FIRE Finance has hosted a great festival of frugality this week – it’s pretty just to look at, before you even get into the articles. Nicely done FIRE! Here are some of my favorites this week:
How being frugal and being green often overlap from the Art of the Coupon. I completely agree – frugal and green are two of the things that most strongly define who I am, and I find that they almost always coincide.
Francois from Liberta has a post about how staying healthy, eating well, and exercising will save you money as well as make you happier. I agree – this is how my husband and I live our lives. Although for my American readers, I wouldn’t advise switching to a hospital-only health insurance policy, since there’s a lot of outpatient treatment that can cost far more than what most of us have in an emergency fund. But you might want to consider an HSA-qualified health insurance plan with the highest deductible you can get. You’ll still be paying out of pocket for doctor visits and prescriptions and smallish claims, but if you have a 100% plan, you can feel safe knowing that if something big comes up, it will all be covered after the deductible, rather than just the hospital part of the claim. And by the way – congrats to Francois… he just got engaged last weekend!
John Cain has a fantastic post about parents, kids, materialism, keeping up with the Jonses, cell phones, and treat bags at birthday parties. Amen. He says it all perfectly – hop over to Saving Advice and check it out. I agree with every point he makes.
And any post that’s all about kale gets a thumbs up from me. Greener Pastures has an article extolling the virtues of kale, with a few recipes thrown in. I often add kale to our green smoothies, and we’re going to be adding kale to our hydroponic garden so that we can stop buying it.
Chicago – cheap! wonders if your thrift is actually costing you money. Great article, great points.
Lisa Spinelli says
Thank youfor highlighting my kale post. It needs all the help it can get. No one is into kale. It will probably have about 5 readers. :-)
Francois Viljoen says
Hi Frugal Babe!!
Yes, I’m engaged!! :)
Thanks for the link back to Liberta. I also launched a financial freedom challenge today.
From what I see on your blog it looks like you are already doing everything needed to accept the challenge!
Would you like to join the Liberta Financial Freedom Support Network?
Here’s the link:
http://liberta.co.za/blog/liberta-financial-freedom-support-network/
Take care & God bless,
Francois
FIRE Finance says
Thanks for the mention and compliments :))
Amanda @ Me vs Debt says
Hey Frugal Babe! Just wanted to let you know that I gave you a blog award. Feel free to ‘pay it forward’.
Cheers,
Amanda
Rebecca (Green Baby Guide) says
That was a great round-up of frugal posts–thanks!
FrugalBabe says
Lisa – I must admit, kale is not my all-time favorite vegetable as far as taste goes. But it’s tough to find one that’s a better choice health wise, so we eat it several times a week. Gotta spread the word!!
cindy Brick says
See, Frugal Babe — here I am!
I love kale, too…but I generally only use it for one dish, a sausage potato soup. Section up a raw bratwurst or two, then add, along with three diced potatoes and a chopped handful each of onion and kale to, say, 4-6 cups of chicken broth. (I use cubes, but it’s even better with homemade broth.) Let simmer for a while. (Works in a crockpot on low for about 4-6 hours, too.)
Olive Garden makes a similar version.
Trust me — it will move kale’s place up the “favorite veggie” scale for you!
FrugalBabe says
Cindy Brick – thanks for the recipe! Great blog, by the way, but… GO RAMS!!!! :) (sorry!)