed it again and it still looks exactly like it did when I got it. This is about the 4^th time I have washed it. If I had been buying the cheapest clear plastic shower curtains that are sold in stores at $2 each I would have paid at least $8 for new ones by now. I like cloth shower curtains better and you don’t have to worry about them containing as many chemicals as plastic ones.

CVS Deal 12/30/10

Posted by shopaholicsavers on December 30, 2010 None comments

Today I went to CVS to get the Tone Bodywash that was on sale for 3.88 with 3 dollars ECB’s (Extra Care Bucks aka CVS dollars) back. After going to the first CVS and finding them sold out I gave up but found electric tea light candles on clearance for 4.99. I bought 3 and used 7 dollars ECB making my total around eight dollars. I was excited to do this unexpected deal because I have a plan to use these at my upcoming wedding. Last Christmas before I discovered couponing I spent 2 dollars on two electric tea light candles for my sister so I was pretty excited to get 60 for 8 bucks.

Then I decided to go to another CVS that was on my way home to get the body wash. They had one left on the shelf! I had 5 dollars ECB that were going to expire on the third so I bought the Tone body wash, a cvs brand cucumber melon body wash and a small Johnson and Johnson lotion. My total came to .10 cents and I got 3 dollars ECB. Making a total profit of 2.90.

by Candy <3

Publix Christmas Clearance

Posted by shopaholicsavers on December 27, 2010 None comments

My sister and I went to Publix to go grocery shopping yesterday and we couldn’t help looking at the Publix Christmas clearance. They had a lot of candy and some decorations on sale. My favorite find was several types of Publix Christmas reusable gift bags. These gift bags can be reused over and over again and they only cost .50 cents, which is a lot cheaper than most paper gift bags that rip easily. My family already had a very eco-friendly Christmas this year as far as wrapping went. We used comics, store bags, reused gift bags and recyclable wrapping paper. We also like to give out gift bags (usually full of items we get for free couponing) and these .50 cent bags are also perfect for that.

Swagbucks!

Posted by shopaholicsavers on December 25, 2010 None comments

I am fascinated by this site. Simply for using the swagbucks search engine (which is actually powered by google) instead of Google, Yahoo, or another site I get swagbucks which I can cash in for free gift cards. It’s a legit way to get a lot of really cool stuff for doing what I usually do every day- searching the internet. It’s entirely free and fun. Click my banner above to join so we will both get points!

Simple Stew Recipe

Posted by shopaholicsavers on December 10, 2010 None comments

I was trying to think of something simple I could make for dinner using mostly ingredients I already had. I decided to try to make a stew. This is what I used-

– 1 can peas including the water

– 1 can corn kernels including the water

– 1 cup of rice

– 1 lb ground meat

– Onion Salt

I cooked the rice and browned the ground meat and then put everything in a pot on the stove to cook on low for a short time.

Some toppings we used with it were sour cream, hot sauce and cheese.

This was a cheap and easy meal that I will definitely make again.