In honor of Fright Night on Friday, this week’s Festival of Frugality pays homage to famous Halloween monsters. Enjoy!

Editor’s Picks:

Naturally Frugal shares some ideas for saving money by taking proper care of your body, possessions and the environment. It really is true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Finding Financial Peace presents a guide to making after-holiday sales work for you. With a little advanced planning, you can get some great deals on holiday items for next year.

Sound Money Matters shares 7 homemade Christmas gifts that don’t suck. These are great ideas for cutting holiday gift expenses without cutting important people from your list.

Christian Personal Finance tested whether driving slower increases gas mileage. The results are pretty amazing.

Money Ning questions whether buying in bulk really saves money or just ends up costing you more. Definitely an interesting perspective.

Frugal Living

The Part-Time Life conserves water and saves $180 a year by taking advantage of her city’s low-usage rate. Definitely worth checking to see if your city offers a program like this.

Economic Crunch offers tips for cheap eats at work. Lunches out are a drain on your wallet and your health. These are some great tips for avoiding it.

Financial Tales shares a fun story about teaching young people the value of frugality by explaining how much their monthly Starbucks expense could grow if invested.

Higher Education Weblog offers a lengthy list of tips for cutting discretionary expenses. This is a great place to start if you’re just getting into frugality.

Monroe on a Budget shares frugal living tasks you can do while waiting for your kids at dance class. It’s always a good idea to be productive, right?

Miss Thrifty offers a glowing endorsement for Freecycle. I’ve never tried it, but this post certainly makes me want to.

Think Your Way to Wealth shares some great tips for saving money on pet expenses. Pets can definitely be expensive, and these are some practical ideas for cutting the costs.

Frugal Fu passes along a link to the $2 challenge, which asks the question, “Could you eat on $2 a day?”

Saving Advice offers tips on how to live like a “freegan” — someone who only pays for things when he absolutely can’t find a way to get them free. There are tips in here for everyone, even if you’re not that extreme.

FIRE Finance provides a practical guide for generic prescription drugs. I honestly don’t understand why anyone would buy the pricier brand name drugs if there’s a generic available.

Financial Wellness Project writes about 6 lessons from a frugal past. I think we’ve all developed our frugal habits from past experiences, whether they were positive or negative.

Engineer a Debt Free Life finds enough food to make 29 meals just by going through the pantry. Amazing what you’ll find in there once you start organizing.

Nature Mom’s Blog shares a review and thoughts on the book, “America’s Cheapest Family.” I haven’t read the book yet, but it looks like it’s full of helpful tips.

Home

Master Your Card presents the benefits of renting. People are in such a hurry to buy a home, but I agree with this post. There are some great benefits to renting until you can afford to buy a home the right way.

Condo Blues shares a handy tip for making moth repelling lavendar sachets. These natural pest repellants are frugal, easy, and environmentally friendly.

Passive Family Income offers tips for decorating with tropical plants the frugal way. Plants really are an inexpensive way to beautify your home. If only I could keep them alive!

On a Quest to be Debt Free shares some ideas for frugal, easy bedroom makeovers. I could definitely use some help with this myself!

Funny about Money shares tips for winter gardening. I’ve had some bad luck with gardening in the past, but maybe these tips will help me out!

Frugal Pursuit is also thinking gardening. She shares her own frugal tips for autumn gardening.

HowToMe shares a delicious recipe for banana cake “so good it doesn’t even need frosting.” Yum!

Budgeting, Saving, and Investing

Budgets are Sexy asks, “Do you feel guilty for using your emergency fund?” I would definitely be hesitant to move money from my emergency fund, but that’s what it’s there for, right?

Raag Vamdatt shares a guide for auto sweep facility investing for higher-interest savings. Seems like a great way to earn a higher interest on your liquid savings.

Shark Investor offers timeless tips for successful investing even in a down economy.

Career

Free Money Finance discusses the importance of job interview preparation and practice. You can never be too prepared for a job interview, especially in this economy.

Debt

FruGal asks, “Is there such a thing as good debt?” Personally, I think there’s only bad debt (credit cards, etc.) and tolerable debt (such as mortgages). But I’d rather avoid debt all together.

Ask Mr. Credit Card reviews “The Complete Guide to Credit Repair.” Seems like a good read for those in need of help with bad credit.

Miscellaneous Money Matters

Living Almost Large explores the pros and cons of contracts. I agree with this post; as long as both parties understand the terms of the contract, then it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it can certainly be a hassle.

I hope you all enjoyed Festival of Frugality #149! If your post was included, please remember to link back within the next week.

Happy Halloween!