The internet brings the world to our fingertips and makes enjoying life while saving money easier than ever. It provides instant access to a slew of free entertainment options that cost … nothing. OK, nothing except for the high-speed internet service needed to truly maximize your enjoyment potential.

Below you will find some of my personal favorites for frugal, free entertainment and fun:

Free Music

Pandora – Intelligent internet radio that only plays songs that you like. Simply create your own station and select an artist and Pandora will begin playing songs by that artist. It will then gradually songs by other similar artists. You can give each song a “thumbs up” (like it) or a “thumbs down” (don’t like it) and it will keep playing the ones you like and it will never again play the songs that you don’t like. There’s now a 40 hour monthly limit for the free music. You can pay a small fee for unlimited access, but why do that where there are other free music options that you can enjoy.

Last.fm – While similar to Pandora in terms of tracking what you like, this site is truly global and available in 12 languages. It also adds a social networking and peer-to-peer community component as it’s all powered by the community of listeners.

Grooveshark – Another free internet radio service with no limits on the number of hours you can listen to for free. This is great if you only want to listen to a certain artist or album. Based on what you search for it will return all the songs available by that artist and then you simply hit play. You can create playlists and favorite certain songs.

Free Television

Hulu – Just an amazing free entertainment destination. You can watch last nights shows from many popular channels, you can get caught up on an entire season in one sitting, and even watch great movies. All for free, all from your computer.

Free Books

Scribd – A reading social community where you can see what others are reading, and download from a ton of selections –free books, magazines, newspapers, how-to guides and more.  You can also upload your own ebooks, and documents for instant publishing.

Check out 17 Best Websites to Download Free eBooks for more great sites for free reading.

Free Photography

Snapfish – Lets you share pictures with friends and family members for free. When you register you receive 20 free photo prints, and if you want more they are very affordable. You can also create lots of great homemade gifts with your pictures. While not free, the sentimental value far outweighs the costs when you give gifts from the heart.

Free E-cards

Someecards – While I do love receiving cards in the mail, with the rising postage costs and the ridiculous price of greeting cards, ecards are a super way to save money. Someecards is not your run-of-the-mill ecard site. These are hilarious and yes, sometimes off-color. But, if you want a good laugh and are looking for something a bit off-beat when balloons and puppy dogs just won’t do … then this ecard site is for you.

Wrongcards – The name says it all — funny, free ecards that are wrong for every occasion. Again, if you don’t have a sense of humor … don’t bother.

Free Games

Yahoo Games – A favorite for online versions of popular board games like Monopoly, Scrabble and Chess, to brain games,  video games and more. Lots of free games and free trial versions of games to play without needing to purchase.

When All Else Fails

Bored.com – The place to go when you are bored silly — games, videos, humor, quizzes and blogs. It’s a mecca of silly stuff to pass the day away.

Amazon Kindle

eBooks are all the rage and will continue to grow as portable eBook Readers become more sophisticated, competition heats up and prices come down.Kindle, The Barnes and Nobel Nook, Sony Reader and now the iPad are the most sought after with other more affordable options continuing to come to market.

Check out a quick eBook Reader Review to get all the specs and price comparisons. Don’t despair, if you don’t want to invest in a reader, you can easily read on your computer or laptop. With portability comes a plethora of FREE eBook options sure to educate, entertain and enlighten.

Below is a list of 17 best websites to download free eBooks from over 40 that were identified and reviewed by Living Frugal Tips. They are conveniently organized by general content areas for easy searching.

17 Best Websites to Download Free eBooks:

Beyond Just eBooks

PDFoo – An enormous list of categorized pdfs – from ebooks to recipe sheets and the biggest selection of eMagazines that I’ve seen.

Broad Range of Topics

Bookyards – Over 800,000 ebook and a ton of ways to search for what you’re looking for.

eBook 3000 – A great mix of topics – cooking, diet, sports, art, history, novels, magazines and more.

eBooks Directory – Food, wine, non-fiction, outdoors and even children’s books.

ebooks Download Free – Variety of categories from business to computer and fiction.

