Let's get together and buy the Boston Police a cup of coffee to thank them for their great work.
Let's get together and buy the Boston Police a cup of coffee to thank them for their great work.
TLC seems to be casting for a new show about those who live extremely cheap and totally like tightwads. I've posted the full casting notice right here.
Last month I’d posted about Amazon Local deals, and I could tell from looking at my blog stats that thousands of readers clicked through to sign up. Clearly, I’d hit a nerve. Like me you are trying to have fun in life without spending too much money. In order to do that, I think it’s imperative to sign up local deals, including Amazon Local deals FYI, as an Amazon Local subscriber–it’s free to subscribe–I get deals in my inbox daily. Just in the past few days I’ve heard about savings on fitness boot camp classes, canvas printing of photos...
Hold onto your hats. It looks like we Americans are going to be going over that so-called fiscal cliff in the next few days. Thanks a lot, Congress, for acting like petulant children and not learning to play well with others. We Americans will all be paying for your behavior. Nonetheless, we will all have to deal with our newfound financial reality in 2013, whether we like it or not. Hello, 2008 recession, all over again? Despite the fact that more people will have higher tax bills and less money in their pockets, a new CouponCabin survey finds that...
I just wanted to give my Suddenly Frugal readers a heads up that I am switching mailing list services for subscribers–from Feedburner to Feedblitz. In the past, Google-owned Feedburner has provided emailed versions of this blog into your in box every day–or every day that I’ve posted a new blog update. Due to some changes within the Google structure, I have decided to migrate this blog to the Feedblitz service. To be honest I write this blog for free. Feedblitz feeds will now include some small ads that will allow me to bring in a small amount of revenue....
Yesterday I appeared on my local CBS affiliate to offer holiday tipping etiquette. I hope you’ll watch the segment (below) and that it gives you some great ideas on how to handle tipping etiquette during the holiday season–including teacher gifts. (Tomorrow I’ll post an article with ideas on teacher gifts.) P.S. Let me know what you think about my geek chic glasses. They are new.
Here are dozens of freebies you can enjoy in the next week. As always look for NEW! in front of any freebie that’s never been mentioned before in a Freebie Friday post. FREE FOOD NEW! Free drink at Dunkin Donuts NEW! Get a Free sample of Welch’s Fruit Snacks. NEW! Get a Free sample of Crystal Light. NEW! Free coffee from Folgers.Choose traditional blend or biscotti coffee flavor–YUM! NEW! Free BOGO coffee at Starbucks through November 18th! NEW! Free coffee from Seattle’s Best Coffee (sign up on Facebook). Get free food from Outback Steakhouse when you “Like” the restaurant...
If you’re on Facebook you’ve undoubtedly noticed that you don’t get all the posts from your favorite pages, including from Suddenly Frugal. I’ve noticed that when I click on my “News Feed,” even the pages and brands I have liked aren’t showing up anymore. So instead of getting important news on Facebook, I’m often left to rely on emails that brands may or may not send out. So what’s the problem? Facebook wants brands, big and small, to pay for the honor of showing up in your News Feed. However, there is a workaround and it is free for...
For the first time in 144 hours, my house has heat, light and hot water. At least I still have a house. So many are doing without so much. I still have a house to come home to and no permanent damage to my house, yard or cars. I know others are not so lucky. In the past week I have had to wait in gas lines, something I haven’t done since my elementary and middle school years in the late 1970s. It was inconvenient, to be sure, but it is the new normal post Sandy. I was lucky...
Due to Hurricane Sandy, it is anticipated that my area will be without power for much of the week of October 29th. While I still do have power and access to email and the Internet at this time (otherwise I couldn’t have written this message), that could change at any moment. I will do my best to reply to email messages and update blog posts on Suddenly Frugal using alternate methods. I thank you in advance for your patience if you do not hear back from me right away. Leah Ingram
We can thank Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac for the recent jump in gas prices–up some $.14 cents in the last week, according to Federal Energy Information Administration. Plus, with Labor Day 2012 weekend upon us, gas retailers have likely hiked up prices just a bit to turn a profit, given how many people are expected to be on the roads. However, you don’t have to spend more on gas, if you know how to be smart about driving and saving. Here are 7 tips to save fuel at the gas pump, on Labor Day weekend and throughout the year. Search...
