Author: Bill

Frugal Librarian #9: 8 Bits in Your Belly

- Bill 1 Comment

dollardayYou say you want to make your money go further, but how much conviction do you have to go through with it?  Doubtfully not as much as these people.

In case you hadn’t heard, these two dietary extremists decided a few months ago to get by for thirty days on $1 worth of food per day. They used the power of bulk buying and have the math and recipes to prove it. The fellow lost a bunch of weight, they were weak and tired all the time, and they had to blow what little surplus they had on Tang to avoid scurvy.

All of this to illuminate the fact millions of people subsist on this food budget around the world.

There are some ingredient ideas, however, that you could work into your own routine to relax your waistline and wallet.

For their hardship the two are semi-famous world travelers and have a book deal in the works.  A nice trade off don’t you think?

Short and Sweet

- Bill Leave a comment

magazinesIt was a wonderful Sunday to spend outdoors, provided you’re the star of a murder mystery set in turn of the century London.  Idle away the afternoons of the April-May monsoon season with a couple picks from DPL.

If you have the attention span of a gnat and enjoy nonfiction like myself, it’s a good time to skim through Best American Essays 2008.  Here an editor has reviewed and picked the best of this genre.  You know, the kinds of thought pieces the Quad-City sophisticates and literati chortle over at all the premiere area intellectual salons.

We buy an edition every year, as well as Best American Magazine Writing,  Best Nonrequired Reading, and Best American Short Stories.  Think how many of those little advertiser cards would get strewn on your floor had you actually parsed through each magazine.

Frugal Librarian #8: Filtration

- Bill 1 Comment

frugallibrarianWhat’s more frugal than economy of thought?

Think of the minutes I’m now able to idle away with mundane mental patter and take credit for someone else’s idea. Kidding.

I believe I originally saw it in the Argus, and numerous other online sources…10 uses for coffee filters.  Great ideas are great ideas, and I’d be remiss to not pass this one along.

I remember waiting in the return aisle of a certain globe-punishing international conglomerate forever just to return a sub-$2 pack of filters because they were the wrong size.   Never again.  Contain the explosion from microwaved hotdogs and wash it down with wine from which you’ve strained the cork bits=two filters down.

You’re welcome.

Frugal Librarian #7: Online Shopping

- Bill Leave a comment

frugallibrarianLet’s get stingy with it… The frugal librarian is also too lazy to leave the house to find value.

Become a regular checker of, or subscribe to the RSS feed of slickdeals and dealhack.  These sites have user-submitted deals that are RED hot on hundreds of merchants.  We’re not talking “save 10%” kinds of stuff.  Ridiculously low blowouts that require action within a few days.  So if there’s a knickknack for which you’ve been on the fence for a couple months or something you’re kind of interested in, keep it the back of your mind and wait for it to come across these sites

And for the one-two cheapskate combo punch, check retailmenot and currentcodes for the secret codes you enter while buying to get additional discounts.  Well, they were secrets before astute shoppers or those that subscribe to those merchants insider deals newsletters leaked them to all us common folk altruistically.

Too phobic to shop online?  Completely understand.  Most of the insurance companies out there are offering packages for online identity protection and peace of mind.  $2-$3 a month for $30,000 in coverage is pretty reasonable.  Shoot, you’ll  probably save twice that in gas and time getting dressed.

Frugal Librarian #6: The Latest Dish

- Bill 1 Comment

frugallibrarianSo after a “mandatory” $27 expenditure because it was insisted I MUST eat the Giordano’s stuffed pizza pie, I’m convinced a reasonable knockoff could be fabricated for less money.

Step 1 – Go to the Salvation Army thrift store and get a breadmaker for a couple bucks.  I’m embarassed of this one.  I went there in search of a popcorn popper for my last blog entry, “Magic Beans” Turns out there is a lot of usable stuff there for about zero money.  Lots of ice cream makers too.  Let other people pay full price on newfangled appliances to experiment and you march in there as a lark and snatch them up for two bits.  The dough making alternative is a kitchen mixer with dough hook attachment whose purchase or space usage I cannot justify.  Also, there are people just giving them away as yesterday’s fad.

WARNING: You have to make a conscientious effort to NOT buy anything else at the thrift store, lest you become some kind of disgusting packrat.

Step 2- The doughball. After running your few shillings’ worth of flour, yeast, etc through the “dough cycle” on the bread maker, punch it down in a cake pan.   A quick google search yielded found me this crust recipe.  Cake pan can also be purchased for a few cents at the thrift store.

Step 3-Layer in whatever ingredients you wish and bake for 30 minutes at 375.  The classic recipes tend to suggest mozzerella, sauce, and spinach.  I’m sure pepperoni slices, mushrooms and browned sausage will work.
Hint:  a tube of Bob Evans is less greasy than the ground stuff at your grocery store’s butcher counter

Step 4- Eat this monster every meal for the next few days.

