Get Rich Slowly says that it is more important to be happy than it is to be rich.  I so agree with this statement.   I also believe that if we were happier with what we have it would be easier to save money.  I try to spend some time each day thinking about all the things that I am thankful for and when I think about it, I am thankful for quite a bit.

J at Budgets Are Sexy writes about left over money.  He is pretty candid about what he used to do in a financial crisis.  Do you even know if you have any left over money??  Do you know what you spend your money on?

Building Credit Without Credit Cards is another one of my favorites because I often hear that used as an excuse to get credit cards.  It’s wrong.  You can also get a small personal loan at your local bank.  Make the payments on time and you will be so much better off.

It is the time of year for receiving gift cards.  Sweating the Big Stuff has some great tips for getting the most out of gift cards.

And finally, it’s time to start thinking about taxes again.  Here are some end of the year tax tips from Christian PF.

I hope you enjoy these articles and will stop by the Carnival of Personal Finance to find your favorites.

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Squawkfox asks whether Frugal Living is a Fad?  What do you think?  Has the economy changed the way you think about money and once times get better will you go back to your old ways?

The Simple Dollar has a post that I wish I could tattoo on the inside of my children’s eyelids,  Stop Trying To Impress Other People. It is one of his 14 rules that govern his financial and personal life.

Frugal Dad had me spellbound with his post about a family who lives totally off the grid in New Zealand.  I used to dream about doing something like this.  Does that make me a hermit?

I’ve Paid For This Twice Already makes her case for reducing debt before saving money.  I would agree AFTER you have a minimal emergency fund.  If you don’t have at least some money in savings, you will end up with more debt rather than less.

Christian Personal Finance reviews the book 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years.   It’s an interesting decision making process that can easily be used for making financial decisions as well as personal ones.

MoneyNing asks what to do when money conflicts with ethics.  Do you choose to stick to your ethics when it comes to money decisions?

Sound Money Matters has some great tips for working at home.  You can be more productive at home with less distractions if you stick to these tips.  I know I could get much more work done at home than when I was at work.

Devastate Boredom is a new blog for me but she offers a great cheat sheet for finding organic produce.  Her tips are good not only for finding organic but also on saving money on fruits and vegetables.

Debt Free Adventure is another new blog for my reader.  His tips for keeping his Emergency fund for Emergencies is a classic.  One of the hardest things to do is decide what is an emergency and what is not.  He has 6 tips for how to leave your emergency fund alone.

I hope that you enjoy these articles as much as I did.  Have a great weekend.

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Stretchy Dollar (don’t you love that name?) posted on Buying When You Don’t Need – A Money Saving Tip It’s a really good idea even though it sounds wrong.

True Adventures in Money Hacking lists 11 Ways You Can Have Big Fun for Little Money Since we all know that girls just want to have fun, I had to check this one out.

Condo Blues is giving us some alternative composting ideas with Can’t Compost? Use Coffee And Eggs Instead Both coffee and egg shells are mild enough to use straight, no composting needed.  Check it out to see an example and find out why.

Restoring Your Finances And Your Faith gives us Even More Easy Savings Around the House.  My favorite is number 5.  What is your favorite?

Stop by and check out the carnival!

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Welcome to the April 6, 2009 edition of carnival of homesteading.  This was a difficult edition to put together as we had so many articles that had absolutely no relation to Homesteading and some of the ones that did were just sales pitches for something.  In order to maintain a quality carnival, we did not include them in this edition.

Mark presents Free Insulation – R Value posted at Insulation Rebate.

KCLau presents 5 Ways To Take Charge Of Our Finances posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Are we doing the right things when it comes to managing our finances? Ask yourself five questions to know if you’re on the right track.”

Gardening

Vikki Lawrence-Williams presents How to Make a Seed Tape posted at Backyard Grocery Gardening, saying, “Why make your own seed tape? First, finding exactly the seed you want in a pre-made seed tape is almost impossible. Second, pre-made seed tapes are expensive! And third, it’s easier to space the seeds by placing them on a seed tape than doing it in the garden with wind blowing those tiny carrot and herb seeds. Be sure to check out our blog: www.backyardgrocerygardening.blogspot.com”

Nancy Muller presents A Ton of Garden, A Tiny Space: Vegetables for the 6″ Container posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, “Even the apartment dweller can grow a surprising amount of vegetables. Dig in and join the adventures of the Ton of Gardening, Tiny Space series.”

Cindy presents HR 875 Regulates Homesteaders, Gardeners and Organic Farmers posted at Small Homestead, saying “This is a bill that has the potential to eliminate local farmers markets, food cooperatives and organic farming.”

Miscellaneous

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Debt Elimination Tips: How To Reduce Debt With These Dos and Don’ts posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Here are some strategies to cut your costs!”

