Penny Pinchin' Home Page
This is the place for frugal, penny pinching hints for saving money on food, clothing, kid stuff, weddings, holidays and just about everything else!
When we met (over 12 years ago!) one of the things we liked best about each other was that we both subscribed to Benjamin Franklin's theory that "A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned". Since then we've spent many happy hours, but not much money, in bargain hunting activities. In 1998 we faced the big challenge of planning a wedding that wouldn't break the bank (and we did it...click on "Our Wedding Budget" for the details). We are constantly adding new ideas so be sure to put us in your bookmarks and come back often!
Recently we've had a few emails from people wondering how to subscribe to our "newsletter". I assume that because the name of our website is "Ron and Debbie's Penny Pinching Page" people get the impression that we have a newsletter to sell. We are not here to sell anything...all information in this website is free. We do not accept advertising of any kind and any links to commercial sites are there because we feel that the site or product is frugal or useful to our readers.
What's New on the Penny Pinchin' Page?
If you have been here before you'll notice that we have a whole new look. We hope this will make it easier to navigate and read the information in the site. This major renovation was done in May & June of 2005 so all ideas sent up until then have been added, links have been checked, etc. We also added a new yard and garden section.
We try to add new things regularly. If we are close to a particular holiday (Christmas or Halloween) we try to add new suggestions sent by readers asap. If you send an idea it will not always appear quickly since I have a real job, 2 active grandchildren, elderly parents next door and lots of housework and gardening to do and can only work on the site in my free time.
Besides reading our page and surfing the web there are lots of books and publications out there to help you with frugality. Here is a small list to get you started:
- "Miserly Moms" by Jonni McCoy: This book will be helpful to the beginning Frugalista whether she is a Mom or not. We really liked the cost comparison charts that show you the difference in price between the brand name item, the generic equivalent and the homemade version. It also has equivalency charts, substitution tables, menu plans and some great frugal recipes. Most of the suggestions in the book are fairly easy to do and the author doesn't suggest any of the more extreme sorts of frugality such as "dumpster diving". For more information about the book and some frugal links you can visit the Miserly Moms Website.
- "The Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn: In 1990 Amy started a newsletter which grew in ciculation to 100,000 subscribers within 2 years. She no longer publishes the newsletter but her sage advice has been collected in three books called (appropriately) "The Tightwad Gazette I, II, and III". Many libraries have these books in their collections and they are available at most large bookstores. Recently the 3 books along with some additional tips have been compiled into one book called "The Complete Tightwad Gazette".
- "Bridal Bargains" by Denise and Alan Fields: If you're planning a wedding you really need this book! It has tons of interesting information about the bridal industry and suggestions for ways to have a nice wedding without spending a fortune. The Field's have also published several other books including one specifically about bridal attire and one about baby stuff. Their website, also called "Bridal Bargains" features letters from real brides and grooms and the latest info on their books.
- "F.A.D.E.S." which stands for Freebies and Deals Email Service. The Internet is full of freebies and deals but most of them GO FAST! If you have no time to search around and find them or no idea of even where to look this service is for you. Lisa Fox-Wise will find them for you! She charges a small monthly fee but it is worth it if you like free stuff. I have received two keyboards, many t-shirts, hats, stickers, cookbooks, coupons for free items at the grocery store and many other things. She also lets you know where the good clearance sales are and coupon codes to go with them which often let you get quality items to keep or give as gifts for little more than the shipping and handling fee. Email fades@comcast.net or visit her website for info.