Free Book Spot – A huge variety of dictionaries, encyclopedias, kids, do-it-yourself, and several languages available.

Free eBooks – A great site that very professional, well organized and categories galore.

Get Free eBooks – Something for everyone.

Many Books – The biggest selection of ebooks in different languages — over 35 languages and growing.

Classics

Planet PDF - A wonderful selection of all the old classics – Oliver Twist, Paradise Lost … the list goes on.

Computer and Educational

Free Book Centre – Computer, physics, engineering, medical and even math.

eBook Share – A strange mix of software training and magazines.

ebooks Space – Focus on computer software training, and web design and programming.

FreeC omputer Books – All computer stuff.

Free eBooks Download – A coders dream.

Government and Legislature

Ask Sam – The interesting twist is the government reports, presidential debates, State of the Unions, budget reports, even The Constitution.

Social Book Community

Scribd - A reading social community where you can see what others are reading, download and upload your stuff.

Living Frugal Tips loves free and there are no excuses to read till your hearts content with these 17 best websites to download free ebooks. Knowledge is a wonderful thing and reading fuels that.

If we encounter a man of rare intellect,
we should ask him what books he reads.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

The good old-fashioned ice cube tray is becoming increasingly scarce in most homes since the advent of the automatic ice cube maker. I actually had the need for an ice cube tray and picked up two for less than a dollar each.

My initial need came about a few months back with the approaching winter season and the need to pick the lemons and limes off my trees before an overnight freeze hit. With bags of citrus I then proceed to juice them and pour them into the trays to make cubes. Once frozen I put the lemon cubes and lime cubes into big Ziploc bags and have used them for months.

I have since found many creative uses for ice cube trays that I wanted to share:

Make Lemon Cubes

• Juice your lemons, freeze them in the trays and then store in a Ziploc bag. Add a cube to your ice tea for fresh lemon taste.

• Place a cube or two to a Ziploc bag with pork or chicken, add a few drizzles of olive oil and salt and pepper and marinate meat. Cube will melt slowly as in the refrigerator, or if meat is frozen it will melt as the meat defrosts.

• Make a homemade salad dressing with olive oil, lemon and garlic — 1 cup of olive oil, 1-2 lemon cubes, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and salt and pepper.

Make Lime Cubes

• If you like a fresh lime wedge in a cold beer or with a Gin and Tonic, or Coke, for example, you can simply add a lime cube. It’s great because not only does it add great fresh lime flavor, but it keeps the drink cold too.

Organize Jewelery

• Another creative use for ice cube trays are great to organized your earrings by placing one set in each cube. And, because they are so flat they easily fit in vanity or dresser drawers.

Organize Craft Beads

• Sort different colors and sizes in each cube area.

Workbench Organizer

• Organize different sized nuts and bolts each in their own little cube area. You can place in your workbench drawer or on top of the work bench for easy access.

Seed Starter

• Place a little dirt and one seed in each cube and use to start growing your seeds. Once plants have formed they can then easily be planted in the ground or in larger pots.

Make Frugal Frosty Paws Ice Cream (Cubes)

• You can read my post on this — Frugal Frosty Paws Ice Cream Recipe for Fido. Dogs love them and they are quick and easy to make.

Make Popsicles

• Pour your favorite juice into the tray cover with saran wrap and then take popsicle sticks or tooth picks and poke a whole int he saran wrap and place one in each cube.

Freeze Foods

• Freeze egg whites if you make a recipe only requiring the yolks.

• Freeze stocks such as chicken stock for later use in recipes.

Use as a Mold

• More creative uses for ice cube trays — they can be used for candy or soap molds.

I hope that you find these Living Frugal Tips and creative uses for ice cube trays useful. I so love when one little product can be used and reused so many different ways.

Please share any other ways you use ice cube trays — just add a comment.

Communications is an increasing part of most household budgets. Between home phones, mobile phones, internet access, and cable TV service, the dollars add up quickly.While it’s hard to imagine doing without, minimizing certainly maximizes  savings.

