You can of course spend a lot of money on individual make up tools, depending on where you buy them, but I’m quite happy with the ones I’ve gotten through e.l.f. cosmetics. They’re durable and fit well into my frugal girl budget with prices as low as $1 per brush!

e.l.f. Kits. Not sure where to start? Buy a predesigned Makeup Kit at EyesLipsFace.com

The above links are affiliate links, which means I will earn a few cents if you purchase something from those links. I do indeed use e.l.f. cosmetics (and a couple of brushes) myself and the opinions expressed are my own. I was not paid to write this post.

First thing – an apology. This Festival of Frugality post should have been up yesterday morning, but as always seems to be the way, things went wrong at the worst possible moment. (Although my boychild reminds me, there’s never a good moment for things to break or go wrong.)

My computer decided that Monday evening was a great time to come down with the flu. Or in this case, a nasty virus that had my computer locked up tight for a while. Several hours, and a brand new install of Windows later all seemed to be fine. Back on track I could get the post completed and up by end of day yesterday. Or so I thought. Again, Murphy’s Law laughed at my puny attempts and decided that it was a great time to knock out the cable for nearly 24 hours so that I had no internet. Ok, so I don’t know that it was Murphy – it might have been the construction guys that happen to be replacing the elevators in my building and fixing the roof after the heavy rain this week. And maybe one of those guys is named Murphy. Either way… here we are with a late, but packed-to-the-brim with great stuff, Festival of Frugality #307.

Onward!

Christmas

• Miranda at PTMoney.com has some great finance-oriented gift ideas for kids – 10 Fantastic Financial Christmas Gifts Ideas for Children.
• Marie decks the halls with Five Budget Christmas Decorating Ideas.
• Amanda suggests you Create Memories with 6 Inexpensive Experience Gifts.
• Money is the Root dares you to Challenge Your Holiday Gift Giving Traditions.
• The Holidays don’t have to blow your budget – 9 Ways to Save Money on Christmas Gifts.
• Lisa at Cents to Save updates us on the $500 Holiday Challenge.
• Some great tips from Hank with 7 Ways Not To Go Into Debt This Christmas.
• Miranda has 3 Tips for Giving Cards This Holiday Season.
• Marie has advice on How to Make Money From Unwanted Gift Cards.
• Ever struggle with what to buy for those impossible-to-buy-for people? Shopping Detox has some answers.

Extravagance

• Shawanda discusses justifying extravagances with $36,000 a Year for Private School and Other Reasonable, Ridiculous Ways to Spend over at You Have More Than You Think.
• Corey ponders Does Cheap Perfume Exist? at 20′s Finances.
• Jason suggests we pull the plug - Five Ways to Save Money on Cable.
• Squirrelers has a few ideas on Saving Money on Watching Movies.
• Jon the Saver gives us 11 rules to Save Big with an Entertainment Book.
• Free By 50 suggests you Consider Waiting Until Summer to Buy Entertainment Books.

Travel

• Boomer & Echo discusses Air Mile Travel: Redeeming for Flights.
• Traveling Abroad? John at Wallet Blog explains how using credit cards can actually save you on currency exchange when you travel.
• Pam helps us Plan a Budget Friendly Getaway.

Home Sweet Home

Everything Else

• How to Make Your Own Clothes – a great primer from Prairie EcoThrifter.
• Frugality Gone Bad? Ashley learns that sometimes frugality can go wrong, oops!
• The Frugal Toad defines the CPI – Consumer Price Index as part of a Finance for Dummies series.
• 7 (More) Weird Things in Your Trash Worth Cash ties in nicely with my electronics woes this week.
• Alex suggests some Cheap Activities To Do With Your Kids When It’s Raining.
• Lazy Man and Money breaks down both the good and the bad of Republic Wireless’ $19 a Month Unlimited Android Plan.
• What’s the cost of convenience? Save Money on Food by Buying at a Grocery Store Instead of a Drugstore.
• Control Your Cash answers some financial questions.
• These 23 Powerful Tips and Tools to Eliminate Debt will show you how to get to know your debt and create a debt repayment plan.
• Chris discusses how not all coupon sites are created equal with Deal Websites That Actually Help You Save.
• Jacob suggests you start’m young – Important Money Skills to Teach Your Children.
• Melissa explains The Three Best Financial Moves You Can Make For Your Child.
• Have you started saving for your child’s education? How to Save For A Child’s Education will guide you.
• Roshawn asks What You Would Do Differently?
• Financial Highway gives us 45 Ways to Save Money on the highway to financial freedom.
• Is Income Disparity Good? Darwin explains why it is.
• Matt shows why spending a little time shopping around can save you money.
• Hannah explains how she graduated with a surplus.
• Barbara discusses being frugal and green with cloth napkins.
• Mama Squirrel offers a toast to hard times.
• D.J. has Ten Tips on Saving on Winter Clothing.

The Night Before

• Do a quick tidy up.
• Set the table and get out any serving dishes, small appliances and utensils you will need.
• Arrange a fresh bowl of fruit and nuts (don’t forget the nutcracker!) as a centerpiece on the table.
• Gather all non-perishable food items you’ll need tomorrow and place somewhere easy to reach but not in the way.
• Move anything that needs to thaw from the freezer to the fridge.
• Mix 1 can (16 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce with 1 well drained can (8 ounces) mandarin oranges and 1 well drained can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple. Cover and refrigerate.

One Hour Before Dinner

• Heat oven to 350F
• Into a greased, shallow baking dish empty 2 packages (16 ounces each) of frozen mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, brussels sprouts, etc.). Top with a package of seasoned bread crumbs combined with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and dot with butter or margarine. Cover and place in oven.
• Drain one large (40 ounce) can of yams or sweet potatoes. In a deep, well greased casserole dish, mash the yams with 1/4 cup each maple syrup and orange juice, 2 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon each nutmeg and salt. Cover and place in oven.
• Stack turkey slices cut 1/4 to 1/2 thick from the deli in the middle of a large, well buttered, sheet of foil. Rub some dried sage onto each slice. Wrap well in the buttered foil, place in a shallow baking dish and place in oven.
• Prepare 1 package of instant mashed potatoes using package directions either on stove top or in microwave.
• Prepare one package of stove top style stuffing following package directions either on stove or in microwave.
• Mix and heat 2 cans (12 ounces) of turkey or chicken gravy.
• Toss 1 package of packaged mixed greens salad with diced fresh tomato, apple and cucumber.

10 Minutes Before Dinner

• Uncover vegetable dish and return to oven to let brown.
• Stir finely snipped chives into mashed potatoes.
• Serve salad along with 2 or 3 bottled salad dressings and bread or rolls.

To Serve Dinner

• Place cranberry sauce in small dish on table.
• Spoon the mashed potatoes and the yams into serving bowls and bring to table.
• Arrange turkey slices in middle of a large platter, spooning any juices from foil over top. Then spoon some gravy over top of turkey. Put remaining gravy in a gravy boat or other serving dish and bring the gravy to the table.
• Arrange the stuffing on one side of the turkey on the large platter and the vegetables on the other side. Garnish with a few sprigs of parsley and bring to table.

Finish off with a pumpkin pie and some iced cream.

There we are, dinner is served!

Happy Thanksgiving!



photo by SanFranAnnie via Flickr