This summer I’ll be crisscrossing the country, bringing my “5 ways to put $500 back in your budget” message to the masses. So far I’ve been on TV in Boston and Los Angeles, and today my segment in Houston broadcast. You can watch it below. On Thursday, look for me on “6 in the Mix” on the NBC station in Miami, and then on the FOX station in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. Later in July I’ll be on “Charlotte Today.” I’ll keep you posted as I get booked in different markets throughout the summer.
THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER. SORRY! Who couldn’t use an extra 100 bucks. Would you like to win $100? In partnership with Living On The Cheap–the new frugal living site with which I am affiliated–we’re going to give five (5) lucky blog readers 100 smackeroos each. With a payday like this, you’re going to have to do a bit more than simply comment to enter the drawing. Instead, you’re going to have to go on a wee hunt to find three “secret” words or phrases. But don’t worry–we’re giving you a map (actually step-by-step instructions), so be sure to...
Yesterday was Suddenly Frugal’s 5th anniversary, and I just remembered that today. It’s hard to believe that five years ago yesterday (June 6, 2007), I posted my first piece on the Suddenly Frugal blog. I started this blog because, suddenly, our family had to live frugally, after life threw us a financial curve ball. Here is a snippet from what I wrote in that first post:
You’ll recall that last month I posted a link to a survey, asking questions about who you guys are, where you live, and other information about your life and how you earn a living. I’ve finally compiled that information and have written up a little article on the survey results. I figured I’d share it with you, since it is thanks to you, my faithful Suddenly Frugal readers, that I have a blog worth writing. I look forward to your feedback. The Suddenly Frugal reader is overwhelmingly female (90% women, 10% men), and has tremendous life experience. The largest...
(Here is the press release that went out today, May 15th, to announce the new website/network, Living on the Cheap, with which I am affiliated. FYI, Living on the Cheap is running some contests to coincide with the site launch so be sure to visit the new site to check that out.) Announcing Living on the Cheap New website helps consumers find the real deals Philadelphia, PA — Times are hard. Prices for food, gas and fun keep rising, yet our incomes can’t keep up. A new website, Living on the Cheap, says you don’t have to count squares...
I just want to remind readers that my survey “Who is the Suddenly Frugal reader?” is still open, if you would like to participate. For data purposes it would be ideal to get at least 100 people to respond; right now we’re at 77. The survey will take you less than 5 minutes, and I really appreciate being able to find out more about the dedicated folks who read this blog. I’m hoping to gather all the feedback by Friday, May 4th. Thank you.
For the past 5 years Michelle Rafter, a freelance writer like myself, and founder of the Word Count blog–a blog about freelancing in the digital age– has been holding an annual Blogathon in May. The notion of a Blogathon is this: people with blogs (raising hand) should be posting regularly, because their readers come to expect it. In most instances I already post 5 days a week, but I’ll admit that until I got involved with Michelle’s Blogathon, the habit of daily postings was not ingrained. I felt it was something I should be doing, not something I wanted...
I’ll be giving a talk at the East Windsor Branch of the Mercer County Library system on Sunday, April 29th. Not only will I be bringing my Suddenly Frugal and Philly on the Cheap message to life in my talk but also I’ll be selling copies of my books–at a discount. They’ll be $10 each, and I’ll sign them for free. You can get more details about the talk here (the URL for my Philly on the Cheap blog is wrong, I know. They are working on it). And check out the flyer below. If you live in Central...