Calling all super-savers, here are a few easy ways to lower phone bill and save money on phone service:

1.  Drop the Landline

As of this week we are officially among the 20% of U.S. households that have dropped their landline phone service and are now only using wireless. For us, that’s a savings of $39.00 per month for a single line and basic phone service. We did not use our landline for long distance, so the savings could certainly be higher depending on your local rates, plans, and usage.

Dropping land line phone service is an increasing trend with the mobile explosion and mobile online revolution that’s upon us that brings  instant access and constant connectivity.

In addition to saving money, the other big benefit is no phone solicitors. We can get through dinner with out the bothersome sales calls, phone surveys and charities asking for money. There’s also less clutter around the house without all the phones and answering machine taking up space.

2.  Review Your Mobile Service Needs and Adjust Your Plan Accordingly

It’s important to review your current mobile plan and how many minutes you use on a monthly basis to ensure that you have the right plan to meet your needs. You do NOT want to go over on monthly minuets because the fees they smack you with for that are huge. You also don’t want to leave a bunch of unused minutes on the table if you don’t have a rollover plan. Long and short, look at the past 6 – 12 months of minutes used and adjust your plan accordingly.

Also check if your service provider has made enhancements to the plan you are currently on. For example, we are with Verizon and can call Verizon to Verizon at no charge in terms of minutes used. They now offer a Friends and Family Pick 10 feature where we can call 10 numbers and not use minutes and these can include out-of -network and landline phone numbers.

The important point is that the new features may be available to you without changing your package, but you need to ask about them to activate them.

3.  Consider Pre-Paid Cellular Service for Low Rates and Fixed Costs

This is a great option if you don’t use your cell phone that often or want one just for emergency purposes. Or, if you want your child to have one, but want to seriously limit there usage. While there are a number of providers that offer pre-paid service, I am going to recommend the provider that my father-in-law has used for the past few years. He is the most frugal man I know and does tons of research on everything before committing to anything. As a result, his recommendations are always great!

He uses AirVoice Express and has been very pleased with them for the past two years. He has the 700 minutes per year plan for $70 ($.07 per minute) which more than suits his low usage cell phone needs. They have several other options

4.  Use an Internet Phone Provider

Free is a wonderful thing and Skype offers free Skype-to-Skype calls and video calls via the internet. There is no charge when making calls to all your friends and family members that also have the free Skype service and this includes calls to other countries. You can’t beat that. It’s super easy to get started — basically 5 minutes to download and set up and you are in business. The quality and clarity is really good and the video component is great as you can see who you are talking too.

5.  Bundle It Up

If a landline is a must then check and see if your phone, internet or cable provider offers the option to bundle services for a reduced monthly rate. Companies now offer phone and internet through one provider or you can get a “triple play” and bundle your cable television too. But, never assume that the bundle will be the cheapest way to go. Do your homework and shop around.

6.  Ask About Special Offers

Also make a point to see if your phone provider offers special lower rates for calls made during certain days and time (ie. nights and weekends) as this is another way to lower phone bill.

7.  Shop Around

It’s always important to shop around and compare prices for available providers. This applies to home and cellular service. For example, for home phone service I can use Embarq, Comcast and Vonage in my area. They each offer different rates and package deals for ways to save money.

Please share other ways to lower phone bill and save money on phone service.

With the sluggish job market it’s critical to stay current in your career field and to continue to learn, grow and add new skills so that you remain on the leading edge at your current job. And, if you are unemployed, learning new skills will certainly make you more marketable and perhaps even open up new career doors to explore.

Knowledge is power. Embrace that.

To help you in your life-long quest for knowledge there are a mind-blowing number of highly respected universities that are now offering free online courses, assignments, and lectures via streaming video, podcasts, and lecture notes that are available for download.

iTunes U — Amazing Brain-Power at Your Fingertips

Simply head on over to iTunes U where you will find over 600 colleges with active  iTunes U sites — including Stanford, Yale, MIT, Oxford, and UC Berkeley that distribute their content publicly on the iTunes Store. You can learn about the Galapagos Islands, how to start a business, learn Spanish, how to write fiction … the list goes on and on. To begin expanding your brainpower simply review the available courses and lectures and download your selections.

