The Dollar Stretcher Review

 I love homemade bread - too much, actually, because when I make it, I don't want anything else. A beef or chicken sandwich for dinner, bread and butter and jelly for breakfast, bread and soup for lunch...but when the weather gets hot, there's no way I'm going to fire up the oven to bake it. There are two options and I use both of them at different times. 

First, there's fried yeast bread. I've written about this elsewhere (and maybe here, too) several times, but basically, you just use a recipe for yeast loaf bread and instead of baking it, you fry it. After it's all kneaded and rested for a few minutes, pinch off walnut size pieces, flatten them and let them rest a moment while the skillet heats up. If you have a nonstick or a cast iron, you won't absolutely need oil, but it tastes better if you use a little. In a skillet that needs oil, use just enough to keep it from sticking. Heat the skillet to medium heat and fry the bread until itls browned on each side. Brush it with a little butter while it's still hot. 

The other way I make bread when it's too hot to use the oven is in a solar oven. It's an art and a science but it's fun no matter how you look at it. You can buy solar ovens all ready to go or you can make your own inexpensively. Either way, it costs nothing at all to operate. 

 Yeast Bread in the Solar Oven
Baking Bread Maker Recipes Without A Bread Maker
I've really fallen behind on making bread

 Bet you didn't know that you could get solar power for free. It's available to anyone, no income guidelines or other rule following is necessary to use it. There are some places where it may be limited, but no matter where you are, you can take advantage of this freebie.

When you can cook a meal, dry a load of laundry, and lighten your hair color with the same thing, it's pretty convenient, too.

It's called "SUN." As in sunlight.

Solar ovens can be made from things you already have on hand. Hang your clothes outside - on a tree branch if you want to. The sun will dry them. Put a little lemon juice in your hair and go sit in the sun for awhile. It's a guaranteed lightener.

Other things to use the sun for:

• Warm up the house in the winter.
• Get a dose of Vitamin D
• Grow some food.
• Charge your rechargeable batteries.
• Hotwire a fence to keep animals in - or out.
• Dehydrate food for storage.

And the list goes on.

Got it? Let the sun shine!

Solar Power and You
Solar Ovens
Solar Oven (Community)

 Baking soda is most often used to bake, clean and deodorize, but there's much more to it. I have, on my computer, a very long list of uses that covers personal care, cooking, first aid, laundry, pets and a lot more.

A few examples:

As a facial scrub, it can't be beat, even by those expensive products. Using your usual facial cleanser, add about a half teaspoon of baking soda, mix it well and scrub your face with it. It
not only clears pores, it removes fungi and other impurities and leaves your face smooth.

Dump baking soda onto acid spills and  to quickly neutralize them.

If you have allergies to laundry products, try using baking soda to wash your clothing, especially bedding.

Instead of buying expensive cat litter, buy the cheapest and add a box of baking soda. It will eliminate the odor and make the box easier to clean.

Mix two tablespoons of baking soda and two tablespoons of molasses per gallon of water and spray plants that have fungal disease.  

Don't Forget the Baking Soda
Baking Soda
How many ways do you use baking soda?

Long ago and far away, Mom and Dad declared bankruptcy. At the time, it was a shameful thing to do. It allowed people to see that they didn't have enough money to pay their bills and it was a shameful thing to not pay one's bills. They called not paying bills one had agreed to, irresponsible. Not many people took out bankruptcy because being responsible was a critical part of being a citizen in good standing.

Bankruptcy is much more common now. I won't say why and I won't point fingers, but I will say the old ways are best. Why? Because I'm an old-timer and I don't like some of the changes I see in our society.

Be that as it may, if you're contemplating bankruptcy, go at it with your eyes wide open. It ain't pretty, as the saying goes.

I Really Want to Avoid Bankruptcy
Choose Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy and rebuilding credit

 Some people think I'm nuts, but I do not like hot weather. I don't like having to water the lawn, fertilize the lawn, mow the lawn, trim the lawn, then start all over again. It just seems pointless to me, but I'm stuck in suburbia and, to keep the neighbors happy, I fall in line with the rest. 

I don't, however, hire a professional lawn company to come and spray chemicals all over the lawn, then put those little flags up to keep kids and dogs off of it. If it's that dangerous, I don't want it anywhere near me, either.  My lawn may not be the prettiest in the neighborhood, but I don't have a water bill that rivals a mortgage payment, either. In this country, many people water three times a week. No way. 

This coming year, with a serious drought threatening, there may not be enough wate for the farmers to grow a crop to harvest... but some people will continue to water their lawns three times a week, then gripe at the prices in the grocery store. I ask you, does that make sense?

Grass doesn't die when it doesn't get watered. It goes dormant and when the rains (or the sprinkler) comes again, it grows again. The only reason to keep watering a lawn when water is scarce is pride and ego. Gotta have the best looking lawn at any price. There. I said it. 

No, I don't think a lawn looks nice when it's full of weeds and bare spots and the grass looks dead. We don't have to go that far, but it's silly to waste precious water and tons of money on something as vain as a stretch of useless green stuff that has to be fed, fertilized, mowed, trimmed... and around it goes. 

