No, this is not a huge list post. My friends at Wise Bread have written a book by this title! They sent me a copy for review, and I have to say I love the book! And I have one to give away, too, so keep reading!
10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget is a comprehensive resource of money saving ideas. The authors split their tips into two sections: Frugal Living and Personal Finance.
The Frugal Living section covers topics like:
- 10 Frugal Ways to Care for Your Allergies
- 10 Ways to Go Green and Save Money at the Same Time
- 55 Ways I Saved Time and Money Planning My Wedding
- 5 Ways to Trim Haircut Costs for Kids
- 13 Free Ways to Wrap Your Gifts With Style
The Personal Finance section includes topics such as:
- What Credit Counselors Do and How to Pick One
- 10 Easy Ways to Find Money for Charity
- 6 Tips for Following a Budget Without Breaking Down in Tears
- 6 Horrible Financial Products You Should Avoid
- 10 Dirty Secrets Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know
And the list goes on…and on and on! (But that’s a good thing!)
At the end of the book, there’s a list of 142 resources that will save you cash. (There’s a list on the Wise Bread website, as well.) Each resource has a short description, so you know what it is, before you expend the energy to look up the website. Being Frugal.net is even listed in the resource section under the Elevenmoms! It’s a small thing, but it’s pretty exciting to be listed among the other great resources.
And I have to mention the authors of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. There are too many to list them all, but the authors include many familiar names in the personal finance blogosphere: Leo Babauta, J.D. Roth, Trent Hamm, Silicon Valley Blogger, Xin Lu, Linsey Knerl, and many more. I’ve had the opportunity to work with several of the authors on various projects, and I have a great deal of respect for the amount of knowledge they have on frugal living and personal finance.
I love the way 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget is laid out! If you wanted to, you could read it straight through. But if you’re looking for specific information, it’s easy to find. I have a feeling 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget will become a staple on the frugal bookshelf.
The Giveaway
If you’d like a copy of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, you have a chance to win one right here! Just leave a comment with a frugal tip. I’ll close comments next Wednesday, May 27 at noon PST and draw a winner, using a random number generator.
Please only one comment per person, as duplicate comments will be deleted. The winner will have one week from the time I contact them to get back to me with their mailing info. If no contact information is received, I’ll draw a new winner. The book will be shipped directly from the Wise Bread people, so I will have to pass your contact information on to them for shipping.
I think that about covers it! I can’t wait to hear your tips!
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Mentioned earlier was freezing your bread crusts for stuffing. I buzz em in the blender and have bread crumbs for homemade chicken parmigiano or other such meals. Yummy.
Tip # 2: A great cleanser for sinks, tubs and etc. is equal parts of salt, baking soda and Borax. I love that stuff.
Don’t throw out stale bread. Make bread pudding, strata, croutons, french toast, just to name a few.
Plan your meals and then stick to it!
Grow some of your own veggies.
Use freecycle and craigslist
Find a bartering group.
Go to your local farmers market (save money and support local farms)
Those are the things I can think of right now. I would love to win this book!!
Michelle’s last blog post..I scrapped and other events in life.
We use the small chips of bar soap with boiling water and then place the solution in a plastic bottle with a pump spray dispenser, uses all the soap and spend less on hand soap refills.
Make a weekly meal plan for every meal, including snacks. Then make the weekly grocery list. Do not purchase anything not on the list. Our wasted food is down to almost nothing now because we only have a little more then a week of food at any one time so nothing has time to go bad. “Just in case” food is kept with the hurricane supplies and is non-perishable.
Couponing, as several people have mentioned, saves me tons. I got a kitchen mill grinder for my home. I am able to grind wheat flour and bean flour for a fraction of the cost. I figured if my little family (3 year old son and 8 month old baby) didn’t grow at all and we only used as much flour as we are now, we will break even in about four years. I save that much by buying wheat berries and grinding my own flour. I know I’ll break even before that with a growing boy and being able to grind other flours now too. LOVE my grinder!
