Saving energy is both a clever and frugal thing to do. Setting your Playstation 3 (PS3) to turn off automatically will save both energy and TV screens. Doing so is very very simple.

With your PS3 on and at your Main Menu, scroll over to the Systems Settings and select it. Go down to the Power Settings and select that. Choose the Systems Auto-Off. From here you get to choose from the following times:

• 1 hour of inactivity
• 2 hours of inactivity
• 3 hours of inactivity
• 4 hours of inactivity
• 5 hours of inactivity

For maximum savings and TV image burning, it is highly recommended to chose the 1 hour of inactivity.

Once you have picked your time a "are you sure dumb-dumb" will pop up. You do not want to just ignore this and randomly press accept. Because, there is a little box to select that will make all the difference in the world. The box is next to the Turn Off System Automatically Even Under Special Conditions.

If you do not select this, then your PS3 will stay on indefinately while watching movies or even having a game on. Even if you are not actively playing the game. As a result, you could end up with a burnt on image and not saving energy despite having selected your console to turn off.

The flip side is of course, that by selecting this, your game console will turn itself off. Even if you are in the middle of playing a game. But, you will get a little pop-up warning that due to inactivity your system will shut off soon. So, you never have to worry about actually having your console turn off in the middle of a game or movie that you are actively playing/watching. But, to be safe, save games often.

So, all done! Good. But you really aren't done yet are you? Nope. Because you should also set idle turn off time for your controller as well! Your options for the controller are as follows:

• 10 minutes of inactivity
• 20 minutes of inactivity
• 30 minutes of inactivity

And, just to be on the energy conscious side of things, also set your TV's sleep timer to turn off. Especially if you are watching a movie or just starting to feel sleepy. This will limit the image burning effect and save you even more cash!

Some simple math can help you figure out how much you can save in electricity with this handy energy use calculator here just by utilizing the Auto-off feature on your PS3.

How much do you think you save by being a tad greener and using PS3's Auto-off? Let us know how green and frugal you are in the comments! 

There are a few nice deals going on right now on the Playstation Network (PSN). My top pick is the Omega add-on for Mass Effect 3. No, it is not on sale. But at $14.99, the add-on is more than worth it for Mass Effect fans.

Be sure to grab these freebies as well!
Turkey Head Costume – A seasonal exclusive costume for SackBoy! (PS Vita & PS3)
Jiggly Transmission and Equipment Pack 11 - Mugen Souls (PS3)
Jiggly Transmission and Equipment Pack 12 - Mugen Souls (PS3)
7 World Redux Additional Battle 1 - Mugen Souls (PS3)
7 World Redux Additional Battle 2 - Mugen Souls (PS3) 
7 World Redux Additional Battle 3 - Mugen Souls (PS3)
Overwhelming Recipe Set - Mugen Souls (PS3)
Selfina Voice Addition (Japanese voice over only) - Mugen Souls (PS3)
Miniboss Pack - Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PS3)

Go here to see the last chance stuff and full discounts.

Gearing up for the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto V (GTAV) expected out December 2013, Xbox Marketplace has some great deals on Grand Theft Auto IV. Everything looks to be 50% off again.


On sale are:
GTA IV (download full game) - $9.99
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned - 400 MSP
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - 800 MSP



For those looking for games/DLC for the kiddies, this game is most definately not for kids. Violence and very adult situations. Remember that the GTA San Andreas was the center of the "Hot Coffee" controversy. While Rockstar did back down, they didn't roll over and die. All in the Grand Theft Auto series are for a mature player. Well, I'm not very mature when I play video games, but you know what I mean.

Just for fun, be aware you can grab GTA IV from Gamestop (new) for $19.98 (used is more expensive) and from Amazon for $17.45 (new).

Both DLC was released as a stand-alone game (does not need original GTA IV game) as Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. Gamestop is selling the game for $29.99 and Amazon for $29.54.

No deals are listed for PC, Mobile or Avatars. Sorry! Seems to the the theme lately of no sales in those catagories listed online.

Did you snag any Xbox deals this week? Remember, you can check out the deal of the week for Xbox 360 right here.

Could their be anything worse than a gnarly image burned into a fancy schmancy TV? What about outrageous electric bills? Well, for Xbox 360 gamers, this is a very real possibility. But, fear not, there is an easy solution to these problems. Auto-off.