Lawns for Less
Putting in a New Lawn
The Front Lawn
A Frugal Lawn and Garden

That isn't really the question. It's more like how to sleep. Apparently I know how not to sleep.

I've tried a lot of things to get a good night's rest and, to be blunt, most of them don't work. They might work for someone who usually sleeps well but has an occasional night of insomnia, but for those of us who are hard-core insomniacs, a cup of chamomile tea and a warm bath just won't do it.

I refuse to take sleeping pills, especially after a recent study showed that those who take sleep aids more than 132 times a year are five times more likely to die. (http://hsionline.com/2012/03/12/the-big-sleep/)

So, what to do without spending megabucks to be monitored through several nights (and then perhaps put on prescription sleeping pills)?

It turns out that a combination of things helps me, like doing calming things just before bedtime, taking pain medication when it's needed instead of trying to tough it through, making sure the bedroom is neither too warm nor too cool, and yes, that cup of chamomile tea helps, too.

Don't buy into pricey solutions that may or may not work and could actually be dangerous. Finding the right combination for you might take some patience, but once you find it, it will be worth the time it took.

Cheap Sleep Remedies

Nighty Night

Insomnia

 At the risk of dating myself, I'm going to admit to remembering when gas went to a dollar a gallon. It was awful. A lot of kids couldn't afford to "drag main" any more and still more were unable to come up with gas money and a fast food snack too before the drive in movie.

Yup... I said I would date myself. There were tough times back then just like there are tough times now. Some of us feel it more than others, but we're all aware that money is becoming harder to make and easier to spend.

The price of gas is just one example of how quickly money flows out of our hands.

Finding ways to slow it down just a little can become at least a part time job, but the savings will almost equal a part time income if you're thorough with it.

Drive gently, keep your tires aired up, keep your vehicle in good running condition, comparison shop gas, don't buy gas with a higher octane level than your vehicle needs...

The one thing that will save more money than all the others combined? Quit driving so much. If you feel the urge to run to the store for some ice cream, have a cold chocolate milk instead. If you want to go rent some movies, find something online to watch. If you need to go buy groceries, take turns with your neighbors or kids in supplying transportation for all. Walk, ride a bike, take the bus.

If you can cut your mileage enough, the chances are that you can save money on your insurance, too. It's worth a try.

What will you do if gas goes to 4 or 5 dollars per gallon or more?
What to Do Before Gas Hits $5
SMART Ways to Save at the Pump
Avoiding Extra Trips

 Enjoying a steaming cup of dandelion coffee, I took mental stock of my beverage stash. Besides dandelion coffee, there's mint tea, hibiscus tea, echinacea tea and a few more. A lot of it was harvested in my own backyard - dandelion coffee is one of my favorites.

What we drink not only makes a difference in our health, it makes a difference in our budgets.

For instance: I bought a mint plant when I first moved in here eleven years ago. I didn't intend to let it escape its pot, but it did, by growing its roots out the drain holes. Now I have mint here and there and I'm glad. Each year I pick the leaves before it flowers and put them out to dry, then store them in an old canning jar. Throughout the winter, these leaves make a wonderful, and absolutely free, tea by themselves, but I sometimes add them to other teas and drinks. Hot chocolate with mint is awesome in my book!

Considering how easy mint and dandelions are to grow, they're great inspiration for growing other teas and drinks. The price is certainly right!

Enjoyably Frugal Loose Leaf Tea
Growing Herbs for Tea
Tasty Tea
Looking for Cheap Ways to Make Ice Tea

 I'm fascinated by "the way they used to do things." What do you call that? I don't think it's nostalgia, although it could be touched with it. I enjoy the challenge of doing things the hard way, somewhat similar to some preppers. Whatever it is, it's fun.

Food is one area where doing it the old way can save a ton of money. For instance, a recipe I found for "mock oysters" came about during the Depression and uses grated corn for the main ingredient. Where I live, that's a lot cheaper than oysters and probably healthier, too!

Other ways to cut food costs "the way they used to" is to make sourdough starter (then use it!), eat bean and pea leaves, sweet potato vines (after you eat the potatoes!) dandelions and other wild food and make drinks from grains, roots and leaves.

Although it can take some research, it's a fun way to pare down your grocery bill and enjoy some foods and drinks you may have never thought about.

How to Make Sourdough Starter
Making Homemade Yogurt
Pudding Pointers (Make your own pudding)
Whole Grain Meals in Minutes for Pennies

Have you ever walked into a room or out onto the sidewalk and been suddenly struck with how different things look in the bright sunshine? Well, maybe it was because we've had such cloudy weather here for days and days and days. A little snow, but mostly clouds. It gets tiresome and it makes our minds dull after awhile.

I started into the kitchen when a bright ray of sunshine appeared and changed my whole perspective. My kitchen isn't fancy by any means, but it suits me. I don't think too much about it, but suddenly, I was proud of the homey look. The sunshine coming through the window set it off just right. 

You're saying, "What's frugal about that?" Come on.. what isn't frugal about it?  Sunshine is free and it's a mood lifter in these wintry months. Who couldn't use a mood lifter now and then? 

Cabin Fever
Frugal Ways to Beat the Winter Blahs