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103rd festival of frugality

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Swedish Flag

Welcome to the 103rd festival of frugality. Since it is St Lucia’s Day this week, I thought I’d go with a Swedish theme.

On St Lucia’s Day, traditionally girls dress in white with a crown of candles round their head, sing traditional songs and hand out saffron buns. Although I’m not in Sweden (I’m in England) I’m going to a St Lucia’s Day celebration on Thursday night for some frugal entertainment.

travel

Oresund Bridge

The Oresund bridge is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe, and connects Malmo in Sweden with Copenhagen in Denmark.

poetloverrebelspy presents Travel in Your Own Backyard posted at Less Than a Shoestring. How to travel in your own area frugally. plonkee’s pick

Paul Moyer presents Getting the Best Travel Deals posted at Saving Freak. A method through the madness of trying to save money on travel.

bathroom

Ikea Bathroom

One of the Swedish success stories of the post-war period is Ikea (who also do bathrooms). The founder Ingvar Kamprad is one of the world’s richest men and still flies economy.

JP Davidson presents Envirosax Shower Timers posted at GreenDeals Daily. Spending less time in the shower should save you money on hot water, and it’s good for the environment.

Argonautica presents Cut Shaving Costs by 90% or More! posted at Golden Fleece Blog. Shave in an old-fashioned style, alternatively you could just grow a beard.

Livingalmostlarge presents CVS Extra Care Bucks Explained… posted at Living Almost Large. How to maximise your savings at CVS.

food

Meatballs

The only Swedish food that I’ve ever cooked myself is meatballs in tomato sauce - although I am also partial to good clean Swedish vodka, it’s nice mixed with apple juice and a hint of cinnamon.

Steve Faber presents - Save Money on Organic Foods posted at Debt Free. Organic isn’t synonymous with expensive any more.

Summer presents Quick! Cook Something! posted at Wired For Noise. This sounds like a very frugal recipe.

Kris presents Cheap, Healthy, Environmentally Friendly Seafood (Recipes) posted at Cheap Healthy Good. Recipe ideas for fish and seafood that don’t contribute to overfishing. plonkee’s pick

Lightening presents Reducing the Grocery Budget - Meat posted at Lightening. Meat can really into into your food money, so here are some ideas for cutting back.

Stephanie presents Make Your Own Hot Drink Mixes posted at Unclaimed Money. Classic frugal tip, don’t spend money, make it yourself for less.

A different Stephanie presents Stop the Ride!: Rice - The Perfect Frugal Food posted at Stop the Ride!. With free bonus recipe.

Kimberly presents Frugal Juice posted at My Good Cents. A simple tip for saving money on juice.

The Happy Rock presents Skip The Baby Carrots. Cheaper, healthier, and better. posted at The Happy Rock. It’s funny how you don’t call the big carrots adult carrots, isn’t it.

Amanda presents Breakfast on the Cheap (and Cheaper) posted at Me vs. Debt. This one nearly slipped through the net, which would be a shame since breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

at home

Swedish House

Houses in Scandinavia (including Sweden) were traditionally built of wood, one of the primary products of the region.

Madison presents Energy Savings Tips posted at My Dollar Plan. Some quick tips to implement.

Super Saver presents How A Digital Camera Helps Me Save Money And Time posted at My Wealth Builder. Unusual frugal way to use a camera. plonkee’s pick

Kalyn presents Buy Better in Bulk posted at LifeEdit.net. Buying in bulk could save you a lot of money, but keep these tips in mind.

Raymond presents How To Find a Great Apartment Rental and Get Cash Back posted at Money Blue Book. Some nice ideas for saving money on a rented property.

cashmoneylife presents Save Money With an Air Vent Booster | Cash Money Life posted at Cash Money Life. Reduce the need to run air cooling or heating with an air vent booster. Maybe you should ask for one for Christmas?

Christmas

Julmust

Sweden has it’s own special Christmas soft drink, Julmust, which significantly outsells Coca-Cola during the festive season. Unlike in the UK, the main focus of the festive celebrations is Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day itself.

Frugal Guy presents The Grinch Saved Christmas posted at Frugal Living. Christmas isn’t just about the gifts. plonkee’s pick

FMF presents Save Money by Having a Live Christmas Tree posted at Free Money Finance. I guess it’s good for the environment to have a live tree as well.

Matt Wolfe presents An Alternative To Gift Cards For The Co-Workers posted at How I Will Be Rich. I don’t do gifts for co-workers myself, but if you feel that you want to, here’s a great idea.

plonkee (that’s me by the way) presents 5 frugal ways to beat the holiday blues posted at plonkee money. Christmas isn’t always fun, here are some frugal tips that might help.

Kyle James presents Have Yourself A Frugal Little Christmas posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog. An amusing take on this Christmas carol. plonkee’s pick

David presents Making And Sending Christmas Cards For Less Money. posted at My Two Dollars. I too used to make Christmas cards at school, maybe I should take it up again.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Find The Perfect Gift For The Lady In Your Life posted at The Digerati Life. Some tips for getting the most bang for your buck.

Frugal Babe presents A Frugal Christmas Present posted at Frugal Babe. The tale of a very frugal Christmas gift.

Penny Nickel presents Holiday Gifting: 14 Ways to Give More Meaning and Less Stuff posted at Money and Values. Give more with less - what a great idea. In fact what 14 great ideas.

Veteran Military Wife presents Free Thrills Around Town posted at Life Lessons of a Military Wife. Some frugal ideas for having fun out and about in your neighbourhood this Christmas.

