Over the weekend, while packing, I came across a handful of change. With my coin jar already packed, and time running out to move, I felt like tossing the change in the trash bag and moving on. But that would have really hurt me!  After all, the $1.30 I collected under sofa cushions represented about a year’s worth of interest on a $100!

Can you believe some people actually throw money away? Don’t believe it? Check out the fifth article below.

The Frugal Roundup

7 Critical Ways You Need to Take Your Life Off Autopilot. Here is a great list of things that you should really focus on. (@ My Super-Charged Life)

Redbox Testing $2 Per Night Rentals. Redbox has started testing $2 per night rentals. Will you still rent from them with that type of increase? (@Your Money Relationship)

A Little Food Planning Goes a Long Way. It’s always a good idea to plan your meals ahead. You can save a ton of money and always have what you need. (@Million Dollar Journey)

Master Your Money with a Financial Health Day. When you have your financial health day, make sure you involve you spouse in the decision. (@ Get Rich Slowly)

Why Throw Money Away? Yeah, this person really throws money in the trash. Seriously. (@The Suns Financial Diary)

How to Become a Successful Secret Shopper and Supplement Your Income. Need some extra cash to beef up your budget? Become a secret shopper! (@Generation X Finance)

Best of the Rest

• The Productive Art of Positive Thinking
• How to Find More Time During the Day
  
• The Bucket List
• Why Lottery Winners Go Broke: Prospect Theory at Work
• My Grandfather In-Law: A True Veteran Hero
• House Hunting Tips For Busy Parents
• Frugal Ways to Celebrate the Holidays
• Have You Ever Taken Risks to Try and Improve Your Career?
• What’s Luck Got to Do With It?
• 31 Days of Organizing for a Better 2010
• Interview Your Interviewer
  

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Just yesterday we rounded up all our old clothes, jackets, etc. that we no longer wear and plan to give them away to shelters, and other charitable organizations in our area that may need them (there is particularly high demand in the winter months). I’d encourage you to go through your closets and find an old jacket, or set of blankets that you no longer use, and find someone who could use them. A good place to start is with churches, missions, shelters, and organizations such as The Red Cross and Salvation Army.

The Frugal Roundup

The Argument Against Frugality. Not on the frugality bandwagon yet? These reasons for not being frugal may change your mind. (@The Sun’s Financial Diary)

100 Goals. I came across this site the other week and thought it was pretty cool. It chronicles a guys attempt to complete 100 goals he has for his life. Check it out! (@Hundred Goals)

“What Works For You” Can Be a Trap. The personal finance theory of “do what works for you” comes into question. (@Consumerism Commentary)

Ditch Productivity For A Day: 12 Great Sites To Kill Time & Have Fun. Sometimes it’s OK to sit down and unwind. (@Dumb Little Man)

Avoid a Financial Holiday Hangover This Year. Great steps for avoiding the dreaded holiday credit card bills in January. (@Generation X Finance)

Best of the Rest

• How Working Overseas Helps Your Career
• How One Homeless Person Lives: Coping With Homelessness
• Adventures in Dallas (How We Saved Money There)
• Why Canadians Don’t Redeem Coupons
• Year End Tax Tips 2009
• Understanding Health Savings Accounts
• Choose Your Words Carefully… You May Have to Eat Them
• Survive a Financial Crisis: 12 Tips For Married Couples

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• My full time job has been busier than ever in October. That’s good for job security, but bad for blogging. I’m behind on emails, writing, etc, but am keeping my head above water. If you try to contact me, it might take a few days to get back to you. Thanks for your patience.

• The Frugal Dad Fan Page on Facebook I introduced last Thursday is humming along with 200 fans following. If you missed the announcement, please consider joining us. I try to post something to the wall or discussion board every day, and we’ve already had a few interesting discussions (check out yesterday’s post about the morality of taking hotel toiletries – good stuff!).

