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• The rules and etiquette of Dumpster-diving

  Posted Aug 08 2008, 03:42 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  "Not the Jet Set" is sorely tempted on the way to work by perfectly useable things people have left out by their trash cans. But what are the rules for Dumpster-diving? Do you need to be sneaky? How do you handle shame?

  We did some research and found a handy post at Sueann's NWPR Blog, plus photos of her remarkable finds, including brand new KitchenAid food processor attachments. (Her finds  don't include food; she hasn't become a freegan.)

  "Dumpster divers have rules," Sueann Ramella wrote. Here are some we gleaned from her post and from other sources:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 240 comments) 105,311 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Back to school: Learn the ABCs of frugality

  Posted Aug 01 2008, 04:53 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  For every letter of the alphabet, Kelly at Almost Frugal has a matching frugal idea. Of course, "B" is for budgets, "L" is for leftovers, "V" is for vinegar (which has become our favorite cleaner), and "W" is for water, but not the bottled kind.

  "J" is reserved for the notorious Joneses. "Sure, maybe your neighbors have a nice car and take a ton of long weekend trips, but how are they paying for it?" Kelly asks. "You don't know."

  Kelly's well-written post, "The ABCs of frugality: 26 key frugal concepts," is a goldmine of thrifty-living ideas.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 7 comments) 3,269 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Got too much stuff? Take the 100 Thing Challenge

  Posted Jul 24 2008, 03:04 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  Many people are feeling the need to de-clutter, so why not make it a game? David Michael Bruno at guynameddave created the 100 Thing Challenge. He plans to reduce his personal stuff to 100 items by Nov. 12 and then live with only those things for one full year.

  The rules are kind of loose. It's his challenge, Dave says, so "I get to set the rules and decide when a rule can be stretched or outright broken." But generally, personal stuff doesn't include household items used by the whole family. He's also exempting memorabilia that can't be replaced, books, tools and his beloved Marklin Z gauge train collection.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 2 comments) 4,494 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• How to watch TV without paying for it

  Posted Jul 21 2008, 01:28 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  One luxury you can cut when costs for essentials are rising is your cable or satellite TV service. But how can you still watch your favorite shows?

  David at My Two Dollars presents "35 ways to watch television without cable or satellite," and he's not just talking rabbit ears. After Option No. 1, an antenna, the rest are Web sites. Readers provided more suggestions, so the list is now up to 42 possibilities.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 26 comments) 21,445 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Subscribe to Craigslist search results to grab great deals

  Posted Jul 21 2008, 05:04 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Get Rich Slowly
  Rating:

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  You've been watching Craigslist for a good deal on a hedge trimmer, but you just aren't having any luck. By the time you find a good listing, it's been up for an hour and the HedgeHog XR is long gone. You could sit and refresh the farm+garden category constantly, but that's a waste of time. (Besides, what would your boss think?) Fortunately, there's a better way.

  Did you know it's also possible to watch Craigslist searches via RSS feed?   Read More...

  Discuss ( 2 comments) 2,267 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• There's cash in those old cars in the creek

  Posted Jul 11 2008, 10:05 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  You don't have to travel to Eastern Kentucky to find rusting carcasses of cars and appliances that were pushed over the hill or into the creek. People who disrespect the land abound wherever you go.

  But that area of the country (and, we suspect, many others) is inadvertently undergoing beautification because scrap metal now commands pretty prices, a newspaper story says. People are finding there's much cash to be made from the junk in them thar hills.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 10 comments) 4,993 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Hypermiling your life

  Posted Jul 09 2008, 12:01 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Donna Freedman, Budgeting
  Rating:

  Yesterday I was thinking about "hypermilers," those folks who go to great lengths to squeeze maximum mileage from their cars. While of course I strive for the best mileage possible, I don't hypermile -- with my car, that is. As a frugalist, I hypermile my whole life.
  

  Meal plans, shopping, entertainment, transportation, utility usage, gift-giving -- all are done with an eye toward achieving maximum bang for the buck.
  

  Plenty of you are right there with me, if posts on the Smart Spending message board and the comments about my articles are any indication.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 12 comments) 2,692 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Put down the dog statue: Lessons from a yard sale

  Posted Jun 23 2008, 08:55 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Giving, Donna Freedman
  Rating:

  As yard sale experiences go, Saturday was just about perfect. The weather was beautiful and I not only found exactly what I was looking for, I scored a killer deal on it. While the low prices I saw all day were thrilling, they were also an object lesson as to why yard sales can be as dangerous as dollar stores: Things are so cheap that it's easy to overbuy.
  

  Prime example: the foot-tall statue of a bull terrier, priced at a quarter, that reminded me of the classic "His master's voice" ads for RCA-Victor. There was something very appealing about the pup, yet I had no real need for such a thing and also no place to put it. Why in the world would I consider buying it? Because it was only 25 cents.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 12 comments) 5,492 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Search online for a fix before you toss that gadget

  Posted Jun 19 2008, 06:03 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Wise Bread

  This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread.

  My husband and I often search online for fixes for our electronics problems because if a gadget is out of warranty it often costs quite a bit to get it fixed. When we find a solution that is not hard to implement, we figure we might as well try it. We have been able to fix many things, including computers and handhelds.

  Lately my husband's Nintendo DS Lite has been giving him problems. Namely, the shoulder buttons at the top of the portable gaming console have been sporadically unresponsive. He has been using my DS, and he was thinking of buying a new one. However, today he found a great low-tech fix on the Internet that saved us more than $100.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 4 comments) 4,112 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• 7 ways to get free shipping supplies

  Posted Jun 05 2008, 04:55 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Spending, Saving, Wise Bread
  Rating:

  This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread.

  Once upon a time I sold a lot of stuff on eBay and Amazon, and I always needed envelopes, boxes and padding. The cost of these shipping supplies can really add up when you mail more than 1,000 things per year, so I looked into how to cut down my shipping costs.

  Here are some of the ways you can get supplies for free and lower your business overhead.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 8 comments) 4,183 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this