The Smarter Wallet presents Budget Your Money and Control Your Spending Using This Simple System posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Learn how to budget your money to control spending in your family and home.”

Recipes

Vikki Lawrence-Williams presents Recipe: Salt Rising Bread posted at Survival Cooking, Gardening and Emergency Preparedness Info, saying, “This is a bread developed in the early to mid 1800′s (1830-1840′s) by pioneers who couldn’t get a hold of “already-made yeast”- either because they couldn’t afford it or because they were too isolated. This takes planning, and a willingness for a stinky house, but if you don’t have yeast and want a risen bread, this recipe will be great for you! Check out our blog: www.survival-cooking.com”

Rani presents Potato and Corn Flake Casserole posted at Indoor Garden Musings.

The Austerity Kitchen presents Clostridium Capers: The Wonders of Salt Rising Bread posted at The Austerity Kitchen.

Recycling

Kathryn presents 8 Stunningly Creative Examples of Welding Art posted at Kathryn Vercillo on HubPages, saying, “These artists take old scrap metal that would just be junked and use welding arts to recycle it into functional and fun pieces for the home.”

Sustainable Living

Ishan B presents 25 Tips to Save Money on Vacation posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “Practical Tips to save money on vacation. Thanks for taking out time to review this.”

Michele presents We have a composting toilet posted at A House Called Nut – Life in the backwoods of Finland, saying, “My experience of living with a homemade composting toilet system in the backwoods of Finland. Thanks very much for considering my submission! Looking forward to seeing next week’s carnival.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homesteading using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of homesteading, blog carnival.

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Garden Planner

This spreadsheet will help you determine when to plant which vegetables.  You just enter the estimated last frost date for your area and it automatically calculates the dates that you should plant each vegetable.  You can find your last frost date at your local extension office or you can check here for more general dates by states.

automated Garden Planner

Click here for the garden-planner Spreadsheet.

How Much Do I Need?

When I start purchasing seed for the garden, I am never really sure how much to buy or plant .  I still have bean seeds from 3 years ago and luckily they still seem to germinate.  I bought enough to feed the entire county.  This automated spreadsheet makes it easy to estimate how much you really need.  You simply plug in the number of people in your family and it will tell you how many 10 ft rows that you need to plant and how many ounces of seed or seedlings to buy.

How Much To Plant

Click here for the how-much-to-plant Spreadsheet

I hope that these spreadsheets will help you to start planning your garden and that they will save you money in the coming year.   Merry Christmas to all!

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by Mrs. Gemstone

Tis the season when people are spending money on Christmas right and left.  I have been touring the web and reading all of the Frugal Christmas posts.  Wow!  There are some frugal, thrifty and great ideas out there for every phase of the holiday season.

Frugal Gift Giving

by chatirygirl

Squawkfox not only has some frugal gifts but also some ideas for frugal gift wrapping.  I love the shopping bag idea and have been recycling gift bags for years.  She has some other inventive ideas too.

My Two Dollars has 5 Golden Rules to Follow During the Holiday Season.  I put it under gift giving because several of his rules have to do with gifts.

Moolanomy reminds us that there is more to giving than just gifts to friends and loved ones in 6 ways to give. No matter how tight your finances are, there is always someone who has less.  Let’s not forget that charity is a part of the holiday season as well.

Frugal Dad has a list of his favorite frugal gifts.  Some might surprise you and a couple I have added to my own personal wish list.  You might want to note that some of these are more frugal for the receiver than the giver.

Get RIch Slowly has a list of 34 great gifts you can make yourself.  This is a DIY dream come true.  I especially like the teacup candles but then I have a soft spot for pretty tea cups.

Broke Grad Student has a recipe for the best frugal Christmas gift.  It might turn out different for you but I love the ingredients.

MoneyNing has 32 Sensible tips for the holiday shopping season.  In the rush of the hoiday season, we often forget the simple, sensible things that we need to do.

Mrs Micah has some tips and warnings for giving the gift of a gift card.  In these trying economic times, it may be wise to heed her advice.

Bible Money Matters gives us 50 Frugal Gifts You Can Give This Christmas.  It’s a great list and includes something for just about everyone.

Holiday Finances

Which is what this whole article is about but these posts are specifically about finances over the holiday season.

Gather Little By Little has a post on 4 ways to be better prepared for NEXT holiday season.   The key to saving money is to plan ahead and it’s never too soon to start.

The Simple Dollar has a guest post by JD Roth from Get Rich Slowly about What children really want for Christmas.  This is a great reminder of what the really important things are during the holiday season.

Bible Money Matters has Christmas Budgeting Tips to help you avoid overspending. These are simple things that you can do that will save you money in the long run.

