Suddenly Frugal News

Coming Up on Suddenly Frugal

January 13, 2012
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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 you know that even though I won’t be posting on Monday MLK Day, next week I’ve got at least two days worth of posts dedicated to extreme couponing. On Tuesday I’m going to share my tips on how to extreme coupon for healthy food–yes, it is possible. Then on Wednesday, I’ll be talking about how I’ve been able to extreme coupon at CVS, though I have tripped up a couple of times, and will share my lessons with you so you don’t make the same mistakes. I’m on the fence about what angle of extreme couponing I should tackle for Thursday. Any suggestions?

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Shopping Tips for Holiday 2011

December 7, 2011
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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.

The Gift of Stock
It’s important to teach children how to be smart about their spending, and my husband and I have already talked to our teenage daughters about the importance of investing. If you’d like to give the gift of money smarts, check out the ING Direct Gift of Stock. It’s a kit that comes with everything you need to start investing–a $50 gift card for a ShareBuilder investment account, 5 free Automatic Investment Credits to help start building a portfolio, and a how-to video series from The Motley Fool on how to pick the right stocks. Best of all this gift that will last a lifetime and is worth $125 costs only $30. Stop into an ING Direct Cafe or visit the ING Direct website for more information.

Personalized Gifts
Another gift favorite of mine is giving custom gifts that are utterly personal for the recipient. This year I turned to FedEx Office to create unique, personalized, and affordable gifts, such as a 2012 calendar I’m giving to my mother and mother in law. It’s a great way to take them on a trip down memory lane, with pictures of their grandchildren, while giving them a practical gift–a calendar. FedEx Office can also make personalized gift tags, luggage tags, holiday cards, and more, as well as ship your gifts to family and friends. You can more information about FedEx Office personalized gifts and shipping rates at the FedEx Office website.

Comparison Shopping for the Best Price on Gifts
As a working mother of two teenagers, I don’t have a lot of time to go from store to store looking for the right gift for my daughters. They have specific things they want this holiday, and I have the right tool to help me find the best price possible. It’s Nextag, a comparison-shopping site that aggregates information from various retailers on everything from electronics to Uggs–and shows me where they’re available and the best price Nextag could find. Best of all Nextag offers a Nextag Radar that let me set up a notification when prices drop or more inventory becomes available. Go to the Nextag website for more information on Nextag and how the Nextag Radar works.

Save Money on Travel
Holiday travel doesn’t need to be expensive or stressful. You can use fare trackers to get the best price on flights or download a gas app to your phone to save money on fuel. If you need to book lodging, go for hotels that offer free amenities–a must in my book. A great place to look at this year is Microtel Inns & Suite hotels, where rooms start at $60, and you get a ton of freebies–free Wi-Fi, free local phone calls, free breakfast every morning, and kids stay free. It’s an award-winning chain of hotels. You can get more information about Microtel Inns & Suites site.

I’ll be doing national and local television and radio interviews on these gift-giving topics starting today, Wednesday, December 7th. My live segments this morning include WAVY in Norfolk, Virginia, at 8:30 a.m., and WHBQ in Memphis, Tennessee at 9:15 a.m.

I hope you’ll be able to catch one of my segments. Do post a comment to let me know if you saw or heard me somewhere!

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Come Hear Me Talk, Win a Crock-Pot

October 17, 2011
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crock pot slow cookerAs I mentioned in a post last week, I’ll be speaking at Bay Path College on Wednesday, October 19th. While I’m sure you’d love to come to hear me speak and to get a free copy of my book (everyone who registers gets one), what I think you’d really love is the chance to win a new Crock-Pot.

The folks at Crock-Pot are donating two Crock-Pots from their new “patterns” collection. These are 2.5 quart Crock-Pots that Crock-Pot is debuting during Crocktober. You’ll have the chance to win one with a polka-dot pattern or one with a daisy pattern.

If you can’t make it to Massachusetts, you can always go “Like” Crock-Pot on Facebook, then enter the “Crock-Pot Confessionals” contest for a chance to win one of these slow cookers as well. Or you can buy a slow cooker at a discount via the rebate that Amazon.com is offering.

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Come See Me Talk in Massachusetts!

October 10, 2011
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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 a copy of the book yet, this is a great deal. Plus, I always love meeting my readers in person!

If you’re a PR person reading this and have a product that segues nicely with a frugal message–and you’re interested in arranging a giveaway for conference participants (currently more than 150 people have signed up)–please use my contact form to get in touch. Or Direct Message me on Twitter: @suddenlyfrugal

Hope to see you in Massachusetts next week!

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VIDEO: Philly on the Cheap on the 10! Show

October 3, 2011
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My old friends at “The 10! Show” welcomed me back last week to talk about the debut of Philly on the Cheap. Enjoy!