I just now became a SAHM w/ two children (ages 2 & 3 1/2) so I am gathering as much frugal info as possible! My latest finds are Walgreens coupons and register rewards. I am working on buying ONLY what my family NEEDS and uses on a regular basis and as our green (but rather pricey) cleaning suppplies run out, I am making green, but frugal ones from baking soda, salt, lemon, etc.
Mae Anne’s last blog post..Total shout out to T! and total non-descript ramblings
I use coupons ALWAYS, and I put any “found money” directly into savings – tax returns, money from surveys, money from mystery shopping, money from ebaying, money from garage sales etc. It adds up quick!
OK, maybe this is in the book. But the comment about frugal caring for allergies made me think of two ideas that have really worked for me and friends:
1. Drink nettle tea. You can get this at the health food store and it’s much cheaper (and no drugs and healthier, imo) than the stuff you buy at the pharmacy.
2. Eat local raw honey. It’s important that it’s local. My cousin couldn’t even live at his parent’s house barely at certain times of year, but after having raw local honey in his tea for a few months it’s amazing the difference.
We are very saving with our money. I use coupons and love to stock up and give extras to my clients and donate to the food bank. There is tons of FREE websites that gives good tips on where to find the good deals at the stores. I dont waste money by paying for some of the sites that charge for the same info you get for free elsewhere. We reuse zip bags, hang out cloths, grow a huge garden and can and free our veggies. We heat with wood and cook on the wood stove in the winter. The best cheap thing I do is make my own laundry detergent. Saves lots of money and the clothes come out sooo fresh and clean!!! Can make 4 gal for less than .50 each.
We also have been saving our jars to can in. Got a bunch for free off freecycles.
jo’s last blog post..Pet Smart
I am real new in attempting to become frugal, but what I have been doing lately with my two “green”, reusable shopping bags are the following:
I use one bag for groceries for the week and the other bag for stuff we NEED that’s on sale. Whenever I go out to run those errands, I try to get everything to fit in the bag that those items are assigned to. If those items cannot fit into its designated bag, then something’s gotta give. I only walk out with what we NEED. I prefer to have the bags to be as empty as they can be.
This exercise has made much more conscientious to our NEEDS. It has been a lot fun and kind of a challenge, but when I get back to the car, I am so proud of myself!
Yay!
My frugal tip is to re-use food containers as “tupperware”- i.e. sour cream or margarine containers, spaghetti sauce jars, etc. Also, use the plastic containers from berries to pack a green salad in your lunch… You get the picture!
Do a written budget once a month! Count me in!
If you have to use the clothes dryer, do not turn the dryer on and allow it to run through the whole drying cycle. I have learned that clothes can dry within a half of an hour to forty minutes. Most people just turn the dryer on and leave it until they hear the buzzer, sometimes that could be an hour or longer.
I try and have a “no spend day” once a week. It really makes me think before I buy something.
There are so many good ideas everyone has left, I can’t really think of anything new. But since its the time of year for yard sales, save a little money by going to them for clothes, toys etc. I also go to thrift stores they are alot of fun for saving money, just gotta watch it or you can spend alot of money.
I have a watering frugal tip. If you need to water plants – collect the drain water from your washer. That’s at least 40 gallons of grey water you can use to water roses, flowers – whatever needs watering.
We looked at where we waste money and it was mostly on food. We set up a menu for all meals for the month and don’t eat out anymore at all. We budget for groceries ans I think we’ve done much better this past month. I’d love to have a copy of that book! :)
Instead of buying bottles of water, invest in a good water bottle and fill it at the water fountain. Same goes for coffee. Instead of spending $20 a week, spend $40 on a good thermos and make coffee at home.
My frugal tip is something my mom passed on to me. Hang your washing on a clothesline outside! I am mystified that I am the only person in my neighborhood who does this!!! First of all it costs NOTHING to dry them. Secondly you have the added benefit of that lovely lovely clean scent! And third you are helping the environment by NOT consuming power!
By the way… you CAN hang out your wash in the winter. I tried it up north (in Wisconsin) because i did not believe my father when he said gramma did it all the time. They come off the line a bit frozen, just give them a good shake, and allow the clothes to warm up for a bit. Works like a charm and the smell!!! Oh!! Heavenly!
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