• I’m kicking around the idea of a weekly newsletter to be delivered on Saturday mornings, in lieu of weekend posts here at the blog. The newsletter would contain some special features not seen on the blog, along with a unique article or two, a “week in review” section, special deals for newsletter readers, etc. Any interest?

• Long-time readers will remember one of my blogging goals was to reach 7,500 readers. I hit that earlier this year and extended that goal to a big stretch goal of 10,000 readers. As of this writing I’m only a couple hundred away. Could you help me by signing up to follow Frugal Dad if you aren’t already?  Thanks to all who have already signed up!

Enough about me, let’s get on to some great articles from others!

The Frugal Roundup

Best Things to Buy in the Fall – Find the Biggest Discounts and Sales on These Items This Fall. Seasonal shoppers can get big discounts just by buying when retailers are looking to move that out of season inventory. (@Generation X Finance)

Dealing With Unemployment Like a Man. Unemployment is hard on anyone, but as this post points out, it’s traditionally been hardest on men. Read on for eleven tips to help you get through it like a man. (@Art of Manliness)

The Zero Hour Workweek. An inspiring ebook from someone who’s getting “paid to exist.” Hat tip to WC of The Writer’s Coin for leading me to this one. (@Illuminated Mind)

How to Have a Ghoulish Halloween for Less. From costumes to decorations (and yes, even frugal candy alternatives), this post covers it all. Frugal (Happy) Halloween! (@Coupon Sherpa)

Follow the Glow. Not sure what it is you should be doing with your life? Simply “follow the glow.” What an inspiring post! (@The Blog of Rick Smith)

10 Free Online Budgeting Applications. A nice run down of some of the more popular free online budgeting applications. I’ve given a number of these a try. (@Lazy Man and Money)

Best of the Rest

• Personal Budgeting Made Easy With the 60% Solution
• What Was the Best $100 You’ve Ever Spent?
• Everyone Is Special and Unique Just the Way They Are
• 10 Surprising Things You Can Turn Into Cash
• 2010 Quicken Deluxe Giveaway
• Why Don’t Most Financial Planners Plan Finances?

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Yesterday I tossed out a “Discussion” feature and a few questions to get things going. Since I removed the forums feature here at Frugal Dad, I’m hoping this can replace some of those features. Because many of the discussion topics are seeds for future posts, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Who knows, I might just mention one of your comments in the post and reference your blog.

Hope you’ll join me over at the new Frugal Dad fan page at Facebook! Click the banner below to join, and be sure to check out the roundup below.

The Frugal Roundup

Want to Get Out of Debt? Become A Master at Instant Gratification. Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?  Read on to find out what Neal means about mastering instant gratification and using it to your advantage. (@Wealth Pilgrim)

Do You Need a Local Bank? We are fans of ING Direct, but also maintain a local checking and savings account. We keep a local emergency fund (the first couple thousand of our fully funded emergency fund) here just in case we need cash in a hurry. (@My Dollar Plan)

Finally Out of Debt? Here’s How to Stay Out. So many people fight for years to obtain debt freedom, only to fall right back in the trap of living beyond their means. (@Wisdom Journal)

Google Street View – Great For House Buyers. We have been entertaining the idea of relocating here lately and have found Google Street View to scope out a number of properties in other cities. (@Four Pillars)

Sneaky Ways Restaurants Use Menus to Entice You to Spend More. I’ve read a number of articles on the ways grocery stores use consumer psychology to make shoppers spend more. This is an interesting piece on similar strategies employed by restaurants. (@Wallet Pop)

Why Freelancing Benefits Your Day Job. Those who have read FD for a while now know I’m a big proponent of the “side hustle,” for exactly the reasons pointed out in this post. (@Fiscal Fizzle)

The “Local Store Premium” – How Much Is It Worth to You? This weekend I worked on a couple major household repair projects. Rather than going to the big box warehouse store, I decided to try our local hardware store for supplies. I paid a little more, and they had less product options, but I felt good about helping a local store this time around. (@The Simple Dollar)

