According to Wikipedia, abandonware is computer software which is no longer being sold or supported by its copyright holder. Sometimes, it is used as a blanket category for any software over a certain age, usually five years.

All the games you remember playing many years back are now available for free. What great nostalgia! So if you’re looking for frugal entertainment for yourself or your family this winter break, enjoy playing classics such as:
Dune
Final Fantasy
Lemmings 

I was fortunate to grow up in a household where my parents encouraged learning through the use of technology. We’ve had a number of personal computers including an Apple IIe, IBM 386, and a Packard Bell 75mhz. I remember growing up and playing games such as Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? My friends let me borrow other games such as Hot Rod, Ninja Rabbit, and Chuck Yeager’s Air Combat.

Go here and here for a bunch of free Abandonware games.
Abandonia
XTC Abandonware

Looking for ideas to make the most of your free time during the winter holiday? Well instead of turning on the tube after a big Christmas dinner, surf the web and increase your knowledge. There are thousands or great online resources that can help educate you about personal finance, investing, budgeting, and managing your money. If you have time to spare this Christmas break why not commit to learning something new you can use in 2007. Maybe you’ve always wondered how asset allocation works. Or maybe how to open a College Savings 529 plan. Even perusing the many informative and practical personal finance blogs could prove to be invaluable for your personal finance decisions in 2007.

If you have free time, here are some great online resources:
- Wikipedia
- MSN Money
- Fund Advice
- Fatwallet Finance
- College Savings
- Kiplinger

According to Money Magazine, the average shopper will spend $907 on gifts this Christmas season.  You don’t need any more reasons to spend and add to your credit card bills.  If you are looking for free alternatives during your down time this winter break, consider what physical activities you can get the whole family to join in on.

- For those that live in warmer areas, there’s nothing like enjoying the outdoors.  Go hiking in a local trail, go jogging, play Ultimate, flag football, etc.  Not only is it free, but you can burn those extra calories you’ve added because of holiday dinners.

- Even a long walk with loved ones can burn calories and keep you fit.  Instead of driving, walk to your local library, restaurant, or supermarket.

- Finally, if you’ve got no place to go, exercise your mind.  Read books and increase your knowledge instead of watching re-runs on TV.  I’ll share more tomorrow about where to go and how to make the most of the internet.

The new year is upon us and now is a great time to unclutter and clean up the house / apartment to prepare for 2007. If you’re like me, you struggle with being a pack-rat and a procrastinator. So, here are some suggestions that can make financial matters easier in 2007:

- Begin to organize all your bills, bank / credit card statements, charitable contribution receipts, investment documents into one folder or manila envelope. This way everything is already gathered when you go and do your taxes. Go through your pile of mail and envelopes and throw away anything you don’t need. Bonus points for organizing them in chronological order .

- If you don’t already have a budget and track your spendings, then now is a great time to prepare to achieve this in 2007. In fact you can make it your New Year’s resolution. Here’s some help and tips on how to keep track of your spendings and maintain a budget.

- Go through your wardrobe and find clothes to donate or throw away. If you haven’t worn it for over an year, you probably aren’t going to miss it. Go to Salvation Army or Goodwill and donate things in good condition. Or better yet, donate to a local shelter where they will give away the clothes to those in need without charging them.

- Read websites and blogs that can help you simplify your life in 2007. Lifehacker and Real Simple are both great sites for inspiration and motivation to simplify things in your day to day.

I got tagged by Free Money Finance to share five personal tidbits about myself.

1. A friend of mine invited me to his youth group when we were in seventh grade. We had fun playing games and hiding from our Sunday School teachers back then. Eventually my faith in Christ became real and it really started to grow once I went to college. I’m still at the same church after thirteen years. And my friend who invited me is still my friend and will be one of my groomsmen for my wedding.

2. I love eating and I love to try new foods (and I love experiencing new cultures). Some more interesting things eaten have been: dog, goose head, cactus, camel’s paw, scorpion, silkworm, rabbit.

3. One time I spent 38 hours riding a train from Shanghai to Dunhuang (West China). My friends and I brought a pack of Uno and taught the kids in our cabin how to play. We had bunkbeds to sleep in so it was comfortable, but for those that don’t get sleeper cabins, they have to sit for 38 hours. Ouch.

4. When I was a kid I loved playing with airplanes. My parents bought me gliders, balsa wood flyers, paper airplane books, and even a remote control airplane. I went on to study airplanes in college and got a degree in aerospace engineering. For those parents who want their kids to be “engi-nerds”, give them a lot of gadets to play with and take them to the Air & Space Museum.

