This featured post is presented by The Year of Living Frugally.

I’ve been a little down in the dumps since the weekend. I started off the year of frugality with high hopes to have the whole damn debt wiped by Dec 31st 2009. Looking at what income I have coming in and how much time I have left in the year – I think I may need to concede that it is not going to happen this side of Christmas! Unless I suddenly either win the lottery, get a mystery benefactor to wipe the remains of my debt or win £10,000 in one of the writing competitions I have entered. On the off chance these *might* not happen. I have to think contingency for payoff in 2010. Boo!

Continue reading Overcoming Frugality Fatigue at The Year of Living Frugally.

Many people have made the switch to a frugal lifestyle as a result of the recession. Most people are glad that they did this but there are some people who can’t wait to get back to living a more lavish lifestyle one day. Before you jump on that bandwagon, you may want to think about the fact that living a frugal life could be a lot healthier for you.

Some of the ways that living frugally makes you healthier include:

• Frugal people tend to eat healthier. Of course, this isn’t always the case. Some frugal people are living off of Ramen noodles and microwave burritos. However, most frugal people are eating fresh produce and other healthy inexpensive foods. This type of frugal diet keeps you healthier.
• Frugal people walk and bicycle more. A lot of people are giving up their cars and even public transit since these modes of transportation are expensive. They walk and bike more. This keeps them fit which makes them healthier.
• Frugal people are creating a healthier environment. A lot of frugal choices are also green choices. People are wasting less water and electricity in order to save money. They’re making their own household cleaners instead of using expensive chemicals. A greener environment results in healthier humans who live in it.
• Frugal people may experience less stress. Debt creates a lot of stress. Frugal lifestyles reduce or eliminate debt. This often reduces stress. Since stress can cause a variety of different health problems, people who live frugally may end up healthier.
• Frugal people make an effort to stay healthy. A lot of frugal people are simply more conscious about trying to avoid getting sick. They don’t want to spend the money on healthcare so they’re taking better care of themselves and keeping their immune systems strong.
• Frugal people make conscious choices. Ultimately, the reason that frugal people are often healthier than their non-frugal counterparts is because the frugal lifestyle is one that is based on making conscious choices. Instead of being on automatic pilot, frugal people think through every decision. Sometimes this is all it takes for people to start making healthier choices in their lives.

Being frugal isn’t going to keep you healthy all of the time. However, it could be one key factor in living a healthy life. You may want to think about that even as the economy improves and your options for spending more money open up again.

Guest post by Kathryn Vercillo. Kathryn is a writer for Promotionalcodes.org.uk which gives away free discount code (like this La Senza discount code) and also publishes money saving tips.

This featured post is presented by Getting Ahead.

Sometimes I feel weird about being so frugal. Sometimes I feel embarrassed and don’t want people to know how frugal I am. I think part of that is because we really have to be frugal to live comfortably on Kevin’s teacher salary. But I don’t like it when I feel that way. It is all about choices and these are the choices we have made, so I should be happy and proud of them.

Continue reading Feeling satisfied with your frugal life at Getting Ahead.

The following is a guest post by Heather P. Johnson. She is a freelance writer, as well as a contributor for Credit Card Lowdown, a site for finding credit card reviews. Heather invites your comments and freelancing job opportunities at her email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Women have a lot of expectations these days. They are expected to be mothers, sisters, daughters, successful in their careers, and leaders of their families. For the modern day career woman, finances can be on of the biggest worries. That being said, I’ve come up with 8 nice tips for women to save their family money every month. More take-home pay usually equals less stress and more money available to save and have fun with.

1. Home cooked meals - One of the best ways one can save money is by simply taking the time to cook meals at home. With women’s busy schedules today, it often becomes much easier to simply go out, or order deliver than take the time to cook a nice meal.

However, even easy little meals can save you tremendous amounts of cash. One example is pasta. Cooking pasta is quick, nutritious, easy, and very cheap. So if you want more cash in your wallet, just say no to going out to eat in the evenings. Shop smart, and you’ll find that you have a lot more cash at the end of the day.