Broke Grad Student presents The Perfect Gift To Give When You’re Broke posted at Broke Grad Student. I’ll give you a clue. It’s food related. plonkee’s pick

Terry presents Have Yourself a Frugal Little Christmas posted at Savvy Frugality. Don’t forget, frugaller is happier (I’m in an inventing new words frame of mind today).

random

Boatyard

Despite being officially neutral throughout the second world war, Sweden granted asylum to all Danish Jews who sought asylum there. Most of them escaped via small boats and survived the war in Sweden.

Lynnae presents Five Free Frugality Forums posted at beingfrugal.net. Where do you get your frugality tips from? - apart from the festival of frugality of course. plonkee’s pick

FrugalTrader presents 25 Ways I Save Money posted at Million Dollar Journey. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Free From Broke presents I Want To Save But I Want To SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!! posted at Free From Broke. Give your advice on saving or splurging.

glblguy presents Ways To Spend Your Health Care Flexible Spending Account Balance posted at Gather Little By Little. It’s use it or lose it, so here are some ideas for making the most of that money.

John presents WWYD: Buy Temporary Jeans, or Wait Until Old Ones Fit Again? posted at Queercents. Me, I’d probably buy temporary jeans.

NCN presents Day 31 of 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt: Stay Away From The Mall posted at No Credit Needed. Well I’m much less likely to spend money if I’m not near a shop. What about you?

Adam presents Eating Out? Where Does the Money Go? posted at Where Your Treasure Is. 5 schoolboy errors pointed out. I tend to do each and every one of them. Shame on plonkee. plonkee’s pick

PT presents Workout with Podfitness for FREE (30-Day Trial) posted at Prime Time Money. Yes, I was convinced this was a spam post too when I saw the title. But it seems like it’s actually not. Don’t forget to cancel at the end of any free trial if you don’t think the service is worth it.

musings

According to an EU study, Sweden is the best country in the EU at helping immigrants to integrate into the local population. Lest you think that’s simply because they don’t have many immigrants, 12.5% of the population were born outside of Sweden - about the same as the US and considerably more than the UK at 7.5%.

Tamlyn presents frugal, not scarce posted at Simply Blissful. Being frugal and blissful are not incompatible.

paidtwice presents Frugal Mindset vs Frugal Practice posted at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…. How long does it take for frugality to become second nature?

Boomie presents I Dislike Shopping. Pass It On. posted at The Wastrel Show. Discovering you don’t like shopping after all - priceless. plonkee’s pick

Ryan presents Is Financial Peer Pressure Keeping You Poor? posted at Building Millionaire Money Habits. My mother used to say “if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?”. Good point, really.

Frugal Duchess presents “So When You’re Rich, You Won’t Have To Be Frugal,” He Told Me posted at The Frugal Duchess. No, when I’m rich I can be as frugal as I like, just like the Frugal Duchess.

Images: Oresund Bridge and Swedish house by pingnews, Ikea bathroom by Vox_Efx Swedish meatballs by ponanwi, Julmust by JasonJT Boatyard by FotoDawg, c

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Discussion

39 comments for “103rd festival of frugality”

  1. Great job on the festival. Thanks for including my entry.

    FT

    Posted by MillionDollarJourney | December 11, 2007, 12:42 pm
  2. Great work on the festival, thanks!

    Posted by Frugal Guy | December 11, 2007, 2:07 pm
  3. Thanks for hosting. Great job on the format. A++

    Posted by PT | December 11, 2007, 2:20 pm
  4. Whoops–I totally didn’t contribute this week.

    Great job with the carnival! :)

    Posted by Mrs. Micah | December 11, 2007, 2:39 pm
  5. Great job! Thanks for hosting. You Swedish theme makes me think of going to IKEA where they sell Swedish meatballs in their cafeteria!

    Posted by Free From Broke | December 11, 2007, 2:40 pm
  6. Thanks for hosting and for picking my submission as a Plonkee Pick! Love the theme!

    Posted by Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net | December 11, 2007, 2:43 pm
  7. Thanks for including my article. Lots of fun to read!

    Posted by My Dollar Plan | December 11, 2007, 3:04 pm
  8. Thanks for including the article and making it a “plonkee pick.”

    Great format for the carnival.

    Posted by Adam | December 11, 2007, 3:42 pm
  9. Great work on the carnival! Thank you for hosting this.

    Posted by Millionaire Money Habits | December 11, 2007, 3:55 pm
  10. Thanks so much for hosting!

    Posted by David | December 11, 2007, 4:35 pm
  11. Awesome job on the festival. I’m honored to be one of plonkee’s picks.

    Posted by Broke Grad Student | December 11, 2007, 4:46 pm
  12. Great carnival plonkee!

    I love going to Ikea, but I always end up spending a fortune. No wonder those super cheap hotdogs seem like such a great deal on the other side of the cash registers! *lol*

    Posted by debtdieter | December 11, 2007, 8:54 pm
  13. Interesting theme this week - great job!

    Thanks for hosting! ;)

    Posted by Patrick | December 12, 2007, 1:34 am
  14. Great job this week! Thanks for including my post in this week’s festival!

    Posted by Savvy Frugality | December 12, 2007, 3:35 am
  15. I like the idea of Swedish girls dressed in white being generous with their buns.

    Posted by Hyrum | December 12, 2007, 4:29 am
  16. Thanks Plonkee. You’ve done a great job.

    Posted by boomer | December 12, 2007, 4:42 am
  17. Thanks so much for hosting. Great job - I enjoyed this carnival.

    Posted by The Digerati Life | December 12, 2007, 7:38 am
  18. Thanks for fitting me in… I thought that that message was lost in space :) Very nice job with the festival all around.

    Cheers!

    Posted by Me vs Debt | December 13, 2007, 12:35 pm
  19. What a neat theme!

    Posted by Monica | December 14, 2007, 2:30 pm

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