Rather Be Shopping hosts the April 15 Festival of Frugality. This is a weekly showcase of frugal lifestyle blogs from across the Internet, with dozens of contributing writers this week.

Here are some of the posts you’ll find:

• Think Your Way to Wealth presents How to Develop a Frugal Mindset: “If you develop a frugal mindset, you will find yourself applying frugality in your everyday life and it will become a habit in everything you do.” A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker asked me how much I have saved with grocery coupons. I replied that I never bothered to keep track “because I’ve always shopped that way.”
• Earning Money from Your Dorm presents Saving Money During College: “Don’t take your significant other out on expensive dates. You are most likely both college kids and you should both understand that money doesn’t grow on trees in your situation.” If you are looking for things to do in Monroe County, check out the calendar database at MonroeTalks. You don’t have to spend gas money to drive to Toledo, Detroit or Ann Arbor if you just want to get out of the house.
• SarahSpy presents Four Ways to Suck Less at Vintage and Thrift Shopping: “When flipping through a dense rack of clothes, I focus on finding something that will fit me.” I have a difficult time finding shirts I like in the local second-hand market. So I focus on jeans and black pants when I’m at those stores, and it’s been two years since I bought pants on retail.
• Frugal Homemaker Plus presents Frugality and Luck: “We both picked fuel efficient cars back in the day when when gas was .99 cents a gallon. Now the guy in the gas-guzzler beside me at the gas station tells me how “lucky” we are- filling the gas guzzler costs a pretty penny at $3.25 a gallon and he’s been trying to sell it.” Back in the day, I got comments like that about my Geo Metro every time gas prices went up. I drive a Chevy Cobalt now, which is not as good on gas as the Metro but certainly more economic than an SUV!
• Living Almost Large presents Downgrading your lifestyle?: “I wonder if this is what causes perhaps credit card debt? People having an expectation of a “lifestyle” then losing a job or having a financial issue.” Families on a budget have to be picky with their lifestyle choices. A couple of luxuries that the family truly enjoys is fine. But a middle class family, especially those forced into downsizing, will not be able to afford every modern convenience that is available.
• And Monroe on a Budget presents How to Ration out the Snack Foods: “My mother came up with this practical solution: a series of stackable plastic bins. Each bin was labeled with someone’s name.” This post got such a good response in the blogosphere that I’ve submitted it as my “Today on MonroeNews.com” pick this week for the promotions that run in the print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News.