Of course you need to have the iTunes software that you can download here.

Once you’ve got the software installed, simply go to the iTunes Store and then click on the iTunes U tab to begin browsing all the life-long learning opportunities for K-12, colleges, and in the Beyond Campus section you’ll find even more brain-power goodness from museums, public libraries and more.

Also, for the ultimate in portable learning these can be viewed on iPods and on iPhones. Awesome!!

Top Colleges Offering Free Online Courses:

Here are some direct links to noteworthy colleges offering free online courses. A few require a simple email registration, but that’s it. Most don’t even require that. Below is a short list of some of the most renowned colleges and universities that offer free online courses.

• Berklee College of Music
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Gresham College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• New York University
• Open University (United Kingdom)
• Stanford University
• Tufts University
• University of California at Berkeley
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Washington
• Utah State University
• Utah Valley State College
• Vanderbilt University
• Yale University

Academic Earth

Another resource for free online courses is AcademicEarth.org. They have a much smaller selection of courses, but they do focus on top schools. Just another option to explore.

Life-long learning is an important and amazing thing, and with free online courses and technology at your fingertips … there are no excuses.

Power up, stretch your skills and be amazing!

Mobile internet usage is going through a global explosion and a mobile online revolution has begun. Instant access to everything is maximizing time and convenience and it’s putting consumers (us) in control. Smart brands are capitalizing on this with endless creative ways to help us make the most of our day-to-day lives.

From tracking your pizza delivery, to finding nearby music gigs and scouting out the best bathrooms around town … there’s an app for that.

Here are 10 free apps to save time and help you find more fun in your life. They are worth checking out and can improve your operational efficiencies and help you have a heck of a good time!

Get Fit

1.  Total Fit – New Balance developed an online run tracking app powered by MapMyRun. Users can view running routes, exercise history and fitness levels. You can also have fun connecting with other runners.

Food and Fun!

2.  Domino’s Pizza Tracker – Track your pizza order from preparation through to delivery via a web interface.

3.  Wine Finder – The first visual search app. Take a picture of a bottle of wine and the app recognizes any wine in the retailer’s database from the picture of the label. It will then provide loads of information and recommends wines based on price, origin and even suggests foods that compliment the wine.

4.  Whole Foods Market – A free recipe app that includes nutritional information and lets users know what ingredients are on sale in store. You can also share favorite recipes with friends.

5.  Gig Finder – Beck’s Beer developed an app to help users find local music gigs. With a map and GPS interface, users can see where they are in relation to the gigs.

6.  City Tours – Developed by Google labs this uses Google Maps to offer suggested walking tours in cities around the world. Cultural spots, parks and seanic areas are mapped out for you.

7.  Priceless Picks – Developed by Mastercard, this app allows users to share their favorite hot spots and deals they find. They are then displayed on an interactive map so that others can browse them.

Save Time with This Useful Stuff

8.  ColorSnap – For the designer in all of us, this app allows consumers to match the color of a photo taken on their iPhone with over 1,500 colors listed in the Sherwin-Williams paint database.

9.  SitOrSquat – From the makers of Charmin toilet paper, you can now easily find bathrooms, changing tables, disability access and other amenities when you’re on the go. Users can even add content to the database and offer feedback on their favorite “facilities”.

10.  Mastercard’s ATM Hunter – Find the nearest ATMs by entering your location or using built-in GPS functionality. Track down your provider to avoid the useless out-of-network service fees.

Bonus:

Weather Channel – Local of Global, get up to the minute weather with future radar, severe weather center, beach conditions and more.

If none of these struck your fancy, then go right to the sources and check out all the apps they’ve got:

• iPhone App Store
• Google’s Android Market
• Blackberry’s App World

With these 10 free apps to save time we have services at our fingertips. No excuses, we should definitely be able to spend less time on the tasks of life so that we can have more time for the fun stuff!

Power on to fun!

