As most of you know, I play video games. But I think many are unaware of my devotion to gaming. I spend an estimated five hours a day, minimum, playing video games. Please, don't add it up to a yearly amount or you will wonder if I am wasting my life.

While some people go to dinner parties, bars, clubs, restaurants, etc. to hang out with friends I simply switch on my Xbox 360 and log in. Then I hit my extensive game collection (over 200) and decide who I want to be or where I want to go for the night/day. Huh? Let me explain. With video games, I can do anything, be anyone. But not in that freaky-can't-relate-to-humans sort of way. Think of back to when you were a child and played. It is the same thing, but grown-up.

Once I have figured what I am in the mood for, I determine if I want company. If I want to chit-chat while playing, I'll play the multiplayer version of a game. If I feel I've chatted enough on the phone, in person or online, I'll stick with the storyline of a game, solo.

I view the online world of gaming as I do any online community: Carefully. I don't give out information all willy-nilly. I rarely accept friend requests unless we have played together a few game rounds and I know we play well together. The exception is my gaming clan.

Yep. I lead a gaming clan. Shock, horror. The gaming community is widely divided on gaming clans. People are either for them or hate them. For me, I am not partial to gaming clans. I find most clan leaders to be...narcissistic to say the least. It is either their way or the highway.

For me, I insist upon voting. All members, even those in probation, are encouraged, no, expected to vote.

This has created more of a unity in my opinion. We are close. Chat about personal issues while gaming. A sample of how a conversation might go would be:

Me: So, in essence, because of the DNA testing, they found all men can be traced to one common ancestor. Same with women. I wonder why all women and men can't be traced to one common ancestor? Two coming across the bridge. Taking frags. Thank you flak jacket! What do you think?
Tom: OK, headed back to seal bridge. I don't know. Maybe they are wrong with the tests.
Me: Yeah. Science is good for being a mystical art that we coat with clinical terms. They took me out. One headed down the path with a friend guarding.
Tom: Got his friend. Mystical art? How? They got me. Two underneath, ghost.

As you can see, this is from a recent Call of Duty: Black Ops match when were were playing Capture The Flag on Jungle. These sorts of conversations tend to drive other players nuts because, honestly, they can't keep up or filter out the general conversation from the gaming info. So if we are feeling chatty we bring it to a party so as to not disturb other gamers.

But, look deeper. What do you see with this conversation? I was recently told, with this particular conversation, but a person on our team that it is amazing we can play like this. I asked him why. His response was that it takes incredible intellect to keep a conversation going on one subject while relaying tactical information to teammates. I simply explained that we have all played together so long that our tactical information relay is clipped so it brings more attention. Plus defenders automatically tune out attackers and attackers tune out defenders.

For me, and people I game with, multiplayer gaming is a social outlet. We enjoy spending time together without the extra expense beyond our Live Membership and the video game. We exchange recipes, gardening tips, gaming tips, love tips, dating tips, car repair, etc. Talk about our families, our goals, our friends...our lives.

My gaming clan has a very low turn-over rate. We have learned to work through our differences and come together as a team, as friends.

But, for a non-gamer to become involved with a gamer such as myself, well, feelings can get hurt.

When I used to date, I was often accused of cheating because I didn't answer my phone or respond to a text. I did warn the guys that I would be gaming and unavailable. But...to a non-gamer they don't realize that when gaming, a gamer is engrossed. After about six times of this happening, I decided to put "Must game" at the top of my list. Something important to remember for all you gamers looking for love. ;-)

I listen to the guys in my gaming clan and their significant others. I am acutely aware of how much time they spend gaming. Years ago I learned if I wanted to keep that guy playing in my clan, bring in his wife/girlfriend.

While it is not hard to teach another person how to game, it does take time and patience. The end result is that I have made friends with some amazing women all over the world, whom I still chat with regularly.

The bottom line is that gaming is a great social outlet and networking tool. It is a multi-billion dollar industry full of a diversity. But, if you aren't a gamer, then you might have lost me to video games.

There is no need to spend a small fortune in order to enjoy some of the luxuries of a Spa. In fact I have previously written about some DIY beauty treatments such as homemade masks, skin cream, etc.

But today we are focusing on baths. Afterall, since the advent of humankind, bathing has been seen as both a necessity and a luxury. But for the frugal, a lavish bath does not mean an expensive bath.

First of all, you want to monitor how much water you are using in your bath. We are not trying to single-handedly wipe out the local water supply.