Best of the Rest

• Become a Fan of Generation X Finance on Facebook
• Organizing Your Way to a Simple Christmas: Gift Lists
• What Kind of Spender Are You?
• How to Get Rid of $106,000 in Debt
  
• Price-Placebo Effect: Are You a Victim, Too?
• Trusting Your Intuition
  
• 3 Quick Tips to Make Your Life Better Today
• 7 Ways to Build & Maintain a Personal Network that Works for You
  
• Learn More About Lending Club Credit Rating and Collection Process
• How Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Works
• Loan Modification Companies vs The Fair Housing Authority

Hope everyone has a great end of the week. Just a heads up – only 10 weeks until Christmas. Don’t wait for the last minute and charge presents on a credit card. Start saving now and enjoy a cash-only Christmas!

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10 Attributes Of The Perpetually Broke. It’s true; there are some common characteristics of those who seem perpetually broke. If any of these apply to you, it might be time to change your habits. (@Money Matters)

How to Avoid Work While On Vacation. I remember a scene from the last trip we took. There we were at Dollywood outside of Gatlinburg, TN. For several minutes we kept pace with a Dad furiously checking his BlackBerry while his kids moved from ride to ride, begging him to watch. Sad. (@Brip Blap)

How to Retire Early. This post mentions the idea that a big salary early on can help you retire even faster, assuming you hold expenses low. Of course, a big salary often comes with big headaches, and it might burn you out long before early retirement. (@Free Money Finance)

Credit Cards – Close ‘em Shred ‘em & Forget ‘em! Earlier in the week we debated what to do with unused credit cards. Looks like Jabs knows exactly what to do with them! (@Debt Free Adventure)

Painting a Specific Future – And Figuring Out How to Get There. Some inspiring thoughts from Trent on laying out future goal with actionable steps and a time line to accomplish them. (@The Simple Dollar)

How to Improve Your Credit Score When Paying Down Debt. Continuing the theme of paying down debt, here are a few ways to boost your credit score while reducing your debt balances. (@No Debt Plan)

How to Stop Buying Clothes You Never Wear. I like to think my wardrobe represents that of the typical male. I own a couple pairs of jeans, a pair of brown, black and tennis shoes, and exactly one suit. The rest of my wardrobe is dedicated to work clothes – the usual business casual garb. (@Get Rich Slowly)

With or Without Interest – Do You Know What You Paid. A great reminder to always figure the interest when calculating the total cost of something financed. We tend to forget about that when quoting costs. (@Mrs Micah)

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The Frugal Roundup

101 Ways to Take a Bite Out of Your Food Budget. The title says it all – a monster list of money savers to help trim your food budget. (@The Wisdom Journal)

The Art of Letter Writing: The Sympathy Note. After recently losing my mom, we received a number of nice sympathy cards. I also appreciated the many comments here at the blog, emails, etc. It has made me more aware of the need to express sympathy for others when they are dealing with rough times. This post is an excellent how-to from someone who recently experienced a loss. (@ The Art of Manliness)

5 Ways Spending More is Actually Frugal. I liked this post because it focused on a popular topic surrounding frugality: does it make sense to spend more money up front in some cases to get a better value. (@My Dollar Plan)

The Best Times to Buy for Huge Savings on Major Purchases. An excellent run-down of the best time of year to make 14 major purchases, factoring seasonal discounts, inventory issues, etc. (@The Daily Crux)

Accidental Frugality – Can You Live on Half of Your Income? When we reach debt freedom soon, living on half my income is a big goal for our family. I think we can get pretty close, even with the mortgage, but will require a lot of discipline. (@Stop Buying Crap)

