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Posted
Jun 24 2009, 02:03 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When we had our hardwood floors refinished, our floor guy finished the job by cleaning with a Swiffer Sweeper, a product he heartily endorsed.
Yes, it's great -- until you have to spring for new cloths. A box of the wet pads can cost about $11.50.
Knowing we're exposing ourself to potential ridicule from Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice, who has poked fun at this and similar pursuits in a weekly post called "Frugal Friday," we've researched cheap alternatives to the very efficient but costly Swiffer cloths.
Readers of ThriftyFun came up with these suggestions:
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Posted
May 01 2008, 07:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread. If you are a cube dweller like me, you are familiar with the usual benefits of a salary and paid days off. But there are many other ways you can benefit from your workplace. I am not talking about stealing pens or embezzling large sums of money. Here are some practical and legal means you can use at work to squeeze just a little bit of extra savings for yourself.
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Posted
Apr 20 2009, 04:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
When I wrote about homesteading magazines in February, several people praised Countryside as the best of the bunch. Intrigued, I subscribed. I've received my first issue and I have to say, I'm impressed.
Countryside isn't for everyone. It's very much geared toward those interested in getting "back to the land." When I read the magazine, I couldn't help but think of my father. He loved this sort of thing. But even though I live in suburbia, there was still plenty of interest for me, as well.
Every month, Countryside features an enormous section of reader feedback. People write in to tell their stories and to share tips and tricks about living in the country. It's like a great blog conversation in print. This month, a letter from Khaiti Kahleck of Wisconsin introduced me to the concept of swaplucks:
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Posted
Aug 13 2009, 04:07 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Everybody in the travel world is talking about JetBlue's new All-You-Can-Jet-Pass for $599, which gives you unlimited flights for a month. Is it a good deal or isn't it?
It depends on where you want to go and how many trips you want to take.
For a business traveler who flies frequently between two points on the JetBlue map, it might be a good deal, Sarah Morgan of SmartMoney notes. It might also be a good deal for people in commuter relationships, someone flying weekly to check up on aging parents or even someone who has friends and family in a number of JetBlue cities and wants to spend a month visiting them all.
Bing: Jet Bue
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Posted
Aug 15 2008, 02:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Frugal Zeitgeist" is a very professional person, so it irritates her to no end when she hears young women talk, like, they're, like, unsure of themselves. She also hates it when their voices go up at the end of every sentence, even when they're not asking a question. This is no way to promote yourself and land a good job. "Stop it. For your own good, I'm begging you to stop it," FZ writes.
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Posted
Oct 22 2007, 09:31 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When life hands you flank steak, make hamburgers. At least that was the tip offered recently by Mary Hunt of Debt-Proof Living: Pick up loss-leader cuts of beef and ask the store butcher to grind them.
Hunt found, and ground, London broil for $1.47. When was the last time you saw ground beef for $1.47 a pound?
But I wondered whether she just had a particularly friendly butcher. So I went shopping.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that all four supermarkets I visited were willing to do special meat orders. Chop meat as a special order -- yep, it made me laugh, too.
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 11:56 AM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We've all thought about how much more we'd learn if we got a chance to go to college again as mature adults, and there is a monster list of online college courses. One of the best places to be a student again is at iTunes U, which provides free access to thousands of audio and video files from some of the world's top universities.
The service also provides free access to public radio and TV programs, and this summer the Library of Congress began participating. You can listen to American Public Media's "Marketplace" or watch PBS programs, all free and at your own convenience.
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Posted
Apr 29 2009, 05:10 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Myscha Theriault at partner blog Wise Bread.
Vegetable gardening has always been popular with a certain crowd. With this economy, however, even more folks are considering the homegrown option.
Whether you are growing food in your apartment, attempting a small-plot group gardening project, getting into a full-blown urban green roof garden, or going European by using the small spots outside your brownstone, there is still a fair amount of preliminary work to be done. And if you are new to the vegetable-gardening game table, you are probably finding that even the most frugal approach requires a few startup costs.
Looking to keep those to a minimum? These four tips will help you pinch pennies, get organized and even keep it green. Bonus? It's a great frugal fitness workout.
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Posted
Mar 04 2008, 05:26 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. A trimmable expense is one that fulfills a want rather than a need. Buying fruits and vegetables is not a trimmable; buying chocolate-covered fruit is. While you could go through all of your expenses and try to eliminate everything that is discretionary, you might find yourself enjoying life less and less. Trimmables, while not required, are there to help you live life and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Rather than cutting out a trimmable, consider reducing either its quantity or frequency. Spa treatments may seem frivolous, but if they are valuable in reducing stress, cutting them out entirely may not be a smart move in the long run. If you go every week, consider visiting every other week. If you go every other week, consider going every three weeks. Don't cut it out entirely. Reduce it so you can save a little but not lose the recuperative effects.
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Posted
Mar 05 2009, 02:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The average woman spends about $120 a year on feminine-hygiene products. (We bet the male readers who ignored the headline have now moved on to another page. Bye-bye.)
There's an alternative called the menstrual cup, available in brands like the DivaCup, The Keeper and Moon Cup. This device, hugely recommended by female bloggers, usually costs less than $30 -- we saw one online for about 17 bucks -- and eliminates the need to spend any more money on pads and tampons.
We'd been skeptical because it sounded too good to be true.
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