Welcome to the Fourth Edition of Frugal Feast

Since I had a number of holiday-related late-comers, I'll post those first. Then, we'll get onto the meat and bones of the Feast. Grab a doggie bag, and stick a fork in it--the buffet line's long this month.

PRE-HOLIDAY

First up, we have the Mad Gift Giving Guide from Mad Kane's Humor Blog.

Here are some Tips for Going and Saving Green This Holiday Season from the Parenting Squad.

Jason Topp from Currency.com tells us How to Dine Out Without Blowing Your Holiday Budget.

Darwin's Money asks, "Donation Requests at the Checkout Counter Annoy Me--How About You?" and adds: "Save yourself the money and donate strategically to the causes you want and ignore the rest."

Stephen Marks of Promo code Center suggests we all Donate Time Instead of Money this holiday season. I do this all year round: donate time and things, rather than money. Why save it up for the holiday season?

Here's an announcement from Mad Kane's Humor Blog regarding New Year Resolutions: "It is Hereby Resolved..."

Fine Finance has some Frugal Gift Ideas and Holiday Cards, and says, "Creative personalized ideas help to use our resources skillfully without breaking our budgets. In that light, we present some creative inspirations for this holiday season's cards … "

UnBalanced Passions shares my feelings about the invented holiday known as Black Friday, and shares them in his entry: Black Friday is For the Dumb Yuppies and the Stupid Slaves Who Are Funding There Own Enslavement Buying Junk From China. Not only are they funding their own enslavement, but Chinese workers' as well. He adds: "Personally every time I had to work on Black Friday. The most stupid yuppies are out in force. They do not know how to drive. They are rude and absent minded of the most. These are the ones who drive in cars and minivans so ugly to show how pathetic they are as people. I am not going to get up at midnight or 4am to save a dollar at a big box stores selling that junk from China." While you're out and about shopping your brains out, give a thought to the person behind the counter--when do THEY get to shop while the stores are busy being open all day and night to serve YOU? I've been where this guy is--I've had to work a normal shift during the day, and had to turn around and come back that night for a "moonlight madness" sale (what Black Friday started out as). Did I get overtime for it? Nope--I was the salaried department manager. Did I get the next day off? Nope.

Store employees have lives too. I even had to miss a Thanksgiving because our store was open all that day. Not any more, thanks to frugal living! :)

Now that those days are long past, let's try Adding Some Superfoods To the Holiday Meal--Native Remedies Blog will be our guide.

Speaking of missed holidays, Wise Bread tells gives us 5 Theme Menus For a Merrier Holiday Meal.

After Hours Investing shares The Best Investment I Made This Holiday Season, and adds, "What you invest in is often more than asset allocations and dollar amounts." So true!

The Dough Roller has 5 Financial Resolutions for the New Year.

Okay, now that the canapes and salads have been served, now it's time for the main course...

POST-HOLIDAY AND YEAR ROUND

Barbara Jones of Change of Address alerts us to Top 10 Mistakes New Homebuyers Make, and no, one of them isn't forgetting to change the mail address!

Money Ning brings us a pair (does this make a BOGO?): When Wants Become Needs, adding, "When are needs really needs and when it is actually just something we want?" and What Do You Splurge On? Where Do You Save?, adding, "Time to confess! What do you spend your money on and where do you save?"

Curious little Money Ning, aren't you? I already put my two cents in.

Claire Schwan (no relation to the frozen food truck, I'm sure) of Self Reliance Works! sends us this message: SAVE MONEY--DON'T EAT OUT! She says "A simple way to cut down on discretionary spending that can add up to a big monthly expense. Cooking at home can easily replace eating out, and it's much healthier as well." I agree.

Tim Rakeman of All Things Frugal says to Grow a Garden to Save Money. He also acknowledges that "When it comes to saving money on groceries, unfortunately that usually means eating a lot of processed crap. Anyone who has been in a grocery store knows the cost of a calorie is a lot cheaper in the form of a frozen pizza than it is in an apple." However, not all the costs are factored in, like health effects. That frozen pizza may be cheap today, but how much will the cholesterol drugs, hypertension drugs, doctor visits, and prescription refills for ongoing frozen pizzas add to the cost of the original pizza? It could be millions, and we're about to witness it ourselves with health care rationing.