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

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VIDEO: Philly on the Cheap on 6ABC

October 1, 2011
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Thanks to Amy Buckman for featuring Philly on the Cheap on yesterday’s morning newscast, in her Savings with 6ABC segment.

If you live in the Philadelphia area and want to learn more about the deals Amy mentioned, here are some links for you to use:

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Leah’s New TV Reel

September 14, 2011
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Here’s Leah! Yes, it’s my new TV reel, which I thought my Suddenly Frugal readers would enjoy watching. I know so many of you have been über supportive of me whenever I’ve been on TV. Now I have all the best parts in one place. Let me know what you think. Read more »

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Upcoming Speaking Engagements

September 8, 2011
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Next month I’m going to be running a one-day “financial pathways” seminar at a Massachusetts college. I’m excited to bring my Suddenly Frugal and On the Cheap message to life, not in front of a TV camera but in front of an interactive audience.

The college has purchased bulk copies of Suddenly Frugal and will be giving one to each seminar participant.

During this seminar I’ll be talking about many of the topics I discuss in Suddenly Frugal, including:

  • reviewing your bills so you can cut the fat
  • shopping smart to get the most bang for your buck
  • getting cash for their clutter (from Toss, Keep, Sell!)
  • eating in/meal planning.

I’m also going to address some new topics in a hands-on way, such as discussing the pros and cons of banks versus credit unions, and walking participants through online bill pay (I need to figure out how to “gray” out my personal information when I do that demo on the computer). This way they’ll never again have to worry about paying a late fee because they lost an important bill in a pile of junk mail.

Part of the seminar will include suggested websites to visit to further improve your financial fitness. Of course, I’ll recommend Suddenly Frugal, including following me on Twitter, but here are some others I’m adding to my list: Read more »

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My Money-Saving Articles

September 7, 2011
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Wanna read some of my writing other places? I have two stories that just went up on BabyCenter.com–both on money-saving topics. One of the pieces is on how to save money at the gas pump; the other is about couponing without the crazy. (I’ll have another piece on couponing right here very soon.)

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NEW: Philadelphia on the Cheap

September 1, 2011
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I’m thrilled to announce my newest frugal-living venture–Philadelphia on the Cheap.

Think of Philadelphia on the Cheap as my Freebie Friday posts but expanded to include deals and discounts, and all focused on the Philadelphia area.

I will continue to tweet @suddenlyfrugal but all Philadelphia on the Cheap posts will include the #phillycheap hashtag. I’ll include them on Suddenly Frugal’s Facebook wall, too.

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New Look for Suddenly Frugal

August 29, 2011
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I’m hoping that if you get Suddenly Frugal by email subscription that you will click through and check out Suddenly Frugal’s new look. I’ve spend the last two months working with a graphic designer on the new logo, and a web designer on the overall new look of the blog. You’ll notice that the color scheme has changed, too.

While the old look was just fine, it needed updating. Plus, with the new layout, readers can enjoy more posts from the home page without having to continually scroll. I’ve also added “You Might Also Enjoy” at the end of every post. It provides links to other posts that are on similar topics and which I thought, well, you might enjoy reading as well. Read more »

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Introducing Freebie Finds

July 19, 2011
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I’ve spent the last month working closely with a graphic designer and a web designer to revamp the look of the Suddenly Frugal blog. In the process I’ve been revisiting the whole reason I started Suddenly Frugal in 2007 and what it means to live a Suddenly Frugal lifestyle.

While I still continue to promote smart shopping and savings, and looking for overall value when you spend money, I have also learned to embrace and love the freebie.

It’s one of the reasons I started the regular Freebie Friday feature.

And it’s why today I’m debuting the newest feature on Suddenly Frugal, Freebie Finds.

On occasion I will post a brief Freebie Find–whether it be Freebie Food, Freebie Fun, or some other alliterative freebie–so that my Suddenly Frugal readers can take advantage of one-day freebie deals that would be out of date should I “save” them for a Freebie Friday post.

If you come across freebies that you think the Suddenly Frugal audience would enjoy hearing about, please drop me a note to leah AT suddenlyfrugal DOT com and I’ll share them with the “class” if there’s still plenty of time for people to enjoy those freebies. If you happen to run a blog of your own and would like me to link back to you, just let me know the URL to use.

Shortly, I’ll be posting the first Freebie Food post. I hope to bring lots of these Freebie Finds to you in the days and weeks to come.

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Please Vote on New Logo

July 13, 2011
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I’m hoping that all you Suddenly Frugal readers here have “like”‘d Suddenly Frugal over on Facebook and saw my recent posting about a new logo for the blog.

If not, please visit the Suddenly Frugal Facebook page so you can vote on a new logo for this blog.

I’m looking forward to getting your feedback!

