Did you know that turkey leftovers are good for four days only? That means that if you have anything still in the refrigerator from Thanksgiving, it should hit the trash today. Or the compost pile, as long as there’s no meat, bones or dairy. (If you managed to get your leftovers into the freezer, you should consume them in the next two to six months.)

Wonder what other kinds of leftovers or food staples you might need to throw out to avoid food poisoning? I did a story a few years ago on how to figure out when to toss your cookies (or canned goods) so you don’t end up tossing your cookies. Here are some highlights from that story, which are apropos given today’s expiration date on Thanksgiving leftovers.

• Dairy products: go by the expiration date–or your senses. If your milk or yogurt doesn’t look or smell right, get rid of it.
• Lunch meat: three to five days. Or as soon as it seems slimy or just plain “off.”
• Fresh fruits and vegetables: you’ll know it when you see it, such as when mold is growing or a previously solid piece of produce has turned to liquid!
• Take-out food or leftovers: toss after four days. This includes the aforementioned Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings, as well as takeout food like pizza or Chinese.
• Eggs: three to five weeks or if they smell rotten.
• Opened jar of sauce or salsa: use within a week or before bacteria can begin to grow.
• Canned goods: follow “use by” date or toss immediately if you see that the can has expanded in any spot (this could signal botulism inside). Dents inwards are harmless dings; “dents” outwards are a sign of a canned good past its prime.

Whenever possible recycle the container your expired food came in. This includes taking cardboard egg cartons, ripping them into small pieces and putting them in your compost bin, or rinsing out jars, bottles and cans so they can go into the recycling bin.

Remember: there’s no reason to be stupid–and risk getting food poisoning–by being frugal and trying to get another day’s meal out of food that you really shouldn’t be eating at this point.

Looking to score a deal on Cyber Monday? Here is a list of retailers that will be offer “deals of the hour” today (this information is courtesy of the National Retail Federation):

All Times Are Eastern

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Toys “R” Us

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Dell Home

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Overstock.com

11:00 – 12:00 p.m. The Home Depot

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Sears

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. drugstore.com

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Kmart

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. HP Home

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Borders

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. eToys

6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Sierra Trading Post

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. American Eagle

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Discovery Store (part of the Discovery Channel)

9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Cabela’s

10:00 – 11:00 p.m. The Body Shop

11:00 – 12:00 a.m. Red Envelope

Today is Cyber Monday, and according to the National Retail Federation, 96.5 million Americans will log on to do some kind of shopping. While that’s hardly the number that braved early hours and freezing temperatures to score deals on Black Friday (195 million shoppers), it’s a pretty significant group that will be online today.(Wonder how many websites will freeze up or crash because of this?)

That’s why I wanted to remind you that if you do shop online–today, tomorrow or whenever–you might want to consider using a shopping portal. These are the kinds of sites that you visit first, then click through to whichever retailer you’re looking to buy from–and in the process you earn cash back or extra discounts.

There was a recent story in the New York Times called “Site-Hopping for Holiday Savings” that highlighted some shopping portals and how they can help make your dollar go further this holiday season. Here are a few of those mentioned in the story:

• Ebates is basically a free service that allows you to get electronic “rebates” by stopping there first to do your online shopping. According to Ebates online retailers want your business and will pay Ebates a “commission” for directing traffic to their sites. When Ebates gets such a commission, it splits it with the shopper (you!). Truth is you get that cash in the form of a gift card and then you have limited choices. But it’s worth checking out.
• Upromise rewards you for going shopping through its site by putting money aside in your kids’ college savings account–a 529 plan. Supposedly you can earn up to 25% back on your purchases when you visit one of the 600 participating retailers.
• Fatwallet lets you earn cash back for your purchases and helps you to earn coupons to use on future purchases. Some of its participating e-tailers include Walmart, The Apple Store and Bloomingdales.
• Credit card-specific sites. Many credit cards that already offer you benefits, like earning gift cards to your favorites stores, allow additional ways for you to earn cash back–namely shopping through their online sites. According to the New York Times stories, American Express, Discover, Bank of America and Chase have shopping portals customers can use. (Wish I’d known this before we did all of our Black Friday shopping online Thursday night–we have two Chase-issued cards!)

On the other end of the spectrum are third-party sites that let you earn points you can cash in for stuff, just by visiting their site first–you don’t have to be going to another site to shop. For example, I have a couple of Facebook friends who use the site Swagbucks.com–I know this because whenever they use the site, it gets posted to their status update.

Here’s how Swagbucks works: when these folks need to search for something on the web, they visit the Swagbucks website first (instead of going right to Google or Yahoo) and then they earn Swagbucks “points” for each search they do. Eventually, they can cash their points in for items on Swagbucks, such as gift cards to iTunes or Barnes & Noble.

Do you use shopping portals to earn extra benefits? If so, let us know how they work for you–and if you know of other sites that are worth mentioning.