Setting Auto-off is very easy. With your Xbox 360* on, from your Dashboard, go to your Settings. Choose that. Then, go to Console Settings. Now you are going to choose Startup and Shutdown. Choose the Auto-off feature. There are two options: One hour of inactivity or six hours of inactivity. Select the one that is best for you. Personally I have mine set to one hour of inactivity.

There is a drawback to turning this feature on. If for some reason during gameplay you go idle for the specified time period, the console does turn itself off! This means, if you haven't saved, you are just going to have to suck it up and redo all that you lost from the last save.

But, for most gamers, this is no big deal. Most of us save religiously. But it can be annoying playing certain games like any of the Call of Duty games. Those games have checkpoints, yes. But often the checkpoint doesn't stick when the game is turned off. You have to finish the chapter. So use this with caution.

Something else to consider is for those that stream movies/videos. For many, myself included, Netflix is a great way to unwind and fall asleep. But, so long as that content is streaming, my inactivity timer doesn't kick in.

So if you are concerned about burning images onto your TV, remember to also use the "Sleep Timer" so many TVs come with. Usually setting that to two hours really helps out!

Some simple math can help you figure out how much you can save in electricity with this handy energy use calculator here just by utilizing the Auto-off feature.

How much do you think you save by being a tad greener and using Auto-off? Let us know how green and frugal you are in the comments!

*These directions only apply to the most up-to-date dashboards as of November 26, 2012. Steps listed may be different if console is older and not updated.

Frugally Fabuloso's Facebook Fan of the Week is

 ... *drumroll*...

Sarah The Rebel

(from Nerdy But Flirty)

... *toss confetti all around* ...

Feel free to drop by our fan page and congratulate Sarah The Rebel on her success as the current Fan of the Week.

Once you are done with that, feel free to nominate yourself by going here.

Current Fan of the Week shown above.

I heartily apologize for the lack of content lately. I have been so so sick. I think I caught an odd bug that has been floating around lately. I have barely been able to do much of anything. Which is so very annoying as many of you busy people know.

Once the Thanksgiving holidays are over, you can expect us to be back on schedule here with deals, sales, video game stuff, freebies, recipes and more! Once again, I apologize for leaving you all hanging.

Have any of you been not feeling well lately? Let us commiserate together via the comments.

 

Image(s) courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.  Then on May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday to be celebrated November 11 of each year, the day the Great War (WWI) ended.

Then on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars via legislature.

Years later, the date of Veterans Day was changed and caused confusion among citizens. So in 1975 the original day of November 11 was reinstated. Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls.

Thanking a veteran can be as simple as saying, "Thank you." or as more indepth as creating a job or home for a returning veteran.

I thanked my Dad and several friends today, whom are all veterans. Whom have you thanked?

Any parent, auntie, uncle, grandparent and babysitter that has a child (or children) in their life that plays video games has run into the sticky situation of the game being rated above the child's age group. Especially as children are allowed to purchase games of any ESRB rating in the USA.

What I am talking about is the morality area. Are you a good parent by letting your kid keep up with his/her friends games? Are you being a good parent by strictly enforcing the ESRB ratings? Are you a good parent by allowing or disallowing games on a game-to-game basis?

I think most of us fall into the latter category which I touched on briefly in my previous post For Parents: Video Game Ratings. Feel free to read or re-read it.

Any gamer parents' experience is that not all video games are alike, even if they are given the exact same rating. Let us look at two popular franchises: Rainbow Six and Call of Duty. Both franchises are very similar. They both are first person shooters. They both put the player in the roll of good guy fighting bad guys. Both have the ability to tone down the gore. But, where they differ, and this is important, is in the multiplayer.

Very different types of gamers are found in the Call of Duty games than in the Rainbow Six games. One gaming studio that produces one of the Call of Duty games even alluded to the nastier demeanor of it's multiplayer gamers. Whereas, generally, in the Rainbow Six multiplayer rooms, people are politer.

Now, let us look at the Halo and Gears of War franchises. Both are third person shooters. Both are human characters fighting aliens. And, unfortunately, both are most known for the amount of cheating that goes on. Between modders, glitchers and boosters, both franchises have become shunned by groups of gamers. Parents run the risk of their child falling into the dark path of cheating in video games if the multiplayer is not monitored.

But, not all kids are into shooters. Some prefer life simulation. Two very popular life simulation franchises are The Sims and Second Life. Both are games I would caution parents heavily in letting their children play. Despite Second Life claiming to have checks in place to keep kids safe, we are all very aware of exactly what goes on in Second Life.