I’m trying to get a better sense of who the Suddenly Frugal reader is so I can continue to tailor my blog posts so that they are relevant to you, my readers. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to complete this survey below. Thank you in advance for your participation. Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Thanks to Amy Buckman for highlighting some of my tax day 2012 freebies on her recent Saving with 6ABC article. If you’d like to check it out, here’s a link to the 6ABC site, which is the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the video that accompanies this piece is neither Amy nor my tips. But Amy does give a shout out–and a link to Suddenly Frugal–in her written piece. Speaking of affiliates in Philadelphia, I’ll be on the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, WCAU, on the “10! Show” tomorrow to talk about Earth Day freebies. You can bet that I’ll...
Yesterday, Marketplace Money, the radio program you likely hear on your local NPR station, broadcast my commentary on middle-class families and paying for college. My suggestion? Make college tuition 100% tax deductible. You can listen for yourself right here: For a transcript of my essay, visit the Marketplace Money site.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m doing a Twitter chat tonight with the folks at Smart College Visit, to talk about frugal college planning. The hashtag is #CampusChat and it starts at 9 p.m. Eastern, if you’d like to join in. I just discovered that Smart College Visit has also sent out a press release announcing not only the Twitter chat but their article on me and our family’s approach to saving and paying for college. I hope you’ll share this with any interested readers, parents, or even media outlets that you know.
Today is National Hiring Day, or at least it is according to Jamba Juice, the place where you can get all kinds of smoothies. And today it’s also the place where your teen son or daughter can apply for a summer job. From 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on March 27th, at 80 Jamba Juice locations across the nation, managers will be looking for hard-working young men and women who are looking for a summer job. This National Hiring Day effort will help Jamba support its pledge to generate over 2,500 summer jobs as part of the Obama Administration’s...
A few weeks ago the casting folks from the TLC show “Extreme Couponing” got in touch with me. They’d been reading this blog and clearly had seen some of my posts about my own take on how to extreme coupon, and they must have liked what they read–because they sent me an application to “audition” for the show. Unfortunately, I didn’t like what I saw on that application/audition form, and that’s why I chose not to audition for TLC’s “Extreme Couponing.” (For those of you who follow Suddenly Frugal on Facebook, I’d alluded to my decision there but I...
Goodwill and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. encourage consumers to think of spring shopping as an early opportunity to do good by “wearing it forward” during the semi-annual Goodwill Sale. The sale runs through March 22nd. Here’s how it works. Before shopping, you can make your donations of used clothing and household textile items at Bon-Ton stores to benefit Goodwill Industries. To thank you for your donation, you will get a coupon for a discount that can be used online or at any Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Younkers, and Parisian stores to purchase women’s, men’s and children’s ...
Today I will be doing a satellite TV and radio media tour, on behalf of Valpak, to talk about the 125th anniversary of the coupon–she looks great for her age, doesn’t she? During my TV and radio interviews, I’ll also be sharing some of the results of Valpak’s recent couponing survey, plus my tips for making the most and saving the most with coupons. In fact, here is the tip sheet that I worked with Valpak to create in honor of this momentous occasion! 1. Keep your grocery-shopping list on your tablet or smartphone notepad. Rather than writing your...
Forget chicken wings. Put aside the nachos. If you’re looking to spice up your Super Bowl party menu with a different kind of takeout, check out this deal: you’ll get 20% off your order at P.F. Chang’s when you place an order online and use the code GIANTS or PATRIOTS. (Sorry, TEBOW won’t work.) The catch is this has to be for an online order you will pick up on Sunday, February 5th–or Super Bowl Sunday. Might I recommend you add the P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps to your order? They are my favorite! So how did I find out...
Mark your calendars! On February 4th and 5th, Burger King is offering free onion rings. You can get all the details about this freebie offer on Burger King’s Facebook page–and you can “Like” Burger King for a change to win a $10 BK Crown Card. Here’s the fine print that you need to keep in mind: This freebie is not available during breakfast hours. (Really? Someone might want onion rings at breakfast? Um, no thanks.) You can get one value-sized onion rings order per person only. This freebie is at participating locations only and while supplies last. You can...
I know that one of the ways I’ve continued to live frugally is to be smart about how I see movies. If I go to a Regal Cinemas, I always bring my Regal Card, which helps me to earn free movie tickets. If I go to any movie, I always go early in the day so I can get the matinee price. In addition, I’ve saved money on movie tickets by using the coupons in my Entertainment Book. Or, our family will wait until the movie is on DVD, and either rent it from Redbox for $1 or get...