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VIDEO: Fabulous Frugal Weddings

June 13, 2011
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Last week I appeared on the “10! Show” on NBC 10 in Philadelphia to talk about frugal wedding plans, something I’d referenced in my post on the same topic. In case you don’t live in the NBC 10 viewing area, you can watch the video here. Enjoy!

View more videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com.

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Happy 4th Anniversary Suddenly Frugal!

June 6, 2011
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It’s hard to believe that four years ago today 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:

For the first time in 15 years, we are going to have to radically change how we live–from the amount we drive (we are walkable to most things in this new house, even in suburbia, a God-send with gas at the $3+ a gallon point) to the budget we live on.

Now Chinese on Tuesday, pizza on Wednesday, Japanese on Thursday, pizza on Friday just isn’t going to cut it, even if I don’t feel like cooking that night. Neither is grocery shopping on the fly or going to the mall for “shopper-tainment” because there’s nothing better to do. My girls (almost 10 and 12) have grown up knowing that they could go to Limited Too or Target whenever they wanted–and spend their own allowance money, natch–but now that they’re going to be living on a budget too. Not only will we have to retrain their shopping and spending habits but we may also have to rethink their current allowance structure.

And looking back over the past four years, I’d say that we met that original goal.

We definitely live very differently than we did in our pre-2007 life.

Some of the habits we’ve changed and discoveries we’ve made include:

As you know along I’ve written two Suddenly Frugal books. First, there was Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less. And then late last year Toss, Keep, Sell!: The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In came out.

For those of you who have stuck by me as regular readers for the past four years, thank you so much. And for those of you that are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by.

So tell me: are there any topics I haven’t tackled yet but you would like me to cover? Post a comment to let me know.

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New Look Coming Soon!

May 25, 2011
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You may recall back in April, when I started playing around with the look of this blog’s home page. At the same time I surveyed you, the readers, about what you thought.

Overall, you like the newer look–which included excerpts of posts to minimize scrolling rather than whole posts stacked one on top of the other. I’ve hired a web designer to bring this new look to life, and trust me, I’m taking all of your suggestions into consideration. (Last week the designer and I spent over an hour on the phone, crafting my blog “wish list.”)

Today, I met with a graphic designer to help me design a new Suddenly Frugal logo. The one that you see whenever you log onto Suddenly Frugal is actually a screen shot from one of my book’s covers. I’m not quite sure it perfectly captures the “value” concept of Suddenly Frugal. I’m confident that the graphic designer I’ve hired will be able to put into images my unique approach to frugality. (I was wondering if I should add the tagline “Suddenly Frugal: For recovering spendthrifts” or something like that.)

So in the next month I hope to bring a lot of (good!) changes to Suddenly Frugal, from a new look for the blog, that’s easier to navigate, to a new logo. Maybe I’ll even have new book news to share, too.

Stay tuned!

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VIDEO: Dining Out on a Dime

May 21, 2011
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Here’s another video from Leah’s TV vault–a segment from last fall that I did for “Mary Talks Money” on how to eat out on a budget, if not for free. Bon Appetit!

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VIDEO: Tipping Protocols

May 19, 2011
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I’ve been going through my video clips as I get ready to update my television reel–that is, highlights of my past TV experiences. I’m not sure I ever shared with the Suddenly Frugal audience this segment I did on “Mary Talks Money” on tipping protocols. My segment begins at about 4:20 into the broadcast. Enjoy!

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Welcome to the Suddenly Frugal Blog

May 12, 2011
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Welcome to the Suddenly Frugal blog. I hope you’ll watch this introductory video, which includes my definition of living frugally. If you like what you hear, I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog and maybe consider buying a copy of one or both of my books: Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less and Toss, Keep, Sell! The Suddenly Frugal Guide for Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In:

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Suddenly Frugal Email Subscriptions Not Working

May 4, 2011
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**UPDATE: I’ve installed a new Feedburner plug in, in hopes that this will fix the subscription problem. If not, then I need to find a new service for emailed subscriptions. Anyone have experience with Feedblitz or similar services?**

Dear Suddenly Frugal Readers:

For some reason Feedburner, owned by Google, is not delivering the emailed version of my blog. Even though I have posted new content every day, according to my records the last time anyone got an emailed version of my blog was on Sunday, May 1st.

I don’t know what time-space continuum we crossed over into when the calendar page turned to May, but I can’t seem to figure out why the subscriptions have stopped. I have “pinged” my blog multiple times on the Feedburner site to no avail. And Google offers no real-time help or troubleshooting for Feedburner issues.

So it looks like in addition to figuring out a new theme for my blog (anyone migrate from Pressrow to another similar-looking WordPress theme?), I need to find a new service to deliver my blog by email. I’ll take any and all recommendations. And until I make that change, I’ll continue to try to figure out what went wrong. Thanks.

Leah Ingram
May 4, 2011

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