2. Carpool – Carpools are great for saving money. If all the kids in the neighborhood have to get to school, and the bus isn’t an option, why not share the responsibility amongst parents? Coming up with a nice way to carpool can save a significant amount of money. If you only have to drive to school once a week, instead of five times, the amount of gas you’ll save will more than make up for the extra time taken to pick up a few of your children’s friends.

3. Be Fuel Efficient – Being fuel-efficient can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Passively, you can save loads of money on gas by avoiding excessive acceleration from red lights (remember, life isn’t the Indy 500), or going the speed limit (going 75 mph burns significantly more gas than going 55 mph). Actively, however, you can save a lot by getting your errands done while you’re out anyway. If you’re driving home from work, stop off at the store when you pass it. Don’t wait until the weekend to go shopping, because you’re just wasting time and gas. Being fuel-efficient isn’t terribly difficult, and the rewards can really add up.

4. Go Thrifting – You might think that it’s impossible to find something nice to wear while thrifting, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Sometimes very nice brand-name merchandise will make it into the racks of thrift stores. If you buy a brand new outfit for a fourth of the cost it might be from the original retailer, then you’ve just saved yourself, and your family a ridiculous amount of money. Your children can also benefit from thrifting. The bottom line is, it never hurts to look, and the amount of money you can potentially save makes it well worth the effort.

5. Avoid Credit Card Balances – Different families have different ways to manage finances. It’s my opinion that women should always be willing to take charge. One of the best ways to save money is to avoid carrying credit card balances. It’s no secret that credit card companies want people to not pay their cards of in full. This is because they make money by charging a significant amount of interest. This can all be avoided by staying on top of the credit card bills and paying them off in full. You may not see the results immediately, but the amount of money you will save in the long run can be quite significant.

6. Pay Those Bills Too – Along with not carrying credit card balances, you should stay on top of every bill you receive as well. When I was growing up, my mother always took care of the bills, and my family very rarely had to deal with an overdue bill or charge. Watching the mail like a hawk is a great way to ensure that pesky overdue fees will be avoided. As a result, you’ll be able to save some serious cash.

7. Turn Off The Lights – The stereotype goes that men are always the one’s complaining about people leaving the lights on. Of course, we know that women certainly realize that electricity isn’t free. The amounts of money that can be saved by turning off lights, televisions, and computers when they are not in use really ads up! Simply making the effort to remember to turn things off, as well as reminding anyone else in your family can drastically lower those pesky electric bills.

8. Watch The Heat and Air Conditioning – There’s another stereotype that men are always the one’s who complain about making it too hot or too cold. However, women are just as capable of keeping an eye on the thermostat in order to save some extra money. Generally, keeping the thermostat in the high 60s, or low 70s is the way to go. Keeping doors and windows closed also helps significantly. It is also important to remember, that if it is a warm summer day, but there is a nice gentle breeze, then turning the air conditioner off and opening all the windows in the house can do wonders to save money. Of course you want to remain comfortable at all times in your home or apartment, but that doesn’t mean you have to waste money with excessive thermostat temperatures.

Today women are expected to be leaders in the workplace, and in their families. Taking charge of finances may seem like a daunting task at times, but following these few simple tips can end up saving significant amounts in the long run. I personally love the old saying, “a penny saved is a penny earned.” If you’re bringing home the paycheck, you should certainly think about ways to keep more money so you can use some of it on yourself (it will be well deserved).

This featured post is presented by beingfrugal.net

Last week I told you about my biggest financial success: becoming a stay-at-home mom. Today I’d like to expand upon the things I’ve learned along the way.

When I quit my job a month before our first child was born, nearly half our income went away. We were left with $19,000 a year to live on. Yes, $19,000. Right now you might be saying that me quitting my job was possibly the stupidest thing I could possibly have done. But I think it was a smart decision.

Continue reading Things I’ve Learned About Money by Not Having a Lot of It at beingfrugal.net.