This week's Festival of Frugality over at beingfrugal.net takes on a Super Bowl theme this week, appropriately enough. My team, the Green Bay Packers, did make it to the Super Bowl, so I didn't watch what has been called one of the best bowl games in recent history...perhaps the best ever. Oh well.

There is still some great reading at the festival. My post on The Savvy Frugality Recession Survival Guide was included this week. Here are my picks from the rest of the field, which are better than my Super Bowl bets:

Being Frugal Isn’t Being a Miser at Credit Withdrawal. Amen, brother. That's a central theme here at Savvy Frugality.

Cheap Healthy Party Food at Cheap Healthy Good. Where was this list during the holidays, before I gained 10 pounds? These recipes sound good, but I'm still addicted to Cheetos.

The Two Income Trap - Book Review at Four Pillars. Wisdom from The Great White North. My family has lived in a one-income household for nearly two years now. It hasn't always been easy, but we've made it work. The key: I do other things one the side, besides my 9 to 5. One should always diversify their income, just in case.

12 Strategies for Saving Money While Paying Your Bills at The Digerati Life. Great advice here. Definitely worth book marking!

I spend a lot of time watching the presidential campaigns of the various candidates on both sides of the aisle. Call it force of habit. I worked as a reporter for more than 20 years, and I covered the 2004 primary and presidential races. I interviewed every candidate for president that year with the exception of President George W. Bush and Al Sharpton. In the cases of Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich, I met and interviewed them several times. For some reason, they made multiple trips to Oklahoma during that campaign.

One thing that I noticed then, and that I am hearing again during this election year, is how important the economy is to voters. The candidates always talk about how hard it is for people to afford food, medicine and gasoline to get to work. They mention that single mothers have to work two, sometimes three jobs just to make ends meet. Current government programs aren't doing enough to help the truly needy Americans, the candidates say, but they have a PLAN to make everything better.

The only thing is, we hear this speech every four years. The people (that's us) just can't make ends meet on our own, so we need their (the candidate's) help. It's not a Republican or Democrat issue, either. Candidates from both parties talk a lot about how Americans are "struggling".

Well, of course the economy is "terrible"...it's an election year. If this country weren't in dire straits, we wouldn't need their (the candidate's) help. After the elections, the president always talks about how the economy is "improving" or "on the upswing" and they detail the many ways they made this happen.

The fact of the matter is, the economy runs in cycles. There are "boom" and "bust" periods to the economy, and they are quite natural. You know the saying "what goes up, must come down"? In a nutshell, that is how the national economy works. The good times never last forever, and there are naturally "corrections" (when the economy stalls, or enters a recession). How we as American consumers prepare for and deal with these negative periods as individuals will make far more difference in our households than anything that happens in Washington D.C. during the next four years.

Here are some of the ways presidential candidates propose stimulating the U.S. economy, and how you can apply it to your own personal situation:

The Spending Freeze - The candidate proposes a freeze on all government spending, meaning they promise not to increase spending above current levels. You can actually implement this at home right now. Vow not to add any additional debt to your credit cards, and start paying more than the minimum payments. Pay the basic necessities at home, but put off making any luxury purchases, such as large appliances, a home or a car.

The Tax Cut - The candidate promises tax cuts to let tax payers keep more of their money, which in turn gives consumers more spending power. This helps stimulate the economy. How do you give yourself a tax cut? If you have been receiving a tax return each of the past few years, you are having too much money deducted from your pay check. Anytime you receive a tax return, you are just getting back money you overpaid to the government. Essentially, you gave the government an interest-free loan for a year. Adjust your W-4 at work at keep that money yourself.

Shrinking the Size of Government - This means that the candidate wants to eliminate or reduce the size of certain government agencies. Never mind the fact that the government is the largest employer in the U.S....so it has room to eliminate a few jobs to make it appear the U.S. taxpayer is going to save some money. You can shrink expenses at home, too. Take a look at your monthly bills. Is there any fat to trim? Do you really need 10 movies channels on cable TV, or can you live with two? Are you still using a land line phone? Could you get buy just using a cell phone, or switching to the VOIP Internet phone service? Are you overspending on groceries? How often to you go shopping for clothing, movie rentals, and other items at the mall? Even if you can cut ten percent of your spending, that will add up over the course of a year.

Increase Revenue - This is the government's way of saying they are going to raise your taxes, or "user fees" for certain services. You can raise your fees, too. Are you overdue for a raise at work? Do you get increased pay for overtime, or for increased production at work? Volunteer for those opportunities, or seek that raise you should have received a year ago. If you can't get a raise, perhaps you aren't taking full advantage of the benefits you already receive at work. Some people aren't even aware of all of their employer-sponsored benefits. Check out your employee handbook and see what you might be missing. Do some work on the side. Can you freelance, consult or take a part-time job? Perhaps you've always wanted to start a side business. Increasing your take-home pay, even a few hundred dollars a month, could be used to eliminate debt, build your emergency fund or invest for retirement.