5. Lastly, a few loves in my love: My fiancée who I dearly love and thank God for, enjoying a good cup of coffee, and reading books!

I was going to tag other personal finance bloggers but I think most of the blogs I read have already been tagged. So instead, here’s a list of bloggers I’ve found that have participated:
2 Million Blog
Adult ADD And Money
Adventure Money
Blueprint For Financial Prosperity
Blunt Money
Boston Gal’s Open Wallet
Consumerism Commentary
Experiments in Finance
Free Money Finance
Fire Finance
Frank the Financially Savvy Atheist
Get Rich Slowly
It’s Just Money
It’s Your Money
Lazy Man And Money
Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge
Mighty Bargain Hunter
Money, Matter, and More Musings
My Money Blog
My Open Wallet
My Wealth Builder
No Credit Needed
No Limit Ladies
Stingy Students
The Digerati Life
The Simple Dollar
The Sun’s Financial Diary
Tired But Happy
We’re In Debt
Young And Broke

My fiancée and I will be getting married over a holiday weekend in 2007. So we’ve decided to send out Save-The-Date postcards a few months before the actual invitation to our friends and family. I looked around for the cheapest options and found a great deal over at VistaPrints.

There are a number of coupons and deals over here at Fatwallet. I found a coupon for 50% off on all postcards and got 250 postcards for $30.00 shipped. That’s 10¢ for each one. Now if I can only find some deals for stamps.

We chose a black & white picture and added some text in photoshop and the postcards came out pretty good. Just don’t expect the same glossy photo quality as shutterfly or other photo stores.

Back in September I posted this deal on Fatwallet, that if you sign up for the MBNA MLB Extra Bases Credit card and spend at least $2,000 or balance transfer $2,000 within 90 days, they will send you a free iPod Nano. I received my free Nano yesterday. Unfortunately, the waiting time felt like an eternity. They say 8-12 weeks and I just received mine exactly 11 weeks after I initiated my balance transfers.

Sign-up for this credit card offer here.

I was searching the internet for information about 529 College Savings Plans, and realized that ScholarShare, the 529 plan in California, has changed its fund manager to Fidelity. This is great news because now there are a number of investment choices including index funds with all-in fees at 0.5%. Click here for more information.

Since my 401k is managed by Fidelity, I’m already a satisfied customer. Managing your portfolio is fairly standard, so I’d expect the same interface in their 529 accounts. The minimum investment starts at $15 a month so even if sending your kids to college is way down the road, a little bit each month could add up.  I might consider opening one even though I don’t even have kids.  If I ever go back to school I could always use it on myself too.

The Festival Of Frugality #53 is up at The MomAdvice Blog. Check out my post about Saving Money on Holiday Gifts.

A few noteworthy posts from other bloggers include:
Stingy Students shares how you can get books for free.

The Digerati Life also has tips of how to survive this holiday on a budget.

Wise Bread gives some tips on gift wrapping ideas.

At my work there are a number of vending machines that are scattered at various locations on campus. They are well stocked to gratify the desires of hungry engineers. Chips, candy, soda, juice, milk, ice cream, coffee, hot chocolate; we have a plethora of choices. Often times when I am walking in the halls around 3 or 4 in the afternoon I see people eyeing different snacks and spending their spare change for a quick fix. I just want to yell, “Don’t do it!” Why? Because its a waste of money to spend 75¢ on a small bag of chips or anything else you might get from the vending machines. Instead, if you are prone to snacking, buy it at the grocery store and keep it at your desk. Some, might say its unprofessional, but I don’t think so. Just hide it in your file cabinets or something. Anyways, let’s see how it actually adds up:

75¢ for soda from vending machine –> $18.75 per month –> $225.00 per year
16.5¢ at supermarket (12-pack = $1.99) –> $4.13 per month –> $49.50 per year

That’s a $175 savings every year!

Obviously the best thing to do is to not snack at all during the day. You will spend $0.00. But for the most of us, we want something in between meals to keep us going. So, if you know its gonna happen, might as well prepare for it.

My current stock includes:
Pop-tarts, oatmeal, pita chips, pretzels, popcorn, trail mix, coffee, diet Coke, green tea, English breakfast tea, and an emergency 4-pack of Red Bull.

Just don’t go overboard or your co-workers might mistake your cubicle for a snack-stop.