For The Sims games, if you can find a way to avoid the Romancing part of the game, you are golden. But, that said, the Romancing part of the game is very...comical and not at all adult in my opinion. Plus The Sims games are programmed to prevent romance of any type with a child Sim. Once a Sim is a teen they can do PG13 things, but, once again, it is all very comical.

Finally Role Playing Games are a wide open field. You will have to ask others about the game to get a better idea if the ESRB rating is something to abide by in your family. Important questions to ask a salesperson are, "Can I turn off the gore?"; "Is their nudity?"; "Are their sexual situations?" "How difficult are the controls and commands?"

So, what to do when those adorable eyes look up to you and are pleading for XYZ video game? You do have the one old reliable response to buy yourself some time: "Let me think about it." This will buy you a week at maximum to do your research.

Ignore the "know-it-all" attitude of the sales clerk. Ask your questions. If they don't want to answer or give you snippy answers that don't really answer your questions, leave. Do not give them your hard-earned money and valuable time.

Great places to get info on games are blogs such as mine, Twitter, Facebook and gaming communities such as Xbox Achievements/Playstation 3 Trophies.

But what to do when you firmly believe the game is too difficult or too adult for your child(ren). One simple way to deal with it is a "No." with a short explanation. You can even go so far as saying when the child is X age they can play games like that.

As much as none of us enjoy saying no to our kids, it is part of helping our kids grow into great human beings.

A technique a lady I game with uses with her kids is to play the game with her kids if it is an absolute must-have game. She sits down, starts the game and they pass the game controller person to person. She also has very strict control on whom is on her kids' gaming friends lists. They can't just add anyone. People that are added to friends lists have to be approved by her. She also locked down their account (You can see how to do this on the Xbox 360 here.) so they can't speak to or hear from people on their friends lists when they do play multiplayer. She is a serious gaming mamma!

I do a mixture of the two. Some games are a "no way" and others are a "with parental supervision". I also will bargain. I do this by prohibiting one game and offering a different, more suitably rated game if budget allows.

I don't believe that video games lead children to be violent or lazy. There are too many motion video games out there that prevent laziness. Video games can actually be educational. And, wisely monitoring multiplayer leads to good sportspersonship, teamwork and socialization.

It all comes down to you and how you raise your child(ren). But one thing is for certain, video games are here in your child's life and they are here to stay.

How do you deal with picking games for your kids to play? Share your tips with us in the comments!

As of this posting, these freebies work. I will be, in a week or so, removing the links because Microsoft loves to change URLs and give us all broken links. Not only that but freebies, gaming freebies in particular, tend to end quickly. So jump on it!

2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon- Forza Horizon (DLC car)
NFL Play 60 Jersey - Avatar Gear (Male) - Thanks Mike
NFL Play 60 Jersey - Avatar Gear (Female) - Thanks Mike.

That is all I could find for now. Be aware that there are TONS of free shows such as Mob Doctor, on the Amazon app on the Xbox 360. Might take some surfing around the app itself to find what you want. But, I assure you, tons of free shows are available.

But, I was pointed to a gem from one of our readers, Mike. What you do is go right here. Be sure whatever gender you choose is the gender your Xbox 360 Avatar is. Then if you live in the UK, you can get a free Xbox 360 outfit for your avatar that is for Halo 4. Squee! Lucky UK people. Some less than honest people are known for clearing cookies and grabbing more codes. So if you see any red Halo 4 avatar codes up on Ebay or such, know that they were originally free! I tried for a Male one to give out to a reader but was told they are gone. So my own avatar got a Female one. Good luck!!

Did you enjoy the freebies? Were any of you able to get a Halo 4 Male avatar outfit? Let us know!

This week is all about the Arcade games. And, they are all 50% off! Sweeeet!

Games on sale are:
Shoot Many Robots
All Zombies Must Die!
Guardian Heros
Joy Ride Turbo

Oddly the price of each game, reduced, is 400 MSP. What an odd coincidence.

I have a hard time buying Arcade games unless they are dirt cheap and/or very very fun. Do you like Arcade games?

No deals are listed for PC, Mobile or Avatars. Sorry!

Did you snag any Xbox deals this week? Remember, you can check out the deal of the week for Xbox 360 right here.

This has been on my list of things to do for some time - honoring fans of our Facebook page. Somehow I never managed to do it until now. I am very sorry it has taken this long to get this going. But, now it is done and will be done weekly. Yay!

