Today's guest post is from Heather Johnson, a contributor at Credit Card Lowdown.

The cost of airfare continues to soar with the surging price of oil these days. The days of hopping on a flight to anywhere guilt-free seem to be gone. Amazingly with just a little extra effort you can still find deals out there that will take away some of the stress that accompanies flying these days. You can still find deals out there and here are some tips for the frugal flier:

1. Give up your seat. When an airline is overbooked they'll look for people to volunteer their seat. If you give up your seat you'll earn free flights from the given airline. Sometimes, the airline will even give you cash. Monday morning and Friday afternoon flights are most typically the most overbooked. So if you can afford delaying your travel plans you stand to save money and maybe put some cash back in your pocket.

2. Veer off the beaten path. There is no doubt the fastest way to get somewhere is to go from point A to point B in a straight line. If point B is Washington D.C., an expensive destination, go to point C first, even if it is Baltimore. There are always cheaper flights to less desirable locations near the real hot spots.

3. Surf the web. At the last minute, many airlines will have slashed their fares, especially near a weekend. If an airline has seats to fill they'll do so by offering incredibly lower prices than advertised. Keep an eye out for these sudden deals that spring up.

4. Competition breeds lower fares. If one airline company offers a discounted flight to one destination then it's a safe bet the others will do the same. Just like any other line of business, competitors monitor what each other are offering to the public and will usually attempt to follow suit to stay in the game. This is your chance to swoop in and get a great deal.

5. Burn the midnight oil. Most airlines will reload their computer systems at midnight. If passengers have reserved a seat but have not paid their seats will open up to the general public. If you can stand to wait up that late you might be able to land a great deal on seats. Just remember the airlines need to and want to fill up as many seats as possible and this may be a perfect way to jump in on a great deal.
   

Heather P. Johnson is a freelance writer, as well as a contributor for Credit Card Lowdown, a site for finding credit card reviews. Heather invites your comments and freelancing job opportunities at her email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

I learned many lessons about frugality from my grandmother, who was as frugal as they come. She would wash and reuse plastic baggies and aluminum foil, save and reuse gift wrap, reuse empty plastic butter containers as Tupperware and make several different meals from leftovers. She traced her frugal ways back to the Great Depression, when her family of farmers struggled to make ends meet.

It's safe to say that frugality in the U.S. probably traces its roots back to the Great Depression. Before that, there was certainly no reason for Americans to be frugal. Credit was easy to obtain, investors purchased stocks on margin like there was no tomorrow and the richest 1 percent owned 40 percent of the country's wealth. Times were good...very good. There is a reason the decade was called "The Roaring '20s".

There were some warning signs before the bottom fell out of the economy. The stock market hit some serious bumps, but it always recovered. People were spending money they didn't have. Everyone forgot that the economy doesn't continue to expand with no end in sight. It had been nearly 100 years since "The Panic of 1837", when banks failed and unemployment in the U.S. soared to record highs. Americans had forgotten their history.

During The Great Depression, the money supply declined, unemployment hit double digits and interest rates fell. Those who had no money had to make do the best way they possibly could. My grandmother told me stories of farmers who baked bread using saw dust, fed weeds to their cattle because they could not afford feed and recycled cloth flour sacks into towels and sheets.

When something was used, it was not immediately thrown into the trash. Everything had a second use and was recycled until it literally could not be used anymore. Nearly every household had a "rag bin". Scraps of cloth would be saved to patch clothing and make quilts or hand towels. Coffee grounds were used at least twice, and then used as compost in a garden, where people grew their own fruits and vegetables because they could not afford to buy them from the market. Home appliances were never thrown away. They were repaired. The same goes for shoes. People would never toss out old shoes because the heels were worn. They would take them to shoe repair shops for new heels and soles, or people would place cardboard inside their shoes when the soles were worn through with holes. Buying something new was nearly unheard of. People either made their own, made what they had last longer or did without. Old clothes were never discarded. They were repaired, reused, exchanged for others and when they were finally unusable, they were cut up for the "rag bin." Bartering became the new currency in the U.S.

Today, many Americans are going through rough economic times, but it is nowhere near as bad as those Great Depression days, when people lived in tar paper shacks called "Hoovervilles" and got their bread from the soup kitchens. But, we can learn some valuable lessons from the Great Depression Generation. Do we really need to buy something new as often as we do? Do we need to live on credit as much as we do? Is it really wise to live beyond our means? Perhaps the Great Generation mantra of "use it more, wear it out, recycle it and don't throw it out" should be adopted more today. Not only would it help more people save money, but it would make them think twice about their spending habits.

I always gave my grandmother a hard time when she reused aluminum foil, but she would just reply "there is nothing wrong with it. It can be reused. People waste too much." Looking back on those times and her frugal habits, I think maybe grandma was on to something.

This week's Festival of Frugality is hosted by Consumerism Commentary. Savvy Frugality's post, Haggle for Lower Prices is among this week's picks.

Other posts I liked this week:

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Rent Instead Of Buy, And I Mean Anything! posted at The Digerati Life There are some very creative rentals listed here, and they could be cheaper than buying!

Dawn from Frugal For Life offers Free Audio Resources. Since I'm a history buff and an former radio guy, I enjoy listening to Old Time Radio online. My favorite show is The Shadow. My dad still fondly recalls the days before his family got a TV, and they would all sit around the radio each evening to listen to their favorite shows. Sometimes I come across FDR's old "Fireside Chats", and those are very interesting to listen to.

Andy presents this comparison on Tight Fisted Miser: Aldi v. Supermarket v. Wal-Mart. As I expected, Aldi was the cheapest option.

Jeremy Zongker from Destroy Debt offers 90 Low Cost or No Cost Activities to Entertain Your Kids All Summer Long. Summer is coming soon, and you know you'll need something to keep the rug rats entertained. I send mine off to Boy Scout camp.

paidtwice from I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… wonders, Do You Save More With Your Automated Savings Plan? In my case, yes. The money goes into savings automatically and I don't even have to think about it.