FruGal has some tips on how to Have Yourself A Very Frugal Christmas.  I especially like her suggestion to spend more time thinking and less time shopping

Frugal Holiday Decorations

by krisdecurtis

Pecuniarites has the most gorgeous Christmas decorations made from eggshells and if you have some left over and you need to wrap a small package, you can use the leftover shells.

Frugal Babe has the cutest homemade Christmas decorations. These small pillows are made from scraps of fabric.

Frugal Upstate has a list of articles on holiday decorations, crafts and gifts.  It’s quite a list.   She also has a list of frugal holiday traditions.  The lists are growing and you can add your own.

Not Made Of Money writes about how to keep the glitz but spare your money.  I am a big fan of candlelight and I have seen centerpieces made of shiny ornaments, a beautiful idea.

Christmas Traditions

by clspeace

Being Frugal has a video post on her favorite Christmas Tradition.  If you have children, this is an awesome idea for spending some quality time with them during the rush of the holiday season.

Frugal Right Here Right Now shares her family’s holiday Tradition of December Fridays.  It sounds like a great way to spend time with the family and keep the kids focused on the real value of the holiday season.

The Knit Farm incorporates a Christmas Elf in her holiday celebrations.  It seems like the kind of holiday tradition that her children will remember forever and pass down to their kids.

If you have a frugal holiday post and would like to have it included, just leave a comment below.  I will add it to the list.

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I have begun to make lists of things that I need to get accomplished each day.  First thing on my list today was to get this article written and carnival links.

Money Ning reminds everyone to SMILE in the Carnival of Personal Finance Smile Edition.  Lots of great articles, many with holiday cooking and shopping tips.  Be sure to check it out.

Aching Debts was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning at Personal Financial Planning Blog Directory.  It is a smaller carnival but has some great articles.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I will be back on Monday with a personal announcement.  I’ve been putting it off but I think it’s time to share it with my readers.

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While you are there be sure to check out some of my personal favorites:

There are some tips on how YOU can save the US Economy at Smart Money Life.  It’s time we took some of the responsibility for the state of the economy and quit pushing the blame around.  We all contributed.

Broke Grad Student has multiple pages of Deepest Darkest Financial Secrets post card style.  Gosh, these made me feel pretty good about my own financial secrets.  I don’t hold a candle to some of these!

If you are a granola person, there is a great guide to making your own granola at Interesting Money. We used to make homemade granola when I was a kid and it was SO much better than the store bought variety.  The initial costs are a little higher than what you would buy in the store but the costs go down as you make more.

Curt at Penny Jobs has an interesting commentary on the economic situation.  His article on The End of Capitalism as We Know It is worth reading.  Certainly made me go ‘hmmmmmm’.

And to end on a positive note, check out Squawkfox‘s article on her readers 3 Best Financial Decisions.  Make sure to read the comments as there are lots of interesting ones!

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Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has a post on Four Day Work Weeks.  It’s an interesting concept and the comments are varied on it.  This is something that I have been thinking about implementing at the grooming shop.  Gas has gone up enough that it doesn’t pay me to come to work if I don’t have several dogs to groom and making my days a little longer would not be a problem.  My biggest challenge is with scheduling the customers.  I have to work around their schedules and that makes any consistent days off a problem.  I have worked four ten hour days before and love the schedule.

Squawkfox has a neat article on 10 FREE ways to get into fitness this summer.  Gardening is my pick but then I like the fact that I get to eat the rewards too so I need the exercise.

Being Frugal is writing about Hypermilling.  Ok, this was a new one on me.  I had never heard the term but apparently it means the practice of extreme maximizing of your gas mileage including putting your car in neutral when possible.  I read up a little bit about hypermilling at EcoTrekker’s Ultimate Guide to Hypermilling.

I don’t usually link to a round up but Gather Little By Little has some great posts listed in his Friday gathering this week.  Check them all out but here are my favorites.

• The Wisdom Journal 10 Commitments to make for Financial Success.
• Frugal Dad Identifying the Why in becoming debt free.
• One Caveman’s Financial Journey writes Credit Cards are Evil

Mrs. Micah has a great post on Sleeping without Air Conditioning.  I have actually found that putting a window fan blowing out does as much to cool the room as the A/C.  With temperatures where I live falling into the mid 60s at night, the outside air is cool and comfortable but humid and I don’t want it blowing on me all night.

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac troubles, Burnham’s Beat has a great explanation to what Fannie and Freddie actually do in Fannie Mae’s Golden Goose: A Lesson In Moral Hazard

Check out Bible Money Matters post on How to Make A Million Dollars.  It’s an oldie but goodie!

That’s all I have time for today but look for more next week!

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