Snark attack

- Bill 1 Comment

snark1David Denby is a man on a moral, ethical mission in Snark: A Polemic in Seven Fits. In it, he seeks to quell “the bad kind of invective — low, teasing, snide, condescending, knowing” he refers to as snark.

This extended essay of a little over 100 pages has a definite academic lean. In it, he defines and traces forms of this disdainful rhetoric over the centuries. Included is a section on the purported origin of the word in Lewis Carroll’s Hunting the Snark, as well as its roots among macho posturing poets and warriors over the ages.

The more poignant examples are culled from the combatants in the last presidential campaign.  A shocking revelation, I know.

Frugal Librarian #5: Magic Beans

- Bill 2 Comments

frugallibrarianThey might as well have mystical powers as much as some folks charge for them. With a little skill, it is possible to get up to five times as much coffee for what you’d pay a certain mega-chain for a vacuum-packed pound. Problem is, you’ve got to get online, buy them green and roast them yourself. This can be, for a knucklehead that shall remain nameless, an extremely smoky and odorous endeavor.

There are lots of people who have modded-up their own roasting rigs, but one of the easiest, most accurate and cost-effective methods is around 6 minutes in the old hot-air popcorn popper you’re currently doubling as a dust-collector.

Reasons to attempt:

-According to some sources, coffee is best within five days of roasting. Shelf brands have been there far longer.
-You can experiment to find your ideal mouthfeel. Go online and pick an African, Asian, or Central American nation of your choice (there are dozens)….each has their own varieties that thrive in their unique in climate, soil, moisture, etc.
-You get the satisfaction of knowing when it turned out halfway well that it occurred of your own caring hand. Might make for an impressive treat or homemade gift?
-You can “enhance” what you’ve done by adding flavoring elements. I’ve found a teaspoon of cinnamon in the drip basket masks mistakes.

Word to the wise…never do it inside, especially not with half a wok full.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to step away to enjoy a cupful of fresh-brewed cinders.

Frugal Librarian #4: Refurbs

- Bill 1 Comment

frugallibrarianA lot of people buy new computers at the moment of need. See, that’s what “the man” wants you to do…purchase from an uninformed and vulnerable position. You’ll deal with their markup because you’re brokedown.

It’s not enough to visit more than one brick and mortar store or check out two major chains’ weekly specials. Look into refurbs and save a ridiculous amount of money.

Refurbs are returned goods that have supposedly been restored to good-as-new condition. According to technology consulting firm Accenture, more than 2/3rds of electronics returned to retailers meet manufacturer’s specifications, but simply not the consumer’s expectations. Just because someone else gave up after turning the item on or didn’t like a scuff mark on front, why be picky in the face of huge savings?

Refurbs come in all varieties of electronics, even the highly-touted IPod, and even have refund and return guarantees. Stick with a well-known company, however.

Target – pre-owned electronics
Geeks.com – computers (I got a great computer this fall for $229, shipping included)
Dell Factory outlet
Sony retail outlet
Amazon Warehouse Deals

Frugal Librarian #3: Shopsmart Magazine

- Bill Leave a comment

frugallibrarianThis brand new bi-monthly publication from the makers of Consumer Reports magazine has the slogan “no hype, no ads, just great buys.” It looks like the result of a crossbreeding between Consumer Reports, Good Housekeeping, and Hints from Heloise.

For example, there are a lot of luxury items out there where name and branding is everything, since the average John Q. Spender knows nothing about the product and there is ridiculous markup.

shopsmart

When it came to wine, Consumer Reports put their best experts in the lab and tore off the labels. The results is one of the test’s white wine winners costing $5…the Frontrera 2007 from Chile.

Some products also claimed to be bargains or money savers and were junk. Enjoy a list of products to avoid.

Here’s a no-brainer on how to get it…check the latest issue out for free from the Davenport Public Library!

chili(ly) season

- Bill 1 Comment

Puns aside, could you the good reader provide me with a definitive answer as to when chili season begins? I once thought it coincided with flannel and football. I’ve heard it is once temperatures drop below freezing at night.

cheeleeRegardless, we’re clearly mired in the best time of year for the crock pot/stock pot dish. A new book just came out on the subject.

It has infinite possibilities outside the loosely-structured base ingredients. Ever had mushroom chili…white chili? Ever made a pot on Sunday and coasted through the week on the stuff?

While you’re pondering your ingredient list for your next batch, stew (wocka wocka) on these fun chili facts:

1) competition chili does not permit the addition of beans

2) Cedar Rapids, IA has a chili festival every year with hundreds of entries. I’d like a commitment to that as my “Davenport Promise”