Living well is the best revenge.

I recently engaged in a little Photoshoppery and made a new page header to go with the new blog theme. That’s beautiful Lake Auburn, which is about a mile from my house. If you’re viewing this inside your RSS reader, you won’t be able to see it unless you actually click on the blog link.
“Living [...]

New theme

In case anyone cares (or even noticed), I changed my blog theme.
I think the sidebar looks better on the right-hand side. It’s cleaner, less cluttered, and overall easier to read… and I like the little divider between posts.  I’m also working on a new header for the top.
That is all.

Menu planning: giving it a try

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of blogs about frugality, budgeting, and various other topics in personal finance. I am determined to get my finances whipped into shape!
I’m seeing a lot of suggestions of menu planning as a great frugal tactic.
Menu planning is based on the idea that knowing ahead of time what you [...]

Hindsight IS clearer than foresight… but it also hurts sometimes

Last night, I was reading Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Highly recommended, and a great alternative view of personal finance. I actually found it at the Goodwill Store for like 99 cents, so yay me!
Anyway, one of the exercises in this book is to research how much money you’ve [...]

Today’s blog brought to you by….

I think you’ll enjoy this informercial. I certainly did.
And sure, the audience is laughing, but I wonder if it’s uncomfortable laughter….

Of Handbag Hounds and Frankenpuppies

Let me state this from the get-go:
I LOVE DOGS. ALL DOGS.
Well, little yappy dogs annoy me, but I wish them no harm.
I grew up with dogs. For as long as I can remember, my family always had a doggie companion. I would love to have a dog right now, but at this time in [...]

Worst Money Wasters: Take-out Pizza

Mmmmm… pizza! Or as my dad called it– and as you’ll sometimes see on signs at the real authentic old-timer pizza places– “Apizza!”
I was born in and grew up around New Haven, CT. Some of the best pizza in the world is made in and around New Haven, and you could say I’m [...]

By request: How to cook rice without burning it

Dear Eleanor read my blog today about the perversion of basic commodities and asked me to post a method for cooking rice.
I use only two types of rice– basmati (for Indian/Thai dishes) and whole grain brown rice (for everything else). I cook them both pretty much the same way. I’m sure there is a gourmet [...]

Keep it simple, keep it basic

A few days ago, I wrote a blog about the evils of single-serving packages (you know, the 100-calorie packs of Oreo-flavored air puffs, Cheese Nips, and so on).  The mark-up on re-packaged junk food is just staggering!
I imagine food manufacturers sitting around a conference table and conspiring how to charge even more for their products.
“Say, [...]

The Alchemy of Shampoo

“My bathroom looks like a Walgreen’s exploded.”
— My dear friend Eleanor
I once tried (valiantly) to explain to a man why women need so many different kinds of shampoos and conditioners. He didn’t get it.
Men have it easy. They just squirt some Prell on their heads and rinse. They shake themselves dry like dogs, and they’re [...]