My super tech-savvy family and friends are always turning me on to great free tech-tools and free software products. Below are a few favorites that will enable you create a virtual office accessible from anywhere, produce mind-blowing spreadsheets, database files, graphics and presentations that will wow and impress. Not to mention free ways to communicate with friends, family and co-workers and keep track of all your thoughts, ideas, musings and must-dos. All for FREE.

Log me In — Get Connected

Here’s another free software product that provides you with remote access to your personal computer (PC or Mac). You can access your personal computer from a remote location over the web or you can access your desktop from your iPhone from wherever you are. It even provides virtual networking capabilities.

Open Office Org — Produce Gobs of Work

This is a great suite of free software products that can do the job and replace Microsoft Office. It’s free for anyone to use and distribute, it’s compatible with Microsoft Office files, and it works cross-platform on both PC’s and Macs. Included in the free software bundle:

• Writer (word processor) — Used for creating letters, books, reports, newsletters, brochures, and other documents. You can insert graphics, export files and it also connects to your email.
• Calc (spreadsheet) — Great for analysis, charting and spreadsheets. It includes over 300 functions for financial, statistical, and mathematical operations.
• Impress (presentations) — Provides all the common multimedia presentation tools, such as special effects, animation, and drawing tools.
• Draw (vector graphics) — A vector drawing tool that can produce everything from simple diagrams or flowcharts to 3-D artwork. Draw can import graphics from many common formats and save them in over 20 formats including PNG, HTML, PDF, and Flash.
• Base (database) – Base provides tools for day-to-day database work.
• Math (formula editor) –  Math is OOo’s formula or equation editor.

Google Talk – Communicate and Keep in Touch

With Google Talk you can text chat and share quick instant messages, status updates and even transfer files. There is also a voice chat capability that allows for free long distance PC-to-PC calls to anywhere in the world and audio conferencing. A great free tech-tool with everything you need to communicate.

Evernote — Keep Track of It All

A virtual notebook to keep track of all your thoughts, ideas, musings and must-dos. Jot it down, organize it and then find it fast. No more hunting down post-it notes or writing on the backs of napkins. Instead, create notes right from Twitter, take pictures of things you want to remember, even clip pages right from websites for later reading. Oh, and it’s free too.

With all this great free technology and free software there are no excuses for not being highly productive and organized.

Please share other free software and connectivity tools.

Power on!

Lisa

Believe it or not Spring Break vacation season is officially in full swing. It’s hard to believe given the cold temperatures everywhere. Regardless of the weather it seemed fitting to talk about planning a “vacation” and the latest trend is actually a “staycation”. We are actually planning a staycation ourselves for next month and are super excited about it. They are very on trend now given the current hard economic times and a number of different trend reports that I subscribe to are all talking about it with the upcoming Spring Break vacations and then peak Summer vacation time quickly approaching.

For those not in the loop, a staycation is basically a vacation where you stay at home and relax or take day trips from your home to area attractions. Common activities of a staycation include use backyard activities, neighboring parks, beaches, museums, festivals and the like. There are all sorts of benefits and great ideas about how to vacation at home so I thought that I’d share just a few:

Benefits of a Staycation

• Less expensive than a travel vacation — no lodging and minimal travel, dining and attraction prices. “The American Automobile Association said the average North American vacation will cost $244 per day for two people for lodging and meals… add some kids and airfare, and a 10-day vacation could top $10,000″.

• Less stressful — preparing to get away for a vacation can be stressful, so can traveling with young children, packing, and airport delays.

• Better nights sleep — you can sleep in your own bed versus a hotel bed if you take day trips.

• Decompression is possible — You can truly decompress with less stress and a good night sleep for 7 days. This is wonderful, as we’ve all had the vacations where we feel like we need another vacation just to rest after we return.

• Boosts your local economy — by staying close to home and spending money on attraction, dining and shopping, you benefit your local area.

Planning the Best Staycation Ever

• Schedule a beginning and end date. Make it feel like a real vacation with departing and arrival dates.

• Declare a “choratorium.” I love this idea. No chores. You’re on vacation. (I’ll have to see if I can talk my husband into this one).

• Unplug. Try going the week without the cellphone, texting, emailing and all the other forms of hyper-connection.