How Not To Suck At Blogging.If you are a blogger, aspire to be a blogger, or are interested in any entrepreneurial endeavor, this is a must-read post. One way “not to suck” is to follow Man vs. Debt’s lead – he’s done a phenomenal job in a short time with his blog. (@Man vs. Debt)

Best of the Rest

• Saving For Retirement? Best Move For Your Retirement Plan
• Question of the Day: Are You a Perfectionist?
• Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home That Can Save You Money and Protect Your Family
• How To Be Married A Decade And Stay Madly In Love
• Teach Your Kids How to Manage Money in 7 Easy Lessons
• 22 Tools You Should Keep in Your Car
• how to poison attitudes towards work in young children
• Smart Living Rule 7 – Pursue Good Opportunities Fearlessly
• Is CreditKarma Useful?
• Car Leasing Tip – Increase Your Security Deposit

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Without an extra bedroom available, I’ve started thinking through alternative home office locations around (and outside) the house. One idea I had was to convert our storage building in the backyard to an office. It wouldn’t take much – just add a window AC unit, run some ethernet cable for internet access, and maybe some cheap floor covering to hide the concrete. Who knows, this might become my fall project.

Frugal Roundup

What Is a Bug Out Bag? We have been slowly accumulating items for our own “bug out bag” over the last few weeks, and this list had a few things I had not thought to include. With September being National Preparedness Month, it’s a great time to take inventory of emergency supplies. (@Family Survival Blog)

Who’s Better at Managing Money: Men or Women? Like all great questions in life I think the answer here is, it depends. Success with money management has more to do with personalities (who’s the detail oriented one, who’s the free spirit, etc.) than with gender. (@The Digerati Life)

PFBlogger Spotlight: Jason of Frugal Dad. Jim from Bargaineering.com interviewed me the other day. Read on to learn way more than you ever wanted to about the real “Frugal Dad.” (@Bargaineering)

If You’re Going to Consolidate Debt Then You Have to Stop Using Credit. One of the biggest pitfalls of debt consolidation is that many people leave paid-off accounts opened, and proceed to run the balances right back up again. (@Generation X Finance)

An Introduction to Making Jam. I’ve always been interested in canning, making jams and preserves, etc, but know absolutely nothing about how to do it. This post provides a great introduction. (@Simple Mom)

Five Ways I Disagree With Dave Ramsey. As a fan of Dave Ramsey, the title stung a little bit. But after reading Trent’s post, I have to say I have shared the same thoughts about elements of Ramsey’s plan. (@The Simple Dollar)

Learn Personal Finance from The Bible, not the Federal Government. In terms of choosing the right examples to live by, financially, choosing between the bible and the government is a no-brainer. (@Debt Free Adventure)

Best of the Rest

• Google Work at Home Scam
• How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient
• Costs of Raising Children
• When It Rains, It Pours
• Setting Up a Corporation
• Take Small Risks

I mentioned earlier that September is National Preparedness Month. With a major hurricane spinning in the Atlantic, and wildfires on the west coast, now is the perfect time to make sure your family is ready for an emergency. Check your emergency kit. Talk through disaster scenarios, escape plans, rendezvous points, etc. to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Post by Frugal Dad

How many people would be able to wait six months to cash in on a couple million dollars? It’s an interesting idea, but I could help but think he’d be better off to take that money and park it in a few $100,000 CDs earning interest! Still, at least he didn’t burn through it in six months as others have been known to do.

