Archive for tips & tools

Bandana In My Hand

My grandfather and uncle, like most farmers in my area, were old fashioned enough to still use bandannas for handkerchiefs rather than rely on disposable tissues.  They stocked up on them, too, so when they both passed on, we had some 20 or 30 bandannas passed down to us.  Here are some ways to use [...]

Posted by: DeputyHeadmistress on Friday, December 7th, 2012

Sprouting and Cheesecloth

We use squares cut from the legs of old knee-his or trouser socks, spread them over an old, clean jar full of sprouting seeds and strap the stretched nylon on to the jar with a rubber band – cheaper than an official, made for the purpose sprouter, and a method I like better, too- I [...]

Posted by: DeputyHeadmistress on Friday, August 10th, 2012

Minimalist Kitchen

There are many reasons why one might have or need to have a minimalist kitchen. One might be a new bride or a college student away from home for the first time, and need to make do and get by while slowly adding to kitchen supplies as need and finances meet each other. One might [...]

Posted by: DeputyHeadmistress on Friday, February 18th, 2011

Do you know what an Opaque Hotel is?

According to Travelocity, between 20 and 30 percent of online hotel bookings are for “opaque” hotels, the industry term used to describe a hotel whose name is not revealed until AFTER the hotel room has been purchased. We rarely use hotels ourselves since we usually stay with family or friends when we go out of [...]

Posted by: kimc on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Ten Frugal Practices I Wish We’d Done from the Beginning

This list is off the top of my head. If you ask me again tomorrow, it will probably look slightly different, and the week after that I might remember something else I think is even more important. There is probably something more important that we do that I learned at my mother’s knee so I [...]

Posted by: DeputyHeadmistress on Friday, June 18th, 2010

Free Tax Advice on March 25

H&R Block is offering 24-hours of free tax advice on Thursday, March 25. More than 50 tax experts will answer personalized tax questions via the H&R Block Tax Talk Line from 12:01 a.m. CT through 11:59 p.m. CT.  Taxpayers can call 1-866-HRBLOCK or e-mail taxtalk@hrblock.com for free advice.  Questions can also be submitted online at the Get [...]

Posted by: kimc on Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Renter’s insurance: got it? get it.

I’m grateful for sponsors on Frugal Hacks for more than one reason.  Yes, the occasional income is nice, but there’s more to it than just money.  I don’t accept every sponsor.  I choose them carefully, and for the most part I think they choose Frugal Hacks carefully. Because of that our sponsors are a good [...]

Posted by: kimc on Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Exclusive Swag code for new users

Swagbucks paid for Christmas in our house last year and continues to provide a steady source of free Amazon gift cards, which can be used to buy nearly anything on earth, including used books at great prices.  We love it! If you’re not using Swagbucks to get free stuff yet, now is a great time [...]

Posted by: kimc on Thursday, February 25th, 2010

New free script from Frugal Hacks: frugal quotes

Check out the frugal quote generator in the sidebar. You like? Grab it for your blog to display a new frugal quote every time you or a reader clicks the button!  The code is in the sidebar or get it right here: Frugal Quotes: <script src=”http://frugalhacks.com/quotes.js” language=”javascript” type=”text/javascript”> </script> <DIV id=”ponder”> <script type=”text/javascript”> GetStatement(0) </script> [...]

Posted by: kimc on Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Quick! I need frugal/money related quotes

I’m working on a fun little bit of script inspired by this post on Gather Little By Little.  It will be free to grab from the Frugal Hacks sidebar when I’m finished. Want to help?  Leave a great quote about thrift, frugality, money, etc. in the comments.  Extra points if it’s funny and true.  If [...]

Posted by: kimc on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Shopping on Amazon this year? Nail the $25 free-shipping offer!

You probably know that many items on Amazon qualify for free shipping – if your order is over $25. But what if your order is just a little under $25?  What if you’re only short by 1 measly cent?  Or 10?  Or $1.51? Try this. Brilliant!

Posted by: kimc on Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Frugal Hacks fan page on Facebook

If you’re Facebook user, join the fans of Frugal Hacks!  335 and counting…can we make it 500 in short order?  Tell your friends and 1,000 is just around the corner.  After all, who doesn’t want to save money?

Posted by: kimc on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Swagbucks codes for everyone!

There are quite a few ways to earn money and acquire free stuff on the internet, but this is one of my favorites.  If you use Swagbucks already, you’ll be happy to know that they are unveiling a new toolbar to make it even easier to use the search engine and to access your account.  [...]

Posted by: kimc on Monday, August 31st, 2009

Where does your money go?

The brains in the US government think they know where our money is going. ht toVisual Economics via The Common Room for the image Strangely enough, they neglected to include taxes.  We could naively assume that income taxes were the difference between pre-tax income ($63,091) and expenditures ($49,638).  This would be about 27% – but [...]

Posted by: kimc on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Have you ever been blocked from commenting on Frugal Hacks?

If so, I’m sorry and I’m working on the problem.  We use a spam filter that dumps all the spam before I see it, but sometimes ole Fil gets overzealous and blocks real people from commenting as well. I’m tinkering with the settings now, and if I can’t get Fil to relax a bit I’ll [...]

Posted by: kimc on Thursday, July 16th, 2009