Category: Consumer News

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.

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.

The Frugal Librarian #2: Mortgage refinancing

- Bill 2 Comments

frugallibrarianIf I could time the market, I’d probably be a millionaire and not working here. Or, living out of a cardboard box because I got cocky. Depends on how you look at it.

But this much I’ve read is certain…refinancing your mortgage can save you a whole bunch of money. The adage is that if a mortgage rate is 1% lower than your current rate, it is advantageous to pay the closing costs (around $1500) to have them rework your loan with the new rate.

With the economy, mortgages are at 37-year-lows. You are going to be hard-pressed to find a more competitive rate at another time. Plus, since the fed cut the short term lending rate yet again, this should move over into the mortgage market in the coming weeks, making things even more interesting.

Only a fool would feel pressured to make such a snap decision, but in the coming weeks this could be a bird in hand for your wallet. It only takes a minute to compute your scenario online. You may very well find that a cut from 6.375% to 4.5% is like someone handing you a couple hundred bucks each month. Yes please.

Here are the rates from some local lenders:

Ascentra Credit Union
IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union
Wells Fargo Bank

The Frugal Librarian #1: Energy Audit

- Bill 3 Comments

Welcome to our first installment of the Frugal Librarian. It is an empirically proven fact that denizens of this profession possess an uncanny sense of value. In turn, they pass that savings on to you, the consumer.

However, while some folks pinch pennies, this guy has actually been known to cut off the circulation to their extremities. This is his story.

frugallibrarianSomeone was saying something the other day about reducing one’s carbon footprint. I went to my happy place spiritually where I pretend I’m paying attention. When I came out of this trance, they were gone, as was their message about conservation. Shame.

While I am a responsible consumer, I am even more motivated by the massive amount of financial green (huh, see witty the play on words??) I can save with the MidAmerican Energy Audit. Here’s what happened. I called MidAmerican and they made an appointment to dispatch a representative to my house. At no cost, this man went from room to room taking measurements. Next words out of his mouth were, “Want some light bulbs?” “Yes sir. Yes sir, I do.” “How about a new shower head?” “Sounds nifty to me.” Make all the jokes you want about how thick one has to be to not be able to screw in a light bulb. Sometimes they don’t UN-screw safely. Does that punitively affect one’s cognitive credit score?

He also calculated that if I spend roughly another 900 dollars to put more blow-in insulation in my attic, MidAmerican will cut me a check for $600. The savings on the heat bill would pay for my portion of that within one year, he calculated, citing that 85% of a building’s heat loss comes from the top.

In under 40 minutes, with a twitch of his nose, off this jolly magic man went into the chill night. “On reasonably-priced economy sedan!” he bellowed. “Merry savings to all, and to all a warm night!”