The Frugal Roundup

This Is Why You Are In Debt. Ever wondered how and why you are deep in debt? Chances are you have engaged in at least a few of the behaviors described in this post. (@Marc and Angel)

Money and Dating: Finding Someone With Similar Financial Goals. I recently read the results of a ground-breaking survey that revealed tightwads are attracted to free-spenders, marry them, fight about money, and divorce. Duh! (@Million Dollar Journey)

101 Restaurants Where Kids Eat Free. Nothing beats a cheap meal, and free is in even better! Here’s a great resource for those planning a night out with the kids. (@Mr. Free Stuff)

Green Living: Ways to Recycle and Buy Used. In just the past month we have purchased a sofa and love seat used, gave away our old one to a family friend in need of furniture. We have tried to adopt a strategy of only acquiring something if we are willing to give up something else. Helps keep clutter down. (@The Digerati Life)

Kitchen Compost Bucket – DIY, Easy, and Frugal. As a fellow “do-it-yourselfer,” I was very curious to learn how to make your own kitchen kitchen compost bucket for very little money. (@Debt Free Adventure)

Should You Buy Disability Insurance. Not a particularly fun topic, but one that hits close to home for me. My mom became totally and permanently disabled after a stroke at 53 years young. She is now completely dependent on income from her disability policy – a financial lifesaver. (@Generation X Finance)

How to Save for Multiple Goals.  We actually save in separate accounts for each of our goals, but since I’m looking to consolidate and streamline, I think this single-account, spreadsheet tracking model. (@My Dollar Plan)

How You Can Use 529-Plan Money. Did you know thanks to the stimulus plan you can now use 529 money to buy your college student a computer, and pay for internet access the next couple years. Other little-known uses included in this one. (@Kiplinger.com)

Best of the Rest

• 7 Productivity Tips to Get More Done
• How You Can Become Armed and Dangerous
• 7 Life-Changing Vacations to Help You Regroup and Rethink
• What to Do With the Mail Mess?
• Save Money Buying Overstock or Returned Items
• Make Money Without Another “Job”
• The Professional Hitman
• What is an FHA Loan?

Finally, if you are just stopping by, I’d like to invite you to sign up for a free subscription to Frugal Dad. You’ll receive daily articles directly to your favorite RSS reader or email inbox.

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I don’t usually respond to these dire “flu pandemic preparedness” warnings that seem to come around every few years, but it does make sense to stay prepared for any situation. We found a great preparedness guide at one of my new favorite sites, SurvivalBlog.com.

The author runs through a list of things to have on hand, techniques to use to prevent getting the flu, and what to do if you do get it. We have started picking up a few extra medicines (expectorants, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.) to help battle any symptoms, and stocked up on things like hand sanitizers (especially for the kids). If you are a member, check out wholesale clubs like Sams Club for things like this, and look for the store brand medicines to save money. We were able to pick up a 500-count bottle of acetaminophen for a fraction of the cost of the equivalent number of Tylenol.

The Frugal Roundup

How To Survive a Stock Market Crash. Recent stock market declines have really tested my faith in the market. Jeff reminds us why to keep the faith and keep plowing long-term savings in the market to win out. (@Good Financial Cents)

The Valuable Art of Media Swapping. We often share books, movies and games with friends and family as sort of an informal swap. With video games, it’s great to let the kids try it out before deciding whether or not it is worth buying. (@The Simple Dollar)

8 Steps to Achieving Your Financial Resolutions – No Matter What. This post inspired me to look back over my 2009 financial resolutions to make sure I was on track. Guess what? I’m not. Time to put Neal’s advice to work!(@Wealth Pilgrim)

Lifestyle Inflation. Nothing can rob you of progress, financially, faster than lifestyle inflation. I’ve lost track of how many times I received a raise and then ran spending up by the same percentage. Draw a line in the sand, and start saving everything above it. (@Million Dollar Journey)

25 Essentials That Are Better and Cheaper to Make at Home. An excellent resource for saving money around the house by choosing homemade products over their retail counterparts.(@Man vs. Debt)

Budgeting With the Envelope System. When we first started our financial turnaround we used envelopes to manage our budget categories. Over time, we relaxed things a bit and started using a debit card. However, envelopes are still great for those budget categories you tend to spend more on each month than planned – think food, entertainment, etc. (@Lazy Man and Money)

How Much Baby Stuff Do I Need? New parents can burn through a lot of cash those first few months. If you are expecting, or no one someone who is, you may want to run this article by them.(@The Frugal Girl)

