The Tightwad Gazette

As a rule, I like to save money. However, I am not quite as intense about it as Amy Dacyczyn, the author/editor of the three volumes of the Tightwad Gazette. These books are a font of cheap ideas- essentially three collections of a newsletter sent out over a period of years. They include recipes, articles on such topics as tightwad valentines ( a cherry pie with a heart cut in it, a coupon for a massage), as well as calculations as to how much money things like energy saving light bulbs will save over the course of decade. There are some crazy ideas (magazine holders from cereal boxes) but learning how much per ounce soda (or pop as we say in the mid- west) is from the movie theater, a restaurant, the grocery store and versus good old water is quite an eye opener. Also, the author's viewpoint about "spending for the sake of spending" is a good reminder for anyone. Fun and helpful, even if you don't adopt all her ideas.

Home Comforts

eeek! It's a reference book! And about homemaking no less. As virtually everyone reading this blog knows, I'm not know for my tidiness. This book, by Cheryl Mendelson (a lawyer living the dream of not practicing law) is pretty cool. Whether you want to know how to fold a fitted sheet or get gum out of your carpet (ahem, just an example) this book has the answers. There is a huge section on food safety which is vastly helpful for figuring out if that slightly moldly cheese is safe once you cut the mold off (answer if its a soft cheese pitch it, if it is a hard cheese you can try to save). This is a really helpful book and when I first bought it, I was inspired to clean my house A LOT. Sadly, that wore off but this book still has much to recommend it. (PS, for God's sake, buy a hardback, you'll split a paperback spine in seconds)