Next we are looking at scent and function. So for this let us dive into some homemade bath salts, oils and bubbles.

Bath Salts

Rejuvenating Bath Salts
Ingredients
1 cup Epsom Salts (usually about $2 for 5lbs)
2 teaspoons baby oil/mineral oil
1 drop Peppermint Essential Oil
1 freezer size recloseable bag
1 pretty seal-able container big enough to hold 1.25 cups
Method
Add your baby oil/mineral oil and essential oil to the bag and using your fingers, mix well. Carefully pour in your Epsom Salts to the oil mixture. Squeeze out extra air and seal bag. Ensuring recloseable bag is sealed, gently shake, toss and mix everything together. Once you are absolutely certain it is thoroughly mixed, carefully pour into your container and close container.
Use
Shake your wonderful bath salts into tub as you add water. Use as much or as little as you want.

Moisturizing Bath Salts
Ingredients
1 cup Epsom Salts
1 tsp Glycerin
1 tbs finely ground Slow Cook Oats
1 freezer size recloseable bag
1 pretty seal-able container big enough to hold 1.25 cups
Method
Add your Glycerin to the bag. Carefully pour in your Epsom Salts and finely ground oats to the Glycerine mixture. Squeeze out extra air and seal bag. Ensuring recloseable bag is sealed, gently shake, toss and mix everything together. Once you are absolutely certain it is thoroughly mixed, carefully pour into your container and close container.
Use
Shake your wonderful bath salts into tub as you add water. Use as much or as little as you want.
Optional
You made add a drop or two of your favorite scent as an essential oil. If doing so, mix the oil thoroughly with the Glycerin before adding salts and oats.

A Cleopatra Milk Bath
Ingredients
1/2 cup Epsom Salts
1 cup of powdered milk
1/2 cup of sea salt
1 Grease Pencil
1 freezer size recloseable bag
1 pretty seal-able container big enough to hold 2.25 cups
Method
Mix salts and powdered milk together. Once you are absolutely certain it is thoroughly mixed, carefully pour into your container and close container. Using your Grease Pencil, write on the bottom of the jar the use-by date/expiration date of the powdered milk after you have subtracted at least a month. Be sure to use by the date on the bottom of the jar.
Use
Shake your wonderful milk bath into tub as you add water. Use as much or as little as you want.
Optional
You made add a drop or two of your favorite scent as an essential oil. If doing so, mix the oil thoroughly with the salts and milk.

Bath Oils

Simple Unscented Moisturizing
1 tsp Mineral Oil/Baby Oil, unscented
Method
Add the tsp of oil to the bath as you add water.
Use
Soak yourself and enjoy.

Aromatic Moisturizing Bath Oil
1 tsp Tea Tree Oil
Method
Add the tsp of oil to the bath as you add water.
Use
Soak yourself and enjoy.

Flowered Oil
Just under a cup of olive or almond oil
Flower petals
1 regular old container where light can get through enough to hold 1.5 cups
1 pretty dark seal-able container big enough to hold 1 cup
Method
Add your flower petals, I use 2 flowers worth to your container. Gently heat your oil until warm. Carefully pour the warm oil into the regular container over the flower petals. Add lid/cover to the container. Place in a sunny spot/warm spot for 2-4 days. Strain the flower petals from the oil. Carefully add your scented oil to a pretty container that is dark. Refrigerate.
Use
Add a teaspoon to your bathwater as you are filling tub.
Note: All natural oils have a chance of going rancid. Check your Flowered Oil regularly to ensure it has not gone off.

Bubble Bath

Janna's Chocolate Indulgence
Ingredients
1 empty gallon jug (milk, juice, etc. is fine if it is clean)
1 quart warm water
1.5 oz Glycerin
1 bar Castille soap, grated
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Grease Pencil
Place to hide the jug ;)
Method
Mix the powdered milk, cocoa powder, Glycerin, grated Castille soap into the warm water until everything is blended and the soap has melted. Carefully pour your mixture into your empty jug/container. Using your Grease Pencil, note the expiration date of the powdered milk, subtract a month and put that on your jug. Hide the jug from the world to stop the oils in the cocoa powder from going rancid.
Use
Add about a cup of the mixture to your tub as you are adding water.
Note: You will have to rinse off once done soaking your cares away. Do not add powdered milk and cocoa powder for a basic bubble bath. Do not eat/drink the delicious smelling mixture, no matter how much tempted!