That aside, our Fan of the Week is

 ... *drumroll*...

Sue B!

... *toss confetti all around* ...

Feel free to drop by our fan page and congratulate Sue B on her success as the current Fan of the Week.

Once you are done with that, feel free to nominate yourself by going here.

Current Fan of the Week shown above.

Some people love 'em. Some people hate 'em. Handmade gifts. For me, they show an additional effort and love put into the gift given to me.

What may surprise you is that making gifts is only as difficult as you make it. There are plenty of very easy but very nice gifts anyone can make and give out. The same is true of there being plenty of gifts that are very difficult to make and give out.

With the Yuletide holidays swiftly approaching, consider handmade gifts. Anything from getting some help at the grocery store with pre-made cookie dough that you bake and then lovingly give out all the way to carving eggshells for the Fabergé look.

Here are some easy DIY gift ideas found right here on Frugally Fabuloso:
DIY Beauty Items
Invigorating Coffee Bubble Bath
Yummy Easy Pumpkin Cookies


I think this year, I shall be unleashing my creative side more and handmaking most gifts I give out.

What about you? Handmaking more gifts this year? Cutting back on gift giving in general?

Typically between September through the following April is a great time for gamers. New, exciting and yes, good video games are released. The dry spell for gamers is over!

What does this mean for the frugal gamer or the frugal parent of a gamer? Simple. As the new game is released, older games tend to drop in price. Especially franchise games. Especially used franchise games.

Be aware much older games are rarely accepted as trade-in. Nor are they easy to find on the shelf. Ordering online or calling around will help you.

Another little tip is to inspect the game disc if buying used games. If you see gouges or tons of scratches, ask for another copy.

Missing the insert/booklet? Ask for it. If they don't have it, ask for a discount. You may get a discount. You may not. But you won't know until you ask!

Keep you eyes open for discounted franchise games like these:

Gears of War 1 & 2
Elder Scrolls
Assassin's Creed 1, 2 & Brotherhood
Mass Effect 1 & 2
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1& 2
Call of Duty series
Battlefield series
Batman series
Halo series
Star Wars series

All have fun and/or great storylines. Those with multiplayer may still have servers open extending the fun and value of the game.

So, yes, your gaming friends might be playing the new Gears of War 3. But you my friend, just shelled out the same amount of money and got three or more games. Then, in a couple of months, grab that Gears of War 3. Used. For half the price.

Now that is smart gaming!


Special thanks to Scott Campbell, former Manager, Gamestop for his help in the compiling info for this post.

I hope you love the new look here at Frugally Fabuloso. Working with older coding really gave me some trouble. But, I prevailed and nearly all is done. I'm loving how clean and pretty it looks. Just have to fix the multitude of broken links now...

Update
After finding over 1000 broken links, almost all of them from freebies posted, I've done a major housekeeping and deleted all old and outdated freebie/sale posts. This means it should be much much easier for everyone to find current freebies and deals. What a wonderful person I am right? ;-)

I was also very saddened to see many bloggers I had linked to in various posts as resources had up and vanished as well. That sort of thing makes me feel old in the blogging world. Sure, we all run into the blogging wall, so to speak. But, once one has dedicated oneself to blogging, one should continue or at least let people know they aren't blogging anymore.

Fingers crossed I can keep up with links going dead!

Do you like the new look? Or do you prefer the old look?

Hi all you frugally fabuloso people out there!

Coupon Inserts for November 4, 2012 is RedPlum and Smartsource. Value of coupons, coupons themselves, and expiration dates of coupons vary depending on your area.

 

Coupons are getting more season-inspired with baking in mind. Time to stock up!

Be sure when you are buying the newspaper that the coupon inserts are inside and some unscrupulous thief hasn't made off with the inserts. 

Just a friendly reminder to drop by here and see all the promotions to snag your deals and free stuff for PS3, PS Vita & PSN!

Some great freebies include, Halloween Costume for LittleBigPlanet, Five different packs for Mugen Souls, Ghost Pig Pack for Sleeping Dogs, Planets Under Attack Theme (PS3) and Planets Under Attack Wallpaper 2 (PS3).

This week is Elder Scrolls themed with full Oblivion game for download to DLC for Skyrim. An excellent time to snatch the deals on two amazing games. Discounts are up to 50% off but not all are that reduced. Grab your deals here.

No deals are listed for PC, Mobile or Avatars. Sorry!