Manage your personal finances wisely, and you can enjoy "four more years" of positive cash flow!

(This post is also featured on MSN.com's Smart Spending Moneyblog.)

Each year, we make resolutions with the best intentions of keep them. We're going to lose weight, quit smoking and make other important changes in our lives. At the beginning of the year, I shared My Frugal Resolutions. I thought I would revisit them at the end of each month, just to keep track of my progress so far. So, this is my January Update.

Resolution #1 - Rebuild My Emergency Fund - My goal was to stash away $1,000 in my emergency fund. I was at $0 (I had an emergency), but now I'm back up to $500.

Resolution #2 - Eliminate $10,000 in debt - Again, I had to rebuild my emergency fund, first, but I still managed to eliminate about $500 in debt in January. Only $9,500 to go! After I have my emergency fund stashed away, I can really start attacking the debt.

Resolution #3 - Save For a New Home - I have to take care of Resolution #1 first, then I can start working on this one. Total saved: $0

Resolution #4 - Contribute to my IRA - I have decided I'm actually going to start contributing to Fidelity's Freedom Fund for my retirement. I'll also do an IRA, but the Freedom Fund is going to be my first option for retirement savings. I have about $5,000 in a Fidelity account right now, and I plan to transfer this over to the Freedom Fund. The Freedom Fund adjusts its investments according to the year you plan to retire.

Resolution #5 - Continue to Live Below my Means - This was awfully hard in January, since I had to move and pay double for my utilities. I still have a $200 electric bill to take care of, but otherwise I think I've lived up to this resolution in January. It was living below my means that enabled me to pay off some debt and stash some cash in my emergency fund. Medical bills continue to be a challenge, however.

Stay tuned for the next update at the end of February!

It's time for another Carnival of Personal Finance! I've Paid Twice for This Already hosts this week's carnival, which features the Savvy Frugality post Your Zip Code Could Cost You Money.

There's more reading than usual this week. Here are some great reads:

The Simple Nickle asks us What Does It Mean to Be Financially Secure? There are six guides to financial security. If you don't have them, you probably aren't financially secure (yet).

Millionaire Mommy Next Door created a budget sheet for success with Craft a Budget That Fits Your Needs AND Wants. Great post, and very similar to my previous post on Playing the Percentages.

Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of the Time I Know You? provides Auto Insurance 101 Part 2: Ten Tips For Shopping Smart. Don't forget, when shopping for auto insurance Your Zip Code Could Cost You Money.

Money and Credit explains how to determine How Many Allowances Should You Claim on Your W-4? Timely advice, with April right around the corner.

Sound Money Matters appeals to the frugal romantic in all of us with Five Ways to Save Money on Valentine’s Day. Who decided I should only show my wife I love her on February 14th? To me, every day is Valentine's Day (OK, not really, but I'm convinced Valentine's Day was created by the greeting card companies).

Christian PF gives us 16 Ways To save Money By Not Being Normal. Excellent advice here. If what you have been doing isn't working, then do something else.

I get comments here at Savvy Frugality and I do enjoy all of the tips and advice that I'm given by the readers. I thought it would be great to make Savvy Frugality even more interactive by adding a forum to this site. Please check the new Savvy Frugality Forum frequently, and feel free to add your own frugal living topics, pass along advice, share recipes, talk about something that saved you a lot of money (or cost you a lot of money) and help others develop strategies for eliminating their debt (or get ideas for eliminating yours). I look forward to building this community with you! We're all in this together!

This week's Festival of Frugality is hosted by the Mrs. Micah blog. Savvy Frugality is once again featured, with its post on what a price book is and how it can save you money.

Other posts from this week's festival which I highly recommend:

Are you looking for alternatives to freecycle? Mel of Bean Sprouts has some listed. Apparently certain people have become disenchanted with it. The only problem I have with Freecyle in my area is that there are more people posting lists of free things they want than there are people listing things they are trying to give away.

Wenchypoo tells the story of a man who turned a $55,000 salary into a zero tax liability. You don't have to be a millionaire to take advantage of tax shelters.

Gibble at Gather Little by Little has a great list of free software you can use instead of buying name-brand products. I'm always looking for freeware versions of software, and this is a great list. I highly recommend the Avast! anti-virus program and Adaware anti-spyware program, both of which work great and are free.

Ana at DebtFREE-Revoltuion has discovered that crock pots can be really good for your budget. I agree. My only problem is my crock pot isn't big enough. I have to get a new one soon. It sure does save a lot of cooking time. I just come home from work and dinner is ready.

New Old-Fashioned Gal has a recipe for fantastic deep dish pizza dough. If you like to cook everything from scratch, this is great. I usually just get $5 pizza from Little Caesars. By the time I buy all the toppings I want for my pizza, Little Caesars is actually cheaper, and I don't have to cook it. I only have pizza twice a month. If you eat it more often, making it yourself is probably the way to go.