Comments on: Froogal Livin'

Question: Froogal Livin'

ian1977 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:32:16 -0800

What are your favorite links for frugal living/frugality websites?

I really enjoy perusing frugal living websites. I've found a few great ones such as, Frugal Dad, zenhabits, Wise Bread...but I want more.

So, what are your favorite frugal living websites? They don't necessarily have to be a strictly frugal living website, it could also be a website that facilitates your own quest for frugality.

A thousand thank yous.

By: val5a

val5a — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:39:55 -0800

I like www.getrichslowly.org.

By: DrGail

DrGail — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:49:54 -0800

The Simple Dollar

By: rabbitrabbit

rabbitrabbit — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:53:39 -0800

FatWallet Finance Forum has some good threads on stretching your dollars.

Creditboards has a Money Management Forum.

Neither of these are all about frugal living, but there are some threads which are gems.

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:06 -0800

I like Thirty Bucks a Week, which is about (mostly organic vegetarian) home cooking on a budget.

By: apartment dweller

apartment dweller — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:01:31 -0800

The discussion boards on the Simple Living Network.

By: Muffpub

Muffpub — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:09:44 -0800

Gail's Interactive Budget Worksheet can be handy for keeping tabs on things no matter what your lifestyle.

I think you may be on top of the handiest website of them all, though.

By: halogen

halogen — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:13:00 -0800

Retailmenot.com lets us save on pretty much any online order, even obscure sites like exotic battery replacements.

By: valkyryn

valkyryn — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:39:32 -0800

Gotta read Hillbilly Housewife. For example, there's a menu of one week's worth of meals for 4-6 people, three square meals a day, for about $45. There's also an article on how to use powdered milk, which costs about half of what fresh milk does on a per-gallon basis, and one on how to turn regular hamburger into the high-quality, 93% lean stuff which costs more than twice as much, with only a minimal loss in caloric content.

They've got various non-food articles as well (1, 2, 3), but the focus is mostly on food.

On the whole though, it's basically a website about doing things the way your grandma who lived during the Depression would have done them: focus on minimal expenditure and minimal waste.

By: yawper

yawper — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:12:11 -0800

Frugal in Virginia.

By: catquas

catquas — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:17:24 -0800

Try the consumerist, with advice on how to get good deals. I highly recommend it.

By: Miko

Miko — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:25:16 -0800

Frugal Yankee: Enjoying Life, Spending Less

By: padraigin

padraigin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:36:08 -0800

For food, Cheap Healthy Good is a must-read. Their weekly link roundup is exhaustive and brilliant, and they also have a weekly vegetarian feature.

By: zarq

zarq — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:43:01 -0800

Frugal for Life

By: Grlnxtdr

Grlnxtdr — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:35:36 -0800

Tightwad Central.

By: northernlightgardener

northernlightgardener — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:38:34 -0800

http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/

By: TheOtherGuy

TheOtherGuy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:41:02 -0800

If you are based in the UK

Money Saving Expert.

There is plenty there for non-UK peeps as well.

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:17:15 -0800

The Fife Diet is one from Scotland. The authors originally pledged to eat only food from local sources and then blogged about their experiences.

By: apartment dweller

apartment dweller — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:50:05 -0800

Better Times

Mother Earth News

Flight from the City: an Experiement in Creative Living on the Land by Ralph Borsodi (1933)

By: mdiskin

mdiskin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:09:00 -0800

I read many of the above, but if you're looking for something that really finds the beauty in living a frugal life, visit Like Merchant Ships. Lovely.

Oh, and also Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

They're more geared to women, if that makes a difference.

By: fizzix

fizzix — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:53:10 -0800

it's pretty popular, but deserves mention anyway:
freecycle,

also thriftyfun

By: ian1977

ian1977 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:28:05 -0800

Oodles of great answers. Thanks everyone! :-)

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:36:20 -0800

Frugal living isn't about tips, it is about reducing your needs to a minimum, and getting those needs filled cheaper. Freecycle Craigslist and Kijiji are great for that.

Also, for people who live around Toronto, my Google Maps mashup would be useful.

By: rollick

rollick — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:01:57 -0800

Early Retirement Extreme

By: Gravitus

Gravitus — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:48:49 -0800

I dig The Simple Dollar also. Beyond the site, the author actually links to other good websites in the same vein which could be considered his competition.

"Frugal living isn't about tips, it is about reducing your needs to a minimum, and getting those needs filled cheaper."

It is about tips if you don't know how to live frugal. Some people think that cable t.v. is a necessity. Those are the people who need the assistance of a website devoted to promoting the frugal living lifestyle and providing tips along the way to get other folks in the right frame of mind.

By: ian1977

ian1977 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:51:32 -0800

"Frugal living isn't about tips, it is about reducing your needs to a minimum, and getting those needs filled cheaper."

I know what frugal living is about, I just like reading the websites. Its a frugal activity. :-P

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:15:30 -0800

Also, once you have committed to reducing your needs to a minimum, you can use all the tips in the world to think of ways you haven't yet discovered to meet those needs more cheaply. For instance, bread. I never really reflected on the idea that I was paying $4.69 a week for a loaf of local organic bread until I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle with a chapter on making your own bread at home in a bread machine. I hopped on Freecycle, got a brand new bread machine from someone who never used hers, and now I make all my bread in it, for about $1 a loaf, and just as yummy as what I was buying. "Make your own bread" was a tip that didn't work for me before, because I'm crappy at it and never have time; but "use a bread machime, you can probably get one free" was a genius tip.

Tips and the commitment are two different things. Once you've made the commitment, you want more tips all the time.