Finally, when setting up your bath, don't just add your salts, oils, etc. and call it a day. Put aside at least 20 minutes, light some candles, dim the lights (safety first!), put on some relaxing music or background noise. Make your bath a stress relief spa visit. Enjoy your time soaking. But most of all, enjoy something wonderful our ancestors never thought we would abandon.

I have always had bad habits. Most of us have. Every year around my birthday I evaluate myself. What are my weaknesses? What are my strengths? That sort of thing. But, unless bad habits are broken and new good habits developed, everyone is in the same boat: Failing.

Over the years I have learned and developed some ways to help me keep up on developing good habits. I hope they help you!

Daily Affirmations
Very simply, I look in the mirror for a few minutes each day and say positive things about myself as well as any good habit I am trying to learn. I also will do reverse to help break bad habits.

Example: I will not play video games for 6 hours solid. I will take breaks from gaming and walk around.

Learn a bit more about daily affirmations here. (Guess they weren't doing daily affirmations as they are gone!)

Goal Buddy
Taking the step forward and saying to someone, "Hey, I need help" is super tough for many people. But, if you can do that and have the person agree to remind, encourage and support your new habits, life will be easier for you. Even better if you are goal buddies for each other! This will project and help keep the energy flowing.

I have tried this in the past with great success. Unfortunately, my mutual goal buddy flaked so our partnership was dissolved.

Your Cell Phone
Isn't it cute? Of course it is. Now, if you can take a few moments away from texting, chatting, emailing and playing with apps, your phone can really help you with new better habits.

Explore your cell phone and find the Calendar. 99% of cell phones have calendars. Now, set up a little reminder once a day, once a week or however often you think you need to be reminded of your new better habits. Be sure to save it!

A second way that your cell phone can help you develop and maintain better habits is via text. Yes, there are reminder services that will charge you a fortune for the service. But, here at Frugally Fabuloso, we look at free ways first.

Google. Yeah yeah. The internet giant has taken over all aspects of life for us it seems. But, if you dig around your Google account you will find your own personal Calendar. Be sure to set it to Private so people aren't digging around your personal growth and development. Also, set up your Mobile Settings so you can receive notifications via text.

Now, sprinkle around reminders, positive thoughts, great motivational quotes, etc. all around your calendar. Set any you want to really enforce to repeat. Now, the important part, be sure to enable SMS/Text reminders.

Presto! You have your own positive better habit reminder service!

Let me know if these tips work for you or if you have your own tips to better habit forming.

As I have stated before, the summer just isn't a great time for new awesome game releases. But, I never said anything about DLC (Downloadable Content)/add-on.

Two very popular gaming titles have DLC this month.

Fallout New Vegas
Plauged by glitches and problems from the start, Bethesda's "Fallout: New Vegas" will be releasing the third of four planned DLC/add-on packs entitled "Old World Blues". With this DLC/add-on you are a lab rat. Need I say more and spoil the entire thing for you?

"Old World Blues" is scheduled for release Tuesday, July 19, 2011 and is supposed to cost 800 Microsoft Points/$10 PSN/$10 for PC.

For those of you Trophy/Achievement hunters out there, there will be 5 for you to collect to add to your score.

Note: Bethesda claims they will release a title update which will improve stability in "major areas" along with performance increases.

My Thoughts
Despite it's many problems, Fallout: New Vegas is a great game that absorbs you into it's post-apocalyptic world.

Frugal Tip
Sometimes when new DLC is released, previous DLC is put on sale to help promote the game. Make sure you have the necessary funds to snap up all the deals.

Dragon Age 2
The much anticipated DLC/add-on was announced yesterday by BioWare and entitled "Dragon Age 2: Legacy". Sounds familiar...oh yeah. There was a title for a whole game floating around the vast internet entitled, "Dragon Age: Legacy" that many thought was either a scrapped game or the next game in the series.

The official description promises that players...

"Targeted by a vicious criminal cartel that are hunting "the blood of the Hawke," you must put an end to their relentless attacks. Leave Kirkwall, and journey to an ancient Grey Warden prison in order to find the source of the aggression and uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage. Playable from any point in the DAII campaign, face all new Darkspawn, forge a powerful new weapon and come face to face with an ancient horror."

BioWare claims players will be able to start "Dragon Age 2: Legacy" at any point in the game.