• Shake it up and live “freestyle” for the week. Get rid of the schedule. During a typical week we are so structured and our lives are so scheduled to get it all done, but on vacation we let go of that (a little or a lot depending on the person) and do different things. Sleep in late if you’re normally up at the crack of dawn, eat brunch instead breakfast, tick of an item on your bucket list.

• Create an at home/hotel experience. Do all those little things you do in a hotel — have breakfast in bed, take a hot bath, turn down your bed and set chocolates on the pillow for your spouse or kids, curl up in a cozy rob, set little luxurious lotions on the bathroom counter, watch TV in bed … I think you get the point. This is very important to set the mood and atmosphere and capture the true vacation feeling.

• Set aside souvenir money. We are talking a modest amount here of course, but set aside some fun-money for staycation souvenirs or little day excursions. Remember, this site is about living (not deprivation).

• Plan things to do. Make a list of activities and plan something fun daily to get you out of the house. Check out 50 Frugal Fun Ideas for a Bored-Silly Saturday to get the fun-juices flowing. Or 14 Ways to Pass the Day Trapped Inside for even more stay-at-home fun ideas.

• Capture your experiences. Take videos and pictures just like you would do if you were on vacation somewhere far away. Then, post them on Facebook for all to see. Or keep a vacation journal of everything you did through the week.

In this hurried, crazed world that we live in, vacations are critically important times for us to decompress, get back in touch with ourselves and our friends and family, and recharge our physical and emotional batteries that keep us going. Embrace the time because it flies right by, and make the most of every minute. Remember that it’s not where you are … it’s what you are doing.

Live your life. It’s invigorating!

Entertainment costs typically tend to be where a lot of money is spent … almost unknowingly. Movies, dinners and more … all add up quickly. Being resourceful becomes an art form when it comes to frugal living and you’ve got to be creative in terms of finding ways to save and have fun. So, to help you out when you are bored-silly on a Saturday, or any other day for that matter, here are some Living Frugal Tips for frugal fun:

Act like a tourist.

1  Go to your local Chamber of Commerce or Visitor’s Center and find out about all the free stuff to do in your town. Most cities have complete brochures on fun, free things to do.
2.  Or, go online and check out the same Chamber or Visitor Center resources.
3.  Go to a local museum.
4.  Check out your city-center or downtown area.
5.  Visit the historical sites in your town. Most people know very little about the history of the town they live in.
6.  Take a ride on public transportation. You see things differently when you are not driving.
7.  Visit a state park.

Get out and play.

8.  Start a neighborhood game of kickball (it’s making a huge comeback).
9.  Take a walk.
10.  Walk your dog.
11.  Go to a local park.
12.  Find one of the local rails-to-trails areas in your town and explore your area by bike.
13.  Go roller-skating.
14.  Go ice skating.
15.  Go fishing either for the sport of it (catch and release)e or heck, catch your dinner.
16.  Go for a bike ride in your neighborhood.
17.  Have a picnic.
18.  Go bird watching.
19.  Hike through the woods.
20.  Go nature-watching.
21.  Go to the beach.
22.  Watch a sunset.

Volunteer!

23.  Whether it’s Habitat for Humanity or the Humane Society (two of my personal favorites), find a non-profit that you are passionate about and get involved. There are all sorts of local charities in need, especially given the current economic state with reduced donations. It’s a great family thing to do together. It teaches responsibility and allows you to embrace the feeling that doing good … feels good.

Nest inside your home.

24.  Play “Design on a Dime” and change up a room in your home – swap out towels, placemats, flower vases, etc. and recreate a room with stuff you already have.
25.  Bake something – cookies, a cake or a pie.
26.  Make crafts that can later be given as holiday gifts.
27.  Make a home movie.
28.  Make sock puppets.
29.  Have your kids put on a play.
30.  Write a letter to a friend or family member (preserve the lost art of hand-written notes).
31.  Plant an indoor herb garden.
32.  Plan an indoor picnic if the weather is lousy – complete with the blanket on the floor.
33.  Scrapbook.
34.  Play board games.
35.  Put a puzzle together.
36.  Make a pine cone and peanut butter bird feeder.