H1N1 Vaccine Clinic at Our Local Middle School Last Week

Finding someplace to get vaccinated against swine flu this year has become the proverbial needle in the haystack. Heck, just finding a doctor’s office or clinic with the regular flu vaccine is a challenge in and of itself. But here’s the good news: your state or county may be your best bet for getting an H1N1 shot–and for free, too.

Last week the Bucks County Department of Health had a swine flu vaccine clinic in our school district. It was a well-organized, swiftly run operation in the middle school gym that, in the course of three hours, got 750 school-aged children–mine included–vaccinated against the H1N1 virus. (That’s my daughter Annie, above, getting up after her shot. Notice the blur: she wanted out of there fast! And we were in and out in about 10 minutes.)

Considering that our small district only has about 1,300 kids in total, that’s a pretty impressive number of people who were able not only to get their kids vaccinated but also who didn’t pay a dime for it. The price of admission? A signed consent form.

I just discovered that the Pennsylvania Department of Health is having free swine flu shot clinics November 20, 21, and 22 for individuals that fall into a high-risk category. As someone with asthma, I qualify for a free shot and am in the process of making an appointment online for one of these clinics. The only downside? I’ve got to drive about an hour to a location in the next county to get the shot. But considering I’ve been calling my primary care physician’s office regularly and they still don’t know if they’re getting any H1N1 vaccines for patients like me, I’ll take the shot where I can get it.

If you have decided to get vaccinated against swine flu but haven’t been able to find somewhere to get that done, have you considered checking with your state or local government? Let me know if that works out for you.

Here are links to stories that I’ve recently written–or which others have written and quoted me–which I thought Suddenly Frugal’s readers would enjoy. Many of them include budget-oriented advice.

Free Entertainment at the Dinner Table
This story for Vocalpoint.com, the P&G website for women, shows how you can find free entertainment at the dinner table by engaging your kids in verbal games. And yes, we’ve played these during the dinner hour at my house. (This is one of the many unbylined pieces I do as a freelance writer.)

House-Guest Etiquette in Time for the Holidays
Every wondered how you should handle hostess gifts when you’re a house guest? This article from the Philadelphia Inquirer includes my etiquette advice on why you should never show up at someone’s home empty handed.

Keeping School Holiday Costs in Check
While this piece on how parents can reign in school spending around the holidays doesn’t include my advice directly, it does recommend Suddenly Frugal as a website readers might want to visit for frugal-spending advice. Hey, I’ll take it!

When to Clean Out the Pantry
And I don’t mean in order to throw together dinner. No, this unbylined piece for Vital Care, a magazine for the American College of Emergency Physicians, offered advice on how to know when food you have in your fridge or pantry has spoiled so you don’t a) eat it and b) end up in the ER with food poisoning.

Savvy Shopping Advice
This blog for business writers recommends Suddenly Frugal in a piece about free shipping offers for the holidays. (Note: I’m going to be tackling this topic in tomorrow’s Freebie Friday post.)

Let me know if you happen to have seen me quoted elsewhere!

Monday’s post on Thanksgiving savings was so well received that I thought I’d bring you more ideas on how to save money on Thanksgiving–and other holiday “trimmings.” Luckily, the folks at CouponShack sent over a tipsheet with 10 terrific ideas on how you can stretch your dollar further on Turkey Day. Let me know what you think and if you have any additional tips to share.

1. Check to see if your local grocery stores offers loyalty points that can redeemed for a turkey. (Note: I’m working on including a free turkey part–pun intended–for the upcoming Freebie Friday post.)
2. Price compare the dollar stores first before grocery shopping.
3. Cook with crockpots. They consume less energy. (costs about 2 cents an hour) Checkout Cooking.com for some great coupons and deals on crockpots as well as other house wares.
4. Shop for grills and smokers before Thanksgiving week. You can find the best deals in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
5. If you need new tires before hit the road, now is the best time for deals on standard tires. (Winter tires are a different story.)
6. If you are flying to your destination for the holidays, flights are usually cheaper if you come back on Sunday morning rather than Saturday evening. Look for early booking coupons from discounters like Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz.
7. Go ahead and lower the thermostat right before people arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. There is a lot of heat generating not only from cooking but also from all the warm bodies! (What a clever, yet no brainer, way to save energy and money–and keep cool while cooking!)
8. If you buy soda, get two liter bottles (or three liters) instead of cans. The same idea applies for cranberry, stuffing, and all your other fixings! Just make sure to compare the unit price before committing to the purchase.
9. Create your shopping list first, and then check the mailers, inserts, or CouponShack.com for grocery coupons. Shop only when you see a deal for an item on your list.
10. If you are going to have a turkey for Christmas too, go ahead and get it during the Thanksgiving holidays and freeze it. Turkeys are cheaper during Thanksgiving than Christmas. (Love this tip, too!)