Tim's right--grow a garden to save money. Nobody ever needed a prescription from eating too many veggies!

Carlos of the Writer's Coin examines Cutting Cable: Cost vs. Convenience. With the entire galaxy of TV lineups available on other sources (some free), it's not really much of an issue for me--cost wins. As soon as my satellite contract is up, both the satellite AND the TV are going out the door.

Fridays With Fern yields us ways to make your own iced coffee, thrifty shopping tips, and paper bags. Fern also offers this hint: Free Photo E-Cards and Floor Decor. Fridays there are always fabulous and free!

Kyle of The Penny Hoarder (my kinds guy--I hoard pennies too!) tells us The Best Ways to Sell a Gift Card. With all the shenanigans that went on with those this year, I'd be reluctant to ever deal with one again.

We have another pair from Pinyo at Moolanomy: How to Avoid a Personal Debt Crisis, and Is a Pre-Paid Cell Right For You? If you expect your phone to do nothing but make and receive calls, chances are YES.

Consumerism Commentary sends us instructions on How to Start a Coin Collection for You or Your Kids and adds, "Starting a coin collection for your child is a great way to get them interested about finance and money." This was originally sent into the Cavalcade of Risk, but I felt it was more appropriate here--this classifies as a low-cost family activity.

Ever consider the cheapest way to buy gas? NerdWallet has dome such a comparison: Cheapest Way to Buy Gas--Credit Cards, or Discount Stations?, and you may be surprised at the findings. As for me, I'm sticking to Sam's Club.

Okay--time for a stretch. The main course has another course, but you're probably in need of a break right now. This isn't the last supper, after all, but the table is certainly sized for it, and it's GROANING with offerings! I warned you to bring doggie bags. :)

For our less savvy financial consumers, Highest CD rates wants to teach you about jumbo CDs with What is a Jumbo CD? and adds, "A jumbo CD can be a safe place to store a large sum of money and earn a bit of interest while you are at it."

My friend's mother once had a coffee cup that read: "Someday my ship will come in, and I'll be at the airport!" Here's how to Save Money When Parking at the Airport while you're waiting for your ship to come in. :)

Boomer & Echo Holler about 10 Big Wastes of Money.

In case you missed the last Cavalcade of Risk, here's a carry-over entry from The Dough Roller: How to Lower Your Life Insurance Premiums.

While we're on the subject of insurance, another carryover entry from Jeff Rose of Good Financial Sense compares premiums on term life insurance for tobacco users vs. non-tobacco users, and boy is it steep! Quitting smoking has many advantages: stopped money loss buying cigarettes, improved health and health costs, improved job market opportunities, and lower insurance rates--you can literally kill many birds with one stone here!

Money Ning frets "OMG--Kids Are So Expensive!" Yes, they are, but you can mitigate some of their costs. Ben Stein says that kids don't have an ROI at all.

On the flip-side of the kids vs. pets issue, Broke Professionals has a modest proposal: Outlawing Pets in Order to Save the Economy. I remembered something my own vet told me years ago in Texas: "There are two kids of people in this world--people people and animal people, and rarely is it that someone can be both at once and do it well." I understood exactly what he meant--those who have both kids AND animals seem to regularly put the animals in the back seat when it comes to proper care and maintenance.

Moving on...

PT Money wants us to know Why I Automate My Finances And Who Probably Shouldn't Do It. To that, I add this little ditty I found on Yahoo News: Help the Poor By taking Away Their Cash. First I though, "wait a minute", then thought "hey, automation works for me, so why not?"

Almost done.

Christian Personal Finance sends us Netflix for Books?

The Digerati Life tells us how she saved $100/month with free television and low-cost internet access.

And we'll end this feast with another budget wedding (even though it seems we've had the reception first)--Budget Wise Weddings helped pull off A True Budget Wedding in San Diego.

Now I'm going to leave before I get hit with popping buttons! Go smoke, pee, barf, or whatever you do when you've eaten too much. I'll cater the next feast in February.