Chill out.

37.  Listen to music.
38.  Plan an at-home spa day.
39.  Rent a $1.00 movie at BlockBuster Express or Redbox.
40.  Read a book or magazine.
41.  Take a nap.

Play on the Computer.

42.  Find free games to play online.
43.  Connect with friends on Facebook.
44.  Reconnect with an old friend and send them an email.
45.  Catch up on your favorite TV shows online.

Other frugal fun.

46.  Find a $1.00 movie theater.
47.  Pile up in the car and go for a ride in the country
48.  Go to a drive-in movie theater (yes, they do still exist).
49.  Go to the library.
50.  Power walk through the mall if it’s cold outside (leave your wallet in the car).

My hope is that one of these Living Frugal Tips and frugal fun ideas will help make it a great day for you. Please continue to add to the list via the comment field and let’s see how many frugal fun ideas we can come up with.

Enjoy you day!

Photo by DigitalRedEye

If you find yourself trapped at home and on the brink of going stir-crazy due to inclement weather caused by rain, sleet, snow and ice — here are 14 things to do when trapped inside.

These Living Frugal Tips are low-cost or no-cost ways to have fun.

1. Have a movie marathon – curl up with pillows, blankets and popcorn and watch your favorite movies on TV or DVD.

2. Recycle garbage into art - grab the contents of your recycle bin, scissors, glue, construction paper, glitter and whatever else you have on hand and lay it all out on the kitchen table and get creative with your kids. They have amazing imaginations and can truly turn trash into treasures.

3. Clean out your clothes closets – The upside to this drudgery task is that you can then plan a clothes swap with your friends where you all bring in your discarded clothing items and trade them. Great saving money tips to update your wardrobe without spending a dime.

4. Break out the board games – Monopoly, Twister, Yahtzee, and good old fashion card games are making a huge comeback and bring families together.

5. Plan a treasure hunt – I did this for my nephews and it was a hug hit. Make up clues on individual sheets of paper, each leading to the next clue and then hide them. A sample clue might be: “Push a button and I run, you’ll hear a bell when your food is done.” This would lead kids to the microwave where they would find the next clue. You can vary the difficulty level by age. Of course there is a treasure that they find in the end. This can be a little box of spare change or a piece of candy or a little hand-made coupon entitling them to a special privilege like staying up one hour later.

6. Turn old cards into gift tags – If you saved your Christmas cards or old birthday cards, you can take your pinking shears, hole punch and ribbon and turn them into gift tags for future use. See my post on Creating Gift Tags from Old Cards.

7. Cook make-ahead meals – Another Living Frugal Tip is to go to your pantry and see what you have on hand that you can use to whip up some make-ahead meals for the coming week. Crockpot soups, pulled pork, meatloaf, lasagna, and baked spaghetti are all great options. Simply make, bake and store in the refrigerator or freezer for quick meals later.

8. Get out and play – Depending on the weather conditions, you can certainly still get out and play in the snow. I have fond memories of sledding, skating, and making snow forts. But the best part of all was coming back inside to a warm fire and homemade hot chocolate!

9. Creative snowman contest – Each family member can make a snowman and then use different household items to dress and decorate it. Take pictures and share on Facebook or via email with friends and family.

10. Take a trip down memory lane – Watch old home movies or go through old photo albums and reminisce.

11. Make a fort – We all remember the fun we had making forts as kids. A cozy, creative place where we could hideout and play. Do it again, with or without your kids.

12. Read a good book – You can curl up and read your favorite novel or if you have kids you can create a reading circle where you read together from your favorite book, each taking turns to read a page or chapter out loud.

13. Make gifts from the heart – Get creative and make a gift for an upcoming holiday.

14. Have an at home spa day – Perform a series of “at-home spa treatments” with your little girls or girl friends. Style each others hair, do a facial mask, paint your fingers and toes, take a bubble bath. Have fun with it and relax.

Please add to these fun Living Frugal Tips and saving money tips and share other fun things to do when trapped inside. Regardless of what you do, have fun and make it a great day no matter what you do!

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