"Dragon Age 2: Legacy" is scheduled for release Tuesday, July 26, 2011 and is supposed to cost 800 Microsoft Points/$10 PSN/800 BioWare Points (PC/Mac).

As for Trophy/Achievements, you are looking at 5 to add to your collection.

My Thoughts
A visually stunning and very fun game to play. One of the few fantasy RPGs in which I enjoy playing a Mage. A "must-have" for anyone that games.

Frugal Tip
Sometimes when new DLC is released, previous DLC is put on sale to help promote the game. Make sure you have the necessary funds to snap up all the deals.

Learning! Yay! Well, most of you might groan as old habits from childhood kick in. Recent studies have shown some startling things regarding kids/students (Yes Mom/Dad, you who are putting yourself through college).

Did you know that 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills are lost during the summer months? Or that typically, teachers spend between 4-6 weeks re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer?

Yikes! So, how does this apply to you and your kids? Well, it is simple. Keep them learning.

While there are many private and community funded summer programs, sometimes there isn't the money or time to ferry kids back and forth. What you can do is contact your school and see if your teacher, or your kids' teacher(s) for the upcoming school year have any assignments that can be completed over the summer. Put a reminder up for next April/May to start checking your local newspaper & teachers.

Don't be afraid to watch educational programs with your kids or even alone. Many great shows are on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, NatGeo and the Smithsonian Channel and do not have that dreaded "e" rating in the corner. Some great programs my own family has enjoyed without realizing it is educational include, anything about animals/habitat, any show that talks about prior wars, shows that deal with civilizations, the list goes on!

Some other ways to learn on the sly, as I say, is via gardening, hiking, camping, pretty much anything outdoorsy.

As for keeping Math skills up, it is never too early to teach your kids how to save money when grocery shopping as well as budgeting money. Just by going to a grocery store with a set budget your kids will learn addition, subtraction, fractions, mathematical planning and averages. Perhaps even more. And to top it off, your family will become frugal and perhaps see why, no you can't have that box of cookies at $6.99.

Finally, in my home, we have Family Night. This is a treasured and loved night. But I recently added a twist to it. Every other Family Night is themed. We vote on the theme. It can be a country, continent, civilization, ethnicity, religion, idea, language or culture. Then the whole night is based on that. I do my best to make food within the theme (try new things). While we are cooking the dinner, I try to draw the conversation to philosophy. That's right, I sneak in philosophy on them while doing Home Ec.

In addition, I reward for any kid that can say a complete phrase (foreign language only). Rewards vary from "I'm proud of you" and a hug to treats. Then we watch a movie either from that country, culture, etc. Afterwords we talk about it. Find out what they found to be different or they liked plus how that area of the world/culture/etc. evolved to be different from us. Finally, I try to bring them around to finding similarities between themselves and whatever our theme is. Yes I did. I snuck in psychology and sociology.

The bottom line is, not only will you be learning, keeping your family learning but you will be spending some great time together. :)

Here are a few great resources to help you out in your quest for knowledge and giving your kids a leg-up in the world.

For those of you turned off to the Call of Duty: Black Ops due to recent changes in the multiplayer aspect of the game, guess what? Yep double XP for all of your in-game actions (headshots, bombs planted, kills, etc.), which means you’ll be ranking up at double the normal speed. Right now I can only confirm this for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Anyone able to confirm Wii?

Times
Double XP started 1 p EST Friday, July 1 and runs through Tuesday, July 5 at 1 p EST.

Then, after a weekend of warrior training and grabbing rank, you had better keep it up if you want to get the $1 million cash prize at Call of DutyXP. Sound great huh? Just book your travel now and demand your time off for September 2-3, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA.

Some other activities in case the $1 million prize was just too blase` for you, a chance to play Modern Warfare® 3 two months early, the ultimate paintball firefight on a life-size re-creation of Scrapyard and the spectacle of running the Pit.

Tons of stuff is planned for this event in the hopes of everyone forgetting the fiasco that became of Infinity Ward. Oh and perhaps in an effort for the media and gamers to no longer see Activision as the big bad fat-cat sucking gamers dry of cash in an effort to destroy a game and experience.

Either way, anyone feeling generous enough to send me to Los Angeles, CA the first week of September?

Learn more of this spectacular event here.

Well, after much coding effort upon my part and the help with design pick from Tina at TechTools4Mom, Frugally Fabuloso has a brand new look. Over the next week or so I will be touching it up of course. But all major changes are done.

I hope everyone loves it as much as I do!