I just wanted to give my readers a heads up that we’ll be taking a break for blogging, for the most part, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Day of Service on Monday, January 16th. Part of my day will be spent giving back, albeit in a frugal way. I did some extreme couponing over the holidays to fill four big bags of food for my local food pantry, and my plan is to drop off that food on Monday as my contribution to the Day of Service. In the meantime, I wanted to let...
Dear Suddenly Frugal Readers: I do my best to share with you the best freebies, discounts, and deals that I find on the Internet or hear about through my affiliate relationships. However, as that old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Which means there is the chance that you will click through to an older post, only to discover that whatever freebie, discount, or deal I’d highlighted is no longer good. Like all deals, these things expire. I hope that in order to avoid disappointment that you focus on the most current posts when looking...
While retail sales are expected to be up this year--initial reports show that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were outstanding--if you're like me, you still want to get the biggest bang for your holiday buck. I'm working with 4 companies to promote Suddenly Frugal and to bring you frugal ideas for Holiday 2011.
So I’m going a bit off topic today with this blog post, which has nothing to do with frugal living but everything to do with helping grieving parents at the holidays. I wanted to write about this, after receiving a press release from Compassionate Friends, a bereavement organization that is sponsoring an upcoming event called Worldwide Candle Lighting. It’s occurring on December 11th for parents to remember children that have died. I like this idea of having a day to remember children that have passed on. When you think about it, there really is no term appropriate to describe...
Back in September I posted about this great deal at CVS–that CVS will give customers $2 in free Extra Care Bucks when they pledge not to be a money trasher. Though the deal was limited to the first 500,000 registrants only–I got mine the day I put up the post–the deal is still active on the CVS site, through November 1st. So if you never got around to getting your free $2 in Extra Care Bucks, go do that today! (Thanks to Hip2Save for a heads up that this deal was still out there.)
Do you live near a Bass Pro Shops location? If so, you might enjoy checking out these Halloween freebies with an “It’s the Great Pumpkin” Peanuts theme. Through October 31, 2011, you can stop by for the following weekday & weekend events: Friday, October 28, from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.: Halloween Reflector Necklace Craft Monday, October 31, from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.: Peanuts Trick-or-Treat Bag Craft Saturday & Sunday, October 29 & 30, from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Color a Wood Pumpkin Craft Friday, October 28, & Monday, October 31, from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.: Trick-or-Treating Weekdays from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. and Saturdays...
If you happen to live within driving distance of the Springfield/Longmeadow, Massachusetts area–and you’d like to come hear me talk in person–then reserve your space for the Financial Pathways workshop on Wednesday, October 19th, at 6:30 p.m. at Bay Path College in Longmeadow. I’ll be giving a seminar that brings the ideas behind this blog and my book Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less to life, including a book signing afterwards. All participants get a free copy of my book (included with the $10 admission fee). So if you haven’t had the chance to get...
I’m curious to find out how the frugal folks that read Suddenly Frugal handle their wireless cell phone accounts. Currently, we have four people on a family plan, with no Smartphones, and I think we’re paying too much. Do you use a family plan? Have you made the transition to Smartphones? If so, what are you paying? Please take the survey below. It will open in a pop-up window on top of this blog post. Unfortunately, the survey didn’t allow for me to ask which carrier you use, so I hope you’ll post a comment below to let me...
Each October Stephanie O’Dea over at A Year of Slow Cooking declares it to be “Crocktober.” I figured in the spirit of Crocktober that I would revisit some of my earlier posts on how I’ve used my Crock-Pot or slow cooker to cook for my family on a budget. My slow cooker was especially important when I was cooking without a kitchen during our home renovation. (Here is a link to a Home Goes Strong story I wrote on newfangled Crock-Pot products.) Here are some of my favorite Crock-Pot recipes–many of which I still have in heavy rotation! French...