Best of the Rest

• We Sold Our House
• Budget Travel Tips
• Lying in the Workplace – Part 1
• Best Financial Advice You Wish You’d Taken
• 8 Ways to Save on Auto Insurance
• Work At Home Mom Shares Tips On Saving Money

Bonus article: The founder of Papa John’s spent $250,000 to buy back the old Camaro he sold back in 1983 to keep his family’s business afloat, and to start a little pizza business. Wonder if that old Chevy Silverado I sold is still around? I wouldn’t pay $250,000 for it, but it would be great to save up and pay cash for it now that I’ve turned things around.

Post by Frugal Dad

With fall practices well underway, who is your pick to win it all this season? Realistically, it is hard to count Florida out considering all the players they return from last year’s team. Note, I am not a Florida fan, but recognize they are a solid football team, top to bottom.

I’m an Auburn man myself, and this year with a new coach, a new (old) quarterback, and new coordinators all around, it should be interesting. My prediction for Auburn’s season sounds like most years – we’ll beat a team or two we shouldn’t, but we’ll lose just as many to teams we should beat. And so it goes with my Tigers.

Feel free to share a prediction for your favorite team in the comments section.

The Frugal Blitz

Stress-Free Back to School: Setting Up a Homework Zone. An excellent idea for those of us with kids heading back to school. I know I always work better with a clean, organized environment free of distractions. Even more important for kids. (@Organizing Your Way) Side note: Mandi is the newest member of The Life Skills Network!

Spend Time to Save Money. It’s true what they say, “time is money.” But the opposite is also true. Investing a little time can go a long way towards saving you money, as this article points out. (@Mrs Micah)

AMEX To Raise Late Fee and Rates on My Cards.  The same thing happened to me with an AT&T Universal card. I know credit card companies have the right to jack up rates as high as they want, but I also have the right to put a sharp pair of scissors to their increasingly inferior products! (@The Sun’s Financial Diary)

The Get-Started-Now Guide to Becoming Self-Employed.  If you have ever thought about venturing out on your own, read this. If you have never thought about venturing out on your own, read this. Either way, it will affect your opinion on being self employed. (@Zen Habits)

The Myth of Stable Employment. Gone are the days of 30-year retirement ceremonies, complete with a gold watch and a pension statement. No such thing as a “stable job” these days. (@Brip Blap)

How You Can Prepare For A Background Check. Most people feel pretty helpless when they discover a position requires a background check. However, there are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of passing with flying colors. (@The Wisdom Journal)

9 Really Weird Ways to Make Money. Trust me, there are some really weird ones listed here, but for good reason. Sometimes extreme circumstances require desperate measures, and if you really need the money, these are nine quick ways to generate extra cash. (@Moolanomy)

Personal Finance Basics: Key Purposes of Budgeting Systems. An excellent post on the seven key purposes of a budgeting system. (@My Super-Charged Life)

Pedal Your Way to Health, Wealth and Happiness. An excellent guide for those planning to become a bicycle commuter. This is something I have tried in the past, but never stuck to. Maybe the cooler weather will motivate me to put these notes to use this fall. (@Wise Bread)

The Library Still Rocks! Yes, I Like The Free Movies And More. My kids love to go to the library to check out books, and recently discovered movies there, too. Libraries are a great source of free entertainment for both children and adults, and the educational opportunities are endless. (@The Happy Rock)

Overtime – The Best of the Rest

• How To Be The Best You Can Be
• Certificate of Deposit Basics: How Do Bank CDs Work?
• 5 Tips to Avoid Overdraft Fees
• ING Direct Review and $25 Referral (Orange Key) Bonus
• Feeling Good About Feeling Old
• How to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits – Eligibility Requirements
• 7 Ways to Save Money on Back to School Shopping
• The Carnival of Savings – 2nd Edition

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