Frugal and Tightwad Tips | Tightwad Living | Better Budgeting | Recipes | Family | Parenting | Money Saving Tips | Smart Spending | How to Save Money and Live on Less
The one nice thing about this granola recipe is that you can make different variations of granola bars with it. Also using different amount of the optional items will bring about a different taste. Granola bars make a nice healthy snack treat.
10 c. old-fashioned oats
1 c. wheat germ
1/2 lb. shredded coconut (optional)
2 c. raw sunflower seeds (optional)
1 c. sesame seeds (optional)
3 c. chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts (optional)
1-1/2 c. brown sugar
1-1/2 c. water
3/4 c. canola oil
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. molasses
1-1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
3 t. vanilla
Raisins or other dried fruits (optional)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In large bowl combine oats, wheat germ, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and nuts. Blend well.
In large saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, oil, honey, molasses, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Heat until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil. Pour syrup over dry ingredients and stir until well-coated. Spread into five 13 x 9 baking pans or cookie sheets with sides.
Bake 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake 15 minutes longer for a crunchier texture. Cool. Add raisins or other dried fruit. Put in airtight containers. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place for up to six months. Makes about 20 cups of granola mix.
Descriptive words such as “tightwad” and “frugal” may have had a negative connotation at one time, but given the state of our current economy – these two words have taken on new meaning for most individuals.
A book that has been highly touted as “brilliant” by its readers, The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn has become a must read for those who find it necessary to cut back on expenses in order to get through this economic recession.
Currently priced at only $22.95, the product description for The Tightwad Gazette states that:
“In a newsletter published from May 1990 to December 1996 as well as in three enormously successful books, Amy Dacyczyn established herself as the expert of economy. Now The Complete Tightwad Gazette brings together all of her best ideas and thriftiest thinking into one volume, along with new articles never published before in book format. Dacyczyn describes this collection as “the book I wish I’d had when I began my adult life.” Packed with humor, creativity, and insight, The Complete Tightwad Gazette includes hundreds of tips and topics, such as:
* How to transform old blue jeans into potholders and quilts
* Ten painless ways to save $100 this year
* Ways to dry up dry-cleaning costs
* Inexpensive gifts
* Slashing your electric bill
* Frugal fix-its
* Saving on groceries
* Avoiding credit card debt
* Using items you were about to throw away (milk jugs, plastic meat trays, and more!)
* Recipes galore, from penny-pinching pizza to toaster pastries, and much more”
This comprehensive book not only teaches you how to save money, but offers tightwad tips, frugal living tips, and many tightwad suggestions on how to develop a new mindset when it comes to fiscal responsibility. In addition, Ms. Daczycyn utilizes her own brand of humor to impart important information regarding your finances.
It is very comprehensive and anyone can utilize it on a daily basis for ideas on how to live a more tightwad life. Some have called it their second Bible! The advice given is up-to-date, relative to today’s environment, and is for anyone who wants to cut back on expenses and develop a budget that is reasonable, efficient, and yes – frugal.
Paid surveys are a fun and easy way to make extra money working online by simply giving your opinion of products and services. Getting paid to take surveys is a popular way to earn money and you can often get free products to test and review.
It’s important to note that some survey companies will bombard you with emails, so it’s best to sign up with an email address that you don’t use for your everyday normal business.
Some of the most popular paid surveys companies that will pay you to take surveys are:
In a newsletter published from May 1990 to December 1996 as well as in three enormously successful books, Amy Dacyczyn established herself as the expert of economy, with The Tightwad Gazette series of books.
Make your own homemade pizza with this easy homemade pizza recipe.
Making pizza from scratch, at home, isn’t really as hard as you might think. Once you learn just a few secrets about how to make a great pizza crust, you might never want to “order in” again!
First, there is the matter of a recipe for pizza dough. Most of them call for very similar ingredients, basically water, yeast, oil, and flour. Some have a little more oil, some use less oil and add an egg. Whichever recipe you use, making the pizza dough goes fairly quickly and doesn’t need to rise for hours like bread dough.
Here’s a tip: If you aren’t familiar with working with recipes that call for yeast, you might not know that yeast has to “proof” (that is, activate). You do this by combining it with water water (about 110*), and usually a little bit of sugar (1 teaspoon or less). After you combine the yeast, warm water, and sugar, you need to let this mixture “rest” for about 5 minutes. This allows the yeast to activate or “proof.” Don’t just assume that you can run hot water from your tap and it will be “warm” enough, without being “too hot.” A small cooking thermometer is handy to have. It might be easier to heat up water to 110* rather than run hot water and then try to cool it down (especially if your water heater is set at 120* or above). I put room temperature water in a Pyrex measuring cup and heat the water for about 30 seconds in the microwave. After a while, you’ll know exactly what setting and how long it takes to heat up the water.
