Quest for Four Pillars, who writes from Canada, is hosting the May 13 edition of the Festival of Frugality. The host dubbed this week’s showcase as the “Save Some Money if You Are Rich Edition ….” on the concept that “rich people like to save money too.”

It’s a really good showcase this week, and took me more time than usual to read through the articles. Here are some posts that Monroe on a Budget readers will want to check out:

• $aving to Invest presents Frugal ways to keep your home safe: “If you are in a rented place that has a history of break-ins replace any older locks as everyone who’s lived in your house previously had an opportunity to make copies of the keys.” Here’s another trick that my husband and I use, although it won’t work in every community: we have a radio scanner that is used to listen to NASCAR races when we go to Michigan International Speedway and to pick up emergency police and fire traffic during a tornado alert. When we go out of town for an extended time, we turn on the scanner to the emergency channels. Would you want to hear a 911 dispatcher sending out a call if you are breaking into someone’s house?
  
• Lazy Man and Money presents Chrysler’s Cheap Gas: Trick or Treat: “BusinessWeek’s scenario says that it will save you $858 over the three years. … If you are really worried about gas prices, I would suggest buying a depreciated used car.” If your family will put a lot of miles on a new vehicle (for example, if your other car is in crappy condition and can’t be trusted out-of-town), you could easily drive more miles per year than the Chrysler promotion includes.
  
• Chief Family Officer presents The Drugstore Game – Is it Worth It?: “To compare what I would have spent if I hadn’t shopped at CVS, I went through my receipts and added up the cost of things I would have bought anyway: toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, the makeup, tissue, etc.” I was a skeptic of the drugstore programs until I started using them in December. I now participate in the ones at Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS. You may want to start with just a couple of rebate-able items your first month because it can take time to master this technique.
  
• Finally Frugal presents How I keep my grocery bill under $75 a month: “I’ll share some of the tactics I use to get the most for my dollar without starving or feeling deprived.” I got a laugh out of the “free food” at the office stories. One of my co-workers at company where I used to work coordinated an effort where volunteers signed up in advance to provide holiday treats throughout the month of December. Those who provided treats knew that hungry people were looking forward to their offerings!
  
• Cincinnati Locavore presents How to shop at a farmer’s market: “The end product doesn’t always look exactly like the perfect produce you’ll find at the supermarket, but it tastes better and is fresher, better for you, and better for the environment.” If you are someone who promotes buying American-made products; getting products and services from local businesses before going-out-of-town; or cheering on any number of campaigns that are intended to save, recruit or bring back Michigan jobs; then buying food at a farmer’s market in your community fits right in with your business and economic ethics.
  
• Monroe on a Budget presents What about a pantry swap?: “Everybody bring at least one pantry item to put in the swap. Everybody who brings something hopefully finds at least one thing they’d like to take home instead.” This could work particularly well when you have swappers who shop at different stores.