After the yeast has proofed, stir in the other ingredients, following the recipe. You’ll probably have to knead the dough a bit to mix all of the flour in, so that you have a smooth and dry mound of pizza dough. Be very careful about kneading the pizza dough as it is easy to knead in too much flour. As long as the dough isn’t actually sticking to your fingers, it is OK.
Once the dough is ready, let it “rest” for about 5 minutes. That’s right, just let it lay there. This gets the rising process started. Hand form, or use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to the desired size.
After experimenting with the different types of pizza pans and stones that are available, I have concluded that the one-ply pans with holes in them are the best. This helps to bake a crust that is nicely done on the bottom without being burnt, and yet leaves the dough nice a “chewy” in the middle. Depending on your preference for pizza dough, you can experiment by first baking pizza on a regular cookie sheet. After that you can get inexpensive pizza pans at dollar stores or discount stores like Wal-Mart to continue to experiment until you find the pan you prefer.
Now you are ready to bake the pizza. Here’s a tip: pre-bake just the pizza crust for about 6 minutes before you load on the sauce and toppings. This helps to cook the crust enough so that the sauce won’t sink in too much, leaving a gooey crust.
After you’ve pre-baked the crust, remove it from the oven and load it with sauce and meat toppings (be sure that anything other than pepperoni is pre-cooked, such as sausage or ground beef). If you like onions and peppers, then here’s another tip: pre-cook them so that the onions are almost transparent and the pepper is limp. Load on the onions and peppers. Sprinkle on oregano or any other spices that you desire.
Return to the oven and bake for about 13-15 minutes. This is long enough to heat the sauce and other toppings. Remove from the oven and add the cheese. (If you are like me and like Hawaiian pizza, add the pineapple now, too.) Return to the oven for about 3 minutes, or just long enough to melt the cheese without burning it.
Once the pizza is baked, slide it onto a pizza stone that is sprinkled with cornmeal. Then, let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes. The cornmeal keeps the bottom of the crust from getting soggy, and sure adds a nice “zest” to the taste of it! Cut with a pizza cutter (or kitchen shears—which work great!). Enjoy with your favorite beverage!
For an illustrated tutorial on making pizza dough (along with a free recipe for pizza dough) and then baking the pizza, go to Jan’s Dough.
About the author:
Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit Jan’s Portal (http://www.jansportal.com) for more information about Jan’s free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to visit Mom’s Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects.
Prescription drug prices, along with health insurance, have been the bane of society for years. With rising costs of prescriptions, it is no wonder that some individuals are cutting their pills in half thus endangering their own heath. This is unacceptable in our society – yet it continues.
Whether you have health insurance or not, here are five ways you can save on prescription drugs:
1. Ask your doctor to prescribe generic drugs, as they are the least expensive. As stated on MSN Money, “the National Association of Chain Drug Stores estimates that while the average prescription for a generic drug costs about $29.00, the equivalent brand-named drug may cost as much as $101.00.”
In addition, for those of you who have a health plan such as GHI, it should be noted that every year the insurance companies change the rules as far as what drugs are covered under the plan. For example, last year Crestor (a cholesterol drug) was no longer covered under GHI but instead, Zocor was the preferred drug. To preface this point, a one-month supply of Crestor cost over $220.00 compared to Zocor’s generic counterpart Simvastatin which cost only $9.00.
You may say that’s a good thing since the difference in price is substantial. However, Crestor was more effective in lowering cholesterol levels than Zocor, yet the only way one could obtain this drug was by obtaining samples through one’s physician. Unfortunately, a month’s supply was never available for patients. In fact, seniors on Lipitor were also denied this drug by their HMO in favor of Simvastatin.
2. With healthcare costs rising, some people are seeking alternative ways to deal with minor illnesses. Thus, over-the-counter drugs or other holistic remedies are being utilized instead of prescription drugs.
3. If your doctor feels you need a certain prescription for the short term, ask for samples of the drug. This is especially true is the drug does not have a generic counterpart. You may have seen salesmen and saleswomen visiting your doctor at some point during your appointment day; they always bring samples which the doctor keeps in a closet in his office.
4. You may have seen TV ads in which certain drug store chains are offering generic prescriptions for $4.00. As listed on MSN Money, here are the chains you may wish to check out: Kmart, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, and Target. Each of these chains offers generic drugs for $4.00.
5. While you can save money by ordering prescriptions online, this is only recommended if you are ordering from Canada. You may have read or seen online drug prices from both Canada and Mexico. Although prescription generic drugs may be cheaper in these places, ordering from druggists in Mexico is a dangerous alternative. There is no way to determine if the drugs are safe, nor can you ascertain whether they are generic or placebos. This can be a costly error and one that can be life-threatening.
